US08719881B2
Methods and apparatus for allowing parties, e.g., individuals, at different locations to participate in an on-demand content delivery session are described. Dynamically updateable playlists are used to control content delivery to the session participants in a synchronized manner. Content may be delivered to different session participants from different servers with a different playlist corresponding to each session participant being used to control content delivery to the session participant's host platform, e.g., set top box. Either party may update the playlist with, optionally, each of the content delivery servers being controlled by a different or local copy of the jointly updateable play list. Thus, an inviting party and one or more joining parties are able to participate together in an on-demand session. While the participants may be served by the same or different content delivery servers, the parties are able to share images, audio, and/or video in a synchronized manner.
US08719877B2
A system and method for communicating audio or video information using inductive magnetic coupling between first and second adjacent seats on a mobile platform. A transceiver at the first seat receives signals from an in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. The signals are passed to a transmitter subsystem that generates low power inductive magnetic energy which is received by a receiver subsystem located on the second seat. The energy is converted to electrical signals for generating an output signal to an audio jack associated with a personal control unit (PCU) at the second seat. The audio content can then be used at the second seat together with video content displayed on a video display unit at the first seat, without affecting the synchronization of the audio signals and the video signals.
US08719873B2
A digital downloading jukebox system including a mechanism for delivering custom services to a recognized user, including services for creating playlists, communicating with others, accessing other features, etc. is provided. In some exemplary embodiments, after a user is recognized, the jukebox system allows users to access a special front-end via an Internet-enabled device or on an actual jukebox. Then, the user may, for example, create playlists, share songs with friends, send messages to friends, and access other value-added content. Such a system preferably learns about networks of friends, and enables managers to send similar messages to regular customers and/or others known to the system. In some exemplary embodiments, changes via a first user interface on a first device are reflected on second user interface on other properly-configured devices.
US08719868B2
In one embodiment, a system comprises at least a first video source device, at least a first remote control device, a digital display device comprising logic to receive, in a digital display device, a first video signal from a first video source, extract at least a first metadata from the first video signal, use the first metadata to obtain a second video signal from a second video source, present the first video signal on the digital display device, combine at least a portion of the second video signal and at least a portion of the first video signal to generate a combined video signal, and present the combined video signal on a display.
US08719864B2
A multiple-resolution audio and video system is disclosed that includes: at least one shared network infrastructure; at least one audio file, video file or a combination thereof, wherein each of the at least one audio file, video file or combination thereof has at least one resolution format and wherein one of the at least one resolution format is a studio quality resolution; at least one executable user interface application; and at least one device that accesses the at least one executable user interface application. Methods of using a multiple-resolution audio and video system are also included. Devices and related software applications are also contemplated herein.
US08719858B2
A method for personalized virtual channel management includes: determining whether a received command is associated with virtual channel switching, wherein a network-based multimedia reproduction system is in mode of a first channel zone of a personalized channel zone; if yes, checking whether a channel value corresponding to the command exists in the first channel zone; if yes, executing an application corresponding to the channel value in the first channel zone to retrieve digital contents and display the digital contents on a screen of the network-based multimedia reproduction system; determining a desired channel zone if the command is associated with switching of the personalized channel zone; checking whether at least one log-in command matches log-in information of the desired channel zone; if yes, switching the network-based multimedia reproduction system to a mode of the desired channel zone in the personalized channel zone.
US08719854B2
Methods, systems, and apparatuses, including computer programs encoded on computer-readable media, for receiving user viewing data that includes a media source, a viewing time, and a username. The username identifies a user, and the user viewing data is associated with a media viewing device. The user viewing data is recorded by passively monitoring user input to the media viewing device. A program viewed on the media viewing device is determined based upon the user viewing data. A plurality of viewing achievement rules are stored in memory. The viewing achievement rules include one or more criteria based upon user viewing data. At least one achievement rule comprises a criterion that a user view the program. If the user viewing data matches the criteria of one or more of the viewing achievement rules is determined. An indication of one or more achievements is stored in association with the username.
US08719849B1
A method of application program-operating system decoupling includes performing, through an application program configured to execute on a client machine, a system call to a first operating system executing on a server machine over an interconnect configured to couple the server machine to the client machine. The method also includes serving the application program configured to execute on the client machine through the first operating system executing on the server machine in accordance with the system call.
US08719846B2
A computer-implemented method for updating a web user interface on a client device is provided. A router back-boned to the Internet communicates with the client device web-user interface data defined in markup language to dynamically update the web-user interface on the client device. The router contains no logic regarding the web-user interface running on the client device. The client device has a browser server for dynamically updating the web-user interface through downloading and caching the data from the router. The browser server on the client device has (i) a user interface model of the web-user interface running on the client device defined in Javascript, and (ii) a JavaScript Runtime Engine for dynamically converting the downloaded and/or cached web-user interface markup language data into JavaScript objects. The web-user interface is dynamically updated by combining steps (i) and (ii).
US08719840B2
A device (200; 300) comprising a first application unit (401) and a second application unit (402) provided in a first portion (202) of the device (200; 300), and a transfer unit (211) provided in a second portion (212; 302) of the device (200; 300), wherein the transfer unit (211) is adapted to transmit a message between the first application unit (401) and the second application unit (402), and wherein a higher level of security is provided in the first portion (202) than in the second portion (212; 302) and/or wherein the transfer unit (211) is adapted to take the role of a communication master when transmitting the message between the first application unit (401) and the second application unit (402).
US08719835B2
Presented are methods and apparatus for protecting a plurality of High Availability (HA) Service Instances (SIs) with a plurality of Service Units (SUs) with an Nway redundancy model. Any of the SUs associated with the Nway redundancy model can simultaneously be assigned an active HA state for some of the SIs and a standby HA state for other SIs. However, only one SU can have the active state for any given SI. The Nway redundancy model is a configured prior to runtime operation.
US08719829B2
Synchronizing processes in a computer system includes creating a predictability model for a process. The predictability model establishes a predicted time slot for a resource that will be needed by the process. The method further requires establishing a predictive request for the resource at the predicted time slot. The predictive request establishes a place holder associated with the process. In addition, the method requires accessing another resource needed by the process for a period of time before the predicted time slot, submitting a request for the resource at the predicted time slot, and processing the request for the process at the resource.
US08719828B2
An apparatus and method is described herein for adaptive thread scheduling in a transactional memory environment. A number of conflicts in a thread over time are tracked. And if the conflicts exceed a threshold, the thread may be delayed (adaptively scheduled) to avoid conflicts between competing threads. Moreover, a more complex version may track a number of transaction aborts within a first thread that are caused by a second thread over a period, as well as a total number of transactions executed by the first thread over the period. From the tracking, a conflict ratio is determined for the first thread with regard to the second thread. And when the first thread is to be scheduled, it may be delayed if the second thread is running and the conflict ratio is over a conflict ratio threshold.
US08719826B2
The subject matter disclosed herein provides methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for providing a weak dependency linking two tasks of a workflow of task. In one aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method. The method receives, from a user interface, an indication representing a link between a first task and a second task. The link being a weak dependency linking the first and second task. The weak dependency representing that one or more tasks may be inserted between the first and second tasks. The first and second tasks including the link representing the weak dependency may be provided to the user interface. The link presented at the user interface to enable identification of the weak dependency. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.
US08719825B2
The present invention provides for the adjustment of the timing of a scheduled job including determining when the execution time of a scheduled job is within a predetermined time period. Prior to this time, a job execution notification is generated and submitted to an end user. The notification includes a request for time delay in the event the job should not be executed on the time noted. If the job should be delayed, a user may submit a delay request including a time delay. Upon receipt, an internal timing parameter is temporarily reset based on the delay request. The job is then automatically rescheduled for the prescribed time. If no other delay is incurred, once the job is executed, the internal timing parameter is then reset to its original time value.
US08719816B2
A system and method are configured to provide a virtual application desktop and communication channel. The system includes a virtual machine executing on an operating system within which multiple applications can concurrently execute. A plurality of applications can each have a protected namespace and be configured to execute using the virtual machine. Each of the plurality of applications can have a request box. A centralized communication engine can be configured to control communications between each request box. In addition, the centralized communication engine can be configured to retrieve, transfer and distribute data between the request boxes of the plurality of applications in response to requests from the plurality of applications.
US08719812B1
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for dynamically modifying and utilizing a software package description for software installation are disclosed. According to one method, a software package that includes a software description file is loaded on a hardware platform. The software description file is dynamically modified based on the software package and the hardware platform. The method also includes utilizing the modified software description file to install the software package on the hardware platform.
US08719811B2
Status information of one or more business office appliances operating behind a firewall are retrieved remotely by a service management application. The service management application transmits, via electronic mail from a first network behind a first firewall to a second network behind a second firewall, information that identifies the one or more business office appliances. A device management application at the second network receives the information and, based on the information, communicates instructions to one or more business office appliances. The instructions are executed on the one or more business office appliances without requiring re-boot of the business office appliances. Results of executing the instructions are used to generate a response document that is sent back to the service management application and/or to a database on the first network.
US08719809B2
Systems and methods for providing point in time rollback and un-installation of software within computer networks are disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of elements which perform data migration operations and a rollback and un-installation manager which monitors the elements and software installations. Upon detection of a software installation, the rollback and un-installation manager identifies the installation, obtains records of the computer network files modified by the installation, and causes copies of the modified files to be generated. At future dates, the records and copies are utilized to return the computer network to a state prior to the installation. In this manner the risks associated with removal single or multiple updates are greatly reduced.
US08719787B2
A system and method for managing the migration of software components among test servers that form a distributed software test environment to ensure that the software components in each of the test servers represent a production environment except for software components being tested. The system further ensures that component changes rolled out into production are not overridden when multiple update requests are made for the same component.
US08719783B2
A method, computer program product, and system for determining release differences is described. A method may comprise determining a first difference, the first difference corresponding to one or more activities that were at least one of: added to a main branch between a first release branch and a second release branch, and removed from the main branch between the first release branch and the second release branch. The method may further comprise determining a second difference, the second difference corresponding to one or more activities that were at least one of: added to the first release branch, and removed from the first release branch. The method may additionally comprise determining a third difference, the third difference corresponding to one or more activities that were at least one of: added to the second release branch, and removed from the second release branch. A delta activity set may be determined.
US08719781B2
A software application platform that abstracts a computing platform, a database layer, and a rendering medium is disclosed. A platform-independent application programming interface is disclosed, as well as an abstract database layer. The abstraction of the database layer comprises two sub-layers, including a layer having a uniform interface that treats data records as plain objects and a layer having constructs that facilitate the automated generation of user interfaces for data record navigation and management. Further, a software application platform that is independent of rendering medium is disclosed.
US08719779B2
Determining the association between data objects may be accomplished using any of a variety of systems and techniques. In particular implementations, a system and technique may have the ability to receive a group of data objects and execute a matching algorithm to determine duplicate data object propositions between the data objects. The system and technique also may have the ability determine whether a data object is a potential duplicate data object and, if a data object is a potential duplicate data object, determine whether the data object is a duplicate data object by examining duplicate data object propositions of a plurality of data objects that are associated with the data object through duplicate data object propositions.
US08719766B1
A mechanism for identifying and adding files to a project manifest is discussed. A combination of techniques is used in order to identify the files that should be listed in a project manifest. The combined techniques include the programmatic examination of a storage location marked as associated with a project to identify project files. The identified files are automatically added to a project manifest. In one embodiment the identified files are subjected to filtering criteria before being added to the project manifest. In addition, embodiments of the present invention perform a static analysis of at least one file associated with the project to identify file dependencies. The identified files are also added to the project manifest. The integrated development environment (IDE) also provides a user interface enabling a user to manually add files to the project manifest.
US08719765B2
A hierarchical schematic design editor displays mask layers for each shape as mask specific colors and alerts a user to mask layer conflicts during the design and editing process. According to an embodiment, mask colors may be assigned at the time the shapes or geometries and cells are placed in a circuit design layout, or when a mask layer condition indicating that two or more shapes should be set to different mask layers is detected. In an embodiment, if the distance between two shapes is less than a predetermined threshold, those shapes may cause a mask layer condition. Shapes may be grouped to facilitate mask layer condition detection and mask layer assignment.
US08719752B1
Techniques in integrated circuit design systems for generating one or more models for use in a hierarchical crosstalk noise analysis. For example, a method comprises the following steps. At least one equivalent cell noise model is generated for a circuit under modeling. The circuit under modeling comprises a plurality of cells useable in an integrated circuit design. The equivalent cell noise model is generated based on each one of the plurality of cells that have connections that terminate at ports of the circuit under modeling. The equivalent cell noise model is utilized in a hierarchical crosstalk noise analysis for the integrated circuit design.
US08719743B1
Disclosed is an improved method, system, and computer program product for implementing flexible models to perform efficient prototyping of clock structures in electronic designs, which allows for very efficient analysis of the electronic designs. Some approaches pertain to usage of the flexible abstraction models that also include clock abstractions to more efficiently perform analysis upon the electronic designs. This allows greater analysis efficiency with regards to timing analysis and physical analysis.
US08719739B2
A method for mask data preparation (MDP) is disclosed, in which a set of shots is determined that will form a pattern on a reticle, where the determination includes calculating the pattern that will be formed on a substrate using an optical lithographic process with a reticle formed using the set of shots. A method for optical proximity correction (OPC) or MDP is also disclosed, in which a preliminary set of charged particle beam shots is generated using a preliminary mask model, and then the shots are modified by calculating both a reticle pattern using a final mask model, and a resulting substrate pattern. A method for OPC is also disclosed, in which an ideal pattern for a photomask is calculated from a desired substrate pattern, where the model used in the calculation includes only optical lithography effects and/or substrate processing effects.
US08719734B2
Systems, methods and computer program products for facilitating the recognition of user air swipe gestures are disclosed. Such systems, methods and computer program products provide a two-stage gesture recognition approach that combines desirable aspects of object manipulation gestures and symbolic gestures in order to create an interaction that is both reliable and intuitive for users of a computing system. In a first position-based stage, the user moves the cursor into a swipe activation zone. Second, in a motion-based stage, the user swipes their hand from the activation zone past a swipe gate within a certain amount of time to complete the interaction. GUI feedback is provided following the first stage to let the user know that the swipe interaction is available, and after the second stage to let the user know that the swipe is completed.
US08719732B2
A method and system for applying 3D switch panel in instant messaging tool. The method includes creating a window, and creating a plane model according to the window; receiving a command for triggering rotation; and rotating the plane model to drive the interface window of the instant messaging tool to rotate. The adoption of the method and the system provided can use the 3D to switch panels of the instant messaging tool, which can satisfy users' individual demands and improves the usability of the instant messaging tool.
US08719729B2
A computing device including a graphical user interface is described. The computing device comprises: a display; a display controller; and a graphical user interface controller. The graphical user interface controller is arranged to create a first and second cluster of associated menu options. The first cluster of associated menu options comprises: a first principal menu option and at least one first sub-ordinate menu option, smaller than the first principal menu option, and located on the periphery of the first principal menu option. The second cluster of associated menu options comprises: a second principal menu option and at least one second sub-ordinate menu option smaller than the second principal menu option, and located on the periphery of the second principal menu option. The graphical user interface controller is also arranged to enable a user (a) to decouple the first sub-ordinate menu option from the first principal menu option and (b) to couple the decoupled the first sub-ordinate menu option to the second principal menu option.
US08719721B1
A visualization system for providing a preview of data obtained in a borehole and available for selection includes a processor configured to process the data based on user input and instructions and provide output for display on a display device; a computer-readable medium configured to store the instructions, the instructions including commands to output values of two or more types of parameters at two or more depth values for display; and a user interface configured to facilitate selection of one or more of the two or more types of parameters for further visualization and processing.
US08719716B2
A locked element and methodology are provided for use in a block diagram model of a graphical modeling environment. The locked element displays within the block diagram model but access to the functionality of the locked element requires authorization. Without authorization the locked element will not function. Authorization may also be required to access the implementation details of the locked element. Without authorization the implementation details of the locked element cannot be viewed or modified. In certain implementations, any code generated from a locked element without authorization is obfuscated.
US08719715B2
In accordance with aspects disclosed herein, impact that a user interface design has on a user's experience is measured. User response to one or more user interface designs is measured. Two or more user interface designs can be compared based on user response to each design. A single user interface design can be evaluated based on one or more measures of user response to the user interface, or two or more user interface designs can be compared using one or more user response measures corresponding to the user interface designs.
US08719711B2
An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of programs to be utilized via corresponding display screens, a screen structure information managing part to manage screen structure information of the display screens, and a customizing information managing part to manage customizing information which records customizing contents with respect to the display screens. The image forming apparatus further includes a screen generating part to generate each display screen corresponding to the plurality of programs, based on the screen structure information and the customizing information related to each display screen.
US08719710B2
A user maintains notification setting information having temporal periods capable of controlling, at least in part, the dissemination of information describing the on-line presence of the user within an instant messaging system or the geographic location of one or more mobile communications devices used by the user. The user may use multiple identities to communicate within the instant messaging system and/or with the mobile communications device or devices. The user can maintain sets of temporal periods for each of the multiple identities. Only one identity may be used at a specific time to communicate to a specific other identity, but the multiple identities of the user may be linked such that on-line presence and/or geographic location associated with one of the identities is disseminated based on the temporal periods set for one or more of the multiple identities.
US08719708B2
Systems and methods for dynamic historical browsing of a collection of documents, such as a collection of webpages. In some embodiments, the entry point of the browsing experience may be a timestamp-based or version-based. The entry point may be established by a navigation parameter, such as a graphical slider, for example. A historical browsing experience may be replicated based on the entry point. The system may be implemented via client-side implementation or a server-side implementation. A rich interface application (RIA) may be used.
US08719695B2
An electronic device displays at least a portion of an electronic document with a predefined page layout at a first magnification level on a display; detects a first input indicating a first insertion point in the document, where the first insertion point is proximate to a first portion of text in the document; and in response to detecting the first input: selects a second magnification level different from the first magnification level, where the second magnification level is selected so as to display the first portion of text at a target text display size, and, while maintaining the predefined page layout of the document, displays, at the second magnification level, a portion of the document that includes the first portion of text.
US08719692B2
A mixed-initiative annotation framework is described herein. A document that includes several sentences is presented to a user, and an extractor module analyzes at least one sentence and automatically extracts a subject, predicate, object triple therefrom. The subject, predicate, object triple is displayed in graphical relation with the sentence as a proposed annotation to the sentence. Graphical options are presented to the user that allow the user to accept the proposed annotation, reject the proposed annotation, or modify the proposed annotation.
US08719687B2
A computer-implementable method for creating a summary video with depth information, comprising: recognizing moving objects from the input original video; generating an animated moving object cutout for each of the recognized moving objects by duplicating and stacking successive frames in the input original video containing images of the respective moving object; constructing a scene background by using texture of scenes in the input original video and estimating any missing portion; rendering a Dynamic 3D Scene by using depth information of foreground objects in the input original video and the scene background to create a three-dimensional scene and overlaying the animated moving object cutouts on to the three-dimensional scene according to their respective longitude, latitude, and depth locations in the three-dimensional scene; and synthesizing the summary video, by using the Dynamic 3D Scene.
US08719683B2
A system and method for processing a block Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code are provided. The system includes, a decoding apparatus for decoding a block LDPC code using a parity check matrix, the parity check matrix including an information part and a parity part, the parity part including a first section (B) including a plurality of first permutation matrices, a second section (D) including a second permutation matrix, a third section (T) including a plurality of identity matrices (I) arranged diagonally within the third section and a plurality of third permutation matrices arranged below the plurality of identity matrices, and a fourth section (E) including a fourth permutation matrix.
US08719676B2
A method of transmitting data in a communication network is provided, wherein the method includes sending an error message indicating that a data packet transmitted using a cooperative transmission scheme on a first channel is not decoded correctly, and retransmitting the data packet using a second channel which is different from the first channel.
US08719661B1
Systems and methods are disclosed that allow for transparently recovering from an uncorrected multi-bit error of arbitrary length located at a memory address. Storing one or more parity pages, for a set of pages in system memory, such that a page in the set of pages may be reconstructed using one of the parity pages is disclosed. Storing an indication of one or more page's disk location such that the one or more pages may be reconstructed by refilling the page from disk is also disclosed.
US08719655B2
A method includes defining a model matrix of size (n−k)×n, where n and k are positive integers, and where the model matrix includes a first sub-matrix corresponding to positions of data bits and a second sub-matrix corresponding to positions of parity bits. The second sub-matrix includes a multi-diagonal matrix with a triple diagonal structure. The triple diagonal structure includes a first and second central diagonals and a last row diagonal. Bits of the first and second central diagonal and the last row diagonal are equal to 1 and a remainder of bits in the multi-diagonal matrix are equal to 0. The method further includes: generating a compact matrix based on the model matrix; generating a parity matrix based on the compact matrix; determining the parity bits based on the parity matrix; and transmitting a codeword, based on the parity bits, over a channel and between communication devices.
US08719652B2
A method for managing a flash storage device includes initiating a read request and reading requested data from a first storage block of a plurality of storage blocks in the flash storage device based on the read request. The method further includes incrementing a read count for the first storage block and moving the data in the first storage block to an available storage block of the plurality of storage blocks when the read count reaches a first threshold value.
US08719644B2
A method and a system for diagnosing an apparatus are provided. The method for diagnosing the apparatus includes: determining whether the apparatus is to enter a diagnostic mode after a system is started; performing a diagnosis of the apparatus by executing a diagnostic proge apparatus is determined to enter the diagnostic mode; and performing a normal BIOS or EFI startup when the apparatus is determined not to enter the diagnostic mode. An accurate diagnosis of the apparatus can be realized by firstly determining whether the apparatus is to enter a diagnostic mode after a system is started, if yes, then the apparatus entering the diagnostic mode, and if not, then the apparatus performing a normal BIOS or EFI startup. Moreover, in case of a memory or PCI/PCIE bus error in the apparatus, since the diagnostic program is loaded prior to the BIOS startup, the fault can be diagnosed.
US08719636B2
Performance information which is a possible generation cause of a fault is extracted accurately.A fault cause extraction apparatus 10 includes a storage unit 12 and a correlation-destruction-propagation detecting unit 25. Here, the storage unit 12 stores a correlation model including one or more correlation functions, each of which is generated based on a time series of performance information including a plurality of types of performance values in a system and transforms a performance value for one of the types being an input to a performance value for another one of the types being an output. The correlation-destruction-propagation detecting unit 25 calculates a degree of influence of a performance value for a base point that is one of the types upon the system, based on the number of base point propagation functions, the base point propagation functions being the correlation functions used to transform a performance value for the base point to a performance value for one of other the types being transformable from the base point directly or indirectly and not being input of the correlation function.
US08719627B2
A cloud migration system is described herein that provides capacity management and disaster recovery by detecting peak load conditions and automatically moving computing to another computing resource (and back) and by providing computing across two or more clouds and moving completely to one in the case of a disaster at one site. The system monitors loads within a datacenter and detects a threshold that indicates that the current load is nearing the datacenter's capacity. Upon detecting that the threshold will be reached, the system facilitates an orderly move of at least some datacenter load to another datacenter or cloud-based resources. The system can also be used as a disaster recovery architecture at a datacenter/network level to manage fast workload transition in case of disaster. Thus, the system allows enterprises to build smaller and more efficient datacenters that leverage other resources for rare extra loads.
US08719613B2
A circuit comprising a single-wire serial interface (SWSI), a delay module coupled to the SWSI and operable to introduce a delay during a data transmission, the delay being dependent on a local clock (LC) associated with the circuit, wherein the delay enables the circuit to synchronize the data transmission with a device coupled to the SWSI based on the LC.
US08719612B2
A method and system for saving and/or retrieving context information of a processor core for a power state transition. The processor core resides in a complex power domain variously transitioning between a plurality of power states. The processor core includes a local context storage area for storage and retrieval of processor core context information. A low power context storage resides in a nominal power domain external to the complex power domain. Context information of the processor core is stored to the low power context storage based on whether a power state transition of the complex power domain includes a transition to power down the processor core.
US08719608B2
The invention provides a control apparatus, a main board, and a computer herein, the control apparatus is applied in the computing device. The computing device includes a main board a standby power supply, and a switching means configured between the standby power supply and the at least one electronic element. The control apparatus includes a signal receiving module, a judging module for judging whether the computing device is in a turn-off mode according to the signal, and a controlling module. The standby power supply is connected with the main board through the control apparatus and the switching switch respectively, so that after the turn-off of the computer, the control apparatus switches off the connection between the standby power supply and the main board, to reduce the power consumption of the main board after the turn-off.
US08719607B2
A mechanism for power management of processors using Pstates is provided. In a chiplet of a processor in a data processing system, a request is received to change a Pstate from a current Pstate to a requested Pstate. A determination is made as to whether the requested Pstate is less than or equal to a maximum Pstate. Responsive to the requested Pstate being less than or equal to the maximum Pstate, a frequency associated with the requested Pstate is computed thereby forming a computed frequency. An operating frequency of the chiplet is then adjusted to the computed frequency without involvement from a central power control entity.
US08719605B2
A trigger can relate to power usage of a computing device that a computer program to be run or running on the computing device causes. Detection of the trigger causes performance of a power-saving action. The power-saving action relates to the computer program to reduce the power usage of the computing device. The power-saving action is a strictly software-oriented action. An amount of power of the computing device used in detecting the trigger and performing the power-saving action is less than a reduction of the power usage of the computing device that results from performing the power-saving action, resulting in a net power usage reduction.
US08719600B2
The operating voltage of an integrated circuit (e.g., a processor) is changed in response to one or more conditions (e.g., a laptop computer is connected to an AC power source). Both the operating frequency and the operating voltage of the integrated circuit are changed. The voltage regulator providing the operating voltage to the integrated circuit is caused to transition between voltage levels using one or more intermediate steps. The integrated circuit continues to operate in the normal manner both at the new voltage and throughout the voltage transition.
US08719588B2
Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to provide, to a memory device, an obfuscated clear-page address derived from a clear-page address that is not the same as a key-page address and/or providing, to the memory device, an obfuscated key-page address derived from the key-page address when the obfuscated clear-page address is the same as the key-page address. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US08719581B2
A system which includes a programmable multimedia controller is provided in which flexible user access is provided through a combination of user profiles and usernames/pas swords. A configuration for a given device which may form part of the system or may interoperate with the system may be shared by multiple similar devices. A sharable device configuration is stored by a master device and can be shared by other devices of the same type as the master device.
US08719578B2
A computer-readable recording medium stores therein a document verifying program. The document verifying program causes a computer to execute receiving input of an electronic document; dividing the electronic document received into arbitrary components; calculating a hash value for each of the components; correlating, for each component, the hash value calculated for the component and a random number allocated to the component according to an appearance position of the component in the electronic document; creating for each component and based on the hash value and the random number correlated for the component at the correlating, a first digital signature and a second digital signature that are different from each other; and appending to each component, the first digital signature and the second digital signature created for the component at the creating.
US08719576B2
Transformations of digital records are used as lowest level inputs to a tree data structure having a root in a core system and having nodes computed as digital combinations of child node values. A combination of root values is published in a permanent medium. Signature vectors are associated with the digital records and have parameters that enable recomputation upward through the tree data structure to either a current root value or to the published value. Recomputation yields the same value only if a candidate digital record is an exact version of the original digital record included in the original computation of the value.
US08719575B2
The invention relates to a method of secure broadcasting of encrypted digital data of a proprietary entity, these data being stored in a storage module (6) of a server (5), comprising: the encryption of the digital data by means of an encryption key for the broadcasting of the digital data to the authenticated third party, and the broadcasting of these digital data to the authenticated third party.
US08719563B2
A key setting method executed by a node transmitting and receiving data through multi-hop communication in an ad-hoc network among multiple ad-hoc networks, includes detecting connection with a mobile terminal communicating with a server connected to a gateway in each ad-hoc network among the ad-hoc networks; transmitting by simultaneously reporting to the ad-hoc network, an acquisition request for a key for encrypting the data when the connection with the mobile terminal is detected at the detecting; receiving from the server via the mobile terminal, a key specific to a gateway and transmitted from the gateway to the server consequent to transfer of the simultaneously reported acquisition request to the gateway in the ad-hoc network; and setting the key specific to the gateway received at the receiving as the key for encrypting the data.
US08719561B2
A computer configuration utility automatically alters system configuration parameters to sample multiple different configurations. At least one workrate metric is measured at each sampled configuration. The workrate measurements for the multiple different configurations are compared to determine the effect of different configurations with respect to at least one optimization criterion. System configuration is automatically adjusted to the optimum configuration. Preferably, the workrate metric is (non-idle) instructions executed per unit of time.
US08719555B2
A microprocessor pipeline arrangement 1 includes a plurality of functional units P1, P2, P3, . . . , PN. A number of the functional units P1, P3, PN have access to a respective cache memory C1, C3, CN from which it can retrieve data needed to process threads that pass through the pipeline. The pipeline arrangement 1 also includes a number of monitors to determine when the system enters a state of livelock (e.g. inter-cache livelocks, intra-cache livelocks and/or “near-livelock” situations): a top-level monitor MT to detect livelock situations in the pipeline as a whole; and second-level (“local”) monitors M1 and M3 associated with individual caches C1 and C3.If the system is determined to have entered a livelock state, e.g. by the top-level monitor MT, the number of threads able to change the contents of one or more of the caches C1, C3, CN is reduced.
US08719553B2
A microprocessor pipeline arrangement 1 includes a plurality of functional units 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Each functional unit 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 also has access to a respective cache memory 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Threads for processing are received by the first functional unit 2 from an external source 12, and output by an end functional unit 6 of the pipeline to an output target 13. If a thread encounters a cache-miss on its passage through the pipeline, the thread is allowed to continue to pass through the pipeline in the normal manner. However, when the thread reaches the end of the pipeline, it is sent via a loopback path 14 back to the beginning of the pipeline to be sent through the pipeline again. In this way, any thread that has not completed its processing on passing through the pipeline can be sent through the pipeline again to allow the processing of the thread to be completed.
US08719550B2
Source code to be processed is analyzed and configuration data in implementing in accordance with each of plural implementation systems is created and is stored in a local memory of a DRP incorporating system. When execution of target processing is started, the implementation system determination processing calculates estimated processing time when the configuration of each of the implementation systems is adopted and determines the optimum one of the implementation systems based on a combination of the estimated processing time and the circuit scale of the configuration.
US08719542B2
A processor includes a CPU core which executes a user program, and a data transfer apparatus. The CPU core stores a transfer request from a user program in a specific area of a main memory, in which the transfer request specifies the virtual addresses of a transfer source and a transfer destination in a memory space allocated to the user program. The data transfer apparatus refers to the specific area of the main memory and acquires a transfer request asynchronously to processing performed by the CPU core. The data transfer apparatus then identifies physical addresses corresponding to virtual addresses specified in the transfer request. After that, the data transfer apparatus transcribes original data stored in a storage area indicated by the physical address of the transfer source, to a storage area in a cache memory related to the virtual address or physical address of the transfer destination.
US08719540B1
A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium for mapping block numbers within a region to physical locations within a storage system. Block numbers are mapped within a region according to a fractal-based space-filling curve. If the region is not a 2k by 2k square, then the region is broken up into one or more 2k by 2k squares. Any remaining sub-region is centered within a 2k by 2k square, the 2k by 2k square is numbered using a fractal-based space-filling curve, and then the sub-region is renumbered by assigning numbers based on the order of the original block numbers of the sub-region.
US08719528B2
A storage device in which file data is divided into multiple blocks for storage on a recording medium is provided. The storage device includes an additional data storing section for storing additional data to be recorded on the recording medium in association with the data to be written, a position determining section for determining recording positions on the recording medium where the blocks should be respectively written, based on the additional data, and a block writing section for writing the respective blocks on the recording positions on the recording medium determined by the recording position determining section. The additional data this defines a gap length between blocks of recorded data. During a read operation, if the gap length does not comport with the additional data, then an error is assumed.
US08719526B2
A method for securely handling processing of information may include controlling from within a chip, access to at least one portion of an on-chip memory by a plurality of on-chip clients that have pre-determined access to the at least one portion of the on-chip memory. The pre-determined access may be governed by pre-determined access rules that are hard-coded within the chip. At least one of the plurality of on-chip clients may access at least a portion of the on-chip memory. The on-chip memory may be accessible by at least another one of the plurality of on-chip clients. The pre-determined access rules may comprise at least one address range within the on-chip memory corresponding to at least one of the plurality of on-chip clients.
US08719524B2
A storage system in an embodiment of this invention comprises a non-volatile storage area for storing write data from a host, a cache area capable of temporarily storing the write data before storing the write data in the non-volatile storage area, and a controller that determines whether to store the write data in the cache area or to store the write data in the non-volatile storage area without storing the write data in the cache area, and stores the write data in the determined area.
US08719523B2
Provided are techniques for maintaining instant virtual copies. A request to perform an instant virtual copy operation to create an instant virtual copy from a first volume to a new volume is received. It is determined that the first volume has not been modified since a last instant virtual copy operation has been performed. It is determined whether an intermediate volume and an intermediate map have already been created. In response to determining that the intermediate volume and the intermediate map have not already been created, the intermediate volume and the intermediate map are created, the intermediate volume is made dependent on the first volume in a dependency chain based on the intermediate map, and the new volume is made dependent on the intermediate volume in the dependency chain.
US08719520B1
A system for data migration between high performance computing architectures and data storage disks includes an intermediate data migration handling system which has an intermediate data storage module coupled to the computer architecture to store data received, and a data controller module which includes data management software supporting the data transfer activity between the intermediate data storage module and the disk drives in an orderly manner independent of the random I/O activity of the computer architecture. RAID calculations are performed on the data prior to storage in the intermediate storage module, as well as when reading data from it for assuring data integrity, and carrying out reconstruction of corrupted data. The data transfer to the disk drives is actuated in sequence determined by the data management software based on minimization of seeking time, tier usage, predetermined time since the previous I/O cycle, or fullness of the intermediate data storage module. The storage controller deactivates the disk drives which are not needed for the data transfer.
US08719519B2
Method, process, and apparatus to efficiently store, read, and/or process syllables of word data. A portion of a data word, which includes multiple syllables, may be read by a computer processor. The processor may read a first syllable of the data word from a first memory. The processor may read a second syllable of the data word from a second portion of memory. The second syllable may include bits which are less critical than the bits of the first syllable. The second memory may be distinct from the first memory based on one or more physical attributes.
US08719516B2
Memories having internal processors and methods of data communication within such memories are provided. One such memory may include a fetch unit configured to substantially control performing commands on a memory array based on the availability of banks to be accessed. The fetch unit may receive instructions including commands indicating whether data is to be read from or written to a bank, and the address of the data to be read from or written to the bank. The fetch unit may perform the commands based on the availability of the bank. In one embodiment, control logic communicates with the fetch unit when an activated bank is available. In another implementation, the fetch unit may wait for a bank to become available based on timers set to when a previous command in the activated bank has been performed.
US08719515B2
A software transactional memory (STM) system allows the composition of traditional lock based synchronization with transactions in STM code. The STM system acquires each traditional lock the first time that a corresponding traditional lock acquire is encountered inside a transaction and defers all traditional lock releases until a top level transaction in a transaction nest commits or aborts. The STM system maintains state information associated with traditional lock operations in transactions and uses the state information to eliminate deferred traditional lock operations that are redundant. The STM system integrates with systems that implement garbage collection.
US08719512B2
A system controller includes an output unit which transfers an access request from an access source coupled to the system controller to an other system controller; a local snoop control unit that determines whether a destination of the access request from the access source is a local memory unit coupled to the system controller, and locks the destination when the destination is the local memory unit; a receiving unit which receives the access request from the output unit and an access request from an other system controller; a global snoop control unit which sends a response indicating whether the access request is executable or not, and controls locking of the destination of the access request when the destination is the local memory unit; and an access processing unit which unlocks the locking and accesses the memory unit when the access request from the access source becomes executable.
US08719503B2
A method includes receiving an address at a tag state array of a cache. The cache is configurable to have a first size or a second size that is larger than the first size. The method includes identifying a first portion of the address as a set index and using the set index to locate at least one tag field of the tag state array. The method also includes identifying a second portion of the address to compare to a value stored at the at least one tag field and locating at least one state field of the tag state array associated with a particular tag field that matches the second portion. The method further includes identifying a cache line based on a comparison of a third portion of the address to at least two status bits of the at least one state field and retrieving the cache line.
US08719488B2
A storage device made up of multiple storage media is configured such that a flash memory serves as a cache for data stored on a backend storage device having one or more magnetic storage media. The storage device includes a controller configured to maintain a direct mapping from respective backend block addresses of the backend storage device to respective physical addresses of the flash memory. Such mapping is used to translate a backend block address of the backend storage device at which a first block is stored into a physical address of the flash memory at which the first block is cached.
US08719486B2
Systems and methods relating to pinning selected data to sectors in non-volatile memory. A graphical user interface allows a user to specify certain data (e.g., directories or files) to be pinned. A list of pinned sectors can be stored so that a driver or controller that operates on a sector basis and not a file or directory basis can identify data to be pinned.
US08719475B2
Inter-chip connectivity may be provided in a computing device, which may comprise a USB host and at and at least one USB device embedded within the computing device, based on Universal Serial Bus version 3.0 (USB3.0) interface. In this regard, internal communication of data between the USB host and embedded USB device may be performed via USB3.0 SuperSpeed signals. The USB host and/or the USB3.0 interface may be configured to enable USB3.0 internal communication of data, and to reduce power consumption during the internal communication of data compared to external USB3.0 communications. Configuration of the USB3.0 interface for internal communication of data may comprises modifying and/or adjusting physical (PHY) layer, link layer, and/or protocol layer related parameters, functions, resources, and/or operations. The USB3.0 SuperSpeed signals may be communication using scalable low voltage signaling (SLVS). In this regard, Input/Output (IO) Swing may be set based on loopback training sequence.
US08719472B2
A wireless network system includes a platform device transmitting a first message including display capability information to at least one device and at least one device transmitting a second message to the platform device in response to the first message. The display capability information includes information on a display space and a display format supportable by the platform device. The second message includes display output information of the at least one device. The display output information includes: information on a display space, a display format, and display contents selected by the at least one device based upon the display capability information; and field type information that indicates characteristics of a field in which the display contents are displayed.
US08719460B2
The invention provides a method for an electronic device for automatically detecting and identifying a peripheral device. The electronic device comprises a connector having a first pin and a second pin and connects to a peripheral device through the connector. The method comprises the steps of determining whether the peripheral device is connected to the connector; reading a first state of the first pin and the second pin when determining that the peripheral device is connected to the connector; setting a voltage of the first pin to a first voltage level and then reading a second state of the first pin and the second pin; and identifying the peripheral device according to the first state and the second state. The invention also provides an electronic device and an electronic system utilizing the above-mentioned method.
US08719458B2
A circuit arrangement includes a programmable logic device. The programmable logic device includes configuration logic circuitry. The programmable logic device also includes configurable interconnects. The circuit arrangement further includes a storage device configured to provide data to the programmable logic device. The storage device communicates with the programmable logic device via a bi-directional interface.
US08719455B2
Direct Memory Access (DMA) is used in connection with passing commands between a host device and a target device coupled via a push buffer. Commands passed to a push buffer by a host device may be accumulated by the host device prior to forwarding the commands to the push buffer, such that DMA may be used to collectively pass a block of commands to the push buffer. In addition, a host device may utilize DMA to pass command parameters for commands to a command buffer that is accessible by the target device but is separate from the push buffer, with the commands that are passed to the push buffer including pointers to the associated command parameters in the command buffer.
US08719454B2
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a component to be coupled to a peripheral device to enable the peripheral device to appear to be locally connected to a computer of a local area network, although the peripheral device is not physically connected to the computer. The component may include a first set of registers to store a mirrored copy of control register information present in a second set of registers of a host controller interface of the computer. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08719452B1
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for correcting client-assigned timestamps. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, by one or more servers, a data packet that includes (i) data referencing one or more client-side events, (ii) data referencing a respective time that a client has assigned to each event, and (iii) data referencing a transmission time that the client has assigned to the data packet. The method also includes assigning, by the one or more servers, a receipt time to the data packet, and comparing, by the one or more servers, the transmission time that the client has assigned to the data packet to the receipt time that the one or more servers have assigned to the data packet, to determine a time correction factor.
US08719448B2
A method and device for determining a route including: presetting the number N of routes, performing a K shortest paths algorithm after a route query request is received, calculating the routes by group according to the number N of the routes, whenever N routes are calculated, outputting the N calculated routes as a group, and assigning resources to the group of routes; and stopping calculating the routes if a route on which resource matching is successful is obtained from the group of routes, and using the route on which the resource matching is successful as the determined route; otherwise, performing the resource matching on the next group of output routes to determine a route; where N is a positive integer and 1
US08719444B2
An apparatus and a method for delegating commands for a network attached storage system is described. A command permission associated with a command to be executed on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) server is delegated to a user of a NAS client having a mounted network filesystem of the NAS server. The command is issued through the filesystem of the NAS client.
US08719441B2
A method includes recording multimedia content at a server and receiving, at the server while the multimedia content is being recorded at the server, a request from a customer premise equipment device to initiate transmission of a stream of the multimedia content. The method also includes granting the request from the customer premise equipment device and providing the customer premise equipment device access to the multimedia content.
US08719437B1
A method for enabling streaming to a media player without native streaming support is disclosed. Step (A) of the method may author a media file based on a content signal. The media file may have an indexed format compatible with the media player. The content signal may (i) be received from a remote server through a network, (ii) use a transfer protocol and format at least one of which is incompatible with the media player and (iii) convey both video data and audio data representative of a scene. Step (B) may generate a local signal carrying the media file. The local signal generally has a transfer protocol compatible with the media player. Step (C) may transfer the local signal to the media player while the content signal is being received. The media player generally recreates the video data as a visual depiction on a display based on the local signal.
US08719426B1
In general, aspects of the present disclosure are directed to techniques for detecting proximity between computing devices. A first computing device may query a server device. Subsequent to querying, the first computing device may receive instructions from the server device to re-query the server device at a first specified time. The first computing device may re-query the server device at the first specified time. Subsequent to re-querying, the first computing device may receive an address associated with a second computing device and instructions from the server device to connect to the second computing device at a second specified time. The first computing device may connect with the second computing device at the second specified time based at least in part on the address associated with the second computing device.
US08719406B2
The present invention relates to the technical field of performance management for IT systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology of performing monitoring on demand for a complex IT system. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of system monitoring that includes: monitoring a performance parameter of a client of the system, determining, based on the performance parameter of the client, whether to monitor a service endpoint directly called by the client, locating the service endpoint to be monitored in response to a determination to monitor the service endpoint directly called by the client, and monitoring a performance parameter of the service endpoint.
US08719405B2
An apparatus includes a storage device configured to store a map image of one or more floors on which a network device is installed, positional information about an installation location of the network device on the map image, and configuration information about the network device, a setting unit configured to set a region on the map image and a rule that the network device complies with in the region, a moving unit configured to designate a movement destination for moving the network device by changing the positional information, a determination unit configured, if the positional information has been changed, to determine a content of a change of a configuration required to be executed to the network device when the network device is moved, and a notification unit configured to notify to an operator the content of the change of the configuration.
US08719401B1
A shared input/output (IO) resource is managed in a decentralized manner. Each of multiple hosts having IO access to the shared resource, computes an average latency value that is normalized with respect to average IO request sizes, and stores the computed normalized latency value for later use. The normalized latency values thus computed and stored may be used for a variety of different applications, including enforcing a quality of service (QoS) policy that is applied to the hosts, detecting a condition known as an anomaly where a host that is not bound by a QoS policy accesses the shared resource at a rate that impacts the level of service received by the plurality of hosts that are bound by the QoS policy, and migration of workloads between storage arrays to achieve load balancing across the storage arrays.
US08719397B2
A system for sending data from at least one computing device, which may be an email server, located at a user location, to a plurality of handsets. The system includes an internal system monitor associated with the at least one computing device, and the monitor provides application connectors deployed at the user location. The system also includes at least one wireless gateway router and a mobile client, which provides a client infrastructure installed on the plurality of handsets, such that the at least one computing device acts uni-directionally and thereby provides secure delivery of the data.
US08719388B2
A method enables the administration of resources (content) in web packages. By automatically adding a prefix to the resource name causing a name conflict, even resources having the same name can be handled when installing a new web package by the virtual file system mapping the resources to which a prefix has been added to the physical content required for the web application.
US08719380B2
A method for facilitating remote downloading includes receiving, at a home media gateway associated with at least a first endpoint, a remote download request generated by a web browser running on the first endpoint. The remote download request is relayed to the home media gateway via at least one component of a wireless service provider's network. The wireless service provider provides user authentication for the remote download request. The remote download request includes an address associated with at least one file hosted by a remote server. The method also includes downloading the at least one file from the remote server to the home media gateway. The method further includes, upon detecting a presence of the first endpoint, uploading the at least one file from the home media gateway to the endpoint.
US08719373B2
A method includes connecting a communications device to an Internet Multimedia Subsystem network. The method includes transmitting presence information indicating multimedia capabilities of the communications device and requesting multimedia content from a multimedia server to cause the multimedia server to transmit multimedia content. The method includes detecting connection of a peripheral device to the communications device and determining that the multimedia capabilities have increased due to the connection of the peripheral device. The method includes updating the presence information to indicate the increased multimedia capabilities and transmitting the updated presence information to cause the multimedia server to transmit the multimedia content adjusted for the increased multimedia capabilities indicated in the updated presence information. The method includes receiving the multimedia content adjusted for the increased multimedia capabilities and presenting at least some of the adjusted multimedia content on the peripheral device.
US08719366B2
Consent management between a client and a network server. In response to a request for consent, a central server determines if requested user information is included in a user profile associated with a user and if the user has granted consent to share the requested user information. A user interface is provided to the user via a browser of the client to collect the requested user information that is not included in the user profile and the consent to share the requested user information from the user. After receiving the user information provided by the user via the user interface, the service provided by the network server is allowed access to the received user information, and the central server updates the user profile. Other aspects of the invention are directed to computer-readable media for use with profile and consent accrual.
US08719365B1
Graphic output of an application can be provided via remote execution of the application in an execution environment under specified conditions. A resource, such as a file, web page, or other identifier of content to be rendered, may be specified along with a target application version. A redirector can monitor the resources available in the execution environment and provide commands to the rendering application in response to a request received by the redirector. The redirector can be configured to determine if the execution environment is permitted to execute the rendering application and/or determine if sufficient resources are available to execute the rendering application. The redirector can provide commands to initialize the rendering application, one or more virtual machines, and/or one or more scripts, components, or processes to provide a view of output for the client.
US08719364B2
A network management system transmits/receives an email via a network; saves, in a database, first history information including the address of at least one of the destination and the source of the email written in the email; receives transmission information in which access information for accessing a web page via a network is written; saves, in the database, second history information including the access information written in the transmission information; inputs authentication information for identifying a user; and selectively displays the first history information saved in the first saving unit and the second history information saved in the second saving unit in a predetermined display format on a display unit by switching between the first history information and the second history information based on an instruction inputted by a user when the inputted authentication information is identical to previously registered information.
US08719361B2
A relay device includes: memories, each memory being operable to store at least a data pair formed of a MAC address and a port number; a search unit to search only amongst ones of the memories having valid data pairs when searching for a port number based upon a MAC address; a data moving unit to move valid data pairs to different locations within the plurality of memories in order to reduce a total number of memories, amongst the plurality thereof, having valid data pairs; and a power supply controller to selectively stop supplying power to ones of the memories storing only invalid data.
US08719358B2
A method and server for transferring a message, belonging to the IM field. The method includes: receiving a message body from a first user through a first client terminal, finding an address of a second client terminal, and sending the message body to the second client terminal. The server includes a receiving module and a sending module.
US08719355B2
A method is described for providing platform independent e-mail translation. The method comprising the following steps. An e-mail message is received for a recipient IDN username. An ASCII identifier corresponding with the IDN username is retrieved using a predefined mapping. The received e-mail message is stored in local storage using the retrieved ASCII identifier. An e-mail server configured to implement the method and a computer readable medium comprising instructions for implementing the method are also described.
US08719349B2
A system and method for providing a radio-like experience may comprise providing a personal media library (PML)-based playlist, including receiving media elements from a listener's PML, creating a playlist of the media elements using professional broadcast scheduling software and providing the playlist to the listener. A system and method of providing a radio-like experience may also comprise creating a playlist of media elements according to the user preferences for a media genre and for perishable content and providing the playlist to the listener.A method of distributing user-generated content may comprise incorporating user-generated content into a playlist of media elements according to the listener preference and providing the playlist to the listener. A method of distributing user generated content may also comprise receiving user-generated content, incorporating the user-generated content into a playlist of media elements of the recipient and providing the playlist to the recipient.
US08719347B1
A system and method for generating a stream of content includes a content stream module that generates a model based on user input and/or prior activities using heterogeneous data sources. The heterogeneous data sources include search, entertainment, social activity and activity on third-party sites. The content stream module retrieves candidate content items that have interests that are similar to the user. The candidate content items are compared to the model and scored based upon interestingness of the content item to the user. The content stream module generates the stream of content from the candidate content items.
US08719346B2
Systems and methods for automatically locating web-based social network members are provided. According to one embodiment, contact content including an associated GPS identifier and status for web-based social network members located at or near the same location automatically appears on a GPS-enabled device. A further exemplary system includes a GPS-enabled device configured to receive a GPS identifier and a status representing a location and a current state for a web-based social network member, a processing module that associates the received GPS-identifier and the received status, and a communications module that sends the associated GPS-identifier and status to a server comprising a web-based social network database. Contact content in a web-based social network database record in the web-based social network database is updated to include the associated GPS identifier and status for the web-based social network member.
US08719341B2
A system and method are provided for accessing and managing information, or metadata, describing content residing on a number of agent devices. In general, the system includes a central node and a number of agent devices communicatively coupled by a network. In operation, the central node communicates with the agent devices to obtain content information describing content stored at the agent devices and optionally the locations of the agent devices from the agent devices. The content information and optionally the locations of the agent devices are stored in a database associated with the central node. Thereafter, the central node enables requesting nodes such as the agent devices to access the database. In addition or alternatively, the central node may provide automatic alerts to the agent devices when other agent devices matching specified criteria are available.
US08719340B2
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing device, comprising a communicating unit capable of communicating with one or more content servers through a network, an information obtaining unit for obtaining content type information indicating a type of content, which may be provided by each of the one or more content servers, from each content server using communication by the communicating unit, and a user interface unit for allowing a user to select a desired content type out of the content type indicated by the content type information and allowing the content server capable of providing at least one content belonging to the selected content type to provide the at least one content. The content type information is the information capable of identifying a type of a container included in a content directory of each content server.
US08719333B2
A collaborative Internet data mining system for facilitating a group effort from a plurality of guides to the Internet, by automatically processing the information provided by the guides and thereby create a branded or uniform look and feel to the web sites supported by the plurality of guides.
US08719328B2
Methods of electronic scheduling for playback of media contents. Discrete items of content are scheduled for play back based upon a schedule created by the integration of five standard scheduling methods into a single scheduling algorithm. In the first scheduling method, a discrete item of content is assigned a frequency rating relative to other items of content. A second way to schedule is repeating a content item at specific intervals of time. A third scheduling method allows the content to be played at a specific date and time. The fourth scheduling method includes playing a content item upon receipt of a trigger event which is received from a source external to the scheduling system. And lastly, means are provided for selectively determining whether or not particular content is available for play in a particular venue or during a particular period of time.
US08719327B2
A method and device or monitoring parameters in a process reduces power consumption and bandwidth requirements in the transmission of the monitored parameter to for example, a monitoring application. In particular, new monitoring parameter values are only transmitted if the difference between a measured or calculated parameter value and the most recently transmitted value exceeds a limit, since the last communication of the parameter or if the time since the last communication of the parameter exceeds a preset refresh period. The determination as to whether to transmit the parameter can be applied to engineering unit values or raw values.
US08719321B2
The LLMICT transform matrices are orthogonal, hence their inverses are their transpose. The LLMICT transform matrices are integer matrices, which can be implemented with high precision eliminating the drift error in video coding. The fast algorithms for the LLMICT transform are found, thus allowing a lower requirement on computation hardware. The LLMICT is also found to have high transform coding gain due to its similarity to the DCT.
US08719318B2
A system and method for representing, storing and retrieving real-world knowledge on a computer or network of computers is disclosed. Knowledge is broken down into permanent atomic “facts” which can be stored in a standard relational database and processed very efficiently. It also provides for the efficient querying of a knowledge base, efficient inference of new knowledge and translation into and out of natural language. Queries can also be processed with full natural language explanations of where the answers came from. The method can also be used in a distributed fashion enabling the system to be a large network of computers and the technology can be integrated into a web browser adding to the browser's functionality.
US08719314B2
The present invention discloses a solution for allowing the performance of a faceted search upon assets packaged according to the Reusable Asset Specification (RAS). Such a solution can include the creation of asset classification schemas. An asset classification schema can define hierarchical relationships between a classification name and a multitude of descriptive attributes. Then, a consolidated faceted search schema can be generated from the asset classification schemas, which can be used by a faceted search engine to perform faceted searches on the assets.
US08719313B2
One machine, i.e. computer, on a network, such as associated with a distributed database, e.g. a data store or a partition thereof, is designated as a master, which alone can issue system orderstamps for transactional operations, while other machines associated with the data store or partition thereof act as any of clients that submit transactions to the master, or as slaves that adhere to updates from the master. If a transactional operation on the distributed database is attempted on a client machine, and communication cannot be established with the master machine, the transaction fails. The distributed data store having such a master provides a method that decreases transaction time across the distributed database, and maintains consistent data between separate machines.
US08719307B2
An apparatus and a method for forming a concurrent linked hash map is described. Doubly linked nodes of a linked list are formed in a data container of a networked memory. A hash table is generated from the doubly linked nodes. A parent node is located in the hash table to update a reference of a node in the data container. The parent node is processed in a forward direction of the linked list.
US08719302B2
Methods, systems and software are described for analyzing micro-blog messages to detect abnormal activity of interest. The system includes a clusterer for clustering micro-blog messages received over a first period of time, a classifier for scoring the clustered messages; a knowledge base, a rule generator for generating classification rules from the knowledge base; and a matcher for matching the scored messages to information requests. Methods for operating the system and its components are described.
US08719287B2
A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to receive a request for an action. An action context is received where the action context includes an application requesting the action. A set of metadata is searched for metadata corresponding to the action, where the search is limited by the action context. Selected metadata for the action is inserted into a collection. The selected metadata is a result of searching the set of metadata. The selected metadata includes a reference to the set of executable instructions that implements the action and a description of the action. The collection is then returned.
US08719284B2
A request corresponding to a target user is received from a querying user. The request can specifically identify the target user, or it could include a search criteria that results in identification of one or more target users. In any event, once the request is received, entries of data items (e.g., user profiles) associated with the target user(s) and the querying user (or some other user) are accessed. Based on the data items in the querying user's profile (or the other user's profile), the data items in the target user's profiles are filtered so that the querying user is not presented with an overload of information. Once the target user's profile has been filtered, it will be presented to the querying user.
US08719282B1
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for identifying and scoring restricted-locality synonyms. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a search query including a query term and a synonym for the query term. The synonym is evaluated using one or more predetermined criteria and based on the evaluation is designated as a restricted-locality synonym. A first scoring model is selected that specifies how to score occurrences of restricted-locality synonyms in documents. A document is received that is identified as being responsive to the search query. A document score for the document is determined using the first scoring model.
US08719277B2
Methods, systems, and apparatuses, including computer programs encoded on computer readable media, for receiving user input data that includes a sentimental identifier and an indication of at least one of an amount of pressure and an amount of time used to select a sentimental input. The user input data is associated with a media, and the associated media includes a plurality of objects. For each user input data, the user input data is associated with a portion of the associated media. The user input data is aggregated based upon the portion of the associated media. An average sentiment value is determined based upon the sentimental identifier and the indication of at least one of the amount of pressure and the amount of time used to select a sentimental input for at least one of the displayed objects.
US08719268B2
A method, computer program product, and system for enabling parallel processing of an XML document without pre-parsing, utilizing metadata associated with the XML document and created at the same time as the XML document. The metadata is used to generate partitions of the XML document at the time of parallel processing, without requiring system-intensive pre-parsing.
US08719262B1
A search engine for searching a corpus improves the relevancy of the results by classifying multiple terms in a search query as a single semantic unit. A semantic unit locator of the search engine generates a subset of documents that are generally relevant to the query based on the individual terms within the query. Combinations of search terms that define potential semantic units from the query are then evaluated against the subset of documents to determine which combinations of search terms should be classified as a semantic unit. The resultant semantic units are used to refine the results of the search.
US08719258B2
A system and method which may allow users, who are looking for similar products or services on a website and thus belong to an online community, to directly communicate with each other. The method may be used in eCommerce, e.g., online shopping or online auction. The method may also be used in other contexts, such as social networking and online photo albums.
US08719250B2
The TABLE function mechanism available in a RDBMS is used to integrate RDF models into SQL queries. The table function invocation takes parameters including an RDF pattern, an RDF model, and an RDF rule base and returns result rows to the SQL query that contain RDF triples resulting from the application of the pattern to the triples of the model and the triples inferred by applying the rule base to the model. The RDBMS includes relational representations of the triples and the rules. Optimizations include indexes and materialized views of the representations of the triples, precomputed inferred triples, and a method associated with the TABLE function that rewrites the part of the SQL query that contains the TABLE function invocation as an equivalent SQL string. The latter technique is generally applicable to TABLE functions.
US08719249B2
One or more systems and/or techniques are provided for constructing a query classification index that can be used to classify a query into relevant categories. Where documents in an index are classified into one or more category predictions for a category hierarchy, classification metadata is generated for categories to which a document in the index has been classified. Further, the classification metadata is associated to the corresponding documents in the index. Additionally, a query of the index can be classified using the metadata associated to the documents in the index, and query results can be provided that are classified by the one or more categories identified by the classification of the query.
US08719248B2
A method storing information that indicates similarity between contents based on content metadata associated with each content, wherein a degree of similarity between contents is based on a semantic interpretation of plot metadata included in content metadata and pertaining to each plot associated with each content; receiving a search query from a user; retrieving one or more content metadata pertaining to one or more contents based on the search query; retrieving one or more recommended content metadata pertaining to one or more recommended contents that are similar to the one or more content metadata pertaining to the one or more contents based on the stored information; and providing a search result that includes the one or more content metadata and the one or more recommended content metadata via a user interface.
US08719232B2
Systems and methods are provided for data integrity checking in a computing system. In one exemplary embodiment, the method includes receiving, from each of a plurality of computing devices of the computing system, application transaction logs, wherein the application transaction logs are related to a plurality of applications. The method also includes comparing, by the central computing device, the received application transaction logs to a transactions recorded in a database to identify missing transactions. In addition, the method includes performing one or more actions in response to the identified missing transactions.
US08719229B1
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving a first source file, the first source file including one or more first computer-aided design models; converting the first source file into a first plurality of files; generating a first snapshot, the first snapshot including the first source file, the first plurality of files, and a first version; receiving a second source file, the second source file having the first format that is readable by the first application, the second source file including one or more second models, the second source file being an updated version of the first source file; converting the second source file into a second plurality of files; generating a second snapshot; and associating the second snapshot with the first snapshot, where the second snapshot being a more recent version than the first snapshot.
US08719228B1
The invention relates to a method for identifying obsolete discussion threads. The method includes extracting keywords from a discussion thread and assigning a keyword score to each keyword. The method further includes identifying a change event that is a change affecting a topic of the forum, extracting a keyword from a recorded medium recording the change event, comparing the keyword from the recorded medium with the keywords from the discussion thread to identify a matching keyword, and reducing the keyword score of the matching keyword to a reduced score based on the matching keyword matching the keyword from the recorded medium. The method further includes aggregating the keyword score assigned to each keyword to obtain a total score for the discussion thread, and displaying a warning on a user interface that includes the discussion thread when the total score is below a pre-specified threshold.
US08719222B2
Tools and techniques are described for synchronization and collaboration within peer-to-peer and client/server environments. These tools may provide methods that include establishing peer-to-peer relationships between two or more client systems. These relationships enable the client systems to create respective local instances of workspaces, shared between the client systems to allow them to collaborate with one another. The client systems may participate in peer-to-peer synchronization flows with one another, with the synchronization flows representing updates made local to the shared workspaces of the client systems. The methods may also establish establishing a client/server relationship between one of the client systems and a server system. Through this client/server relationship, the client and server systems may participate in client/server synchronization flows, with these flows representing updates made to the local shared workspace at the client system.
US08719205B2
Systems and methods of the present invention allow for the discovery of physical location information about network assets and the delivery of that information to network administrators. In addition, environmental and other information about network asset locations can be provided to an administrator. Intelligent patch panels and power outlet units are installed in network cabinets to facilitate the acquisition and reporting of physical infrastructure information, including information about network resource availability.
US08719204B2
A user data engine residing on an endpoint machine generates a current user context reflecting a specific flow of operations performed by an end-user when interacting with a software application. A context engine residing on a sever machine compares the current user context to one or more stored user contexts included in a context database and generates a similarity value based on each comparison. A resource engine identifies resources in a resource database that are associated with the stored user contexts and then generates a relevance score for each resource based on the similarity scores corresponding to the stored user contexts with which those resources are associated. The resource engine transmits a resource list reflecting the identified resources to the user data engine based on the relevance scores. The user data engine displays on a display screen of the endpoint machine information associated with resources reflected in the resource list.
US08719194B2
A method for training a classifier for selecting features in sparse data sets with high feature dimensionality includes providing a set of data items x and labels y, minimizing a functional of the data items x and associated labels y L ( w , b , a , c , γ 1 , γ 2 ) := 1 N ∑ i = 1 N a i + λ 1 c 1 + λ 2 2 w 2 2 + γ 1 T ( e - Y ( Xw + be ) - a ) + γ 2 T ( w - c ) + μ 1 2 e - Y ( Xw + be ) - a 2 2 + μ 2 2 w - c 2 2 to solve for hyperplane w and offset b of a classifier by successively iteratively approximating w and b, auxiliary variables a and c, and multiplier vectors γ1 and γ2, wherein λ1, λ2, μ1, and μ2 are predetermined constants, e is a unit vector, and X and Y are respective matrix representations of the data items x and labels y; providing non-zero elements of the hyperplane vector w and corresponding components of X and Y as arguments to an interior point method solver to solve for hyperplane vector w and offset b, wherein w and b define a classifier than can associate each data item x with the correct label y.
US08719186B2
A computer-implemented method for itemizing energy consumption to generate and present a utility consumption profile based on disaggregated historical utility consumption data is disclosed. The computer-implemented method comprises obtaining data indicating historical utility consumption of a dwelling over a time period. A non-seasonal portion of the historical utility consumption data is then determined by first computing an average utility consumption based on one or more predetermined intervals within the time period, and then computing the non-seasonal portion by applying the average to the time period. The non-seasonal portion is then subtracted from the historical utility consumption data to obtain a seasonal portion of the historical utility consumption data. The seasonal and/or non-seasonal portion may be further disaggregated by end-use methods, and presented to the user in the utility consumption profile.
US08719177B2
Systems and methods for providing a document are described. In one described method, a document comprising a portion selected by a first member of a social network is hosted for the first member. The portion is dynamically updated with content. An audience criterion for the portion and a type of relationship between the first member and a second member of the social network are identified. If the type of relationship between the first member and the second member satisfies the audience criterion, the second member is provided access to at least the portion.
US08719165B2
Systems and methods are described that generally relate to enabling completion of secure transactions using mobile devices that may or may not have the needed or desired security features. A secure transaction may be partially completed by a secure computing device and partially completed by a less secure mobile device, where the secure computing device may be used to delegate a transaction operation to the less secure mobile device.
US08719162B2
The present disclosure may include, for example, a method for facilitating establishment of a remitting agreement between equipment used by a vendor and equipment used by a provider, enabling, by way of the equipment used by the provider, the equipment used by the vendor to communicate with equipment used by a customer permitting the customer to purchase a product or service of the vendor, and initiating between the equipment used by the provider and the equipment used by the vendor a remittance from an account associated with the vendor of a portion of a transaction amount associated with a purchase transaction made by the equipment used by the customer. Additional embodiments are disclosed.
US08719160B1
Payment items are received and processed in the course of a financial transaction. For example, a paying bank may receive an electronic transmission corresponding to a imaged check from a depositing bank. The paying bank may attempt to identify a reason for return within the payment item. If a reason for return is found, a determination may be made that the payment item is a re-clear payment item that has been previously transmitted by the depositing bank and returned by the paying bank. After determining that a payment item is a re-clear, the item may be processed within the paying bank along an abbreviated processing path for faster and less costly item processing. For example, in systems in which duplicate detection is performed on payment items, re-clear items may be classified separately and need not undergo certain automated and/or manual duplicate detection processes.
US08719145B2
An investment instrument based on a range of index values is disclosed that allows investors to take risk positions relative to the size, or length, of the range. The investment instrument has a monetary value that increases as the index value increases within a low range interval of the range, decreases as the index value increases within a high range interval of the range, and is fixed or capped if the index value falls within a middle range interval of the range. Typically, one settlement amount will be zero and the other will be an amount greater than the investment instrument price.
US08719142B1
Disclosed are methods for competitive pricing implemented in software for commerce in an electronic marketplace. A vendor may identify rivals: competitors against which the vendor most directly competes by dint of having similar reputation and market positioning. Using specified pricing models applied to filtered price data periodically gathered by spider-crawling competitors on the Internet, a vendor may adjust product prices to match rivals while accounting for overall marketplace price trends.
US08719135B2
Methods and systems for providing estimated insurance quotes/premiums are described herein. After analyzing rate factors, a subset of rate factors are selected that yield a fairly accurate estimated insurance premium from a minimum amount of information easily obtainable from a user. The user inputs a value from a predetermined set of allowable inputs (value input filter). After receiving and analyzing the user inputs, the system generates one or more estimates and displays the one or more estimates to the user, e.g., via a web page. When multiple estimates are provided, the multiple estimates may differ based on the level of coverage, add-on features, or both. Readily known non-personal identifying information is preferably requested and used, thereby alleviating privacy concerns while still being able to provide an estimate to the user very quickly, e.g., under 30 seconds, once all the requested information is obtained.
US08719134B1
A first amount of insurance may be determined for a first set of at least one insured entities covered under a single insurance policy. Replacement cost factor data relating to the single insurance policy may be received from at least one source. Received replacement cost factor data may be used to determine a first replacement cost for the first set of at least one insured entities covered under the single insurance policy. A determination may be made that the first amount of insurance is greater than the first replacement cost. A first insurance premium may be calculated for the single insurance policy using at least the first amount of insurance and the first replacement cost. The calculated insurance premium may be less than a second insurance premium for a second set of at least one insured entities for which a second amount of insurance and a second replacement cost are both equal to the first amount of insurance.
US08719132B1
A computer-implemented data processing system includes a data storage device and a processor and program logic stored in memory and executable by the processor. The program logic may include account management logic coupled to the data storage device to manage accounts respectively associated with a plurality of users, and interface logic coupled to the account management logic and the data storage device to connect the data processing system to computing systems associated with the plurality of users by way of the Internet, the interface logic providing the users with web access to an on-line banking area of a website of a financial institution, the interface logic further configured to establish a connection with one of the users and provide the user with a user interface. The user interface may be customizable based on inputs received from the user to provide selected ones of display modules.
US08719131B1
Multi-tenant resources can be funded using payment submitted with requests for those resources, such that the resources do not need to be associated with a specific user account. A resource can be allocated and available as long as payment has been provided. If a user wants the resource to be available for additional processing, for example, the user can submit another request with additional funding. The funding can come in the form of donations from any user, or in the form of investments where the investor expects some return on the investment in the form of revenue, visibility, or other such compensation. One or more management components can track funding for various resources, can accept and select bids for period of sponsorship, and can manage various donation models.
US08719130B2
A method for an automated insured deposit portfolio management includes receiving a request from a depositor to invest funds in an insured deposit product including investment vehicles that use a combination of money market deposit accounts and CD Products, selecting a first portion of the funds for investment in at least one money market account in at least one issuer bank, and selecting a second portion of the funds for investment in at least one CD Product in at least one issuer bank. An escrow amount can be computed that compares to an early withdrawal penalty for each CD Product. Thereafter, investment of the first portion can be directed for investment in at least one money market deposit account with at least one issuer bank, and investment of the second portion can be directed in at least one CD Product with at least one issuer bank. Finally, a record of the first and second portions can be stored in connection with the depositor.
US08719115B2
In various exemplary embodiments, a system and method to provide customized combination packages is disclosed. The method includes receiving a selection of a plurality of items from a potential buyer, the selection of the plurality of items creating a customized combination package. Available transaction history for past transactions of similar items to the items of the customized combination package is provided to the potential buyer. An offer from the potential buyer is then received and provided to a seller selling the plurality of items for consideration.
US08719114B2
Methods and systems for preparing combined communications having a plurality of client communication sections is presented. Initial interest in a product or service offer is received from a client at a computer system. The computer system generates a communications that combine host information and one or more client communication sections, wherein the client communication sections contain a second offer for the product or service.
US08719113B1
Systems for storing data for access by an application program providing specialty product information to consumers.
US08719112B2
An accessory-specific user experience can be invoked at a mobile host device attached to an accessory device. The mobile device can receive accessory device information from the accessory and transmit the accessory device information to an online marketplace. The mobile device can receive information indicating accessory-specific goods or services available from the online marketplace and display the received information as part of the invoked user experience. The accessory device information can comprise accessory usage categories as well as additional information about the accessory. A marketplace can select accessory-specific goods or services based on the received accessory device information based on matching between accessory attribute values associated with the goods and services and accessory attributes values contained in the received accessory device information. The accessory device can be a docking station connected to additional accessories and the accessory device information can comprise information pertaining to the additional accessories.
US08719108B1
Disclosed are various embodiments involving access to guest orders in an electronic commerce application. In one embodiment, a guest order is generated for the purchase of a product in a server based on interaction with a client over a network. The guest order is stored in a data store in isolation with respect to a plurality of user accounts and in isolation with respect to a plurality of other guest orders stored in the data store. Client access is provided in the server to order data associated with the guest order to facilitate at least one customer action with respect to the guest order.
US08719104B1
Techniques for enabling users to acquire multiple items or information about multiple items that appear within an image are described herein. For instance, a user may provide (e.g., upload) or may otherwise find an image that contains multiple items. The user may then request to acquire some or all of the multiple items or may request information regarding some or all of the illustrated items. In some instances, the described techniques initiate acquisition of the elements in accordance with a determined preference of the user.
US08719099B2
A novel digital photo frame is configured to display user-loaded photographs, moving pictures, and other personal data and corporate-paid advertisements which are dynamically updatable by an advertising data distribution center or another communications service provider, such as a cellular service provider computer or another device. The invention also discloses a related, novel method of advertising in a digital photo frame with dynamically-updatable-ads, in which initial advertising fees for one or more dynamically-updateable ads at least partially pay for manufacturing costs of the digital photo frame for inexpensive distribution of the digital photo frame to a targeted consumer.
US08719096B2
An improved system and method for generating a maximum utility slate of advertisements for online advertisement auctions is provided. Various utility factors for each advertisement that may be a candidate in a slate of advertisements may be applied within a framework in order to generate a maximum utility slate of advertisements. Either backward or forward dynamic programming may be applied to recursively evaluate the utility of subslates of advertisements in order to generate a maximum utility slate of advertisements. In an embodiment, a network with directed edges and associated costs may be defined, and the longest path may be found in the directed network for constructing a maximum utility slate of advertisements. Various utility factors may be applied for different objectives of an auctioneer and the framework presented may be extended for revenue ordering, exclusion of bidders, ordering slates according to first and second price utilities, and so forth.
US08719083B2
Distribution of electronic documents is described, including receiving an electronic document to be distributed, identifying whether a destination identifier is associated with a destination account among a known group of customer accounts, routing the electronic document, and calculating a fee associated with delivery of the electronic document based on whether the destination account is among the known group of customers and a set of billing rules. The set of billing rules may specify a discounted fee for routing an electronic document to each of a known group of customer accounts. In other aspects, the set of billing rules may specify a discounted fee for routing an electronic document to a first group of the known group of customer accounts and specify a standard fee for a second group of the known group of customer accounts.
US08719082B1
The accuracy of bid amounts for electronic advertising is improved by accounting for factors such as the cost-per-click (CPC) ratio for each ad. When a provider such as a search engine selects advertisements using automated auctions, it can be desirable for an advertiser to avoid underbidding for ads when the ads generate a significant amount of revenue or profit, or are otherwise performing well. Various algorithms can be used to generate a bid adjustment factor that allows bid values to be increased (or decreased) as appropriate, based on information such as CPC information. By calculating a separate adjustment factor, the amount of adjustment can be monitored and/or capped to avoid overspending. The algorithms also can utilize information at various levels of categorization, and at different time intervals, depending on the amount and type of information available, in order to provide an accurate and significant result.
US08719078B1
A computerized system and method of calculating a discount index value for a supplier can include receiving information related to a plurality of discount leverage factors for the supplier, calculating a discount index value for the supplier based on the information related to the discount leverage factors, receiving information related to an actual discount event for the supplier, recalculating the discount index value for the supplier based on the discount leverage factors and the information related to actual discount events, and displaying the discount index value for the supplier. The system and method can also include placing the discount index value on a discount index scale, defining a plurality of discount leverage regions on the discount index scale, and attributing a leverage value to the supplier based on the proximity of the discount index value to one of the discount leverage regions.
US08719076B2
A method of providing financial advice that includes presenting financial related questions to a user, recording answers to the presented questions and preparing and displaying an advice report by simultaneously displaying one of the recorded answers and a benchmark that represents a predetermined level of practice corresponding to the one of the recorded answers, wherein advice on how to achieve a desired level of practice is rendered by such simultaneous displaying. Providing advice to the user based on the advice report so that the user achieves the desired level of practice.
US08719072B2
The present invention describes a system and method for evaluating an automotive service center's opportunities for retail tire sales and service, including projecting potential sales and generating other business information for creating a tire service center at an existing repair service center. The present invention may be utilized for service centers which are independent or part of a dealership. The dealership may include both new car sales, used car sales, and a service center.
US08719068B1
A system and method for scheduling or completing multiple types of healthcare interactions from a mobile computing device. The system identifies a customer or a target; communicates and notifies the target via some communication means (SMS, e-mail, mailed Post Card) to schedule an appointment. There is an association between the delivered message and the specific target (such as a weblink and a key), which allows the target to access the scheduling system without a separate login process. This system also allows the target to verify and update data about the target and to schedule an appointment.
US08719061B2
Disclosed is a novel system and method that provides real time information to an insurance adjuster. The system obtains information related to an insured item which has an outstanding claim. Information includes the cost to repair a specific item, the salvage value of the item, and the cost to replace the item. The system then compares the information related to the insured item from an economic perspective to determine whether it should be repaired or replaced. Since the system is objective, it reduces the reliance on subjective human factors such as collusion and lack of expertise. As a result, the system reduces the number of fraudulent and inaccurate transactions related to the specific item.
US08719055B2
Computer implemented methods and systems for controlling the dispensation of a prescription drug to a patient with a medical condition. The methods and systems may restrict the prescription and dispensation of prescription drugs at the physician and pharmacy level. Determination of whether a patient should receive a subsequent prescription of a drug is based on the effectiveness of the drug and the adverse side effects associated with the drug. This can be used by state and federal regulators, physicians and pharmacists to control, evaluate and monitor the use of drugs on an individual patient basis. Furthermore, the methods and systems provide a national registry in which drug effectiveness data in individual patients is collected which can be aggregated to provide information on population-based drug efficacy.
US08719050B2
Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for self-updating procedure duration estimation for patient scheduling. A scheduling system for scheduling procedures in a clinical environment includes historical procedure data including stored duration values for a procedure. The scheduling system also includes a user interface providing scheduling and procedure duration information to a user for scheduling the procedure for a patient. The scheduling system further includes a scheduling engine estimating one or more duration values for the procedure for scheduling the procedure for a patient. The scheduling engine establishes a default duration value for a procedure and updating the default duration value based on the historical procedure duration data. The scheduling engine provides a plurality of procedure durations including the updated default duration value to the user for selection via the user interface. The scheduling engine schedules a procedure using a user selected value for procedure duration.
US08719046B2
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for interruption workflow management in a clinical enterprise. Certain embodiments provide an interruption workflow management system for a clinical enterprise. The system includes a worklist including a plurality of patient indicators representing patients for which tasks are to be performed by a user. The system also includes a patient panel displaying patient information associated with a patient indicator selected from the worklist. The system further includes a patient indicator shelf holding one or more patient indicators from at least one of the worklist and the patient panel for later retrieval in response to user input. The patient indicator shelf facilitates restoration of a patient indicator from the patient indicator shelf to display in the patient panel in response to user input.
US08719045B2
Family health history information can be used to assess familial risk for common diseases and determine early detection and prevention medical strategies. Assessed familial risk of disease can then be used to determine recommendations for disease prevention and screening that are targeted to familial risk. Other factors can be included to generate personalized disease prevention recommendations. For example, personal health history information, personal health behavior information, or both can be collected and assessed to generate personalized disease prevention recommendations based on the information collected. Recommendations for disease prevention and screening based at least on familial risk can be used to provide a personalized disease prevention plan that encourages a person to make behavior changes that will reduce the risk of disease and utilize preventive health services.
US08719043B2
A method is disclosed to verify and identify pharmaceutical products through their product signatures in order to combat counterfeiting and reduce dispensing errors, using methods such as near infrared spectroscopy. Furthermore, in order actively evade pharmaceutical product counterfeiting, a method is disclosed where an amount of one or more of the inactive ingredients is varied over time; the variation provides a different product signature, but falling within a level deemed permissible by a regulatory body.
US08719038B1
Computerized apparatus for obtaining and displaying information, such as for example directions to a desired entity or organization. In one embodiment, the computerized apparatus is configured to receive user speech input and enable performance of various tasks, such as obtaining desired information relating to indoor entities, maps or directions, or any number of other topics. The obtained data may also, in various variants, be displayed in various formats and relative to other entities nearby.
US08719035B2
Techniques are disclosed for recognizing user personality in accordance with a speech recognition system. For example, a technique for recognizing a personality trait associated with a user interacting with a speech recognition system includes the following steps/operations. One or more decoded spoken utterances of the user are obtained. The one or more decoded spoken utterances are generated by the speech recognition system. The one or more decoded spoken utterances are analyzed to determine one or more linguistic attributes (morphological and syntactic filters) that are associated with the one or more decoded spoken utterances. The personality trait associated with the user is then determined based on the analyzing step/operation.
US08719033B2
A greeting card having an audio recording and playback device permits recording of a karaoke-style song to be played upon opening of the greeting card. A user sings along with a permanently prerecorded, karaoke-style song that is played during a recording session. The recording device is operable in either a trial mode or a use mode. In the trial mode, a user-recorded song is played back initially for the potential purchaser but is not subsequently played back to be later heard by other potential purchasers. In the use mode, which the card may be switched to after purchase by removal of a trial mode panel from the greeting card, a user-recorded karaoke-style song is played upon subsequent openings of the card. During playback, the user-recorded song is played simultaneously with the prerecorded karaoke-style recording that was played during the recording session. Additional prerecorded messages, such as voice prompts with instructions, may also be included. The audio recording and playback device may also be included in other non-greeting card products, such as a plush toy and an ornament.
US08719023B2
An apparatus to improve robustness to environmental changes of a context dependent speech recognizer for an application, that includes a training database to store sounds for speech recognition training, a dictionary to store words supported by the speech recognizer, and a speech recognizer training module to train a set of one or more multiple state Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) with use of the training database and the dictionary. The speech recognizer training module performs a non-uniform state clustering process on each of the states of each HMM, which includes using a different non-uniform cluster threshold for at least some of the states of each HMM to more heavily cluster and correspondingly reduce a number of observation distributions for those of the states of each HMM that are less empirically affected by one or more contextual dependencies.
US08719019B2
Speaker identification techniques are described. In one or more implementations, sample data is received at a computing device of one or more user utterances captured using a microphone. The sample data is processed by the computing device to identify a speaker of the one or more user utterances. The processing involving use of a feature set that includes features obtained using a filterbank having filters that space linearly at higher frequencies and logarithmically at lower frequencies, respectively, features that model the speaker's vocal tract transfer function, and features that indicate a vibration rate of vocal folds of the speaker of the sample data.
US08719008B2
Computer-based processes are disclosed for analyzing and improving document readability. Document readability is improved by using rules and associated logic to automatically detect various types of writing problems and to make and/or suggest edits for eliminating such problems. Many of the rules seek to generate more concise formulations of the analyzed sentences, such as by eliminating unnecessary words, rearranging words and phrases, and making various other types of edits.
US08719005B1
A method and apparatus are presented for using directed reasoning to provide natural language responses to questions and commands in natural language. The directed reasoning process uses concepts in the natural language sentence to identify relevant response concepts in a knowledge base, by creating a continuous chain of logic from the input concept to the response concept and limiting the creation of the logic chains to only those consistent with the context of the natural language sentence and information in the knowledge base. The invention allows the identification of relevant concepts that elude traditional concept searching based on pattern matching, while focusing computational resources on only those logic calculations relevant to the natural language sentence and knowledge base. The invention will automatically identify the relevant source documents to use and create a knowledge base during run time, without requiring preprogrammed ontologies or knowledge bases.
US08718994B2
Disclosed is the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) and methods by which the structure may be used to develop compounds that bind to, and/or modulate the GLP-1R. The technology described herein may be applied to the development of compounds that target the GLP-1R, or may be used to develop target compound that may bind to, and/or modulate the activity of the GLP-1R.
US08718987B2
Provided is a circuit simulation model that can suitably represent capacitor characteristics, thereby realizing accurate circuit design and circuit analysis. A SPICE model is constituted of a capacitor unit in which a capacitor is replaced with a linear voltage dependent current source, a low-pass filter unit that has a function of extracting a DC bias voltage, a calculation circuit unit that is configured by combining an adder, a multiplier, and the like to perform a calculation of a circuit equation derived from an equivalent circuit for a capacitor such as an idealized C circuit model, an RC circuit model, or the like, and a linear voltage dependent voltage source that applies a total voltage applied across the capacitor to the calculation circuit.
US08718983B1
A computer system and corresponding process is disclosed for making a design layout based on a schematic diagram. The system comprises a user interface which includes a display of a schematic diagram of a layout to be designed. The schematic diagram includes multiple occurrences of a target element. Source elements are displayed, which correspond with the target element. One occurrence of multiple occurrences of the target element shown in the schematic diagram is selected. The source element is applied to the selected target element. A computer program product bears software for directing a computer system to perform the foregoing.
US08718979B2
A high accuracy wireless sensing platform assembly comprising a sensor subassembly that is configured to obtain measurement data from a device in response to a measurand; a data transceiver assembly that is configured to communicate with an antenna assembly; a parameter coder, in communication with the sensor subassembly, that is configured to control the data transceiver assembly and/or the sensor subassembly, based on the measurement data; and a resonant circuit that is formed by the data transceiver, the sensor subassembly, and/or the parameter coder. Embodiments are capable of provide robust performance and high accuracy in harsh (e.g., hot environments). The present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiment(s), and it is recognized that equivalents, alternatives, and modifications, aside from those expressly stated, are possible and within the scope of the appending claims.
US08718968B2
A system includes memory that stores pre-determined high voltage circuit breaker contact travel distance information and a processor that estimates a travel curve for at least one of a closed, an open or a combination of closed and open operations for the contacts based on both one or more travel distances of the stored travel distance information and one or more time values corresponding to state transitions of switches between closed and open states, wherein the switches are affixed to the contacts so as to transition between closed and open states as the contacts move between closed and open positions.
US08718965B2
Methods, system and devices for providing improved calibration accuracy of continuous glucose monitoring system based on insulin delivery information are provided.
US08718942B2
A method, a system, and an apparatus are described for the data acquisition in the well-logging of a borehole wall during the investigation of formation properties. Data acquisition is conducted by either an adaptive phase compensation processing or a modulus mode processing, both of which use in-phase and out-of-phase current components to obtain current values. Adaptive phase compensation employs a calculation of a phase shift compensation value, which may then be applied to subsequent acquisitions and can be further processed in the generation of an image of the borehole wall.
US08718937B2
A method for determining the relative position of two points using an inertial navigation system is described. The method comprises estimating position error states and a position solution with an INS at a first position, estimating position error states and a position solution with the INS at a second position, and returning the INS to the first position. Estimates of the first and second position error states are adjusted based on correlations developed during a transition returning the INS from the second position to the first position.
US08718933B2
A method of flight management of an aircraft aimed at reaching a constrained point on a predetermined lateral trajectory assumed to be followed by the aircraft, at a required time of arrival RTA to within an absolute tolerance. The method including calculating a flight plan to be followed and a homing flight plan and when the estimated time of arrival ETA based on the homing flight plan strays from an absolute tolerance with respect to the calculation required time of arrival RTAc, calculating a new calculation required time of arrival NRTAc dependent on the calculation required time of arrival RTAc and a function f of the difference between the calculation required time of arrival RTAc and the estimated time of arrival ETA, and replacing the calculation required time of arrival RTAc with the new calculation required time of arrival NRTAc, before recalculating a flight plan to be followed.
US08718931B2
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for cross checking required navigation performance procedures. A required navigation performance procedure in a flight management system is executed in an aircraft. A global positioning system signal in an electronic flight bag or other independent data processing system located onboard the aircraft is received while executing the required navigation performance procedure. A current position of the aircraft based on the global positioning system signal is presented on a moving map. A set of containment lines on the moving map are displayed to indicate whether deviations from the required navigation performance procedure have occurred.
US08718928B2
In an exemplary method, mobile device attribute data is received from a plurality of mobile devices over a network. The mobile device attribute data includes location data representative of a plurality of geographic locations associated with the mobile devices. The method further includes selectively aggregating the mobile device attribute data and generating traffic condition data based at least in part on the mobile device attribute data. The traffic condition data is representative of at least one traffic condition. In certain embodiments, the mobile devices include mobile telephones and the network includes a mobile telephone network. In certain embodiments, the traffic condition data is real time data. In certain embodiments, at least a portion of the traffic condition data is provided for access over the network.
US08718924B2
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for road guidance using a mobile terminal. The method for road guidance using a mobile terminal includes receiving a map image created by a users input, setting at least one user-designated location to the map image according to the users input, setting location information of the user-designated location to the user-designated location, comparing the location information of the user-designated location with current location information of the mobile terminal; and notifying of arrival at the user-designated location. A user may arrive at a desired destination according to the present invention without using map data provided by a map data service provider.
US08718922B2
One or more systems, devices, and/or methods for organizing spatial data are disclosed. For example, a method includes receiving a location data point from a navigation device. A controller compares the distance from each of a plurality of data points to the location data point. In constructing a depthmap that associates each of the data points with the distance from the location data point, the controller assign data points within a minimum distance from the location data point into a first cell and data points greater than the minimum distance from the location data point into a second cell. The second cell is larger than the first cell and corresponds to a larger geographic area than the first cell. The depthmap may be configured to position points of interest in a panoramic or street level view image.
US08718919B2
A method and an apparatus for lane recognition for a vehicle that is equipped with an adaptive distance and speed control system are provided, the adaptive distance and speed controller having conveyed to it, using an object detection system, the relative speed of detected objects, a variable for determining the lateral offset of the detected objects with respect to the longitudinal vehicle axis, and the speed of the host vehicle. From the relative speed of the objects and the host-vehicle speed, a determination is made as to whether an object is oncoming, stationary, or moving in the same direction as the host vehicle. In combination with the calculated lateral offset of the detected object with respect to the longitudinal vehicle axis, the number of lanes present and the lane currently being traveled in by the host vehicle are determined.
US08718908B2
A convoy travel apparatus enables a convoy travel of a subject vehicle by regularly transmitting convoy travel information including the latest measurement of GPS positioning coordinates and predetermined number of preceding measurements of GPS positioning coordinates. By receiving the convoy travel information from other vehicles, the convoy travel apparatus of the subject vehicle identifies a sender vehicle of a current convoy travel information based on a comparison between a travel locus generated from the current convoy travel information and a past travel locus generated from a convoy travel information previously received. The identification of the sender vehicle leads to the identification of the information from a leader vehicle to be followed in the convoy travel control of the subject vehicle, thereby enabling a convoy travel of the subject vehicle based on the identified information.
US08718902B2
With a control apparatus of a multiple cylinder internal combustion engine, external EGR that circulates exhaust gas in an exhaust passage to an intake passage is executed, and an air-fuel ratio is feedback-controlled such that an air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas comes to match a predetermined target air-fuel ratio. When a rich deviation in which the air-fuel ratio of a portion of cylinders is off to a rich side from the target air-fuel ratio is detected, a parameter indicative of an amount of the rich deviation is calculated. The target air-fuel ratio is corrected to the rich side according to the calculated parameter. A value of a parameter at which the rich correction is started is changed according to whether external EGR is being executed.
US08718895B2
A method is described in which the wheel pressure in an electronically controlled motor vehicle brake system is determined. The brake system includes inlet valves and outlet valves in the wheel circuits. At least one of the valves allows adjusting the valve current. The basis for this are previously determined calibration values which describe the opening current behavior of the outlet valve. A verification of the wheel pressure is performed during a wheel pressure control operation by briefly opening the outlet valve of one brake circuit. The current prevailing in this case can be taken into account as an indicator for determining the wheel pressure.
US08718890B2
A materials handling vehicle is provided comprising: a frame; wheels supported on the frame; a traction motor coupled to one of the wheels to effect rotation of the one wheel; a speed control element operable by an operator to define a speed control signal corresponding to a desired speed of the traction motor; a system associated with a steerable wheel to effect angular movement of the steerable wheel; and control apparatus coupled to the speed control element to receive the speed control signal, and coupled to the traction motor to generate a drive signal to the traction motor in response to the speed control signal to control the operation of the traction motor. The control apparatus may determine an acceleration value for the traction motor based on at least one of an angular position of the steerable wheel, a speed of the traction motor and a current position of the speed control element as defined by the speed control signal.
US08718884B2
A method and associated system for compensation of vehicle speed lag resulting from changing load conditions in a continuously variable transmission (CVT) vehicle includes detecting and measuring true engine torque resulting from load changes placed on the vehicle engine. A true engine speed droop is calculated from the true engine torque. A compensated engine speed signal is generated based on the calculated true engine speed droop and is applied to the engine to produce a true engine speed that corresponds to a target engine speed at the load condition corrected for true engine speed droop.
US08718877B1
A multi-function vehicle mirror control system includes at least one mirror assembly having at least one first mirror and at least one second mirror. Each of the mirrors have one or more motors to tilt and/or pan the mirror, and/or at least one heating element. The system also includes a control input device having a plurality of selectable controls to select the mirror assembly, the first mirror, the second mirror, and/or the heating element. In some embodiments, the controller controls selection, activation, and/or movement of the mirror assembly, the first mirror and/or the second mirror. In some embodiments, the system includes an orientation switch used to determine a selection orientation of the multi-function vehicle mirror control system. Additional alternative embodiments are also disclosed.
US08718876B2
A vehicular electronic control apparatus includes a mother unit having a microcomputer, a plurality of ECU modules connected to the mother unit detachably and configured to execute respective vehicle controls, an operation data communication section for communicating with the microcomputer operation data used by the plurality of ECU modules in executing respective control operation processing, and alternative operation execution section for causing at least one of the other ECU modules and the microcomputer to execute, as an alternative operation, at least a part of the arithmetic operation processing, which is to be executed by at least one of the plurality of the ECU modules.
US08718874B2
A raster-based system for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) guidance includes a vehicle-mounted GNSS antenna and receiver. A processor provides guidance and/or autosteering commands based on GNSS-defined pixels forming a grid representing an area to be treated, such as a field. Specific guidance and chemical application methods are provided based on the pixel-defined treatment areas and preprogrammed chemical application prescription maps, which can include variable chemical application rates and dynamic control of the individual nozzles of a sprayer.
US08718865B2
An abnormality diagnosis apparatus for an internal combustion engine in which a phase of a first valve provided to a first cylinder is modified within a range extending from a first phase to a second phase and a phase of a second valve provided to a second cylinder is modified within the range includes: a rotation variation amount detection unit that detects a rotation variation amount of an output shaft of the internal combustion engine; and a diagnosis unit that adjusts the phase of the first valve and the phase of the second valve to the first phase, and diagnoses the presence of an abnormality on the basis of the detected rotation variation amount of the output shaft of the internal combustion engine in a state where the phase of the first valve and the phase of the second valve are at the first phase.
US08718863B2
A method for judging the drivability of vehicles including acquiring drivability-relevant physical data during the driving operation of the vehicle; checking the data for the presence of trigger conditions which indicate the existence of specific driving states; if a specific driving state exists, calculating at least one local evaluation, which is a judgment of an evaluation criterion relevant for the driving state; and calculating an overall evaluation for the acquired driving state. An increase in precision may be achieved with repeated occurrence of identical driving states, a correction variable is calculated for the evaluations, which is a function of the differences in the behavior of the vehicle upon identical driving states, and a corrected evaluation is calculated in which this correction variable is taken into consideration.
US08718857B2
Methods and systems are provided for raising the speed of a hybrid electric vehicle operating in an electric-only mode. During conditions when the vehicle is driven only by an electric motor, vehicle speed may be raised by spinning the engine unfueled using power from a system battery, while adjusting valve operation to reduce engine pumping losses. In this way, vehicle speed may be raised more efficiently and without damaging rotating transmission components.
US08718848B2
The described systems and methods relate to employing an Electric Air Charging System (EACS) to maintain a hybrid commercial vehicle (or the like) battery within a desired range of charge. The innovation facilitates reducing battery charge when the state of charge is too high, such as by adjusting air compressor cut-in and cut-out pressure thresholds to cause the air compressor to compress air for the brake system when there is excess charge in the battery, as well as triggering a brake regeneration protocol and/or other charge regeneration protocol(s) to restore charge to the battery when the state of charge of the battery is too low.
US08718846B2
The present invention relates to a system for controlling engine starting of a hybrid vehicle and a method thereof which prevents torque impact when controlling the engine starting by using a clutch slip. In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes: determining whether a starting condition using a clutch slip is satisfied by analyzing information of the hybrid vehicle; determining, in a state that the starting condition using the clutch slip is satisfied, whether a shift-speed is higher than or equal to a predetermined shift-speed; upshifting to the predetermined shift-speed in a case that the shift-speed is lower than the predetermined shift-speed; controlling the clutch slip by supplying hydraulic pressure to the clutch; and controlling the engine starting by fuel injection and ignition control in a case that the engine speed is faster than a predetermined engine speed.
US08718845B2
Heavy equipment includes a body, an electrical bus, and working components coupled to the body and powered by electricity conveyed via the electrical bus. The heavy equipment further includes a generator set providing an electrical output to the electrical bus, an energy storage element configured to be coupled to the electrical bus, and a computerized controller coupled to the energy storage element. The computerized controller includes a logic module for coupling the energy storage element to the electrical bus in advance of a predicted increase in demand upon the electrical bus, where the increase in demand is anticipated by the computerized controller as forthcoming based upon extrapolation, at least in part, from data related to a previous operation of the heavy equipment.
US08718835B2
An optimized temperature-driven device cooling mechanism factors in power consumption of thermal management components, as well as processing components. A decision engine consults a knowledge base comprising information regarding power consumption and thermal impact of cooling components and processing components. The decision engine can delay additional cooling if the power consumption of cooling components is greater than the increase in power consumption of processing components due to increases in ambient temperature. The knowledge base is populated by published specifications and by empirically derived data that can be based on tests performed on components. Thermal management strategies can be user selected and can include strategies that avoid controlling certain components such as, for example, processing components, instead focusing only on cooling and other components. Cooling includes heat distribution, such as by transferring processing from one processing component to another.
US08718829B2
A commissioning method and system. The method includes receiving details of a configuring process enabled by a power grid monitoring/control device associated with a power grid network topology comprising monitoring points associated and a power distribution grid. The power grid network topology is validated with respect to a configuration of measurement types, event types, and controls of the power distribution grid. Network point identifiers for each of the monitoring points are retrieved and a mapping report associating the power grid monitoring/control device with the power grid network topology using the network point identifiers is generated. The power grid monitoring/control device is registered for remote operation functionality and multiple grid events. The power grid monitoring/control device is commissioned into the power distribution grid.
US08718828B2
An information processing apparatus includes an area environment load calculation module, a user environment load calculation module, a user improvement environment load calculation module, a comparison module and an output module. The area environment load calculation module calculates an environment load in an area in a room. The user environment load calculation module calculates an environment load of each user staying in the area based on the environment load calculated by the area environment load calculation module. The user improvement environment load calculation module calculates, based on a policy set in advance, an environment load of each user when the policy is adopted. The comparison module compares the environment load calculated by the user environment load calculation module with the environment load calculated by the user improvement environment load calculation module. The output module outputs the policy based on the number of users.
US08718827B2
A monitoring system for distributed utilities. A generation device is provided for converting an available resource to a desired utility; the resource may be water, in which case the generator is a purifier for providing potable water, or, alternatively, the generator may convert a fuel to electrical power. In either case, an input sensor is provided for measuring input to the generation device, while an output sensor is provided for measuring consumption of output from the generation device. The monitoring system has a controller for concatenating measured input and consumption of output on the basis of the input and output sensors. Measured parameters are telemetered to a remote site where utility generation and use are monitored and may also be controlled.
US08718823B2
A thereminist robot has a characteristic model of theremin and is capable of performing in response to an environment of theremin performance by calibrating the characteristic model before the performance. A robot 10 has a first arm 12, a second arm 11, and a pitch model for indicating an arm position corresponding to a pitch of the theremin The robot 10 plays the theremin by moving the first arm 12 to the arm position corresponding to a musical note based on the target note and the pitch model. The robot further has a parameter adjustment unit for adjusting parameters of the pitch model that change depending on environments surrounding the theremin.
US08718813B2
A mechanical implement adapted for use in an autonomously functioning device, such as a robot arm, and including an active material, such as shape memory polymer, element that when activated and/or deactivated is operable to modify the mechanical impedance of a joint or link in the device.
US08718812B2
A method of making an aerofoil blink comprising a plurality of aerofoil blades joined to a disc to extend radially outwardly therefrom is provided. The method includes the step of: (a) modelling a linear friction welding process in which a blade member is joined to the disc, the blade member having a stub for joining to the disc, wherein the modelling provides results which are indicative of the welding power at positions along the stub during the welding process; (b) identifying adaptations to the stub using the modelling results to compensate for differences in welding power along the stub during the welding process; (c) providing a blade member having a stub with the identified adaptations; and (d) joining the provided blade member to the disc by the linear friction welding process.
US08718809B2
A system for determining a group of semiconductor manufacturing process steps with a similar influence on individual semiconductor products. The system generates a first table including time stamps for the individual semiconductor products. The system creates a second table including Q-times based on the first table. The Q-times refers to time differences between every pair of the time stamps. The system forms a dependency table by grouping the Q-times with similar dependencies together. The system identifies groups of the similar dependencies. The system extracts semiconductor process steps belonging to the groups.
US08718808B2
A method and a system propagate a scaling mode in a production process controlled and executed by a manufacturing executing system (MES). The method includes the steps of providing a production request in terms of an initial quantity of a predetermined product to be produced, identifying the predetermined product by a predetermined production rule thereby dividing the production rule in a number of segment requirements that represent production actions, and defining within the segment requirements resources required to produce the required quantity. A rescaling attribute is defined and is aligned with each of the resources in a production request tree. An interface to the MES is used to update the quantity of the predetermined product to be produced and to recalculate in response to the update, the resources required to produce the updated quantity by applying a rescaling factor calculated from the initial quantity and the updated quantity.
US08718800B2
Disclosed is an apparatus for changing a mode in a proportional integral differential (PID) controller, which removes an impact generated in a mode change and stably performs the mode change when the operational mode of the PID controller is changed from a manual mode into an automatic mode or vice versa. The apparatus includes a PID operator configured to generate a driving signal by performing a PID operation in an automatic mode or a manual mode based on a manual mode change signal or an automatic mode change signal; a manual mode buffer configured to process the generated driving signal and output the processed driving signal to a load driver when the manual mode change signal is generated; and a speed difference integral calculator configured to analyze the generated driving signal and output the analyzed driving signal to the PID operator when the automatic mode change signal is generated.
US08718796B2
The present invention relates to systems and techniques for stimulating a user. For example, materials and methods for manipulating nystagmus and the related vestibular system with coupling of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) and visual cueing are provided herein. Use of GVS within the present invention may be applied to simulation, alleviating motion sickness, and directional cueing of a user to a precise target location.
US08718789B2
Devices, systems and methods are described by which the blood pressure, nervous system activity, and neurohormonal activity may be selectively and controllably reduced by activating baroreceptors. A baroreceptor activation device is positioned near a baroreceptor, preferably a baroreceptor located in the carotid sinus. A control system may be used to modulate the baroreceptor activation device. The control system may utilize an algorithm defining a stimulus regimen which promotes long term efficacy and reduces power requirements/consumption. The baroreceptor activation device may utilize electrodes to activate the baroreceptors. The electrodes may be adapted for connection to the carotid arteries at or near the carotid sinus, and may be designed to minimize extraneous tissue stimulation.
US08718783B2
A method of stimulating a hypogossal nerve including chronically implanting a nerve cuff electrode on a portion of the hypoglossal nerve. The method may further include sensing a signal corresponding to respiration and detecting expiratory onset from the sensed signal. Moreover, the method may include delivering a stimulus to the portion of the hypoglossal nerve via the nerve cuff electrode, wherein the stimulus is delivered as a function of the detected expiratory onset.
US08718776B2
A device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure includes a housing configured to retain a battery, a primary antenna associated with the housing, and at least one processor in electrical communication with the battery and the primary antenna. In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be configured to cause transmission of a primary signal from the primary antenna to an implantable device during a treatment session of at least three hours in duration, wherein the primary signal is generated using power supplied by the battery and includes a pulse train, the pulse train including a plurality of modulation pulses.
US08718770B2
Various techniques for selecting a pacing vector based on pacing capture thresholds are described. One example method described includes for each of a plurality of vectors, iteratively delivering at least one pacing stimulus at each of a plurality of magnitudes within a predetermined range of magnitudes to a first chamber, determining if a depolarization occurred in a second chamber of the heart within a predetermined threshold time interval after the pacing stimulus that is less than an interval, identifying a pacing stimulus for which a depolarization in the second chamber does not occur within the predetermined threshold time interval, determining a capture threshold magnitude for the vector based on the magnitude of the pacing pulse for which a depolarization in the second chamber does not occur within the predetermined threshold time interval, and recording the capture threshold magnitudes.
US08718769B2
In general, this disclosure describes techniques for monitoring ventricular capture of electrical stimulation based upon sensed ventricular pressures using an implantable medical device. One example method comprises obtaining a blood pressure signal for a first ventricle (e.g., right ventricle) of a patient, and determining whether stimulation captured a second, different ventricle (e.g., left ventricle) of the patient based upon the blood pressure signal for the first ventricle. Whether stimulation captured the second ventricle may be determined based on at least one value of a myocardial performance index that is determined based upon the blood pressure signal for the first ventricle. If a loss of capture is identified, the method may further comprise providing a warning signal and/or providing a therapy adjustment signal to adjust the electrical stimulation that is provided to the second ventricle.
US08718765B2
Device for adaptive processing of an endocardial acceleration signal. The device continuously collects an endocardial acceleration EA signal and divides it into EA sub-signals, each over the duration of one cardiac cycle. The EA sub-signals are separated into the EA1 and EA2 components. A cross-correlation between the EA sub-signals of each component and a time calibration compared to a reference cycle, and a series of validation criteria is applied. The result is an average overall EA signal for a cycle. A change in the patients condition or an occurrence of a predetermined event in the patient is detected (24) and, as a result there is dynamic adaptation of at least one of said validation criteria and/or at least one of the pre-processing parameters for calculating the EA signal average.
US08718762B2
A cardiac medical device and associated method control delivery of dual chamber burst pacing pulses in response to detecting tachycardia. In one embodiment, a single chamber pacing pulse is delivered in response to detecting a tachycardia. Dual chamber pacing pulses are delivered subsequent to the single chamber pacing pulse. An intrinsic depolarization is sensed subsequent to delivering the dual chamber pacing pulses. The tachycardia episode is classified in response to the sensed intrinsic depolarization.
US08718761B2
An implantable cardiac rhythm/function management system integrates cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) and one or more other therapies, such as to preserve device safety, improve efficacy, enhance sensing and detection, or enhance therapy effectiveness and delivery. Examples of the one or more other therapies can include pacing, defibrillation/cardioversion, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), or neurostimulation.
US08718760B2
A subcutaneous cardiac device includes two electrodes and a stimulator that generates a pulse to the electrodes. The electrodes are implanted between the skin and the rib cage of the patient and are adapted to generate an electric field corresponding to the pulse, the electric field having a substantially uniform voltage gradient as it passes through the heart. The shapes, sizes, positions and structures of the electrodes are selected to optimize the voltage gradient of the electric field, and to minimize the energy dissipated by the electric field outside the heart. More specifically, the electrodes have contact surfaces that contact the patient tissues, said contact surfaces having a total contact area of less than 100 cm2. In one embodiment, one or both electrodes are physically separated from the stimulator. In another embodiment, a unitary housing holds the both electrodes and the stimulator. Sensor circuitry may also include in the stimulator for detecting intrinsic cardiac activity through the same electrodes.
US08718757B2
Apparatus and methods for detecting lead migration through the use of measured artifactual data about the tissue in the vicinity of the lead.
US08718753B2
Technologies are provided herein for real-time detection of motion and noise (MN) artifacts in electrocardiogram signals recorded by electrocardiography devices. Specifically, the present disclosure provides techniques for increasing the accuracy of identifying paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) rhythms, which are often measured via such devices. According to aspects of the present disclosure, a method for detecting MN artifacts in an electrocardiogram (ECG) recording includes receiving an ECG segment and decomposing the received ECG segment into a sum of intrinsic mode functions. The intrinsic mode functions associated with MN artifacts present within the ECG segment are then isolated. The method further includes determining randomness and variability characteristic values associated with the isolated intrinsic mode functions and comparing the randomness and variability characteristic values to threshold randomness and variability characteristic values. If the randomness and variability characteristic values exceed the threshold characteristic values, the ECG signal is determined to include MN artifacts.
US08718748B2
A system and methods are provided relating generally to physical activity and more specifically to tools for monitoring and assessing physical activity by capturing images of a subject's movement including range of motion, gait, balance and activities of daily living at different time periods and comparing those images to stored data.
US08718742B2
A sensor system in accordance with the present invention comprises a plane member, a plurality of electrodes within the plane member, adapted to contact a human body to detect and monitor human generated voltages. The sensor can be applied to monitor a variety of applications relating to health, disease progression, fitness and wellness. Some of the specific applications include the monitoring of ECG, EEG, EMG, glucose, electrolytes, body hydration, dehydration, tissue state and wounds. Various aspects of the invention are shown by illustrating certain embodiments. Many other embodiments can be used to implement the invented schemes.
US08718738B2
The invention comprises method and apparatus for fluid delivery between a sample probe and a sample. The fluid delivery system includes: a fluid reservoir, a delivery channel, a manifold or plenum, a channel or moat, a groove, and/or a dendritic pathway to deliver a thin and distributed layer of a fluid to a sample probe head and/or to a sample site. The fluid delivery system reduces sampling errors due to mechanical tissue distortion, specular reflectance, probe placement, and/or mechanically induced sample site stress/strain associated with optical sampling of the sample.
US08718731B1
The present invention describes a multi-piece electronic device case comprising multiple shock absorbing features. The device includes an upper protective shell, a lower shell, and a rear-mounted shock panel which form the casing around an electronic device. The upper and lower shells are shaped to include a gap between the case and the electronic device. Within the gap are a plurality of curved, force attenuating panels therein that are configured to flex when impacted, thereby distributing the forces applied to the impacted area. Additionally, the backs of the shells include slots for receiving bumper inserts that further distribute impact forces that occur on the upper and lower sides of the electronic device.
US08718728B2
A smart case configured to encapsulate a mobile communication device. The smart case includes a radio embedded in the case for selectively enabling the encapsulated mobile communication device to communicate over a wireless network using either the radio embedded in the case or the Wi-Fi and/or cellular radio in the communication device itself. In alternative embodiments, either a hard switch, a soft switch, or both, is provided for switching between either the radios(s) embedded in the smart case or the internal radio(s) in the mobile communication device.
US08718720B1
Embodiments include but are not limited to apparatuses and systems including a die or a preform including at least one groove configured to extend from at least one via of the die to an edge of the die. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08718718B2
A power WiFi device includes an AC sharing module, including a plurality of AC outlets and being configured to receive an AC input from an AC power supply and distribute the power through the AC outlets; an AC/DC converter being connected to the AC sharing module and configured to convert the AC input to an DC voltage; a DC voltage regulator being connected to the AC/DC converter and an external DC power supply, and being configured to regulate the DC voltage from the AC/DC converter and an external DC input; a cellular network interface being connected to the DC voltage regulator and configured to establish a network connection to a cellular network; an Ethernet interface being connected to the cellular network interface and configured to share the network connection; and a wireless network being connected to the cellular network interface and configured to share the network connection.
US08718702B2
An alert engine module receives an alert for an event in a generic communications format and delivers an alert for the event to a target address in a communications format that is preferred by a user based on the alert content. The generic format can be an e-mail message, such as a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) message. The alert engine can be operative to transform the alert based on a header and/or format of a target address.
US08718693B2
An apparatus and method for sharing a frequency are provided. A cognitive wireless communication device having a minimum ROI may be selected from among a plurality of cognitive wireless communication devices, and an idle frequency of a primary system may be allocated to the selected cognitive wireless communication device, thereby increasing an opportunistic utilization efficiency of the idle frequency.
US08718689B2
A method for displaying related information in a mobile communication terminal includes: acquiring information of the contact stored in the mobile communication terminal, searching for media information in the mobile communication terminal according to the information of the contact and acquiring media information matched with the information of the contact, and displaying the media information matched with the information of the contact. The method and terminal involved in the present invention enable a mobile communication terminal user to search for media information related to a contact through the contact and meanwhile can further view the information of the contact related to the media information through the media information, by associating media files with contacts.
US08718678B2
What is disclosed is a method for communicating a presence message from a presence server to a monitoring wireless communication device, wherein the presence message indicates a location-oriented status of a monitored wireless communication device. The method includes receiving the presence message from the presence server and determining if the monitoring wireless communication device is in an active mode. If the monitoring wireless communication device is in the active mode, the method includes transferring the presence message for delivery to the monitoring wireless communication device. If the monitoring wireless communication device is not in the active mode, the method includes applying filtering characteristics to the presence message, creating summary data of the presence message, and transferring the summary data of the presence message for delivery to the monitoring wireless communication device once the monitoring wireless communication device enters the active mode.
US08718677B2
The present invention discloses a method for processing location information request initiated by a User Equipment (UE), which comprises: a target UE requests a Central Network (CN) for location information; the CN obtains a location estimate of the target UE and sends the location estimate of the target UE to a Visited GMLC of the target UE. According to the present invention, when the target UE requests the network with the Location Service system for location information of the target UE, after receiving the location estimate of the target UE from the Radio Access Network, the CN provides the location estimate of the target UE to the V-GMLC at first, and the V-GMLC provides the location estimate to the target UE through the CN after processing the location request, so that the V-GMLC can obtain the processing information of the location information request initiated by the target UE, and furthermore V-GMLC can correctly charge the Mobile Original Location Request initiated by the target UE.
US08718673B2
A system and method for determining whether an estimated location of a wireless device includes one or more forged location measurements. A first estimated location of the wireless device using a first set of location measurements is determined, and a second estimated location of the wireless device using a second set of location measurements is determined. The first estimated location may be compared to the second estimated location. One of the determined locations may then be identified as having one or more forged location measurements if the comparison between the first estimated location and second estimated location is greater than a predetermined threshold. The second set of location measurements may be produced using a location technology different than the location technology used to produce the first set of location measurements.
US08718658B2
A method of operating a target terminal being serviced by a serving base station is provided. In a downlink case, the target terminal being served by the serving base station may provide a feedback message to a neighboring base station. The feedback message may be used by the neighboring base station to verify channel information between the serving base station and the target terminal, and channel information between the neighboring base station and the target terminal. In an uplink case, the neighboring base station may provide the feedback message to the target terminal. The target terminal may transfer, to the serving base station, channel information between the neighboring base station and a particular terminal, and channel information between the neighboring base station and the target terminal that are verified based on the feedback message. The feedback message may be transferred using a common shared channel or a random access channel.
US08718656B2
A method for evaluating a wireless service network includes receiving information indicative of a wireless coverage area associated with each of a plurality of base stations within a geographic area. The method also includes determining a threshold performance requirement within the geographic area. The method additionally includes simulating a deployment of at least one femto base station within the geographic area. The method further includes determining at least a first performance parameter based on the simulated deployment of the at least one femto base station within the geographic area. The method further includes generating a deployment recommendation based on at least the first performance parameter and the threshold performance requirement. The deployment recommendation may indicate whether to deploy the at least one femto base station within the geographic area.
US08718652B2
The present invention provides a method for implementation in user equipment that is configured to communicate with a wireless communication system that includes a macro-cell and a plurality of femtocells that are deployed in a cluster. The method includes providing a call connection request from the user equipment to one of a subset of the plurality of femtocells and receiving information identifying the subset of the femtocells as a femtocell cluster associated with the user equipment. The method also includes receiving information indicating locations of each of the femtocells in the femtocell cluster. The method further includes storing the information identifying the femtocells in the femtocell cluster and the information indicating the locations in the user equipment.
US08718647B2
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate scheduling for transmissions of status messages, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) status messages or Radio Link Control (RLC) acknowledgement messages, in a wireless communication system. As described herein, at time periods at which transmission of status messages is desired, respective status signaling associated with a set of radio bearers, logical channels, or the like can be configured to be transmitted prior to conducting transmission(s) of data. By doing so, a receiving entity can obtain the status signaling at substantially the earliest possible opportunity, allowing the receiving entity to avoid unnecessary bandwidth and/or memory expenditure associated with re-transmissions of information. As further described herein, status information can be prioritized by the use of separate status bearers, respective indicators provided within information elements queued on respective radio bearers, a maintained list of respective radio bearers containing status information, and other similar mechanisms.
US08718645B2
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for determining if a mobile station is to be resynchronized on a handover from a first serving cell to a second serving cell. If so, a first downlink hardware storage may be drained to a predetermined level. This level may then be maintained during the resynchronization.
US08718642B2
The embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for establishing a cell reselection list is provided. A network and a terminal establish frequency indexes for the cell reselection list, so that when a network side delivers an RAT and frequency priority information, the priority information may be delivered according to frequency indexes in a frequency list, thus implementing cell reselection that is based on the priority for the terminal.
US08718641B2
Provided is a cell search method in a wireless communication system. According to the cell search method, when detecting SSS in order to search a cell group ID in 3GPP LTE communication, it is possible to reduce the computational complexity for SSS detection by selecting the sequence group of which cross-correlation between initially grouped SSS sequences is a predetermined value or more, computing cross-correlation with the sequences in the selected sequence group, and extracting a cell group ID through detection of the SSS sequence having the highest cross-correlation.
US08718637B2
A server equipment forwards received audio data to multiple terminal equipments; judges good or bad of a communication status between the respective terminal equipments; and transmits communication status data indicating good or bad of the communication status to each of the multiple terminal equipments, while a terminal equipment reproduces voice represented by transferred audio data in real-time; receives communication status data transmitted from the server equipment; and notifies a user whether a communication status indicated by the communication status data is good or bad.
US08718636B1
A method for handling failure of a voice over 4G call connection within a wireless call connection includes the steps of detecting an indication of a failure of a voice over 4G link. An event trigger associated with the failure of the voice over 4G link is provided to a mapping database and the database maps the event trigger to at least one predetermined action responsive to indications within the mapping database. At least one predetermined action associated with the event trigger is then performed.
US08718635B2
The present invention relates to a method of generating neighbor lists in a radio communication network comprising user terminals and base stations defining sectored or omnidirectional radio cells, where communication between user terminals and base stations is arranged to take place over radio channels. The method comprises the steps of: (a) receiving radio channel measurements from at least some of the user terminals; (b) creating a first table by using the measurements received from the user terminals, the first table comprising for at least some of the user terminals the corresponding radio channel measurement in relation to different radio cells; (c) processing the first table to generate a cell coupling matrix indicative of a radio coupling figure between different pairs of cells in the network; and (d) for a certain cell obtaining a neighbor list by determining the radio channel neighbors to be the cells of which the coupling figure with the cell in question is greater than a given threshold.
US08718631B2
There is disclosed a method and system for managing file metadata stored in one or more catalogs on a wireless handheld device. In an embodiment, the method comprises: connecting to one or more file libraries stored remotely from the device; downloading to the device one or more catalogs storing file metadata for one or more file libraries stored remotely from the device; and remotely updating on the device the one or more catalogs such that the file metadata in one or more file libraries stored remotely from the device are substantially up-to-date on the device.
US08718626B2
A communication system may include a plurality of conferencing endpoints at different locations and capable of being coupled to a telecommunication network, a respective near field communication (NFC) device associated with each conferencing endpoint, and a plurality of electronic devices. Each electronic device may be configured to register at one of the conferencing endpoints for a teleconference between the plurality of conferencing endpoints based upon communication with a respective NFC device associated with the one of the conferencing endpoints. At least one of the electronic devices may be further configured to provide a notification based upon a security level associated with another electronic device being registered for the teleconference.
US08718622B2
Methods and systems that support the receipt of location data and/or touch data from a mobile communication device are provided. More particularly, a mobile customer service server is provided that can receive location data from or regarding a mobile communication device, and associate that location data with recognition data. The recognition data can in turn be delivered to other server side components, and used to select content to be returned to the mobile communication device. The mobile customer service server can also receive touch data input to the mobile communication device, and can provide recognition data related to the touch input to other server side component. Server side components provided with location or touch data by the mobile customer service server do not themselves need to natively support location recognition or touch recognition capabilities.
US08718621B2
A notification method involves creating a template via a web server interface, where the template includes a statement having at least one tag, and triggering a transmission of raw data from a mobile communications device to the web server interface. The method further involves completing the template via the web server interface using the raw data transmitted to the mobile communications device. The template is completed by substituting the tag(s) with an alphanumeric expression deduced from the raw data. The method also involves uploading the completed template onto a remotely accessible social networking page.
US08718616B2
A wireless network carrier can track and monitor third-party network-enabled applications (pods) that are accessed by, and billed to, users of the wireless network carrier through a mobile content platform, and to control access to such third-party network-enabled applications (pods) based on selectable criteria for the performance and user-based feedback related to each content application (pod). The network-enabled applications can also be registered with the mobile content platform through an intermediary, such as an aggregator. The network-enabled application can then be associated with the intermediary so that the intermediary receives a share of the revenue generated by the network-enabled application.
US08718606B2
A method, apparatus, user interface and computer program product for detecting an invalid passcode state of a device when the device is in a locked state, prompting a communication from the device to a trusted contact while the device is in the locked state, the trusted contact being designated by the device, and transmitting the communication to the trusted contact with a lost passcode request while the device is in the locked state.
US08718604B2
Disclosed is a method and an apparatus for providing an alternative telephony service which automatically switches an originating call between a basic telephony network and an alternative telephony network, and a method of inducing a caller or a receiver to subscribe to a service having a cheaper call rate by notifying the caller or the receiver of an inverse call charge which can be reduced according to whether telephony communication is performed using a basic telephony or an alternative telephony. Accordingly, it is possible to automatically connect the telephony communication using the basic telephony or the alternative telephony according to a telephony communication condition of the receiver, and thus reduce inconvenience due to a direct control of the receiver and first select a telephony communication scheme having a cheap call rate. Further, it is possible to more actively save a telephony communication call charge by naturally recommending the subscription and the use of the alternative telephony service through the notification of the inverse call charge to a non-subscriber or a non-user of the alternative telephony service.
US08718603B2
The present application discloses a method and system for remote control of a smart card. The method includes: a smart card management platform receives a request to destroy the smart card from a subscriber (S101); according to the request, the smart card management platform performs interactive processing with a terminal side via a mobile network platform to make the terminal side destroy the smart card (S103). The present application enables the subscriber to avoid loss when the terminal is robbed, lost, stolen, or is illegally used seriously, and provide a higher flexibility to the payment system.
US08718586B2
Shockline-based samplers of a vector-network analyzer (VNA) have enhanced dynamic range by using a dynamic bias network applied to the non-linear transmission lines (NLTLs) or shocklines. The bias voltage applied to the NLTL provides direct control over the falling-edge shockline compression, and thus the insertion loss and overall RF bandwidth of the sampler. Alternating between a forward bias voltage to turn off a shockline sampler when it is not needed and thereby reducing spurious generation and improving isolation can be alternatively applied with a reverse bias voltage to turn on the shockline sampler in a normal operation mode. By measuring the shockline output and providing feedback in the reverse-bias mode, the bias voltage can be dynamically adjusted to significantly increase the performance of the NLTL based sampler. In the presence of a strong positive bias voltage, the incoming LO and its harmonics experience large ohmic losses thus preventing gating pulses from forming in the shockline. The ohmic losses enable strong isolation between the LO sampling channels and will increase spectral purity at the VNA test ports.
US08718585B2
A method and a device for controlling uplink/downlink power for radio communication is disclosed. The method includes receiving a radio communications signal in a radio receiver, estimating one or more parameters indicative of the transmission quality of the received radio communications signal based on power control information bits and pilot symbol bits in the radio communications signal, and generating a control signal for the radio receiver and/or the radio transmitter.
US08718578B2
A circuit arrangement includes a component having a closed signal path, that closed signal path connected to a first port, a second port and at least a third port. The component has a directed signal flow of a signal applied to one of that ports. Such a coupling device can be connected to a transmitter and to a receiver path, respectively.
US08718572B2
A radio frequency (RF) switch die which includes an antenna port, a plurality of RF ports, a switch fabric for selectively coupling one or more of the RF ports to the antenna port, and control circuitry that is adapted to, in a first mode, direct the switch fabric to couple any one of the plurality of RF ports individually to the antenna port, and in a second mode, couple a selected group of the RF ports to the antenna port. The RF switch die may include M number of RF ports, and be relatively easily reconfigured to provide N number of RF ports, wherein N is less than M. Groups of RF ports may be coupled together to form coupled RF ports that offer different electrical characteristics than non-coupled RF ports.
US08718570B2
A method for transmitting and updating system information in a system that supports a legacy mobile station is disclosed. A method for transmitting system information according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises transmitting a super-map through a new zone of a super-frame, the super-map including channel description transmission control information indicating a channel descriptor of a legacy zone; and transmitting the channel descriptor and a map message through the legacy zone, the map message indicating the channel descriptor.
US08718569B2
A method of provisioning a communications link between remote terminals within a hub-spoke network comprising receiving, by a first remote terminal, information about a second remote terminal from a hub, selecting, by the first remote terminal, a modulation factor, coding rate, symbol rate, center frequency, and power level based on the information received about the second remote terminal, transmitting, by the first remote terminal, a signal using at least one of the selected modulation factor, coding rate, symbol rate, center frequency, and power level, to the second remote terminal such that a communications link is created, and adjusting the modulation factor, coding rate, symbol rate, center frequency, or power level of the transmitted signal such that performance of the link is increased while maintaining a presence of the link.
US08718565B1
A wireless access node comprises a wireless communication transceiver and a processing system. The wireless communication transceiver is configured to exchange wireless communications with a plurality of wireless communication devices over a plurality of wireless communication channels. The processing system is configured to monitor a loading level on the wireless communication channels to determine when the loading level exceeds a loading threshold, and when the loading level exceeds the loading threshold, calculate an efficiency of an interference cancellation process, compare the efficiency of the interference cancellation process to an efficiency threshold, and if the efficiency of the interference cancellation process falls below the efficiency threshold, modify a frame offset in use by the wireless communication devices on at least one reverse link communication channel.
US08718562B2
A method of processing an audio signal transmitted from a remote transmitter and received at a local receiver of an acoustic system, includes at the receiver receiving with the audio signal an indication of remote transmitter gain, determining an overall system gain of the acoustic system from the remote transmitter gain and a local receiver gain and selectively applying a system gain reduction step to the audio signal if it is determined that the overall system gain exceeds a threshold.
US08718558B2
A wireless communication device includes a first wireless transceiver and a second wireless transceiver. The wireless device is configured for communicating via the first transceiver over a first connection with a first device, where communications to and from the wireless device are addressed with a first hardware address assigned to the first transceiver. The wireless device is further configured for communicating via the first transceiver over a second connection with a second device, where communications to and from the wireless device are addresses with a second hardware address assigned to the second transceiver. The first transceiver may be configured for communications in accordance with IEEE 802.11, and the second transceiver may be configured for communications in accordance with BLUETOOTH®. The first connection may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure connection, and the second connection may be a WiFi Peer-to-Peer (P2P) connection.
US08718556B2
A mobile terminal includes a display, a user input unit configured to receive a user command, and a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with a first entity over a first communication path and to wirelessly communicate with any of a plurality of external devices, each comprising a display, over a second communication path. The first communication path typically utilizes a different communication protocol than the second communication path. The mobile terminal also includes a controller configured to execute a first application, detect an event relating to a second application, and responsive to the detecting of the event, automatically search for external devices, which are among the plurality of external devices, that are available for communication with the mobile terminal over the second communication path.
US08718554B2
Means for provisioning and managing mobile device configuration over a near-field communication link
A device provisioning and/or configuration system and method are provided. The system employs a near field communication (NFC) channel in an active and/or passive mode as a channel for provisioning and/or managing mobile device(s) (e.g., with content and/or setting(s)) by a server. The device can be any device that can employ a near field communication channel (e.g., phone, cellular communication device, portable digital assistant (PDA), handheld game console, media player . . . ).The system provides a mechanism for pushing device configuration and/or service indicator(s), for example, through a point-of-sale and/or point-of-service. Significantly, the system utilizes NFC which facilitates selectivity to ensure that only the target device is configured. The NFC-capable device thus exposes its management interface(s) across the NFC channel. Additionally, device(s) can be in factory-configured state without general connectivity (e.g., no WLAN or mobile data service yet).
US08718551B2
Aspects of a method and apparatus for a multi-band, multi-mode smartcard are provided. An ISO 7816 compliant smartcard may comprise a near-field radio operable to communicate wirelessly, a far-field radio operable to communicate wirelessly, and a contact-based radio operable to communicate via one or more metal contacts of the smartcard. The smartcard may be operable to receive data via a first one of the far-field radio, the near-field radio, and the contact-based radio, and transmit the received data via a second one of the far-field radio, the near-field radio, and the contact-based radio. The smartcard may be operable to transcode the received data prior to the transmitting the received data via the second one of the far-field radio, the near-field radio, and the contact-based radio.
US08718549B2
A mobile wireless communications device may include a satellite position determining device, and a near-field communication (NFC) device being switchable between a first NFC mode and a second NFC mode, wherein the second NFC mode provides a lower power consumption by the NFC device compared to the first NFC mode. A controller may also be coupled with the satellite position determining device and the NFC device. The controller may be configured to switch the NFC device from the first NFC mode to the second NFC mode based upon a determination of movement of the mobile wireless communications device at the rate faster than a threshold rate.
US08718545B2
A transponder and method for operating a transponder, which has a capacitor (Cbuf) for storing power transmitted via an air interface and an arithmetic logic unit (10) that can be supplied with the stored power, in which a capacitor voltage (VC) of the capacitor (Cbuf) is compared with a first threshold (V1), in which the capacitor voltage (VC) is compared with a second threshold (V2), whereby the first threshold (V1) and the second threshold (V2) are different, in which in a first operating mode (M1), when the capacitor voltage (VC) is above the first threshold (V1), the arithmetic logic unit (10) performs a number of routines with a different priority, in which in a second operating mode (M2), when the capacitor voltage (VC) is between the first threshold (V1) and the second threshold (V2), a number of low-priority routines are stopped and a number of high-priority routines are continued.
US08718544B2
A signal generation unit 107 and a first set value processing unit 7100 are included in a preceding stage of a transmission path connection unit 108 at a transmission side, and a signal generation unit 207 and a second set value processing unit 7200 are included in a subsequent stage of a transmission path connection unit 208 at a receiving side. The signal generation unit 107 or the signal generation unit 207 performs prescribed signal processing based on a set value. The first set value processing unit 7100 inputs a set value, that has been prescribed for the signal generation unit 107, to the signal generation unit 107, and the second set value processing unit 7200 inputs a set value, that has been prescribed for the signal generation unit 207, to the signal generation unit 207. Since the set value is not dynamically changed according to an environment change, or the like, simplification of a parameter operation circuit or reduction of power consumption is realized, and the parameter operation circuit does not unnecessarily operate even when it is used under the state without environment change.
US08718539B2
A portable device is provided that is adapted to remotely control content on a nearby display screen. The portable device includes a button which, upon selection, sends commands with respect to current content on the nearby display screen. The portable device is adapted to send a command that specifies an electronic address of new content from an electronic network for display on the nearby display screen.
US08718528B2
Various embodiments provide materials, apparatus, and methods for forming an image. Exemplary imaging apparatus can include one or more light sources configured to treat toner images after they are transferred on an image receiving substrate (e.g., a copy sheet). The toner images can be formed of an opto-thermal toner containing opto-thermal elements in a toner composition. The fuser subsystem may or may not be configured in the disclosed imaging apparatus.
US08718522B2
An additive manufacturing system comprising a transfer medium configured to receive the layers from a imaging engine, a heater configured to heat the layers on the transfer medium, and a layer transfusion assembly that includes a build platform, and is configured to transfuse the heated layers onto the build platform in a layer-by-layer manner to print a three-dimensional part.
US08718520B2
To provide an intermediate transfer belt, which contains a base layer, and an elastic layer formed on the base layer, wherein the base layer contains polyimide which has a constitutional unit derived from pyromellitic acid and a constitutional unit derived from diaminodiphenyl ether, wherein the intermediate layer has a curling amount of 1.5 mm or less in an absolute value, and wherein the intermediate transfer belt is configured to receive, by transferring, a toner image formed by developing, with a toner, a latent image formed on an image bearing member.
US08718508B2
An image forming apparatus is provided with an image bearing unit, an intermediate transfer unit, a primary transfer unit, a pre-transfer charger, and a control portion. The pre-transfer charger is located downstream of the primary transfer unit and upstream of the secondary transfer unit in a revolving direction, faces the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer unit along a perpendicular direction perpendicular to the revolving direction, and charges the intermediate transfer unit when voltage is applied. The control portion, at time when determination is made as to the necessity of cleaning the pre-transfer charger, secondarily transfers a cleaning assessment toner image by switching between a state in which the voltage is applied to the pre-transfer charger and a state in which the voltage is not applied to the pre-transfer charger, the cleaning assessment toner image being in a uniform density.
US08718501B2
In an image forming apparatus, a determiner determines a target amount of transfer current based on first and second algorithms each representing a relation between an image area rate of a latent image bearer in the vicinity of an exit of a transfer nip and a target amount of transfer current to be provided to a nip creating member. The first algorithm is utilized in a second transfer step when the image area rate falls within a typical range from the lower limit (a %) to the upper limit (b %). The first algorithm decreases the target amount as the image area rate increases within that range.
US08718499B2
An image forming apparatus includes first and second developer carrying members and a control device. The apparatus is operable in a first mode where an image of a single color is formed using the first developer carrying member and is operable in a second mode, wherein an image of a plurality of colors is formed using the first and second developer carrying members. The control device controls a first discharging operation for discharging developer from the first developer carrying member and a second discharging operation for discharging developer from each of the first and second developer carrying members. When the apparatus executes only the first mode, the control device performs more image formations, in a period between completion of the second discharging operation and start of the first discharging operation, compared to a period between completion of the first discharging operation and start of a subsequent first discharging operation.
US08718480B2
An optical communication system is provided comprising of a three terminal silicon based light emitting device operating by means of avalanche carrier multiplication and emitting at the below threshold wavelength detection range for Silicon of 850 nm; a low loss optical waveguide operating in the below threshold wavelength detection range for Silicon of 850 nm; and an optical detector, wherein a complete and all-silicon optical communication system is formed being capable of transferring electrical signals in terms of optical intensity variations, such intensities then being propagated through the waveguide and being detected by the optical detector; and being converted back to electrical signals. In a particular mode of operation of the system, wavelength modulation may be obtained. In other applications, transponding action and optical amplification may be obtained.
US08718464B2
The view finder includes an observation optical system for enlarged observation of information displayed on a display section. The observation optical system includes an optical path bending member for bending the optical path. The view finder is configured such that an angle formed between a principal ray of a maximum angle of view and the display section is in the range of 90±5 degrees.
US08718460B2
A range-finding device includes: a plurality of image capturing elements that are provided at a predetermined interval; a lens that forms an image of a range-finding object on each of the image capturing elements; a distance calculating unit that calculates a distance to the range-finding object for each of a plurality of range-finding areas that are set on the respective image capturing elements based on an image signal output from each of the range-finding areas according to the image that is formed; a distribution generating unit that generates a distribution of the calculated distances; and a position specifying unit that specifies a position where the range-finding object is present in the range-finding area based on the distribution of the distances.
US08718455B2
A radiant heating system includes a molded agglomeration of inert natural stone waste and a heating element embedded in the agglomeration. The agglomeration contains 45-55% by weight of stone particles having a size from 1 to 5 mm; 30-35% by weight of stone dust having a size from 0.01 mm to 0.5 mm; and 20-25% by weight of a resin having a water-based acrylic component.
US08718437B2
A composition useful for altering the wavelength of visible or invisible light is disclosed. The composition comprising a solid host material and quantum confined semiconductor nanoparticles, wherein the nanoparticles are included in the composition in amount in the range from about 0.001 to about 15 weight percent based on the weight of the host material. The composition can further include scatterers. An optical component including a waveguide component and quantum confined semiconductor nanoparticles is also disclosed. A device including an optical component is disclosed. A system including an optical component including a waveguide component and quantum confined semiconductor nanoparticles and a light source optically coupled to the waveguide component is also disclosed. A decal, kit, ink composition, and method are also disclosed. A TFEL including quantum confined semiconductor nanoparticles on a surface thereof is also disclosed.
US08718431B2
Certain embodiments of the invention may include optimized trench-assisted ultra large area (ULA) optical fibers. According to an example embodiment of the invention, a trench-assisted optical fiber, optimized for microbending and figure-of-merit (FOM) performance is provided. The optical fiber includes a core region having a longitudinal axis, a shelf region surrounding said core region, a cladding region surrounding said shelf region, said core and shelf and cladding regions configured to support and guide the propagation of signal light in a fundamental transverse mode in said core and shelf regions in the direction of said axis, the cladding region including an inner trench and an outer trench. The optical fiber further includes a core effective area (Aeff) of between 135 μm2 and about 170 μm2; a figure of merit (FOM) frontier distance less than about 0.8 dB; and a microbend frontier (MBF) distance of less than about 90%.
US08718421B2
This invention provides an optical device comprising a large group of non-uniform resonators operating cumulatively as a ‘super-ring’ to provide a controllable group delay with large bandwidth. The super-ring tuning is performed by a single control. The device may include two super-rings, each includes a large number of resonators with a resonant frequencies centered around ω1 and ω2 respectively. The invention provides multiple ways to improve the delay duration, bandwidth and the tuning speed, and overcomes the issue of non-uniformity of resonance frequency for devices incorporating multiple optical resonators.
US08718419B2
A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based sensor is used as a strain sensing element to determine frame foot loading of a generator. Three FBGs may be used in tandem to form a basic Frame Foot Loading Module (FFL Module). Two modules are fixed on each vertical support gusset at the corner of the generator frame, with one module on the front of the gusset and a second module on the back of the gusset. Thus, each gusset may be instrumented with six FBG strain gauges or sensors. The gussets are chosen on each of the four corners of the generator. For two-pole generators the first three gussets at each corner may be used and, for four-pole generators the first four gussets may be used.
US08718417B2
A monitoring device for monitoring a plurality of microactuators includes an optical fiber with a plurality of sensors, each sensor being placed close to a microactuator and having optical properties varying as a function of at least one environmental parameter, the monitoring device also including a polling device with at least one transmitter/receiver for a fiber optic network, and processing means capable of modulating the frequency of the optical signal transmitted by the transmitter to select the sensor close to a given microactuator, and of comparing the received optical signal with a template characteristic of the correct operation of the microactuator, and of generating a resultant signal, representative of the correct operation of the monitored microactuator. The invention has applications in the field of health monitoring of vehicles, notably of aircraft.
US08718410B2
A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object.
US08718406B2
Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for video frame rotation. The method includes receiving a first tile from among a plurality of tiles forming a video frame. The first tile includes a first plurality of macro pixels where each macro pixel interleaves at least one pair of neighboring pixels in a first orientation. Further, the method includes de-interleaving the first plurality of macro pixels into first pixels, mapping the first pixels into first rotated neighboring pixels in a second orientation, and interleaving the first rotated neighboring pixels into first rotated macro pixels forming a first rotated tile.
US08718403B2
The position of a feature within an image is determined by determining an initial estimate of the feature position to within a fraction of a pixel, translating the feature by an amount equal to that fraction of a pixel, determining a further estimate of the translated feature position to within a fraction of a pixel and summing the pixel fraction of the previous estimate with the further estimate of the position to arrive at a refined estimate of the feature position.
US08718399B1
An apparatus including a local shared memory and a processor. The local shared memory and the processor may be connected as a circuit. The local shared memory may comprise a plurality of cache blocks. Each of the cache blocks generally corresponds to one of a plurality of panes of a current horizontal strip of a warped image region to be generated from unwarped image data retrieved from an external source. The circuit may be further configured such that each pixel of the unwarped image data retrieved from the external source is fetched only once. Each of the panes has associated tag information.
US08718398B2
A method to process an image acquired through an optical-fiber guide includes acquiring a first reference image through the optical-fiber guide, acquiring a second calibration image through the optical-fiber guide, spatially identifying each fiber of the optical-fiber guide of the second calibration image in a first detection map, acquiring a recalibration image through the optical-fiber guide, determining a geometrical transformation to make the recalibration image coincide with the first reference image, deriving a new detection map spatially identifying each fiber of the optical-fiber guide of the recalibration image, wherein the new detection map is derived using the geometrical transformation and the first detection map, and individually processing zones of an acquired image corresponding to each fiber of the optical-fiber guide using the new detection map.
US08718394B2
The present invention relates to a method and a device for enhancing a digital image comprising samples or pixels.The method comprises: defining a patch of samples surrounding any given sample; computing distance values representing similarity between patches of a first sample and other samples to obtain a distance map; computing, using the distance map, weights to obtain a weight map; applying a filter enhancing high spatial frequencies to the weight map to obtain an enhanced weight map; filtering the first sample by averaging the samples using the enhanced weight map, to obtain an enhanced first sample. The invention provides a very efficient enhancement of the digital image since coherent structures that would usually not influence the enhancement of the image, are detected and made more significant thanks to the filtering of the weight map.
US08718381B2
One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting an image for insertion into a document. A color harmony is received. A document color data of the document is accessed. An image color data of each of a plurality of images is accessed. A harmony measure is determined between the document color data and each of the image color data according to the color harmony.
US08718376B2
Disclosed is an apparatus and a method for enhancing an image in a portable terminal. The apparatus includes an image processor for performing an Image Signal Processing (ISP) for an image received in a preview mode, an ROI processor for extracting an ROI from the image received from the image processor, enhancing an image of the extracted ROI, and synthesizing the image of the enhanced ROI with the image received from the image processor, and a controller for controlling the ROI processor to extract an ROI from an image received from the image processor, enhancing an image of the extracted ROI when a photographing is selected, synthesizing an image of the enhanced ROI with the image received from the image processor, and outputting an synthesized image.
US08718375B2
Handwriting interpretation tools, such as optical character recognition (OCR), have improved over the years such that OCR is a common tool in business for interpreting typed text and sometimes handwritten text. OCR does not apply well to non-text-only diagrams, such as chemical structure diagrams. A method according to an embodiment of the present invention of interpreting a human-drawn sketch includes determining a local metric indicating whether a candidate symbol belongs to a certain classification based on a set of features. The set of features includes, as a feature, scores generated from feature images of the candidate symbol. Also included is determining a joint metric of multiple candidate symbols based on their respective classifications and interpreting the sketch as a function of the local and joint metrics. Sketches can be chemical composition, biological composition, electrical schematic, mechanical, or any other science- or engineering-based diagrams for which human-drawn symbols have well-known counterparts.
US08718374B2
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for permitting access to an electronic resource that is associated with a hand-drawn indicator. In the context of a method, a method is provided that includes receiving an image of a hand-drawn indicator, such as a free-form hand-drawn indicator or a grid having a plurality of selectively fillable grid elements. The method may also identify an electronic resource associated with the hand-drawn indicator and permit access to the electronic resource associated with the hand-drawn indicator.
US08718373B2
A method for geolocating photographs is implemented in a computing device. The method includes receiving a photograph captured by a user as data stored on a computer-readable medium, receiving location history data for the user, determining a time at which the photograph was captured based on an object depicted in the photograph, determining a geographic location at which the photograph was captured using the determined time and the location history data.
US08718371B2
Methods, apparatuses, and systems for image-based measurement and inspection of pre-engineered structural components, such as building trusses and wall panels. A system can include: a light source; a camera; a first memory storage; a second memory storage; and a processing unit configured to (i) detect a characteristic of the structural component, (ii) compare the characteristic to a corresponding characteristic of at least one reference data, and (iii) indicate a result of the comparison. A method can include: causing a light source to illuminate a portion of the structural component, receiving a reflection of the light source from the illuminated portion of the structural component, and storing data corresponding to the intensity of the reflection; comparing the stored data to at least one reference data; and indicating a result of the comparison.
US08718367B1
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates displaying automatically recognized text, wherein the automatically recognized text includes optical character recognition (OCR) text or intelligent character recognition (ICR) text. During operation, the system receives a source image containing text from a user. Next, the system performs a character-recognition operation on the source image to produce recognized text. The system then locates a data field within the source image. Next, the system identifies a subset of the recognized text that corresponds with the data field. After that, the system displays the source image to the user. At the same time, the system displays the subset of the recognized text in close proximity to the data field in the source image to facilitate comparing the recognized text with the text contained in the source image.
US08718365B1
A text recognition server is configured to recognize text in a sparse text image. Specifically, given an image, the server specifies a plurality of “patches” (blocks of pixels within the image). The system applies a text detection algorithm to the patches to determine a number of the patches that contain text. This application of the text detection algorithm is used both to estimate the orientation of the image and to determine whether the image is textually sparse or textually dense. If the image is determined to be textually sparse, textual patches are identified and grouped into text regions, each of which is then separately processed by an OCR algorithm, and the recognized text for each region is combined into a result for the image as a whole.
US08718361B2
Provided is an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium removing noise of an image. The apparatus may include a channel image correction unit to correct remaining channel images excluding a currently processed channel image, from among a plurality of channel images, using the currently processed channel image, a noise removal unit to remove noise of the currently processed channel image, using the corrected remaining channel images and the currently processed channel image, and a color image reconstruction unit to reconstruct a color image in which noise is removed, by combining the plurality of channel images in which noise is removed when the noise of the plurality of channel images is removed.
US08718355B2
The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program, capable of drawing, in 3D image display, an image for the left eye and an image for a right eye of graphics, in a matched state.In the event that there is a call-up for an API (Application Programming Interface) ensuring the drawing integrity of drawing graphics images as to a graphics plane, which is a storage region in which storage regions for two images of an L region that is a storage region for one image to store an image for the left eye, and a R region that is a storage region for one image to store an image for the right eye, are collaterally arranged, images drawn on the graphics plane are output for display. The present invention may be applied to a BD player for playing BDs, and the like.
US08718353B2
A stream of defect data is received from a reticle inspection system. The defect data identifies defects that were detected for a plurality of different portions of a reticle. Before reviewing the defect data to determine whether the reticle passes inspection and as the stream of defect data continues to be received, some of the defects are automatically grouped with other most recently one or more received defects so as to form groups of substantially matching defects. Before reviewing the defect data to determine whether the reticle passes inspection and after all of the defect data for the reticle is received, one or more of the groups of defects that have a number above a predetermined threshold are automatically filtered from the defect data so as to form filtered defect data. The filtered defect data may then be provided to a review station for determining whether the reticle passes.
US08718350B2
A computerized method for immunohistochemistry analysis of tissue utilizes digital images of multiple adjacent tissue sections aligned within a computerized software and processed with an algorithm to quantify a two-dimensional IHC signature score for each respective slide image. In various embodiments, the IHC score is performed over several adjacent sections and further processed to produce a three-dimensional IHC quantification referred to as an IHC signature map.
US08718336B2
An image correction technology for causing a person image to look more beautiful is provided. Provided is an image correction apparatus a partial region specifying section that specifies a partial region of a skin that satisfies a predetermined condition, within a first image captured under a first image capturing condition; a corresponding region specifying section that specifies a corresponding region that corresponds to the partial region within a second image captured under a second image capturing condition that is different from the first image capturing condition; and an image correction section that corrects the second image by performing predetermined image processing to the corresponding region of the second image.
US08718331B2
A method for detecting left-eye/right-eye images is capable of effectively and accurately detecting a sequence or positions of left-eye/right-eye image frames of a stereo image signal. The method includes performing block matching on a target block corresponding to two consecutive image frames of an image signal to determine a motion vector; and performing left-eye/right-eye image determination on a current image frame from the two consecutive image frames according to the motion vector.
US08718321B2
The present invention relates to a method of identifying a target object in an image using image processing. It further relates to apparatus and computer software implementing the method. The method includes storing template data representing a template orientation field indicative of an orientation of each of a plurality of features of a template object; receiving image data representing the image; processing the image data to generate an image orientation field indicating an orientation corresponding to the plurality of image features; processing the image orientation field using the template orientation field to generate a match metric indicative of an extent of matching between at least part of the template orientation field and at least part of the image orientation field; and using the match metric to determine whether or not the target object has been identified in the image. Image and/or template confidence data is used to generate the match metric.
US08718315B2
In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a connector plug housing member and a connector plug contact member. The connector plug housing member includes a first contact pin and a second contact pin. The connector plug contact member includes a first contact section and a second contact section. The connector plug contact member is configured to be positioned in the connector plug housing member in a first position. The connector plug contact member is configured to be positioned in the connector plug housing member in a second position. The first position corresponds to a first pinning order. The second position corresponds to a second pinning order.
US08718295B2
A headset assembly with a recording function for communication includes a left earphone, a right earphone, a call module, and a recording module. The left and the right earphones respectively have a speaker and a microphone. The call module is electrically connected to the left or the right earphone. The recording module is electrically connected to the left and the right earphones. In a first operation mode, the call module communicates with an external communication device through the microphone and the speaker of the left or the right earphone. In a second operation mode, the recording module receives an ambient sound signal through the microphones simultaneously, and records and stores the ambient sound signal. As the microphones are placed in a left auricle and a right auricle, recorded sound may have an effect of a head-related transfer function (HRTF), thus achieving an effect of a stereo sound field during playback.
US08718274B2
There is provided an interface circuit according to which a telephone or an intercom may be connected to a port of a main device including a telephone exchange function. The interface circuit includes a power supply circuit that supplies necessary power supply voltage according to the telephone or the intercom connected to the port, and a state detection circuit that detects, in a case where the telephone is connected to the port, whether the telephone is in an on-hook state or in an off-hook state, based on the value of an input impedance of the telephone, and that detects, in a case where the intercom is connected to the port, whether the intercom is in a standby state or in an activation button pressed state, based on a value of the input impedance of the intercom.
US08718272B2
A method may include receiving a call from a caller and determining whether the caller has previously called a call center. The method may also include identifying, in response to determining that the caller has previously called the call center, an agent that handled the previous call from the caller, and forwarding the call to the agent that handled the previous call.
US08718269B2
A contact center which provides the ability to, among other things, support deferring work assignment decisions while simultaneously assessing the risks associated with such a deferred decision. The intelligent deferment of work assignment decisions helps to achieve better matching without losing the opportunity to timely assign work to an agent.
US08718266B1
Systems and methods for recording a communication session between a customer and an agent of a customer center communication system are provided. In this regard, a representative method comprises: configuring a communication component of the customer center communication system to enable recording of a media stream associated with the communication session; transmitting the media stream over a network based on the configuration of the communication component; receiving the media stream over the network; and recording the received media stream.
US08718255B2
A telecommunication system and method for seamlessly switching mobile devices during a conversation without placing the conversation on hold or otherwise parking the conversation.
US08718253B2
A presence trigger system and a service system support automatic actions on a voice conference based on the presence state of potential conferees of the voice conference. The systems may, for example, initiate contacting and joining the potential conferee to the voice conference when the potential conferee presence state indicates that the potential conferee is available. As another example, the systems may automatically notify participating conferees that the potential conferee has become available. Automatic notification allows participating conferees to concentrate on and contribute to the voice conference without the distraction of frequently checking the presence status of expected, but absent, conferees.
US08718249B2
A communication device includes a communication unit configured to send and receive data via an attachable and detachable line, a power controller configured to reduce a power supply to the communication unit when a certain condition is satisfied, and a determination unit configured to determine whether or not a setting for sending and receiving data via the line by the communication unit is made. The power controller maintains the power supply to the communication unit at a call-receivable level, if it is determined that the setting for using the line is made.
US08718244B2
The present invention is directed to a method for rendering one or more conversations on a first communication device. The method includes receiving over a network and storing at the first communication device media associated with the one or more conversations. The method further includes selecting on the first communication device one of the one or more conversations as current and rendering the media associated with the selected current conversation. The rendering of the media of the currently selected conversation may be performed in either a near real-time mode where the media is progressively rendered as it is received or in a time shifted mode where the media is rendered at a time after it was received. The method also includes creating media on the first communication device associated with the selected current conversation and transmitting the created media over the network to one or more remote communication devices associated with the selected current conversation. The selected current conversation may be optionally shifted among the one or more conversations.
US08718243B1
The present invention relates to telecommunications, and in particular, to systems and processes for processing telephone calls and providing telephony services. In one embodiment, a call processing system, compromises a first telephony interface configured to receive a call from a caller, a storage device configured to store a greeting, and a call answering system. The call answering system is configured to play the greeting in response to receiving the call, record a voice message from the caller, determine when the caller has completed recording the voice message, after determining that the caller has completed recording the voice message, play a prompt regarding the caller becoming a subscriber to call services provided by the call processing system, receive from the caller information used to establish a call services account, and establish a call services account for the caller.
US08718237B2
A mobile phone 100 with music reproduction function comprising a reproduction unit 106 that reproduces music data and a ring tone which are recorded in a music data recording medium 105 and a ring tone, a communication unit 108 that detects an incoming call from outside and a control unit 103 that instructs the reproduction unit 106 to perform a fade-out process of reproducing music data and to perform a fade-in process of outputting a ring tone when the communication unit 108 detects an incoming call while the reproduction unit 106 is reproducing music data.
US08718232B2
A method and an system are disclosed for reconstructing an emission tomography image in a combined MR (magnetic resonance) and emission tomography imaging system. In at least one embodiment, the method includes obtaining an MR image of a subject, the subject being clipped in the MR image; obtaining raw emission tomography scan data of the subject; determining a missing part of the subject clipped in the MR image; using information of the MR image and the determined missing part to obtain a final attenuation model of the subject; and reconstructing the emission tomography image using the raw data and the final attenuation model.
US08718231B2
The invention comprises an X-ray tomography method and apparatus used in conjunction with multi-axis charged particle or proton beam radiation therapy of cancerous tumors. In various embodiments, 3-D images are generated from a series of 2-D X-rays images; the X-ray source and detector are stationary while the patient rotates; the 2-D X-ray images are generated using an X-ray source proximate a charged particle beam in a charged particle cancer therapy system; and the X-ray tomography system uses an electron source having a geometry that enhances an electron source lifetime, where the electron source is used in generation of X-rays. The X-ray tomography system is optionally used in conjunction with systems used to both move and constrain movement of the patient, such as semi-vertical, sitting, or laying positioning systems. The X-ray images are optionally used in control of a charged particle cancer therapy system.
US08718225B2
Discussed herein is a shift register which is capable of stabilizing an output thereof. The shift register includes a plurality of stages for sequentially outputting scan pulses in such a manner that high durations of the scan pulses partially overlap with each other. Each of the stages includes a node controller for controlling a charging duration of a set node, and an output unit for outputting a corresponding one of the scan pulses through an output terminal for the charging duration of the set node.
US08718221B2
An apparatus and method for inter-unit transfer of spent nuclear fuel. In one aspect, the invention is a method of transferring high level radioactive waste comprising: a) loading high level radioactive waste into a water-filled cavity of a canister body having an open top end at a first location; b) coupling a lid to the canister body to enclose the open top end; c) removing a volume of water from the cavity so that a water level of the water within the cavity is above a top end of the high level radioactive waste and a space exists between the water level and a bottom surface of the lid; d) hermetically sealing the cavity; and e) transferring the canister to a second location, the water level remaining above the top end of the high level radioactive waste during the transfer.
US08718215B2
The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for addressing the issue of clock skew in a data signal while making efficient use of space on an integrated chip (IC) by utilizing a physical delay line controlled by a state machine in conjunction with pre-requisite chip architecture. The pre-requisite chip architecture samples the incoming data signal in response to a clocking signal input from the physical delay line; the physical delay line responds to commands from the state machine to increment the delay of the physical delay line to produce samples which describe the incoming data signal and delineate its data valid window.
US08718208B2
In an embodiment, a multi-carrier signal (e.g., an OFDM signal) is received over a channel. First indicators of interference and channel response at a carrier frequency of the signal are determined and compared. If the first indicator of the interference has a relationship to the first indicator of the channel response, then a data value transmitted at the carrier frequency is recovered from a data value received at the carrier frequency according to a first algorithm. If, however, the first indicator of the interference does not have a first relationship to the first indicator of the channel response, then second indicators of interference and the channel response at the carrier frequency are determined and compared. If the second indicator of the interference has a second relationship to the second indicator of the channel response, then the data value transmitted at the carrier frequency is recovered from the data value received at the carrier frequency according to a second algorithm. Because first and second data-recovery algorithms may be faster than a conventional data-recovery algorithm, recovering one or more data values with the first or second algorithms may increase the speed at which data is recovered from a multicarrier signal as compared to using a conventional data-recovery algorithm exclusively.
US08718203B2
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, in response to receiving a single carrier signal that is not phase locked, channel equalization may be applied to the signal via a channel equalizer. The equalized signal may be phase averaged to provide a signal that is at least partially phase stabilized. The channel equalizer may then be trained by feeding back the at least partially phase stabilized phase reference to the channel equalizer. The resulting signal may then be decoded via coherent or quasi-coherent detection.
US08718202B2
A system includes a Viterbi decoder. The Viterbi decoder includes add compare select logic. The add compare select logic determines path metrics for an encoded signal. The add compare select logic also is shared to determine a best state by which trace-back procedure gets started, resulting in hardware saving.
US08718199B2
A receiver comprises plural receive antennas and electronic circuitry. The plural receive antennas are configured to receive, on plural subcarriers transmitted over a radio interface, a frequency domain signal that comprises contribution from a block of time domain symbols. The electronic circuitry is configured or operable to perform symbol detection of time domain symbols comprising the block by performing a multi-stage joint detection procedure comprising plural stages, and thus serves as a detector (40). For a first stage the block is divided into a first number of sub-blocks each having a sub-block first size. For a second stage the block is divided into a second number of sub-blocks each having a sub-block second size, the sub-block second size being greater than the sub-block first size. For each stage a detector (40) formulates frequency domain combining weights and uses the frequency domain combining weights for combining multiple receive versions of each subcarrier to provide candidate symbol combination values for symbols in each sub-block of the respective stage. For the second stage the detector (40) is further configured to use the candidate symbol combination values of the first stage to formulate joint hypotheses to serve as candidates for the joint detection operation of the second stage.
US08718192B2
An apparatus and method for generating an effective Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) per stream in a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) wireless communication system is disclosed. The apparatus includes a selector, a calculator, a generator, and a decider. The selector selects effective streams among whole streams. The calculator calculates a relative SNR rate between the effective streams. The generator generates an equation having as a solution an SNR of a first effective stream. The decider decides an SNR per effective stream using the solution of the equation and the relative SNR rate.
US08718185B2
Techniques are described for carrier frequency offset (CFO) and channel estimation of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmissions over multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) frequency-selective fading channels. A wireless transmitter forms blocks of symbols by inserting training symbols within two or more blocks of information-bearing symbols. The transmitter applies a hopping code to each of the blocks of symbols to insert a null subcarrier at a different position within each of the blocks of symbols, and a modulator outputs a wireless signal in accordance with the blocks of symbols. A receiver receives the wireless signal and estimates the CFO, and outputs a stream of estimated symbols based on the estimated CFO.
US08718181B2
Techniques for performing power control of multiple channels sent using multiple radio technologies are described. The transmit power of a reference channel, sent using a first radio technology (e.g., CDMA), is adjusted to achieve a target level of performance (e.g., a target erasure rate) for the reference channel. The transmit power of a data channel, sent using a second radio technology (e.g., OFDMA), is adjusted based on the transmit power of the reference channel. In one power control scheme, a reference power spectral density (PSD) level is determined based on the transmit power of the reference channel. A transmit PSD delta for the data channel is adjusted based on interference estimates. A transmit PSD of the data channel is determined based on the reference PSD level and the transmit PSD delta. The transmit power of the data channel is then set to achieve the transmit PSD for the data channel.
US08718171B2
A method for determining estimated values for data symbols transmitted from at least four transmission antennas of a MIMO transmission system, which are encoded according to the Matrix B transmission mode and weighted with coefficients (vi). The method including determining hypotheses ({tilde over ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {tilde over ({right arrow over (s)}5-8) for the transmitted data symbols ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {right arrow over (s)}5-8) from data symbols ({right arrow over (r)}1-4, {right arrow over (r)}5-8) received from at least two reception antennas, weighted with hypotheses ({tilde over (h)}nm) for the transmission factors (hnm) associated with a partial transmission channel, between a transmission antenna m and a reception antenna n, and with hypotheses ({tilde over (v)}i) for the coefficients (vi), determining a metric for each hypothesis ({tilde over ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {tilde over ({right arrow over (s)}5-8) associated with at least one transmitted data symbol ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {right arrow over (s)}5-8) and determining the estimated value ({tilde over ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {tilde over ({right arrow over (s)}5-8) for the respective, transmitted data symbol ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {right arrow over (s)}5-8) from the lowest metric associated with each hypothesis ({circumflex over ({right arrow over (s)}1-4, {circumflex over ({right arrow over (s)}5-8).
US08718155B2
In an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication system, a transmission apparatus connects multiple tiles, which have a 4×3 structure, along a time or frequency axis in an uplink 4-layer partial usage of subchannels (PUSC) mode, and designs pilots corresponding to one layer at one of multiple symbol positions adjacent to a first corner of the tiles and one of multiple symbol positions adjacent to a second corner of the tiles that face the first corner in a diagonal direction. In this case, null symbols are designed at the rest of the symbol positions adjacent to the first corner or the second corner where the pilots are not designed. Accordingly, a receiving apparatus can obtain n channel values from n tiles. Further, n estimated channel values are applied to a linear interpolation method, so that it is possible to estimate the entire channel value of n tiles.
US08718154B2
Providing for improved tracking and correction of timing in wireless communications is disclosed herein. By way of example, a first algorithm can be employed to track timing of a wireless signal, based on one dimension of the signal. Additionally, a second algorithm based on a different dimension of the signal can be employed to verify the timing and reduce errors in timing analysis. Various signal dimensions can be employed for the analysis, including cyclic prefix, frequency, channel impulse response, or the like, or a combination thereof. Additionally, different channels of the wireless signal can also be analyzed by the first algorithm and the second algorithm. Furthermore, the second algorithm can be selected to reduce deficiencies identified in the first algorithm, to improve overall timing analysis, reduce undetected timing errors or false errors, and improve timing correction.
US08718147B2
A video compression routine encodes pixels using frame location relationships by using packets with variable length opcode.
US08718142B2
A technique for frame rate conversion that utilizes motion estimation and motion compensated temporal interpolation includes obtaining a first image and a second image, where the first and second images correspond to different instances in time, compressing the second image using multiple motion vectors that result from motion estimation between the first image and the second image to generate a compressed image, and generating an interpolated image using the compressed image.
US08718137B2
Systems and methods for error resilient transmission, rate control, and random access in video communication systems that use scalable video coding are provided. Error resilience is obtained by using information from low resolution layers to conceal or compensate loss of high resolution layer information. The same mechanism is used for rate control by selectively eliminating high resolution layer information from transmitted signals, which elimination can be compensated at the receiver using information from low resolution layers. Further, random access or switching between low and high resolutions is also achieved by using information from low resolution layers to compensate for high resolution spatial layer packets that may have not been received prior to the switching time.
US08718136B2
A method of decoding a video signal is disclosed. The present invention includes obtaining identification information indicating whether a coded picture of a current NAL unit is an inter-view picture group, obtaining interview reference information of the inter-view picture group, and constructing a reference picture list for inter-view prediction using the inter-view reference information according to the identification information, wherein the inter-view reference information includes view identification information of an inter-view reference picture.
US08718128B2
A moving image is divided on the basis of a plurality of items of additional data which indicate states upon sensing the moving image. The additional data is added to the moving image and is able to be read out for each item from the moving image. An item group formed of one or a plurality of items selected from the plurality of items is defined, and division information corresponding to the item group is generated on the basis of the additional data of the items which belong to the item group. In a case that a plurality of division information are generated in correspondence with a plurality of item groups, the plurality of division information generated for each item group are hierarchized, and division positions are added. The division information is held in correspondence with the moving image data.
US08718123B2
A test apparatus that tests a device under test exchanging a data signal and a clock signal, the test apparatus comprising a test signal supplying section that supplies the device under test with a data signal and a clock signal, as a test signal; a data acquiring section that acquires the data signal output by the device under test, at a timing corresponding to the clock signal output by the device under test; a judging section that judges pass/fail of the device under test based on a comparison result of a comparison between the data signal acquired by the data acquiring section and an expected value; and an adjusting section that, when performing an adjustment, adjusts a delay amount of the clock signal used to generate the timing at which the data signal is acquired.
US08718120B2
An encoding circuit encodes a NRZ code into a transmission line code. A decoding circuit decodes the transmission line code into a NRZ code. If an operation-mode specified by a setting signal is a normal-mode, a transmission switching circuit provides transmit-data received from an input terminal to the encoding circuit to output the encoded transmit-data as communication-data from a communication terminal. If the operation-mode is a sleep-mode, the transmission switching circuit outputs the transmit-data received from the input terminal as the communication-data from the communication terminal. If the operation-mode specified by the setting signal is a normal-mode, a reception switching circuit provides the communication-data received from the communication terminal to the decoding circuit to output the decoded communication-data as receive-data from an output terminal. If the operation-mode is a sleep-mode, the reception switching circuit outputs the communication-data received from the communication terminal as the receive-data from the output terminal.
US08718119B2
Embodiments of a spread-carrier self-detecting code (SCSDC) receiver with summed-delay processing (SDP) and method are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the SCSDC-SDP receiver is arranged to generate a chip-matched filter output from a received spread-spectrum signal and perform SDP on the chip-matched filter output with a plurality of delay-processing chains. The SDP may include multiplying a conjugated and delayed chip-matched filter output with the chip-matched filter output and applying a code-matched filter that is matched to a delay-multiplied code. The outputs from the code-matched filters of each delay-processing chain may be coherently combined to provide an output having correlation peaks for use generating frequency error and timing information.
US08718115B2
Systems and methods for building, transmitting, and receiving frame structures in power line communications (PLC) are described. Various techniques described herein provide a preamble design using one or more symbols based on a chirp signal that yields a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). According to some techniques, the preamble may be constructed with one or more different types and/or number of symbols configured to identify a PLC domain operating in close physical proximity to another PLC domain. According to other techniques, one or more preamble symbols may be interspersed within a header portion of a PLC frame to facilitate estimation of a frame boundary and/or sampling frequency offset, for example, in the presence of impulsive noise. According to yet other techniques, a PLC detector may be capable of receiving and decoding two or more types of PLC frames (e.g., using different PLC standards).
US08718105B2
A laser source (10) for emitting an output beam (12) includes a first gain medium (16B) that generates a first beam (16A), a second gain medium (18B) that generates a second beam (18A), a common feedback assembly (28) positioned in the path of the first beam (16A) and the second beam (18), and a control system (32). The common feedback assembly (28) redirects at least a portion of the first beam (16A) back to the first gain medium (16B), and at least a portion of the second beam (18A) back to the second gain medium (18B). The control system (32) selectively and individually directs power to the first gain medium (16B) and the second gain medium (18). Additionally, the common feedback assembly (28) can include a feedback mover (46) that continuously adjusts the angle of incidence of the first beam (16A) and the second beam (18A) on the feedback assembly (28). Moreover, the control system (32) can selectively direct pulses of power to the gain mediums (16B) (18B) based on the position of the feedback assembly (28).
US08718090B2
A resource reservation method, a message sending method, a message receiving method, and a node apparatus in the field of network communication technology are provided. The resource reservation method includes the following steps. A resource reservation request message is received. A resource reservation value and additional accuracy information of the resource reservation value are recorded in the message. Bandwidth resources are reserved for a source node according to the additional accuracy information and the resource reservation value. Thus, resources can be reserved accurately and traffic loss caused by accuracy loss of reservation resources in the case of high traffic is avoided.
US08718063B2
In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a first network device configured to receive, from a second network device, a first forwarding-state packet associated with a peripheral processing device and having a first generation identifier. The first network device is configured to receive, from a third network device, a second forwarding-state packet associated with the peripheral processing device and having a second generation identifier. The first network device is configured to implement forwarding-state information included in the first forwarding-state packet based on a comparison of the first generation identifier and the second generation identifier.
US08718062B2
A method for establishment a pseudo wire (PW) is disclosed, including: receiving a first label mapping (LM) message, where the first LM message carries a PW ID, PW parameters, and label switching path (LSP) tunnel information that are selected by the sender of the first LM message; matching a local PW according to the PW ID; performing parameter negotiation of the local PW according to the PW parameters; matching a local tunnel according to the LSP tunnel information; binding the local tunnel and the local PW when the matching between the PW ID and the LSP tunnel information is successful; and establishing a PW when the parameter negotiation is successful. A device and system for establishing a PW are also disclosed. With the present invention, a PW service is associated with an LSP tunnel to improve the reliability of the information transmission process.
US08718060B2
A technique for multiple path forwarding of label-switched data traffic in a communication network across multiple paths such that traffic associated with a particular label-switched path (LSP) is forwarded on the same path in the network. An incoming label associated with a packet is used to select an Equal Cost Multiple Path (ECMP) technique that is used to identify an interface among a plurality of interfaces on which the packet may be forwarded. An incoming label associated with the packet is used to identify an outgoing label for the packet as well as the plurality of interfaces on which the packet may be forwarded. A label in the packet's label stack is hashed to produce a hash value. The hash value is then used to identify an interface from the plurality of interfaces on which the packet is forwarded. The outgoing label is placed in the packet and the packet is forwarded on the identified interface.
US08718057B1
Numerous enhancements to metro Ethernet network (MEN) ELAN services and IETF Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) include an enhancement of the overall Quality of Service (QoS) architecture, an enhancement to classification at the provider edge, the use of Ethernet QoS classes, enhancements to policing and marking at ingress provider edge equipment, the provision of traffic management functions at egress provider edge equipment, the use of multiple Ethernet virtual connections (EVCs) and Aggregate EVCs, an enhancement to QoS across an external network-network interface and an enhancement to treatment of Ethernet service frames in a core network.
US08718056B2
A multistage switch includes a matrix of coupled switch devices. A logical link comprising a plurality of physical links couples a destination through the plurality of physical links to a plurality of ports in the multistage switch. Each switch device performs trunk aware forwarding to reduce the forwarding of received frames through the matrix of coupled switch devices to the destination in order to reduce unnecessary traffic in the multistage switch.
US08718045B2
A location customer premise equipment (CPE), the location CPE in electronic communication with a location telephone, a remote CPE and a remote telephone. The location CPE includes a first processor. The first processor receives a switch signal from the location telephone, and sends a corresponding first request signal to the remote CPE, and then the first processor receives a corresponding first response signal and a phone number of an unused network of the remote telephone from the remote CPE, and dials the phone number of an unused network to establish an unused network communication link with the remote CPE and cuts off a used network communication link.
US08718043B2
Mobile communication method and system for signalling information relating to network's capabilities
A mobile communications method and system for signalling information between a mobile terminal and a network element of a mobile communications network. The mobile terminal transmits information relating to the desirability and/or possibility to support Voice Call Continuity (VCC), to the network element during a communication, and the network element receives the information from the mobile terminal to use the information as a basis for deciding whether or not to anchor a call of the mobile terminal.
US08718041B2
A combined line termination arrangement (1) for an access system supporting broadband transmission mode and narrowband transmission mode, the combined line termination arrangement (1) comprising a common interface device (4) having a common port (6) for receiving or transmitting a signal in said transmission modes and being connected to a first line termination (LT1) and a second line termination (LT2). The common interface device further comprises switching means (11, 14, 15, 18) for selectively connecting, by switching combinations, the first line termination (LT1), the second line termination (LT2) and auxiliary sources of broadband or narrowband transmission modes.
US08718039B2
A three-way handshake method for optical messaging in a multi-domain optical network that includes a first pass from a source domain to a destination domain through intermediate domains on candidate working paths, collecting information identifying available routing resources for each working path, calculating a working path metric and storing each of the metrics at the respective border node, determining a path key of the topology of each domain working path and using the path key to identify the path outside its domain and determining the best working paths and border nodes to use. A second pass using the path keys for identifying the working path in each domain and reserving the identified routing resources and selecting which routing resources to use. A third pass identifying the selected routing resources and establishing an optical signaling message path between the source node and the destination node.
US08718037B2
An apparatus (and related method) coordinates wireless communication operations for coexisted wireless communication modules. The apparatus includes a packet traffic arbitration (PTA) module coupled between a first wireless communication module and a second wireless communication module, granting the first request requesting for a first wireless communication operation with a first priority in a first time period from the first wireless communication module, receiving a second request requesting for a second wireless communication operation with a second priority from the second wireless communication module when the granted first wireless communication operation is not finished. In operation, the first wireless communication operation interferes with the second wireless communication operation, the PTA module granting the second request and informing the first wireless communication module to take back the granted first request when the second priority is higher than the first priority.
US08718036B2
Techniques for transmitting configurable pilots in a wireless communication system are described. The placement of pilots is determined based on an assignment of resources for transmission. Different placements of pilots are used for different assignments of resources. The assignment may be for one or more frames and/or one or more H-ARQ interlaces. The placement of pilot(s) in each frame or H-ARQ interlace may be determined based on the placement of pilot(s) in prior frame(s) or H-ARQ interlace(s). Pilots are sent at time and frequency locations determined by the placement of the pilots. Each pilot may be sent on one or more subcarriers in one or more symbol periods. The pilots may be TDM pilots and/or some other type of pilot. The pilots may be sent using IFDMA, LFDMA, EFDMA, OFDMA, or some other multiplexing scheme.
US08718031B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a multi-network access control method, a communication system, and relevant devices to prevent interruption of normal network communication when the multi-access function is used. The method includes the following steps: A User Equipment (UE) receives multi-access indication information sent by a network device; the UE judges, according to the multi-access indication information, whether the UE uses a multi-access function; and the UE initiates an access connectivity establishment from multi-networks if the multi-access function is used. The embodiments of the present invention further provide a communication system and relevant devices. The embodiments of the present invention may prevent interruption of normal network communication when the multi-access function is used.
US08718028B1
Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems, methods, and computer storage media for customizing a user agent profile for a mobile communications device. The mobile communications device communicates a request for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) compatible data. The request includes information about capabilities of the mobile communications device. The mobile communications device receives an options page that includes selectable options associated with the capabilities of the mobile communications device. Selectable options of the options page are selected to identify one or more preferences of a user of the mobile communications device. The mobile communications device communicates the selected options to be used for generating the customized user agent profile. The mobile device receives a target HTTP-compatible page that is a variation of the requested HTTP-compatible page, converted based on the customized user agent profile.
US08718019B2
A method, system and apparatus for managing call handoff are provided. A mobile device engaged in a first media session over a first transport determines a second transport is available. A reflected media session is established via an echo server over the second transport. Quality of the reflected media session is evaluated by determining a call metric based on call transport data received at the mobile device from the mobile device (itself) in the reflected media session. Call handover is requested from the first media session to a second media session over the second transport when the call metric indicates that the quality of the reflected media session meets a threshold.
US08718017B2
A method of wireless communication is presented. The method includes receiving an operating frequency and base station identification code (BSIC) for a neighboring base station, determining an expected received signal based from the operating frequency and BSIC, comparing a received signal with the expected received signal, and reporting a result of the comparing.
US08718014B2
A system and method for handing off from a first network to a second network. A determination may be made as to whether an accessible base station of the second network is located in the vicinity of a user equipment based on information on a current location of the user equipment in the first network. An activation message may be generated with a first telephone number as a caller number when an accessible base station of the second network is located in the vicinity of the user equipment based on the determination result. The activation message indicates an initiation of a search for an accessible base station of the second network, and an accessible base station of the second network may be searched for when the activation message with the first telephone number is received. A handoff from the first network to the second network may then be executed when the accessible base station of the second network is located.
US08718013B2
Embodiments of a system and method for handover and zone switching between legacy and non-legacy base stations are provided. In certain embodiments, a fast ranging IE allocation is used to transfer a dedicated allocation to a mobile station for ranging with a target base station.
US08718009B2
In performing SVD-MIMO transmission, a set-up procedure is simplified while assuring a satisfactory decoding capability with a reduced number of antennas. A transmitter estimates channel information based on reference signals sent from a receiver, determines a transmit antenna weighting coefficient matrix based on the channel information, calculates a weight to be assigned to each of components of a multiplexed signal, and sends, to the receiver, training signals for respective signal components, the training signals being weighted by the calculated weights. On the other hand, the receiver determines a receive antenna weighting coefficient matrix based on the received training signals.
US08718007B2
A wireless communication system is described for allocating limited network access according to priorities designated for requested transactions of wireless communications. The wireless network has a number of access links for transmitting transactions for wireless communications. A plurality of wireless communications devices requests transmission of transactions on the wireless network. A designated priority level is associated with each transaction. In response to the transaction requests, an access control manager in the wireless network schedules transmission of transactions when all of the plurality of access links are occupied, by authorizing a transmission of a transaction of higher priority than another transaction that is being transmitted, and discontinuing the transmission of the transaction of lower priority.
US08717995B2
A communication apparatus 1 includes a number-of-units determination unit 2 which determines the number of resource units to be allocated respectively to plural physical control channels by proportionally dividing the total number of resource units included in wireless resource which is designated for mapping of physical control channels among the plural physical control channels in accordance with a predetermined rule; a channel encoding unit 3 which channel-encodes the control information to be transmitted on the plural physical control channels respectively into data which can be transmitted by the number of resource units determined by said number-of-units determination unit; a modulation unit 4 which modulates the channel-encoded control information; and a transmission unit 5 which transmits the signal modulated by the modulation unit.
US08717989B2
Disclosed is a CCE+ number allocation method which reduces the ACK/NACK (Acknowledgment/Negative Acknowledgment) collision probability in a mixed system containing an LTE (Long Term Evolution) system and an LTE+ (Long Term Evolution Advanced) system. A CCE (Control Channel Element)+ number is defined by selecting a number from CCE numbers of the CCE to contain PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) allocated in a resource element region constituting CCE+ where PDCCH+ is arranged. This can prevent overlapped selection of the CCE number and the CCE+ number even when the PDCCH and the PDCCH+ are simultaneously transmitted. Thus, it is possible to reduce the collision probability of ACK/NACK correlated to the CCE number and the CCE+ number.
US08717976B2
The present system relates to a method for transmitting control information in a wireless communications system that supports coordinated multi-point (CoMP) including N (N>1) transmission points. The method comprises: generating control information for downlink transmission of the N transmission points; and transmitting the generated control information to a user device, wherein the control information contains a control information region for transmission of intrinsic control information on a reference transmission point among the N transmission points, and N−1 control information regions for transmission of intrinsic control information on the N−1 transmission points.
US08717963B2
A wireless star topology communication network is implemented in which a centrally located access point supports a very large number of fixed location nodes distributed over a large metropolitan area. Communication is by direct sequence spread spectrum modulating m-ary quadrature amplitude modulation symbols. The access point and all nodes are synchronized using GPS or other means to prevent data collisions. Multiple access is primarily based on signal propagation time between the access point and a node which allows nodes at different ranges to use the same direct sequence code.
US08717956B2
A method for adaptively performing power saving in a station of a wireless communication system includes: receiving first power-save capability information from an AP, the first power-save capability information containing information on power-save schemes supported by a MAC layer of the AP; transmitting second power-save capability information to the AP in response to the first power-save capability information, the second power-save capability information containing information on power-save schemes supported by a MAC layer of the station; transmitting power-save policy information, into which properties of traffics used in the station are reflected, to the AP; and performing a power-save function while interworking with the MAC layer of the station, according to the power-save policy information based on a predetermined power-save scheme.
US08717954B2
A base station receives from a mobile station, a reference signal that includes two or more sequences of a fixed length and calculates, as information for uplink signal synchronization at the mobile station, delay with respect to a reference time of the reference signal. The base station includes a first correlator that calculates the delay and a first correlation value calculated by correlating known sequences and the reference signal received during a first interval set based on the reference time and including a period equivalent to the fixed length; a second correlator that calculates a second correlation value by correlating the known sequences and the reference signal received during a second interval different from the first interval and including a period equivalent to the fixed length; and a corrector that based on a comparison result of the first and the second correlation values, determines whether to correct the calculated delay.
US08717953B2
The present invention discloses a method for sending non-3GPP2 system information in a high rate packet data system, which comprises: setting a non-3GPP2 SystemInfo Transfer message in an HRPD system; generating the non-3GPP2 SystemInfo Transfer message and sending it to a multimode mobile terminal supporting both the HRPD system and the non-3GPP2 system when a network side of the HRPD system determines that the multimode mobile terminal is located in an area covered by the HRPD system together with the non-3GPP2 system. The present invention also discloses a method for responding to the non-3GPP2 system information. The present invention further discloses apparatuses for realizing the above-mentioned methods. The present invention is simple and practical.
US08717946B2
A method and a device for holding calls between networks are disclosed herein. The method includes: receiving a call hold request sent by a UE in a CS network, where the call hold request carries an indication that the UE in the CS network will continue sending media streams; and instructing a peer device to keep receiving the media streams from the UE in the CS network and stop sending the media streams. In the technical solution under the present invention, the UE in the CS network partially releases the radio resources after initiating the call hold operation, and therefore, the UE in the CS network can play local media files to the peer device after the call is held, thus saving network resources and improving the user experience.
US08717944B2
In one embodiment, a plurality of leaf switches that include host facing ports are configured as a cloud switch. An indication of connectivity between the leaf switches of the cloud switch and routing bridges (RBridges) external to the cloud switch may be added to link state packets (LSPs) sent over the at least one logical shared media link. A lookup table may be generated that specifies next hop leaf switches. The generated lookup table may be used to forward frames to one or more particular nexthop leaf switches. Further, traffic engineering parameters may be collected. Equal cost multipath (ECMP) nexthop leaf switches and distribution trees to reach one or more destinations may be examined. Traffic may be distributed across ones of them based on the traffic engineering parameters.
US08717942B2
The disclosure provides a method and a network device for packet content translation, wherein the network device comprises: a packet analyzing unit, a packet comparing unit, and a calculating unit, and the method comprises: providing a packet content translation criteria table; obtaining characteristic information of a packet; comparing the characteristic information of the packet with the packet content translation criteria table to determine whether a corresponding match entry is found in the packet content translation criteria table; and using the calculating unit to perform a packet content translation for the packet according to a packet processing mode indicated by the corresponding match entry. The method and the network device for packet content translation of the disclosure can reduce resource requirement for network equipments.
US08717938B2
The present invention discloses a method for a signaling configuration of a sounding reference signal. The method includes: a base station notifying a user equipment to aperiodically send the sounding reference signal, and sending configuration information of aperiodically sending the sounding reference signal (SRS) down to the user equipment. The present invention also discloses a base station for a signaling configuration of a sounding reference signal and a user equipment for a signaling configuration of a sounding reference signal. The present invention can realize that the user equipment aperiodically sends the SRS, which improves the utilization ratio of SRS resources and increases the flexibility of resource scheduling.
US08717936B1
Optimal automated exploration of hierarchical Multiprotocol Label Switching Label Switch Paths (MPLS LSPs) is disclosed. A path verification message (PVM) is transmitted from an initial router. Each label in the PVM's label stack corresponds to a hierarchy layer and is associated with a time-to-live (TTL) field. The TTL field for the label of a current layer is set so the PVM travels one hop from the initial router. In response, a reply message indicating that the PVM reached its destination is received.
US08717933B2
A method to provision routes in a network having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of links connecting various nodes. The method includes determining a route between a designated source node and a designated destination node based on a preselected routing algorithm and one of (i) a designated node of interest and (ii) a designated link of interest, and outputting information indicating the determined route.
US08717929B2
Methods and system are provided for managing and monitoring allocation of RF spectrum resources based on time, space and frequency. A network may be enabled to allocate excess spectrum resources for use by other network providers on a real-time basis. Allocated resources may be transferred from one provider with excess resources to another in need of additional resources based on contractual terms or on a real-time purchase negotiations and settlements. A network may be enabled to monitor the use of allocated resources on real-time basis and off-load or allow additional users depending on the spectrum resources availability. Public safety networks may be enabled to make spectrum resources available to general public by allocating spectrum resources and monitoring the use of those resources. During an emergency, when traffic increases on a public safety network, the public safety networks may off-load bandwidth traffic to make available necessary resources for public safety users.
US08717928B2
A modem for use in Digital Subscriber Line communications transmits and receives data over the local subscriber loop in common with voice information over the loop, while avoiding the need for voice/data splitters. The modem responds to disruptions associated with “disturbance events” such as on-hook to off-hook transitions and the like by rapidly switching between pre-stored channel parameter control sets defining communications over the loop under varying conditions. In addition to changing parameter control sets responsive to a disturbance event, the modem may also change transmission power levels and other system parameters such as frequency domain equalizer characteristics. Further, provisions are made for reduced bandwidth communications under selected conditions.
US08717916B2
The virtual Server (vServer) of an intermediary device deployed between a plurality of clients and services supports parameters for setting maximum segment size (MSS) on a per vServer/service basis and for automatically learning the MSS among the back-end services. In case of vServer/service setting, all vServers will use the MSS value set through the parameter for the MSS value set in TCP SYN+ACK to clients. In the case of learning mode, the backend service MSS will be learnt through monitor probing. The vServer will monitor and learn the MSS that is being frequently used by the services. When the learning is active, the intermediary device may keep statistics of the MSS of backend services picked up during load balancing decisions and once an interval timer expires, the MSS value may be picked by a majority and set on the vServer. If there is no majority, then the highest MSS is picked up to be set on the vServer.
US08717912B2
In order to carry out high-speed packet communications using a large-volume transmission channel like an E-DCH, uplink communication quality must be good. However, in a state in which a link imbalance occurs, a mobile station cannot estimate the uplink communication quality from downlink communication quality. Therefore, the mobile station calculates a path loss from the setting power of a common pilot channel which is notified from a base station, and the received power of the common pilot channel received thereby, and also estimates the received power in the base station on the basis of this path loss. The mobile station further judges the uplink communication quality by estimating the SIR in the base station by using the interference power notified from the base station and the estimated received power.
US08717911B2
A network communications device including an input/output (I/O) unit configured to communicate data packets to and from a communications network and at least one module. The module(s) may be configured to count total data packets being communicated via the I/O unit during a time period, count data packets including real-time content being communicated via the I/O unit during the time period, determine bandwidth of total data packets being communicated via the I/O unit, determine bandwidth of data packets including real-time content being communicated via the I/O unit, and communicate indicia representative of the bandwidth of data packets including real-time content and total data packets via said I/O unit to another network communications device. The module(s) may be software, hardware, or a combination thereof.
US08717908B2
Methods and apparatus for selecting component carriers for random access attempts. A user equipment arranged to communicate with the base station over multiple component carriers, selects a component carrier from the multiple component carriers, based on a likelihood, and transmits a random access attempt to the base station over the selected component carrier. After maintaining statistics of component carriers selected for random access attempts per component carrier of the multiple component carriers, the user equipment adjusts the likelihood of selecting a specific component carrier for a subsequent transmission of a random access attempt based on the maintained statistics.
US08717904B2
A method for efficiently transmitting and receiving control information through a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is provided. When a User Equipment (UE) receives control information through a PDCCH, the received control information is set to be decoded in units of search spaces. Here, the UE monitors a UE-specific search space, among the search spaces. The UE-specific search space is given based on a modulus operation using the variable of Yk for the subframe k and a variable C for the subframe k, wherein Yk is defined by: Yk=(A*Yk−1+B) mod D, the variable C is determined based on the number of CCEs (NCCE) divided by the aggregation level (L), and A, B and D are predetermined constant values predetermined regardless of the aggregation levels (L).
US08717900B2
A system located on either side of a wireless network for reducing the amount of collisions in the wireless network comprises a TCP server in communication with a TCP client using TCP protocols that use client acknowledgements, and an acknowledgement-summarizing device adapted to summarize at least one client acknowledgement from the TCP protocols in a summarizing acknowledgement, and to transmit the summarizing acknowledgement into the wireless network. The acknowledgement-summarizing device may be replaced or combined with an acknowledgement-aggregating device located on either side of the wireless network and adapted to aggregate one or more client acknowledgements from the TCP protocols into an encoded packet and to transmit the encoded packet into the wireless network.
US08717897B2
Discard precedence priority of packets carrying an encoded video stream in a packet network is determined based on priority information included in the encoded video stream. A video streamer segments an encoded video stream and encapsulates the segment in an Internet Protocol (IP) packet. Priority information associated with the IP packet is determined based on at least one priority indicator associated with the segment that was included in the encoded video stream. Alternately, priority information associated with an Ethernet frame is determined based on at least one priority indicator associated with the segment that was included in the encoded video stream.
US08717893B2
A network device determines that an outgoing network-to-network interface has dropped one or more network control packets and incrementally adjusts, based on the determining, a drop threshold parameter for the network control packets to give preference to the network control packets over non-network control packets. After the adjusting, the network device monitors traffic over the interface, and preempts, based on the monitoring, a low-priority label switched path (LSP) using the interface when the interface reaches a congested threshold or when the interface has dropped one or more other network control packets. The network device restores the low-priority LSP to the interface when the interface has reached an uncongested threshold.
US08717887B2
A scrambling code planning device and method are described herein for allocating primary scrambling codes to sites (e.g., Node B's sites) within a wireless communication network. In addition, a wireless communication network is described herein that includes the scrambling code planning device which allocates the primary scrambling codes to the sites (e.g., Node B's sites).
US08717884B2
Access routers (100-1 and 100-2) perform packet transfer using an IP address and a port number between a global network allowing mutual access using the IP address and a network other than the global network. Port resource assigning device (400) manages the port number in units of IP addresses, and, when performing the packet transfer, assigns the port number managed by means of the IP address preliminarily provided for access routers (100-1 and 100-2). Access routers (100-1 and 100-2) perform packet transfer using the IP address preliminarily provided for access router (100-1 and 100-2) and the port number assigned by port resource assigning device (400).
US08717878B2
The present disclosure is directed to providing feedback information for a data stream being sent from a sending endpoint to a receiving endpoint. Both of the endpoints each have multiple physical interfaces connecting each endpoint to multiple networks, respectively. Information as feedback information is gathered regarding a data capacity throughput for each of the multiple physical interfaces connected to the endpoints. The feedback information is split and sent on one or more of the multiple physical interfaces from the receiving endpoint to the sending endpoint. A detection is made, based on the feedback information, whether one or more of the physical interfaces used to send the feedback information have degraded or failed. The feedback information is then reapportioned and sent from the receiving endpoint to the sending endpoint on one or more of the multiple physical interfaces which have not been detected as degraded or failed.
US08717871B2
A lower layer retransmission control unit performs the following processing. When transmitting a transmission packet, giving a sequence number indicating a transmission order to the transmission packet. Receiving, from a receiving device that receives the transmission packet as a reception packet, an ACK packet indicating the sequence number of the reception packet. Referring to the sequence number of the received ACK packet to determine whether or not the ACK packet is received in an order of the sequence number. Transmitting first to third transmission packets and, if receiving a first ACK packet and receiving a third ACK packet following the first ACK packet without receiving a second ACK packet, performing fast retransmission control processing. Specifically, determining whether or not to receive the second ACK packet before a fast retransmission determination period passes after a reception time of the third ACK packet. If failing to receive the second ACK packet within the fast retransmission determination period, retransmitting the second transmission packet.
US08717866B2
A wireless device receives a message assigning each second carrier to one of a first carrier group and second carrier group(s). The message comprises parameters for each second carrier. If the parameters comprise a carrier group index for a second carrier, the second carrier is assigned to one of the second carrier group(s) identified by the carrier group index. Otherwise, the second carrier is assigned to the first carrier group. The wireless device receives a time alignment command comprising the carrier group index and a time adjustment value.
US08717862B2
In accordance with an embodiment, a method for determining coupling coefficients between at least two communication links includes providing a respective pilot signal for at least one of the at least two communication links, adding a respective test signal to the respective pilot signal of at least one first link of the at least two communication links to form respective combined signals, and transmitting the respective combined signal.
US08717859B1
A control mechanism may control the height and/or position of a read/write head configured to interact with a rotating information storage surface. The control mechanism may be a reactionless control mechanism configured to apply a counterforce to offset movements of the read/write head and/or a slider. A topography detection mechanism may detect topography of a side read/write track while the read/write head is interacting with a current read/write track. A memory may store the detected topography. The control mechanism may adjust the height of the read/write head based on the stored topography. The topography detection mechanism may compute the detected topography from gap measurements using a dynamic filter including a model of read/write head dynamics.
US08717855B2
A dial plate structure includes first and second dial plates and a rotary indicator. The first dial plate has a first opening or a first cutout. The second dial plate is arranged under the first dial plate and has a plurality of function display portions exposed through the opening or the cutout. The rotary indicator is arranged between the first and second dial plates and has a function indicator to selectively indicate one of the function display portions by rotation. The rotary indicator is partially exposed through the opening or the cutout. The rotary indicator has, on the surface thereof, a plurality of index markers respectively corresponding to the function display portions. The first dial plate has a second opening or a second cutout to expose one of the index markers when the function indicator indicates one of the function display portions corresponding to the indicated function display portion.
US08717849B1
A slotted cylinder acoustic transducer assembly is provided that has a cylindrical housing shell and an electromechanical driver disposed within the shell. The driver is formed with a plurality of single crystal piezoelectric elements joined to the inner surface of the housing shell and arranged to form an electromechanical stack. Each piezoelectric element has a pair of sidewalls, wherein each sidewall provides an electrode having a predetermined polarity. Each single piezoelectric element has a tapering width between the sidewalls. The transducer assembly includes a plurality of electrically conductive members. Each conductive member is disposed between each pair of adjacent piezoelectric elements such that each electrically conductive member electrically contacts the electrodes of adjacent piezoelectric elements.
US08717848B2
An ultrasound probe is provided that may improves specific desensitization of the frequency observed in the frequency characteristics and/or directional characteristics. The ultrasound probe related to this embodiment comprises an ultrasound transducer 10 and a plurality of acoustic matching layers 20 arranged in layers in the direction of irradiation irradiated from the ultrasound transducer 10, wherein, the plurality of acoustic matching layers 20 form a film and each of the adjacent acoustic impedance of longitudinal waves is substantially the same and has a different Poisson's ratio.
US08717844B2
The present disclosure generally relates to the use of a self-propelled underwater vehicle for seismic data acquisition. The self-propelled underwater vehicle is adapted to gather seismic data from the seafloor and transmit such data to a control vessel. The self-propelled underwater vehicle may be redeployed to several seafloor locations during a seismic survey. Methods for real-time modeling of a target zone and redeployment of the self-propelled underwater vehicle based on the modeling are also described.
US08717839B2
Disclosed herein is a device that includes first and second current paths, first and second latch circuits electrically connected to the first and second current paths, respectively, a driver circuit supplying first data to the first latch circuit, and supplying second data representing a logical value opposite to a logical value of the first data to the second latch circuit, a control circuit controlling the driver circuit to be alternately and repeatedly in a first period in which the driver circuit supplies the first data to the first latch circuit and does not supply the second data to the second latch circuit, and in a second period in which the driver circuit supplies the second data to the second latch circuit and does not supply the first data to the first latch circuit, and a monitor circuit.
US08717829B2
A system for detecting soft errors in a memory device includes a latch, a master flip-flop and a slave flip-flop. The latch receives input data (control and/or address signals) at the beginning of a memory operation in response to a rising edge of a first clock signal. The output of the latch is provided to the master flip-flop. The master flip-flop continuously receives and stores the latch output during the memory operation based on a second clock signal. The slave flip-flop receives and stores the output of the master flip-flop at the end of the memory operation based on the second clock signal. A comparator compares the input data with the output of the slave flip-flop to detect soft errors that occur during the memory operation.
US08717819B2
A programming method and memory structure for preventing punch-through in a short channel source-side select gate structure includes adjusting voltages on the selected and unselected bitlines, and the program, pass, and select gate voltages.
US08717811B2
A non-volatile latch circuit includes a pair of cross-coupled inverters, a pair of resistance-based memory elements, and write circuitry configured to write data to the pair of resistance-based memory elements. The pair of resistance-based memory elements is isolated from the pair of cross-coupled inverters during a latching operation. A sensing circuit includes a first current path that includes a resistance-based memory element and an output of the sensing circuit. The sensing circuit includes a second current path to reduce current flow through the resistance-based memory element at a first operating point of the sensing circuit.
US08717809B2
Disclosed is a method of programming a phase change memory (100) comprising a plurality of memory cells (10), each memory cell comprising a control terminal connected to a word line (30), and a current terminal connected to a bit line (20), comprising applying a first set pulse (Vb) having a shape including a decaying trailing edge (54) to one of the bit line (20) and the word line (30) of a memory cell (10) for changing its phase change material from an amorphous phase to a crystalline phase; applying a second set pulse (Vw) to the other of the bit line and the word line of the memory cell, said second set pulse at least partially overlapping said first set pulse such that the resulting current pulse (Ids) through the memory cell exhibits the decaying trailing edge (52), said decaying trailing edge ensuring the crystallization of the phase change material; applying a first reset pulse (Vb) having said shape to one of the bit line (20) and the word line (30) of a memory cell for changing its phase change material from the crystalline phase to the amorphous phase; and applying a second reset pulse (Vw) to the other of the bit line and the word line of the memory cell, said second set pulse at least partially overlapping said first set pulse such that the resulting current pulse (lds) through the memory cell exhibits the trailing edge of the second reset pulse. A corresponding phase change memory (100) is also disclosed.
US08717805B2
A semiconductor random access memory device includes a memory cell including a resistor whose resistance varies by formation and disappearance of a filament due to an oxidation-reduction reaction of metal ions, a memory area configured to include a first memory area operable in a nonvolatile mode in which a stored content thereof is not lost by a power-off event, and a second memory area operable in a volatile mode in which the stored content thereof is lost by the power-off event, each of the first memory area and the second memory area including the plurality of the memory cells, a register circuit that stores information including a first address information indicating the first memory area, and a second address information indicating the second memory area, and a control circuit that controls the nonvolatile mode, and the volatile mode, with reference to the information stored in the register circuit.
US08717801B2
A memory-cell array that includes a first line, a second line intersecting the first line, and a memory cell including a variable resistive element provided in the intersection of the first and the second lines; a data-write unit configured to apply a voltage pulse to the memory cell through the first and the second lines, the voltage pulse to set and/or reset data; and a detector unit configured to compare a cell current that flows through the memory cell by the voltage pulse at the time of setting and/or resetting the data with a reference current generated from the initial value of the cell current, and to control the data-write unit in accordance with a result of comparison.
US08717796B2
Memory die, stacks of memory dies, memory devices and methods, such as those to construct and operate such die, stacks and/or memory devices are provided. One such memory die includes an identification configured to be selectively coupled to an external select connection node depending on how the die is arranged in a stack. The identification circuit can determine an identification of its respective memory die responsive to how, if coupled, the identification circuit is coupled to the external select connection node.
US08717793B2
Embodiments of content addressable memories for internet protocol devices and operations are described herein. Other examples and related methods are also disclosed herein.
US08717779B2
A holder for holding a cable noise suppressor for a cable to interconnect a first printed circuit board in a first housing to a second printed circuit board in a second housing includes a first guide to determine a position and a direction of the cable noise suppressor held at a first position in the holder, a second guide to determine a position and a direction of the cable noise suppressor held at a second position different from the first position in the holder, and a cable guide to guide the cable projecting from the cable noise suppressor. The cable noise suppressor is held at either the first position or the second position in accordance with the relative positions of the first housing and the second housing.
US08717771B2
An electronic device including a case, a covering plate, at least one first fixing unit, at least one second fixing unit, a circuit board disposed in the case, and a plurality of screwing members is provided. The case covered by the covering plate has a first datum surface and a second datum surface, where a distance between the covering plate and the first datum surface is greater than a distance between the covering plate and the second datum surface. The first and the second fixing units are disposed on the first and the second datum surfaces respectively. The first fixing unit includes a first screwing boss and at least one first rib adjacent thereto. The second fixing unit includes a second screwing boss and at least one second rib adjacent thereto. The screwing members pass through the covering plate and are screwed to the corresponding first and second screwing bosses.
US08717767B2
A server cabinet includes a housing and a number of cable management brackets longitudinally mounted to the housing. Each cable management bracket includes two opposite mounting portions mounted to the housing, and a base plate connected between the mounting portions. Each mounting portion defines a number of openings for cables extending through.
US08717763B2
A cooling system includes a first group of fans, a second group of fans, and an air conducting cover. The air conducting cover includes a first partition, a second partition, a third partition. The first partition is connected between the second partition and the third partition to define a first space, a second space and a third space. Wherein the first group of fans directs air flow to enter the first space and the second space, the second group of fans directs air flow to enter the third space.
US08717758B2
A method for securing a portable electronic device having a housing to a substantially immovable object utilizing a locking assembly having a security rod or spike formed with an anchoring end separated axially by a protruding end, a locking device with an internal locking mechanism and a cable permanently attached to the locking device at one end, includes the steps of securedly fixing the anchoring end of the security rod or spike to the portable electronic device upon or through the housing, attaching an other end of the cable to the substantially immovable object and inserting the protruding end of the security rod into an opening in the locking device to actuate the internal locking mechanism and lock the locking device to the captive security rod. Locking the security rod to the locking device concurrently locks the portable electronic device to which it is anchored to the substantially immovable object.
US08717757B2
A portable electronic device includes a casing whereinside an accommodating space is formed, a signal terminal disposed on a lateral wall of the accommodating space, a stylus accommodated inside the accommodating space of the casing in a movable manner, a push-pop mechanism disposed inside the accommodating space of the casing for fixing the stylus at a corresponding position according to depth of the accommodating space whereinto the stylus enters, and a connector for inserting into the accommodating space of the casing so as to electrically connect with the signal terminal to transmit a corresponding signal.
US08717752B2
Methods and systems for removably mounting a Solid State Drive (SSD) to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) device without use of a tool. An exemplary system comprises a top portion and at least two flexible legs. Each leg comprises a vertical member attached to the top portion, and a tab for insertion into the PCB, the tab restricting the motion of the drive enclosure with respect to the PCB when inserted into the PCB, thereby allowing for removable attachment of the enclosure to the PCB without use of a tool. The drive enclosure itself is adapted to receive the SSD and adapted to align the SSD for physical coupling with a connector for the PCB.
US08717747B2
An electronic device having a stowable display unit includes a housing, a slide element, a display unit, and a control module. The housing has a receiving space, and an opening at a front side of the housing. The slide element is disposed in the receiving space, and is connected slidably to the housing. The display unit is disposed in the receiving space, and is connected pivotally to a front end of the slide element. The control module includes an actuating mechanism connected to a rear end of the slide element, and a control unit provided on the housing and controlling operation of the actuating mechanism. The actuating mechanism is controllable by the control unit to activate movement of the slide element to move the display unit to a used position externally of the opening.
US08717741B2
A busbar connection system for coupling a first busbar segment to a second busbar segment includes a mounting component defining a slot and configured to be coupled to the first busbar segment, a retaining component configured to be coupled to the second busbar segment, and a connecting member including a first end and an opposing second end. The first end is configured to be coupled to the mounting component and the second end is configured to be coupled to the retaining component. The busbar connection system also includes a pivot member configured to be operatively coupled to the first end and shaped to be received within the slot. The pivot member enables the connecting member to pivot about the mounting component.
US08717734B1
The present disclosure is related to articles, such as aircraft windows and canopies, including a non-conductive substrate and a conductor pattern including one or more trace lines deposited onto the outside of the substrate such that the entire outside surface of the substrate is not coated with the conductor pattern. The present disclosure also provides methods of dissipating electrostatic charge from non-conductive substrates.
US08717732B2
A high voltage surge arrester, including a varistor element arranged so as to be connected to a high voltage source and to carry a high voltage when being positioned in its operative position, and an electric insulator that encloses and is in contact with the varistor element and forms an outer surface of the apparatus, wherein the electric insulator includes a silicone-based rubber. The silicone based rubber includes particles chosen from the group consisting of Al2O3, BN and ZnO, to such an extent that the thermal conductivity of the silicone-based rubber is equal to or above 0.8 W/mK.
US08717729B2
In one embodiment, a computing device includes a circuit board having a heat-generating component and a mechanical shut-off switch configured to cut power to the heat-generating component when a temperature within the computing device rises above a threshold temperature.
US08717728B2
High voltage direct current systems are provided including one or more outlets and an electronic current limiter circuit associated with the one or more outlets. The electronic current limiter circuit is configured to limit current inrush when a connector is plugged into and/or unplugged from the one or more outlets when a direct current bus associated with the one or more outlets is energized so as not to damage the connector; and/or isolate direct current faults and/or excess current draw in a load connected to the one or more outlets so as to protect the system from shutdown.
US08717715B1
A spin accumulation magnetic sensor having improved signal strength and efficiency. The spin accumulation magnetic sensor has a detector structure and a spin injection structure and has a non-magnetic, electrically conductive layer extending between the spin injection structure and the detector structure. The detector structure has first and second free layers arranged such that the non-magnetic, electrically conductive layer extends between them and so that they are magnetically anti-parallel coupled with one another. The spin injection structure can also include first and second magnetic layers with the electrically conductive layer extending between them and with the first magnetic layer being pinned and the second magnetic layer being anti-parallel coupled with the first magnetic layer.
US08717713B1
An improved dual stage actuated disk drive head suspension in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a mounting/base plate having first and second portions connected by a linkage, one or more PZT motors and a flexure having one or more pairs of differential drive signal traces. Each PZT motor has a pair of electrodes. Non-conductive adhesive secures each PZT motor to the first and second portions of the mounting/base plate with the electrodes of each motor being electrically isolated from the mounting/base plate. Each pair of drive signal traces is electrically connected to one of the pair of PZT motor electrodes to couple differential electrical drive signals to the PZT motor. Each PZT motor drives the first and second portions of the mounting/base plate with respect to one another in response to the drive signals.
US08717710B2
In one embodiment, a magnetic recording medium includes a magnetic recording layer including a magnetic material characterized by having convex and concave portions, the convex portions acting as magnetic regions, a nonmagnetic material positioned within each concave portion of the magnetic material which act as nonmagnetic regions that separate the magnetic regions, an organic material layer which exhibits a corrosion-inhibiting characteristic with respect to cobalt or cobalt alloy positioned on a nonmagnetic region side of each concave portion, and an oxide layer and/or hydroxide layer positioned adjacent the organic material layer on a magnetic region side of each concave portion of the magnetic material. In another embodiment, the magnetic recording medium may be a patterned recording layer having a protective film, and the oxide layer and/or hydroxide layer may be positioned at least in defect portions of the protective film.
US08717705B1
According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording head includes a facing surface configured to face a recording medium, a main magnetic pole configured to apply a recording magnetic field to a recording layer of the recording medium, and a high-frequency oscillator disposed near to a trailing side of the main magnetic pole and configured to apply a high-frequency magnetic field to the recording layer. An angle defined between a recording magnetic field applied from the main magnetic pole to the recording medium and the facing surface is 0 to 85° in a region between a trailing side end of the main magnetic pole and a trailing side end of the high-frequency oscillator.
US08717685B2
This invention provides an optical image lens system comprising: a positive first lens element having a convex object-side surface; a second lens element; a positive third lens element; a fourth lens element; a positive plastic fifth lens element having a convex object-side surface and a concave image-side surface, at least one of the object-side and image-side surfaces is aspheric; and a negative plastic sixth lens element having a concave image-side surface, at least one of the object-side and image-side surfaces is aspheric, wherein the shape of the image-side surface changes from concave at the paraxial region thereof to convex while away from the paraxial region thereof.
US08717683B2
An image pickup apparatus includes: a zoom lens; an image pickup element having an image pickup surface which receives an image which has been formed by the zoom lens, and converts to an electric signal; a shading correction parameter storage section which stores a shading correction parameter which differs at a front-surface side and a rear-surface side with respect to a center of an image, which is for correcting asymmetric shading at the front-surface side and the rear-surface side of the zoom lens; and a shading correction section which carries out correction operation of an image which has been picked up by the image pickup element, based on the shading correction parameter of the shading correction parameter storage section. When an object having a uniform brightness is captured, at any state from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, the zoom lens satisfies conditional expression (A).
US08717682B2
A single focal length lens system comprising: at least a front lens unit having positive or negative power, and being fixed in focusing; a focusing lens unit having positive power, and moving along an optical axis in focusing; and a rear lens unit having negative power, and being fixed in focusing, wherein the focusing lens unit includes: a cemented lens of a negative lens and a positive lens; and a positive single lens located on the image side relative to the cemented lens and having an aspheric surface, the rear lens unit is composed of one single lens, and the condition: −0.5
US08717667B2
An OPO is disclosed capable of rapid frequency tuning by non-mechanical means. The OPO includes a resonant cavity including one or more non-linear crystals in an optical path thereof. A pump laser pulse is transmitted into the resonant cavity simultaneously with a seed beam having a desired wavelength. The output beam from the resonant cavity has the same center wavelength as the seed beam. The wavelength of the seed beam may be modulated at a frequency larger than the pulse rate of the pump laser or larger than the inverse of the pulse duration. The OPO disclosed may be used to perform DIAL analysis wherein intra-pulse modulation of an output beam is used to obtain measurements of absorption at multiple frequencies for each pulse of a pump beam.
US08717665B2
The invention relates to an optical wavelength conversion device adapted to receive at least one first pump beam (λ1) as an input and emitting a different wavelength output beam (λS), which includes: an optical cavity (CE); an optically non-linear medium (CNL) placed inside the optical cavity; and a control system (BA1) for controlling said optical cavity having the wavelength of the first pump beam; said control system being adapted to receive, as an input, a first signal (S1) representing the power stored in the cavity having said first wavelength and a second signal (S2) representing the power of the output beam. The invention also relates to a coherent light source comprising such a device and one or two pump laser sources (L1, L2).
US08717661B2
An electrophoresis device includes a translucent first substrate having a first electrode on one surface thereof; a second substrate having a second electrode on one surface thereof, and disposed to face the first substrate such that a protruding portion which does not overlap the first substrate in a substrate thickness direction is ensured at one side of the second substrate; a wiring pattern electrically connected to the second electrode via a connector passing through the second substrate, and provided on the other surface of the second substrate such that it extends to the protruding portion of the second substrate; an electrophoretic layer interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; a translucent first moistureproof film having a portion contacting the other surface of the first substrate and a surplus portion disposed around the portion; and a second moistureproof film having a portion contacting the other surface of the second substrate and a surplus portion disposed around the portion and provided such that at least a portion of the protruding portion of the second substrate is exposed. Electrical connection between the wiring pattern and an external device is established at a place where the protruding portion of the second substrate is exposed.
US08717660B2
This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus for enhancing the brightness and/or contrast ratio of display devices. In one aspect, the display devices can include an annular diffuser that is configured to scatter light into a ring shaped region. The annular diffuser can include a plurality of axicon lenses or holographic features. The reflective display can include an annular diffuser to shift the direction along which most of the modulated light is scattered away from the direction along which light is specularly reflected by the display devices to reduce specular glare and enhance brightness and/or contrast ratio.
US08717656B2
The optical scanning device scans an object with plural laser beams, and includes a light source, which emits plural parallel laser beams in a predetermined direction and which has a stem portion having a first notch; and a support having an opening, with which the light source is engaged so as to be rotatable on an axis parallel to the plural light beams, and a second notch located on a part of the opening so as to overlap with the first notch when the light source is engaged with the opening. By inserting a slotted screwdriver, etc., into the space formed by the two notches and rotating the screwdriver, the angle of the light source can be adjusted and thereby the pitches of the laser beams can be adjusted.
US08717639B2
In an image forming apparatus for making a position deviation correction, a position deviation amount can be accurately calculated by stabilizing the detection result at position deviation detecting and considering an ideal correction amount and an actual correction amount to make the position deviation correction accurately. A forming unit forms a pattern for position deviation detection without making the position correction for less than one pixel by an image position correcting unit, to a pattern formed in the vicinity of a detection region of a detecting unit, and the position deviation amount is calculated by using a value of a position correction which is not made to the pattern for position deviation detection to be formed.
US08717636B2
An image reading device having an improved shading compensation capability and a method thereof are disclosed. The image reading device includes an automatic document feed unit to deliver documents along a document delivery path. A light source unit including a light source to illuminate a first criterion image at a first position within the image reading device, and to illuminate the documents delivered by the automatic document feed unit at a second position. The image reading device further includes a second criterion image arranged to opposingly face the light source unit when the light source unit is located at the second position. The second criterion image extends along a sufficient length to cover the scanning range of the light illumination by the light source unit along a main scanning direction. An image acquisition unit is provided to acquire criterion shading data, auxiliary shading data and image data by receiving light reflected from the first criterion image, the second criterion image and the documents, respectively. A control unit is able to update the criterion shading data using the auxiliary shading data, and to use the updated criterion shading data to compensate the image data.
US08717634B2
Provided is an image processing device including: an outline detection unit which analyzes image data to detect an outer edge pixel forming the outline of image, and to determine an edge direction of the outer edge pixel; a thinning unit which processes thinning by reducing a pixel value of the outer edge pixel; and an outline adjusting unit. The outline adjusting unit determines a correction value of front end fading to be adopted to the outer edge pixel, depending on sheet-feeding direction when the image data is printed and the edge direction of the outer edge pixel; reduces the correction value of front end fading, depending on the ratio of reduction by the thinning of the pixel value of the outer edge pixel; and corrects the front end fading by adding the reduced correction value to the pixel value of the outer edge pixel.
US08717629B2
An image-processing method includes: acquiring multi-level tone print data expressed in multi-level tones; determining whether the acquired multi-level tone print data includes line data indicative of a line having a tone; replacing, if the print data includes the line data, the line data with specific line data based on the tone of the line data, the specific line data indicating a specific line having a prescribed tone value and a prescribed structure; and converting the multi-level tone print data to binary data after replacing the line data with the specific line data.
US08717619B2
A solution for evaluating a printing configuration for an electronic document in which one or more presentation attributes of a physical reproduction (e.g., a printed copy) of the electronic document are considered. A perceived quality of the physical reproduction of the electronic document can be determined using a set of properties of the electronic document and the one or more presentation attributes. The perceived quality can be utilized in various ways as part of a printing process.
US08717615B2
Provided is a method and apparatus to request that an image be printed, where the image is stored in a mobile device, such as a cellular phone, which is able to capture the image. The method includes creating a markup document indicating a panoramic image in which a plurality of images are united, and requesting that the panoramic image be printed, by transmitting the created markup document. Accordingly, a panoramic image may be easily created even in a mobile device having an insufficient memory resource and low specification hardware.
US08717614B2
An image forming apparatus of the present disclosure includes a print queue, a job writing unit, a print execution unit, a connected-state detection unit, and a maximum-number-of-storable-pages changing unit. The print queue stores print jobs on a page basis. The job writing unit writes the print jobs into the print queue. The print execution unit executes print on a recording medium based on a page from the print queue, and suspends execution of the print in a case in which a print job other than a print job of currently executed printing is cancelled. The connected-state detection unit detects a connected state of extension devices affecting a length of a conveyance path of the recording medium. The maximum-number-of-storable-pages changing unit changes a maximum number of storable pages, that can be stored in the print queue, and changes the maximum number of storable pages, based on the connected state detected.
US08717604B2
In an image forming apparatus which is communicably connected to a management server for managing a scan ticket in which an instruction content for performing reading of a paper document is defined and can issue an instruction concerning printing to accumulated print jobs, when it is judged that the instruction concerning the printing is issued to the designated print job, a generation request of the scan ticket including reading setting for performing the reading of the paper document on which the print job has been printed is transmitted to the management server, a list of the scan tickets obtained from the management server is displayed, the reading of the paper document is performed using the scan ticket selected from list information of the displayed scan tickets, and an image obtained by the reading is transmitted to a transmission destination specified by the scan ticket.
US08717603B2
An image forming apparatus includes an external storage device insertion detecting section that detects that an external storage device is inserted. The image forming apparatus further includes an identification information generating section that generates identification information to identify the corresponding image information from the image information generated page by page by an image information generating section; an identification information comparing section that acquires previous identification information, which is previously generated by the identification information generating section, and that compares the acquired previous identification information with the identification information generated by the identification information generating section; and a printing executing section that executes a printing process for the image information corresponding to the generated identification information if a result of the comparison by the identification information comparing section indicates that the generated identification information does not match the previous identification information.
US08717602B2
A reception processing unit provided in a document processing system receives a document data processing request from a user device. A division processing unit divides document data corresponding to the processing request and generates divided document data. A document processing unit performs document processing for the divided document data, and a coupling processing unit combines the document-processed divided document data. A resource management unit increases or decreases the number of the division processing units, the document processing units, and the coupling processing units in response to the processing status of each thereof.
US08717592B2
A method for processing print jobs by an image-processing apparatus includes an output module for receiving output of the print jobs and a control unit configured to maintain a queue of print jobs to be processed. The method includes, for each print job, the steps of printing the print job by the image-processing apparatus, and stacking output of the print job in the output module. The control unit is configured to maintain an output check list and the method further includes the step of, when a recoverable error occurs during processing of the print job, that does not lead to an automatic stop of the processing but is likely to cause faulted pages in the printed output, automatically creating an entry in the output check list, so as to advise an operator to check the possibly faulted pages in the output stack.
US08717577B1
The invention allows a shearography system to successfully sense ground/surface vibrations while moving at aircraft speeds and altitudes. This is done by effectively making stationary the apparent location of a coherent laser beam illuminating an area on the ground/surface, and also effectively making stationary the apparent location of the aperture of an optical receiver which acquires pairs of sequential images captured and used for shearography. A different laser is used for capturing each of the two images, and the distance between the two lasers is adjusted based on a number of operational parameters. The adjustment of the distance causes the apparent locations of the transmitter and a receiver sub-aperture to remain the same and permits the moving shearography to work.
US08717573B1
A tunable interferometric scanning spectrometer is provided. In one aspect of the disclosure, the interferometric scanning spectrometer splits incoming light beams among different optical paths in the spectrometer, recombines the light beams from the different optical paths to produce combined light beams, detects intensities of the combined light beams across a focal plane (e.g., with a sensor array), and calculates a spectra based on the detected intensities and a filter function that is a function of optical path difference (OPD) between the optical paths. In one aspect, the filter function varies across the focal plane. In another aspect, the spectrometer comprises a rotatable dispersive element (e.g., glass plate) in one the optical paths and/or a moveable mirror in the other optical path. In this aspect, the spectrometer may be adjusted away from zero OPD by rotation of the dispersive element and/or displacement of the mirror.
US08717572B2
A spectrophotometer includes a plurality of sensor elements arranged together, each sensor element including a filter; a light sensor optically coupled with an output of the filter; and a barrier that surrounds the filter and light sensor and a space between the filter and light sensor. For each sensor element, the barrier blocks light that has not passed through the filter from reaching the light sensor including such that light from one sensor element is not detected by another of the sensor elements.
US08717571B2
An optical measurement apparatus includes a connector where a base end portion of a measurement probe introduced into a subject is connected, a light source unit that emits illumination light irradiated from a leading end of the measurement probe, an optical measurement unit that measures reflection light and/or scattering light of the illumination light incident through the measurement probe, a first optical path that transmits the illumination light emitted by the light source unit to the optical measurement unit, a second optical path that transmits, to the measurement probe, the illumination light emitted by the light source unit and transmits, to the optical measurement unit, reflection light and/or scattering light of the illumination light incident through the measurement probe, and an optical path switching unit that switches an optical path for transmitting the illumination light into the first optical path or the second optical path.
US08717568B2
Methods, storage mediums and systems (MS&S) are provided which successively image an imaging region of an assay analysis system (AAS) as particles are loaded into the imaging region, generate a frequency spectrum of each image via a discrete Fourier transform, integrate a same coordinate portion of each frequency spectrum and terminate the loading of particles upon computing an integral which meets preset criterion. In addition, MS&S are provided which send a signal indicative of whether enough particles are in an imaging region for further processes by an AAS based on the magnitude of integral calculated from an image's frequency spectrum. MM&S are also provided such that the steps of generating a frequency spectrum of each image and integrating a portion of each frequency spectrum are replaced by generating a convolved spatial image with a filter kernel and integrating a same coordinate portion of each convolved spatial image.
US08717567B2
One embodiment of a method for calibrating a test color measurement device in conjunction with an emissive display includes measuring spectral sensitivities of at least four channels of a more-than-three-channel sensor in the test color measurement device, linearly regressing the spectral sensitivities to a least-square best fit to Commission International de l'Éclairage (CIE) color matching functions, wherein the linearly regressing is performed using a weighting function that is based on a square root of a spectral power distribution characteristic of the emissive display or of a type of the emissive display, and computing a set of initial fitting coefficient values from the linearly regressing.
US08717565B2
The present invention relates to a method of identifying in a fluid by measuring the amount of optical rotation the fluid causes in a beam of polarized light. The invention further provides for the use of an optional optically active marker in the fluids in order the impact the amount of rotation the fluid will cause. The invention provides a convenient and reliable means for identifying the fluid before, during and/or after the fluid's use.
US08717563B2
A particle detector includes a light source, and a metal layer having an incident/reflective surface and a photoelectric surface opposing the incident/reflective surface. Incident light from the light source reaches the incident/reflective surface to excite near-field surface plasmon resonance photons at the photoelectric surface. A particle deposited on the photoelectric surface of the metal layer changes the near-field surface plasmon resonance photons to far-field scattered light. The particle detector further includes a scattered light detecting unit, provided above the photoelectric surface of the metal layer, for detecting the far-field scattered light.
US08717562B2
Apparatus are described for measuring the characteristics of colloidal particles suspended in transparent media by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Depolarized Dynamic Light Scattering (DDLS) into regions where conventional measurements are difficult or impractical. Matching the diameter of an illuminating beam and an intersecting diameter of a field stop image extends measurements into regions that include concentrated turbid suspensions that frequently appear so visually opaque that multiple scattering typically gives a falsely low estimate of particle size. At the opposite extreme, where insufficient signal is available to determine either or both of the translational and/or rotational relaxation times of the particles, typically where they are too small, too few, or of insufficient refractive index difference from the medium to scatter enough light, measurements can be improved by: a) using a sufficiently large aperture such that many coherence areas fall upon the detector; and b) optical homodyne amplification of the scattered signal.
US08717557B2
A spectrophotometer includes a xenon flash lamp, a spectroscope, and a light detector, wherein the spectrophotometer is configured to arrange a low-pressure mercury lamp on a bundle of light rays between the xenon flash lamp and the spectroscope on an as needed basis upon a performance determination of the spectrophotometer, and has a shutter mechanism that switches between shielding the bundle of light rays emitted from the low-pressure mercury lamp and allowing the bundle of light rays to pass through. A processing unit determines the performance of the spectrophotometer by detecting each of the light intensities with the light detector at the time when shielding the bundle of light rays and at the time when allowing the bundle of light rays by operating the shutter mechanism.
US08717552B1
Methods and apparatuses are provided that can be utilized for accurate pre-aiming and installation of devices. The devices are pre-set to an aiming orientation relative to a universal reference plane. The reference plane is then correlated to a feature of a pole, tower, or other structure that will be used to elevate or suspend the devices. A position sensing subsystem is utilized to inform a worker when each device is correctly angularly oriented to the reference plane. The worker simply moves the mounting structure for the device to the correct three-dimensional angular orientation, uses the position sensor to confirm the correct orientation to within a highly accurate margin of error, and either locks the device in that orientation or marks the orientation. The pole, tower, or other elevating structure is preliminarily erected at its pre-designed location and pre-designed rotational orientation with the pre-aimed devices.
US08717548B2
The invention describes a long-range optical device (1) with two observation parts (3, 4) and a first observation beam path (11; 12) and a measurement beam path (25), in which the two observation parts (3,4) are arranged essentially parallel next to each other and spaced a predefinable distance (10) apart via at least one connection element (7). In a plan view of the device 1 with respect to a plane, in which the longitudinal axes (8, 9) of the observation parts (3, 4) are arranged, the sub-regions of the observation parts (3, 4) facing each other lie directly opposite each other over a length aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis (8, 9) of the observation parts (3, 4) of 20% to 90%, preferably 30% to 80% of a length (24) of the observation parts (3, 4). In addition, the observation beam path (11, 12) and the measurement beam path (25) are arranged outside the sub-regions (22, 23) of the observation parts (3, 4).
US08717546B2
A 3-D sensor for controlling a control process comprising a light source that includes at least one illumination source, a reception matrix for receiving a complete image of light reflected from areas from a spatial section, an evaluation device for determining the distance between the areas and the reception matrix, and a supervisory device for recognizing an object, in which the light source illuminates a partial region of the spatial section which has at least one interspace.
US08717545B2
A system uses range and Doppler velocity measurements from a lidar system and images from a video system to estimate a six degree-of-freedom trajectory of a target. The system estimates this trajectory in two stages: a first stage in which the range and Doppler measurements from the lidar system along with various feature measurements obtained from the images from the video system are used to estimate first stage motion aspects of the target (i.e., the trajectory of the target); and a second stage in which the images from the video system and the first stage motion aspects of the target are used to estimate second stage motion aspects of the target. Once the second stage motion aspects of the target are estimated, a three-dimensional image of the target may be generated.
US08717544B2
In the present invention, a number of times the brightness changes detected at the same position while a substrate conveys are added up in the conveying direction, thereby obtaining a plurality of edge count data, and then, a plurality of positions of long sides of patterns parallel to the conveying direction is identified based on the plurality of edge count data exceeding a predetermined threshold value, middle point positions of a plurality of proximity pairs are calculated, and a middle point position close to the target position preset in the imaging device is selected from the plurality of middle point positions of the proximity pairs, an amount of position displacement between the selected middle point position and the target position of imaging device is calculated, and the photomask in the direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction so that the amount of position displacement is a predetermined value.
US08717539B2
A system and method of calibrating optical line shortening measurements, and lithography mask for same. The lithography mask comprises a plurality of gratings, with a calibration marker disposed within each grating. The mask is used to pattern resist on a semiconductor wafer for purposes of measuring and calibrating line shortening. The pattern on the wafer is measured and compared to measurements made of the pattern on the mask. The difference gives the amount of line shortening due to flare, and may be used to calibrate line shortening measurements made using optical measurement tools.
US08717526B2
A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate and a second substrate which are disposed to face each other with liquid crystal interposed therebetween and a sealing material which is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate to seal the liquid crystal, wherein a side surface of the liquid crystal display device has a cut surface, and a first resin layer which is formed along the sealing material and has a height less than a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate in a display region and the sealing material are exposed at the cut surface.
US08717525B2
A connecting structure of the present invention includes a first substrate, a second substrate on which the first substrate is laminated, and a sheet like connection body having one end connected to one principal surface of the first substrate and another end connected to one principal surface of the second substrate, wherein a lengthwise direction of the sheet like connection body is parallel to a perimeter part of the first substrate, and the sheet like connection body has a slit part extending from one of end portions thereof to a part thereof along the lengthwise direction, and has a first end and a second end divided by the slit part at one of end portions, the first end is connected to a principal surface of the first substrate in vicinity of a peripheral part of the first substrate, and the second end is connected to a principal surface of the second substrate in vicinity of a peripheral part of the first substrate.
US08717523B2
An array substrate for a liquid crystal display device including a substrate having a display region and a non-display region at one side of the display region; gate lines along a first direction and in the display region; data lines along a second direction and in the display region, the data lines crossing the gate lines to define pixel regions; auxiliary gate lines along the second direction and in the display region, the auxiliary gate lines respectively connected to the gate lines; data pad electrodes in the non-display region and electrically connected to the data lines, respectively; and gate pad electrodes in the non-display region and electrically connected to the auxiliary gate lines, respectively.
US08717517B2
A liquid crystal display including two substrates arranged opposite to each other; a liquid crystal sealed between the substrates; and a polymer layer for regulating a pretilt angle of liquid crystal molecules and/or tilt directions at a time of driving. One of the substrates has a color filter layer formed on a side of the one substrate, and a plurality of stripe-like electrode patterns are provided on the color filter layer. The patterns are periodically arranged so that when polymerizable components mixed in the liquid crystal layer are polymerized to form the polymer layer while a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer between the electrode patterns and a second electrode on the other substrate, liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are aligned in the extending directions of stripe-like electrode patterns.
US08717504B2
A picture conversion information supply section 130 calculates per frame an affine transformation parameter for picture conversion based on motion information about a moving picture. With reference to a reference picture, a picture conversion section 140 affine-transforms pictures making up the moving picture per frame using the calculated affine transformation parameters. Based on information indicating the center position, angle or scaling factor about the transformed pictures coming from the picture conversion section 140, a sound conversion information calculation section 190 calculates sound conversion information for converting the sound corresponding to the pictures. Based on the sound conversion information, a sound conversion processing section 200 controls the volume of each of the channels making up the sound, adds up the controlled sound of each channel, and outputs the result as output sound to speakers 220.
US08717498B2
Systems and methods for moving objects in a video using keyframes. An object may be added to a video and then defined to move in the video, for example, based on the movement of another video object for which movement is known or determinable. As an example, a video editing interface may receive a new object added at a position on a first frame of a video and a command to associate movement of the added object with the movement of a video object, such as a person that is shown walking in the video. In response, keyframe positions for the added object may be determined for subsequent frames preserving the added object's position relative to the person. The use of those keyframes is optimized. For example, the keyframes may be analyzed to eliminate intermediate keyframes with values that can be interpolated from other keyframes.
US08717483B2
An imaging apparatus of the present invention includes: a lens optical system including a lens and a stop; an imaging device including at least a plurality of first pixels and a plurality of second pixels on which light having passed through the lens optical system is incident; and an arrayed optical device arranged between the lens optical system and the imaging device, wherein: the lens optical system includes, in a plane vertical to an optical axis, a first optical area that transmits therethrough light of a first wavelength band and a second optical area that transmits therethrough light of a second wavelength band different from the first wavelength band; and the arrayed optical device makes light having passed through the first optical area incident on the plurality of first pixels and light having passed through the second optical area incident on the plurality of second pixels.
US08717482B2
A lens assembly includes a base frame, an image sensor, a lens barrel, a lens and a backoff mechanism. By means of the backoff mechanism, the image sensor is mounted at the base frame and movable between an operative position and a non-operative backoff position. When the image sensor is in the operative position, the lens barrel is in a first position far frame the base frame, and the optical axis of the lens intersects the image sensor. When the lens barrel is moved to a second position close to the base frame, the image sensor is moved to the non-operative backoff position, and the optical axis of the lens is not intersected with the image sensor.
US08717481B2
A head-mounted display (HMD) that enables a wearer to favorably view and recognize images even in a very bright environment, has a HMD in which image display light emitted from a display element is guided to an eye of an observer via a visor, whereby a virtual image of an observed subject is formed in front of the observer. In the HMD, light source devices are a first light source, outputting light of a high intensity, and a second light source, outputting light of a. low intensity. The light source devices have a switch to switch between the first and second light sources. The display element, the visor and the second light source are attached to a mount, worn on the head of the observer. The first light source is installed in a moveable body with the observer, and is connected to the mount via light transmission paths.
US08717478B2
An imaging device is provided for generating image data on the basis of light received by an imaging element. The imaging device includes a display unit which displays an image, a focus unit which detects a focus deviation, and a display controller which causes the display unit to display a composite image in which a first image of a region of at least a portion of a second image of the image data, and the second image are superposed and combined. The region is in a position in accordance with the focus deviation.
US08717474B2
An imaging apparatus includes: a plurality of column amplifiers, each outputting, based on the same one pixel, first and second pixel signals derived by amplifying the signal by different amplifying factors p and q; a plurality of column A/D converters for performing analog to digital conversion of the first and second pixel signals obtained; a plurality of replacing units, each selecting the first pixel signal converted by the corresponding column A/D converter when the first pixel signal converted by the corresponding column A/D converter is smaller than a threshold value, and selecting the second pixel signal converted by the corresponding column A/D converter when the first pixel signal converted by the corresponding column A/D converter is equal to or larger than the threshold value; and a horizontal scanning circuit for successively selecting the first or second pixel signals selected by the replacing units.
US08717468B2
A solid-state imaging device is disclosed. The solid-state image device has pixels in which an absorption film that absorbs short wavelength-side light is formed on a photoelectric conversion portion for desired color light through an insulation film.
US08717466B2
An imaging system and method that captures compressive sensing (CS) measurements of a received light stream, and also obtains samples of background light level (BGLL). The BGLL samples may be used to compensate the CS measurements for variations in the BGLL. The system includes: a light modulator to spatially modulate the received light stream with spatial patterns, and a lens to concentrate the modulated light stream onto a light detector. The samples of BGLL may be obtained in various ways: (a) injecting calibration patterns among the spatial patterns; (b) measuring complementary light reflected by digital micromirrors onto a secondary output path; (c) separating and measuring a portion of light from the optical input path; (d) low-pass filtering the CS measurements; and (e) employing a light power meter with its own separate input path. Also, the CS measurements may be high-pass filtered to attenuate background light variation.
US08717465B2
An image blemish detecting system includes an image capturing module, a brightness adjusting module, and a blemish detecting module. The image capturing module captures an image. The brightness adjusting module adjusts the brightness of the image to obtain a second image having substantially uniform brightness. The blemish detecting module calculates a brightness ratio of each pixel in the second image, marks the pixels of which the brightness ratios are not smaller than a predetermined reference value as “1”, and marks the other pixels as “0”. The blemish detecting module calculates the quantity of the pixels in a continuous area in which all pixels are marked as “1”, and determines that the continuous area is a blemish if the quantity of the pixels in the continuous area is greater than or equal to the predetermined pixel quantity.
US08717464B2
A camera unit generates a processed digital image by augmenting color image data with infrared image data according to the level of ambient light exposure. The camera has an ambient light sensor that detects the level of ambient light in the camera unit and an image sensor that provides image data. One or more quantum dot layers may be included in the image sensor. A camera controller adapts the camera unit for operation in different modes that are selectable based on the levels of detected ambient light. The image data is processed into a digital image, according to the selected mode of operation for the camera unit, using color image data only when the level of ambient light is high, but augmenting the color image data with infrared image data when the level of ambient light is low to increase the color luminance of the final processed digital image.
US08717460B2
A method for calibrating automatic white balance (AWB) is provided that includes using a plurality of references for AWB that include color temperature references, wherein an AWB failure is detected in an image, generating a scene prototype reference based on the image, and adding the generated scene prototype reference to the references for AWB. A method for calibrating AWB is provided that includes selecting an image as a scene prototype, wherein the selected image was captured by a second imaging sensor different from a first imaging sensor, transforming the selected image into a scene prototype image for the first imaging sensor, generating a scene prototype reference using the scene prototype image for the first imaging sensor, and adding the generated scene prototype reference to references for AWB that include color temperature references.
US08717459B2
A method and apparatus for automatic white balancing of an image. The method includes retrieving scene analysis of the image, determining at least one of the type of the scene and a scene content map utilizing the scene analysis of the image, performing scene adaptive white balance, if overall scene category type is used, perform white balance by applying global R, G, B gains optimized for the global scene type, and if scene segmentation map is used, perform locally adaptive white balance by applying an R, G, B gain map optimized for each scene content.
US08717445B2
An image pickup apparatus includes an imaging element for acquiring an image of a target object; a detector for detecting movement of the image pickup apparatus; and a controller for controlling focus of the imaging element on the target object while the movement of the image pickup apparatus detected by the detector is not more than a threshold degree.
US08717441B2
A method of automatically tracking and photographing a celestial object so that the celestial object image, which is formed on an imaging surface of an image sensor via a photographing optical system, becomes stationary relative to a predetermined imaging area of the imaging surface of the image sensor during a tracking and photographing operation. The method includes performing a preliminary photographing operation at a predetermined preliminary-photographing exposure time with the photographic apparatus directed toward the celestial object and with a celestial-body auto tracking action suspended to obtain a preliminary image before automatically tracking and photographing the celestial object, calculating a moving direction and a moving speed of the celestial object image from the preliminary image that is obtained by the preliminary photographing operation, and automatically tracking and photographing the celestial object based on the moving direction and the moving speed of the celestial object image.
US08717436B2
A video processing system which may include a first video input configured to receive a first georeferenced video feed from a first video source, and a second video input configured to receive a second georeferenced video feed from a second video source, where the second georeferenced video feed overlaps the first georeferenced video feed. The system may further include a video processor coupled to the first and second video inputs. The video processor may include an annotation module configured to generate an annotation for an object in the first georeferenced video feed, and a geospatial correlation module configured to geospatially correlate the annotation to the object in the second georeferenced video feed overlapping the first georeferenced video feed.
US08717434B2
A method for collecting and analyzing operational information from a network of components associated with a liquid energy commodity comprises the steps of: (a) measuring an amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage at one or more storage facilities in the network, and storing that measurement data; (b) determining a flow rate of the liquid energy commodity in one or more selected pipelines in the network, and storing that flow rate data; (c) ascertaining an operational status of one or more processing facilities in the network, and storing that operational status information; (d) analyzing the measurement data, the flow rate data, and the operational status information to determine a balance of the liquid energy commodity in the network or a selected portion thereof at a given time; and (e) communicating information about the balance of the liquid energy commodity to a third-party market participant.
US08717433B2
An imager system and method thereof are provided, the imager system is configured for use with a vehicle and has a plurality of imagers including a first imager having a first field of view, and a second imager having a second field of view The imager system further includes a video processor module configured to approximately synchronize at least the first and second imagers, and a serial data communication connection communicatively connecting the plurality of imagers and the video processor module, wherein at least the first and second imagers are approximately synchronized by communicating a synchronization signal via a connection other than the serial data communication connection, and the images captured by the first and second imagers are approximately synchronized without buffering the captured images.
US08717430B2
A system for performing a medical procedure on a patient is provided. The system can include an imaging head defining a field of view relative to the patient. The imaging head can include at least one transmitter that emits at least one signal in the field of view, and at least one receiver that receives at least one reflected signal from the field of view. The at least one reflected signal received can be based on at least one electrical property of at least one material in the field of view. The system can further include a workstation, which can determine, based on the at least one reflected signal received by the at least one receiver, a location of at least one boundary of the material within the field of view. The system can include a display that displays an image of the location of the at least one boundary.
US08717423B2
Modifying perspective of stereoscopic images provided by one or more displays based on changes in user viewpoint. The one or more displays may include a first display that is provided substantially horizontal for displaying 3D horizontal perspective images and/or a second display that is provided substantially vertical for displaying text or conventional images such as 2D images, or 3D vertical perspective images. The horizontal display surface may be typically positioned directly in front of the user, and at a height of about a desktop surface so that the user can have about a 45° looking angle. The vertical display surface may be positioned in front of the user and preferably behind and above the horizontal display surface.
US08717415B2
A graphics plane for storing a graphics image is a storage region where two storage regions, which are an L (Left) region that is an image storage region to store an image for the left eye, and an R (Right) region that is an image storage region to store an image for the right eye, are arrayed, with a 3D image of the cursor of a pointing device being configured of the image for the left eye, and the image for the right eye, and with a position on either the L region or the R region of the 3D image of the cursor being used as the position of the cursor when issuing an event with the position of the cursor as an argument.
US08717413B2
An imaging system having a folded optical axis that is accomplished through the effect of a first lens group, a prism, and a second lens group wherein a second surface of the prism is a mirror wherein the folded imaging system exhibits a horizontal field of view (HFOV) greater than 160 degrees and a vertical field of view (VFOV) greater than 80 degrees. Further aspects include a conjugate ratio of the lenses to be substantially 5.47 and a ratio of the entire lens focal length to the focal length of the first lens to be substantially −0.309.
US08717410B2
The present invention relates to the communications field and discloses a video communication method, apparatus, and system, which are invented to solve the problem that the prior art does not achieve consistent eye-to-eye video communication in a horizontal direction. The technical solutions of the present invention includes: obtaining video images of a participant from more than two different horizontal shooting angles, where a range of viewing angles of the participant is between the more than two different horizontal shooting angles; and sending the video images of the participant to a video communication remote end. The embodiments of the present invention may be applied in the video communication field.
US08717406B2
An audio/video communication method displays the status of participants in a video chat session. The method employs multiple video chat capable (VCC) information handling systems (IHSs) that display video images of the participants. In this manner, each user may see the user's own video image as well as the video images of other users in the video chat session. When a user speaks, that user's VCC IHS detects audio, thus designating a speaker participant. This user's VCC IHS includes a gaze direction detector that determines at which particular user video image the user gazes, thus determining a target participant. The VCC IHS sends speaker participant ID information and target participant ID information to other VCC IHSs in the video chat session. In response, the other VCC IHSs display an indicator that designates one user video image as the speaker participant and another user video image as the target participant.
US08717405B2
A method and a device for generating 3-dimensional (3D) panoramic video streams, a videoconference method, and a videoconference device are disclosed. The method includes: obtaining depth information of at least two video images; obtaining image data in multiple depth positions from a corresponding video image according to the depth information of each video image; stitching data of the video images according to the obtained image data in multiple depth positions, and generating 3D panoramic video streams. The technical solution of the present invention provides users with high-resolution 3D panoramic seamless telepresence conference video images based on different display modes of different display devices.
US08717403B1
To avoid unnecessary release and re-establishment of a connection the connection is maintained but two or more media streams relating to a communication over the connection are blocked from the apparatus and/or to the apparatus in response to receiving information indicating that the two or more media streams relating to the communication are to be blocked.
US08717402B2
Speakers are identified based on sound origination detection through use of infrared detection of satellite microphones, estimation of distance between satellite microphones and base unit utilizing captured audio, and/or estimation of satellite microphone orientation utilizing captured audio. Multiple sound source localization results are combined to enhance sound source localization and/or active speaker detection accuracy.
US08717401B1
Aspects of the present disclosure may provide a secure, location-based multimedia experience to users. In one example, a method includes receiving, by one or more computing devices, location information corresponding to a physical location of a user. The method may include receiving, by the one or more computing devices, personal identification information associated with the user. The method may also include authenticating, by the one or more computing devices, the physical location of the user based at least in part on the location information and the personal identification information of the user. The method may further include upon successful authentication of the physical location and the personal identification information of the user, coupling, by the one or more computing devices, a first computing device associated with the user to a video communication session.
US08717397B2
There is provided a thermal transfer sheet that, by virtue of flexibility and heat resistance imparted by a primer layer constituting the thermal transfer sheet, is less likely to be broken even upon exposure to a high level of thermal energy and is highly suitable for high-speed printing. The thermal transfer sheet has a thermally transferable colorant layer provided on one surface of a base material sheet, and a heat-resistant slipping layer provided on the other surface of the base material sheet through a primer layer. The primer layer contains at least a polyvinyl alcohol resin and a crosslinking agent.
US08717382B2
The present invention relates to a method of detecting collisions on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Each collision detection object Oi is projected onto a reference direction, thus obtaining an interval Ii represented by a set {mi, Mi}. Radix sorting based on obtained mi for all Oi, thus obtaining a sorted list L. The sorted list is swept, and then colliding pairs Pi are detected. All colliding pairs are configured into a single set, thus obtaining a final colliding pair P. On a GPU, SaP can be performed on a plurality of collision detection objects in parallel using the blocks of a plurality of threads.
US08717381B2
This disclosure pertains to systems, methods, and computer readable medium for mapping particular user interactions, e.g., gestures, to the input parameters of various image processing routines, e.g., image filters, in a way that provides a seamless, dynamic, and intuitive experience for both the user and the software developer. Such techniques may handle the processing of both “relative” gestures, i.e., those gestures having values dependent on how much an input to the device has changed relative to a previous value of the input, and “absolute” gestures, i.e., those gestures having values dependent only on the instant value of the input to the device. Additionally, inputs to the device beyond user-input gestures may be utilized as input parameters to one or more image processing routines. For example, the device's orientation, acceleration, and/or position in three-dimensional space may be used as inputs to particular image processing routines.
US08717379B2
A color conversion table creating device for creating a color conversion table for converting first color data defined in a first color space to second color data defined in a second color space different from the first color space, includes a first data acquiring unit, a reference value determining unit, a lightness judging unit, a third data determining unit, and a creating unit. The first data acquiring unit is configured to acquire a plurality of sets of first data defined in the first color space. The first data sets are determined by measuring test patches each corresponding to a set of second data defined in the second color space. The first data sets include a set of black color data corresponding to data representing black in the second color space. Each first data set has a lightness value. The reference value determining unit is configured to determine a reference value based on a lightness value of the black color data set. The lightness judging unit is configured to judge, for each first data set, whether or not a lightness value of the subject first data set is smaller than the reference value. The third data determining unit is configured to determine the first data set as a set of third data when the lightness judging unit judges that the lightness value of the first data set is smaller than the reference value. The creating unit creates a color conversion table based on the first data sets excluding the third data set.
US08717377B2
A shell texture image shared for use among multilayer shell polygons and including a plurality of areas having transparency different from one another, is distorted to varying degrees depending on a position of each layer of the shell polygons, so as to texture-map each layer of the shell polygons therewith and so as to position the multilayer shell polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space. Thus, it is possible to realistically represent hair, grass, and the like with little effort in three-dimensional image processing.
US08717367B2
In one embodiment, a method comprises inferentially selecting one or more design animation modules based upon analysis of information obtained from digital visual media items and digital audio media items; and automatically creating an audiovisual work using the selected design animation modules. Audiovisual works can be automatically created based upon inferred and implicit metadata including music genre, image captions, song structure, image focal points, as well as user-supplied data such as text tags, emphasis flags, groupings, and preferred video style.
US08717362B2
A surface definition module of a hair/fur pipeline may be used to define a surface and an optimization module may be used to: create a bounding box for a set of hairs; determine whether the bounding box is visible; and if the bounding box is visible, hair associated with the visible bounding box is rendered upon the surface.
US08717356B2
A disclosed method for displaying a shape of an object including a trimmed surface generated based on a base surface includes: dividing the base surface into plural triangles; generating a loop polygon for loops including an outer loop for defining an outer shape of the trimmed surface and an inner loop provided, in the outer loop, depending on the shape of the object; identifying plural sight-line single-valued areas, each of which satisfies a condition that mapping onto a projection surface is bijection, includes plural triangles, and is an area on the base surface, based on a positional relationship between a viewpoint and the base surface; generating, for each of the plural sight-line single-valued areas, mask data for each pixel from the sight-line single-valued area and the loop polygon; generating image data on the projection surface for each of the triangles; and perform drawing using the mask data and image data.
US08717350B2
An information processing apparatus displays a shape of an object on a display device by using numerical values on a coordinate axis. The apparatus includes a calculating unit that calculates a minimum rectangular parallelepiped including the component by using numerical values indicative of a shape of the component; an outer-shape calculating unit that replaces every component constituting the object and calculates numerical values indicative of an outer shape of an object formed by collecting every replaced component into one; a determining unit that determines whether the component makes contact with the outer shape by using the numerical values indicative of the outer shape and the numerical values indicative of the shape of the component; and a displaying unit that displays on the display device an object composed of only components as making contact.
US08717343B2
A repair amplification circuit includes a controlling unit, a first operational amplifier, a second operational amplifier, a first switching unit, and a second switching unit. Under a detection mode, the controlling unit generates a detecting signal according to a testing signal transmitted by a unnecessary repair segment in a test picture. Under an operation mode, the controlling unit generates a switching signal according to a repair controlling signal related to the detecting signal. The first switching unit and the second switching unit are controlled by the switching signal, so as to transmit the driving signal to one of the first operational amplifier and the second operational amplifier, and to transmit a positive polarity repairing signal generated by the first operational amplifier or a negative polarity repairing signal generated by the second operational amplifier to a necessary repair segment.
