1. An apparatus for directing communications among a plurality of resources, comprising:
one or more switch components configured to:
analyze each of a plurality of data flows; and
determine if each of the data flows is associated with a requested resource and:
when the data flow is associated with the requested resource, direct the data flow to the requested resource; and
when the data flow is not associated with a requested resource, request instructions from a control component;
one or more control components each configured to:
receive instruction requests from the one or more switch components for instructions on handling the data flow when the data flow is not associated with a requested resource, wherein if a failed control component is unable to process instruction requests, one or more other control components process the instruction requests to provide fault tolerance for the failed control component; and
provide instructions to the switch component for handling the unassociated data flow for one of:
handling of subsequent data flows not associated with a requested resource to achieve load balancing between the one or more resources; and
delete a data flow that has timed out, wherein a capacity of each of the one or more switch components and a capacity of the one or more of control components is independently scalable by one or more of:
changing the capacity of one or more of the switch components and one or more of the control components; and
changing one or more of a number of the switch components and control components.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more switch components is further configured to:
receive a plurality of data packets; and
categorize groups of one of more data packets into one or more data flows.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more switch components is configured to access a data flow table to determine from each of the data flows if the data flow is associated with the requested resource.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein at least one of the one or more switch components and the one or more control components is further configured to modify the data flow table.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein at least one of the one or more switch components and the one or more control components is further configured to modify the data flow table to reflect the instructions for handling a subsequent data flow presenting a previously unassociated flow data flow.
6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein one of the one or more switch components and the one or more control components is further configured to:
identify an occurrence of an event associated with the data flow; and
respond to the event by modifying the data flow table to alter a response to subsequent data flows affected by the event.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the event includes one of:
an overflow condition; and
a timeout condition.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data flow includes information about a source and a destination for each data packet in the data flow.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data flow includes a timestamp.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more switch components collect information regarding each connection to each resource.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the information includes one or more of:
a most active flow;
a least active flow;
a most recent activity; and
a time the data flow was opened.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more switch components and the one or more control components communicate over a message bus.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more switch components and the one or more of control components are configured to communicate asynchronously.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more of control components is configured to perform control and policy enforcement actions for each flow.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more control components share a load of instruction requests from the one or more switch components.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more control components are configured process requests from the one or more switch components directed to an other control component when the other control component fails to operate.
17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the one or more switch components are implemented with dedicated hardware components; and
the one or more control components are implemented with a programmable processing unit executing instructions stored in a rewritable memory device.
18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes a server array controller configured to configured to perform the functions of the one or more switch components and the one or more of control components.
19. A method for directing communications among a plurality of resources, comprising:
employing one or more switch components to:
analyze each of a plurality of data flows; and
determine if the data flow is associated with a requested resource and:
when the data flow is associated with the requested resource, direct the data flow to the requested resource; and
when the data flow is unassociated with a requested resource, request instructions from a control component;
employing a plurality of control components configured to:
receive requests from the one or more switch components for instructions on handling the unassociated data flow, wherein if a failed control component is unable to process instruction requests, one or more other control components process the instruction requests to provide fault tolerance for the failed control component; and
provide instructions to the one or more switch components for handling the unassociated data flow for one of:
handling of subsequent data flows not associated with a requested resource to achieve load balancing between the one or more resources; and
delete a data flow that has timed out;
scaling a capacity of the one or more switch components by one of changing a capacity of the one or more switch components and a number of the switch components used; and
scaling a capacity of the plurality of control components by one of changing a capacity of the plurality of control components and a number of the control components used.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the plurality of control components shares a load of instruction requests from the one or more switch components.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more switch components and the plurality of control components communicate asynchronously.
22. An apparatus for directing communications among a plurality of resources, comprising:
one or more hardware-based switch components having a switching capacity scalable by changing one of a capacity and a number of the switch components, each of the switch components being configured to:
receive a plurality of data packets;
categorize groups of one of more data packets into one or more data flows; and
determine if each of the data flows is associated with a requested resource and:
when the data flow is associated with the requested resource, direct the data flow to the requested resource; and
when the data flow is not associated with the requested resource, request instructions from a control component;
a plurality of control components, each of the control components having a control capacity scalable by changing one of a capacity and a number of the control components, each of the control components being configured to:
receive a request from at least one switch component for instructions on handling the unassociated data flow;
provide instructions to the switch component for handling the unassociated data flow; and
replace another failing control component in processing instruction requests from the one or more switch components when the failing control component fails to operate;
an asynchronous message bus over which the one or more switch components and the plurality of control components communicate; and
a data flow table accessible to the one or more switch components and to the plurality of control components for one of determining and changing a response of the apparatus to data flows according whether each is associated or unassociated with a requested resource.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein one of the one or more switch components and the plurality of control components is configured to:
determine when an event associated with the data flow occurs; and
respond to the event, wherein the event includes one of:
an overflow condition; and
a timeout condition.
24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the one or more switch components collect information regarding each connection to each resource, including one or more of:
a most active flow;
a least active flow;
a most recent activity; and
a time the data flow was opened.
25. A method for directing a plurality of data among a plurality of resources, comprising:
monitoring which of the plurality of resources is to receive an existing data flow;
providing one or more switch components configured to:
when the data flow is associated with a specified resource, direct the existing data flow to the requested resource; and
when the data flow is not associated with a specified resource, request instructions from a control component;
providing a plurality of control components configured to: receive requests from the one or more switch components for instructions on handling the unassociated data flow;
provide instructions to the switch component for handling the unassociated data flow, including one of:
handling of subsequent data flows not associated with a requested resource to achieve load balancing between the one or more resources; and
delete a data flow that has timed out; and replace a failing control component in processing instruction requests from the one or more switch components when the failing control component fails to operate to provide fault tolerance for the failing control component;
scaling a capacity of the one or more switch components by one of changing a capacity of the one or more switch components and a number of the switch components used; and
scaling a capacity of the plurality of control components by one of changing a capacity of the plurality of control components and a number of the control components used.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein:
the one or more switch components are implemented with dedicated hardware components; and
the plurality of control components are implemented with a programmable processing unit executing instructions stored in a rewritable memory device.
27. An apparatus for directing communications among a plurality of resources, comprising:
a controller;
one or more switch components operably coupled with the controller and configured to:
monitor a plurality of data flows,
identify a first group of data flows associated with one or more resources and a second group of data flows unassociated with the one or more requested resources, and one of:
direct the first group of data flows to the requested resources; and
request data flow direction instructions from one or more control components, which when executed by the one or more switch components, enable the switch components to direct the second group of data flows to a resource specified by the one or more control components; and
the one or more control components, operably coupled with the controller, being configured to:
receive the requests for the data flow direction instructions for the one or more switch components, wherein when a failing control component is unable to process from the one or more switch components, an other of the control components provides fault tolerance for the failing control component;
provide the one or more switch components with the data flow direction instructions for directing the second group of data flows to the particular location, including one of:
handling of subsequent data flows not associated with a requested resource to achieve load balancing between the one or more resources; and
delete a data flow that has timed out; and
wherein the controller is configured to independently scale a capacity of the one or more switch components and a capacity of the one or more control components by at least one of:
adjusting the capacity of the one or more switch components and the capacity of the one or more control components to direct at least one of the first and second groups of data flows; and
utilizing a fewer or greater number of the one or more switch components or the one or more control components to direct at least one of the first and second groups of data flows.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-19. (canceled)
20. A system for managing immunization and disease information comprising:
a computer-readable database that stores disease information, vaccination information, electronic patient records, and vaccine administration data;
a service provider transaction module for receiving service provider input data comprising biographical patient information corresponding to patients receiving vaccinations and location of vaccination administration and data selected from the group consisting of patient medical history, vaccination date, vaccination lot number, and adverse event data relating to an adverse reaction to a vaccine, said service provider input data being stored in corresponding said electronic patient records and being used to generate said vaccine administration data, and transmitting output data from said database to service providers, said output data being selected from the group consisting of said disease information, said vaccination information, and said electronic patient records, said disease information and said vaccination information comprising, respectively, information about a vaccine preventable disease and the vaccine therefor;
a patient transaction module configured to provide a patient with said disease information, said vaccination information and his corresponding one of said electronic patient records from said database, and to receive patient input data from the patient for storage in the corresponding one of said electronic patient records in said database, said patent input data comprising adverse reaction data relating to an adverse reaction in the patient from a vaccination and other data selected from the group consisting of biographical patient information, patient medical history, and vaccination history, said adverse reaction data comprising measurements of the patient’s temperature and size of selected characteristics of a site of said vaccination on the patient’s body and digital images of the site of said vaccination taken on each of a plurality of days;
wherein said database is configured to store said measurements and said digital images in said vaccine administration data and relate them to the corresponding one of said electronic patient records for said patient and to said vaccination administered by said service provider, and selected ranges for each of said measurements for each of the plurality of days; and
wherein said service provider transaction module is configured to determine when at least one of said measurements is outside the selected range corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of days and generate an alert indicating that referral of the patient to a health provider is recommended.
21. A system as claimed in claim 22, wherein said customer is selected from the group consisting of a government, a state government, a national government, a hospital, a health clinic, a call center, a retailer, a pharmacy, a corporation, an employer, a regulatory group, a government agency, and a disease control center.
22. A system as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a customer transaction module for providing said vaccination administration data and said disease information retrieved from the database to a customer upon request, said customer transaction module being configured to analyze said vaccination administration data to identify which of said patients in a selected group have been vaccinated with a selected vaccine, and to analyze said disease information comprising symptoms being experienced by said patients and documented in said electronic patient records for epidemic evaluation and control.
23. A system as claimed in claim 22, wherein said customer transaction module is configured to analyze said vaccination administration information and determine compliance with regulatory requirements relating to vaccinations.
24. A system as claimed in claim 22, wherein said system is implemented by said customer for bio-terrorism preparedness.
25. (canceled)
26. A system as claimed in claim 20 further comprising at least one remote processing device programmable to collect and store said service provider input data.
27. A system as claimed in claim 26, wherein said remote processing device comprises an application program configured to automatically generate Center for Disease Control Vaccine Adverse Event Reports with data from said electronic patient records and said vaccination administration data.
28. A system as claimed in claim 45, wherein clinic-specific information about a selected clinic is retrieved from said vaccination administration data in said database to generate clinic reports regarding vaccinations occurring at the clinic.
29. A system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said clinic-specific information is selected from the group consisting of a Center for Disease Control Vaccinia IND Roster listing clinic activity, said electronic patient records of patients who visited the clinic, a summary of vaccine adverse events.
30. A system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said clinic-specific information for a plurality of clinics is retrieved from said vaccination administration data in said database to generate reports regarding multiple vaccination administration locations.
31-35. (canceled)
36. A method of collecting and storing immunization data comprising the steps of:
establishing at least one ad-hoc network comprising at least one immunization mobile station in communication with a data center, said data center being configured to store disease information and vaccination information relating, respectively to a vaccine preventable disease and vaccine therefore, said immunization mobile station operating in a global mode when connected to said data center;
providing at least one of said disease information and said vaccination information at said immunization mobile station in response to a request therefor;
presenting at least one of said disease information and said vaccination information to patients receiving a vaccination via said immunization mobile station if requested;
configuring said immunization mobile station with at least one application for collecting and storing patient data and vaccination administration data relating to patients receiving a vaccination administered at a location remote with respect to said data center;
generating electronic patient records comprising said patient data and said vaccination administration data via said immunization mobile station;
transmitting via said immunization mobile station said electronic patient records to said data center for synchronization and storage in a database when said immunization mobile station is operating in the global mode; and
configuring said immunization mobile station to operate as a group master in a group mode with a plurality of other immunization mobile stations by communicating directly with one another via peer-to-peer communication and exchanging information comprising at least said patient data and said vaccination administration data via a second ad-hoc network even when no connectivity to said data center is available, said immunization mobile station maintaining and synchronizing said exchanged information for said plurality of other immunization mobile stations at said immunization mobile station while in group mode and providing said exchanged information to said data center when connectivity to said data center is available.
37. A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the steps of:
determining a health risk to a patient for receiving a vaccination based on said patient data and said vaccination information;
inputting data relating to the health risk via said immunization mobile station; and
generating automatically via said immunization mobile station a recommendation regarding vaccination based on said health risk.
38. A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the steps of:
generating via said immunization mobile station a digital image of a symptom appearing on a patient; and
storing said digital image in one of said electronic patient records corresponding to the patient.
39. A method as claimed in claim 38, wherein said symptom is a smallpox lesion.
40. A method as claimed in claim 36 further comprising the steps of:
generating adverse event data relating to adverse side effects of a vaccination experienced by a patient using said application; and
storing said adverse event data in one of said electronic patient records corresponding to the patient.
41. A method as claimed in claim 40, wherein said application is programmable to generate screens to guide users when entering said adverse event data to comply with protocols for documenting adverse events to vaccines.
42. A method as claimed in claim 41, wherein said application is programmable to collect and store said adverse events data automatically and in compliance with a protocol set forth by at least one of the Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health.
43. A method as claimed in claim 36, wherein said application is programmed to allow said patient to generate and store diary entries on respective dates relating to symptoms appearing on a patient in said electronic patient record, said diary entries being generated using at least one of said immunization mobile station and a web browser and synchronized with said immunization mobile station and said data center.
44. (canceled)
45. A system for managing immunization and disease information comprising:
a computer-readable database that stores disease information, vaccination information, electronic patient records, and vaccine administration data;
a service provider transaction module for
receiving service provider input data selected from the group consisting of biographical patient information corresponding to patients receiving vaccinations, patient medical history, vaccination date, vaccination lot number, location of vaccination administration, adverse event data relating to an adverse reaction to a vaccine, said service provider input data being stored in corresponding said electronic patient records and being used to generate said vaccine administration data, and
transmitting output data from said database to service providers, said output data being selected from the group consisting of said disease information, said vaccination information, and said electronic patient records, said disease information and said vaccination information comprising, respectively, information about a vaccine preventable disease and the vaccine therefor,
said service provider transaction module being mobile and provided in a computer located at a clinic corresponding to one of a plurality of temporary and moveable locations of vaccination administration and comprising a global positionmapping module, said computer being operable remotely from said database and selectively synchronized with said database, said service provider transaction module in said computer being configured to process said vaccination administration data comprising tracking data relating to said patients vaccinated at said clinic, and to generate clinic-specific reports comprising data relating to vaccinations administered at said clinic and adverse events reported at said clinic; and
wherein a plurality of said service provider transaction module are provided in a computer at corresponding ones of said plurality of locations of vaccination administration to create a plurality of clinics; and
a customer computer connected to said database;
wherein said database is configured to receive and store clinic-specific said vaccination administration data from said computer at each of said plurality of clinics, said clinic-specific vaccination administration data comprising identification of said location of vaccination administration via said global positionmapping module, patient information corresponding to patients receiving vaccinations at said location of vaccination administration, vaccination date, vaccination lot number, and follow-up data relating to a reaction to a vaccine at said location of vaccination administration;
wherein said customer computer is configured to analyze said clinic-specific vaccination administration data associated with selected ones of said plurality of clinics to determine for each of said selected clinics a clinic average for at least one parameter associated with said follow-up data, and to compare said clinic average with an overall average for said parameter for tracing and analysis of epidemic spread and control via vaccination based on said identification of said location of each of said selected clinics and said average comparisons.
46. A system as claimed in claim 20, wherein said service provider transaction module is configured to retrieve said digital images for said patient for each of a plurality of days and baseline photos for comparison and generate a notification to a government agency for disease tracking when a lesion captured in one of said digital images is determined to require expert assessment and notification to the government agency.