US07882113B2
Control statements related to record input, output, filtering, and formatting in a data processing system are scanned by a parser to ascertain a set of specified formats referenced in the control statements. A time generation module receives a time metric provided by a system timer or the like and converts the time metric to a set of time sub-fields ranging from years to seconds. The sub-fields are concatenated to generate a time constant in each specified format. The generated time constants may be inserted into records or used in comparison operations with time-based fields within data records. The present invention increases the utility of a data processing system while minimizing the processing burden associated with formatting time constants.
US07882112B2
An image search device is provided which relatively easily outputs images that a user wishes to use for interpolation from among a large volume of stored image content data.The image search device includes: a degree-of-association database (102) which stores degrees of association between images; an input unit (103) which receives a first image and a second image; an interpolation range computing unit (104) which computes interpolation range including first photographing location of the first image and second photographing location of the second image; an imaging content inferring unit (107) which infers imaging content of interpolation images based on the degree of association between the first image and an image belonging to the interpolation range and the degree of association between the second image and the image belonging to the interpolation range; an interpolation image obtaining unit (108) which obtains interpolation images from among candidate images using the inferred imaging content; and an output unit (109) which outputs the interpolation images.
US07882103B2
A data-warehousing system allows various areas of an enterprise to view data at varying levels of data freshness. The system acquires data that represents an event in the life of a business enterprise, such as a transaction between the enterprise and one of its customers, and loads this data into a database table. The system then makes the data available for retrieval from the table and stores information indicating when the data was made available for retrieval. In some embodiments, the system also acquires data that is related to and more current than the data representing the event and stores the more current data in the database. The system then stores information indicating when the more current data was stored in the database. Such a data warehouse allows decision-makers in the business to see some information (e.g., customer transaction or account data) up-to-the-moment and other information as it stood at some specific point-in-time, such as at the end of the previous month. The data-warehousing system does this without requiring duplication of data, i.e., without requiring the replication of data in multiple databases or tables. The system allows the enterprise to maintain all of its data in a single database with refresh periods as short as the enterprise wishes. Departments that demand data that changes less frequently can view the data as it stood at some point prior to the last refresh.
US07882090B2
A method for providing customized help, the method comprising: retrieving a first help content from a first help datastore in response to a help request received from a user, the first help datastore storing a plurality of help content each associated with a respective help identifier; retrieving a second help content from a second help datastore, the second help datastore storing a plurality of help content each associated with a respective help identifier, the second help content having the same help identifier as the first help content; generating a help presentation file comprising the first help content and the second help content; wherein one the first help datastore or the second help datastore is editable by the user and the other help datastore is non-editable by the user.
US07882088B2
A method for transferring data from a data warehouse. The method includes selecting data from a data warehouse, generating a data transfer worklist including the data, and transferring the data transfer worklist from the data warehouse to a price planning workbench.
US07882086B1
A system and method are provided to method and system for portset data management. The system comprises a mass storage device to store a list of portset records; a network drivers layer to receive a request to add a new portset record to a list of portset records; and a portset update component to process the request. A portset may include a set of ports that provides access to logical unit numbers (LUNs). When the system receives a request to add a new portset, the portset update component may determine an available common index for the new portset record, associate the new portset record with the available common index, and update in memory representation of the list of records with the new portset record. The new portset record is then stored at a location on disk associated with the available common index for the new portset record.
US07882085B2
A method for handling database locks includes detecting a new query from an administrator for a set of database records. Next, it is determined whether the administrator has any chance of being authorized to acquire a new lock. If so, an attempt is made to acquire the new lock and, on the failure to acquire, the administrator is informed that the lock has already been acquired by a prior administrator. Optionally, the new administrator is also provided with identifying information of the prior administrator and contact information for the prior administrator. The new administrator is therefore pre-screened to determine whether there is any chance to acquire a new lock to reduce the chance that an unauthorized new administrator could lock the set of database records. Also, should the new administrator be authorized but not able to access the set of database records due to a prior lock, the new administrator can be informed of the identity and contact information concerning the holder of the prior lock.
US07882083B2
An information retrieval apparatus includes contents, an index data generating unit, a character frequency management data generating unit, a compressing/encrypting unit, a retrieval initializing unit, a full text retrieving unit, and a retrieval result displaying unit. The character frequency management data generating unit generates character frequency management data based on the contents. The compressing/encrypting unit compresses the contents and encrypts the character frequency management data. The retrieval initializing unit decrypts encrypted character frequency management data. The full text retrieving unit executes full text retrieval for compressed contents using the character frequency management data and index data when receiving a retrieval keyword. The retrieval result displaying unit decompresses a retrieval candidate selected from retrieval candidates and displays as a retrieval result.
US07882078B2
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for preserving a virtual file system. Data for a virtual file system is received. The data include file handle information, vnode information, and gnode information. The data is saved to a storage device. The saved data can be used to reconstruct the virtual file system upon changeover between a primary data processing system and a backup data processing system.
US07882073B1
A method for performing backup operations while avoiding data loss due to backup failure. A backup agent software receives a database server backup request and decomposes the backup request into a plurality of smaller backup requests. The plurality of smaller backup requests are then performed on the database to backup the specified database components to an archive. The backup agent software monitors success (or failure) of each of the plurality of backup requests and generates backup scripts for those backup requests that failed. These backup scripts may be subsequently executed to “re-run” the failed backups. The backup agent software is a modular program separate from the client application and the database server software.
US07882067B2
A snapshot management device and snapshot management method whereby a snapshot is obtained on a regular basis, the amount of difference between two obtained snapshots is detected and, when the detected difference amount is smaller than a threshold value, of the two snapshots, the snapshot obtained earlier than the other is deleted, thereby contributing to the improved convenience.
US07882066B1
A set of probabilities may indicate the chance of finding the latest version of a data item in any particular data image layer of a data image. A client may use the set of probabilities to request the data item from one or more layers that have a higher probability of having that version of the data item. A client may query more recently created layers to determine whether they have a version of the data item. If any of the more recently created data image layers has a version of the data item, a client may request the data item from the most recent of the more recently created layers and may discard any data returned from the originally requested layer. A client may update the historical probabilities based on which layers contain versions of the data item.
US07882059B2
To smoothly reproduce data. A clip generation section 104 generates a clip information file that describes attribute information of each piece of essence data that are necessary to reproduce each piece of essence data generated by a data generation section 103 according to parameter information supplied from an information obtainment section 102. An index file update section 105 generates in an index file read from an optical disc 17 and stored in a RAM a clip element that describes attribute information of a clip necessary to reproduce the clip according to the parameter information supplied from the information obtainment section 102 and updates the index file. The present invention can be applied to a video program creation support system.
US07882055B2
A system and method for processing information in unstructured or structured form, comprising a computer running in a distributed network with one or more data agents. Associations of natural language artifacts may be learned from natural language artifacts in unstructured data sources, and semantic and syntactic relationships may be learned in structured data sources, using grouping based on a criteria of shared features that are dynamically determined without the use of a priori classifications, by employing conditional probability constraints.
US07882051B2
A control device and method for a fuel cell system accurately learns output characteristics of fuel cell even when the output characteristics of fuel cell change due to changes in fuel cell temperature. The method and device generate power by supplying fuel and oxidant gases. The control device has a memory portion that memorizes output characteristics of fuel cell that change with the temperatures of fuel cell, and that become the base output characteristics, for each of the temperatures. An output characteristics learning portion learns the relationship between the output characteristics that become the base output characteristics and the actual output characteristics of fuel cell. The output characteristics learning portion prohibits learning when an actual current is less than a first predetermined current and more than a second predetermined current.
US07882031B2
A computerized system is established through a network to help business organizations conduct and manage their businesses with anti-financial crimes provisions according to the government regulations and laws, e.g., the Bank Secrecy and the USA PATRIOT Act, and to enable financial institutions to monitor and manage these business organizations with confidence in compliance with the regulatory requirements and applicable laws.
US07882028B1
In some embodiments, a calculation system may be used by a merchant to determine a merchant fee associated with a credit card transaction. The calculation system may consider various characteristics for the transaction to determine merchant fees associated with the transaction. For example, the calculation system may consider the relative security of the transaction, the length of time the transaction has been in an open batch, whether the credit card information is swiped or keyed in, whether address information for the transaction was verified, etc. The calculation system may analyze credit card transactions in real time and/or may analyze past merchant fee statements to determine the merchant fees associated with one or more past transactions. In some embodiments, the calculation system may be used by a card processor to analyze data from a merchant to determine a competitive rate/fee to offer the merchant.
US07882026B1
A maximum interchange fee is described herein. Calculating an interchange fee to be assessed may include receiving a purchase amount, determining if the purchase amount exceeds a set level, and if the purchase amount exceeds a set level, capping the interchange fee assessed at a maximum level. Calculating an interchange fee may include determining a maximum fee to be assessed, establishing a rate of reduction for the interchange fee so that the fee assessed does not exceed the maximum amount, receiving the purchase amount, and determining the interchange fee based upon the purchase amount and the rate of reduction. Providing for a capped interchange fee may include determining a maximum interchange fee, receiving a purchase amount, calculating an interchange fee, determining if the interchange fee calculated exceeds the maximum interchange fee, and notifying the merchant that the interchange fee exceeds the maximum amount.
US07882022B2
A computer-aided method for carrying out an option on a loan, for example a residential mortgage loan, the method including the steps of: receiving information into a memory, the specifications defining the option on the loan, the specifications including a trigger for executing the option, the specifications such as an interest rate; evaluating the trigger with a computer accessing further data; and if the trigger is detected, signaling execution of the option. The option can be, for example, an interest rate floor, ceiling, or both. Computer cooperation can facilitates closing of the loan and downstream processing, if so desired.
US07882021B2
System and methods for facilitating the settlement of financial accounts across different entities utilize a host computer system that tracks financial transactions made at each merchant location or store and uses this information to reconcile accounts across different entities. In one embodiment, the host computer periodically performs a net settlement analysis of the transactional data received from each entity's stores. A request is prepared to transfer funds from each entity's bank account having a positive net settlement amount into a central entity bank account. A request is also prepared to transfer funds into each entity's bank account having a negative net settlement amount from the central entity bank account.
US07882017B2
An anonymous trading system comprises an interconnected network of broking noted arranged in cliques which receive buy and sell orders from trader terminals via connected trading engines and which match persistent orders, executed deals and distribute price information to trader terminals. Where two orders are matched, a proposed deal message is sent by the matching broker. If another broker has processed an event which makes the matched quote unavailable the match fails and rematch may occur. Rematch may be attempted by an intermediate broker provided it owns one side of the match, or it received both sides of the match from brokers in different cliques. The intermediate broker attempts to match with the next available quote in the queue.
US07882006B2
The present invention provides systems, methods, computer program products, and combinations and subcombinations thereof for scoring items based on user sentiment and for determining the proficiency of a predictor and for aiding an investment decision on an item by an individual. The invention includes one or more user devices and a prediction system server having a sentiment rating module, a user proficiency ranking module, a content creation module, and a database. Devices access the prediction system server directly via a communications medium or indirectly through links provided on a third party server.
US07881998B2
The invention relates to a novel incentive and compensation plan for motivating and rewarding employees, and a computer system for implementing said plan. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stock-based incentive and compensation plan that rewards employees based on the performance of the company. The present invention provides methods and systems for providing an employee incentive and compensation plan, which include deferring a portion of an employee's compensation for a period of time. The financial performance of the employee's company is evaluated over the selected period of time, and the employee's total deferred compensation is converted into a number of units based on the amount deferred, the average share price of the company stock, and the financial performance of the company. The employee's units are valued based on the average share price of the company stock, and the total compensation is paid to participating employees as an incentive and compensation plan.
US07881994B1
A method of determining a probability of an adverse event in connection with a loan (such as, delinquency, default, or prepayment) based on a predetermined set of loan parameters comprises determining whether loan variable data is available for each of the loan parameters. If loan variable data is available for each of the loan parameters, the probability of delinquency within a period of time is estimated as a function of the loan variable data. If loan variable data is not available, the probability of delinquency within a period of time is estimated by imputing the loan variable data that is not available.
US07881972B2
An electronic commerce system and method for managing sale and distribution of products over the Internet or other type of network is disclosed. In order to prevent attempts by users to fraudulently obtain the products, the system analyzes during an electronic commerce transaction the user-entered information entered by the users into the end user machine in connection with an electronic purchase order for a product to determine a fraud ranking. This fraud ranking indicates a likelihood that the order is attempted fraud based upon a quantitative analysis of a daily bad uses counter by determining a number of times that a piece of received user-entered information from the electronic purchase order appeared on another order that was declined that day. Based upon the determination, the system accepts or declines the order. The system also saves the user-entered information for use in determining whether to accept to decline future orders.
US07881948B2
A method and system for providing real estate information to users, tailored to requirements and fields relating to the location of the property. A single repository, such as a database or database farm, is used with middle tier software on servers on a network, such as the Internet, to provide information to users via user terminals coupled to the network, for particular properties, and to receive information for properties for addition to the database. Information and fields specific to locations are input to the system via a system operator. User terminals utilize either downloaded software to interact with the middle tier, or a network browser. In one variation, the middle tier software is based upon an open standard, such as an open Application Program Interface standard, so as to allow access for a variety of terminal types and software.
US07881947B2
Disclosed herein is a content information sales management method including the steps of: causing a distribution source apparatus to distribute trial content information, trial use rules stating trial use conditions, and distribution source identification information for identifying the distribution source apparatus to a distribution destination apparatus; causing the distribution destination apparatus to upload the distribution source identification information corresponding to the trial content information to a sales source apparatus for formal content information when the distribution destination apparatus downloads the formal content information corresponding to the trial content information; and causing the sales source apparatus to update an evaluation value corresponding to the distribution source identification information in accordance with the uploaded distribution source identification information.
US07881944B2
Automatically maintaining behavioral standards of an electronic community in response to feedback from members of the electronic community. Feedback is submitted regarding behavior of a specified member. If the feedback exceeds a threshold representing a behavioral standard of the electronic community for a category, an action is automatically implemented directed to the specified member. Each threshold may be adjusted as a function of the number of members or of other criteria. The feedback may also be used to rate a specific member and to enable other members to choose whether to interact with the specific member. Sanctions or rewards may be implemented, including limiting communication, suspending or terminating access, granting additional privileges, assigning the specified member to a subgroup of the electronic community, and other actions. Community standards can thus be automatically maintained and enforced for gaming, communication, commerce, collaborative work, or other electronic activities.
US07881936B2
The present invention provides a speech recognition system combined with one or more alternate input modalities to ensure efficient and accurate text input. The speech recognition system achieves less than perfect accuracy due to limited processing power, environmental noise, and/or natural variations in speaking style. The alternate input modalities use disambiguation or recognition engines to compensate for reduced keyboards, sloppy input, and/or natural variations in writing style. The ambiguity remaining in the speech recognition process is mostly orthogonal to the ambiguity inherent in the alternate input modality, such that the combination of the two modalities resolves the recognition errors efficiently and accurately. The invention is especially well suited for mobile devices with limited space for keyboards or touch-screen input.
US07881933B2
A device may include logic configured to receive voice data from a user, identify a result from the voice data, calculate a confidence score associated with the result, and determine a likely age range associated with the user based on the confidence score.
US07881932B2
The present invention extends the VoiceXML language model to natively support voice enrolled grammars. Specifically, three VoiceXML tags can be added to the language model to add, modify, and delete acoustically provided phrases to voice enrolled grammars. Once created, the voice enrolled grammars can be used in normal speaker dependent speech recognition operations. That is, the voice enrolled grammars can be referenced and utilized just like text enrolled grammars can be referenced and utilized. For example using the present invention, voice enrolled grammars can be referenced by standard text-based Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS) grammars to create more complex, usable grammars.
US07881923B2
A method for enabling input into a handheld electronic device having at least three selectable languages available thereon includes detecting a predetermined input a number of times and switching a selected language between one of the three selectable languages and another of the three selectable languages wherein the another language is an immediately preceding selected language.
US07881921B1
In computer system simulations, previous translations of simulation virtual addresses to physical host addresses can be remembered in a cache. During execution of a simulation program, the simulated computer system generates a simulation virtual address. The simulation virtual address may be translated to a host address. Information associated with the translation can be cached, and subsequent accesses to the simulation virtual address can use the cached information to compute the host address.
US07881916B1
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for sensing and determining the shapes of deformable materials, shaped by a plurality of actuators, using sparse sensor network topologies. The method comprises placing a plurality of curvature sensors on the surface of a deformable material to measure the local curvatures of the deformable material. The plurality of curvature sensors generate a collection of sensor data correlated to the local curvatures. Actuator parameters are generated from sensor data by assuming linear approximation between sensors data and actuator parameters. The shape of the deformable material is determined from the generated actuator parameters.
US07881914B2
A system and method for receiving and displaying simulated movement data on a graphical display in real-time is provided. Simulated movement data from a simulation is received. The type and location of each object to be displayed on a graphical display for a time step is extracted from the simulated movement data. The extracted data is transferred to an application for determining an appropriate three-dimensional representation to associate with each type of object in the first point in time. Each three-dimensional representation is displayed according the location of each object for the first point in time of the simulation.
US07881909B2
An automated and computerized technique as disclosed herein can be utilized to generate a modeled cutter ramp curve for a flange component. The technique can be utilized in conjunction with any suitable CAD system to render a cutter ramp curve on the modeled flange component. The system obtains a selected amount of user inputs, verifies that the user inputs are consistent with the geometry of the flange component, and generates the cutter ramp curve in response to the user inputs and the flange geometry.
US07881907B2
The present invention provides a system and method for providing remote monitoring of a power device or power delivery system. In architecture, the system includes a remote device for performing the operation. The remote device comprises a power condition detection circuitry and a memory circuitry that stores information describing the power condition of the power device. Moreover, the remote device further comprises a transmission circuitry that transmits the information of the power condition to the service device for analysis. The present invention can also be viewed as a method for providing remote monitoring of a power device. The method operates by (1) detecting a power condition of the power device; (2) storing information describing the power condition of the power device; and (3) transmitting the information of the power condition to the service device for analysis.
US07881906B2
A system, method and computer program product for event-based sampling to monitor computer system performance are provided. The system includes a sample buffer to store a sample of instrumentation data, where the instrumentation data enables measurement of computer system performance. The system also includes a sample segment selector to isolate a segment of the sample of instrumentation data as an event. The system further includes an instrumentation counter counting in response to a combination of the event and a sample pulse, and asserting a sample interrupt indicating that the sample of instrumentation data is ready to logout from the sample buffer.
US07881905B2
A method using various heuristics techniques for resolving ambiguity in location determination in environments with or without noise. A final location determination solution may be determined from a set of ambiguous location determination solutions by using clock temporal bias value, by using consistency information of ranging signal order such as the time of arrival and/or the received power level of the ranging signals, by using the distances to the sources, and/or by using other discriminator functions to select the final location determination solution from a plurality of ambiguous location determination solutions. The main advantage of the heuristic approaches is that redundant measurements are not required for location determination solution disambiguation.
US07881897B2
Apparatus and method for monitoring a system in which a fluid flows and which is characterized by a change in the system with time in space. A preselected place in the system is monitored to collect data at two or more time points correlated to a system event. The data is indicative of a system parameter that varies with time as a function of at least two variables related to system wash-in and wash-out behavior. A calibration map is made on a calculated basis with each pixel or voxel representative of a color hue indicative of wash-out behavior and a color intensity indicative of wash-in behavior. The calibration map serves as a criteria for selecting the time points. Software and a data processing system are provided to develop a color coded output map. The calibration map, the color coded output map and image of the preselected place are also novel implementations.
US07881892B2
The invention relates to systems and methods for measuring properties of samples with standardized spectroscopic systems. The methods can include (i) measuring, with a first spectroscopic system, spectra of at least three different reference targets; (ii) calibrating the first spectroscopic system; (iii) measuring, with the first spectroscopic system, a spectrum of a known reference specimen having a known value of the property; (iv) generating a model for the measured property using the spectrum of the known reference specimen; (v) measuring, with a second spectroscopic system, the spectra of at least three different reference targets; (vi) calibrating the second spectroscopic system; (vii) applying the model to the second spectroscopic system; (viii) measuring a spectrum of the sample using the second spectroscopic system; and (ix) determining a value of the property using the model.
US07881887B2
A system and method for wireharness testing includes at least one probe attachable to a connector of a wireharness, the at least one probe in wireless communication with a controller to identify a potential lack of continuity in the wireharness therebetween.
US07881885B2
The invention relates to a method for determining the instantaneous rate of the mass flow of a flow of a fluid pulsating periodically at a frequency f, said method comprising the following steps: a) a pressure gradient in the flow over a certain period (P) is determined, b) the harmonic amplitude of the pressure gradient is calculated by means of Fourier transformation, c) the frequency f and the time t are converted into dimensionless numbers F, t and d) the rate of the mass flow is determined using a table from which at least one corresponding value describing the mass flow rate and/or a phase difference can be deduced for each dimensionless number F of the frequency f.
US07881881B2
Disclosed is an apparatus and methodology for structural health monitoring (SHM) in which smart devices interrogate structural components to predict failure, expedite needed repairs, and thus increase the useful life of those components. Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) are applied to or integrated with structural components and various data collected there from provide the ability to detect and locate cracking, corrosion, and disbanding through use of pitch-catch, pulse-echo, electro/mechanical impedance, and phased array technology. Stand alone hardware and an associated software program are provided that allow selection of multiple types of SHM investigations as well as multiple types of data analysis to perform a wholesome investigation of a structure.
US07881876B2
Methods, systems and computer readable media for quantifying and removing offset bias signals in a chemical array data set having one or more channels. In one embodiment, for each channel of data in the data set, a first set of features is selected from the data set. Surface intensities are calculated for features in the first selected set of features and surface intensifies of features not in the first selected set are calculated from the calculated surface intensities. A second set of features is selected, the intensity values of which are within a range of correspondingly located surface intensity values defined by upper and lower threshold intensities. Secondary surface intensifies are calculated for features in the second selected set of features and secondary surface intensities for all other locations on the array that were not locations corresponding to the features having secondary surface intensities calculated therefore, are calculated. Feature intensities of the channel features are then corrected as a function of the secondary surface intensities.
US07881874B2
A method and system for representing a similarity between at least two genomes that includes detecting gene clusters which are common to the at least two genomes and representing the common gene clusters in a PQ tree. The PQ tree includes a first internal node (P node), that allows permutation of the children thereof, and a second internal node (Q node), that maintains unidirectional order of the children thereof.
US07881873B2
Systems and methods for performing rapid genomic DNA analysis of samples, such as control samples and experimental samples. In one aspect, the system makes use of genomic DNA input, rather than gene expression input such as mRNA and/or cDNA associated with mRNA. The systems and methods perform statistical analyses on data generated from the samples to determine which DNA sequences in an identified set of DNA sequences have a basis of variation in an experimental sample when compared to a control sample, and additionally provide a quantitative measure of this variation. The quantitative measure may be based on metrics such as copy number and/or fold-change. The systems and methods employ this statistical framework in DNA-based evaluation settings, including the evaluation/diagnosis of a pathological condition such as cancer or transgenic analysis of transgenic plants and animals. The systems and methods also provide means to select and refine the selection of DNA sequences, such as genes, known to undergo copy change for a particular pathological condition. This leads to the creation of stock gene sets catered to individual application areas and/or clinical uses, which may be used with the systems and methods described in this application for the purpose of, for example, a clinical kit for rapid DNA-based evaluation.
US07881871B2
A method of producing a binding surface for a target molecule having a functional binding site, which method comprises: (i) identifying within the target molecule an anchor site which is remote from the functional binding site; (ii) generating a pharmacophore model for the anchor site; (iii) using the pharmacophore model to identify an anchor site binding ligand; and (iv) providing the anchor site binding ligand on a surface of a substrate such that the ability of the anchor site binding ligand to bind to the anchor site is preserved.
US07881863B2
Traffic information, including flow information and incident information, obtained through a traffic management system for providing and facilitating the exchange of traffic information between a remote location and a vehicle may be used in route calculation by a navigation device. The navigation device may recalculate a route based on anticipated user error. Alternatively, the navigation device may recalculate a route using received traffic information triggered by the receipt of a traffic information update, or triggered by the passage of an amount of time. The broadcast rate of traffic information updates may vary temporally (providing more frequent updates during peak commute times) or geographically (providing more frequent updates to metropolitan areas with increased traffic information needs). If route calculation is triggered by an elapsed amount of time, the amount of time may vary to be shorter during peak commute times. Additional route calculation techniques allow the incorporation of historical traffic information or the use of the most recent traffic information if incomplete traffic information is available. Still further route calculation techniques may calculate a best route by avoiding zigzagging or evaluating an assigned cost of a potential route.
US07881862B2
Provided are systems and methods for tracking resources at a site and initiating audio and video communication with tracked resources using multiple input and output modalities. The systems include a location tracking system, including a positioning engine and a presentation engine, an environmental tracking system, location and environmental sensors, either permanently installed or temporarily deployed, and portable devices such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants carried by the tracked resources and users. The methods include tracking such resources at a site, displaying their locations on a portable device using a visual map display, and providing the ability to initiate bi-directional audio and video communications with one of more of the tracked resources.
US07881860B2
The present invention is a vehicle planning support system (1) for displaying vehicle models (84, 92, etc.) on a screen to support vehicle planning, and comprises specification value input screen display means (36) for displaying specification value input screens for inputting specification values including dimensions and angles in the vehicle model; 3D morphing screen display means (58) for displaying vehicle models as deformable three-dimensionally shaped 3D vehicle models based on specification values input on the specification value screen using the 3D morphing screen; 2D morphing screen display means (56) for displaying vehicle models as deformable two-dimensionally shaped 2D vehicle models based on specification values input on the specification value screen using the 2D morphing screen.
US07881852B2
A method for checking an exhaust-gas section of a combustion engine for a leak, including the following: introducing secondary air into the exhaust-gas section of the combustion engine via a secondary-air valve, determining a measured value that indicates the magnitude of the relative pressure changes due to the expelling of exhaust gas from the combustion engine upstream from the secondary-air valve, and detecting the leak in the exhaust-gas section as a function of the measured value.
US07881846B2
A driveline clunk control system for a vehicle having an engine that drives a driveline through a transmission includes a transmission output shaft speed (TOSS) sensor that generates a TOSS signal and a first module that receives the TOSS signal and that determines a secondary parameter (ΔTOSS) based on the TOSS signal. A second module detects onset of a clunk condition based on the ΔTOSS and a third module regulates operation of the vehicle to inhibit the clunk condition when the onset of the clunk condition is detected.
US07881845B2
A loader and a control system for a loader provide for monitoring the position of a part of the implement carried by the loader. The loader has a body with left and right upright tower portions, and a loader drive system including ground engaging drive elements. Left and right interconnected lift arm assemblies each have an implement lift arm pivotally connected with a corresponding tower portion of the body at a lift arm pivot point. A lift actuator is connected between the body and the lift arm. The implement is pivotally connected with the lift arm assemblies about an implement pivot axis. The lift arm pivot point and the implement pivot axis in side elevation define a straight reference line. At least one implement tilt actuator is connected between at least one of the lift arm assemblies and the implement. A position sensor is mounted on the body at the level of, or above, the lift arm pivot points. An inclinometer is movable with the left and right interconnected lift arm assemblies to provide an indication of the inclination of the lift arm assemblies along the straight reference line. An angle sensor provides an indication of the orientation of said implement with respect to said left and right interconnected lift arm assemblies. The control is responsive to the position sensor, the inclinometer, and the angle sensor. The control determines the position of the position sensor and the position of a part of the implement with respect to the position sensor.
US07881843B2
An object struck discrimination system for a vehicle is provided which is effective in increasing the discrimination accuracy for discriminating an object struck by the vehicle. In one form, an object struck discrimination system to be installed in a vehicle includes an impact receiving member for receiving an impact from an object struck which extends lengthwise along the width of the vehicle, a detection sensor for detecting the moving speed or the acceleration of the impact receiving member during a vehicle collision, and a control unit for discriminating the object struck based on the rate of change in the moving speed per unit time or the acceleration introduced from information detected by the detection sensor.
US07881842B2
A safety device for vehicles having first sensor arrangement for acquiring the vehicle impact and for outputting first sensor signals, a control device for outputting triggering signals dependent on the first sensor signals, and a restraint system that is triggered dependent on the first sensor signals, second sensor arrangement being provided for the acquisition of obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle and for the outputting of second sensor signals, and third sensor arrangement being provided for the acquisition of environmental influences on the second sensor arrangement, the second sensor signals output by the second sensor arrangement being used in the control unit for the decision concerning the triggering of the restraint system, after an evaluation of the third sensor signals output by the third sensor arrangement.
US07881840B2
Disclosed is a level control system in which the operational readiness of the compressor (2) is tested by connecting the pressure sensor (10) to the output (6) of the compressor (2) via a compressed-air sensor line (8). All other compressed-air lines that are connected to the output (6) of the compressor (2) are locked by shutting directional control valves (201 to 20d and 30). The compressor (2) is then switched on and it is tested how rapidly the pressure increases on the pressure sensor (10). If the increase per interval exceeds a defined threshold value, the compressor is operationally ready.
US07881833B2
An emergency navigational system that monitors the navigation of an aircraft by comparing actual flight parameter data to predefined flight parameter data to thereby determine if the actual flight parameter data deviates beyond a defined value, and if so, activating a navigational controller to at least partially control the navigation of the aircraft.
US07881828B2
A bus module for connecting electrically triggerable fluidic valves to a data bus. The bus module has an electrical circuit configuration, which evaluates address data and user data from data telegrams transmitted on the data bus and which triggers a fluidic valve determined by the address data in accordance with the user data of the data telegram. In order to keep the current load on the bus module low particularly when triggering hydraulic valves, the electronic circuit configuration, following the reception of user data in the form of a switch-on command for one of the fluidic valves connected to the bus module, first constantly supplies a supply voltage to the fluidic valve determined by the address data during a gate-controlled rise time of specifiable duration. Following the expiration of the gate-controlled rise time, the electronic circuit configuration supplies the fluidic valve with the supply voltage in a pulse width modulated form having a specifiable pulse control factor. Only when the bus module has received user data in the form of a switch-off command for the previously switched-on fluidic valve, does the electronic circuit configuration no longer supply a supply voltage to the fluidic valve.
US07881826B2
A modular computing housing includes a housing structure having a plurality of component slots that each can receive one of a plurality of components, where at least one of the components includes a processor having an operating frequency. A cooling system provides airflow through each of the component slots. A thermal control system can be communicably connected to each of the component slots and each of the received component processors. The thermal control system receives configuration data from each of the component slots, retrieves throttle data corresponding to the configuration data, and directs at least one received component processors to reduce its operating frequency in accordance with the throttle data.
US07881819B2
A substrate transfer apparatus transfers substrates stored in a first substrate storage case, which has support grooves in its inner wall, along the support grooves to substrate storage surfaces included in a second substrate storage case. The substrate transfer apparatus includes a first-substrate-storage-case placement section in which the first substrate storage case is placed, a second-substrate-storage-case placement section in which the second substrate storage case is placed, a substrate transfer mechanism that holds the substrates stored in the first substrate storage case so as to draw out the substrates from the first substrate storage case, and transfers the substrates to a substrate placement section of a substrate placing mechanism, a substrate holding mechanism that holds the substrates placed in the substrate placement section at hold positions, and discharges the substrates at discharge positions so as to dispose the substrates on the substrate storage surfaces of the second substrate storage case, and a transport mechanism that transports the substrate holding mechanism from the hold positions to the discharge positions.
US07881816B2
A method for controlling an industrial automation device or process including a control unit, at least one actuator, and at least one device arranged for wireless communication with the control unit. The method determines characteristics of the wireless transmissions used to communicate sensor and/or actuator data to the control unit. The method, a system and a graphic interface enable a user to select a control strategy dependent on a value or values of the characteristics of the wireless communications.
US07881812B2
The claimed subject matter provides an editor system for employment in an industrial automation environment that enhances programmability of at least one of a controller and an industrial process. An interface component can facilitate the receipt of instructions relating to programming a programmable logic controller. A programming assist component communicatively coupled to the interface component can program the programmable logic controller in accordance with the received instructions; the programmable logic controller is programmed in accordance with a hierarchically structured data model that utilizes a naming convention.
US07881808B2
A cardiac lead comprising a lead body extending from a proximal end portion to a distal end portion; a cardiac electrode disposed along the lead body; and a coating associated with at least a portion of the electrode, the coating comprises a conductive polymer.
US07881806B2
The medical lead delivery device combines features of a guidewire and a stylet in order to more easily and quickly deliver a lead to or through the coronary vein of a patient's heart. The medical lead delivery device includes an elongated body, a controller, a first and second spring, and a sleeve. The elongated body includes a proximal end and a distal end. The controller is disposed at the proximal end and provides enhanced control of the distal tip of the elongated body.
US07881804B2
A medical apparatus, for artificially stimulating internal tissue of an animal, applies a composite voltage pulse to a pair of electrodes implanted in the animal. The composite voltage pulse is formed by a first segment and a second segment contiguous with the first segment, both of which have generally rectangular shapes. The amplitude of the first segment is significantly greater than, e.g. at least three times, the amplitude of the second segment. However, the second segment has a significantly longer duration than the first segment, e.g. at least three times longer. Preferably the integrals of the first and second segments are substantially equal.
US07881802B2
The selection of one communication channel from a plurality of available channels is determined by a state machine. In an automatic selection mode, a first telemetry system has priority over other telemetry systems. A communication session is in progress based on session initiation and termination triggers. An override function allows manual selection of a telemetry system.
US07881800B2
An implantable component (30) of a cochlear implant system comprising a housing for a stimulator unit (31) that is adapted to output one or more stimulation signals and an electrode assembly (30) adapted to apply electrical stimulation in accordance with the output of the stimulator unit (31). On implantation, the housing is positionable such that the electrode assembly (20) extends from the housing at least initially in a downward orientation toward the mastoid cavity before entering the cochlea. An external component (50, 60 or 70) of a cochlear implant system comprising a support for mounting to the ear of an recipient and an external signal transmitter coil (53) wherein the signal transmitter coil (53) is movably mounted to at least a portion of the support.
US07881799B2
An improved package and configuration for an implantable retinal prosthesis includes an electrode array suitable to be mounted in close proximity to a retina, an electronics package, and inductive receiving coil mounted next to each other on a strap surrounding the sclera so that the height above the sclera of the prosthesis is minimized.
US07881797B2
Methods and devices for gastrointestinal stimulation are disclosed. In one embodiment, disclosed is an electrical stimulator device that includes a circuit board and a battery contained within a base housing; a conduction element; and at least one electrode. In some embodiments, the stimulator base housing can be directly attached to a wall of a body lumen. In other embodiments, the stimulator base housing can be attached to a cuff or a sleeve device. In still other embodiments, one or more elements of the system are free-floating within the GI tract. The devices can be delivered endoscopically, and in some embodiments toposcopically.
US07881793B2
A pacing protocol is provided that reduces or minimizes ventricular pacing in favor of intrinsic conduction. When operating in a mode that provides ventricular pacing, a series of conduction checks are performed to determine if intrinsic conduction has returned. These conduction checks occur according to a predetermined pattern that general includes longer intervals between subsequent attempts. A maximum interval is provided such that conduction checks are not repeated sequentially at the same time of day when at this maximum interval.
US07881789B2
A cardiac rhythm management device is configured to detect oscillations in cardiac rhythm by comparing electrogram signals during successive heart beats. Upon detection of electrical alternans, the device may adjust its operating behavior to compensate for the deleterious effects of the condition.
US07881779B2
The present application discloses a complexity-based method for synthetically detecting ventricular fibrillation, which centers on complexity calculations while incorporating a plurality of feature values and thus differentiates more effectively among various types of ECG signals. The method further modifies the complexity algorithm, making it more adapted to reflecting characteristics of the VF-related signals, thereby enabling high sensitivity and specificity of detection. Further, the related calculation load is reduced according to the algorithm. As such, the method can fully satisfy the clinical needs and is aimed for solving the problems of low sensitivity, low specificity and weak anti-interference ability present in current medical equipment for detecting ventricular fibrillation, such as monitors, implanted cardioversion defibrillator (ICD), automatic external defibrillator (AED) and so on. Systems for performing the method are also disclosed.
US07881770B2
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for use within an image-guided surgical navigation system for facilitating the combined positioning and orientation of multiple surgical implements. A tool guide having multiple cannulas is tracked by a surgical navigation system in real time. Position data of the tool guide is registered and combined with pre-acquired images by the navigation computer. Concurrent graphical representations of the plurality of cannulas are superimposed over the images and displayed. The display allows the surgeon to place the tool guide into the patient's body and position and orient the plurality of cannulas which are then used to place each of the implements.
US07881766B2
An apparatus for attaching a biosignal measurement sensor to a subject including a housing having an open space at one side, an installation portion installed in the open space, on which the biosignal measurement sensor is installed, a plurality of detection electrodes installed at an open side of the housing to contact the subject, and arranged along a circumferential edge of the installation portion to form pairs of detection electrodes facing each other with respect to a center of arrangement, an actuator installed in the housing to rotate and linearly move the installation portion, and a circuit portion searching for the detection electrodes that provide optimal detection data based on a difference in signals between the pairs of detection electrodes, and driving the actuator to allow a pair of sensor electrodes provided at the biosignal measurement sensor to be arranged in the same direction as the searched detection electrodes.
US07881765B2
Apparatus and method according to the disclosure relate to minimizing gaps between a substantially planar cardiac-sensing electrode and a shroud member utilizing a so-called interference-fit. For example, a relatively recessed area or aperture formed in an exemplary resin-based shroud member has slightly reduced dimensions relative to the electrode and requires compression forces during assembly (e.g., manually or in an automated process including a press, a tool or other means). The interference-fit promotes a very tight fit (or seal) between the metallic electrode and the resin-based shroud member and, importantly, minimizes gaps. Additionally, discrete interference structures promote fluid tight seals between the electrode and a recess or aperture adapted to receive the electrode.
US07881761B2
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a sensor for facilitating detection of a physiological characteristic of a patient. Specifically, one embodiment includes a detector configured to obtain signals from the patient, the signals being indicative of the physiological characteristic, an interface configured to send the signals to a monitor, and a sensor memory coupled with the sensor and separate from the monitor, the sensor memory storing sensor expiration data.
US07881760B2
A magneto-encephalographic equipment superconducting magnetic-shield comprising a vacuum-tight body comprising an outer enclosure wall, a first inner enclosure wall inserted in the outer enclosure wall to define a upper closed space, and a second inner enclosure wall to define a lower open space. The first and second inner enclosure walls are arranged with the bottom of the first inner enclosure wall facing the ceiling of the second inner enclosure wall. A first enclosure of HTSC and a second enclosure of high-permeability material are concentrically arranged in the annular vacuum space defined between the first and second inner enclosure walls and the outer enclosure wall. A head-accommodating area is delimited by the hollow partition between, the bottom of the first inner enclosure wall and the ceiling of the second inner enclosure wall both facing each other, and a plurality of SQUID sensors are arranged in the upper closed space, encircling the head-accommodating area.
US07881758B2
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus including a housing unit of which the angle can be varied by a rotation mechanism and is directed to improve the fixation precision of the housing unit that can be fixed at predetermined angles. The apparatus includes a supporting frame unit (movable arm unit), a rotation supporting unit (rotating module) installed on the supporting frame unit, a housing unit (movable housing unit) that is fixed on the rotation supporting unit and can be rotated by the rotation supporting unit, and a rotation locking mechanism that is installed away from the center of rotation of the rotation supporting unit and, when the housing unit is rotated to a predetermined angle, holds the supporting frame unit and the housing unit in a locked state.
US07881756B2
A level shifter includes a level shifting circuit which receives input signal from a function block and changes the voltage level of the input signal, to output an output signal; a current blocking circuit, which suppresses current flowing to the level shifting circuit in an input suppression mode in which power supplied to the function block is cut and deactivates the level shifting circuit; and an output control circuit, which controls the output signal of the level shifting circuit to have a direct current (DC) voltage level in the input suppression mode.
US07881754B2
There is provided a portable communication terminal capable of switching between icon display and non-display. Processes executed by a control unit of a portable phone which is an aspect of the portable communication terminal comprises the steps of detecting, during the execution of an icon-bar displaying process, a press of an operation key, terminating outputting icon data if the operation key is associated with the icon-bar non-display function and if there is already no icon bar being displayed, detecting a press of the operation key, and executing the icon-bar displaying process if the operation key is associated with the icon-bar display function and if there is no icon bar being displayed.
US07881747B2
In an RF communication system, aspects for supporting cellular or wireless network and broadcast utilizing an integrated single chip cellular and broadcast silicon solution may include communicating data, within a mobile terminal, between a single baseband processor integrated circuit (BBPIC) and a plurality of receiver front ends via a channel interface, for example, a serial bus. The plurality of receiver front ends may comprise a cellular receiver front end and a VHF/UHF broadcast receiver front end. The BBPIC may communicate with one or more processors, for example, a CPU and/or DSP, via the processor interface, for example, an AMBA bus. The BBPIC may also communicate with a power management unit via a control interface, for example, an I2C bus, with memory devices via a memory interface, for example, a serial random access memory bus, and/or with peripheral devices via a peripheral interface, for example, a serial bus. The peripheral interface may comprise a wireless LAN interface, USIM interface, and/or a Bluetooth interface.
US07881734B2
A system and method for application location register routing at a signal transfer point (26) are provided. The signal transfer point (26) includes processor clusters (64, 66, 68) and databases (236, 238) for processing queries including global title translation, local number portability, and application location register routing. A query message is received by the signal transfer point (26), a first database residing in the signal transfer point (26) is accessed to determine the location of a second database (238) also residing in the signal transfer point for processing the query message. The second database (238) is then accessed to obtain the network address of a home location register or short message service center, which is then used to deliver the query message to the network node specified by the network address.
US07881730B2
The preferred embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for dynamic route estimation and prediction using discrete sampled location updates from various mobile devices for the purpose of providing a graphical representation of a mobile device's route along a known network path of map data. The embodiments also provide supplemental route metrics, such as traveled distance, elapsed time, etc., and the capability to assign destination points for the purpose of providing the ability to modify location update points in an application, such as a route planner, and/or to store the dynamically generated route based on various preferences for later retrieval.
US07881727B2
The invention relates to a mobile communicating object (A) belonging to a communications network and comprising processing means (PM). According to the invention, when a communication has been established with another communicating object (S) belonging to the network, the aforementioned processing means generate a repeater (Fi) at each site (Hi) through which they pass. Moreover, when the repeater is generated, the processing means associate a timing counter (CTF) therewith and configure said repeater such that: (i) it can store an identifier that is representative of the location of the next repeater (F(i+1)) or site (H(i+1)) in the chain of repeaters to which it belongs; and (ii) at the end of a selected duration of time, it transmits the location identifier of the next repeater (F(i+1)) or site (S(i+1)) to at least one location server (SL) in the network, so that it stores said identifier together with the primary identifier of the mobile object (A). Preferably, once a repeater has addressed the location identifier, the relay activity thereof is terminated and, if the repeater does not belong to another chain, it is removed so that it no longer consumes resources.
US07881721B2
A technique of operating a wireless communication system includes determining respective geometries of multiple subscriber stations, which include a first subscriber station and a second subscriber station, with respect to a serving base station. Respective channel sounding bandwidths for sounding the channel between the multiple subscriber stations and the serving base station are then scheduled, based on the respective geometries. The respective channel sounding bandwidths include a first channel sounding bandwidth (associated with the first subscriber station) and a second channel sounding bandwidth (associated with the second subscriber station). The first channel sounding bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second channel sounding bandwidth and the first subscriber station has a lower geometry than the second subscriber station.
US07881719B2
At the time of carrying out a DHO, a DHO execution unit encodes data to be transmitted and interleaves it, followed by dividing it into segment data and sending out from respective transmission paths. When receiving data, the unit receives pieces of segment data from the respective transmission paths, combines them together, de-interleaves them and receives data by decoding it. When dividing into segment data, it allocates segment data with larger amount of data to a transmission path with a high transmission quality, and that with smaller amount of data to a transmission path with a low transmission quality, in accordance with the transmission quality.
US07881718B2
When a station is connected via a connector to an AC adapter, a controller may detect the event of connection between the station and the adapter and drive a suppression signal transmitter to send a suppression signal to suppress a handover by the station. The station may include a communication controller to fix, upon receipt of the suppression signal from the adapter, a wireless access point to which the station belongs. The station may enter a handover suppressed state in which the station does not conduct a handover to belong to another wireless access point so long as the station is connected to the adapter and is receiving the suppression signal. This may suppress the excessive handover and secure stable communication quality.
US07881717B2
A method determines whether a given mobile communication device is eligible to register for a particular service. A first database tracks the equipment capabilities of various mobile devices. A second database tracks which regions, of a plurality, of geographic regions are eligible to receive the service. These databases are checked when the system receives a request to register for the service.
US07881709B2
An application providing system is provided. The application providing system includes a portable terminal device having an IC chip configured to perform radio communications; and a server device; the application providing system connecting the portable terminal device and the server device through a communication network, wherein the portable terminal device includes a transmitted message receiver section, an application determination section, an application transmission request generation section, and an application storage section, wherein the server device includes a transmitted message generation section, a transmitted message sender section, an application transmission request receiver section, an application storage section, and an application sender section.
US07881708B2
A mobile terminal having a multi-medial user interface, a controller and a memory is presented. The memory is adapted to store a plurality of profiles, each profile defining a respective behavior pattern of the multi-medial user interface and being definable by a user of the mobile terminal. The controller is adapted to provide a first control parameter representative of a desired profile as selected by the user. The controller is also adapted to provide a second control parameter representative of a contextual status of the mobile terminal. The controller is adapted to modify a behavior pattern of the multi-medial user interface depending on the first and second control parameters.
US07881703B2
A method for intercepting calls from a remote or mobile device for customer self-support detects when users or subscribers dial one or more predetermined numbers. If the number corresponds to one of the predetermined numbers (such as a customer support number), the phone may intercept the call and display a list of potential solutions to the subscriber's problems. Various other features and embodiments art disclosed.
US07881695B2
An exemplary method of operation of network devices with one device operating as a master device on a communication network involves the master device broadcasting a beacon during a communication session being carried out over the network; the master device determining that the communication session being carried out over the network has ended; the master device ceasing broadcast of the beacon; the master device entering a sleeping or power saving mode; at a client device on the network, transmitting a master search message requesting services of a master device while the master device is in the sleeping or power saving mode; the master device responding to the master search message; and the master device resuming broadcasting beacon signals. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from or contain a subset of the features described in this abstract.
US07881693B2
In an RF tag, a mask ROM or a flash memory is used for storing data such as an ID number. Although the mask ROM can be realized at a low price, rewriting is not possible. In addition, in the flash memory, although electric rewriting is possible, production cost increases. Accordingly, it is difficult to provide an RF tag by which data rewriting is possible at a low price. An RF tag is provided with a power supply circuit having a function to generate a power supply voltage from a weak radio signal and a memory which can hold data stored in a data holding portion by the power supply voltage. With the above structure, a high-performance RF tag capable of rewriting data such as an ID number after production can be provided at a low price.
US07881692B2
An integrated low-IF (low intermediate frequency) terrestrial broadcast receiver and associated method are disclosed that provide an advantageous and cost-efficient solution. The integrated receiver includes a mixer, local oscillator generation circuitry, low-IF conversion circuitry, and DSP circuitry. And the integrated receiver is particularly suited for small, portable devices and the reception of terrestrial audio broadcasts, such as FM and AM terrestrial audio broadcast, in such portable devices.
US07881688B1
In a method for setting a local oscillator (LO) frequency in a receiver, a power level of an interfering signal corresponding to a harmonic of an LO signal is determined. The LO frequency is set based on the determined power level of the interfering signal.
US07881686B2
A voltage-controlled capacitor and methods for forming the same are described. A mechanical conductor membrane of the voltage-controlled capacitor is movable to and from a first position and a second position. An amount of capacitance can vary with the movement of the mechanical conductor membrane. A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) voltage-controlled capacitor can be used in a variety of applications, such as, but not limited to, RF switches and RF attenuators.
US07881676B2
An RF communication control system for executing the process of transmitting and receiving an RF signal through an RF control circuit unit and digitally processing the data contained in the RF signal through a baseband circuit unit, is disclosed. The baseband circuit unit includes a setting parameter holder for holding the setting parameter of each of a plurality of RF control elements, a setting parameter determining unit for determining, when the RF control element connected to the baseband circuit unit is switched to a second RF control element, the setting parameter to be used by the second RF control element after switching based on the setting information supplied from an external source, and a setting parameter selection processing unit for selecting the setting parameter corresponding to the second RF control element from the setting parameter holder based on the determined result and sending out the setting parameter to the second RF control element. An RF communication control method using the RF communication control system and a computer-readable storage medium to store the program for executing the RF communication control method by the computer, are also disclosed.
US07881661B2
A system and method for providing notification on remote devices are provided. In architecture, the system includes a computer device for performing the operation. The computer device includes a message send module that sends a message to the remote device using an IP link and a determination module that determines that the message sent by the IP link was not received by the remote device. Moreover, the computer device further includes a resend module that resends the message automatically using a SMS transmission process. A method for providing notification on remote devices is also provided. The method operates by (1) sending a message to the remote device using a IP link; (2) determining that the message sent by the IP link was not received by the remote device; and (3) resending the message automatically using a SMS transmission process.
US07881660B2
A mobile communication system determines a communication path to implement fast communication by multihop connection. A mobile communication system includes a mobile station, at least one relay station, and a base station and implements packet transmission from the mobile station to the base station through a communication path with an intermediary of at least one relay station or through a communication path without an intermediary of a relay station. The mobile communication system is provided with a communication path determiner for determining a communication path with a largest communication speed or a communication path satisfying a required line quality, based on interference levels of respective signals received at a relay station constituting a communication path between the transmitting station and the receiving station, and at the base station.
US07881653B2
An image recording apparatus including: a body; a supply tray attached to the body for putting a recording sheet thereon; a recording mechanism provided in a middle of a feed path defined in the body for recording an image on the recording sheet; a feeding mechanism which has an arm pivotably supported at one of opposite ends thereof and a feeding roller rotatably provided in the other of the opposite ends of the arm, and which is configured such that the recording sheet is fed toward the recording mechanism by rotating of the feeding roller held in contact with the recording sheet; a discharge opening provided in the body for discharging the recording sheet therethrough; a cover supported by the body to be pivotable between an open position and a closed position; and a cover-arm interlock mechanism which permits the arm to pivot such that the feeding roller contacts the recording sheet when the cover is positioned at the open position, and which positions the arm such that the feeding roller is away from the recording sheet when the cover is positioned at the closed position.
US07881651B2
A lubricant applying device, includes: an image carrier; a lubricant; a lubricant applying member that contacts the image carrier and the lubricant, and maintains a portion of the lubricant on an outer periphery of the lubricant applying member due to rotating so as to apply the lubricant to the image carrier; and a solid material that is adjacently provided with the lubricant on an upstream side in a rotation direction of the lubricant applying member, wherein the solid material has a higher level of hardness than the lubricant and is worn out due to contact with the lubricant applying member.
US07881639B2
Developer units for supplying developer material to a photoconductive member is disclosed and may include a magnetic roll having an outer surface, a first auger adjacent the magnetic roll being rotatable to convey the developer material to the outer surface of the magnetic roll, a second auger disposed below the first auger, a first trim blade disposed at a first angular position about the outer surface of the magnetic roll for leveling the developer material on the outer surface during rotation of the magnetic roll, and a second trim blade disposed at a second angular position about the outer surface of the magnetic roll for leveling the developer material on the outer surface that has been leveled by the first trim blade during rotation of the magnetic roll, the magnetic roll being rotatable to supply the developer material leveled by the second trim blade to the photoconductive member.
US07881638B2
A developing apparatus includes a developer container for containing a developer; a first screw, provided in a first screw, provided in a first chamber in the developer container, for feeding the developer; a second screw, provided in a second chamber in the developer container, for feeding the developer in a direction opposite from that of the first screw; an opening through which the developer is moved between the first chamber and the second chamber; and a developer carrying member, provided in the first chamber, for carrying the developer to effect development of an electrostatic image. At least one of said first screw and said second screw has a multiple thread screw portion having a number n of threads and a thread pitch P. The opening is located downstream from the multiple thread screw portion in a developer feeding direction and extends from a downstream-side end of the multiple thread screw portion in the developer feeding direction toward an upstream side of the multiple thread screw portion in a length equal to or more than nP.
US07881634B2
In a constitution for detecting a position of a transfer member on the basis of a detection result of a current passing between the transfer member and an image bearing member, the positional detection is performed after a contacting and separating operation of the transfer member is carried out. By the contacting and separating operation of the transfer member, the image bearing member located out of a normal position is pressed to the normal position by the transfer member. After the image bearing member is pressed to the normal position, a position of the transfer member is detected.
US07881627B2
An image forming apparatus includes image bearing member having a movable surface; charging means for charging the surface of the image bearing member; image exposure means for exposing the surface of the image bearing member charged by the charging means to light in accordance with image information, thus forming an electrostatic image; developing means for developing the electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member into a developed image; surface potential detecting means for detecting a potential of the surface of the image bearing member; discharging means for discharging the surface of the image bearing member; changing means for changing an image forming condition, wherein an area of the image bearing member passes the discharging means under different operating conditions of the discharging means, and the area is charged by the charging means, the changing means changes the image forming condition on the basis of a result of detection, by the surface potential detecting means, of surface potentials of the area charged by the charging means.
US07881620B2
An arrangement for generating beat notes with a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) utilizes a pulsed laser source coupled into a section of post-processed highly-nonlinear optical fiber (HNLF) to generate a frequency comb having one or more regions of enhanced spectral power. A second laser signal source is overlapped with the frequency comb to form one or more “beat notes” at difference frequencies(y) between the second source and the continuum comb. By virtue of the post-processing, areas of spectral enhancement are formed along the comb, and are positioned to interact with the second laser signal to generate optical beat notes. The second laser signal may be from an external source (forming beat notes from a signal “outside” of the comb), or may be a frequency-multiplied version of the generated supercontinuum (forming beat notes from a signal “within” the comb).
US07881615B2
Alerts, such as laser driver current alarms, are triggered in an optoelectronic device based on dynamic digital diagnostics, such as operating temperature. Optoelectronic devices may execute microcode structured to represent a formulaic relation between a first parameter (e.g., temperature) and an indicator value for a second parameter (e.g., laser driver current). The microcode may further be structured to cause the optoelectronic device to access the first parameter, calculate an indicator value for the second parameter based on the accessed first parameter using the formulaic relation, access the second parameter, and compare the indicator value with the second parameter to determine whether to trigger an alert. If the second parameter exceeds the indicator value, the alert may be triggered, and may be indicative of potentially imminent optoelectronic device failure.
US07881613B2
Provided are an apparatus and method for tracking a wavelength in a passive optical subscriber network in which a central base station and at least one subscriber terminal are connected via a remote node. The apparatus includes a first wavelength aligning unit multiplexing and aligning wavelengths of optical signals from a plurality of single-mode optical sources of the central base station; a second wavelength aligning unit multiplexing and aligning wavelengths of optical signals transmitted to the remote node from a plurality of single-mode optical sources of the subscriber terminal; and a third wavelength aligning unit demultiplexing and aligning wavelengths of optical signals from the second wavelength aligning unit, the third wavelength aligning unit being included in the central base station. Accordingly, when the wavelengths of passbands of a multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) of a remote station change due to a change in the ambient temperature, wavelength tracking is performed by making aligned the wavelengths of optical sources of a central base station, a multiplexer/demultiplexer, and subscriber terminals, thereby minimizing optical channel loss and enabling reliable management of WDM-PON.
US07881607B2
A method and corresponding apparatus is disclosed for determining a particular Optical Network Terminal (ONT) in a Passive Optical Network (PON) is malfunctioning by sending a continuous stream of light up a shared fiber, which results in adversely affecting communications between the ONT and an Optical Line Terminal (OLT). The example embodiment verifies the failure is due to a faulty optical transmitter in the ONT and not a different network fault, such as a fiber optic line cut or power outage. Through the use of the example embodiment, a service provider can determine in an automated manner which specific ONT of a PON is malfunctioning.
US07881606B2
A split mechanism for a coaxial photographing device, especially a split mechanism between a photographing unit and a light projection unit of a photographing device used for a full-time surveillance to facilitate an image adjustment or maintenance, uses primarily the photographing unit as a base of support, with the removable light projection unit being assembled coaxially at an image taking end. After the light projection unit is disassembled and changes a position, it can be linked at a constant direction temporarily and can keep operating by using a linking device which is split linearly, such that a calibration light wave needed for adjusting the images can be provided, and the light projection unit can be easily aligned with an axis to be assembled at position upon assembling.
US07881602B2
A driving device which is capable of increasing a driving speed at which an object to be driven is driven, enhancing quietness in driving the object to be driven, and positioning the object to be driven with high accuracy. A hollow cylindrical magnet (1) extends along an optical axis, and a plurality of magnetized parts (1a to 1j) spirally extend along the outer peripheral surface of the magnet. A first yoke (2), a second yoke (3), a third yoke (7), and a fourth yoke (8) are formed of a soft magnetic material, and each of the yokes has five magnetic pole teeth (2a to 2e, 3a to 3e, 7a to 7e, or 8a to 8e) each disposed in opposed relation to a corresponding one of the magnetized parts of the magnet. A lens holder (12) holds the object to be driven and supports the magnet such that the magnet is movable along the optical axis. First and second coils (5, 10) for magnetizing the first and second yokes, respectively, are energized to move the magnet along the lens holder in the direction along the predetermined axis to thereby drive the object to be driven.
US07881601B2
An electronic camera includes a face detecting section, a setting section, and a controlling section. The face detecting section detects a face of a subject. The setting section sets a scene shooting mode to adjust a shooting condition to an optimum shooting condition in accordance with each pre-assumed shooting scene. The controlling section controls the face detection of the face detecting section only when the setting section has set a scene shooting mode for shooting a scene including a person.
US07881596B2
An image fluctuation correction device includes a shake detecting means 5 for detecting a shake occurring in a photographic device, two movable refraction elements 10A, 10B arranged on an incident light path to an optical lens 3 to change a direction of refraction of incident light on the optic lens, two rotating means 4A, 4B for rotating each of the two movable refraction elements 10A, 10B about an optical axis within a predetermined movable range, a rotating control amount calculating means 6A for calculating rotating control amounts of the two rotating means 4A, 4B so as to cancel the shake detected by the shake detecting means, and rotating control means 6B for controlling the two rotating means 4A, 4B on the basis of the rotating control amounts calculated by the rotating control amount calculating means 6A.
US07881593B2
A gas cooking appliance for use with at least one removable burner, the cooking appliance including a structural housing supporting a cooktop surface having at least one convertible area for use with the at least one removable burner. When the at least one removable burner is operable with the cooking appliance, it resides above the convertible area and is supplied a fuel mixture from the cooking appliance by a gas-to-air type fuel supplier. According to various preferred embodiments there are provided a gas shutoff device for stopping the flow of gaseous fuel to the removable gas burner when the burner is relocated or not properly installed to the appliance proper; and an interlock so that during cooking, the removable burner does not move about in an unsafe way.
US07881580B2
To obtain an optical waveguide device capable of improving mounting accuracy and productivity for correcting misalignment of alignment marker caused by distortion due to a substrate stressed and distorted. An optical waveguide device includes an optical waveguide section, including a waveguide core formed on a substrate, and an optical device (LD) mounted on the substrate to correspond the optical waveguide section, both of which are coupled at a light end face and mounted by hybrid mounting. LD side alignment markers are provided in both sides of an active line in the optical device. Substrate side alignment markers are provided at positions where centers thereof and those of the optical device side markers are matched when the optical device is mounted on the corresponding substrate. Fiducial markers are provided and a relative positional relationship with the waveguide core on the substrate becomes stably. Thus, a misalignment amount is detected.
US07881570B2
Provided herein are photonic devices configured to display photonic band gap structure with a degenerate band edge. Electromagnetic radiation incident upon these photonic devices can be converted into a frozen mode characterized by a significantly increased amplitude, as compared to that of the incident wave. The device can also be configured as a resonance cavity with a giant transmission band edge resonance. In an exemplary embodiment, the photonic device is a periodic layered structure with each unit cell comprising at least two anisotropic layers with misaligned anisotropy. The degenerate band edge at given frequency can be achieved by proper choice of the layers' thicknesses and the misalignment angle. In another embodiment, the photonic device is configured as a waveguide periodically modulated along its axis.
US07881565B2
An optical resonator includes a reflective element and an optical fiber. The optical fiber is positioned relative to the reflective element such that light emitted from the optical fiber is reflected by the reflective element. The optical resonator has an optical resonance with a resonance lineshape that is asymmetric as a function of wavelength.
US07881561B2
The present invention relates generally to an optical character recognition of machine-readable forms, and in particular to a verification of a direction of spatial orientation and a definition of a form type of the document electronic image. The goals of the invention are achieved by preliminarily assigning one or more form objects as elements composing a graphic image unambiguously defining its direction of spatial orientation. Similarly, one or more form objects are preliminarily assigned as elements composing a graphic image unambiguously defining its type. The direction of spatial orientation and the type of the form are verified via identification of said images. The models of graphic images either for verification the direction of spatial orientation or for defining the form type are stored in a special data storage means, one of the embodiment of which is form model description.
US07881560B2
The invention relates to a method for determining a position of a marker in an Augmented Reality System. After detection of the marking points of a marker in a captured image, marker vectors are determined using the marking points of the marker, and the distance of the marker from a capturing unit is calculated using the determined marker vectors. The determined distance and marker vectors are used in order to establish a rotation matrix reproducing an orientation of the marker in relation to the capturing unit, wherein the simplification that all marking points of the marker are located at the same distance from the capturing unit is valid and the signs of the rotation matrix are derived from substantially parallel marker vectors.
US07881550B2
It is possible to inhibit side effects, even when an image that has sharp edge regions has been input, using a spatial processing portion (10) outputting surrounding image information US from an input image signal, a control signal generation portion (40) outputting an effect adjustment signal MOD according to a degree of flatness of an edge proximal region, and an effect adjustment portion (20) outputting a synthesized signal MUS that is synthesized by changing a ratio of the image signal IS and the surrounding image information US according to the effect adjustment signal MOD. Further, the side effects are inhibited using a visual processing portion (30) visually processing the image signal IS based on the synthesized signal MUS and the image signal IS.
US07881540B2
A method and an apparatus process images. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing an image including an object; clusters pixels of the image to obtain clusters; generates a graph with pixels of the image and cluster membership information of pixels in the clusters; and segments the graph using a max-flow segmentation to obtain pixels of the image associated with the object.
US07881535B1
A plurality of users may access a processing unit operable for the development of a model, and model development instructions from the users may be received at the processing unit. The model may be developed in a plurality of steps using the model development instructions. Signoff instructions corresponding to the steps for developing the model may be received at the processing unit, each of the signoff instructions being received after each corresponding step is performed, with each of the plurality of signoff instructions indicating approval or denial. The respective step may be approved by the processing unit if the corresponding signoff instruction indicates approval, and rejected by the processing unit if the corresponding signoff instruction indicates denial. The processing unit is operable as a central location accessible by the users for developing, and signing off on the development of, the model according to the development instructions and the signoff instructions.
US07881534B2
Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for using user corrections to help improve handwriting recognition operations. The system tracks user corrections to recognition results. The system receives handwritten input from the user and performs a recognition operation to determine a top recognized word. The prior corrections made by the user are analyzed to calculate a ratio of times the user has corrected the top recognized word to a particular other word as opposed to correcting the particular other word to the top recognized word. If the ratio meets or exceeds a required minimum, then at least one secondary source is optionally analyzed to determine if the particular other word is used a certain number of times more frequently than the top recognized word in the secondary source. The system performs a swap of the top recognized word with the particular other word when the required criteria are met.
US07881530B2
A method for making a device link (90) for a color management system, with an associated imaging apparatus (20), wherein the device link specifies a transformation of digital-image colorant combinations to imaging-apparatus colorant combinations. The device link converts the digital image (70) to a modified digital image (100) represented using the imaging-apparatus colorant combinations, thereby allowing the imaging apparatus to produce an output image (170) having output-image colors matching reference-image colors at corresponding physical locations in a reference image (80). The method includes establishing an association between selected digital-image colorant combinations and reference-image colors, determining for each associated measured reference-image color a suitable imaging-apparatus colorant combination that will produce the reference-image color when rendered by the imaging apparatus, extending the transformation to all other digital-image colorant combinations by means of a mathematical interpolation, and encoding and encapsulating the transformation in a digital form as a device link.
US07881529B2
An identification method and process for objects from digitally captured images thereof that uses data characteristics to identify an object from a plurality of objects in a database. The data is broken down into parameters such as a Shape Comparison, Grayscale Comparison, Wavelet Comparison, and Color Cube Comparison with object data in one or more databases to identify the actual object of a digital image.
US07881519B2
A system for tracking currency bills comprises a currency scanning device. The scanning device includes a sensor that retrieves currency identification characteristic information of each bill processed. The currency identification characteristic information permits the unique identification of each bill processed. The system further comprises a customer identification means and means for associating each processed bill with the customer depositing the bill. Means for identifying the customer (or customer account) associated with a particular processed bill after the deposit transaction has been completed is also included in the system.
US07881518B2
Methods for altering one or more parameters of a measurement system are provided. One method includes analyzing a sample using the system to generate values from classification channels of the system for a population of particles in the sample. The method also includes identifying a region in a classification space in which the values for the populations are located. In addition, the method includes determining an optimized classification region for the population using one or more properties of the region. The optimized classification region contains a predetermined percentage of the values for the population. The optimized classification region is used for classification of particles in additional samples.
US07881510B2
An apparatus for forming an image of a body of a patient. The apparatus comprises an energy source which emits energy that passes through the body or which causes the body to emit energy. The apparatus comprises at least one detector element which receives the energy which has pass through, or originated within the body. The apparatus comprises a computer with a memory in communication with the detector element which stores in the memory angular and timing information relative to the body regarding the energy. The apparatus comprises means for obtaining additional angular and timing information relative to the body regarding the information including the computer-generated steps from a computable readable medium of: acquiring time resolved projective data, either in a sparse manner or in a highly sampled manner, depending on which acquisition aspect of the patient is to be reduced; interpolating either along a circumferential direction or along a temporal direction sparsely sampled data, the interpolation direction being determined by a relative k-space sampling density; applying data filtering either along the circumferential direction or along the temporal direction for highly sampled data, the filtering direction being determined by the relative k-space sampling density; compiling a full radial sampling set from the filtered or interpolated data; and submitting the sampling set for reconstruction. A method for forming an image of a patient.
US07881503B2
An apparatus and method for validating the identity of a person using corneal imaging techniques. The method involves capturing an image of at least part of a person's cornea and deriving one or more geometric parameters. The geometric parameters are compared with corresponding reference geometric parameters for validation of the identity of the person.
US07881499B2
A method for automatically identifying an object is disclosed. Preferably, the method is used in conjunction with a performance monitor. A set of markers are selectively positioned on the surface of each of a plurality of golf clubs and golf balls. It is desired that each set of markers for a unique pattern on each of the golf clubs and golf balls. Each unique pattern is preferably acquired and stored. A player may choose any of a plurality of golf clubs and golf balls. When within the field of view of the performance monitor, the pattern on the club and ball is automatically matched with the stored patterns, thereby identifying the type of club and ball.
US07881495B2
The present invention provides for simple and streamlined boresight correlation of FLIR-to-missile video. Boresight correlation is performed with un-NUCed missile video, which allows boresight correlation and NUC to be performed simultaneously thereby reducing the time required to acquire a target and fire the missile. The current approach uses the motion of the missile seeker for NUCing to produce spatial gradient filtering in the missile image by differencing images as the seeker moves. This compensates DC non-uniformities in the image. A FLIR image is processed with a matching displace and subtract spatial filter constructed based on the tracked scene motion. The FLIR image is resampled to match the missile image resolution, and the two images are preprocessed and correlated using conventional methods. Improved NUC is provided by cross-referencing multiple measurements of each area of the scene as viewed by different pixels in the imager. This approach is based on the simple yet novel premise that every pixel in the array that looks at the same thing should see the same thing. As a result, the NUC terms adapt to non-uniformities in the imager and not the scene.
US07881492B2
An electronic watermark embedding apparatus includes means for storing a pixel matrix G with n rows and n columns of an input image, means for acquiring eigenvalues s1 to sn and eigenvectors p1 to pn of the pixel matrix G, means for selecting at least one pair of eigenvalues (si,sj) having different values from the eigenvalues s1 to sn and correcting the eigenvalues s1 to sn such that the values of the selected pair can be equal, means for creating a Jordan-normal-form matrix Sw having the corrected eigenvalues as diagonal elements and 1 as one of the nondiagonal elements corresponding to the selected pair, means for outputting the eigenvectors p1 to pn as electronic watermark key information, means for performing the inverse transform of diagonalization computing on the created matrix Sw by using the eigenvectors p1 to pn to create a pixel matrix Gw with n rows and n columns thereby and outputting it as an electronic-watermark-embedded image of the input image.
US07881488B2
An electro-acoustic transducer is oriented such that its transducer axis is parallel to, and in, the plane of a baffle coupled to the electro-acoustic transducer for reduced baffle vibration.
US07881484B2
The present invention concerns a capacitor microphone comprising a microphone housing having a sound inlet opening, a diaphragm and a counterpart electrode which is associated with the diaphragm and which is arranged at a small spacing relative to the diaphragm. In order to be able to construct such a capacitor microphone with the smallest possible dimensions with at the same time a high signal-noise ratio and without worsening the electro-acoustic parameters, it is proposed in accordance with the invention that the microphone housing has two housing portions of which the second housing portion is of a larger diameter than the first housing portion and the second housing portion is arranged in the form of a cap or sleeve over the first housing portion and the edge of the diaphragm is folded over the edge of the first housing portion and fixed to the outside of the first housing portion.
US07881483B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a small and economical two-way communications device that has both an excellent echo-cancellation function that substantially suppresses echoes over the entire frequency range and an excellent voice-operated exchange function that provides natural switching of conversation sounds while protecting against unnatural disconnection or echoes during conversation, even when a reception signal and a transmission signal are superimposed in a single transducer.
US07881482B2
An audio enhancement system is provided for compensating for distortions (e.g., linear distortions) of a sound signal reproduced by an audio system in a listening room. The audio enhancement system includes analysis filters that generate a plurality of analysis output signals from an audio signal to be enhanced. The system also includes synthesis filters that generate an enhanced audio signal from a number of synthesis input signals. The number of analysis output signals and the number of synthesis input signals preferably are equal. Signal processing elements between the analysis filters and the synthesis filters generate one of the synthesis input signals from a respective one of the analysis output signals to perform an inverse filtering for linearizing an unknown transfer function indicative of the audio system and the listening room in the respective frequency range.
US07881479B2
An audio signal processing method comprises the steps of emitting a sound at a virtual sound image location in space on the outer side of a closed surface, generating measurement-based directional transfer functions corresponding to a plurality of positions on the closed surface based on a result of measuring the sound at the plurality of respective positions on the closed surface by using a directional microphone, generating composite transfer functions corresponding to the plurality of respective positions on the closed surface by respectively adding, at a specified ratio, the measurement-based directional transfer functions and auxiliary transfer functions and generating reproduction audio signals corresponding to the plurality of respective positions on the closed surface by performing a calculation process on an input audio signal in accordance with the set of composite functions.
US07881476B2
Enhanced multimedia content on physical media interacts with the user through a media player and the Internet. Enhanced multimedia utilizes IDs for pieces of content on the media and a media key block. On the enhanced media is a file with a list of URLs. As the enhanced media plays a section requiring a set of keys for decryption, the media player accesses the URL for that section and obtains the decryption key. The decryption key may be purchased or provided for free. Secure encryption and transmission of these keys is accomplished by broadcast encryption using a media key block. Each media has a unique set of keys that allow the media player to process the media key block; however, each media follows a unique path through the media key block. All legitimate media players obtain the media key; circumvention devices cannot decipher the media key block.
US07881474B2
The present invention provides methods and devices for a security architecture for use in wireless multi-hop networks. A method for implementing pair-wise encryption key establishment, network node authentication and determining tunnel encryption keys is provided in a following manner. In a multi-hop wireless network including a plurality of network nodes, pair-wise security is established between pairs of neighboring network nodes of the plurality of network nodes. For example, pair-wise security is established in the form of temporal pair-wise encryption keys. Following establishment of pair-wise security between pairs of neighboring network nodes, for a pair of network nodes that are not neighbors, tunnel security is established between the pair of network nodes using tunnel encryption keys derived by the pair of network nodes on an ad hoc basis. The tunnel encryption keys are used to form the connection between non-neighboring network nodes so as to avoid the hop-by-hop encryption/decryption used in conventional multi-hop wireless systems.
US07881470B2
A node that couples to the Internet establishes a secure connection with another node that couples to the Internet. The secure connection to be established via an IPsec security association. The node registers with an authority that couples to the Internet and provides public key infrastructure (PKI) services. Registration is to include obtaining both a private and a public and key. The PKI services to include providing the private key to only the registered node and providing the public key to another registered node that requests PKI services from the authority. The node requests the PKI services from the authority based on a change in a point of attachment for the node to the Internet. The node then authenticates the other node via the PKI services and exchanges a secret key with the other node based on the authentication of the other node. The node is to implement an encryption scheme that uses the exchanged secret key for symmetric encryption of data exchanged between the node and the other node. The symmetric encryption is to maintain a secure connection between the nodes.
US07881467B2
An image forming apparatus configured to generate image data by reading information in a paper, includes a machine signature generation part configured to generate a first electronic signature for the image data by using a secret key peculiar to the image forming apparatus, and an operator signature generation part configured to generate a second electronic signature for the image data by using a secret key peculiar to an operator of the image forming apparatus.
US07881463B1
A system and method for wireless DSL routing without signal interference is disclosed herein. The system includes a DSL interface, a WLAN interface, and a power system. The WLAN interface is isolated from the rest of the system by various isolation and signal interference reduction techniques. The system can be implemented in a single printed circuit board.
US07881459B2
An echo canceller (106) can include a first multi-band filter (152) which receives a first input signal (108) and generates a first plurality of sub-band signals (110, 111, 112), and a second multi-band filter (154) which receives a second input signal (122) and generates a second plurality of sub-band signals (156, 157, 158). The echo canceller also can include a plurality of double talk detectors (168, 169, 170) that each generate a double talk flag (182, 183, 184) based on at least a respective one of the first sub-band signals and a respective one of the second sub-band signals.
US07881454B2
In embodiments, the present invention is directed to methods of handling calls received from customers. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a call from a customer who called a promotional telephone number. The phone call is connected to an IVR system. The IVR system maintains a set of rules for handling calls. The method further includes creating a call detail record, which includes a unique identifier, a source telephone number, and the promotional telephone number. A customized greeting is then played to the customer based on the promotional telephone number the customer dialed. Based on the rules for handling calls, the call is redirected from the IVR system to an agent along with transmitting and displaying the call detail record to the agent.
US07881446B1
Inmate communications systems provide a feature-rich platform with a high degree of flexibility and security employing call control facilities located off institutional premises. Authentication processes for calling and called party verification include biometric techniques in some embodiments. Distributed processing of call control and billing provide flexible interactive call payment processes. Preferred embodiments feature voice over IP transmission and control featuring controlled access to avoid addition of unauthorized third-party call participants. Monitoring, recording and selective forwarding of calls is provided under control of system administrators.
US07881442B2
A method and operation for a call announcement service which answers incoming phone calls. The system retrieves identifying information about the calling party and provides that information to the called party. The called party can choose from several options for answering the call, such as completing the call with the calling party, sending the calling party to voice mail or terminating the call. In an alternative embodiment, the calling party can be notified that they have dialed a cellular phone customer, and can be provided the option of accepting the called party's cellular phone charges.
US07881440B2
A method and apparatus for processing unique dialogs from a dialog system to identify paths through the dialog system, each unique dialog having a corresponding identified path and generating a visual call flow representation as a function of the identified paths of the dialog system, the call flow representation including nodes and edges connected to correspond to the identified paths.
US07881439B1
A method, system, computer system and computer program product to interact with a user of a computer system or service via more than one communication channel, such as a telephone channel and a web channel. A determination can be made based upon information gathered via the multiple communication channels that communication between a server and one communication channel is related to communication between the server and another communication channel. Related information gathered via the multiple communication channels can be identified to form a more complete picture of information about the user's problem with a problem entity. A potential action to help the user find a solution can be determined from information gathered from all communication channels. An automated option can be provided via one of the communication channels, and an automated suggestion to select the option can be made via a coordinated communication channel.
US07881433B2
In a display control apparatus, an image receiving portion receives a plurality of images sequentially transmitted from an X-ray imaging apparatus based on a transmission order determined by a transmission-order determining portion, and a capture-order information receiving portion also receives, from the X-ray imaging apparatus, capture-order information indicating a capture order in which each of the images was captured by the X-ray imaging apparatus. The images received by the image receiving portion are stored in an image storage memory. A display controller controls displaying of the images stored in the image storage memory on a display apparatus based on a transmission order for transmitting the images or the capture-order information in accordance with an input imaging condition and an operating status of the X-ray imaging apparatus.
US07881431B2
A radiotherapy apparatus includes an acceleration unit configured to generate a charged particle beam. A target is configured to generate a radiation when the charged particle beam is irradiated to the target. A sensor is configured to measure an electric current flowing through the target. A dosimeter is configured to measure a dose of the radiation. A control unit is configured to control the acceleration unit based on the measured electric current and the measured dose.
US07881430B2
A method includes providing a bus, and providing a means for testing the bus for proper termination resistance during normal operation of the bus.
US07881428B2
A breast x-ray system and method using tomosynthesis imaging in which the x-ray source generally moves away from the patient's head. The system may include an operation mode in which it additionally takes mammogram image data.
US07881424B2
A method for calibrating a dual-energy CT system and an image reconstruction method are disclosed to calculate images of atomic number and density of a scanned object as well as its attenuation coefficient images at any energy level. The present invention removes the effect from a cupping artifact due to X-ray beam hardening. The method for calibrating a dual-energy CT system is provided comprising steps of selecting at least two different materials, detecting penetrative rays from dual-energy rays penetrating said at least two different materials under different combinations of thickness to acquire projection values, and creating a lookup table in a form of correspondence between said different combinations of thickness and said projection values. The image reconstruction method is provided comprising steps of scanning an object with dual-energy rays to acquire dual-energy projection values, calculating projection values of base material coefficients corresponding to said dual-energy projection values based on a pre-created lookup table, and reconstructing an image of base material coefficient distribution based on said projection values of base material coefficients. In this way, images of atomic number and density of an object as well as its attenuation coefficient images can be calculated from the images of the distribution of base material coefficients. Compared with the prior art technique, the method proposed in the present invention has advantages of simple calibration procedure, high calculation precision and invulnerability to X-ray beam hardening.
US07881412B2
Techniques for performing interference cancellation in a wireless (e.g., CDMA) communication system are described. For a single-sector interference canceller, received samples are processed (e.g., despread) to isolate a signal from a transmitter (e.g., a base station) and obtain input samples. The input samples are transformed based on a first transform (e.g., a fast Hadamard transform) to obtain received symbols for multiple orthogonal channels (e.g., Walsh bins). The received symbols for the multiple orthogonal channels are scaled with multiple gains to obtain scaled symbols. The gains may be related to the inverses of the power estimates for the orthogonal channels. The scaled symbols are transformed based on a second transform (e.g., an inverse fast Hadamard transform) to obtain output samples, which are processed (e.g., spread) to obtain interference-canceled samples having the signal from the transmitter suppressed.
US07881410B2
Disclosed is a method for detecting a user in a communication system. The method includes selecting i ranging sub-carrier signals among k sub-carrier signals upon which a k-point fast Fourier transform (FFT), has been performed multiplying the i ranging sub-carrier signals by a ranging code, performing k-point inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) on the i ranging sub-carrier signals multiplied by the ranging code, and (k-i) 0s, detecting a power of each of the IFFT-processed k point signals, estimating a power of a desired received signal and a power of an interference signal by using powers of the k point signals according to a predetermined scheme, and detecting a user depending on the power of the desired received signal and the power of the interference signal.
US07881409B2
A demodulator, chip and method for digitally demodulating an FSK signal utilizing a digital data transfer protocol and a digital demodulator circuit have been developed. The data-rate approaches the carrier-frequency. The one application for this technique is in the magnetically powered wireless systems such as biomedical implants and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with high data rates above 1 Mbps. The demodulator circuit extracts the serial data bit-stream and a constant-frequency clock from an FSK carrier signal in the 1˜20 MHZ range, which can power the wireless system as well. The digital demodulator circuit is implemented entirely with digital circuitry and is called a digital-FSK (DFSK) demodulator.
US07881407B2
Systems and methods for mitigating multipath signals in a receiver are provided. In this regard, a representative system, among others, includes a receiver comprising an antenna being configured to receive signals from a plurality of satellites, and a computing device being configured to: generate pseudorange measurements based on the received satellites signals, process the generated pseudorange measurements to reduce its pseudorange residuals based on statistical modeling in order to mitigate multipath errors, and compute navigation solutions based on the processed pseudorange measurements. A representative method, among others, for mitigating multipath signals in a receiver, comprises: receiving the pseudorange measurements; processing the received pseudorange measurements to reduce its pseudorange residuals based on statistical modeling in order to mitigate multipath errors; and computing navigation solutions based on the processed pseudorange measurements.
US07881402B2
A method for correcting gain imbalance error, phase imbalance error and DC offset errors in a transmitter having an OFDM-based I/Q modulator is disclosed. The method employs a compensator prior to the I/Q-modulator to compensate for the gain and phase imbalance and DC offset. The compensator is efficiently updated with the estimated values of gain and phase imbalance and DC offsets obtained by performing the DFT operation in the digital baseband domain while sending a pair of orthogonal test tones to the modulator's inputs from a digital baseband chip, then down converting the RF modulated signal through a nonlinear device and a bandpass filter to a baseband signal, and finally sampling it using an A/D. The delay mismatch, which is mainly generated by lowpass filters between the I and Q branches, is also minimized in this method.
US07881401B2
A transmitter arrangement includes a first and a second phase-locked loop, each having a power amplifier. The first phase-locked loop generates a first amplified oscillator signal depending on a first input signal representing a first phase information, wherein a first feedback signal for the first phase-locked loop is derived from the first amplified oscillator signal. Accordingly, the second phase-locked loop generates a second amplified oscillator signal depending on a second input signal representing a second phase information. A second feedback signal for the second phase-locked loop is derived from the second amplified oscillator signal. The transmitter arrangement further includes a summation element to combine the amplified first oscillator signal and the amplified second oscillator signal to an output signal.
US07881399B2
Provided is a transmission circuit which is small in size, operates with high efficiency, and outputs a transmission signal having high linearity. A signal generation section 11 generates an amplitude signal m(t) and a phase signal. An angle modulation section 17 angle-modulates the phase signal to output an angle-modulated signal. An amplitude calculation section 12 outputs a discrete value signal V(t) having a plurality of discrete values corresponding to a magnitude of the amplitude signal m(t). A dividing section 13 divides the amplitude signal m(t) by the discrete value signal V(t) to output an amplitude signal M(t). A delta-sigma modulation section 14 delta-sigma modulates the amplitude signal M(t) to output a delta-sigma modulated signal. A variable gain amplifier section 15 amplifies the delta-sigma modulated signal by a gain corresponding to the discrete value signal V(t). An amplitude amplifying section 16 supplies, to an amplitude modulation section 18, a voltage corresponding to a magnitude of the delta-sigma modulated signal. The amplitude modulation section 18 amplitude-modulates the angle-modulated signal by the voltage supplied from the amplitude amplifying section 16, to output a modulation signal.
US07881394B2
A method and apparatus for computing soft decision input metrics to a turbo decoder includes circuits associated with eight-ary phase shift keyed (8PSK) modulation and sixteen-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM). In both implementations log-likelihood ratio (LLR) metrics on code symbols are estimated as products of various constant values and various combinations of the in-phase and quadrature components of a demodulated soft decision. In the implementation associated with the 16QAM modulation scheme, an estimate of the carrier-signal-to-interference (C/I) ratio is also used to estimate some of the LLR metrics. Estimates of the LLR metrics may also be obtained in association with generalized square QAM and M-ary PSK modulation schemes including, e.g., 64QAM, 256QAM, and 16PSK.
US07881392B2
Systems and methods which are adapted determine timing with respect to an orthogonal frequency division (OFD) channel, such as may be used with respect to an OFDM or OFDMA systems through reliably identifying timing of a first arriving signal path. Embodiments use deconvolution to construct the channel impulse response associated with a received signal. The first arriving path for the received signal may readily and reliably be determined using the channel impulse response information.
US07881387B2
Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for realizing signal to noise ratio (SNR) scalability in a video stream server in order to transmit a video stream in a variable network environment. An apparatus for adapting a bitrate of a coded scalable bit-stream based on multi-layers to a variable network environment, comprising a bit-stream parsing unit to parse an input bit-stream, a pre-decoding condition determining unit to determine a target transmission bitrate according to the variable network environment, a pre-decoding unit to skip at least one frame among the frames included in the parsed bit-stream according to the determined target transmission bitrate, and a bit-stream transmission unit to transmit to a client device the bit-stream that has been restructured due to frame skipping.
US07881373B2
A video data compression apparatus with which compressed video data of suitable amounts of data can be produced and the time required for processing is short. The apparatus approximates a real difficulty data Dj indicating the difficulty of the pattern of each picture by the ME residual, flatness, and intra AC and further calculates the target amount of data Tj of the compressed video data from the approximated real difficulty data Dj. An encoder performs compression and coding so that the amount of data of the compressed video data becomes substantially the target amount of data Tj.
US07881367B2
The present invention relates to method of coding blocks of video data for a handheld apparatus comprising a battery. Said method comprising a step of computing a residual error block from the use of a set of prediction functions having different power consumption levels. It also comprises a step of enabling or disabling a prediction function of the set depending on its associated power consumption level for a predetermined level of the battery. It finally comprises a step of selecting a prediction function among a set of enabled prediction functions to code the residual error block.
US07881364B2
Method for generating reference signal sequence using grouping is explained. In this method, base sequences are grouped such that each group contains at least one base sequence of each length, so UE(s) can use various length sequences as a reference signal. And in this method, inter cell interference caused by using various length sequence as a reference signal sequence can be minimized by grouping sequences having the high cross correlation relation.
US07881362B2
Method and apparatus for differentiated communication channel robustness in a multi-tone transceiver
A multi-tone transceiver including: a channel controller and a plurality of components forming a transmit path and a receive path. The channel controller configured to determine bit-loading for each successive symbol or tone set based on a 1st noise margin target for a first subset of tones in each tone set dedicated to transport of a robust communications channel (RCC) and based on a 2nd noise margin target less than the 1st noise margin target for remaining tones in each tone set dedicated to a standard communications channel (SCC). The plurality of components forming the transmit and receive paths are responsive to the channel controller to select for data modulated on a given tone at least one of smaller constellations and higher gain scaling levels when the given tone corresponds to an RCC tone as compared to an SCC tone, whereby the first set of tones dedicated to the RCC exhibit greater immunity to noise variations than the remaining tones dedicated to the SCC.
US07881358B2
A surface emitting laser is provided with a first multilayer Bragg reflecting mirror including a first layer, a second multilayer Bragg reflecting mirror including a second layer, and an optical resonator unit that is held between these multilayer Bragg reflecting mirrors and includes an active layer. Further, the optical resonator unit contacts with the first layer and second layer respectively. The effective refraction index neff of the resonator unit is larger than either the first layer or the second layer, and an optical length neffL of the optical resonator unit has a relationship with an oscillating wavelength λ of the surface emitting laser to satisfy the following relationship: 0.5λ
US07881351B2
A laser module (1) with at least two laser units (3) are adjusted such that the emitted beams of the laser units (3) converge. The laser units (3) exhibit cooling channels (5) that are provided with a cooling medium. At least one of the laser units has a curved adjustment surface (10) which his mounted to a facing mounting surface (9) of a mounting unit (2) such that a cooling channel opening in the adjustment surface (9) is located opposite an additional cooling channel opening in the mounting surface (10).
US07881348B2
A mode-locked laser device includes a Fabry-Perot resonator, a mode-locking element disposed within the resonator, a solid-state laser medium disposed within the resonator, and exciting means for applying excitation light to the solid-state laser medium. The opposite ends of the resonator, the mode-locking element and the solid-state laser medium are disposed to provide an average beam diameter of lasing light of not more than 150 μm on the mode-locking element and an average beam diameter of the lasing light of not more than 200 μm within the solid-state laser medium.
US07881340B2
A method of operating a decentralized ad-hoc wireless network including wireless stations, comprises establishing a common time reference which is used by the wireless stations to share access to a common wireless channel, the common time reference having a periodic superframe structure including a Scheduled Beacon Period, a Contended Beacon Period, Contention Periods (CPs) and Contention Free Periods (CFPs). The method further comprises time-scheduling, using wireless communication between the wireless stations, the CFPs in the SBTT interval to at least some of the wireless stations requesting access to the CFPs, and granting access to the CPs to at least some of the wireless stations requesting access to the CPs.
US07881336B2
Techniques for communicating with a Healthcare Transaction Base, such as an HTB, without requiring the development of custom adapters are provided. A gateway is utilized that acts a transformation engine between various systems and the healthcare transaction base. One or more filters are utilized to transform a message from one format to another. Adding support for new protocols is simplified as support for a new protocol is added (or plugged-in) by associating any filters that are used to transform messages in the new protocol to a desired protocol.
US07881331B2
Aspects of a method and system for utilization of an reserved and/or out of band channel for maintaining a network connection are provided. In this regard, information relating to training of one or more link partners communicatively coupled to an Ethernet link may be exchanged via a reserved and/or out of band channel on the Ethernet link. The reserved and/or out of band channel may be an auxiliary channel as specified by the IEEE802.1AN standard. The reserved and/or out of band channel may be utilized for scheduling training of one or more of the link partners, determining which of the link partners require training, synchronizing training of the link partners, training the link partners based on changes in environmental conditions. The training may comprise configuring an echo canceller a far-end crosstalk canceller, and/or a near-end crosstalk canceller.
US07881330B2
An apparatus and method of controlling activation of electronic circuitry of data ports of a communication system is disclosed. One method includes a first data port detecting a lack of data for transmission to a second data port. At least one of the first data port and a second data port deactivate electronic circuitry of at least one of the first and second data ports upon detection of the lack of data. The first and second data ports maintain synchronization with each other while the electronic circuitry is deactivated by periodically exchanging synchronization test patterns. At least one of the first data port and the second data port transmit an alert to the other of the first and second data port when data for communication is detected. The other of the first data port and the second data port activate electronic circuitry upon receiving the alert. At least one of the first data port and the second data port transmit data.
US07881329B2
A method and system for maintaining a high reliability logical connection between hosts employs adaptive transparent pinging, clone blocking and bandwidth leveling to realize improvements in the areas of connection status verification, security and bandwidth management. In adaptive transparent pinging, a ping interval that defines a frequency at which ping messages are transmitted from an initiating host to a receiving host to check connection status is dynamically regulated based on data indicative of the reliability of a connection. In clone blocking, the receiving host verifies that a new connection that appears redundant is a re-established connection from the initiating host rather than a cloned connection. In bandwidth leveling, data bursts pending on initiating hosts that exceed a predetermined size are scheduled for transmission to receiving hosts.
US07881328B2
A method and an apparatus provide for controlled access to a shared communication medium. Time slots on a forward channel include information regarding status useful for remote units to determine whether a reverse channel is available for seizure. Additionally, information along the forward channel provides guidance to the remote units to control attempts to seize the reverse channel. In one embodiment a remote unit divides a data package into a plurality of portions and attempts to seize the reverse channel using a single portion of the data package which corresponds to one time slot on the reverse channel. It then waits until it receives notification along the forward channel that the first data portion was successfully received before it attempts to send any of the remainder of its data in consecutive time slots on the reverse channel.
US07881320B1
Multiplexing data from bitstreams is described. Data status is determined for data of each of the bitstreams. Stream numbers are assigned respectively to the bitstreams, and the data of each of the bitstreams is controllably stored in respective memory. A memory buffer of the memory buffers is controllably selected. The data obtained from the memory buffer selected is parsed to provide an output. The controllably selecting and the parsing are repeated to obtain and parse the data stored in at least one other memory buffer of the memory buffers to provide the output. The output is multiplexed data from the bitstreams respectively associated with the memory buffer and the at least one other memory buffer.
US07881311B2
A method serves to compose a VPN (Virtual Private Network) over a plurality of networks, each of which is managed by a different Internet Service Provider (ISP). When a packet with a first capsule header used for composing a VPN in a first ISP network is transmitted to a second ISP network, a route for outputting the packet to the second ISP network is determined based on the information both in the capsule header and in the IP header. In addition, a second capsule header used for composing a VPN in the second ISP network is determined based on the above information.
US07881297B2
A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing communications including an extended protocol header is presented. A message is provided in a communication protocol, the message having a header. An extension is included in the header, the extension including additional information. The message is transmitted to a recipient, wherein the recipient is capable of utilizing the additional information contained in the extension to the header to provide additional functionality.
US07881296B2
This invention provides for an apparatus and method to isolate ports on layer 2 switches on the same VLAN to restrict traffic flow. The apparatus comprises a switch having said plurality of ports, each port configured as a protected port or a non-protected port. An address table memory stores an address table having a destination address and port number pair. A forwarding map generator generates a forwarding map which is responsive to a destination address of a data packet. The method for isolating ports on a layer 2 switch comprises configuring each of the ports on the layer 2 switch as a protected port or a non-protected port. A destination address on an data packet is matched with a physical address on said layer 2 switch and a forwarding map is generated for the data packet based upon the destination address on the data packet. The data packet is then sent to the plurality of ports pursuant to the forwarding map generated based upon whether the ingress port was configured as a protected or nonprotected port.
US07881295B2
A method and system for establishing communication with a device is provided. Aspects of an exemplary embodiment include detecting, at a first device, a physical interaction between the first device and a second device; determining a network address usable for establishing communication between the first and second devices based on information derived from the detected physical interaction; and providing for at least one of sending a message directed to the network address from the first device to the second device and assigning the network address to the first device for receiving a message directed to the network address.
US07881277B2
A communication method and apparatus for a distributed network system where a cognitive radio (CR) technology is used. A communication method of a distributed network system where the CR technology is used includes transmitting adjacent channel information, from at least one first neighbor node adjacent to a source node, first adjacent channel information of the at least one first neighbor node using a pulse signal according to a request of the source node; by transmitting, from at least one second neighbor node adjacent to a destination node, second adjacent channel information of the at least one second neighbor node to the destination node using a pulse signal according to a request of the destination node; and exchanging data between the source node and the destination node using a channel that is not currently used, according to the transmitted adjacent channel information.
US07881274B2
A tri-core architecture for reducing MAC layer processing latency at the base stations is described. The new architecture minimizes the processing delay by introducing a pipelined approach. The fundamental concept involves splitting the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer functionality into three distinct tasks, with each processor performing a given task. All tasks will be thus performed concurrently, avoiding much of the overhead encountered while processing received packets and preparing packets to be transmitted.
US07881262B2
A method is provided for providing secured mobile IP services to a mobile terminal which is currently associated with an access network different from its own home access network. The method is characterized by creating a virtual mobile node at an access network server of the current access network, which communicates with a Home Agent associated with the terminal's home mobile network and with one or more access points associated with the current access network, at which the mobile terminal is currently located.
US07881254B1
A wireless network apparatus includes an infrastructure controller to exchange packets of data with a wireless base station over a wireless channel, and receives start beacon packets and stop beacon packets from the wireless base station. An ad hoc controller exchanges packets of data with one or more wireless end stations over the wireless channel. A master controller causes the infrastructure controller to exchange packets of data with the wireless base station over the wireless channel only after receiving one of the start beacon packets and before receiving a next one of the stop beacon packets, and causes the ad hoc controller to exchange packets of data with the one or more wireless end stations over the wireless channel only after receiving one of the stop beacon packets and before receiving a next one of the start beacon packets.
US07881252B2
A terminal for use in a wireless network includes a radio frequency (RF) receiver, which is configured to receive and downconvert a RF signal. The RF signal includes a sequence of downlink frames, each downlink frame including at least a map zone followed by a data zone. The map zone contains an indication of a time allocation in the data zone during which downlink data will be transmitted to the terminal. An analog/digital (A/D) converter converts the output signal from the RF receiver into a stream of digital samples. A digital processing circuit processes the digital samples so as to identify the time allocation and to recover the downlink data transmitted during the identified time allocation, while shutting down the RF receiver during at least one interval during the downlink frame that is outside the identified time allocation.
US07881244B2
Methods, apparatus and data structures are provided for managing multicast IP flows. According to one embodiment, a memory of a router has stored therein a data structure, which includes information relating to multicast sessions being handled by the router and including a first pointer for each multicast session, at least one chain of blocks of second pointers and one or more TCBs. Each first pointer points to a chain of blocks of second pointers. Each second pointer corresponds to an OIF of the router participating in the multicast session defined by the first pointer and defines how many times packets associated with the multicast session are to be replicated. The TCBs are configured to store control information relevant to processing or routing packets. Each second pointer points to a TCB and each TCB identifies the OIF out which packets of the multicast session are transmitted from the router.
US07881233B2
Techniques for scheduling a conference among multiple persons include receiving quorum data and location data. Quorum data indicates a quorum for a particular conference. Location data indicates locations of a plurality of persons who satisfy the quorum. A proposed location for the particular conference is determined based on the location data and the quorum data. These techniques allow location data to include presence data that describes a current location of a person or a state of communication of that person; and therefore allow presence data to be used in determining where to conduct a conference and when. For example, an organizer of a meeting and meeting invitees are notified when the people constituting a quorum cross paths at the same location, or are situated at sites that support remote conferencing.
US07881232B2
Techniques for scheduling a conference among multiple persons include receiving quorum data, availability data and cost data. Quorum data indicates a quorum for a particular conference. Availability data indicates availability of a plurality of persons who satisfy the quorum. Cost data indicates a cost to be incurred while conducting a conference. A proposed cost for the particular conference that satisfies the quorum is determined based on the quorum data, the availability data and the cost data. These techniques allow costs of products and services that support a scheduled conference to be estimated, and allow those products and services to be reserved and paid for without additional manual input.
US07881230B2
A switch discovers active neighboring peer devices of a switch. Such discovery includes facilitating communication of Link Aggregation Control Protocol Data Units (LACPDUs) for identifying a unique peer identifier assigned to each one of the neighboring peer devices. In response to discovering the active neighboring peer devices, the switch automatically assigning a link aggregation key to each one of a plurality of physical links over which the switch and one of the active neighboring peer devices communicate respective ones of the LACPDUs. Thereafter, the switch facilitates logically aggregation all of the physical links dependent upon the link aggregation key.
US07881227B2
A method for improved spreading of information in a network is described, together with corresponding methods with the opposite aim, namely to hinder the spreading of harmful information in a network. The harmful information may be (for example) a data virus. The first method includes as its characterizing feature to connect at least one node of high Eigenvector Centrality Index in a first region with at least one node of high Eigenvector Centrality Index in a second region. These connections may be made using direct links, or with the help of a new node lying between the nodes to be connected. One method for preventing spreading of information or physical traffic in a network may include as its characterizing feature to inoculate at least one center node by blocking any transmission of unwanted information on all links in/out of said center node. Another method for preventing spreading of information or physical traffic may be to inoculate all nodes in a ring of nodes surrounding a center node by blocking any transmission of unwanted information on all links in/out of said nodes. Still another method may be to inoculate at least one bridge link connecting two regions by blocking any transmission of unwanted information on said link.
US07881221B2
An embodiment of the present invention offloads the generation and monitoring of test packets from a Central processing Unit (CPU) to a dedicated network integrated circuit, such as a router, bridge or switch chip associated with the CPU. The CPU may download test routines and test data to the network IC, which then generates the test packets, identifies and handles received test packets, collects test statistics, and performs other test functions all without loading the CPU. The CPU may be notified when certain events occur, such as when throughput or jitter thresholds for the network are exceeded.
US07881208B1
Gateway load balancing and failover methods, apparatus and systems use more than one gateway device in a gateway device group for communications directed outside of a LAN. In the load balancing arrangement, hosts that send ARP messages to a shared virtual IP address receive replies from one of the gateway devices in the gateway device group, directing the host to address outgoing communications to a virtual MAC address assigned to one of the gateway devices. Hosts are assigned virtual MAC addresses for the gateway devices according to a prescribed algorithm or methodology. In the event that one member of the gateway device group fails, the outgoing communications that would have been handled by the failed gateway device are re-assigned to another member of the gateway device group. A master gateway device controls address assignment and failover features. In the event that the master fails, additional steps are taken to appoint or elect a new master and ensure continuity in the load balancing function.
US07881201B2
A resending control circuit for controlling resending of data to be sent to a sending destination, includes: a writing unit for writing resending information generated corresponding to each of data to be resent and including the resending point-in-time of the data in memory; a reading unit for reading out the resending information from the memory; and a control unit for comparing resending point-in-time included in the oldest resending information of resending information stored in the memory with current point-in-time, and executing resending processing of data corresponding to the resending information according to the comparison result.
US07881195B2
Methods and apparatus for controlling wireless network operations associated with a flow control process which terminates data communications to a mobile station based on an out-of-coverage condition between the mobile station and a wireless communication network. In the wireless communication network, an indication is identified which indicates whether a mobile station utilizes an always-on connection for a data service. Based on the indication indicating that the mobile station utilizes the always-on connection, the flow control process is bypassed. Otherwise, the flow control process is performed. The always-on connection may be utilized for an e-mail application for the mobile station and involve a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session.
US07881189B1
Predictive maintenance in a communications environment can be triggered when an anomaly in the call set-up process is detected. In one arrangement, in a VoIP context, the post dial delay (PDD) associated with call set up is monitored. If a link or node has an abnormally high contribution to the PDD it may be designated for predictive maintenance.
US07881183B2
The invention provides a distributed back-up mechanism and a two-step method for facilitating fast control plane recovery in a switched network. In a preferred embodiment, a Label Information Database (LID) maintained at a control node of a GMPLS network is mirrored to an upstream node using the Label Distribution Protocol (LDP). After a control plane interruption resulting in the LDP restart, the control node, using the mirrored information at the upstream node, conducts first a fast coarse LID recovery wherein only the idle labels are identified, to enable the restarted LDP session to process new connection setup. A detailed LDP state information recovery performs in the background in parallel to the normal LDP operations, e.g. using on-demand LDP queries.
US07881173B2
The present invention provides an optical information recording apparatus and method capable of effectively determining appropriate recording parameters in a short time with favorable efficiency, when recording information onto an optical disk having different information recording conditions and information recording characteristics. An information recording condition or an information recording characteristic of an optical disk 1 is identified, and a recording pulse position is corrected at a correction accuracy according to the identifies information recording condition or information recording characteristic, such that a recording mark is formed in a predetermined position.
US07881158B2
A seismic vibrator includes a transducer, a reactive mass, a base plate to couple motion of the reactive mass to subsurface formations and a linkage system configured to couple motion of the transducer to the reactive mass and the base plate. The linkage system cooperates with the reactive mass and the transducer to define a first resonant frequency and a second resonant frequency within a range of 1 to 300 Hz.
US07881144B1
A power-on-reset circuit determines when it is safe for a programmable device to access configuration data from an associated non-volatile memory following a reset operation. The power-on-reset circuit receives a bandgap reference voltage produced by the programmable device. A comparator circuit is used to trigger a self-clocking delay unit when the bandgap reference voltage reaches a threshold level. The self-clocking delay unit generates its own clock signal independent of the clock frequency of the programmable device. The self-clocking delay unit may use edge-dependent delay units in a feedback loop to generate the clock signal. Using its own clock signal, the self-clocking delay unit waits for a predetermined time period and the outputs a signal to be used to enable access to the associated non-volatile memory.
US07881137B2
A method increases stability of a memory circuit by pre-charging at least one bit line of the memory circuit to a first voltage, pre-charging at least one other bit line of the memory circuit to a second voltage, and equalizing charge across the bit lines so that the bit lines are pre-charged with a third voltage.
US07881136B2
A test mode signal generator for a semiconductor memory device includes a test mode entry control unit that receives test entry mode setting addresses inputted in response to a test mode register set signal. The test mode entry control unit outputs a plurality of test entry mode signals and a test mode set signal according to the test entry mode setting addresses. A latch unit latches test address decoding signals in response to the test mode set signal, and outputs test mode signals by allowing the latched test address decoding signals to be controlled by the respective test entry mode signals. A test mode signal is generated for each test entry mode, so that the number of test modes is increased without increasing the number of addresses for supporting test modes.
US07881135B2
A test setup for estimating the critical charge of a circuit under test (CUT) uses a charge injection circuit having a switched capacitor that is selectively connected to a node of the CUT. A voltage measurement circuit measures the voltage at a tap in the charge injection circuit before and after the charge is injected. When the injected charge causes an upset in the logical state of the CUT, the critical charge is calculated as the product of the voltage difference and the known capacitance of the capacitor. In one embodiment, (NMOS drain strike simulation) the amount of charge injected is controlled by a variable pulse width generator gating the switch of the charge injection circuit. In another embodiment (PMOS drain strike simulation) the amount of charge injected is controlled by a variable voltage supply selectively connected to the charge storage node.
US07881130B2
A semiconductor memory device includes a switch that turns on or off connection between a write data line pair which is an output of a write buffer and read data line pair. For a Write Data Through function, the switch is turned on in response to an activated one-shot pulse and a sense amplifier activation signal, thereby approximately equalizing data hold time tOHW in the Write Data Through function and data hold time tOHR in a read operation.
US07881108B2
Systems and methods, including computer software, for reading data from a flash memory cell involve detecting voltages from a group of memory cells. The group of memory cells have associated metadata for error detection, and each memory cell stores a voltage representing a data value selected from a plurality of possible data values. Each possible data value corresponds to one range of multiple non-overlapping ranges of analog voltages. Memory cells having uncertain data values are identified based on the detected voltages. Alternative data values for the memory cells having the uncertain data values are determined. A combination of alternative data values is selected, and an error detection test is performed using the metadata associated with the memory cells and the selected combination of alternative data values.
US07881102B2
A phase change memory includes a memory cell with a phase change element storing data according to level change of a resistance value in association with phase change, a write circuit converting the phase change element to an amorphous state or a polycrystalline state according to the logic of write data in a write operation mode, a read circuit reading out stored data from the phase change element in a readout operation mode, and a discharge circuit applying a discharge voltage to the phase change element to remove electrons trapped in the phase change element in a discharge operation mode. Accordingly, variation in the resistance value at the phase change element can be suppressed.
US07881096B2
An apparatus and method for compensating for asymmetric write current in a non-volatile unit cell. The unit cell comprises a switching device and an asymmetric resistive sense element (RSE), such as an asymmetric resistive random access memory (RRAM) element or an asymmetric spin-torque transfer random access memory (STRAM) element. The RSE is physically oriented within the unit cell relative to the switching device such that a hard direction for programming the RSE is aligned with an easy direction of programming the unit cell, and an easy direction for programming the RSE is aligned with a hard direction for programming the unit cell.
US07881092B2
An integrated circuit including a resistive memory element and a method of manufacturing the integrated circuit are described. The method of manufacturing the integrated circuit includes depositing a switching layer material and intentionally forming inhomogeneously distributed defects within the switching layer material to increase a number of switching cycles of the resistive memory element. The resistive memory element includes a switching layer that selectively switches between a low resistance state and a high resistance state. The switching layer contains intentionally formed defects that increase the number of switching cycles of the switching layer.
US07881072B2
A power interconnection system comprising a plurality of z-axis compliant connectors passing power and ground signals between a first circuit board to a second circuit board is disclosed. The interconnection system provides for an extremely low impedance through a broad range of frequencies and allows for large amounts of current to pass from one substrate to the next either statically or dynamically. The interconnection system may be located close to the die or may be further away depending upon the system requirements. The interconnection may also be used to take up mechanical tolerances between the two substrates while providing a low impedance interconnect.
US07881063B2
A nonvolatile memory card, including interface parts for plural kinds of memory cards; interface controllers corresponding to the interface parts for corresponding memory cards; and a switch configured to select a single one of the interface controllers.
US07881060B2
An electronic apparatus including a circuit board having multiple heat generating elements and a heat-dissipation module is provided. The heat-dissipation module includes a heat-dissipation plate and a heat pipe set. The heat-dissipation plate having a first surface and a second surface is disposed on the circuit board and having multiple contacting portions and at least one heat pipe protecting portion connecting the contacting portions. The contacting portions are used for receiving heat from the heat generating elements. A heat pipe accommodating groove passing through the heat pipe protecting portion is set on the first surface. The heat pipe set is disposed in the heat pipe accommodating groove of the heat-dissipation plate.
US07881058B2
A cooling system for a rotary tablet press with which a rotor is driven by an electrical drive motor and the rotor and drive motor are arranged in a closed housing, and a control cabinet for the drive motor and further units in the housing, wherein arranged within the housing is a cooling machine whose evaporator is part of a first heat exchanger, whose other part is arranged in a coolant circuit for the drive motor, a fan is arranged in a channel in the housing closed relative to the housing interior, where the fan draws cool air in via an air inlet of the housing and gives it off via an air outlet of the housing, wherein the cool air is engaged in heat exchange with a condenser of the cooling machine.
US07881041B1
A multi-segment capacitor fabricated on a semiconductor substrate includes M×N capacitor segments arranged in a matrix of M rows and N columns. Each capacitor segment includes two groups of conductive fingers preferably made of metal wires. The metal wire fingers are distributed within multiple metal layers in such a manner that two neighboring parallel metal wire fingers within a particular metal layer are electrically insulated and connected to different terminals of the capacitor. Further, at least the longitudinal axes of the parallel metal wire fingers within two different metal layers are not parallel to each other within the same capacitor segment.
US07881033B2
The high-voltage system has at least one feed line and at least one high-power circuit breaker, the at least one feed line having a longitudinally extended feed line inner conductor and a feed line outer conductor surrounding the feed line inner conductor, and the high-power circuit breaker having a longitudinally extended circuit breaker inner conductor and a circuit breaker outer conductor surrounding the circuit breaker inner conductor in the form of a housing, and the inner conductors and the outer conductors being electrically conductively connected to one another. At least one heat pipe is provided for the purpose of dissipating thermal energy from the circuit breaker inner conductor. The heat pipe interacts with a cooling gas flow extending along the circuit breaker inner conductor.
US07881032B2
A power supply controller having final test and trim circuitry. In one embodiment, a power supply controller for switched mode power supply includes a selector circuit, a trim circuit, a shutdown circuit and a disable circuit. The trim circuit includes a programmable circuit connection that can be selected by the selector circuit by toggling a voltage on an external terminal such as for example a power supply terminal, a control terminal or a function terminal of the power supply controller. The programmable circuit connection in the trim circuit can be programmed by applying a programming voltage to the external terminal. The shutdown circuit shuts down the power supply controller if the temperature rises above an over temperature threshold voltage. The shutdown circuit includes adjustment circuitry that can be used to test the shutdown circuit. The adjustment circuitry can adjust and reduce the over temperature threshold of the power supply controller. Thus, the power supply controller can be tested without having to actually heat the part. The disable circuit includes a programmable circuit connection, which when programmed prevents further trimming of power supply controller and prevents adjustment of the shutdown circuit over temperature threshold.
US07881028B2
A device and/or circuit having an e-fuse is provided to disable a triggering network, and more specifically, an e-fuse is used to disable an electrostatic discharge (ESD) RC triggering network after device installation. The device and/or circuit includes a triggering network electrically coupled to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device. An e-fuse is electrically coupled with the triggering network and configured to render the ESD protection device insensitive to a triggering signal after blowing the e-fuse.
US07881026B2
An integrated circuit formed on a semiconductor chip includes voltage regulators for stepping down an externally-supplied power voltage to produce an internal power voltage, and internal circuits which operate based on the internal power voltage. The voltage regulators are laid in the area of the buffers and protective elements for the input/output signals and power voltages so that the overhead area due to the on-chip provision of the voltage regulators is minimized. The internal power voltage is distributed to the internal circuits through a looped main power line, with an electrode pad for connecting an external capacitor for stabilizing the internal power voltage being provided on it, so that the internal power voltage is stabilized and the power consumption of the integrated circuit is minimized.
US07881013B2
A recording tape cartridge houses a reel including a hub around which recording tape is wound and at least part of which is formed by a resin. The rigidity (modulus of elasticity) y in the radial direction of the hub and the creep deformation ratio x of the recording tape satisfy the conditions of y≧87.3 exp(21.6x) and x>0.1. By setting the rigidity of the reel hub to match the creep deformation ratio of the recording tape so as to satisfy this relationship, creep deformation of the recording tape can be controlled at the smallest cost.
US07881004B2
In a method for implementing track shape control during a self servo-write process, an error in a targeted path for writing servo data onto a first track of a disk is detected. The error is correlated with a second error for a targeted path in a previously written track of the disk. A correction is generated for a feed-forward signal used to position a writing element which is used to write servo data for a subsequent track of the disk.
US07881001B1
A method for providing feedback current cancellation comprises providing an amplifier with an input, an output, and at least one stage, feeding back a first current based on the output of the amplifier to the input of the amplifier, and substantially cancelling the first current by supplying a second current to the input of the amplifier.
US07880999B2
A magnetic storage system includes a magnetic storage medium and a transducer positioned adjacent the magnetic storage medium. The transducer has a reader positioned adjacent writer and a reader bias coil located on the transducer. Transducer circuitry is configured to apply a bias signal to the reader bias coil during a read-write operation. The reader bias coil generates a reader bias field proximate the reader.
US07880982B2
A lens driving apparatus may include a movable body holding lenses; a support body for supporting said movable body to move in the optical axis direction of said lenses; and a drive mechanism for driving said movable body in the optical axis direction; wherein said movable body is provided with an extension portion that is extended toward the outer periphery, and a moving path and a movement-stopping portion are formed to at least a member of said drive mechanism mounted on the support body or to said support body, said moving path allowing said extension portion to move in the optical axis direction when said movable body is moved in the optical axis direction and said movement-stopping portion regulating the moving range of said movable body as said extension portion makes contact with said movement-stopping portion.
US07880979B2
An aperture stop includes a body and a black film. The body is stainless steel and the black film is disposed on at least two corresponding ends of the body. A manufacturing method of the aperture stop is also provided. The aperture stop is produced using the characteristics of the stainless steel body.
US07880976B2
Disclosed is a zoom lens system in which a first lens unit having negative optical power and a second lens unit having positive optical power are arranged in the stated order from an object side to an image side, and in which an interval between the first lens unit and the second lens unit changes in zooming. In such a zoom lens system, the first lens unit includes a first lens component having negative optical power, a second lens component joined to a lens surface of the first lens component, and a third lens component having positive optical power so as to provide the zoom lens system having excellent optical performance by appropriately setting a material forming the first lens component.
US07880964B1
A space telescope having a primary mirror for focusing and reflecting electromagnetic radiation, multiple secondary mirrors and, optionally, multiple tertiary mirrors, for receiving the focused and reflected electromagnetic radiation from the primary mirror and reflecting the electromagnetic radiation, and multiple focal plane arrays for receiving the focused and reflected electromagnetic radiation from the secondary mirrors or tertiary mirrors. The use of a multiple secondary mirrors and multiple focal plane arrays allows the telescope to observe multiple fields of regard simultaneously in selected celestial regions or on an orbited celestial body, such as the Earth.
US07880962B2
The present invention includes a periscope, which has two camera objectives. The cameras are housed on top of the viewing monitor inside of a housing cell, so as to efficiently utilize the cabin space of the vehicle. One camera objective is a day camera bullet that may be used during day time or low light viewing. Another camera objective is the night board camera that may be used for night time viewing. Both cameras are electronically connected to a flat panel display, so that the optical picture may be displayed by others. In addition, the periscope of the present invention utilizes a heater sensor system that allows the day or night camera to be operated at or below temperatures of 32° Fahrenheit. The periscope of the present invention also implements an 18 mm image intensifier tube, which has the capability of detecting and amplifying low light level images during night time viewing and surveillance, under moonlight or starlight.
US07880960B2
An optical amplifier includes a first optical amplification unit that amplifies input light, a variable optical attenuation unit that attenuates an output of the first optical amplification unit, a second optical amplification unit that amplifies an output of the variable optical attenuation unit, and a loss amount control unit that controls the variable optical attenuation unit, wherein an external attenuating optical medium is inserted between the variable optical attenuation unit and the second optical amplification unit. The optical amplifier includes an abnormality detecting unit that detects abnormality in optical loss based on a light level between the external attenuating optical medium and the second optical amplification unit, and a detection invalidating unit that invalidates any abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit when a light level between the variable optical attenuation unit and the external attenuating optical medium is lower than a threshold level.
US07880959B2
Disclosed is display element which is constituted of simple members, can be driven at a relatively low voltage, exhibits high display contrast and white display reflectance, and can achieve a high display speed, comprising an electrolyte layer between opposed electrodes, and the electrolyte layer containing silver or a compound including silver in the chemical structure, wherein the opposed electrodes are driven so that the silver is dissolved or deposited and the electrolyte layer contains a mercapto compound having a sulfonamido group or a carbamido group in the molecule.
US07880953B2
A spatial optical modulation array device includes regularly packed micro optical-electrical-mechanical pixels in a planner configuration on a semiconductor substrate, each pixel electrically actuated independently and thus operated optically in the binary modes, reflection and diffraction to incident illumination. Subject to the electrostatic contraction or compulsion driven by a pixel circuitry, the top metal reflector is placed accurately at the minimum or maximum spacing from the static bottom metal reflector in an odd or even integral multiple of a quarter wavelength within visual light spectrum, so that diffraction or reflection in destructive or constructive interference is achieved respectively and thus incident illumination modulated independently in closely binary modes at each micro optical-electrical-mechanical pixel.
US07880952B2
A micromirror device includes an elastic hinge for supporting a mirror on a substrate, and an address electrode for deflecting the mirror. The device further includes a protective layer and an oriented monolayer laid to cover a stopper also functioning as an address electrode provided below the mirror and between the mirror and the substrate.
US07880946B2
A method and apparatus for improving quality of a signal reproduced from a holographic storage medium in which a hologram is recorded by interference between a signal beam and a reference beam. The signal-quality improving method includes determining a page crosstalk value, which is caused in a page that is to be reproduced from the holographic storage medium by an adjacent page to the page that is to be reproduced, on the basis of on-pixel crosstalk values caused by a plurality of on-pixels of the adjacent page; and removing the determined page crosstalk value from a reproduced signal of the page that is to be reproduced. Since an interpage crosstalk that occurs when multiplexing recording in the holographic storage medium is calculated, and is removed from a reproduced signal, the quality of the reproduced signal can be improved.
US07880944B2
To prepare very high resolution computer-generated hologram having many numbers of parallaxes, a computer-generated holographic stereogram, with virtual point light source group set up spatially on a side opposite to the hologram observation side, luminance angular distribution AWLci (θxz, θyz) of divergent light from each virtual point light sources of said group toward observation side is divided by angular division, and within the divided angle, among the multiple images positioned on the plane of said group, divergent light equal to the divergent light diverged from a point of amplitude equal to the density of pixel of each divided angle corresponding image or equal to a value in a certain fixed relation with the density of the images at the position of the virtual point light source is recorded as the object light at one of the positions on the observation side of the virtual point light source group.
US07880942B1
A system that converts color coefficients between color spaces. During operation, the system receives a color profile comprising a lookup table which defines a conversion of color coefficients between a source color space and a destination color space, wherein the source color space includes a black color channel. Next, the system identifies a darkest output color value in the destination color space produced by the color profile, and also identifies entries in the lookup table corresponding to a maximum possible value for the black color channel of the source color space. The system then updates the identified entries with an achromatic equivalent of the identified darkest output color value, whereby source colors having the maximum possible value for the black color channel are mapped to the achromatic equivalent of the identified darkest output color value.
US07880932B2
An image processing method generates a halftone-dot image by forming a halftone dot, which is represented by a set of one or plural output dots and corresponds to an intensity of an input image signal, while making a part of the dots constituting the halftone dot to be an actual non-output dot so as to reduce an amount of a coloring material of the halftone-dot portion. When the intensity of the image signal exceeds a predetermined value and is in a predetermined range, while maintaining contour dots, which are output dots contribute to formation of a contour of the halftone dot, to be the output dot, the image processing method makes a part of dots inside the contour dots to be the actual non-output dot.
US07880926B2
The present invention provides an imaging apparatus comprising: an image pickup device which acquires the image of an object; an illuminating device which emits an illuminating light at a prescribed level of luminescence; an extracting device which extracts the face of a person from the image obtained from the image pickup device; a determining device which determines the facial expression and/or attributes of the person from the facial image of a person extracted from the extracting device; a corrective information storage device in which information on the quantity of correcting of the level of luminescence of the illuminating light according to the facial expression and/or attributes of the person is stored; and a correcting device which corrects the level of luminescence of the illuminating light with a quantity of correction matching the facial expression and/or attributes determined by the determining device.
US07880919B2
An image processing apparatus enabling identical editing of a plurality of edit target images includes an edit position designator for designating, for a single image, an edit position as an edit target, an alignment position designator for designating an image alignment position and a edit unit that aligns an edit image and edits a designated area having the edit position for the single image as its reference.
US07880907B2
A printing system including a printing device which has a cancel instruction unit that instructs cancellation of a current job being processed from an operation panel, and an image reading device that describes original image data read from an original in a page description language and sends to the printing device, in which the image reading device describes the read original image data in the page description language and sends it as a copy job to the printing device, obtains a job holding state from the printing device and reserves at least the transmission of the copy job to the printing device until the job held by the printing device runs out when it is judged according to the obtained job holding information that the printing device is in a job holding state.
US07880905B2
An image processing apparatus (110), which is equipped with multiple image processing functions, processes an input image using an image processing function set at the time of image input. An image processing apparatus (100) registers setup information relating to processes of respective ones of the multiple image processing functions to be applied to an image of interest, encodes the setup information and generates an identification indicator. The image of interest and the identification indicator are formed on the same print medium and output. The image processing apparatus (110) reads the print medium, extracts the image of interest and the identification indicator, analyzes the identification indicator to thereby acquire the setup information, and uses the setup information to process the image of interest by the image processing function set in the image processing apparatus (110) when the print medium was read.
US07880903B2
An image forming device including a printer having a plurality of operation modes sets beforehand the number of pages printed by the printer to be counted in a division counter or a division undefined counter for each operation mode of the printer. The image forming device counts, in the division counter corresponding to the division to which the user belongs who has requested the printing, the number of the pages printed in the operation mode in which the number of the pages is set to be counted in the division counter, and counts, in the division undefined counter, the number of the pages printed in the operation mode in which the number of the pages is set to be counted in the division undefined counter.
US07880885B1
An apparatus and method for evaluating window transmission loss comprising taking a plurality of photographs through a filter of a window to be evaluated, determining a percentage of the window shown in each photograph that is undamaged, and computing an estimate of transmission loss for the window from the percentages determined.
US07880884B2
Embodiments described herein may include devices and methods of manufacturing sensors for monitoring physiological parameters of a patient. Specifically, embodiments disclose the use of conductive and nonconductive coating materials to increase comfort of sensor and increase accuracy of the parameters measured. The sensor may include a flexible circuit and an optical device with an active face. A generally opaque, nonconductive coating may be disposed over the optical device, except for the active face, which allows for passage of light to the active face. The nonconductive coating may comprise a medical grade silicone of a specified thickness. A second conductive layer may be disposed on a portion of the conductive layer, to provide a Faraday shield for the optical device.
US07880883B2
This document discusses, among other things, systems, devices and methods for fluid flow analysis for example, in an education environment. The light source, for example, a laser, is housed to illuminate particles in a fluid while minimizing exposure to the user. A control unit is provided that is remote from the fluid flow device. The fluid flow device further includes a removable fluid obstacle such that different fluid flow effects can be obtained. A computational unit is provided to perform computational fluid flow dynamics analysis on fluid flow models. The computed data can then be compared to the test data from the fluid flow analysis device.
US07880880B2
An alignment system for a lithographic apparatus has a source of alignment radiation; a detection system that has a first detector channel and a second detector channel; and a position determining unit in communication with the detection system. The position determining unit is constructed to process information from said first and second detector channels in a combination to determine a position of an alignment mark on a work piece, the combination taking into account a manufacturing process of the work piece. A lithographic apparatus has the above mentioned alignment system. Methods of alignment and manufacturing devices with a lithographic apparatus use the above alignment system and lithographic apparatus, respectively.
US07880879B2
An optical measuring device is provided. The optical measuring device irradiates a sample flowing in a channel with light, and detecting light emitted from the sample, wherein the light is applied while scanned at least from one side wall to another side wall of the channel in a direction of width of the channel, and scattered light at a preset threshold value or higher is detected as scattered light from edge parts in the direction of width of the channel.
US07880858B2
A liquid crystal lens includes a first light-pervious plate, second light-pervious plate opposite to the first light-pervious plate, a first electrode layer on the first light-pervious plate, a second electrode layer on the second light-pervious layer, a liquid crystal layer and a driving voltage unit. The first electrode layer includes a plurality of concentric, annular electrodes and is comprised of carbon nanotubes. The liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the first and second light-pervious plates. The liquid crystal layer includes a plurality of annular regions spatially corresponding to the respective annular electrodes. A density of liquid crystal in the annular regions of the liquid crystal layer is different from each other. The driving voltage unit is configured for providing voltages between each of the annular electrodes and the second electrode layer for creating a gradient distribution of refractive index of the liquid crystal layer in radial directions.
US07880850B2
A liquid crystal display device is disclosed. The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal layer disposed between substrates opposing each other. A pixel of the liquid crystal display is alignment-divided into a plurality of sub-pixels. A dielectric member is provided on a connection portion where the sub-pixels are electrically connected.
US07880845B2
Provided are a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a method of fabricating the LCD. The LCD includes an insulating substrate a gate line disposed on the insulating substrate, a data line insulated from the gate line and crossing the gate line, a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the data line, a passivation layer disposed on the thin film transistor, a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor and partitioned into a plurality of domains by a plurality of first slits, a control electrode disposed on the passivation layer and at least partially overlapping each first slit, and a plurality of domain forming members arranged parallel to the first slits in an alternating fashion and partitioning the pixel electrode into a plurality of domains.
US07880844B2
A liquid crystal panel 11 includes a pair of substrates 18, 19, liquid crystal 20 disposed between the substrates 18, 19, and alignment films 30, 36 provided on the opposed surfaces of the substrates 18, 19. After formation of the alignment film 30 or 36 is completed in a manufacturing process, it is checked by an inspection process whether a pinhole H is formed on the alignment film 30, 36, and further the position of the pinhole H is detected. Thereafter, an alignment film repair filler 50 is applied to the pinhole H by a repair process, so that the pinhole H is repaired.
US07880824B2
A surface emitting device includes a light emitter, a polarizer having a transmission axis along which light emerging from the light emitter is transmitted, and an optical sheet combination disposed between the light emitter and the polarizer and composed of a plurality of optical sheets. Each of the plurality of optical sheets includes an emergent surface for causing the emergent light to emerge, a spatial structure continuously arrayed on the emergent surface, a first optical axis parallel to an extension direction of the spatial structure and having a first refractive index, and a second optical axis parallel to an array direction of the spatial structure and having a second refractive index different from the first refractive index, wherein the first or second optical axis of a smaller one of the first and second refractive indices extends almost parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizer.
US07880822B2
A pixel electrode (33), a gate bus line (31), and a source bus line (32) are formed while interposing an interlayer insulating film (35) therebetween. When viewed from the display surface side of a liquid crystal display panel, the pixel electrode (33), the gate bus line (31) and the source bus line (32) are arranged to overlap at least partially in the plan view. Consequently, in a liquid crystal display to which an OCB mode is applied, a uniform bend orientation can be attained over the entire screen even if transition nuclei are not generated in all pixels.
US07880811B2
In a signal separation circuit for separating a plurality of pulse signals received via the same signal line, a PC-on signal detection circuit detects a PC-on signal with a first pulse width from a PC/TV-on signal received via the signal line and generates a first corresponding output signal. A TV-on signal detection circuit detects a TV-on signal with a second pulse width shorter than the first pulse width from the PC/TV-on signal and generates a second corresponding output signal.
US07880808B2
A video signal processing apparatus includes a main picture processor, an interlace recovering module and a video encoder. The main picture processor produces corresponding main picture signals based on video signals from a memory. The main picture signals are converted to progressive scan signals through a predetermined video signals processing. The interlace recovering module receives the progressive scan signals, retrieves the even portion and the odd portion of the progressive video signals alternately, and generates a set of interlace-scan signals. The video encoder receives both the progressive scan signals and the interlace scan signals and generates a set of progressive video signals and a set of interlace video signals to corresponding video display apparatuses. Thereupon, the video reproduction system can simultaneously provide both the progressive video signals and interlace video signals to the video display apparatuses.
US07880803B2
It is determined whether or not there is inconsistency between image sensing mode data, which is set by an operator with respect to a scene including an object of shooting, and attribute data, e.g., focal length data or the like, that accompanies an obtained image. When it is determined that there is inconsistency between the image sensing mode data and attribute data, a caution is given to the operator that it is necessary to maintain consistency.
US07880800B2
An auto focus system is provided in which a focus movement speed and a cut off frequency of a filter for detecting a contrast from a video signal in AF of a contrast detecting system can be manually set in AF, so that an optimum AF can be achieved under various photographing conditions.
US07880784B2
The invention relates to an arrangement for generating a 3D video signal, which produces a 3D effect when it is displayed on a screen, from an input video signal that is made up of frames, each of which has an odd field and an even field, where in order to generate the 3D video signal alternately an even field n and an odd field n−1 (or vice versa) and subsequently alternately an even field n+1 and an odd field n (or vice versa) are displayed, where in order to generate the 3D video signal a scan converter (4, 5) is used which can display two signals in the split screen mode, one of which is delayed by means of a special function memory (4) in the scan converter, where the non-delayed signal and the delayed signal are written, horizontally compressed by a factor of two, into a conversion memory (6) and, for the purposes of displaying on a screen, when they are read are scaled up by a factor of two in the horizontal direction.
US07880776B2
A camera system and a method for zooming the camera system is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating an electronic image by sensing an optical image received by the camera, the sensing including electronic cropping to a window size to establish an initial resolution for the electronic image, (B) generating a final image by decimating the electronic image by a decimation factor to a final resolution smaller than the initial resolution and (C) changing a zoom factor for the final image by adjusting both of the decimation factor and the window size.
US07880768B2
The mobile communication terminal includes a body, a lens module, a first accelerator sensor, a second accelerator sensor, a range finder, and a processor. The lens module, the first accelerator sensor, a second accelerator sensor, and a range finder are disposed on the body. The lens module is configured to pick up an image of an object. The first accelerator sensor and the second accelerator sensor are configured to measure accelerations of the lens module in different directions. The range finder is configured to measure a distance from the object to the lens module. The processor electrically coupled to the range finder module, the first accelerator sensor and the second accelerator sensor. The processor is configured to restore the image blurred by vibrations of the lens module based on values of the distance, the first acceleration, and the second acceleration.
US07880762B1
Digital television system overlays subscriber two-way communication during broadcast program delivery to create virtual audience community. Individual or group billing and advertisement is personalized per DTV receiver program viewing and/or conferencing activity. Subscriber receiver includes camera and other media I/O device for multi-way video conferencing. Participants may be added or removed dynamically during programming or conferencing.
US07880760B2
A first beam separation device is arranged either to allow the light beams to enter and pass or to reflect the light beams in accordance with a direction of entrance of the light beams. A second beam separation device is provided either to allow or to reflect the light beams having passed through the first beam separation device in accordance a wavelength thereof. The light beam passing through the second beam separation device scans one of plural scan objectives and the light beam reflected by the second beam separation device is further reflected by the first beam separation device and then scans the other one of the plural scan objectives. A first imaging device is provided to correct a f-theta (fθ) performance and a curvature of an imaging plane to enable the light beams to scan the plural scan objectives at a constant speed. The first imaging device is integral with the first beam separation device.
US07880745B2
Systems and methods for border color handling in a graphics processing unit are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system includes a border color register that stores at least one border color pointer. A border color pointer indicates an address in an external memory at which border color information is located. Border color information is populated within external memory and retrieved by the texture cache controller if the texture filter unit requires a border color for texture mapping operations.
US07880742B2
An information processing device in which a data bus for establishing interconnection between a plurality of control operating units formed in a main processor is connected at one end to a graphic processor and at the other end to a main memory. Image frame data generated by the graphic processor is sequentially transferred through the data bus and stored into the main memory. The data bus satisfies R1≧R2≧R4 and R1≧R3≧R4, where R1 is the data transmission rate from the main processor to the graphic processor, R2 is the data transmission rate from the graphic processor to the main processor, R3 is the data transmission rate between the main processor and the main memory, and R4 is the rate to transmit a single image frame of data within a vertical blanking interval.
US07880736B2
This invention provides a display control system that includes: a) a micromirror array comprising a plurality of mirrors; b) a first control function for controlling the mirrors in a first state; c) a second control function for controlling the mirrors in a second state; d) and a switchover controller for switching from the first state to second state, or from the second state to first state, wherein the switchover controller switches the state of at least two mirrors simultaneously at a same predetermined point within a frame period.
US07880722B2
A communicator device which allows improved functions. The communicator device may have real movable keys which are reconfigured when the device is used in different orientations. In a sideways orientation, the device has a rectangular aspect ratio which is wider than it is tall. And in that sideways orientation, the buttons are reconfigured to the orientation they would normally have. The communicator device may also be reoriented into the other position, in which case the assignment and the indication on the buttons is also correspondingly changed. The communicator device may have a projector to project videos, and the communicator device may be able to retrieve numbers and e-mails to be used for communications from a repository on the Internet or from a search engine on the Internet.
US07880699B2
A circuit and a method for driving pixels of an organic light-emitting display are provided. The circuit comprises a thin-film transistor having a source terminal connected to a voltage source, a storage capacitor having a first terminal connected to a gate terminal of the thin-film transistor, and an organic light-emitting diode having a cathode connected to a ground. The gate terminal and a drain terminal of the thin-film transistor are connected in a clamping phase and a reverse phase. A second terminal of the storage capacitor is connected to the ground in the clamping phase, and is connected to a data line in a light-emitting phase and in the reverse phase. An anode of the organic light-emitting diode is connected to the drain terminal of the thin-film transistor in the light-emitting phase and in the reverse phase.
US07880695B2
In a display apparatus including a correction unit and a switching transistor, the correction unit operates in a non-light emission period such that a correction voltage for eliminating an effect of a variation in a characteristic of a driving transistor is stored in a storage capacitor. The switching transistor is disposed between one current terminal of the driving transistor and a light emitting element. The switching transistor turns off during the non-light emission period thereby to electrically disconnect the light emitting element from the one current terminal of the driving transistor thereby preventing a leakage current from flowing through the light emitting element during the period in which the correction unit operates, and thus preventing the correction voltage from having an error due to the leakage current.
US07880689B2
There is provided a drive circuit of a display device using a capacitive load which includes a clamp circuit connected to a power source potential and clamping a potential of the capacitive load to the power source potential such that an electric power is supplied to the capacitive load in a temporally dispersed manner. For example, the clamp circuit includes a plurality of switches parallelly connected between the capacitive load and the power source potential, the plurality of switches being turned on at different times.
US07880688B2
An electronic book comprising a first housing portion; a second housing portion; a cylindrical spine interposed between the first and second housing portions and pivotally connecting the first housing portion to the second housing portion; a flexible display screen fast with inner faces of the first and second housings and spanning the spine; first and second microprocessor circuitry respectively positioned in the first and second housing portions behind the flexible display screen; a scan head for scanning a data card, the scan head provided on the first microprocessor circuitry on a surface opposite the flexible display screen, the scan head facing away from the flexible display screen; and an internal cartridge for holding a card fed pass the scan head, the internal cartridge having a clear backing window through which an un-scanned surface of the card is visible. The spine defines a recess to accommodate a curvature of the screen when the first and second housing portions are pivoted about the spine in a closed condition.
US07880674B2
Tracking system for flat mobile antenna, which includes: sensors for angular velocity (1), which sense the rotation of the antenna around their axes; sensors, sensing the orientation of the antenna according to vertical axis (2); control block (3), which calculates necessary corrections of the direction of antenna beam and which is connected to outputs of sensors (1, 2) and with inputs of driving block (4) and beam control block (5); at least one motor (7), which changes the orientation of the antenna and which is connected to the output of driving block (4) and which drives the antenna panel (8); block for electronic beam steering (5), which is connected to antenna panel (8); power supply block, which converts the voltage from the electrical network of the vehicle into suitable values for providing of power supply of all blocks of the system.
US07880668B1
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a computer implemented method of configuring a land-based radar system for scanning a scan region is disclosed. The method comprises dividing the scan region into a grid of blocks and obtaining a terrain elevation data for the scan region. For an elevation angle for the radar system, determining those blocks in the grid that are visible to the radar system and those blocks that are not visible to the radar based on the terrain elevation data. Then, step of determining the visible blocks is repeated for all elevation angles in a predefined set of elevation angles for the radar system. Next, an optimal scan elevation angle for the radar system is determined as the scan elevation angle which resulted in the maximum number of visible blocks in the scan region and the radar system is set to the optimal scan elevation angle.
US07880660B2
An analog-to-digital converter including a first stage and a second stage. The first stage receives a first reference voltage and a first analog input voltage, generates a first digital signal by quantizing the first analog input voltage, and generates a first analog output voltage based on the first digital signal and the first analog input voltage. The second stage receives a second reference voltage and the first analog output voltage, in which the second reference voltage is lower than the first reference voltage. The second stage further generates a second digital signal by quantizing the first analog output voltage, and generates a second analog output voltage based on the second digital signal and the first analog output voltage.
US07880657B2
Disclosed are various embodiments of interpolation circuits for use in conjunction with motion encoders. The analog output signals provided by incremental or absolute motion encoders are provided to an interpolation circuit, which is capable of providing high interpolation factor output signals having high timing accuracy. Problems with noise spikes common to zero-hysteresis comparators typically employed in interpolation circuits are eliminated, as are problems with time delays differing between comparators that do feature hysteresis. The disclosed interpolation circuits may be implemented using CMOS processes without undue effort.
US07880655B2
A system is disclosed, in particular for digitizing a time-continuous and value-continuous periodic signal with a respective firmly predefined number of samples per period. In at least one embodiment, the system includes an A/D converter for digitizing an analog AC signal applied to the input of the A/D converter, the converter including a single-bit modulator which converts the AC signal into a first data stream of temporally immediately successive single-bit data words at a predefined operating clock rate; and a downstream decimation filter which respectively aggregates a predefined number of temporally immediately successive single-bit data words in the first data stream into respective temporally immediately successive n-bit data words which form a second data stream which corresponds to a digitization of the AC signal at a sampling frequency which is derived from the operating clock rate and the predefined number by way of division. In order to achieve digitization with a respective firmly predefined number of samples per period with relatively little technical complexity, it is proposed in at least one embodiment that the operating clock rate be respectively generated by a digitally adjustable oscillator on the basis of a signal characteristic of the AC signal.
US07880653B2
Embodiments include integrator systems, switched-capacitor circuits, and methods of their operation. An integrator system comprises a differential amplifier and first and second sampling modules. The first sampling module includes a first capacitor and a first set of switches. The first set of switches changes a connection status between the first capacitor and first and second amplifier input terminals when a change in a polarity of a differential input signal does not occur between consecutive switching cycles, and refrains from changing the connection status when the change in the polarity does occur. The second sampling module includes a second capacitor and a second set of switches. The second set of switches changes a connection status between the second capacitor and the first and second amplifier input terminals when the change in the polarity does occur, and refrains from changing the connection status when the change in the polarity does not occur.
US07880648B2
A computer-readable recording medium stores therein an information processing program that causes a computer to execute storing an aggregate of layers of nodes respectively having a pointer to an upper node, pointers to a leaf and/or a lower node and branches to lower nodes; obtaining a totaling result of appearance frequencies of character codes described in a file; classifying the character codes by layer, based on appearance probabilities thereof and the totaling result; calculating, based on a quantity of character codes in an ith layer and for the ith layer, a quantity of pointers pointing to leaves, and based on the quantity calculated and for the ith layer, further calculating a number of times nodes are used and a quantity of pointers pointing to lower nodes; generating, based on calculation results, a Huffman tree; and converting the Huffman tree into a node-less Huffman tree and storing the node-less Huffman tree.
US07880647B1
A Huffman decoding method for decoding codewords included in an encoded data transmitted via a stream includes: processing codewords of a codebook that is predefined or extracted from the stream to derive at least an auxiliary lookup table, and storing each derived auxiliary lookup table in a storage device; and searching a decoded value corresponding to a target codeword included in the encoded data according to at least the auxiliary lookup table stored in the storage device and the codebook.
US07880646B2
A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software that is operable to disambiguate compound text input. The device is able to assemble language objects in the memory to generate compound language solutions. The device is able to generate compound language solutions by employing different groupings of data sources to generate different portions of the compound language solutions.
US07880645B2
A method and apparatus for providing public transportation information and using the provided information, are discussed. When creating information on each bus stop such as the bus stop ID and a distance between bus stops, a method for encoding transportation information in accordance with an embodiment creates information on nearby subway stations accessible on foot and/or nearby bus stops located on bus routes (or bus lines) that do not pass the bus stop as well, and constructs status information containing the created information. One or more messages containing the status information can be transmitted wirelessly.
US07880640B2
A gap collar for an electromagnetic communication unit of a downhole tool positioned in a wellbore is provided. The downhole tool communicates with a surface unit via an electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnetic communication unit. The gap collar includes a first collar having a first end connector and a second collar having a second end connector matingly connectable to the first end connector. The gap collar further includes a non-conductive insulation coating disposed on the first and/or second end connectors, and a non-conductive insulation molding positioned about an inner and/or outer surface of the collars. The insulation molding moldingly conforms to the shape collars. The connectors are provided with mated threads modified to receive the insulation coating. Measurements taken by the downhole tool may be stored in memory, and transmitted to the surface unit via the electromagnetic field.
US07880631B1
A coordinate-based system, method, and computer program product are provided for disabling a device. In use, a power down state of a device is detected. In response to the power down state, a first set of coordinates of the device is stored. Additionally, a power up state of the device is detected. In response to the power up state, a second set of coordinates of the device is identified. Further, the first set of coordinates and the second set of coordinates are compared. To this end, the device may be conditionally disabled based on the comparison.
US07880626B2
Aspects of the present disclosure include a sensor configured to store in memory indications of sensor use information and formulas or indications of formula for determining the useful life of a sensor from the indications of sensor use information. A monitor connected to the sensor monitors sensor use and stores indications of the use on sensor memory. The monitor and/or sensor use the compute the useful life of the sensor from the indications of use and the formulas. When the useful life of the sensor is reached, an indication is given to replace the sensor.
US07880622B2
According to one embodiment of the invention a rugged Ethernet switch includes a housing and a passive cooling system associated with the housing and being devoid of fans as operable to cool the Ethernet switch. Ethernet switch also includes software operable to perform at least one of the functions selected from the group consisting of multiple spanning, rapid spanning, cluster management and IGMP snooping and querying. According to another embodiment, a rugged Ethernet switch includes a housing having a plurality of perforations formed therein for cooling the Ethernet switch. The switch also includes a passive cooling system be devoid of fans and that is operable to cool the Ethernet switch. A temperature sensor is operable to measure a temperature of the Ethernet switch is included as is an alarm software responsive to the temperature sensor and operable to initiate an alarm when a measured temperature of the Ethernet switch exceeds a particular limit.
US07880620B2
According to an aspect of the present invention, an RFID tag has a long-distance communication RFID and a plurality of short-distance communication RFIDs. The RFID tag has tear-off lines for separating the short-distance communication RFID from the whole RFID tag, and when the short-distance communication RFID is separated, a loop-shaped antenna of the long-distance communication RFID is also cut up. And the RFID tag has an overall management identification code for identifying the whole tag before separation and a partial management identification code for identifying a partial tag after separation.
US07880610B2
The present invention relates to a system and method that provide emergency instructions to an individual. The emergency notification system includes a plurality of badges where each badge is adapted to be joined with an individual. The emergency notification system further includes a device that locates each badge and sends information to each badge during an emergency. The information includes emergency response instructions that are based on the location of each badge and the type of emergency. The present invention also relates to a method that includes providing individuals which are within a facility with a badge. The method further includes determining emergency response instructions when an emergency arises within the facility based on the location of each badge and the type of emergency, and then communicating the emergency response instructions to the badges to direct individuals wearing badges to an appropriate location.
US07880596B2
An exterior rearview mirror system for a vehicle includes an exterior rearview mirror assembly that is mountable at an exterior side of a vehicle and has an inboard portion that is viewable by a driver of the vehicle when the mirror assembly is mounted at the exterior side of the vehicle. A blind spot indicator is disposed at the inboard portion of the mirror casing of the mirror assembly. The blind spot indicator comprises at least one illumination source for indicating to the driver a detected presence of an object alongside of and/or rearward of the vehicle. The indicator may comprise a unitary indicator module that is mountable at the inboard portion of the mirror assembly. The indicator module may include an illumination source and circuitry and may be connectable to an electrical connector.
US07880585B1
A method for controlling access to a storage unit owned by an owner, wherein a renter can obtain and maintain rights to said storage unit by paying a first rental fee and subsequent periodic rental fee payments according to a schedule. In this method, the storage unit is secured by a lock that is, at least in part, controlled by the renter. A remotely controllable lockout assembly, however, is capable of over locking the storage unit so that the renter can no longer gain entry when the lockout assembly is activated. The method includes remotely controlling the lockout assembly to deny the renter access to the unit when the when said renter has failed to pay said periodic rental fee on schedule and a grace period has passed since said renter's rights to said storage unit have elapsed.
US07880580B2
According to some embodiments, a first layer of doped material may be provided to form a resistor. A second layer of undoped material may then be formed on the first layer. The first layer might comprise, for example, a layer of doped silicon carbide while the second layer comprises a layer of undoped silicon carbide. The resistance of the resistor may then be measured to determine a temperature.
US07880573B2
A method for reducing a temperature rise of a magnetic material is provided. The method includes applying force to the magnetic material to reduce a dimensional change of the magnetic material during a first part of an operation cycle, such as due to magnetostriction. The force is removed from the magnetic material during a second part of an operation cycle, allowing magnetostrictive dimensional changes to occur.
US07880570B2
An embodiment of the invention includes a high speed feed thru connecting a first circuit outside a housing to a second circuit inside the housing. The first circuit includes a first high speed integrated circuit chip and the second circuit includes a second high speed integrated circuit chip or optoelectronic device. The high speed feed thru includes an inside coplanar structure positioned at least partially inside the housing, the inside coplanar structure connected to the second circuit. The high speed feed thru also includes an outside coplanar structure positioned at least partially outside the housing, the outside coplanar structure connected to the first circuit. A material separates the inside coplanar structure and the outside coplanar structure. At least one guided via extends through the material, connecting the inside coplanar structure and the outside coplanar structure.
US07880569B2
A rotating data transmission device for computer tomographs, for transmission from a rotating part to a stationary part that is rotatably supported relative to the rotating part, comprises at least a rotating high-speed data transmitter unit, a rotating high-speed transmission line, a stationary high-speed data receiver unit. The rotating high-speed data transmitter unit contains a rotating pattern controller and the stationary high-speed data receiver unit contains a stationary data analyzer for analyzing patterns generated by the rotating pattern controller. Furthermore unit controllers are provided to control the units.
US07880556B2
Fundamental interconnect systems for connecting high-speed electronics elements are provided. The interconnect systems consists of signal line, dielectric system with open trench or slot filled up with air or lower dielectric loss material, and the ground plane. The signal line could be for example, microstripline, strip line, coplanar line, single line or differential pairs. The interconnect system can be used for on-chip interconnects or can also be used for off-chip interconnects. The fundamental techniques provided in this invention can also be used for high-speed connectors and high-speed cables.
US07880542B1
An amplifier includes an amplifier section having selectable signal paths to provide discrete gain settings, and logic to incrementally select the signal paths. The logic may be configured to increment the gain in response to digital gain control signals or an analog gain control signal. Another amplifier has an input section with one or more input cells and an output section with one or more output cells. Either the input section or the output section includes at least two cells that may be selected to provide discrete gain settings. A loop amplifier is configured in a feedback arrangement with the input section. The input and output sections may have multiple selectable cells to provide coarse and fine gain steps. The gain of the loop amplifier may be coordinated with the gain of the input section to provide constant bandwidth operation.
US07880540B2
An amplifying system includes an amplifier operated according to a supply voltage, and a detector coupled to the amplifier for generating a first control signal to the amplifier to disable an output stage of the amplifier when the supply voltage reaches a threshold.
US07880530B2
A power supply circuit which boosts a given voltage to generate one or more power supply voltages includes a charge-pump control circuit including switching elements for generating a boost voltage by a charge-pump operation using charge stored in a flying capacitor, a soft-start circuit which prevents a rush current toward the flying capacitor, and a power supply generation circuit which is connected with a stabilization capacitor and generates a power supply voltage using the boost voltage as a power supply. After the power supply generation circuit has been turned ON in a state in which the charge-pump control circuit generates the boost voltage by the charge-pump operation, the switching elements are turned OFF, and the soft-start circuit generates the boost voltage by a charge-pump operation.
US07880525B2
A signal processing device suppresses a DC offset without omission of a low-frequency component of a signal in a receiver in a direct conversion system. The signal processing device includes an input terminal 29, a gain amplifier 31 that amplifies an input signal to generate an output signal, comparators 32 and 33 each of which compares an output signal level with a reference value, a capacitor 37, current source circuits 34 and 35, one of which charges or discharges electric charges stored in the capacitor when the output signal level falls outside a reference range according to results of comparisons by the comparators, a variable current source 36 through which current to be flow is controlled according to a potential at the capacitor, and a load circuit 38 that is connected between the input terminal and the variable current source and supplies a bias to the input terminal, together with the variable current source. When the output signal level falls within the reference voltage, the bias at the input terminal does not vary. Thus, a low-frequency component of the input signal is not omitted.
US07880519B2
A delay synchronization loop type clock signal generating circuit includes: a digital delay line for delaying a first clock signal and generating a second clock signal; a ring-type shift register for setting the delay time length of the digital delay line by flip-flop output of each stage thereof; and a delay amount control unit for controlling supply of shift clocks to the ring-type shift register, based on phase relation between the first clock signal and the second clock signal.
US07880513B2
A repeater circuit. The repeater circuit includes a first output stage having two output circuits, a second output stage having two additional output circuits, two activation circuits, and two deactivation circuits. Responsive to detecting a logical transition of an input signal, one of the activation circuits is configured to activate a corresponding output circuit, and responsive thereto another corresponding output circuit is configured to be activated. The output circuits drive an output signal on the output node. A corresponding one of the deactivation circuits is configured to deactivate the corresponding output circuit after a delay time has elapsed, whereas the other corresponding output circuit is deactivated in response thereto. A keeper circuit is configured to continue providing the output signal on the output node after deactivation of the corresponding output circuits.
US07880500B2
A circuit for converting a lower voltage logical signal to a higher voltage. The circuit comprises a current mirror structure having first and second branches, each comprising at least a first transistor of a first kind, an input transistor of a second kind, and a second transistor of the first kind coupled between them. The first transistors are arranged as a current mirror. The input transistors are driven using a logical signal at the lower voltage, controlling the current mirror structure to output a corresponding logical signal at the higher voltage. The second transistors are driven by an intermediate reference voltage so as to reduce the operating voltage of the third transistors. The first kind is tolerant of a higher operating voltage than the second kind.
US07880499B2
In accordance with the present invention there are provided herein asynchronous reconfigurable logic fabrics (302, 304) for integrated circuits and methods for designing asynchronous circuits to be implemented in the asynchronous reconfigurable logic fabrics.
US07880496B1
A novel conservative gate especially suiting a Quantum Dot Cellular Automata (QCA) majority voter-based design. The input-to-output mapping of the novel conservative QCA (CQCA) gate is: P=A; Q=AB+BC+AC [MV(A,B,C)]; R=A′B+A′C+BC [MV(A′,B,C)], where A, B, C are inputs and P, Q, R are outputs, respectively. A method of transferring information in a quantum-dot cellular automata device is also provided.
US07880491B2
The present invention is applied to a multilayer semiconductor device including a plurality of layered semiconductor chips. At least one of the plurality of layered semiconductor chips includes a pad that is not connected to any external circuit terminal of the multilayer semiconductor device. The multilayer semiconductor device also includes a separating element that connects the pad to a test stub line when each semiconductor chip is tested and separates the pad from the test stub line during the normal operation.
US07880478B2
A nanoscale motion apparatus includes a fixed base, a movable platform, and means for moving the movable platform connected between the fixed base and the movable platform. A sensing device includes a holder, at least two nanosensors, and a measurement plate. The holder is mounted on the fixed base. The nanosensors are configured on the holder. The measurement plate is mounted on the movable platform. The measurement plate can be sensed by the nanosensors so as to measure the corresponding variation between the fixed base and the movable platform.
US07880476B1
The present invention provides a new technique for solving the problem of detecting and locating soft faults, such as frays, in electrical conductor wires. This new technique utilizes the nonlinear ferroelectric capacitive properties of piezoelectric ceramic elements, such as PZT, in conjunction with an antenna coil, to realize a tuned antenna receiver circuit with significantly increased reception sensitivity. The present invention consists of a battery powered, hand-held transmitter, with an output terminal for physical connectors, and a battery powered, hand-held receiver. Soft faults are detected and accurately located, to within a half inch distance of the actual soft fault, as the receiver is passed along the path of the electrical conductor wire, by the operator, who determines a reduction or cessation of the visible and audible indicators. The ultrasonic frequency piezoelectric transducer also enables the receiver to be used as an ultrasonic frequency detector for detecting electrical arcing from powered transmission lines.
US07880466B2
A method for fat-suppressed imaging is disclosed. Such a method may include storing a first spectral component of an echo signal formed at TR/2 from a sample, suppressing a second spectral component of the echo signal at TR/2, re-exciting the stored spectral component after suppressing the second spectral component, and producing an image of the sample based on the re-excited stored spectral component.
US07880457B2
A dual loop DC-to-DC converter is provided that includes a first control loop that maintains a DC output voltage (VOUT) less than or equal to a desired maximum value of the VOUT, a second control loop that operates simultaneously with the first control loop and maintains a DC input voltage (VIN) greater than or equal to a desired minimum value of the VIN, and a duty cycle selection module. The first control loop generates a first clock signal having a first duty cycle, and the second control loop generates a second clock signal having a second duty cycle. The duty cycle selection module continuously determines which one of the first duty cycle and the second duty cycle has a lower duty cycle value, and continuously generates a PWM output signal having a modulated duty cycle equal to the lower duty cycle value.
US07880454B2
Systems and methods control timing of switches in power regulators and power amplifiers. The systems and methods monitor a switch node voltage and obtain rising and falling edges of signals obtained from the monitoring. The systems and methods utilize the rising and falling edges of switch drive signals and predetermined data to obtain delay times for subsequent drive signals.
US07880453B2
In an interleaved switching converter, a first converter including a first switch is coupled to a second converter including a second switch. A switching controller for controlling the first switch and the second switch outputs a second control signal for operating the second switch based a first control signal for operating the first switch. A phase shift between the first control signal and the second control signal is 180 degrees.
US07880432B2
The battery management system of the present invention measures a cell voltage of a battery more efficiently using a small number of elements, and measures a pack current and voltage thereof when measuring the voltages of a plurality of cells. The battery management system is coupled to the battery formed with one pack having a plurality of battery cells. The battery includes a first sub-pack having first and second batteries among the plurality of battery cells. The battery management system includes first to fourth relays and an A/D converter. The first and the second relays transmit the cell voltages in response to respective first and second control signals by being coupled to each output terminal of the first and second battery cells of the first sub-pack. The third relay transmits the cell voltage transmitted though one of the first and second relays in response to a third control signal, and the first charging unit stores the cell voltage transmitted from the third relay. The fourth relay transmits the cell voltage stored in the first charging unit in response to a fourth control signal. The A/D converter converts the cell voltages transmitted through the fourth relay into digital data.
US07880429B2
A method for controlling the current output from a fuel cell stack to prevent the stack voltage or the minimum fuel cell voltage from dropping below predetermined voltage set-points. The method for the stack voltage control includes determining whether the stack voltage has dropped to the predetermined voltage set-point, and if so, capturing and holding the actual stack current at that point as the maximum allowed stack current. If the stack voltage continues to fall below the voltage set-point, then the voltage set-point is subtracted from the actual voltage to get a positive error signal. Controller gains are then multiplied by the error signal to reduce the current allowed from the stack to drive the error signal to zero, and increase the stack voltage. The method for the minimum fuel cell voltage operates in the same manner, but with different values.
US07880428B2
A controller for an induction motor includes a storage device which stores values in a plurality of addresses, a first counter which transits circularly among first to N-th states, a second counter which transits circularly among first to fourth states, a calculating section which calculates calculation values, and a signal generation section which generates PWM signals and synchronous interruption signals at constant time pitch such that pulse widths of the PWM signals are adjusted based on the calculation values respectively. An inverter supplies electric power to an induction motor based on the PWM signals. The first counter transits from one to next of the first to N-th states synchronously to each of the synchronous interruption signals. The second counter transits from one to next of the first to fourth states synchronously to each transition of the first counter from the N-th state to the first state. The calculating section, synchronously to each of the synchronous interruption signals, calculates one of the calculation values based on the first counter and the second counter from one of the values stored in one of the plurality of addresses.
US07880425B2
In various embodiments, an electric motor drive system (400, FIG. 4) and a motor vehicle (1000, FIG. 10) include an inverter (404, FIG. 4) adapted to generate (604, FIG. 6), based on inverter control inputs, a number, N, of phase current waveforms (118, FIG. 1), and a phase current sampling apparatus (408, FIG. 4) having a same number, N, of current sensors (502, 503, 504, FIG. 5). Each of the current sensors is adapted to receive one of the phase current waveforms, and the current sensors are adapted simultaneously to sample the phase current waveforms and to generate digital values representing amplitudes of the phase current waveforms. The system and motor vehicle also include a controller (410, FIG. 4) adapted to receive the digital values, to perform an evaluation of the digital values, and to generate the inverter control inputs (462, FIG. 4) based on the evaluation.
US07880422B2
When a printing instruction is provided, a CPU causes a stepping motor M to drive a developer and calculates the value of a load of the stepping motor M before printing operations are performed. Then, CPU determines whether the value of the load is within a predetermined range stored in advance. If the value is not within the predetermined range, CPU causes a display to display an error message.
US07880419B2
A system for the transmission of a direct current (DC) at a medium voltage level includes a system DC link configured to carry power from a source to a load module. The load module includes a DC-to-DC voltage step-down converter, a DC-to-AC inverter coupled downstream to the DC-to-DC voltage step-down converter, and a system AC link for carrying power from the load module to a motor system on a load side of the system AC link. The system is effective for delivering power over distances that are greater than 30 kilometers, and for delivery of power from an on-shore to offshore and sub-sea load.
US07880418B2
The following invention is an electromechanical system (1) that is to be connected to an electricity supply (7), comprising: an electric machine (2) that can operate as an independent generator with a rotating shaft, and a switching system (9) allowing i) in the first configuration, the electric machine to operate as a motor in the case where the connected device (4) is normally driven or as a generator in the case where the coupled device is normally driving, and ii) in the second configuration, the electric machine to operate as an independent generator, the electrical energy generated by the electric machine (2; 22) being dissipated in the machine and in a dissipative load (13).
US07880410B2
An actuator (20) comprises a rotor (22); an electromagnetic circuit (24) configured to produce bidirectional torque on the rotor; and, a rotation limitation assembly (26). The rotor (22) comprises a rotor shaft and plural magnets (80) affixed to the rotor shaft. In an example embodiment the rotation limitation assembly (26) comprises at least one stationary clockwise boundary (40) configured to limit clockwise rotation of the rotor (22); at least one stationary counterclockwise boundary (42) configured to limit counterclockwise rotation of the rotor (22); and a rotor stop arm (50) connected to the rotor and configured to selectively abut the clockwise boundary (40) and the counterclockwise boundary (44) and thereby limit the rotation of the rotor to a predetermined angle about an axis of the rotor shaft.
US07880403B2
In a method of detecting arc discharge in a glow-discharge apparatus GD that has a high-frequency power source PS, a cutting pulse is output for time T1 to the high-frequency power source PS to stop a supply of power to the glow-discharge apparatus GD, when dVr/dt-dVf/dt increases over a first level, where Vf and Vr are a traveling-wave voltage and a reflected-wave voltage applied to the glow-discharge apparatus GD, respectively. Arc discharge is determined to have developed in the glow-discharge apparatus, when Vr/Vf increases to a second level or a higher level within a preset time To after the supply of power to the glow-discharge apparatus is stopped
US07880399B2
The invention relates to a ballast for a high-pressure discharge lamp, in particular for a motor vehicle headlight lamp or a projection lamp, which ballast is, according to the invention, in the form of a Class E converter.
US07880393B2
A power-saving circuit is provided for saving electrical power by detecting a presence or absence of an object in a localized area. The power-saving circuit includes a sensor module, and a switch module connected to the sensor module. The detector is adapted for outputting a control signal at a first state when an object is detected in the localized area, and outputting a control signal at a second state when an object is detected not in the localized area. The switch module provides a stable DC voltage according to the control signal at the first state, and not provides the stable DC voltage according to the control signal at the second state.
US07880392B2
Plasma producing method and apparatus wherein a plurality of high-frequency antennas are arranged in a plasma producing chamber, and a high-frequency power supplied from a high-frequency power supply device (including a power source, a phase controller and the like) is applied to a gas in the chamber from the antennas to produce inductively coupled plasma. At least some of the plurality of high-frequency antennas are arranged in a fashion of such parallel arrangement that the antennas successively neighbor to each other and each of the antennas is opposed to the neighboring antenna. The high-frequency power supply device controls a phase of a high-frequency voltage applied to each antenna, and thereby controls an electron temperature of the inductively coupled plasma.
US07880388B2
An exemplary external electrode fluorescent lamp includes a fluorescent tube having two electrodes fixed at two ends thereof, and two inner caps respectively holding the electrodes. Each inner cap includes an electrode receiving portion configured for receiving the electrode, a conductive layer provided at inner surfaces of the electrode receiving portion, a lead receiving portion integrally formed with the electrode receiving portion, and a conductive lead received in the lead receiving portion. The conductive layer contacts the conductive layer. A backlight module employing the external electrode fluorescent lamp is also provided.
US07880377B2
A light emitting device having practical light emission characteristics is obtained without epitaxial growth.A quantum dot-dispersed light emitting device of the invention includes a substrate 11, an electron injection electrode 12, a hole injection electrode 14, and an inorganic light emitting layer 13 disposed so as to be in contact with both the electrodes. The inorganic light emitting layer 13 contains an ambipolar inorganic semiconductor material and nanocrystals 15 dispersed as luminescent centers in the ambipolar inorganic semiconductor material and is configured so as to be capable of light emission without having, at the interface with the electron injection electrode and/or the hole injection electrode, epitaxial relation therewith.
US07880367B2
The MEMS sensor includes a substrate, a lower thin film, opposed to a surface of the substrate at an interval, having a plurality of lower through-holes formed to pass through the lower thin film in the thickness direction thereof, an upper thin film, opposed to the lower thin film at an interval on the side opposite to the substrate, having a plurality of upper through-holes formed to pass through the upper thin film in the thickness direction thereof, and a plurality of protrusions irregularly provided on a region of the surface of the substrate opposed to the lower thin film.
US07880363B2
Devices and methods of use for brush holder assemblies are disclosed. Brush holder assemblies including a mounting block and a brush holder are disclosed. Also illustrated is a brush holder assembly including a first portion in sliding engagement with a second portion. In some embodiments the brush holder includes a channel, such that at least a portion of the mounting block is disposed within the channel of the brush holder.
US07880362B2
A brush holder assembly of an electrical device is disclosed. The brush holder assembly includes a brush holder, a spring clip removable from the brush holder, a spring detachably coupled to the spring clip, and a spring retainer for retaining the spring on the spring clip. The spring clip is slidably disposed in channels of the brush holder. The detachable spring includes an end region extending around the end of the spring clip such that a first portion of the spring is facing a first side of the spring clip and a second portion of the spring is facing a second side of the spring clip. The spring retainer extends around the end of the spring clip over the end region of the spring.
US07880350B2
A hydrogen cooled generator having an axis and more than three phases, the generator comprises a main casing section enclosing a stator with windings; a casing end section; at least one end winding disposed in the casing end section; a toroidal duct formed on at least one of the casing end section and the main casing section having a bottom wall and two side walls, wherein at least one of the bottom wall and the two side walls shares a wall of the casing end section so as to form a common wall; at least one bushing penetrating the common wall and inclined towards the axis of the generator so as to form an inclination, the at least one bushing having a first end connected to the at least one winding and a second end terminating in the toroidal duct.
US07880339B2
An isolation circuitry and method are provided for coupling between a power supply and processing circuitry in order to provide power to the processing circuitry whilst hiding a power consumption characteristic of that processing circuitry. The isolation circuitry comprises a plurality of sub-circuits, with each sub-circuit comprising a capacitor, a first switch configured to provide a first connection between the capacitor and the power supply, a second switch configured to provide a second connection between the capacitor and the processing circuitry, and a third switch configured to provide a third connection across the capacitor to partially discharge the capacitor. Control circuitry controls the plurality of sub-circuits, such that within each sub-circuit the first switch, second switch and third switch are placed in an active state in a repeating sequence. Each of the plurality of sub-circuits further comprises a comparator configured to place the third switch in an open state when a predetermined non-zero voltage difference across the capacitor is reached during the active state of the third switch. By such an approach, it is ensured that the voltage across the comparator at the end of the discharge operation is always the same irrespective of the voltage present at the start of the discharge operation. As a result, the power consumption characteristic of the processing circuitry is entirely hidden by the isolation circuitry. Further, the isolation circuitry of the present invention provides a particular power efficient mechanism for hiding the power consumption characteristic of the processing circuitry.
US07880336B2
An electric horizontal directional drilling machine. An electric horizontal directional drilling machine is powered by an electric power assembly. The power assembly is made up of a fuel cell and inverter, or multiple fuel cells with synchronized inverters, are used to power an electric motor controller and electric motor. The electric motor operates hydraulic pumps used to advance a drill string and downhole tool through the earth and operate various machine functions. Mechanical functions of the drilling machine may also be satisfied through the use of electric rotary actuators (e.g., motors) and linear actuators (e.g., linear motors and solenoids).
US07880332B2
An uninterruptible power supply system includes power converter circuitry configured to convert AC input power to a first DC power and a second DC power to the first DC power, a battery pack configured to provide the second DC power, a power relay mechanism coupled to the power converter circuitry and to the battery pack that selectively moves between an open position and a closed position, the power relay mechanism coupling the battery pack to the power converter circuitry when in the closed position and isolating the battery pack from the power converter circuitry when in the open position, and control circuitry configured to provide a control signal, where the power relay mechanism includes a motor actuator coupled to the control circuitry, the motor actuator being responsive to the control signal to change the power relay mechanism from the open position to the closed position.
US07880327B2
A key-operated lock device having a lock, a key operable to actuate said lock, an electronic system commanded by said key, an electric power supply communicating electric power necessary to operate said electronic system, and a detection system for detecting the presence or absence of said key. The detection device is operable to command the connection with the electric power supply of said electronic system only if the key is present in, or close to, the lock.
US07880325B2
A vehicle (400) such as an aircraft is provided (101) with a source of light (401). An optical conduit is then used to couple (104) this source of light to a light-to-electricity conversion apparatus (408). So configured, the optical conduit delivers light from this source of light to the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus such that the light source then serves as a source of electricity in the vehicle.
US07880321B2
A wind power generator system includes a windmill rotor including a blade whose pitch angle is variable; a generator driven by the windmill rotor; and a control unit controlling output power of the generator and the pitch angle of the blade. The control unit performs a first control in which the output power is controlled in accordance with a predetermined power-rotational speed curve until the rotational speed is increased to reach a predetermined rated rotational speed, and a second control in which the output power is controlled to a predetermined rated power when the rotational speed exceeds the rated rotational speed. The control unit is responsive to the pitch angle for maintaining the second control or for switching to the first control, when the rotational speed is reduced below the rated rotational speed after the control unit is once placed into the state of performing the second control.
US07880314B2
A wiring substrate on which an electronic component is flip-chip bonded, including a substrate main body, a solder resist which is formed on the substrate main body and having an opening, and a plurality of conductive pattern formed on the substrate main body, including exposure surfaces exposed from the opening of the solder resist. The conductive patterns include, a narrow interval group, a wide interval group, an interval between the adjacent conductive patterns belonging to the narrow interval group is narrower than an interval between the adjacent conductive patterns belonging to the wide interval group, an exposure length of the conductive patterns of the narrow interval group is shorter than an exposure length of the conductive patterns of the wide interval group.
US07880313B2
A flip chip lead frame package includes a die and a lead frame having a die paddle and leads, and has a spacer to maintain a separation between the die and the die paddle. Also, methods for making the package are disclosed.
US07880311B2
A stacked semiconductor package includes a semiconductor chip module including at least two semiconductor chips, each semiconductor chip having a first face, a second face opposite to the first face, and a circuit part. A thorough portion passes through the first and second faces of the semiconductor chip. A recess part is formed in a portion of the second face where the second face and the through portion meets. A through electrode is electrically connected to the circuit part and is disposed inside of the through portion. A connection member is disposed in the recess part to electrically connect the through electrodes of adjacent stacked semiconductor chips. And the semiconductor chip module is mounted to a substrate. The stacked semiconductor package prevents both gaps between semiconductor chips and misalignment of the through electrode.
US07880307B2
Semiconductor devices including through-wafer interconnects are disclosed. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor device may comprise a substrate having a first surface and a second, opposing surface, and a through-wafer interconnect extending into the first surface of the substrate. The through-wafer interconnect may include an electrically conductive material extending from the first surface of the substrate to the second, opposing surface of the substrate. The through-wafer interconnect may also include a first dielectric material disposed between the electrically conductive material and the substrate and extending from the second, opposing surface of the substrate to the first portion of the conductive material. Additionally, the through-wafer interconnect may include a second dielectric material disposed over a portion of the electrically conductive material and exhibiting a surface that defines a blind aperture extending from the first surface toward the second, opposing surface.
US07880304B2
A new method is provided for the creation of interconnect lines. Fine line interconnects are provided in a first layer of dielectric overlying semiconductor circuits that have been created in or on the surface of a substrate. A layer of passivation is deposited over the layer of dielectric and a thick second layer of dielectric is created over the surface of the layer of passivation. Thick and wide post-passivation interconnect lines are created in the thick second layer of dielectric. The first layer of dielectric may also be eliminated, creating the wide thick passivation interconnect network on the surface of the layer of passivation that has been deposited over the surface of a substrate.
US07880291B2
An integrated circuit package may include a board that may support an integrated circuit chip. A post pin may be provided on a surface of the board. The post pin may be electrically connected to the integrated circuit chip. A land pin may be provided on the other surface of the board. The land pin may be electrically connected to the integrated circuit chip.
US07880290B2
A flip-chip package may include: a semiconductor chip having first pads arranged substantially along a first direction; a substrate having second pads, arranged substantially in a zigzag form aligned with the first pads as a center line, and facing the semiconductor chip; and conductive bumps for electrically connecting the first pads to the second pads in a one-to-one relationship. Adjacent conductive bumps may extend in different directions. A method of manufacturing a flip-chip package may include: forming conductive bumps that extend along different directions on first pads of a semiconductor chip; and connecting second pads of a substrate to the conductive bumps in a one-to-one relationship. A method of manufacturing a flip-chip package may include: forming conductive bumps that extend along different directions on second pads of a substrate; and connecting first pads of a semiconductor chip to the conductive bumps in a one-to-one relationship.
US07880288B2
A semiconductor module has at least two semiconductor chips (4, 5) with at least one first and one second electrode (12, 13) on their first sides. Each semiconductor chip (4, 5) has a third electrode (14) on its second side (16). A chip arrangement within the semiconductor module (1) is provided such that the electrodes (12, 13) on the first sides of the semiconductor chips (4, 5) are oriented toward a second side of the semiconductor module (1) and the third electrodes (14) on the second sides (16) of the semiconductor chips (4, 5) are oriented toward a first side of the semiconductor module (1). For this purpose, external terminals (19, 20) on the second side of the semiconductor module (1) are directly coupled to the electrodes (12, 13) of the first sides and connecting elements (22) electrically couple the third electrodes (14) to corresponding external terminals (21).
US07880285B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip stack having at least one lower semiconductor chip as a base of the semiconductor chip stack, and at least one upper semiconductor chip. An insulating intermediate plate is arranged between the semiconductor chips. Connecting elements wire the semiconductor chips, the intermediate plate and external terminals to one another.
US07880284B2
With embodiments disclosed herein, the distribution of gated power is done using on-die layers without having to come back out and use package layers.
US07880273B2
In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a semiconductor wafer is provided. The wafer has semiconductor chip regions, a scribing line region and a predetermined region. A passivation layer is formed on the wafer. A photoresist film is formed on the passivation layer. A first pattern in a reticle is transferred to a first portion of the photoresist film above the scribing line region. The first pattern is transferred to a second portion of the photoresist film above the predetermined region. The photoresist film is developed. The passivation layer is etched using the photoresist film as a mask. The wafer is diced along the scribing line region to form semiconductor chips and a piece. Each of the semiconductor chips corresponds to each of chip regions. The piece group includes a piece which corresponds to the predetermined region.
US07880267B2
A buried decoupling capacitor apparatus and method are provided. According to various embodiments, a buried decoupling capacitor apparatus includes a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate having a buried insulator region and top semiconductor region on the buried insulator region. The apparatus embodiment also includes a first capacitor plate having a doped region in the top semiconductor region in the semiconductor-on-insulator substrate. The apparatus embodiment further includes a dielectric material on the first capacitor plate, and a second capacitor plate on the dielectric material. According to various embodiments, the first capacitor plate, the dielectric material and the second capacitor plate form a decoupling capacitor for use in an integrated circuit.
US07880266B2
The present invention provides antifuse structures having an integrated heating element and methods of programming the same, the antifuse structures comprising first and second conductors and a dielectric layer formed between the conductors, where one or both of the conductors functions as both a conventional antifuse conductor and as a heating element for directly heating the antifuse dielectric layer during programming.
US07880255B2
A pixel cell having a photosensor within a silicon substrate; and an oxide layer provided over the photosensor, the oxide layer having a grated interface with said silicon substrate, and a method of fabricating the pixel cell having a grated interface.
US07880246B2
A microstructure has a substrate, a fixed electrode having a plurality of fixed fingers fixed to the substrate, a movable electrode having a body (28) and a plurality of fingers (22) extending from the body, the movable electrode being movable relative to the fixed fingers to vary a capacitance of the electrodes. The fixed fingers (21) extend in a first plane parallel to a main surface of the substrate, wherein the body of the movable electrode extends in a second plane adjacent to the first plane so that the body faces at least some of the plurality of fixed fingers. Such vertical integration can help enable such devices to be made more compact.
US07880244B2
An electronics package has a wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) die substrate containing electronic circuits. Through-silicon vias through the die substrate electrically connect the electronic circuits to the bottom surface of the die substrate. A package sensor is coupled to the die substrate for sensing an environmental parameter. A protective encapsulant layer covers the top surface of the die substrate. A sensor aperture over the package sensor provides access for the package sensor to the environmental parameter.
US07880240B2
A semiconductor device has a high voltage circuit section disposed on a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity. The high voltage circuit section has a well region with a second conductivity, a first heavily doped impurity region with the first conductivity and disposed on the well region, a second heavily doped impurity region having a second conductivity and disposed on the semiconductor substrate, a trench isolation region disposed between the first and second heavily doped impurity regions, and an interconnect disposed over the trench isolation region. First and second electrodes are disposed above the trench isolation region, below the interconnect, and on opposite sides of a junction between the well region and the semiconductor substrate. The first electrode is disposed above the semiconductor substrate, and the second electrode is disposed above the well region. The first and second electrodes prevent parasitic formation of an inverse layer on a surface of the semiconductor substrate due to a potential of the interconnect.
US07880239B2
By providing a body controlled double channel transistor, increased functionality in combination with enhanced stability may be accomplished. For instance, flip flop circuits usable for static RAM cells may be formed on the basis of the body controlled double channel transistor, thereby reducing the number of transistors required per cell, which may result in increased information density.
US07880238B2
The present invention, in one embodiment, provides a memory device including a substrate including at least one device region; a first field effect transistor having a first threshold voltage and a second field effect transistor having a second threshold voltage, the second field effect transistor including a second active region present in the at least one device region of the substrate, the second active region including a second drain and a second source separated by a second channel region, wherein the second channel region includes a second trap that stores holes produced when the first field effect transistor is in the on state, wherein the holes stored in the second trap increase the second threshold voltage to be greater than the first threshold voltage.
US07880235B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit device has an SOI substrate comprising an insulating film laminated on a semiconductor support substrate and a semiconductor thin film laminated on the insulating film. A first N-channel MOS transistor, a first P-channel MOS transistor, and a resistor are each disposed on the semiconductor thin film. A second N-channel MOS transistor serving as an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection element is disposed on a surface of the semiconductor support substrate that is exposed by removing a part of the semiconductor thin film and a part of the insulating film. The second N-channel MOS transistor has a gate electrode, a source region and a drain region surrounding the source region through the gate electrode to maintain a constant distance between the drain region and the source region.
US07880223B2
A method for manufacturing a transient voltage suppressing (TVS) array substantially following a manufacturing process for manufacturing a vertical semiconductor power device. The method includes a step of opening a plurality of isolation trenches in an epitaxial layer of a first conductivity type in a semiconductor substrate followed by applying a body mask for doping a body region having a second conductivity type between two of the isolation trenches. The method further includes a step of applying an source mask for implanting a plurality of doped regions of the first conductivity type constituting a plurality of diodes wherein the isolation trenches isolating and preventing parasitic PNP or NPN transistor due to a latch-up between the doped regions of different conductivity types.
US07880222B2
A semiconductor device 10 includes a first transistor 11 placed on a substrate 16, a second transistor 12 placed on the first transistor 11 via a heat radiation layer 17, a third transistor 13 placed on the substrate 16, and a fourth transistor 14 placed on the third transistor 11 via a heat radiation layer 17. The first transistor 11 has a first region corresponding to a region where the second transistor is placed, and a second region which is formed so as to surround the first region and in which the rate of area occupied by the emitter region in the base region is higher than in the first region. Likewise the first transistor 11, the third transistor 13 has a region in which the rate of area occupied by the emitter region in the base region is varied.
US07880216B2
In a method of fabricating a flash memory device, trenches are formed in an isolation area of a semiconductor substrate. A first insulating layer is formed on sidewalls and bottoms of the trenches. Conductive layer patterns are formed on the first insulating layers at the bottoms of the trenches. A second insulating layer is formed on the conductive layer patterns. Gate lines are formed over a semiconductor substrate including the second insulating layer. The gate lines intersect the conductive layer patterns. Junctions are formed on the semiconductor substrate between the gate lines. An interlayer insulating layer is formed over the semiconductor substrate including the gate lines. Contact holes are formed through which the conductive layer patterns and the junctions located on one side of the conductive layer patterns are exposed. The contact holes are gap-filled with a conductive material, thereby forming contact plugs.
US07880209B2
A free ferromagnetic data storage layer of an MRAM cell is coupled to a free ferromagnetic stabilization layer, which stabilization layer is directly electrically coupled to a contact electrode, on one side, and is separated from the free ferromagnetic data storage layer, on an opposite side, by a spacer layer. The spacer layer provides for the coupling between the two free layers, which coupling is one of: a ferromagnetic coupling and an antiferromagnetic coupling.
US07880208B2
Magnetic materials and uses thereof are provided. In one aspect, a magnetic film is provided. The magnetic film comprises superparamagnetic particles on at least one surface thereof. The magnetic film may be patterned and may comprise a ferromagnetic material. The superparamagnetic particles may be coated with a non-magnetic polymer and/or embedded in a non-magnetic host material. The magnetic film may have increased damping and/or decreased coercivity.
US07880203B2
The invention provides, as an aspect thereof, a semiconductor device that includes: a substrate; an underlying insulation film that is formed over the substrate; and a plurality of thin-film transistors that is formed over the underlying insulation film, each of the plurality of thin-film transistors having a semiconductor film, wherein the underlying insulation film is formed in separate areas each of which includes, when viewed in plan, at least one of the plurality of semiconductor films.
US07880201B2
The present invention is a method and an apparatus for optical modulation, for example for use in optical communications links. In one embodiment, an apparatus for optical modulation includes a first silicon layer having one or more trenches formed therein, a dielectric layer lining the first silicon layer, and a second silicon layer disposed on the dielectric layer and filling the trenches.
US07880198B2
A compound field effect transistor having multiple pinch-off voltages comprising: first and second field effect transistors, each field effect transistor comprising a semiconductor layer, the semiconductor layer having an electrically conducting layer therein; an ohmic contact layer on the semiconductor layer; a source and a drain on the ohmic contact layer; at least one gate on the semiconductor layer between source and drain; at least one gate of the first transistor and one gate of the second transistor being matched gates, each gate having the same effective thickness of electrically conducting layer beneath it but the gates having different gate lengths.
US07880192B2
A nitride semiconductor device according to the present invention includes a n-GaN substrate 10 and a semiconductor multilayer structure arranged on the principal surface of the n-GaN substrate 10 and including a p-type region, an n-type region and an active layer between them. An SiO2 layer 30 with an opening and a p-side electrode, which makes contact with a portion of the p-type region of the semiconductor multilayer structure, are arranged on the upper surface of the semiconductor multilayer structure. An n-side electrode 36 is arranged on the back surface of the substrate 10. The p-side electrode includes a p-side contact electrode 32 that contacts with the portion of the p-type region and a p-side interconnect electrode 34 that covers the p-side contact electrode 2 and the SiO2 layer 30. Part of the p-side contact electrode 32 is exposed under the p-side interconnect electrode 34.
US07880187B2
Radiation occurs when current is injected into an active layer from electrodes. A pair of clad layers is disposed sandwiching the active layer, the clad layer having a band gap wider than a band gap of the active layer. An optical absorption layer is disposed outside at least one clad layer of the pair of clad layers. The optical absorption layer has a band gap wider than the band gap of the active layer and narrower than the band gap of the clad layer. A spread of a spectrum of radiated light can be narrowed.
US07880178B2
The present invention provides a semiconductor device realizing reduced occurrence of a defect such as a crack at the time of adhering elements to each other. The semiconductor device includes a first element and a second element adhered to each other. At least one of the first and second elements has a pressure relaxation layer on the side facing the other of the first and second elements, and the pressure relaxation layer includes a semiconductor part having a projection/recess part including a projection projected toward the other element, and a resin part filled in a recess in the projection/recess part.
US07880173B2
A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the device using a (000-1)-faced silicon carbide substrate are provided. A SiC semiconductor device having a high blocking voltage and high channel mobility is manufactured by optimizing the heat-treatment method used following the gate oxidation. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the steps of forming a gate insulation layer on a semiconductor region formed of silicon carbide having a (000-1) face orientation, forming a gate electrode on the gate insulation layer, forming an electrode on the semiconductor region, cleaning the semiconductor region surface. The gate insulation layer is formed in an atmosphere containing 1% or more H2O (water) vapor at a temperature of from 800° C. to 1150° C. to reduce the interface trap density of the interface between the gate insulation layer and the semiconductor region.
US07880166B2
A fast recovery rectifier structure with the combination of Schottky structure to relieve the minority carriers during the forward bias condition for the further reduction of the reverse recovery time during switching in addition to the lifetime killer such as Pt, Au, and/or irradiation. This fast recovery rectifier uses unpolished substrates and thick impurity diffusion for low cost production. A reduced p-n junction structure with a heavily doped film is provided to terminate and shorten the p-n junction space charge region. This reduced p-n junction with less total charge in the p-n junction to further improve the reverse recovery time. This reduced p-n junction can be used alone, with the traditional lifetime killer method, with the Schottky structure and/or with the epitaxial substrate.
US07880162B2
A quantum dot (22) is formed on a GaAs substrate (20). In the quantum dot (22), a single electron exists. A cap layer (26) is formed on a surrounding area of the quantum dot (22), and a barrier layer (28) is formed thereon. A quantum dot (30) for detection is formed on the barrier layer (28). Then, a cap layer (34) covering the quantum dot (30) and the like is formed.
US07880153B2
An EUV light source apparatus capable of preventing deterioration and/or breakage of a filter for filtering EUV light. The EUV light source apparatus includes an EUV generation chamber in which EUV light is generated; a target material supply unit for supplying a target material into the EUV light generation chamber; a laser source for applying a laser beam to the target material supplied into the EUV light generation chamber to generate plasma; collection optics for collecting EUV light radiated from the plasma; a filter for filtering the EUV light collected by the collection optics; and a filter protecting member provided between the plasma and the filter, for protecting the filter by blocking flying matter flying from the plasma toward the filter.
US07880147B2
Novel components reduce background noise caused by secondary ions generated by metastable entity bombardment in a mass spectrometric system. Layered structures for exit electrodes and deflector plates confine secondary ions in a local low-energy well, preventing them from entering the detector.
US07880143B2
A plurality of primary beams are formed from a single electron source, the surface charge of a sample is controlled by at least one primary beam, and at the same time, the inspection of the sample is conducted using a primary beam other than this. Also, for an exposure area of the primary beam for surface charge control and an exposure area of the primary beam for the inspection, the surface electric field strength is set individually. Also, the current of the primary beam for surface charge control and the interval between the primary beam for surface charge control and the primary beam for inspection are controlled.
US07880132B2
A camera module lens cap is provided to protect a camera module in a mobile device where the camera module is exposed. The camera module lens cap includes an optically transparent member for positioning adjacent a camera lens, and a housing for carrying the optically transparent member. The housing includes an overhanging lip for engaging a base of the camera module.
US07880130B2
An optical device ensuring projection of light over a wide range as well as reduction in size, and a mobile apparatus mounted with the optical device are provided. The optical device (100) includes a light-projecting unit (110) and a light-receiving unit (120). The light-projecting unit (110) has a projector (114) and a lenticular sheet (112) arranged in layers. First and second cylindrical lens arrays having their generatrices orthogonal to each other are formed on the respective surfaces of the sheet (112). The light-receiving unit (120) has a light-receiver (124). The light-projecting unit (110) and the light-receiving unit (120) are arranged adjacent to each other in an integrated manner so that the light-receiver (124) can sense the light emitted from the projector (114) via the sheet (112) and then reflected from an object.
US07880126B2
A first transistor is provided on a current path for a phototransistor. A first resistor is provided between one terminal of the first transistor and the power supply line. A second transistor forms a current mirror circuit in cooperation with the first transistor, which amplifies with a predetermined amplification factor the current that flows through the first transistor. A charge capacitor, one terminal of which is connected to a fixed electric potential, is charged with the current thus amplified. A second resistor is provided between one terminal of the second transistor and the power supply line.
US07880125B1
The present invention relates to an aircraft, missile, projectile, or underwater vehicle with an improved control system and an improved control system for maneuvering an aircraft, missile, projectile, or underwater vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an aircraft, missile, underwater vehicle or projectile with removable control surfaces. The technical advantage of the removable control surface system (or “removable control surface”) over other systems is that the removable control surface system enables the aircraft, missile, underwater vehicle or projectile to have two or more design configurations, each configuration being tailored to the aircraft, missile, projectile, or underwater vehicle's specific stability or maneuverability requirements during a specific portion of the flight.
US07880122B2
Provided are a wafer having a thermal circuit and power supplier therefor, which enable the wafer to heat or cool itself without using any additional heating or cooling system. The wafer includes the thermal circuit that is installed on one side of the wafer to be capable of self-heating or self-cooling the wafer in order to perform a heating process or cooling process on a semiconductor device formed on the surface of the wafer and exchanges heat with the semiconductor device. Thus, a temperature of a semiconductor device can be precisely controlled, and heating and cooling energies are greatly reduced through a direct heat exchange method, thus attaining high efficiency. Since the thermal circuit is directly installed in the wafer, it is structurally simple and the costs of production and installation can be notably reduced. Also, the present invention is very advantageous for optimization, miniaturization, simplification, and environmentally friendly production of a wafer heating/cooling system. Furthermore, a temperature measuring circuit is installed on a reverse surface of the wafer so that the amount of energy that acts on an actual semiconductor device or actual temperature can be accurately measured in real time.
US07880114B2
An apparatus processes a surface of an inhabitable structure. The apparatus includes a base unit adapted to provide energy waves to an interaction region, the energy waves removing material from the structure. The base unit includes an energy wave generator and a head coupled to the energy wave generator. The head is adapted to remove the material from the interaction region, thereby providing reduced disruption to activities within the structure. The apparatus further includes a manipulation system which includes an anchoring mechanism adapted to be releasably coupled to the structure and a positioning mechanism coupled to the anchoring mechanism and coupled to the head. The manipulation system is adapted to controllably adjust the position of the head relative to the structure. The apparatus further includes a controller electrically coupled to the base unit. The controller is adapted to transmit control signals to the base unit in response to user input.
US07880108B2
The present invention provides deflection plates for use in a flow-type particle sorter that are resistant to wetting. The deflection plates include a gas-porous, conductive plate. A gas, such as air, is passed through the plate from the outer face (away from the particle flow) towards the inner face (towards the particle flow). The flow of gas prevents condensation on the inner face of the defection plate.
US07880106B2
Electronic devices are provided with switch assembly input components that can have adhesives adhered to the side and/or bottom surfaces of support plates for retaining switches between the adhesives and the tops of the support plates. The switch assembly input components can include buttons with one or more absorption elements for receiving impact energy, reducing the impact energy, and transferring the reduced impact energy onto the switches.
US07880105B2
A circuit breaker of different interruption speeds, and a spring operation mechanism is standardized for designing and manufacturing the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker has a power transmission mechanism for driving a movable contact 63 and a fixed contact 64 and an interruption spring 26 that imparts a driving force to separate the contacts through the power transmission mechanism. A latch mechanism restricts movement of the power transmission mechanism, and a pull-out operation section releases the restriction of the power transmission mechanism by the latch mechanism. The pull-out operation section is arranged to oppose a first arm of a lever to rotate the first arm. The lever is arranged so that a tip of a second arm is able to engage with and rest on the latch mechanism, and release the restriction of the power transmission mechanism by the latch mechanism.
US07880101B2
A single pole, double throw, self-canceling rotary switch for selectively coupling a first circuit to a second or a third circuit by rotating a rotary element to couple or decouple electrical contacts. The rotary switch includes first and second pawls pivotally attached to the rotary element and coupled to one another by a spring. Rotation of the rotary element causes a ramp cam to act on one of the pawls, causing it to pivot, and thereby causing the spring to exert a force on the other pawl, moving a tooth on the other pawl into the locus of rotation of a central shaft that includes a groove. Rotation of the central shaft in one direction has no effect on the position of the rotary element, but rotation of the central shaft in the other direction engages the groove and the tooth, causing the rotary element to decouple the contacts.
US07880087B2
A toneable conduit includes an elongate polymeric tube having a sidewall with an interior surface and an exterior surface. The interior surface defines a main channel. A sub-channel, smaller in cross sectional area than the main channel, extends longitudinally between the exterior and interior surfaces of the tube. A continuous toning signal wire is located within the sub-channel. The sub-channel has a larger cross sectional area than a cross sectional area of the toning signal wire, so that an air gap exists within said sub-channel around portions of the toning signal wire.
US07880081B2
A solar generator has at least two branches electrically connected in parallel at opposite first and second ends of positive and negative polarity, respectively, each branch comprising one or more photoelectric cells electrically connected in series and having a first end provided with first blocking means adapted to block an electrical current coming from an adjacent branch. The second end of each branch is provided with second blocking means adapted to limit the propagation toward an adjacent branch of a discharge current induced by an electrical arc in a photoelectric cell of its own branch to a value less than or equal to a nominal current value for that branch.
US07880072B2
According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the corn variety designated CV508599. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CV508599, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CV508599 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to corn seeds and plants produced by crossing plants of variety CV508599 with plants of another variety, such as another inbred line. The invention further relates to the inbred and hybrid genetic complements of plants of variety CV508599.
US07880057B2
The present invention relates to a new plant breeding process. The process improves the agronomic performance of crop plants by using genetic material that is also used in classical breeding. Instead of sexually recombining entire genomes at random, as is done in classical breeding, specific genetic elements are rearranged in vitro and inserted back into individual plant cells. Plants obtained through this new plant breeding process do not contain foreign nucleic acid but only contain nucleic acid from the plant species selected for transformation or plants that are sexually compatible with the selected plant species. Plants developed through this new plant breeding process are provided. In particular, potato plants displaying improved tuber storage and health characteristics are provided.
US07880055B2
A transgenic plant transformed by a Lectin-like Protein Kinase Stress-Related Polypeptide (LPKSRP) coding nucleic acid, wherein expression of the nucleic acid sequence in the plant results in increased plant growth and/or increased tolerance to an environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant. Also provided are agricultural products, including seeds, produced by the transgenic plants. Also provided are isolated LPKSRPs, and isolated nucleic acids coding LPKSRPs, and vectors and host cells containing the latter.
US07880052B2
An absorbent article having an absorbent structure sized and configured for insertion at least partially within the vestibule of a female wearer. The absorbent structure has a saturation capacity as determined by a Saturation Capacity and Retention Capacity Test of at least about 15 grams/gram, a retention capacity as determined by the Saturation Capacity and Retention Capacity Test of at least about 3 grams/gram, and an intake time for a first insult of the absorbent structure as determined by an Intake and Rewet Test of no more than about 30 seconds.
US07880045B2
Process for the catalytic hydrodealkylation alone of hydrocarbons, comprising C8-C13 alkylaromatic compounds, optionally mixed with C4-C9 aliphatic and cycloaliphatic products, which comprises treating said hydrocarbon compositions, in continuous and in the presence of hydrogen, with a catalyst consisting of a ZSM-5 zeolite, as such or in a bound form, wherein the Si/Al molar ratio in the ZSM-5 ranges from 5 to 35, modified with at least one metal selected from those belonging to groups IIB, VIB, VIII, at a temperature ranging from 400 to 650° C., a pressure ranging from 2 to 4 MPa and a H2/charge molar ratio ranging from 3 to 6.
US07880044B2
Biogas is converted to a liquid fuel by passing the biogas through a liquid reaction medium that contains a petroleum fraction in the presence of a transition metal catalyst, and doing so at an elevated but non-boiling temperature.
US07880039B2
Carbonyl fluoride, which can also be used as an etching gas, can be prepared by photochemical oxidation of chlorodifluoromethane or trifluoromethane with light, for example with light of a wavelength ≧280 nm in the presence of chlorine.
US07880030B2
An ester derivant having a crystal structure in which the molecules in two adjacent molecule planes are antiparallel is created from a carboxylic acid having carbon-carbon double bond and a compound having a functional group that can react to a carboxyl group of the carboxylic acid. The crystal of the ester derivant is then subjected to light irradiation or heating.
US07880023B2
A synthesis of an energetic prepolymer used as a high-energy binder for an insensitive and high performance explosive is disclosed. More specifically, provided are a novel compound 2-nitratoethyl oxirane expressed by formula III, a novel compound poly(2-nitratoethyl oxirane) expressed by formula IV, obtained by polymerization of 2-nitratoethyl oxirane used as a monomer and a preparation method thereof. The compound, used as an energetic prepolymer and a monomer for preparation thereof can substitute for existing poly(glycidyl nitrate) (PGN) which has been known to be a promising one having the best performance among existing energetic prepolymers, but which has a problem to be self-decomposed after synthesis of polyurethane elastomer, to solve this problem.
US07880014B2
A compound having the structure wherein R is an angiotensin receptor antagonist active group, Y is -Y1-Y2-Y3-Y4-Y5-; Y1 is C(R1R2); R1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C1-4 alkyl; R2 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C1-4 alkyl, and —OC(O)C1-4 alkyl; Y2 is O or CH2; Y3 is C(O) or CH2; Y4 is O or CH2; Y5 is —(CH2)1-2—(X)0-1—(CH2)0-1— or is absent; X is —O— or —CR3R4—; and R3 and R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C1-C4 alkyl; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, which is useful for treating hypertension.
US07880008B2
The present invention relates to compounds useful as inhibitors of ion channels. The invention also provides pharmaceutically acceptable compositions comprising the compounds of the invention and methods of using the compositions in the treatment of various disorders.
US07879980B2
Human CTLA-8 protein, antibodies that specifically bind to human CTLA-8, and nucleic acids encoding human CTLA-8. Methods of using these molecules and diagnostic kits are also provided.
US07879972B2
A method for drying a material such as a polymer hydrogel which passes through a cohesive phase as it dries is disclosed. The method comprises agitating a composition while removing liquid until the solids content of the composition reaches a level at which the composition enters a cohesive phase, halting agitation, removing liquid from the composition in the absence of agitation, and resuming agitation. Practice of the present invention can eliminate the problems associated with adhesion of a material to itself and to process equipment during the cohesive phase.
US07879968B2
The present invention concerns reduced-yellowing thermoplastic or thermoset polymer compositions derived from the reaction of a diisocyanate, a polyol or polyamine, and a dicyandiamide. The present invention also concerns golf balls comprising the reduced-yellowing thermoplastic or thermoset polymer compositions derived from the reaction of a diisocyanate, a polyol or polyamine, and a dicyandiamide. The present invention also relates to a method for making a golf ball which includes using reduced yellowing compositions derived from the reaction of a diisocyanate, a polyol or polyamine, and a dicyandiamide. The resulting golf balls have similar processability and physical properties (such as resiliency and shear resistance) as golf balls made from conventional polyurethane or polyurea formulations, while exhibiting substantially improved resistance to yellowing.
US07879966B2
A pH-sensitive polymer which has cytotoxic or membranolytic properties at pH values below pH 6.5. Carriers for natural or synthetic biomolecules or active pharmaceutical ingredients using such a pH-sensitive polymer.
US07879965B2
A polymer latex suitable for use in gypsum wallboard or other applications. The polymer latex is a styrene butadiene latex that is substantially stable against divalent ions. The polymer latex includes styrene, butadiene, and an ionic monomer comprised of a 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propanesulfonic acid salt. The polymer latex may also include hydrophilic adjunct comonomers. The latex includes at least 0.25 wt. % of the ionic monomer.
US07879963B2
A composition includes a coupling agent composition and a polymer precursor. The coupling agent includes a first cycloolefin substituted with at least one anhydride group and the coupling agent is capable of bonding to a filler having a corresponding binding site. The polymer precursor includes a second cycloolefin. An associated article and a method are also provided.
US07879961B2
Disclosed herein is a resin composition for an organic insulating layer, a method of manufacturing the same, and a display panel including an insulating layer formed using the resin composition. The resin composition for an organic insulating layer is produced by polymerizing about 5 to about 35 wt % of an unsaturated carboxylic acid, an unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydride, or a mixture of the unsaturated carboxylic acid and the unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydride, about 5 to about 40 wt % of a styrene compound, about 5 to about 40 wt % of an epoxy compound, about 0.1 to about 10 wt % of an isobornyl compound, and about 20 to about 40 wt % of a dicyclopentadiene compound, based on the total weight of unsaturated carboxylic acid, unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydride, styrene compound, isobornyl compound, and dicyclopentadiene compound.
US07879959B2
Catalyst components for the (co)polymerization of ethylene comprising Ti, Mg, halogen, ORI groups, where RI is a C1-C12 hydrocarbon group optionally containing heteroatoms, having ORI/Ti molar ratio in the range 0.1-1.5, a Mg/Ti molar ratio of less than 8, an amount of titanium, with respect to the total weight of said solid catalyst component, higher than 4% by weight characterized by a specific SS-NMR pattern are particularly useful for preparing narrow MWD crystalline ethylene polymers.
US07879957B2
A process for producing an amphoteric electrolyte resin by continuous bulk polymerization at low cost is provided. Also provided is an apparatus for achieving the process. The process comprises the steps of: feeding, from the mixture supply side, a mixture comprising 0.01 to 10 wt % of at least one radically polymerizable basic monomer containing a nitrogen atom, 0.01 to 35 wt % of at least one radically polymerizable acidic monomer having a carboxyl group and 45 to 99.98 wt % of a monomer capable of copolymerizing with these monomers.
US07879953B2
This disclosure provides a medical device and a method of forming the medical device. The medical device comprises a coating comprising a type-one polymer and a type-two polymer. The type-one polymer comprises at least two different blocks, at least one L1 block with the formula ; and at least one L2 block with the formula Medical devices comprising these polymers, mixtures of these polymers with therapeutic agents, and methods of making these polymers and mixtures are within the scope of this disclosure.
US07879952B2
A method for preparing a functionalized polymer, the method comprising the steps of (i) polymerizing conjugated diene monomer by employing a lanthanide-based catalyst to form a reactive polymer, and (ii) reacting the reactive polymer with an azine compound.
US07879950B2
A solvent dispersion of a composite resin which comprises a solvent and a composite resin comprising a thermoplastic elastomer (A) and a polymer of copolymerizable monomers (B) comprising a monomer having an α,β-monoethylenically unsaturated group and other copolymerizable monomer(s), wherein the thermoplastic elastomer (A) is a propylene-based elastomer having a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of not more than 3 as measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and the copolymerizable monomers (B) include at least one monomer containing no functional groups; and uses of the dispersion. The dispersion can be used to provide a coating material, primer, adhesive, additive, binder, film, and primer for strippable paints and traffic paints, which have excellent adhesiveness to various materials.
US07879945B2
A method of forming a functionalized polymer, the method comprising reacting a living polymer with a compound defined by the formula where R5 includes a monovalent organic group, R6 independently includes a monovalent organic group, each R7 independently includes hydrogen or a monovalent organic group, each R8 independently includes hydrogen or monovalent organic group, R9 includes a monovalent organic group, M is silicon or tin, and x includes an integer from about 2 to about 10, where R5 and R6 may optionally each independently be alkoxy groups, and where R7, R8, and R9 are non-Zerewitinoff organic groups.
US07879942B2
A hypoallergenic adhesive article employing a switchable pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) composition comprising one or more amphiphilic polyesters in physical mixture with a humectant. When contacted with a liquid of low-ion content, the adhesive undergoes a reduction in peel strength, which allows for easy removal, but remains strongly adhered when contacted with ionic liquids, such as blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids. The adhesive composition can be employed in a variety of medical articles or in other similar applications.
US07879941B2
The invention relates to a heat-resistant sliding resin composition, comprising a vapor carbon fiber having a specific surface area of 10 to 50 m2/g, a mean aspect ratio of 20 to 500 and a mean fiber diameter of 50 to 200 nm and a synthetic resin, wherein a heat deflection temperature under high load (ASTM D648) is 160° C. or higher and a thermal conductivity is 0.8 W/mK or higher. The resin composition has heat resistance, heat-radiation property and sliding property. Particularly, the resin composition, which neither wears away nor abrades a soft metal member which is a counter member under high temperature and heat generative conditions, can be employed for various sliding members such as bearings.
US07879936B2
This invention provides a masking material that can be used to protect an underling surface (e.g., an automobile surface) during an overcoating (e.g., painting) operation. The masking material in one embodiment includes a thickener and a pH control agent and water. The masking material can be applied to a surface that is to be protected from paint overspray or other coating processes, allowed to dry, and the surface then coated (e.g., with paint). After drying of the paint, or other coating, the masking material can removed by water washing.
US07879933B2
Certain thermoplastic additives that induce simultaneous good material properties and high nucleation efficacy are provided. Such additives include combinations of a phosphate salt and a dicarboxylate salt. This combination or blend may be provided in various ratios. A method for applying such a combination in a thermoplastic formulation is also disclosed. A thermoplastic formulation, which may or may not include polypropylene, is also disclosed in connection with the combination.
US07879917B2
A defoamer made from a composition that has at least one triglyceride oil or triglyceride oil mixture, at least one silicone, at least one silicone-triglyceride stabilizing agent, hydrophobic silica particles, optionally one or more surfactants and/or dispersants, and optionally one or more thickeners, and optionally one or more biocides. The defoamers described herein have utility in controlling foam in industrial applications. Typically, the defoamer can be used to control foam in pulp and paper applications.
US07879916B2
The present invention provides for a composition comprising a silane having the formula: (R1)(R2)(R3)Si—R4—Si(R5)(R6)(R7) wherein R1, R2, R3, R5, and R6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of 1 to 6 monovalent hydrocarbon radicals, aryl, and a hydrocarbon group of 7 to 10 carbons containing an aryl group; R4 is a hydrocarbon group of 1 to 3 carbons; R7 comprises an anionic, cationic or zwitterionic substituent. The silanes of the present invention exhibit resistance to hydrolysis over a wide pH range.
US07879909B2
The present invention describes novel methods for using 9-deoxy-2′,9-α-methano-3-oxa-4,5,6-trinor-3,7-(1′,3′-interphenylene)-13,14-dihydro-prostaglandin F1 (also known as Treprostinil) or its derivative, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the treatment and/or prevention of foot ulcers in subjects with diabetic neuropathy. The invention also relates to kits for treatment and/or prevention of foot ulcers, comprising an effective amount of Treprostinil or its derivative, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
US07879907B2
Novel 3-phenylpropanoic acid compounds have the general formula (I) below: and are formulated into pharmaceutical compositions for administration in human or veterinary medicine (in dermatology, and also in the field of cardiovascular diseases, immune diseases and/or lipid metabolism-related diseases), or, alternatively, into cosmetic compositions.
US07879902B2
The invention concerns compounds of formula (I): Wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8 and R9 are as defined herein. The invention also concerns the method for preparing said compounds including the intermediates therefor and their therapeutic use.
US07879899B2
An injectable aqueous composition for veterinary use containing a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compound in an amount of from about 0.25 to 30% (w/v) together with a physiologically acceptable oxygenated polymeric surfactant in an amount of from about 0.5 to 20% (w/v).
US07879898B1
Methods are provided for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as emphysema using compounds that activate the signaling pathways of hepatocyte growth factor.
US07879896B2
The invention is directed to compounds having the formula: wherein: Ar, r, R2-3, X, and R5-7 are as defined in the specification, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. These compounds have AT1 receptor antagonist activity and neprilysin inhibition activity. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds; methods of using such compounds; and process and intermediates for preparing such compounds.
US07879893B2
The present invention relates to novel ligands for the HisB10 Zn2+ sites of the R-state insulin hexamer having the formula A-B-C-D-X (III), wherein: A is a chemical group which reversibly binds to a HisB10 Zn2+ sites of an insulin hexamer; B is a linker; C is a fragment consisting of 0 to 5 neutral amino acids; D is a fragment comprising 1 to 20 positively charged groups independently selected from amino or guanidino groups; and X is —OH, —NH2 or a diamino group. The present invention also relates to R-state insulin hexamers comprising such ligands, and aqueous insulin preparations comprising such R-state insulin hexamers.
US07879886B2
Composition, article of manufacture for and method of treating malaria in a human having an infestation of Plasmodium protozoans are described. The method comprises administering a therapeutically-effective amount of a compound of formula (I) or (IV), i.e. sufficient quantity to reduce the population of Plasmodium. The composition of the invention is a compound of formula (I) or (IV) with a pharmaceutical excipient. The article of manufacture is the composition in combination with labeling for treating malaria. The substituents are detailed in the specification.
US07879882B2
The identification of a unique series of compounds which possesses special advantages in terms of drug-like properties due to their possessing advantageous properties in terms of potency and/or pharmacokinetic and/or selectivity and/or in vivo receptor occupancy properties. Specifically, the selection of a 1,3-thiazol-2-yl ring member linked by an ethynylene to the 3 position of a pyridyl ring or the 5 position of a pyrimidinyl ring, wherein the ring is substituted with selected substituents, results in a compound having superior drug-like properties. The invention includes pharmaceutically acceptable salt forms of these heterocyclic compounds, in particular chloride salts and trifluoroacetate salts.
US07879877B2
Novel pharmaceutical composition for accelerating salivation and for prophylaxis and/or treatment of xerostomia, which comprises as an active ingredient a carbostyril compound of the formula (1), wherein R is a halogen atom, and the substitution position of the subsistuent on said carbostyril nucleus is the 3- or 4-position, and the bond between the 3- or 4-positions of the carbostyril nucleus is either a single bond or a double bond, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention exhibits an accelerating activity of salivation, and is useful in the prophylaxis or treatment of Xerostomia or hyposalivation.
US07879869B2
It is mentioned to provide drugs for ameliorating postcibal hyperglycemia, drugs for inhibiting an increase in blood glucose level and pharmaceutical compositions for preventing or treating diabetes, each containing a pharmaceutically acceptable anion exchange resin typified by colestimide. Thus, it becomes possible to provide drugs clearly exhibiting an effect of inhibiting an increase in postcibal blood glucose level.
US07879865B2
The present application is directed to a method of treating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) comprising administering to a individual in need of treatment a therapeutically effective amount of an inhibitor of histone deacetylase. In particular embodiments, the CNS disease is a neurodegenerative disease. In further embodiments, the neurogenerative disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disease, such as those inherited neurodegenerative diseases which are polyglutamine expansion diseases. The individual can be a mammal such as a primate or human.
US07879863B2
The present invention provides a novel compound having a kininogenase-inhibitory action and its pharmaceutical use. The compounds are represented by the formulas (A), (B), (C), (E) and (H): wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
US07879861B2
A series of new chemical agents that demonstrate anti-tumor activity are described. The new chemical agents combine two major mechanisms of anti-tumor action. In an embodiment, the agents are capable of both inhibiting EGFR and damaging DNA while also, upon degradation, degrading to an inhibitor of EGFR and to an agent capable of damaging DNA. Moreover, a novel series of molecules capable of releasing two moles of EGFR inhibitor and a potent bi-functional alkylating agent are also described.
US07879858B2
Substituted tetrahydropyrrolopyrazine compounds corresponding to formula I a process for producing such compounds; and a method of using such compounds to treat or inhibit various disorders or disease states including pain, depression and anxiety.
US07879849B2
Pyrazolopyridin-4-amines, pyrazoloquinolin-4-amines, pyrazolonaphthyridin-4-amines, and 6,7,8,9-tetrahydropyrazoloquinolin-4-amines, pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, intermediates, methods of making, and methods of use of these compounds as immunomodulators, for inducing or inhibiting cytokine biosynthesis in animals and in the treatment of diseases including viral and neoplastic diseases, are disclosed.
US07879848B2
Novel compounds exhibiting good inhibitory activity versus Dipeptidyl Peptidase-IV(DPP-IV) include those of the following formula (1) or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof: wherein A is a substituted or unsubstituted 1,4,5,7-tetrahydro-pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyridine, 5,6 -dihydro-8H-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine, 4,5-dihydro-7H-isooxazolo[3,4-c]pyridine, 3,4 -dihydroisoquinoline, 5,8-dihydropyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidine, or 6,7 -dihydro[1,3]thiazolo[4,5,c]pyridine, and B is a substituted or unsubstituted piperidin-2-one, morpholin-3-one, oxazolidin-2-one, pyrrolidin-2-one, or 1,5-dihydro-pyrrol-2-one. Methods of preparing the novel inhibitory compounds of formula (1) and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same as an active agent are disclosed.
US07879847B2
The application relates to novel heterocyclic compounds of the general formula (I) and salts, preferably pharmaceutically acceptable salts, thereof in which R, R1, R2, Q, m and n have the meanings explained in detail in the description, a process for their preparation and the use of these compounds as medicaments, in particular as aldosterone synthase inhibitors.
US07879844B2
The present invention provides a compound of formula (I) having an excellent JAK3 inhibition activity and being useful as an active ingredient of an agent for treating and/or preventing various immune diseases including autoimmune diseases inflammatory diseases, and allergic diseases. The compound according to the present invention has an inhibition activity against JAK3 and is thus useful as an active ingredient of an agent for treating or preventing diseases caused by undesirable cytokine signal transmission (e.g., rejection during organ/tissue transplantation, autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, Alzheimer's disease, and atherosclerotic disease), or diseases caused by abnormal cytokine signal transmission (e.g., cancer and leukemia).
US07879836B2
Use of a 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-alkylpiperazine of formula (I), in racemic (R,S) form or in the form of the (S) enantiomer, in which R is a linear or branched alkyl group having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, or of an addition salt thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable organic or inorganic acid, for treating appetite disorder. A pharmaceutical composition that comprises a therapeutically effective amount of a 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-alkylpiperazine of formula (I) as previously defined or of an addition salt thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable organic or inorganic acid, and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
US07879834B2
The present invention relates to spiroindoline modulators of muscarinic receptors. The present invention also provides compositions comprising such spiroindoline modulators, and methods therewith for treating muscarinic receptor mediated diseases.
US07879833B2
The invention relates to the combination of ciclesonide with formoterol.
US07879832B2
The present invention relates to a combination of ciclesonide with antihistamines.
US07879829B2
19-nor-vitamin D analogs having an additional dihydrofuran ring connecting the 1α-oxygen and carbon-2 of the A-ring of the analog, and pharmaceutical uses therefore, are described. These compounds exhibit selective in vitro and in vivo activities, making them therapeutic agents for the treatment or prophylaxis of autoimmune diseases, some types of cancers, secondary hyperparathyroidism, psoriasis, or other skin diseases.
US07879821B2
A method for treating an immune-related disorder in a patient comprising administering an agent to the patient for altering the patient's plasma concentration of free cholesterol, wherein said agent is a non-statin agent and is administered in an amount sufficient to modulate the immune-related disorder.
US07879811B2
A therapeutic and/or cosmetic formulation comprising at least one anti-sense polynucleotide to a connexin protein together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or vehicle is useful in site specific down regulation of connexin protein expression, particularly in reduction of neuronal cells death, wound healing, reduction of inflammation, decrease of scar formation and skin rejuvenation and thickening.
US07879807B2
Tetrasubstituted glucopyranosylated benzene derivatives of general formula (I) as defined according to claim 1, including the tautomers, the stereoisomers thereof, the mixtures thereof and the salts thereof. The compounds according to the invention are suitable for the treatment of metabolic disorders.
US07879806B2
Glucopyranosyl-substituted benzyl-benzonitrile derivatives of general formula (I) as defined according to claim 1, including the tautomers, the stereoisomers thereof, the mixtures thereof and the salts thereof. The compounds according to the invention are suitable for the treatment of metabolic disorders.
US07879794B2
Compositions and methods for preventing, treating or controlling conditions or disorders associated with obesity, diet, and nutrition are provided. The methods provided generally involve the administration of an amylin or an amylin agonist to a subject in order to prevent, treat or controlling conditions or disorders associated with obesity, diet, and nutrition.
US07879783B2
The present invention relates to a semi-aqueous cleaning composition used to remove unwanted organic and inorganic residues and contaminants from semiconductor substrates. The cleaning composition comprises a buffering system comprising a polyprotic acid having at least three carboxylic acid groups with a pKa value of about 5 to about 7. The composition also comprises a polyhydric solvent, such as glycerol. A fluoride ion source is also included in the cleaning compositions of the present invention and is principally responsible for removing inorganic residues from the substrate. The cleaning compositions of the present invention have a low toxicity and are environmentally acceptable.
US07879780B2
The invention provides liquid cleanser compositions which contain fatty acyl isethionates surfactant products having at least 10 wt. % free fatty acid and/or fatty acid soap as the primary surfactant at a level at least 40 wt. % of total fatty acyl isethionate and synthetic cosurfactants in the liquid composition. The key is use of 10% to 60% glycerin and/or sorbitol which has been found, quite unpredictably, to stabilize compositions containing products of such high fatty acid and/or fatty acid soap content.
US07879766B2
The present invention provides methods which enables synthesis of various sugar chains and products obtained by the same. More specifically, the present invention provides protected sugar chain compounds represented by the formula (I) below: [wherein R1 and R2 are the same or different and each is a linear or branched sugar chain, S1 is any sugar residue, SA and SB are the same or different sugar residues, L is a bond or a linear sugar chain, X is absent, or, if present, represents certain group, the sugar residues SA and SB are cleaved by different exoglycosidases, respectively] and libraries thereof, and methods of producing the same; methods of producing a sugar chain compound, which comprises treating the sugar chain compound or library with glycosidase, and glycosidase decomposition products obtained by the same; intermediates for the synthesis of protected sugar chain compounds; reagents and kits; and the like.
US07879761B2
The present invention relates to heteroaroyl-substituted serineamides of the formula I in which the variables A and R1 to R6 are as defined in the description, and to their agriculturally useful salts, to processes and intermediates for their preparation, and to the use of these compounds or of the compositions comprising these compounds for controlling unwanted plants.
US07879755B2
Provided are catalyst composites comprising: a catalytic material on a carrier, the catalytic material comprising a precious metal selected from a palladium component and an oxygen storage component, the oxygen storage component being present in an amount of at least 10% by weight, wherein substantially all of the oxygen storage component is in intimate contact with the palladium component and the catalytic material is effective to substantially simultaneously oxidize carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and reduce nitrogen oxides. A catalyst composite comprising: a catalytic material on a carrier, the catalytic material comprising a palladium component and a ceria-zirconia composite support, the ceria being present in an amount in the range of 10 to 70% by weight, wherein substantially all of the ceria is in intimate contact with at least a portion of the palladium component. Methods of making and using these catalysts are also provided.
US07879741B2
Apparatus and method for performing laser thermal annealing (LTA) of a substrate using an annealing radiation beam that is not substantially absorbed in the substrate at room temperature. The method takes advantage of the fact that the absorption of long wavelength radiation (1 micron or greater) in some substrates, such as undoped silicon substrates, is a strong function of temperature. The method includes heating the substrate to a critical temperature where the absorption of long-wavelength annealing radiation is substantial, and then irradiating the substrate with the annealing radiation to generate a temperature capable of annealing the substrate.
US07879733B2
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device free from layer lifting between insulating layers. The method comprises forming a silicon oxide layer on a semiconductor substrate, forming a silicon rich oxynitride (SRON) layer as an etching mask on the silicon oxide layer, selectively removing the SRON layer used as the etching mask, performing surface treatment to the silicon oxide layer using plasma of a reaction gas containing oxygen to cure a portion of the silicon oxide layer contaminated by the SRON layer, and forming a silicon nitride layer on the surface-treated silicon oxide layer to have compressed stress by PE-CVD. The method effectively prevents the short-circuit phenomenon between metal contacts, thereby embodying an increase in yield of a semiconductor manufacturing process.
US07879714B2
There is provide a semiconductor device manufacturing method, including: preparing a substrate; laminating an insulation layer on the substrate; laminating a first underlying metal layer on the insulation layer; forming rewiring on the first underlying metal layer; removing exposed portions of the first underlying metal layer; laminating a second underlying metal layer on the rewiring and the insulation layer; forming a column electrode on the rewiring via the second underlying metal layer; and removing exposed portions of the second underlying metal layer.
US07879710B2
Methods for substrate processing are described. The methods include forming a material layer on a substrate. The methods include selecting constituents of a molecular masking layer (MML) to remove an effect of variations in the material layer as a result of substrate processing. The methods include normalizing the surface characteristics of the material layer by selectively depositing the MML on the material layer.
US07879706B2
A memory having isolated dual memory cells is provided. A first isolation wall and a second isolation wall are separately disposed between a source and a drain on a substrate. An isolation bottom layer and a polysilicon layer are orderly disposed on the substrate between the first and the second isolation walls. A first charge storage structure and a first gate are orderly disposed on the substrate between the first isolation wall and the source. A second charge storage structure and a second gate are orderly disposed on the substrate between the second isolation wall and the drain. A word line disposed on the polysilicon layer, the first gate, the second gate, the first isolation wall and the second isolation wall is electrically connected to the first gate, the second gate and the polysilicon layer.
US07879704B2
A memory function body has a medium interposed between a first conductor (e.g., a conductive substrate) and a second conductor (e.g., an electrode) and consisting of a first material (e.g., silicon oxide or silicon nitride). The medium contains particles. Each particle is covered with a second material (e.g., silver oxide) and formed of a third material (e.g., silver). The second material functions as a barrier against passage of electric charges, and the third material has a function of retaining electric charges. The third material is introduced into the medium by, for example, a negative ion implantation method.
US07879695B2
A method of manufacturing a thin silicon wafer by slicing a silicon single crystal includes: a thinning step S3 of polishing a rear surface of the silicon wafer to reduce the thickness of the silicon wafer after a device structure is formed on a front surface of the silicon wafer; a mirror surface forming step S4 of processing the rear surface of the silicon wafer into a mirror surface using a chemical mechanical polishing method; and a modifying step S5 of dispersing abrasive grains that are harder than those used to form the mirror surface in the mirror surface forming process and forming a damaged layer, serving as a gettering sink for heavy metal, on the rear surface of the silicon wafer using the chemical mechanical polishing method. The thickness T5b of the damaged layer W5b in a wafer depth direction is set by the chemical mechanical polishing method in the modifying step S5 to control the gettering capability of the damaged layer.
US07879691B2
Exemplary embodiments provide methods and systems for assembling electronic devices, such as integrated circuit (IC) chips, using a release member having a phase change material. Specifically, IC elements/components can be selectively received, stored, inspected, repaired, and/or released in a scalable manner during the assembly of IC chips by inducing phase change of the phase change material. The release member can be flexible or rigid. In some embodiments, the release member can be used for a low cost placement of the IC elements in combination with an SOI (silicon on insulator) wafer and/or an intermediate transfer member. In other embodiments, the release member can be used for a low cost placement of the IC elements in combination with a release wafer.
US07879690B2
A microstructure of the semiconductor on insulator type with different patterns is produced by forming a stacked uniform structure including a plate forming a substrate, a continuous insulative layer and a semiconductor layer. The continuous insulative layer is a stack of at least three elementary layers, including a bottom elementary layer, at least one intermediate elementary layer, and a top elementary layer overlying the semiconductor layer, where at least one of the bottom elementary layer and the top elementary layer being of an insulative material. In the stacked uniform structure, at least two patterns are differentiated by modifying at least one of the elementary layers in one of the patterns so that the elementary layer has a significantly different physical or chemical property between the two patterns, where at least one of the bottom and top elementary layer is an insulative material that remains unchanged.
US07879682B2
The invention includes a lithographic system having a first source for generating radiation with a first wavelength and an alignment system with a second source for generating radiation with a second wavelength. The second wavelength is larger than the first wavelength. A marker structure is provided having a first layer and a second layer. The second layer is present either directly or indirectly on top of said first layer. The first layer has a first periodic structure and the second layer has a second periodic structure. At least one of the periodic structures has a plurality of features in at least one direction with a dimension smaller than 400 nm. Additionally, a combination of the first and second periodic structure forms a diffractive structure arranged to be illuminated by radiation with the second wavelength.
US07879681B2
Methods of forming a three-dimensional capacitor network may include forming a first horizontal MIM capacitor on a semiconductor substrate and forming a first interlayer insulating layer on the first horizontal MIM capacitor. A first vertical capacitor electrode is then formed in the first interlayer insulating layer and a second horizontal MIM capacitor is formed on the first interlayer insulating layer. This second horizontal MIM capacitor may be formed by forming an upper capacitor electrode and a lower capacitor electrode. The upper capacitor electrode may be electrically connected by the first vertical capacitor electrode to an upper capacitor electrode of the underlying first MIM capacitor. The lower capacitor electrode, which may be formed in the first interlayer insulating layer, may extend opposite the upper electrodes of the first and second MIM capacitors.
US07879672B2
A deep trench structure process for forming a deep trench in a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. The SOI substrate has a bulk silicon layer, a buried oxide (BOX) layer and an SOI layer. In the process, the trench fill is recessed only to a level within the SOI layer so as to avoid lateral etching of the BOX layer. The buried strap is then formed followed by the STI oxide.
US07879668B2
In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode are formed in a first area and a second area of a substrate. Non-crystalline regions are formed in the first area of the substrate adjacent the first gate electrode. A layer having a first stress is formed on the substrate and the first and the second gate electrodes. A mask is formed on a first portion of the layer in the first area of the substrate to expose a second portion of the layer in the second area. The second portion is etched to form a sacrificial spacer on a sidewall of the second gate electrode. The second area of the substrate is partially etched using the mask, the second gate electrode and the sacrificial spacer, to form recesses in the second area of the substrate adjacent the second gate electrode. Patterns having a second stress are formed in the recesses.
US07879644B2
A novel photovoltaic solar cell and method of making the same are disclosed. The solar cell includes: at least one absorber layer which could either be a lightly doped layer or an undoped layer, and at least a doped window-layers which comprise at least two sub-window-layers. The first sub-window-layer, which is next to the absorber-layer, is deposited to form desirable junction with the absorber-layer. The second sub-window-layer, which is next to the first sub-window-layer, but not in direct contact with the absorber-layer, is deposited in order to have transmission higher than the first-sub-window-layer.
US07879622B1
Analysis of complex media (e.g.—blood and seawater) is difficult because the media are composed of particles of different sizes and chemical profiles. Disclosed is a method for the detection of a constituent in a medium that enhances the molecular selectivity of a detector by separating the detector from the medium by a membrane of specified permeability. Proxy reporters are employed to enhance particle specificity. The novel combination of the invention has application to chemical detection in a broad range of fields.
US07879618B2
The present invention concerns a reagent coating mass which can be used in slot-die-coating of flat support materials in the manufacturing processes of test strips. Advantageously, the reagent mass of the invention exhibits certain superior rheological properties such as viscosity, surface tension and thixotropy. The reagent mass is preferably used to coat thin, narrow and homogeneous stripes of reagent material onto flat web material.
US07879617B2
A method for measuring the concentration of creatinine includes the steps of: (A) mixing a sample containing creatinine with a creatinine quantitative reagent including 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium in the absence of picric acid and any enzyme responsive to creatinine, to cause the creatinine to reduce the 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium; (B) electrochemically or optically measuring the amount of the 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium reduced in the step (A); and (C) determining the concentration of the creatinine contained in the sample from the amount of the reduced 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium measured in the step (B).
US07879612B2
Provided are methods comprising the use of non-sugar organic compatible solutes for protection and preservation of the activity of biologically active molecules and conjugate labels. The methods are particularly adaptable for use in conjunction with immunoassays, such as for example, immunochromatographic test assays and may be incorporated into any test methodology wherein a dry test strip is used as a carrier for depositing, mobilizeable and/or immobilized biologically active molecules and/or conjugate labels.
US07879609B2
The invention provides compositions and methods related to human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTRT), the catalytic protein subunit of human telomerase. The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the invention are useful for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of human diseases, for changing the proliferative capacity of cells and organisms, and for identification and screening of compounds and treatments useful for treatment of diseases such as cancers.
US07879606B2
The present invention provides compositions comprising cells that can effectively produce HCV after HCV infection, compositions for culturing the cells, methods for making the composition and methods for infecting the cells in the composition with HCV. The present invention also provides methods for assaying HCV production and methods for evaluating compounds that affect the production of HCV.
US07879600B2
A waste converter (10) for domestic use includes two waste conversion regions. Household waste is placed in a primary waste conversion region (40) which includes flies and maggots. When waste has sufficiently decomposed it falls through to a secondary waste conversion region which includes composting worms and woodlice.
US07879596B2
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting analytes in a medium, and more particularly the present invention relates to an assay based on light diffraction which appears or changes upon the binding of analytes to their specific receptors laid out in patterns on a substrate, which has high sensitivity due to the appropriate choice of such patterns. The present invention is based on the principle that the pattern of recognition elements, which gives rise to the diffraction of the incident light in a diffraction-based assay, can be chosen in such a way so as to facilitate detection, and to enhance the signal to be detected compared to known gratings such as parallel straight lines. In one aspect the substrate itself has a surface topography designed to enhance the diffraction pattern signals. In another aspect the substrate is a diffractive optic element having the analyte-specific receptors affixed to the optic element. In another aspect the diffractive optic element is used as a master stamp for producing patterns of analyte-specific receptors which give the signal enhancements.
US07879590B2
Synthetic scaffold interactions and scaffold-mediated feedback loops are used to engineer MAPK signaling responses in cells.
US07879580B2
This invention generally relates to nucleic acid synthesis, in particular DNA synthesis. More particularly, the invention relates to the production of long nucleic acid molecules with precise user control over sequence content. This invention also relates to the prevention and/or removal of errors within nucleic acid molecules.
US07879578B2
The present invention provides user-directed construction of novel specific homo- and hetero-dimeric, and multimeric assemblages of proteins. The present invention is comprised of gene sequences that transcribe peptide sequences that form links between proteins, where the peptide sequences produce a hook or loop which supports specific self-assembly of homo-dimers, hetero-dimers and multimers of the proteins to which they are attached. The hook or loop may have a short aliphatic repeat sequence and a metal binding loop. The present invention also provides a method of constructing a hook motif of metal binding loop sequences that may be attached to at least one aliphatic repeat sequence to produce the assemblages of proteins. Also provided are protein structures produced by the methods of the present invention.
US07879569B2
The present invention relates to methods and kits for diagnosing, ascertaining the clinical course a of myelodysplastic syndrome(MDS) and ascertaining response to a therapy regimen of myelodysplastic syndrome. Specifically the invention provides method and kits useful in the diagnosis and determination of clinical parameters associated with MDS based on surface markers unique to MDS.
US07879556B2
Methods of diagnosing or monitoring transplant rejection, particularly cardiac transplant rejection, in a patient by detecting the expression level of one or more genes in a patient, are described. Diagnostic oligonucleotides for diagnosing or monitoring transplant rejection, particularly cardiac transplant rejection and kits or systems containing the same are also described.
US07879555B2
Method and compositions related to the generation and use of gene expression data from tissue samples that have been fixed and embedded are provided. The data can be electronically stored and implemented as well as used to augment diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
US07879551B2
The invention is directed to materials and methods associated with polymorphic variants in two enzymes involved in folate-dependent and one-carbon metabolic pathways: MTHFD1 (5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase, 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate cyclohydrolase, 10-formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase) and methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (NADP+dependent) 1-like (MTHFD1L). Diagnostic and therapeutic methods are provided involving the correlation of polymorphic variants in MTHFD1, MTHFD1, and other genes with relative susceptibility for various pregnancy-related and other complications.
US07879546B2
This invention provides methods for assessing HPV infection. Gene expression levels are used to assess the progression of HPV infection from benign to malignant growth. Also provided are kits for carrying out the methods of this invention.
US07879540B1
A method to prepare synthetic nucleic acid molecules having reduced inappropriate or unintended transcriptional characteristics when expressed in a particular host cell.
US07879536B2
Disclosed herein is a method for forming a pattern, comprising: attaching a single-layer or multi-layer dry film resist made of a semi-solid or solid material to part or all of the surface of a substrate; exposing the dry film resist to light either by irradiating a focusable energy beam directly onto the resist or by projecting a specific wavelength range of light onto the resist, to form a region to be filled with a functional material; charging the functional material into the formed region using a method such as inkjetting; drying the functional material; and removing the dry film resist, thus obtaining the desired pattern.
US07879533B2
An etching residue removal method includes a cleaning sequence. Preferably, the cleaning sequence has a first washing processing, first drying processing, stripper processing, rinsing processing, second washing processing and second drying processing. In the first washing processing, an insulation film and metal lines thereon are washed by pure water. In the first drying processing, the insulation film and metal lines are dried in a nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature, for example. In the stripper processing, the etching residue on the insulation film and metal lines are stripped by amine stripper, for example. In the rinsing processing, the insulation film and metal lines are rinsed with an IPA rinse solution, for example. In the second washing processing, the insulation film and metal lines are washed with pure water. In the second drying processing, the insulation film and metal lines are dried in the nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature, for example.
US07879530B2
A composition comprising (A) a polymer having an alcohol structure with plural fluorine atoms substituted at α- and α′-positions and having k=0.01-0.4 and (B) an aromatic ring-containing polymer having k=0.3-1.2 is used to form an antireflective coating. The ARC-forming composition can be deposited by the same process as prior art ARCs. The resulting ARC is effective in preventing reflection of exposure light in photolithography and has an acceptable dry etching rate.
US07879527B2
A method of forming a positive resist composition of the present invention includes a step (I) of passing a positive resist composition, which is obtained by dissolving a resin component (A) that displays increased alkali solubility under the action of acid and an acid generator component (B) that generates acid upon exposure in an organic solvent (S), through a filter (f1) equipped with a nylon membrane, wherein the resin component (A) is a copolymer containing at least two structural units obtained by polymerizing at least one monomer in the presence of acid. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method of producing a positive resist composition, a positive resist composition, and a method of forming a resist pattern that are capable of forming a resist pattern with reduced levels of both bridge-type defects and reprecipitation-type defects.
US07879522B2
There are adopted: a carrier core material for an electrophotographic developer, including Mg, Ti and Fe as main components, and containing Fe, Mg and Ti in contents of 52 to 66% by weight, 3 to 12% by weight and 0.2 to 12% by weight, respectively; an electrophotographic developer carrier prepared by coating with a resin the surface of the carrier core material; and an electrophotographic developer using the carrier.
US07879514B2
A lithographic method includes patterning a beam of radiation with a patterning device. The patterning device includes at least two image patterning portions and at least two metrology mark patterning portions. The method also includes projecting at least two image portions of the patterned beam of radiation sequentially onto target portions of a substrate such that the projected image portions are substantially adjacent to each other on the substrate and collectively form a composite image on the substrate. The method also includes projecting a metrology mark onto the substrate outside of the area of the composite image at the same time as projecting each of at least two of the image portions, and measuring the alignment of the metrology marks to determine the relative positions of the at least two image portions.
US07879508B2
A stainless steel sheet useful as a separator for a low-temperature fuel cell has the surface state that a lot of fine projections (p) stand close together around many fine pits (d) formed over a whole surface. The surface state is realized by alternating electrolytic etching in a ferric chloride solution. When the stainless steel separator is built in a fuel cell, contact resistance between the separator and a graphite electrode is kept at a lower level even in a corrosive atmosphere. Consequently, the fuel cell can be driven with high power-generating efficiency over a long term even under severely corrosive conditions without generation of massive Joule heat.
US07879504B2
A fuel cell stack that includes at least one electricity generator generating electric energy through an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen and a cooling system are provided. The electricity generator includes a membrane-electrode assembly, separators on both sides of the membrane-electrode assembly, and cooling channels placed approximately parallel to a first direction of the membrane-electrode assembly, where a coolant flows through the cooling channels, and where the cooling channels have different distribution densities in a direction perpendicular to the first direction of the membrane-electrode assembly.
US07879491B2
Disclosed herein are a stacking type electrode assembly constructed in a cathode/separator/anode structure, wherein the electrode assembly is provided at a predetermined region thereof with at least one through-hole, and a pair of holding members (a male coupling member and a female coupling member) constructed in a male-female coupling type structure is inserted through the through-hole inside a battery case, an outer surface of the female coupling member being brought into tight contact with the through-hole when the male coupling member is inserted into the female coupling member while the female coupling member having an outer diameter less than an inner diameter of the through-hole is inserted through the through-hole, and a secondary battery including the same. The electrode assembly according to the present invention has the effect of restraining the cathodes and the anodes from being moved separately from the separators, when an external force is applied to the electrode assembly, thereby preventing the occurrence of internal short circuits, and eventually, improving the safety of a secondary battery including the electrode assembly. Furthermore, the electrode assembly according to the present invention has the effect of restraining the movement of the electrodes due to repetitive contraction and expansion of the electrode assembly during the charge and discharge of the secondary battery.
US07879480B2
A battery cartridge includes a pair of outer frame members for receiving unit cells and an inner frame member disposed between the outer frame members. The unit cells are mounted between the outer and inner frame members. The inner frame member has a plurality of through-holes, which communicate with the outside while the unit cells are mounted between the outer and inner frame members. An opened type battery module includes such a battery cartridge. The battery cartridge and the battery module have a high structural integration and mechanical strength. Consequently, the present invention has the effect of minimizing the size of a battery system, stably mounting unit cells having low mechanical strength, and effectively removing heat from the unit cells.
US07879474B2
An interconnect structure is disclosed for use in solid oxide electrolytic devices that use chrome-containing components, such as solid oxide fuel cells and solid oxide oxygen-generators. The invention provides a reliable and durable interconnect for both structural and electrical components of such devices. In general, the interconnect structure relies on a dual-layer, high-temperature seal which provides an effective diffusion barrier for both chrome and oxygen. As a result of the described interconnect, corrosion or loss in electrical conductivity in such solid oxide electrolytic devices is avoided. Also, a novel structure for such solid oxide electrolytic devices is disclosed, which provides an economical and high-integrity structure that utilizes the disclosed interconnect structure. A result of the present invention is that thin film solid oxide fuel cells and solid oxide oxygen generators may be fabricated using only metal alloys as bulk components.
US07879472B2
A fuel cell, fuel cell array and methods of forming the same are disclosed. The fuel cell can be made by forming a first aperture defined by a first aperture surface through a first electrode layer and forming a second aperture defined by a second aperture surface through a second electrode layer. A proton exchange membrane is laminated between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. At least a portion of the first aperture is at least partially aligned with the second aperture.
US07879471B2
A magnetic recording medium substrate has a polyester film having metallic oxide-containing layers (layers M) formed on both the surfaces, one layer on each surface, the layers M having a thickness of 50 to 200 nm each, characterized in that the magnetic recording medium substrate has a total light transmittance of 0 to 75% and a surface resistivity of 1×102 to 1×1013Ω on each surface.
US07879463B2
Provided are a dimethylenecyclohexane compound represented by Formula 1 below, a method of preparing the same and an organic light emitting device comprising the dimethylenecyclohexane compound: The organic light emitting device comprising the dimethylenecyclohexane compound represented by Formula 1 has a low driving voltage, excellent efficiency and improved color purity.
US07879458B2
A method of reducing corrosion in an article of construction hardware resulting from exposure to ACQ treated lumber and an article of construction hardware treated in accordance with such method.
US07879447B2
The present invention is directed toward an underwater, safety surface and a method for preparing the same. The first layer of the surface consists of a typical existing swimming pool substrate. Next, a thin layer of flexible, breathable urethane primer is added. A thick layer of a mixture of rubberized particles bound by urethane is then applied. A final layer of thickened epoxy grout is then hand-troweled to ensure coverage between each of the rubberized particles. Finally, the epoxy grout is sanded, ground, and buffed to uncover the tips of the rubberized particles.
US07879439B2
A wide polyolefin film may be made by high-speed film forming, which has uniform properties over its whole width and is free of thickness irregularities, and provides a packaging film applicable to large-scale production which has good gloss and bag-making property, as well as a package made from the film. A polyolefin laminate film includes an oriented base layer that is mainly made up of a polypropylene resin and a sealing layer mainly made up of a polyolefin resin which is formed on at least one surface of the base layer, which film has an effective product takeout width of not less than 5500 mm and satisfies the following relational formula of the thickness variation rate Y (%) of the film and the product takeout width X (mm) of the film: Y≦0.001X+4.
US07879433B1
A lightweight acoustical panel having a substantially monolithic appearance and high sound absorption capabilities is manufactured at a lower cost than acoustical panels having comparable properties. The panel is formed, punched with pins and coated with a coarse particle coating.
US07879429B2
A honeycomb structure having multiple honeycomb units united through a seal material layer, wherein each honeycomb unit has multiple through holes arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction and separated from each other by the wall surfaces of the through holes, is disclosed. The honeycomb units include at least: ceramic particles; and at least one of inorganic fibers and whiskers. At least one of the honeycomb units has a cross section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction thereof, the cross section having an area greater than or equal to about 5 cm2 and less than or equal to about 50 cm2. For each of the honeycomb units, the ratio of the thermal conductivity of the honeycomb unit to the thermal conductivity of the seal material layer falls within the range of about 0.2 to about 5.
US07879427B2
A honeycomb structure having multiple honeycomb units united through a seal material layer, wherein each honeycomb unit has multiple through holes arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction and separated from each other by the wall surfaces of the through holes, is disclosed. The honeycomb units include at least: ceramic particles; and at least one of inorganic fibers and whiskers. At least one of the honeycomb units has a cross section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction thereof, the cross section having an area greater than or equal to about 5 cm2 and less than or equal to about 50 cm2. Each corner of each honeycomb unit has a shape of one of a substantially rounded surface and a substantially chamfered surface.
US07879425B2
A trim panel includes a decorative surface, one sub-section of which consists of leather. The trim panel consists of a flat support that also covers the sub-section and at least one additional layer on a visible face of the support. In addition, the layer is recessed in the sub-section or doubles back on itself towards the sub-section along one edge of the latter. A leather trim is located on the visible face of the support in the sub-section, the trim covering the latter.
US07879423B2
A laminated panel (23) comprises a fusible layer (23A) having an upper surface. A mesh layer (23A, A1) has an encapsulated portion enclosed in the fusible layer so as to be below the upper surface of the fusible layer (23A). An embossed portion (A1) protrudes from the upper surface of the fusible layer (23A). A method (10) of forming a laminated panel with the fusible layer and the mesh layer comprises the steps of: i) heating the fusible layer (23A) to fuse a portion of the fusible layer; and ii) pressing only selected portion of the mesh layer against the fusible layer to provide for the formation of an embossed pattern (A1) on the resulting laminated panel (10).
US07879410B2
A method of fabricating a multi-layered thin film electrochemical device is provided. The method comprises: providing a first target material in a chamber; providing a substrate in the chamber; emitting a first intermittent laser beam directed at the first target material to generate a first plasma, wherein each pulse of the first intermittent laser beam has a pulse duration of about 20 fs to about 500 ps; depositing the first plasma on the substrate to form a first thin film; providing a second target material in the chamber; emitting a second intermittent laser beam directed at the second target material to generate a second plasma, wherein each pulse of the second intermittent laser beam has a pulse duration of about 20 fs to about 500 ps; and depositing the second plasma on or above the first thin film to form a second thin film.
US07879405B2
A curable composition for sealing a light emitting device, comprising a modified polysiloxane containing, in a molecule, not less than one alicyclic hydrocarbon group and not less than two epoxy groups.
US07879400B2
There is provided a substrate processing apparatus equipped with a metallic component, with at least a part of its metallic surface exposed to an inside of a processing chamber and subjected to baking treatment at a pressure less than atmospheric pressure. As a result of this baking treatment, a film which does not react with various types of reactive gases, and which can block the out diffusion of metals, is formed on the surface of the above-mentioned metallic component.
