Microsoft Technology Licensing Assigned Nineteen Patents

Reminder processing of structured data records among partitioned data storage spaces
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,235,406) developed by Jose, Tittu, Redmond, WA, Kapadia, Arshish, Issaquah, WA, Sevilmis, Tarkan, Redmond, WA, Outcalt, Peter Adam, Bellevue, WA, and McLean, Michael T., Snoqualmie, WA, for a “reminder processing of structured data records among partitioned data storage spaces.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems, methods, and software for management of partitioned data storage spaces is provided herein. An exemplary method includes storing sets of structured data records among partitioned data storage spaces, with data fields of the structured data records correlated among the sets by relational associations. The method includes receiving a change action related to a selected structured data record, and responsive to the change action, scheduling execution of the change action in a reminder index. The method includes executing the change action according to at least scheduling indicated by the reminder index.”

The patent application was filed on June 14, 2016 (15/181,717).

Resource arbitration for shared-write access via persistent reservation
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,235,077) developed by Das, Rajsekhar, Redmond, WA, and Dion, David A., Bothell, WA, for a “resource arbitration for shared-write access via persistent reservation.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Described is a technology by which an owner node in a server cluster maintains ownership of a storage mechanism through a persistent reservation mechanism, while allowing non-owning nodes read and write access to the storage mechanism. An owner node writes a reservation key to a registration table associated with the storage mechanism. Non-owning nodes write a shared key that gives them read and write access. The owner node validates the shared keys against cluster membership data, and preempts, (e.g., removes) any key deemed not valid. The owner node also defends ownership against challenges to ownership made by other nodes, so that another node can take over ownership if a, (formerly) owning node is unable to defend, e.g., because of a failure.”

The patent application was filed on October 20, 2017 (15/789,915).

Storage and retrieval of data from bit vector search index
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,229,143) developed by Hopcroft, Michael Joseph, Kirkland, WA, Goodwin, Robert Lovejoy, Mercer Island, WA, and Deyneko, Denis V., Richmond, CA, for “storage and retrieval of data from a bit vector search index.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”The technology described herein provides for storing and retrieving data in a bit vector search index. The bit vector search index stores data about terms from documents using bit vectors. Each bit vector comprises an array of bits and corresponds to a different set of terms. Each bit in the bit vector is used to represent whether a document includes at least one term from the set of terms. A band table is used to store bit vector configurations for bands of terms having similar term characteristics. Each term is indexed in the bit vector search index according to a bit vector configuration for a band to which it belongs. When identifying bit vector storage locations for terms, explicit mappings are used for some terms and ad hoc approaches used for other terms. Explicit mappings provide specific locations for terms, while ad hoc approaches use mapping algorithms assigned to bands.”

The patent application was filed on June 17, 2016 (15/186,210).

Quorum based reliable low latency storage
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,229,015) developed by Talbert, Nathan Christopher, West, Joel David, Seattle, WA, and Pinto, Edmund Samuel Victor, Duvall, WA, for a “quorum based reliable low latency storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Representative embodiments disclose a consistent, low latency, reliable storage system that uses quorum logic. An odd number of storage nodes are selected to store data for a client application. The odd number allows a quorum to be determined. When data is written to the storage nodes, success is identified if the data is successfully written to a majority of the storage nodes. Similarly, when a read is performed, success is identified if the majority of the storage nodes return the same value written in the same write operation. This is determined by matching a value and a version number for each node. Additional data is written to the storage nodes along with the values to allow the system to identify and repair inconsistencies in the data. In some embodiments, both the current data and prior data are stored to aid in repairing inconsistent data.”

The patent application was filed on October 10, 2016 (15/289,825).

Block storage using hybrid memory device
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,228,881) developed by Lee, Scott Chao-Chueh, Bellevue, WA, Alexander, Robin A., Woodinville, WA, Prewitt, Lee E., Mercer Island, WA, Chen, Chiuchin, and Sadovsky, Vladimir, Bellevue, WA, for a “block storage using a hybrid memory device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for block storage using a hybrid memory device are described. In at least some embodiments, a hybrid memory device includes a volatile memory portion, such as dynamic random access memory, (DRAM). The hybrid memory device further includes non-volatile memory portion, such as flash memory. In at least some embodiments, the hybrid memory device can be embodied as a non-volatile dual in-line memory module, or NVDIMM. Techniques discussed herein employ various functionalities to enable the hybrid memory device to be exposed to various entities as an available block storage device.”

The patent application was filed on November 1, 2016 (15/340,506).

Usage tracking in hybrid cloud computing systems
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,225,253) developed by Pogrebinsky, Vladimir, Redmond, WA, for an “usage tracking in hybrid cloud computing systems.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for facilitating usage tracking in hybrid cloud computing systems are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method can include receiving, from a private cloud computing system, a request for uploading usage data to a storage in a public cloud computing system. The method can also include authenticating the received request based on a service subscription of the private cloud computing system, and upon authentication, providing the private cloud computing system with an access permission to store the usage data in the storage of the computing system. The method can further include receiving the usage data from the private cloud computing system submitted with the access permission and storing the received usage data in the storage of the public cloud computing system.”

The patent application was filed on July 22, 2016 (15/217,541).

Block storage using hybrid memory device
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,223,034) developed by Lee, Scott Chau-Chueh, Bellevue, WA, Alexander, Robin A., Woodinville, WA, Prewitt, Lee E., Mercer Island, WA, Chen, Chiuchin, and Sadovsky, Vladimir, Bellevue, WA, for a “block storage using a hybrid memory device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for block storage using a hybrid memory device are described. In at least some embodiments, a hybrid memory device includes a volatile memory portion, such as dynamic random access memory, (DRAM). The hybrid memory device further includes non-volatile memory portion, such as flash memory. In at least some embodiments, the hybrid memory device can be embodied as a non-volatile dual in-line memory module, or NVDIMM. Techniques discussed herein employ various functionalities to enable the hybrid memory device to be exposed to various entities as an available block storage device.”

The patent application was filed on July 19, 2018 (16/040,427).

Storage device access using unprivileged software code
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,222,993) developed by Malloy, Dmitry, Maple Valley, WA, Bradshaw, Dexter Paul, Duvall, WA, and Sinha, Suyash, Kirkland, WA, for a “storage device access using unprivileged software code.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A computing device and method for establishing more direct access to a storage device from unprivileged code in an unprivileged storage architecture component. Using a storage infrastructure driver to discover and enumerate storage architecture component(s), a user-mode application requests at least one portion of the storage device to store application-related data corresponding to executing input/output activity. The storage infrastructure driver maps the at least one portion of the storage device to substantially match an address space associated with the application-related data and configures at least one path for the user-mode application to perform block-level input/output between the storage device and the unprivileged storage architecture component. A virtual function may be generated corresponding to at least one path between a computing device and the unprivileged storage architecture component to execute input/output activity using the address space. A completion notification mechanism may also be provided.”

The patent application was filed on July 6, 2016 (15/203,527).

Distributed storage quota enforcement
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,218,569) developed by Vano Newman, Joaquin, Duvall, WA, for a “distributed storage quota enforcement.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Embodiments are directed to client-side enforcement of storage quotas in a cloud service or distributed computing environment. A storage driver is configured to monitor access to an external storage system by a cloud process and to enforce storage limits for the external storage system. The storage driver intercepts reads and writes from the process to the external storage system and updates a local state to track the process’s usage of the external storage system. A storage quota database is periodically checked for an updated storage usage and, if the updated storage usage is not present, then the external storage is scanned to obtain the updated storage usage. The updated storage usage is provided to the storage driver, which overwriting the local state. The storage driver continues to update the local state based upon the intercepted reads and writes.”

The patent application was filed on December 23, 2016 (15/390,146).

Heterogeneous file optimization
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,216,759) developed by Kalach, Ran, Bellevue, WA, and Dickson, Mathew James, Sammamish, WA, for a “heterogeneous file optimization.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques are described herein that are capable of heterogeneously optimizing a file. Heterogeneous optimization involves optimizing regions of a file non-uniformly. For example, the regions of the file may be optimized to different extents. In accordance with this example, a different optimization technique may be used to optimize each region or subset of the regions. In one aspect, optimization designations are assigned to respective regions of a file based on access patterns that are associated with the respective regions. The file may be a database file, a virtualized storage file, or other suitable type of file. Each optimization designation indicates an extent to which the respective region is to be optimized. Each region may be optimized to the extent that is indicated by the respective optimization designation that is assigned to that region.”

The patent application was filed on November 22, 2010 (12/951,760).

Data migration to cloud computing
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,216,744) developed by Yap, Joe Keng, Thangaraju, Mahadevan, Sammamish, WA, Livingston, Sean L., Bothell, WA, Cannerozzi, Roberta, Bellevue, WA, Moussa, Ghania, Issaquah, WA, Estrin, Ron Shimon, Bellevue, WA, Lin, Yu-Ting, Bourdages, Simon, Redmond, WA, Nguyen, Trung Duc, Bellevue, WA, Cai, Wenyu, Koehne, Zachary Adam, Simek, Patrick J., Gulati, Sukhvinder Singh, and Canning, Ben, Redmond, WA, for a “data migration to a cloud computing system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A cloud-based migration system exposes a source-independent application programming interface for receiving data to be migrated. The data is uploaded and stored as a single entity in a cloud-based storage system. A migration system then accesses the migration package and begins migrating the data to its destination, from the cloud-based storage system.”

The patent application was filed on September 15, 2015 (14/854,798).

Non-volatile memory cache performance improvement
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,216,637) developed by Ergan, Cenk, Bellevue, WA, Nicholson, Clark D., Seattle, WA, Teodosiu, Dan, Paris, France, DeWhitt, Dean L., Wilson, Emily Nicole, Kodavalla, Hanumantha R., Zwilling, Michael J., Parchem, John M., Fortin, Michael R., Redmond, WA, Obr, Nathan Steven, Seattle, WA, Nagar, Rajeev Y., Yarrow Point, WA, Verma, Surenda, Redmond, WA, Powell, Therron, Bluffdale, UT, Westerinen, William J., Redmond, WA, Zbikowski, Mark Joseph, and Stemen, Patrick L., Redmond, WA, for a “non-volatile memory cache performance improvement.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”In order to provide a more efficient persistent storage device, one or more long-term storage media are included along with a non-volatile memory. In one embodiment, one portion of the non-volatile memory is used as a write buffer and a read cache for writes and reads to the long-term storage media. Interfaces are provided for controlling the use of the non-volatile memory as a write buffer and a read cache. Additionally, a portion of the non-volatile memory is used to provide a direct mapping for specified sectors of the long-term storage media. Descriptive data regarding the persistent storage device is stored in another portion of the non-volatile memory.”

The patent application was filed on July 21, 2016 (15/216,059).

Log-structured storage for data access
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,216,629) developed by Lomet, David B., Redmond, WA, Levandoski, Justin, Seattle, WA, and Sengupta, Sudipta, Redmond, WA, for a “log-structured storage for data access.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data manager may include a data opaque interface configured to provide, to an arbitrarily selected page-oriented access method, interface access to page data storage that includes latch-free access to the page data storage. In another aspect, a swap operation may be initiated, of a portion of a first page in cache layer storage to a location in secondary storage, based on initiating a prepending of a partial swap delta record to a page state associated with the first page, the partial swap delta record including a main memory address indicating a storage location of a flush delta record that indicates a location in secondary storage of a missing part of the first page. In another aspect, a page manager may initiate a flush operation of a first page in cache layer storage to a location in secondary storage, based on atomic operations with flush delta records.”

The patent application was filed on December 7, 2016 (15/372,381).

Storage systems and aliased memory
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,216,437) developed by Tipton, William R., Seattle, WA, Verma, Surendra, Bellevue, WA, Wang, Landy, Honolulu, HI, and Smith, Malcolm James, Bellevue, WA, for “storage systems and aliased memory.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to storage systems and aliased memory. In aspects, a file system driver or other component may send a request to a memory controller to create an alias between two blocks of memory. One of the blocks of memory may be used for main memory while the other of the blocks of memory may be used for a storage system. In response, the memory controller may create an alias between the blocks of memory. Until the alias is severed, when the memory controller receives a request for data from the block in main memory, the memory controller may respond with data from the memory block used for the storage system. The memory controller may also implement other actions as described herein.”

The patent application was filed on May 30, 2017 (15/608,690).

Chunk storage deduplication using graph structures
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,210,170) developed by Kuhtz, Lars, Seattle, WA, Erickson, John Thomas, Mercer Island, WA, Sengupta, Sudipta, Redmond, WA, Sridharan, Vinod, Bellevue, WA, Dou, Xianzheng, Ann Arbor, MI, and Schulte, Wolfram, Bellevue, WA, for a “chunk storage deduplication using graph structures.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Deduplication is integrated with software building and chunk storing. A dedup module includes dedup software, a build graph interface, and a chunk store interface. A dedup graph includes a portion of the build graph, and a portion that represents build artifact file chunks. The dedup software queries whether chunks are present in the chunk store, submits a chunk for storage when the chunk is not already present, and avoids submitting the chunk when it is present. Queries may use hash comparisons, a hash tree dedup graph, chunk expiration dates, content addressable chunk store memory, inference of a child node’s presence, recursion, and a local cache of node hashes and node expiration dates, for example. A change caused by the build impacts fewer dedup graph nodes than directory graph nodes, resulting in fewer storage operations to update the chunk storage with new or changed build artifacts.”

The patent application was filed on January 28, 2017 (15/418,704).

Secure removal of sensitive data
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,209,907) developed by DeFilippi, Geoffrey Naismith, Issaquah, WA, Tipke, Joel D., Seattle, WA, Bailey, Michael Ernest, Sumner, WA, Gardner, Charles Clayton, North Bend, WA, and Goodall, Grant D., Bothell, WA, for a “secure removal of sensitive data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Representative embodiments disclose how to remove spilled data from an unauthorized system and/or service in a cloud service. Some embodiments allow a user to remove spilled data in a secure fashion without involving an administrator. Spilled data resides in a data structure backed by allocated storage locations. The system presents a user interface allowing a user to enter information that allows identification of the allocated storage locations. The spilled data is removed from the data structure leaving whitespace in the allocated storage locations where remnants of the spilled data can reside. The system creates a copy of the data structure, removing the whitespace. The system connects the copy of the data structure in place of the original data structure. The original allocated storage locations are then overwritten in a secure manner to remove any remnants of the spilled data.”

The patent application was filed on June 14, 2016 (15/182,382).

Storage virtualization offload
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,209,899) developed by Oshins, Jacob, Seattle, WA, and Christiansen, Neal, Bellevue, WA, for a “storage virtualization offload.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Embodiments relate to off-loading aspects of storage virtualization to storage hardware and modifying software to take advantage of hardware virtualization features. A co-design of hardware and software allows a filesystem to provide files such that indirection overhead normally needed to access the content of files can be bypassed while still managing the files as filesystem objects. A storage device manages and exposes a virtual volume which is used to store the content of a file. Virtual volumes can be initialized or populated so that virtual blocks therein align with device storage blocks. A virtual volume can be initialized and populated by parsing a virtual disk file to access virtual disk metadata, which is then used to determine and set features of the virtual volume.”

The patent application was filed on November 6, 2015 (14/934,158).

Synchronizing contents of removable storage devices with multimedia network
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,204,338) developed by Lee, Victor S., Sunnyvale, CA, for “synchronizing contents of removable storage devices with a multimedia network.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods, systems, and engines are presented for synchronizing contents of removable storage devices with a multimedia network. In one implementation, a change in status of a connection between a removable storage device and a multimedia network is detected. A network inventory list of recordings is updated, triggered by the change in connection status. A change in the recording content, associated metadata, or digital rights of a recording may also trigger an update of the network inventory list. A network scheduler can use the updated network inventory list to accurately reflect those recordings actually available to the multimedia network for playback and recording, or available to an unauthorized user for purchase, including the recordings on removable storage devices.”

The patent application was filed on November 24, 2004 (10/997,418).

Theft and tamper resistant data protection
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (10,204,241) developed by Field, Scott A., Redmond, WA, Thoram, Aravind N., Sammamish, WA, Walton, John Michael, Zhou, Dayi, Redmond, WA, Semenko, Alex M., Issaquah, WA, and Ben-Menahem, Avraham Michael, Sammamish, WA, for “theft and tamper resistant data protection.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods are provided for adding security to client data by maintaining keys providing access to the client data remotely from the client data. In some circumstances, the systems encrypt a cluster of data using an encryption key, associate the cluster of encrypted data with a unique identifier and send the unique identifier and the decryption key to a server for storage. The decryption key is then received from the server and is used to decrypt the cluster of encrypted data. A server can also perform policy checks or trigger additional authentication such as SMS, phone, or email notification before allowing access to a key. Furthermore, in some instances, the server can also prevent access to the stored keys in response to anomalies, such as decommissioning and other asset management events.”

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2017 (15/639,613).