US08699863B2
A video recording apparatus provides a slow motion effect or a quick motion effect by digitally converting the frame-rate instead of by changing the playback speed of the film, and using few recording media without requiring any special device at playing. A picture encoding part encodes only valid frames by changing a rate-controlling method so that a predetermined playing frame-rate is obtained at a standard data-rate at playing. And a TS multiplexing part multiplexes by converting a frequency of a standard STC clock by only a ratio of valid frame-rate and playing frame-rate, and generating values for PCR, PTS, and DTS.
US08699860B2
A first media service is acquired in response to a scheduled acquisition command, where the acquiring operation is performed by a user receiver. The time the acquiring operation takes place depends on information in the command, which indicates when the acquiring operation is supposed to take place and when operation terminates. The receipt of a non-scheduled command by the user receiver causes the acquisition of a second media service, where upon the expiration of the non-scheduled command, the first media service is re-acquired. Upon the expiration of the scheduled command, a third media service is automatically acquired, where the third media service was previously selected by a user.
US08699855B2
Presented herein is a method of recording user-selected interstitial media content, such as a television commercial. In the method, a media content stream is presented to a user. The media content stream includes an interstitial segment within a media content segment, such as a television program. In a media content segment listing, such as an electronic program guide, the media content segment is listed, but the interstitial segment is not. While the media content stream is presented, the stream is buffered. During or after the interstitial segment is being presented to the user, a command is received from the user to record the interstitial segment. In response to the command, beginning and ending points of the buffered interstitial segment are identified. The buffered interstitial segment is stored as a persistent recording based on the starting and ending points, and the persistent recording is distinguished from the media content segment.
US08699848B2
An object of the present invention is to display, during data recording, the number of recording media that are required to store all of recorded data in the case where the recorded data is copied to the recording media, and to display a ratio of a recorded area to the capacity of the recording medium to which data is copied, and thereby to provide improved convenience. The capacity of a large-capacity recording medium such as a hard disk is divided into data fragments each of which is equivalent to the capacity of a small-capacity recording media such as an optical disc, so that data is recorded on a partition capacity basis. In addition, the number of used media each having the same amount as the partition capacity is displayed; and the amount of recorded data, or the remaining recordable capacity, based on the partition capacity, is also displayed.
US08699845B2
A method and apparatus for continuously reproducing pieces of audio-video (AV) data includes selecting the pieces of AV data by searching a continuous sequence of AV data for the pieces of AV data matching an input keyword with metadata contained in the continuous sequence of AV data, and fading out a piece of AV data of the selected pieces of AV data for a first predetermined duration before ending reproduction of the piece of AV data.
US08699844B2
A content distribution apparatus includes a receiving section, a correction section, an evaluation section and a summary generation section. The receiving section receives plural pieces of watching information of target content information and stores the received watching information. Each of the watching information includes information indicating a reproduction start position from which it was started to reproduce the target content information. The correction section corrects each of the reproduction start positions to any of a plurality of predetermined positions. The evaluation section generates evaluation information of each corrected reproduction start position based on the corrected reproduction start position and the stored watching information. The summary generation section extracts a part of the target content information based on the generated evaluation information of the respective corrected reproduction start positions to generate summary information of the target content information.
US08699834B2
An apparatus comprising a Mache-Zehnder interferometer. The Mache-Zehnder interferometer comprises: a 1×2 optical splitter having an optical input, a 2×2 optical coupler having first and second optical outputs, two optical waveguide arms end-connecting each optical output of the 1×2 optical splitter to a corresponding optical input of the 2×2 optical coupler, a variable optical phase shifter on one of the waveguide arms and a plurality of optical resonators, each optical resonator being controllably coupled along one of the optical waveguide arms. An optical path length between the optical input of the 1×2 optical coupler and the first optical output of the 2×2 optical coupler is substantially the same via the first optical waveguide arm and the second optical waveguide arm when the optical resonators are decoupled from the optical waveguide arms.
US08699816B2
A method to enhance detail of an image based on noise elimination includes calculating a noise weight corresponding to a probability that a center pixel, located in a block of pixels of a region of the image, is noise by using a difference between the center pixel and a surrounding pixel located in the block of pixels, calculating a first substitution value for the center pixel based on the noise weight; and calculating a second substitution value for the center pixel by using the noise weight and a sharpen filter.
US08699815B2
A set of pixels of a background element is identified according to a mask that defines a shape of a foreground element. A color value for a pixel of the foreground element is determined. The determining includes ascertaining a value of a measure of brightness of one or more pixels of a set of pixels of the background element and calculating the color value for the pixel of the foreground element based on the value of the measure of brightness and a value of an adjustable contrast variable. The calculating the color value for the pixel of the foreground element preserves in the foreground element a color component of the one or more pixels of the set of pixels of the background element and increases contrast with the value of the measure of brightness according to the value of the adjustable contrast variable.
US08699810B2
Techniques are described to approximate computation of an inverse discrete cosine transform using fixed-point calculations. According to these techniques, matrixes of scaled coefficients are generated by multiplying coefficients in matrixes of encoded coefficients by scale factors. Next, matrixes of biased coefficients are generated by adding a midpoint bias value to a DC coefficient of the matrix of scaled coefficients. Fixed-point arithmetic is then used to apply a transform to the matrixes of biased coefficients. Values in the resulting matrixes are then right-shifted in order to derive matrixes of pixel component values. Matrixes of pixel component values are then combined to create matrixes of pixels. The matrixes of pixels generated by these techniques closely resemble matrixes of pixels decompressed using the ideal inverse discrete cosine transform (“IDCT”).
US08699804B2
A lossless image compression method for a high definition image is provided. The image compression method generates a minimum value of values produced by subtracting a current virtual pixel value from an average of neighbor pixels designated by a plurality of directions, as the prediction value of a current pixel. Thus, the image compression more efficient than the current JPEG-LS can be achieved.
US08699794B2
Using methods, computer-readable storage media, and apparatuses for computer-implemented processing, a passage of text may be variably rendered. For each glyph in the passage of text, a glyph representation is varied according to a geometric transformation that was determined from statistical measurements of at least one geometric property from an ensemble of representations of the current glyph. Each varied glyph representation is included in renderable output data, such that when the passage of text is rendered to an output device, a given rendered representation of a given glyph subtly differs from other rendered representations of the given glyph.
US08699793B2
An image processing apparatus is configured to perform processing for reducing color fringing in a color image. The image processing apparatus includes an estimator configured to estimate, for each area, a correction amount used to reduce the color fringing, a smoother configured to smooth a plurality of correction amounts for a plurality of areas estimated by the estimator, and a reducer configured to reduce the color fringing utilizing the correction amounts smoothed by the smoother.
US08699778B2
An image coding method determines one of frame coding and field coding while suppressing an increase in the complexity. The image coding method includes coding a current picture included in the pictures; determining whether a picture next to the current picture is to be coded in frame coding or field coding, depending on motion information that is information for indicating a motion in the current picture; and coding the next picture in frame coding when it is determined in the determining that the next picture is to be coded in frame coding, and coding the next picture in field coding when it is determined in the determining that the next picture is to be coded in field coding.
US08699765B2
Jittering in medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging is reduced, such as in steered spatial compounding. A pattern of decorrelation is used to detect motion between component frames, register component frames, and/or reduce jitter in the motion correction. The ultrasound imaging adapts as a function of the pattern.
US08699759B2
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a system and method for automatically identifying features in an electronic map. In some embodiments, the method may comprise extracting features, which may include entryways and structural elements, from an electronic map. Based on the extracted features, one or more hallways may be identified in the electronic maps by using one or more line segments, which may extend between at least one entryway and one or more structural elements, and/or at least one entryway and one or more other entryways. The electronic map may be updated with one or more annotations identifying the one or more hallways.
US08699758B2
An object counter performs a method for counting objects that includes capturing images representing moving images of a predetermined counting view, detecting a motion region in the moving images of the predetermined counting view, calculating a motion region speed value indicating a speed of movement of the motion region. A contribution zone is repeatedly defined based on a predetermined counting boundary, the motion region speed value, and a contribution time period. A sub area value representing the size of the area of the motion region contained in the defined contribution zone is repeatedly retrieved and registered. A total area value is generated by adding a plurality of registered sub area values, and estimating the number of objects that have passed the counting boundary based on a reference object area value.
US08699757B2
A storage media provided by the present invention, has a non-transitory processing software for computing a position of an object in a distance measurement system, the execution of the processing software comprising: receiving a plurality of reference image information contained in an image with a speckle pattern, wherein the image is projected from a light beam on a plurality of reference flat surfaces which are located on different position points, and the speckle contains a plurality of speckles; receiving an object image information contained in an image with the speckle pattern which is projected from the light beam on an object; obtaining a plurality of comparison results through comparing the plurality of reference image information with the object image information; and computing the position of the object through performing an interpolation operation to the plurality of comparison results.
US08699754B2
A method for detecting a clear path of travel for a vehicle including fusion of clear path detection by image analysis and road geometry data describing road geometry includes monitoring an image from a camera device on the vehicle, analyzing the image through clear path detection analysis to determine a clear path of travel within the image, monitoring the road geometry data, analyzing the road geometry data to determine an impact of the data to the clear path, modifying the clear path based upon the analysis of the road geometry data, and utilizing the clear path in navigation of the vehicle.
US08699750B2
Provided are an image processing apparatus and method for counting moving objects in an image, the apparatus including: a motion detection unit which detects motion in an image; an object detection unit which detects objects based on the motion detected by the motion detection unit; an outline generation unit which generates at least one reference outline of which a size is adjusted according to a preset parameter based on a location in the image; and a calculation unit which calculates a number of objects having substantially a same size as that of the at least one reference outline from among the objects detected by the object detection unit, wherein the preset parameter is adjusted according to at least one circumstantial parameter.
US08699749B2
First, a series of edge pixels representing a contour of an object or of a design represented in the object are detected from an image acquired from a capturing apparatus. Then, a plurality of straight lines are generated on the basis of the series of detected edge pixels, and vertices of the contour are detected on the basis of the plurality of straight lines. Further, relative positions and orientations of the capturing apparatus and the object relative to each other are calculated on the basis of the detected vertices, and a virtual camera in a virtual space is set on the basis of the positions and the orientations. Then, a virtual space image obtained by capturing the virtual space with the virtual camera is displayed on a display device.
US08699745B2
A speaker and the like, which is capable of wideband reproduction by improving the bass characteristic, and which is suitable for size reduction, is provided.A housing (110) includes one main surface (111) having a polygonal shape, and an opening portion (112) in the one main surface. A diaphragm (120) is disposed in the opening portion so as to cover the one main surface, except for corner regions (115a, 115b, 115c, and 115d) which are areas in the vicinity of respective vertices of a polygonal shape of the one main surface. A driving unit (130) causes the diaphragm to vibrate so as to generate a sound corresponding to a signal inputted from an outside. A plurality of movable supports (140a, 140b, 140c, and 140d) is disposed in the respective corner regions, for supporting the diaphragm by joining the housing and the diaphragm such that the diaphragm is vibratable.
US08699743B2
A system and methods for implementing substantially triangular or trapezoidal speaker enclosures and related components. A speaker enclosure may be shaped substantially as an equilateral triangle, loaded with three speakers mounted radially equidistant from the planar center of the triangular enclosure. The speaker enclosure may comprise a triangular port with a detachable lid. A speaker enclosure also may be shaped substantially as a box with an interior triangular subchamber. The speaker enclosures may further include an amplifier system having a novel input gain stage or a novel tone stack, or both. An amplifier system also may comprise parallel audio input processing through input gain modules and tone stack modules, with the separate audio signals summed by a novel mixdown module.
US08699741B2
A communication device (1), such as a headset, comprising a housing (2) with a housing wall (3) encapsulating a housing interior (13). An electronic circuit (11) is arranged in the housing interior (13), the electronic circuit (11) comprising a first momentary switch (8) and a first actuation member (6), which can be operated by a user from the outside of the housing (2), and which is adapted to actuate the first momentary switch (8). A second actuating member (7; 22), which can be operated by a user from the outside of the housing (2), is adapted to actuate the first momentary switch (8). The second actuating member (7) is adapted to move independently from the first actuating member (6). Further embodiments have multiple conductors in the switch for multiple functions.
US08699737B2
A loudspeaker having a vented enclosure with at least one tuning port includes a fan inside the vented enclosure, which is positioned to produce airflow for cooling the magnetic assembly of the loudspeaker's transducer. Airflow within said vented enclosure is produced such that air within the enclosure is exchanged with outside air through the at least one tuning port. Typically, the vented enclosure will have two tuning ports wherein outside air drawn into the enclosure through one of the tuning ports is circulated out through the other tuning port. Preferably, the outside air drawn in through one tuning port is circulated directly around the transducer magnetic assembly for greatest heat dissipation.
US08699732B2
Multiple individual wireless earbuds provide audio from a common audio source. A user may thereby enjoy audio in both ears while also benefiting from an entirely wireless configuration. The individual wireless earbuds may each receive the audio signal from the common audio source and then produce audio accordingly. Each earbud may have a channel setting to define whether a given earbud will produce left channel or right channel audio for a multi-channel audio signal. The individual wireless earbuds may alternatively have a master-slave configuration where a master earbud receives a wireless audio signal from the common source, plays audio based on the audio signal, and transmits a wireless signal based on the wireless audio signal to the slave earbud. The slave earbud then plays audio based on the wireless signal from the master earbud.
US08699719B2
Apparatus and method for determining an operating state of an earpiece of a personal acoustic device and/or the entirety of the personal acoustic device through tests to determine the current operating state, wherein the tests differ depending on a current power mode of the personal acoustic device, and wherein at least one lower power test is employed during at least one lower power mode.
US08699713B1
A key is updated in a first cryptographic device and an update message comprising information characterizing the updated key is sent from the first cryptographic device to a second cryptographic device. The update message as sent by the first cryptographic device is configured to permit the second cryptographic device to detect compromise of the updated key by determining if an inconsistency is present in the corresponding received update message based at least in part on that received update message and one or more previously-received update messages. In an illustrative embodiment, the first cryptographic device comprises an authentication token and the second cryptographic device comprises an authentication server.
US08699707B1
A method and apparatus are disclosed for distributing content items to a handheld device using a personal computer. A user can browse and select content using a personal computer or other computer that may be more readily available or more convenient to use than the handheld device. The personal computer can communicate with a web server which receives the user's request for content to be distributed to the handheld device. The web server can retrieve configuration information pertaining to the handheld device and communicate with a content server to determine whether the user's request for content distribution is valid based on information identifying the handheld device and at least some of the configuration information pertaining to the handheld device. The content server can transmit the requested content item to the handheld device if the user's request is valid and if the handheld device is able to receive the content item.
US08699706B2
A method for transmitting a Rights Object (RO) includes generating a password key by encrypting a password, generating the RO using the password key, and transmitting the RO from a first device to a second device. The second device and the first device share the password and the second device generates the password key using the same encryption method as that used by the first device to generate the password key. The second device decrypts a Message Authentication Code (MAC) key and a Rights Object Encryption Key (REK) using the password key, decrypts a Content Encryption Key (CEK) using the decrypted REK, and verifies integrity of the RO using the decrypted MAC key. The second device can use and/or access content associated with the RO using the decrypted CEK. The CEK may be generated by the first device or may be the CEK from a Rights Issuer.
US08699700B2
Systems and methods for recording a communication session between a customer and an agent are provided. In this regard, a representative method comprises: routing a media stream associated with the communication session based on information corresponding to routing criteria, wherein the routing criteria include call control protocols or policies; receiving the media stream associated with the communication session from the customer center communication system; and recording the received media stream.
US08699688B2
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for enabling an exchange of electronic healthcare messages. An electronic message is received from a sender's address that is destined for a recipient's address. The electronic message may have an attached object associated with a sender's legacy system. The sender's address and the recipient's address are associated to a list of health care participant addresses. When both the sender's address and the recipient's address are matched to the list of health care participant addresses, then the electronic message is sent to a rule-based engine. When the sender's address and the recipient's address do not match the list of health care participant addresses, then an identifier is received that associates the electronic message with another legacy system and with a non-participant legacy system.
US08699683B1
An exemplary extended dialing plan allows use of one or more special characters, such as the # digit and the * digit, as dialable digits. The telecommunications network receives a string of characters representing a destination address from a first communication device, for use in routing a communication through the network to a second communication device. The received string of characters includes a number digit in the first position in the string and at least one non-numerical special character in another position. The character string is received from the first communication device by the network, the character string is analyzed and used to route the communication through the telecommunication network to the destination address based at least in part on the character string with at least one non-numerical special character.
US08699679B2
A system for accessing scheduling information. In one illustrative embodiment, a user can log into a phone system by entering their extension number and passcode, which allows the phone to assume their profile. The user then enters the credentials required to access their PC based calendar information, which is stored by a server application. The server application can look up the scheduling information that is stored in the user's PC based calendar application on a message server. The information can then be provided to the phone by the server application where it is displayed. Application programming interfaces can facilitate communications between the phone and the server application and the server application and the message server. Other information located on the message server can also be retrieved through the server application and is not limited to scheduling information.
US08699677B2
Methods, systems, computer readable media, and apparatuses for voice data transcription are provided. Packets that include voice data may be received and for each time that a threshold amount of voice data is received, a segment of voice data may be created and transcribed to text. A message that includes the transcribed text may then be transmitted to an intended recipient of the voice data, to allow the intended recipient to view the message prior to transcription of the remaining segments of the voice data. Additionally, subsequent to transmission of the message, another message may be transmitted that includes text transcribed from a different segment of the voice data.
US08699676B2
One embodiment of a method for translating a message can be broadly summarized by the following steps: generating an electronic message in an understood language of an originating party; receiving instructions to translate contents of the electronic message to another language; converting the electronic message to the another language in accordance with the instructions; and delivering the converted electronic message to the receiving party. Other methods and devices are also provided.
US08699674B2
A call is received at an interactive voice response (IVR) system. A voice communications session is established between the IVR system and the telephonic device. A request from the IVR system to allocate a speech resource for processing voice data of the voice communications session is received by a dynamic speech allocation (DSA) engine. Configuration data associated with a current state of the voice communications session is accessed by the DSA engine. Dynamic characteristics associated with the caller are accessed by the DSA engine. A speech resource from among multiple speech resources is selected by the DSA engine based on the current state and the dynamic characteristics. The selected speech resource is allocated to the voice communications session by enabling the IVR system to use the selected speech resource to process voice data received from the caller during the current state of the voice communications session.
US08699673B2
An interface prompts a user to enter a marker during a communications session, in which the user is able to later provide a subsequent version of the marker. Initially, a first version of the marker is received from the user. A processor associates the first version of the marker received from the user with a particular position in an information tree and stores the particular position in the information tree associated with the first version of the marker. A second version of the marker is received from the user and in response, the user is returned to the particular position in the information tree that has been stored and associated with the first version of the marker received from the user.
US08699671B2
The present invention provides for a system and method for providing a signal to a communication system comprising an interface between a communication link and the communication system, like an alarm system, wherein the interface receives a signal from the communication link and provides a signal indicative of the availability of the communication link for use by the communication system. Alarm systems operations may be facilitated so that Residential Gateway components (such as voice terminal adapters) may simulate traditional telephone network systems that run on 48 VDC powered telephone lines. The system also comprises an input port associated with the interface for receiving the signal from the communication link, a transformer or a voltage regulator and an output port associated with the interface for providing the conditioned signal to the communication system. A ring voltage received from the communication link may be passed through to the alarm system.
US08699669B2
A collimator for X-ray imaging apparatus is provided. The collimator includes a collimator housing including a tube flange, a tube, a locating ring configured to be mounted at an outlet of the tube flange, and at least one tongue set fixed on the locating ring. An outstretching direction of the tongue is towards a center of the locating ring.
US08699668B2
A composite material pre-patient collimator for shaping an x-ray beam in a computed tomography (CT) system is disclosed. The pre-patient collimator includes a base comprised of a first material having a first material density and an insert mechanically coupled to the base and being comprised of a second material, the second material comprising a moldable material having a second material density greater than the first material density and that is sufficient to block high frequency electromagnetic energy. The base comprises a plurality of structural features by which the insert is molded to the base, with the moldable material of the insert forming a connection with the plurality of structural features to mechanically couple the base and the insert.
US08699665B2
A wavelength-classifying type X-ray diffraction device bombards a sample with characteristic X-rays generated from an X-ray generation source, and detects characteristic X-rays diffracted by the sample using an X-ray detector. The X-ray generation source is composed of several metals of different atomic number, respective metals generating several characteristic X-rays of different wavelengths. An X-ray detector is composed of several pixels for receiving X-rays and outputting pulse signals corresponding to X-ray wavelengths. Pixels are respectively furnished with classification circuits. The classification circuits classify and output pixel output signals based on each of characteristic X-ray wavelengths. X-ray intensity is detected on a per-wavelength basis in individual pixels 12. Measurement data based on different wavelength X-rays are acquired simultaneously in just one measurement. Data of diffracted X-rays of different wavelengths are acquired using the entire region of the receiving surface of a two-dimensional detector.
US08699662B2
A method of and apparatus for obtaining radiation transmission data from a liquid in such manner that allows some data about relative proportions of constituent ingredients to be derived is described. A radiation source and a radiation detector system able to resolve transmitted intensity across a plurality of frequencies within the spectrum of the source are used to produce transmitted intensity data for each such frequency. Measured data is compared numerically to a mass attenuation data library storing mass attenuation data, individually or collectively, for a small number of expected constituent ingredients of the liquid to fit each intensity data item to the relationship given by the exponential attenuation law: I/IO=exp [−(μ/ρ) ρt] in respect of the constituent ingredients and derive therefrom an indication of relative proportions of each constituent ingredient.
US08699661B2
An apparatus and method for imaging a breast is provided. The apparatus for imaging a breast includes a first X-ray emission unit configured to emit an X-ray of a first dose to a breast, a second X-ray emission unit configured to emit one or more X-rays of a second dose to the breast, the first dose being greater than the second dose, an X-ray detection unit configured to detect the X-ray of the first dose or the one or more X-rays of the second dose to thereby generate one or more image frames regarding the breast, and an image generation unit configured to generate image data regarding the breast based on the generated one or more image frames.
US08699660B2
A liquid cooled thermal control system for a computed tomography (CT) detector includes a plurality of temperature sensors and a control mode selector module coupled to the plurality of temperature sensors. The control mode selector module is programmed to receive an input from the plurality of temperature sensors, identify the inputs as either valid inputs or invalid inputs, and determine an operational mode of the liquid cooled thermal control system based on the identified inputs. A CT imaging system and a method of operating a cooling system are also described.
US08699656B2
A shift register includes unit circuits connected in multiple stages, each of the unit circuits includes: a final buffer unit having an output transistor; and a signal A generating unit which supplies a first signal to a gate of the output transistor, the signal A generating unit includes: a capacitor; a transistor which switches conduction and non-conduction between the gate the output transistor and one of electrodes of the capacitor by a voltage from a clock signal line; a transistor which switches conduction and non-conduction between the other of the electrodes of the capacitor and the clock signal line by a voltage from an input line; and a transistor having a gate connected to a fixed power supply line, and which switches conduction and non-conduction between the one electrode of the first capacitor and the input line.
US08699637B2
A method for time delay estimation performed by a physical computing system includes passing a first input signal obtained by a first sensor through a filter bank to form a first set of sub-band output signals, passing a second input signal obtained by a second sensor through the filter bank to form a second set of sub-band output signals, the second sensor placed a distance from the first sensor, computing cross-correlation data between the first set of sub-band output signals and the second set of sub-band output signals, and applying a time delay determination function to the cross-correlation to determine a time delay estimation.
US08699633B2
A method for communication includes receiving in a receiver signals, which include one or more dedicated reference signals and are transmitted from a transmitter over a communication channel in multiple blocks. The signals in each block, including the dedicated reference signals, are transmitted on a respective group of subcarriers over a respective time interval and are precoded using a respective precoding scheme that maps the signals onto multiple antenna ports of the transmitter. One or more parameters of the communication channel are estimated over the dedicated reference signals included in two or more of the blocks whose respective precoding schemes do not differ from one another. The signals are decoded based on the estimated parameters.
US08699616B1
Systems, methods and apparatus for transferring data at a high rate. Examples may provide transmitters and receivers that transfer data at a high rate by encoding the data to be transmitted such that the circuits of the transmitter and receiver operate in their high-gain states. The encoded signal may have an average value that is independent of the data that is conveyed by the transmitted signal. In other examples, the encoding may shape the data signal into a data signal having a high-pass characteristic. When the high-pass encoded signal is transmitted through a channel having a low-pass transfer function, the resulting output signal may have much lower ISI compared to a un-encoded input signal. Transmit and receive circuits, such as amplifiers, laser, and photo-diodes, are biased to operate in their high-gain regions when receiving the encoded data in order to provide high-bandwidth and shorter transition times.
US08699609B2
The present invention relates to a transmitter and to a receiver and methods thereof wherein the PAPR is reduced by applying a set of different phase rotations to the output of each DFT of the transmitter. A corresponding set of inverse phase rotations are applied to the input of the IDFT of the receiver. The set of phase rotations applied to the subcarriers at the output of the DFT precoder of the transmitter results in a circular time shift of the corresponding time domain at the output of the IDFT modulator. If the phase rotations are properly selected for each DFT precoder, the probability that signal peaks sum in a constructive way at the output of the IDFT modulators is reduced, with a consequent reduction of the PAPR.
US08699606B2
A system and method for transmitter and receiver operation for multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communications based on prior channel knowledge are provided. A method for receiver operations includes receiving a data block, determining if there is confidence in information related to a channel, detecting data in the data block with a first detector in response to determining that there is confidence in the information, and detecting the data in the data block with a second detector in response to determining that there is no confidence in the information. The data block is received over the channel.
US08699602B2
An electronic device includes a first circuit (111) operable to generate at least a first and a second channel quality indicator (CQI) vector associated with a plurality of subbands for each of at least first and second spatial codewords respectively and generate a first and a second reference CQI for the first and second spatial codewords, and operable to generate a first and a second differential subbands CQI vector for each spatial codeword and generate a differential between the second reference CQI and the first reference CQI, and further operable to form a CQI report derived from the first and the second differential subbands CQI vector for each spatial codeword as well as the differential between the second reference CQI and the first reference CQI; and a second circuit (113) operable to initiate transmission of a signal communicating the CQI report. Other electronic devices, processes and systems are also disclosed.
US08699601B1
Systems and methods are provided for decoding signal vectors in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, where the receiver has received one or more signal vectors from the same transmitted vector. For each received signal vector, the receiver evaluates a decoding metric using each possible value of the transmitted signal vector to produce a set of distances. The receiver then combines distances from across the received signal vectors to produce a combined distance associated with each possible value of the transmitted signal vector. Using the combined distances, the receiver may choose among the possible values of the transmit signal vector to determine the actual transmit signal vector.
US08699599B2
A low complexity method for determining a search sequence of nodes for an efficient soft-decision sphere decoding algorithm for use in receivers for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) communication signals is achieved by determining a first member of the search sequence by rounding a received symbol (z) to a first constellation symbol (xc) of the QAM constellation, classifying the remaining constellation symbols (xi) of the QAM constellation into a plurality of sub-sets of constellation symbols having the same distance metric relative to said first constellation point (xc) according to a metric dsequ(n)=2a·n=max{|real(xc−xi)|,|imag(xc−xi)|}, a being a scaling factor of the constellation grid, and ordering said sub-sets of constellation symbols in ascending order of their distance metric relative to the first constellation symbol (xc), and ordering the members of each sub-set of constellation symbols that are defined by the same distance metric according to their Euclidean distances.
US08699596B2
A method for detecting a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) signal in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: selecting from a first antenna each of the first candidate signal constellations in which a first path metric for at least one first survivor path is minimal; acquiring at least one second survivor path based on the first candidate signal constellations; updating a second survivor path so as to remove an effect on the second survivor path due to the first candidate signal constellations; selecting from a second antenna each of the second candidate signal constellations in which a second path metric for the at least one updated second survivor path is minimal; acquiring at least one final survivor path based on the second candidate signal constellations; and acquiring a transmitting symbol among the final survivor paths.
US08699576B2
Provided are a method of and apparatus for estimating a motion vector using the sizes of neighboring partitions, an encoder, a decoder, and a decoding method. The method includes comparing the size of a first neighboring partition located to the left of the current block with the size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block and, if the size of the first neighboring partition and the size of the second neighboring partition are different from each other, estimating a motion vector of the larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as the motion vector of the current block.
US08699565B2
Method and system embodiments of the present invention are directed to information compression by information-coding subsystems within computationally-constrained information sources, efficient information transmission through electronic communications media to information sinks with relatively large computational bandwidths. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method and system for low-complexity, mixed-resolution information coding by low-powered, computationally constrained distributed sensors which provide continuous video images through wireless communications to a computer-system information sink where the coded information is decoded.
US08699551B2
The present invention relates to data processing techniques in multi-channel data transmission systems. In this invention, a novel approach is proposed to deal with FEXT interferences in the application of high/ultra-high speed Ethernet systems. Compared with the traditional FEXT cancellation approaches, the proposed FEXT canceller can deal with the non-causal part of FEXT, and thus can achieve better cancellation performance. Instead of using the conventional DFE, structure, TH precoding technique is incorporated into the proposed design to alleviate the error propagation problem. The resulting FEXT cancellers do not contain feedback loops which makes the high speed VLSI implementation easy. A modified design is also developed by using a finite signal as the input to the FEXT canceller such that the hardware complexity of the proposed FEXT canceller can be reduced.
US08699543B2
Methods, devices, and systems for the transmission of information in a wireless communication system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for the transmission of information in a wireless communication system comprises receiving a downlink message, wherein the downlink message includes a first control channel element; determining a first index using the location of the first control channel element; determining a second index; determining a first orthogonal resource using the first index; determining a second orthogonal resource using the second index; spreading an uplink message using the first orthogonal resource to form a first spread signal; spreading the uplink message using a second orthogonal resource to form a second spread signal; transmitting the first spread signal using a first antenna; and transmitting the second spread signal using a second antenna.
US08699542B2
A spread spectrum modulation unit (12) performs spread spectrum clocking processing for a basic clock signal (BC) synchronized with the carrier frequency or its harmonic frequency of image information leaked from an unwanted electromagnetic wave. A modulation pattern generation unit (13) generates and outputs, as a modulation pattern signal (MP), a PN code having sign bit data synchronized with each pulse of the obtained spread spectrum clock signal SC. In addition, the modulation pattern generation unit (13) resets the repetition period of the PN code based on a horizontal sync signal (H). A modulated clock generation unit (14) modulates the spread spectrum clock signal (SC) in accordance with the modulation pattern signal (MP). The obtained modulated clock signal (MC) is amplified, generating a leakage prevention signal (JC). A leakage prevention signal containing a sideband component of a satisfactory level can be generated, obtaining a useful leakage prevention effect.
US08699537B2
The present invention provides an applications-oriented nitride compound semiconductor substrate, and devices based on it, whose lattice constant can be tuned to closely match that of any nitride thin film or films deposited on it for specific electronic or optoelectronic device applications. Such application-oriented nitride substrates, which can be composed of ternary InxGa1-xN, AlyIn1-yN, AlzGa1-zN, or quaternary AlaInbGa1-a-bN alloy compounds, minimize lattice-mismatch-induced dislocations and defects between the epitaxial films and the substrate on which the device layers are grown, leading to substantially improved device performance.
US08699536B2
A semiconductor laser device capable of high output is provided. A semiconductor laser diode includes: a substrate; and a semiconductor stacked structure, which is formed on the substrate through crystal growth. The semiconductor stacked structure includes: an n-type (Alx1Ga(1-x1))0.51In0.49P cladding layer and a p-type (Alx1Ga(1-x1))0.51In0.49P cladding layer; an n-side Alx2Ga(1-x2)As guiding layer and a p-side Alx2Ga(1-x2)As guiding layer, which are sandwiched between the cladding layers; and an active layer, which is sandwiched between the guiding layers. The active layer is formed of a quantum well layer including an AlyGa(1-y)As(1-x3)Px3 layer and a barrier layer including an Alx4Ga(1-x4)As layer that are alternatively repetitively stacked for a plurality of periods.
US08699534B2
An optical disk drive system associated with a laser diode is described. The optical disk drive system comprises a current generator for receiving input signals; a current switch coupled to receive timing signals; a current driver coupled to receive output signals from the current switch and the current generator, the current driver further comprising a driver with wave shape control selected from the group consisting of a laser diode read driver and a laser diode write driver, wherein the driver with shape control is operative for transmitting at least one output signal that is a scaled version of at least one of the output signals received from the current generator, wherein the current driver is operative for transmitting at least one output signal driving the laser diode.
US08699528B2
A method for communication includes receiving in a receiver signals, which include one or more dedicated reference signals, that are transmitted from a transmitter over a communication channel in multiple blocks. The signals in each block, including the dedicated reference signals, are transmitted on a respective group of subcarriers over a respective time interval and are precoded using a respective precoding scheme that maps the signals onto multiple antenna ports of the transmitter. Based on the received signals, feedback is computed in the receiver with respect to the communication channel in each of multiple spectral sub-bands, and the feedback for the multiple spectral sub-bands is reported to the transmitter. One or more parameters of the communication channel are estimated jointly over the dedicated reference signals included in each of the spectral sub-bands for which the feedback is reported. The signals are decoded based on the estimated parameters.
US08699521B2
An apparatus is provided, for performing a direct memory access (DMA) operation between a host memory in a first server and a network adapter. The apparatus includes a host frame parser and a protocol engine. The host frame parser is configured to receive data corresponding to the DMA operation from a host interface, and is configured to insert markers on-the-fly into the data at a prescribed interval and to provide marked data for transmission to a second server over a network fabric. The protocol engine is coupled to the host frame parser. The protocol engine is configured to direct the host frame parser to insert the markers, and is configured to specify a first marker value and an offset value, whereby the host frame parser is enabled to locate and insert a first marker into the data.
US08699497B2
A Fiber Channel switch is provided for a relative addressing scheme for domain values to avoid losing portions of a Fiber Channel identifier. At a Fiber Channel switch, data is stored that assigns a relative domain field value to a run-time domain. The relative domain field value used for a Fiber Channel identifier is determined for devices connected to the switch based on the run-time domain of the devices and the virtual storage area network in which the devices are active. A Fiber Channel identifier is stored in a memory of the switch that comprises the relative domain field value determined for the device together with area and port values for the device. The relative domain value is either a reserved domain field value for an existing virtual storage area network or any of the regular domain field values for a new virtual storage area network.
US08699494B2
An image transfer apparatus includes a generator, a scrambling device, first and second converters, a descrambling device, a detector, and a retransmission request unit. The generator generates packets each having an error detecting code added to image data. The scrambling device scrambles the generated packets on a packet-to-packet basis to reduce repetition of identical data. The first converter subjects the scrambled packets to parallel-to-serial conversion, and transfers the packets to a target apparatus. The second converter receives the scrambled packets from the target apparatus, and subjects the received packets to serial-to-parallel conversion. The descrambling device descrambles the packets subjected to the serial-to-parallel conversion. The detector detects an error from the error detecting code of each of the descrambled packets. Upon detection of the error, the retransmission request unit requests the target apparatus to retransmit the packet in which the error is detected.
US08699493B2
A simulator simulates routing system protocols to build routing tables corresponding to a modeled network, and a comparator compares the routing tables in the actual network to these simulator-created routing tables. Because the modeled system represents a fault-free version of the actual system, and assuming that the modeled routing system protocols are representative of the algorithms used in the actual routers, these simulator-produced routing tables can represent steady-state routing tables that should be present in the routers of the actual network at steady state. By querying each router in the actual network for its routing table and comparing each routing table to the corresponding simulator-produced routing table, any differences from the steady state can be identified.
US08699489B2
A method in an access device for handling data packets transferred between a user device and a communication services network. The access device receives a first data packet coming from the user device, the first data packet having a source address. Then, occurrence of service tag in the received packet is detected, where the service tag indicates a type of communication service. A packet handling rule is then determined for the source address based on the detected occurrence of service tag. Occurrence of service tag in any subsequent data packets referring to the source address or to a port the first packet was received on, is then handled according to the packet handling rule. Thereby, a flexible packet forwarding mechanism can be achieved in the access device for any types of connected user devices. Related access devices are also disclosed.
US08699488B2
A device communicates with feature peers, associated with a network, to obtain information associated with the feature peers, and receives a customer packet that includes a feature header. The device also modifies, based on the feature peer information, current condition state signaling, and other information, the feature header to create a modified customer packet, and determines, based on the feature peer information, the current condition state signaling, and the other information, which of the feature peers support a feature associated with the modified customer packet. The device further selects, from the determined feature peers, a set of feature peers for the modified customer packet to traverse, and forwards, based on the modified feature header, the modified customer packet to one of the feature peers in the selected set of feature peers.
US08699486B1
A method includes receiving multicast traffic intended for host devices; identifying a flow associated with the multicast traffic; retrieving information associated with a group of multicast trees, where the group of multicast trees includes information associated with a group of I/O units, associated with a network node; identifying a particular tree that corresponds to the identified flow, where the particular tree includes information associated with a set of I/O units; and transferring the multicast traffic to an I/O unit, of the set of I/O units, based on the identification of the particular tree, where the transferring enables the I/O unit to send a copy of the multicast traffic to other I/O units of the set of I/O units, and the set of I/O units to process the multicast traffic in a manner that utilizes bandwidth or processing resources in a controlled manner and to send a copy of the multicast traffic to each of the host devices.
US08699484B2
Methods and apparatus to route packets in a network are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes receiving a packet in a packet aggregator, accessing a forwarding table to determine a router within a router array to which the packet is to be forwarded, transmitting the packet to the determined router via a first interface of the packet aggregator, identifying a second interface within the router to which the packet is to be forwarded, forwarding the packet from the router via the second interface to a virtual interface within the packet aggregator, and statically forwarding the packet from the packet aggregator to a destination based on the virtual interface that received the packet.
US08699481B2
A system for using one more via sites to manage network bandwidth, according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a first call manager at a source site receiving an offer message to connect a call. The offer message includes an endpoint media settings list. The first call manager determines a first filtered media preferences list based on a source media settings list and the endpoint media setting list. The first call manager and transmits an invite message to a second call manager at a first via site. The invite message includes the first filtered media preferences list. The first call manager receives from the second call manager a call settings list that includes a description of the call settings negotiated between the source site, the first via site and a destination site.
US08699473B2
A wireless local area network is provided with at least one cell controller and simplified RF ports which are configured to provide lower level media access control functions. Higher level media access control functions are provided in a cell controller, which may service one or more RF ports that are capable operating with at least two wireless local area subnetworks. Mobile units can also be configured with the higher level media access control functions being performed in a host processor.
US08699464B1
In a system and method for multi-band communication with a wireless device, determining for a wireless device comprising a first radio associated with a first radio access technology and a second radio associated with a second radio access technology a first wake time of the first radio and a second wake time of the second radio, receiving data for an application running on the wireless device at a receive time, and sending the received data to the wireless device using one of the first radio access technology and the second radio access technology based on a first time period between the receive time and the first wake time and a second time period between the receive time and the second wake time.
US08699463B2
A femtocell base station 10a suspends transmission and reception of radio waves to and from a radio communication terminal 30 of an accommodation object when the radio communication terminal 30 is not in the neighborhood of the femtocell base station 10a. The femtocell base station 10a determines whether the radio communication terminal 30 is in the neighborhood of the femtocell base station 10a based on information of a UATI update notification provided through another base station in communication with the radio communication terminal 30 and, when the radio communication terminal 30 is in the neighborhood of the femtocell base station 10a, starts receiving the radio waves from the radio communication terminal 30.
US08699455B2
In an improved and reliable method and arrangement allowing a user equipment to acknowledge the re-pointing over target cell in the HS-DSCH serving cell change procedure, wherein a Media Access Control (MAC) frame include information indicates the acknowledgement. In one embodiment the MAC frame contains only the Scheduling Information (SI) field with a coding not normally used, e.g. TEBS=O and HLID=0 (TEBS=Total E-DCH Buffer Status; HLID=Highest Priority Logical Channel ID). Since the MAC frame is protected by Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), high reliability is ensured. Also, the MAC frame is transmitted to all cells in the active set, so that robustness is ensured also during imbalance situations.
US08699439B2
A method for paging a terminal in a multi-carrier system is disclosed in the present invention, and the method includes that: the terminal enters an Idle mode, and the system selects as a paging carrier for the terminal a fully configured carrier which a Multicast Broadcast Service (MBS) is sent on so as to send a paging message; the terminal receives MBS service on the carrier where the MBS service is sent, simultaneously receives the paging message on the paging carrier, and performs the corresponding operation according to the paging message. A system for paging a terminal in a multi-carrier system is also disclosed in the present invention. Based on the method and system, it is possible for the terminal to receive the paging message of the system efficiently and duly while receiving multicast broadcast service.
US08699436B2
A method and apparatus for transmitting a Reference Signal (RS) during retransmission at a User Equipment (UE) in a multi-antenna wireless communication system are disclosed. The RS transmission method includes receiving an uplink grant from a Base Station (BS), initially transmitting data and an RS corresponding to each layer based on the uplink grant, receiving ACKnowledgment/Negative ACKnowledgment (ACK/NACK) information for the initially transmitted data, and retransmitting the RS corresponding to each layer and the data according to the ACK/NACK information. The retransmission includes initializing a cyclic shift value for the RS corresponding to each layer according to a cyclic shift field for RSs included in the uplink grant.
US08699432B2
A method and arrangement for connecting an ad-hoc communication network (101) to a permanent communication network (102) via a half-duplex communication link (140). The ad-hoc communication network is established between communication devices (103-106) and a gateway device (107) using a routing protocol that is run in the gateway device and in the communication devices. Relaying of data between the ad-hoc communication network and the permanent communication network is controlled by setting the following relaying operations into a pre-determined order of mutual priority: relaying data from the ad-hoc communication network to the permanent communication network and relaying data from the permanent communication network to the ad-hoc communication network. The pre-determined order of priority facilitates data transfer via the half-duplex communication link between the permanent communication network and the ad-hoc communication network that can be either a full-duplex network or a half-duplex network.
US08699430B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for the efficient use of cognitive radios in the performance of dynamic spectrum access. This includes spectrum sensing algorithms, adaptive optimized sensing of parameters based on changing radio environments, and identifying vacant channels. Protocols for switching communication links to different channels, and synchronizing communicating nodes in order to maintain reliable connectively while maximizing spectrum usage are also provided.
US08699429B2
There is provided a MIMO wireless communication system, which comprises at least one base station having plural transmitting antennas and at least one user equipment having at least one receiving antennas, the base station being capable of accommodating plural user equipments by precoding based on a codebook, wherein, each of the plural user equipments comprises: a channel estimation unit for conducting a channel estimation based on a pilot signal transmitted from the base station, to obtain a channel information; a codeword determination unit for determining a first codeword that results in the maximum signal-noise-ratio, and at least one second codeword that results in the minimum signal-noise-ratio, based on the channel information; and a transmission unit for feedbacking the first codeword and the second codeword(s) to the base station, the base station is configured to schedule the user equipments based on the first codeword and the second codeword so that a predetermined system performance metric is optimized.
US08699417B2
Described herein are techniques related to wireless communication systems that may implement microwave backhaul for connectivity between network elements deployed by the wireless communication systems. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
US08699412B2
Systems and methodologies are described herein that facilitate cell barring based on erroneous messages received within a wireless communication system. As described herein, in the event that a device fails to receive and/or decode respective messages transmitted from a network cell over a common communication channel, the device can implement one or more error handling procedures as described herein to reselect away from the network cell and/or a frequency associated with the network cell (e.g., as if the network cell was explicitly barred). Cell barring can be triggered as described herein based on a count of erroneous messages (e.g., consecutive messages, messages received within a predetermined time window, etc.), elapsed time between erroneous messages, or the like. Further, cell barring can be performed as described herein based on failure to acquire pre-scheduled system information, common system information determined to have invalid abstract syntax, or the like.
US08699408B2
The invention relates to a method for controlling transmission over a radio channel between a sending unit and a group of receiving units in a radio communication system, the method comprising the following steps relating to information aimed at a subgroup of at least one receiving unit of said group of receiving units: transmitting said information over the radio channel from the sending unit; upon reception of said information, transmitting an acknowledgement from at least each receiving unit of the subgroup, which has received said information correctly over said radio channel; and checking whether acknowledgments have been received by the sending unit from each receiving unit of said subgroup.
US08699406B1
A system for maintaining synchronization of nodes in a wireless network comprises a child node and a parent node. The child node comprising a transmitter, a receiver, and a first time keeper. The parent node comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a second time keeper. The parent node receiver is active for a guardband and wherein the guardband is adjusted to maintain synchronization of the parent node with the child node.
US08699399B2
A transmitting method in a mobile communication system, which has a base and mobile station that performs radio communication with the base station in a cell of a radio communication area formed by the base station, and mixes, allocates unicast data and broadcast/multicast data to subframes in a radio frame, and transmits the radio frame as downstream data from the base station to the mobile station, by the base station, multiplexing cell-specific pilot signals corresponding to the unicast data to a first subframe to where data is allocated, while multiplexing cell-specific pilot signals to a second subframe to where data is allocated, where the number of the cell-specific pilot signals allocated to the second subframe is different from the number of the cell-specific pilot signals allocated to the first subframe; setting a difference between the various start phase of cell-specific pilot signals transmitted in the various subframes.
US08699385B2
The present invention relates to transmission and reception of a frame for a legacy support mode of IEEE 802.16m system for supporting a legacy system. A method of transmitting an uplink signal, in which a signal is transmitted by a user equipment in a wireless mobile communication system, according to the present invention includes the step of transmitting the signal from the user equipment, wherein the signal is transmitted via an uplink frame including 15 OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) symbols and wherein the uplink frame comprises a first uplink subframe including 9 OFDMA symbols and a second uplink subframe including 6 OFDMA symbols. Preferably, the user equipment is multiplexed with a second user equipment supporting a legacy system for the wireless mobile communication system only by FDM for an uplink.
US08699384B2
A VoIP-based conferencing system readily handles different protocols, load balance media resources and deals with fail-over situations. The VOIP conferencing system has a gateway coupled to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). A Voice Server Director (VSD) is coupled to the gateway and performs the control function of the conferencing system. The VSD has a back-to-back user agent. The VSD controls a media server, which mixes the audio (signals), and the media server receives the data portion of a conference call from the gateway. The media server is coupled to a bridge that controls an on-going conference.
US08699380B2
A method and apparatus for flushing port tables in an Ethernet network that includes a Root Bridge node (1) and a plurality of bridge nodes (2-7). A ring of bridge nodes affected by a change in the topology of the Ethernet network is identified from the plurality of, bridge nodes. The ring of bridge nodes (2-7) includes a branching bridge node (2) providing a connection to the Root Bridge node (1). Port tables are flushed only at the bridge nodes on the ring (2-7), rather than all of the bridge nodes in the Ethernet network, which greatly reduces the amount of signalling required during a relearning process.
US08699376B2
A node having a memory storing a network topology and a routing table. The node also having a processing device programmed to generate a link state message and during the generating of the link state message, set a value of an age field of the link state message to a random value.
US08699374B2
The present invention discloses a channel estimation method for an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing system with cyclic-delay diversity. The method makes pilots have the same amplitude and equally partitions the pilots into a number of pilot groups. In addition, the method equally spaces the pilots of each group in a frequency domain and determines the pilot locations and cyclic-delay coefficient of each pilot group in order to optimize the channel estimation of a receiver. The method can perform the channel estimation by using just one OFDM symbol.
US08699373B1
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for anchoring a data session to a line card. The system includes a networking device that includes multiple line cards, which receive incoming packets from a link aggregation device. The line cards are communicatively coupled by a backplane to a routing control processor, which receives from the link aggregation device process information indicative of a process by which the link aggregation device determines to which line card data packets associated with a data session are forwarded. The routing control processor also receives a control packet requesting initiation of a new data session. Then, the routing control processor determines to which line card the link aggregation device will be forwarding data packets associated with the new data session based on the received process information and anchors the new data session based on the determined line card.
US08699371B2
A method of receiving a data transmission includes detecting a first switching of a transmission signal to a first signal value, starting a duration measurement of a first time interval that begins with detecting the first switching of the transmission signal, detecting a second switching of the transmission signal to a second signal value, stopping the measurement of the first time interval duration and starting a second duration measurement of a second time interval, detecting a third switching of the transmission signal to the first signal value or to a third signal value, stopping the second measurement in response to detecting the third switching, determining a relation of the first and second time interval durations from the first and second measurements, and determining a data value of the transmission signal based on the determined relation.
US08699359B2
A method and apparatus for Data Plane Delay KPI Monitoring in a live network is disclosed for measuring node delays in a manner that allows latency to be apportioned to network elements. The method and apparatus for Data Plane Delay KPI Monitoring in a live network includes establishing a call session, propagating a probe session commencement indicator, capturing timestamps for incoming and outgoing packets associated with the call session at the network nodes, propagating a probe session stop indicator which causes the network nodes to cease collecting timestamps and then transmitting the timestamps to a Network Management System.
US08699358B2
A troubleshooting method and a troubleshooting apparatus are disclosed. The troubleshooting method includes: sending a forward detection message to at least one node on a path to be detected, where the forward detection message carries information about a forward path to be detected and information about a backward path to be detected; and detecting faults according to a backward detection message returned by the at least one node. With the troubleshooting method and the troubleshooting apparatus disclosed herein, troubleshooting operations such as fault detection and fault location can be performed for the forward path and the backward path that require bidirectional path detection.
US08699351B2
A method and system for diagnosing synchronization offsets in IPTV program signals includes generating audio counter values for audio packets and video counter values for video packets, such that synchronized audio packets and video packets have corresponding counter values. The correspondence may be fixed or may be a variable relationship during the IPTV program duration. The difference in arrival times of the audio and video packets may be measured at various IPTV network nodes, and compared to the IPTV program clock. Aberrant values for arrival times may result in a network synchronization alarm at an identified IPTV network node.
US08699348B2
Methods and apparatus to control traffic in a packet-switched network are disclosed. An example circuit manager includes a usage analyzer to estimate a utilization of a network for a future time interval based on data associated with actual utilization of the network, a rebalancer to detect a trigger event based on the estimated utilization, and to identify a future virtual circuit path through the network for the future time interval based on the estimated utilization when the trigger event is detected, the usage analyzer and the rebalancer to repetitively change mapping of virtual circuit paths including the future virtual circuit path to physical resources to adapt the network to expected usage conditions, a rerouter to identify the future virtual circuit path based on a first predicted weighted cost for a first communication link and a second predicted weighted cost for a second communication link, and a capacity manager to determine whether the identified future virtual circuit path is expected to reduce a future utilization of a communication path below a first threshold, and to determine where additional transmission capacity should be added to the network when the predicted future utilization of the communication path exceeds the first threshold.
US08699345B2
Various exemplary shaping apparatuses for shaping packets stored in queues are provided. The shaping apparatus includes a token bucket that accumulates tokens with a predetermined rate. When a number of tokens accumulated in the token bucket is equal to or larger than a reference number corresponding to a maximum packet length that the queues may store, the shaping apparatus allows one of the packets stored in the queues to transmit and subtracts a number of tokens corresponding to a length of the packet allowed to be transmitted. Various exemplary communication control apparatuses that incorporate the shaping apparatuses are also provided.
US08699337B2
A communication terminal used in a communication system which sets a communication session between a plurality of terminals through a network to perform data transmission and reception includes a first transmission bandwidth control unit which performs transmission bandwidth control independently of a state of the network, a second transmission bandwidth control unit which performs transmission bandwidth control depending on a state of the network, and a bandwidth estimating unit which determines a transmission bandwidth when bandwidth control by the second transmission bandwidth control unit is started. When transmission is started, bandwidth control by the first transmission bandwidth control unit is performed, and when a transmission bandwidth is determined by the bandwidth estimating unit on the basis of a response packet to a transmission packet based on the bandwidth control, the bandwidth control by the second transmission bandwidth control unit is performed.
US08699332B2
A computer-implemented method of determining policy control decisions in a telecommunications network. The method comprises the steps of receiving a predictive indicator from a forecasting system, wherein the predictive indicator includes predictive network resource utilization information, responsive to receiving a service request from a gateway, determining a policy decision based on the predictive indicator, and sending the policy decision to the gateway.
US08699330B2
The present invention provides systems and methods for adaptive digital data transmission rate control. A digital data transmission system for adaptively transferring packets over a transmission link includes a client device having a bandwidth control module and a host device coupled to the client device over the transmission link. The host device includes one or more bandwidth control registers and a packet builder. The bandwidth control module determines a packet speed and/or size for packets transmitted from the host device to the client device over the transmission link. The bandwidth control registers store the requested packet size and/or rate. The packet builder accesses these registers when transmitting packets to determine the requested packet size and/or rate.
US08699326B2
There is described an optical terminal for use in a passive optical network. The optical terminal comprises an optical I/O module for sending and receiving optical data packets along an optical fiber, an electrical I/O module for sending and receiving electrical data packets via an electrical connection, a signal converter operatively connected to the optical and electrical I/O modules for converting the data packets between optical and electrical formats, a controller for controlling the operation of the I/O modules and the signal converter. The controller is configured to detect a failure of a primary data path in the optical network, initiate an automatic protection switch to a secondary data path for optical data packets, and generate traffic flow update messages to be sent upstream. Each traffic flow update message contains, as a source address, a MAC address of a client device downstream of the terminal.
US08699325B2
A method for implementing switching when the network is faulted is disclosed, and the method includes: establishing a quick detection mechanism between non-querier and querier; the non-querier using the detection mechanism for performing a real-time detection on the querier and downlink of the querier; switching the non-querier to be the querier when the non-querier detects that the querier or the downlink of the querier is faulted. A querier is further disclosed. With the method, it can complete a quick switching of the querier and a quick transmission of a multicast flow when the querier or the downlink thereof is faulted, thereby reducing the interrupt time of users receiving the multicast flow, implementing a quick protection of a multicast service, and improving the service experience for the user.
US08699319B2
A base station device may include, but is not limited to: a mapping unit; and at least one reception antenna. The mapping unit is configured to assign a plurality of first subcarriers to a first communication device, and assign a part of the plurality of first subcarriers to at least one other communication device. The at least one reception antenna is configured to receive from one of the first communication device and the at least one other communication device, a plurality of frequency signals allocated to the plurality of first subcarriers. Each of the plurality of frequency signals is converted from coded transmission data of the one of the first communication device and the at least one other communication device.
US08699310B2
A holographic recording medium in which information can be reproduced by phase conjugate beam without requiring a mirror for obtaining the phase conjugate beam and its driving part and recording density is not reduced. The recording medium includes a recording layer in which an interference pattern is recorded and a light absorption/transmission layer which can be reversibly changed to be in a first state where signal beam and reference beam passed through the recording layer are absorbed at the time of recording of information and a second state where the reference beam is transmitted at the time of reproduction of information, and the reference beam transmitted through the light absorption/transmission layer is reflected by a reflection layer to produce the phase conjugate beam.
US08699306B2
A wrist watch-type silent alarm and exam notification timer device includes a vibrator adapted to create a silent vibrating sensation on the skin of the user/wearer, and control circuitry for repeatedly generating silent alarm signals at user-defined time intervals for a user-defined number of times in a programmable manner. The vibrator is disposed inside the timer housing directly on an area of the bottom panel of the housing, and oriented to generate a silent vibration in that area in a direction perpendicular to the bottom panel. The timer device is useful during exam taking to allow the user to keep track of his progress through the exam. Displays are provided to display a total elapsed time of the exam, a lapsed time of the current exam problem, and the number for the current exam problem. Control keys are provided for the user to program the timer.
US08699301B2
An apparatus and system for acquiring seismic data over a loose surface is disclosed. The apparatus includes a housing capable of moving on the loose surface with an opening configured at a bottom surface of the housing. The apparatus further includes a seismic sensing unit configured within the housing at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane. The horizontal plane may be the bottom surface of the housing. The seismic sensing unit is operable to retractably move within the housing towards and away from the opening. In response to the seismic sensing unit moving towards the opening, the seismic sensing unit establishes contact with the loose surface for acquiring the seismic data.
US08699299B2
In one embodiment, an acoustic distance measurement system can dynamically adjust its measurement frequency to a frequency that is within a preselected bandwidth of the resonant frequency of an acoustic transducer used in making acoustic distance measurements.
US08699298B1
Methods, software, and computer systems for 3D multiple prediction and removal are disclosed. The method includes determining a set of input diplets. The method includes, for one or more data diplets from the set of input diplets downward propagating the data diplet to model reflection of the data diplet at a location of at least one subsurface discontinuity and determining one or more predicted multiple diplets, based, at least in part on the data diplet and the modeled downward propagated and reflected diplet. The method includes comparing diplets in the set of input diplets with the one or more multiple diplets to determine a set of multiple diplets and a set of demultipled diplets.
US08699295B2
A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of wordlines and a driver configured to, when an wordline of the plurality of wordlines is activated by an active command, drive at least one non-activated wordline neighboring the activated wordline and remaining non-activated wordlines with different wordline driving voltage levels during a period of time that the activated wordline is driven to a high voltage level.
US08699292B2
A semiconductor device in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes first and second power-supply circuits each of which generates an internal power-supply voltage by converting a voltage value of a power-supply voltage into a different voltage value, a first internal circuit that receives a supply of the internal power-supply voltage from the first power-supply circuit through a first line, a second internal circuit that receives a supply of the internal power-supply voltage from the second power-supply circuit through a second line, an inter-block line that connects the first and second lines to each other, and a control circuit that operates the first and second internal circuits in a predetermined operating cycle, and controls a length of a period during which the first and second internal circuits operate simultaneously.
US08699287B2
Techniques are described for increasing a lifetime of a plurality of blocks of memory by equalizing a variation between the blocks. In operation, blocks to be written are allocated from a set of blocks having a lifetime factor below a threshold. The threshold is reset as required to resupply the set of blocks available for allocation.
US08699277B2
A memory includes at least first and second banks of single-port memory elements, a first local controller adapted to send read and write instructions to the first memory bank, and a second local controller adapted to send read and write instructions to the second memory bank. A global controller is configured to receive first and second memory addresses and a first indication of an operation to be performed at the first memory addresses and a second indication of an operation to be performed at the second memory address and to instruct the first local controller to perform the first indicated operation at the first memory address and to instruct the second local controller to perform the second indicated operation at the second memory address at the same time.
US08699276B2
A semiconductor memory device including a first edge region for receiving a write command through a first pad portion to generate a column enable signal used in creation of a column selection signal; a second edge region including a data transmission control circuit capable of receiving an input data and a data strobe signal through a second pad portion and capable of receiving an address signal from the first pad portion to generate and output transmission data, the data transmission control circuit capable of outputting the column enable signal transmitted from the first edge region; and a core region including a column control portion that is capable of processing the transmission data in response to the column enable signal outputted from the second edge region to send the transmission data to bit lines electrically connected to memory cells.
US08699274B2
Integrated circuit flash memory devices, such as NAND flash memory devices, include an array of regular flash memory cells, an array of dummy flash memory cells and an erase controller. The erase controller is configured to concurrently apply a different predetermined bias voltage to the dummy flash memory cells than to the regular flash memory cells during an erase operation of the integrated circuit flash memory device. Related methods are also described.
US08699264B2
A memory element has a layered structure, including a memory layer that has magnetization perpendicular to a film face in which a magnetization direction is changed depending on information, and includes a Co—Fe—B magnetic layer, the magnetization direction being changed by applying a current in a lamination direction of the layered structure to record the information in the memory layer, a magnetization-fixed layer having magnetization perpendicular to a film face that becomes a base of the information stored in the memory layer, and an intermediate layer that is formed of a non-magnetic material and is provided between the memory layer and the magnetization-fixed layer, a first oxide layer and a second oxide layer.
US08699244B1
A self-oscillating inverter provides an output voltage with fixed operating frequency and amplitude independently of a load. First and second switching elements are arranged in a half-bridge configuration. A resonant circuit having a primary winding of a resonant inductor and a resonant capacitor is coupled between the switching elements. A clamping circuit limits the voltage across the resonant capacitor to a predetermined maximum value, and along with the resonant capacitor defines a capacitance compensation circuit having an equivalent capacitance greater than that of the resonant capacitor alone, wherein the actual resonant frequency of the inverter is less than the natural frequency of the resonant circuit such that soft-switching is assured. An output voltage across the resonant inductor during steady-state operation is a quasi-square waveform with a fixed amplitude, wherein a load voltage across a secondary winding of the inductor is also a quasi-square waveform with a fixed amplitude.
US08699240B2
A control device for a resonant converter includes a first circuit structured to rectify a signal indicating the current circulating in the primary winding, a second circuit adapted to integrate at least the rectified signal and structured to generate at least a control signal of the switching circuit according to the integrated signal, and a third circuit adapted to send a reset command to the second circuit so as to inhibit the operation over a time period between the instant when the integrated signal reaches or exceeds a first signal and the instant of the next zero crossing of the signal, indicating the current circulating in the primary winding.
US08699236B2
A conductive buffer material (11) is one surface of a display panel (29) sandwiched between a first member (BZ1) and a second member (CS), and is interposed between a first panel surface facing the metallic first member (BZ1) and the first member (BZ1). The conductive buffer material (11) includes an inclusion material (15) and a conductive envelope material (14) that wraps the inclusion material (15), and the conductive buffer material (11) includes a main portion in which part of the envelope material (14) is brought closer to the first panel surface and the first member (BZ1) by the inclusion material (15) having a given thickness or more.
US08699234B2
An EMI noise shield board, in which an EBG structure is inserted, includes a first board portion and a second board portion. The first board portion has an upper surface, on which an electronic part is disposed, and a circuit for transferring a signal and power to the electronic part. The second board portion is located on a lower surface of the first board portion. The electromagnetic bandgap structure is inserted into the second board portion, and has a band stop frequency property such that an EMI noise transferred from the first board portion is shielded from being radiated to the outside of the EMI noise shield board.
US08699231B2
An electronic apparatus for a vehicle, includes an electronic device, a waterproof housing that receives the electronic device, and a filter. The housing has a ventilation hole that penetrates through a housing wall of the housing. The filter is attached to a filter attachment portion of the housing wall to cover the ventilation hole. A wall surface of the ventilation hole includes a slope surface section that has an increasing cross-sectional area, which progressively increases from an inner end to an outer end of the slope surface section toward an outer surface of the housing wall in a penetrating direction of the ventilation hole. Furthermore, a distance between the filter attachment portion and the outer surface is larger than that between the inner end of the slope surface section and the outer surface in the penetrating direction.
US08699217B2
A fixing device for use with at least one expansion card in a computer chassis includes a positioning member and a fixing member. One side of the positioning member defines at least one first slot. The fixing member includes a fixing portion and a rotatable portion rotatablely connected to the fixing portion. The fixing portion defines at least one second slot corresponding to the at least one first slot. When the rotatable portion is able to rotate to a position where the at least one first slot face to the at least one second slot, allowing opposite sides of the free end of the at least one expansion card.
US08699212B2
The present invention relates to an apparatus, method and system for electronic readers to be used by personnel operating in sensitive environments wherein inherently safe electronic equipment is either preferable or required, said environments include, but are not limited to, living and working within a hyperbaric/hypobaric containment vessel for extended periods. This invention provides a safe reliable mobile media device that allows people that operate in environments where electronic safety is particularly important, such environments include, but are not limited to, individuals placed under hyperbaric conditions; it provides an alternative means to communicate to the outside world through Internet applications. In addition, the instant invention allows individual the ability to read electronic books, download and upload technical information, curriculum and personal data, programs and data in real time.
US08699206B1
Methods and apparatus for storing information or energy. An array of nano vacuum tubes is evacuated to a pressure below 10−6 Torr, where each nano vacuum tube has an anodic electrode, a cathodic electrode spaced apart from the anodic electrode, and an intervening evacuated region. An excess of electrons is stored on the cathodic electrode.
US08699204B2
An element array and a footprint layout for an element array are disclosed. The element array can have a rectangular configuration defining two side surfaces and two end surfaces. The element array can include a plurality of stacked dielectric-electrode layers. One dielectric-electrode layer can include a plurality of element electrodes, such as eight element electrodes. Each of the plurality of element electrodes forms a part of an individual element for the element array. The element array device can further include a common electrode. The common electrode is used as part of each of the individual elements for the element array. The common electrode can include a lead for termination to one of the two end surfaces of the element array or, in a particular embodiment, to one of the two side surfaces of the element array.
US08699200B2
A redundant non-contact switch reports a status as closed or open for a first member and a second member that move relative to each other between an open state and a closed state. In some embodiments, the redundant non-contact switch includes a wireless authentication (WA) pair and a magnetic pair. The WA pair may include a WA responder attached to one of the first member and the second member, and a WA interrogator attached to the other of the first member and the second member. The WA pair may be configured to register a WA status of closed or open, depending on a WA authentication between the WA responder and the WA interrogator. The magnetic pair may include a magnet attached to one of the first member and the second member, and a magnet sensor attached to the other of the first member and the second member. The magnetic pair may be configured to register a magnetic status of closed or open, depending on whether a magnet distance between the magnet and magnet sensor is beyond a threshold magnet distance. In some instances, the redundant non-contact switch reports the status as closed only if both the WA status is registered as closed and the magnetic status is registered as closed.
US08699198B2
A transient voltage surge suppression device includes a varistor assembly having a compact thickness, and a disconnect element carrying a separable contact along a linear axis to disconnect the varistor element from external circuitry.
US08699195B2
Devices, such as mobile devices, may be exposed to short circuit and output overload events. To protect against such events, mobile devices typically include current limit circuits. Some current limit circuits may involve user programmable function. User programmable function may need accurate current limit detectors. Various embodiments of the present invention include devices and methods for detecting one or more programmed current limits. Some embodiments allow for a user application to select among parallel or serial configurations of current detection circuitry. Each such configuration may include multiple resistive devices of different resistive values.
US08699192B2
The invention relates to a method for providing short-circuit protection for a resistive AC load, wherein the load is connected with an AC power supply through an active controlled switch controlled by a controller. The method for providing short-circuit protection for the resistive AC load comprises the following steps of: turning on the active controlled switch within a first conduction angle range; obtaining the mean current value of the load through a current detection circuit; and determining whether the mean current value of the load is greater than a default value or not, wherein, if so, the active controlled switch is controlled to be turned off, and if not, the active controlled switch is controlled to be turned on. The invention also relates to a device and a switch for providing short-circuit protection for the resistive AC load. The method, the device and the switch for providing short-circuit protection for the resistive AC load, which are provided by the invention, have the advantages that: when the switch is required to be turned on, the switch is turned on first within the first conduction angle range which cannot cause damage to the switch and the circuit and then whether the switch is continued to be turned on or not is determined by determining whether the resistive AC load is subjected to a short circuit or not through the obtained current value; therefore, the switch and the circuit which are connected with the load can be protected while the resistive AC load in a short-circuit condition can be detected.
US08699187B2
A manufacturing method for a head-stack assembly. The method includes preparing a head-stack assembly. The method further includes placing a connection pad forming surface of a connector tab formed on an end of the trace so as to be positioned opposite to an edge of a circuit board; sliding an elastic component along a backside of the connection pad forming surface; and, stopping the elastic component on the backside and pressing the backside with the elastic component so as to press the connection pad forming surface against the edge. In addition, the method includes metal-joining the connector tab and a connection pad of the circuit board by applying heat to a connection pad of the connector tab and the connection pad on the circuit board while pressing the connection pad forming surface against the edge with the elastic component; and, removing the elastic component after the metal-joining.
US08699184B2
A method, including depositing a layer of material onto a base portion of a wafer, is disclosed. The layer of material has a first surface adjacent the base portion. The method also includes depositing a pattern of masking material onto a portion of a second surface of the layer. Material from the layer of material that is unprotected by the pattern of masking material is removed from the layer of material. By removing such material a portion of the layer of material is suspended from the base portion.
US08699174B2
A tape drive (232) that receives a tape cartridge (42) having a tape (256) comprises a tape head (280) and a control system (270). The tape head (280) transfers data between the tape drive (232) and the tape (256). The control system (270) utilizes linear parameterization to control the position of the tape head (280) relative to the tape (256). The control system (270) can include a compensator (J) and a filter (Q). The compensator (J) is a combination of the information contained in a nominal control system (370A) and the information contained in a model of the servo system (370B). The model of the servo system (370B) estimates system disturbances that affect the tracking ability of the control system (270). The filter (Q) filters the estimated system disturbances to generate a filtered system disturbance signal. The filtered system disturbance signal is then used to adjust the output of the compensator (J). Additionally, the control system (270) can utilize Youla-Kucera parameterization to control the position of the tape head (280) relative to the tape (256). Further, the control system (270) controls the position of the tape head (280) relative to the tape (256) without the use of a feed-forward sensor.
US08699172B1
A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk comprising a plurality of tracks. Data is read from a target track, and an off-track read capability (OTRC) is generated for a plurality of segments of the target track. For example, an OTRC may be generated for a plurality of data sectors, wherein the combined OTRCs may be evaluated to compute an average track center, or an average track width, or a repeatable runout (RRO).
US08699155B2
Disclosed herein is a lens mechanism including: a base; a guide member fixed to the base; a lens holding member adapted to hold the lens and which is held by the guide member in such a manner as to move straight along the optical axis; a rotary member adapted to rotate while at the same time engaging with part of the lens holding member so as to cause the lens holding member to move straight along the optical axis; and polymer actuator elements each of which has one end fixed to the base or guide member and the other end engaging with part of the rotary member so as to rotate the rotary member in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis.
US08699146B2
A zoom lens system includes a positive first lens group, a negative second lens group, a positive third lens group and a positive fourth lens group, in that order from the object side. Upon zooming from the short to long focal length extremities, the distance between the first and second lens groups increases, the distance between the second and third lens groups decreases, and the distance between the third and fourth lens groups changes. The second lens group includes a negative lens element having a concave surface on the image side, a negative lens element having a concave surface on the image side, and a plastic positive lens element having an aspherical surface on at least one side and having a convex surface on the object side, in that order from the object side.
US08699142B2
The variable focus lens of the present invention changes the refractive power by changing each of the shapes of a first interface formed by a first liquid and a second liquid that have refractive indices that differ from each other and a second interface formed by the second liquid and a third liquid that have refractive indices that differ from each other. Thereby, this variable focus lens changes the first interface and the second interface such that the sign of the refractive power of the first interface and the sign of the refractive power of the second interface differ from each other.
US08699126B2
A multi-wavelength light amplifier includes a first-stage light amplifier which has a first light amplifying optical fiber amplifying a light input, a second stage light amplifier which has a second light amplifying optical fiber amplifying a first light output from the first-stage light amplifier, and an optical system which maintains a second light output of the second-stage light amplifier at a constant power level. The first-stage and second-stage light amplifiers have different gain vs wavelength characteristics so that the multi-wavelength light amplifier has no wavelength-dependence of a gain thereof.
US08699125B2
A reconfigurable optical amplifier is formed of a plurality of optical switches and a plurality of fiber amplifier sections to provide a switchable amplifying network. A variable pump splitter provides pump light from an optical pump source to two or more fiber amplifier sections. The optical switches and variable pump splitters are formed in a planar lightwave circuit, which may further include pump WDM combiners, variable optical attenuators, tap couplers and other optical components, and to which monitoring photodiodes and the fiber amplifier sections are coupled. A same PLC can be used for a wide variety of reconfigurable optical amplifiers.
US08699121B2
An illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus comprises an optical raster plate having a light entrance surface. An irradiance distribution on the light entrance surface determines an angular light distribution of projection light when it impinges on a mask to be illuminated. The illumination system further comprises a control unit and a spatial light modulator which produces on the light entrance surface of the optical raster plate a plurality of light spots whose positions can be varied. At least some of the light spots have, along a reference direction (X), a spatial irradiance distribution comprising a portion in which the irradiance varies periodically with a spatial period P.
US08699115B2
A production method for a micromechanical component and a micromechanical component apparatus are provided encompassing the steps of: forming a housing having an incident light window, forming a multitude of optically active surfaces on a wafer, subdividing the wafer into a multitude of chips having at least one optically active surface in each case, which surface is designed in such a way that, at least in a deactivated operating mode of the chip, the optically active surface is situated in an initial position with respect to the chip, and affixing at least one of the chips inside the housing, the optically active surface of the chip in its initial position being aligned at an angle of inclination that is not equal to 0° and not equal to 180° with respect to the incident light window.
US08699114B2
A multifunctional building component is capable of serving as one or more of a window, a wall, a shading device, a roofing element, a color panel, a display, and an energy harvesting, storage, and distribution element.
US08699113B2
A passive suspension for a bimorph or other self-deforming mirror includes elements, e.g., of herringbone shape, extending between an edge of the mirror substrate and a support structure. The elements have portions directed transversely (e.g. obliquely) relative to a direction of relative movement between the mirror edge and the support structure, so as to accommodate the movement by bending.
US08699112B2
An optical scanner includes: a light reflecting section having light reflectivity; a movable plate which includes the light reflecting section and can be displaced; four link sections connected to the movable plate; and a supporting section supporting the four link sections. The four link sections are provided on an outer circumference of the movable plate at 90-degree intervals along a circumferential direction of the movable plate in a plan view. Each link section includes a turnable drive section, and a shaft section which connects the movable plate and the drive section. The shaft section is bent and deformed in a thickness direction of the movable plate by turning the drive section.
US08699111B2
Described are a method and apparatus for high-speed phase shifting of an optical beam. A transparent plate having regions of different optical thickness is illuminated by an optical beam along a path of incidence that extends through the regions. The transparent plate can be moved or the optical beam can be steered to generate the path of incidence. The optical beam exiting the transparent plate has an instantaneous phase value according to the region in which the optical beam is incident. Advantageously, the phase values are repeatable and stable regardless of the location of incidence of the optical beam within the respective regions, and phase changes at high modulation rates are possible. The method and apparatus can be used to modulate a phase difference of a pair of coherent optical beams such as in an interferometric fringe projection system.
US08699108B2
An image processing device includes an acceptance unit which accepts an input of print data; a decision unit which decides whether or not a draw instruction for a two-color image consisting of a background color and a foreground color is contained in the print data accepted by the acceptance unit; and a conversion unit which converts to draw a graphic representing a part of the foreground color in the two-color image for an image drawn area, instead of a draw process in pixel units concerning the two-color image, when the decision unit decides that the draw instruction for the two-color image is contained in the print data.
US08699106B2
Conventionally, it is not possible to evenly correct a color conversion table of a reading device in the entire color region even with a limited number of patches. In order to correct a color conversion table, a color conversion table from a device-independent color space into a device-independent color space is newly stored. A shift in read data between devices is reflected in a correction 3D-LUT and a color conversion table is corrected using the correction 3D-LUT. Thereby, it is possible to correct the entire color region with a smaller number of pieces of data and with less time and effort than when a color conversion table is newly recreated.
US08699094B2
An image reader capable of entering a power save mode for saving power consumption during standby includes: a gain amplifier; a reference white plate that is to be scanned when gain control of the gain amplifier is performed to obtain a controlled gain value; a carriage that moves to an stops at an area corresponding to the reference white plate when the image reader enters the power save mode; a gain storage section that stores the controlled gain value as a recovery parameter when the image reader enters the power save mode; and a gain setting section that sets the recovery parameter as the controlled gain value when the image reader exits the power save mode.
US08699078B2
An image processing apparatus includes an information obtainment unit that obtains image information including data regarding a binary image, a plate-information generating unit that generates plate information, an instruction obtainment unit that obtains a first or second generating instruction, a job-file generating unit, and an output unit that outputs a job file to an image forming apparatus. The job-file generating unit generates, for the first generating instruction, a job file for causing the image forming apparatus to form images using data representing blank for a plate for which the plate information indicates that no image information exists, and data included in image information corresponding to a plate for which the plate information indicates that image information exists, and generates, for the second generating instruction, a job file for causing the image forming apparatus to form an image for each plate using data included in image information.
US08699074B2
An information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing device includes an input unit for inputting a search condition for searching for a desired printing device, a display unit for displaying at least one printing device that satisfies the search condition, a selection unit for selecting a printing device from the at least one printing device displayed by the display unit, and a setting unit for setting the search condition input by the input unit as a printing setting for the printing device selected by the selection unit in accordance with selection of the printing device by the selection unit.
US08699056B2
a printing system comprising a terminal apparatus and a printing apparatus interconnected via a network, and said printing apparatus comprising: an identifier that identifies a user making access; an information acquirer that acquires information of a terminal apparatus used by the user who is identified by said identifier; and a transmitter that transmits printing apparatus information that is information of the printing apparatus itself, to the user's using terminal apparatus that is indicated in the information acquired by said information acquirer, and said terminal apparatus comprising: a receiver that receives the printing apparatus information transmitted from said printing apparatus; and a setter that sets said printing apparatus as the default printing apparatus according to the printing apparatus information received by said receiver.
US08699048B2
A multifunctional printer comprises a CCD for reading an image on one side of a document, a CIS for reading an image on the other side of the document, an image processing unit for processing the image of the side read by the CCD or the CIS, and a determining unit (S12) for determining which of the images of the sides read by the CCD and the CIS is to be processed first by the image processing unit.
US08699044B2
An information processing apparatus that lightens the workload for a serviceman or an administrator who imports setting information into the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes an operation section via which the user can input data. The apparatus stores setting information containing a plurality of settings required for operation control and discriminating information on each setting for discriminating whether the setting is of a common setting item or of an apparatus-specific setting item, changes the discriminating information on each setting of the setting information, according to a specific instruction given by the user via the user interface, and externally outputs the stored setting information.
US08699038B2
Apparatus for monitoring a thickness of a silicon wafer with a highly-doped layer at least at a backside of the silicon wafer is provided. The apparatus has a source configured to emit coherent light of multiple, wavelengths. Moreover, the apparatus comprises a measuring head configured to be contactlessly positioned adjacent the silicon wafer and configured to illuminate at least a portion of the silicon wafer with the coherent light and to receive at least a portion of radiation reflected by the silicon wafer. Additionally, the apparatus comprises a spectrometer, a beam splitter and an evaluation device. The evaluation device is configured to determine a thickness of the silicon wafer by analyzing the radiation reflected by the silicon wafer by an optical coherence tomography process. The coherent light is emitted multiple wavelengths in a bandwidth b around a central wavelength wc.
US08699037B2
An apparatus is provided for inspecting holes in components. The apparatus includes a telecentric lens system positionable at a near end of a hole with an optical axis of the lens system aligned with the axis of the hole to image the interior of the hole. The apparatus further includes an illumination system for illuminating the interior of the hole. The apparatus further includes a camera arranged to receive an image of the illuminated interior of the hole from the telecentric lens system. The illumination system includes a light source for producing a beam of parallel light, and optics for directing the produced beam through the telecentric lens system along the optical axis thereof, and through the hole. The beam reaches the far end of the hole, and is reflected from a surface located at or adjacent the far end of the hole to illuminate the interior of the hole.
US08699034B2
Systems and methods for improved resonator fiber optic gyroscope intensity modulation control are provided. In one embodiment, a resonant fiber optic gyroscope (RFOG) having a residual intensity modulation (RIM) controller is provided. The controller includes an intensity modulator optically coupled to receive a light beam from a laser source modulated at a resonance detection modulation frequency, and an optical tap device optically coupled to the intensity modulator. The controller also includes a feedback servo coupled to the optical tap device and the intensity modulator, the demodulating feedback servo generating a sinusoidal feedback signal to the intensity modulator. The feedback servo adjusts an amplitude and phase of the sinusoidal feedback signal provided to intensity modulator based on a residual intensity modulation detected by the demodulating feedback servo.
US08699031B2
An optical measurement device is adapted to measure characteristics of a measurement targeted fluid based on a transmitted inspection light. The device comprises a cell having an internal space for accommodating the measurement targeted fluid to flow therein and having a pair of opposing through holes for transmitting the inspection light, each of the through holes sealed with a transparent member. The device includes a projection optical system member having a port for projecting the inspection light and a light-receiving optical system member having a port for receiving the inspection light transmitted through the internal space. A base member is provided for supporting the cell, the projection optical system member, and the light-receiving optical system member in a configuration with gaps between the cell and the respective optical system members to accommodate movement in a predetermined range along a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the inspection light.
US08699028B2
A cell/particle analyzing device includes a light-emitting unit, a light-diverting unit, a first receiving unit and a second receiving unit. The light-emitting unit generates a first light beam. The light-diverting unit is connected to the light-emitting unit and has an input end, a bidirectional transceiving end and an output end. The input end receives the first light beam generated by the light-emitting unit. The bidirectional transceiving end transmits the first light beam generated by the light-emitting unit and receives a second light beam. The output end outputs the second light beam. The first receiving unit is connected to the output end of the light-diverting unit and receives the second light beam. The second receiving unit is aligned with the bidirectional transceiving end.
US08699012B2
A measurement system comprising an analog position sensitive device is provided that can measure the XY position of a plurality of light beams at very high resolution. In accordance with one exemplary associated method, a connector bearing one or more optical fibers is fixedly positioned before a position sensing detector so that light emanating from the ends of the optical fibers will strike the position sensing detector. A light beam is passed through at least one opening in the connector, such as a guide pin hole onto the detecting surface of the PSD to establish the position of the connector. Next, each optical fiber in the connector is individually illuminated sequentially so that the light emanating from the fiber falls on the position sensing detector. The locations of all of these light beams striking the PSD are compared to position of the light beam passed through the guide pins and/or to each other to determine if all the fibers are in the correct positions relative to the connector. In addition, it is possible to simultaneously measure the magnitude of the light emanating from each fiber in order to measure the quality of the light transmission through the connector/cable assembly.
US08699010B2
An examination kit allows for discovery of the axis of direction and stress areas of polarized lenses. The kit comprises a lower light box with a transparent work surface, two polarized film sheets, a dial gauge with notches defining allowable variation of axis direction and an upper polarized lens for viewing the tested polarized lens in various states and positions.
US08699008B2
The distance measuring device includes a light source (1), a light-receiving sensor (2), a timing controller (5), a distance calculator (6), and a delay controller (8). The timing controller (5) outputs a modulation signal and plural reference timing signals. The modulation signal is a square wave signal having high and low level periods appearing alternately. Each of the high and low level periods has its length randomly selected from integral multiples of a predetermined unit time period. The reference timing signals include a signal having the same waveform as that of the modulation signal and a signal having the same waveform as that of the inverted modulation signal. The light source (1) varies an intensity of the light in concordance with the modulation signal. The delay controller (8) delays the plural reference timing signals by the delay period (Td) to create plural timing signals respectively. The light-receiving sensor (2) accumulates the electric charges generated within the reception time period, with regard to each of the timing signals. The distance calculator (6) calculates the time difference (τ) from amounts of the electric charges respectively associated with the timing signals, and calculates a distance (L) to the target (3) on the basis of the time difference (τ) and the delay period (Td).
US08699002B2
A laser irradiation device and a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting diode display device using the same. The laser radiation device prevents the scattering of the laser light into portions of the donor substrate that correspond to non-transmissive regions of a mask pattern. To reduce the scattering, the mask pattern is designed so that 1) non-transmissive regions of a surface of the mask pattern that faces the laser source have a reflective layer, 2) the surface of the mask pattern that faces the laser source is oriented to have a certain angle with respect to the laser beam axis, and 3) a surface of the mask pattern that faces the donor substrate has an anti-reflective layer. Each of these design aspects of the mask pattern prevents laser light from being scattered and prevents irradiating portions of the donor substrate that corresponds to a non-transmissive region of the mask pattern.
US08698994B2
A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a first insulation layer, an anti-corrosion layer, a liquid crystal layer, and a seal pattern. The second substrate faces the first substrate, and includes a display area which displays an image, and a non-display area surrounding the display area. The first insulation layer is provided on the second substrate, and exposes a layer thereunder at an edge of the non-display area. The anti-corrosion layer is provided at an edge of the first insulation layer. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first and second substrates. The seal pattern is provided on the first insulation layer, and couples the first and second substrates.
US08698990B2
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is provided, which includes: first and second gate lines, a data line intersecting the gate lines, first to fourth drain electrodes located near the intersections between the first and second gate lines and the data line, and a coupling electrode. First to fourth pixel electrodes respectively connected to the first to fourth drain electrodes are also provided, and the first pixel electrode is connected to the coupling electrode while the fourth pixel electrode overlaps the coupling electrode. The LCD further includes a common electrode opposite the pixel electrodes, a liquid crystal layer interposed between the pixel electrodes and the common electrode, and a domain partitioning member formed on at least one of the pixel electrode and the common electrode. Two long edges of the domains are angled with respect to the first and the second gate lines or the data line substantially by about 45°.
US08698984B2
A color filter is provided which is formed by using a small mask continuous exposure method in which a portion between adjacent exposed areas is shielded from light by a blind shutter, and which has dummy photo spacers formed on a colored layer outside a display pixel area at a uniform height. Firstly, by using the small mask continuous exposure method, a colored layer is formed which extends in the X-axis direction astride the display pixel area and a frame area. At this time, the edges of the blind shutter which are parallel to the Y axis are each positioned so as to be distant by 500 μm to 1000 μm from a side which forms the outer circumference of the outermost opening and which is closest to the frame area extending in the Y-axis direction. Next, photo spacers are formed on the colored layer such that the central axis of each photo spacer is positioned in a range of positions that are distant by 300 μm or less from a side which is closest to the frame area extending in the Y-axis direction.
US08698974B2
A receiving module of a liquid crystal display panel includes a mold frame and a bottom chassis. The mold frame forms an internal space that receives a backlight unit. The bottom chassis includes a bottom portion facing a rear side of the mold frame and includes side walls connected with the bottom portion and facing an outer side of the mold frame. At least one of the side walls includes a fastening protrusion in at least one side thereof, and the mold frame includes a groove portion that receives, at an outer side thereof, the at least one side wall including the fastening protrusion such that the mold frame is coupled to an inner side of the side wall and the fastening protrusion.
US08698972B2
A liquid crystal display device is provided. The liquid crystal display device includes a side frame provided with a reflective surface to refract light irradiated from light-emitting diodes arranged to direct light upward at a predetermined position. The side frame constitutes the side periphery of the liquid crystal display device and is connected with a bottom chassis through a holder. The configuration of the side frame and reflective surface is able to reduce a width of a bezel portion of a top chassis and prevent light from bypassing a light guide portion so as to prevent bright lines from forming on a display.
US08698970B2
An object is to provide a display device with excellent display characteristics, where a pixel circuit and a driver circuit provided over one substrate are formed using transistors which have different structures corresponding to characteristics of the respective circuits. The driver circuit portion includes a driver circuit transistor in which a gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer, and a drain electrode layer are formed using a metal film, and a channel layer is formed using an oxide semiconductor. The pixel portion includes a pixel transistor in which a gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer, and a drain electrode layer are formed using an oxide conductor, and a semiconductor layer is formed using an oxide semiconductor. The pixel transistor is formed using a light-transmitting material, and thus, a display device with higher aperture ratio can be manufactured.
US08698969B2
Disclosed is a liquid crystal panel comprising a scan signal line (16x), a data signal line (15x), and a transistor (12a) that is connected to the scan signal line (16x) and the data signal line (15x), wherein a pixel (101) is provided with pixel electrodes (17a, 17b). The pixel electrode (17a) is connected to the data signal line (15x) through the transistor (12a). The liquid crystal panel also includes a capacitance electrode (37a) which is electrically connected to the pixel electrode (17a). The capacitance electrode (37a) and the pixel electrode (17a) overlap with each other through an insulating film interposed therebetween; the capacitance electrode (37a) and the pixel electrode (17b) overlap with each other through an insulating film interposed therebetween; and the areas of the overlapping portions are equal to each other. Consequently, the yield can be improved in a capacitive coupling type pixel division system active matrix substrate or in a liquid crystal panel comprising the active matrix substrate.
US08698964B2
According to one embodiment, a television apparatus includes a panel unit, a support base, and a plurality of slide support mechanisms. The panel unit includes a front panel arranged in front of a display panel. The support base supports the display panel. The slide support mechanisms are attached to the support base to slidably support the panel unit. The slide support mechanisms includes an elastic bush and a combined member. A through portion is formed in the elastic bush. The elastic bush has a circumference portion attached to one of the support base and the panel unit. The combined member is combined with the other of the panel unit and the support base via a combining portion passing through the through portion, and holds the elastic bush with the other of the panel unit and the support base.
US08698954B2
A method includes the step of: calculating a synthesis ratio based on a motion estimation reliability being decided by integrating a first motion estimation reliability, a second motion estimation reliability, and a third motion estimation reliability, the first motion estimation reliability being decided by a difference absolute value between pixels within an interlaced image at a preceding time and pixels within an interlaced image at a subsequent time, used to calculate a pixel value interpolated when the second progressive image is generated, the second motion estimation reliability being decided by the widths of areas of interlaced images at preceding and subsequent times used to calculate the pixel values to be interpolated, the third motion estimation reliability being decided by a combination of a line luminance change of an interlaced image at a preceding time and a line luminance change of an interlaced signal at a subsequent time within the area.
US08698952B2
A camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first Printed Circuit Board (PCB) configured to have an image sensor mounted thereon; a housing unit disposed over the first PCB; a holder module spaced apart from a bottom surface within the housing unit at a specific interval and configured to have first coils wound on its outer circumferential face and to include at least lens therein; a second PCB combined with the bottom surface of the holder module; a third PCB disposed over the holder module; a plurality of wire springs each configured to have one end connected to the second PCB and the other end connected to the third PCB; and buffer units provided at the connection units of the wire springs and the third PCB and configured to surround the connection units of the wire springs and the third PCB.
US08698950B2
A camera control device and a method for operating a mobile terminal having a single camera module in selected modes to reduce the power consumption of the mobile terminal is disclosed. The camera control device for a mobile terminal includes a camera module, a memory, and a control unit. The camera module has a sensor for photographing an image. The memory stores tables which are provided for respective modes of the camera module and which include camera register values set for each mode and stores initial values of the sensor for the respective modes to initialize the sensor of the camera module. The control unit determines a mode of operating the camera module, extracts camera register values for the mode from a corresponding table stored in the memory, and operates the camera module according to the extracted camera register values to implement the corresponding mode.
US08698946B2
A method for capturing multiple sets of image data with an electronic camera having a shutter and an electronic shutter for selectively allowing light to reach an image sensor comprises opening the shutter and the electronic shutter, allowing light to reach the image sensor for a first exposure time, closing the electronic shutter, reading out pixel data captured during the first exposure time, allowing light to reach the image sensor for a second exposure time, and, reading out pixel data captured during the second exposure time. The method may be used to obtain multiple differently exposed images of a scene for combination into a high dynamic range image.
US08698941B2
A switchable imaging apparatus having an image display mode and an image capture mode, comprising: a display screen to provide a displayed image when the display screen is in a first display state, wherein the display screen is at least partially transparent when the display screen is switched to a second transparent state; a set of optical beam deflectors, each optical beam deflector being individually switchable between a first non-deflecting state and a second deflecting state wherein imaging light from a corresponding section of the scene is deflected into a camera positioned in a location peripheral to the display screen; and a controller which synchronously switches the display screen between the first display state and the second transparent state, and the individual optical beam deflectors between their first non-deflecting state and their second deflecting state, thereby providing the image display mode and the image capture mode.
US08698940B2
A switchable imaging apparatus having a transparent viewing mode and an image capture mode, comprising: a transparent plate having a front surface, wherein a scene is viewable through the transparent plate when the imaging apparatus is in the transparent viewing mode; an optical beam deflector positioned within the transparent plate, wherein the optical beam deflector is switchable between a first non-deflecting state and a second deflecting state, such that when the optical beam deflector is in the second deflecting state imaging light from the scene is deflected into a camera positioned in a location peripheral to the transparent plate; and a controller which synchronously switches the optical beam deflector between the first non-deflecting state and the second deflecting state, thereby providing the transparent viewing mode and the image capture mode.
US08698932B2
A solid-state image pickup apparatus supplies power during a driving for a signal read via a pixel transistor that is adjacent in a Y direction (vertically). In the solid-state image pickup apparatus, for resetting, a drive pulse RsrD is supplied on a drain line connected in the horizontal direction.
US08698927B2
An image-pickup element includes an image-pickup pixel configured to photoelectrically convert light from an image-pickup lens to generate an image of an object, and a first focus detection pixel and a second focus detection pixel configured to receive light having passed through part of an area of an exit pupil of the image-pickup lens, and an electrode part of the first focus detection pixel and an electrode part of the second focus detection pixel are arranged at ends of a photoelectrical conversion part that are opposite to each other in a pupil diving direction of the first focus detection pixel and the second focus detection pixel.
US08698909B2
The invention provides data for display on the display area for a child frame when the child frame is synthesized and displayed on the parent frame in picture-in-picture playback in order to give the displayed area of the child frame in conformity with the video content in the parent frame, as well as providing a video display apparatus etc. for displaying the child frame at an appropriate displayed position using the data for display. A video display apparatus 1 includes: decoders 101 and 103 for decoding two sets of video data; a synthesizer 105 for synthesizing the decoded videos to output; an input unit 108 for commanding display/non-display of the child frame; a processing controller 109 for controlling the operations of decoders 101 and 103 in accordance with the command; and a position designator 110 which receives the command and the data for display and time information and designates the displayed position of the child frame to the synthesizer 105. The position designator 110 determines the displayed position of the child-frame video in accordance with displayable time information of the child-frame video and information on the displayed area or displayable area depending on time, included in the data for display.
US08698897B2
The creation of a digest video is facilitated, and the editing efficiency is improved. An information processing device is provided with a moving image acquiring unit for acquiring a moving image during imaging, and an event acquiring unit for acquiring event data that is information indicating a scene of each frame of the moving image acquired by the moving image acquiring unit. If the event data acquired by the event acquiring unit satisfies a predetermined condition, a cut signal is generated, the moving image is cut in a predetermined range on the basis of the cut signal, and the cut moving image is stored in a nonvolatile storage medium.
US08698891B2
Determining spatial information about a part includes positioning the part in a fixture having two reference surfaces, where the part is positioned between the two reference surfaces, imaging the two reference surfaces and opposing surfaces of the part to different locations of a multi-element detector, simultaneously acquiring images of the opposing sides of the part and the two reference surfaces using the multi-element detector, and determining spatial information about the part based on the simultaneously acquired images.
US08698885B2
In one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is disclosed including an image sensor, a color filter array, and an image processor. The image sensor has an active area with a matrix of camera pixels. The color filter array is in optical alignment over the matrix of the camera pixels. The color filter array assigns alternating single colors to each camera pixel. The image processor receives the camera pixels and includes a correlation detector to detect spatial correlation of color information between pairs of colors in the pixel data captured by the camera pixels. The correlation detector further controls demosaicing of the camera pixels into full color pixels with improved resolution. The apparatus may further include demosaicing logic to demosaic the camera pixels into the full color pixels with improved resolution in response to the spatial correlation of the color information between pairs of colors.
US08698882B2
A sample and hold circuit includes a plurality of capacitors, a network of switches and a control circuit. The control circuit is operable to control the network of switches so as to sample an incoming signal onto at least some of the plurality of capacitors. In such an operation, each capacitor takes a sample of the incoming signal at a different time. The sample and hold circuit outputs a signal corresponding to an average of the samples.
US08698875B2
A system and method are presented for estimating the orientation of a panoramic camera mounted on a vehicle relative to the vehicle coordinate frame. An initial pose estimate of the vehicle is determined based on global positioning system data, inertial measurement unit data, and wheel odometry data of the vehicle. Image data from images captured by the camera is processed to obtain one or more tracks, each track including a sequence of matched feature points stemming from a same three-dimensional location. A correction parameter determined from the initial pose estimate and tracks can then be used to correct the orientations of the images captured by the camera. The correction parameter can be optimized by deriving a correction parameter for each of a multitude of distinct subsequences of one or more runs. Statistical analysis can be performed on the determined correction parameters to produce robust estimates.
US08698867B2
A housing immobilizing mechanism has a drive source that drives at a predetermined speed; a housing for holding the drive source; a number of fasteners greater than a number of predetermined fastening sites on the housing; and an immobilizing member attached to a plurality of the fasteners, the immobilizing member adapted to immobilize the housing. The immobilizing member is attached to a combination of fasteners to which the immobilizing member is attached that is not a combination in which an amplitude of vibration relative to a drive speed of the drive source is greatest, there being at least one fastener to which an immobilizing member is not attached.
US08698865B2
A first lens array unit includes a first lens array plate and a second lens array plate in which a plurality of lenses are provided in the main scanning direction, and a first light shielding member piece and a second light shielding member piece provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the lenses. The first lens array plate, the second lens array plate, the first light shielding member piece, and the second light shielding member piece are formed as one piece. The lens array is built by bending joints joining the lens array plates and the light shielding member pieces such that the lens is located to directly face the corresponding through hole.
US08698861B2
According to one embodiment, a transporting path transports a paper with a heat erasable image. A first color erasing unit has a first heat roller and a first press roller. A second color erasing unit, downstream of the first color erasing unit, has a second heat roller and a second press roller. A gear drive train, engages the first heat roller and the second heat roller. An opening and closing mechanism moves between an open and a closed position. While maintaining the state of the gear drive train, the open position has the first press roller separated from the first heat roller and the second press roller separated from the second heat roller. In the closed position, the first press roller is in close proximity to the first heat roller and the second press roller is in close proximity to the second heat roller.
US08698860B2
An image forming device includes a photoconductive body, an exposure unit configured with a plurality of light emitting elements aligned in a predetermined direction, the exposure unit being adopted to expose the photoconductive body to light emitted by the light emitting elements, a frame configured to support both sides of the exposure unit in the predetermined direction, the frame having a reference portion configured to position the exposure unit in the predetermined direction in contact with an end of the exposure unit in the predetermined direction, and a pressing member provided to one of the frame and the exposure unit, the pressing member being configured to press the end of the exposure unit against the reference portion.
US08698857B2
The present invention aims to provide a driving control circuit of a display device that is capable of preventing an unnatural black screen. To this end, the driving control circuit is configured to include a plurality of TMICs, each of which is merged with a timing controller and a source driver, and the time controller is configured to adjust end locations of the horizontal blank intervals of data enable signals to match the end locations outputted from TMICs to an end location of a horizontal blank interval of a data enable signal outputted from another TMIC, and, when a gate output enable signal is supplied, perform adjustment so as to indicate a rising edge of the gate output enable signal before the data latch enable signal having the highest frequency is supplied.
US08698837B2
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for rendering clipped paths by first generating clip stencil buffer state indicating pixels that are inside of the clip path. The clip stencil buffer state may also store an opacity value for each covered pixel to generate a mask that modulates the opacity of a draw path that is clipped. Clipped draw stencil buffer state is then generated indicating pixels of the draw path that should be covered based on the clip stencil buffer state and coverage of the draw path. The clipped draw path is then filled or stroked to produce the clipped draw path. The clip and draw paths may be filled or stroked without tessellating the paths. Path rendering may be accelerated when a GPU or other processor that is configured to perform operations to generate the clip stencil buffer state and the clipped draw stencil buffer state, and to fill or stroke the clipped draw path.
US08698833B2
A color designation control device includes: an image acquisition section that acquires a color image; and a display control section that displays a user interface screen, which includes at least a preview image of the acquired color image and a hue scale representing a change in hue, on a predetermined display while accepting designation of a position or a region within the preview image, acquiring a hue at the designated position or in the designated region from the preview image, and adding a specific indication for a range within the hue scale corresponding to the acquired hue.
US08698830B2
Provided is an image processing apparatus which includes an image selection unit selecting one image data from a plurality of input image data, an image generation unit generating a computer graphics image based on computer graphics description data, an image mapping unit determining an object or a portion of the object of computer graphics drawn by the image generation unit as the target of texture mapping and texture-mapping an image according to the image data selected by the image selection unit onto a surface of the target of texture mapping, and an image selection control unit controlling the image data selection by the image selection unit according to an attribute given to the target of texture mapping.
US08698828B2
In a graphics processing system, when a fragment reaches a texturing stage, it is determined whether the texture to be applied is a static or dynamic texture. If it is determined that the required texels relate to a dynamic texture, then the system first tries to fetch those texels from a dynamic texture memory. If it is found that the texels are not available in the dynamic texture memory, then the relevant texels are generated in an “on-demand” fashion and stored in the dynamic texture memory so that they can be applied to the fragment.
US08698820B2
In a graphics processing system, a command list reader first reads-in and identifies a portion of a command list. The primitives corresponding to the commands in the portion of the command list are then subjected to a Z-only processing pass. This allows a Z-buffer 16 and a hierarchical Z-pyramid 8 to be filled with the appropriate Z-values for the primitives in the portion of the primitive list. The primitives are then subjected to a second, normal rendering, processing pass, but the filled Z-buffer 16 and Z-pyramid from the first processing pass are used together with the Z-tests 7, 10 performed in the second processing pass to determine which primitive should be processed for each sampling point in the second processing pass.
US08698814B1
A mapping engine maps general processing clusters (GPCs) within a parallel processing subsystem to screen tiles on a display screen based on the number of enabled streaming multiprocessors (SMs) within each GPC. A given GPC then generates pixels for the screen tiles to which the GPC is mapped. One advantage of the disclosed technique is a given GPC performs a fraction of the processing tasks associated with the parallel processing subsystem that is roughly proportional to the fraction of SMs included within the GPC.
US08698813B2
For each of a plurality of rendering objects to be used to generate a screen to be provided for a client device, identification information and detailed information indicating data necessary for rendering are acquired. By referring to detailed information of each of the plurality of rendering objects, the rendering order of all the rendering objects is determined so as to allocate consecutive ordinal numbers to rendering objects having at least partial data indicated by detailed information in common. A rendering control apparatus transfers data, indicated by detailed information of a rendering object in accordance with the rendering order, to a GPU. In this process, among data indicated by detailed information of rendering objects which are continuous in the rendering order, only data which is not the same as data already transferred to the GPU is read out and transferred.
US08698812B2
A video graphics chip includes a graphics module configured to process incoming video information in accordance with different modes to produce a video output signal and to transmit the video output signal toward a display screen for rendering of video corresponding to the video information, and a display mode module coupled to the graphics module configured to analyze the incoming video information to determine a type of video associated with the incoming video information and to send a video mode indication of a preferred video processing mode for the incoming video information to the graphics module, where the graphics module is configured to process the incoming video information in accordance with a selected mode from the plurality of different modes based on the video mode indication received from the display module.
US08698803B2
Methods and computer-storage media are provided for rendering three-dimensional (3D) graphics by tessellating objects using novel structures and algorithms. Rendering utilizing “patches,” configurable functions that include a specified number of control points, allows for computation on a per-patch or per-control-point basis, in addition to traditional per-vertex, per-primitive, and per-pixel methods. This produces a number of advantages over previous tessellation methods, including the reuse of computations across existing vertices and the ability to process at a lower frequency. The operations to compute points are simplified in order to optimize system resources used in the process. Transitions from un-tessellated to tessellated objects are smoother utilizing the present invention, while developers have more flexibility in the level of detail present at different edges of the same patch. Detail within a displacement map also can be increased without negative effects associated with previous systems and methods.
US08698798B2
A system and method for visualizing images in a three-dimensional context. The method involves receiving user input specifying a polyline in a given cartographic reference system. The polyline is displayed in a 2D window. A set of geometry data is generated based on the polyline and a user-specified vertical range. The geometry data set represents a folded object in three-dimensional space, where the folded object has one fold for each knee point in the polyline. A 3D virtual world is rendered to obtain a rendered image. The rendering action includes rendering the geometry data set using a given image as texture. The rendered image is displayed in a 3D window, where the displayed rendered image visually represents the given image as being painted onto the folded object in the three-dimensional space.
US08698793B2
Movement means moves, in accordance with a user performing an operation, a moving object including a vehicle object, and a rider object riding the vehicle object, and the vehicle object and the rider object are positioned in the virtual world. Contact determination region defining means defines at least one contact determination region for the moving object. Contact determination means determines a contact in the virtual world by using the at least one contact determination region. Contact action control means selects a foot, of the rider object, which is to contact a contact object positioned in the virtual world, in accordance with a determination result of the contact determination means, and performs control such that the selected foot contacts the contact object. Display control means displays the moving object by using the display device.
US08698789B2
A display apparatus includes; a display panel which displays an image using a light, wherein the display panel is divided into a plurality of display areas corresponding to the image, a plurality of main-light source groups which each have a plurality of light sources, wherein the main-light source groups are arranged respectively corresponding to the display areas to provide the light thereto, a power source circuit is connected to each main-light source groups to provide a corresponding driving power to each of the main-light source groups, and a plurality of sub-light source groups, each of which is arranged between two adjacent main-light source groups and wherein each sub-light group receives the driving power applied to each of the two main-light source groups adjacent thereto to provide a light corresponding to an average brightness of the two adjacent main-light source groups to a border area between two adjacent display areas.
US08698783B2
Disclosed is a touch panel comprising a display panel (for example, a liquid crystal panel) (1); a plurality of mirrors (2) provided on an edge of a display surface side of the display panel (1); a light source (3); a plurality of light sensors (4) embedded in the display panel (1), positioned immediately under the mirrors (2), and for which light emitted from the light source (3) is guided by the mirrors (2); and a data interpolation processing unit that, if an output signal from a certain light sensor included in the plurality of light sensors (4) is at most at a threshold, calculates interpolation data from output signals that are stronger than the threshold from light sensors about a periphery of the certain light sensor.
US08698777B2
[Subject] To provide a mount structure of a touch input device having a pressure sensitive sensor in which visibility can be prevented from being lowered even when the pressure sensitive sensor is mounted, water-proofness and dust-proofness are excellent, and a pressure can be easily detected with high measurement accuracy.[Solution] According to a mount structure of a touch input device which includes a touch input device having at least a touch panel, and a pressure sensitive sensor attached to a lower surface thereof, and a casing dented to allow the device to be externally fitted in, and having a concave part or an opening part for a display device, and a frame-shaped support part to support a back surface peripheral part of the touch input device, in its bottom surface, the pressure sensitive sensor includes a pressure concentration member laminated and arranged in a dot shape so as to support the pressure sensitive ink member on a back surface, and a frame-shaped gasket is attached between the pressure sensitive sensor and the support part of the casing, in which the gasket does not overlap with the pressure concentration member.
US08698770B2
An active touch system is provided, in which sensing electroding units in an array and two groups of intersecting control electrodes and detecting lines are disposed on a touch substrate, and the detecting lines are connected to sensing electrodings through active devices. The control electrodes are used to control on and off of the active devices, and the detecting lines are used to apply touch excitation signals to the sensing electrodings, and detect a leakage current of a sensing electroding to a finger or other touch object. A position of the finger or other touch object on the touch substrate is found by determining a sensing electroding unit generating the leakage current. The method of obtaining touch signals is improved in the hardware sensing stage, so that the judgment procedure after detection is greatly simplified, and the judgment of multi-point touch becomes easy and natural.
US08698764B1
A back touch sensor positioned on a back surface of a device accepts user input in the form of touches. The touches on the back touch sensor map keys on a virtual keyboard, a pointer input, and so forth. Touches on a touch sensor positioned on a front surface provide additional input while also allowing the user to grasp and hold the device.
US08698763B2
Disclosed herein is a touch panel 100 including: bar type transparent electrodes 120 that are formed on a transparent substrate 110, bar type opening parts 130 that are formed in the bar type transparent electrodes 120 so as to be surrounded by the bar type transparent electrodes 120, and wirings 140 of which one ends are connected to the bar type transparent electrodes 120 and the other ends are collected at one side of the transparent substrate 110. The touch panel 100 includes the bar type transparent electrodes 120 in which the bar type opening parts 130 are formed and subdivides the transparent electrodes, thereby making it possible to improve touch sensitivity without increasing the wirings 140 and improve transparency.
US08698755B2
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.
US08698751B2
Methods and devices for presenting or dismissing a virtual keyboard are provided. More particularly, in connection with a multiple screen device, a virtual keyboard can be presented in a first mode using portions of both of the screens. In a second mode, the virtual keyboard can be presented using all of one of the screens, or can be dismissed. Movement between the different modes can be effected by rotating the device between a dual portrait orientation, corresponding to the first mode, and a dual landscape orientation, corresponding to the second mode. More particularly, depending on whether the device is rotated away from or towards information having focus, the display of the virtual keyboard is continued or discontinued.
US08698749B2
Keys that structure the keyboard have a diamond-shaped form that is symmetrical in both the vertical and the horizontal directions, disposed so that none of the edges of the surface in which the keyboard is formed are parallel with any of the edges of the diamond shapes. To each key is applied a marking in one or two orientations depending on the orientation of use of the mobile communications terminal. In the keyboard, these types of keys are laid out in a staggered pattern, wherein the markings are applied in positions that are on a straight line that passes through each of the keys in two rows of keys that are adjacent in the vertical direction on keys that are used when the mobile communications terminal is used in the horizontal orientation.
US08698748B2
An adaptive mouse is disclosed. In the adaptive mouse, a cover layer made of a moldable material covers a mouse body, and a plurality of sensors is disposed between the mouse body and the cover layer. The sensors are used to sense a hand shape of a user when the user holds the cover layer. The sensors under the left and right finger predicting areas are defined as a left button and a right buttons to allow the user to operate the mouse normally. Then, the displacement signal of the mouse is adjusted. The adaptive mouse may increase comfortableness and relieve fatigue, and it also may be adapted to any holding states without orientation limitation.
US08698722B2
A display apparatus includes a panel part having a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixels, a data driver and a gate driver part. Each pixel of the plurality of pixels includes a first sub-pixel and a second sub-pixel. The first sub-pixel is connected to a first gate line of the plurality of gate lines and the second sub-pixel is connected to a second gate line of the plurality of gate lines. The first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel are each commonly connected to one data line of the plurality of data lines. The gate driver part is disposed on the panel part and applies a plurality of gate signals to the plurality of gate lines. A current gate signal of the plurality of gate signals is temporally overlapped with a previous gate signal for a predetermined time interval.
US08698721B2
A liquid crystal display device includes a conversion portion processing a plurality of data signals to increase at least one of a plurality of gray levels of the plurality of n-bit data signals; a liquid crystal panel including a plurality of pixels supplied with the plurality of data signals processed; a light source supplying light to the liquid crystal panel; and a light source control portion adjusting a light luminance in inverse proportion to increasing the at least one of the plurality of gray levels.
US08698717B2
Disclosed is a liquid crystal display device and a driving method thereof for displaying an image, in which the polarity of a voltage applied to the liquid crystal element is inverted in a first frame period and a second frame period which are sequential. The voltage applied to the liquid crystal element is compensated in the case where images of the first frame period and the second frame period are judged as a still image as a result of comparison of the image of the first frame period with the image of the second frame period and the absolute value of the voltage applied to the liquid crystal element in the first frame period is different from that of the voltage applied to the liquid crystal element in the second frame period.
US08698714B2
To reduce the time for writing a voltage onto a gate of a driving transistor. In an initialization period, a node B is fixed to an initial voltage VINI, transistors are turned on, and a current flows into an OLED element, such that a voltage according to the current is held at the node A. Thereafter, the transistors are sequentially turned off, such that a threshold voltage of a driving transistor is held at the node A. In a writing period, a transistor is turned on and a data signal X-j is supplied, such that a voltage of the node B varies by the amount according to the current flowing into the OLED element. The voltage of the node A varies from the threshold voltage by the amount which is obtained by dividing the voltage variation by a capacitance ratio. In a light-emitting period, the transistor is turned on, such that a current according to the voltage of the node A flows into the OLED element.
US08698709B2
To solve the lack of program time, which is a problem of a display device including an EL element, and to provide a display device including a pixel circuit with a high aperture ratio and a driving method thereof. In a circuit including a driving transistor, a capacitor, a display element which can be used as a capacitor, a first power supply line and a second power supply line, potentials of the first power supply line and the second power supply line are set to be almost the same, thereby a threshold voltage of the driving transistor is held in the display element, and after that, a charge is divided into the display element and the capacitor.
US08698699B2
A connector comprising a contact arranged to mate with a contact of a corresponding connector, the contact providing a contact point of a first signal path for the transmission of electrical signals through the connector; an electrically-conductive element arranged to engage an electrically-conductive element on the corresponding connector, the electrically conductive-element providing a contact point of a second signal path for the transmission of electrical signals through the connector, wherein the electrically-conductive element comprises one or more of a region of a housing for holding the connector, a region of a locking element, two or more regions of a barrel with an internal connection path aperture, and a region of the contact electrically isolated from a main contact region.
US08698692B2
Apparatus are described for mounting an object to a structure having a railing. The apparatus includes a base attachable to the object and configured for placement on the structure proximate the railing. The apparatus further includes an adjustable compression mechanism positioned between the base and the railing configured to secure the base to the structure with a selected force. The mechanism includes a first plate on the base, a second plate movable relative to the first plate for producing a selected height of the mechanism and a threaded member attached to the first plate and the second plate. The threaded member is configured to move the second plate relative to the first plate to achieve the selected height and apply the selected force.
US08698687B2
A microwave system comprising a center fed parabolic reflector; a radio transceiver, said transceiver disposed on a circuit board and coupled to a radiator, said radiator disposed on the circuit board and extending orthogonally from a surface of the circuit board. Embodiments also include directors on the circuit board and a sub-reflector comprising a thin plate disposed on a weather proof cover and said sub-reflector having a substantially concave surface with a focus directed towards the radiator. The circuit board is physically integrated within the feed mechanism of the center fed parabolic reflector and the radio transceiver is configured to provide OSI layer support.
US08698686B2
An antenna device having a magnetic core to be surface-mounted on a circuit substrate includes a pair of coil portions spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval. The coil portions are connected by a connecting conductor. An end of the magnetic core includes a curved or bent portion curved toward the circuit substrate. This structure defines an RFID antenna device having an improved receiving sensitivity that can be surface-mounted without increasing the thickness of a casing of a mobile electronic device.
US08698681B2
The subject disclosure relates to solar energy collection and use in communications systems and to enhancements thereof. In an aspect, dual function antennas are disclosed that can simultaneously function as an antenna and as a solar energy collection system. In further aspects, disclosed embodiments can focus incident solar radiation to increase output voltage of conventional solar cells. Measured and simulated results demonstrate various aspects of the subject disclosure.
US08698679B2
The present invention discloses a mark antenna used for receiving and transmitting a wireless signal. The mark antenna comprises a ground point, a feed point and a radiation part connecting to the ground point and the feed point, and particularly the radiation part is an identification mark, such that the appearance of the radiation part can provide identification information. With the light, thin, short and compact design concept, the mark antenna can be exposed to prevent the antenna from being compressed due to the small disposed area and overcome the difficulty of designing the antenna or a poor communication quality caused by the low performance of the antenna. In the present invention, the antenna is designed as a logo directly, such that the antenna can achieve the functions of identifying the appearance as well as transmitting and receiving the wireless signals.
US08698664B2
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a continuous-time incremental analog-to-digital converter (ADC) may include a plurality of resettable integrators and a feed-in gain element. Each integrator may be configured to convert a sum of signals received at its input to a signal indicative of an integral over time of the sum of signals. The plurality of integrators may include a first-stage integrator configured to receive at its input the baseband signal and a final-stage integrator configured to produce at its output a final-stage analog signal. The plurality of integrators may be arranged in a cascade configuration such that an output of each of the plurality of integrators other than the final-stage integrator is coupled to the input of a subsequent integrator. The feed-in gain element may be coupled between the input of the first-stage integrator and the input of another integrator of the plurality of integrators.
US08698660B2
The present application describes an apparatus and method for improving the performance of ΣΔ modulators functioning as ADCs. In one embodiment, the ΣΔ modulator comprises a plurality of quantizers operating in a round-robin fashion, rather than the single quantizer of the prior art. The use of multiple quantizers allows the ΣΔ modulator to appear to be functioning at a significantly higher rate than a single quantizer allows. In another embodiment, a second-order ΣΔ modulator contains a plurality of control loops, rather than the single control loop of the prior art. The use of multiple control loops allows the ΣΔ modulator to have multiple points of maximum signal-to-noise ratio rather than a single such point as in prior art ΣΔ modulators.
US08698659B2
A machine-implemented method can include receiving a common input signal over M parallel time-interleaved (TI) analog to digital converter (ADC) channels, determining a multiple-input, multiple-output finite impulse response (FIR) filter structure for correcting bandwidth mismatches between the M parallel TIADC channels, and providing a common output signal comprising TI data corresponding to the M parallel TIADC corrected channels.
US08698656B2
A wireless keyboard and reader combination comprises a keyboard having a plurality of keys, an antenna, and a plurality of passive transponder circuits, employing backscatter transmission coded in the time domain using a reflected series of pulses, coupled to the antenna and associated with the keys. For example, SAW transponders may be employed. The passive transponder circuits are selectively coupled to the antenna and provide a coded response identifying a key in response to key activation. An associated reader includes a source of an interrogating field applied to the antenna of the keyboard and a decoder for determining the coded response from the passive transponder circuits.
US08698654B2
A vehicle display system diminishes specified display features when in a taxi mode. EV images, SV images, and avionics symbology are displayed, with certain of the images and symbology being diminished when in a taxi mode. Additionally, guidance to the runway centerline is displayed in the taxi mode.
US08698640B1
A system for a monitored weather alert is provided. Weather and weather alert information comes from many sources and is consolidated by a remote computer and is output and displayed on printers, signboards, email, web site and other means of communication including flat screens and mobile telephones. Each set in the process of acquiring, analyzing, displaying and distributing the information is monitored and diagnostics are provided. Status on each element of the system is consolidated, analyzed and displayed and distributed to provide for the best possible reliability of the system and the best means for troubleshooting the system.
US08698636B2
A wireless detection apparatus includes an antenna, a voltage control oscillator, and a processing unit. The antenna receives a first wireless signal and generates an electrical signal according to the first wireless signal. The first wireless signal is generated by reflecting a second wireless signal from an object under test. The voltage control oscillator is coupled to the antenna to generate an oscillating signal under an interference of the electrical signal. The oscillating signal varies with variation of the electrical signal. The processing unit is coupled to the voltage control oscillator to evaluate a parameter of the object under test according to the variation of the oscillating signal.
US08698633B2
In a manufacturing method of a thin and small RFID tag, an antenna metal pattern is formed on a substrate, going once around a dielectric plate, and a recess is formed on the substrate to house an IC chip. A strap on which the IC chip is mounted is connected and fastened to the substrate in the position and orientation in which the IC chip is housed in the recess.
US08698632B2
An EAS tag (10) is provided, which includes a body (12) with an internal cavity (16), attachment means (14,26) for removably attaching the tag (10) to an article, an amorphous metal strip (48) inside the cavity (16) and a permanent magnet (34) inside the housing (12). The permanent magnet (34) is preferably an elongate rare earth magnet and is positioned generally equally far from the ends of the amorphous metal strip (48), preferably in a position spaced laterally from the amorphous strip (48) and generally parallel to the amorphous strip.
US08698629B1
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers may transmit one or more encapsulated commands within the payload of an encapsulating command. An encapsulated command includes at least a command code and an instruction. A reader may instruct a tag to store the encapsulated command(s) or instruction(s) for later execution. A sequence of encapsulated commands may be contained within one encapsulating command or spread across multiple encapsulating commands. The sequence of encapsulated commands, or the sequence of instructions associated with the encapsulated commands, may form a program. The reader may cause the tag to execute the instructions or program upon receipt, upon a trigger event, serially or in parallel, and/or may cause the tag to modify the instructions or program by adjusting parameters. The reader may later instruct a tag to execute the instructions or program via another command which, in some cases, may be sent prior to tag singulation.
US08698622B1
In some embodiments, techniques for processing an alert may include receiving specifications of a region and a time; creating an alert; associating information relating to the region and the time with the alert; determining a current time; determining that the current time matches the time; determining a first current location as a second location; determining that the second location is outside the region; determining a second current location as the third location; determining that the third location is within the region, based at least in part on the first location and the radius; and responsive to determining that that the third location is within the region and that the current time matches the time specification, sending an indication that the alert has been triggered, wherein the indication that the alert has been triggered includes an identifier associated with the alert.
US08698620B2
A wireless communications device for performing wireless communications includes a notifying unit for notifying a user of a status of the corresponding wireless communications device when a dedicated user interface is manipulated, a display unit and a detector for detecting failure in the display unit. The notifying unit notifies the user of the status of the corresponding wireless communications device when a failure in the display unit is detected by the detector and prevents the status of the corresponding wireless communications device from being notified when the failure in the display unit is not detected by the detector.
US08698612B2
An apparatus for defining a safety zone for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising one or more radiation sources operatively coupled to the vehicle, the one or more radiation sources configured to create one or more visible identifiers at one or more locations, said locations defining a pre-determined position relative to the vehicle, and said one or more visible identifiers thereby defining the safety zone for the vehicle. There is also disclosed, the use of one or more vehicle-mounted radiation sources to direct radiation to one or more pre-determined positions to create a conspicuous safety zone proximal to a vehicle. There is further described, a method for creating a safety zone proximal to a vehicle, comprising the steps of mounting one or more radiation sources on the vehicle; directing said one or more radiation sources towards one or more pre-determined positions proximal to the vehicle; and configuring the one or more radiation sources to create one or more conspicuous visible identifiers at the one or more pre-determined positions to define a safety zone for the vehicle.
US08698587B2
There is provided a thin transformer capable of being used in a thin display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a light emitting diode (LED) display device. The transformer includes: a bobbin part including a plurality of bobbins, each including a pipe shaped body part having a though-hole formed in an inner portion thereof, a flange part vertically protruding outwardly from both ends of the body part, and external connection terminals protruding from one side of a lower flange part formed at a lower end of the body part; a core inserted into the through-hole of the bobbin to thereby form a magnetic path; and a coil part including coils each wound around the plurality of bobbins, wherein the bobbin part includes an inner bobbin and an outer bobbin, and the inner bobbin is coupled to the outer bobbin such that the external connection terminals of the inner bobbin and the external connection terminals of the outer bobbin are opposed to each other.
US08698574B2
According to one embodiment, a high-frequency switch includes a high-frequency switch IC chip. The high-frequency switch IC chip has a high-frequency switching circuit section including an input terminal, a plurality of switching elements, a plurality of high-frequency signal lines, and a plurality of output terminals. The input terminal is connected to each of the plurality of output terminals via each of the plurality of switching elements with the high-frequency signal lines having the same lengths. The plurality of output terminals are arranged on a surface at an outer periphery of the high-frequency switch IC chip. The input terminal is arranged on the surface of the high-frequency switch IC chip at the center of the high-frequency switch IC circuit section.
US08698569B2
In order to provide a MEMS resonator having a higher Q factor, by suppressing losses in high-frequency signals due to barriers of thin-film lamination portions, in cases where there exist junction interfaces (barriers), such as pn junctions, in AC-current input/output lines for a vibrator (1) and electrodes (2, 3), the MEMS resonator is structured such that a DC current is flowed therethrough along with an AC current at the same time, in order to reduce resistance losses applied to the AC current, wherein there are provided DC bias circuits (22, 23, 24) for continuously flowing DC currents through the junction interfaces, in an input-electrode side and/or output-electrode side.
US08698563B2
A Doherty amplifier has a distributor for branching an input signal into two signals, a carrier amplifier to which one of the signals is inputted from the distributor, a peak amplifier to which another signal of the signals is inputted from the distributor, and a synthesizer for synthesizing output signals from the carrier amplifier and the peak amplifier. The carrier amplifier has a compound semiconductor device with at least two terminals. The peak amplifier has a single element semiconductor device. Bias voltages having the same polarity are applied to the two terminals of the compound semiconductor device.
US08698559B2
A differential amplifier circuit comprises a differential pre-amplifying stage which is designed to allow an input signal with a first common mode voltage range, and to generate an output which has a narrower common mode voltage variation. This pre-amplifier stage is designed to accept a large common mode input voltage and to process the signal so that it can be amplified by a main amplifying stage which is designed to allow an input signal with a smaller common mode voltage range.
US08698556B2
Switching error in an auto-zero offset amplifier is reduced by keeping a clock level to the auto-zero switches at an amplitude just enough to insure complete switching of the switches of the auto-zero offset buffer amplifier. A level shifting circuit provides the clock at the desired level control and a local voltage regulator provides a regulated voltage to the level shifting circuit.
US08698551B2
Provided is a semiconductor device which can operate stably even in the case where a transistor thereof is a depletion transistor. The semiconductor device includes a first transistor for supplying a first potential to a first wiring, a second transistor for supplying a second potential to the first wiring, a third transistor for supplying a third potential at which the first transistor is turned on to a gate of the first transistor and stopping supplying the third potential, a fourth transistor for supplying the second potential to the gate of the first transistor, and a first circuit for generating a second signal obtained by offsetting a first signal. The second signal is input to a gate of the fourth transistor. The potential of a low level of the second signal is lower than the second potential.
US08698548B2
For thermal compensation for an intrinsic element in a system, a circuit and method are proposed to predict the temperature variation caused by power loss of the intrinsic element, in addition to sense the external environment temperature variation of the intrinsic element, and thus sense the operational temperature of the intrinsic element more precisely.
US08698547B2
A control circuit includes: a first switching element having a source, a gate, and a drain; a battery configured to supply a voltage to the gate through a second switching element; a PWM signal generator circuit configured to supply a PWM signal to the gate through a third switching element; and a gate control circuit configured to, under a power-off condition, turn on the second switching element to supply the voltage of the battery to the gate and turns off the third switching element, and configured to under a power-on condition, turn on the third switching element to supply the PWM signal voltage to the gate and turns off the second switching element.
US08698545B2
Multiplier circuitry includes first multiplier circuit including a first transistor having an emitter coupled to a first conductor, a base coupled to a second conductor, and a collector coupled to a third conductor, a second transistor having an emitter coupled to the first conductor, a base coupled to a fourth conductor, and a collector coupled to a fifth conductor, a third transistor having an emitter coupled to the second conductor and a base and collector coupled to a supply voltage, and a fourth transistor having an emitter coupled to the fourth conductor and a base and collector coupled to the supply voltage. Chopper includes a first switch to provide a chopped differential signal between the second and fourth conductors and a second switch for un-chopping a first differential output signal produced between the third and fifth conductors to provide an un-chopped differential output signal between the third and fifth conductors.
US08698543B1
An interface within an electronic device coupled to a serial communications bus having one or more serial communications lines generates a reference voltage source within the electronic device from the logic signals carried on the serial communications line(s). The generated reference voltage source is used within the electronic device to decode the logic signals received from the serial communications line(s).
US08698541B2
A threshold voltage detection apparatus comprises a voltage level up-shifter and a voltage level down-shifter. The threshold voltage detection apparatus is placed at a circuit fabricated in a low voltage semiconductor process. The threshold voltage detection apparatus receives an input signal having a wide range and generates output signals comprising the logic of the input signal, but having a voltage range suitable for the low voltage circuit. The threshold voltage detection apparatus ensures that the low voltage circuit operates in a range to which the low voltage semiconductor process is specified.
US08698536B2
Plural unit delay circuits connected in series and an output circuit that non-inverts or inverts and outputs an output signal in accordance with a set signal are included. A first unit delay circuit includes a selector that outputs a signal input to a second input terminal when the set signal is “0”, and outputs a signal input to a first input terminal when the set signal is “1”, and an inverter that inverts and outputs an output of the selector from a second output terminal. A second unit delay circuit includes an inverter that inverts the signal input to the first input terminal and outputs from a first output terminal, and a selector that outputs the signal input to the second input terminal when the set signal is “0”, and outputs an output of the inverter when the set signal is “1” from the second output terminal.
US08698529B2
A delay time control circuit is provided which includes a delay locked loop generating a second clock signal delayed by a predetermined time in response to a first clock signal; a plurality of delay circuits each receiving the first and second clock signals and outputting third and fourth clock signals in response to first and second digital clock signals; and a feedback control unit receiving the third and fourth clock signals to detect a delay time and generating the first and second digital control signals for compensating the detected delay time.
US08698526B2
A clock supply apparatus for supplying clock signals to a plurality of circuit blocks includes a supply unit configured to supply, to reset the plurality of circuit blocks, a clock signal rising at timing different from one circuit block to another to each of the plurality of circuit blocks.
US08698523B2
A turn-off feedback unit (23OFF) of a semiconductor device driving unit generates a feedback voltage as part of a voltage of a drive signal for establishing electrical continuity or disconnection in a bus according to a temporal variation of a collector current of a first semiconductor device (11U) when the first semiconductor device (11U) is turned off from on. A turn-on feedback unit (23ON) generates the feedback voltage according to a commutation current flowing through a free wheeling diode (12D) connected to a second semiconductor device (11D) when the first semiconductor device (11U) is turned on from off.
US08698512B2
A capacitive touchpad includes a plurality of parallel traces configured in a capacitance sensor layout scheme such that the maximum sensor gap is smaller than the sensor pitch to improve the sensor response linearity of the capacitive touchpad.
US08698511B2
A capacitive occupant detection system (10) comprises a sine signal generator (12) to apply a sine voltage signal to an antenna electrode (14) and a current measurement circuit (18, 20, 28, 30, 40) to measure current signals, based upon which a control and evaluation unit determines and outputs an occupancy state. The signal generator (12) is coupled to the antenna electrode via an amplitude adjustment stage (13), configured to adjust the amplitude of said sine voltage signal applied to said antenna electrode to an amplitude selected among at least two discrete amplitudes. The control and evaluation circuit selects one of the discrete amplitudes at a time and causes the amplitude adjustment stage to adjust the amplitude of said the voltage signal applied to the antenna electrode accordingly. The control and evaluation circuit carries out an interference detection mode and an occupant detection mode. In interference detection mode, the current signals are measured while a low one of the at least two discrete amplitudes is selected and it is determined whether the antenna electrode is exposed to interference. In occupant detection mode, the current signals are measured while a high one of the at least two discrete amplitudes is selected and occupancy state is determined based upon the current signals thus measured.
US08698506B2
A circuit configuration for detecting an error occurring in a converter, that is designed for integrating an analog useful signal and a digital useful signal of the converter and checking in each instance, when the integrated analog useful signal reaches a specific threshold value, and when the integrated digital useful signal reaches a specific threshold value, the circuit configuration for the converter detecting an error if the threshold values are not reached within a defined time window.
US08698499B2
An electromagnet device which generates magnetic field in the direction perpendicular to the inserting direction of an inspection subject is reduced in size and weight by removing unnecessary arrangement as much as possible. A magnetic resonance imaging device is also provided. The electromagnet device comprises a first coil (31) through which a first circular current (J1) circulates forward, a second coil (32) through which a second circular current (J2) circulates reversely, and a coil group (30) through which a plurality of circular currents (J3-J6) circulate alternately forward and reversely. The first coil (30), the second coil (32) and the coil group (30) are arranged in this order to increase the angle of elevation θ (θ1<θ2<θ3), and a blank region (S) not including the second coil (32) and the coil group (30) exists in the angular region between the angles of elevation θ2 and θ3.
US08698493B2
Precise measurements of a precessional rate of noble gas in a magnetic field is obtained by constraining the time averaged direction of the spins of a stimulating alkali gas to lie in a plane transverse to the magnetic field. In this way, the magnetic field of the alkali gas does not provide a net contribution to the precessional rate of the noble gas.
US08698492B1
Methods for testing for defects on magnetic media storage disks are provided. One such method includes dividing a surface of a magnetic media disk into a plurality of radial zones, dividing the disk surface into a plurality of concentric zones, thereby forming a preselected number (N) of wedge subsections for each of the concentric zones, scanning the disk surface for defects, counting the defects contained within each of the wedge subsections, summing the defects contained within two or more of the wedge subsections, comparing the summed defects with a preselected threshold, and determining, based on the comparison, a defect type of the disk.
US08698488B2
Disclosed is an arrangement for detecting rotational speed of a wheel or any other rotating body by a sensor (1, 6), which is coupled via a magnetic field to an encoder (23) that rotates with the rotating body. If a slot between sensor element (S1, S2) and encoder (23) becomes too small in the prior art arrangements, flipping and, hence, doubling of the measured rotational speed of the wheel can occur. This caused problems in safety devices of a vehicle, which require a correct indication of the wheel rotational speed for proper operation. To improve the tolerance with respect to the mounting position of the known arrangements, two separated signal paths (S1, f1; S2, f2) are provided with sensor elements (S1, S2) of differing sensitivity. The signal paths (S1, f1; S2, f2) are designed so that a signal path (S1, f1) is always available, which is provided with a maximum rate of sensitivity so that, in the undisturbed normal case, minimum image defects of the encoder track (13) are achieved, simultaneously with maximum air slots, while at the same time there is always an observing signal path (S2, f2), whose sensitivity is rated in such a way that flipping is safely prevented in all magnetic conditions.
US08698481B2
A solid state molecular sensor having an aperture extending through a thickness of a sensing region is configured with a sensing region thickness that corresponds to the characteristic extent of at least a component of a molecular species to be translocated through the aperture. A change in an electrical characteristic of the sensing region is measured during the molecular species translocation. The sensor can be configured as a field effect transistor molecular sensor. The sensing region can be a region of graphene including an aperture extending through a thickness of the graphene.
US08698479B2
A bandgap reference circuit includes a first circuit, a second circuit and a third circuit. The first circuit is for generating a first current and a first voltage according to a first reference voltage. The second circuit is coupled to the first circuit, for generating a second voltage according to the first voltage. The third circuit is coupled to the first circuit and the second circuit, for generating a voltage offset according to the first current, and generating a bandgap reference voltage according to the second voltage and the voltage offset. The first circuit and the second circuit complement each other for offsetting variations of the bandgap reference voltage due to temperature changes.
US08698477B2
A control method for reducing audio noise is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: providing an input power source; providing a power source converter having a component with a mechanical resonant frequency, coupled to the input terminal or the output terminal of the power source converter; providing an output capacitor and a load connected in parallel therebetween; making the power source converter operate in a burst mode; and controlling the electrical energy transferred from the input terminal to the output terminal of the power source converter during an operating period of every burst cycle, so as to reduce the audio noise of the power source converter.
US08698475B2
The present invention discloses a SMPS. The SMPS comprises an output port, configured to supply a load; a control signal generator, having an input and an output configured to provide a first control signal; a first switch configured to receive the first control signal and regulate the voltage at the output port; and a ramp signal generator, comprising an input and an output, wherein the input is configured to receive the control signal and the output is configured to provide a current signal simulating an output signal at the output port, and wherein the output of the ramp signal generator is further coupled to the input of the means for generating control signal.
US08698473B2
A switching regulator: first switching element and second switching element; a logic unit which outputs to the load the output voltage converted from the input voltage to the constant voltage, by causing the first switching element and the second switching element to perform a switching operation; an error amplifier which outputs first signal indicating an error between the output voltage and the first reference voltage; first comparator which inputs the first signal and second signal indicating an output voltage that is proportional to load current flowing in the load, and outputs to the logic unit control signal causing the logic unit to perform the switching operation based on the first signal and the second signal; and a correction unit which is connected to an input side of the error amplifier, and corrects an input voltage of the error amplifier to reduce the input voltage to a certain value or lower.
US08698471B2
Systems and methods for a digital-to-charge converter (“DQC”) are disclosed. A DQC may include a converting circuit configured to receive a first digital signal indicative of a voltage across a capacitor coupled to an output pin of the digital-to-charge converter and to determine a present charge of the capacitor based at least in part on the first digital signal. The DQC may also include an error determining circuit coupled to the converting circuit, wherein the error determining circuit is configured to receive a second digital signal indicative of a target charge via an input pin of the digital-to-charge converter and to determine a difference between the target charge and the present charge. The DQC may further include a correction circuit coupled to the error determining circuit and configured to control a programmable current source to produce an analog signal at the output pin in response to the determined difference.
US08698468B2
There is provided a control device including a control unit, the control unit being configured to, when a first time, during which a level of a voltage output from a rectifier circuit for rectifying an alternating current supplied from an alternating-current power supply is lower than a level of a threshold voltage, has reached a threshold time, output a stop signal for stopping an operation of a power factor correction circuit to a control circuit that controls the operation of the power factor correction circuit.
US08698461B2
The invention relates to a method to control power output of a doubly-fed induction machine to a grid including the steps of measuring grid voltage and grid current in a three phase coordinate system, transforming grid voltage and grid current into a stator frame coordinate system, decomposing the grid voltage and grid current in the stator frame coordinate system in a positive sequence system and in a negative sequence system, calculating active and reactive power in the positive and negative sequence system, and controlling active and reactive power in the positive and negative sequence system. The object to provide a method to control power output of a doubly-fed induction machine which provides good dynamics and is able to allow fault-ride-through operations when unbalanced grid voltages occurs is solved in that active and reactive power in the positive and negative sequence system are used as independent state variables in a state controller, whereas the state controller generates manipulated values in the positive and negative sequence system separately which are subjected as manipulated state vectors to a state feedback in a stator frame coordinate system without further control loops before the manipulated vector resulting from state feedback is used to set the rotor voltage.
US08698455B2
An electrical system (60, 200) for a tent or shelter (98, 201). Wires (60) are routed through a tent or shelter (98, 201) either by attaching the wires to the tent or shelter, running the wires through hems, seams (100), or sleeves, or integrating the wires into the fabric for the tent or shelter. In accordance with an embodiment, an appliance (208) is connected to the wiring harness (60) and is mounted or attached in the tent or shelter. The appliance (208) may be mounted in a socket (234) that includes contacts that may engage a fixture or appliance, such as a light. An opposite end of a cord (222) leading to the socket is attachable to an electrical power supply, such as a battery pack (203).
US08698452B2
A scalable intelligent power-supply system and method capable of powering a defined load for a specified period of time is disclosed and claimed. Multiple external AC and DC inputs supply power to the system if available and required. An internal DC input from a back-up energy source is on board. The back-up energy source is scalable by adding additional energy cartridges such as batteries in racks mounted within frames of the system. The AC and DC inputs (including the internal DC input) are controlled, measured, sensed, and converted by circuitry controlled by the microprocessor into multiple AC and/or DC outputs. A microprocessor manages power input to, within, and output from the system. The performance of a Lithium-ion batteries used to power an automobile can be determined on the basis individual battery packs or individual battery cells within the packs.
US08698450B2
Disclosed is a bidirectional wireless charging and discharging device for portable electronic device. The bidirectional wireless charging and discharging device includes: a wireless receiving and transmitting unit and a logic control unit, a step-up/step-down unit, first and second reverse current protectors, a control switch, and at least a supercapacitor. The first and second reverse current protectors function to prevent reverse current and to switch. The step-up/step-down unit controls step-up conversion in discharging and step-down conversion in charging. The logic control unit detects if a load exists on an opposite side of the wireless receiving and transmitting unit and controls the operations of the step-up/step-down unit and the first and second reverse current protectors, and can be even combined with a control switch to control selectively charging and discharging operations. The supercapacitor absorbs surge occurring in each charging operation.
US08698449B2
A charger for a portable device includes a USB detector connected to a data pin to detect the effective resistance on the data pin before a USB transceiver is enabled, to identify USB or adapter plug in and control a charging current for a battery accordingly.
US08698442B2
If it is predicted that the sum of the output of a servo motor and the output of a spindle motor exceeds power supplied by a rectifier unit, during a cutting operation, a motor drive control device controls alternating-current power of a first inverter unit so as to reduce the feed speed of at least one feed axis and controls alternating-current power of a second inverter unit so as not to limit torque of the spindle motor. Further, if it is predicted that the sum of the output of the servo motor and the output of the spindle motor exceeds power supplied by the rectifier unit, during an operation other than the cutting operation, the motor drive control device controls the alternating-current power of the second inverter unit so as to limit the torque so as not to reduce the feed speed.
US08698441B2
A disclosed servo control device includes a servo control unit configured to control a driving unit for driving a driven body with servo control, and a changing unit configured to change a timing of ending the servo control in response to stop position accuracy for a target stop position of the driven body when the driven body is driven to move, wherein the servo control unit detects an error between the target stop position and an actual stop position of the driven body, and corrects the timing of ending the servo control using the detected error.
US08698440B2
According to one embodiment, a low frequency drive control circuit for use with an inductive load comprises a comparator configured to receive a high frequency signal at a first input and a smoothly varying low frequency signal for modulating the high frequency signal at a second input. The comparator is further configured to produce a pulse width modulated output of the low frequency drive control circuit for use in generating a smoothly varying low frequency load current in the inductive load. In one embodiment, the inductive load can comprise a DC brushed motor. In one embodiment, the low frequency drive control circuit can be implemented as part of an integrated circuit further comprising a switching circuit configured to use the pulse width modulated output of the comparator to generate the smoothly varying low frequency load current, which may be a substantially sinusoidal load current, for example.
US08698439B2
A method is disclosed for determining a phase failure in an electrical device for driving or monitoring a three-phase AC motor, wherein the electrical device comprises a first, a second and a third line. In order to detect a phase failure in a line in the three-phase electrical device, in particular in a soft starter, the phase failure in the third line is determined by analysing the first and second lines, wherein the analysis includes: determining a value which characterizes a phase shift between a current in the first and second lines, and outputting a signal if the value which has been determined is in a range of values which characterizes a phase failure in the third line.
US08698435B2
A motor drive device includes an inverter circuit, a driver circuit for outputting a PWM signal to the inverter circuit, a booster circuit for boosting a power supply voltage supplied from a power supply circuit, a fail safe circuit arranged between the inverter circuit and the motor, and a fail safe drive unit for outputting a signal for turning ON/OFF a semiconductor switching element of the fail safe circuit. A boost voltage output from the booster circuit is supplied to the driver circuit and also supplied to the fail safe drive unit. The fail safe drive unit drives the semiconductor switching element of the fail safe circuit by such boost voltage.
US08698429B2
There is provided a radiotherapy system comprising a linear accelerator, beam control circuitry for the linear accelerator, an electronic control apparatus for the control circuitry arranged to adjust properties thereof, and a monitor for detecting properties of the radiation beam produced by the linear accelerator, wherein the control apparatus is adapted to retain a set of beam properties and periodically activate the accelerator, measure the current beam properties via the monitor, compare the measured beam properties to the retained beam properties, and potentially adjust the control circuitry properties to align the beam properties towards the retained beam properties. The beam properties that are measured may include beam flatness and beam width. The retained beam properties can be the properties of the beam produced by the linear accelerator when new, or the properties of a standard beam. There is also provided a method for operating the system.
US08698426B1
An apparatus for setting a digital setpoint for a self-powered current sensing switch includes a current transformer, a digital processor and a parallel converter for converting the AC output of the current transformer to a DC power source for the digital processor along a first path and into a digital signal which is input to the digital processor along a second path. The apparatus also includes a manually operated switch coupled to the digital processor and having a calibration mode position, code segments executing on the digital processor to convert the digital signal to a digital setpoint value when the manually operated switch is in the calibration mode position, and non-volatile memory for storing the digital setpoint value.
US08698424B1
A power line communication system transmits a dimming level to an electronic ballast to regulate the power consumed by a lamp. The power line controller has a notch generation circuit that generates notches on an AC power signal with a time duration in accordance with the dimming level of the lamp. A dimming interface associated with the electronic ballast detects the notches on the AC power signal. The dimming interface generates a ballast dimming level signal with a signal level related to the time duration of these notches.
US08698422B2
An average current controller configured for connection to display-components through a power switch. The average current controller includes first, second, and third comparators, an integrator, and a reference current generator. The first comparator compares a peak current level of reference current with a load current level of load current and outputs a first comparison result. The load current denotes current flowing through the display-components. The second comparator compares the peak current level of reference current with an average current level of the load current and outputs a second comparison result. The integrator integrates the second comparison result. The third comparator compares the integral value of the integrator with a predetermined value and outputs a third comparison result. The reference current generator sets the peak current level based on the first comparison result and the third comparison result and generates the reference current with the set peak current level.
US08698420B2
An LED drive circuit receives an alternating-current voltage and drives an LED. The LED drive circuit has a current extractor which extracts a current from the current supply line through which an LED drive current is supplied to the LED, and a timing adjuster which adjusts the current extraction start timing and the current extraction duration in the current extractor.
US08698414B2
A fluorescent lamp light intensity dimming control generates a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal at about a fifty percent duty cycle and has very fine frequency change granularity to allow precise and smooth light dimming capabilities. Intermediate PWM signal frequencies between the frequencies that are normally generated from values in a period register of the PWM generator are provided with a variable frequency clock source to the PWM generator. Selection of each frequency from the plurality of frequencies available from the variable frequency clock source may be determined from a value stored in a variable frequency clock register. A microcontroller may be used to select appropriate frequencies for dimming control of the fluorescent lamp from the variable frequency clock source, and the period and duty cycle values used in generating the PWM signal at about a fifty percent duty cycle.
US08698412B2
A ballast includes a power supply subsystem, a power factor correction circuit, a control subsystem and a half bridge. In one embodiment, the power supply subsystem receives an input line voltage that is within a range of approximately 310-530 volts AC or other suitable ranges. Further, in one embodiment, the power supply subsystem provides a rectified DC output. The power factor correction circuit receives the rectified DC output. In one embodiment, the power factor correction circuit includes a boost converter and a buck converter that produce a selected stable bus voltage that is less than approximately 700 volts DC. The control subsystem outputs control signals based on a digital input. The half bridge receives the bus voltage and the output control signals. Additionally, the half bridge outputs a high frequency signal to a lamp. In one embodiment, the control subsystem includes a microcontroller and a ballast controller. Further, in one embodiment, the ballast controller includes a software module that receives the digital input and provides first input control signals to the microcontroller.
US08698403B2
An electric protection mechanism for a light controller includes an overload protection device. The overload protection device includes a lamplight controller, a power controller, and a load detector. A current sensor is provided between the power controller and a light. An overload detector is provided to detect the state of the electric current anytime. Once abnormal current is outputted to the light, the power controller immediately shuts its output and informs the lamplight controller of the abnormal current. The lamplight controller will reset its process, such as to shut down the power source or to press the button so as to return to normal. Thus, the lamplight controller, a light adjuster or a remote controller can be protected. The present invention provides an overload protection function, and it is safe to use the present invention.
US08698387B2
A light source device includes a first semiconductor light source, a second semiconductor light source, and a wavelength converter. The first semiconductor light source emits light in a first wavelength range. The second semiconductor light source emits light in a second wavelength range different from the first wavelength range. The wavelength converter absorbs the light in the first wavelength range to emit light in a third wavelength range different from either of the first wavelength range and the second wavelength range, and transmits the light in the second wavelength range substantially entirely.
US08698381B2
An organic electroluminescent display device includes an organic electroluminescent display (OLED) panel having a first surface for displaying images and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a thermal pad attached to the second surface, a heat sink attached to the thermal pad such that the thermal pad is disposed between the OLED panel and the heat sink, a bottom case spaced apart from the heat sink and protecting the second surface of the OLED panel, the bottom case formed of a metallic material, and a top case covering edges of the first surface of the OLED panel and combined with the bottom case, wherein a plurality of heat-radiating pins are formed on a surface of the heat sink facing the bottom case.
US08698378B2
An ultrasonic transducer for use in a fluid medium includes at least one piezoelectric transducer element, at least one matching body for the promotion of a vibrational coupling between the piezoelectric transducer element and the fluid medium, and at least one compensating body situated between the piezoelectric transducer element and the matching body for the reduction of thermal stresses, the compensating body having a coefficient of thermal expansion that is between a coefficient of thermal expansion of the piezoelectric transducer element and a coefficient of thermal expansion of the matching body.
US08698376B2
Devices having piezoelectric material structures integrated with substrates are described. Fabrication techniques for forming such devices are also described. The fabrication may include bonding a piezoelectric material wafer to a substrate of a differing material. A structure, such as a resonator, may then be formed from the piezoelectric material wafer.
US08698361B2
An arrangement for cooling of an electrical machine is disclosed. The electrical machine includes a stator-arrangement and a rotor-arrangement. The stator-arrangement is mounted on an outer surface of a support-structure. At least one cooling channel is arranged between the stator-arrangement and the support-structure in a way that the cooling-channel is pressed between the stator-arrangement and the support structure.
US08698359B2
An electric storage system includes an electric storage apparatus, relays, a plurality of smoothing capacitors, and a current limiting resistance. The electric storage apparatus has a plurality of electric storage elements connected in series. Each of the electric storage elements includes a current breaker breaking an electric current path inside the electric storage element. The plurality of smoothing capacitors are connected in series between a positive electrode line and a negative electrode line which connect the electric storage apparatus to a load. Each of the relays is placed on the positive electrode line, the negative electrode line, and an intermediate line. The intermediate line connects a connecting point of two of the electric storage elements included in the electric storage apparatus and a connecting point of the plurality of smoothing capacitors. The current limiting resistance is also placed on the intermediate line.
US08698358B1
A circuit is provided that includes a parasitic power circuit that powers a parasitic circuit. The parasitic power circuit derives a supply voltage from an external AC or other signal suitable for use as a communications signal. A PMOS transistor or transistors is utilized to enable a supply voltage capacitor to charge substantially to the same voltage as the channel voltage of the communications signal.
US08698356B2
Provided is a digital circuit (30) that comprises: a switching circuit (31) having first transistors (32, 33) supplied with power supply potentials (VDD, VSS); correcting circuits (34, 36) connected between an input terminal (IN) inputted with an input signal and control terminals (gates) of the first transistors; capacitors (C2, C3) connected between the control terminals and the input terminal; diode-connected second transistors (35, 37) that are provided between nodes (N5, N6) between the capacitors and the control terminals and the power supply potentials and have the substantially same threshold voltage as the first transistors; and switches (SW2, SW3) connected in series with the second transistors.
US08698354B2
A power converter includes a power input configured to receive input power from an AC power source, a power output configured to provide output power to a load, a battery interface configured to exchange DC power with a battery, and power converter circuitry. The power converter circuitry is adapted to, in a first interconnection configuration, convert the input power into the DC power at the battery interface, and, in a second interconnection configuration, convert the DC power at the battery interface into the output power. The power converter circuitry has a power line, a transformer, a first connection node switchably connected to the power line in the first interconnection configuration and switchably connected to the transformer in the second interconnection configuration, and a second connection node switchably connected to the transformer in the first interconnection configuration and switchably connected to the power line in the second interconnection configuration.
US08698351B2
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the system for managing a power system with a plurality of power components that includes power source components and power consumption components includes a central power bus, a plurality of adaptable connectors that each electrically couple to a power component and to the central power bus, and a control processor that receives the state of each power component from the respective adaptable connector and is configured to balance the voltage and current output from each power source component to provide a desired power to a power consumption component based on the received states.
US08698349B2
A locking device for a power feeding plug installed in a vehicle. The vehicle includes an inlet that receives the power feeding plug to charge a battery, which powers a motor. A door antenna transmits a verification signal to an electronic key. The locking device includes a lock bar moved between lock and unlock positions. The lock bar blocks the power feeding plug, which is attached to the inlet, when located at the lock position to prohibit removal of the power feeding plug from the inlet. An inlet antenna transmits the verification signal to an area that includes the inlet. The inlet antenna and door antenna are arranged at different locations. A controller moves the lock bar when verification of the electronic key is accomplished in response to the verification signal from the inlet antenna.
US08698347B2
In order to discharge electrical charges from a smoothing capacitor even if no discharge command is issued by a control system, making use of the displacement of a power unit in the event of a collision, a movable electrode is connected to a first contact connected to a high-potential bus, and the smoothing capacitor is connected with a converter and an inverter to be in parallel in the case where an engagement rod is positioned by a retaining ring. Further, when the engagement rod is disengaged from the retaining ring and removed from a relay, the movable electrode is held in contact with a second contact by a pressure spring, and the electrical charge remaining in the smoothing capacitor is discharged to a low-potential bus through a discharge portion.
US08698344B2
In a navigation apparatus having a cradle unit that is fastenable to a vehicle and is equipped with at least a microcomputer; and a front panel unit that is attachable to and detachable from the cradle unit and is equipped with at least a display displaying map data and a microcomputer performing a navigation function to indicate a determined location of the vehicle on the map data, it is configured such that a panel is integrally formed at bottom of the cradle unit to be attachable to the vehicle. With this, it becomes possible to provide the navigation apparatus configured such that a member having a microcomputer performing a navigation function is attachable/detachable to/from the main body, i.e., the base unit, thereby improving ease of use, that the member can be easily attached to the dashboard of the vehicle, and that unnatural impression is prevented from arising in the appearance.
US08698339B2
The present invention provides methods and systems for a power generation system, including an inlet for introducing a liquid into the system, an inlet pipe for carrying the liquid introduced to the inlet, a generation station for converting the flow of liquid into energy, and an outlet pipe for removing the liquid from the generation station.
US08698336B2
A wind turbine comprising: a shaft (2); a plurality of blade arrangements (8), each of which is rotatable around the shaft and has a blade (7), said blade arrangements and blades forming a blade rotor which is rotatable around the shaft; at least first and second bearing arrangements (6) spaced axially along the shaft, said blade rotor being connected to said first and second bearing arrangements; and a direct drive generator comprising a stator (10), which is rotationally fixed to the shaft, and a generator rotor (9) having a rim; wherein the first and second bearing arrangements each transmit radial forces from the blade rotor to the shaft, and at least one of the first and second bearing arrangements transmits bending moments to the shaft, each of the blade arrangements being connected to a point at or adjacent the rim of the generator rotor so as to transmit torque generated by the blade arrangement directly thereto, and wherein the generator rotor (9) is within the blade rotor.
US08698335B2
A system comprising low cost topology for power converter systems is provided. The system takes advantage of the voltage-boost characteristic of a current source inverter (CSI) and utilizes a PWM CSI as a grid-side converter for power generation systems. Moreover, the generator-side converter employs low-cost devices, such as, but not limited to diode bridge, thyristor bridge, and/or a combination of diodes and thyristors, and accordingly simplifies generator-side converter and control. Further, the system provides a wider range of operation than traditional voltage source converter based topologies that utilize a voltage source inverter (VSI) as the grid-side convertor along with a diode rectifier as the generator-side converter.
US08698327B2
A loadport for handling film frames is disclosed. The loadport is modular and substantially compatible with applicable standards regarding modular equipment. In particular, the load port is substantially interchangeable with loadports not adapted for handling film frames. The loadport has a compact shuttle for moving film frames and flexible alignment mechanisms for aligning film frames and cassettes of different configurations.
US08698324B2
The present invention provides a dicing tape-integrated film for semiconductor back surface, which includes: a dicing tape including a base material and a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer provided on the base material; and a film for flip chip type semiconductor back surface provided on the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, in which the film for flip chip type semiconductor back surface contains a black pigment.
US08698317B2
A package stack structure includes a lower semiconductor chip on a lower package substrate having a plurality of lower via plug lands, a lower package having a lower molding compound surrounding a portion of a top surface of the lower package substrate and side surfaces of the lower semiconductor chip, an upper semiconductor chip on an upper package substrate having a plurality of upper via plug lands, an upper package having an upper molding compound covering the upper semiconductor chip, via plugs vertically penetrating the lower molding compound, the via plugs connecting the lower and upper via plug lands, respectively, and a fastening element and an air space between a top surface of the lower molding compound and a bottom surface of the upper package substrate.
US08698307B2
A semiconductor package includes a substrate and a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a body having a center, a layer disposed adjacent to the body, and a plurality of conductive pillars configured to electrically connect the semiconductor device to the substrate. The layer defines a plurality of openings. Each of the plurality of conductive pillars extends at least partially through a corresponding one of the plurality of openings. An offset between a first central axis of the each of the plurality of conductive pillars and a second central axis of the corresponding one of the plurality of openings varies with distance between the first central axis and the center of the body. The second central axis of the corresponding one of the plurality of openings is disposed between the first central axis of the each of the plurality of conductive pillars and the center of the body.
US08698306B2
An under-bump metallization (UBM) structure for a substrate, such as an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a silicon or glass interposer, a high density interconnect, a printed circuit board, or the like, is provided. A buffer layer is formed over a contact pad on the substrate such that at least a portion of the contact pad is exposed. A conductor pad is formed within the opening and extends over at least a portion of the buffer layer. The conductor pad may have a uniform thickness and/or a non-planar surface. The substrate may be attached to another substrate and/or a die.
US08698285B2
A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, a first electrode formed on a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a second electrode formed on a second main surface of the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate includes a first region in which a density of oxygen-vacancy defects is greater than a density of vacancy cluster defects, and a second region in which the density of vacancy cluster defects is greater than the density of oxygen-vacancy defects.
US08698277B2
According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile variable resistance device includes a first electrode, a second electrode, a first layer, and a second layer. The second electrode includes a metal element. The first layer is arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode and includes a semiconductor element. The second layer is inserted between the second electrode and the first layer and includes the semiconductor element. The percentage of the semiconductor element being unterminated is higher in the second layer than in the first layer.
US08698276B2
A semiconductor system includes a controller; a semiconductor device comprising a plurality of stacked semiconductor chips stacked over the controller, and a plurality of through-silicon vias (TSVs) configured to commonly transfer a signal to the plurality of stacked semiconductor chips; and a defect information transfer TSV configured to transfer TSV defect information sequentially outputted from at least one of the semiconductor chips to the controller, wherein the controller comprises: a plurality of first repair fuse units configured to set first fuse information based on the TSV defect information; and a plurality of first TSV selection units configured to selectively drive the TSVs in response to the first fuse information.
US08698273B2
A layout structure of a semiconductor integrated circuit is provided with which narrowing and breaking of metal interconnects near a cell boundary can be prevented without increasing the data amount and processing time for OPC. A cell A and a cell B are adjacent to each other along a cell boundary. The interconnect regions of metal interconnects from which to the cell boundary no other interconnect region exists are placed to be substantially axisymmetric with respect to the cell boundary, while sides of diffusion regions facing the cell boundary are asymmetric with respect to the cell boundary.
US08698267B2
An electrode includes a substantially planar metallic thin film layer with a patterned structure including a plurality of parallel lines or a plurality of crossed lines, the metallic thin film layer configured to transmit an incident light through the metallic thin film layer.
US08698265B2
Provided are an image sensor and a package including the same. The image sensor may include an interconnection layer comprising a plurality of interconnections that are vertically stacked, a light penetration layer including color filters and microlenses, a semiconductor layer disposed between the interconnection layer and the light penetration layer and including photoelectrical transformation elements and a light shielding pattern disposed between the light penetration layer and the semiconductor layer. A surface of the semiconductor layer adjacent to the light penetration layer defines a recess region recessed toward the interconnection layer. The light shielding pattern is formed in the recess region and at least one of the photoelectrical transformation elements is formed in the semiconductor layer between the light shielding pattern and the interconnection layer.
US08698260B2
A magnetic element in a spintronic device or serving as a propagation medium in a domain wall motion device is disclosed wherein first and second interfaces of a free layer with a perpendicular Hk enhancing layer and tunnel barrier, respectively, produce enhanced surface perpendicular anisotropy to increase thermal stability in a magnetic tunnel junction. The free layer may be a single layer or a composite and is comprised of a glassing agent that has a first concentration in a middle portion thereof and a second concentration less than the first concentration in regions near first and second interfaces. A CoFeB free layer selectively crystallizes along first and second interfaces but maintains an amorphous character in a middle region containing a glass agent providing the annealing temperature is less than the crystallization temperature of the middle region.
US08698254B2
A tunnel field effect transistor is capable of operating at a low subthreshold and is able to be manufactured easily. The tunnel field effect transistor includes a group IV semiconductor substrate having a (111) surface and doped so as to have a first conductivity type, a group III-V compound semiconductor nanowire arranged on the (111) surface and containing a first region connected to the (111) surface and a second region doped so as to have a second conductivity type, a source electrode connected to the group IV semiconductor substrate; a drain electrode connected to the second region, and a gate electrode for applying an electric field to an interface between the (111) surface and the group III-V compound semiconductor nanowire, or an interface between the first region and the second region.
US08698253B2
A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate having first and second areas; an STI isolation region being made of an isolation trench formed in the semiconductor substrate and an insulating film burying the isolation trench and defining a plurality of active regions in the first and second areas; a first structure formed on an area from the active region in the first area to a nearby STI isolation region and having a first height; and a second structure formed on an area from the active region in the second area to a nearby STI isolation region and having a second height, wherein the surface of the said STI isolation region in the first area is lower than the surface of said STI isolation region in the second area.
US08698246B2
A high-voltage oxide transistor includes a substrate; a channel layer disposed on the substrate; a gate electrode disposed on the substrate to correspond to the channel layer; a source contacting a first side of the channel layer; and a drain contacting a second side of the channel layer, wherein the channel layer includes a plurality of oxide layers, and none of the plurality of oxide layers include silicon. The gate electrode may be disposed on or under the channel layer. Otherwise, the gate electrodes may be disposed respectively on and under the channel layer.
US08698236B2
The invention provides an LDMOS transistor of which the time-dependent degrading of the performance due to the trapping of hot electrons in the gate insulation film is decreased. A body layer is disposed in a surface portion of an N−− type semiconductor layer. A source layer including an N− type layer is disposed in a surface portion of the body layer. An N− type drift layer is formed in a surface portion of the N−− type semiconductor layer. This drift layer includes a first region having a first N type impurity concentration peak region and a second region having a second N type impurity concentration peak region that is positioned deeper than the first N type impurity concentration peak region, the second region adjoining this first region. An N+ type drain layer is formed in a surface portion of the second region.
US08698231B2
A semiconductor device includes vertical channel layers, a pipe channel layer coupling bottoms of the vertical channel layers, a pipe gate contacting a bottom surface and side surfaces of the pipe channel layer, and a dummy pipe gate formed of a non-conductive material and contacting a top surface of the pipe channel layer.
US08698226B2
Disclosed herein is a device comprising a source region, a drain region and a gate layer; the source region, the drain region and the gate layer being disposed on a semiconductor host; the gate layer being disposed between source and drain regions; the gate layer comprising a first gate-insulator layer; a gate layer comprising carbon nanotubes and/or graphene. Disclosed herein too is a method comprising disposing a source region, a drain region and a gate layer on a semiconductor host; the gate layer being disposed between the source region and the drain region; the gate layer comprising carbon nanotubes and/or graphene.
US08698213B2
Pressure-sensitive amplifier stage comprising four unipolar pressure-sensor transistors each including a piezoresistive current path. The pressure-sensor transistors are connected as a pressure-measuring bridge having two bridge legs each comprising first and second pressure-sensor transistors which are connected in series. Two unipolar control transistors each has a control terminal and a current path arranged between a further first and a further second terminal. The respective first and second terminals of the two control transistors are connected in pairs, and the control terminals each is connected to a node between the pressure-sensor transistors. The interconnected second terminals are connected to the control terminals of the second pressure-sensor transistors of the two bridge legs. The control terminals of the first pressure-sensor transistors are adapted for connection thereto of a respective operating input voltage, and a measurement output voltage is detectable between the pressure-sensor transistors.
US08698206B2
Methods of patterning features, methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices, and semiconductor devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of patterning a feature includes forming a first portion of the feature in a first material layer. A second portion of the feature is formed in the first material layer, and a third portion of the feature is formed in a second material layer.
US08698190B2
A lighting device is formed using a light-emitting element by a more simplified method. The lighting device includes a light-emitting element including a light-emitting layer between a first electrode and a second electrode, a substrate provided with the light-emitting element and an uneven region around the periphery of the light-emitting element, a sealing substrate facing the substrate, connection electrodes connected to the first electrode and the second electrode and formed over the uneven region, and a sealant for bonding the substrate and the sealing substrate. The connection electrodes are each formed using a conductive paste, and the sealant is in contact with the connection electrodes and the uneven region provided around the periphery of the light-emitting element.
US08698188B2
The object of the invention is to improve the visual inspection yield of a semiconductor light emitting device. To achieve the object, a semiconductor light emitting device includes a semiconductor layer, a pad electrode on the layer, and a protection film covering at least the layer. The device includes at least one stopper arranged on a peripheral part of the pad electrode surface away from the film. The stopper has a semicircular arc shape opening toward the center of the pad electrode. In electrical/optical property inspection, if sliding on the pad electrode, a probe needle can be guided into the concave surface of the semicircular arc shape. The stopper can reliably hold the needle. It is avoidable that the needle contacts the film. It is preferable that each of positive/negative electrodes have the pad electrode, and a pair of stoppers be arranged in positions on the electrodes facing each other.
US08698187B2
A light emitting device comprises a case having a space therein, the space defined by an inner bottom surface and an inner side surface of the case, a lead frame housed in the space, and having a bending portion bent along the inner side surface of the case, and a light emitting element electrically connected to the lead frame, wherein a rear surface of the bending portion is embedded in the case and a front surface of the bending portion is exposed from the inner side surface of the case so as to oppose the light emitting element, and wherein a projecting portion projected from the inner bottom surface and inclined to the inner side surface of the case is formed on the inner side surface of the case.
US08698184B2
A light emitting diode chip a support layer having a first face and a second face opposite the first face, a diode region on the first face of the support layer, and a bond pad on the second face of the support layer. The bond pad includes a gold-tin structure having a weight percentage of tin of 50% or more. The light emitting diode chip may include a plurality of active regions that are connected in electrical series on the light emitting diode chip.
US08698182B2
A light emitting device having auto-cloning photonic crystal structures comprises a substrate, a first semiconductor layer, an active emitting layer, a second semiconductor layer and a saw-toothed multilayer film comprising auto-cloning photonic crystal structures. The saw-toothed multilayer film provides a high reflection interface and a diffraction mechanism to prevent total internal reflection and enhance light extraction efficiency.
US08698176B2
A light emitting device includes a conductive support member, a first conductive layer on the conductive support member, a second conductive layer, a first semiconductor layer on the second conductive layer, a second semiconductor layer and an active layer between the first semiconductor layer and the second conductive layer, and an insulation layer disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer. The first conductive layer includes a first expansion part penetrating the second conductive layer, the second semiconductor layer and the active layer, and a second expansion part extending from the first expansion part and disposed in the first semiconductor layer. The insulation layer is on a lateral surface of the first expansion part. At least a portion of a lateral surface of the second expansion part contacts the first semiconductor layer, and the insulation layer is between the first semiconductor layer and the second expansion part.
US08698164B2
A semiconductor structure includes a GaN substrate with a first surface and a second surface. The GaN substrate is characterized by a first conductivity type and a first dopant concentration. A first electrode is electrically coupled to the second surface of the GaN substrate. The semiconductor structure further includes a first GaN epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type coupled to the first surface of the GaN substrate and a second GaN layer of a second conductivity type coupled to the first GaN epitaxial layer. The first GaN epitaxial layer comprises a channel region. The second GaN epitaxial layer comprises a gate region and an edge termination structure. A second electrode coupled to the gate region and a third electrode coupled to the channel region are both disposed within the edge termination structure.
US08698162B2
Gallium nitride (GaN) based semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing the same. The GaN-based semiconductor device may include a heat dissipation substrate (that is, a thermal conductive substrate); a GaN-based multi-layer arranged on the heat dissipation substrate and having N-face polarity; and a heterostructure field effect transistor (HFET) or a Schottky electrode arranged on the GaN-based multi-layer. The HFET device may include a gate having a double recess structure. While such a GaN-based semiconductor device is being manufactured, a wafer bonding process and a laser lift-off process may be used.
US08698160B2
The object of the present invention is to form a low-concentration impurity region with good accuracy in a top gate type TFT. Phosphorus is added to a semiconductor layer by using a pattern made of a conductive film as a mask to form an N-type impurity region in a self-alignment manner. A positive photoresist is applied to a substrate so as to cover the pattern and then is exposed to light applied to the back of the substrate and then is developed, whereby a photoresist 110 is formed. The pattern is etched by using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask to form a gate electrode. A channel forming region, a source region, a drain region, and low-concentration impurity regions, are formed in the semiconductor layer in a self-alignment manner by using the gate electrode as a doping mask.
US08698132B2
A functional molecule (10) is constructed of electrodes (5,6), which are formed of pSi (polysilicon) and are opposing each other, and a molecular array structure (7), and the molecular array structure is formed of interface modifier molecules (2), which are covalently coupled to surfaces of the electrodes (5,6) to modify the surfaces, and driver molecules (1) repeatedly stacked in one direction between the interface modifier molecules. The interface modifier molecules each have a nearly discoid skeleton of a π-electron conjugated system and side chains, are arranged with planes of their skeletons lying substantially in parallel to the surfaces of both the electrodes, and are covalently coupled at their side chains to Si atoms in both the electrodes. The driver molecules are of a π-electron conjugated system, and upon application of an electrical field, change in structure or orientation and hence change in dielectric constant, in other words, conductivity. The driver molecules are functional molecules of a complex having a Zn ion approximately at its center. The interface modifier molecules and driver molecules are stacked together by intermolecular π-π stacking, and so the driver molecules themselves.
US08698130B2
An organic light emitting display and a fabricating method thereof, where the display has sub-pixels of various types, which have distinctive shapes formed therein according to type is disclosed. Pixels of a particular type e.g., red, green, or blue, can be identified through visual recognition of the distinctive pattern.
US08698128B2
Non-planar semiconductor devices are provided that include at least one semiconductor nanowire suspended above a semiconductor oxide layer that is present on a first portion of a bulk semiconductor substrate. An end segment of the at least one semiconductor nanowire is attached to a first semiconductor pad region and another end segment of the at least one semiconductor nanowire is attached to a second semiconductor pad region. The first and second pad regions are located above and are in direct contact with a second portion of the bulk semiconductor substrate which is vertically offsets from the first portion. The structure further includes a gate surrounding a central portion of the at least one semiconductor nanowire, a source region located on a first side of the gate, and a drain region located on a second side of the gate which is opposite the first side of the gate.
US08698126B2
In the nitride semiconductor device of the present invention, an active layer 12 is sandwiched between a p-type nitride semiconductor layer 11 and an n-type nitride semiconductor layer 13. The active layer 12 has, at least, a barrier layer 2a having an n-type impurity, a well layer 1a made of a nitride semiconductor that includes In; and a barrier layer 2c that has a p-type impurity, or that has been grown without being doped. An appropriate injection of carriers into the active layer 12 becomes possible by arranging the barrier layer 2c nearest to the p-type layer side.
US08698114B2
An EUV light source device properly compensates the wave front of laser beam which is changed by heat. A wave front compensator and a sensor are provided in an amplification system which amplifies laser beam. The sensor detects and outputs changes in the angle (direction) of laser beam and the curvature of the wave front thereof. A wave front compensation controller outputs a signal to the wave front compensator based on the measurement results from the sensor. The wave front compensator corrects the wave front of the laser beam to a predetermined wave front according to an instruction from the wave front compensation controller.
US08698109B2
A computer readable storage medium containing program instructions for treating a photoresist relief feature on a substrate having an initial line roughness and an initial critical dimension, that, when executed cause a system to: direct ions toward the photoresist relief feature in a first exposure at a first angular range and at a first ion dose rate configured to reduce the initial line roughness to a second line roughness; and direct ions toward the photoresist relief feature in a second exposure at a second ion dose rate greater than the first ion dose rate, the second ion dose rate being configured to swell the photoresist relief feature.
US08698108B1
A system of measuring ion beam current in a process chamber using conductive liners is disclosed. A conductive liner is used to shield the walls of the process chamber. An ion measuring device, such as an ammeter, is used to measure the current created by the ions that impact the conductive liner. In some embodiments, a mechanism to contain secondary electrons generated in the process chamber is employed. Additionally, the ions that impact the scan system or workpiece may also be measured, thereby allowing the current of the entire ion beam to be measured.
US08698104B2
A system for loading workpieces into a process chamber for processing in a matrix configuration includes a conveyor configured to transport multiple workpieces in a linear fashion. A workpiece hotel is configured to receive the multiple workpieces from the conveyor. The workpiece hotel comprises a matrix of cells arranged in N columns and M floors. A pick blade is configured to insert into the hotel and retract from the hotel in order to unload a plurality of substrates from a first floor into a single row of the pick blade, and to repeat the unloading operation to form a matrix comprising a plurality of rows of substrates disposed on the pick blade. In one example, the workpiece hotel has a staggered configuration that provides individual accessibility of each hotel cell.
US08698099B2
A chucking member for holding a target is removably mounted on a chucking stage with a plurality of vacuum holes. the chucking member has a substrate removably mounted on the chucking stage. The substrate has a vacuum region in which the target being to be arranged, the vacuum region allowing gas to be vacuumed through a part of the plurality of the vacuum holes, and a vacuum inhibition region provided around the vacuum region, the vacuum inhibition region covering the other of the vacuum holes to inhibit the gas from being vacuumed through the other of the vacuum holes.
US08698091B2
A semiconductor detector device, such as a PIN diode or silicon drift detector, including a substrate with an entrance window. The entrance window comprises a conductive layer, and an insulating layer disposed between the conductive layer and the substrate. The insulating layer and conductive layer cover a center portion of the surface of the substrate.
US08698086B2
A scintillator material according to one embodiment includes a bismuth-loaded aromatic polymer having an energy resolution at 662 keV of less than about 10%. A scintillator material according to another embodiment includes a bismuth-loaded aromatic polymer having a fluor incorporated therewith and an energy resolution at 662 keV of less than about 10%. Additional systems and methods are also presented.
US08698080B2
An object of the invention is to reduce the beam drift in which the orbit of the charged particle beam is deflected by a potential gradient generated by a nonuniform sample surface potential on a charged-particle-beam irradiation area surface, the nonuniform sample surface potential being generated by electrification made when observing an insulating-substance sample using a charged particle beam. Energy of the charged particle beam to be irradiated onto the sample is set so that generation efficiency of secondary electrons generated from the sample becomes equal to 1 or more. A flat-plate electrode (26) is located in such a manner as to be directly opposed to the sample. Here, the flat-plate electrode is an electrode to which a voltage can be applied independently, and which is equipped with a hole through which a primary charged particle beam can pass. Furthermore, a voltage can be applied independently to a sample stage (12) on which the sample is mounted. Here, the sample stage's surface directly opposed to the sample is formed into a planarized structure with no projections and depressions thereon. Also, diameter D of the hole provided in the flat-plate electrode (26) and distance L between the flat-plate electrode (26) and the sample are set such that a relation of D/L≦1.5 is satisfied.
US08698076B2
In order to provide a differential mobility analyzer and the like that allows (i) easy increase of an upper limit of particle size of charged particle which can be classified and (ii) analysis of charged particles whose particle size is variable, a DMA (Differential Mobility Analyzer) includes: a classification tank in which an inlet electrode having an inlet slit, an intermediate electrode having a slit, and an outlet electrode having an outlet slit are arranged in sequence in such a manner that adjacent electrodes are disposed opposing each other at predetermined intervals; a gas supply section supplying the classification tank with sheath gas; and a voltage generator applying a predetermined voltage between the electrodes disposed opposing each other, the classification tank including a first classification section and a second classification section each formed by the electrodes disposed opposing each other, and the gas supply section controlling a flow rate of the sheath gas to be supplied to the classification tank individually per first classification section and second classification section.
US08698074B2
The gas conductance on the ion injection side of a collision cell is made larger than the gas conductance on the ion exit side by providing two ion injection apertures 23, 25 in the collision cell. Due to the different gas conductances, a CID gas supplied through the gas supply tube 31 generally flows in a direction from the ion injection side to the ion exit side in the collision cell, namely, in the ion's passage direction. When the ions injected in the collision cell 20 slow down upon contacting with the CID gas, their progress is assisted by the gas flow, so that the delay of the ions in the collision cell 20 is alleviated. As a result, it is possible to avoid a deterioration in the detection sensitivity of a target product ion and to prevent a ghost peak caused by the stay of the ions.
US08698073B2
The present invention provides an ion collection device for an ion mobility spectrometer and an ion mobility spectrometer. The ion collection device comprises: an aperture grid for restraining influence of ion drift movement in a drift region on ion collection; and a first electrode disposed at a downstream side of the aperture grid in an ion drift direction, the first electrode is mechanically and electrically coupled with the aperture grid. With the above configuration, the aperture grid and the first electrode are at the same electric potential, and form a focusing electrical field with an ion collection part. Therefore, ions entering the collection region will not scatter into a shield cover.
US08698072B2
A high-quality mass spectrum is provided with alleviated mass/charge axis deviation in a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer even when executing a high-speed mass scan with MS/MS analysis. Mass calibration tables which denote relations between m/z and a mass deviation value which scan speed is a parameter are prepared separately for use in MS analyses without involving dissociation operations and MS/MS analyses with involving dissociation operations. According to a measuring mode, such as a product ion scan measurement or a neutral loss scan measurement, when performing MS/MS analysis, a mass deviation value for the minimum scan speed in a table is used for a quadrupole where the selected m/z is fixed, and a mass deviation value for a designated scan speed in a table is used for a quadrupole where the mass scan is performed, thus controlling the operations of each of a pre-stage and a post-stage quadrupoles.
US08698071B2
A rotary encoder 100 includes a scale portion 201 in which a first slit array 202 having slits, the number of which is S1, and a second slit array 203 having slits, the number of which is S2, are formed concentrically with respect to a center point 220, and a sensor unit portion 302,304 including a first sensor 311,313 that detects a signal from the first slit array in a first read region 211,215 and a second sensor 312,314 that detects a signal from the second slit array in a second read region 212,216. The rotary encoder meets R1min/R2max≦S1/ S2≦R1max/R2min, where R1max and R1min are respectively the maximum and minimum values of a distance from the center point in the first read region and R2max and R2min are respectively the maximum and minimum values of a distance from the center point in the second read region.
US08698064B2
A solid-state imaging device according to the present invention includes pixels which are arranged two-dimensionally and each of which includes: a light absorbing layer that converts light into signal charges; a signal read circuit to read out the signal charges, the signal read circuit being formed on a side opposite to a light incident plane side of the light absorbing layer; a metal layer that is formed on the light incident plane side of the light absorbing layer, the metal layer having an aperture to transmit, into the light absorbing layer, light of a wavelength range depending on a shape of the aperture, a driving circuit that applies a voltage to the metal layer to generate, in the light absorbing layer, a potential gradient to collect the signal charges.
US08698062B2
An analog-to-digital converter converts an analog signal into a digital signal by measuring a time period until a magnitude relation between a voltage level of a reference signal that changes along with time and a voltage level of the analog signal is inverted. The converter comprises a holding unit which holds, as a voltage level that is an analog value, an offset value of the analog-to-digital converter upon analog-to-digital converting a reference voltage level by the analog-to-digital converter, wherein the offset value of the analog-to-digital converter is corrected by changing the voltage level of the analog signal by the voltage level of the offset value held by the holding unit.
US08698061B2
An image sensor includes a pixel array with a plurality of pixels. A pixel includes a photodiode, a first transfer gate, a storage gate, and a second transfer gate. The first transfer gate is controllable to transfer charge from the photodiode to under the storage gate. The storage gate is connected to a readout circuit to allow the readout circuit to read out a voltage level of a potential at the storage gate. The second transfer gate is controllable to transfer charge from under the storage gate. A method includes controlling the first transfer gate to transfer charge from the photodiode to under the storage gate, reading out a voltage level of a potential at the storage gate using the readout circuit that is connected to the storage gate, and controlling the second transfer gate to drain charge from under the storage gate.
US08698060B2
Disclosed is a position detection system capable of detecting the position of a line-shaped object. From among two connected lines (E1E2 and E1′E2′) created by connecting opposed intersecting points among four interesting points (E1, E2, E1′, and E2′), a position detection unit (12) treats the one connected line (E1E2) with a length closer to the overall length of a rod (ST) as the position of the rod (ST) that overlaps a coordinate map region (MA).
US08698053B2
A method for producing an electronic device is disclosed. One embodiment provides two soldering partners to be connected to one another at an envisaged joining location and at least one of which includes an electronic component or is formed as such a component, a soldering apparatus having an inductor, and an intermediate plate The soldering partners, the inductor and the intermediate plate are positioned in such a way that the intermediate plate is arranged between the electronic component and the envisaged joining location, on the one hand, and the inductor. The soldering partners are connected at the envisaged joining location by using a solder that is melted by energy emitted by the inductor.
US08698049B2
Embodiments of a lamphead and apparatus utilizing same are provided. In some embodiments, a lamphead for thermal processing may include a monolithic member having a plurality of coolant passages and a plurality of lamp passages and reflector cavities, wherein each lamp passage is configured to accommodate a lamp and each reflector cavity is shaped to act as a reflector or to receive a replaceable reflector for the lamp, and wherein the plurality of coolant passages are disposed proximate to the plurality of lamp passages; and at least one heat transfer member extending from the monolithic member into each coolant passage, wherein the at least one heat transfer member extends into each coolant passage up to the full height of each coolant passage. The lamphead may be disposed in an apparatus comprising a process chamber having a substrate support, wherein the lamphead is positioned to provide energy to the substrate support.
US08698037B2
A sensor apparatus for measuring a plasma process parameter for processing a workpiece. The sensor apparatus includes a base, an information processor supported on or in the base, and at least one sensor supported on or in the base. The at least one sensor includes at least one sensing element configured for measuring an electrical property of a plasma and may include a transducer coupled to the at least one sensing element. The transducer can be configured to receive a signal from the sensing element and convert the signal into a second signal for input to the information processor.
US08698034B2
A vacuum interrupter is provided. As a main shield and sub shields are installed in an overlapping manner, an equipotential distribution can be mitigated and thusly a dielectric strength can be enhanced. Also, as a curved portion is formed at each end of the shields, concentration of an electric field at an end of each shield can be prevented and accordingly an electric field value can be lowered. Consequently, the dielectric strength can be remarkably enhanced, resulting in an effective prevention of a dielectric breakdown.
US08698028B2
A push-on switch includes a first contact plate, second contact plate, spacer, movable contact, and lid. The first plate has a projection at its center and a first terminal at its end. The second plate faces a face of the projection of the first contact plate and has an opening at its center and a second terminal at its end. The spacer is interposed between the first plate and the second plate for bonding them together. The movable contact is shaped like a dome and has a protrusion protruding downward and touches a top face of the second plate. The protrusion faces the projection of the first plate via the opening with a given space therebetween. The lid holds the movable contact and is mounted on the top face of the second plate. A push onto the movable contact reverses the movable contact downward, which allows the protrusion to touch the projection.
US08698020B2
A wiper holder to which a wiper is attached has an attachment surface including a positioning boss configured to position the wiper by being passed through a positioning hole in the wiper, a positioning protrusion configured to position a first edge of the wiper, and a swage boss configured to receive a second edge of the wiper. The first edge of the wiper contacts the positioning protrusion to position the first edge of the wiper and the wiper is secured to the wiper holder by the swage boss being swaged while the positioning boss is passed through the positioning hole in the wiper and the second edge of the wiper being received by the swage boss.
US08698019B2
Disclosed herein is a button structure for electronic products. The button structure includes a push button, a restoring means, and an opposite sidewall. The push button is configured such that a plurality of contacts is provided along the circumference thereof. The restoring means includes a central shaft, which is provided in the central portion of the push button. The opposite sidewall is spaced apart from the contacts, and is configured to surround the push button, and is configured such that sensors for generating their corresponding signals are provided on the opposite sidewall at respective locations opposite those of the contacts.
US08698015B2
A system and method provide for selecting a sensor in an array of capacitive sensors, determining a row intensity for the selected sensor, and determining a column intensity for the selected sensor. The system and method may also provide for compensating the selected sensor for multi-touch signal bias drift, wherein the compensating may include adjusting an intensity of the selected sensor based on the row and column intensity.
US08698013B1
A feed weighing assembly includes an assembly scale, a display screen interfacing with the assembly scale and an insert body carried by the assembly scale and sized and configured for placement in a game feeder.
US08697999B2
An electric insulator is provided that can be used between an electrified wire of an electric fence and a fence post. The electric insulator generally includes a body having a lateral aperture. The lateral aperture extends for the entire length of the body and is configured to allow a wire to be laterally inserted into, or removed from, a central channel of the electric insulator. The electric insulator may include one or more fins to assist in securing the electric insulator to a fence post.
US08697992B2
A cable assembly for use in a hydrocarbon well of extensive depth. The cable assembly may be effectively employed at well depths of over 30,000 feet. Indeed, embodiments of the assembly may be effectively employed at depths of over 50,000 feet while powering and directing downhole equipment at a downhole end thereof. The assembly may be made up of a comparatively high break strength uphole cable portion coupled to a lighter downhole cable portion. This configuration helps to ensure the structural integrity of the assembly in light of its own load when disposed in a well to such extensive depths. Additionally, the assembly may be employed at such depths with an intervening connector sub having a signal amplification mechanism incorporated therein to alleviate concern over telemetry between the surface of the oilfield and the downhole equipment.
US08697988B2
Photovoltaic cells comprising an active layer comprising, as p-type material, conjugated polymers such as polythiophene and regioregular polythiophene, and as n-type material at least one fullerene derivative. The fullerene derivative can be C60, C70, or C84. The fullerene also can be functionalized with indene groups. Improved efficiency can be achieved.
US08697987B2
A solar cell has a photovoltaic element having a back electrical contact, and a front current-collection grid cap structure overlying and contacting the photovoltaic solar cell element. The front current-collection grid cap structure is made of a doped semiconductor material and has openings therethrough to the photovoltaic solar cell element. An anti-reflection layer formed of an anti-reflection material overlies and contacts the photovoltaic solar cell element in the openings of the front current-collection grid cap structure. An edge stripe of a cap-top protective material, preferably the same as the anti-reflection material, overlies and contacts each top grid-cap margin of the top cap structure but not a top grid-cap central region of the top cap-structure. A metallic electrical current collector overlies and contacts the top cap structure and at least some of the edge stripe, but does not contact the anti-reflection layer and does not contact the photovoltaic solar cell element.
US08697981B2
Methods and devices are provided for improved large-scale solar installations. In one embodiment, a photovoltaic module is provided comprising a module front layer comprising a glass plate, a module back layer comprising an electrically conductive foil, and a plurality of solar cells arranged to be protected by the front layer and the back layer. In some embodiments, the module back layer is aluminum foil. The module back layer may have an externally exposed surface. The module back layer may be electrically grounded. An electrically insulating pottant material may be used with the solar cells to separate them from the module back layer. This allows for a high voltage withstand between the cells and the outer surface of the back layer.
US08697980B2
One photovoltaic module has a plurality of photovoltaic cells including a first photovoltaic cell and a second photovoltaic cell, a collector-connector configured to collect a current from the first photovoltaic cell and electrically connect the first photovoltaic cell to the second photovoltaic cell and at least one diode configured to bypass at least one of the photovoltaic cells. Another photovoltaic module has a plurality of cells including a first photovoltaic cell and a second photovoltaic cell, such that the first photovoltaic cell contains an active portion and a shaded portion, that is configured as a diode bypassing the second photovoltaic cell. Methods of making photovoltaic modules that incorporate bypass diodes are also provided.
US08697978B2
A method for providing multi-region instrument support in an audio player is described. A set of user defined instruments and a set of MIDI data is received. At least one multi-region instrument in the set of user defined instruments is identified. Each region in the multi-region instruments is mapped to a single region instrument with the same parameters as the region. A new instrument number is assigned to each single region instrument. The MIDI data is modified based on the mapping and assigning.
US08697975B2
Provided are a musical performance-related information output device and a musical performance system capable of superimposing musical performance-related information on an audio signal without damaging the general versatility of the audio signal. The musical performance-related information output device includes a musical performance-related information acquiring section that is adapted to acquire musical performance-related information related to a musical performance of a performer, a superimposing section that is adapted to superimpose the musical performance-related information on an analog audio signal such that a modulated component of the musical performance-related information is included in a band higher than the frequency component of the analog audio signal generated in accordance with the musical performance manipulation of the performer, and an output section that outputs the analog audio signal on which the superimposing section superimposes the musical performance-related information.
US08697971B1
A teaching aid for players of brass instruments is described that includes at least one rectangular paddle connected to a handle at one end. The rectangular paddle is dimensioned to have a height appropriate for a type of player's instrument so that when the rectangular paddle when placed between the front teeth of the player, it holds the teeth apart a distance equal to the height of the paddle, that distance placing the player's mouth in a proper position for that instrument. The handle is preferably sized to fit through the opening in the mouthpiece of the player's instrument.
US08697965B1
An inbred corn line, designated DES02, the plants and seeds of the inbred corn line DES02, methods for producing a corn plant, either inbred or hybrid, produced by crossing the inbred corn line DES02 with itself or with another corn plant, and hybrid corn seeds and plants produced by crossing the inbred line DES02 with another corn line or plant and to methods for producing a corn plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic corn plants produced by that method. This invention also relates to inbred corn lines derived from inbred corn line DES02, to methods for producing other inbred corn lines derived from inbred corn line DES02 and to the inbred corn lines derived by the use of those methods.
US08697957B2
According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH756491. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CH756491, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH756491 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH756491.
US08697953B2
A novel soybean variety, designated XB10A12 is provided. Also provided are the seeds of soybean variety XB10A12, cells from soybean variety XB10A12, plants of soybean XB10A12, and plant parts of soybean variety XB10A12. Methods provided include producing a soybean plant by crossing soybean variety XB10A12 with another soybean plant, methods for introgressing a transgenic trait, a mutant trait, and/or a native trait into soybean variety XB10A12, methods for producing other soybean varieties or plant parts derived from soybean variety XB10A12, and methods of characterizing soybean variety XB10A12. Soybean seed, cells, plants, germplasm, breeding lines, varieties, and plant parts produced by these methods and/or derived from soybean variety XB10A12 are further provided.
US08697948B2
The present invention concerns a method for enhancing yield-related traits in plants by modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid encoding a PATL (PATELLIN) polypeptide, or a PRP38 (Precursor RNA Processing factor 38) polypeptide, or an ADA2 (Adaptor 2) polypeptide. The present invention also concerns a method for increasing Thousand Kernel Weight, total weight of seeds and/or number of filled seeds, by modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a GATA-like polypeptide. The invention also concerns a method for increasing various plant yield-related traits by, increasing expression in a plant of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a WD40 repeat (WDR) 23-like polypeptide. The invention also provides hitherto unknown PATL nucleic acids and constructs useful in the methods of the invention.
US08697940B2
Mice are provided that comprise a reduction or deletion of ADAM6 activity from an endogenous ADAM6 locus, or that lack an endogenous locus encoding a mouse ADAM6 protein, wherein the mice comprise a sequence encoding an ADAM6 or ortholog or homolog or fragment thereof that is functional in a male mouse. In one embodiment, the sequence is an ectopic ADAM6 sequence or a sequence that confers upon a male mouse the ability to generate offspring by mating. Mice and cells with genetically modified immunoglobulin heavy chain loci that comprise an ectopic nucleotide sequence encoding a mouse ADAM6 or functional fragment or homolog or ortholog thereof are also provided.
US08697937B2
A disposable absorbent article worn about the lower torso of a wearer includes at least one pair of side panels connecting a first waist region to a second waist region forming a waist opening and a pair of leg openings. Each side panel includes a waist region, a hip region and a leg region wherein the waist region, the hip region and the leg region differs structurally, functionally and visually to provide an improved initial fit and sustained fit while exhibiting a garment-like appearance.
US08697932B2
Switchable adhesives comprising a mixture, in proportions by weight, of 20% to 98% of an adhesive, 2% to 80% of curable molecules and 0.05% to 10% of photoinitiator. Preferably, the adhesive and curable molecules are mutually soluble when dry or the curable molecules and adhesive may be uniformly dispersed in each other. Preferably the amount of adhesive in the mixture is in the range 40% to 98% by weight, more preferably 60% to 95% by weight, even more preferably 70% to 85% by weight. Preferably the proportion of curable molecules in the mixture ranges from 2% to 60% by weight, more preferably 5% to 40% by weight, even more preferably 15% to 30% by weight. Preferably, the photoinitiator is present in the mixture in the proportions 0.5% to 5% by weight, more preferably 1% to 3% by weight. Such switchable adhesives are useful in medical dressings and other removable sheet products, and may be simply prepared by stirring the adhesive, the curable molecules and the photoinitiator together at room temperature.
US08697920B2
The invention concerns a process for desulphurizing a feed comprising oxygen-containing compounds, hydrocarbon-containing compounds and organic sulphur-containing compounds, by capturing sulphur on a capture mass comprising iron oxides or zinc oxides and more than 20% by weight of zinc ferrite. The process is operated in the presence of hydrogen at a temperature in the range 200° C. to 400° C.
US08697911B2
The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I): and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein R1 and R2 are as defined herein. The invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds, methods of using these compounds in the treatment of various diseases and disorders, processes for preparing these compounds and intermediates useful in these processes.
US08697909B2
In a process for preparing an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salt of an α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, a) a transition metal-alkene complex is reacted with CO2 to give a metallalactone, b) the metallalactone is reacted with a base to give an adduct of the alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salt of the α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid with the transition metal complex, and c) the adduct is reacted with an alkene to release the alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salt of the α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid and regenerate the transition metal-alkene complex. The base is selected from alkali metal or alkaline earth metal hydroxides and alkali metal or alkaline earth metal superbases. The alkene is, for example, ethene. The transition metal complex comprises, for example, nickel and a bidentate P,P, P,N, P,O or P,carbene ligand, such as 1,2-bis(di-tert-butylphosphino)ethane.
US08697906B2
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for use in producing a low-moisture carboxylic acid wet cake. Such a low-moisture wet cake can comprise less than about 12 weight percent liquid and can be achieved by washing a carboxylic acid wet cake in a product isolation zone with a wash stream having an initial temperature of at least about 40° C.
US08697905B2
Methods of producing terephthalic acid are described. The methods involve using a p-xylene stream enriched with p-toluic acid. The p-xylene stream enriched with p-toluic acid, a solvent comprising an ionic liquid and optionally a carboxylic acid, a bromine source, a catalyst, and an oxidizing agent are contacted to produce a product comprising terephthalic acid.
US08697904B2
This invention relates to the field of heterogeneous catalysis, and more particularly to catalysts including carbon supports having formed thereon compositions which comprise a transition metal in combination with nitrogen and/or carbon. The invention further relates to the fields of catalytic oxidation and dehydrogenation reactions, including the preparation of secondary amines by the catalytic oxidation of tertiary amines and the preparation of carboxylic acids by the catalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols.
US08697901B2
Discloses herein is a catalytic process for producing organohalosilane monomers from a high-boiling residue resulting from the Direct Reaction of an organohalide with silicon. The high-boiling residue contains more conventionally cleavable compounds than conventionally uncleavable compounds. The process includes heating the residue in the presence of a catalyst comprising (1) one or more heterocyclic amines and/or one or more heterocyclic ammonium halides, and (2) one or more quaternary Group 15 onium compounds.
US08697898B2
A medical application of N-oleoyl-dopamine and 3′-O-methyl-N-oleoyl-dopamine for the production of a medication for treatment or prophylaxis of disturbances or states due to deficiency of dopamine, preferably chosen from the group covering oxygen deficiencies (hypoxia) in anesthetized and awake mammals, breathing with atmospheric oxygen (normoxia), for the respiratory responses to hypoxia in mammals, lack of dopamine binding to the membrane system in the mammalian brain, disturbances in metabolic pathways of dopamine metabolism, states of dopamine deficiencies provoked by morbid or genetic factors as well as under condition connected to the physiological process of aging of the organism, through the systemic introduction of the compound to the mammalian organism. A method of production of 3′-O-methyl-N-oleoyl-dopamine in vitro is also disclosed.
US08697879B2
Chiral synthesis of pyrrolidine core compounds en route to neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitors
A chiral synthesis of pyrrolidine compounds en route to selective neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, and representative inhibitor compounds heretofore unattainable.
US08697878B2
Thiazolyl oxime ethers and hydrazones of the formula (I), in which the symbols A, L1, L2, Y, W, X, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 have the meanings given in the description, and also agrochemically active salts thereof, and their use for controlling phytopathogenic harmful fungi, and also methods for controlling phytopathogenic harmful fungi and processes for preparing compounds of the formula (I).
US08697874B2
A compound represented by formula (I) or a salt thereof, which has a potent Raf inhibitory activity. In formula (I), R1 represents an optionally substituted C1-6 alkyl, etc.; X represents —O— or —NR2— (wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a C1-6 alkyl); Y represents a group represented by formula 2 (2i or 2ii) (wherein ring A represents an optionally substituted benzene ring; Z represents a group represented by (1) —NR3CO—W1—, (2) —NR3CO—W1—O—, (3) —NR3CO—W1—O—W2—, (4) —NR3CO—W1—S—, (5) —NR3CO—W1—NR4—, (6) —NR3COO—, (7) —NR3COO—W1—, (8) —NR3CO—CO—, or (9) —NR3CONR4— (wherein R3 and R4 each represents a hydrogen atom, etc., and W1 and W2 each represents an optionally substituted C1-6 alkylene, etc.); and R5 represents an optionally substituted five- or six-membered ring group.
US08697873B2
Imidazopyridine, imidazoquinoline, and imidazonaphthyridine compounds having an amide substituent at the 1-position, pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, intermediates, and methods of making and methods of use of these compounds as immunomodulators, for modulating cytokine biosynthesis in animals and in the treatment of diseases including viral and neoplastic diseases are disclosed.
US08697872B2
Organoboron compounds are described that upon exposure to light absorb light and isomerize and form a dark-colored isomer. The dark-colored isomer converts back to the colorless isomer upon removal of light, or exposure to oxygen or heat. Such compounds can be added into polymeric matrices such as films. These compounds are suitable for UV-blocking, UV-detecting, and for oxygen-sensing applications. Uses include UV-blocking windows, sunglasses, and as indicators in packaging such as food packaging.
US08697871B2
The present invention discloses a number of photoactive compounds designed to bind and inhibit serine proteases. Compounds disclosed herein may be utilized in a number of appropriate medical diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures such as the monitoring of hemostasis, imaging and/or treatment of vulnerable plaques, and/or tumor imaging and/or treatment.
US08697869B2
The present invention relates to 3-(heteroaryl-amino)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-9H-carbazole derivatives of the formula (I), wherein R1, R2 and R3 are as described in the description and their use as prostaglandin receptor modulators, most particularly as prostaglandin D2 receptor modulators, in the treatment of various prostaglandin-mediated diseases and disorders, to pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds and to processes for their preparation.
US08697867B2
Cyclic amine compounds represented by formula (1) or salts thereof or N-oxides thereof, wherein Cy1 represents an unsubstituted or substituted aromatic ring; X represents oxygen, sulfur, unsubstituted or substituted nitrogen, sulfinyl, or sulfonyl; R1a and R2a, R1a and R4a, R2a and R3a, or R3a and R4a form saturated rings together; R1a, R1b, R2a, R2b, R3a, R3b, R4a, R4b, and R5 which do not form the saturated rings are each independently hydrogen, hydroxyl, halogen, unsubstituted or substituted amino, nitro, or an organic group; Cy2 represents an unsubstituted or substituted aromatic ring with a proviso that Cy2 is an unsubstituted or substituted heteroaromatic ring when R1a and R2a form a saturated ring together and Cy1 is an unsubstituted or substituted phenyl, and Cy2 is a substituted pyridin-2-yl having one or more cyano as a substituent when Cy1 is an unsubstituted or substituted phenyl and Cy2 is a pyridin-2-yl.
US08697864B2
Flame retardant compositions that are halogen-free or substantially halogen-free are disclosed. In certain examples, the compositions comprise a halogen-free or substantially halogen-free epoxide and one or more phosphorated compounds. In some examples, the phosphorated compound comprises an average particle size less than 10 microns. In other examples, the phosphorated compound provides a surface area of 78.5 μm2 to about 1965 μm2. Prepregs, laminates, molded articles and printed circuit boards using the compositions are also disclosed.
US08697850B2
A process for preparing L-amino acids employing coryneform bacteria in which the AmtR regulator has been attenuated is provided. Recombinant bacteria, polynucleotides and vectors corresponding to or having the attenuated AmtR regulator are disclosed.
US08697846B2
Disclosed are compositions and methods for related to monoclonal antibodies specific for single amino acid variation in an antigen.
US08697841B2
An isolated peptide including an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 is provided. The disclosure also provides a delivery system comprising a carrier having a surface, a drug or a dye encapsulated in the carrier, and the disclosed peptide (having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1) grafted on the surface of the carrier.
US08697839B2
Provided are a series of Gq protein competitive inhibitory polypeptides (GCIPs), polynucleotides encoding them, and preparation methods thereof. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions comprising GCIP polypeptides and their uses in the manufacture of drugs for treating myocardial hypertrophy.
US08697834B2
The invention relates to a process for the preparation of polyalkylenepolyamines by catalyzed alcohol amination, in which(i) aliphatic aminoalcohols are reacted with one another or(ii) aliphatic diamines or polyamines are reacted with aliphatic diols or polyols with the elimination of water in the presence of a catalyst.
US08697822B2
The present invention relates to a method for the polymerization in an aqueous medium of monomers, and especially of fluoromonomers, using non-fluorinated surfactants; and the fluoropolymers formed therefrom. Specifically, the method of the polymerization uses one or more non-fluorinated surfactants selected from the group consisting of polyvinylphosphonic acid, polyacrylic acids, polyvinyl sulfonic acid, and salts thereof. Additionally, the use of polyvinylphosphonic acid, polyacrylic acids, polyvinyl sulfonic acid as surfactants in aqueous free radical polymerization is also novel.
US08697818B2
The invention provides alkoxy-crosslinking rubber mixtures (M) which comprise a compound of the general formula (1) M(OR1)n(OSiR23)5-n (1) and polymers with end groups of the general formula (2) —SiR3a(OR4)3-a (2), where M is defined as Nb or Ta, R1, R2; R3 and R4 are each hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, n is 1, 2, 3 or 4, and a is 0 or 1.
US08697815B2
A silane-functional polyester of formula (I): wherein Y is an n-valent residue of a polyester P which is solid at room temperature and terminated by hydroxy groups, after removal of n hydroxy groups; R1 is a linear or branched, monovalent carbon residue having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, optionally having one or more C—C multiple bonds and/or having optionally cycloaliphatic and/or aromatic portions; R2 is an acyl residue or a linear or branched, monovalent hydrocarbon residue having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, optionally having one or more C—C multiple bonds and/or having optionally cycloaliphatic and/or aromatic portions; R3 is a linear or branched, divalent hydrocarbon residue having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, optionally having cyclic and/or aromatic portions, and optionally having one or more heteroatoms; the index a has a value of 0, 1 or 2; and the index n has a value of 1 to 3.
US08697811B2
A curable resin composition, which contains, with respect to 100 parts of an epoxy resin, 1 to 70 parts of an epoxy resin curing agent and 1 to 50 parts of an acrylic block copolymer, and the acrylic block copolymer contains (α) at least one polymer block A composed of a structural unit derived from an alkyl methacrylate and at least one polymer block B composed of a structural unit derived from an alkyl acrylate, has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 30,000 to 300,000 and a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of 1.5 or less, and contains 3 to 60 percent by mass of the polymer block A. In addition, a cured resin is formed from the above curable resin composition.
US08697808B2
A high-temperature solution process for making an ethylene polymer blend having a controlled degree of long-chain branching is disclosed. Ethylene is polymerized in the presence of a first Ziegler-Natta catalyst comprising titanium, magnesium, and aluminum in the absence of hydrogen to produce a first ethylene polymer component having substantial long-chain branching. A second ethylene polymer component having little or no long-chain branching is also prepared. Both polymerizations are performed at a temperature from 140° C. to 250° C. The first and second ethylene polymer components are combined to give a polymer blend. The degree of long-chain branching in the blend is controlled by adjusting the relative amounts of the first and second ethylene polymer components. The invention enables the preparation of valuable products having a pre-determined degree of long-chain branching using readily available Zeigler-Natta catalysts, commercially practiced techniques, and conventional equipment.
US08697806B2
The instant invention is a high-density polyethylene composition, method of producing the same, articles made therefrom, and method of making such articles. The high-density polyethylene composition of the instant invention includes a first component, and a second component. The first component is a high molecular weight ethylene alpha-olefin copolymer having a density in the range of 0.915 to 0.940 g/cm3, and a melt index (I21.6) in the range of 0.5 to 10 g/10 minutes. The second component is a low molecular weight ethylene polymer having a density in the range of 0.965 to 0.980 g/cm3, and a melt index (I2) in the range of 50 to 1500 g/10 minutes. The high-density polyethylene composition has a melt index (I2) of at least 1, a density in the range of 0.950 to 0.960 g/cm3, and g′ of 1.
US08697805B2
The present invention relates to a resin composition for moisture absorbing film comprising polyethylene resin and polyacrylic acid partial sodium salt (PAPSS) or attapulgite synthesized acrylic amide (ATPGAA) as a moisture absorbent, moisture absorbing film for packaging, and a method for manufacturing film, and the present invention also relates to a resin composition for seasoned laver packaging film to be used for maintaining the high quality of the merchandize with good taste and tissue dryness.
US08697804B1
Disclosed is a composition comprising or produced from poly(trimethylene terephthalate), an ionomer of an ethylene acid copolymer comprising copolymerized units of at least one α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid comonomer, a nucleating agent and optionally an ethylene ester copolymer. Also disclosed are articles prepared from the composition. Also disclosed is a process for preparing the compositions, including methods for controlling the melt viscosity and strain hardening of the compositions.
US08697801B2
A plastic pallet having a fire retardant. The fire retardant is prepared in an FR masterbatch before mixing with HDPE to form the pallet. In one embodiment, the FR masterbatch includes a brominated fire retardant, a hydrated mineral, antimony trioxide and a carrier resin. In some embodiments, the brominated fire retardant is a non-blooming brominated fire retardant such as poly pentabromobenzyl acrylate or ethylenebistetrabromophthalamide. The hydrated mineral advantageously enhances both the vapor phase and condensed phase fire retardant properties of the final product and may be magnesium hydroxide. In other embodiments, melamine pyrophosphate or a blend of melamine pyrophosphate and polyhydric compound may be substituted for the hydrated mineral or used as the sole fire retardant. The polyhydric compound may be bis-pentaerythritol phosphate alcohol. A method of manufacturing a plastic pallet is also disclosed.
US08697799B2
Non-aqueous, liquid coating compositions which contain at least one polyurethane resin B with blocked isocyanate groups and at least one binder C with functional groups reactive towards the blocked isocyanate groups of B, wherein the at least one polyurethane resin B is present as particles having a melting temperature of 40 to 160° C.
US08697794B2
A method of improving the stress crack resistance of an impact modified styrenic polymer comprising (a) combining about 95 to about 99.5 wt. % of an impact modified styrenic polymer with about 0.5 to about 5 wt. % of a polymer solution comprising about 25 to about 75 wt. % polyisobutylene and about 25 to about 75 wt. % of a polyolefin comprising one or more C2 to C12 alpha olefins.
US08697789B2
Presently described is an adhesive composition comprising at least one isobutylene polymer and an alkyl amine adhesion promoting agent. The alkyl amine is unreactive with respect to the isobutylene polymer. In favored embodiments, the alkyl amine adhesion promoting agent comprises an alkyl group having 6-24 carbon atoms. Further, the isobutylene polymer is a non-halogenated copolymer or homopolymer. Also described are adhesive articles a pressure sensitive adhesive, as described herein on a backing. The adhesive is particularly suitable for articles intended for use in a wet environment such as kitchen or bath articles.
US08697783B2
A roofing membrane that includes a blend of thermoplastic polyurethane and petroleum liquid so as to improve the UV stability of the blend without adversely affecting the flexibility of the dried and/or cured blend.
US08697780B2
An improved concrete mix composition and its associated method of manufacture. A traditional concrete mix is created by mixing cementitious material with sand, aggregate, admixture chemicals and water. After the traditional mix has been thoroughly mixed, reinforcement fibers of polyvinyl alcohol are added to the mix. The reinforcement fibers chemically bond to the cementitious material, thereby chemically integrating the reinforcement fibers into the mixture. The reinforcement fibers are supplied in multiple sizes. The reinforcement fibers include both long thick fibers and short thin fibers. In this manner, the smaller reinforcement fibers can fill voids around the larger, thicker reinforcement fibers. This helps prevent the development of stress cracks in the concrete and significantly increases the strength, durability, and life expectancy of the concrete.
US08697756B2
The invention relates to compositions containing at least 90% by weight of dimer diol for use in a method for the surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human or animal body, and in particular to the use thereof as a body fluid replacement substance.
US08697749B2
In view of the situation that a clinically acceptable medical agent which has the action of preventing and relieving the lipotoxicity with no significant side effects is not yet provided, such medical agent is provided. An agent for relieving lipotoxicity which comprises an unsaturated fatty acid containing 18 to 22 carbon atoms and having a degree of unsaturation of 3 to 6 or a derivative thereof as its effective component.
US08697747B2
Methods for controlling bleeding (e.g., enhancing coagulation and reducing fibrinolysis) in a subject are disclosed. The methods include selecting a subject in need of enhanced coagulation or reduced fibrinolysis, and administering to the subject a carbon monoxide releasing molecule (CORM). Examples of CORMs include tricarbonyldichloro-ruthenium (II) dimer, tricarbonylchloro-(glycinato)ruthenium (II), sodium boranocarbonate, dimanganese decacarbonyl, and iron pentacarbonyl. Further disclosed are compositions and methods for treating a subject in need of a blood product by administering to the subject a composition including a CORM and a blood product (e.g., cryoprecipitate or fresh frozen plasma).
US08697736B2
1H-benzimidazole-4-carboxamides substituted with phenyl at the 2-position are potent PARP inhibitors
Compound having formula (I) inhibit the PARP enzyme and are useful for treating a disease or a disorder associated with PARP. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds having formula (I), methods of treatment comprising compounds having formula (I), and methods of inhibiting the PARP enzyme comprising compounds having formula (I).
US08697735B2
The invention relates to novel crystalline salts of 5-[(1Z,2E)-2-methyl-3-phenylpropenylidene]-4-oxo-2-thioxo-3-thiazolidineacetic acid and a novel betaine cocrystal of 5-[(1Z,2E)-2-methyl-3-phenylpropenylidene]-4-oxo-2-thioxo-3-thiazolidineacetic acid. The preparation and characterization of the novel crystalline salts and cocrystal according to various embodiments of the invention is described. The invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing the novel crystalline salts and cocrystal and the therapeutic use of the novel crystalline salts and cocrystal to treat and/or prevent various conditions, including treating and/or preventing diabetic complications, inhibiting aldose reductase, and affording cardioprotection in patients who may be non-diabetic.
US08697725B2
Tetrahydroquinoline compounds of formula (I) and salts thereof, pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds and their use in therapy.
US08697724B2
The invention relates to crystalline oxalate salts of biphenyl-2-ylcarbamic acid 1-(2-{[4-(4-{[(R)-2-hydroxy-2-(8-hydroxy-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinolin-5-yl)ethylamino]-methyl}phenylcarbamoyl)butyl]methylcarbamoyl}ethyl)piperidin-4-yl ester. This invention also relates to compositions containing such a crystalline oxalate salt; methods of using such a crystalline oxalate salt to, for example, treat a pulmonary disorder; and to processes for preparing such a crystalline oxalate salt.
US08697723B2
Compounds of formula I wherein X, Z, R1-R4, and m are as defined in the claims, exhibit alpha2C antagonistic activity, and are thus useful as alpha2C antagonists. Methods for the treatment of diseases and conditions of the peripheric system and the central nervous system are also disclosed.
US08697721B2
The present applications discloses novel 8-aza-bicyclo[3.2.1]oct-3-yloxy)-chromen-2-one derivatives and their use as monoamine neurotransmitter re-uptake inhibitors. In other aspects the applications discloses the use of these compounds in a method for therapy and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of the invention.
US08697711B2
Disclosed herein are compounds, including compounds having the structure of Formula (A), (B), (C), and (D), as described in further detail herein, that form covalent bonds with Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk). Also described are irreversible inhibitors of Btk. Methods for the preparation of the compounds are disclosed. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions that include the compounds. Methods of using the Btk inhibitors are disclosed, alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents, for the treatment of autoimmune diseases or conditions, heteroimmune diseases or conditions, cancer, including lymphoma, and inflammatory diseases or conditions.
US08697709B2
Provided herein are fused ring heteroaryl compounds useful in a variety of methods, including reducing the activity of certain kinases and treating certain disease states.
US08697704B2
The present invention discloses compounds of Formula (I), or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters, or prodrugs thereof: which inhibit RNA-containing virus, particularly the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Consequently, the compounds of the present invention interfere with the life cycle of the hepatitis C virus and are also useful as antiviral agents. The present invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the aforementioned compounds for administration to a subject suffering from HCV infection. The invention also relates to methods of treating an HCV infection in a subject by administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compounds of the present invention.
US08697697B2
This invention describes substituted pyrazole derivatives of Formula I and methods of making and using the compounds. These compounds have utility in the treatment of conditions or diseases in which modification of the activity of ERK would have a positive therapeutic outcome, for instance various cancers, psoriasis and actinic keratosis.
US08697696B2
The present invention is concerned with novel triazole compounds of formula (I) wherein A, X, Y, u, v, R1, R2, and R3 are as described herein, as well as pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The compounds of present invention have affinity and selectivity for the GABA A α5 receptor. Further the present invention is concerned with the manufacture of the compounds of formula (I), pharmaceutical compositions comprising them and their use as pharmaceuticals.
US08697693B2
Thienopyrimidines of formula (Ia) or (Ib): wherein R1-R3 have any of the values described herein, and the pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof have activity as inhibitors of PI3K and may thus be used to treat diseases and disorders arising from abnormal cell growth, function or behavior associated with PI3 kinase, in particular the p110 delta subtype, such as immune disorders, cardiovascular disease, viral infection, inflammation, metabolism/endocrine disorders and neurological disorders. Processes for synthesizing the compounds are also described.
US08697692B2
The present invention relates to pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridine-4-one 2-indolinone compounds of Formula (I) and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8 X, Y and have the meaning cited in the specification. Also disclosed are the pharmaceutical compositions containing the foregoing compounds, methods for the preparation and pharmaceutical use thereof, particularly as protein kinase inhibitors. Formula (I).
US08697690B2
The present invention is directed to isoindolone compounds of formula (I) which are M1 receptor positive allosteric modulators and that are useful in the treatment of diseases in which the M1 receptor is involved, such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, pain or sleep disorders. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds, and to the use of the compounds and compositions in the treatment of diseases mediated by the M1 receptor.
US08697686B2
The present invention is directed to crystalline forms of (R)-8-chloro-1-methyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine, compositions containing the same and uses thereof.
US08697684B2
Disclosed are compounds, compositions and methods for treating various diseases, syndromes, conditions and disorders, including pain. Such compounds are represented by Formula (I) as follows: wherein Y, Z, R1, and s are defined herein.
US08697677B2
Disclosed are methods for the treatment of chronic heart failure, comprising administering to an animal in need thereof an effective amount of perhexiline, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, to treat said chronic heart failure. The chronic heart failure maybe non-ischaemic or ischaemic. Also disclosed is the use of perhexiline in the manufacture of a medicament to treat chronic heart failure, including chronic heart failure of a non-ischaemic origin and chronic heart failure of an ischaemic origin.
US08697675B2
A hemifumarate form of 9-[(R)-2-[[(S)-[[(S)-1-(isopropoxycarbonyl)ethyl]amino]phenoxyphosphinyl]methoxy]propyl]adenine (tenofovir alafenamide), and antiviral therapy using tenofovir alafenamide hemifumarate (e.g., anti-HIV and anti-HBV therapies).
US08697674B2
The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising xanthurenic acid derivatives, and methods of use thereof.
US08697669B2
The invention relates to agents containing a folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 and to the use thereof in hyperhomocystenemia for controlling homocysteine levels. The inventive agents are particularly suitable for preventive and acute treatment of vascular diseases of pregnant women and neurodegenerative diseases and are particularly advantageous in cases of hyperhomocysteinemia whose treatment with homocysteine level reducing agents causes secondary effects. Pharmaceutical agents and food supplements comprising the corresponding active substance combination, agents in the form of commercial packages containing corresponding combination preparations or monopreparations for a combined application are, in particular, also disclosed.
US08697667B2
The present invention is directed to drug delivery vehicles comprising one or more cyclodextrin moieties conjugated to a dendritic polyamine for the delivery of small molecule and protein therapeutic molecules and nucleic acid therapeutic molecules, and methods of making and using the delivery vehicles.
US08697662B2
Methods for treating Kaposi's sarcoma involving the administration of a compound that selectively inhibits pathological production of human VEGF are described. The compound can be administered as a single-agent therapy or in combination with one or more additional therapies to a human in need of such treatment.
US08697632B2
Prodrug formulations of insulin and insulin analogs are provided wherein the insulin peptide has been modified by an amide bond linkage of a dipeptide prodrug element. The prodrugs disclosed herein have extended half lives of at least 10 hours, and more typically greater than 2 hours, 20 hours and less than 70 hours, and are converted to the active form at physiological conditions through a non-enzymatic reaction driven by chemical instability.
US08697631B2
Isolated peptides composed of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 33 or fragments thereof that bind to HLA antigens and have cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) inducibility and thus are suitable for use in the context of cancer immunotherapy, more particularly cancer vaccines are described herein. The present invention further provides peptides that include one, two, or several amino acid insertions, substitutions or additions to the aforementioned peptides or fragments, but yet retain the requisite cytotoxic T cell inducibility. Further provided are nucleic acids encoding any of these aforementioned peptides as well as pharmaceutical agents, substances and compositions including any of the aforementioned peptides or nucleic acids. The peptides, nucleic acids, pharmaceutical agents, substances and compositions of this invention find particular utility in the treatment of cancers and tumors.
US08697629B2
A method of treating a disease characterized by aberrant cell migration and/or invasion includes administering to a subject an effective amount of the peptide of SEQ ID NO:3, an Å6 polypeptide, or an isolated polypeptide consisting essentially of the Link region of human CD44 as indicated in FIG. 17 to modulate a FAK signal transduction pathway for a sufficient period of time to treat the disease. A method of diagnosing a condition characterized by aberrant cell migration and/or invasion includes measuring the effect of these polypeptides on FAK signal transduction activity; wherein a change in FAK signal transduction activity is indicative of said aberrant cell migration or invasion. A method of diagnosing a condition characterized by aberrant cell migration and/or invasion includes imaging FAK signal transduction activity in the presence of these polypeptides.
US08697622B2
Synergistic combinations of extended chain surfactants and co-surfactants, emulsions or microemulsions and cleaning compositions incorporating the same are provided. In certain embodiments a surfactant system is disclosed which includes extended nonionic surfactants, and a linker surfactant. This system forms stable emulsions or microemulsions with oils, including non-trans fats and fatty acids and these emulsions or microemulsions are stable, irreversible and can be created at low temperature.The cleaning compositions may include the surfactant system alone, a stable emulsion or microemulsion with oil and the surfactant system, a pre-spotter or other pre-treatment or soft surface and hard surface cleaning compositions comprising the surfactant combination.
US08697615B2
A composition and method for resolving reverse emulsions and complex water external emulsions using one or more polyepihalohydrins, one or more polyelectrolytes thereof, and any combination thereof is disclosed and claimed. The disclosed invention may be used in any crude oil production process where such emulsions are encountered.
US08697614B2
Chemical compounds that are N-lauroyl amino acids or derivatives thereof were found to have oil-releasing activity. Solutions containing these compounds may be introduced into oil reservoirs or onto oil-contaminated surface sites to release oil from oil-coated surfaces. The released oil may be recovered for further processing or waste disposal.
US08697612B2
A method of increasing the fracture complexity in a treatment zone of a subterranean formation is provided. The subterranean formation is characterized by having a matrix permeability less than 1.0 microDarcy. The method includes the step of pumping one or more fracturing fluids into a far-field region of a treatment zone of the subterranean formation at a rate and pressure above the fracture pressure of the treatment zone. A first fracturing fluid of the one or more fracturing fluids includes a first solid particulate, wherein: (a) the first solid particulate includes a particle size distribution for bridging the pore throats of a proppant pack previously formed or to be formed in the treatment zone; and (b) the first solid particulate comprises a degradable material. In an embodiment, the first solid particulate is in an insufficient amount in the first fracturing fluid to increase the packed volume fraction of any region of the proppant pack to greater than 73%. Similar methods using stepwise fracturing fluids and remedial fracturing treatments are provided.
US08697609B2
Methods and fluids are provided that include, but are not limited to, a drilling fluid comprising an aqueous base fluid and a fluid loss control additive that comprises at least one polymeric micro gel and a method comprising: providing an aqueous based treatment fluid comprising a fluid loss control additive that comprises at least one polymeric micro gel; placing the aqueous based treatment fluid in a subterranean formation via a well bore penetrating the subterranean formation; allowing the fluid loss control additive to become incorporated into a filter cake located on a surface within the subterranean formation; allowing the filter cake to be degraded; and producing hydrocarbons from the formation. Additional methods are also provided.
US08697607B2
This invention provides quantitative, systematic and standardized High Throughput Screening (HTS) methods capable to the identification of both known and unknown sequences without prior knowledge of the sequences of interest. Either coding or non-coding sequences could be targeted, identified and analyzed systematically and respectively at genomic, transcriptional and translational levels with those methods. The genetic algorithms for sequence deducing and standardized universal libraries constructing are provided. The genetic algorithms are 61.sup.(n−m), 61.sup.n, 64.sup.(n−m), 64.sup.n., 20.sup.(n−m) and 20.sup.n. Applications of the standardized universal libraries include gene expression profiling, signature sequence identification and sequence determination by PCR, cloning, dot-blot hybridization, ELISA, DNA and Peptide Arrays.
US08697604B2
Provided is a method for characterizing a molecule by mass spectrometry, which molecule comprises one or more free amino groups, which method comprises: (a) reacting one or more free amino groups in the molecule with a mass tag reagent comprising a reactive functionality capable of reacting with an amino group, and a tertiary amino group linked to the reactive functionality; and (b) characterizing the molecule by mass spectrometry.
US08697583B2
Provided according to embodiments of the present invention are an oxidation-promoting compositions, methods of forming oxide layers, and methods of fabricating semiconductor devices. In some embodiments of the invention, the oxidation-promoting composition includes an oxidation-promoting agent having a structure of A-M-L, wherein L is a functional group that is chemisorbed to a surface of silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or metal, A is a thermally decomposable oxidizing functional group, and M is a moiety that allows A and L to be covalently bonded to each other.
US08697576B2
The invention provides a polishing composition comprising silica, an aminophosphonic acid, a polysaccharide, a tetraalkylammonium salt, a bicarbonate salt, an azole ring, and water, wherein the polishing composition has a pH of about 7 to about 11. The invention further provides a method of polishing a substrate with the polishing composition.
US08697571B2
A structure includes a semiconductor device formed in a substrate; an insulator adjacent to the semiconductor device; an electrical contact electrically coupled to the semiconductor device, wherein the electrical contact includes tungsten; and an electrical connector coupled to the electrical contact, wherein the electrical connector includes aluminum. A surface of the insulator and a surface of the electrical contact form a substantially even surface.
US08697570B2
A semiconductor device includes a substrate having a conductive area, a first pattern formed on the substrate and having a contact hole through which the conductive area is exposed, and a contact plug in the contact hole. The contact plug includes first and second silicon layers. The first silicon layer, formed from a first compound including at least two silicon atoms, is formed in the contact hole to contact a top surface of the conductive area and a side wall of the first pattern. The second silicon layer, formed from a second compound including a number of silicon atoms less than the number of the silicon atoms of the first compound, is formed on the first silicon layer and fills a remaining space of the contact hole, the second silicon layer being spaced apart from the first pattern at an entrance of the contact hole.
US08697567B2
A method and structures are provided for implementing decoupling capacitors within a DRAM TSV stack. A DRAM is formed with a plurality of TSVs extending completely through the substrate and filled with a conducting material. A layer of glass is grown on both the top and bottom of the DRAM providing an insulator. A layer of metal is grown on each glass layer providing a conductor. The metal and glass layers are etched through to TSVs with a gap provided around the perimeter of via pads. A respective solder ball is formed on the TSVs to connect to another DRAM chip in the DRAM TSV stack. The metal layers are connected to at least one TSV by one respective solder ball and are connected to a voltage source and a dielectric is inserted between the metal layers in the DRAM TSV stack to complete the decoupling capacitor.
US08697565B2
A method, and an apparatus formed thereby, to construct shallow recessed wells on top of exposed conductive vias on the surface of a semiconductor. The shallow recessed wells are subsequently filled with a conductive cap layer, such as a tantalum nitride (TaN) layer, to prevent or reduce oxidation which may otherwise occur naturally when exposed to air, or possibly occur during an under-bump metallization process.
US08697557B2
Disclosed herein is a method of forming a semiconductor device. In one example, the method includes forming a gate electrode structure above a semiconducting substrate, wherein the gate electrode structure includes a gate insulation layer, a gate electrode, a first sidewall spacer positioned proximate the gate electrode, and a gate cap layer, and forming an etch stop layer above the gate cap layer and above the substrate proximate the gate electrode structure. The method further includes forming a layer of spacer material above the etch stop layer, and performing at least one first planarization process to remove the portion of said layer of spacer material positioned above the gate electrode, the portion of the etch stop layer positioned above the gate electrode and the gate cap layer.
US08697549B2
An improved method of creating thermoelectric materials which have high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity is disclosed. In one embodiment, the thermoelectric material is made by depositing a porous film onto a substrate, introducing a dopant into the porous film and annealing the porous film to activate the dopant. In other embodiments, additional amounts of dopant may be introduced via subsequent ion implantations of dopant into the deposited porous film.
US08697548B2
A method for making a semi-conductor nanocrystals, including at least the steps of: making a stack of at least one uniaxially stressed semi-conductor thin layer and a dielectric layer, annealing the semi-conductor thin layer such that a dewetting of the semi-conductor forms, on the dielectric layer, elongated shaped semi-conductor nanocrystals oriented perpendicularly to the stress axis.
US08697545B2
A method for manufacturing microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) is disclosed. A low temperature MEMS device is designed. The low temperature MEM device is based upon a semiconductor manufacturing process comprising at least one semiconductor process for providing at least a heater therein. Each semiconductor process used in implementing the design is limited to a maximum temperature of the in-process low temperature MEMs device or a substrate onto which the low temperature MEMS device is being manufactured to below 300° C.
US08697544B2
The present invention is a method for manufacturing a bonded wafer including at least the steps of: forming an ion-implanted layer inside a bond wafer; bringing the ion-implanted surface of the bond wafer into close contact with a surface of a base wafer directly or through a silicon oxide film; and performing heat treatment for delaminating the bond wafer at the ion-implanted layer, wherein the heat treatment step for delaminating includes performing a pre-annealing at a temperature of less than 500° C. and thereafter performing a delamination heat treatment at a temperature of 500° C. or more, and the pre-annealing is performed at least by a heat treatment at a first temperature and a subsequent heat treatment at a second temperature higher than the first temperature. As a result, there is provided a method for manufacturing a bonded wafer having high quality, for example, mainly the reduction of defects, by forming a high bonding strength state at a lower temperature than the temperature at which the delamination is caused, in the manufacture of the bonded wafer by the Smart Cut method (registered trademark).
US08697538B1
A method of forming a pattern in a substrate is provided, in which the substrate having a pattern region is provided first. A plurality of stripe-shaped mask layers is formed on the substrate in the pattern region. Each of at least two adjacent stripe-shaped mask layers among the stripe-shaped mask layers has a protrusion portion and the protrusion portions face to each other. A spacer is formed on sidewalls of the stripe-shaped mask layers, wherein a thickness of the spacer is greater than a half of a distance between two of the protrusion portions. Subsequently, the stripe-shaped mask layers are removed. An etching process is performed by using the spacer as a mask to form trenches in the substrate. Thereafter, the trenches are filled with a material.
US08697537B2
A method that includes forming a masking element on a semiconductor substrate and overlying a defined space. A first feature and a second feature are each formed on the semiconductor substrate. The space interposes the first and second features and extends from a first end of the first feature to a first end of the second feature. A third feature is then formed adjacent and substantially parallel the first and second features. The third feature extends at least from the first end of the first feature to the first end of the second feature.
US08697533B2
A method for forming a semiconductor device including a resistive memory cell includes providing a substrate having an upper surface. A first conductive layer is formed over the upper surface of the substrate. An amorphous silicon layer is formed over the first conductive layer. A surface of the amorphous silicon layer is cleaned to remove native oxide formed on the surface of the amorphous silicon layer. A silver layer is deposited over the amorphous silicon layer after removing the native oxide by performing the cleaning step. The resistive memory cell includes the first conductive layer, the amorphous silicon layer, and the second conductive layer. The surface of the amorphous silicon layer is cleaned to prevent silver agglomeration on the native oxide.
US08697532B2
A wafer comprising at least one emitter-up Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) and at least one emitter-down HBT on a common InP based semiconductor wafer. Isolation and N-type implants into the device layers differentiate an emitter-down HBT from an emitter-up HBT. The method for preparing a device comprises forming identical layers for all HBTs and performing ion implantation to differentiate an emitter-down HBT from an emitter-up HBT.
US08697513B2
In a second direction, in a plan view, an n-channel MOS transistor and an expanding film are adjacent. Therefore, the n-channel MOS transistor receives a positive stress in the direction in which a channel length is extended from the expanding film. As a result, a positive tensile strain in an electron moving direction is generated in a channel of the n-channel MOS transistor. On the other hand, in the second direction, in a plan view, a p-channel MOS transistor and the expanding film are shifted from each other. Therefore, the p-channel MOS transistor receives a positive stress in the direction in which a channel length is narrowed from the expanding film. As a result, a positive compressive strain in a hole moving direction is generated in a channel of the p-channel MOS transistor. Thus, both on-currents of the n-channel MOS transistor and the p-channel MOS transistor can be improved.
US08697507B2
Provided are a transistor of a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same. The transistor of a semiconductor device includes an epitaxial substrate having a buffer layer, a first silicon (Si) planar doped layer, a first conductive layer, a second Si planar doped layer having a different dopant concentration from the first Si planar doped layer, and a second conductive layer, which are sequentially formed on a semi-insulating substrate; a source electrode and a drain electrode formed on both sides of the second conductive layer to penetrate the first Si planar doped layer to a predetermined depth to form an ohmic contact; and a gate electrode formed on the second conductive layer between the source electrode and the drain electrode to form a contact with the second conductive layer, wherein the gate electrode, the source electrode and the drain electrode are electrically insulated by an insulating layer, and a predetermined part of an upper part of the gate electrode is formed to overlap at least one of the source electrode and the drain electrode. Therefore, a maximum voltage that can be applied to the switching device is increased due to increases of a gate turn-on voltage and a breakdown voltage, and decrease of a parallel conduction component. As a result of this improved power handling capability, high-power and low-distortion characteristics and high isolation can be expected from the switching device.
US08697506B2
A method of manufacturing a heterostructure device is provided that includes implantation of ions into a portion of a surface of a multi-layer structure. Iodine ions are implanted between a first region and a second region to form a third region. A charge is depleted from the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel in the third region to form a reversibly electrically non-conductive pathway from the first region to the second region. On applying a voltage potential to a gate electrode proximate to the third region allows electrical current to flow from the first region to the second region.
US08697503B2
A method of manufacturing a thin film electronic device includes applying a plastic coating to a rigid carrier substrate using a wet casting process, the plastic coating forming a plastic substrate and include a transparent plastic material doped with a UV absorbing additive. Thin film electronic elements are formed over the plastic substrate, and the rigid carrier substrate is released from the plastic substrate. This method forms transparent substrate materials suitable for a laser release process, through doping of the plastic material of the substrate with a UV absorber. This UV absorber absorbs in the wavelength of the lift-off laser (for example 308-351 nm, or 355 nm) with a very high absorption.
US08697487B2
Memory devices based on tungsten-oxide memory regions are described, along with methods for manufacturing and methods for programming such devices. The tungsten-oxide memory region can be formed by oxidation of tungsten material using a non-critical mask, or even no mask at all in some embodiments. A memory device described herein includes a bottom electrode and a memory element on the bottom electrode. The memory element comprises at least one tungsten-oxygen compound and is programmable to at least two resistance states. A top electrode comprising a barrier material is on the memory element, the barrier material preventing movement of metal-ions from the top electrode into the memory element.
US08697486B2
A method of forming a phase change material which having germanium and tellurium therein includes depositing a germanium-containing material over a substrate. Such material includes elemental-form germanium. A gaseous tellurium-comprising precursor is flowed to the germanium-comprising material and tellurium is removed from the gaseous precursor to react with the elemental-form germanium in the germanium-comprising material to form a germanium and tellurium-comprising compound of a phase change material over the substrate. Other implementations are disclosed.
US08697480B1
Methods for treating a semiconductor material, and for making devices containing a semiconducting material, are presented. One embodiment is a method for treating a semiconductor material that includes a chalcogenide. The method comprises contacting at least a portion of the semiconductor material with a chemical agent. The chemical agent comprises a solvent, and an iodophor dissolved in the solvent.
US08697473B2
Methods for forming backside illuminated (BSI) image sensors having metal redistribution layers (RDL) and solder bumps for high performance connection to external circuitry are provided. In one embodiment, a BSI image sensor with RDL and solder bumps may be formed using a temporary carrier during manufacture that is removed prior to completion of the BSI image sensor. In another embodiment, a BSI image sensor with RDL and solder bumps may be formed using a permanent carrier during manufacture that partially remains in the completed BSI image sensor. A BSI image sensor may be formed before formation of a redistribution layer on the front side of the BSI image sensor. A redistribution layer may, alternatively, be formed on the front side of an image wafer before formation of BSI components such as microlenses and color filters on the back side of the image wafer.
US08697472B2
Provided is a semiconductor image sensor device. The image sensor device includes a semiconductor substrate that includes an array region and a black level correction region. The array region contains a plurality of radiation-sensitive pixels. The black level correction region contains one or more reference pixels. The substrate has a front side and a back side. The image sensor device includes a first compressively-stressed layer formed on the back side of the substrate. The first compressively-stressed layer contains silicon nitride. The image sensor device includes a metal shield formed on the compressively-stressed layer. The metal shield is formed over at least a portion of the black level correction region. The image sensor device includes a second compressively-stressed layer formed on the metal shield and the first compressively-stressed layer. The second compressively-stressed layer contains silicon oxide. A sidewall of the metal shield is protected by the second compressively-stressed layer.
US08697463B2
A method for manufacturing a light-emitting device includes steps of: providing a light-emitting wafer including an upper surface and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface; setting a plurality of scribing streets on the upper surface of the light-emitting wafer; irradiating a laser beam to form a plurality of cutting regions along the scribing streets, wherein each of the plurality of cutting regions has a sharp end, or the plurality of cutting regions forms a specific pattern in a cross-sectional view; and forming a plurality of light-emitting devices by connecting the plurality of cutting regions and extending the plurality of cutting regions from the respective sharp ends thereof to the lower surface of the light-emitting wafer.
US08697444B2
The present invention encompasses compositions for deriving, maintaining, and growing pluripotent and germ-line competent mammalian embryonic stem cells, and for deriving, maintaining, and growing adult human stem cells and/or adult early progenitor cells. Such compositions comprising a conditioned medium of a cell line expressing limited amounts of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF). The media of the present invention are used or for the generation of pluripotent and germ-line competent embryonic stem cells of mammals, and for the generation of adult human stem cells and/or adult early progenitor cells.
US08697440B2
The present invention relates to methods and tools for producing large quantities of gamma-carboxylated protein comprising: (i) culturing a cell adapted to express a protein which requires gamma-carboxylation and γ-glutamyl carboxylase in a ratio of at least 10:1, under conditions suitable for expression of both proteins, and (ii) isolating gamma-carboxylated protein.
US08697432B2
Systems and methods of identifying, sequencing and/or detecting nucleic acid polymers, as well as related components (e.g., substrates, software and the like) are disclosed.
US08697430B2
Disclosed is a tissue-derived biomaterial carrier device (1) comprising a carrier case 810), an arm (125) provided upright on an interior bottom wall surface of the carrier case (10), a mounting part (121), a swing mechanism (122), a temperature control box (20) provided detachably on an exterior wall surface of the carrier case (10), and a heater (201) provided in the temperature control box (20). The mounting part (121) receives the mounting of a housing vessel in which a tissue-derived biomaterial is housed (an opening part (121a)). The swing mechanism (122) swingably supports the mounting part (121) relative to the arm (125). With the temperature control box (20) mounted on the carrier case (10), the heater (201) in the temperature control box (20) receives the supply of electric power from a battery (203) and regulates the temperature within the carrier case (10).
US08697425B2
The present invention relates to a composite yeast for high concentration alcohol fermentation, which includes thermostable Saccharomyces cerevisiae, acid protease, phytase, cellulose, β-glucanase, and pectinase, and is suitable for the high concentration alcohol fermentation for various raw materials. In addition to normal fermentation, the composite yeast of the present invention can degrade the raw materials, increase the nutrient ingredients in the mash, promote the growth of yeast and provide stress tolerance protection.
US08697423B2
The invention relates to the new, genetically non-modified bacterial strain Lactobacillus plantarum S, which has been deposited in the IAFB Collection of Industrial Microorganisms Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology in Warsaw under the number KKP 2021 p or variant thereof. The invention relates to use of the strain Lactobacillus plantarum S KKP 2021 p or variant thereof or composition which may comprise thereof for ensiling of roughages, with the intention to decontaminate the feeds, contaminated with ochratoxin A, molds and pathogenic bacteria. The feeds contaminated with molds, ochratoxin A and pathogenic microorganisms, after the process of lactic fermentation with the participation of bacteria of the new strain Lactobacillus plantarum S, may be employed in nutrition of breeding animals as being completely safe products.
US08697421B2
The invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an acetyl-CoA pathway and the capability of utilizing syngas or syngas and methanol. In one embodiment, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microorganism, comprising one or more exogenous proteins conferring to the microorganism a pathway to convert CO, CO2 and/or H2 to acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), methyl tetrahydrofolate (methyl-THF) or other desired products, wherein the microorganism lacks the ability to convert CO or CO2 and H2 to acetyl-CoA or methyl-THF in the absence of the one or more exogenous proteins. The invention additionally provides a method for producing acetyl-CoA, for example, by culturing an acetyl-CoA producing microbial organism, where the microbial organism expresses at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding an acetyl-CoA pathway enzyme or protein in a sufficient amount to produce acetyl-CoA, under conditions and for a sufficient period of time to produce acetyl-CoA.
US08697419B2
The present invention relates to methods for culturing spirochetes, in particular Borrelia burgdorferi. The present invention also provides methods of identifying spirochetes present in a biological sample. The present invention further provides methods of diagnosing diseases cause by a spirochete infection, such as Lyme disease, syphilis, and multiple sclerosis. The present invention further provides methods for identifying spirochete susceptibilities to antimicrobials and antimicrobial compositions and cocktails. The present invention also provides methods for treating subjects suspected of having a spirochete infection.
US08697418B1
The present invention provides aquatic biomass having enhanced growth and methods for selecting and growing a mix of aquatic organisms to maximize production of such a biomass. In one aspect, for example, a method of enhancing aquatic biomass growth is provided. Such a method can include preselecting at least two organisms selected from the group consisting of an algae mixture, a cyanobacteria mixture, and a diatom mixture, combining the at least two organisms at a growth enhancing ratio in a growth environment, and growing the at least two organisms as an aquatic biomass under environmental conditions in the growth environment that further enhance biomass growth, wherein the aquatic biomass growth is synergistic.
US08697407B2
The present invention relates to agents that find use in the treatment, management, and/or study of cancer. In particular, the present invention relates to agents (e.g., small molecules, nucleic acids) that affect MMSET expression or activity.
US08697405B2
The present invention relates to a process for the production of ethanol comprising both gasification and fermentation of feedstocks, and, in particular to a process for the production of ethanol comprising: a) passing a biomass feedstock to a first fermentation step wherein it is subjected to anaerobic fermentation at a pH below 6.0 and at a temperature in the range 20 to 700C to convert the biomass to a solution comprising acetic acid as the predominant product, b) passing a gasifiable feedstock to a gasification step wherein it is subjected to gasification to produce a gaseous mixture comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and c) passing the solution comprising acetic acid from step (a) and the gaseous mixture from step (b) to one or more further fermentation steps wherein they are subject to fermentation to produce ethanol.
US08697404B2
Diols produced in fermentation are processed in broth by esterification of the product diol with a carboxylic acid (e.g., fatty acid) and a catalyst (e.g., lipase) capable of esterifying the product diol, such as 1,3-propanediol, with the carboxylic acid to form the diol esters. The diol esters can be extracted from the broth, and the product diol recovered from the diol esters. The carboxylic acid can also serve as an extractant for removal of the diol esters from the fermentation medium.
US08697401B2
The invention relates to a method for synthesizing ω-aminoalkanoic acids or esters thereof from unsaturated natural fatty acids, passing through a monounsaturated dinitrile intermediate compound. The method of the invention is simple to carry out and, compared to other known methods, avoids the environmental constraints and economic disadvantages due to reaction by-products.
US08697399B2
The present invention provides methods of determining the size of a particular nucleic acid segment of interest in a sample of nucleic acids through fragmentation of DNA, size fractionation, an optional second fragmentation, and identification using a marker sequence. In particular aspects, an expansion or reduction of tandem repeat sequences can be detected. In further aspects, carriers and individuals afflicted with fragile X syndrome or other diseases associated with tandem repeats can be distinguished from normal individuals.
US08697396B2
The present invention relates to novel molecules (Fc variants) comprising at least one antigen binding region and an Fc region that further comprises a modified hinge which alters the binding of Fc to one or more Fc ligand (e.g., FcγRs) and/or modulates effector function. More specifically, this invention provides Fc variants that have modified binding affinity to one or more FcγR and/or C1q. Additionally, the Fc variants have altered antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and/or complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) activity. The invention further provides methods and protocols for the application of said Fc variants particularly for therapeutic purposes.
US08697394B2
The present invention relates to eukaryotic host cells, especially lower eukaryotic host cells, having modified oligosaccharides which may be modified further by heterologous expression of a set of glycosyltransferases, sugar and sugar nucleotide transporters to become host-strains for the production of mammalian, e.g., human therapeutic glycoproteins. The process provides an engineered host cell which can be used to express and target any desirable gene(s) involved in glycosylation. Host cells with modified lipid-linked oligosaccharides are created or selected. N-glycans made in the engineered host cells exhibit GnTIII, GnTIV, GnTV, GnT VI or GnTIX activity, which produce bisected and/or multiantennary N-glycan structures and may be modified further by heterologous expression of one or more enzymes, e.g., glycosyltransferases, sugar, sugar nucleotide transporters, to yield human-like glycoproteins. For the production of therapeutic proteins, this method may be adapted to engineer cell lines in which any desired glycosylation structure may be obtained.
US08697393B2
A fatty material enzyme interesterification process comprising the steps of: a) providing a fatty material that has optionally undergone at least one prior purification treatment; b) introducing soap into said fatty material to form a soap-containing fatty material mixture, c) homogenising said soap-containing fatty material mixture by mixing, d) contacting said soap-containing fatty material mixture with lipase to produce a soap-containing interesterified fatty material, e) removing soaps from said soap-containing interesterified fatty material to yield interesterified fatty material, wherein said soap is either formed in-situ by addition of aqueous alkali to said fatty material or said soap is introduced directly into said fatty material.
US08697387B2
Agents that inhibit or prevent restenosis are identified by assaying test agents in a battery of assays to measure the effect of the test agent on cell proliferation, thrombosis, tissue modeling, and inflammation. Treatment for restenosis is provided using compositions of the invention.
US08697385B1
A method of screening an agent for ability to interfere with collagen synthesis includes the steps of reacting a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence comprising SEQ ID NO: 1 with collagen mRNAs in the presence of the agent and detecting if the agent has interfered with binding of the polypeptide to the mRNAs. Another method includes the steps of reacting the polypeptide with nonmuscle myosin filaments in the presence of the agent and detecting if the agent has interfered with binding of the polypeptide to the nonmuscle myosin filaments.
US08697383B2
The object of the present invention is to provide a fluorescent substrate for detecting the enzymatic activity of a nitrile-related enzyme.The present invention provides a compound represented by formula (I) and a fluorescent substrate for detecting the enzymatic activity of a nitrile-related enzyme, which comprises the compound.
US08697382B2
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of identifying metallo-β-lactamase-producing bacteria, particularly, a method of conveniently identifying an IMP or VIM type. According to the present invention, there is provided a method of detecting metallo-β-lactamase-producing bacteria, comprising spotting a compound (I) onto a surface of a solid medium coated with the bacteria to be tested, spotting 3 types of β-lactam agents at 3 respective positions different from the spot of the compound (I), culturing the solid medium, and then detecting the metallo-β-lactamase-producing bacteria based on the shape of an inhibition zone formed around the spot of each of the β-lactam agents. There is further provided a method of identifying an IMP or VIM type of the metallo-β-lactamase-producing bacteria.
US08697377B2
The present invention provides devices and systems for use at the point of care. The methods devices of the invention are directed toward automatic detection of analytes in a bodily fluid. The components of the device are modular to allow for flexibility and robustness of use with the disclosed methods for a variety of medical applications.
US08697370B2
Methods for the diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of sepsis in a subject using the expression levels of the biomarkers Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) and TREM-like receptor transcript-1 (TLT1) as an indication of the condition of the patient, alone or in combination with further sepsis markers are disclosed. If the levels of the biomarkers indicate the presence of sepsis, the patient is treated for sepsis with an antibiotic and/or fluid resuscitation treatment.
US08697363B2
The present invention provides assay methods that increase the number of samples and/or target nucleic acids that can be analyzed in a single assay. In certain embodiments, an assay method entails separately subjecting S samples to an encoding reaction that produces a set of T tagged target nucleotide sequences, each tagged target nucleotide sequence including a sample-specific nucleotide tag and a target nucleotide sequence. In some embodiments, an assay method entails separately subjecting S samples to an encoding reaction that produces a set of T tagged target nucleotide sequences, each tagged target nucleotide sequence including a first nucleotide tag linked to a target nucleotide sequence, which is linked to a second nucleotide tag. In either case, the tagged target nucleotide sequences from the S samples can be mixed to form an assay mixture and subsequently assayed.
US08697348B2
The invention described herein relates to novel genes and their encoded proteins, termed Mutants Associated with Resistance to STI-571 (e.g., T315I Bcr-Abl), and to diagnostic and therapeutic methods and compositions useful in the management of various cancers that express MARS. The invention further provides methods for identifying molecules that bind to and/or modulate the functional activity of MARS.
US08697342B2
Disclose herein is a method of modifying a positive-type chemically amplified resist pattern, including the steps of, applying to a surface of a resist pattern, an aqueous solution of a modifier for the positive-type chemically amplified resist pattern, the aqueous solution containing a water-soluble cross-linking agent and a penetration accelerator, the cross-linking agent and the penetration accelerator being dissolved in water or a mixed solvent containing water as a main ingredient, so as to permit the cross-linking agent to penetrate the resist pattern, removing a surplus of the cross-linking agent, and irradiating the resist pattern.
US08697341B2
An aromatic ring-containing polymer, an underlayer composition including the same, and associated methods, the aromatic ring-containing polymer including a group represented by one of the following Chemical Formulae 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, and 2-2:
US08697335B2
A radiation-sensitive resin composition includes a compound, a resin and a radiation-sensitive acid generator. The compound has a structure in which a group represented by a following formula (1) is bound to a nitrogen atom. The resin has an acid-dissociative dissolution-controlling group and has a property such that alkali solubility of the resin increases by an action of an acid. In the formula (1), Y is a monovalent group having 5 to 20 carbon atoms, and “*” represents a bonding hand with the nitrogen atom. In the formula (i), R1, R2 and R3 each independently represent a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a monovalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, or R1 and R2 are linked with each other to form a bivalent alicyclic hydrocarbon group, and “*” represents a bonding hand with the oxygen atom.
US08697333B2
A photocurable composition includes: (A) an epoxy group-containing polymer compound having repeating units represented by the following formula (1), where R1 to R4 are each a hydrocarbon group, m is an integer of 1 to 100, a, b, c and d are each 0 or a positive number, such that 0<(c+d)/(a+b+c+d)≦1.0, and X and Y are each the formula (2) or (3), provided that at least one group of the formula (3) is present, (B) a photoacid generator represented by the formula (8) and (C) a solvent.
US08697321B2
When an abutting pressure of the cleaning blade on a photoreceptor is increased, a chattering occurs due to the so-called a stick-slip phenomenon that the blade repeatedly undergoes sticking to the outermost surface of the photoreceptor and slipping thereon. As a result, a possibility of noise generation becomes higher and there is a possibility that toner particles might pass through during slipping to cause a cleaning failure, resulting in a streaky image defect. There is also a higher possibility that the so-called a filming phenomenon might occur, in which a component of the toner sticks to the photoreceptor surface by the action of the blade pressure and becomes difficult to remove, so as to lead to persistent image defects. Furthermore, since the photoreceptor is rotated with toners in the state of being strongly pressed thereagainst, the image defects are apt to be caused due to peripheral-direction scratches. An electrophotographic photoreceptor is provided in which the outermost layer of the photoreceptor contains a specific charge-transporting material and a specific binder resin.
US08697319B2
An exposure method is provided, in which when exposure is performed using a photomask having a plurality of mask patterns, various mask patterns corresponding to various different color filters are exposed in different regions on a substrate, without moving the photomask to an irradiation area in an exposure device. A photomask, having a first mask pattern for exposing a portion of colored pixels constituting a first color filter and a second mask pattern for exposing a portion of colored pixels constituting a second color filter, is fixed with respect to a light source. A light beam from a light source is selectively directed to the first mask pattern while transferring the substrate, to continuously expose a resist in a first region, and the light beam from the light source is selectively directed to the second mask pattern while transferring the substrate, to continuously expose a resist in a second region.
