Author: claimsbot

1. A method for minimizing bandwidth usage between a media device and a communication server in a communication system, the method comprising:
at the communication server:
receiving, from a first client, a request for a first session and a first floor request for a media source at the media device;
receiving, from a second client, a request for a second session and a second floor request for the media source;
granting the requests for the first and second sessions, wherein the first session is separate from the second session;
determining that the first and second floor requests are for the same media source;
receiving media from the media source using a single media stream established using floor control signaling;
in response to the first floor request, delivering the media to the first client during the first session; and
in response to the second floor request, delivering the media to the second client during the second session.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a single message from the first client includes both the request for the first session and the first floor request.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein a single message from the second client includes both the request for the second session and the second floor request.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication server logically links the separate first and second sessions to a shared session with the media device.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the separate first and second sessions are logically linked by being assigned the same session identifier.
6. The method of claim 4 further comprising, the communication server:
receiving a request, from the first client, to terminate the first session;
receiving a request, from the second client, to terminate the second session; and
upon determining that no other clients have an active session that is logically linked to the shared session with the media device, terminating the shared session.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the communication server determining bandwidth allocation for the media source and at least one other media source that share a common uplink, wherein the bandwidth allocation is determined based at least on: a maximum bandwidth requirement for any of the media sources that share the common uplink; and the number of media sources that share the common uplink.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, the communication server:
receiving, from the first client, a floor release request for the media source;
determining whether any other clients are receiving the media from the media source; and
when no other clients are receiving the media from the media source, sending the floor release request to the media device.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the floor release request comprises a floor request for a second media source at the media device.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the floor release request comprises a request to terminate the first session.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein using floor control signaling to establish the single media stream comprises, the communication server:
sending a floor grant to the media device for the media source in response to the first floor request;
determining to withhold sending another grant to the media source in response to the second floor request as a result of determining that the first and second floor requests are for the same media source.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising, the communication server:
determining that the media device includes multiple media sources; and
sending parameters to the media device for establishing a separate media stream for each media source at the media device.
13. The method of claim 12 further comprising, the communication server:
receiving a third floor request, from the first client, for a second different media source at the media device;
receiving media from the second media source using a single second media stream established using floor control signaling and established using the parameters sent to the media device; and
sending the media from the second media source to the first client in response to the third floor request.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising, the communication server:
receiving a fourth floor request, from the second client, for the second media source; and
in response to the fourth floor request, sending to the second client the media that the communication server received using the second media stream.
15. A communication server for minimizing bandwidth usage between a media device and the communication server in a communication system, the communication server comprising:
a call controller that:
receives, from a first client, a request for a first session and a first floor request for a media source at the media device and establishes a first floor arbiter;
receives, from a second client, a request for a second session and a second floor request for the media source, and establishes a second floor arbiter;
grants the requests for the first and second sessions, wherein the first session is separate from the second session; and
determines that the first and second floor requests are for the same media source and generates a shared media source arbiter that interfaces between the media device and the first and second floor arbiters;

the first floor arbiter that exchanges floor control signaling with the first client to respond to the first floor request;
the second floor arbiter that exchanges floor control signaling with the second client to respond to the second floor request;
the shared arbiter that exchanges floor control signaling with the media device to cause media to be sent from the media source to the communication server using a single media stream; and
a media manager that delivers the media to the first client during the first session and delivers the media to the second client during the second session.
16. The communication server of claim 15 further comprising a bandwidth manager that determines bandwidth allocation for the media source and at least one other media source that share a common uplink, wherein the bandwidth allocation is determined based at least on: a maximum bandwidth requirement for any of the media sources that share the common uplink; and the number of media sources that share the common uplink.

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. A method of manufacturing a fixture of a dental implant, the method comprising:
cutting the fixture of the dental implant to form a male screw portion of the fixture;
forming a fixed groove in the male screw portion of the fixture to surround a portion of the male screw portion in a circumferential direction of the male screw portion, wherein a protection jig comprising a body portion having a combination hole inserted and fixed in the male screw portion of the fixture; and at least one fixed protrusion formed in an internal side of the combination hole so as to be inserted in the fixed groove of the fixture and fixed therein;
performing jig fixing in such a way that the protection jig is inserted in a ring-shaped male screw portion to surround a portion of the male screw portion of the fixture in a circumferential direction of the protection jig;
performing surface processing on the male screw portion of the fixture to increase a surface roughness; and
performing jig removal in such a way that the protection jig fixed on the male screw portion is removed from the male screw portion of the fixture.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the protection jig is formed of polymer having elasticity.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein a female screw portion is formed at an inner diameter of the protection jig to be engaged with the male screw portion.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing of surface processing is performed using sandblasting.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing of surface processing is performed using anodization.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the fixed protrusion of the protection jig is ring-shaped.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of fixed protrusions of the protection jig are disposed in such a way that the plurality of fixed protrusions of the protection jig are separated from one another in a circumferential direction of the combination hole.

What is claimed is:

1. A fixing device for fixing a seat to a vehicle floor, the seat having a seat proper which extends between a front end and a rear end, and the device comprising firstly a base designed to support the seat proper and which extends horizontally between a front end and a rear end, and secondly a rear coupling and a front coupling that are secured to the base, the front coupling comprising:
an anchoring fork provided firstly with a first notch designed to co-operate with a rear rod secured to the floor when the seat proper is in an in-use position in which the rear coupling co-operates with fixing means on the floor to hold the seat proper substantially horizontal, and secondly with a second notch designed to co-operate with a front rod secured to the floor when the seat proper is in a tilted-forwards position in which the rear coupling no longer co-operates with the fixing means on the floor so as to allow the seat proper to be inclined relative to the horizontal; and
first and second hooks mounted on the anchoring fork to move between an unlocked position and a locked position in which said first hook and said second hook respectively co-operate with the first notch and the second notch to form first and second closed recesses, the rear rod and the front rod being held captive respectively in the first closed recess and in the second closed recess when the seat is in the tilted-forwards position;
wherein the first hook is adapted to be in its locked position while holding the rear rod captive in the first closed recess when the seat proper is put in place on the floor of the vehicle, and when the seat proper is in the tilted-forwards position and in the in-use position, and wherein the seat proper pivots about the rear rod only, between its tilted-forwards position and its in-use position.
2. A device according to claim 1, in which the first and second hooks are urged by resilient means into their locked positions, and each of the first and second hooks has a cam surface adapted to come to bear against the rod that is associated with it to cause the corresponding hook to move into its unlocked position while causing the closed recess to open temporarily until the corresponding rod is held captive.
3. A device according to claim 2, in which the first notch has an end-wall against which the rear rod bears while the seat proper is pivoting between its tilted-forwards position and its in-use position.
4. A device according to claim 3, in which the first and second hooks are formed from a single plate mounted to pivot on the anchoring fork, and the resilient means comprise a spring having a first end fixed to the plate and a second end fixed to the anchoring fork to enable the first and second hooks to be returned resiliently to their locked positions.
5. A device according to claim 3, in which the first hook is formed on a first arm mounted to pivot on the anchoring fork about a first pivot and the second hook is formed on a second arm mounted to pivot on the anchoring fork about a second pivot, the resilient means comprise a spring having a first end fixed to the first arm and a second end fixed to the anchoring fork so as to enable the first hook to be returned resiliently to its locked position, and the first and second arms have shapes adapted so that, when the first hook is urged into its locked position by the spring acting on the first arm, the first arm can push the second arm away, thereby bringing the second hook into its locked position.
6. A device according to claim 5, in which the second arm is provided with a handle member to enable the second hook to pivot temporarily into its unlocked position, said second arm being adapted to push the first arm away, thereby bringing the first hook into its unlocked position.
7. A device according to claim 2, in which the anchoring fork is provided with a guide tip designed to co-operate with the rear rod on the floor, while the seat proper is being put in place on said floor so as to-bring the cam surface of the first hook into register with the rear rod.
8. A device according to claim 1, in which the first and second notches of the anchoring fork are of oblong shape, are open towards the front of the seat, and extend horizontally when the seat is in the in-use position.
9. A device according to claim 1, in which the base comprises at least one first rail on which the front coupling and the rear coupling are mounted, and a second rail mounted to slide on the first rail, and which is designed to be fixed to the seat proper of the seat to enable the seat proper to move forwards and backwards.
10. A vehicle seat having a seat proper which is mounted on the floor of the vehicle by means of at least one fixing device according to claim 1.

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. A hybrid tracking system for collecting online user behavior and assigning an affiliate commission to an affiliate, the hybrid tracking system comprising a server with a processor, memory, input device, and further comprising:
an affiliate management module containing program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to perform operations of registering an affiliate, creating a marketing campaign, and storing a tracking pixel for download to affiliate web pages in response to user input entered through the input device;
a data collection module containing program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to perform operations of: (i) obtaining user click and conversion behavior data received by the server from an end user’s computing device, and (ii) storing the received data in the memory; and
a reporting and analysis module containing program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to perform operations of (i) displaying conversion data unassociated with an affiliate in an assignment interface, and (ii) updating unassociated conversion data with manually assigned affiliates based on user input through the input device which indicates an affiliate to properly credit for the selected conversions.
2. The hybrid tracking system of claim 1 wherein the server memory comprises a tracking database and the data collection module program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to interacting with the tracking database.
3. The hybrid tracking system of claim 1 wherein the server memory comprises a cache memory and the data collection module program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to interacting with cache memory.
4. The hybrid tracking system of claim 1 wherein the reporting and analysis module comprises program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to determine commissions for affiliate conversions.
5. A method for assigning an affiliate commission to an affiliate in an affiliate tracking system having a server interacting through a network with a user’s browser in a computing device, comprising steps of:
obtaining user click and conversion behavior data received by the server from an end user’s computing device related to an affiliate marketing campaign;
displaying conversion data unassociated with an affiliate from the server in an assignment interface displaying unassigned conversions;
updating unassociated conversion data with manually assigned affiliates based on user input through an input device coupled to the server which indicates an affiliate to properly credit for the selected conversions; and
determining commissions for affiliate conversions based on the manually assigned affiliates.
6. A hybrid tracking system for collecting online user behavior and assigning an affiliate commission to an affiliate without using a cookie stored on a user’s computing device, the hybrid tracking system comprising a server with a processor, memory, input device, and further comprising:
an affiliate management module containing program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to perform operations of registering an affiliate, creating a marketing campaign, and storing a tracking pixel for download to affiliate web pages in response to user input entered through the input device; and
a data collection module containing program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to perform operations of: (i) obtaining user click and conversion behavior data received by the server from an end user’s computing device through the use of a script running on the end user’s computing device, (ii) cookieless tracking is initiated by: storing a record in the hybrid tracking system server memory which comprises the obtained user click and conversion behavior data related to the universal resource locator (URL) for the tracking pixel, forming a cache pixel value associated with the record, and sending the cache pixel value to the user’s computing device, (iii) cookieless tracking continues when a conversion event occurs by: redirecting a user’s browser on the computing device to the URL for the tracking pixel, receiving a query from the computing device to determine whether a match to the cache pixel exists in the hybrid tracking system server memory, logging the conversion event as tracked when the match is determined.
7. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the data collection module program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to form the cache pixel by hashing together some of the obtained user click and conversion behavior data to create an eTag value.
8. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the cache pixel value is associated with the URL for the tracking pixel.
9. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the obtained user click and conversion behavior data comprises campaign data selected from the group consisting of: program id, affiliate id, cookie id, date stamp, tracked value, tracked date, lead information and banner id.
10. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the conversion event comprises a sale.
11. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the conversion event comprises a lead.
12. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the server memory comprises a tracking database and the data collection module program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to interact with the tracking database.
13. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 wherein the server memory comprises a cache memory and the data collection module program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to interact with cache memory.
14. The hybrid tracking system of claim 6 further comprising a reporting and analysis module containing program code which when executed by the processor causes the server to determine a commission for an affiliate based on the logged conversion event.
15. A hybrid tracking method for collecting online user behavior and assigning an affiliate commission to an affiliate without using a cookie stored on a user’s computing device, the hybrid tracking method network performed by a server having a processor and memory operating under the control of program code within a software module and comprising steps of:
registering an affiliate, creating a marketing campaign, and storing a tracking pixel for download to affiliate web pages in response to user input entered through the input device;
obtaining user click and conversion behavior data received by the server from an end user’s computing device through the use of a script running on the end user’s computing device,
initiating cookieless tracking by storing a record in the server memory, the record comprising the obtained user click and conversion behavior data related to the universal resource locator (URL) for the tracking pixel;
forming a cache pixel value associated with the record;
sending the cache pixel value to the user’s computing device;
redirecting a user’s browser on the computing device to the URL for the tracking pixel when a conversion event occurs;
receiving a query from the computing device to determine whether a match to the cache pixel exists in the server memory; and
logging the conversion event as tracked in the server memory when the match is determined.
16. The hybrid tracking method of claim 15 wherein the forming step comprises hashing together some of the obtained user click and conversion behavior data to create an eTag value as the cache pixel.
17. The hybrid tracking method of claim 15 wherein the cache pixel value is associated with the URL for the tracking pixel.
18. The hybrid tracking method of claim 15 wherein the obtained user click and conversion behavior data comprises campaign data selected from the group consisting of: program id, affiliate id, cookie id, date stamp, tracked value, tracked date, lead information and banner id.
19. The hybrid tracking method of claim 15 wherein the conversion event comprises a sale.
20. The hybrid tracking method of claim 15 wherein the conversion event comprises a lead.
21. The hybrid tracking method of claim 15 further comprising a step of determining a commission for an affiliate based on the logged conversion event in the server memory.