US08495365B2

A content processing apparatus includes a read unit which reads encrypted key information from a recording medium, a decryption unit which decrypts the encrypted key information with a device key and dynamic information to obtain key information containing content keys, an update unit which updates the dynamic information, a key information processing unit which updates the key information by extracting a content key corresponding to a move target content from the key information, and removing the content key from the key information, a first encryption unit which encrypts the updated key information with the device key and the updated dynamic information, a second encryption unit which encrypts the content key with a shared key, and a write unit which overwrites the updated encrypted key information on the encrypted key information in the medium and writes the encrypted content key in the medium.
US08495363B2

In an embodiment, a server determines to update at least one group session key (GSK) parameter for a given multicast group, the at least one GSK parameter configured to permit encryption, decryption and/or authentication of multicast messaging exchanged between members of the given multicast group during a multicast communication session. The server sends a notification to a plurality of multicast group members of the given multicast group that an update of the at least one GSK parameter for the given multicast group is available. At least one of the multicast group members receives the notification and sends a provisioning request to retrieve the updated at least one GSK parameter, the provisioning request including information specific to the given multicast group member. The server generates and encrypts the updated at least one GSK parameter and sends the encrypted at least one GSK parameter to the at least one multicast group member.
US08495361B2

A method and system for ensuring security-compliant creation and signing of endorsement keys of manufactured TPMs. The endorsement keys are generated for the TPM. The TPM vendor selects an N-byte secret and stores the N-byte secret in the TPM along with the endorsement keys. The secret number cannot be read outside of the TPM. The secret number is also provided to the OEM's credential server. During the endorsement key (EK) credential process, the TPM generates an endorsement key, which comprises both the public key and a hash of the secret and the public key. The credential server matches the hash within the endorsement key with a second hash of the received public key (from the endorsement key) and the vendor provided secret. The EK certificate is generated and inserted into the TPM only when a match is confirmed.
US08495356B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, data processing system and computer program product for secure distribution of virtualized storage. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for secure distribution of virtualized storage in a host in a cloud computing can include composing at least one virtual machine (VM) disk in a secure container and configured to deploy VM images into a cloud computing environment, encrypting the composed at least one VM disk, transmitting the encrypted VM disk to a hypervisor in the cloud computing environment receiving a request to activate a VM instance and generating a bootloader in the secure container, transmitting the bootloader to the hypervisor in the cloud computing environment and providing a key to the bootloader to unlock the at least one VM disk.
US08495353B2

A method for reset a register includes the following step: a computer starts to be booted and perform a booting procedure. Wherein, the computer includes at least one register. Power is supplied to the at least one register. Determine if the computer is booted successfully. If it is determined that the computer fails to be booted, the at least one register is kept to be grounded for a predetermined period of time to reset the at least one register. After the at least one register is grounded, power is supplied to the at least one register again, and the computer is rebooted.
US08495349B2

Administering computer processor execution of BIOS code that includes a primary BIOS code and a recovery BIOS code stored in ROM, the ROM operatively coupled to a control module and the processor, where administering processor execution of the BIOS code includes determining, by the control module, a size of the ROM; generating, by the control module in dependence upon the size of the ROM, an address for the primary BIOS code and an address for the recovery BIOS code; starting, by the control module, operation of the processor for execution of the primary BIOS code including providing, to the processor, the address for the primary BIOS code; and if executing the primary BIOS code fails, restarting, by the control module, operation of the processor for execution of the recovery BIOS code including providing, to the processor, the address for the recovery BIOS code to the processor.
US08495347B2

A control protocol is used to deploy and install an operating system image on a client. The data structure of the control protocol includes an operation code corresponding to an operation associated with the deployment and installation of the operating system image on the client. When a server receives a request packet from the client, the server parses the request packet and sends the parsed request packet to a provider. The provider then executes the operation associated with the operation code and generates a return value. The return value is sent to the server. The server then composes a reply packet including the return value and transmits the reply packet to the client.
US08495346B2

A processor. The processor includes a first register for storing a first packed data, a decoder, and a functional unit. The decoder has a control signal input. The control signal input is for receiving a first control signal and a second control signal. The first control signal is for indicating a pack operation. The second control signal is for indicating an unpack operation. The functional unit is coupled to the decoder and the register. The functional unit is for performing the pack operation and the unpack operation using the first packed data. The processor also supports a move operation.
US08495345B2

A computing apparatus and method of handling an interrupt are provided. The computing apparatus includes a coarse-grained array, a host processor, and an interrupt supervisor. When an interrupt occurs in the coarse-grained array while performing a loop operation, the host processor processes the interrupt, and the interrupt supervisor may perform mode switching between the coarse-grained array and the host processor.
US08495343B2

A microprocessor includes a plurality of execution units configured to receive instructions and operands thereof and to execute the instructions. An instruction scheduler issues the instructions to the execution units and selects sources of the instruction operands. At least one of the execution units detects one of the operands of one of the instructions is a denormal operand, generates an indication that the instruction needs to be replayed in response to detecting the denormal operand, and provides the denormal operand to the instruction scheduler in response to detecting the denormal operand, rather than normalizing the denormal operand. The instruction scheduler normalizes the denormal operand, in response to the indication, and causes the normalized operand, rather than the denormal operand, to be provided to the execution unit when the instruction is replayed.
US08495334B2

A pattern matching accelerator (PMA) for assisting software threads to find the presence and location of strings in an input data stream that match a given pattern. The patterns are defined using regular expressions that are compiled into a data structure comprised of rules subsequently processed by the PMA. The patterns to be searched in the input stream are defined by the user as a set of regular expressions. The patterns to be searched are grouped in pattern context sets. The sets of regular expressions which define the pattern context sets are compiled to generate a rules structure used by the PMA hardware. The rules are compiled before search run time and stored in main memory, in rule cache memory within the PMA or a combination thereof. For each input character, the PMA executes the search and returns the search results.
US08495328B2

A method for providing frame start indication that includes receiving a data transfer via a channel in a memory system. The receiving is in response to a request, and at an indeterminate time relative to the request. It is determined whether the data transfer includes a frame start indicator. The data transfer and “n” subsequent data transfers are captured in response to determining that the data transfer includes a frame start indicator. The data transfer and the “n” subsequent data transfers make up a data frame, where “n” is greater than zero.
US08495325B2

Data migration can be preformed between source and target storage subsystems without stopping exchanging data between a host computer and each of the storage subsystems.After a next access path, which should be set instead of a specific access path in an available state among access paths, is set between the host computer and a migration target logical unit via a host port and a target port, the status of the next access path is set to an available state and the status of the specific access path is set to an unavailable state. After the next access path is set to an available state, data is migrated from a migration source logical unit of the source storage subsystem to the migration target logical unit of the target storage subsystem.
US08495318B2

Memory page management in a tiered memory system including a system that includes at least one page table for storing a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a page of memory and each entry including an address of the page and a memory tier of the page. The system also includes a control program configured for allocating pages associated with the entries to a software module, the allocated pages from at least two different memory tiers. The system further includes an agent of the control program capable of operating independently of the control program, the agent configured for receiving an authorization key to the allocated pages, and for migrating the allocated pages between the different memory tiers responsive to the authorization key.
US08495308B2

A multiprocessor data processing system includes at least first and second coherency domains, where the first coherency domain includes a system memory and a cache memory. According to a method of data processing, a cache line is buffered in a data array of the cache memory and a state field in a cache directory of the cache memory is set to a coherency state to indicate that the cache line is valid in the data array, that the cache line is held in the cache memory non-exclusively, and that another cache in said second coherency domain may hold a copy of the cache line.
US08495306B2

A method is for executing n data updates in an IC Card which has memory pages supporting m erase operations per page, with m
US08495278B2

A controller includes an instruction table memory, a program counter, a first decoder, and a first executing unit. The instruction table memory stores an instruction code obtained by coding a sequence to access a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. A read address in the instruction table memory is set to the program counter. The first decoder decodes the instruction code read from the instruction table memory to output a first decode signal. The first executing unit executes access to the nonvolatile semiconductor memory on the basis of the first decode signal output from the first decoder.
US08495274B2

In response to detecting a PCI host bridge (PHB), a first address translation table may be allocated in a first portion of a memory. The first address translation table may be associated with the PHB. If an input/output adapter accessible to the PHB is configured as a virtualized adapter, a first table manager may be assigned to manage the first address translation table. The first address translation table may be configured for an initial number of virtual functions. If a requested number of virtual functions is greater than the initial number of virtual functions, additional virtual functions may be configured. A second address translation table may be allocated in a second portion of the memory. The second portion of the memory may be non-contiguous with reference to the first portion of the memory. Entries may be created in the second address translation table for the additional virtual functions.
US08495271B2

A data processing system includes a processor core, a system memory coupled to the processor core, an input/output adapter (IOA), and an input/output (I/O) host bridge coupled to the processor core and to the IOA. The I/O host bridge includes a register coupled to receive I/O messages from the processor core, a buffer coupled to receive I/O messages from the IOA, and logic coupled to the register and to the buffer that services I/O messages received from the register and from the buffer.
US08495270B2

A communication interface device includes: a first interface circuit including a chip select terminal connected to a first terminal, a clock terminal connected to a second terminal, and a data terminal connected to a third terminal; and a second interface circuit including a second clock terminal connected to the first terminal and a data terminal connected to the third terminal. In a case of performing communication by the first interface circuit, a fixed signal fixed at a predetermined level is input into the first terminal, a clock signal is input into the second terminal, and a data signal is input into the third terminal, and in a case of performing communication by the second interface circuit, the clock signal is input into the first terminal and the data signal is input into the third terminal.
US08495262B2

A method, system and computer program product for determining if a buffer is marked copy-on-write. A user applications selects a buffer in user space to store data involved in a write/read operation. The user application searches a table storing addresses of buffers in user space that are marked copy-on-write to determine if the address of the selected buffer is listed in the table. If the address is listed in the table, then the selected buffer is marked copy-on-write. If the address is not listed in the table, then the selected buffer is not marked copy-on-write. By having a table store a list of addresses of buffers in user space that are marked copy-on-write by the kernel, the user application is now able to know whether the buffer in user space is marked copy-on-write.
US08495246B2

Improved techniques for automatic (or dynamic) updating (or maintaining) of playlists for a media system that stores and plays media content for a user of the media system. The automatic update to playlists can occur when additional media content is added to or removed from the media system. The automatic update to playlists can also occur when previously stored media content is otherwise altered.
US08495244B2

Systems, software, and apparatuses that provide wired and wireless telecommunications under conditions where signal strength is poor or intermittent, the coordination and synchronization of data and workflows across various communication links under such conditions, especially intermittent or unreliable communications links, and the management of wireless mobile applications in such environments. The present invention technology herein relates to the fields of computer science, telecommunications, and data management.
US08495239B2

A device, method, computer program product, and network subsystem are described for receiving wireless data via a node-speed-change-prediction-dependent signal route and relaying at least a portion of the wireless data.
US08495234B2

Storage devices with multimedia interface connectors and methods are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a data storage device includes a controller coupled to a memory, a streaming media capture circuit coupled to the controller, and a video playback circuit coupled to the controller. A multimedia interface connector is coupled to the streaming media capture circuit and further coupled to the video playback circuit. In response to detecting streaming multimedia data incoming from an external device via the multimedia interface connector, the incoming streaming multimedia data is provided to the streaming media capture circuit to generate multimedia file format data that is stored to the memory as a multimedia file.
US08495231B1

A remote call control method is provided, the method comprising exchanging a session initiation protocol message, wherein the message indicates a call control request is associated with the message; identifying a resource associated with the call control request, wherein the resource includes one or more parameters of the call control request; and performing a call control operation according to the parameters of the call control request.A communication platform and endpoint are provided for executing a call control operation according to a call control request. The communication platform and endpoint comprise a processor component operable to exchange a session initiation protocol message, identify a resource associated with the call control request, and execute a call control operation according to the parameters of the call control request. The message indicates a call control request is associated with the message, and the resource includes parameters associated with the call control request.
US08495220B2

A system, method, and computer readable medium for managing registration, by a network storage provider, of one or more resources with a CDN service provider are provided. A network storage provider storing one or more resources on behalf of a content provider obtains registration information for registering the one or more resources with a CDN service provider. The registration information may include a request to publish one or more resources to a CDN service provider, an identification of the one or more resources, CDN selection criteria provided by the content provider or otherwise selected, and the like. The network storage provider transmits a CDN generation request corresponding to the registration information to the CDN service provider. Then, the network storage provider manages and processes data pursuant to registration of the one or more resources with the CDN service provider.
US08495217B2

With N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), a managed system can be configured so that multiple logical partitions (LPARs) can access independent physical storage through the same physical fibre channel adapter. An NPIV client recovery component of a virtualization management component, such as a Power Hypervisor (pHYP), provides the emulation mapping between server and client virtual fibre channel adapters. The pHYP also provides a mechanism that prevents client partition crashes when the NPIV server (e.g., a VIOS logical partition) goes down. When the NPIV server is rebooted or powers down, the pHYP handles the client LPARs to avoid a crash by removing processing resources from the client logical partition. Thereby, the client logical partition is prevented from attempting to access a root volume group in physical storage via the NPIV server. The pHYP allocates processor resources to the client LPAR when the NPIV server is again available for I/O processing.
US08495215B2

An information processing device is configured to communicate with a network device via a network using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). The information processing device includes a management component and a memory component. The management component is configured to manage a plurality of service URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) of the network device with the service URLs specifying locations of XML (Extensive Markup Language) files that indicate different services provided by the network device. The memory component is configured to store a management record of the service URLs of the network device with the management record having a common record that includes a MAC (Media Access Control) address, an IP (Internet Protocol) address and a port number of the network device, and a plurality of service records that includes a plurality of directory file paths to the XML files.
US08495213B2

A mobile terminal and method for managing secure devices associated with the terminal are discussed. According to an embodiment, the method includes acquiring at least one of availability information and delegation information from each of at least one secure device associated with the mobile terminal; establishing a secure device delegation rule set for the at least one secure device based on the acquired information; receiving a request for establishing a communication connection with a secure device from a server; and establishing a communication connection between the server and one of the at least one secure device based on the secure device delegation rule set.
US08495211B2

A network service system comprises a service registry adapted to interact with registry clients. The service registry includes a service registry interface operatively coupled to a service data registry and a metadata registry for processing unstructured queries from registry clients.
US08495210B1

A rich set of data can be acquired by suitable technology, integrated with RSS reader implementations, to better understand the web feed consuming audience. That data can be applied to help publishers better understand their readership. This disclosure is directed to capturing user data, generating predictions on how an article would be received by the readership (preferably before it is published), and automatically creating recommendations for use by an author or web publisher on how the article might be edited or “fine tuned” to achieve greater impact. In one embodiment, we build a profile for each author/publisher over her entire set of published articles. When a new article is written, it is matched against this author profile and recommendations are made.
US08495209B2

A method for supporting online transactions which may include selecting a product being offered for sale, storing information regarding the selected product, determining whether one or more predefined conditions has been met, and if so, notifying the buyer regarding the selected product information. The method may also allow the buyer to reestablish a prior transaction regarding the product.
US08495205B2

A method and apparatus for managing an overload condition in a network are disclosed. For example, the method monitors the network for a traffic overload condition, and determines whether a more severe traffic overload condition or a less severe traffic overload condition is detected by using a network monitor and controller. The method then selects using a network monitor and controller agent in response to a command from the network monitor and controller, a different bandwidth preservation scheme if the more severe traffic overload condition or the less severe traffic overload condition is detected, wherein the different bandwidth preservation scheme is based on a selection of a codec type and is applied to a portion of the traffic.
US08495203B1

Provided are systems, methods and techniques for discovering protocols of a network-provided service by initially collecting interaction data that pertain to messages between a plurality of devices across a network. Metrics that indicate frequencies of occurrence for different message sequences within the interaction data are calculated, and a protocol structure based on the interaction data and the metrics is generated. Finally, the protocol structure, which describes permitted conversations for a particular service implemented across the network, is output.
US08495202B2

An imaging device information management system includes a plurality of computers interconnected through a network. A managed computer includes a primary imaging device information obtaining system that obtains imaging device information from the imaging device. A managing computer includes a computer information obtaining system that obtains computer information from the managed computer, a secondary imaging device information obtaining system that obtains the imaging device information obtained by the primary imaging device information obtaining system from the managed computer, and an information storing system that creates correspondence information representing a correspondence between the managed computer and the imaging device in accordance with the computer information obtained by the computer information obtaining system and the imaging device information obtained by the secondary imaging device information obtaining system, and stores the correspondence information in a storage.
US08495198B2

A method and system for analyzing and measuring multiple sources of data over a communications network (18) so as to ascertain information or usage of one or more resources, such as resource servers (2). A data collection and processing means (20) collects and processes the data sources which are forwarded to a reporting server (34) as a combined data source made available to interested parties.
US08495197B1

Various electronic resources, such as multi-tenant or cloud resources, can be pooled together for access by specified members associated with a given pool. For example, users with access to different resources can enable their resources to be pooled together for purposes such as reduced pricing and increased flexibility. In some instances, a user can pool resources configured for a particular purpose, such that the user can effectively lease out an entire environment. The users accessing the pool can pay for some or all portion of the cost of the resources during the period of usage.
US08495191B2

A destination table is updated on the basis of the use record of destination information in adaptation to the environment of a user. A device management server collects a destination table managed by each device from a device on a network. Then, the device management server checks the use record of the destination table collected from each image forming device, and determines a candidate to be deleted. Then, the device management server does not delete the destination table determined to be a deletion candidate when a number of times operations have been performed by the image forming device in a predetermined period is less than a threshold value. The device management server deletes the destination table of the determined candidate when the number of times operations have been performed by the image forming device in the predetermined period is greater than or equal to the threshold value.
US08495188B2

A sensor information management system is connected to a network including a plurality of sensors and a computer including a service providing unit for providing services using data presented by at least one of the plurality of sensors. The sensor information management system includes: a sensor profile information record unit for recording sensor profile information; a sensor request information record unit for recording sensor request information; a scenario record unit for recording scenario data; a scenario generation unit for determining an operation for allowing the sensor, and recording the scenario data including the operation; and a scenario management unit for generating a control signal for allowing each sensor and transmitting the generated signal to the each sensor.
US08495182B1

A system and method for scalable systems management where a plurality of devices in a system is managed with a systems management infrastructure. An abstraction layer software application is implemented overlaying the systems management infrastructure for managing task distribution and status gathering for the plurality of devices in the system. A web interface is provided by the software application, the web interface being useable by a user to manage the task distribution and the status gathering. The task distribution may include gateway load balancing, distributing software updates, distributing new software for installation, or distributing software fixes. The status gathering may include performing a hardware inventory scan of a device, performing a software inventory scan of a device, identifying what software is installed on a device, or identifying types of hardware components in a device.
US08495179B2

The present invention is directed to a system and method that includes a vehicle that exchanges information with the remote location by way of a communication network. A remote server transmits vehicle-related information to the vehicle by way of a communication system. Information may also be broadcast to and received by the vehicle by way of a broadcast communication system. A receiver of the vehicle provides user access to only a subset of the broadcast information based on user preferences of a user profile. The user may update the user profile by accessing and updating it at either the vehicle or by accessing a database. The user may access the database through a network, such as the Internet. The vehicle also selectively transmits vehicle-related information to the remote location when a predetermined event occurs. The vehicle-related information is compiled and analyzed at the remote location, and the analyzed information is transmitted back to the vehicle.
US08495174B2

A method and apparatus for transferring resources from a server to a client, wherein the resources are for an object in an application. According to the present invention, resources needed by the object are determined. Resources which have usages that are less than a threshold according to statistics are removed from the determined resources. The remainder of the determined resources, which are needed by the object, is transferred to the client. According to the present invention, users do not have to wait for a long time before they can see a web page.
US08495171B1

A system may be provided for dynamically serving a content file with embedded content objects over the Internet to an end user system. A content object request function may receive a request for a webpage defined by the content file, the content file comprising embedded content objects. A content-file modifier may modify the content file to inject a reporting code that instructions to generate one or more reports comprising information relating to the content objects. A report receiver may receive the reports, the reports indicating where the content objects were rendered within the webpage. An object prioritizor may prioritize the content objects based on where the content objects were rendered. A delivery controller may adapt protocols for delivering the content objects to improve access to high-priority content objects.
US08495160B2

Subscribers connected to a publish/subscribe message broker receive messages on topic names to which they have subscribed. The subscribers receive any number of messages on each topic to which they have subscribed. When the broker receives a message on a second, pre-specified, topic, associated with a first topic, the broker removes any existing retained message related to the first topic. Thus any subsequent subscribers to the first topic do not receive the retained message when they subscribe, and thus do not receive out-of-date information. If, at a later date, a new message is published on the first topic subscribers will receive the new message if they are still subscribed.
US08495157B2

An embodiment of the invention provides a technique that extends relevance-based computation to include computation based on information accessed from or exchanged with other agents. Mechanisms are provided by which an agent accesses or exchanges information between or among other agents and may include one or more of: central bulletin board, broadcast, direct request—pull, direct request—push, and server-routed. Architectural models of distributed decision making to facilitate a distributed and policy-based management of IT infrastructure are provided.
US08495146B2

A computer system and associated method is disclosed for distributing electronic communication. The electronic communication is originated from a first originating destination and is to be sent to a distribution of recipient(s). The distribution can simply consist of one or a plurality of intended recipients. When delivery information is verified, any errors leading to delivery failure of the communication is corrected to be used in subsequent response communication originated by one or more of these recipients.
US08495135B2

Preventing Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) security attacks on a server in a client-server environment comprises: embedding a nonce and a script in all responses from the server to the client, the script adapted for executing to add the nonce to each request from the client to the server; sending the response with the nonce and the script to the client; and verifying that each request from the client includes the nonce. The script preferably modifies all objects, including dynamically generated objects, in a server response that may generate future requests to the server to add the nonce to the requests. The server verifies the nonce value in a request and optionally confirms the request with the client if the value is not the same as the value previously sent by the server. Server-side aspects might be embodied in the server or a proxy between the server and the client.
US08495131B2

Provided are a method, system, and program for managing locks enabling access to a shared resource. A first server receives a lock request from a client for the shared resource. A determination is made as to whether a second server owns the client locks. The first server issues a request to the second server to transfer ownership of the client locks to the first server, wherein the client lock requests are handled by the server owning the client locks.
US08495125B2

A processor may have at least one multiplier unit which can be controlled to operate in a signed, an unsigned, or a mixed sign mode; a multiplier unit mode decoder coupled with the multiplier unit which receives location information of a first and second operands, wherein the multiplier mode decoder controls the multiplier unit when in the mixed sign mode depending on the location information to operate in a signed mode, an unsigned mode, or a combined signed/unsigned mode.
US08495110B2

Systems. Methods, and Computer Program Products are provided for concurrent processing of transactions and read operations for achieving serialization and isolation in a clustered file system (CFS). Users, performing read only operations, are allowed to currently access the CFS while mutually excluding and serializing transactions of users affecting a same portion of the CFS. Transactions are ordered across a cluster of nodes of the CFS according to the transactions termination time.
US08495109B2

An audiovisual data reproduction device includes a connection to a central server configured to distribute files to the device. Reception functions associated with a respective type of data are provided to the device The device is configured to: select an available storage area of a specified minimum size, open a reception file on the audiovisual data reproduction device in the selected available storage area, receive each packet of a file sent by the server and write each packet sent to the reception file (with each file including information representative of a type of data associated with the file), and for each file received, search for a respective reception function associated with each received file based on the information representative of the type of data associated with the file. Each reception function is configured to process associated received files and update the device according to the data included therein.
US08495106B2

A computer implemented system and method for enabling a database write operation for an application that only has a database read operation is disclosed. At least one data source is stored in a database, the data source having at least one pre-coded stored write operation. A database read operation that calls the data source is received. The read operation is performed on the database, the read operation causing the database to execute the pre-coded stored write operation on the database.
US08495103B2

A computing device monitors an application that includes at least one object over a time period. The computing device identifies a usage pattern of the at least one object over the time period. The computing device recommends, based on the usage pattern, at least one of a) that the at least one object be converted to a transactional object and b) a locking strategy for the at least one object.
US08495102B2

The invention provides a method, system, and program product for organizing a database containing a plurality of objects based on a task list of a user. In one embodiment, the invention includes accessing a database containing a plurality of objects; defining at least one of the plurality of objects as included in a task list of a user; displaying the defined object(s); determining a time at which each defined object was last accessed by the user; modifying the display based on at least one determined value; and searching the modified display.
US08495094B2

Systems and methods for scanning signatures in a string field. In one implementation, the invention provides a method for signature scanning. The method includes processing one or more signatures into one or more formats that include one or more fingerprints and one or more follow-on search data structures for each fixed-size signature or signature substring such that the number of fingerprints for each fixed-size signature or signature substring is equal to a step size for a signature scanning operation and the particular fixed-size signature or signature substring is identifiable at any location within any string fields to be scanned, receiving a particular string field, identifying any signatures included in the particular string field including scanning for the fingerprints for each scan step size and searching for the follow-on search data structures at the locations where one or more fingerprints are found, and outputting any identified signatures.
US08495089B2

A database interface for developing at least one media play is disclosed. The database interface for developing at least one media play includes a plurality of templates, generated in accordance with feedback prior ones of the at least one media plays, at least two desired criteria limiting circumstances for play of the media play received at one of said templates, and an accessor that accesses media play inventory and preempts certain of the media play inventory with an insertion of the media play according to said at least two desired criteria.
US08495088B2

The instant invention provides a method, executable by a processor based device, that eliminates the need to manually look up a list of support parts to determine the stock availability of one or more replacement part alternatives, based at least in part on the stock availability of one or more support parts for the one or more replacement part alternatives.
US08495085B2

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for performing a partial update of a hierarchically structured document referencing one or more records stored in a database. An expression specifying one or more updates to be applied to the document is received. The document is searched to find update target position(s). Based on the received expression, a pending update list is built. When an update target position is found, a row of a document column in a base table is updated with the new version number for the document. New database records for insertion into the new document version are generated from the pending update list. Old database records to be replaced are identified. A database table for the document is updated to mark the old database records as obsolete and to add new database records to be referenced in the new version of the document.
US08495080B2

A method and system for initializing a multi-tenant database. The method includes the steps of: executing a trial of a legacy initialization tool on a trial database; capturing database statements issued by the legacy initialization tool during the step of executing a trial; capturing trial execution results of the database statements; executing the legacy initialization tool on a multi-tenant database; intercepting the database statements issued by the legacy initialization tool during the step of executing the legacy initialization tool on the multi-tenant database; and executing a mock of intercepted database statements corresponding to types of the database statements, types of tables involved in the database statements, and the trial execution results of the database statements, where at least one of the steps is carried out using a computer device.
US08495078B2

A system and method for abstracting objects in a virtual universe (VU) deployment is provided. The system and method abstracts VU objects for editing in a common abstraction utility and for deploying to one or more VU grids containing one or more VU architectures and/or platforms (servers). The method can be implemented in a computer infrastructure having programming instructions operable to: obtain an object associated with a first virtual universe server; translate the object with syntax specific to at least a second virtual universe server, the syntax being different than that used with the first virtual universe server; and deploy the translated object to the second virtual universe server.
US08495068B1

Systems and methods are provided for classifying a new item for purposes of estimating import fees associated with shipping the item internationally. In some embodiments, the classification is determined by calculating a similarity score for each of a plurality of previously classified items, each similarity score representing the similarity between a given previously classified item and the new item, identifying a similar item match for the new item, the similar item match corresponding to the previously classified item having the highest similarity score among the plurality of previously classified items, and assigning an item classification code associated with the similar item match to the new item.
US08495065B2

A system and method are provided for maintaining a historical record of anonymized user profile data for mobile device users. In one embodiment, a central system, which includes one or more servers, operates to obtain current locations and user profiles for users of mobile devices. The central system processes the current locations and the user profiles of the users over time to maintain a historical record of anonymized user profile data by location. By anonymizing the user data, privacy of the users of the mobile devices is maintained. The central system may then use the historical record of anonymized user profile data to respond to historical requests. The historical requests may be made by users of the mobile devices, subscribers, and/or third-party services.
US08495050B2

A computer-implemented process for identifying universal resource locator rewriting rules may receive input of universal resource locators of an application, to form received universal resource locators, may represent the received universal resource locators in a specialized graph and may apply analysis algorithms and heuristics to properties of the specialized graph. The computer-implemented process may further identify universal resource locator rewriting patterns using the specialized graph to form detected patterns and may generate rewrite rules corresponding to the detected patterns.
US08495042B2

Automatic information extraction apparatus for extracting data for review by a human curator from digital representations of documents comprising natural language text, the automatic information extraction apparatus having a plurality of selectable operating modes in which the automatic information extraction apparatus is operable to extract different data for review by a human curator. In the different operating modes, the information extraction apparatus may extract data with a different balance between recall and precision.
US08495041B2

A database system that issues a reference transaction by designating a time stamp. Data structures are provided for making an inquiry about the latest value at a designated time using a database in which values and information on times associated with the individual values are contained in a table. One of the data structures includes, for each of IDs associated with the values in the database, at least one time stamp that is sorted in chronological order (hereinafter referred to as a first time stamp); values belonging to the individual first time stamps; and a pointer that designates one of the first time stamps, the first time stamps indicating the times when the values become valid. The other of the data structures includes, for each of the IDs, the designated first time stamp and a value belonging to the designated first time stamp.
US08495033B2

Disclosed is a method for identifying inactive objects in an entity. The inactive objects may be purged from an entity to reduce the size of the entity.
US08495030B2

Techniques for managing records on a filesystem to enforce a record disposition protocol. Embodiments identify records on the filesystem using one or more record definitions. Each record definition may contain a conditional statement which, if satisfied by a particular file on the filesystem, indicates the particular file as a record. Embodiments may then monitor file activity for each of the identified records and upon detecting the file activity, may enforce the record disposition protocol for the record. Such enforcement may include preventing the file activity, and may further include logging information related to the file activity.
US08495028B2

Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for removing redundant data from a storage system. In one example, a data delineation process delineates data targeted for de-duplication into regions using a plurality of markers. The de-duplication system determines which of these regions should be subject to further de-duplication processing by comparing metadata representing the regions to metadata representing regions of a reference data set. The de-duplication system identifies an area of data that incorporates the regions that should be subject to further de-duplication processing and de-duplicates this area with reference to a corresponding area within the reference data set.
US08495027B2

Processing archive content based on hierarchical classification levels is performed by indexing a first newly archived file of a current set of archive content at a first classification level defining a plurality of types of metadata to be derived, wherein the first classification level is selected from a hierarchy of classification levels having at least two classification levels, indexing a second newly archived file of the current set of archive content at a second classification level, wherein the second classification level includes fewer types of metadata than the first class of metadata, and flagging the second newly archived file of the current set of archive content. By classifying and flagging the second newly archived file differently than the first newly archived file, the system can easily retrieve such data at a later instance to update and/or change the data, re-index the data, and the like.
US08495021B2

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to distribution data items within geographically distributed databases.
US08495015B2

An apparatus and method of synchronizing a datum between a plurality of stores uses version vectors associated with the datum in each store. Each version vector has one or more entries, and each entry has an identifier and a value. The identifier identifies a store that has modified the datum, and the value indicates a number of modifications to the datum made by the store. When synchronizing the datum between stores, the version vectors of the datum are compared to determine whether one version vector is subordinate to another version vector. The datum in the store having the subordinate version vector is then replaced with the datum having the dominant version vector. When compared, a conflict resolution by a user is required if the version vectors are not identical, if the version vectors do not have all the same identifiers, and if one version vector does not contain all of the identifiers with equal or greater values of those in the other version vector.
US08495011B2

A system and method for managing clinical research trials is disclosed. The system and method may include a centralized secure database with information on clinical research trial participants, clinical research trial events, investigator and administrator inputs, and communication of participants, investigators and administrators. In one embodiment, the system and method allows investigators to contact participants without disclosing confidential contact information of the participants to the investigators by storing health information and contact information in separate databases. In one embodiment, administrators may access clinical research trial information through a secure web portal.
US08495008B2

In one illustrative embodiment, a computer-implemented method for application-aware recording and replay of changes is provided. The computer implemented method executes an application in a source system to form a first domain context, and generates recorded information objects from the application in the first domain context. The computer-implemented method selects a target system having a second domain context, and replays the recorded information objects on the target system to form new information objects in the second domain context. The new information objects are returned to a requester.
US08494999B2

A truth maintenance method and system. The method includes receiving by a computer processor from RFID tags embedded in sensors, event data associated with events detected by said sensors. The computer processor associates portions of the event data with associated RFID tags and derives assumption data associated with each portion of the portions. The computer processor retrieves previous assumption data derived from and associated with previous portions of previous event data retrieved from the RFID tags and executes non monotonic logic with respect to the assumption data and the previous assumption data. In response, the computer processor generates and stores updated assumption data associated with the assumption data and the previous assumption data.
US08494998B2

A spam detection system is disclosed. The system includes a classifier training component that receives a first set of training pages labeled as normal pages and a second set of training pages labeled as spam pages. The training component trains a web page classifier based on both the first set of training pages and the second set of training pages. A spam detector then receives unlabeled web pages uses the web page classifier to classify the unlabeled web pages as spam pages or normal pages.
US08494990B1

A method of analyzing an environment is provided. The method comprises generating, using a population generation module, an initial population comprising a plurality of individuals, each individual comprising a dominant genotype and a recessive genotype. The method further comprises evaluating, using a fitness evaluation module, the fitness of each of the plurality of individuals by applying a fitness function to the dominant genotype of each individual. The method further comprises modifying, using the fitness evaluation module, the initial population of individuals based on the fitness evaluation. The method further comprises injecting, using the population generation module, one or more additional individuals into the modified population of individuals. Each of the additional individuals comprises a randomly generated dominant genotype. The population generation module, fitness evaluation module, and change detection module comprise instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by a processor.
US08494984B2

An information processing device includes an acquisition unit acquiring a viewing log including information representing content of an operation for viewing content and time of the operation, a learning unit learning, based on the viewing log acquired by the acquisition unit, a viewing behavior model which is a stochastic state transition model representing a viewing behavior of a user, a recognition unit recognizing, using the viewing behavior model obtained through learning by the learning unit, a current viewing state of the user, a prediction unit predicting, using the viewing behavior model, the viewing behavior of the user after a predetermined period of time with the current viewing state of the user recognized by the recognition unit as a starting point, and a display control unit displaying information relating to content predicted to be viewed through the viewing behavior predicted by the prediction unit.
US08494963B2

A system for remote data acquisition and centralized processing and storage provides comprehensive support for processing documents and electronic data associated with different applications including sales, business, banking and general consumer transactions. The system retrieves transaction data such as credit card receipts or checks in either electronic or paper form at one or more remote locations, encrypts the data, transmits the encrypted data to a central location, transforms the data to a usable form, performs identification verification using signature data and biometric data, generates informative reports from the data and transmits the informative reports to the remote location(s), providing high performance, security, reliability, fault tolerance and low cost. The network architecture facilitates secure communication between the remote location(s) and the central processing facility, a dynamic address assignment algorithm performs load balancing among the system's servers for faster performance and higher utilization, and a partitioning scheme improves the error correction process.
US08494961B1

Embodiments of the invention are related to a computer-implemented authentication method and system for authenticating a customer using an electronic device for engaging in a transaction involving a financial institution over a network. Embodiments of the method include capturing an image of the customer engaging in the transaction using an image capturing device integrated with the electronic device and retrieving a stored image of the customer from an authentication database. Embodiments of the invention additionally include comparing, using a comparison algorithm executed by computer processing components, the stored image with the captured image to authenticate the customer and upon authentication, monitoring the captured image during the transaction for an interruption using the computer processing components. The method further includes terminating the transaction if an interruption is detected.
US08494958B2

Provided is a method and system for payment processing, including emailing a billing statement to a payer by a biller, the billing statement including an online payment hyperlink having a shortened URL personalized for the payer and a token uniquely identifying the payer. The payer may select the online payment hyperlink, at which point they are presented with the biller's online payment form without the payer logging in or preregistering. The online payment form includes data fields pre-populated with available payer information derived from the personalized shortened URL and token, which may be reviewed, completed and/or corrected by the payer and sent to a secure payment form server. Also provided is the use of Quick response (QR) codes incorporating the shortened URL in a printed format, particularly for use with a mobile communication device.
US08494957B2

A payment system for restaurant industry that facilitates efficient payment using a bankcard for a meal in a restaurant and also without providing personal sensitive data from bankcards to employees/waiters of the restaurant. The payment system includes a central system, a portable wireless device, a card processor and a merchant system and a bill with a service code that identifies the merchant, the table and the server.
US08494944B2

The present invention generally relates to a system, report, and method for automatically generating a series of natural language news-based stories to be presented via a digital interface or printed publication to a portfolio user. The disclosure relates to a filter or selection of a handful of relevant and desired financial instruments, or events created in a large group of events such as sports results, travel information, auction related data, online shopping tools, social media, retail store promotion generation, search engine daily report, etc. for a specific use. These financial instruments, based on different selections from a portfolio manager via a management tool, are then used to either produce a strategies page where a list of useful covered call trade and hedged trade are displayed in the form of a table, or natural language news-based stories relating to a selected list of financial instruments found in a portfolio. The events are based on different selections from a portfolio manager via a management tool and are then used to either produce a secondary page where a list of the selected event data is displayed or natural language news-based stories relating to a selected list of events found in a portfolio from a large event database.
US08494942B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systems, and machine-readable media for identifying and sharing common trends represented in a corpus of private information without revealing the private information. Identifying and sharing common trends can comprise reading a first set of private information and a second set of private information. The first set of private information can be compared to the second set of private information and common information between the first set of private information and the second set of private information can be identified. Once identified, a determination can be made as to whether the identified common information represents an emerging trend, i.e., the common information re-occurs or develops over time. In response to determining the identified common information represents an emerging trend, the emerging trend can be reported without revealing the first set of private information or the second set of private information.
US08494939B2

A method for authorizing a witness-less manual payment of a gaming jackpot includes comparing a jackpot transaction value from a payment user to a maximum witness-less hand-payment jackpot value and to a jackpot value from the gaming machine. Confirmed jackpots of suitable value can be authorized for hand-payment without a corroborating human witness. The maximum value is selectable by the casino.
US08494933B2

A system and method are described whereby interoperability is facilitated in a 3GPP network environment in combination with DIAMETER policy controls. Such interoperability enables updated policy rules to be fully communicated in on-line charging situations where quota expirations occur. This invention maintains centralized policy control in a 3GPP network with on-line charging.
US08494925B2

Systems and methods are provided for administrating an order. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method is provided. The method includes the steps of receiving, by a first participant, a customer order and checking the availability of an ordered quantity of products within a first group of inventory data objects. Further, the availability of the ordered quantity of products is checked within a second group of inventory data objects, if the ordered products were not found within the first group. The checking may be repeated for additional groups until the ordered products are found or any further group is no longer available. Thereafter, the ordered quantity of products is delivered to the customer.
US08494924B2

The present invention provides a method, system, and program product for processing transaction data. Specifically, under the present invention, data such as lottery transaction data is received and stored in a transaction master journal file. Upon receipt, A/R data is extracted from the transaction data and fed to a queue. From the queue, the A/R data is read and processed to provide A/R details, summaries and/or reports. In a typical embodiment, the A/R data is processed to provide A/R activity details such as winner payouts, seller commissions, redeemer commissions, etc.
US08494922B2

A dynamic, fully-integrated computer-server-based platform (platform) provides users with tools for making informed decisions about available energy upgrades and for implementing desired home energy upgrades. In various embodiments, the platform provides various combinations of: (i) a variety of educational and assessment tools, including a Virtual Home Energy Audit (VHEA), which provides users with a customized home energy-savings plan detailing the financial and/or environmental impact of each upgrade alternative on a relative and absolute basis, (ii) product selection and purchase, (iii) access to arrangement and scheduling of in-home services through a network of professionals, (iv) financing solutions, and (v) a data registry that verifies completed upgrades and associated savings. The platform takes a holistic view of energy solutions, and provides tools across a broad spectrum of energy-related products and/or services.
US08494921B2

Methods, systems, and products facilitate electronic purchases. An electronic shopping cart is received at a server associated with a first merchant. The electronic shopping cart is inspected for an item selected for purchase from a different merchant. If the first merchant can offer better terms for the item, the server sends a recommendation to a customer to remove the item from the electronic shopping cart and to add a substitute item offered by the first merchant. If the customer approves, then the server replaces the item in the electronic shopping cart with the substitute item associated with the first merchant.
US08494913B2

The present invention involves a server for accommodating multiple e-commerce payments. The server includes a processor with a communications device and software modules. The vendor software module receives payment requirements from a vendor, and also receives payment parameters from an initiator. The payment parameters include an item payment amount and an identification of contributors. The contributor software module obtains payment information from the initiator and/or contributors sufficient to authorize the commitment of funds to a transaction. The aggregation software module sends participation messages to contributors. The participation messages include information on the item, the item payment amount, and directions for the contributor to interact with the contributor module. Further, the aggregation software module maintains a total of committed funds and initiates a payment transaction when the committed funds are sufficient to pay the vendor.
US08494905B2

Neuro-response data including Electroencephalography (EEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is filtered, analyzed, and combined to evaluate the effectiveness of stimulus materials such as marketing and entertainment materials. A data collection mechanism including multiple modalities such as, Electroencephalography (EEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Electrooculography (EOG), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), etc., collects response data from subjects exposed to marketing and entertainment stimuli. A data cleanser mechanism filters the response data and removes cross-modality interference.
US08494903B2

A system and method of providing a linking module to link an identifier to media content in order to create embedded advertising content. A system enabler receives a registration of the identifier and further provides embedded advertising content to be transmitted to a client. The system enabler further provides an extraction module to extract the identifier from the embedded advertising content to allow a client interaction with an advertising experience. The client interactions with an advertising experience are tracked by the system enabler to result in tracked client interactions. After receiving the tracked client interactions, the system enabler compares the tracked client interactions to compensable action items to update an account.
US08494896B1

A computer-based system for restaurant menu analysis comprises at least one processor and machine-readable memory configured to execute a menu data entry module, a menu database, a menu analysis module and a menu element reporting module. A computer-based method for restaurant menu analysis comprises using the at least one processor and machine-readable memory to receive menu data from a plurality of menus in a menu data entry module, the menu data including, for each menu, at least: a restaurant name, a restaurant cuisine type, a menu influence indicator and a plurality of menu elements. The received menu data is stored in a menu database. Occurrences for each one of at least a portion of the entered menu elements are calculated, as well as total occurrences. A scored list of influential menu elements is determined based thereon, and displayed to the user.
US08494876B2

A method of adjudicating a medical claim includes providing a requirements for a first claim and a second claim, receiving a medical claim for a medical procedure, setting a first score for the first claim and a second score for the second claim to an initial value, comparing components of the medical claim to the requirements of the first and second claims, changing the first and second scores for each one of the components that match one of the requirements and for each one of the requirements that is missing from the components, and selecting the first or second claim based upon predetermined criteria applied to their respective scores to determine either a monetary value of the medical procedure for a medical service provider associated with the medical procedure or a monetary value of medical coverage for a patient associated with the medical procedure.
US08494873B2

An endoscopic inspection information administering system includes: an unlinking unit for canceling a link between a first piece of inspection request information selected from the inspection request information on a database and a first piece of inspection result information linked with the first piece of the inspection request information; a retrieval display unit for retrieving, from the database, second pieces of the inspection request information including the same patient ID as a patient ID included in the first piece of the inspection request information and displaying the retrieved second pieces of the inspection request information, and a recording control unit for recording, into the database, a piece of the inspection request information selected from the displayed second pieces of the inspection request information in link with the first piece of the inspection result information.
US08494872B2

A personalized electronic healthcare management system and computer-implemented method thereof. The system includes a user interface configured to receive user profile information associated with a user as input by the user, and a server interfacing with the user interface. The server retrieves healthcare information from at least one external source, and provides the retrieved healthcare information to the user at the user interface. The healthcare information may be personalized to the user's needs. The server further retrieves social service program information from at least one host site, provides the retrieved social service program information to the user, and applies to at least one social service program of the at least one host site using the user profile information, when desired by the user, and retrieves interactive information to be presented to the user at the user interface.
US08494870B2

Provided is a system for supporting medicine filling operation determines whether or not a combination of a medicine container and a medicine is appropriate and performs filling operation reliably and quickly without making a mistake. A control means (7) determines whether or not a medicine and a mounting object conform to each other based on medicine identification information or mounting objects identification information received by a communication means (6) and based on a medicine master, mounting master, and exchange table stored in a storage means (4). Information on the medicine, information on the mounting objects, or determination result that is read by the control means (7) and received via the communication means (6) and communication section (10) can be displayed on a display section (9) of a portable terminal (3).
US08494868B2

A method and system for integrating an emergency medical dispatch system with a nurse triage system that includes a health reference library and which seamlessly maintains information for use by both the emergency medical dispatch system and the nurse triage system. This invention enhances the quality of provided medical services by providing a consistent, reliable technique for collecting, evaluating and dispensing medical information and for evaluating a medical condition for subsequent medical dispatch and/or care.
US08494863B2

The present invention teaches a new audio coding system that can code both general audio and speech signals well at low bit rates. A proposed audio coding system comprises a linear prediction unit for filtering an input signal based on an adaptive filter; a transformation unit for transforming a frame of the filtered input signal into a transform domain; a quantization unit for quantizing a transform domain signal; a long term prediction unit for determining an estimation of the frame of the filtered input signal based on a reconstruction of a previous segment of the filtered input signal; and a transform domain signal combination unit for combining, in the transform domain, the long term prediction estimation and the transformed input signal to generate the transform domain signal.
US08494849B2

A method of transmitting speech data to a remote device in a distributed speech recognition system, includes the steps of: dividing an input speech signal into frames; calculating, for each frame, a voice activity value representative of the presence of speech activity in the frame; grouping the frames into multiframes, each multiframe including a predetermined number of frames; calculating, for each multiframe, a voice activity marker representative of the number of frames in the multiframe representing speech activity; and selectively transmitting, on the basis of the voice activity marker associated with each multiframe, the multiframes to the remote device.
US08494848B2

Techniques for generating, distributing, and using speech recognition models are described. A shared speech processing facility is used to support speech recognition for a wide variety of devices with limited capabilities including business computer systems, personal data assistants, etc., which are coupled to the speech processing facility via a communications channel, e.g., the Internet. Devices with audio capture capability record and transmit to the speech processing facility, via the Internet, digitized speech and receive speech processing services, e.g., speech recognition model generation and/or speech recognition services, in response. The Internet is used to return speech recognition models and/or information identifying recognized words or phrases. Thus, the speech processing facility can be used to provide speech recognition capabilities to devices without such capabilities and/or to augment a device's speech processing capability. Voice dialing, telephone control and/or other services are provided by the speech processing facility in response to speech recognition results.
US08494843B2

An encoding apparatus and a decoding apparatus for reducing the quantization error of a G.711 codec and improving sound quality are provided. The encoding apparatus includes a G.711 encoder which generates a G.711 bitstream by encoding an input audio signal; an enhancement-layer encoder which chooses one of a static bit allocation method and a dynamic bit allocation method that can produce less quantization error based on the input audio signal and the G.711 bitstream, and outputs an enhancement-layer bitstream including encoded additional mantissa information obtained by using the chosen bit allocation method; and a multiplexer which multiplexes the G.711 bitstream and the enhancement-layer bitstream. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the quantization error of a G.711 codec and improve sound quality.
US08494837B2

Systems and methods for active learning of statistical machine translation systems through dynamic creation and updating of parallel corpus. The systems and methods provided create accurate parallel corpus entries from a test set of sentences, words, phrases, etc. by calculating confidence scores for particular translations. Translations with high confidence scores are added directly to the corpus and the translations with low confidence scores are presented to human translations for corrections.
US08494836B2

There is a system for selecting a text for output from among multiple texts according to whether or not a phrase is included in the multiple texts. The system includes a determination unit that determines whether or not each of predetermined multiple phrases is included in each of the multiple texts; an index calculation unit that, with respect to each of the multiple phrases, calculates a larger index for a text having the highest of priorities preset among texts including the phrase, then indexes for other texts; and an output unit that selects texts each having a larger sum of sums of the calculated index for each text and outputs a group of the selected texts.
US08494834B2

A method for local, computer-aided translation using remotely-generated translation predictions includes the step of determining that a translation stored in a remote translation memory is useful in translating a first portion of a local document. A local machine receives the translation. Prior to receiving a request form a translator for the translation, a determination is made that the remote translation memory stores an updated version of the translation. The updated version of the translation is identified as useful in translating a second portion of the document. The local machine generates a translation of the second portion of the document through reuse of the updated version of the translation, responsive to the identification of the utility of the updated version of the translation in translating the second portion of the document.
US08494832B2

A software simulation method and program storage device for software defect detection and obtaining insight into software code is disclosed, where simulation consists of executing target software program code for multiple input values and multiple code paths at the same time, thus achieving 100% coverage over inputs and paths without actually running the target software. This allows simulation to detect many defects that are missed by traditional testing tools. The simulation method runs a plurality of algorithms where a plurality of custom defined and pre-defined rules are verified in target software to find defects and obtain properties of the software code.
US08494830B2

A system for making real-time predictions about an arc flash event on an electrical system comprises a data acquisition component communicatively connected to a sensor configured to acquire real-time data output from the electrical system; an analytics server communicatively connected to the data acquisition component and comprising a virtual system modeling engine configured to generate predicted data output for the electrical system using a virtual system model of the electrical system, an analytics engine configured to monitor the real-time data output and the predicted data output of the electrical system, and an arc flash simulation engine configured to use the virtual system model updated based in the real-time data to forecast an aspect of the arc flash event.
US08494824B2

A computer system having stored in memory a set of executable software tools that include both producer tools and consumer tools, wherein one or more of the tools may be both a producer tool and a consumer tool, a model repository, and a set of software engines that include hybrid models each bridging semantics of a corresponding producer tool or a corresponding consumer tool that is importing or exporting to or from a neutral model representation of the information, wherein instantiations of the neutral models reside in the model repository.
US08494823B2

A method and system for determining supply chain service area by simulating service cycle time. A plurality of simulation parameters including stochastic factors are used with a supply chain simulation model. The supply chain simulation model is run repeatedly and generated simulated data is analyzed to determine service cycle time. The service cycle time is used to compute service area for a facility.
US08494804B2

A system and method generates a test file of a print circuit board (PCB). The system and method loads trace information of the PCB into a storage system of a test computer, searches the storage system for the trace information matching keywords received and selects traces to test from the searched results. The system and method further acquires length and test points of each selected trace, and sets test parameters of each test item. In addition, the system and method generates a test file of the PCB according to the test parameters, the length, and the test points of each selected trace.
US08494800B2

A method for identifying geometric errors with respect to at least two translational axes and at least one rotational axis of a machine using a control device is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: measuring positions of a jig in three-dimensional space using a position measurement sensor, wherein a measurement is carried out when the jig being indexed around the rotational axis by a plurality of angles is located at the positions; approximating a plurality of measured values of the positions measured in the measuring step to a circular arc; and calculating an error in regard to a center position of the rotational axis and/or a tilt error in the rotational axis, and tilt errors in the translational axes, based on the circular arc resulting from the approximating step.
US08494789B2

A method of monitoring status of an energy reserve accumulator, connected to a fluid system, includes the following successive operations once the fluid system has stabilized for pressure: measuring a first time taken by the fluid system to progress from a predetermined first pressure to a predetermined second pressure, lower than the predetermined first pressure; measuring a second time taken by the system to progress from a predetermined third pressure, lower than the predetermined second pressure, to a predetermined fourth pressure, lower than the predetermined third pressure; and comparing the first and second times to determine the status of the energy reserve accumulator. Such a method may find use for example in an aircraft.
US08494768B2

Provided is a navigation system for guiding a user of a mobile device to a plurality of locations including a storage means adapted to store a database comprising a plurality of records, each record comprising location data indicative of the location of a respective place; a mobile device; a location determination means adapted to determine a current location of the mobile device; and a processing means adapted to use the database and current location to select, according to at least one predetermined criterion, a location that the user is directed towards, wherein the mobile device is adapted to provide the user with an indicator arranged to direct the user to the selected place.
US08494762B2

An indoor location system uses an electrical power line, power line signal injection devices, and portable position receivers (tags) to generate location data relating to positions of the tags in a structure such as a residence or business. The indoor location system fingerprinting of multiple signals transmitted along the power line to achieve sub-room-level localization of the positioning receivers. In one embodiment, the fingerprinting techniques utilizes wideband power line positioning (WPLP) that injects up to 44 different frequencies into the power line infrastructure of a structure. The WPLP technique improves upon overall positioning accuracy, improved temporal stability and may be implemented in commercial indoor spaces.
US08494749B2

A method of operating an electronic engine control to compensate for speed changes. The method includes receiving a fuel flow request, sensing actual engine rotor speed, calculating a fuel flow correction factor, establishing a final fuel flow request based on the fuel flow correction factor, and adjusting the actual set point of the MV to compensate for the actual engine rotor speed.
US08494741B2

A vehicle control device performs a program including the step of obtaining a target point for movement based on information from a vehicle exterior camera, the step of obtaining a distance X to the target point, the step of resetting a distance counter, the step of causing the vehicle to enter accelerated running at set acceleration, the step of causing the vehicle to change from the accelerated running to constant-speed running when the distance counter reaches X, and the step of causing the vehicle to change from the constant-speed running to decelerated running when the distance counter reaches X.
US08494738B2

A powertrain in a vehicle includes an electro-mechanical transmission having a selectable one-way clutch mechanically-operatively coupled to an internal combustion engine and configured to selectively transmit mechanical power to an output member. A control method includes monitoring a vehicle speed, monitoring a transmission gear state, comparing the vehicle speed to a threshold low speed range, transitioning a selectable one-way clutch into an engaged mode when said vehicle speed is not in a forward direction in excess of the threshold low speed range, and maintaining the selectable one-way clutch in the engaged mode based upon the transmission gear state remaining in a first gear state and the vehicle speed remaining within said threshold low speed range, a neutral state, or a reverse state.
US08494732B2

A hybrid transmission is operative to transfer power between an input member and a torque machine and an output member. A method for controlling the powertrain system during a braking event includes evaluating candidate input torques. An output torque reactable through the transmission to the driveline and limited within the range of permissible output torques is determined for the candidate engine input torque. A preferred input torque is determined.
US08494731B2

A method is provided for controlling a gear ratio rate of change in a machine having a continuously variable transmission. The method includes moving an operator input device to a changed position, receiving electronic data indicative of the changed position, and determining a non-limited desired gear ratio based at least in part on the changed position. A maximum gear ratio rate of change corresponding to the changed position is selected from an electronically stored gear ratio rate map. A current desired gear ratio is determined based at least in part on the non-limited desired gear ratio and the maximum gear ratio rate of change. The method also includes changing a commanded gear ratio of the continuously variable transmission to the current desired gear ratio using electronic signals.
US08494728B2

A transmission 20 includes an input shaft 12, an output shaft 13, a primary sheave 23 that rotates together with the input shaft 12, a secondary sheave 24 that rotates together with the output shaft 13, and a belt 25 wound around both the primary sheave 23 and the secondary sheave 24. The transmission 20 includes a motor 22 that shifts a transmission ratio by driving a movable sheave 23a of the primary sheave 23. A control device (ECU 5) of the transmission 20 includes a secondary sheave rotation speed sensor 28 that detects rotation of the belt 25, and a control portion 55 of the ECU 5 performs a sheave position control (normal control of the transmission ratio) after rotation of the belt 25 is detected after starting.
US08494726B2

Predictive tractor path adjustments improve implement tracking performance by enabling agricultural autopilots to anticipate the effect of curves, slopes, changing soil conditions and other influences.
US08494721B2

A vehicle integrated control apparatus includes: an electronic control type right/left wheel differential limiting mechanism; a restraining torque proportional controlling unit calculating a first steering assisting force being proportional to a control amount of a restraining torque of the right and left front wheels and being in a direction according to a rotational speed difference between right and left front wheels; a steering reaction force feedback controlling unit calculating a second steering assisting force corresponding to a steering system reaction force and being in a direction along which the steering system reaction force is canceled; and a switching unit changing a ratio of the first and second steering assisting forces in a steering assisting force to be generated, in accordance with the rotational speed difference.
US08494704B2

In indirect tire pressure monitoring of tires of a vehicle, the following steps and means to carry out the same, respectively, are contemplated:—providing a tire classification database indicating at least one classified tire type;—determining a vehicle tire type for the vehicle on the basis of vehicle data in including information on at least one tire currently used with the vehicle,—determining whether the vehicle tire type can be associated to one of the at least one classified tire type; and—, in the case an association is determined, monitoring tire pressure according to the associated classified tire type.
US08494703B2

A Variable Offset Positioning Antenna Array for Enhanced Guidance of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in automated warehousing or storage systems for automobiles or the like, includes two or more inductor coils producing output as a result of interaction with a guidance wire located in or near the surface of the floor which is energized by a frequency generator, and an on board programmable microprocessor which processes the coil output to determine an exact position of the antenna array relative to the guidance wire. In one embodiment, the antenna array enables an AGV to follow a guidance wire at an offset to the direction of travel in order to allow automated storage and retrieval systems to handle asymmetrical items, such as automobiles, more efficiently and cost effectively by decreasing the building space required for travel aisles, vertical conveyors and storage locations as well as decreasing total individual item processing time.
US08494695B2

A rail vehicle includes of one or more locomotives and may further include one or more rail cars, and the rail vehicle further includes a locator element, a communications device and a control module located on the rail vehicle. The locator elements provide a location information of the rail vehicle to a control module. The control module is coupled to the communications device and the locator element. The control module determines control settings for controlling the operations of the communications device based on the location of the rail vehicle. The communications device sends and/or receives data, including communications data, off-board the rail vehicle.
US08494679B2

Modern steel production processes require precise knowledge of the current composition and temperature of the liquid metal being processed. In particular during steel production in a converter, high match rates for final carbon content and bath temperature are required. Quantitatively precise blowing of oxygen corresponding to the final target carbon content, and the metal temperature, are decisive factors affecting the economic efficiency of the process and the quality of the steel produced. In order to allow relatively precise process monitoring, various processes and procedures are known, the application thereof being based on measuring exhaust gas composition and on mass flow balances. All models work at an exactness that depends on the precision of the input data, particularly with respect to the weight data of the raw materials and the chemical properties of the metal used. In order to allow control of the converter process for producing steel independently of the predefined process model, in particular when blowing oxygen, the invention proposes that detected values for the critical decoking point (t′crit) and for the end of O2-blowing (t′EoB) are obtained by means of a submodel operating as a process monitor based on the exhaust gas analysis and independent of the process model, by sensibly combining the constituent signals obtained, by means of which values the oxygen content predicted by the process model is corrected at the start of the process and matched to the actual conditions near the end of the decoking period.
US08494669B2

Control node includes: current memories provided in corresponding relation to a plurality of equipments to store, for each of the equipments, a first current data set for remote-controlling an operational condition of the equipment and a second current data set for remote-controlling a logical connection between the equipment and another equipment; and library memories provided in corresponding relation to the equipments to store, for each of the equipments, a plurality of first data sets each for remote-controlling the operational condition of the equipment and a plurality of second data sets each for remote-controlling the logical connection between the equipment and another equipment. In response to a scene readout instruction, first and second data sets, corresponding to the scene designated by the instruction, are read out from the library memories and stored into the current memories as first and second current data sets, and a readout command for the designated scene is transmitted, via a network, to each of the equipments.
US08494667B2

A method and/or apparatus for encoding and/or decoding an audio signal is disclosed, in which a downmix gain is applied to a downmix signal in an encoding apparatus which, in turn, transmits, to a decoding apparatus, a bit stream containing information as to the applied downmix gain. The decoding apparatus recovers the downmix signal, using the downmix gain information. A method and/or apparatus for encoding and/or decoding an audio signal is also disclosed, in which the encoding apparatus can apply an arbitrary downmix gain (ADG) to the downmix signal, and can transmit a bit stream containing information as to the applied ADG to the decoding apparatus. The decoding apparatus recovers the downmix signal, using the ADG information. A method and/or apparatus for encoding and/or decoding an audio signal is also disclosed, in which the method and/or apparatus can also vary the energy level of a specific channel, and can recover the varied energy level.
US08494659B2

A tip meter for providing real time customer satisfaction information to a server is provided. The tip meter displays a tip percentage identified by the customer. During the course of the service experience, the tip percentage is adjusted up or down depending on the customer's real time satisfaction. If the customer decreases the tip percentage, the service staff can attempt to improve service during the rest of the encounter and thereby increase the tip. The tip meter also calculates the total bill, including a particular tip amount for the customer and includes a light to notify staff when service is needed.
US08494649B2

Techniques are described for controlling effects caused when an implantable medical device (IMD) is subject to a disruptive energy field. The IMD may include an implantable lead that includes one or more electrodes. The IMD may further include a first component having a parasitic inductance. The IMD may further include a second component having a reactance. In some examples, the reactance of the second component may be selected based on the parasitic inductance of the first component such that an amount of energy reflected along the lead in response to energy produced by an electromagnetic energy source is below a selected threshold. In additional examples, the parasitic inductance of the first component and the reactance of the second component are configured such that an amount of energy reflected along the lead in response to a frequency of electromagnetic energy is below a selected threshold.
US08494642B2

Systems and methods are disclosed to stimulate spine tissue to treat medical conditions such as pain and spinal injury. The invention uses electrical stimulation of the spine, where vibrational energy from a source is received by an implanted device and converted to electrical energy and the converted electrical energy is used by implanted electrodes to stimulate the pre-determined brain site. The vibrational energy is generated by a controller-transmitter, which could be located either externally or implanted. The vibrational energy is received by a receiver-stimulator, which could be located in the various regions on around the spine. The implantable receiver-stimulator stimulates different locations in the spine region to provide therapeutic benefit.
US08494627B2

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for developing transcranial electrical stimulation protocols are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes forming a first array of electrodes and optimizing a plurality of electrode parameters within the first array of electrodes to achieve a desired physiological response; identifying one or more electrodes within the optimized first array that have relatively low current compared to the remaining electrodes in the first array; removing the identified low current electrodes from the first array to form a second array of electrodes, wherein the number of electrodes in the second array is less than the number of electrodes in the first array and optimizing a plurality of electrode parameters with the second array of electrodes to achieve a desired physiological response.
US08494612B2

The invention relates to a method for navigation during medical interventions on tubular organ structures, characterized in that, before the intervention, static image data of the tubular organ structures are recorded and stored, the tubular organ structures are extracted from the image data and their course is converted into a geometric description used during the medical intervention for instrument/organ recording, and the instrument that is spatially localized by a tracking system is successively corrected in relation to the static data, by a transformation that is preferably defined by an optimization method, taking into account the geometric description and information on the previous distance covered by the instrument, or, conversely, the static data are successively corrected in relation to the instrument position, and thus the position of the instrument is associated with the anatomical structures in the static image data.
US08494600B2

A mobile communication device (1, 10) comprises shielding components that provide electromagnetic shielding or attenuation between a first area (A) and a second area (B, B1, B2) within and/or external of the communication device (1, 10). In said first area (A) an antenna (4) and at least one ferrite (6) are arranged, which ferrite (6) is provided to interact with said antenna (4) and to guide a magnetic flux between said first area (A) and said second area (B, B1, B2).
US08494595B2

A communication control apparatus includes a receiver that receives communication conditions between each of the base stations and a mobile terminal within a serving area; and a controller that performs control over energy consumption of each of the base stations and turns on or off power supplies of wireless communication modules of a part of a plurality of wireless communication modules in each of the base stations based on the communication conditions. Further, the communication control apparatus performs control over a plurality of base stations that provide service to mobile terminals, and performs scheduling for energy consumption between networks to thereby perform energy scheduling of a mobile network realizing energy saving of the entire network.
US08494594B2

A method for controlling, a power saving mode of a mobile station (MS) in a mobile communication system is disclosed. The method differently defines operations of power saving modes of individual cases in association with message traffic distinguished from user traffic of a service, so that it can effectively reduce power consumption of the mobile station (MS). Firstly, the listening window of the power saving mode is used. Secondly, a method for transmitting a request message for pending the sleep mode is used. If the sleep-mode pending is requested, the sleep-mode resume message may be used in the case of a reactivation, or the reactivation can be automatically performed if a current time reaches a predetermined time.
US08494586B2

A communication system, including a modular wireless communicator including a connector for connecting the communicator to any one of a plurality jacket devices, a controller for receiving identification signals that identify a jacket device that is connected to the communicator, for receiving user input signals generated by input controls from the identified jacket device, and for decoding the received user input signals based on the received identification signals, and a modem for transmitting data over the air in response to the decoded user input signals, and a plurality of jacket devices, each jacket device including input controls for receiving user input and generating corresponding user input signals, and a connector for connecting the jacket device to the communicator and for transmitting the identification signals and the user input signals to the communicator controller, wherein the communicator does not include input controls when a jacket device is not connected thereto.
US08494579B2

A system and method are provided that enable a mobile device when out-of-coverage and thus unable to send or receive messages to rely on other mobile devices which are also out-of-coverage as “hosts” for their outgoing messages such that when one of the hosts comes back into coverage the host mobile device (HMD) can send the outgoing messages on behalf of the originating or “source” mobile device (SMD). The system and method may comprise a pairing procedure to determine the suitability of a mobile device being an HMD according to criteria such as battery power, memory availability and whether the device is also out of coverage. When coming back into coverage, information is obtained from the data communication system to determine whether others have already sent messages that have been provided to host mobile devices.
US08494571B1

Methods and computer-readable mediums for processing push-to-talk voice messages are provided. According to one method, a first mobile station receives a push-to-talk voice message from a second mobile station, determines that a data object is attached to the push-to-talk voice message, determines a type of the data object, and stores the data object in a PTT attachment queue of the first mobile station, based upon the determined type of the data object, which may be a picture, video data, audio data, e-mail, document, contact, or the like.
US08494568B2

Transient distortion is compensated for by multiplying an exponentially-decaying phase shift onto the distorted waveform. The exponentially decaying phase shift waveform is patterned after the transient which typically takes the form of an exponential and occurs upon introduction of power to a circuit or circuit component. A digital circuit produces an appropriate exponentially decaying waveform which is used as the input for a look up table whose output is a complex sinusoidal waveform capable of compensating for the distortion. The complex sinusoid is multiplied onto the transmitted waveform. The decaying exponential is biased so that it crosses a threshold at which point the compensating circuitry is turned off.
US08494552B2

A method for performing configurable actions based upon the detection of one or more mobile devices includes receiving from a detection point an identifier for each of one or more mobile devices detected within a detection perimeter associated with the detection point. The identifiers are then filtered to determine a change in status for each of the one or more mobile devices. An action is then performed based upon at least one of the determined changes in status for each of the one or more mobile devices.
US08494549B1

A service may request the location of a network client in order to deliver advertisements for goods and services that are geographically near the client. It is desirable for the network to provide an obscured, or approximate, location to protect the privacy of the client. The network queries the client for its PN list. From the PN list, the network determines the active cell sectors and active cell towers. The network determines all cell sectors associated with the active cell towers, and excludes the sectors that encompass the client. From the non-excluded sectors, a cell sector is randomly selected. A geographic location is randomly selected from within the cell sector. A region that encompasses the geographic location is determined, and an identifier associated with the region, such as a ZIP code, is sent to the service. The exact location of the client cannot be determined from the regional identifier.
US08494545B2

The present invention discloses a method, an apparatus and a system for acquiring load information. In one method, a source access controller and a target access controller can interact through inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) handover related messages so that a source RAT system can acquire load information of a target RAT system when an inter-RAT Packet Switched (PS) handover is performed. This enables load balancing between different RAT systems so as to guarantee communications quality of the systems. In another method of the present invention, the source access controller and the target access controller interact through a Radio Access Network (RAN) Information Management (RIM) based load information request message and an RIM based load information response message, so that the source RAT system can acquire load information of the target RAT system before an inter-RAT PS domain handover is performed.
US08494538B2

A technique for transmission of wireless signals across CDMA radio links. Bandwidth is allocated dynamically within a session to specific CDMA subscriber unit based upon data rate determinations. Specifically, a dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithm operates from limits calculated based upon available ports per subscriber, expected user bandwidth, and parallel user bandwidth versus throughput. Provisions for priority service, unbalanced forward and reverse spectrum utilization, voice prioritization, and band switching are also made.
US08494535B2

A method and apparatus provides for efficient data rate control and power control processes by transmitting a primary and a secondary pilot channel associated with a data channel. The primary and secondary pilot channels are used for decoding the data. A ratio of power levels of the primary and secondary pilot channels is based on at least one of the data rate and payload size of the data channel. The power level of the primary pilot channel is maintained independent of at least one of data rate and payload size of the data channel. The power level of the secondary pilot channel may be adjusted based on at least one of data rate and payload size of the data channel.
US08494529B2

Disclosed is a method of controlling a session in a serving server taking charge of the control plane within a mobile communication network. The control method may include receiving, by the serving server, a tracking area update (TAU) request message of a terminal from a target base station; retrieving, by the serving server, a previous server that has taken charge of the control plane for the terminal; receiving, by the serving server and from the retrieved previous server, a context response message comprising information indicating that a session for the terminal had been established to be passed through a path over the nodes within a fixed network different from a mobile communication network; deciding, by the serving server, whether gateway relocation is needed; releasing, by the serving server, the established session; transmitting, by the serving server, an accept message comprising information for the processing result to the terminal through the target base station; and establishing, by the serving server a session passing through a path over the nodes within a fixed network different from a mobile communication network based on the information.
US08494527B2

The invention relates to an application server in a telecommunications network for transferring a communication session from a first connection between a first client and a remote client to a second connection between a second client and the remote client. The communication session comprises a media path and a signalling path. The application server being arranged to a) receive a transfer request, b) send a set-up request to the second client, for setting up the second connection, c1) transfer the signalling path, c2) transfer the media path, d) send an update message towards the remote party, the update message comprising an indication that the transfer has been executed, and e) send a termination message to the first client to terminate the first connection.
US08494514B2

A method for realizing a fast answer of a terminal in a digital trunking communication system comprises: after receiving a channel assignment message signalling from a system side, a main control device of the terminal establishes a service channel, determines a call type, and executes a voice mode flow when the call is a normal voice call, or sends a service interface display message to a control chip of the terminal when the call is a trunking call; and the control chip, according to the service interface display message sent by the main control device, displays a service interface and begins to answer voice information. A terminal in the digital trunking communication system is further provided, which comprises a main control device and a control chip. The terminal in the digital trunking communication system and method for realizing the fast answer thereof adapt to the requirements for a fast access and display of the terminal in the digital trunking communication system and better meet the requirements of the digital trunking users.
US08494513B2

A spatio-temporal random voting scheme is provided that incorporates location distribution, spatial randomness, and temporal randomness in the collection of information from a plurality of sensing devices within the cognitive network. The region is divided into a plurality of sectors, where each sector is a portion of the region. A subset of sectors is selected from the plurality of sectors in the region to provide spatial randomness. A device is randomly selected from each sector in the subset of sectors to provide additional spatial randomness to the information collection process. Temporal randomness may be introduced by randomly selecting a timeslot within a sensing window period in which devices are to scan a frequency spectrum band to determine if a signal energy above a threshold is detected. Sensing reports are then collected from the selected sensing devices and used to determine whether the frequency spectrum band is available or in use.
US08494512B2

A communication terminal includes a first wireless communication unit that communicates with a base station; a second wireless communication unit that communicates with another communication terminal including an equivalent of the first wireless communication unit; a temperature measurement unit; and a control unit that selects one of the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit according to a temperature measured by the a temperature measurement unit.
US08494502B2

The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates connecting a wireless device to a secure network. A device can establish a near field communication link with a verified device on a network, wherein the near field communication link can be a secure and/or encrypted link to provision the device without comprising security constraints within the network. An installation component can invoke the transfer of provisioning data to the network via the near filed communication link to secure a wireless connection for the device to the network.
US08494501B2

Identity-blocking services are provided. The current physical location of a mobile device may be disclosed to a third party without sending any identity information of the mobile subscriber to the third party. Blocking of the mobile subscriber's identity may be desirable for privacy reasons, to comply with a government regulation, or to implement a telecommunication service option selected by the mobile subscriber.
US08494498B2

A mobile terminal and corresponding method are discussed. The mobile terminal includes a camera obtaining an image; a display unit displaying the obtained image; and a controller displaying advertisement images about at least one point of purchase included in the obtained image by overlapping the advertisement images with the image and if a selection signal about the displayed advertisement images is received, displaying the advertisement image for which the selection signal has been received in such a way to be distinguished from the advertisement image before receiving the selection signal. An advertisement image may be displayed on an image obtained from a camera and an advertisement image for which a selection signal has been received may be displayed in such a way to be distinguished from the advertisement image before receiving the selection signal, thereby enabling the user to easily recognize which advertisement image he or she has selected.
US08494497B2

Disclosed is a method and system for transmitting a haptic function within a communication system. The method includes: inserting, by a first mobile terminal, haptic information corresponding to a selected vibration into a call setup request message and transmitting the call setup request message to a network server when a haptic service is executed; analyzing, by the network server, the haptic information, generating a vibration code corresponding to the haptic information, inserting the vibration code into the call setup request message, and transmitting the call setup request message to at least one second mobile terminal; and executing, by the second mobile terminal, a corresponding haptic function according to the vibration code included in the call setup request message when receiving the call setup request message.
US08494493B2

Among other things, generating a dynamic digital data file for transferring to a mobile communication device includes receiving from a user a phone number associated with a mobile communication device. Also, a user selected digital data file is received. Authorization to access the received digital data file is verified. When detected that the received digital data file is verified as an authorized file, the user is able to edit the received digital data file to generate mobile content. A data connection with the mobile communication device associated with the received phone number is also established. Further, one or more operational parameters of the mobile communication device based on the established data connection are determined. The generated mobile content is transcoded into a format compatible to the determined operational parameters, and the transcoded mobile content is delivered to the mobile communication device.
US08494490B2

Disclosed are methods, circuits, systems and applications for providing messaging services. The methods, circuits, systems and applications may provide for download, synchronization, voicemail-message to text-message translation, direct access and handling of selected voicemail messages through a user's user interface and other functionalities relating to voicemails, voicemail messages and/or voicemail/voicemail-messages related data received/generated/stored on a cellular operator's voicemail server.
US08494475B2

A direct mixer includes a transistor and sample-and-hold module and uses a transposition of an RF signal into baseband with a configuration with high dynamic range and low noise factor.
US08494471B2

A receiver 1 is comprised of a first frequency changing circuit 13 for converting a received signal including two or more broadcast waves into a first intermediate frequency signal with a local oscillation, a band separation filter 14 consisting of a multistage FIR type filter for allowing bands included in the two or more broadcast waves converted into the above-mentioned first intermediate frequency signal to pass therethrough simultaneously, and a second frequency changing circuit 15 for converting the received signal which is outputted by the above-mentioned band separation filter 14 and which is limited to the above-mentioned two or more broadcast waves which the receiver desires to receive into a second intermediate frequency signal from which each of the broadcast waves can be sampled at a frequency at which the broadcast waves do not interfere with one another.
US08494456B2

The transmitter of the transceiver includes: a transmitter-side mixers of a transmitter-side modulator; a transmitter-side voltage-controlled oscillator; and a transmitter-side divider. The divider having a dividing factor of a non-integral number is supplied with an oscillating output of the oscillator. A pair of non-quadrature local signals having a phase difference of 90° plus a predetermined offset angle is produced by the divider and supplied to the mixers. The transmitter includes a phase-shift unit which converts a pair of quadrature transmit signals having a phase difference of about 90° on an analog basis into a pair of non-quadrature shifted transmit signals. Consequently, quadrature modulation is performed by the mixers. Use of a similar configuration enables the reduction in interference of an RF signal with local signals supplied to receiver-side mixers of the receiver.
US08494454B2

A method for processing a control channel at a user agent (UA) to identify at least one of an uplink and a downlink resource grant within a wireless communication system wherein resource grants are specified by control channel element (CCE) subsets wherein each CCE subset is a control channel candidate, wherein the control channel is used for a plurality C of carriers, the method comprising the steps of, at the user agent, for each of the C carriers, (i) randomly identifying a UA specific search space including a control channel candidate subset for the carrier and (ii) attempting to decode each of the control channel candidates in the UA specific search space to identify at least one of an uplink and a downlink grant associated with the carrier.
US08494450B2

The present invention provides method and system for managing communication in a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) communication network. The method comprises reserving a first segment downlink time slot and/or a first segment uplink time slot for a first segment in the FDMA communication network. The first segment belongs to a plurality of segments used in the FDMA communication network. Thereafter, a communication is scheduled between a base station and one or more mobile stations based on the first segment downlink time slot and/or the first segment uplink time slot. The base station uses the first segment at a high power level for the communication. Further, the one or more mobile stations can be scheduled for an uplink transmission, based on a location of the one or more mobile stations. A mobile station can be located in one of a plurality of sectors of a cell area of a base station.
US08494446B2

In a communication partner device (1) intended for the contactless transmission of digital data to be transmitted having a transmission circuit (2), the transmission circuit (2) comprises a modulation circuit (17) for the amplitude modulation of a carrier signal (CS), which modulation circuit (17) comprises a circuit stage (20, 20′) for producing a plurality of different resistance values (RW 1, RW 1′) that act on a signal output (TX1, TX2), which resistance values (RW1, RW1′) can be transformed, by means of a signal processing circuit (3) arranged to transform resistance values that belongs to the communication partner device (1), into transformed resistance values (RW2, RW2′), which transformed resistance values (RW2, RW2′) are responsible for damping a transmission coil (7) of the communication partner device (1) when modulated low-level carrier signal sections are generated in a modulated carrier signal.
US08494440B2

Transmitting streamed video to at least one wireless terminal by a wireless network having a channel frequency reuse pattern. The wireless network receives a request for the streamed video from the at least one wireless terminal and receives position information from the at least one wireless terminal requesting the streamed video. The wireless network selects a transceiving device to service transmission of the streamed video to the at least one wireless terminal. The transceiving device is allocated a first channel frequency set of the channel frequency reuse pattern. The wireless network or a component thereof selects a channel from a second channel frequency set that is different from the first channel frequency set. The transceiving device then, using a directional antenna, transmits the streamed video to the at least one wireless terminal in a direction based upon the position information using the selected channel.
US08494435B2

Disclosed is an image forming system including an image forming device to form an image on a paper and a plurality of post processing devices, and the image forming device includes an ejecting place information informing unit, a comparing unit and a stopping permission information informing unit, and the post processing devices include a determination unit, a permission request unit and an actuation determination unit.
US08494431B2

Sheet registration method and system includes transporting a sheet including a leading edge and a trailing edge between a first and second sensor. The first and second sensors each have a linear sensing area with a longitudinal axis aligned at a non-zero angle to each other. The first and second sensors are adapted to identify positions of the leading edge and the trailing edge. An alignment of the sheet is adjusted responsive to a sheet length determined using the output from the first and second sensors.
US08494426B2

In a fixing device, the surface of the recording paper carrying belt passes through a position satisfying a relation: f
US08494424B2

A fixing device for thermally fixing a developing agent image to a sheet fed in a sheet feeding direction includes: a tubular flexible member; a nip member; a heater; a reflection member; a backup member; and a temperature sensor. The tubular flexible member has an inner peripheral surface defining an internal space. The nip member is disposed in the internal space and has one surface and opposite surface. The inner peripheral surface is in contact with the one surface. The heater is disposed in the internal space and confronts the nip member in a confronting direction. The reflection member is configured to reflect a radiant heat from the heater toward the nip member. The backup member is configured to provide a nip region in cooperation with the nip member for nipping the tubular flexible member between the backup member and the nip member. The temperature sensor is disposed in the internal space and is configured to detect a temperature of the nip member. The temperature sensor is positioned outside of the reflection member and in confrontation with the opposite surface.
US08494420B2

A development agent supply device is provided, which includes a development agent holding member configured to rotate around an axis parallel to a first direction such that a development agent holding surface, which faces an intended device to be supplied with development agent in a first position, moves in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a transfer board configured to charge and transfer development agent thereon to a second position to face the development agent holding surface, and a facing member disposed to face the development agent holding surface in a position between the first position and the second position in the second direction, the facing member being configured to charge development agent held on the development agent holding surface under an alternating electric field generated between the facing member and the development agent holding member.
US08494412B2

Systems and a method for image forming systems to skip over the non-printing photoreceptor area in order to not skip a label position on a continuous print web medium. A vacuum assembly is coupled to a controller that controls different vacuum pressures at each vacuum roller therein. The vacuum rollers provide drag and drive forces to skip a seam of the photoreceptor and a residual length based on the number and size of images on the photoreceptor.
US08494393B2

An information processing apparatus includes: a display unit that displays a screen including at least one operation target item constituting a target of an operation; a recording unit that records pieces of information depicting operations performed by a user on operation target items displayed on the display unit as pieces of operation history information; and a screen reproducing unit that reproduces screens displayed at points in time at which the respective operations were performed on the basis of the pieces of operation history information recoded in the recording unit.
US08494392B2

An image forming system including first and second image forming apparatuses that includes a first image forming unit configured to form an image on a first surface of recording paper, a discharging unit configured to discharge the recording paper on which the image is formed by the first image forming unit to the second image forming apparatus, a second image forming unit configured to form an image on a second surface of the recording paper discharged by the discharging unit from the first image forming apparatus, and a correction unit configured to correct adjustment timing of the image forming system as a whole so that first adjustment timing for performing an adjustment operation of an output image formed by the first image forming unit and second adjustment timing for performing an adjustment operation of an output image formed by the second image forming unit accord with each other.
US08494389B2

A fixing apparatus that conveys a printing medium to a fixing nip portion formed by rotating members, and fixes an image onto the printing medium by heat from heating elements. The fixing apparatus also includes a safety element, a rotation detection circuit, and a limiting circuit. The safety element is in a power supply path to supply electrical power to the heating elements and to shut off the path in response with an abnormal temperature. The rotation detection circuit detects a rotation state of the rotating members. The limiting circuit limits a drive of a second driving circuit per a rotation detection circuit output. A first driving circuit detects that the circuit drives a first heating element per a control signal, regardless of the rotating members rotation state, and the second driving circuit drives a second heating element per a control signal and the output from the rotation detection circuit.
US08494388B2

Provided is an image forming apparatus, including: a heating section; a coil that is opposed to the heating section, for heating the heating section; a core that has a circumferential surface covered with a magnetic shielding plate having different lengths in an axis direction in a plurality of steps according to a position in a circumferential direction; a rotary section for causing the core to rotate; a plurality of temperature sensing elements for sensing temperatures of the heating section; and a control section for controlling a heating width by controlling the rotary section to control a rotation angle of the core, setting the heating width corresponding to a size of a paper sheet at a start of a print job, and setting the heating width wider than at the start of the print job midway through the print job.
US08494384B2

An image forming apparatus includes a forming section that forms an image on a side of paper; a fixing section that applies heat to fix the image onto the side of the paper; a paper reversing section that reverses a front and back of the paper having the image fixed onto a first side in the fixing section; a first measuring section that is provided between a registration roller and the forming section to measure a first moisture content of the paper before an image is formed on the first side, and a second moisture content of the paper before an image is formed on a second side, after the image is fixed on the first side; and a calculating section that calculates amount of change of the size of the paper on the basis of the difference between the first moisture content and the second moisture content.
US08494380B2

A developer storage unit includes first and second rotary members. The first rotary member includes: first contacting portion capable of contacting with the second rotary member, first non-contacting portion not in contact with the second rotary member, and first stopper portion offset from the first contacting portion in an axial direction of the first rotary member. The second rotary member includes: second contacting portion capable of contacting with the first rotary member, second non-contacting portion not in contact with the first rotary member, second stopper portion offset from the second contacting portion in an axial direction of the second rotary member, and detected portion detected by detector. The second stopper portion comes into contact with the first stopper portion when the detected portion is moved from used product detecting position to new product detecting position while the first non-contacting portion is positioned to face the second rotary member.
US08494372B2

The invention pertains to optical fiber transmission systems, and is particularly relevant to transmission of large volumes of data over long distances at high rates. An improved method and system for transmitting optical data over long distances using filtered return-to-zero (RZ) modulation format is disclosed. In particular, the improvement teaches the proper optical and electrical filtering of the optical signal at the receiver module.
US08494370B2

Embodiments of the invention include systems and method for determining the location of components in a data center. In one embodiment, a component locating system includes a lattice formed of interconnected hubs and rods. Each hub in the lattice computes its address relative to the address of a reference location, such as the location of an adjacent hub or of an origin hub defining the origin of a reference coordinate system. A plurality of optical transmitters is distributed along the lattice to transmit location information. Optical receivers mounted on top of the racks receive the location information and communicate the location information to rack-mounted components. The racks and rack-mounted components determine their locations from the location information and optionally transmit the location information to a central management server.
US08494362B2

A network comprising at least one host device having an interface card connected to a backplane of said host device, wherein said interface card comprises at least one cage for receiving a pluggable module wherein the pluggable module comprises Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) between an optical network interface and an electrical host interface.
US08494343B2

Various embodiments of apparatus and/or methods are described for presenting text data (e.g., closed captioning data) during trick play mode presentation of a video stream. An analyzed file of the text data is provided on a digital video recorder (DVR), and during trick play mode, text data corresponding to video frames of a video stream is retrieved from the analyzed file and outputted for presentation by the presentation device.
US08494339B2

A method of generating a file at a header metadata creator apparatus, the method including: generating, at the header metadata creator apparatus, a file, the file including: a file header, a file body, and a file footer, wherein the file header includes at least KLV encoded header metadata, the KLV encoded header metadata including at least a universal label, length data and variable length data, the variable length data including a plurality of KLV encoded metadata sets, each one of the KLV encoded metadata sets includes a predetermined universal label, essence length data and a plurality of KLV encoded metadata items, and each KLV encoded metadata item includes at least an item universal label, variable item length data and item value data.
US08494332B2

A tray assembly for a fiber optic enclosure includes a mounting bracket having a first bracket, a second bracket and a divider panel. The first bracket is configured for mounting to a fiber optic enclosure. The first bracket defines a pivot axis. The second bracket is engaged to the first bracket and is adapted to pivot about the pivot axis between a closed position and an open position. The divider panel is engaged to the first bracket and is adapted to pivot about the pivot axis between a closed position and an open position. The tray assembly further includes a first set of trays engaged to the second bracket and a second set of trays engaged to the divider panel. The divider panel is disposed between the first and second sets of trays.
US08494324B2

A wire or optical fiber cable configured for electronic devices, including at least one wire or optical fiber; at least one inner layer surrounding a portion of the at least one wire or optical fiber; at least one outer layer surrounding a portion of the at least one inner layer; and at least one internal sipe separating at least a part of one outer layer and at least a part of one inner layer. The internal sipe is formed by at least a portion of an inner surface of the outer layer and at least a portion of an outer surface of the inner layer; and the inner and outer surface portions forming the internal sipe oppose each other and can move relative to each other in a sliding motion.
US08494320B2

An optical device includes: an optical waveguide; and a plurality of diffraction grating layers, provided along the optical waveguide, each including a diffraction grating defined by a discontinuous first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer having a refractive index different from a refractive index of the first semiconductor layer and burying the first semiconductor layer, one diffraction grating layer of the plurality of diffraction grating layers including a third semiconductor layer being continuous with the diffraction grating and made from a material different from materials of the first and the second semiconductor layers.
US08494311B1

Optical waveguides can extend alongside one another in sufficient proximity such that light couples between or among them as crosstalk. The electromagnetic field associated with light flowing in one optical waveguide can extend to an adjacent optical waveguide and induce unwanted light flow. The optical waveguide receiving the crosstalk can comprise a phase shifting capability, such as a longitudinal variation in refractive index, situated between two waveguide lengths. Crosstalk coupled onto the first waveguide length can flow through the refractive index variation, be phase shifted, and then flow onto the second waveguide length. The phase shifted crosstalk flowing on the second waveguide can meet other crosstalk that has coupled directly onto the second waveguide segment. The phase difference between the two crosstalks can suppress crosstalk via destructive interference. Destructive interference can also result from disposing a phase shifting provision in a crosstalk coupling path located between two optical waveguides.
US08494299B2

A digital image acquisition system includes a portable apparatus for capturing digital images and a digital processing component for detecting, analyzing and informing the photographer regarding motion blur, and for reducing camera motion blur in an image captured by the apparatus. The digital processing component operates by comparing the image with at least one other image, for example a preview image, of nominally the same scene taken outside the exposure period of the main image. In one embodiment the digital processing component identifies at least one feature in a single preview image which is relatively less blurred than the corresponding feature in the main image, calculates a point spread function (PSF) in respect of such feature, and de-convolves the main image using the PSF. In another embodiment, the digital processing component calculates a trajectory of at least one feature in a plurality of preview images, extrapolates such feature on to the main image, calculates a PSF in respect of the feature, and de-convolves the main image using the PSF. In another embodiment the digital processing unit after determining the degree of blur notifies the photographer of the existing blur or automatically invokes consecutive captures.
US08494285B2

Systems, methods, and apparatus are described that that increase computer vision analysis in the field of semantic segmentation. With images accompanied by scan data, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional image information is employed for joint segmentation. Through the established correspondence between image data and scan data, two-dimensional and three-dimensional information respectively associated therewith is integrated. Using trained random forest classifiers, the probability of each pixel in images belonging to different object classes is predicted. With the predicted probability, optimization of the labeling of images and scan data is performed by integrating multiples cues in the markov random field.
US08494283B2

Methods and systems for image quality assessment are disclosed. A method includes accessing an image, identifying features of the image, assessing the features and generating subjective scores for the features based upon a mapping of the features to the subjective scores and based on the subjective scores, generating an image quality score. Access is provided to the image quality score.
US08494282B2

A method and apparatus for removing blur in an image is disclosed. The blur in the image is caused by relative motion between the imaging device and the object being imaged. A set of differences between the pixel values in the image is calculated. The set of differences in pixel values are divided into two groups, wherein the first group of differences in pixel values corresponds to differences in pixel values due to noise, and the second group of differences in pixel values corresponds to differences in pixel values due to noise and motion. An estimate of the motion blur is determined using the second group of differences in pixel values. The estimate of the blur is then used to remove the blur from an image.
US08494280B2

An automated method for extracting highlighted regions in a scanned text documents includes color masking of highlight regions, extracting text from highlighted regions, recognizing the characters in extracted text optically and inserting the recognized characters to new document in order to easily identify highlighted text in scanned images. Using a two-layer multi-mask compression technology configured in a scanned export image path, edges and text regions can be extracted and together with the use of mask coordinates and associated mask colors, all highlighted texts can be easily identified and extracted. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can then be utilized to appropriate summarization of different extracted highlighted texts.
US08494278B2

A method and computer program product for recognizing handwriting. A handwritten character is captured as an image of black pixels and white pixels. The image is partitioned into segments, each of which having a pixel ratio of a total number of black pixels in the segment to a total number of black pixels in the image. A reference character has segments corresponding to the image segments. Each reference character segment has a value range of a pixel ratio of a total number of black pixels in the segment of the reference character to a total number of black pixels in the reference character. It is ascertained that the pixel ratio of more than a predetermined number of segments in the image are within the value range of the pixel ratio of the corresponding segments of the reference character, from which, the handwritten character is recognized as the reference character.
US08494277B2

A system for recognizing handwriting. A handwritten character is captured as an image of black pixels and white pixels. The image is partitioned into segments, each of which having a pixel ratio of a total number of black pixels in the segment to a total number of black pixels in the image. A reference character has segments corresponding to the image segments. Each reference character segment has a value range of a pixel ratio of a total number of black pixels in the segment of the reference character to a total number of black pixels in the reference character. It is ascertained that the pixel ratio of more than a predetermined number of segments in the image are within the value range of the pixel ratio of the corresponding segments of the reference character, from which, the handwritten character is recognized as the reference character.
US08494273B2

A computer implemented method for adaptive optical character recognition on a document with distorted characters includes performing a distortion-correction transformation on a segmented character of the document assuming the segmented character to be a candidate character. The method further includes comparing the transformed segmented character to the candidate character by calculating a comparison score. If the calculated score is within a predetermined range, the segmented character is identified with the candidate character. The method may be implemented in either of computer hardware configured to perform the method, or in computer software embodied in a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium. Also disclosed are corresponding computer program product and data processing system.
US08494272B2

An image processing device including: an image acceptance unit accepting a first image and a second image; a perimeter measurement unit measuring a perimeter of an object image within the first image or an object image within the second image; an area measurement unit measuring an area of the object image within the first image or the object image within the second image; a first reference area generation unit generating a first reference area based on the perimeter and area measured; a datum point extraction unit extracting datum points from the first image and the second image; and a first match judgment unit making the datum points coincide with each other, and judging whether or not the object image within the first image and the object image within the second image are matched, based on densities of the first and second image within the first reference area.
US08494260B2

An image processing device includes: a coordinate conversion unit (142) which calculates a corresponding sampling coordinate on a color mosaic image corresponding to a pixel position of a color image when a deformation process is performed, according to the pixel position of the color image; a sampling unit (143); a sampling unit (143) which interpolates-generates a pixel value in a sampling coordinate for each of color planes obtained by decomposing the color mosaic image; and a color generation unit (144) which generates a color image by synthesizing interpolation values of the respective color planes. Each pixel value of a color image subjected to a deformation process is obtained as a pixel value of the sampling coordinate from the color mosaic image by interpolation calculation, thereby realizing the color interpolation process for generating a color image from the color mosaic image and a deformation process of the color image by one interpolation calculation.
US08494259B2

A computer vision system provides a universal scene descriptor (USD) framework and methodology for using the USD framework to extract multi-level semantic metadata from scenes. The computer vision system adopts the human vision system principles of saliency, hierarchical feature extraction and hierarchical classification to systematically extract scene information at multiple semantic levels.
US08494258B2

A learning apparatus includes an image generator, a feature point extractor, a feature value calculator, and a classifier generator. The image generator generates, from an input image, images having differing scale coefficients. The feature point extractor extracts feature points from each image generated by the image generator. The feature value calculator calculates feature values for the feature points by filtering the feature points using a predetermined filter. The classifier generator generates one or more classifiers for detecting a predetermined target object from an image by means of statistical learning using the feature values.
US08494256B2

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, a learning apparatus and method, and a program which allow reliable evaluation of whether or not the subject appears sharp.A subject extraction unit 21 uses an input image to generate a subject map representing a region including the subject in the input image, and supplies the subject map to a determination unit 22. The determination unit 22 uses the input image and the subject map from the subject extraction unit 21 to determine the blur extent of the region of the subject on the input image, and calculates the score of the input image on the basis of the blur extent. This score is regarded as an index for evaluating the degree to which the subject appears sharp in the input image. The present invention can be applied to an image capture apparatus.
US08494255B2

A system and method are described for selecting and identifying a unique object or feature in the system user's three-dimensional (“3-D”) environment in a two-dimensional (“2-D”) virtual representation of the same object or feature in a virtual environment. The system and method may be incorporated in a mobile device that includes position and orientation sensors to determine the pointing device's position and pointing direction. The mobile device incorporating the present invention may be adapted for wireless communication with a computer-based system that represents static and dynamic objects and features that exist or are present in the system user's 3-D environment. The mobile device incorporating the present invention will also have the capability to process information regarding a system user's environment and calculating specific measures for pointing accuracy and reliability.
US08494249B2

A paper sheet recognition apparatus recognizes a type of a paper sheet in an input image by matching the input image of the paper sheet with reference images of a plurality of paper sheets. The apparatus includes a candidate selecting unit that selects a predetermined number of candidate types of the paper sheet based on a density feature and direction features of each block acquired by uniformly dividing the input image and the reference images; and a detailed judgment unit that adaptively divides the input image into blocks according to features of a reference image corresponding to each type of paper sheets selected by the candidate selecting unit, and performs a detailed judgment based on matching values between corresponding blocks of the divided input image and each of the reference images.
US08494247B2

A radiographic imaging apparatus performs imaging based on an examination order including a plurality of imaging protocols, executes image processing for the captured image based on the imaging protocol used at the time of the imaging, designates a change source imaging protocol and a change destination imaging protocol from the examination order based on an instruction of an operator, and changes the imaging protocol corresponding to the image captured based on the change source imaging protocol from the change source imaging protocol to the change destination imaging protocol. When the change of protocol is made, the apparatus executes image processing based on the change destination imaging protocol for the image before the image processing which is captured based on the change source imaging protocol.
US08494246B2

A navigation system for use in a luminal network of a patient, such as the airways, that is able to analyze a three-dimensional model of the luminal network and automatically determine a pathway from an entry point to a designated target. The system further automatically assigns waypoints along the determined pathway in order to assist a physician in navigating a probe to the designated target.
US08494244B2

A system and method for dual energy CT spectral imaging that provides for accurate blood vessel stenosis visualization and quantification is disclosed. The CT system includes an x-ray source configured to project x-rays toward a region-of-interest of a patient that includes a blood vessel in a stenosed condition and having a plaque material therein. The CT system also includes an x-ray detector to receive x-rays emitted by the x-ray source and attenuated by the region-of-interest, a data acquisition system (DAS) operably connected to the x-ray detector, and a computer programmed to obtain a first set of CT image data for the region-of-interest at a first chromatic energy level, obtain a second set of CT image data for the region-of-interest at a second chromatic energy level that is higher than the first chromatic energy level, and identify plaque material in the region-of-interest by analyzing the second set of CT image data.
US08494239B2

A second order partial derivative matrix and at least one first order partial derivative value of a pixel value at each pixel position in an image are calculated. Based on values of the calculated second order partial derivative matrix, an evaluation value of a likelihood of being a line-like structure and/or an evaluation value of a likelihood of being a plate-like structure for the pixel position are calculated, such that the larger the first order partial derivative value, the smaller the evaluation values.
US08494229B2

An eye tracker device (200) comprises a diffractive beam expander (207) to provide two substantially collimated illuminating light beams (B11, B12). The collimated light beams (B11, B12) provide two reflection spots (G1, G2) appearing in the image of the eye. The gaze direction (GZD) is calculated from the positions of the reflection spots (G1, G2) with respect to the pupil (P) of the eye (E1). The two illuminating beams (B11, B12) are provided by splitting an infrared laser beam (B4) into two in-coupled beams (B5, B6), which propagate in different directions in the substrate (7) of the beams expander. The in-coupled beams (B5, B6) are expanded and their light is subsequently coupled out of the substrate (7) by an out-coupling grating (230) to illuminate the eye (E1). The same substrate (7) may also be used to implement a virtual display device (100) for displaying virtual images to said eye (E1).
US08494228B2

In a personal authentication method using the subcutaneous bloodstream measurement where an expanded laser beam is irradiated onto a finger pad, light reflected from a subcutaneous blood vessel layer is imaged on an image sensor as a laser speckle using an optical system, a quantity that represents the rate of change with respect to time of the amount of light received for each pixel of the laser speckle is calculated, the values are used as a two-dimensional map to obtain a map showing the bloodstream of the finger pad, and the bloodstream map is comparison-checked against pre-registered data of individuals, the laser speckle is imaged on the image sensor using a region separate from a region irradiated by the laser beam as an observation region of the image sensor. A device for use in the method is also provided. Relating to a method and device for authentication using, e.g., a finger print pattern on the basis of the laser speckle, an improved technique capable of extracting, e.g., the finger print pattern accurately is provided.
US08494216B2

An image processing device includes a tracking unit to track a predetermined point on an image as a tracking point, to correspond with a first operation. The image processing device also includes a display control unit to display tracking point candidates, which are greater in number than objects on the image and fewer than the number of pixels of the image, on the image, at an equidistant spacing. Further the image processing device includes a setting unit to set one of the tracking point candidates as a tracking point on a next frame of the tracking unit, in response to an instruction of the one of the tracking point candidates during a display of the tracking point candidates at the equidistant spacing.
US08494215B2

The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can employ vision-monitoring techniques to enhance an experience associated with elements of a local environment. In particular, the architecture can establish gaze- or eye-tracking attributes in connection with a user. In addition, a location and a head or face-based perspective of the user can also be obtained. By aggregating this information, the architecture can identify a current field of view of the user, and then map that field of view to a modeled view in connection with a geospatial model of the environment. In addition, the architecture can select additional content that relates to an entity in the view or a modeled entity in the modeled view, and further present the additional content to the user.
US08494208B2

An inertial vibration exciter having a magnet assembly defining an annular gap, a coil assembly disposed in the annular gap, suspension means mounting the coil assembly for reciprocating movement in the gap, means coupling the coil assembly to a member to be vibrated, and a hermetically sealed housing in which the magnet assembly, the coil assembly, the suspension means and the coupling means are disposed. The housing may comprise a heat sink thermally coupled to the magnet assembly and the heat sink may be resiliently coupled to the housing. The coupling means may comprise a plate-like member to which the coil is rigidly attached and of a size substantially greater than the diameter of the coil. The plate-like member may be resiliently coupled to the housing. Mounting means such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive member may be positioned centrally on the plate-like coupling means and adapted to mount the inertial vibration exciter to the member to be vibrated, the mounting means being of a substantially smaller size than the coupling means to leave the periphery of the coupling means free to move.
US08494207B2

Improved approaches for providing a speaker within a housing of a portable electronic device are disclosed. The housing of the portable electronic device can be compact, such as a low profile housing. In one embodiment, an acoustic chamber for a speaker can be formed internal to a housing for a portable electronic device using non-dedicated space. In another embodiment, irregular surfaces can be sealed so that an acoustic chamber for a speaker can be formed internal to a housing for a portable electronic device.
US08494204B2

An audio device includes a microphone, a sound canal allowing sound to pass from the surroundings to the microphone, a signal path from the microphone to a receiver, and a current source, such that sounds received at the microphone may be enhanced and presented at the ear level of the user. A protection screen is provided at the sound canal, and includes a first surface which faces the surroundings and a second surface which faces the sound canal, and defines a slit-formed opening between the first surface and the second surface. The curvature between the first surface and the slit-formed opening is smooth and gradual, and a sharp edge is located at the transition between the second surface and the slit-formed opening.
US08494199B2

A hearing aid includes an input transducer for provision of an input signal, a high pass filter configured for providing a high pass filtered part of the input signal, a low pass filter configured for providing a low pass filtered part of the input signal, a synthesizing unit configured for generating a synthetic signal from the high pass filtered part using a model based on a periodic function, wherein a phase of the synthetic signal is at least in part randomized, a combiner configured for combining the low pass filtered part with the synthetic signal for provision of a combined signal, a hearing loss processor configured for processing the combined signal for provision of a processed signal, and a receiver coupled to the hearing loss processor, wherein the receiver is configured for converting an audio output signal into an output sound signal.
US08494186B2

Provided are a sound plate and an electronic device employing the same. The sound plate includes at least one speaker unit disposed within a plate that is configured as a stand of the electronic device. Sound output by the at least one speaker is emitted through at least slit provided in a side surface of the plate.
US08494182B2

The invention relates to a compressor and method for amplifying an input signal with a controlled gain. An output signal representing the input signal is amplified by an initial gain and a signal level of the input signal or of the output signal is compared with a threshold level. If the signal level is below the threshold level, the initial gain value is updated using an adaptive control characteristic, and if the signal level is above the threshold level, the initial gain value is updated using a fixed control characteristic or an adaptive control characteristic respectively. The adaptive control characteristic is dependent on the signal level and the fixed control characteristic is independent from the signal level.
US08494180B2

Systems and methods provided herein decrease an idle channel noise floor and reduce power during an idle channel input for low power audio devices that include a digital pulse width modulation (PWM) amplifier having a noise shaper. An audio data signal is monitored for an idle channel condition. The noise shaper performs quantization of the audio data signal and uses noise shaper filter coefficients to shape noise resulting from the quantization. Predetermined values for the noise shaper filter coefficients are used to shape the noise resulting from quantization while the idle channel condition is not being detected. The values of the noise shaper filter coefficients are reduced so that the values move toward zeros, and the reduced values of the noise shaper filter coefficients are used to attenuate noise resulting from quantization, while the idle channel condition is being detected. The noise shaper filter coefficients are returned to the predetermined values when the idle channel condition is no longer detected. Alternative embodiments are also provided.
US08494179B2

A noise reduction system includes multiple transducers that generate time domain signals. A transforming device transforms the time domain signals into frequency domain signals. A signal mixing device mixes the frequency domain signals according to a mixing ratio. Frequency domain signals are rotated in phase to generate phase rotated signals. A post-processing device attenuates portions of the output based on coherency levels of the signals.
US08494177B2

A dual omnidirectional microphone array noise suppression is described. Compared to conventional arrays and algorithms, which seek to reduce noise by nulling out noise sources, the array of an embodiment is used to form two distinct virtual directional microphones which are configured to have very similar noise responses and very dissimilar speech responses. The only null formed is one used to remove the speech of the user from V2. The two virtual microphones may be paired with an adaptive filter algorithm and VAD algorithm to significantly reduce the noise without distorting the speech, significantly improving the SNR of the desired speech over conventional noise suppression systems.
US08494176B2

A novel information providing system for providing various information to a terminal is proposed. The information providing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a transmitter 10 for transmitting various information as information on sound pressure vibration, a portable telephone 20 serving as a terminal for receiving various information, and a server 50 connected through the Internet 40 to the transmitter 10. The configuration is characterized in that various information is transmitted as sound through the air serving as a medium from the transmitter 10 to the portable telephone 20.
US08494175B2

A noise reduction device is disclosed, in which noise reduction device, a controlling sound generator outputs a white noise generated by a white-noise generator, and this white noise is sensed by an error sensor for identifying an acoustic transmission function covering a path from the controlling sound generator to the error sensor. At this time, an identification controller prompts the white noise generator to generate a white noise for identifying the acoustic transmission function provided that an ambient noise level sensed by the error sensor is not greater than a given threshold.
US08494168B1

Example embodiments provide various techniques for locating cryptographic keys stored in a cache. The cryptographic keys are temporarily stored in the cache until retrieved for use in a cryptographic operation. The cryptographic key may be located or found through reference to its cryptographic key identifier. In an example, a particular cryptographic key may be needed for a cryptographic operation. The cache is first searched to locate this cryptographic key. To locate the cryptographic key, the cryptographic key identifier that is associated with this cryptographic key is provided. In turn, the cryptographic key identifier may be used as an address into the cache. The address identifies a location of the cryptographic key within the cache. The cryptographic key may then be retrieved from the cache at the identified address and then used in the cryptographic operation.
US08494163B2

An example of the present invention is a method of transmitting encrypted user data to a mobile terminal in a wireless telecommunications network. The method comprises sending to the mobile terminal a data packet. The data packet comprises both an identifier of encryption information to used in recovering encrypted user data, and user data encrypted using said encryption information.
US08494158B2

Provided is a method of downloading, by a digital broadcast receiver, a software for upgrade through broadcast signals. According to the method, existence of a receiver software to be downloaded is checked, and a reservation time for downloading of the software is set. After that, a download and upgrade of the software are performed at the set reservation time.
US08494149B2

It is possible to efficiently evaluate utterance while ensuring the effectiveness of the result of the evaluation. A selection unit 4 selects recognition data, which is used in agent evaluation from a data storage unit 7, from recognition data generated by a voice recognition unit 6 on the basis of voice data of utterance by applying a selection operation corresponding to evaluation viewpoint information with reference to an evaluation viewpoint management table 2 through an evaluation viewpoint management unit 3. An evaluation unit 5 displays recognition data and plays the voice data by an evaluation viewpoint management unit 3 by applying an output operation corresponding to evaluation viewpoint information with reference to an evaluation viewpoint management table 2.
US08494146B2

A ringback replacement insertion system for customizing a communication network is disclosed. The system includes a first communication station associated with a first network service provider and a second communication station associated with a second network service provider. A network gateway is provided for connecting a call placed from the first communication station to the second communication station. The first network service provider receives information regarding a proximity location of the first communication station. The storage device transmits at least a portion of the at least one announcement to the first communication station that is related to information within a predefined geographical distance from the first communication station, where at least a portion of the at least one announcement is delivered as a call signal after establishing contact with a communication network.
US08494141B2

Rules-based teleconferencing that may include receiving criteria regarding invitees to a teleconference call, generating rules based on the criteria, and generating a notification regarding the invitees to the teleconference call based on the rules. The criteria may include a quorum of a minimum number of invitees that must be in attendance at the teleconference call or a list of specific invitees required to be in attendance at the teleconference call. A processing device may include a network interface, one or more second interfaces configured to establish a connection between at least three telephones, and a controller configured to establish a teleconference call between the at least three telephones, receive criteria regarding invitees to the teleconference call, generate rules based on the criteria, and generate a notification regarding the invitees to the teleconference call based on the rules.
US08494140B2

A system and method for provisioning communications services. A remote device controlled by a user is linked with a provisioning system. A verbal selection of a menu associated with a library is received for performing one or more actions within the provisioning system. One or more verbal commands associated with the menu are received. A determination is made of an action within the library associated with the one or more verbal commands. The action associated with the one or more verbal commands is performed in the provisioning system to provision the communications services.
US08494137B2

A system and method for playing pre-call messages. User input is received to record a pre-call message for one or more intended recipients in anticipation of an incoming call from the one or more intended recipient. The pre-call message is associated with an identifier of the one or more intended recipients. The pre-call message is played to the one or more intended recipients during the ring back period in response to determining the incoming call is from the one or more intended recipients using the identifier. The pre-call message is deleted in response to determining the one or more intended recipients have received the entire pre-call message.
US08494131B2

The present invention relates to a data communication method and apparatus comprising a noise information memory for storing noise information to indicate a degree of noise on a current communication line and capable of performing communications in a plurality of communication modes. The method and apparatus further comprising a mode memory for storing the plurality of communication modes in response to the degree of noise, and a mode change control unit for reading current noise information from the noise information memory and selecting the communication mode corresponding to the current degree of noise from the mode memory, and changing the current communication mode into the selected communication mode. The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for highly reliable data communication with simplified construction.
US08494129B2

A communication apparatus repeatedly outputs a first multi-carrier signal SS during predetermined periods T1, T2, T3, . . . , and outputs a second multi-carrier signal RS whose phase vector is different from that of the first multi-carrier signal SS, at a predetermined timing based on the first multi-carrier signal SS. The communication apparatus further detects the second multi-carrier signal RS output from another communication apparatus, which uses a different communication method from the communication apparatus. Accordingly, both communication apparatuses can differentiate the first multi-carrier signal SS from the second multi-carrier signal RS without performing relatively cumbersome modulation and other processes.
US08494119B2

A radiation window membrane and for covering an opening in an X-ray device is presented, as well a method for its manufacturing. Said openings are such through which X-rays are to pass. The membrane comprises a window base layer and a pinhole-blocking layer on a surface of said window base layer. Said pinhole-blocking layer comprises graphene.
US08494094B2

An apparatus and method begin creation and storage of correlation sums to be demodulated (“early-collected sums”) prior to determination of a location of a bit of data in a wireless signal relative to a local clock. Such early storage allows demodulation of these early-collected sums at a later time, specifically on determination of the data's location in the wireless signal, thereby to yield early-collected data bits. Additionally, after determination of the data bit's location in the wireless signal, additional data bits are further generated in the normal manner, by demodulating the wireless signal, thereby to yield normally-collected data bits. Use of early-collected data bits in generating navigation data reduces the time to start data demodulation, and enables fewer normally-collected data bits to be used to generate navigation data, in several aspects of the invention.
US08494089B2

A wireless device, method, and signal for use in communication of a wireless packet between transmitting device and a wireless receiving device via a plurality of antennas, wherein a signal generator generates wireless packet including a short-preamble sequence used for a first automatic gain control (AGC), a first long-preamble sequence, a signal field used for conveying a length of the wireless packet, an AGC preamble sequence used for a second AGC to be performed after the first AGC, a second long-preamble sequence, and a data field conveying data. The AGC preamble sequence is transmitted in parallel by the plurality of antennas.
US08494085B2

Aspects of a method and system for bandwidth calibration for a phase locked loop are presented. Aspects of the method may include generating one or more carrier signals based on one or more corresponding calibration signals. A pre-distortion function may be computed based on the generated one or more carrier signals for the phase locked loop circuit. An output radio frequency (RF) synthesized signal generated by the phase locked loop circuit may be modified based on the computed pre-distortion function and a subsequent output RF synthesized signal generated based on the modified output RF synthesized signal.
US08494074B2

A multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system using an explicit feedback is provided. In the MIMO communication system using the explicit feedback, a receiver may generate an explicit feedback vector by calculating an explicit channel matrix, and by vectorizing the explicit channel matrix or an explicit channel matrix processed using a predefined function. Feedback information generated based on the explicit feedback vector may be provided to a transmitter. The transmitter may reconfigure the explicit channel matrix or the processed explicit channel matrix based on the feedback information. The transmitter and the receiver may share the explicit channel matrix or the processed explicit channel matrix using an adaptively transformed codebook.
US08494064B2

When performing data communication with a second wireless communication apparatus having a plurality of antennas by using a plurality of transmission channels formed by spatial multiplexing, a first wireless communication apparatus having a plurality of antennas determines whether the second wireless communication apparatus is capable of communication using the plurality of transmission channels, and, on the basis of the determination result, executes a calibration process of forming the plurality of transmission channels with respect to the second wireless communication apparatus.
US08494056B2

A method and system for an efficient transcoding of a sequence of input images in a first format to a sequence of output images in a second format are described. The method utilizes the encoding block mode, the motion vectors and the residual information extracted during the decoding of the input image that are effectively reused to select an optimal transcoding block mode and to perform selective refinement of motion vectors. A corresponding system for video transcoding is also provided.
US08494048B2

A signal adaptive filtering method for reducing blocking effect and ringing noise, a signal adaptive filter, and a computer readable medium. The signal adaptive filtering method capable of reducing blocking effect and ringing noise of image data when a frame is composed of blocks of a predetermined size includes the steps of: (a) generating blocking information for reducing the blocking effect and ringing information for reducing the ringing noise, from coefficients of predetermined pixels of the upper and left boundary regions of the data block when a frame obtained by deconstructing a bitstream image data for inverse quantization is an intraframe; and (b) adaptively filtering the image data passed through inverse quantization and inverse discrete cosine transform according to the generated blocking information and ringing information. Therefore, the blocking effect and ringing noise can be eliminated from the image restored from the block-based image, thereby enhancing the image restored from compression.
US08494046B2

A method for recovering transmission errors, comprising: receiving a data packet comprising an error detection code associated to data contained in the packet, wherein the data associated to the error detection code comprises primary data and secondary data, checking the error detection code of the received packet to detect an erroneous state of the associated data, when the erroneous state is detected, determining a finite set of candidate values for the primary data and, for each values of the set: determining a marginal likelihood of the candidate value as a function of the error detection code of the received packet, determining a first correlation between the primary data of the received packet and the candidate value, and selecting a corrected value for the primary data among the set of candidate values as a function of said marginal likelihoods and said first correlations.
US08494045B2

A coding apparatus for hierarchically (layering) coding top field data and bottom field data divided from each of a plurality of picture data composing a moving picture image has a first coding unit configured to encode one field data between two field data of the top field data and the bottom field data divided from the picture data, a conversion unit configured to interpolate first predicted image data generated by the first coding unit encoding above one field data and generate a second predicted image data of a scanning position of the other field data between the two field data, and a second coding unit configured to encode the other field data between the two field data based on the second predicted image data generated by the conversion unit.
US08494039B2

The present invention provides a method and apparatus reporting a channel quality indicator of a communication system, including: detecting a first measurement reflecting a first communication quality of the communication system; providing a series of thresholds and mapping functions, each mapping functions in association with a bin defined by two adjacent thresholds, so the first measurement is mapped to the channel quality indicator by the mapping function in association with the bin which matches the first measurement; and updating at least one of the thresholds according to a second measurement which reflects a second communication quality of the communication system.
US08494036B2

Streaming environments typically dictate incomplete or approximate algorithm execution, in order to cope with sudden surges in the data rate. Such limitations are even more accentuated in mobile environments (such as sensor networks) where computational and memory resources are typically limited. Introduced herein is a novel “resource adaptive” algorithm for spectrum and periodicity estimation on a continuous stream of data. The formulation is based on the derivation of a closed-form incremental computation of the spectrum, augmented by an intelligent load-shedding scheme that can adapt to available CPU resources. Experimentation indicates that the proposed technique can be a viable and resource efficient solution for real-time spectrum estimation.
US08494034B2

A communication device includes: a reception unit that receives a signal transmitted from another communication device via a transmission path; a transmission unit that transmits a signal to the another communication device via the transmission path; an error rate measurement unit that measures an error rate representing a probability of occurrence of errors in a signal received by the reception unit in a case where a bi-directional communication with the another communication device is performed; and a phase adjustment unit that adjusts a phase of a signal transmitted from the transmission unit to the another communication device based on an error rate measured by the error rate measurement unit.
US08494033B2

Data may be transmitted from a first communications device using multiple antennas to a second communications device based on precoder feedback defining a grid of transmission beams. A first precoder index may be received from the second communications device, and a second precoder index may be received from the second communications device. At least one symbol stream may be processed based at least in part on the first and second precoder indices to generate antenna signals for respective antenna elements of the multiple antennas, and the antenna signals may be transmitted over the multiple antennas to the communications device. Related base stations and user equipment are also discussed.
US08494019B2

Within a semiconductor laser device, mounting a semiconductor laser element array of multi-beam structure on a sub-mount, the semiconductor laser element array of multi-beam structure comprises one piece of a semiconductor substrate 11; a common electrode 1, which is formed on a first surface of the semiconductor substrate; a semiconductor layer 2, which is formed on the other surface of the semiconductor substrate, and has a plural number of light emitting portions 7 within an inside thereof; a plural number of anode electrodes 3 of a second conductivity type, which are formed above the plural number of light emitting portions, respectively; and a supporting portion 25, which is provided outside a region of forming the light emitting portions, wherein on one surface of the sub-mount is connected an electrode 3 of the semiconductor laser element array through a solder 4, and that solder 4 is formed to cover a supporting portion and an electrode neighboring thereto, and further on the electrode 3 is formed a groove portion 9 between the supporting portion 25 neighboring and the light emitting portions 7.
US08494014B2

A laser apparatus for producing mode locked pulses includes a closed optical system adapted to connect to a fiber grain medium to form a laser cavity. The fiber gain medium is adapted to receive pulses characterized by a first state and to output pulses characterized by a second state. The closed optical system is adapted to receive the pulses in the second state and output pulses in a state similar to the first state.
US08494011B2

An apparatus and method are described for compensating for frequency and phase variations of electronic components by processing packet delay values. In one embodiment, a packet delay determination module determines packet delay values based on time values associated with a first and a second electronic component. A packet delay selection module selects a subset of the packet delay values based on the maximum frequency drift of the first electronic component. A statistical parameter determination module evaluates a first and a second parameter based on portions of the subset of packet delay values. A validation module validates the parameters when each portion the subset of packet delay values includes a minimum of at least two packet delay values. An adjustment module compensates for at least one of a frequency variation and a phase variation of the first electronic component based on the parameters if the parameters are both validated.
US08494007B2

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate identifying peers based upon encoded signals during peer discovery in a peer to peer network. For example, direct signaling that partitions a time-frequency resource into a number of segments can be utilized to communicate an identifier within a peer discovery interval; thus, a particular segment selected for transmission can signal a portion of the identifier, while a remainder can be signaled based upon tones communicated within the selected segment. Moreover, a subset of symbols within the resource can be reserved (e.g., unused) to enable identifying and/or correcting timing offset. Further, signaling can be effectuated over a plurality of peer discovery intervals such that partial identifiers communicated during each of the peer discovery intervals can be linked (e.g., based upon overlapping bits and/or bloom filter information).
US08494004B2

A system for resource allocation in peer to peer streaming includes steps of: inferring global properties of a neighborhood made up of peer nodes, wherein the global properties are inferred from a summarization of information obtained locally at each peer node; allocating resources for each peer node to its neighbor nodes in accordance with propagated dependency information; and periodically updating the target rates as peer nodes join and leave the neighborhood.
US08493998B2

In a 3G CDMA2000 network, permanent virtual pipes of different data rates (153.6 kbps, 76.8 kbps, 38.4 kbps and 19.2 kbps, for example) are provisioned at a base station on the Forward Supplemental Channel (F-SCH) for the transmission of data bursts to requesting mobile terminals by allocating and grouping together a set of resources (i.e., contiguous Walsh codes, contiguous ASIC real estate, etc.). Data bursts arriving from the network are scheduled onto timeslots on all the pipes in a manner such that at least one burst segment of each active burst is scheduled into a timeslot on the highest data rate pipe. The other burst segments of a burst are scheduled onto all the pipes so they migrate through the various rate pipes in order to give all bursts opportunities on the higher rate pipes.
US08493985B2

A method of transforming messages for communication via a network includes receiving a message from an application being executed at a processor. The message is received at a connection object, which transforms the received message based on characteristics of the connection object. The characteristics can be determined via a negotiation between the source and target of the message. The connection object provides the transformed message to a protocol layer, which forms packets based on the message. The connection object thus transforms each message independent of the transmission protocol used to communicate the message to the target, thereby improving communication bandwidth and efficiency.
US08493975B2

A communication system is provided with a plurality of FlexRay network nodes (FRK) by which respective data packets are provided in an IP data packet format or an Ethernet data packet format, and a FlexRay bus system (FRB), by whose physical layer, data are transmitted between the FlexRay network nodes (FRK). The IP data packet format or the Ethernet data packet format each has a plurality of bit positions. The FlexRay network nodes (FRK) each include a media access layer (MAC) which is set up such that the data packets provided in an IP data packet format or Ethernet data packet format are converted into a preset media-independent data format (MII), and an adaptation layer (ANP) which is set up such that the data provided in the media-independent data format (MII) are converted onto corresponding signals of the physical layer of the FlexRay bus system (FRB).
US08493973B2

A method of processing a digital broadcasting signal includes generating a transport stream including a plurality of transport packets; selecting one of the transport packets as a starting packet to be mapped into a first data segment of an encoded data frame; and constructing deterministic data frames in the transport stream beginning with the starting packet; wherein at least one of the 52 transport packets does not have an adaptation field; wherein all remaining ones of the 52 transport packets do have an adaptation field; and wherein the at least one transport packet that does not have an adaptation field is provided at a fixed location in each of the slices.
US08493970B2

A system includes an event notification system coupled to a communication network element and to a subscription database. In response to a subscribe message for a party received from the communication network element, the event notification system determines at least one service from a plurality of services for the party from the subscription database, sends a service subscribe message to a device associated with a service for each service of the at least one service, determines a notification value for the party based on service pushed values received in response to each sent service subscribe message, and sends the notification value to the communication network element. The notification value is used by the communication network element to determine whether to invoke an internet protocol multimedia subsystem service for an incoming call to a communication address associated with the party.
US08493969B2

A system and method for automatically answering a call from a calling party to a called party that originates via the Internet, includes and involves a data storage system and processor that is coupled to the data storage system. The processor is operative to initiate an automated call answering service in response to an Internet telephony call from the calling party which is intended to be received by the called party, to receive a message from the calling party via the Internet in accordance with the automated call answering service, and to store the message in the data storage system for processing by the processor in accordance with the automated call answering service.
US08493958B2

An access terminal (AT) and a data-optimized cellular communication radio network (RN) negotiate a set of packet sizes for use on a reverse link between the AT and the RN. The negotiated set of packet sizes may differ from the default set of packet sizes defined in an existing standard, such as 1xEV-DO Revisions A and B. The packet sizes in the negotiated set may be tailored to provide a good fit with an application transmitting data on the reverse link, such as a voice encoder of a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application. The AT and the RN communicate using the negotiated set of packet sizes. The packet sizes of the negotiated set may be mapped to the same reverse rate indicator (RRI) channel codewords as are defined in systems operating under the standard. Packing efficiency is thus increased, and higher capacity for delay-sensitive applications is achieved.
US08493948B2

A method of exchanging messages at a device in a wireless network comprises transmitting a change request message for requesting a change of a beacon position among configuration parameters of the wireless network to a coordinator; and receiving a response message in response to the request message from the coordinator.
US08493946B2

Network devices in a multi-network wireless mesh network environment identify themselves as members of the network by receiving a broadcast message from a first mesh network device that has joined the wireless mesh network, and identifying that the broadcast transmission has been received such as by actuating a light, playing a sound, or sending an identifying reply message back to a broadcasting mesh network device.
US08493938B2

The present invention discloses for the ability for processing circuit switched (CS) services in an evolved packet network. For example, embodiments provide a method that includes: by a mobility management entity (MME), receiving a mobile terminated (MT) service indication from a mobile switching center (MSC); sending the MT service indication to user equipment (UE); and receiving an MT service response returned by the UE and performing subsequent operations according to the MT service response. In the method of the present invention, when an MT service arrives, the MME does not trigger the evolved NodeB (eNodeB) to hand over the packet switched (PS) services of the UE but notifies the UE of the MT service and performs subsequent operations according to the MT service response returned by the UE, thus avoiding the waste of network resources caused by a meaningless handover of PS services.
US08493936B2

The present invention relates to mobile communication technologies, and discloses a method and a device for handover between User Equipment (UE) in a process of sending a message to enable the after-handover UE receive messages accurately. The method includes: receiving a UE handover request sent by a before-handover UE, wherein the UE handover request carries an identifier of an after-handover UE and indication parameters for sending a message; and sending the message to the after-handover UE according to the identifier of the after-handover UE and the indication parameters for sending the message. The embodiments of the present invention are applied to handover between UEs in the process of sending a message.
US08493932B2

A bearer processing method is disclosed. The method includes these steps: a system border node receives a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request initiated by a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS); the system border node adjusts a Request Bearer Resource Allocation message of a system architecture evolution (SAE) system or the PDP Context Request of the UMTS according to the received PDP Context Request to map the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the SAE system and the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the UMTS. The present invention can map the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the SAE system and the Bearer Resource Allocation procedure of the UMTS.
US08493931B1

Methods and systems are provided for efficient handover of a media session between heterogeneous Internet Protocol (IP) networks. A mobile device with Internet access can operate a software program to communicate with a corresponding node. The corresponding node may access the Internet through a firewall which may include Network Address Translation (NAT)-routing functionality. The mobile device establishes a media session with a corresponding node via the transmission of a first media stream and receipt of a second media stream, and a media-control channel can optionally be implemented. The mobile device can acquire Internet access through a second IP address, and packets routed between the second IP address and the Internet may traverse a firewall. The mobile device can evaluate a set of network parameters at the second IP address from a stored Local Area Network (LAN) profile. A software routine can (i) evaluate that handover of the media session from the first IP address to the second IP address is preferred and (ii) select an efficient handover procedure according to handover procedure rules.
US08493928B2

Disclosed herewith is a wireless system capable of reducing packet sending delay occurrence and packet sending delay jittering at the time of hand-over processing executed therein. In the wireless system, upon estimating occurrence of a hand-over event, a subject mobile station and its base station extend the packet buffering period respectively and furthermore, the base station changes the current burst scheduling method for another. The base station and the mobile station then exchanges messages required to execute the hand-over procedure in a period between when sending of a burst ends and when sending of the next burst begins.
US08493925B2

The present invention relates to a method for communicating in a network, comprising a) a secondary station preparing the transmission to a primary station of a message comprising at least a data field for containing data in an allocated resource, said resource comprising a plurality of resource blocks, and b) if the size of the allocated resource is bigger than required for the size of the message, the secondary station dividing the allocated resource in a first portion and a second portion, each portion comprising at least one resource block, c) the secondary station transmitting the message to the primary station in the first portion of the resource, d) the secondary station preventing from transmitting in the second portion of the resource.
US08493924B2

A method for generating a preamble for a random access in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: dividing a preamble sequence into sequence subsets each corresponding to each of a plurality of antennas; and generating a preamble by using the sequence subsets corresponding to each of the plurality of antennas. A method for generating a preamble for a random access supporting multiple antennas in a wireless system can be provided.
US08493912B2

A method of transmitting and receiving a signal and an apparatus for transmitting and receiving a signal are disclosed. The method includes receiving the signal of a first frequency band, obtaining, layer-1 information from a preamble of the first time-frequency slicing (TFS) signal frame of the received signal, said layer-1 information including an index of a current radio frequency (RF) channel within time-frequency slicing (TFS) signal frame, and a radio frequency (RF) channel identifier of a first TFS signal frame including a physical layer pipe (PLP) in a super frame of TFS structure, parsing the TFS signal frame using the layer-1 information and obtaining the PLP of the TFS signal frame, and converting the PLP to a service stream.
US08493907B2

A technique to provide frequency offset estimation for packets transmitted during a service period allocated strictly for designated source and destination devices. The destination device obtains coarse and fine frequency offset estimation from the short and long preambles. A residual frequency offset is tracked for the data blocks and combined with the coarse and fine frequency offset to obtain a total frequency offset to apply to the data blocks. The total frequency offset value at the end of the first packet is saved and, instead of again estimating the coarse and fine frequency offset values with the short and long preambles of the second packet, the saved total frequency offset value is used as the initialization value to add to the residual frequency offset in the second packet. The saved offset value at the end of each packet becomes the initialization value for the subsequent packet.
US08493897B2

A wireless communications system for categorized channel reservation is provided with a first wireless communications module and a second wireless communications module. The first wireless communications module transmits or receives a plurality of first wireless signals. The second wireless communications module transmits a first control packet according to an activity schedule of the first wireless communications module to disable a plurality of wireless communications stations from data transmissions, and transmit a second control packet to enable a predetermined number of the wireless communications stations to perform the data transmissions.
US08493896B2

Method and system for switching a network application operating in a first communication mode to a second mode within a wireless local area network, comprising: judging whether mobile nodes are neighboring according to location information; when nodes are neighboring inquiring whether mobile nodes want to switch to second mode to run network applications; when all mobile nodes agree to switch to second mode, downloading and installing network application provided by the application server to one of the mobile nodes; configuring each of the mobile nodes with the communication parameters under the second mode; and switching all mobile nodes to the second communication mode to continue the previous network application. The invention dynamically switches between Infrastructure mode and Ad-hoc mode to balance system resources, improve QoS, reduce the communication traffic, waiting time and the cost of the users, and increase the income of the provider of the network service.
US08493890B2

Transmitting nodes broadcast chirped signals on a wireless network. The transmitting nodes are time-synchronized with each other and location of the transmitting nodes is known. A receiver node detects beat frequencies created by pairs of chirped signals from different pairs of transmitting nodes. Time delay differences between chirped signals in respective beat frequency pairs are determined. The receiver node's location is determined in view of the time delay differences.
US08493885B2

A system and method for distributed processing in an Internet Protocol network is provided. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an application server can have a controller element to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) INVITE message from a communication device, establish a Real Time Protocol (RTP) channel between the communication device and the application server responsive to the SIP INVITE message, and submit a SIP SUBSCRIBE message to an intermediate communication node (ICN) directing the ICN to engage one or more Digital Signal Processing (DSP) resources for processing signals in the RTP channel. Additional embodiments are disclosed.
US08493884B2

A system and method is disclosed for routing a stream between several nodes, Ni, forming a network. The stream is transmitted by a source and is intended for one or more destinations taking account of the mobility requirements of the users and of the network nodes. The network nodes have the following characteristics: a node, Ni, of the network comprises a service module, xSVi, one or more transfer gateways, xTGi, a function LOC suitable for generating for each service a routing table used at the request of the service modules, xSVi. A server LOC is connected, for a given service, via a service node, SNGi, to the other routing modules LOCi.
US08493868B2

A node may assist in the management of upstream network traffic in part by managing a contention window used by the node. The node may maintain a list of size(s) of contention window(s) of parent node(s) of the node. The node may set its own contention window to be longer (i.e., a longer period of time) than that of upstream neighbor nodes. With a longer contention window than that of its parent node(s), the node will refrain from using an RF channel needed by a parent node. Accordingly, upstream nodes are better able to transmit any backlog of data before receiving additional data from downstream nodes. This may better distribute data over the network, and may better manage data flow.
US08493856B2

A system and method of rate adaptation is disclosed for energy efficiency. The system and method of rate adaptation for energy efficiency provides for parsing a heterogeneous network into rate-adaptation domains that are fully isolated with respect to the control of their operating states. The system and method is particularly useful for creating the conditions for the incremental introduction of rate-adaptive devices in existing networks; combining the best properties of sleep-state exploitation and rate scaling techniques by defining a class of state-setting policies for rate adaptation schemes that enforce tight deterministic bounds on the extra delay that the schemes may cause to network traffic at every node where they are deployed.
US08493852B2

A system includes logic to store multiple descriptors, each of the multiple descriptors to be associated with a different set of multiple Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) packets received by the network controller, each of the multiple descriptors including a count of the number of packets in the set of multiple packets associated with a respective descriptor. For each of the respective receive packets, the system determines a one of the multiple descriptors based on the network source address, network destination address, source port, and destination port of the respective packet; includes the respective packet in the set of multiple packets associated with the determine one of the multiple descriptors; and updates the one of the multiple descriptors by incrementing the count of the number of packets in the set of multiple packets; and provides data from within the packets to the host.
US08493850B2

A communication apparatus is connected to a network and identifies a flow of a frame input thereto and outputs the frame to a port. The communication apparatus includes: a flow identifying unit that obtains a flow identifier of the flow to which the frame belongs, and that obtains, based on the flow identifier, a hash rule corresponding to the flow identifier; a transfer destination controller that obtains by calculation a hash value of the frame by making use of the hash rule obtained by the flow identifying unit and that decides on an output port for the frame based on combination of the flow identifier and the hash value; and a frame output unit that outputs the frame to the output port decided by the transfer destination controller.
US08493847B1

A system for regulating traffic in a computer network comprises a plurality of rate buckets associated with a network interface ingress port. The system includes at least two rate buckets, related hierarchically, assigned to a specific ingress port on a network equipment device. At least one traffic parameter is associated with each rate bucket. Each rate bucket monitors traffic based on individual user-defined traffic parameters. At least one packet threshold parameter is associated with each rate bucket. Packets exceeding a rate bucket's packet threshold parameter are sent to subsequent rate buckets within the hierarchy based on an aggregate information rate assigned to the port. Each hierarchical rate bucket assigned to a specific port evaluates each packet prior to discarding a packet.
US08493846B2

A method and system for multicasting IPTV channels includes using both a designated and a redundant network routing device. When the designated routing device detects that an MCDN network connection to an IPTV multicast source is unavailable, the designated routing device reduces its designation priority to a lower value. A message is sent to the redundant routing device with an instruction to increase its designation priority to a higher value. After the designation priorities have been modified, the designated routing device may serve as a new redundant routing device, while the redundant routing device may serve as a new designated routing device. The routing devices may remain in the new configuration, even after interrupted network connections are restored.
US08493836B2

A method for transmitting and receiving uplink signals using an optimized rank 3 codebook is disclosed. The optimized rank 3 codebook includes 12 precoding matrix groups, which are consisted of 6 Tx antenna power balanced precoding matrix groups and 6 layer power balanced precoding matrix groups. Preferably, the optimized 4Tx rank 3 codebook has 20 precoding matrix, two precoding matrixes are selected from each the 6 Tx antenna power balanced precoding matrix groups, considering chordal distance and the number of precoding matrix. And then 8 precoding matrices are selected from the layer balanced precoding matrix groups.
US08493830B2

Disclosed is an optical information reproducing apparatus that has a light path difference between two lights easily adjusted, has a high effect on the amplification of a signal, and detects an optical information signal of an interfering type. The optical information reproducing apparatus splits a luminous flux emitted from a laser source into a first luminous flux as a signal light and a second luminous flux as a reference light not collected on an optical information recoding medium, makes the signal light optically interfere with the reference light in a state in which the signal light and the reference light are different from each other in a phase relationship to thereby produce interfering lights, and detects the interfering lights.
US08493825B2

An information processing apparatus including a display input device in which an image display unit and an operation input unit are integrally formed includes reproduction means for reproducing data recorded on a recording medium, storage means for storing defining data reproduced from the recording medium and defining an operation of the display input device, display control means for controlling the image display unit to display an operator in accordance with the defining data stored in the storage means, determining means for determining an operator for which an operation is input in accordance with an input content input from the operation input unit and a display content displayed on the image display unit, and operation content reading means for reading an operation content of the information processing apparatus stored in the storage means and defined for each operator in accordance with a determination result of the determining means.
US08493821B1

A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head includes: a main pole having an end face located in a medium facing surface; a waveguide; a plasmon generator having a near-field light generating part located in the medium facing surface; and a shield located on the rear side in the direction of travel of a recording medium with respect to the main pole. The shield has an end face located in the medium facing surface and lying on the rear side in the direction of travel of the recording medium with respect to the end face of the main pole. The end face of the main pole and the end face of the shield are at a distance of 50 to 300 nm from each other. The near-field light generating part is located between the end face of the main pole and the end face of the shield in the medium facing surface.
US08493820B1

A thermally compensated fluid dynamic bearing motor includes a stationary member and a rotatable member rotatable about the stationary member. A hub is coupled with the rotatable member and includes ceramic material with a first coefficient of thermal expansion, wherein the hub is operable to be coupled with a data storage disk. Further the first coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially equal to a second coefficient of thermal expansion of the data storage disk.
US08493818B2

A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head, includes: a pole that generates a writing magnetic field from an end surface that forms a portion of an air bearing surface opposing a magnetic recording medium; a waveguide through which light for exciting a surface plasmon propagates; a plasmon generator that couples to the light in a surface plasmon mode and generates near-field light from a near-field light generating portion on a near-field light generating end surface that forms the portion of the air bearing surface; and magnetic field focusing parts that are able to focus the writing magnetic field generated from the pole and that are disposed on both sides of the pole in a track width direction from a perspective of the air bearing surface side.
US08493814B2

A semiconductor memory device has a memory cell array, a first transistor of a first conductivity type, a second transistor of a second conductivity type and a third transistor of the first conductivity type. A source or drain of the first transistor is connected to each of word lines. A drain of the second transistor is connected to a gate of the first transistor. A source of the third transistor is connected to the gate of the first transistor. The gates of the second transistor and the third transistor are not connected, a source of the second transistor is not connected to a drain of the third transistor, and the gate of the second transistor and the drain of the third transistor have different voltage levels corresponding to opposite logic levels each other.
US08493809B2

A refresh control circuit is capable of activating a plurality of bank selection signals in response to a refresh command signal. Each of the plurality of bank selection signals is assigned to one of a plurality of bank groups. The refresh control circuit is configured to activate the plurality of bank selection signals when a refresh cycle selection signal is deactivated, and activate a part of the plurality of bank selection signals when the refresh cycle selection signal is activated.
US08493808B2

A system includes a memory controller and a plurality of memory devices connected in-series that communicate with the memory controller. Each of the memory devices has multiple independent serial ports for receiving and transmitting data. The memory controller a device address (DA) or ID number for designating a device that executes a command. Data contained in the command sent by the memory controller is captured by an individual link control circuit, in response to internally generated clock with appropriate latencies. The captured data is written into a corresponding memory bank. The data stored in one of a plurality of memory banks of one memory device is read in accordance with the addresses issued by the memory controller. The read data is propagated from the memory device through the series-connected memory devices to the memory controller.
US08493803B2

An auto-precharge signal generation circuit comprises a signal generator, a set signal generator, and an auto-precharge signal generator. The signal generator is configured to generating a control signal and a precharge control signal in response to receiving a first column address strobe signal and an auto-precharge flag signal. The set signal generator is configured to generating a set signal in response to receiving the control signal and the precharge control signal. The auto-precharge signal generator is configured to generate an auto-precharge signal in response to receiving the set signal and a period set signal.
US08493801B2

A method and apparatus for determining correct timing for receiving, in a host in a memory system, of a normal toggle transmitted by an addressed memory chip on a bidirectional data strobe. An offset in the data strobe is established, either by commanding the addressed memory chip, in a training period, to drive the data strobe to a known state, except during transmission of a normal toggle, or by providing a voltage offset between a true and a complement phase in the data strobe, or by providing a circuit bias in a differential receiver on the host the receives the data strobe. A series of read commands are transmitted by the host to the addressed memory chip, which responds by transmitting the normal toggle. Timing of reception of the normal toggle as received by the host chip is adjusted until the normal toggle is correctly received.
US08493800B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor storage device includes a three-dimensional memory cell array, write drivers, and a program voltage control circuit. In the three-dimensional memory cell array, memory cells are three-dimensionally arranged. The write drivers are arranged to be distributed under the three-dimensional memory cell array and apply a program voltage to the memory cells during writing in the memory cells. The program voltage control circuit is arranged around the three-dimensional memory cell array and performs control for making the write drivers to generate the program voltage.
US08493799B2

A semiconductor memory device, a semiconductor memory module, and a semiconductor memory system including the same, the semiconductor memory device including a command/address input buffer that receives a command/address signal and a command/address reference voltage signal, wherein the command/address input buffer is configured to amplify a difference between the command/address signal and the command/address reference voltage signal, and is further configured to output the amplified difference between the command/address signal and the command/address reference voltage signal, and a chip selection input buffer that receives a chip selection signal and a chip selection reference voltage signal, wherein the chip selection input buffer is configured to amplify a difference between the chip selection signal and the chip selection reference voltage signal, and is further configured to output the amplified difference between the chip selection signal and the chip selection reference voltage signal, wherein a voltage level of the command/address reference voltage signal is different from a voltage level of the chip selection reference voltage signal.
US08493796B2

A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a memory cell array having a plurality of memory cells arranged therein, each of the memory cells having a charge storage layer and a control electrode; and a control unit configured to execute a write cycle multiple times, the write cycle including a write operation and a write verify operation, the write operation being an operation for applying a write pulse voltage multiple times to the control electrode selected for data write, and the write verify operation being an operation for determining whether data write is completed or not. During one time of the write operation, the control unit makes a voltage value of a finally applied write pulse voltage larger than a voltage value of an initially applied write pulse voltage.
US08493794B2

A non-volatile memory cell and methods for programming, erasing and reading thereof are provided. A non-volatile memory cell includes a well region having a first conductive type. A first transistor and a second transistor having a second conductive type are disposed on the well region, wherein a first gate of the first transistor is coupled to a second gate of the second transistor. The first transistor and the second transistor share a drain region, coupling to a bit line. A first source region of the first transistor and a second region of the second transistor are coupled to a first select line and a second line, respectively. A bit is stored in the first and second gates by controlling the first select line and the second line. A bit stored in the first and second gates is erased by controlling the first select line or the second line.
US08493790B2

Methods of programming, reading and erasing memory cells are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, program, sense, and erase operations in a memory are performed with back biased operation, such as to improve high voltage device isolation and cutoff in string drivers and bit line drivers, and no nodes of the circuitry are biased at zero volts.
US08493786B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a first voltage generator, a second voltage generator, a first MOS transistor, and a controller. The first voltage generator outputs a first voltage to a first node. The second voltage generator outputs a second voltage to a second node. The first MOS transistor is capable of short-circuiting the first node and second node. The controller performs a control operation to short-circuit the first node and second node by turning on the first MOS transistor. The controller controls a period in which the first MOS transistor is kept in an on state based on time.
US08493777B2

A non-volatile current-switching magnetic memory element includes a bottom electrode, a pinning layer formed on top of the bottom electrode, and a fixed layer formed on top of the pinning layer. The non-volatile current-switching magnetic memory element further includes a tunnel layer formed on top of the pinning layer, a first free layer with a perpendicular anisotropy that is formed on top of the tunnel layer, a granular film layer formed on top of the free layer, a second free layer formed on top of the granular film layer, a cap layer formed on top of the second layer, and a top electrode formed on top of the cap layer.
US08493767B2

According to one embodiment, a one-time programmable (OTP) device having a lateral diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) structure comprises a pass gate including a pass gate electrode and a pass gate dielectric, and a programming gate including a programming gate electrode and a programming gate dielectric. The programming gate is spaced from the pass gate by a drain extension region of the LDMOS structure. The LDMOS structure provides protection for the pass gate when a programming voltage for rupturing the programming gate dielectric is applied to the programming gate electrode. A method for producing such an OTP device comprises forming a drain extension region, fabricating a pass gate over a first portion of the drain extension region, and fabricating a programming gate over a second portion of the drain extension region.
US08493766B2

The number of wirings per unit memory cell is reduced by sharing a bit line by a writing transistor and a reading transistor. Data is written by turning on the writing transistor so that a potential of the bit line is supplied to a node where one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the writing transistor and a gate electrode of the reading transistor are electrically connected, and then turning off the writing transistor so that a predetermined amount of charge is held in the node. Data is read by using a reading signal line connected to one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the reading transistor so that a predetermined reading potential is supplied to the reading signal line, and then detecting a potential of the bit line.
US08493763B1

A CAM array includes a plurality of regular rows and a reference row. Each regular row is partitioned into a plurality of row segments, with each row segment including a number of CAM cells coupled to a corresponding match line segment. The reference row generates self-timed control signals for corresponding segments of the regular rows. Control circuits selectively enable a respective row segment in response to a logical combination of match results in a previous row segment and an associated one of the self-timed control signals.
US08493762B2

A power semiconductor module includes semiconductor elements of a first system constituting each of arms in a circuit of the first system, semiconductor elements of a second system constituting each of arms in a circuit of the second system, a plurality of DC electrode conductors including a common DC electrode conductor joined to the semiconductor elements of the first and second systems, and a plurality of AC electrode conductors joined to the respective semiconductor elements of the first and second systems. Each of the semiconductor elements of the first and second systems is interposed between the DC electrode conductor and AC electrode conductor.
US08493760B2

Electric circuit for converting direct into alternating current specially designed for photovoltaic systems connected to the electrical grid without a transformer, and enabling the earthing of one of the input terminals (2) of the photovoltaic generator, thereby working with a wide range of input voltages and having a high efficiency.
US08493759B2

A two-level or multi-level inverter are supplied with a positive auxiliary voltage (Ug+) and a negative auxiliary voltage (Ug−). A bootstrap technique provides a first positive auxiliary voltage and a first negative auxiliary voltage from the supplied potentials. The bootstrap technique provides at least one additional negative auxiliary voltage to a switch driver of at least one semiconductor switch from the first negative auxiliary voltage. At the start up of an inverter, the inverter can perform a startup sequence to provide auxiliary voltages to the respective auxiliary voltage inputs of the switch drivers by turning the power semiconductors sequentially on and off.
US08493757B2

Disclosed is a power converter including a power factor corrector and a DC/DC converter and a power conversion method.
US08493754B1

A converter can include at least two power stages. Each power stage can include a power factor control circuit. An active shared control circuit for a three power stage system receives at least three sense signals. Each of the sense signals is associated with a parameter of the respective one of the power stages. The control circuit provides at least three control signals. Each of the control signals being associated with the respective power factor control circuit of the power stages. The active share control circuit balances the current supplied by the power stages via the control signals.
US08493751B2

A power converter nearly losslessly delivers energy and recovers energy from capacitors associated with controlled rectifiers in a secondary winding circuit, each controlled rectifier having a parallel uncontrolled rectifier. First and second primary switches in series with first and second primary windings, respectively, are turned on for a fixed duty cycle, each for approximately one half of the switching cycle. Switched transition times are short relative to the on-state and off-state times of the controlled rectifiers. The control inputs to the controlled rectifiers are cross-coupled from opposite secondary transformer windings.
US08493750B2

Disclosed is a piezoelectric power supply converter, wherein, a piezoelectric element is utilized to replace a conventional capacitor, due to characteristic of mechanical resonance of said piezoelectric element, said piezoelectric element may contain higher capacitance than said conventional capacitor, and a parasitic resistance of said piezoelectric element is smaller that that of an ordinary capacitor. Through a resonance between an externally added inductive element and a piezoelectric-capacitor and said resonance of said piezoelectric element itself, said piezoelectric element is capable of transmitting electrical energy efficiently, thus achieving large output power. Therefore, said piezoelectric-capacitor is capable of improving shortcomings of said conventional capacitors of low voltage endurance, large leakage current, and small output power.
US08493747B2

A flex-rigid wiring board including an insulative substrate, a flexible wiring board positioned beside the insulative substrate, an insulation layer positioned over the insulative substrate and the flexible wiring board and exposing a portion of the flexible wiring board, and a wiring layer made of a conductor and formed on the insulation layer. The insulation layer has a tapered portion which becomes thinner toward an end surface of the insulation layer in the direction of the portion of the flexible wiring board exposed by the insulation layer. The wiring layer has a sloping portion formed on the tapered portion of the insulation layer.
US08493746B2

In one embodiment of the present invention, inert nano-sized particles having dimensions from 1 nm to 1,000 nm are added into a solder ball. The inert nano-sized particles may comprise metal oxides, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal borides, etc. The inert nano-sized particles may be a single compound, or may be a metallic material having a coating of a different material. In another embodiment of the present invention, a small quantity of at least one elemental metal that forms stable high melting intermetallic compound with tin is added to a solder ball. The added at least one elemental metal forms precipitates of intermetallic compounds with tin, which are dispersed as fine particles in the solder.
US08493743B2

A handheld device includes a body, a back cover and a latch mechanism. The body has a back portion. The back cover coves the back portion. The latch mechanism is disposed between the body and the back portion to lock the back portion to the body. Reliving the lock connection between the body and the back cover performed by the latch mechanism causes the back cover is able to depart from the body.
US08493742B2

An electronic device includes a casing, a PCB, a push-button switch assembly, and a protective member. The push-button switch includes a push-button disposed on the casing and a switch disposed on the PCB. When pressed, a main body of the push-button moves towards the PCB to actuate the switch. The protective member is disposed between the main body and the PCB for restricting further movement of the main body as the switch is actuated.
US08493739B2

A lightweight radio/CD player for vehicular application is virtually “fastenerless” and includes a case and frontal interface formed of polymer based material that is molded to provide details to accept audio devices such as playback mechanisms (if desired) and radio receivers, as well as the circuit boards required for electrical control and display. The case and frontal interface are of composite structure, including an insert molded electrically conductive wire mesh screen that has been pre-formed to contour with the molding operation. The wire mesh provides EMC, RFI, BCI and ESD shielding and grounding of the circuit boards via exposed wire mesh pads and adjacent ground clips. The PCB architecture is bifurcated into a first board carrying common circuit components in a surface mount configuration suitable for high volume production, and a second board carrying application specific circuit components in a wave soldered stick mount configuration. The major components and subassemblies are self-fixturing during the final assembly process, eliminating the need for dedicated tools, fixtures and assembly equipment. The major components and subassemblies self-interconnect by integral guide and connection features effecting “slide lock” and “snap lock” self-interconnection. The radio architecture includes improved push buttons employing 4-bar living hinge linkage and front loaded decorative trim buttons.
US08493729B2

A computer chassis is provided. The computer chassis includes a housing, an elastic element, a scissor structure fixed to the housing, and two hard disk drawers slidably connected to the housing and capable of being drawn out from the housing. The scissor is set between the two hard disk drawers. When both of the two hard disk drawers are not drawn out, the scissor structure is sandwiched between the two adjacent hard disk drawers, and the elastic element is deformed. When one of the two hard disk drawer is drawn out, the scissor structure engages the hard disk drawer being not drawn out under the elastic force generated by the elastic element.
US08493723B2

A display device of the present invention includes a body stand unit; a display displaying unit; and an arm unit, arranged upright from the body stand unit, for supporting the display displaying unit; where the arm unit is arranged on either left or right end side from a center in a horizontal direction of the display displaying unit, and supports the display displaying unit in a cantilever state.
US08493715B1

An apparatus for holding a flight data recorder in an aircraft includes a housing that defines a compartment enclosing the flight data recorder and a flotation device attached to the flight data recorder. If the aircraft crashes into a body of water and become submerged, one or more releasable fasteners holding the compartment's cover in place are triggered thereby removing the cover over an opening in the compartment and ejecting the flotation device and the flight data recorder out of the compartment. The floatation device then floats the flight data recorder to the surface of the water where it can be located by the rescuers.
US08493711B2

An electrode material is created by forming a thin conformal coating of metal oxide on a highly porous monolithic carbon structure. The highly porous carbon structure performs a role in the synthesis of the oxide coating and in providing a three-dimensional, electronically conductive substrate supporting the thin coating of metal oxide. The metal oxide includes one or more metal oxides. The electrode material, a process for producing said electrode material, an electrochemical capacitor and an electrochemical secondary (rechargeable) battery using said electrode material is disclosed.
US08493709B2

In a capacitor structure and method of forming the same, a first electrode, a second electrode, and a first insulation layer are sequentially formed on a substrate. The first and second electrodes and the first insulation layer are covered with a second insulation layer on the substrate. A first plug is in contact with the second electrode through the second insulation layer. A second plug is in contact with the first electrode through the first and second insulation layer. A third insulation layer is formed on the second insulation layer. Third and fourth comb-shaped electrodes are formed in the third insulation layer. The third electrode is contact with the first plug and the fourth electrode is contact with the second plug while facing the third electrode. Thus, the teeth of the comb-shaped electrodes are alternately arranged and spaced apart in the third insulation layer.
US08493707B2

A shaft grounding apparatus including a grounding rope in electrical contact with ground, and an adjustable rope guide configured to guide the grounding rope on an electrically conductive surface of a rotating shaft of an electric machine. The adjustable rope guide includes a plurality of articulating segments configured to provide the adjustable rope guide with a variable radius of curvature to closely follow a radius of curvature of the rotating shaft.
US08493704B2

In one embodiment, a circuit protection device includes a common mode noise filter having a plurality of sheets, each of the sheets being formed to optionally include a coil pattern, an internal electrode, a hole filled with a conductive material, and a hole filled with a magnetic material; and an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device having a plurality of sheets, each of the sheets being formed to optionally include an internal electrode and a hole filled with an ESD protection material.
US08493695B1

A method and system for providing a magnetic read transducer is described. The magnetic read transducer includes a magnetoresistive sensor a shield, and a spin pumping barrier layer. The magnetoresistive sensor includes a pinned layer, a spacer layer, and a free layer. The spacer layer is nonmagnetic and resides between the pinned layer and the free layer. The free layer is between the pinned layer and the shield. The spin pumping barrier layer is between the shield and the free layer.
US08493693B1

A magnetic sensor is configured to reside in proximity to a recording medium during use. The sensor includes a magnetic top shield and a magnetic bottom shield. A top sensor stack is under the magnetic top shield and includes magnetic sensing layers. A bottom sensor stack is between the magnetic bottom shield and the top sensor stack. The bottom sensor stack includes a magnetic seed stack above the bottom shield, an insertion stack above the magnetic seed stack, and an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer on and in contact with the insertion stack. A pinned layer is above the AFM layer. An AFM coupling layer is above the pinned layer. In some aspects the insertion stack may include at least one of Ti, Hf, Zr, and Ta. In some aspect, the insertion stack includes a layer of elemental Ti. In other aspects, the insertion stack includes multilayer structures.
US08493671B2

A three-piece optical lens system comprises, in order from the object side to the image side: a first lens element with a positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface, one of the object-side surface and an image-side surface being aspheric; a stop, a second lens element with a positive refractive power having a concave object-side surface, one of the object-side surface and an image-side surface being aspheric; a third lens element with a negative refractive power having a concave image-side surface, one of an object-side surface and the image-side surface being aspheric. A refractive index of the third lens element is N3, an Abbe number of the third lens element is V3, and they satisfy the relations: N3>1.57; V3<40. Such arrangements can reduce the volume of the three-piece optical lens system and improve the image quality of the periphery of the image.
US08493670B2

A unit magnification projection optical system includes, listed in order along a system axis, a mirror, a lens group having negative power and a lens group having positive power. The optical system is a symmetric system, with an object plane on one side of the system axis and an object plane on an opposite side of the system axis. The object and image planes are spaced apart from the positive lens group by a working distance greater than 100 millimeters.
US08493664B2

Providing a close-up lens with superb optical performance capable of focusing from infinity to a close distance allowing a life-size magnification by an internal focusing system with small moving amounts of focusing lens groups, an imaging apparatus, and a method for focusing a close-up lens. The close-up lens includes four lens groups, and is able to focus an object with an imaging magnification from β=0 through at least β=−0.5, wherein upon focusing, a first lens group and a fourth lens group are fixed with respect to an image plane, and a second lens group and a third lens group are moved along an optical axis.
US08493661B2

The present disclosure provides a contiguous microlens array, which consists of a plurality of touching microlenses, wherein the adjacent microlenses are connected to each other to form a contiguous microlens array and curvatures of every angle cross section of each microlens are the same. The shape of the curved surface of a microlens in the microlens array is selectively adjusted according to its position in the array and the incident angle of light incident thereto.
US08493653B2

The present invention relates to an optical fiber amplifying module equipped with a structure for stably attaining a high gain even when amplifying light having a low duty cycle. The optical fiber amplifying module comprises at least three amplification optical fibers successively arranged from an input connector to an output collimator. A bandpass filter is arranged between the first- and second-stage amplification optical fibers. Control means having a structure constituted by optically passive components alone or a feedback structure functions so as to render an upper limit to a gain for input light in the first-stage amplification optical fiber, thereby preventing the deterioration in performances such as destruction of the bandpass filter from occurring in optical components positioned on the upstream side of the final-stage amplification optical fiber.
US08493650B2

A method and apparatus for suppression of four-wave mixing using polarization control with a high power polarization maintaining fiber amplifier system. The apparatus includes a master oscillator (MO) that generates a beam; a polarization controller that receives the beam from the MO and transmits the beam with a desired polarization; a pre-amplifier that receives the beam from the polarization controller, pre-amplifies the beam, and transmits the beam; a high power fiber amplifier that receives the beam from the pre-amplifier, amplifies the beam, and transmits an output beam; and a polarization detector that detects the polarization of the output beam. The polarization detector transmits feedback to the polarization controller to ensure that the output beam components aligned with the principal birefringent axes of the high power fiber amplifier have approximately equal power.
US08493646B2

An electrochromic device includes a first electrochromic region interconnected with a second electrochromic region by a plurality of conductive links disposed between sides of a substrate on which the material layers of the electrochromic device are formed. The plurality of conductive links interconnects a first isolated conductive region of the first electrochromic region with a first isolated conductive region of the second electrochromic region. A sequence of a counter electrode layer, an ion conductor layer and an electrochromic layer is sandwiched between the first conductive regions of the first and second electrochromic regions and respective second isolated conductive regions of the first and second electrochromic regions. The second conductive regions of the first and second electrochromic regions are connected to respective first and second bus bars which are for connection to a low voltage electrical source.
US08493637B2

An image forming optical element is provided, in which a first lens, a second lens, and a light guiding unit that leads the light input from the first lens, to the second lens, the light guiding unit has a curved shape of a first curve portion and a second curve portion from the first lens to the second lens, a first reflection face that reflects the light input from the first lens, to the second curve portion, is formed on an outer peripheral face of the first curve portion, a second reflection face that reflects the reflected light to the second lens is formed on an outer peripheral face of the second curve portion, the light input to the first lens travels in the transparent medium until reading the second lens, is output from the second lens, and then forms an image at magnification of erection equal-magnification.
US08493635B2

Unintended image inversion is prevented when an optical reading device processes images captured by an optical reading device that uses a linear image sensor having the photodetectors arrayed in a line. An optical reading unit has a linear image sensor with photodetectors arrayed perpendicularly to the transportation direction of the recording medium S to be scanned, optically reads the conveyed recording medium by means of the linear image sensor, and sequentially outputs the detection values of the photodetectors from an end of the linear image sensor. A gate array and CPU generate scanned image data based on the detection values read by the optical reading unit, add thereto information describing the relationship between the scanning sequence of the photodetectors of the linear image sensor and the pixel order of the scanned image data, and output to another device.
US08493626B2

In the present invention, tetragons are generated, each of the tetragons being formed of four points of a point A(c, 1), a point B(a+c, b+1), a point C(0, d+1), and a point D(a, b+d+1) specified with arbitrary parameters satisfying the specified number of pixels n=2(ad+bc). From among the generated tetragons, a tetragon having an angle closest to a specified angle is selected, and two of the selected tetragons are placed adjacently to each other to generate the basic pattern. A lighting order is determined so that, continuously from a lighting order of pixels forming a first tetragon of the tetragons of the basic pattern in order of increasing distance from a specific point of the first tetragon, pixels are lit in order of decreasing distance from the specific point, and a rectangular pattern functioning as a binarization-use pattern is generated.
US08493624B2

A method for forming a halftone image on recording media includes providing a recording head comprising a plurality of individually addressable recording channels. The recording head forms a plurality of image swaths, with each swath formed during a separate scan. A plurality of locations is identified within a representative unit cell of the halftone image. A quantified value for each location is determined based on a sub-scan misalignment associated with a proposed merging of two image swaths at the location corresponding to the quantified value. A merge location is selected from the plurality of locations, corresponding to a desired quantified values. The recording head forms the halftone image on the recording media while merging a first image swath and a second image swath at the selected merge location within a first unit cell of the halftone image.
US08493614B2

At least certain embodiments of the disclosures relate to methods and data processing systems for matching a source profile to a destination profile. In one embodiment, a method includes providing a destination test chart and a corresponding first source test chart with each test chart having color patches. The method includes adjusting the source profile to substantially match a known or an unknown destination profile in response to receiving an input for visually matching an adjustable white color patch of the first source test chart to a corresponding white color patch of the destination test chart. The method includes progressively generating a second source test chart having modified at least some and possibly all color patches compared to the first displayed test chart based on applying a first transformation to the source profile in response to visually matching the white color patch.
US08493612B2

A method and system for predicting expansion difficulty and an expansion time required to perform print-time imaging operations. A print-ready compressed file may be generated by raster image processing of a job description file associated with a rendering job provided by a digital front end. The expansion time with respect to one or more expansion processes may be predicted by a linear equation during assembly of the compressed file. The linear equation may be formulated based on measured compression statistics that relate to profile data within the compressed file. The total expansion time with respect to the rendering job may be then computed by summing the results of the linear equations. The expansion time to perform the print-time imaging operations may be compared with an available time based on an image output terminal speed to improve performance of raster image processing.
US08493610B2

This invention is made to solve the problem that the conventional method cannot correctly determine whether an original is a halftone. To solve this, a method according to this invention detects, from an original, first and second feature pixels respectively exhibiting first and second features. A first feature pixel to first feature pixel distance and second feature pixel to second feature pixel distance are calculated from neighboring first feature pixels and neighboring second feature pixels, respectively. The average of the first feature pixel to first feature pixel distance and the neighboring second feature pixel to second feature pixel distance is calculated as a feature pixel to feature pixel distance. A histogram is generated by the appearance count of only a feature pixel to feature pixel distance for which the same value successively appears. Whether the read original is a halftone is discriminated based on this histogram.
US08493603B2

A job processing method in a printing system having a printing apparatus which can accept a plurality of kinds of print jobs, wherein a print stop request of a print job which is to be printed by the printing apparatus is enabled by a user via a user interface section; and if a print job which is an object of a print stop is a print job which requires printing for a plurality of copies, the print stop processing of the print job is enabled by the printing apparatus in the print stop processing method based on a request from a user inputted via said user interface section in a plurality of kinds of print stop processing methods which can be executed in the printing apparatus.
US08493602B2

A management system includes an image forming apparatus and a monitoring apparatus. The monitoring apparatus includes a determination unit configured to determine whether the image forming apparatus has a transmission control function for performing change of a transmission destination of collected operational information, a transmission unit configured to transmit to the image forming apparatus having the transmission control function, a command for setting the monitoring apparatus as a transmission destination of the operational information, and transmission setting in which a scheme for acquiring counter information related to charging is set, and a scheme for acquiring failure information is set, and a verification unit configured to verify matching in the counter information. The image forming apparatus is configured to perform transmission of the operational information to the monitoring apparatus in accordance with the command and the transmission setting.
US08493599B2

A printing apparatus includes a generation unit configured to generate first print data and second print data based on input print data, a printing unit configured to generate first image data by executing image processing on the first print data generated by the generation unit and to print the generated first image data on a sheet, a transmission unit configured to transmit the second print data generated by the generation unit to another printing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus, and a conveyance unit configured, in order to print the second print data transmitted by the transmission unit, to convey the sheet having the first image data printed thereon by the printing unit to the another printing apparatus.
US08493595B2

Each page in document images is divided into regions. Attribute information is assigned to each divided region. Character recognition is performed for a region having a caption attribute, thereby obtaining character information. Metadata of an object is extracted from a region containing an expression synonymous with the character information. Even when the object and metadata exist in different pages, the metadata is associated with the object. The document image is transmitted for each page. Finally, the metadata is transmitted.
US08493589B2

Disclosed is an image forming system including: a plurality of image forming apparatuses provided in a series so that each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses form an image on a sheet of paper, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses each include: an image forming section; and a control section which, when a predetermined adjustment condition occurs, stops an image forming operation, performs a predetermined adjustment, resumes the image forming operation after the adjustment is complete, and performs a notification that the adjustment is performed to the other image forming apparatus when the adjustment is performed, and when there is a notification that the adjustment is performed from the other image forming apparatus, the control section stops the driving of the image forming section and puts the image forming section in a driving stopped state while the adjustment is performed in the other image forming apparatus.
US08493587B2

A printing device includes a control device configured to receive a cancellation request instruction, receive a confirmation instruction for confirming each printing job to be cancelled or not, set the printing job in the queue to be in a stop condition if receiving the cancellation request instruction, and delete from the queue the printing job if receiving the confirmation instruction for the printing job. The control device further determines whether the job receiving device receives another new printing job during an instruction waiting period from a time when receiving confirmation instruction, and controls the printing device to print the other new printing job prior to printing of the printing job registered in the queue, if the job receiving device receives the other new printing job.
US08493584B2

An information processing apparatus configured to transmit print data to a printing apparatus to perform printing includes a determination unit configured to determine whether a selected complex print setting including a plurality of setting values requires resolution of a conflict of setting values, and an execution unit configured to execute print processing using the setting values without performing conflict resolution of the setting values, if the determination unit determines that the complex setting does not require the conflict resolution of the setting values, and execute print processing using the setting values that have undergone the conflict resolution of the setting values, if the determination unit determines that the complex setting requires the conflict resolution of the setting values.
US08493581B2

A method of creating an electronic document is disclosed that is able to maintain confidentiality and prevent leakage (unauthorized disclosure) of contents of the electronic document. The method includes the steps of sustaining plural combinations of first data sets and second data sets respectively corresponding to the first data sets in advance; obtaining a first data set and a second data set via a verification data input field provided on a predetermined page of a document opened and displayed in response to an instruction input from in input unit for opening the document; and performing, when the first data set and the second data set are in agreement with one of the combinations, at least one of an operation of not displaying a first object in which content of the document is shielded, an operation of displaying a second object which includes the content of the document, and an operation of loading the input first data set into a third object able to display the first data set, and displaying the third object.
US08493571B2

A laser-optical position detecting module with a laser as a light source is disclosed, which includes a laser mode conversing assembly, having a laser source capable of emitting a time-modulated laser beam; a laser mode conversing unit, used to expand the time-modulated laser beam to a two-dimension sensing plane; a drive control unit, adopted for driving the laser source to emit the time-modulated laser beam; and a detector matrix. The laser mode conversing unit has a phase delay device and a passive optical device capable of reflecting the light; so that, through the laser mode conversing unit, the laser-optical position detecting module can expand the light emitted by the laser source to the two-dimension sensing plane without using any other mechanical scanning.
US08493568B2

The present invention relates to an optical imaging apparatus and a method, and more particularly to an optical imaging apparatus and a method with short coherence length optical source. The apparatus comprises an optical source with a plurality of outputs for providing a reference light and a sample light; a sample probe module for leading the sample light to a sample, and leading an information light out; an interference module for leading the reference light to a photo detector, and leading the information light to the photo detector; and a signal processing unit electrically coupled to the photo detector; wherein the reference light and the information light are superimposed on the photo detector, an interference light pattern is detected by the photo detector, and a signal that represents the interference light pattern is transmitted to said signal processing unit for analyzing the spatial information of the sample.
US08493565B1

A small internal volume cell having fluid entry, and exit ports wherein at least one bubble trap is present in a fluid pathway which is continuous with the fluid exit port. There further being present an input/output aperture, for entering and exiting electromagnetic radiation, positioned to allow causing an input beam of electromagnetic radiation to impinge on a sample substrate at a location thereon at which, during use, fluid contacts; and a mirror for directing electromagnetic radiation which reflects from said sample substrate, toward and out of said input/output aperture; as well as methodology of its use.
US08493562B2

Optical device with superimposed photonic circuits, for coupling to an optical waveguide.Said device comprises a substrate (44) and, on said substrate, an integrated photonic circuit (46) adapted to be coupled to at least one optical waveguide (48) which transmits a light signal (50) and for processing said signal. According to the invention, the circuit comprises two superimposed elementary integrated photonic circuits (52, 54), each of which is adapted to be coupled to a given polarization state of the signal and to process this state. The invention applies particularly to optical telecommunications.
US08493561B2

A device for on-site measurement of concentration of uranium in high temperature molten salts is provided. More particularly, this device can be directly applied to a pyroprocess for reusing spent nuclear fuel and determine concentration of uranium 3+ and 4+ chemical species using ultraviolet-visible light absorption spectrometry. The device includes first and second optical waveguides submerged in molten salts including uranium through a port formed at an upper side of a pyrochemical process apparatus; a lengthwise driver installed at the port to be operated to adjust a distance between the optical waveguides; a light source for supplying light to the second optical waveguide as any one of the optical waveguides; and a spectrometer connected to the first optical waveguide as the other one of the optical waveguides to analyze the light emitted from the second optical waveguide and introduced through the first optical waveguide via the molten salts.
US08493560B2

A sensor for determining the presence or concentration of a target entity in a medium is described, and includes (a) an optical waveguide; (b) a microresonator optically coupled with the optical waveguide such that light within the optical waveguide induces a resonant mode within the microresonator at an equator region (or a mode volume); and (c) at least one plasmonic nanoparticle adsorbed onto a surface area of the microresonator within the equator region (or the mode volume) such that light inducing a resonant mode within the microresonator also causes a plasmonic resonance in the at least one plasmonic nanoparticle. Detection methods for using such sensors are also described. Finally, methods, involving the use of carousel forces, for fabricating such sensors are also described.
US08493555B2

A distributed Brillouin optical fiber sensing system employs a sensing optical fiber that supports two or more (i.e., few) guided modes. Pump light supported by one of the guided modes is used to form a dynamic Brillouin grating (DBG). Probe light supported by at least one of the other guided modes interacts with the DBG to form reflected probe light that is received and analyzed to determine a Brillouin frequency shift and a reflection location, which in turn allows for making a measurement of at least one condition along the sensing optical fiber. Supporting the pump and probe light in different guided modes results in the optical fiber sensing system having a higher spatial resolution than sensing systems where the pump light and probe light share a common guided mode.
US08493544B2

Digital cinema exhibition facilities make use of a show play list (SPL) specifying a time sequence of the events to occur during the presentation of digital cinema content. One or more cues in the show play list trigger certain activities, such as displacing the screen curtain and dimming the house lights. To achieve an aesthetic, showman-like presentation, the cues in the show play undergo re-cuing. For each cue, a determination is made automatically of the prefire interval, that is, the interval by which the cue should be advanced. The execution the cue to trigger a corresponding activity is advanced by the automatically determined pre-fire interval.
US08493538B2

A flat display panel comprises a plurality of driver ICs and one or more flexible printed circuit, a plurality of common wires formed on the substrate to electrically connect the ICs to the one or more flexible printed circuit, and at least one anisotropic conductive film that connects respective connecting terminals of the driver ICs and flexible printed circuit to terminals pads of the common wires. The anisotropic conductive film is laminated over the substrate to cover the terminal pads. The driver ICs and flexible printed circuit are aligned and attached on the anisotropic conductive layer by thermocompression bonding.
US08493534B2

A liquid crystal display device including first and second substrates and a liquid crystal layer therebetween. The device also includes a plurality of gate bus lines, and a plurality of drain bus lines that intersect the gate bus lines, as well as a plurality of pixel regions defined by the gate and drain bus lines. Additionally, the device includes a thin film transistor and a resin color filter layer formed in each of the pixel regions. There is a pixel electrode formed in each of the pixel regions on the resin color filter layer that includes a slit extending in parallel with an edge of the pixel region and a plurality of finer slits diagonally extending from the slit. Finally, the device includes a common electrode formed on the second substrate, and a vertical alignment film applied to each of surfaces of the substrates.
US08493531B2

A display device is provided which includes a base body having a pixel area in which pixels are disposed in a matrix, an organic planarizing film composed of an organic film and provided on the base body, a dry-etched film provided on the organic planarizing film and formed by dry etching, a conductive film provided on the dry-etched film, and an organic film-removed area in which the organic planarizing film is removed outside the periphery of the pixel area. In the above display device, the dry-etched film or a film provided before the dry-etched film is formed is terminated in the organic film-removed area.
US08493528B2

A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal cell including a liquid crystal layer twist-aligned at 90° sandwiched between a pair of substrates, first and second polarizing layers arranged to sandwich the liquid crystal cell therebetween so that their absorption axes set to parallel with directions crossing aligning treatment directions of the substrates at 45°, and viewing angle compensating plates respectively arranged between the polarizing layers and the liquid crystal cell. A total value of retardations in a thickness direction, defined as a value of a product of a phase difference within a plane perpendicular to substrate surfaces of the liquid crystal cell and a layer thickness, of optical layers present between the polarizing layers is set to a value that substantially cancels out a retardation in a liquid crystal layer thickness direction when a saturation voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer.
US08493527B2

The liquid crystal panel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid crystal cell, a first polarizing plate placed on one side of the liquid crystal cell, a second polarizing plate and a third polarizing plate placed on the other side of the liquid crystal cell in an order starting from a side of the liquid crystal cell, and a retardation plate (A) placed between the liquid crystal cell and the second polarizing plate, wherein a refractive index ellipsoid of the retardation plate (A) has a relationship of nx≧ny>nz, a difference (ΔT2−1=T2−T1) between a transmittance (T2) of the second polarizing plate and a transmittance (T1) of the first polarizing plate is larger than 0%, a difference (ΔT3−2=T3−T2) between a transmittance (T3) of the third polarizing plate and a transmittance (T2) of the second polarizing plate is 4.0% to 7.5%, and the third polarizing plate is a linearly polarized light separation type reflective polarizing plate.
US08493525B2

A thin film transistor array panel includes: a substrate; a gate line and a storage electrode that are disposed on the substrate; a data line that crosses the gate line and storage electrode line; a thin film transistor that is connected with the gate line and data line; and a pixel electrode that is connected to the thin film transistor. The storage electrode includes a first storage electrode that is parallel to the gate line, second storage electrodes that extend on opposing sides of the data line from the first storage electrode, a connection part that crosses the data line and connects pairs of the second storage electrodes, and a connection bridge that crosses the gate line and connects a second storage electrode to a second storage electrode of an adjacent pixel.
US08493518B2

An LCD with an integrated touch panel that prevents sensor malfunction by eliminating coupling noises includes an insulating substrate, a plurality of gate lines formed on the insulating substrate so as to extend in a first direction, a plurality of data lines formed in a second direction so as to intersect the plurality of gate lines, a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs), each formed at an area defined by the gate lines and the data lines, a plurality of sensor lines formed in the same directions as the gate lines and the data lines, and a plurality of dummy lines formed in the same directions as the sensor lines.
US08493515B2

A television adapter includes first and second conversion circuits, a switch unit, and a high definition television (HDTV) interface. The first conversion circuit includes a digital to analog (D/A) converter and a coupler. The second conversion circuit includes an analog to digital (A/D) converter and a decoupler. When the switch unit connects the first conversion circuit to the HDTV interface, the D/A converter converts a first digital signal from the HDTV interface into a first analog form data. The coupler couples the first analog form data to a first alternating current (AC) voltage. When the switch unit connects the second conversion circuit to the HDTV interface, the decoupler decouples and separates a second AC voltage into a second analog form data. The A/D converter converts the second analog form data into a second digital signal, and outputs the second digital signal to the HDTV interface.
US08493513B2

Techniques and tools for high accuracy position calculation for picture resizing in applications such as spatially-scalable video coding and decoding are described. In one aspect, resampling of a video picture is performed according to a resampling scale factor. The resampling comprises computation of a sample value at a position i, j in a resampled array. The computation includes computing a derived horizontal or vertical sub-sample position x or y in a manner that involves approximating a value in part by multiplying a 2n value by an inverse (approximate or exact) of the upsampling scale factor. The approximating can be a rounding or some other kind of approximating, such as a ceiling or floor function that approximates to a nearby integer. The sample value is interpolated using a filter.
US08493512B2

In a television display state, a television image is displayed on the whole of a screen. In an intermediate display state, an intermediate launcher image is displayed on the screen. The intermediate launcher image includes an intermediate frame having a perspective shape of the screen. A television image the vertical and horizontal sizes of which are reduced is displayed in the intermediate frame. In a launcher display state, a last launcher image is displayed on the screen. The last launcher image includes a display frame having a perspective shape of the screen. A television image having further reduced vertical and horizontal sizes is displayed in the display frame.
US08493506B2

An imaging device unit completely removing dust attached to an optical device and an imaging apparatus. The imaging device includes: an imaging device including an imaging surface on which an optical image of a subject is formed and converting the optical image into an electric signal; a low pass filter (LPF) disposed between the imaging device and the subject; a plate mounted on a peripheral portion of the LPF and including arm units extending in a direction parallel to the plate; a piezoelectric device mounted on the plate and vibrating the plate and the LPF; and a support frame that surface-contacts with the arm units of the plate and supports the plate in the direction parallel to the one surface of the plate.
US08493503B2

An imaging apparatus includes a photoelectric conversion element package, a chassis member arranged at a position opposite a rear surface of the photoelectric conversion element package, a wiring member electrically connected to the photoelectric conversion element package. The wiring member has an opening that exposes the rear surface of the photoelectric conversion element package. The wiring member is arranged between the rear surface of the photoelectric conversion element package and the chassis member. The imaging apparatus further includes a heat conduction member configured to contact the rear surface of the photoelectric conversion element package, exposed by the opening, and the chassis member.
US08493501B2

A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored.
US08493499B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide a video encoding system in which a video coding engine establishes coding quality metrics that govern its own operation as well as the operation of a camera and/or a pre-processor. An imaging system may include an image acquisition system, a pre-processor and a coding engine. The coding engine may output a quality indicator identifying, for each portion of a video sequence currently being coded, a relatively level of coding quality that is being achieved. The imaging system further may include an image acquisition controller and a pre-processor controller that impose respective operating parameters upon the image acquisition system and the pre-processor in response to these quality indicators. In this manner, overall performance of the imaging system may be improved.
US08493491B2

Charge packets are transferred from a pixel array in an image sensor to a horizontal shift register. Each charge packet is shifted to a non-destructive sense node. Each charge packet is non-destructively sensed and a signal representative of a number of charge carriers in the charge packet is produced. Respective charge packets are directed to a charge multiplying output channel when the signal representative of the number of charge carriers in each charge packet indicates the charge packet will not saturate the charge multiplying horizontal shift register. Respective charge packets are directed to a charge bypass output channel or an amplifier when the signal representative of the number of charge carriers in each charge packet indicates the charge packet will saturate the charge multiplying horizontal shift register.
US08493489B2

Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device, including: a pixel array unit configured to be formed by two-dimensionally arranging unit pixels each having a photoelectric converter, a charge-voltage converter, a reset transistor to set the charge-voltage converter to a predetermined potential, and an amplification transistor to read out a signal converted by the charge-voltage converter; a signal processor configured to process a signal output from the unit pixel by using a reference voltage; and a setter configured to set a reset level obtained from a second unit pixel from which a signal level has been already read out as the reference voltage of the signal processor before readout of a signal level based on a signal charge accumulated or retained in the charge-voltage converter from a first unit pixel.
US08493487B2

In a photoelectric conversion apparatus having a plurality of unit cells, wherein each of the unit cells has a photoelectric conversion element, a transfer transistor and a floating diffusion region, a light shielding portion arranged on an upper portion of the floating diffusion region is included. The respective light shielding portions are separated from one another, and are in a floating state without being electrically connected to the floating diffusion region.
US08493483B2

An image sensor includes a plurality of pixels, a plurality of sense circuits, and a count circuit. Each sense circuit is configured to read out electrical signals from at least one pixel associated with the sense circuit in order to generate data representing whether or not photons have been received by the sense circuit. The count circuit is in communication with a sense circuit selected from the plurality of sense circuits. The count circuit is configured to provide integration results for the pixels associated with the sense circuits based on the data received from the sense circuits.
US08493482B2

Various techniques are provided for processing image data acquired using a digital image sensor. In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, one such technique may relate to the processing of image data in a system that supports multiple image sensors. In one embodiment, the image processing system may include control circuitry configured to determine whether a device is operating in a single sensor mode (one active sensor) or a dual sensor mode (two active sensors). When operating in the single sensor mode, data may be provided directly to a front-end pixel processing unit from the sensor interface of the active sensor. When operating in a dual sensor mode, the image frames from the first and second sensors are provided to the front-end pixel processing unit in an interleaved manner. For instance, in one embodiment, the image frames from the first and second sensors are written to a memory, and then read out to the front-end pixel processing unit in an interleaved manner.
US08493480B2

A signal conversion apparatus which converts an input signal x from an image sensor into an output signal y by a function relation represented by Expression 1: y = f ⁡ ( x ) = ∫ b x ⁢ [ 1 / r ⁡ ( ξ ) ] ⁢ ⅆ ξ ( 1 ) where b is a predetermined constant, ξ is an integration variable corresponding to a value of the input signal x, and r(ξ) is a quantization step function before removal of a noise of the input signal x, which determines an increment of the input signal x to an increment of the output signal y.
US08493474B2

An image sensor IC may have a non-volatile memory for several functions. The functions may include storing control parameters for a camera autofocus module, part tracking data, and data for defect correction or color science. The non-volatile memory can in particular be an antifuse non-volatile memory, which may not need special light shielding.
US08493473B2

An automated RAW image processing method and system are disclosed. A RAW image and metadata related to the RAW image are obtained from a digital camera or other source. The RAW image and the related metadata are automatically processed using an Operating System service of a processing device to produce a resulting image in an absolute color space. The resulting image is then made available to an application program executing on the processing device through an application program interface with the Operating System service.
US08493463B2

A spectral characteristic correction apparatus correcting a spectral characteristic characterizing a color signal including a plurality of chrominance signals includes: a correction coefficient calculating unit calculating, on the basis of a basic color signal corresponding to each of a plurality of basic colors calculated from a color signal obtained by photographing a plurality of color patches, for example, and on a predetermined reference color signal corresponding to the basic color signal, a correction coefficient for performing correction for approximating the basic color signal to the reference color signal; and a spectral characteristic correcting unit correcting a spectral characteristic characterizing the basic color signal by using the correction coefficient calculated by the correction coefficient calculating unit.
US08493462B2

In an image processing apparatus, a still image immediately before a moving image is photographed is divisionally encoded in correspondence to a slice area of the moving image, and a compression table of the slice area in one frame of the moving image is determined based on a compressed data amount of corresponding divisional encoding of the still image. Thus, the image processing apparatus determines the compression table for each slice area of the moving image so that constant compressed data amount for one entire frame of the moving image is attained without performing a trial compression.
US08493461B2

A precision motion platform carrying an imaging device under a large-field-coverage lens enables capture of high resolution imagery over the full field in an instantaneous telephoto mode and wide-angle coverage through temporal integration. The device permits automated tracking and scanning without movement of a camera body or lens. Coupled use of two or more devices enables automated range computation without the need for subsequent epipolar rectification. The imager motion enables sample integration for resolution enhancement. The control methods for imager positioning enable decreasing the blur caused by both the motion of the moving imager or the motion of an object's image that the imager is intended to capture.
US08493450B2

The invention provides a system capable of printing in a simple manner by detecting the connection of a printer and shifting to a print mode in response to the detection of the printer.
US08493446B2

A system and method for intelligently controlling headlights receive a multiplicity of images that represent frames of a video sequence of an external environment of a vehicle. At least one bright spot, or blob, is found that stands out from a dark background of the external environment within each frame of the multiplicity of images. A multiplicity of features is extracted from a found blob. A type is recognized of a found blob that is selected from a multiplicity of types of blobs. A determination is then made whether to turn on a high beam light or a low beam light based at least on the recognized type of the found blob and a set of rules. Finally, an action based on such decision is performed.
US08493444B2

Embodiments include systems and methods of detecting a blocked aperture in an image device. In certain embodiments, the system and method is used in mail processing of letters and flats. In certain embodiments, the image sensor captures an image of the front of an item. If the aperture of the image sensor is obstructed, a void will appear on the image of the item. The system can detect the void and increment an alarm count until a pre-defined threshold is reached wherein the system signals an alarm so that the blockage can be removed and the affected items can be re-introduced for correct processing. In another embodiment, images obtained when the aperture is expected to be clear of any items.
US08493434B2

A system configured to support video formatting without a priori knowledge of video formatting requirements of a display device. The system relies on video information transmitted from the display device to a source device to facilitate determining the video formatting requirements of the display device. The system can be used within any television network, gaming network, and content sourcing network where it may be advantageous to deploy a source device that can support formatting requirements for a plurality of different display types.
US08493424B2

A printer includes a platen roller, a motor configured to rotate the platen roller, and a frame configured to rotatably support the platen roller, the motor being mounted to the frame, wherein the motor has a shaft and a face that is in contact with the frame, and the face has a flange at a periphery thereof and a boss around the shaft, wherein the frame has a U-letter-shape opening into which the boss of the motor is insertable in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the shaft, and also has a fitting part in which the flange of the motor is engaged, and wherein the motor is fixedly positioned by the boss being inserted into the U-letter-shape opening of the frame and by the flange being engaged in the fitting part.
US08493423B2

[Problem] There are provided a thermal recording head capable of making proper operation of a converter, and a thermal recording apparatus including the same.[Solution] A thermal recording head (10) of the invention is driven on a basis of a first control signal and includes a head substrate (20) including heat generating elements (23a), a wiring substrate (30) including, on its surface, a wiring pattern (312) for transmission of the first control signal, and a mount substrate (40) disposed facing a back surface of the head substrate (20) and a back surface of the wiring substrate (30) and configured to mount the head substrate (20) and the wiring substrate (30). On the surface of the head substrate (20) is placed a control element (27) electrically connected to the heat generating elements (23a) and configured to control driving of the heat generating elements (23a). On the surface of the wiring substrate (30) is placed a converter (323) electrically connected to the wiring pattern (312) and configured to convert the first control signal into a second control signal. The mount substrate (41) is spaced away from a corresponding region at the back surface of the wiring substrate (30) that corresponds to a fourth placement area (40d) bearing the converter (323) on the surface of the wiring substrate (30).
US08493421B2

Packages are manufactured in a digitally controlled process. A digital printing machine (101) produces printed workpieces and a cutting machine (104) cuts packaging blanks (105) from them. A conveyor line (107) transfers the printed work-pieces automatically from the digital printing machine (101) to the cutting machine (104). A digital control system (109) exchanges digital control information with at least the digital printing machine (101) and the cutting machine (104).
US08493416B2

An image processor includes an image accepting unit, an image moving amount accepting unit, an initial estimated image generating unit, an estimated image moving and reducing unit, a unit extracting a difference between an image processed by the moving and reducing unit and the images accepted by the image accepting unit, a unit moving and enlarging, in the opposite direction of the moving and reducing unit, an image processed by the difference extracting unit, a unit adding and accumulating an image processed by the moving and enlarging unit, a unit multiplying a given coefficient by an image processed by the accumulative adding unit, and an iterating unit iterating processing by the moving and reducing unit, the difference extracting unit, the moving and enlarging unit, the accumulative adding unit and the coefficient multiplying unit according to a given condition.
US08493414B2

In a terminal device, when application screens of a plurality of types of applications are being displayed individually and the display directions thereof differ from each other, a control section selects any one of the plurality of types of applications as a reference for display control, and orients the display direction of an application that is not the control reference to the display direction of an application that is the control reference. That is, when the display direction of an application displayed on one display section is changed from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction, the display direction of an application displayed on another display section is changed from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction so as to follow the foregoing change.
US08493410B2

A simulation method and system. A computing system receives a first audio and/or video data stream. The first audio and/or video data stream includes data associated with a first person. The computing system monitors the first audio and/or video data stream. The computing system identifies emotional attributes comprised by the first audio and/or video data stream. The computing system generates a second audio and/or video data stream associated with the first audio and/or video data stream. The second audio and/or video data stream includes the data without the emotional attributes. The computing system stores the second audio and/or video data stream.
US08493406B2

The rendering on a user interface of a potentially complex computerized scene generation system. The user interface includes visual item(s) that have associated data. In addition, another set of visual items may be driven by data provided to input parameters, and may represent elements in the scene. Through user gestures, a user may correlate data items in the data source visual items with the element visual items to thereby automatically populate the element visual items with data, affecting the rendering of the data-driven element visual items. The element visual items might be linked, once again, perhaps through user gestures, to a parent visual item. In so doing, properties of the parent visual item might change and/or input parameters of the element visual items might change. Accordingly, complex visual scenes may be created through potentially quite simple user gestures.
US08493404B2

This disclosure describes techniques for rendering pixels on a display. A processing unit may receive pixel values for surface pixels of each surface of a plurality of surface. The processing unit may also receive an order of the plurality of surfaces. Based on at least the location and order of the plurality surfaces, the processing unit may blend pixel values for co-located surface pixels. The processing unit may also accumulate opaqueness values for co-located surface pixels and/or opaqueness values for surfaces with co-located surface pixels.
US08493403B2

Color transformation sample point identification is described. A subset of points from a superset of points representing a colorimetric relationship is identified. The subset of points defines an initial n-simplex with (n+1) points representing an approximation of the colorimetric relationship, where n represents a number of dimensions. An additional point from the superset of points is selected and added to the subset of points to replace the n-simplex with a set of at least two n-simplices. The additional point is selected such that a volume of an (n+1)-simplex formed by the (n+1) points of the initial n-simplex and the additional point is increased. An error value for the approximation is determined by calculating an error volume between the (n+1)-simplex and the superset of points.
US08493390B2

Methods and systems for adapting a display screen output based on a display user's attention. Gaze direction tracking is employed to determine a sub-region of a display screen area to which a user is attending. Display of the attended sub-region is modified relative to the remainder of the display screen, for example, by changing the quantity of data representing an object displayed within the attended sub-region relative to an object displayed in an unattended sub-region of the display screen.
US08493389B2

The invention relates to a system (100) for determining a feedback on a three-dimensional location of a pointer in a three-dimensional region of image data, the system comprising: a display unit (110) for computing a view of the three-dimensional region for displaying on a display; a pointer unit (115) for computing a two-dimensional location of the pointer on the view of the three-dimensional region, based on a pointer location input; a location unit (120) for computing a three-dimensional location in the three-dimensional region, based on a two-dimensional location on the view of the three-dimensional region; and a shadow unit (125) for determining a set of two-dimensional locations for displaying a shadow on the view of the three-dimensional region, wherein the set of two-dimensional locations for displaying the shadow comprises the two-dimensional location of the pointer on the view of the three-dimensional region, and wherein a set of three-dimensional locations, computed based on the set of two-dimensional locations for displaying the shadow, is connected. Typically, the connected set of candidate three-dimensional locations comprising the three-dimensional location of the pointer is comprised in a structure indicated by the pointer. Therefore, the determined feedback on a three-dimensional pointer location on a view of the three-dimensional region of the image data improves clarity and decreases ambiguity of indicating a 3D location on the structure.
US08493386B2

Systems and methods of virtual world interaction, operation, implementation, instantiation, creation, and other functions related to virtual worlds (note that where the term “virtual world” is used herein, it is to be understood as referring to virtual world systems, virtual environments reflecting real, simulated, fantasy, or other structures, and includes information systems that utilize interaction within a 3D environment). Various embodiments facilitate interoperation between and within virtual worlds, and may provide consistent structures for operating virtual worlds. The disclosed embodiments may further enable individuals to build new virtual worlds within a framework, and allow third party users to better interact with those worlds.
US08493378B2

In general, the invention relates to a method for performing polygon dissections in a geographic information system. The method includes receiving a notification of a spatial update for a number of polygons, where each of the number of polygons overlaps at least one of a number of previously dissected polygons, determining that a dissection is required based on the spatial update, and obtaining an updated polygon, associated with the spatial update, and related polygons of the number of polygons, where each of the related polygons overlaps the updated polygon. The method further includes dissecting the updated polygon and the related polygons to obtain a number of dissected polygons and replacing at least one of the number of previously dissected polygons with the number of dissected polygons, where the at least one of the number of previously dissected polygons is invalid based on the spatial update.
US08493374B2

A method and system for a software driver of a graphics controller to work with a display codec. The software driver may be configured to work with different display codecs at different periods of time while using a default configuration. Other embodiments are also described.
US08493372B2

An image display apparatus includes: a circuit board integrally formed with a driving element for driving a display element and a light receiving sensor for receiving light; a light change structure provided in a region of the circuit board, in which the light receiving sensor is formed, and includes a light change material that selectively changes a light receiving amount of the light receiving sensor by moving by itself according to an attitude with respect to a direction of gravitational force; and an attitude determining unit that determines the attitude based on the light receiving amount of the light receiving sensor.
US08493361B2

A touch type display device includes: a flat panel display module; a plurality of infrared light emitting units disposed on a portion or on the entirety of the edge of the flat panel display module; an infrared camera disposed on at least two corners of the flat panel display module; and a band pass filter allowing light of a certain wavelength band in light emitted from the infrared light emitting units to pass therethrough so as to be supplied to the infrared camera.
US08493360B2

A system comprises a processing device, a signal generator to generate a first signal and a single receiver to receive a second signal from a capacitive sense array. The single receiver is configured to process the second signal for stylus sensing of a stylus proximate to the capacitive sense array in a first mode of operation and to process the second signal for touch sensing of a passive touch object proximate to the capacitive sense array in a second mode of operation. The second signal is unsynchronized with the first signal.
US08493359B2

A system comprising a sensing device and a capacitive sense array configured to track the position of a stylus and synchronize the capacitive sense array to the stylus transmit signal. The system is configured to track the position of both a stylus and a passive touch object. The system is further configured to track the position of the stylus using self capacitance sensing and track the position of the passive touch object using mutual capacitance sensing. The system further configured to modulate the stylus transmit signal to include additional data to support additional stylus functions.
US08493346B2

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to touch interfaces and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for generating touch interface displays. In one embodiment of the invention, a computer-implemented method for generating touch interface displays at a communication device with a touch interface includes initiating a set of calibration exercises, providing a set of instructions to a user of the communication device, receiving calibration data at the touch interface, analyzing the received calibration data to determine if the calibration is complete, repeating said providing and receiving steps until the calibration is complete and generating a touch interface display based on the received calibration data. The computer-implemented method can further include receiving use data for each key touch of the touch interface, defining a set of averages over time for finger skin touch area, finger size data and finger position and automatically resizing, reshaping and repositioning at least one key of the touch interface display based on the defined set of averages.
US08493343B2

A method for reducing noise of a touch panel includes: generating a detection signal including at least one contact region; generating a combination noise region including at least a portion of the at least one contact region; and generating a final detection signal. The generating the final detection signal includes removing the combination noise region from the detection signal.
US08493333B2

A method of displaying information in a mobile terminal having a touch screen is provided. The method includes determining whether a touch input is generated by a touch screen, determining whether a touch area moves, calculating a movement direction of the touch area by extracting a value of the touch area movement, determining a current mode according to the calculated movement direction of the touch area, executing a function of the current mode corresponding to the extracted value of the touch area movement, and displaying, while executing the function of the current mode, at least one of a displacement value generated by executing the function of the current mode and a current mode icon indicating the current mode. Accordingly, when displaying information according to a touch input, changes of information may be displayed distinctively, and thereby user convenience may be improved.
US08493325B2

A reconfigurable user input device for use with an electronic video apparatus, such as a video game console, educational console or computer suitable for use by both left and right handed users. The multifunction user device further includes a base housing, a first input device and a second input device separated by a rotatable arm member mounted upon the base housing. A rotation mechanism is affixed between the rotatable arm member and the base housing permitting the arm member to rotate about a center axis to, in turn, permit the first input device and second input device to be respectively located alternatively to the left side or the right side of the housing.
US08493315B2

A display assembly comprising a backlight unit having at least two optical waveguide elements lying alongside one another, and configured such that light is emitted with a greater brightness in a boundary region of the optical waveguide elements than outside the boundary regions, a display unit arranged such that during operation of the display assembly light emitted by the backlight unit impinges on a rear side of the display unit, a diffuser layer arranged between the backlight unit and the display unit, and a control unit that compensates for a greater brightness in the boundary regions by adapted driving of the display unit.
US08493308B2

A source driver includes a plurality of first data channel pairs, a plurality of second data channel pairs, a first switch group, a second switch group, a third switch group, and a fourth switch group. Each of the first data channel pairs includes a first odd channel and a first even channel. The channels outputting voltages having the same polarity are short circuited together through the switch groups during a charge sharing period. As a result, the swings of the voltages of data lines coupled the corresponding channel are reduced, and further power consumption in the source driver could be reduced as compared with the related art.
US08493307B2

To realize a random number generating circuit that is optimum for a liquid crystal display device that is used in a terminal device that includes a display/input component. A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel, a control circuit and a random number generating circuit, the random number generating circuit comprises plural shift registers, an output circuit and a register that stores an initial value, and the random number generating circuit is equipped with plural initial values, whereby the randomness of the random numbers is improved. Further, it becomes possible to increase and output frequencies by the output circuit because it is possible to output respectively different random numbers from the plural shift registers.
US08493305B2

An image processing unit (2 in FIG. 1) discards a high gray level side of input image data (RiGiBi) in accordance with a chroma coefficient (Csc), thereby to generate a signal of lowered chroma, and it expands the signal into output image data (RoGoBo) of full scale. Besides, the image processing unit (2) generates an image adjustment parameter (Th) and performs a control so as to reduce power of backlight (6), in interlocking with the full-scale expansion.
US08493303B2

A control driver for a liquid crystal display panel includes: an operation circuit, an LUT (Look-up Table), and a linear interpolation D/A converter. The operation circuit performs a certain operation on input image data to generate operation data, and outputs higher order bit data and lower order bit data of the operation data. The LUT includes a V-T (Voltage-Transmittance) characteristic of the liquid crystal display panel, and outputs first output data and second output data as display data based on the higher order bit data and the V-T characteristic. The linear interpolation D/A converter performs an linear interpolation operation and D/A conversion to generate output voltage supplied to the liquid crystal display panel in response to the first output data, the second output data and the lower order bit data.
US08493301B2

To reduce flickers generated in a liquid crystal display device for allowing the use of a liquid crystal material exhibiting a high response speed so as to improve the light utilizing efficiency of a field sequential type liquid crystal display device. A liquid crystal display device includes: a display panel including a pixel matrix in which pixels each including a switching element and a pixel electrode are arranged in matrix near intersection of data lines and gate lines, and a counter electrode arranged to oppose the pixel matrix; and a control part which divides a period for displaying a color image of one frame into a plurality of sub-frame periods, and lights up light sources of different colors for each of the sub-frame periods to display images on the display panel. A shield electrode layer separated by an insulating film is disposed between the pixel electrode and the data lines.
US08493300B2

The present invention involves an electrical system in which an analog signal channel passes through various integrated circuit chips (ICs). The channel can carry one or more analog signals. Each IC can modify the signal(s) passing through it and pass it on to another IC or system component. The channel can be programmable. Each IC can include a comparator or a multiplexor to receive the channel signal from another IC or system component and to modify the received signal before transmitting it to another IC or system component. The comparator or the multiplexor can be programmable and can be selectively configured to compare the incoming signal from the channel with a variety of other signals and thresholds, or to simply act as a flow through gate and allow the signal to pass without any modification. The comparison can determine the output of the comparator. The operation and programming of the comparators, the multiplexors and the channel can be centrally controlled by a system controller, can be independently controlled by the ICs, or a combination thereof.
US08493298B2

A video display system includes an image processing unit receives continuously an input video signal including input frame signals for generating an output video signal including output frame signals having a higher frame rate than the input frame signals; and a display unit for displaying a video image in accordance with the output frame signals, wherein each of the input frame signals has 2^M gray scale levels for each pixel, the image processing unit further generates the output frame signals including at least a first output frame signal having 2^N gray scale levels with N
US08493289B2

Scanning mirror based display system and method. A method comprises sampling a scanned light provided by a scanning mirror, converting the sampled scanned light into an electrical signal, analyzing the electrical signal to determine a position of the scanned light, and controlling the light source or the scanning mirror based on the analyzed electrical signal. The electrical signal based on the sampled scanned light may be used to ensure proper operation of the scanning mirror display system, such as determining failure of the scanning mirror, proper rendering of colors, determining whether the scanned light is following a desired scan path at a desired scan rate, and so forth.
US08493287B2

To improve a small image display device of the type to be attached to glasses so that positioning thereof can be made easily during use.An image display device 100 comprises a body assembly 110 which can be fixed to a temple 210 of glasses 200, and an image display section 120 adapted to move from a standby position that is located close to the body assembly 110 to a service position just in front of lenses 220. The service position for the image display section 120 is previously determined, and the image display section 120 is automatically moved from the standby position to the service position. This allows the image display section 120 to be positioned at a proper position. The image display section 120 contains a display 125 and a free curved surface prism 126 therein. A user can view images enlarged from the images produced on the display 125 when the image display section 120 is at the service position.
US08493279B2

A microwave system comprises an antenna, antenna feed, a radio transceiver, and appropriate cabling among the aforementioned. Cost, performance and reliability improvements are achieved with further integration of these elements and with design improvements in the antenna feed. One improvement is the integration of the radio transceiver with the antenna feed. This improvement has many benefits including the to elimination of RF cables and connectors. Another improvement is the incorporation of parasitic radiators and sub-reflectors as part to of the antenna feed. The entire antenna, including the feed design is optimized with 3D finite element method (FEM) software and numerical optimization software. Another improvement is the utilization of the digital cable to power the integrated radio transceiver and a center fed parabolic reflector.
US08493273B2

An antenna array comprises two or more antenna elements. Each of the two or more antenna elements is configured to scan within a field of view. Each of the two or more antenna elements is further configured to transmit or receive a signal. The antenna array also comprises a metamaterial lens coupled to the two or more antenna elements. The metamaterial lens is configured to distribute the signal according to a sinc-like distribution over an aperture of the antenna array.
US08493270B2

A wireless device, including an antenna different from another antenna included in one of two casings, in a joint part where the two casings are joined together, is capable of reducing deterioration in properties of the antenna included in the joint part. The wireless device (1) of the present invention includes: an upper casing (10), housing a casing antenna (11) that resonates with a first frequency; a lower casing (20), housing a matching circuit (23) of the casing antenna (11); a hinge part (31), joining the upper casing (10) with the lower casing (20), including a built-in antenna (32) that resonates with a second frequency different from the first frequency, and including feeding sections (33) and (34) for coupling the matching circuit (23) to the casing antenna (11); and transmission elements (12) and (22), being disposed on at least any one of a signal path that connects the casing antenna (11) and the feeding section (33) and a signal path that connects the matching circuit (23) and the feeding section (34), the transmission elements (12) and (22) (i) giving passage to a signal having the first frequency and (ii) blocking a signal having the second frequency.
US08493267B2

A method and system for assisting mobile stations to locate a satellite use an efficient messaging format. A server computes a correction between coarse orbit data of a satellite and precise orbit data of the satellite. A coordinate system is chosen such that variation of the correction is substantially smooth over time. The server further approximates the correction with mathematical functions to reduce the number of bits necessary for transmission to a mobile station. The mobile station, upon receiving the coefficients, evaluates the mathematical functions using the coefficients and a time of applicability (e.g., the current time), converts the evaluated result to a standard coordinate system, and applies the conversion result to the coarse orbit data to obtain the precise orbit data.
US08493264B2

In the case where radar image data obtained from a radar device equipped in a flying body and optical image data of a district taken by the radar device are synthesized to produce a terrestrial object information judging image, the radar image data are approximated to a black and white panchromatic image character. The radar image data approximated to the black and white panchromatic character and the optical image data are aligned in position and then synthesized. As a suitable embodiment, in an approximation processing of the radar image data to the black and white panchromatic image character, histogram conversion processing is carried out in accordance with a histogram characteristic of the radar image data.
US08493262B2

A saturated input signal acquired by a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system is processed by estimating a reconstruction that generated the input signal, reproducing an input signal from an estimated reconstruction to generate a reproduced signal, comparing the reproduced signal with the input signal; adjusting an estimated reconstruction based on the comparison; and iterating from the reproducing step until a termination condition is reached.
US08493245B2

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for determining long binary sequences having low autocorrelation functions using evolutionary processes are disclosed. Biphase sequences are found with low peak sidelobe values meeting a predetermined criterion, e.g., threshold low auto-correlation function, including application of semidefinite programming in connection with determining an initial population, and evolving the population with an evolutionary algorithm to bits of the biphase sequences including bit flipping. The found biphase sequences can be communicated to a variety of applications, including wireless communications technologies.
US08493238B2

The invention relates to the detection of wheel axles of a vehicle on a roadway by means of a sensor, which operates according to the light-section procedure and emits at least one fan of light from a first location along the roadway to project a line of light onto the roadway and a vehicle possibly located thereon, and records this line of light from a second location along the same side of the roadway and detects a wheel axle as soon as the recorded line of light exhibits, in its course emanating from the said side of the roadway, a shift-free change in direction differing from its course when the roadway is empty.
US08493230B2

Provided is an elevator evacuation supporting system which can appropriately guide people living in a building to the hall of an elevator in the case of occurrence of a disaster. For this purpose, the elevator evacuation supporting system includes an elevator provided in a building, an evacuation operation device which, in the case of occurrence of a disaster in the building, selects service floors of the elevator from floors of the building according to the disaster condition of the building, and causes the elevator to perform an evacuation operation for ascent and descent between the service floors, a passage indication device provided in a passage leading to a hall of the elevator, and an escape routes display device which, during the evacuation operation of the elevator, causes the passage indication device provided in a passage leading to a hall of the elevator of the service floor to indicate escape routes to the hall of the elevator of the service floor according to the disaster condition of the service floor.
US08493229B2

Verbal warning labels and other audible warning systems for use with different devices, containers, products and other things in various environments are disclosed herein. An audible warning system configured in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes a device having a standardized textual warning associated therewith, and a sound playback system operably coupled to the device. The sound playback device can be configured to audibly output a verbal warning corresponding to the textual warning. The verbal warning can be provided by at least one of a manufacturer, supplier, distributor or retail vendor of the device, and the verbal warning can supplement or replace the standardized textual warning.
US08493227B2

A system and method for providing a visual indicator for optimizing the position of a mobile device when the mobile device is being used in a hands free mode. One or more position components in the mobile device can determine the position of the mobile device. The position of the mobile device can be compared to ideal or predetermined positions for improved performance quality. A visual indicator can be provided to provide an indication on whether the mobile device is in an optimal position. The visual indicator can take several forms including an illustration showing how the mobile device should be moved, an animation showing how the mobile device should be moved, colors providing an indication whether the position is acceptable, or any combination thereof.
US08493224B2

A system for clamping a flexible tube containing medical fluids includes a cable assembly coupled to a remote driver and a slidable clamp that imparts a clamping force to the flexible tube. An electrical continuity detector is included to measure the wear of an internal insulating layer of the cable between a sliding inner wire and a cable casing member. An indication of the wear to the cable is generated in response to a comparison of the electrical integrity of the insulating layer with a threshold. The wear indication enables the cable to be repaired or replaced prior to a malfunction of the overall tube clamp system.
US08493216B2

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for generating deportment and comportment cohorts. Digital sensor data associated with an individual is received. The digital sensor data comprises event metadata describing a set of events associated with the individual. The set of events comprises at least one of body language, facial expressions, vocalizations, and social interactions of the individual. In response to determining description data for the individual is available, the description data is retrieved. The description data comprises at least one of identification information, past history information, and current status information for the individual. A set of conduct analysis models based on the event metadata and the available description data is selected. The set of conduct analysis models process the event metadata describing the set of events associated with the individual to identify and interpret the set of events. The event metadata and the description data is analyzed in the set of conduct analysis models to form a deportment and comportment cohort. The deportment and comportment cohort comprises attributes identifying a demeanor and manner of the individual.
US08493206B2

Augmented reality and location determination methods and apparatus are disclosed according to some aspects of the description. In one aspect, a location determination method includes accessing first location information regarding a location of a user interaction device in a physical world, wherein the user interaction device is configured to generate an augmented reality representation with respect to the physical world, using the first location information, identifying a marker which is proximately located with respect to the location of the user interaction device, accessing an image generated by the user interaction device which includes the marker, and processing the image to determine second location information regarding the location of the user interaction device, and wherein the second location information has increased accuracy with respect to the location of the user interaction device in the physical world compared with the first location information.
US08493204B2

Example methods and systems for displaying one or more indications that indicate (i) the direction of a source of sound and (ii) the intensity level of the sound are disclosed. A method may involve receiving audio data corresponding to sound detected by a wearable computing system. Further, the method may involve analyzing the audio data to determine both (i) a direction from the wearable computing system of a source of the sound and (ii) an intensity level of the sound. Still further, the method may involve causing the wearable computing system to display one or more indications that indicate (i) the direction of the source of the sound and (ii) the intensity level of the sound.
US08493200B2

A vehicle velocity detector 15 is provided, velocity V is detected from position data of the vehicle calculated by using signal from satellites, which is received by a GPS receiver 11 installed to a vehicle body, wheel rotation velocity Vw0 detected by a wheel velocity sensor 12 is corrected in accordance with tire inner pressure detected by a pressure sensor 13 so as to obtain wheel rotation velocity (correction value) Vw, velocity ratio R=(Vw/V), which is ratio of the corrected wheel rotation velocity Vw and the detected wheel velocity V, is calculated and tire wear amount is estimated in accordance with velocity ratio R so that tire wear amount can be measured precisely without processing the tire tread portion.
US08493199B2

A device for approving automatic guidance of a vehicle, having an interface to a monitoring apparatus for at least partially monitoring a vehicle driver located in the vehicle, having an interface to an apparatus for automatically guiding the vehicle and for ascertaining a travel direction of the vehicle when automatic guidance is to be performed, and having an analysis unit for comparing a field of vision of the driver, which is determined from the monitoring of the driver, to the travel direction of the vehicle during the automatic guidance, automatic guidance only being approved if the travel direction of the vehicle during the automatic guidance is in the field of vision of the driver.
US08493198B1

A computer-implemented method includes monitoring an environment external to a vehicle via a sensor of the vehicle or a mobile device. The monitoring includes recording audio or video signals based on an output of the sensor. Audio or image recognition is performed via the mobile device based on the audio or video signals. Based on results of the audio or image recognition, objects in an area through which the vehicle is to pass are detected. The method includes determining which ones of the detected objects satisfy a predetermined criteria. The predetermined criteria includes object features that are indiscernible or marginally discernible to a vehicle operator with a perception deficiency. Selected ones of the detected objects that satisfy the predetermined criteria are monitored. The vehicle operator is alerted of the selected ones of the detected objects with an alert predetermined to be discernible to the vehicle operator.
US08493195B2

A method is used for detecting the environment of a vehicle and utilizes a number of sensors, the sensors having different detection ranges, and a transition of an object between two detection ranges is bridged by prediction by using a handover algorithm.
US08493183B2

The wireless tag includes an antenna conductor; a first power-supply conductor which is electromagnetic-inductively coupled with the antenna conductor; and a second power-supply conductor which is loop-shaped and which is electrically coupled with the first power-supply conductor.
US08493182B2

A method and apparatus for phase ranging the distance an RFID tag is from an RFID location system antenna along the interrogation signal beam, based upon the phase readings included in data sets obtained from monitoring reply signals corresponding to interrogation signals at multiple frequencies and a common interrogation signal beam direction; by comparison of measured phase and frequency data sets with theoretical phases calculated with respect to the same frequencies over a range of positions corresponding to a beam extent of the interrogation signal.
US08493170B2

The invention relates to an overvoltage protection device having one or more parallel-connected voltage-limiting elements which are located in one physical unit, such as varistors, diodes or means of this type configured in the form of a disc, comprising a shell apparatus in order to electrically disconnect the overvoltage-limiting elements when they are thermally overloaded, and means for indication and/or signalling of the fault state which then occurs, wherein the switching apparatus is connected via a means which can be released thermally, such as adhesive or a solder, to a connecting contact of the at least one overvoltage-limiting element, and/or to an external terminal contact or plug contact. According to the invention, the switching apparatus is in the form of a solid U-shaped switching fork, the fork tines of which run essentially parallel to the side surfaces of the overvoltage-limiting element, holding the latter in the space between the tines. At least one of the fork tines rests on the at least one connecting contact and is fixed there via the means which can be released thermally wherein, when disconnection occurs, the disconnection slide is moved with the switching fork being driven and, in the process, the connection point between the fork tines and the connecting contact represents a fulcrum for the switching fork movement.
US08493160B2

The present invention relates to an electromagnetic signal power limiter and its design method. The power limiter for an electromagnetic signal includes at least one transmission line for the signal. The transmission line is made up of a number of passive micro-diodes with ballistic electron transport. The micro-diodes are distributed on the transmission line, and are implemented in a controlled atmosphere. The invention applies notably to radiofrequency or hyperfrequency waves received by detection and communication devices.
US08493152B2

A power amplifier comprises a plurality of primary inductors provided on a substrate in a circular geometry as a whole; a plurality of amplifier pairs; a secondary inductor; and a connection wiring. Each amplifier pair is coupled to two ends of a corresponding primary inductor, and amplifies and output to the corresponding primary inductor a pair of first and second signals given as differential input signals, respectively. The secondary inductor is provided adjacent to the primary inductors in a circular geometry, further combines and outputs signals made by combining first and second signals in each primary inductor. The connection wiring is provided inside the primary inductors on the substrate and electrically couples middle points of respective primary inductors with each other.
US08493140B2

First and second channel bridge amplifiers are dynamically configured to drive either speakers or headphones. The first channel bridge amplifier includes a first amplifier driving one end of a first speaker through a mechanical switch in a headphone-jack, and a second amplifier driving another end of the first speaker. The second channel bridge amplifier includes third and fourth amplifiers driving respective ends of a second speaker. To suppress click and pop, an amplifier control circuit maintains certain amplifiers (depending on headphone or speaker mode) tri-stated until input coupling capacitors have fully charged and an input signal exceeding a predetermined amount is detected.
US08493139B2

An amplifier may include a low noise auto-zero circuit with auto-zero capacitors and switch-controlled auxiliary capacitors that function as switched-capacitor low-pass filters. In an acquisition phase of the auto-zero operation, the inputs of an amplifier may be shorted to a common voltage, and a representation of the offset voltage may be acquired by the auto-zero capacitors. In a hold phase of the auto-zero operation, the auto-zero capacitors may be connected to the auxiliary capacitors, and the resulting voltages may be applied to the circuit such that the original offset voltage is cancelled. Moreover, the switched-capacitor filters may reduce the effective sampling noise while maintaining high acquisition bandwidth.
US08493137B2

Devices and circuits for voltage reference architectures that can increase the PSRR parameter by improving the saturation margin for an output transistor. For example, a device can include a current source coupled between a first power supply line and a circuit node, a voltage production circuit coupled between the circuit node and a second power supply line to produce a plurality of voltages respectively at voltage nodes thereof, a multiplexer coupled to the voltage nodes of the voltage production circuit and the output node and configured to select and output one of the voltages to the output node, and a control circuit configured to supply the one of the voltages to the circuit node.
US08493118B2

A scannable latch circuit is disclosed. In one embodiment, the scannable latch circuit includes a master latch, a slave latch, and a gating circuit coupled between the master latch and the slave latch. The slave latch may be implemented to support scan-shifting for test operations. Scan data received by the master latch may be provided to the slave latch through the gating circuit. The gating circuit may enable data to be transferred from the master latch to the slave latch when a scan enable signal is asserted. When the scan enable signal is deasserted, the gating circuit may cause the slave latch to output a constant (i.e. unchanging) state, regardless of the state of data stored in the master latch. This may result in power savings by inhibiting the slave latch from making state changes when scan-shifting operations are not in progress.
US08493114B2

A temperature compensation circuit includes: a sensing circuit arranged to sense a temperature to generate a sensing signal; an operational circuit arranged to sample the sensing signal to generate a sample signal during a first phase, and arranged to generate an output signal according to the sensing signal and the sample signal during a second phase; and a capacitive circuit arranged to provide a capacitance adjusted by the output signal.
US08493093B1

A limited switch dynamic logic (LSDL) circuit includes a dynamic logic circuit and a static logic circuit. The dynamic logic circuit includes a precharge device configured to precharge a dynamic node during a precharge phase of a first evaluation clock signal and a second evaluation clock signal. A first evaluation tree is configured to evaluate the dynamic node to a first logic value in response to one or more first input signals during an evaluation phase of the first evaluation clock signal. A second evaluation tree is configured to evaluate the dynamic node to a second logic value in response to one or more second input signals during an evaluation phase of the second evaluation clock signal. A static logic circuit is configured to provide an output of the LSDL circuit in response to the dynamic node according to an output latch clock signal.
US08493084B2

A voltage compensation assembly adapted for apparatus having a prober for contacting the electronic elements on a substrate is described. The voltage compensation assembly includes a controller connected to the prober and adapted for active voltage compensation, and a voltage measuring unit connected to the controller and for measuring a voltage on the substrate.
US08493080B2

A test system for testing a capacitive touch sensor is provided. The test system includes a resistor, a signal generator and a micro controller. A first end of the resistor is electrically connected to a sensing port of the capacitive touch sensor. The signal generator provides a test voltage to a second end of the resistor according to control information. In this way, the resistor generates a test current according to the test voltage, and the capacitive touch sensor provides a voltage difference to the sensing port according to a plurality of switching signals, and converts the test current into test information. The micro controller generates the control information according to a test table, and compares the test information according to the test table, so as to determine whether an operation of the capacitive touch sensor is normal.
US08493073B2

An insulation resistance detecting apparatus is provided to detect an insulation resistance of a load circuit. The insulation resistance detecting apparatus includes a coupling capacitor of which a first end is connected to the load circuit; a periodic waveform output section which is connected to a second end of the coupling capacitor, and outputs a periodic waveform to the second end; a waveform shaping section which extracts and amplifies a part of the periodic waveform including a peak point; and an arithmetic operation section which determines the insulation resistance of the load circuit on the basis of a first wave height as a wave height value of a waveform outputted from the waveform shaping section and a second wave height value as a wave height value of the periodic waveform.
US08493067B2

In a magnetic resonance apparatus and method to generate an image data set by means of a radial scanning of a raw data set, at least one calibration measurement is implemented for at least one predetermined spoke of the radial scan, and a gradient moment difference between an assumed gradient moment and an actually applied gradient moment is determined along the at least one predetermined spoke. Readout of all spokes of the predetermined raw data set ensues by activating multiple magnetic field gradients in spatial directions in order to respectively read out scan points of a respective spoke. The position of each scan point of each spoke is corrected depending on the gradient moment difference, by the position of the respective scan point that is assumed based on the respective activated magnetic field gradients being shifted by the gradient moment difference.
US08493061B2

An example cycle meter adjusting device includes a circuit configured to provide voltage pulses and an adjustable potentiometer configured to vary the frequency of the voltage pulses provided by the circuit. A coupling interface is configured to selectively communicate the voltage pulses provided by the circuit to a cycle meter having a display. The voltage pulses adjust a number of cycles shown on the display. Another example cycle meter adjuster includes a circuit configured to provide voltage pulses. A controller is configured to selectively adjust a frequency of the voltage pulses. A connection interface is configured to communicate the voltage pulses to a cycle meter.
US08493060B1

An electrical circuit tester including a resistive load and a testing station for detecting the variable load. The testing station includes at least one electrical current transducer capable of detecting the variable load in an adjacent electrical power circuit. The detection of the variable load is communicated to the testing station and a variable load detection function.
US08493056B2

A voltage measurement circuit is operative to measure a high voltage AC signal and includes a capacitive divider circuit and a compensator circuit. The capacitive divider circuit includes first and second inputs, across which, in use, is received a high voltage AC signal and also includes second and third capacitors. First and second plates of each of the first, second and third capacitors are defined by conductive layers of a printed circuit board and the dielectric of each of the first, second and third capacitors being defined by a non-conducting part of the printed circuit board. A compensator circuit has a configurable transfer function and includes an input connected across the first and second plates of the third capacitor and an output. The compensator circuit is operative to change a voltage received at its input in accordance with the transfer function and to provide the changed voltage at its output.
US08493052B2

The primary of a transformer is driven at low voltages to provide high-voltage dynamic drive from the secondary to a load. A high-current source is placed in series with both the transformer secondary and load. At least secondary inductance of the transformer, hence impedance, is controlled through core saturation to transition secondary output to the load between high-voltage dynamic drive inductively coupled from the primary, and high-current drive serially connected through the secondary. Switching between high voltage and high current output is accomplished through the transformer; no additional switching devices need exist in the high-voltage path. Broad voltage and current capabilities of the configuration inexpensively improve transient drive of highly reactive loads.
US08493049B2

A power converter constituted of: a reference source; a clock generator exhibiting a variable frequency output, the value of the frequency of the variable frequency output responsive to an external resistor value; and an error amplifier in communication with the reference source, the error amplifier exhibiting a gain whose value is responsive to the external resistor value. Preferably the error amplifier is a transconductance amplifier. In one embodiment the power converter further exhibits a current squarer, arranged to produce a squared value of a current whose value is responsive to the external resistor and provide the squared value to the transconductance amplifier.
US08493043B2

Voltage regulator circuitry is provided. The voltage regulator circuitry may contain a drive transistor that is controlled by the output of an operational amplifier. The drive transistor may supply a regulated voltage to a load. The operational amplifier may compare a reference voltage and a feedback signal at its inputs. The operational amplifier may include first and second stages. An adjustable resistor may be provided between the first and second stages. Control circuitry may control the resistance of the adjustable resistor based on the amount of current flowing through the load to ensure stable operation of the voltage regulator circuitry. Overshoot and undershoot detection and compensation circuitry may compensate for overshoot and undershoot in the regulated voltage. Voltage ramp control circuitry may be used to control the ramp rate of the regulated voltage.
US08493036B2

Mobile devices have limited power sources. In some cases, such as camera flash operations in cell phones or digital cameras, the power required to provide bright illumination is significant and exceeding the battery voltage level. In order to supply burst power or continuous high power to light sources, such as white LEDs (light emitting diodes), mobile devices typically employ charge storage functioning as energy reservoir that can supply the required power. One such charge storage is a supercapacitor that can supply the needed power repeatedly by discharging and recharging. Various embodiments of the present invention include devices and methods for providing the charge energy and controlling the charge and discharge operations.
US08493033B2

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for providing battery-backed power to movable partitions are disclosed. A power converter generates a DC output from an AC input. The DC output may be selectively decoupled from an enabled DC output such that the DC output can be monitored for acceptable operation in-situ. The enabled DC output may be selectively coupled to a battery output terminal. A charge current may be sensed between the enabled DC output and the battery output to control charging of the battery with a pulse-width modulation operation by controlling the selective coupling of the enabled DC output to the battery output. The enabled DC output and the battery output are coupled in a logical-OR configuration to generate a supply output providing current from the enabled DC output and the battery. The supply output may drive a movable partition controller and a motor configured for opening and closing a movable partition.
US08493022B2

An automotive vehicle electrical system diagnostic apparatus includes first and second electrical connections configured to electrically couple to an electrical system of an automotive vehicle which includes a battery. Digital samples are obtained during operation of the vehicle which are related to the system. The digital samples are stored in memory.
US08493003B2

A light emitting diode (LED) system implements a power management technique. The LED system includes a plurality of LED drivers connected in series, each LED driver configured to regulate the current flowing through a corresponding subset of a plurality of LED strings. Each LED driver determines the tail voltages of the one or more LED strings of the corresponding subset. Each LED driver, except for the first LED driver in the series, also receives a voltage representative of the minimum tail voltage of the other subsets regulated by the upstream LED drivers. Each LED driver then provides the lowest of the voltage received from the upstream LED driver and the one or more tail voltages of the corresponding subset to the downstream LED driver. In this manner a voltage representative of the minimum tail voltage of the plurality of LED strings is cascaded through the series. A feedback controller monitors the minimum tail voltage represented by this cascaded voltage and accordingly adjusts an output voltage provided to the head ends of the plurality of LED strings.
US08493002B2

A driver (100; 200) for driving a dimmable load (L) is powered from phase-cut mains (U1) and determines the dimming state of the load on the basis of the phase of the cutting of the mains. The driver comprises: a load current generating device (130; 230) generating load current; a controllable auxiliary load (170; 270) connected to an input (131; 231) of the load current generating device; a control device (140; 240) controlling the auxiliary load. The control device has an input (141; 241) receiving a signal indicating the momentary voltage at the driver input. The load current generating device generates interrupted current pulses, so that the average output current corresponds to the dim command reflected by the phase cutting angle of the input mains. The control device switches the auxiliary load on during those time periods when the output current generated by the load current generating device is zero.
US08493001B2

A control circuit applied in a light emitting diode (LED) driver includes a counter, a sample circuit, and a signal source. The counter counts a parameter indicating the duty cycle width of a dimming signal in response to a front edge of the dimming signal. The sample circuit obtains a sample signal by means of sampling the most significant bit (MSB) of the parameter in response to the rear edge of the dimming signal. The duty cycle width is determined to be greater than a threshold value and smaller than that when the sample signal corresponds with a terminal value and an initial value, respectively. The signal source provides a reference voltage corresponding to first level and that corresponding to second level, higher than the first level, to drive a boost converter of the LED driver in response to the terminal value and the initial value, respectively.
US08492996B2

A dimmer switch has a user adjustable high-end trim. The dimmer switch includes a bidirectional semiconductor switch, such as a triac, for controlling the amount of power delivered from a source of alternating current power to a lighting load, such as an electric lamp. A user-adjustable timing circuit controls the conduction time of the triac from a minimum time to a maximum time to control the power delivered to the load between a low-end trim and a high-end trim. The timing circuit includes a user-accessible switch that allows a user to reduce the high-end trim from a first nominal level to a second reduced level, lower than the first level, without substantially affecting the low-end trim. The dimmer switch advantageously uses less energy and the lifetime of the lamp is extended when the second reduced level of the high-end trim is selected.
US08492994B2

A method for making a lamp wattage available for operating at least one gas discharge lamp depending on a dimming signal which is input into a wattage factor correction circuit, having a switch element that is switched on clocked by a switch-on time, wherein the wattage factor correction circuit emits an intermediate circuit voltage which in turn is input into a converter that makes the lamp wattage available, comprising the steps of: in an operating phase in which the dimming signal has no phase leading edge and no phase trailing edge, the wattage factor correction circuit and the converter are regulated independently of each other using a separate regulating circuit in each case; and in an operating phase in which the dimming signal has a phase leading edge or a phase trailing edge, the two independent regulating circuits are coupled to each other via a higher-order third regulating circuit such that the lamp wattage of the converter is adjusted such that the switch-on time of the switch element in the wattage factor correction circuit corresponds to a predetermined time.
US08492990B2

A series connected light string using LEDs connected to an AC power source is disclosed. In order to make some or all of the lights color change, twinkle, and/or flash, controllers are provided in series with all or some of the LEDs. Because the supply source AC, but the active elements are essentially rectifiers, the circuit becomes a half wave DC circuit. Half wave DC will cause unpredictable behavior in DC circuit components. This will cause the controller to shut down during the zero voltage portion of the pulsating DC cycle. To prevent this a current supplying element is placed in parallel with the controller.
US08492988B2

A configurable light-emitting diode (LED) driver is adapted to control a plurality of different LED light sources, which may be rated to operate using different load control techniques, different dimming techniques, and different magnitudes of load current and voltage. The LED driver comprises a power converter circuit for generating a DC bus voltage, and an LED drive circuit for receiving the bus voltage and adjusting either the magnitude of the current conducted through the LED light source or the magnitude of the voltage across the LED light source. The LED driver is operable to dim the LED light source using either a pulse-width modulation technique or a constant current reduction technique, and may be configured using a programming device and a personal computer.
US08492981B2

The present disclosure discloses a lighting apparatus using a PN junction light-emitting element, the apparatus including: a power transmitting substrate having a plurality of boundaries defined thereon; a plurality of PN junction light-emitting elements positioned within each boundary and divided into a plurality of groups; and a first switch provided on the power transmitting substrate, wherein the first switch goes into the ON state by a supplied AC having a first voltage to cause PN junction light-emitting elements of a first group positioned within each boundary to emit light, and the first switch is in the OFF state when PN junction light-emitting elements of a second group, which is positioned within each boundary and connected in series to the first group, emit light by a supplied AC having a second voltage higher than the first voltage.
US08492976B2

A high pressure discharge lamp includes a light emission section in which a pair of electrodes is arranged, sealing portions formed from both ends of the light emission section, external leads, and a trigger wire provided near the light emission section. The trigger wire includes a first coil portion, which is wound from a vicinity of a boundary between the light emission section and one of the sealing portions towards an outer end of the one of sealing portions, and a linear stretch-across portion, which extends from the first coil portion near the light emission section towards the external lead extending from an outer end of the other sealing portion and is fixed to the external lead. A second coil portion is formed around the other sealing portion. The wire, which forms the stretch-across portion, is held between the second coil portion and the other sealing portion.
US08492960B2

A lamp includes a heat sink and a lamp cover mounted on the heat sink. The lamp cover includes a connecting portion. The heat sink includes a plurality of clamping portions. The plurality of clamping portions surrounds the lamp cover and is spaced apart from each other along a circumferential direction. The plurality of clamping portions each defines a recess facing the lamp cover. The recesses communicate with each other along the circumferential direction whereby an annular engaging groove is defined in the heat sink by the recesses. The connecting portion is engaged in the engaging groove whereby the lamp cover is connected with the heat sink.
US08492957B2

An apparatus for generating electric energy comprises a vibration plate, a supporting board, at least one side-wall unit and at least one piezoelectric substrate having a first- and a second end surfaces covered with a first- and a second electrodes, respectively. They all together form at least one cavity resonator. If a sound pressure from the outside arrives at the vibration plate, an acoustic vibration is excited in the vibration plate, and thereby a resonance vibration is induced in the cavity resonator. In this time, the piezoelectric substrate responds collectively to the resonance vibration. Thus, a resonance energy occurred in the cavity resonator is converted into an electric energy, which is delivered through the first- and second electrodes.
US08492954B2

Disclosed herein is an ultrasonic sensor including: an epoxy molding part: a piezoelectric ceramic stacked on an upper portion of the epoxy molding part; a sound absorbing material contacting sides of the piezoelectric ceramic and spaced apart from an upper portion of the piezoelectric ceramic to thereby enclose the piezoelectric ceramic and absorbing vibration; a case spaced apart from sides and a lower surface of the sound absorbing material to thereby enclose the sound absorbing material and having a shape in which a bottom surface including the epoxy molding part stacked thereon protrudes upwardly; and a molding material filled on an upper surface of the sound absorbing material and between the sides and the lower surface of the sound absorbing material and the case.
US08492952B2

Embodiments of the invention provide an electric machine module including an electric machine with a stator assembly. The stator assembly includes a plurality of stator laminations and the plurality of stator laminations include a plurality of different outer diameters. The plurality of stator laminations are positioned relative to one another to form radially-extending fins. At least one circumferential coolant channel is defined along the circumference of the stator assembly by the plurality of stator laminations at least partially between the radially-extending fins.
US08492948B2

An example end cap of a stator segment is provided for use in locating wires in a segmented stator assembly in desired positions. The end cap generally includes a body and an inboard wall. An identifier is defined by the inboard wall of the end cap for use in determining wire sizes to be used with the end cap. Terminal pockets are provided in the body for receiving the wires and making desired electrical connections, and steps located in the terminal pockets help secure the connectors in the terminal pockets. Plateaus, and troughs defined in the plateaus, are located outside the terminal pockets for use in trimming wires received in the terminal pockets as desired. And, retaining structures are located around the end cap to help with locating the wires in the desired positions.
US08492947B2

A terminal module includes a ring-shaped rail having a groove extending in a circumferential direction, a bus bar fitted into the groove, and a connector portion having a connector terminal connecting the bus bar with an external wire. The rail has a phase determining hole for determining a phase of rotation of the rail about an axial direction.
US08492936B1

A rotational energy harvesting apparatus includes a rotor of magnets and a ring of linear-based kinetic energy harvesters. The rotor of magnets is fixed to a rotational source and is caused to sweep past the linear-based kinetic energy harvesters. The rotating magnets compel kinetic energy to be induced in the linear-based kinetic energy harvesters. The kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy.
US08492916B2

There is disclosed a switching apparatus for a starter comprising a resistor for suppressing a startup current of a motor when an engine is started, an electromagnetic relay for bypassing the resistor to energize the motor after the motor is started, a function for pushing a pinion of the starter toward a ring gear, an electromagnetic switch for opening and closing a main contact of the motor circuit. The resistor, the electromagnetic relay, and the electromagnetic switch are integrally accommodated inside a housing formed of a metallic bottomed frame and a contact cover, and are connected to the motor circuit via two external connection terminals fixed to the contact cover. The apparatus can facilitate connectivity to the vehicle side by reducing the number of cables and can enhance an installation property.
US08492915B2

The present invention relates in to a device for supplying mechanical power to start at least one engine, with a power supply device for supplying electrical power with an alternating voltage and constant frequency; and with a number, N1, of conversion devices for the conversion of the supplied electrical power to a respective mechanical power for a respective engine, wherein a respective conversion device has a cascade starter generator for direct conversion of the supplied electrical power to mechanical power, wherein the cascade starter generator has a first stator, a second stator, a first rotor and a second rotor, the first stator being integrally formed with the second stator and the first rotor being integrally formed with the second rotor. The present invention further relates to an aircraft comprising such a power distribution network and a method for supplying mechanical power to start at least one engine in an aircraft.
US08492908B2

Power amplifiers and methods of coating a protective film of alumina (Al2O3) on the power amplifiers are disclosed herein. The protective film is applied through an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. The ALD process can deposit very thin layers of alumina on the surface of the power amplifier in a precisely controlled manner. Thus, the ALD process can form a uniform film that is substantially free of free of pin-holes and voids.
US08492893B1

A semiconductor device is disclosed. A conductive pillar for electrically connecting a semiconductor die to a circuit board may be gradually slimmed from the semiconductor die to the circuit board. A dummy conductive layer may be disposed between the semiconductor die and the conductive pillar. A width of an opening for opening a pattern of the circuit board may range from about 50% to 90% of the width of the lower end of the conductive pillar. Accordingly, a mechanical stress is prevented from being transmitted from the conductive pillar to the semiconductor die, or is absorbed by the dummy conductive layer, and thus, preventing cracks of the semiconductor die and a dielectric layer having a low dielectric constant.
US08492891B2

A copper pillar bump has a sidewall protection layer formed of an electrolytic metal layer. The electrolytic metal layer is an electrolytic nickel layer, an electrolytic gold layer, and electrolytic copper layer, or an electrolytic silver layer.
US08492884B2

A stacked leadframe assembly is disclosed. The stacked leadframe assembly includes a first die having a surface that defines a mounting plane, a first leadframe stacked over and attached to the first die, a second die stacked over and attached to the first leadframe; and a second leadframe stacked over and attached to the second die. The leadframes have die paddles with extended side panels that have attachment surfaces in the mounting plane.
US08492874B2

Higher capacitance density is achieved by increasing a surface area of a capacitor. A larger surface area may be obtained by forming isotropic ball shapes (a concave surface) in the trenches on the semiconductor die. The concave surfaces are fabricated by depositing bilayers of amorphous-silicon and silicon oxide. Openings are patterned in the silicon oxide hard mask for trenches. The openings are transferred to the amorphous-silicon layers through isotropic etching to form concave surfaces. Conducting, insulating, and conducting layers are deposited on the concave surfaces of the trenches by atomic layer deposition.
US08492872B2

A semiconductor structure for providing isolations for on-chip inductors comprises a semiconductor substrate, one or more on-chip inductors formed above the first semiconductor substrate, a plurality of through-silicon-vias formed through the first semiconductor substrate in a vicinity of the one or more on-chip inductors, and one or more conductors coupling at least one of the plurality of through-silicon-vias to a ground, wherein the plurality of through-silicon-vias provide isolations for the one or more on-chip inductors.
US08492870B2

A chip package comprising a glass substrate, wherein a first opening in the glass substrate passes vertically through the glass substrate, a semiconductor chip, a wiring structure comprising a first portion in the first opening and a second portion over the glass substrate, wherein the first portion is connected to the semiconductor chip, wherein the wiring structure comprises a passive device, wherein the wiring structure comprises copper, and a dielectric layer over the glass substrate and on the wiring structure, wherein a second opening in the dielectric layer is over a contact point of the wiring structure, and the contact point is at a bottom of the second opening.
US08492866B1

Disclosed is a Zener diode having a scalable reverse-bias breakdown voltage (Vb) as a function of the position of a cathode contact region relative to the interface between adjacent cathode and anode well regions. Specifically, cathode and anode contact regions are positioned adjacent to corresponding cathode and anode well regions and are further separated by an isolation region. However, while the anode contact region is contained entirely within the anode well region, one end of the cathode contact region extends laterally into the anode well region. The length of this end can be predetermined in order to selectively adjust the Vb of the diode (e.g., increasing the length reduces Vb of the diode and vice versa). Also disclosed are an integrated circuit, incorporating multiple instances of the diode with different reverse-bias breakdown voltages, a method of forming the diode and a design structure for the diode.
US08492853B2

An object is to provide a structure with which the off-state current of a field effect transistor including a conductor-semiconductor junction can be reduced. A semiconductor layer is provided in contact with a first conductor electrode and a second conductor electrode which include a material with a work function that is at the same level as or lower than the electron affinity of the semiconductor layer. A third conductor electrode is formed using a material whose work function is higher than the electron affinity of the semiconductor layer to be in contact with a surface of the semiconductor layer opposite to a surface provided with a gate and to cross the semiconductor layer, so that a Schottky barrier junction is formed in the semiconductor layer. The carrier concentration of the portion including the Schottky barrier junction is extremely low; thus, the off-state current can be reduced.
US08492844B2

The present invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a semiconductor device by providing a first substrate; providing a doped layer in a surface region of the first substrate; providing a buried oxide layer on the doped layer; providing a semiconductor layer on the buried oxide layer to obtain a semiconductor-on-insulator (SeOI) wafer; removing the buried oxide layer and the semiconductor layer from a first region of the SeOI wafer while maintaining the buried oxide layer and the semiconductor layer in a second region of the SeOI water; providing an upper transistor in the second region by forming a back gate in or by the doped layer; and providing a lower transistor in the first region by forming source and drain regions in or by the doped layer.
US08492840B2

An object is to provide a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor, which maintains favorable characteristics and achieves miniaturization. The semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, a gate electrode overlapping with the oxide semiconductor layer, and a gate insulating layer provided between the oxide semiconductor layer and the gate electrode, in which the source electrode and the drain electrode each include a first conductive layer, and a second conductive layer having a region which extends in a channel length direction from an end portion of the first conductive layer.
US08492839B2

In one exemplary embodiment, a semiconductor structure includes: a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate with a top semiconductor layer overlying an insulation layer and the insulation layer overlies a bottom substrate layer; at least one first device at least partially overlying and disposed upon a first portion of the top semiconductor layer, where the first portion has a first thickness, a first width and a first depth; and at least one second device at least partially overlying and disposed upon a second portion of the top semiconductor layer, where the second portion has a second thickness, a second width and a second depth, where at least one of the following holds: the first thickness is greater than the second thickness, the first width is greater than the second width and the first depth is greater than the second depth.
US08492836B2

In a semiconductor device according to the present invention, a p-type well region disposed in an outer peripheral portion of the power semiconductor device is divided into two parts, that is, an inside and an outside, and a field oxide film having a greater film thickness than the gate insulating film is provided on a well region at the outside to an inside of an inner periphery of the well region. Therefore, it is possible to prevent, in the gate insulating film, a dielectric breakdown due to the voltage generated by the flow of the displacement current in switching.
US08492834B2

An electrostatic discharge protection device comprises a substrate with a first conductivity, a gate, a drain structure and a source structure. The gate is disposed on a surface of the substrate. The drain structure with a second conductivity type comprises a first doping region with a first doping concentration disposed adjacent to the gate and extending into the substrate from the surface of the substrate, a second doping region extending into and stooped at the first doping region from the surface of the substrate and having a second doping concentration substantially greater than the first doping concentration, and a third doping region disposed in the substrate beneath the second doping region and having a third doping concentration substantially greater than the first doping concentration. The source structure with the second conductivity is disposed in the substrate and adjacent to the gate electrode.
US08492831B2

A vertical non-volatile memory device is structured/fabricated to include a substrate, groups of memory cell strings each having a plurality of memory transistors distributed vertically so that the memory throughout multiple layers on the substrate, integrated word lines coupled to sets of the memory transistors, respectively, and stacks of word select lines. The memory transistors of each set are those transistors, of one group of the memory cell strings, which are disposed in the same layer above the substrate. The word select lines are respectively connected to the integrated word lines.
US08492829B2

Provided are a semiconductor device which can shorten reverse recovery time without increasing leakage current between the drain and the source, and a fabrication method for such semiconductor device.The semiconductor device includes: a first base layer (12); a drain layer (10) disposed on the back side surface of the first base layer (12); a second base layer (16) formed on the surface of the first base layer (12); a source layer (18) formed on the surface of the second base layer (16); a gate insulating film (20) disposed on the surface of both the source layer (18) and the second base layer (16); a gate electrode (22) disposed on the gate insulating film (20); a column layer (14) formed in the first base layer (12) of the lower part of both the second base layer (16) and the source layer (18) by opposing the drain layer (10); a drain electrode (28) disposed in the drain layer (10); and a source electrode (26) disposed on both the source layer and the second base layer, wherein heavy particle irradiation is performed to the column layer (14) to form a trap level locally.
US08492827B2

Silicon carbide metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) may include an n-type silicon carbide drift layer, a first p-type silicon carbide region adjacent the drift layer and having a first n-type silicon carbide region therein, an oxide layer on the drift layer, and an n-type silicon carbide limiting region disposed between the drift layer and a portion of the first p-type region. The limiting region may have a carrier concentration that is greater than the carrier concentration of the drift layer.
US08492822B2

A method for manufacturing an LC circuit, including forming a first conductive layer pattern serving as a lower electrode of a capacitor on a first interlayer insulating layer, forming a dielectric layer pattern storing electric charges on the first conductive layer pattern, forming a second conductive layer pattern serving as an upper electrode of the capacitor on the dielectric layer pattern, forming a second interlayer insulating layer on the second conductive layer pattern, forming a contact via exposing one of the first or second conductive layer pattern in the second interlayer insulating layer, and filling the contact via with a contact plug, and forming a third conductive layer pattern on the second interlayer insulating layer having the contact plug, wherein the third conductive layer pattern is electrically connected to the contact plug, and is etched in a metal interconnection type layer and functions as an inductor.
US08492821B2

An integrated circuit including a trench capacitor has a semiconductor region in which a material composition varies in a quantity of at least one component therein such that the quantity alternates with depth a plurality of times between at least two different values. For example, a concentration of a dopant or a weight percentage of a second semiconductor material, such as germanium, in a semiconductor alloy can alternate between with depth a plurality of times between higher and lower values. The trench capacitor has an undulating capacitor dielectric layer, wherein the undulations of the capacitor dielectric layer are at least partly determined by the undulating interior surface of the trench. Such trench capacitor can provide enhanced capacitance, and can be incorporated in a memory cell such as a dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) cell, for example.
US08492815B2

A semiconductor memory includes a DRAM having, as seen in planar view, a first bit line and a second bit line formed on a first active area, a first cell contact formed on the first active area, and a first capacitor contact formed on the first cell contact and which is connected to a capacitor. As seen in planar view, the first cell contact is positioned closer to the second bit line than to the first bit line, and the first capacitor contact is formed offset in a direction approaching the first bit line with respect to the first cell contact.
US08492813B2

A semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate having a logic formation region where a logic device is formed; a first impurity region formed in an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate in the logic formation region; a second impurity region formed in an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate in the logic formation region; a third impurity region formed in an upper surface of the first impurity region and having a conductivity type different from that of the second impurity region; a fourth region formed in an upper surface of the second impurity region and having a conductivity type different from that of the second impurity region; a first silicide film formed in an upper surface of the third impurity region; a second silicide film formed in an upper surface of the fourth impurity region and having a larger thickness than the first silicide film.
US08492800B2

Methods and apparatus relating to very large scale FET arrays for analyte measurements. ChemFET (e.g., ISFET) arrays may be fabricated using conventional CMOS processing techniques based on improved FET pixel and array designs that increase measurement sensitivity and accuracy, and at the same time facilitate significantly small pixel sizes and dense arrays. Improved array control techniques provide for rapid data acquisition from large and dense arrays. Such arrays may be employed to detect a presence and/or concentration changes of various analyte types in a wide variety of chemical and/or biological processes. In one example, chemFET arrays facilitate DNA sequencing techniques based on monitoring changes in hydrogen ion concentration (pH), changes in other analyte concentration, and/or binding events associated with chemical processes relating to DNA synthesis.
US08492795B1

An integrated circuit (IC) including a core area containing active devices and at least one input/output (I/O) cell configured to transfer signals into and out of the core area. The at least one I/O cell includes a gate orientation, a pre-driver module, and at least one post-driver module. The pre-driver module and the at least one post-driver module are offset from each other by an angle between zero and ninety degrees with respect to the gate orientation. The gate orientation for every one of the at least one I/O cell is substantially the same.
US08492784B2

A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor chip including a nitride semiconductor layered structure including a carrier transit layer and a carrier supply layer; a first resin layer on the semiconductor chip, the first resin layer including a coupling agent; a second resin layer on the first resin layer, the second resin layer including a surfactant; and a sealing resin layer to seal the semiconductor chip with the first resin layer and the second resin layer.
US08492781B2

The present invention relates to a light emitting device (1) comprising a stack of a light emitting diode (LED) structure (10) and a light permeable device (20). The light permeable device (20) comprises at least a first and a second section (21, 22), color of light from said first and second section (21, 22) being different from each other. Further, the LED structure (10) comprises at least a first and a second region (11, 12) being individually controllable. The first and second region (11, 12) are associated with the first and second section (21, 22), respectively. The stack further comprises an at least partially reflecting layer (30) arranged such that light from the light permeable device (20), generated in the first and second region (11, 12), is to be mixed within the light emitting device (1).
US08492776B2

A semiconductor light emitting device (10) is provided with a base substrate (12) and three LED chips (14A, 14B, and 14C) disposed on the base substrate (12). Each LED chip (14A, 14B, and 14C) includes a semiconductor multilayer structure (20) and has a rhombus shape with interior angles of approximately 60° and approximately 120° in plan view. Each semiconductor multilayer structure (20) has an HCP single crystal structure and includes a light emission layer (24). The LED chips (14A, 14B, and 14C) are arranged on the base substrate (12) so as to face one another at a vertex forming the larger interior angle in plan view. With this arrangement, the LED chips (14A, 14B, and 14C) as a whole form a substantially regular hexagonal shape.
US08492771B2

A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor substrate of a first band-gap material and a second semiconductor substrate of a second band-gap material. The second band-gap material has a lower band-gap than the first band-gap material. A heterojunction is formed between the first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate substantially in a first plane. The semiconductor device further includes, in a cross-section which is perpendicular to the first plane, a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type and a second semiconductor region of the first conductivity type both of which extend from the second semiconductor substrate at least partially into the first semiconductor substrate. The first and second semiconductor regions are spaced in the first semiconductor substrate from each other in a direction parallel to the first plane by a first distance which is arranged in an area proximate to the heterojunction and which is larger than a second distance which is arranged in an area distal to the heterojunction.
US08492769B2

A transistor includes a substrate. A first electrically conductive material layer is positioned on the substrate. A second electrically conductive material layer is in contact with and positioned on the first electrically conductive material layer. A third electrically conductive material layer is in contact with and positioned on the second electrically conductive material layer. The third electrically conductive material layer overhangs the second electrically conductive material layer.
US08492767B2

A thin film transistor (TFT) substrate and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The manufacturing method comprises: after a first metallic layer is formed on the TFT substrate, annealing the TFT substrate so that lattices of the first metallic layer are re-arranged to prevent occurrences of grain boundary defects in the first metallic layer. According to the present disclosure, after the first metallic layer is formed on the TFT substrate, the TFT substrate is annealed in sequence to re-arrange lattices of the first metallic layer. This effectively prevents occurrences of grain boundary defects and, consequently, metal protrusions in the first metallic layer.
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