US08811494B2

According to some embodiments, an external memory unit stores rows of macroblocks representing an image. A set of macroblocks may be transferred from the external memory unit to a local buffer, the set of macroblocks including fewer macroblocks than a row. A macroblock may then be decoded based on information in the local buffer to generate an image signal.
US08811480B2

An encoding apparatus includes the following elements. A prediction picture generation unit is configured to generate a prediction picture using a reference picture. A transmission unit is configured to transmit reference disablement information indicating, for all pictures, whether reference picture specification information for a preceding picture that precedes each of the pictures in encoding order is not to be used as the reference picture specification information for the picture, the reference picture specification information being information specifying the reference picture.
US08811475B2

A method of encoding a sequence of video images is described. The method receives the sequence of video images. The method iteratively examines different encoding solutions for the sequence of video images to identify an encoding solution that optimizes image quality while meeting a target bit rate and satisfying a set of constraints regarding flow of encoded data through an input buffer of a hypothetical reference decoder for decoding the encoded video sequence. The iterative examining includes, for each encoding solution, determining whether the hypothetical reference decoder underflows while processing the encoding solution for any set of images within the video sequence.
US08811472B2

A bitrate control device controls bitrate of video data and includes: a setting module that sets, for each frame in the video data, a target code amount to be used in encoding the frame by an encoding module for maintaining a given bitrate; an adjusting module that adjusts the target code amount set by the setting module based on given information; and a managing module that is configured to perform: saving a code amount corresponding to an amount reduced in the target code amount by the adjusting module in a virtual storage management buffer having a given upper limit, when the adjusting module adjusts to reduce the target code amount; and withdrawing a code amount corresponding to an amount increased in the target code amount by the adjusting module from the virtual storage management buffer, when the adjusting module adjusts to increase the target code amount.
US08811470B2

An integrated circuit for video/audio processing in which design resources obtained by development of video/audio devices can also be used for other types of video/audio devices. The integrated circuit includes a microcomputer that includes a CPU, a stream input/output for inputting/outputting a video and audio stream to and from an external device, a media processor that executes the media processing including at least one compressing and decompressing the video and audio stream inputted to the stream input/output, an AV input/output that converts the video and audio stream subjected to the media processing by the media processor into video and audio signals and outputting these signals to the external device. A memory interface controls a data transfer between the microcomputer, the stream input/output, the media processor and the AV input/output and an external memory.
US08811469B2

The present disclosure relates to method and apparatus for block mode encoding/decoding and a method and apparatus for video encoding/decoding using the same. The disclosure provides a block mode encoding apparatus that predicts the block mode of a current block and encodes the block mode of the current block depending on whether the block mode of the current block is same as the block mode predicted, to output encoded mode information. The disclosure can reduce the quantity of bits used to encode information on the block mode, thus enhancing the efficiency of video compression.
US08811468B2

Methods and systems for processing signals are provided and may include removing a DC component from a signal envelope comprising a combined signal within a range of allocated FM channels to generate a modified signal envelope. Fluctuation in power in the signal envelope may be detected based on a ratio of a magnitude of the signal envelope and a magnitude of the modified signal envelope. The removing may further include low-pass filtering the signal envelope to generate a low-pass filtered signal envelope. A square values of the low-pass filtered signal envelope may be determined to generate a squared signal envelope. The squared signal envelope may be high-pass filtered to generate a high-pass filtered signal envelope. The fluctuation in power in the signal envelope may be detected based on a ratio of a magnitude of the high-pass filtered signal envelope and a magnitude of the low-pass filtered signal envelope.
US08811451B2

Apparatus and methods, in several embodiments, are disclosed for generating and managing a set of sectors, the signals received from which are utilized to generate an interference estimate for use by an interference cancellation circuit. The set of sectors generally includes a subset of the combined set of sectors in the Active Set and the Candidate Set for an access terminal. A finger of a receiver at an access terminal can be assigned to each sector in the set of sectors for interference cancellation to improve receiver operations.
US08811447B2

A semiconductor laser outputs a laser light from an output facet of a waveguide having an index waveguide structure, via a lens system. The waveguide includes, in order from a rear facet opposite to the output facet, a first narrow portion, a wide portion that is wider than the first narrow portion, a second narrow portion narrower than the wide portion, a first tapered portion formed between the first narrow portion and the wide portion, which expands toward the wide portion, and a second tapered portion formed between the wide portion and the second narrow portion, which narrows toward the second narrow portion. Each of the first narrow portion, the wide portion, and the second narrow potion has a uniform width.
US08811445B2

A substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface is provided. The substrate includes a plurality of v-grooves formed in the upper surface. Each v-groove includes a first side and a second side perpendicular to the first side. A laser diode bar assembly is disposed within each of the v-grooves and attached to the first side. The laser diode bar assembly includes a first adhesion layer disposed on the first side of the v-groove, a metal plate attached to the first adhesion layer, a second adhesion layer disposed over the metal plate, and a laser diode bar attached to the second adhesion layer. The laser diode bar has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially similar to that of the metal plate.
US08811438B2

A temperature controller for a gas laser which controls temperatures of a plurality of temperature-controlled apparatuses including a first temperature-controlled portion requiring a high-precision temperature-control and a second temperature-controlled portion requiring a low-precision temperature-control as compared with the first temperature-controlled portion and allowing a temperature-control with a low or high temperature as compared with the first temperature-controlled portion, comprises a first temperature control portion generating a cooling agent or a heating agent for adjusting a temperature of each first temperature-controlled portion, a second temperature control portion generating a cooling agent or a heating agent for adjusting a temperature of each second temperature-controlled portion, a first piping system connecting the first temperature control portion and each first temperature-controlled portion in parallel, and a second piping system connecting the second temperature control portion and each second temperature-controlled portion in parallel.
US08811426B1

Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with bandwidth switching are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a transceiver configured to operate at a first bandwidth. A bandwidth controller is configured to detect an operating condition of the apparatus and select a second bandwidth from a plurality of available bandwidths based on the operating condition, and cause the transceiver to temporarily operate at the second bandwidth and then cause the transceiver to subsequently operate at the first bandwidth.
US08811417B2

A Network Interface (NI) includes a host interface, which is configured to receive from a host processor of a node one or more cross-channel work requests that are derived from an operation to be executed by the node. The NI includes a plurality of work queues for carrying out transport channels to one or more peer nodes over a network. The NI further includes control circuitry, which is configured to accept the cross-channel work requests via the host interface, and to execute the cross-channel work requests using the work queues by controlling an advance of at least a given work queue according to an advancing condition, which depends on a completion status of one or more other work queues, so as to carry out the operation.
US08811403B2

Systems and methods for concatenating messages in MoCA devices that are connected via a coax network are provided. One embodiment of a system according to the invention includes a home network having a plurality of nodes. The network is implemented over coaxial cable. The network includes a plurality of networked nodes. A transmitter of at least one of the networked nodes is configurable to transmit a concatenated burst. The concatenated burst includes a preamble, a first payload frame and a second payload frame. The first payload frame and the second payload frame are separated by a cyclic prefix of a first symbol of the second payload frame.
US08811399B2

Methods, apparatus and systems are provided for forwarding Fiber Channel Initialization Protocol (FIP) and Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) frames by a FCoE device interconnection apparatus (FIA) and a Fiber Channel over Ethernet device interconnection apparatus controller (FIAC). In one aspect of the invention, a command is sent from a FIAC to the FIA to set the frame processing apparatus to identify received FIP frames, which are forwarded with the original destination and source Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. A command is sent from the FIAC to the FIA to identify received FCoE frames to replace the source and destination Ethernet MAC addresses. When a FCoE frame is received by the FIA, the source and destination Ethernet MAC addresses are replaced, such as where the destination Ethernet MAC address of the received matched FCoE frame is replaced by the MAC address assigned to the desired end port. The FCoE frame is forwarded to a destination FCoE device.
US08811386B2

An improved packet handler for VoIP cable modems and other high-speed digital devices includes a direct communication link via hardware among internal processing components. Incoming and outgoing digital information packets are filtered into MAC packets, voice PDU packets, and non-voice PDU packets, such that priority can be given to relaying voice packets and minimizing potential voice delay within the cable network. Hardware components, including specialized logic circuitry, modify voice packets to an appropriate signal form for subsequent signal processing or signal transmission. Proprietary bus communication protocols can also be provided to facilitate relay of packets between a central processing unit (CPU) and a digital signal processor (DSP) within a VoIP cable modem. Line cards including subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) and subscriber line audio processing circuit (SLAC) components provide analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion functionality.
US08811383B2

A method of placing an outgoing communication event to a destination phone number is disclosed. Accordingly, upon receiving a notification of the outgoing communication event, a determination is made if the destination phone number is associated with a user of a first network. The first network is a packet based communication network. A user identification of the user of the first network corresponding to the destination phone number is then retrieved. A presence information of a communication node in the first network associated with the user is also retrieved. The presence information is an indication of the user's availability. The communication node is configured to receive voice communication events. The outgoing communication event to the communication node associated with the user in the first network is placed based on the retrieved presence information.
US08811382B2

An example method includes performing a telephone number database query at a call session control function server to obtain a first uniform resource identifier for a destination and to obtain a second uniform resource identifier for the destination, establishing a first communication session to the destination based on the first uniform resource identifier, and initiating a second communication session on behalf of a calling device to the destination based on the second uniform resource identifier, the destination to provide content associated with the first communication session via the second communication session.
US08811380B2

An IP telephone system comprises a main device that manages outgoing and incoming calls of an IP telephone device, an external storage device storing network configuration information and telephone device configuration information, and an IP telephone device comprising a first interface section that uses in connection to the external storage device and a second interface section that uses in connection to a network. When automatically carrying out internal setting by connecting the external storage device to the first interface section, the IP telephone device obtains the network configuration information and the telephone device configuration information from the external storage device and, based on the obtained network configuration information and telephone device configuration information, carries out network setting and telephone device setting. The IP telephone device accesses the main device through the second interface section based on the setting and performs confirmation of the set contents.
US08811379B2

The control apparatus is provided with a channel quality test module for collecting power consumption between adjacent gateways of the data transmission routes, a communication interface for collecting data delay of the respective gateways of the data transmission routes by performing data communication with the gateways, a memory for storing a gateway routing table containing the multiple data transmission routes, the power consumption collected by the channel quality test module, and the data delay collected by the communication interface, and a processor for adding priority to the multiple data transmission routes in the gateway routing table stored in the memory on the basis of the power consumption and data delay stored in the memory.
US08811378B2

A computing system includes: a plurality of tightly coupled processing nodes; a plurality of circuit switched networks using a circuit switching mode, interconnecting the processing nodes, and handling data transfers that meet one or more criteria; and a plurality of electronic packet switched networks, also interconnecting the processing nodes, handling data transfers that do meet the at least one criteria. The circuit switched networks and the electronic packet switched networks operate simultaneously.
US08811369B2

Methods and apparatus for supporting multiple modes of communication operation, e.g., with different parameters and/or frequency bands being used in the different modes of operation are described. One or more adjustments are made based on a signal or signals received in a first frequency band from a second communications device, e.g., an access router with reliable timing. The communications device selects between and operates in either the first frequency band, e.g., a WAN frequency band, or in a second frequency band, e.g., a LAN frequency band. The WAN and LAN frequency bands may be non-overlapping. One or more parameters used in the second frequency band have a predetermined relationship to one or more parameters used for communications in the first frequency band making the adjustment based on the signal received in the first frequency band relevant and useful to support communications in the second frequency band.
US08811366B2

An apparatus for transmitting information in a wireless communication system includes a first interface for receiving a plurality of input data streams. Signal processing circuitry transmits and receives the plurality of input data streams on at least one frequency. Each of the plurality of input data streams on the at least one frequency have a different orbital angular momentum imparted thereto.
US08811364B2

A method for controlling a control station (H1) includes the steps of performing wireless connection processing (204) with a terminal station (D1) and when a wireless connection is established, sending, to the wirelessly-connected terminal station (D1), a capture request signal (205) for causing the terminal station to capture a control signal (202) sent by another station (H2) and to return (207) information regarding the captured control signal.
US08811359B2

Techniques for supporting peer-to-peer (P2P) communication and wide area network (WAN) communication are disclosed. In one aspect, P2P communication may be supported on an uplink spectrum. A user equipment (UE) may communicate (i) with a base station on both a downlink spectrum and an uplink spectrum for WAN communication and (ii) with another UE on only the uplink spectrum for P2P communication. In another aspect, P2P communication may be supported by time division multiplexing the downlink and uplink (or transmit and receive links) for two UEs. In yet another aspect, WAN communication and P2P communication may be time division multiplexed, so that both can be concurrently supported by a UE. In yet another aspect, transmission gaps may be provided between WAN transmissions and P2P transmissions in order to avoid interference between these transmissions.
US08811358B2

A method and apparatus are provided for establishing data communication between a wireless network and a wireless terminal by means of a packet data protocol connection, using internet protocol. When a determination is made that the wireless terminal is active but does not have an internet protocol address, a page is initiated from the wireless network to the wireless terminal over a control channel requesting that the wireless terminal obtain a temporary internet protocol address. A temporary internet protocol address is then assigned to the terminal in response to a request from the terminal initiated in response to the page so that data communication can be established with the terminal based on the temporary address.
US08811346B2

Devices, networks and methods relating to routing gateway traffic in a mesh network for wireless access. A mesh network has multiple nodes in at least one gateway node through which all incoming and outgoing data traffic pass through. The nodes provide wireless access to wireless and user devices, each of which is associated with anode in the mesh network. Each gateway node contains a record detailing which nodes are providing wireless access to which wireless end user device and which nodes are associated with which end user devices. This record of each end user device's location is periodically updated as the gateway node periodically receives data from the nodes which detail the device is being serviced by which node. Any incoming data traffic destined for an end user device is encapsulated and routed to the proper node servicing that end user device.
US08811343B2

Disclosed herein is a method of providing vehicle wireless communication. In the method, a vehicle receives hand-over-related link information, which includes slot request information about slots requested by a vehicle to a roadside wireless communication device for hand-over of the vehicle, from a central control server. A hand-over preparation message, which includes the hand-over-related link information, is send to a vehicle wireless communication device connected to the vehicle. It is determined that the vehicle completed preparation for performance of the hand-over when a response message to the hand-over preparation message is received from the vehicle wireless communication device. Slots are allocated in consideration of the hand-over-related link information. Beacon frames, which include slot allocation information about the allocated slots, are transmitted to the vehicle wireless communication device. Accordingly, the vehicle wireless communication device and the roadside wireless communication device can reliably perform communication without interruption.
US08811341B2

In some implementations, a method includes identifying handover from a source eNodeB (eNB) to a target eNB or reestablishment with a subsequent eNB after losing connection with an initial eNB. Time-domain measurement resource restrictions for the UE are identified. The time-domain measurement resource restriction for the UE is released in connection with identifying the handover or the reestablishment.
US08811340B2

A method for performing handover to reduce an interruption time is disclosed. A method for performing handover using a variable uplink grant time comprises transmitting a handover request message to a base station, receiving a handover response message from the base station, the handover response message including an uplink grant time, and receiving an uplink grant from the base station if the uplink grant time comes, and transmitting a handover indication message to the base station. Thus, an unnecessary interruption time during hard handover can be reduced by efficiently improving use of an action time, and an action suitable for a frame structure of the IEEE 802.16m can be performed.
US08811324B2

A power control method for a Physical Uplink Control Channel, which includes: when the response information of multiple Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCH) sent by a base station over multiple component carriers is sent on one Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), the base station indicating a unified transmitted power control command for the Physical Uplink Control Channel; or the base station indicating multiple transmitted power control commands for the Physical Uplink Control Channel. The present invention also provides a base station and a user equipment.
US08811320B2

Communication bands occupied by wireless communication paths extending from a source node to a destination node are determined, and a combination of wireless communication paths is selected based on spatial distances between wireless communication paths from combinations of wireless communication paths in each of which the number of communication bands with respect to a combination of wireless communication paths is smaller than a threshold.
US08811314B2

A method and apparatus of transmitting a reference signal in a wireless communication system is provided. A transmitter generates the reference signal, maps the reference signal to a resource region, and transmits the reference signal, mapped to the resource region, to a user equipment (UE). The resource region to which the reference signal is mapped is determined based on at least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processing time for backhaul link transmission, a position of a backhaul link sub-frame, and a transmission period of the reference signal.
US08811312B2

A method and apparatus of accessing a channel in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving a first frame including configuration information on a channel allocated from a bandwidth including a primary channel, a secondary channel and an extension channel from an access point (AP), and transmitting a second frame to the AP by using the allocated channel. The configuration information includes an extension channel offset element field that sets the extension channel as the offset of the primary channel.
US08811310B2

In order to increase the transmission speed in a wireless network comprising at least a node, the method comprises the following steps: transmission by the node over at least one first physical channel of at least one request to send, reception by the node of at least one agreement to send data over at least one second physical channel using at least one frequency band belonging to the extremely high frequencies, and the first and second physical channels being different, data transmission after reception.
US08811306B2

In accordance with an embodiment, a method of operating a base station configured to communicate with a relay station includes allocating resources to the relay station. Allocating resources includes receiving feedback data from the relay station and scheduling resources to the relay station based on feedback data. Feedback data includes a total buffer size of the relay station and a number of user devices.
US08811304B2

A method for processing a stream of a digital broadcast receiver is provided. The method which processes a stream that is divided into a first area allocated to first mobile data and a second area allocated to normal data, includes: receiving a transport stream including new mobile data in at least a part of the second area separately from the first mobile data, demodulating the transport stream, equalizing the demodulated transport stream, and decoding at least one of the first mobile data and the new mobile data from the equalized transport stream. Accordingly, mobile data services may be provided in various ways.
US08811293B2

Methods, apparatus, and computer program products are disclosed for optimizing communications throughput in a wireless networking environment that supports a plurality of communications channel topologies that include identifying a plurality of clients having wireless network adapters supporting disparate channel bandwidths in the wireless networking environment, and periodically switching from one communications channel topology to another communications channel topology in dependence upon the supported channel bandwidths of the adapters of the identified clients. Optimizing communications throughput in a wireless networking environment that supports a plurality of communications channel topologies may also include identifying the supported channel bandwidths, quantifying current data traffic through each supported channel bandwidth, and switching from one communications channel topology that includes one supported channel bandwidth to another communications channel topology that includes another supported channel bandwidth at a time period dependent upon the quantified current data traffic.
US08811291B2

Access terminals are adapted to blacklist one or more neighboring cells from acquisition attempts. For instance, an access terminal may receive a transmission including a list of neighboring cells to be monitored while connected to a particular serving cell. The access terminal may determine that a predefined number of consecutive acquisition attempts with a particular neighboring cell have failed. In response to failure of the predefined number of consecutive acquisition attempts, the access terminal can blacklist the neighboring cell from subsequent acquisition attempts for a predefined blacklisting period. Following the duration of the blacklisting period, the access terminal may conduct a subsequent acquisition attempt with the neighboring cell. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.
US08811289B2

Systems and methods for Long Term Evolution (LTE) interface correlation are described. In some embodiments, a method may include receiving a first message, the first message having been intercepted over an air (Uu) interface of an LTE network (e.g., probed via a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) between an Evolved-Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) Node B (eNB)'s remote radio head and baseband processing unit), the first message having a first identifier. The method may also include receiving a second message, the second message having been intercepted over the S1 interface between the eNB and a Mobility Management Entity (MME) within an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) portion of the LTE network within a given time window from the first message, the second message having a second identifier. The method may further include correlating the first and second messages in response to a match between the first and second identifiers.
US08811283B2

The subject innovation relates to a system and method for routing in a base station system a message received from a mobile communication device to a core network. The base station system may be connected to at least two core networks and an identifier being assigned to each core network. An exemplary method comprises receiving in the base station system the message from the mobile communication device together with an identifier assigned to a first core network of the core networks. The identifier may be read in the base station system. The exemplary method also comprises forwarding the message from the base station system to the first core network based upon the read identifier.
US08811280B2

A method and apparatus of transmitting a control signal in a multi-cell cooperative wireless communication system is provided. The method comprises transmitting to a first user equipment a first control signal for first downlink data by a serving base station and transmitting to the first user equipment a second control signal for second downlink data received from a neighboring base station by the serving base station, wherein the first downlink data is data for the first user equipment, and the second downlink data is data for a second user equipment in a neighbor cell and is restorable by the first user equipment.
US08811278B2

The present invention provides a high/low frequency dual wireless location detection and information transmission system which is high in reliability and maintainability, and can be easily installed.A leakage coaxial inner conductor and a conductor line provided in parallel are short-circuited at an end, a single leakage coaxial operation and a loop operation of the inner conductor and the conductor line are performed at the same time, the ID of a tag is communicated using magnetic fields which locally exist near the conductor line by the loop, and wireless position detection and information communications which are less affected by the influence of ambient environments due to electromagnetic waves in a closed area are realized by open-type lines.
US08811273B2

A method of power saving for a wireless transceiver (FIGS. 1 and 2) is disclosed. The transceiver has an active power mode (504) and a reduced power mode (510). The transceiver is operated in the reduced power mode (510) and monitors transmissions from a remote wireless transmitter while in the reduced power mode. The transceiver identifies a transmission from the remote wireless transmitter by a transceiver identity included in the transmission (FIG. 6, UE identification). The transceiver transitions to the active power mode (512) in response to identifying the transmission.
US08811268B2

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining a preferred component carrier (CC) to be used by a first station and a second station in a wireless communication system using a plurality of component carriers (CCs). According to the present invention, it is possible to lower inter-cell interference (ICI) with adjacent cells between the first station and the second station, and to improve the transmission efficiency. Further, the invention is capable of efficiently operating the plurality of component carriers.
US08811264B2

A measuring unit measures the line quality with an eNB. A receiving unit receives line quality information transmitted from an UE. When the line quality measured by the measuring unit is different from line quality contained in the line quality information received by the receiving unit, a transmitting unit changes, the received target data to data for a layer that is different from the physical layer, and transmits the changed data to the UE.
US08811263B2

Disclosed in a method whereby a terminal sends an uplink control signal on a wireless communication system. More specifically, the present invention comprises the steps of generating an uplink control signal, allocating uplink sending resources to the uplink control signal, and sending the uplink control signal to a base station; a time resource in the uplink transmission resources is divided into sub-frame units divided into two slots; at least one of the two slots comprises one reference symbol for transmitting a reference signal; and in the slot comprising the one reference symbol, at least one of a plurality of data symbols for transmitting data signals is dropped.
US08811262B2

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, discloses a method and apparatus in which a relay allocates carriers on a backhaul link and an access link in a multi-carrier wireless communication system. The method in which the relay allocates resources in a multi-carrier wireless communication system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: determining a subframe pattern allocated on a first uplink component carrier to enable a backhaul uplink transmission from the relay to a base station; determining a subframe requiring reception of an access uplink from user equipment to the relay on the first uplink component carrier in accordance with a synchronous HARQ operation; and transmitting resource allocation control information containing carrier switching indicating information to the user equipment in the event the subframe requiring reception of an access uplink is determined to be the same as the subframe allocated for backhaul uplink transmission on the first uplink component carrier.
US08811260B2

A communication device that may select a relay node from a plurality of relay nodes, and be used as a signal receiving node through the selected relay node is provided. Additionally, a relay device that may be used as a relay node to receive and broadcast signals is provided.
US08811238B2

The disclosure discloses a method for synchronizing network nodes in a time division duplex system. The method includes that: a network node acquires the cell identity information of other network nodes, and inquires the synchronization status information of the other network nodes from a synchronization information node according to the cell identity information; the network node implements synchronization policy according to its own synchronization status and the inquired synchronization status of the other network nodes. A system for synchronizing the network nodes in the time division duplex system is also disclosed, which includes an acquiring unit (60), an inquiring unit (61) and a implementing unit (62).
US08811234B2

A method provides for differentiating usage permissions between different categories of communication traffic within a given network. The method includes ensuring one or more categories of traffic never transits communication radios, link, and/or spectrums dedicated to a different category of traffic. A combined routing metric is calculated using a scaling factor for discouraging usage of restricted communication links and encouraging usage of non-restricted communication links.
US08811230B2

A virtual posting service includes detecting, via a communications device over a wireless network, a presence of another communications device within a defined geographic community that is accessible by the wireless network. The service also includes determining a mode status of the other communications device. If the mode status of the other communications device is determined to be passive discover mode, the service includes automatically transmitting content stored in the communications device to the other communications device. If the mode status of the other communications device is determined to be active discover mode, the service includes transmitting a portion of the content stored in the communications device to the other communications device responsive to an inquiry from the other communications device. The inquiry includes search criteria. If the mode status is broadcast mode, the service includes receiving a communication over the wireless network from the other communications device.
US08811228B2

A device provides, to a domain name system (DNS), a request for candidate network nodes to which to connect, and receives, from the DNS and based on the request, a list of fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) for the candidate network nodes. The device truncates the FQDNs in the list of FQDNs to create a list of truncated FQDNs corresponding to the candidate network nodes, and stores the list of truncated FQDNs in a buffer associated with the device.
US08811223B2

The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for distributed operation of a plurality of cryptographic cards in a multi-core system. In various embodiments, a plurality of cryptographic cards providing encryption/decryption resources are assigned to a plurality of packet processing engines in operation on a multi-core processing system. The packet processing engines can be configured to operate in user space of a system, and can access cryptographic resources via memory allocations mapped from kernel space to user space. A method for use with the multi-card/multi-core system can comprise detecting, by a kernel of the multi-core system, a plurality of cryptographic cards available to the system, identifying, by a configurator of the multi-core system, a plurality of packet processing engines configured to operate in user space on a plurality of cores of the multi-core system, and determining, by a card distribution manager, a distribution layout that identifies an assignment of the plurality of cryptographic cards to the plurality of packet processing engines.
US08811222B2

A method, including making one or more measurements at a mobile device of path loss for a transmission between said mobile device and a base station in a first frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands in which the mobile device is configured to make transmissions to said base station; receiving at said mobile device path loss estimate information specifying an estimate of the relationship between said path loss for a transmission between said mobile device and said base station in said first frequency band, and path loss for a transmission between said mobile device and said base station in a second frequency band of said plurality of frequency bands; and determining a transmission power for at least one transmission to said base station in said second frequency band on the basis of at least said one or more measurements and said path loss estimate information.
US08811216B2

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a method is disclosed that comprises receiving at least two sets of gain values, wherein each set of gain values denotes the gains of a set of code channels that are carried by each of at least two carriers; receiving at least two power or amplitude levels that are allocated to the at least two carriers; and calculating a cubic metric based on the received at least two sets of gain values and the received at least two power or amplitude levels.
US08811213B1

A computer-implemented method, system, and computer-readable storage media for scheduling physical resource blocks are provided. Base stations, of a communication radio access network, may be configured with schedulers that assign one or more physical resource blocks to a communication channel of a wireless device based on distance or power. The physical resource blocks allow the wireless device to communicate with the base station. Some resource blocks may be monitored across multiple sites to determine whether an aggregate power for the resource blocks exceeds a threshold. When the aggregate power threshold is surpassed, the schedulers may limit or prevent use of the identified resource blocks.
US08811210B2

A non-transitory machine-readable storage device includes executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to calculate an effective application density for switches in fabrics. The processors are further caused to calculate an effective application density for the fabrics using the switch application densities. The processors are further caused to recommend deployment of an application on a first switch in a first fabric if the effective application density of the first switch is below a first threshold and the effective application density of the first fabric is below a second threshold.
US08811209B2

Determining and configuration a transmission period for a communication device may include transmitting measurement data to measure a relay period of a relay device in the network, where the relay period corresponds to an interval of relaying data to another communication device configured to connectable to network. Additionally, the communication device may receive result data indicative of the relay period of the relay device in response to the measurement data from the other communication device, determine the transmission period at which the communication device transmits data to the other communication device based on the relay period, and transmit data to the other communication device via the relay device based on the determined transmission period.
US08811202B2

A safety photo service providing method and system are disclosed. The safety photo service providing method comprises setting a time for identifying a location of a ward, changing location identification networks for the ward depending on whether the ward is located in a predetermined area, performing location identification and image capturing by a ward's terminal at the set time, and transmitting location identification information including at least one a location of the ward and a captured image to the guardian's terminal.
US08811201B2

Novel techniques of access network selection in multi-access network environment are provided, which allow for avoiding access selection loops for independent access selection processes. The multi-access network environment provides a first access selection function, e.g. a 3GPP access selection function, and a second access selection function, e.g. an ANDSF based access selection function. At least a portion of the first access selection function (565) may be implemented by a network component (560). At least a portion of the second access selection function (110) may be implemented by a user equipment (100), e.g. a mobile terminal. According to the proposed concepts, a selection priority information of the first access selection function (565) is made available to the second access selection function (110).
US08811198B2

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate employing interference-overload indications to generate pilot strength reports that can be leveraged to mitigate reverse link interference. An affected base station can send interference-overload indications when experiencing a strong interference/jamming scenario due to reverse link transmission by an offending access terminal. The offending access terminal can monitor interference-overload indications from the affected base station (e.g., although the affected base station can be excluded from an active set of the offending access terminal) and send a pilot strength report to a serving base station in response. The serving base station can receive the interference induced pilot strength report and command the offending access terminal not to transmit on certain channel resources (e.g., time, frequency, spatial, . . . ); thus, the affected base station can use these resources to schedule transmission(s) by access terminal(s) served thereby.
US08811197B2

Among other disclosed subject matter, a computer-implemented method for forwarding data includes receiving a data unit that is on a route toward a destination. The data unit is associated with a first limit value regarding forwarding of the data unit. The method includes causing the data unit to be associated with a second limit value at least equal to the first limit value. The method includes forwarding the data unit to a next recipient in the route, the data unit associated with the second limit value.
US08811190B2

An L2 Ethernet end-station and MTU size discovery method are described herein that are capable of discovering a Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size for each Data Link Layer (DLL) connection to other similarly capable L2 Ethernet end-stations.
US08811188B1

A protocol for optimizing the energy for code upload to sensors in a wireless sensor network and speeding up the dissemination if multiple sources of code are available. Energy optimization is achieved by equipping each node with limited non-local topology information, which it uses to determine the time when it can sleep since code is not being distributed in its vicinity. Another aspect of the invention is a protocol that facilitates secure upload of code in the wireless sensor network. The secure communication protocol divides the sensor field into control groups each with a control node, and manages data exchange between nodes within a control group through the mediation of a control head which provides the common key. The keys are refreshed periodically and the control nodes are changed periodically to enhance security. The protocol facilitates secure communication between sensor nodes despite the compromise of other nodes in the network.
US08811187B2

A mobile device may monitor availability of access networks that provide connectivity for the mobile device. The mobile device may also store preference information, on a per-application basis, relating to preferences for using the access networks by applications executed by the mobile device. The mobile device may additionally select, in response to a request from an application to connect to the network, one of the access networks, based on the preference information for the application; and provide a communication channel for the application using the selected access network.
US08811182B2

A technique for end-to-end admission control of real-time packet flows is disclosed. In one embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method for end-to-end admission control of real-time packet flows in a network having a plurality of network elements. The method may include transmitting at least one probe packet from a first network element to a second network element via a network path, determining, at at least one intermediate network element on the network path, at least one flow rate associated with a plurality of packets, marking at least one predetermined bit in the at least one probe packet if the at least one flow rate is greater than a predetermined rate, and controlling an admission of additional packets into the network based at least in part on the marking of the at least one predetermined bit in the at least one probe packet.
US08811176B2

The subject innovation provides system(s) and method(s) to supply fixed, differentiated quality of service (QoS) for packetized traffic (e.g., voice and data) intended for femto cell coverage when transmitted concurrently with external broadband traffic. Quality of Service differentiation is supplied without an external implementation. Femto cell coverage is prioritized over concurrent packetized traffic to deliver a rich user experience for delay and jitter sensitive applications. A passthrough configuration for a femto access point (AP) facilitates supplying hard QoS for data packet streams, or flows, intended for femto cell coverage or non-femto-cell coverage. The femto AP receives a consolidated packet stream through backhaul link(s) and distinguishes flow(s) for femto coverage and flow(s) for auxiliary broadband coverage. The femto AP routes the flow(s) intended for femto with hard QoS according to QoS policy which can be determined by a network operator or a subscriber.
US08811171B2

Solutions are provided that allow a network device to apply flow control on the MAC layer while taking into account the priority of the frame of traffic. This may be accomplished by generating a frame indicating that traffic flow should be paused, while utilizing a new opcode value, or alternatively by utilizing a new type/length value (possibly combined with a new opcode value). A receiving device may then examine the fields of the frame to determine whether it should use priority-based pausing, and then examine other fields to determine which priority-levels to pause and for how long. This allows for improved efficiency in flow control at the MAC layer. Additionally, the tagged pause frames can be forwarded over multiple hops on Local Area Networks across a Metropolitan Area Network or Wide Area Network.
US08811165B2

A multiple access communication protocol that includes an uplink and a downlink channel is disclosed. The uplink channel has a plurality of frames, such that each frame has a first selectable number of minislots and a second selectable number of slots. A reservation request of a first type is sent into a first selected minislot of a selected frame of the uplink channel when information of a first type is to be sent. The reservation request of the first type requests an assignment for at least one slot for transmitting information of the first type in at least one frame that is subsequent to the selected frame. A reservation request of a second type is sent into a second selected minislot of the selected frame when the second selected minislot is available in the selected frame and when information of a second type is to be sent.
US08811157B2

The disclosure provides a protection switching method for an Ethernet dual-homed link, which comprises: a node on one path of a dual-homed link detects that a failure occurs in a link or node which is directly connected with the node per se; when the node which detects the failure is a non-master node, the non-master node continuously transmits N failure state protocol (SF) messages outwards through a non-failed port on the failure path; after receiving the SF messages, the master node switches traffic on the failure path to an available path. The disclosure further provides another protection switching method for an Ethernet dual-homed link and a protection switching system for an Ethernet dual-homed link. By means of the disclosure, when a failure occurs in a link or node, a fast protection switching for the Ethernet dual-homed link can be realized; moreover, when the link or node recovers from the failure, a fast backward switching for the Ethernet dual-homed link can be realized as required actually.
US08811154B2

A first packet forwarding device is able to form a redundancy group with another packet forwarding device, and is configured to switch master and backup operation with the another packet forwarding device in a complementary manner. The first packet forwarding device is further configured to switch a first operation mode and a second operation mode in the backup operation, the first operation mode monitoring a control packet transmitted regarding the redundancy group from the another packet forwarding device that performs the master operation, and the second operation mode not monitoring the control packet. A proxy device is configured to monitor the control packet on behalf of the first packet forwarding device when the first packet forwarding device is in the second operation mode, and to control switching between the first and second operation modes of the first packet forwarding device based on monitor result of the control packet.
US08811152B2

The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus and method for providing service to a residential gateway. The method includes detecting a service disruption associated with a first connection to a first residential gateway device. In response to the detected service disruption, a second residential gateway device selected at the first residential gateway may be used to establish a second connection to the first residential gateway device.
US08811147B2

A method for allocating downlink transmission power of coordinated transmission devices in coordinated multi-point transmission system includes the coordinated transmission devices receiving feedback of channel state information of sub-channels occupied by a terminal from the terminal. The channel state information includes channel phase information and channel amplitude information. Each of the coordinated transmission devices adjusts phases of their sending signals over its sub-channels respectively so as to make phase difference of the sending signals, which are received by the terminal from the coordinated transmission devices via a same sub-channel, to be minimal. Each of the coordinated transmission devices determines its power allocation proportions for the sub-channels on the basis of feedback of channel amplitude information from the terminal and the adjusted phases of the sending signals. By adapting coordinate Iterative Water filling Power Allocation Algorithm with low complexity, the capacity of the system is increased.
US08811144B2

Technology for user equipment (UE)-specific assigning of demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequences to support uplink (UL) coordinated multipoint (CoMP) is disclosed. One method can include a DM-RS sequence assignment device sorting the plurality of UE into a list according to a number of reception point (RP) links for each UE in a CoMP set, and assigning a base DM-RS sequence and a cyclic shift (CS) to a top-ranked UE from the list. The top-ranked UE can have a highest number of RP links. The DM-RS sequence assignment device can repeatedly assign a different CS of the base DM-RS sequence to a plurality of unassigned UE in a same cell as the top-ranked UE, and repeatedly assign the different CS of the base DM-RS sequence to a plurality of unassigned UE in a cooperatively served cell of the top-ranked UE.
US08811140B2

The present invention is to realize a proper inner zone layout in a quadruple-layer disk.A test area is provided in the inner zone (inner circumference side area) in each of recording layers. If two test areas closer to the outer circumference, of four test areas, are defined as a first pair and two test areas closer to the inner circumference are defined as a second pair, the test areas of the first pair and the test areas of the second pair are so disposed as to be prevented from overlapping with each other in the layer direction. Two test areas of the first pair have the same consumption direction of the test area, and are so disposed that the areas to be used next hardly overlap with each other in the layer direction. Two test areas of the second pair have the same consumption direction of the test area opposite to the consumption direction of the test area in the first pair, and are so disposed that the areas to be used next hardly overlap with each other in the layer direction.
US08811118B2

Pressure measurements are made using a pressure sensor in the proximity of the drillbit during drilling operations. A filtered version of the pressure measurements is provided to a pulser for a mud-pulse telemetry system so as to cancel pressure variations due to drilling noise while a telemetry signal is being sent. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b).
US08811111B2

A memory device comprising: at least one bank of memory cells that receives a first clock for clocking commands and a second clock for clocking data, wherein the second clock is activated based on a first command and deactivated based on a second command. The memory device further including a clock activation circuit configured to generate an enable signal based on the first command and a disable signal based on the second command, and a clock generator configured to generate the second clock based on a reference clock upon receipt of the enable signal.
US08811105B2

Disclosed herein is a semiconductor device having first and second operation modes. In the first operation mode, the semiconductor device deactivates a DLL circuit during a self-refresh mode. In the second operation mode, the semiconductor device intermittently activates the DLL circuit to generate an internal clock signal.
US08811081B2

A method includes receiving hard bit data and soft bit data corresponding to a portion of a memory, where each storage element of the memory stores multiple bits per storage element. The hard bit data and the soft bit data is received in connection with reading a single bit of the multiple bits from each storage element in the portion of the memory based on one or more first read voltages. One or more second read voltages based on the hard bit data and the soft bit data are generated in response to a read voltage update operation. The memory reads data from the portion of the memory using the one or more second read voltages.
US08811075B2

In non-volatile memory devices, a write typically consists of an alternating set of pulse and verify operations. At the end of a pulse, the device must be biased properly for an accurate verify, after which the device is re-biased for the next pulse. The intervals between the pulse and verify phases are considered. For the interval after a pulse, but before establishing the verify conditions, the source, bit line, and, optionally, the well levels can be equalized and then regulated at a desired DC level. After a verify phase, but before applying the biasing the memory for the next pulse, the source and bit line levels can be equalized to a DC level.
US08811074B2

Method and apparatus for managing data in a memory, such as a flash memory array. In accordance with various embodiments, data are stored in a first location in a memory, and read from the first location a selected number of times. At least one parameter associated with the first location is measured after the data are read the selected number of times. The data are thereafter migrated to a second location in the memory responsive to the measured parameter indicating a presence of read disturbance in the data in the first location.
US08811072B2

A magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) package may include an MRAM die, a package defining a cavity and an exterior surface, and a magnetic security structure disposed within the cavity or on the exterior surface of the package. The MRAM die may be disposed in the cavity of the package, and the magnetic security structure may include at least three layers including a permanent magnetic layer and a soft magnetic layer.
US08811071B2

A method includes destructively reading bits of a spin torque magnetic random access memory and immediately writing back the original or inverted values. A detection of the majority state of the write back bits and a conditional inversion of write back bits are employed to reduce the number of write back pulses. A subsequent write command received within a specified time or before an original write operation is commenced will cause a portion of the write back pulses or the original write operation pulses to abort. Write pulses during subsequent write operations will follow the conditional inversion determined for the write back bits during destructive read.
US08811068B1

An integrated circuit can include SRAM cells, with pull-up transistors, pull-down transistors, and pass-gate transistors having a screening region positioned a distance below the gate and separated from the gate by a semiconductor layer. The screening region has a concentration of screening region dopants, the concentration of screening region dopants being higher than a concentration of dopants in the semiconductor layer. The screening region can provide an enhanced body coefficient for the pull-up transistors to increase a read static noise margin of the SRAM cell when a bias voltage is applied to the screening region. Related methods are also disclosed.
US08811065B2

Large capacity memory systems are constructed using multiple groups of memory integrated circuits or chips. The memory system includes one or more interface circuits for interfacing between the multiple groups of memory integrated circuits and a memory controller. The interface circuit may detect and/or recover failed data using error-checking information stored in a memory integrated circuit.
US08811059B2

Provided is a resistive memory apparatus including a plurality of memory areas each including a main memory cell array coupled to a plurality of word lines and a reference cell array coupled to a plurality of reference word lines. Each of the memory areas shares a bit line driver/sinker with an adjacent memory area.
US08811058B2

A resistance change element including a first electrode; a second electrode; and an oxide film, including an oxide of the first electrode, formed at sides of the first electrode and sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode in a plurality of regions, wherein at least one of the regions includes a resistance part whose resistance value changes in accordance with a voltage applied to the first and second electrodes.
US08811050B2

A relay-connecting member (16) has relay terminals (32), each of which is fit-connected to an output electrode (28) and a male tab (30) of an output terminal (14). With this structure, by simply inserting the output electrode (28) and the male tab (30) of the output terminal (14) into the relay-connecting member (16), it is possible to easily electrically connect the output electrode (28) and the male tab (30) of the output terminal (14) through the relay terminal (32).
US08811033B2

A mounting structure includes a protection panel (1) with a touch input function for protecting an electronic device display window, mainly formed of the protection panel body made of a resin plate, and a panel fitting portion (32a) of an exterior housing (32) into which the protection panel (1) is fitted from outside so that an outer face of the protection panel (1) is in the same plane as a portion of the exterior housing surrounding the outer face. In this structure, nut mounting holes are formed in a back side rim portion of the protection panel body and nuts (33) each having a female thread formed in an inner periphery thereof are attached to the respective nut mounting holes, and male screws (34) are screwed into the respective female threads of the nuts (33) through through-holes (32b) formed in the panel fitting portion (32a) of the exterior housing (32).
US08811032B2

A handheld electronic device includes a housing, a flexible display associated with the housing, and an input portion linked to the flexible display. The input portion is movable relative to the housing between a first position and a second position. The flexible display has a first viewing area when the input portion is in the first position and a second viewing area when the input portion is in the second position. The second viewing area is smaller than the first viewing area.
US08811026B2

A locking/unlocking device for electronic boards, the boards being configured to be inserted into an electronic cabinet with at least one slotted plate fit into the rack of the electronic cabinet, the device including a substantially rectangular frame supporting at least one locking slide that locks the electronic board onto the slotted plate through the action of a locking element. The device further includes an extracting lever that rotates between a rest and a locking position around a lateral Y1 axis, the extracting lever fitted so that exerting force is possible along the longitudinal X axis between the electronic board, or the frame and the rack, with the locking unit including an extension to be placed outside, opposite the extracting lever along the longitudinal axis X of the board when the two levers are engaged in the locking position.
US08811022B2

An electronic device with a guiding mechanism for guiding a flexible printed circuit board includes a base, a cover, two guiding members, a pushing member, the flexible printed circuit board (FPC) and a rotating member. A through hole is formed on the base. The cover is movably disposed on a first side of the base. The two guiding members are disposed on the second side of the base in parallel. The pushing member is slidably disposed on the two guiding members and has a guiding surface. An end of the FPC is connected to the cover and an other end of the FPC passes through the through hole and surrounds the guiding surface of the pushing member so as to be connected to the base. The rotating member is rotatably disposed on the second side of the base and has a pushing portion abutting against the pushing member.
US08811019B2

An electronic device comprising an electrically conductive core layer with a first layer composed of electrically conductive material, the first layer being applied on both sides and with at least one electronic component arranged in a cutout of the first layer, wherein the first layer is covered in each case with an electrically insulating, thermally conductive layer and a further layer composed of electrically conductive material is provided in each case on the thermally conductive layer, the further layer being coated in each case with a covering layer composed of electrically conductive material, and furthermore having plated-through boles composed of the material of the covering layer, which extend through the electrically insulating, thermally conductive layer covering the electronic component and the further layer composed of electrically and thermally conductive material for the purpose of making contact with the electronic component.
US08811015B2

A motor controller comprising an inverter module including an inverter circuit coupled to a baseplate, wherein the baseplate includes cooling features; a cooling channel configured to receive a cooling fluid, wherein the cooling features extend into the cooling channel; a capacitor; and a laminated bus electrically coupling the capacitor to the inverter circuit and thermally coupling the capacitor to the cooling channel.
US08811011B2

A notebook computer includes a display device, a main body, a pivoting component, and a foldable device. The display device includes a connection end. The pivoting component is pivoted to the connection end. The foldable device includes two arm components, each arm component includes a first supporting pole and a second supporting pole. Each first supporting is rotatably connected to the main body. Each second supporting pole is rotatably connected between the pivoting component and the first supporting pole.
US08811007B2

A docking station for supporting an electronic device in two positions includes a main body, and first and second supporting members projecting from the main body. The main body cooperates with the first supporting member to support the electronic device in the first position with the main body being stable on a first plane; and the first member cooperates with the second member to support the electronic device in the second position with the main body being stable on a second plane different from the first plane.
US08811006B2

A USB memory stick includes comprises a casing comprising opposing top and bottom sides and a bottom opening in said bottom side, a PC board comprising a USB interface circuit and a memory chip package, a tray holding the PC board in the casing, a safety hook for fastening to a belt or strip-like object, and a hinge coupled between the casing and the safety hook for allowing a limited angle of rotation between the casing and the safety hook.
US08811002B1

The present invention provides for a protective enclosure comprising a base comprising a first continuous mating surface and at least one conveyance aperture, a cover comprising a second continuous mating surface, wherein the second continuous mating surface is configured to form a seal with the first continuous mating surface, and a clamp, wherein at least a portion of the clamp is coupleable to the base, wherein a mouth of the clamp is configured to be offset from the aperture when the clamp is coupled to the base, wherein the clamp comprises a first sealing layer, and wherein the clamp is configured to seal the aperture against contaminants. The protective enclosure may be configured for use in a remotely controllable model vehicle to protect a control module.
US08810991B2

Safety isolation systems and methods adapted for switching DC electrical power applications, including high voltage DC, are provided. A contactor is in series with a solid state DC switch and a switching circuit controls the operation of the contactor and the solid state DC switch. Mirror contacts may be added to the system that are capable of providing a reliable indication about the open/closed status of the main contacts of the contactor.
US08810986B2

An electronic circuit breaker including a two stage detection mechanism; an instantaneous trip operating at a first threshold and a delayed trip such operating at a second lower threshold. This is advantageous in maintaining operation during very short transient load peaks, which do not warrant isolation from the supply. The breaker can be line powered, can be reset remotely by controlling the line power, and can be implemented entirely in solid state electronics. As such it requires little or no service or maintenance.
US08810982B2

Disclosed herein is a semiconductor integrated circuit including: a clamp MOS transistor having a drain region and a source region connected to a power source wiring and a grounding wiring, respectively, and causing a surge current to flow through a channel path and a bipolar path between the drain region and the source region; a first trigger circuit portion provided between the power source wiring and the grounding wiring, connected at an output terminal thereof to a gate terminal of the clamp MOS transistor, and controlling switching for the channel path; a second trigger circuit portion provided between the power source wiring and the grounding wiring, connected at an output terminal thereof to a well region of the clamp MOS transistor, and controlling switching for the bipolar path; and an internal circuit connected to each of the power source wiring and the grounding wiring.
US08810976B2

A harmonic protection method for a capacitor bank uses a harmonic protection apparatus, which includes a CPU unit, a current and voltage sampling unit, and a protection device. The CPU unit obtains effective value I1 of fundamental wave current of the capacitor bank, and effective value In of the n-th harmonic wave current of the capacitor bank, where n is harmonic order and ranges from 2 to ∞, and calculates the true effective value I of current of the capacitor bank by I = I 1 2 + ∑ n = 2 ∞ ⁢ k n ⁢ I n 2 provided that kn=rn/r1, kn is the n-th harmonic coefficient, rn is power consumption equivalent resistance of the capacitor bank for the n-th harmonic, r1 is power consumption equivalent resistance of the capacitor bank at a fundamental frequency. When I≧1.3 IN, the CPU unit controls the protecting device to disconnect the capacitor bank, provided that IN is a threshold current of the capacitor bank.
US08810973B2

A magnetoresistive sensor having employing a Mn containing Huesler alloy for improved magnetoresistive performance in a structure that minimizes corrosion and Mn migration. The sensor can be constructed with a pinned layer structure that includes a lamination of layers of Co2MnX and CoFe, where X is Al, Ge or Si. The Co2MnX can be sandwiched between the layers of CoFe to prevent Mn migration into the spacer/barrier layer. The free layer can also be constructed as a lamination of Co2MnX and CoFe layers, and may also be constructed so that the Co2MnX layer is sandwiched between CoFe layers to prevent Mn migration.
US08810968B2

A slider that minimizes lubricant accumulation includes bearing surfaces that provide above ambient fluid pressure, a cavity located between two bearing surfaces and at least one step feature that is spaced apart from the bearing surfaces and is located in and protrudes from a floor of the cavity at a height that is less than a height of the bearing surfaces. The at least one step feature includes surfaces configured to diverge and converge airflow in the cavity.
US08810962B2

A read/write head is disclosed wherein a non-magnetic layer made of a metal is inserted in the read head on a side opposite to the S1 shield with respect to the sensor. The non-magnetic layer is preferably Cu and is recessed from the ABS to prevent corrosion. A preferred design has a 1 to 5 micron thick non-magnetic insertion layer that extends a distance of 3 to 100 microns along a plane that is perpendicular to the ABS. RG efficiency is enhanced significantly and RG gamma ratio is improved to 1.0 so that a smaller difference in RG, WG, and min-fly point can be achieved at touchdown detection and in normal read/write operations. These results lead to an optimal dynamic performance for a given spacing target and enhanced read gap protrusion at a given heater power. S1/S2A thickness can be independently optimized for magnetic performance consideration only.
US08810961B2

According to one embodiment, a recording head includes a main pole, a trailing shield including a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion, and configured to form together with the main pole a first magnetic core, a leading shield including a first connecting portion connected to the main pole through a magnetic material and an end portion opposing to the end portion of the main pole through a non-magnetic material, and configured to form together with the main pole a second magnetic core, and first and second coils wound around the first and second magnetic cores, and a connection terminal configured to flow a current through the main pole, non-magnetic conductive layer, and trailing shield.
US08810949B2

An apparatus comprises read channel circuitry and associated signal processing circuitry. The signal processing circuitry comprises: an equalizer configured to combine an output of two or more component filters into a single equalized data signal; a detector with an input coupled to an output of the equalizer configured to determine a set of soft outputs, hard decision information and reliability indicators of the single equalized data signal; a decoder with an input coupled to an output of the decoder configured to perform an iterative decoding process using the set of soft outputs, hard decision information and reliability indicators to determine a decoded data signal; and a multiplexer with a first input coupled to an output of the decoder, a second input coupled to an output of the detector, and an output coupled to an input of the equalizer. The hard decision information is used to train the equalizer.
US08810946B2

A microwave-assisted magnetic recording system configured to perform magnetic recording with high density, including a high-frequency magnetic field generation element whose width is narrower than a track width of a main pole. A magnetic field vector from the main pole is perpendicularly incident on a film surface of the high-frequency magnetic field generating unit, by a shield material arranged to have a high magnetic permeability so that the main pole magnetic field is corrected and induced, and a hard bias layer to which a desired static magnetic field is added. Areas having high magnetic field gradients overlap each other by performing an offset of the high-frequency magnetic field generating unit of the magnetic head from the central line of the main pole.
US08810943B2

Methods and apparatus are provided for detecting a sync mark in a storage system, such as a hard disk drive. A sync mark is detected in a storage system by obtaining one or more branch metrics from a data detector in the storage system; generating one or more sync mark metrics using the one or more branch metrics from the data detector; and identifying the sync mark based on the sync mark metrics. An input data set is optionally compared with a plurality of portions of a sync mark pattern to yield corresponding comparison values and the comparison values can be summed to obtain at least one result. A sync mark found signal is asserted based upon the at least one result.
US08810936B2

A VCM (voice coil motor) is disclosed, the VCM including: a rotor including a cylindrical bobbin for accommodating a lens and protruded at a bottom end with a boss, and a coil block arranged at a periphery of the bobbin; a stator including a magnet facing the coil block and a yoke fixing the magnet; and an elastic member including a first elastic member formed with a through hole coupled to the boss of the bobbin and a second elastic member coupled to an upper end facing the bottom end of the bobbin; wherein the boss is formed with a disengagement prevention unit preventing the first elastic member from being disengaged from the boss, and the first elastic member is formed with a coupling unit contacting a joint where the disengagement prevention unit and the coupling unit meet.
US08810933B2

Disclosed are a lens unit and a method of manufacturing the same. The lens unit includes a lens part including a curved region having a predetermined curvature; and a support part including a hole, in which the lens part is installed, and attached to the lens part at a lateral side of the hole. The lens part having the curvature and the support part of the lens unit are formed in separate processes such that the hole is formed in the support part having the strength, and the lens part is formed by filling the hole with the lens part, so that the movement of resin caused by shrinkage of the lens part when the lens part is cured is inhibited, and the support part and the lens part does not form the layered structure, thereby allowing the lens unit to be formed with a thin thickness.
US08810928B2

A collecting lens comprises a first surface and a second surface. Said first surface lens is defined as an opposite surface of said collecting lens from said second surface. Said second surface has a lens surface. Said lens surface includes a plurality of lens function surfaces. Each of said lens function surfaces is defined as part of a side surface of corresponding one of elliptical cones. A particular normal line which is arbitrarily selected from normal lines at respective points on said first surface and crosses one of said lens function surface is not parallel to a central axis of the elliptical cone corresponding to said lens function surface crossed by said particular normal line. Said central axes of the elliptical cones are not parallel to each other.
US08810926B2

Disclosed herein is an imaging lens. The imaging lens according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a first lens having positive (+) power and having both sides formed to be convex, a second lens having negative (−) power and formed to be concave toward a top side, a third lens having positive power and having both sides formed to be convex, a fourth lens having positive (+) power and formed to be convex toward a top side, and a fifth lens having negative (−) power and formed to be concave toward the top side, wherein the first lens, the second lens, the third lens, the fourth lens, and the fifth lens are disposed in order from an object side.
US08810924B2

An image capturing lens which substantially consists of five lenses, composed of a first lens having a positive refractive power with the object side surface being formed in a convex shape toward the object side, a second lens having a negative refractive power, a third lens having a positive refractive power, a fourth lens having a negative refractive power with the object side surface being formed in a concave shape toward the object side, and a fifth lens having a negative refractive power with a region in which the negative refractive power is gradually reduced outwardly in a radial direction from the optical axis, arranged in this order from the object side, and satisfies predetermined conditional expressions.
US08810922B2

Providing for a fixed focus optical system exhibiting extended depth of field is provided herein. By way of example, a compact and fast optical system that yields an asymmetric modulation transfer function (MTF) is disclosed. In some aspects, the asymmetric MTF results in extended depth of field for near field objects. Such a response can be particularly beneficial for small handheld cameras or camera modules having high resolution. According to some disclosed aspects, the resolution can be about 8 mega pixels. Additionally, the optical system can comprise four lenses in one aspect and five lenses in another, while remaining below about 5.3 mm total track length (TTL) for the respective systems. In at least one application, the disclosed optical systems can be employed for a high resolution compact camera, for instance in conjunction with an electronic computing device, communication device, display device, surveillance equipment, or the like.
US08810921B1

An image capturing lens system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element and a fifth lens element. The first lens element has positive refractive power. The second lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The third lens element has negative refractive power. The fourth lens element with positive refractive power has a convex image-side surface. The fifth lens element with negative refractive power has a concave image-side surface, wherein both of an object-side surface and the image-side surface of the fifth lens element are aspheric, and at least one inflection point is formed on at least one of the object-side surface and the image-side surface of the fifth lens element. The image capturing lens system has a total of five lens elements with refractive power.
US08810919B2

An apparatus and method for auto focusing camera module includes a DFoV value measurer measuring a DFoV value of a lens; storage stored with a designed DFoV value of a lens, a controller comparing the DFoV value of a lens measured by the DFoV value measurer with the designed DFoV value of a lens stored in the storage to recognize an initial position of a lens, and a lens mover focusing the lens by winding the lens or by unwinding the lens in response to the initial position of the lens recognized by the controller.
US08810908B2

The binoculars of the present invention comprise two optical units; one optical unit for each eye. Each optical unit comprises a first reflector element and a second reflector element, wherein at least one of the reflector elements is a micromirror array reflector. The binoculars of the present invention provide focusing and/or zoom functions without or with minimal macroscopic mechanical lens movement.
US08810904B2

Certain examples provide optical contact micrometers and methods of use. An example optical contact micrometer includes a pair of opposable lenses to receive an object and immobilize the object in a position. The example optical contact micrometer includes a pair of opposable mirrors positioned with respect to the pair of lenses to facilitate viewing of the object through the lenses. The example optical contact micrometer includes a microscope to facilitate viewing of the object through the lenses via the mirrors; and an interferometer to obtain one or more measurements of the object.
US08810903B2

The disclosure generally relates to imaging optical systems that include a plurality of mirrors, which image an object field lying in an object plane in an image field lying in an image plane, where at least one of the mirrors has a through-hole for imaging light to pass through. The disclosure also generally relates to projection exposure installations that include such imaging optical systems, methods of using such projection exposure installations, and components made by such methods.
US08810893B2

An electrowetting device includes a substrate having a first face, a charged adhesion layer immobilized on the first face of the substrate and a dielectric layer bound to the charged adhesion layer. An unbound ionic liquid phase contacts the dielectric layer.
US08810884B1

A spectrally controlled light source includes a light source with a spectral distribution repeated with a predetermined spatial period along an input plane so as to produce multiple copies of the spectral distribution separated by the spatial period. All copies are propagated through dispersive optics to produce equally dispersed spectra on an image plane. A periodic modulating element with a given filter period is applied to each of the dispersed spectra to produce corresponding modulated outputs. According to the invention, the spatial period of the light source on the image plane and the filter period of the modulating element are selected so as to produce a resonance effect that greatly enhances the utility of the spectrally modulated source.
US08810877B2

For the problem of blurring at a boundary in a scanned illustration, a method of separating and vectorizing color regions accurately is realized by identification of a labeled region corresponding to the blurring and combining processing with another neighboring region. An image input unit, a color region dividing unit dividing an input image into the color regions, a labeling unit providing an individual label to the color region, a labeled region shape analysis unit obtaining labeled region shape information including information representing a shape feature of a labeled region which is the color region provided with the label, a micro-region determination unit determining whether the labeled region provided with the label is a micro-region or not according to the labeled region shape information, and a micro-region combining unit combining the region determined to be the micro-region with a neighboring region, are comprised.
US08810868B2

A mark detection apparatus includes a reading unit, a converter, and a determination part. The reading unit reads an image on a document. The converter compares respective portions of the image read by the reading unit with a plurality of preset reference patterns, and converts a portion of the image to a character associated with a corresponding reference pattern. The determination part determines that the portion of the image to have been compared on the document is a mark in a case in which the character converted by the converter is a preset first reference character, and that the portion of the image to have been compared on the document is not a mark in a case in which the character converted by the converter is not a preset first reference character.
US08810865B2

A method for image processing in which an area of a platen on which a document is placed is read and the platen image is processed includes extracting an object included in the platen image, detecting an area of the object and inclination of the area of the object with respect to the platen image, determining the minimum rectangular area which includes the area of the object, and is surrounded with four sides parallel to four sides of the platen image respectively, comparing an extent to which a pixel group constituting an edge of each area includes pixels constituting an edge of the platen image between the area of the object and the minimum rectangular area, and determining a minimum rectangular area as the area of the document if a pixel group includes a larger number of pixels based on the comparing or if the inclination is small.
US08810863B2

An image forming apparatus, having a function of superimposing a pattern on an image based on parameters set for one or more document properties, includes a memory to store an administrator-set parameter and a user-set parameter settable for each one of the document properties of the superimposed pattern; a mode determination unit to identify a pattern superimposing mode from a plurality of pattern superimposing modes; a pattern information obtaining unit to obtain the administrator-set parameter or the user-set parameter for each one of the document properties to be used for superimposing the pattern on the image based on the identified pattern superimposing mode and by referencing a property-mode correlation table correlating each one of the document properties and the plurality of pattern superimposing modes; an image drawing information generator to generate image drawing information for the image superimposed with the pattern; and an image outputting unit to output the image.
US08810860B2

An image forming apparatus comprises a image reader unit and a controller. The controller is configured to i) execute a detection operation of calculating a correction coefficient based on reference image data obtained by applying the light from a light source to a reference unit and receiving, by a photoelectric conversion unit, the reflected light from the reference unit to perform photoelectric conversion of the received light to the reference image data, ii) correct image density variations of the image data caused by orientation variations of the light source and pixel sensitivity of the photoelectric conversion unit based on the correction coefficient, iii) form an output image to be printed on output paper in accordance with an arrangement manner, based on the corrected image data, and iv) determine an interval at which the detection operation is executed, in accordance with a characteristic of the light source and the arrangement manner.
US08810850B2

A controlling device may perform an image process on specific image data so as to generate processed image data, select a process mode from a plurality of process modes, including a first process mode and a second process mode, and perform the image process according to the selected process mode. The first process mode may be for performing the image process by performing, in order to compensate variability of discharging amounts of the liquid droplets discharged from the plurality of nozzles, a specific process on a target pixel within target image data using correction data for a target nozzle. The target nozzle may be to form a dot at a position on a print medium corresponding to the target pixel. The second process mode may be for performing the image process by performing the specific process on the target pixel within target image data without using the correction data for the target nozzle.
US08810841B2

A print data processing system includes plural main interpretation devices that interpret print data described in a page description language and generate print image data to be supplied to a printer, auxiliary interpretation devices that interpret the print data, generate print image data to be supplied to the printer, and are not powered on when the plural main interpretation devices are powered on, and an allocation device that divides the print data in prescribed units and allocates interpretation processing of divided print data of the respective units to the plural main interpretation devices, wherein the allocation device includes a load evaluation unit that evaluates the loads of the plural main interpretation devices, and a power-on unit that, when the loads of the plural main interpretation devices evaluated by the load evaluation unit exceed a prescribed on threshold value for activating the auxiliary interpretation devices, powers on the auxiliary interpretation devices.
US08810837B2

A scanning system comprises a server, scanner, and terminal, the server including: a reception unit configured to receive a scan setting and a start instruction from one of the scanner and the terminal; a storage unit configured to store the scan setting and to issue the identification information; a determination unit configured to determine which of the scanner and the terminal has transferred the scan setting and the start instruction; and a processing unit configured, when the determination unit determines that the scanner has transferred the scan setting and the start instruction, to transfer the scan setting and the start instruction to the scanner, and when the determination unit determines that the terminal has transferred the scan setting and the start instruction, to cause the storage unit to store the scan setting and to transfer, to the scanner, identification information indicating the stored scan setting.
US08810832B2

The present invention provides a technology allowing a user to selectively print a web page for a mobile terminal or for a PC. To accomplish this, an image processing apparatus connected to a mobile terminal and a web server accepts designation information, which designates how a web page is printed, when both a first web page for a mobile terminal and a second web page for a non-mobile terminal are present in the web page, receives page information containing the URL of the first web page from the mobile terminal, obtains the second web page corresponding to the first web page from the web server, and executes any one of printing of the first web page, printing of the second web page, and printing of both the first web page and the second web page, according to the accepted designation information.
US08810829B2

A method and apparatus for a print driver to control document and workflow transfer are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving a request to print an electronic document. The method may also comprise capturing workflow configuration data with a workflow print driver. In one embodiment, the method further comprises deploying the electronic document into a workflow based on the workflow configuration data.
US08810823B2

An image reading device includes a changed-pixel detection unit and a determination unit. The changed-pixel detection unit detects, from image data read by the image reading unit, a changed pixel having a pixel value that differs from that of an adjacent pixel in the main scanning direction. The pixel value may differ by more than a predetermined value. The changed-pixel detection unit detects the position of the changed pixel in the main scanning direction. The determination unit determines that image data corresponding to positions of the changed pixel for the image data obtained by reading the document corresponds to a foreign image. The positions are consecutive in the sub-scanning direction. The positions of the changed pixel are detected for the image data obtained by reading the document and the image data obtained by reading the white guide member.
US08810816B2

An electronic document, and a method of manufacture thereof, which includes a component of an integrated display and component of an electronic circuit formed on a common substrate. The electronic circuit is coupled to the integrated display to enable display of information. At least a portion of a component of the integrated display and a component of the electronic circuit are formed at the same time during a process.
US08810812B2

A system and method for consolidating and managing rendering jobs. A folder can be automatically created based on a system username associated with a user upon receiving a personal rendering job and/or a secure rendering job with respect to a rendering device such as, for example, a printer or MFD. The subsequent rendering jobs that are transmitted from that user to the rendering device can be collected in the folder. An authentication process can be performed if the folder includes the secure rendering job in order to authenticate the user. The authentication process can be automatically skipped and the folder can be directly accessed if the folder does not include the secure rendering job. The authentication process can be optionally bypassed if the folder includes both the personal and the secure rendering jobs.
US08810806B2

The general field of the invention is that of systems for the optical detection of the orientation and the position of a mobile object in space. The system comprises a fixed electro-optical device comprising a transmission point source, image analysis means and an optical cube corner disposed on the mobile object. The input surface of the cube corner comprises a polygonal-shaped mask, the sides of which comprise a geometric marking to identify them. The fixed electro-optical device comprises photosensitive means close to the point source and disposed in two different recording planes and recording two luminous shapes in perspective of the mask obtained by reflection on the surfaces of the cube corner. The image analysis means comprise means for determining the vanishing points of the two luminous shapes in the two recording planes, the knowledge of the four vanishing points enabling the determination of the position and orientation of the optical cube corner in relation to the fixed electro-optical device.
US08810801B2

A three-dimensional measurement apparatus comprises a detection unit configured to detect a plurality of intersection positions between first pattern light in which a bright part and a dark part are alternately arranged and second pattern light in which a phase of the first pattern light is shifted, by using tone values of a first image obtained by capturing a target object onto which the first pattern light is projected and tone values of a second image obtained by capturing the target object onto which the second pattern light is projected; and a measurement unit configured to calculate a third position based on a first intersection position included in the plurality of intersection positions and a second intersection position that is adjacent to the first intersection position and measure a three-dimensional position of the target object based on an interval between the third positions.
US08810795B2

The present invention provides an optical detection system in which a first mirror of the control unit is used to receive light beam and redirect it into a first one-dimensional off-axis parabolic mirror. The first one-dimensional off-axis parabolic mirror then directs the light beam to a cylindrical lens. Through the mechanism of reflection, the cylindrical lens further directs the light beam to a second one-dimensional off-axis parabolic mirror. The second one-dimensional off-axis parabolic mirror then directs the light beam into a second mirror. The detection unit of the system is used to detect the light beam coming from the control unit, so as to convert the light signals into electric signals for the analysis in the process unit afterwards.
US08810791B2

The invention relates to an optoelectronic sensor element (20) having at least one reception element (22, 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) in front of which a polarizing structure (24, 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d) is arranged which is manufactured from an electrically conductive material, with the polarizing structure (24, 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d) having a contact connection (26) for the application of a defined tension and with the polarizing structure (24, 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d) being configured as a screen of the sensor element (20).
US08810789B2

The present disclosure includes methods of simultaneous analyte separation and detection using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-active ultra thin layer chromatography (UTLC) chips. The SERS-active UTLC chips of the present disclosure are used to physically separate compounds within a mixture, which are then identified based on their unique SERS spectra.
US08810787B2

Methods and apparatus in the field of single molecule sensing are described, e.g. for molecular analysis of analytes such as molecular analytes, e.g. nucleic acids, proteins, polypeptides, peptides, lipids and polysaccharides. Molecular spectroscopy on a molecule translocating through a solid-state nanopore is described. Optical spectroscopic signals are enhanced by plasmonic field-confinement and antenna effects and probed in transmission by plasmon-enabled transmission of light through an optical channel that overlaps with the physical channel.
US08810783B1

A fault detector for fiber optic cabling is provided in a hand held device for detecting fiber faults, presence/absence of signal and wavelength of light present on an optical fiber. Audible and visual indicators of the fault/status and wavelength are provided.
US08810777B2

A lithographic projection apparatus includes a beam production system to provide a beam of radiation, pattern the beam of radiation, and project the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate, a support table including protrusions to support an article, a detector to detect height deviations of the protrusions, a material removing device arranged to modify a height of the protrusion material, a controller coupled between the detector and the material removing device, wherein material removing device includes a removal tool selected from the group consisting of a mechanical polishing device, a magneto rheological finishing tool, and a single or multipoint diamond tool.
US08810776B2

A mask and an optical filter manufacturing apparatus including the same are provided. A mask used for a roll-to-roll process of forming patterns in a base film configured to move along a curved surface includes a mask body having a curved surface disposed opposite a roll around which the base film is wound and a plane surface corresponding to the reverse side of the curved surface. The curved surface of the mask body is disposed a predetermined distance apart from a curved surface of the roll. The mask and optical filter manufacturing apparatus enable formation of uniform patterns on the base film to enhance the quality of products and precisely attain the properties of the base film.
US08810775B2

An EUV mirror module is disclosed that comprises a substrate with a curved upper surface and a curved electroformed mirror. A self-adjusting bonding material is disposed between the substrate and the electroformed mirror. The bonding material is flowable at a melting temperature and self-adjusts to conformally fill the region between substrate to the electroformed mirror and bond the substrate and the electroformed mirror. The substrate may have at least one cooling channel for cooling the mirror module.
US08810774B2

The present invention provides an exposure apparatus including an obtaining unit configured to obtain data of a first imaging position at which light from a first pattern having, as a longitudinal direction thereof, a first direction perpendicular to an optical axis of a projection optical system forms an image via the projection optical system, and data of a second imaging position at which light from a second pattern having, as a longitudinal direction thereof, a second direction which is not parallel to the first direction and is perpendicular to the optical axis forms an image via the projection optical system, when the first pattern and the second pattern are respectively placed on an object plane of the projection optical system, and a control unit configured to control a stage so that a substrate is positioned at a target position of the substrate along the optical axis.
US08810766B2

A method and a device are described for producing copies/replica of a volume reflection hologram wherein a holographic film (4) is guided over a drum with polygon cross-section having at least two planar (polygon) master surfaces (3) to each of which at least one master (7) is attached in the circumferential direction, where the film is brought into contact with at least one master hologram (7) and its entire surface is exposed to laser. It is essential that to at least one of the master surfaces (5) with the film guided over it, a laser exposure unit (22) is assigned which allows full exposure of the respective master surface to parallel, coherent laser beams (6), and that the at least one exposure unit (22) follows section wise the rotational movement of the drum by a splitting angle with equal velocity and exposes the corresponding master surface (5) to then be reset quickly again and perform the same angular displacement and exposure together with the next master surface. In this manner, a highly productive multiplication even of large reflection holograms in high quality is possible.
US08810765B2

An electroluminescence element includes an electroluminescence substrate including a thin film transistor substrate, and a light-emitting layer provided over the thin film transistor substrate and divided by picture-element separating portions so as to correspond to unit picture elements; and a sealing substrate arranged to hermetically seal the light-emitting layer of the electroluminescence substrate. At least one of the electroluminescence substrate and the sealing substrate is a flexible substrate. Spacers are provided between the electroluminescence substrate and the sealing substrate.
US08810764B2

To provide a structure for achieving high transmittance in a lateral-electric-field mode liquid crystal display device through stably controlling the domains in the terminal parts of comb-shaped electrodes where the liquid crystal molecules rotate in the reverse direction. In the lateral-electric-field mode liquid crystal display device in which common electrodes and pixel electrodes are formed on a same layer, a protrusion part is provided in a direction in an obtuse angle with the comb-shaped electrode and substantially in parallel to a scan line in the terminal part of the comb-shaped electrode of the pixel electrode or the common electrode, a floating electrode is extended in the extending direction of the comb-shaped electrode to overlap with the comb-shaped electrode in the terminal part, and a liquid crystal reverse rotation locked structure is formed with the protrusion part of the comb-shaped electrode and the floating electrode.
US08810761B2

A liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: a first substrate; a pixel electrode disposed on the first substrate; a first alignment layer disposed on the first substrate and the pixel electrode; a second substrate facing the first substrate; a common electrode disposed on the second substrate; a second alignment layer disposed on the second substrate and the common electrode; and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the common electrode has a plurality of cutouts having a cross shape, and when viewing the first substrate and the second substrate upward, the edge of the cutout is protruded from the edge of the pixel electrode.
US08810759B2

An MVA mode liquid crystal display device has a liquid crystal layer including liquid crystal molecules having negative dielectric constant anisotropy held between a first substrate and a second substrate. It includes a structural body which controls an alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules to form a multi-domain in each of pixels. The structural body includes a first structural body which overlaps a light-blocking wiring line, and a second structural body which is disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first structural body and is narrower than the first structural body.
US08810754B2

According to one embodiment, an interference filter includes a base body, a lower semi-transmissive layer, and an upper semi-transmissive layer. The base body includes a major surface. The lower semi-transmissive layer is provided on the major surface. The upper semi-transmissive layer is provided on the lower semi-transmissive layer. The base body, the lower and upper semi-transmissive layers form a first region to selectively transmit blue light, a second region to selectively transmit green light, and a third region to selectively transmit red light, arranged in a plane parallel to the major surface. A distance between the lower semi-transmissive layer and the upper semi-transmissive layer in the second region is shorter than a distance between the lower semi-transmissive layer and the upper semi-transmissive layer in the first region, and shorter than a distance between the lower semi-transmissive layer and the upper semi-transmissive layer in the third region.
US08810749B2

A backlight source and a thinning method for the same are provided. The backlight source includes: a solid state light source array having a plurality of solid state light sources distributed on the base, a light transmitting unit arranged above the solid state light source array, and a plurality of light adjusting units arranged between the solid state light source array and the light transmitting unit. The plurality of the light adjusting units is arranged above the plurality of solid state light sources to reflect the shallow angle incident light from the solid state light source, thus changes the light intensity distribution of the output light through the light transmitting unit from the solid state light sources from Lambertian distribution to main sides emission.
US08810748B2

A light emitting diode (“LED”) backlight assembly. The LED backlight assembly has a bottom container which has a bottom plate and a side edge surrounding the bottom plate, a plurality of light emitting diode printed circuit boards (“LED-PCBs”) on the bottom plate, and a connector which is closely located to edge located LEDs. The connector of the LED-PCB is closely located to an LED driving board, which is disposed at a lateral space of a lateral part of the bottom container to limit a vertical thickness of the backlight light assembly.
US08810742B2

A display apparatus includes: a display unit that displays a two-dimensional image; and a variable lens array disposed to face the display unit, wherein the variable lens array includes a variable phase difference layer that receives incident linearly polarized light polarized in a first direction and allows the linearly polarized light polarized in the same direction to exit or allows linearly polarized light polarized in a second direction switched from the first direction and different therefrom to exit, and an optically anisotropic layer that receives the light having exited out of the variable phase difference layer and works as a lens array for one of the light polarized in the first direction and the light polarized in the second direction whereas working as a transparent layer for the other light.
US08810739B2

In a blue-color liquid crystal panel out of a plurality of liquid crystal panels used in a projection type display apparatus, an integral value obtained by integrating absorbance of the liquid crystal layer thereof in a wavelength range from 300 nm to 350 nm is smaller in comparison with those of the other liquid crystal panels (a red-color liquid crystal panel and a green-color liquid crystal panel). In addition, the absorption end on the long wavelength side of the liquid crystal layer of the blue-color liquid crystal panel is positioned on the short wavelength side in comparison with the liquid crystal layers of the red-color liquid crystal panel and the green-color liquid crystal panel.
US08810738B2

A display apparatus and a multi display apparatus. The display apparatus includes a display module having an opening through which an image is displayed and a non-display area to form around the opening, and a rear cover directly coupled to a side surface of the display module. The multi display apparatus includes the plurality of display apparatuses which are coupled with each other.
US08810733B2

An audio video device a command to power up from a standby mode. This causes the device to start a boot process, and while the boot process proceeds. The process determines a current time from a real time clock and retrieves settings from a usage pattern database corresponding to the current time. The audio video device set to the retrieved settings. At completion of the boot process the audio video device is set to the retrieved settings. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08810730B2

The invention relates to a receiving device for an audio-video system. The receiving device comprises a connector, a video processing unit, an audio processing module, and a monitoring unit. The monitoring unit detects a status of an inputted signal received by the connector and controls the operation of at lease one of the video processing unit and the audio processing module in accordance with the detected result to avoid the audio-video system display abnormal image or play noise when the receiving device did not receive the inputted signal by accident.
US08810729B2

A method and apparatus for automatic compensation of insertion loss in signals transmitted over conductors is presented. The present invention is particularly applicable to the transmission of signals over long lengths of CAT-5 or similar twisted-pair cables. A reference signal having a known form and strength (e.g. a pulse signal) is provided to each pair of conductors carrying a component of a signal from a transmitter to a receiver. The receiver includes adjustable gain amplifiers for each conductor pair over which a component of the signal is transmitted. The gains of the amplifiers are initially set at an initial level (e.g., their maximum gain) to allow detection of the reference signal. Once the reference signal is detected in a conductor pair, the amplifier gains are adjusted such that the level of the reference signal is restored approximately to its original form and strength.
US08810727B1

A method for scaling a first channel of an image. The method comprises computing a low resolution second channel of the image based on a transformation of the second channel with a transformation function used to transform a high resolution channel into a low resolution channel; computing a correlation function between the low resolution second channel and the first channel; determining a predicted second channel having the high resolution from the low resolution second channel according to a prediction method; computing a high-pass second channel based on the difference between the second channel and the predicted second channel and based on the correlation function; and determining a predicted first channel having the high resolution from the first channel according to the prediction method.
US08810726B2

A frame-rate conversion system having an interpolation mode and a synchronization mode. The synchronization mode is selected when temporal interpolation confidence is and images can be retimed without dropping or repeating of images. The interpolation mode is selected when the measure of temporal interpolation confidence is high or repeating of images. Images are exchanged between a temporal interpolator and a buffer at an exchange rate which is varied in the interpolation mode to optimise the buffer occupancy for retiming of images without dropping or repeating of images in s subsequent synchronization.
US08810725B2

A method for efficient digital capturing of analog video signals of computer game consoles is provided. The video format of the signal is changed from 480p to 720p, without any scaling artifacts. The number of active horizontal resolution lines and active vertical resolution lines is reduced in the higher definition space, so that the output picture is a pixel-for-pixel transformed replica of the 480p image.
US08810721B2

A camera module includes a lens module, an image sensor, at least one first spacer, and a bump element. The lens module includes a lens unit and a supporting unit connected to the lens unit. The image sensor is disposed corresponding in position to the lens unit for sensing light from the lens unit. The first spacer is disposed between the supporting unit of the lens module and the image sensor for separating the lens module and the image sensor. The bump element is disposed on the supporting unit. The bump element is located between the first spacer and the lens unit for preventing the first spacer from contacting the lens unit.
US08810718B1

A camera assembly including a camera that has an image-capturing device. The camera assembly also includes an illumination device that is coupled to the camera and that is adapted to illuminate a subject when the camera is capturing an image, and a control unit. The illumination device is capable of illuminating in at least two different peak wavelengths. The control unit automatically configures the camera assembly to use one or more of the at least two different wavelengths.
US08810711B2

A catadioptric optical system of the present invention includes a first imaging optical system that collects a light beam from an object, and a second imaging optical system including a refractive portion that forms an intermediate image by receiving a light beam from the first imaging optical system and to form an image of the intermediate image on an image plane, the first imaging optical system includes a first optical element and a second optical element, a reflection surface of the reflective portion of the first optical element and a reflection surface of the reflective portion of the second optical element are disposed so as to face each other, and an aperture stop is disposed between the first optical element and the second optical element.
US08810708B2

An image processing apparatus, computer-readable medium, and method that include synthesizing each frame of a dynamic picture so that each synthesized frame of the dynamic picture is displayed on a display, controlling the display to display a plurality of representative images, each of the plurality of representative images corresponding to a dynamic picture, and controlling the display to display a representative image, which corresponds to a dynamic picture that can be synthesized by the synthesizing step with a currently reproduced dynamic picture, in a distinguished fashion from other representative images.
US08810704B2

A solid-state image capture device includes: a pixel section in which pixels are arranged in a matrix; control lines; a pixel drive section that performs control, through the control lines, an operation of the pixels so as to perform a shutter operation of the pixel section and so as to perform reading; a reading circuit that reads signals from the pixels; and a shutter-mode switching section that controls an operation of the pixel drive section in accordance with a rolling shutter system in which exposure is performed for each row or a global shutter system in which exposure is simultaneously performed on all the pixels. The pixel drive section includes a shutter-mode corresponding section that causes an impedance value from the control lines to a power supply in a global shutter operation to be greater than an impedance value in a rolling shutter operation.
US08810695B2

An apparatus includes an image sensor, a detection unit, and a control unit. The image sensor photoelectrically converts an incident light from an object. The detection unit detects a defective pixel of the image sensor based on an image signal generated by the image sensor. The control unit controls, when a first defective pixel for irregularly outputting an abnormal level and a second defective pixel for regularly outputting an abnormal level in the image sensor are detected, storage time of the image sensor at the detection time of the first defective pixel to be longer than storage time of the image sensor at detection time of the second defective pixel and a number of image signals used for detection to be larger.
US08810693B2

A plurality of image data obtained by divided-capturing an object and correction image data obtained by capturing a correction chart at an angle of view wider than that in the divided capturing are input. Heterogeneity of luminance in the plurality of image data is corrected based on the correction image data. Joined image data representing the entire image of the object is generated by joining the plurality of image data in which the heterogeneity of luminance has been corrected.
US08810689B2

An image processing apparatus for performing recording and playing image data at a plurality of frame rates. The image processing apparatus includes a storage section, and a control section configured to, when performing the process of recording the image data at each of the frame rates, set information concerning a recording rate corresponding to the frame rate in a data area, in accordance with a predetermined file format, that is paired with stream data to be recorded, and store the information in the storage section.
US08810685B2

An imaging apparatus acquires position information at regular intervals and records the position information in one route log file, and in a case that imaging is performed, acquires position information and records the position information in correlation with image data acquired by an imaging unit, and in a case that the image data with which the position information is correlated is to be deleted, extracts the position information correlated with the image data and records the position information extracted by the extraction unit.
US08810680B1

A method of synthesizing color data through the use of what is called a Gradient Vector Synthesis method is comprised of calculating gradients at 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° with respect to a generation point in a matrix of color data. A first-level edge test is performed by comparing each of the gradients to a noise threshold. If the first-level test indicates that an edge may be present along either of the diagonals, a second-level test may be performed. An interpolation technique is selected in response to the first-level edge test and, when performed, the second-level edge test. The selected interpolation technique is used to synthesize the missing color data at the generation point.
US08810677B2

An image processing apparatus and a processing method thereof are provided. The image processing apparatus includes an image capturing module, an image separation module, an image stabilization module, a temporal noise reduction module, and a spatial noise reduction module. The image capturing module captures a plurality of Bayer pattern images. The image separation module decreases the Bayer pattern images in size and transforms them into a plurality of YCbCr format images. The image stabilization module receives Y channel images of the YCbCr format images and the Bayer pattern images to perform motion estimation, to produce a plurality of global motion vectors (GMVs). The temporal noise reduction module performs temporal blending process on the Bayer pattern images according to the GMVs, to produce first noise reduction images. The spatial noise reduction module performs 2-dimensional spatial noise reduction on the first noise reduction images to produce second noise reduction images.
US08810672B2

In accordance with an object desired to be brought into focus, aliasing is canceled, and the resolution of an output image data is increased. When a plurality of pieces of image data captured at multiple viewpoints is synthesized at a predetermined focus position, a weight for the synthesis is determined so as to reduce aliasings included in frequency characteristics of the plurality of pieces of image data.
US08810666B2

Methods and systems for processing a video for stabilization are described. A recorded video may be stabilized by removing at least a portion of shake introduced in the video. An original camera path for a camera used to record the video may be determined. A crop window size may be selected and a crop window transform may accordingly be determined. The crop window transform may describe a transform of the original camera path to a modified camera path that is smoother than the original camera path. A smoothness metric indicative of a degree of smoothness of the modified path may be determined. Based on a comparison of the smoothness metric to a predetermined threshold, for example, the crop window transform may be applied to the original video to obtain a stabilized modified video.
US08810638B2

A body-insertable imaging device includes a first camera that comprises a first image sensor and a first lens to pass incident light onto the first image sensor, a control interface to receive a remotely generated control signal, and an actuator communicatively coupled to the control interface and configured to support the camera and manipulate the camera about a pan axis, a tilt axis, and along a zoom direction in response to the control signal while the camera and actuator are within a body cavity, wherein the zoom direction extends out from a distal end of the body-insertable camera.
US08810628B2

An image processing apparatus includes a receiving unit configured to receive an encoded stream, an image capture type, and image capturing order information, the encoded stream being produced by encoding image data of multi-viewpoint images including images from multiple viewpoints that form a stereoscopic image, the image capture type indicating that the multi-viewpoint images have been captured at different timings, the image capturing order information indicating an image capturing order in which the multi-viewpoint images have been captured; a decoding unit configured to decode the encoded stream received by the receiving unit to generate image data; and a control unit configured to control a display apparatus to display multi-viewpoint images corresponding to the image data generated by the decoding unit in the same order as the image capturing order in accordance with the image capture type and image capturing order information received by the receiving unit.
US08810619B2

Provided is a printer capable of ensuring a large peeling angle at the time of peeling between the transfer film and the ink ribbon by differentiating a conveyance direction of the transfer film at a peeling part on a proceeding passage from the proceeding direction. In the printer which forms an image on a transfer film 46 while feeding an ink ribbon 41 and the transfer film 46 to a print position between a platen roller 45 and a thermal head 40 which are mutually pressure-contacted, the transfer film 46 is wound to form a conveyance passage between a feeding spool 48 and a winding spool 47 in a film cassette 100 which is attached to a device frame in a detachably attachable manner, and a film conveying roller 49 and pinch rollers 32a, 32b are arranged at positions so that the conveyance passage of the transfer film 46 attached to the device frame is displaced to the inside of the cassette by a predetermined amount.
US08810617B2

The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for determining and adjusting printhead pressure of a thermal printer. The apparatus includes a printhead support housing operable for placement in a print station of a printer. A motor housed within the printhead support housing and being operable for driving a plurality of synchronized rotating gears, the gears being mounted about posts wherein the posts are configured to cause the gears to compress or decompress a set of biasing mechanisms mounted below the gears and connected to the printhead. A sensor unit operable for monitoring the thickness of a print media and in communication with a control circuit operable for adjusting the printhead pressure being applied to the print media during a print operation, wherein the printhead pressure corresponds to a pre-defined level relative to the thickness of the print media.
US08810607B2

The invention relates to a flexible display comprising a first flexible layer configured to comprise pixels 5 of the flexible display, a second flexible layer superposed on the first flexible layer, which second flexible layer comprises a color filter with a plurality of color elements 1, 2, 3, 4 associated with said pixels, wherein the pixels comprise color sub-pixels 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, the color elements and/or color sub-pixels being discontinuously arranged to counteract misalignment between respective color sub-pixels and color elements. The color elements 1, 2, 3, 4 are arranged to substantially overlap respective sub-pixels 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a whereby the buffer zones 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d are arranged to overlap a portion of said sub-pixels as well. The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing a flexible display.
US08810598B2

Interference-based augmented reality hosting platforms are presented. Hosting platforms can include networking nodes capable of analyzing a digital representation of scene to derive interference among elements of the scene. The hosting platform utilizes the interference to adjust the presence of augmented reality objects within an augmented reality experience. Elements of a scene can constructively interfere, enhancing presence of augmented reality objects; or destructively interfere, suppressing presence of augmented reality objects.
US08810597B2

An image display device includes: an image display unit that displays a list of images each including information related to a position of photography; a selection unit that selects at least one image from among the images; a photography position information acquisition unit that acquires information related to the position of photography; a specification unit that specifies a map server based on the information related to the position of photography; a requesting unit that transmits to the specified map server the information related to the position of photography, and that requests the map server to transmit map data for a range that includes the position of photography; a reception unit that receives the map data transmitted from the map server; and a display control unit that displays a map based on the received map data, and displays information specifying the position of photography upon the map.
US08810590B2

A method and apparatus for sorting data into spatial bins or buckets using a graphics processing unit (GPU). The method takes unsorted point data as input and scatters the points, in sorted order, into a set of bins. This key operation enables construction of a spatial data structure that is useful for applications such as particle simulation or collision detection. The disclosed method achieves better performance scaling than previous methods by exploiting geometry shaders to progressively trim the size of a working set. The method also leverages predicated rendering functionality to allow early termination without CPU/GPU synchronization. Furthermore, unlike previous techniques, the method can guarantee sorted output without requiring sorted input. This allows the method to be used to implement a form of bucket sort using the GPU.
US08810577B2

Visualization used to show resource usage over time by different entities or jobs allows a user to see the resource usage of entities over time. Entities or jobs may be shown as horizontal bundles, possibly expanding or contracting within the constraints of the capacity of the system. Bundles can expand or contract but maintain continuity in a direction, for example, a horizontal continuity. The visualization or layout in one embodiment is updated not only for new incoming events, but also retroactively for past events, thus achieving smooth horizontal bundles as much as possible.
US08810572B2

A method of rendering an object comprises, with a processor, generating a data set that mathematically defines an object, tessellating the object into a number of smaller objects to form a number of data subsets, storing the data subsets in a memory cache, converting the data subsets into a rasterized object, and displaying the rasterized object on a display device. A system for rendering an object comprises a processor to generate a data set that mathematically defines an object, tessellate the object into a number of smaller objects to form data subsets, transform the data subsets using a linear operator, and store the data subsets in a memory cache, a graphics processor to convert the data subsets into a rasterized object and display the rasterized object on a display device and a memory cache to receive and store the data subsets.
US08810570B2

A system, method, and computer program for selecting modification features on a solid model that is manipulated in a computer having software instructions, comprising: a computer system, wherein the computer system includes a memory, a processor, a user input device, and a display device; a computer generated geometric model stored in the memory in the memory of the computer system; and wherein the computer system selects a modification feature directly on a solid model using a computer peripheral input that communicates a modification intent from a user; suggests a plurality of additional selection features to include with the modification feature; verifies that the included plurality of additional selection features conforms to the modification intent by a visual highlighting; modifies the solid model according to the modification intent that results in a modified solid model and modified visual display information; and displays the modified solid model using the modified visual display information to the user; and appropriate means and computer-readable instructions.
US08810558B2

A sampling transistor in embodiments of the present invention is kept at the on-state with a time width shorter than one horizontal cycle, during the period from the rising of a control pulse supplied from a scanner to the falling of the control pulse, and samples a video signal Vsig from a signal line SL to write the video signal Vsig to a hold capacitor. A sampling transistor T1 has a double gate structure in which a pair of transistor elements are connected in common. This suppresses change in the threshold voltage of the sampling transistor.
US08810556B2

An exemplary active matrix organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes a data line, a current sensing line, a power line and a plurality of pixels all electrically coupled to the data line, the current sensing line and the power line. During a data current is writing to a selected one of the pixels, the selected pixel draws a current from the current sensing line, and the data line supplies a particular data voltage to the selected pixel according to the drawn current from the current sensing line until the drawn current matched with the data current; the other non-selected pixels draw currents from the power line for light-emission. Moreover, a pixel circuit and a data current writing method adapted for the above-mentioned active matrix OLED display also are provided.
US08810536B2

A method and apparatus are provided for user input to a tablet computer. The apparatus consists of movable grips with touch sensitive regions attached to the sides of a tablet computer. Both the positions of the grips and the location of touches are used to determine the input codes sent to the computer.
US08810535B2

A method includes detecting a touch associated with an edge of a display of an electronic device, identifying a navigation device function associated with the touch, and performing the navigation device function.
US08810531B2

In a method of a touch panel determining multi-touch, the touch panel can determine if a sensing channel having a local minimum of a sensing value is the last sensing channel having the sensing value, or determine if sensing channels having the sensing value larger than a threshold generated according to a maximum are successive sensing channels, so as to determine the number of touch points on the touch panel. In addition, the touch panel can find a first local maximum and a second local maximum from the sensing values of the sensing channels, and compare the first local maximum and the second local maximum with a first reference and a second reference, so as to confirm the number of touch points on the touch panel.
US08810519B2

A touch sensor integrated with a keyboard spacebar. A touchpad zone can be defined on a portion of a planar surface of a spacebar. The touchpad zone can be configured to detect movement of a human appendage across the touchpad zone, or above the touchpad zone, and generate a corresponding signal from the keyboard that causes corresponding movement of a cursor presented on a display. In another embodiment, a touchpad can be positioned over the spacebar. The touchpad can be slidably engaged to the keyboard to facilitate user positioning of the touchpad over a desired portion of the spacebar.
US08810516B2

Devices and methods are disclosed which relate to improving the efficiency of text input by measuring the angle of each key press and rejecting improbable keys pressed at an off-center angle. Examples include a text-entry device which has logic for resisting error while the user enters text on a keyboard of the text-entry device. Each key determines the angle at which the key is pressed. Keyboard logic on the text-entry device assigns a range of acceptable angles to each key. If a key is pressed within the range of acceptable angles, which is typically around the center, then the entry is permitted. If a key is pressed outside the range of acceptable angles, which is typically on the edges, then the entry is denied. Once text is entered, the keyboard logic assigns a prediction value to each key based on a statistical probability that the key will be entered next. The keyboard logic then adjusts the range of acceptable angles based on that statistical probability.
US08810514B2

A pointing or input device is generally cylindrical or puck-shaped, and has various sensors for sensing 2D, 3D, and high degree of freedom motion for more natural user interaction.
US08810509B2

A technology is described for interfacing with a computing application using a multi-digit sensor. A method may include obtaining an initial stroke using a single digit of a user on the multi-digit sensor. A direction change point for the initial stroke can be identified. At the direction change point for the initial stroke, a number of additional digits can be presented by the user to the multi-digit sensor. Then a completion stroke can be identified as being made with the number of additional digits. A user interface signal to can be sent to the computing application based on the number of additional digits used in the completion touch stroke. In another configuration of the technology, the touch stroke or gesture may include a single stroke where user interface items can be selected when additional digits are presented at the end of a gesture.
US08810505B2

A liquid crystal television (1) includes a backlight (110a) which emits light toward an outside of the liquid crystal television (1) so that an image is displayed on a liquid crystal panel (110b) and a backlight control circuit (110c) which controls whether or not the backlight (110a) emits light. The backlight control circuit (110c) carries out control with respect to backlight (110a) so that a light-emitting period in which the backlight (110a) emits light alternates with a non-light-emitting period in which the backlight (110a) does not emit light.
US08810496B2

A liquid crystal display includes a timing controller and a liquid crystal panel. The timing controller sequentially receives first through third primitive image signals and sequentially outputs first through third corrected image signals. The liquid crystal panel displays an image based on the first through third corrected image signals. The timing controller generates a first converted image signal having a first gray level based on the first primitive image signal and stores the first converted image signal. The second primitive image signal has a second gray level and the timing controller generates a second converted image signal having a third gray level higher than the second gray level when the second gray level is lower than the first gray level. The timing controller generates the third corrected image signal using the second converted image signal and the third primitive image signal.
US08810495B2

The present application provides a display device having a pixel circuit including: a pixel electrode; a capacitive element configured to be connected to the pixel electrode of liquid crystal capacitance and hold a signal potential reflecting a grayscale; and an inverter circuit configured to invert polarity of a held potential read out from the capacitive element, wherein input potential of the inverter circuit is set to middle potential in an operating supply voltage range of the inverter circuit in operation of inverting the polarity of the held potential and writing an inverted potential to the capacitive element again after reading out the held potential from the capacitive element.
US08810491B2

An LCD panel with color washout improvement. In one embodiment, the LCD panel includes a plurality of pixels spatially arranged in a matrix form, each pixel defined between a respective pair of scanning lines (Gn, Gn—CS) and two neighboring data lines Dm and Dm+1, comprising a pixel electrode, a first transistor electrically coupled to the scanning lines Gn, the date line Dm and the pixel electrode, and a second transistor electrically coupled to the scanning lines Gn—CS and the pixel electrode such that when N pairs of scanning signals to the N pairs of scanning lines {Gn, Gn—CS} and a plurality of data signals to the data lines, the pixel electrode of each pixel has a first voltage at the first duration of a frame period, and a second voltage at the second duration of the frame period, respectively. The first and second voltages are substantially different from each other.
US08810480B2

Methods and apparatuses for per display scale factors within a multiple display system are described.In one aspect of the invention, a machine implemented method includes setting a scale factor for each window buffer equal to an extreme scale factor among a plurality of displays. The method further includes transferring data from each window buffer into a corresponding frame buffer for one of the plurality of displays by setting a scale factor of each frame buffer equal to the scale factor of the corresponding display.In one example according to this aspect, the method further includes displaying on a high resolution display and a low resolution display an image, stored in the corresponding frame buffers, with substantially the same physical size even though the displays have different scale factors and pixel densities. Also, the extreme scale factor is one of the largest scale factor or the smallest scale factor.
US08810475B2

An antenna device has a substrate having a first surface and a second surface on the opposite side of the first surface, a first-surface-side conductive layer formed on the first surface of the substrate, a second-surface-side conductive layer formed on the second surface of the substrate, and through hole conductors connecting the first-surface-side conductive layer and the second-surface-side conductive layer. The first-surface-side conductive layer and the second-surface-side conductive layer are formed such that the first-surface-side conductive layer and the second-surface-side conductive layer are connected via the through hole conductors in a crank form from the first surface to second surface of the substrate.
US08810463B2

Pedestrian transportable antenna systems can include an antenna mount and an antenna for satellite based or other communication mounted on a top face of the antenna mount. A bottom face of the antenna mount may be attached to a bendable rigid rod that is sufficiently rigid to provide support for the mounted antenna such that a user can walk around with the antenna deployed while the bendable rigid rod of the antenna system is mounted to the user's back (e.g., mounting into a back portion of a vest or flak jacket). The bendable rigid rod is sufficiently rigid to support the antenna without allowing the rod to “flop” over under the load of the antenna. At the same time, the rod is sufficiently bendable so as to permit the system to be drawn closer into a user's body when the antenna is not deployed (e.g., while stepping into a vehicle).
US08810460B2

A system and method for testing RF characteristics of a wireless device. The wireless device is positioned in an x-position and a y-position of a horizontal plane of a test fixture. An RF antenna coupler is positioned in an x-position and a y-position of a vertical plane. The positioning of the wireless device and the RF antenna coupler correspond to acceptable RF characteristics for testing the wireless device. Positions of the wireless device and the RF antenna coupler are identified. The identified positions are utilized to perform subsequent testing of similar wireless devices.
US08810459B2

Various mobile communication terminals and methods therefore, concerning antenna improvements, are discussed. One mobile communication terminal is described which includes a battery between the front side and planar outer rear side of the terminal, a display on the front side of the terminal, a first part having conductive material and constituting a first portion of the planar outer rear side of the mobile communication terminal, a second part having a non-conductive material and constituting a second portion of the planar outer rear side of the terminal, and an antenna mounted within the terminal. At least a part of the antenna is disposed between the front side and the second portion of the planar outer rear side of the terminal.
US08810452B2

Transmitters are located with a network of sensors by measuring signal characteristics at multiple known locations and processing these measurements at a central node. The sensors communicate their location to the central node along with measured characteristics of the transmitter's signal, and may be required to synchronize with other sensors. Often, GNSS receivers are utilized to locate and synchronize the sensors. However, the GNSS signals may be attenuated by obstructions. In this case, the sensors determine their location by making ranging measurements with sensors that can receive the GNSS signals. The waveform for the wireless backhaul permits this ranging. Additionally, many sensors can determine their location and time synchronize with the geolocation network through reception of signals from other sensors even if they do not have a direct connection to sensors that know their location and are time synchronized.
US08810450B2

Satellite positioning system (SATPS) receiver that has a plurality of modes and channels, where a timeline module configures the channels based on the mode of operation of the SATPS receiver and reconfigures the channels if the mode of operation of the SATPS changes.
US08810447B2

A calibration device, capable of calibrating a gain of a radiometer, includes an actuator and a micro-electromechanical-system (MEMS) unit. The actuator receives a calibration signal outputted from a control unit. The MEMS unit is coupled to the actuator, in which the actuator enables the MEMS unit to shield an antenna of the radiometer according to the calibration signal, such that the radiometer generates an environmental signal according to an equivalent radiant temperature received from the MEMS unit, and the control unit calibrates the gain of the radiometer according to the environmental signal.
US08810445B2

An object recognition apparatus is provided, which enhances accuracy in recognizing more than one object to be detected closely located along a scan direction. In the apparatus, measured-distance datums included in an area formed by those measured-distance datums which are spaced apart by a distance of not more than a predetermined allowable value are grouped as one candidate area. The candidate area, if it has a size larger than a specified value, is regarded as a special candidate area. An object area on an image datum corresponding to the special candidate area is subjected to an image recognition process to define the range of the objects residing therein. The special candidate area is divided at a border between the objects based on the defined range. All candidate areas including the divided new candidate areas are subjected to a tracing process to confirm an object in each candidate area.
US08810442B1

A method of background calibration of aperture center errors in a data communication system is provided. In an implementation, in response to detection of a low sampler output (“0”) in between two high sampler outputs (“1”), the method includes: calculating a signal derivative of an ADC output signal at the time of the detected low output; and adjusting timing at a selected sampler based on the calculated signal derivative. In an example implementation, the method includes watching for bubbles in the thermometer code output, and estimating the first derivative of the signal at the time of the bubble, then estimating the sign of the errors. In an example implementation, the errors are used in a control loop to reduce the aperture center error.
US08810431B2

A vehicle merge control system includes a host communication system in a host vehicle for exchanging vehicle position and kinematics data with a remote communication system in at least one remote vehicle. A vehicle host processor determines respective positions and paths of travel of the at least one remote vehicle and the host vehicle. The host processor determines a time to intersect based on the positions and predicted paths of travel between the host vehicle and remote vehicle during a merging maneuver. A host vehicle is configured to transmit a host vehicle intention message from the host communication system to the remote communication system for negotiating a merging position between the host vehicle and the at least one remote vehicle. The host vehicle executes the merging maneuver using the negotiated merging position.
US08810425B2

Exemplary methods, systems and components enable detection and/or monitoring and/or control of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) exposure of target body-related portions of a user operating a telecommunication device. In some embodiments a risk-assessment output is provided based on a safety threshold or predetermined intrusion level of EMR exposure. A further aspect may include interaction with external EMR sources regarding possible modification of emissions as well as possible arrangements for other types of remedial action. Some embodiments may provide travel route mapping data indicative of EMR source locations and/or irradiation values in a given locale.
US08810422B2

This invention relates generally to the field of surveillance systems, and in particular to fault and alarm condition reporting to a monitoring system. The surveillance system comprises a plurality of identification sensors and a measurement device coupled to each of the plurality of identification sensors for measuring the acceleration thereof. A detection system connected with each of the plurality of identification sensors processes acceleration data measured from each of the measurement devices. Based on the processing of the acceleration data, an alert is generated by an alert system.
US08810410B2

A pedometer includes an activity amount acquisition unit that acquires an activity amount of a user, an index acquisition unit that acquires an index relating to the activity amount, and an index output unit that outputs the acquired index. The index acquisition unit includes an activity age acquisition unit that acquires an activity age represented by a standard age of a person who does the same amount of activity as the activity amount acquired in a unit period, using body information of the user, and acquires an index enabling the active age to reach a target activity age, based on the acquired activity amount.
US08810403B2

When multiple readers for RF transponders have to be placed in close proximity, such as in adjacent lanes of a highway toll barrier, they can be set to operate at different frequencies. When signals from two adjacent ones of the readers interfere, the resulting signal includes interference terms whose frequencies equal the sum of the reader frequencies and the difference between the reader frequencies. To remove such interference terms while passing the desired terms, a tag includes a low-pass or other frequency-selective filter.
US08810396B2

A method for analyzing the condition of a machine having a rotating shaft, includes:receiving a digital input signal (I) having a first plurality (ILENGTH) of sample values, the digital input signal (I) representing mechanical vibrations emanating from rotating the shaft so far as to cause occurrence of a vibration having a period of repetition (TR); dividing the received digital input signal (I) into a first signal portion (2070) and a second signal portion; generating a digital output signal (O) having a second plurality (OLENGTH) of samples, the second plurality (OLENGTH) being a positive integer and lower than the first plurality (ILENGTH); the digital output signal (O) being generated in response to the first signal portion (2070) and the second signal portion.
US08810395B2

Hardware equipment hire cabinet. An automated hardware equipment hire cabinet is provided in which the hiring of pieces of hardware equipment is monitored by the use of individual tags being read by tag readers such that their removal and replacement can be monitored and hire times and service intervals monitored. In at least one exemplary embodiment of a hardware equipment hire cabinet of the present disclosure, the cabinet comprises a hardware equipment storage area comprising a plurality of equipment bays, a hire tracking system comprising a first equipment sensor configured to detect removal of a piece of equipment from an equipment bay and to electronically store hire data concerning such removal, and a quarantine system comprising a dedicated quarantine area and a second equipment sensor configured to detect the presence of a quarantined piece of equipment in the quarantine area and to electronically store quarantine data.
US08810391B2

A method of sensing exposure to one or more of a plurality of environmental factors includes exposing a code circuit to at least some of the environmental factors, the code circuit disposed over a substrate and including a plurality of electrically-connected sensor patches, each sensor patch susceptible to one of the environmental factors, wherein the code circuit has an electrical state. An electrical excitation signal is passed through the code circuit, and a corresponding received electrical signal detected, using a transceiver formed on a transceiver substrate separate from and disposed over the substrate, wherein the transceiver includes a controller and the received electrical signal depends on the excitation signal and the electrical state of the code circuit. Using the controller, the received electrical signal or a representation thereof is automatically stored in a memory. The checking and storing steps are automatically repeated after one or more selected time intervals.
US08810389B2

Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for path finding in multimodes. The apparatus for path finding in multimodes includes: a location-tracking unit that tracks current locations of a plurality of terminals to generate a plurality of pieces of location information; a path-finding unit that receives a path-finding request for specific destinations common to the plurality of terminals from the plurality of terminals to find paths to the specific destinations from the location of each terminal at the time of the path-finding request and generate the plurality of pieces of path information; and a sharing server that transmits the plurality of pieces of path information and the location information of the plurality of terminals on the found paths to the plurality of terminals.
US08810379B2

The invention is a Bed Exit Night Light System designed to illuminate a hospital room if a patient leaves his bed, but is not activated by the presence of hospital staff or casual movement of equipment.
US08810372B2

A method and device of power management for a networked radio frequency identification (“RFID”) system are disclosed. The described power management methods reduce the power consumption of battery-operated RFD) readers and REED tags. These power conservation methods increase the RFID system's hours of operation and decrease the cost by allowing the RFID readers and tags to function for a longer period of time before requiring charging or replacement of their batteries.
US08810366B2

Provided is a service providing device including a biometric information extraction unit for extracting biometric information, which is information unique to a living body, from living body image data obtained by capturing an image of a part of the living body, an authentication request unit for transmitting the biometric information extracted by the biometric information extraction unit and collation order information, which is information relating to an order of collating at least a piece of registered biometric information registered in advance with the biometric information at a time of authentication of the biometric information, to a biometric authentication server for authenticating the biometric information based on the at least a piece of registered biometric information registered in advance, and for requesting the authentication of the extracted biometric information, and a service providing unit for providing a specific service to a user according to an authentication result for the biometric information.
US08810360B2

The status of a device is controlled by detecting (403) the presence of a user; changing the status of a device to a first state (405) if the presence of a user is detected within a first, predetermined zone; changing the status of the device to the second state (407) if the presence of a user is detected outside a second, predetermined zone, the first, predetermined zone being smaller than and being wholly contained within the second, predetermined zone; and maintaining (407) the current state of the device if the presence of a user is detected outside of the first, predetermined zone and within the second predetermined zone.
US08810359B2

A method and a system for assembling and controlling a lighting array including a plurality of lighting units by providing a representation of the lighting array having a unit entry for and corresponding to each lighting unit in the lighting array wherein each unit entry includes a physical location address field and a lighting unit identification field. The representation of the lighting array is mapped onto the array address space by entering a physical address in the array address space into the location address field of each unit entry and serializing the lighting unit by writing a unique unit identifier of a corresponding lighting unit into the lighting unit identification field of each unit entry.
US08810357B2

A medical supply unit includes a bus system for transmitting instructions of control elements to actuators. The bus system is provided with transmitters and receivers being connected to each other by a transmission system. Via the transmission system, commands of the transmitters are transmitted, which are controlled by the control elements, and the responsive receiver transfers the command to a switching instruction at an output of the responsive receiver so as to control an actuator.
US08810346B2

The electromagnetic actuator comprises an electric coil mounted in a magnetic yoke, first and second pole parts, which are connected to the yoke and each of which extends near a free space in which a magnetic core is translationally displaceable by the action of the power supply to the electric coil and the formation of different magnetic fields in the pole parts. The inventive actuator consists of a tubular part, which is made of a magnetic material, delimits, at least partially, the free space, surrounds the magnetic core for guiding the displacement thereof and has magnetically continues with the pole parts in such a way that the radial air gap between the magnetic core and the magnetic pole parts is reduced.
US08810342B2

An electromagnetic relay includes a relay body, a connector and an electronic-component connection terminal. The connector is provided integrally with the relay body. The electronic-component connection terminal is disposed so as to protrude from the relay body.
US08810341B2

Magnetically actuated micro-electro-mechanical capacitor switches in laminate are disclosed. According to one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a first layer comprising a coil and magnetic element, the magnetic element made from one of nickel and iron; a second layer comprising a flexible member, wherein a permanent magnet is attached to the flexible member; a conductive plate having an insulating dielectric coating, the conductive plate attached to one of the flexible member or a magnet; and a third layer comprising a transmission line and magnetic material, wherein the transmission line comprises one or more of a signal conductor and one or more ground conductors in near proximity.
US08810337B2

A bandpass filter passes a range of frequencies with low loss while suppressing frequencies above and below the passed range of frequencies. One or more spurlines is included into the existing structure of the bandpass filter so that a selected odd multiple of the passed frequency range is suppressed.
US08810334B2

There is provided a splitter circuit for use with a CATV network comprising a signal input in communication with a balun to supply two signal outputs, a resistor connected in parallel between the outputs, and capacitive, inductive, and resistive elements associated with the resistor, thereby to give an insertion loss in to out in the range of 3 to 10 dB.
US08810328B2

A circuit arrangement for the inductive transfer of energy is disclosed. The circuit arrangement includes an oscillator; and a device for detecting the load of the oscillator and for setting the circuit arrangement into one of multiple operating states depending on the detected load. The device determines the load of the oscillator using an electrical variable occurring in the oscillator.
US08810322B2

A wideband frequency generator has two or more oscillators for different frequency bands, disposed on the same die within a flip chip package. Coupling between inductors of the two oscillators is reduced by placing one inductor on the die and the other inductor on the package, separating the inductors by a solder bump diameter. The loosely coupled inductors allow manipulation of the LC tank circuit of one of the oscillators to increase the bandwidth of the other oscillator, and vice versa. Preventing undesirable mode of oscillation in one of the oscillators may be achieved by loading the LC tank circuit of the other oscillator with a large capacitance, such as the entire capacitance of the coarse tuning bank of the other oscillator. Preventing the undesirable mode may also be achieved by decreasing the quality factor of the other oscillator's LC tank and thereby increasing the losses in the tank circuit.
US08810321B2

An oscillator auto-trimming method is provided. The oscillator auto-trimming method includes receiving, by a subtractor, a first count result and second count result to output a difference between the first count result and the second count result as an offset frequency, receiving, by a divider, the offset frequency to output a divided signal corresponding to a result of dividing the offset frequency by a reference offset frequency output from a micro control unit, and receiving, by the micro control unit, the divided signal and determine whether to change an oscillator frequency.
US08810315B2

A differential amplifying circuit includes: two metal oxide semiconductor transistors to form a differential pair and receive a differential signal; a plurality of capacitance elements coupled in series between drains of the two metal oxide semiconductor transistors; and an inductance circuit coupled between at least one connection node of the plurality of capacitance elements and a bias power terminal.
US08810314B2

An envelope tracking power amplifier uses signal cancellation techniques to provide isolation between RF signals and envelope signals, without the use of filters. In this manner, the envelope tracking power amplifiers are capable of operating with envelope signals that are at or near the frequency of the corresponding RF signals. In at least one embodiment, a double balanced power amplifier is provided that includes a balanced RF input port, a balanced RF output port, and a balanced envelope input port. The balanced nature of the amplifier results in ports of the amplifier forming virtual grounds with respect to signals at other ports. In some other embodiments, a single balanced amplifier is provided that provides isolation between ports thereof.
US08810303B2

A method and system for limiting the slew rate of the output voltage of one or more high side (HS) NMOS power switches is disclosed. A circuit arrangement configured to control a first NMOS switch is described. The arrangement comprises voltage provisioning means configured to supply a gate voltage to a gate terminal of the first NMOS switch; current provisioning means configured to provide a current; a first control stage configured to provide and/or remove a connection between the gate terminal of the first NMOS switch and the voltage provisioning means, thereby switching the first NMOS switch to an on-state and/or an off-state, respectively; and a first feedback control link between an output terminal of the first NMOS switch and the current provisioning means configured to control the slew-rate of a voltage at the first output terminal.
US08810297B2

A circuit device includes a clock generator outputting a clock signal having a first frequency; plural phase controllers inputting the clock signal having the first frequency, and outputting clock signals having the first frequency and having phases advanced or delayed with respect to a phase of the clock signal; a selector inputting the plural clock signals having the first frequency output from the plural phase controllers, sequentially selecting pulses of the plural clock signals, and outputting a clock signal having a second frequency; a pattern generator generating a test pattern based on the clock signal having the second frequency; and a circuit inputting the clock signal having the second frequency and the test pattern generated by the pattern generator, operate based on the clock signal having the second frequency, and outputting operation results.
US08810289B1

Apparatuses, circuits, methods, and other embodiments associated with digital power on reset are described. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a digital electronic component configured to produce a clock signal. A first counter is configured to output a first count signal based on the clock signal and a second counter is configured to output a second count signal based on the clock signal. A power on reset logic is configured to provide a power on reset signal based on the first count signal and the second count signal, where the power on reset logic is configured to disable the digital electronic component after providing the power on reset signal to prevent the digital electronic component from drawing power.
US08810288B2

An output buffer is disclosed. The output buffer includes an input-stage circuit, an output-stage circuit and a compensation circuit. The compensation circuit includes a capacitor, a first switch, a second switch, a third switch, and a fourth switch. The input-stage circuit receives a differential input signal and outputting a response signal. The output-stage circuit receives the response signal and outputting an output signal. The first switch controls a connection between the input-stage circuit and a first terminal of the capacitor. The second switch controls the connection between an output terminal of the compensation circuit and a second terminal of the capacitor. The third switch controls the connection between the input-stage circuit and the second-terminal of the capacitor. The forth switch controls the connection between the output terminal of the compensation circuit and the first terminal of the capacitor.
US08810282B2

Apparatus and methods for voltage comparison are provided. In one embodiment, a comparator includes a first input transistor having a gate configured to receive a first input voltage and a second input transistor having a gate configured to receive a second input voltage. The first and second input transistors can be used to compare the first input voltage to the second input voltage. Additionally, the comparator further includes a first Miller capacitor electrically connected to a drain of the first input transistor and a second Miller capacitor electrically connected to a drain of the second input transistor. Furthermore, first and second inverting amplification circuits are electrically connected across the first and second Miller capacitors, respectively, so as to increase the effective capacitance of the capacitors. The first and second Miller capacitors can be used to extend the comparator's integration time, thereby enhancing the performance of the comparator.
US08810276B2

A programmable semiconductor device includes a user programmable switch comprising a configurable element positioned above a transistor material layer deposited on a substrate layer.
US08810268B2

A built-in self-test (BIST) circuit for a liquid crystal display (LCD) source driver includes at least one digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and at least one buffer coupled to the respective DAC, wherein the buffer is reconfigurable as a comparator. A first input signal and a second input signal are coupled to the comparator. The first input signal is a predetermined reference voltage level. The second input signal is a test offset voltage in a test range.
US08810259B2

An exemplary embodiment of this invention relates to a method of inspection of a filled hard capsule sealed with a solvent sealing agent, including a process for determining the quality of the seal. The process may include: supplying a filled hard capsule sealed with a solvent sealing agent; supplying a microwave resonator wherein a measuring field having a resonance curve is generated; directing the capsule through the measuring field; measuring characteristics related to the modification of the resonance curve produced by the presence of the capsule in the measuring field, in comparison with a reference resonance curve corresponding to an empty state of the resonator; and using the measured characteristics to determine a value associated with the quality of the seal. Other exemplary embodiments of this invention relates to a method for sorting capsules on the basis of the result of the inspection method and to an associated equipment able to carry out such methods.
US08810258B2

A signal acquisition system has a signal acquisition probe having probe tip circuitry coupled to a resistive center conductor signal cable. The resistive center conductor signal cable of the signal acquisition probe is coupled to a compensation system in a signal processing instrument via an input node and input circuitry in the signal processing instrument. The signal acquisition probe and the signal processing instrument have mismatched time constants at the input node with the compensation system having an input amplifier with feedback loop circuitry and a shunt pole-zero pair coupled to the input circuitry providing pole-zero pairs for maintaining flatness over the signal acquisition system frequency bandwidth.
US08810256B1

A method for verifying the adjustment for the purpose of calibration of an impedance meter having at least a first and a second measurement range includes measuring within the first range a first measured value of a test impedance; measuring within the second range a second measured value of the test impedance; and comparing the first and second measured values to verify the calibration of the impedance meter.
US08810253B2

Embodiments of methods and apparatuses for characterizing an electrical power distribution system are disclosed. One method includes applying a plurality of test signals to a first plurality of test points of the electrical power distribution system, measuring a plurality of response signals at a second plurality of test points of the electrical distribution system, deriving a characterization matrix for the electrical power distribution system from the plurality of test signals and response signals, and characterizing the electrical power distribution system based on the derived characterization matrix.
US08810250B2

Various systems, methods and apparatus are described for detecting an excessive or faulty ground current in a conductive wire or electronic device. A ground current detector is coupled to a known earth ground to determine whether other ground lines are carrying excessive, faulty and/or leaking currents. If these types of unsafe conditions are detected, then a user can take appropriate action to locate and correct these problems.
US08810248B2

A method of testing the electric field recording of a marine electromagnetic sensor cable including electrodes is provided. The method includes causing time varying current to flow between at least one pair of current electrodes disposed along the marine electromagnetic sensor cable. The flow of current generates a voltage in a body of water, thereby causing a secondary field impressed on a pair of sensor electrodes disposed along the marine electromagnetic sensor cable. A potential difference between the pair of sensor electrodes is measured. Accuracy of the electric field recording is inferred from the measured potential difference.
US08810236B2

An analyte sensor apparatus and a corresponding fluid medium, the analyte sensor apparatus comprising a sensing element, the external surface of which comprises a membrane to inhibit exposure of the sensing element; the corresponding fluid medium comprising a receptor species and an activatable species, the receptor species for interacting with an analyte to activate the activatable species, activation of the activated species causing increased porosity of the membrane of an in-contact analyte sensor apparatus to correspondingly increase exposure of the sensing element to allow for production of a detectable electrical signal which can be used to sense the presence of the analyte.
US08810225B2

Methods of a switching mode DC/DC converter are provided in the present invention. The proposed method includes a step of causing a switching frequency of the converter to be operated at a rated value multiplied by a second predetermined value when an output voltage of the converter is not larger than a first predetermined value.
US08810224B2

A system and method to regulate voltage is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a voltage regulator includes an error amplifier, a voltage buffer responsive to the error amplifier, and a first transistor responsive to the voltage buffer and coupled to a voltage supply source. A second transistor is coupled to the voltage supply source and further coupled to an output node. A third transistor is coupled to the first transistor and has a gate coupled to a capacitor. The capacitor is coupled to a node between the error amplifier and the voltage buffer.
US08810219B2

A voltage regulator having good transient response characteristics and maintaining stable operation is provided. The voltage regulator includes: a first MOS transistor having a gate terminal connected to an output terminal of the differential amplifier circuit; a first constant current source provided between the first MOS transistor and a ground terminal; an output MOS transistor having a gate terminal connected to a drain terminal of the first MOS transistor via a phase compensation circuit; a second MOS transistor having a gate terminal to which an output of the differential amplifier circuit is input and a drain terminal connected to the gate terminal of the output MOS transistor; and a second constant current source provided between the second MOS transistor and a ground terminal.
US08810208B2

The apparatus for charging an energy storage system (ESS) from an AC line voltage includes a boost stage for converting the AC line voltage to a first ESS charging voltage; an isolation stage, coupled to the boost stage, for converting the first ESS charging voltage to a second ESS charging voltage with the second ESS charging voltage less than the first ESS charging voltage, the isolation stage removing a common mode current between the ESS and the boost stage; a configurator, responsive to a control signal, to set a direct communication of the first ESS charging voltage to the ESS in a bypass mode and to open the direct communication of the first ESS charging voltage to the ESS in an isolation mode; and a controller, coupled to the configurator, for setting the modes responsive to a battery voltage, a peak of the AC line voltage, and a total leakage current at an input of the AC line voltage, the controller asserting the control signal to the configurator.
US08810204B2

A method for protecting a thin-layer battery connected to an intermittent load including the steps of periodically operating the battery at its maximum discharge current, and disconnecting the battery as soon as the voltage across it reaches a threshold value greater than its critical voltage for the maximum discharge current.
US08810202B2

A battery system includes a battery, a control section that controls the battery to charge electric power supplied from the electrical grid and to discharge electric power to the electrical grid; and a system controller. The system controller controls the control section such that the battery system operates in a first mode where electric power that is generated by a pre-designated distributed electric power source associated with the electrical grid is supplied preferentially to a user's load or in a second mode where electric power that is charged in the battery is supplied preferentially to the user's load.
US08810196B2

A charger for inductively charging one or more battery powered appliances simultaneously includes an external unit configured to inductively provide power to the battery powered appliances. The external unit includes two or more primary coil pairs that are arranged in a circular pattern; an AC power source for providing an alternating current (AC) to the primary coil pairs for generating a rotating magnetic field between respective primary coils of the primary coil pairs; and a processor for driving the AC power source. The one or more battery powered appliances are configured to be arranged inside the circular pattern of the external unit. Further, each appliance includes a secondary coil for enclosing part of the magnetic field and, in response, generating a current for charging the battery of the appliance.
US08810193B2

A charging apparatus for charging a cell group, in which a plurality of secondary cells are connected in series, by supplying a charging current Ic to the secondary cells is provided with an overcharge protection circuit including discharge route circuits 34 provided to each of the secondary cells and adapted to cause the secondary cells to discharge during charging by connecting the secondary cells to the discharge route circuits based on cell voltages Vb of the secondary cells or to stop discharging by cutting off the secondary cells from the discharge route circuits; and a charger controller for continuing charging while reducing the charging current Ic until the discharge of the secondary cell having started discharging to the discharge route circuit is stopped when the discharge of any one of the secondary cells to the discharge route circuit is started by the overcharge protection circuit.
US08810192B2

Systems and methods are described for a power aggregation system. In one implementation, a method includes a establishing a communication connection with each of multiple electric resources connected to a power grid, receiving an energy generation signal from a power grid operator, and controlling a number of the electric resources being charged by the power grid as a function of the energy generation signal.
US08810191B2

A lighting system hardware and control are described. Advantages of the system include the ability to add lighting to an otherwise unmodified location by providing a clamping system that is adaptable to multiple configurations and remote operability. Remote operability includes the ability to use renewable power sources such as solar or wind power and the ability for self-calibration with respect to the time of day. The system also minimizes the number of circuit components required thus making it optimally inexpensive and reliable.
US08810187B2

A stepper motor system and apparatus use a position-feedback device, which may have a resolution capability as low as 200 counts per motor shaft revolution, for misstep detection and motor step recovery. In use of the system, position deviation is computed periodically and cyclically, by subtracting the feedback position from the corresponding commanded position, to determine the load angle, implicitly, and the operating status of the motor. If the load angle is within an established allowable range of values, normal stepper operation along the programmed trajectory is maintained, without adjustment. A load angle that exceeds the limits of that range however indicates that a misstep has occurred, and the system controller initiates immediate action to recover lost motor steps, to reestablish synchronism, and to then continue toward the final target position, with minimal loss of time.
US08810185B2

A stepping motor includes two coils. A driver circuit drives the stepping motor by setting dissimilar phases of supply currents to these two coils. One terminal of one coil is connected to ground and another terminal is set to a high impedance state, and an induced voltage generated at that coil is detected as a voltage with respect to ground. Then, in accordance with the state of the detected induced voltage, the magnitude of motor drive current supplied to the two coils is controlled.
US08810183B2

A PWM-signal-output circuit includes a detecting unit to detect periods in which a speed signal with logic level changing alternately and having a period corresponding to a motor-rotation speed is at one and the other logic levels, a dividing unit to divide each of the periods into first to third periods; a first output unit to change a PWM-signal duty-cycle in a stepwise manner toward an input-signal duty-cycle in the first period, a second output unit to cause a PWM-signal duty-cycle to become equal to an input-signal duty-cycle, to maintain a current flowing through the motor coil constant, in the second period; and a third output unit to change a PWM-signal duty-cycle in a stepwise manner from an input-signal duty-cycle, to decrease a current flowing through the motor coil, in the third period.
US08810182B2

Power conversion systems with active front end converters for example motor drives and power generation systems for distributed energy sources are presented with adaptive harmonic minimization for grid-tie converters for minimized or reduced total harmonic distortion in the line current spectrum including the source harmonic current, the load harmonics and the PWM harmonics.
US08810181B2

A control apparatus for controllably driving a drive mechanism which displaces a movable member, includes: an electric-current detecting unit configured to detect electric current for driving the drive mechanism; a speed control unit configured to set a target electric-current according to a drive speed at which the drive mechanism is caused to drive the movable member; and an electric-current control unit configured to multiply, by an integral gain and a proportional gain, an electric-current deviation between a target electric-current and a detection electric-current detected by the electric-current detecting unit to set output electric-current to be output to the drive mechanism, wherein the current control unit changes at least one of the integral gain and the proportional gain according to the drive speed of the drive mechanism.
US08810180B2

A method for operating an electric motor with primary and secondary sections, wherein the primary section has a multi-phase exciter winding, each of the phase connections of said exciter winding being connected to an output connection of an end stage, which has controllable semi-conductor switches for applying phase voltages to the output connections, includes the following steps: a) introducing an operating phase by applying the phase voltages to the output connections such that a moving magnetic field is induced in the exciter winding, the moving field effecting a relative motion between the primary and secondary sections, b) hinting off the phase voltage at least one of the output connections to introduce a measurement phase, and c) measuring the electrical back emf induced in the winding strand in order to determine the angular difference between the phase position of the exciter current and that of the back emf.
US08810173B2

Continuous monitoring and fault diagnosis of rotating machinery during variable speed operation is performed using only a position feedback signal. The position sensor generates a periodic waveform having multiple pulses per revolution of the machine. A circuit is included to detect, for example, a zero crossing or edge of the periodic waveform. At each detected zero crossing or edge, the time and position of the event is stored in memory. Other data, such as the current in the motor, may also be sampled and stored in memory. Because the sampled data is triggered by repeated feature of the position feedback signal, the sampled data is in a stationary reference frame in the position domain. Frequency analysis is performed on the sampled data, and the frequency components present in either the sampled signal are analyzed to identify the presence of a fault in the rotating machinery.
US08810169B2

Position samples are stored from an encoder coupled to a permanent magnet electric machine. A data processor determines first changes in position between successive position samples and second changes between successive first changes in position. A data processor determines whether each first change in position is generally increasing, decreasing or constant. A corrective motion factor is applied to each stored position sample based on whether the first change in position is generally increasing or decreasing. The data processor estimates a final rotor angle of the electric machine based on a particular one of the position samples and a corresponding first change in position associated with the particular one of the position samples corresponding to a respective time.
US08810152B2

A light emitting diode module includes a circuit board, a light-emitting-diode (LED) unit, a light-adjusting unit and a conductive trace. The LED unit is directly mounted on the circuit board. The light-adjusting unit is directly mounted on the circuit board at a position distinct from a mounting portion of the LED unit on the circuit board, and is operable to adjust electric current flowing through the LED unit. The conductive trace is disposed on the circuit board for electrically connecting the LED unit to the light-adjusting unit.
US08810148B2

In examples of the embodiment, a surge-proof interface circuit (100) comprises a rectifier circuit (20) which is configured to produce a rectified rectifier output voltage at the rectifier output terminals (20c, 20d), in accordance with a rectifier input voltage at the rectifier input terminals (20a, 20b), and a Darlington circuit (30) which comprises at least two transistors (Q3, Q4). Said Darlington circuit (30) comprises a current path (35) which can be controlled on the output side in accordance with a control signal (62) and said current path (35) which can be controlled on the output side is coupled between the rectifier output connections (20c, 20d).
US08810134B2

A method for generating atmospheric pressure cold plasma inside a hand-held unit discharges cold plasma with simultaneously different rf wavelengths and their harmonics. The unit includes an rf tuning network that is powered by a low-voltage power supply connected to a series of high-voltage coils and capacitors. The rf energy signal is transferred to a primary containment chamber and dispersed through an electrode plate network of various sizes and thicknesses to create multiple frequencies. Helium gas is introduced into the first primary containment chamber, where electron separation is initiated. The energized gas flows into a secondary magnetic compression chamber, where a balanced frequency network grid with capacitance creates the final electron separation, which is inverted magnetically and exits through an orifice with a nozzle. The cold plasma thus generated has been shown to be capable of accelerating a healing process in flesh wounds on animal laboratory specimens.
US08810131B2

A field emission device is configured as a heat engine with an AC output.
US08810130B2

To provide a bright and highly reliable light-emitting device. An anode (102), an EL layer (103), a cathode (104), and an auxiliary electrode (105) are formed sequentially in lamination on a reflecting electrode (101). Further, the anode (102), the cathode (104), and the auxiliary electrode (105) are either transparent or semi-transparent with respect to visible radiation. In such a structure, lights generated in the EL layer (103) are almost all irradiated to the side of the cathode (104), whereby an effect light emitting area of a pixel is drastically enhanced.
US08810119B2

A spark plug includes a center electrode having an end portion, and an earth electrode having an opposing portion opposed to the end portion via a gap. The end portion has an end-projecting portion. The opposing portion has an opposing-projecting portion opposed to the end-projecting portion. The end-projecting portion and the opposing-projecting portion have non-projection direction opposing surfaces which are parallel to and opposed to each other with a minimum distance and in a direction other than a projection direction. A first opposing area of a portion which includes the non-projection direction opposing surfaces and where the end-projecting portion and the opposing-projecting portion are opposed to each other with the minimum distance is larger than a second opposing area obtained when a plane of the end-projecting portion and a plane of the opposing-projecting portion, which are orthogonal to the projection direction, are opposed to each other in the projection direction.
US08810109B2

A motor includes a vibrating plate having a projection part to be pressed against a driven member and a piezoelectric material provided on the vibrating plate, wherein a Young's modulus EL in the pressing direction of the vibrating plate and a Young's modulus ES in a direction crossing the pressing direction are different.
US08810104B2

A surface acoustic wave device includes a piezoelectric substrate, at least one interdigital transducer (IDT) electrode provided on the piezoelectric substrate, and an insulator layer to improve a temperature characteristic arranged so as to cover the IDT electrode. When a surface of the insulator layer is classified into a first surface region under which the IDT electrode is positioned and a second surface region under which no IDT electrode is positioned, the surface of the insulator layer in at least one portion of the second surface region is higher than the surface of the insulator layer from the piezoelectric substrate in at least one portion of the first surface region by at least about 0.001λ, where the wavelength of an acoustic wave is λ.
US08810102B2

The invention relates to an electric machine, in particular to a generator for supplying the electrical system of a motor vehicle, comprising a laminated rotor (20) with an energiser winding (29), which provides the energisation for the machine preferably in conjunction with permanent magnets (24, 25) arranged on the rotor periphery. According to the invention, the rotor laminate bundle (21) is made up of at least two part bundles (21a, b) in the axial direction with grooves (40) running into each other and with poles offset relative to each other (32 to 38). A machine with reduced detent torque is thus obtained with grooves (40) aligned parallel to the axis, in which the energiser windings (29) can be placed with a high filling factor and without production difficulties and without the risk of damaging the winding insulation.
US08810098B2

A magnetic gear arrangement is provided having a magnetically active gear member that generates a first magnetic field, which is modulated by interpoles. The modulated magnetic field generates magnetic poles on a magnetically passive gear member, and these poles form a second magnetic field. The material of the passive gear member is sufficiently magnetically hard that the first and second magnetic fields interact to couple the motion of the active and passive gear members according to a given gear ratio.
US08810086B2

Disclosed is a rotor (1) for an electric rotor motor, consisting of a rotor bell (2) with a peripheral wall (4) and at least one one-sided rotor base (6) to enclose a stator, in particular as a part of a motor housing with a high IP rating, for example IP54 per DIN/IEC-EN 60034-5. The rotor bell (2) features a heat sink (12) with high heat conductivity that extends through the rotor base (6) in such a way that the motor heat arising on the inside can be removed via the heat sink (12) through the rotor base (6) to the outside into the environment. Further, the invention relates to an electric rotor motor, in particular with an encapsulated motor housing with a high IP-protection system, for example IP54 per DIN/IEC-EN 60034-5, consisting of a stator and a rotor (1) enclosing the stator in an embodiment of the above-described type.
US08810078B2

In the analog current output circuit according to the present invention, a rising start position and a tilt of an internal control voltage are set such that it crosses, at the maximum of an analog output current, a load end voltage obtained when the resistance of a load is the one near the center of a specification range. According to a comparison result in a comparator, a switch causes a DC/DC converter to input a high reference voltage and causes an output transistor to output a high power supply voltage when the internal control voltage is smaller than the load end voltage and causes the DC/DC converter to input a low reference voltage and causes the output transistor to output a low power supply voltage when the internal control voltage is larger than the load end voltage.
US08810071B2

A Wireless power transmission system comprises a base unit (1) with multiple magnetic field generator circuits and a device (10), separable from said base unit (1) having a receiving inductor, adapted to receive power inductively when said device (10) is in proximity to one of said generator circuits, wherein said base unit (1) comprises a controller (3), configured to determine a transmission circuit (2′) from said generator circuits when said receiving inductor is in proximity to said transmission circuit (2′), whereupon said transmission circuit (2′) is operated to generate a first magnetic field (8), having a first phase, to induce a current in said receiving inductor and at least one of the remaining generator circuits is operated as a compensation circuit (2″, 52, 82) to generate a second magnetic field (21), having an opposite phase to said first phase.
US08810069B2

A PV system includes a plurality of PV strings each having an optimal string voltage at which a string output power is maximized. The PV strings are connected to a DC link in a parallel arrangement such that each PV strings operates at a variable DC link voltage. A PV inverter is connected to the DC link to receive a DC output, with the PV inverter controlling the DC link voltage. Delta DC/DC converters are connected to the PV strings, with each DC/DC converter receiving the DC link voltage from the DC link and providing a tuning voltage to the DC link voltage at which its respective PV string operates in order to bring the string voltage for that PV string to its optimal string voltage. The tuning voltage of each delta DC/DC converter is the difference between the DC link voltage and a respective optimal string voltage.
US08810066B2

A power storage system and method of controlling the system is disclosed. The power storage system is connected to a power generation system and a grid. If a remaining amount of power of a battery is insufficient when the grid is in a quasi-normal state, the battery is charged by directly receiving electric power from the grid, and thus electric power is available for the if the grid subsequently goes back into the abnormal state.
US08810065B2

An electronic device includes a power control circuit to generate a power mode signal and a plurality of voltage regulators to receive the power mode signal. Each voltage regulator reduces an output voltage in response to the power mode signal, and the reduced output voltage of each voltage regulator is used to power a different circuit of or function to be performed in the electronic device.
US08810062B2

A method for assembly of a transfer switch is disclosed that includes a power switch device with a number engagement landings and a printed circuit board defining an opening bordered by a number of tabs. The tabs engage the landings as the switch device extends through the openings, and can be fastened together.
US08810060B2

A charging device for a vehicle includes a connector configured such that a coupler for transmitting electric power from an external power supply to the vehicle is connectable to the connector, a charging circuit for transmitting electric power from the connector to a power storage device, a charging control unit for charging the power storage device by controlling the charging circuit while in an operating state, and for halting control of the charging circuit while in a halting state, and an activation control unit for keeping the charging control unit in the halting state until detecting that the connector receives electric power, in a case where connection of the coupler and the connector is detected, and for switching the charging control unit from the halting state to the operating state when it is detected that the connector receives electric power.
US08810059B2

Coupling and interface circuits for powerline modems are disclosed. A powerline modem may be coupled to a low voltage (LV) line or a medium voltage (MV) line using a circuit that is designed to compensate for signal attenuation and loss that is created by the a LV/MV transformer and/or a MV coupler. In one embodiment, separate coupling transformers may be used by the modem for reception and transmission. In other embodiments, a capacitance is switched on the transmission line before the modem transmits to lower the line impedance.
US08810045B2

A packaging substrate and a semiconductor package each include: a metal board having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, wherein the first surface has a plurality of first openings for defining a first core circuit layer therebetween, the second surface has a plurality of second openings for defining a second core circuit layer therebetween, each of the first and second openings has a wide outer portion and a narrow inner portion, and the inner portion of each of the second openings is in communication with the inner portion of a corresponding one of the first openings; a first encapsulant formed in the first openings; a second encapsulant formed in the second openings; and a surface circuit layer formed on the first encapsulant and the first core circuit layer.
US08810042B2

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip having a multilayer interconnect, a first spiral inductor and a second spiral inductor formed in the multilayer interconnect, and an interconnect substrate formed over the semiconductor chip and having a third spiral inductor and a fourth spiral inductor. The third spiral inductor overlaps the first spiral inductor in a plan view. The fourth spiral inductor overlaps the second spiral inductor in the plan view. The third spiral inductor and the fourth spiral inductor collectively include a line, the line being spirally wound in a same direction in the third spiral inductor and the fourth spiral inductor.
US08810035B2

A bonding structure body in which a semiconductor element and an electrode are bonded via a solder material, wherein a part that allows bonding has a first intermetallic compound layer that has been formed on the electrode side, a second intermetallic compound layer that has been formed on the semiconductor element side, and a third layer that is constituted by a phase containing Sn and a sticks-like intermetallic compound part, which is sandwiched between the two layers of the first intermetallic compound layer and the second intermetallic compound layer, and the sticks-like intermetallic compound part is interlayer-bonded to both of the first intermetallic compound layer and the second intermetallic compound layer.
US08810028B1

Integrated circuit packaging devices and methods are disclosed. An embodiment package lid is formed from a single piece of material. The lid includes a planar rectangular main body having a bottom surface, and a leg disposed at each corner of the main body and within a perimeter of the main body. Each leg has a wall projecting downwardly from the main body and a non-planar bottom surface disposed at a bottom of the wall. The non-planar bottom surface of the leg faces a same direction as the main body bottom surface.
US08810017B2

A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit package system includes: attaching a first die to a first die pad; connecting electrically a second die to the first die through a die interconnect positioned between the first die and the second die; connecting a first lead adjacent the first die pad to the first die; connecting a second lead to the second die, the second lead opposing the first lead and adjacent the second die; and providing a molding material around the first die, the second die, the die interconnect, the first lead and the second lead, with a portion of the first lead exposed.
US08810011B2

A semiconductor device has a plurality of conductive vias formed partially through a substrate. A conductive layer is formed over the substrate and electrically connected to the conductive vias. A semiconductor die is mounted over the substrate. An encapsulant is deposited over the semiconductor die and substrate. A trench is formed through the encapsulant around the semiconductor die. A shielding layer is formed over the encapsulant. The trench is formed partially through the substrate and the shielding layer is formed in the trench partially through the substrate. An insulating layer can be formed in the trench prior to forming the shielding layer. A portion of the substrate is removed to expose the conductive vias. An interconnect structure is formed over the substrate opposite the semiconductor die. The interconnect structure is electrically connected to the conductive vias. The shielding layer is electrically connected to the interconnect structure.
US08810005B1

A bipolar device with an entirely monocrystalline intrinsic base to extrinsic base link-up region. To form the device, a first extrinsic base layer, which is amorphous or polycrystalline, is deposited such that it contacts an edge portion of a monocrystalline section of an intrinsic base layer through an opening in a dielectric layer. A second extrinsic base layer is deposited on the first. An anneal is performed, either before or after deposition of the second extrinsic base layer, so that the extrinsic base layers are monocrystalline. An opening is formed through the extrinsic base layers to a dielectric landing pad aligned above a center portion of the monocrystalline section of the intrinsic base layer. The dielectric landing pad is removed and a semiconductor layer is grown epitaxially on exposed monocrystalline surfaces of the extrinsic and intrinsic base layers, thereby forming the entirely monocrystalline intrinsic base to extrinsic base link-up region.
US08809997B2

An e-fuse structure includes a first doped region and a second doped region formed in a substrate. The first doped region has a first conductivity type and the second doped region has a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type. The first and second doped regions contact each other. A conductive pattern is disposed on the first and second doped regions and contacts the first and second doped regions. A first contact plug is disposed on the conductive pattern in an area corresponding to the first doped region, and a second contact plug is disposed on the conductive pattern in an area corresponding to the second doped region.
US08809990B2

Provided are a semiconductor device including a high voltage transistor and a low voltage transistor and a method of manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a high voltage region and a low voltage region; a high voltage transistor formed in the high voltage region and including a first active region, a first source/drain region, a first gate insulating layer, and a first gate electrode; and a low voltage transistor formed in the low voltage region and including a second active region, a second source/drain region, a second gate insulating layer, and a second gate electrode. The second source/drain region has a smaller thickness than a thickness of the first source/drain region.
US08809989B2

A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate having a hexagonal crystalline structure with a c-axis and c-planes; and transistors on a c plane of the semiconductor substrate. Source electrodes of the transistors are connected to each other. Drain electrodes of the transistors are connected to each other. Gate electrodes of the transistors are connected to each other. The gate electrodes of the transistors extend along directions that form angles with each other that are 60 degrees or 120 degrees, in a plan view seen from a direction perpendicular to the c plane of the semiconductor substrate.
US08809980B2

An infrared sensor according to the present invention includes a semiconductor substrate, a thin-film pyroelectric element made of lead titanate zirconate and disposed on the semiconductor substrate, a coating film coating the pyroelectric element and having a topmost surface that forms a light receiving surface for infrared rays, and a cavity formed to a shape dug in from a top surface of the semiconductor substrate at a portion opposite to the pyroelectric element and thermally isolates the pyroelectric element from the semiconductor substrate.
US08809977B2

A semiconductor device includes a pinned layer having a magnetic direction permanently set to a first direction, a tunnel insulating layer arranged on the pinned layer, a free layer arranged on the tunnel insulating layer and having a changeable magnetic direction, and a magnetic induction layer formed to surround the pinned layer and have a magnetic direction permanently set to a second direction different from the first direction.
US08809966B2

A semiconductor device includes an active area having a source and a gate. A gate metal contact is deposited above and forms an electrical contact with the gate and a source metal contact is deposited above and forms an electrical contact with the source. The source metal contact includes a plurality of metal through contacts positioned adjacent a side of the active area, the plurality of metal through contacts being spaced at intervals from one another and arranged in two or more rows.
US08809955B2

Semiconductor structures and methods for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor structure comprises: a gate stack formed on a semiconductor substrate; a super-steep retrograde island embedded in said semiconductor substrate and self-aligned with said gate stack; and a counter doped region embedded in said super-steep retrograde island, wherein said counter doped region has a doping type opposite to a doping type of said super-steep retrograde island. The semiconductor structures and the methods for manufacturing the same facilitate alleviating short channel effects.
US08809943B2

A three dimensional semiconductor memory device includes an electrode structure having a plurality of conductive electrode patterns and insulating patterns alternatingly stacked on a substrate. Opposite sidewalls of the electrode structure include respective grooves therein extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate. First and second active patterns protrude from the substrate and extend within the grooves in the opposite sidewalls of the electrode structure, respectively. Respective data storing layers extend in the grooves between the conductive electrode patterns of the electrode structure and sidewalls of the first and second active patterns adjacent thereto. Related fabrication methods are also discussed.
US08809936B2

A memory cell system is provided including forming a first insulator layer over a semiconductor substrate, forming a charge trap layer over the first insulator layer, forming a second insulator layer over the charge trap layer, forming a top blocking intermediate layer over the second insulator layer, and forming a contact layer over the top blocking intermediate layer.
US08809934B2

A lamination pattern having a control gate electrode, a first insulation film thereover, and a second insulation film thereover is formed over a semiconductor substrate. A memory gate electrode is formed adjacent to the lamination pattern. A gate insulation film is formed between the control gate and the semiconductor substrate. A fourth insulation film, including a lamination film of a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, and another silicon oxide film, is formed between the memory gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate and between the lamination pattern and the memory gate electrode. At the sidewall on the side of the lamination pattern adjacent to the memory gate electrode, the first insulation film is retreated from the control gate electrode and the second insulation film, and the upper end corner portion of the control gate electrode is rounded.
US08809911B2

Plural gate trenches are formed in the surface of an n-type drift region. A gate electrode is formed across a gate oxide film on the inner walls of the gate trenches. P-type base regions are selectively formed so as to neighbor each other in the gate trench longitudinal direction between neighboring gate trenches. An n-type emitter region is formed in contact with the gate trench in a surface layer of the p-type base regions. Also, a p-type contact region with a concentration higher than that of the p-type base region is formed in the surface layer of the p-type base region so as to be in contact with the gate trench side of the n-type emitter region. An edge portion on the gate trench side of the n-type emitter region terminates inside the p-type contact region.
US08809910B1

The present disclosure relates to a gallium-nitride (GaN) transistor device having a composite gallium nitride layer with alternating layers of GaN and aluminum nitride (AlN). In some embodiments, the GaN transistor device has a first GaN layer disposed above a semiconductor substrate. An AlN inter-layer is disposed on the first GaN layer. A second GaN layer is disposed on the AlN inter-layer. The AlN inter-layer allows for the thickness of the GaN layer to be increased over continuous GaN layers, mitigating bowing and cracking of the GaN substrate, while improving the breakdown voltage of the disclosed GaN device.
US08809908B2

A high-quality GaAs-type crystal thin film using an inexpensive Si wafer with good thermal release characteristics is achieved. Provided is a semiconductor wafer comprising an Si wafer; a Ge layer that is crystal-grown on the wafer and shaped as an isolated island; a buffer layer that is crystal-grown on the Ge layer and is a group 3-5 compound semiconductor layer containing P; and a functional layer that is crystal-grown on the buffer layer. The Ge layer may be shaped as an island having a size that does not exceed double a distance moved by crystal defects as a result of annealing the Ge layer at a certain temperature for a certain time. The Ge layer may be shaped as an island having a size for which stress due to a difference relative to a thermal expansion coefficient of Si, which is material of the wafer, does not cause crystal defects when the Ge layer is annealed at a certain temperature.
US08809904B2

Electronic device structures including semiconductor ledge layers for surface passivation and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, the electronic device includes a number of semiconductor layers of a desired semiconductor material having alternating doping types. The semiconductor layers include a base layer of a first doping type that includes a highly doped well forming a first contact region of the electronic device and one or more contact layers of a second doping type on the base layer that have been etched to form a second contact region of the electronic device. The etching of the one or more contact layers causes substantial crystalline damage, and thus interface charge, on the surface of the base layer. In order to passivate the surface of the base layer, a semiconductor ledge layer of the semiconductor material is epitaxially grown on at least the surface of the base layer.
US08809897B2

Solid state transducer devices having integrated electrostatic discharge protection and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a solid state transducer device includes a solid state emitter, and an electrostatic discharge device carried by the solid state emitter. In some embodiments, the electrostatic discharge device and the solid state emitter share a common first contact and a common second contact. In further embodiments, the solid state lighting device and the electrostatic discharge device share a common epitaxial substrate. In still further embodiments, the electrostatic discharge device is positioned between the solid state lighting device and a support substrate.
US08809895B2

Provided are a light emitting device and a method of fabricating the same. The light emitting device includes a first conductive type semiconductor layer, a second conductive type semiconductor layer, and an active layer between the first conductive type semiconductor layer and the second conductive type semiconductor layer, the active layer being formed of a semiconductor material. Also, the light emitting device further includes a current spreading layer comprising a plurality of carbon nanotube bundles physically connected to each other on one of the first and second conductive type semiconductor layers.
US08809885B2

Disclosed is a light emitting device. The light emitting device comprises a light emitting structure comprising a plurality of compound semiconductor layers; and a light extraction structure on the light emitting structure. The light extraction structure comprises a plurality of first layers and a plurality of second layers which are alternately disposed with each other to have a negative refraction index.
US08809884B2

Disclosed are a light emitting device, a light emitting device package and a lighting system. The light emitting device of the embodiment includes a light emitting structure including a first conductive semiconductor layer, a second conductive semiconductor layer and an active layer between the first and second conductive semiconductor layers; a second electrode under the second conductive semiconductor layer; a first texture over a first region of the first conductive semiconductor layer; an A-electrode over the first region of the first conductive semiconductor layer; and a B-electrode over a second region of the first conductive semiconductor layer, wherein the B-electrode includes a pad electrode connected to a wire.
US08809879B2

To provide a highly reliable light-emitting device and especially a light-emitting device which can be formed without use of a metal mask and includes a plurality of light-emitting elements. A structural body at least an end of which has an acute-angled shape is provided so that the end can pass downward through an electrically conductive film formed over the insulating layer and can be at least in contact with an insulating layer having elasticity, thereby physically separating the electrically conductive film, and the electrically conductive films are thus electrically insulated from each other. Such a structure may be provided between adjacent light-emitting elements so that the light-emitting elements can be electrically insulated from each other in the light-emitting device.
US08809877B2

A semiconductor voltage transformation structure is provided. The semiconductor voltage transformation structure includes: a first electrode layer ; an electricity-to-light conversion layer formed on the first electrode layer; a second electrode layer formed on the electricity-to-light conversion layer; a first isolation layer formed on the second electrode layer; a third electrode layer formed on the first isolation layer; a light-to-electricity conversion layer formed on the third electrode layer; and a fourth electrode layer formed on the light-to-electricity conversion layer, in which the first isolation layer, the second electrode layer and the third electrode layer are transparent to a working light emitted by the electricity-to-light conversion layer.
US08809876B2

Materials can be prepared in a layer-by-layer fashion on a patterned first substrate and subsequently transferred to a second substrate. The transfer step can preserve the pattern of the first substrate, such that the second substrate will bear a pattern of the transferred material. The material can be an electrostatic multilayer including a light absorbing dye, such as a J-aggregating cyanine dye.
US08809870B2

A conventional DRAM needs to be refreshed at an interval of several tens of milliseconds to hold data, which results in large power consumption. In addition, a transistor therein is frequently turned on and off; thus, deterioration of the transistor is also a problem. These problems become significant as the memory capacity increases and transistor miniaturization advances. Another problem is that an increase in memory capacity leads to an increase in the area, despite an attempt at integration through advancement of transistor miniaturization. A transistor is provided which includes an oxide semiconductor and has a trench structure including a trench for a gate electrode and a trench for element isolation. In addition, a plurality of memory elements each including the transistor having a trench structure and including an oxide semiconductor is stacked in a semiconductor device, whereby the circuit area of the semiconductor device can be reduced.
US08809869B2

A diode includes: a semiconductor layer stack; cathode and anode electrodes formed on the semiconductor layer stack so as to be spaced apart from each other; and a protection film covering a region of an upper surface of the semiconductor layer stack. The semiconductor layer stack includes a first nitride semiconductor layer, and a second nitride semiconductor layer having a larger band gap than the first nitride semiconductor layer, and has a channel. The anode electrode includes: a p-type third nitride semiconductor layer formed on the semiconductor layer stack; a first metal layer being in ohmic contact with the third nitride semiconductor layer; and a second metal layer being in contact with the first metal layer, and being in ohmic contact with the channel.
US08809867B2

Lateral epitaxial overgrowth of non-polar III-nitride seed layers reduces threading dislocations in the non-polar III-nitride thin films. First, a thin patterned dielectric mask is applied to the seed layer. Second, a selective epitaxial regrowth is performed to achieve a lateral overgrowth based on the patterned mask. Upon regrowth, the non-polar III-nitride films initially grow vertically through openings in the dielectric mask before laterally overgrowing the mask in directions perpendicular to the vertical growth direction. Threading dislocations are reduced in the overgrown regions by (1) the mask blocking the propagation of dislocations vertically into the growing film and (2) the bending of dislocations through the transition from vertical to lateral growth.
US08809865B2

A display device including a base substrate, a pixel disposed on the base substrate, and a color filter part disposed between the base substrate and the pixel. The color filter part includes a color filter corresponding to the pixel and a black matrix disposed at at least a side of the color filter. The pixel includes a cover layer defining a tunnel-shaped cavity on the base substrate, an image display part disposed in the tunnel-shaped cavity, and first and second pixel electrodes and a common electrode applying an electric field to the image display part. The tunnel-shaped cavity is formed by forming a sacrificial layer and wet-etching the sacrificial layer.
US08809864B2

Provided is a liquid crystal display including: a first substrate; a thin film transistor disposed on the first substrate; a passivation layer disposed on the thin film transistor and comprising a contact hole exposing an electrode of the thin film transistor; a pixel electrode disposed on the passivation layer and connected to the electrode of the thin film transistor through the contact hole; a lower buffer layer disposed on the pixel electrode; a lower alignment layer disposed on the lower buffer layer; a second substrate facing the first substrate; a common electrode disposed on the second substrate; an upper buffer layer disposed on the common electrode; and an upper alignment layer disposed on the upper buffer layer, in which the lower buffer layer comprises parylene, the upper buffer layer comprises parylene, or both the lower and the upper buffer layers comprise parylene.
US08809862B2

The present invention provides a semiconductor device which suppresses a short circuit and a leakage current between a semiconductor film and a gate electrode generated by a break or thin thickness of a gate insulating film in an end portion of a channel region of the semiconductor film, and the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device. Plural thin film transistors which each have semiconductor film provided over a substrate continuously, conductive films provided over the semiconductor film through a gate insulating film, source and drain regions provided in the semiconductor film which are not overlapped with the conductive films, and channel regions provided in the semiconductor film existing under the conductive films and between the source and drain regions. And impurity regions provided in the semiconductor film which is not overlapped with the conductive film and provided adjacent to the source and drain regions. Further, the conductive films are provided over the channel regions and regions of the semiconductor film which are provided adjacent to the channel regions.
US08809853B2

With a combination of a transistor including an oxide semiconductor material and a transistor including a semiconductor material other than an oxide semiconductor, a semiconductor device with a novel structure in which data can be retained for a long time and does not have a limitation on the number of writing can be obtained. When a connection electrode for connecting the transistor including a semiconductor material other than an oxide semiconductor to the transistor including an oxide semiconductor material is smaller than an electrode of the transistor including a semiconductor material other than an oxide semiconductor that is connected to the connection electrode, the semiconductor device with a novel structure can be highly integrated and the storage capacity per unit area can be increased.
US08809847B2

A photoelectric conversion device includes an organic photoelectric conversion layer, and suppresses sensitivity degradation caused by the light irradiation. A photoelectric conversion device 100 is formed by stacking a first electrode layer 104, a photoelectric conversion layer 15 including an organic material, and a second electrode layer 108 on a substrate 101, in which the photoelectric conversion layer 15 has a bulk hetero structure of a P-type organic semiconductor and an N-type organic semiconductor, and a difference between an ionization potential of the P-type organic semiconductor and an apparent ionization potential of the bulk hetero structure is 0.50 eV or less. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress sensitivity degradation caused by the light irradiation.
US08809846B2

An organic molecular memory of an embodiment includes: a first conductive layer; a second conductive layer; and an organic molecular layer that is provided between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and contains an organic molecule selected from a group of molecules that simultaneously satisfy the following conditions (I) and (II) in a molecular system having a molecular frame with a π-electron system spreading along the molecular axis: (I) one of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) is delocalized along the molecular axis, and the other one is localized with respect to the molecular axis; and (II) the value of the energy level of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) is −5.75 eV or higher.
US08809840B2

An organic light emitting device may include an emission layer between a reflecting electrode and one of a transmitting or transflective electrode, and an optical control layer formed with an organic material that is 5000 to 10,000 Å thick between the transmitting or transflective electrode and the emission layer.
US08809832B1

Various embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to selective photo-enhanced wet oxidation for nitride layer regrowth on substrates. In one aspect, a method may comprise: forming a first III-nitride layer with a first low bandgap energy on a first surface of a substrate; forming a second III-nitride layer with a first high bandgap energy on the first III-nitride layer; transforming portions of the first III-nitride layer into a plurality of III-oxide stripes by photo-enhanced wet oxidation; forming a plurality of III-nitride nanowires with a second low bandgap energy on the second III-nitride layer between the III-oxide stripes; and selectively transforming at least some of the III-nitride nanowires into III-oxide nanowires by selective photo-enhanced oxidation.
US08809827B1

A mechanism is provided for a thermally assisted magnetoresistive random access memory device (TAS-MRAM). The device includes a magnetic tunnel junction configured to store data, a first multilayer contact structure positioned on one end of the magnetic tunnel junction, and a second multilayer contact structure positioned on an opposite end of the magnetic tunnel junction. The first multilayer contact structure and the second multilayer contact structure each include multiple layers of metals. The multiple layers of metals are structured to inhibit thermal conductivity between the magnetic tunnel junction and surrounding structures, and the multiple layers of metals are structured to electrically conduct electrical current.
US08809826B2

A memory element and a memory device having the stable switching characteristics with the characteristics of data retention remaining favorable are provided. The memory element includes a first electrode, a memory layer, and a second electrode in this order. The memory layer includes an ion source layer provided on the second electrode side, a resistance change layer provided between the ion source layer and the first electrode, and a barrier layer provided between the resistance change layer and the first electrode, and having conductivity higher than that of the resistance change layer.
US08809823B1

A method and apparatus for improved control of the trajectory and timing of droplets of target material in a laser produced plasma (LPP) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light system is disclosed. A droplet illumination module generates a laser curtain, and sensors detect the droplets as they pass through the curtain. One sensor in combination with a controller detects the position of the droplets relative to a desired trajectory to the irradiation site so that a signal can be sent to an actuator of a droplet generator to adjust orientation of the droplet generator and direct subsequent droplets to the irradiation site, as in the prior art. A second sensor, or droplet detection module, also detects each droplet as it passes through the curtain, and in combination with a controller determines when the source laser should generate a pulse so that the pulse will arrive at the irradiation site at the same time as the droplet, and sends a signal to the source laser to fire at the correct time.
US08809821B2

A holder device for holding an optical element includes a holder having first and second members to sandwich the optical element therebetween, and a sealing member for creating a seal between the second member and the optical element.
US08809803B2

A wide ion beam source includes a plurality of RF windows arranged in a predetermined relationship, a single plasma chamber disposed on a first side of the plurality of RF windows, a plurality of RF antennas, each RF antenna of the plurality of RF antennas disposed on a second side of a respective RF window of the plurality of RF windows, the second side being opposite the first side, and a plurality of RF sources, each RF source coupled to a respective RF antenna of the plurality of RF antennas, wherein a difference in frequency of a first RF signal produced by a first RF source coupled to a first RF antenna from that of a second RF signal produced by a second RF source coupled to an RF antenna adjacent to the first RF antenna is greater than 10 kHz.
US08809799B2

Problems to be solved: To obtain higher brightness than Langmuir limit. Adjust brightness to the optimum value.Method of resolution: To obtain such beams, the following means and methods are effective. A charged particles beam apparatus consisting of a charged particle source, a beam drawing electrode, and a beam control electrode, wherein; after the charged particles beam source a condenser lens is designed, and brightness of the charged particles beam is adjusted by adjusting a magnification factor of said condenser lens.
US08809796B2

An X-ray detector and a method of driving the X-ray detector, which accurately compensate for an image lag of an X-ray scanning by using an X-ray image and a dark image, are provided. A stand-by time for the X-ray scanning may be reduced by increasing the accuracy of the image lag compensation.
US08809793B2

Present embodiments relate to the calibration of detectors having one or more arrays of pixelated detectors. According to an embodiment, a method includes detecting optical outputs generated by a plurality of scintillation crystals of a detector with an array of pixelated detectors, generating, with the array of pixelated detectors, respective signals indicative of the optical outputs, generating, from the respective signals, a unique energy spectrum correlated to each of the plurality of scintillation crystals, grouping subsets of the plurality of scintillation crystals into macrocrystals, determining a representative energy spectrum peak for each macrocrystal based on the respective energy spectra of the scintillation crystals in the macrocrystal, comparing a value of the representative energy spectrum peak for each macrocrystal with a target peak value, and adjusting an operating parameter of at least one pixelated detector in the array of pixelated detectors as a result of the comparison.
US08809792B2

A method and apparatus for determining a coincidence window for imaging a region of interest of an object using a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner. The method includes determining a diameter of a transverse field of view (FOV) for imaging the region of interest of the object; and calculating the coincidence window based on the determined diameter, a ring diameter of the PET scanner, an axial length of the PET scanner, and a time-of-flight resolution of the PET scanner.
US08809788B2

A system to detect occupants is provided. The system may rotate the field of views of multiple sensors in order to scan an area. The system may scan the area multiple times. The system may determine the number of occupants in the area based on a comparison of a scan of the area with a scan of the area when the area is determined to be unoccupied. The system may determine the number of occupants in the area based on a maximum number of occupants detected by any of the sensors. The system may also determine a location of an object or an occupant from scans of the area obtained from multiple sensors.
US08809787B2

A device and a method for use in detection of a muzzle flash event is described. The device can include a Photo Detector Array (PDA), sensitive in at least a portion of the NIR and SWIR spectrum, and a filter of electromagnetic radiation selectively passing in this portion a spectral range of low atmospheric transmission, the PDA has an integration time shorter than a duration of the muzzle flash event.
US08809784B2

In accordance with particular embodiments, a method for packaging an incident radiation detector includes depositing an opaque solder resistant material on a first surface of a transparent lid substrate configured to cover at least one detector. The method also includes forming at least one cavity in the lid substrate. The method further includes forming a first portion of at least one hermetic seal ring on the opaque solder resistant material. The first portion of each hermetic seal ring surrounds a perimeter of a corresponding cavity in the lid substrate. The method also includes aligning the first portion of the at least one hermetic seal ring with a second portion of the at least one hermetic seal ring. The method additionally includes bonding the first portion of the at least one hermetic seal ring with the second portion of the at least one hermetic seal ring with solder.
US08809782B2

A scanning electron microscope includes a main scanning electron microscope unit having an electron optical column and a sample chamber, a controller over the main scanning electron microscope unit, a single housing that houses both the main scanning electron microscope unit and the controller, and a bottom plate disposed under the single housing, the main scanning electron microscope unit and the controller. A first leg member is attached to a bottom face of the bottom plate on a side of the controller with a first opening hole provided through the bottom plate on a side of the main scanning electron microscope unit, and a damper is fixed to a bottom face of the main scanning electron microscope unit and disposed through the first opening hole.
US08809775B2

A curtain-gas filter for a mass- or mobility-spectrometer that bars gases or vapors of a high-flux atmospheric pressure ion source, as we ions of high mobility and charged droplets, from entering an evacuated mass spectrometer or a mobility spectrometer that is at a lower pressure than the main filter volume of the curtain-gas filter. A portion of the ion-source buffer gas in the ion-source plume is sucked through an ion-source buffer gas inlet into the main filter volume of the curtain-gas filter, from where this ion-source gas is exhausted after a properly shaped electric field has pushed a large portion of the embedded ions into an externally provided stream of a clean buffer gas, which is sucked through a passage into a mass- or mobility-spectrometer that is at a lower pressure.
US08809771B2

Devices, systems, and methods for dispersive energy imaging are disclosed. The full three-dimensional velocity distribution function of a flowing particle stream may be measured and properties of the particle stream characterized. In some devices, an aperture system controls the entry of a stream of particles into the sensor where an electrostatic deflector separates the stream of particles into different species, and a detector system senses the separated species.
US08809748B2

An apparatus and method for heating a pipe prior to performing a welding operation, an interpass welding operation, a hydrogen bake-out operation of a weld joint or for post heat-treating of a weld joint is provided. The heating apparatus can include at least one heating collar placed around a pipe or weld joint, and a controller unit for controlling the thermal heat energy transferred from the heating collar to the pipe or weld joint.
US08809747B2

A method of operating a heating plate for a substrate support assembly used to support a semiconductor substrate in a semiconductor processing apparatus, wherein the heating plate comprises power supply lines and power return lines and respective heater zone connected between every pair of power supply line and power return line. The method reduces maximum currents carried by the power supply lines and power return lines by temporally spreading current pulses for powering the heater zones.
US08809735B2

If a short circuit does not occur during deceleration of a wire feed speed in forward feed of a welding wire before the wire feed speed reaches a predetermined wire feed speed, a cyclic change is stopped and the wire feed speed is constantly controlled at the first feed speed. If a short circuit occurs during forward feed at the first feed speed, deceleration from the first feed speed starts, and the cyclic change is resumed for welding. This achieves uniform weld bead without increasing spatters even if any external disturbance such as change of distance between a tip and base material occurs.
US08809734B2

A method and system for locally processing a predetermined microstructure formed on a substrate without causing undesirable changes in electrical or physical characteristics of the substrate or other structures formed on the substrate are provided. The method includes providing information based on a model of laser pulse interactions with the predetermined microstructure, the substrate and the other structures. At least one characteristic of at least one pulse is determined based on the information. A pulsed laser beam is generated including the at least one pulse. The method further includes irradiating the at least one pulse having the at least one determined characteristic into a spot on the predetermined microstructure. The at least one determined characteristic and other characteristics of the at least one pulse are sufficient to locally process the predetermined microstructure without causing the undesirable changes.
US08809733B2

Techniques or processes for providing markings on products are disclosed. In one embodiment, the products have housings and the markings are to be provided on sub-surfaces of the housings. For example, a housing for a particular product can include an outer housing surface and the markings can be provided on a sub-surface the outer housing surface yet still be visible from the outside of the housing. Since the markings are beneath the surface of the housing, the markings are durable.
US08809727B2

The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus that performs activation annealing or defect repair annealing and surface oxidization which succeed impurity doping intended to control the conductive property of a semiconductor substrate. In the present invention, a sample to be heated is placed on a lower electrode in a plasma treatment chamber. A gap between an upper electrode and the lower electrode is filled with a gap whose main raw material is a rare gas (helium, argon, krypton, xenon, or the like) having a pressure close to the atmospheric pressure. A power fed from a high-frequency power supply is applied to the upper electrode in order to induce an atmospheric-pressure glow discharge. Gas heating in the gap between the electrodes, which depends on the glow discharge, is used to heat-treat the sample to be heated.
US08809716B2

The present invention provides a haptic steering wheel switch apparatus including: a haptic wheel housing unit configured to be disposed on a vehicle steering wheel; a circuit board unit configured to be disposed inside the haptic wheel housing unit; and a haptic wheel device including a haptic wheel device actuator configured to establish an electrical connection with the circuit board unit and including a haptic shaft, a haptic knob connected with the haptic shaft and exposedly disposed in the haptic wheel housing unit, and a haptic wheel device sensing unit configured to detect the rotating state of the haptic shaft, wherein the haptic wheel device is disposed on a front or rear side of the vehicle steering wheel, and a haptic steering wheel switch system including the same.
US08809710B2

The invention relates to an actuation unit of a moving part (1) of a motor vehicle, in particular a rear hood (1), comprising an actuation part (10) that is fastened to a housing part (20), at least two conductor elements (21) disposed on the housing part (20), an elastically deformable contact element (22) that cooperates with the conductor elements (21), a plunger (11), which is disposed at the actuation part (10), for deforming the contact element (22). According to the invention, the actuation part (10) and the housing part (20) delimit an internal space (2) that is totally closed off from the environment (3), and the actuation part (10) is mounted pivotably about an axis (4) that runs axisymetrically with respect to the internal space (2).
US08809707B2

A combination pressure switch including a pressure switch moveable between open and closed positions in response to a working pressure of a fluid, the pressure switch including a contact assembly having first and second terminals electrically connected through a current-carrying member movable by the pressure switch, and a manual switch configured to move the current-carrying member independent of the movement of the pressure switch.
US08809703B2

Keys may be formed for keyboards. The keyboards may be attached to electronic devices such as computers or may be formed within a portable computer or other electronic equipment. A keyboard may be provided with a planar housing member such as a top plate. The top plate may have openings through which key caps protrude. Each key cap may be attached to a respective spring mechanism. The spring mechanism for each key may have first and second diving-board structures that flex about respective parallel flex axes. A dome switch may be mounted under each spring mechanism. The dome switch is compressed when the key cap is pressed and the first diving-board structure moves towards the dome switch. The top plate may have edge portions surrounding each key opening that form upstop structures that prevent the key caps and spring mechanisms from tilting when the dome switch is compressed.
US08809701B2

A connecting device for electrical junction boxes, including a sleeve member that can be inserted in a first hole of a first wall of a first box and in a second hole provided in a second wall of a second box to be joined to the first box. An annular gasket is fitted around the sleeve and is located between the two walls. The sleeve has a first end provided with a plate that is internal to the first box and a second end provided with an abutment means that engages the inner side of the second wall. The insertion of a wedge member, which is applied between the plate and the first wall, gradually moves the plate away from the inner side, pushing the walls against each other and compressing the gasket between them.
US08809693B2

A three-dimensional circuit board is formed by comprising a board, a first wiring-electrode group provided on a plurality of steps above the board, and a second wiring-electrode connected to the first wiring-electrode group at least in an altitude direction, in which at least a connecting portion between the first wiring-electrode group and the second wiring-electrode is integrated in a continuously identical shape.
US08809689B2

A composite interconnect assembly includes a body structure formed from a composite material (e.g., a carbon graphite material) with one or more conductive traces embedded therein (e.g., a copper or copper alloy). One or more contact regions are provided such that the conductive traces are exposed and are configured to mechanically and electrically connect to one or more electronic components. The body structure may have a variety of shapes, including planar, cylindrical, conical, and the like.
US08809687B2

[Object]To provide a flexible printed board improved in bendability.[Means for solving]The flexible printed board 2 comprises: an insulating substrate 21; a circuit wiring 22 laid on the insulating substrate 21; a circuit protection layer 23 laid on the circuit wiring 22; a shield conductive layer 24 laid on the circuit protection layer 23; and a shield insulating layer 25 laid on the shield conductive layer 24, and is characterized by meeting the following Expression (1). 0.75≦E2/E1≦1.29  Expression (1) Note that E1 denotes the tensile elastic modulus of the shield conductive layer 24 and E2 denotes the tensile elastic modulus of the shield insulating layer 25.
US08809682B2

A divided conduit containing a thermoplastic conduit and at least one strip-shaped textile. The strip-shaped substrate may be a strip-shaped textile or a strip-shaped film and has a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge which are adhered to or embedded into the inner surface of the conduit forming at least two flexible, longitudinal channels for enveloping cables or other elongated structures.
US08809675B2

A solar cell system includes a number of P-N junction cells, a number of inner electrodes, a first collecting electrode, a second collecting electrode and a reflector. The number of the P-N junction cells is M. M is equal to or greater than 2. The M P-N junction cells are arranged from a first P-N junction cell to an Mth P-N junction cell along the straight line. The P-N junction cells are arranged in series along a straight line. The number of the inner electrodes is M−1. At least one inner electrode includes a carbon nanotube array. A photoreceptive surface is parallel to the straight line. A reflector is located on an emitting surface opposite to the photoreceptive surface.
US08809668B2

The subject of the invention is a transparent substrate, especially made of glass, which is provided with an electrode, especially for a solar cell, comprising a conductive layer based on molybdenum Mo with a thickness of at most 500 nm, especially at most 400 nm or at most 300 nm or at most 200 nm.
US08809665B2

Methods, computer program products, and systems for receiving gestures and producing percussion instrument signals are disclosed. An exemplary method includes receiving a gesture on an area of a touchscreen representing a percussion instrument and generating a signal based on the gesture and area. The gesture can be a single point initiation touch on an area, and a drag into another area. The gesture can be a two-touch point initiation touch on a first area, and a change in distance between the points to change a first parameter such as repeat rate. Such gestures can further include translation of the touch points as a group along an axis to change a second parameter such as volume, pitch, or reverb.
US08809664B2

Plural electronic musical instruments 2 obtain proficiency level related information, that includes items such as usage amounts of plural support functions which are used by a user in performing a playing practice of a practice piece during a period from a previous practice to the last practice and a proficiency level of a playing technique of a practice piece, and supply the information to a server 1. The server stores the received proficiency level related information in a database 14. Upon receipt of the information, a controlling unit 12 of the server 1 sends back the electronic musical instrument 2 information indicating the support function most suitable for practicing the practice piece determined on the basis of the received information and a series of information stored in the database containing the proficiency level related information including the item of the proficiency level corresponding to an aimed level.
US08809658B2

A keyboard device includes plural white and black keys 11w, 11b that rock according to a key depression/release operation. Positions of key support portions 13w, 13b supporting the plural white and black keys 11b, 11w in the longitudinal direction are set to be different from one another. The keyboard device also includes hammers 16w, 16b that rock with the rocking movement of the plural white and black keys 11w, 11b. The plural white and black keys 11w, 11b include drive units 11w1, 11b1 that drive the hammers 16w, 16b. The drive units 11w1, 11b1 and the pivot centers of the hammers are located on the same straight line extending in the lateral direction. An upper-limit stopper 21 and a lower-limit stopper 20, which restrict the rocking movement of the hammers 16w, 16b, are provided to extend in the lateral direction.
US08809657B2

An electronic keyboard instrument is provided and methods of playing and assembling the same. The instrument comprises a controller for enabling activation of electronic signals having audible, visible, amplifiable, recordable and/or like characteristics, and a power source for operating the controller. A first keyboard is provided having a first selected length and being oriented in a first direction such that (i) audible notes of music from at least one internal sound module and/or at least one external sound module, (ii) recordable data to be enhanced or modified by an external sequencer or program controlled apparatus, (iii) photoelectric signals, and (iv) processes or mechanisms, triggered or controlled by external signals or data, for controlling machines, video playback or lighting, and/or the like may be generated and/or activated using a first hand of one or more users. A second keyboard with a second selected length is generally coextensive with and oriented generally opposite to the first such that (i) audible notes of music from at least one internal sound module and/or at least one external sound module, (ii) recordable data to be enhanced or modified by an external sequencer or program controlled apparatus, (iii) photoelectric signals, and (iv) processes or mechanisms, triggered or controlled by external signals or data, for controlling machines, video playback or lighting, and/or the like may be generated and/or activated using a second hand of the one or more users. In addition, an interface connects the controller to at least one external device having sound module, and/or sequencing and signal enhancement functions. A plurality of peripheral devices operatively connected thereto permit interactive control and manipulation of the signals. Finally, a wearable support is mounted to the instrument for suspending the first and second keyboards from the user's body during instrument operation. Alternatively, the instrument is suspended by a support structure in a generally horizontal fashion for simultaneous operation by multiple users.
US08809653B2

An inbred corn line, designated BC110, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of inbred corn line BC110, to the plants and plant parts of inbred corn line BC110 and to methods for producing a corn plant, either inbred or hybrid, by crossing inbred corn line BC110 with itself or another corn line. The invention also relates to products produced from the seeds, plants, or parts thereof, of inbred corn line BC110 and/or of the hybrids produced using the inbred as a parent. The invention further relates to methods for producing a corn plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic plants produced by that method and to methods for producing other inbred corn lines derived from inbred corn line BC110.
US08809650B1

A novel maize variety designated PH1MHD and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH1MHD with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH1MHD through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid maize seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the variety PH1MHD or a locus conversion of PH1MHD with another maize variety.
US08809649B1

A novel maize variety designated X13B607 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing hybrid maize variety X13B607 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X13B607 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X13B607, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X13B607. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X13B607.
US08809645B1

A novel maize variety designated X13C755 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing hybrid maize variety X13C755 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X13C755 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X13C755, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X13C755. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X13C755.
US08809641B1

A novel maize variety designated PH1MB5 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprise crossing maize variety PH1MB5 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PH1MB5 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid maize seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the variety PH1MB5 or a locus conversion of PH1MB5 with another maize variety.
US08809633B2

A lettuce cultivar, designated Champion, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of lettuce cultivar Champion, to the plants of lettuce cultivar Champion and to methods for producing a lettuce plant by crossing the cultivar Champion with itself or another lettuce cultivar. The invention further relates to methods for producing a lettuce plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic lettuce plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to lettuce cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from lettuce cultivar Champion, to methods for producing other lettuce cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from lettuce cultivar Champion and to the lettuce plants, varieties, and their parts derived from the use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid lettuce seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar Champion with another lettuce cultivar.
US08809632B2

A lettuce cultivar, designated Carlsbad, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of lettuce cultivar Carlsbad, to the plants of lettuce cultivar Carlsbad and to methods for producing a lettuce plant by crossing the cultivar Carlsbad with itself or another lettuce cultivar. The invention further relates to methods for producing a lettuce plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic lettuce plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to lettuce cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from lettuce cultivar Carlsbad, to methods for producing other lettuce cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from lettuce cultivar Carlsbad and to the lettuce plants, varieties, and their parts derived from the use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid lettuce seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar Carlsbad with another lettuce cultivar.
US08809630B2

The invention relates to plant transcription factor polypeptides, polynucleotides that encode them, homologs from a variety of plant species, and methods of using the polynucleotides and polypeptides to produce transgenic plants having advantageous properties compared to a reference plant. Sequence information related to these polynucleotides and polypeptides can also be used in bioinformatic search methods and is also disclosed.
US08809618B2

The object of the invention is a method for the production of a non-human transgenic mammal by means of which it is possible to monitor in vivo and in all the tissues the state of activation of any intracellular receptor, utilizing a reporter gene inducible by natural or synthetic molecules which modulate the activity of such receptor. The mammal is question is preferably a mouse.
US08809613B2

The present invention relates to a method for preparing linear alpha-olefins (LAO) by oligomerization of ethylene in the presence of a solvent and homogeneous catalyst, comprising the steps of: (i) feeding ethylene, solvent and catalyst into an oligomerization reactor, (ii) oligomerizing the ethylene in the reactor, (iii) removing a reactor outlet stream comprising solvent, linear alpha-olefins, optionally unreacted ethylene and catalyst from the reactor via a reactor outlet piping system, (iv) dosing at least one additive selected from the group consisting of alcohols, poly-ethylene glycols, polyethylene glycol monoethers, polyethylene glycol diethers, polyamines, amines, amino alcohols and surfactants, (v) transferring the reactor outlet stream containing the additive to a catalyst deactivation and removal section, and (vi) deactivating the catalyst with caustic and removing the deactivated catalyst from the reactor outlet stream, wherein the residence time of the additive in the reactor outlet stream prior to mixing with caustic is at least 1 second preferably at least 5 seconds, more preferably at least 10 seconds.
US08809607B2

A process for co-production of renewable diesel fuel range hydrocarbons and gasoline fuel range hydrocarbons from biomass-derived oils and fatty materials (e.g. triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, and free fatty acids) and biomass-derived polyol (e.g. sorbitol, xylitol, trehalose, sucrose, and sugar alcohol), respectively, in a same refinery hydrotreater with or without co-feeding of diesel fuel range hydrocarbons.
US08809602B2

A method of the present invention, for producing an iodizing agent, includes the step of electrolyzing iodine molecules in a solution by using an acid as a supporting electrolyte. This realizes (i) a method of producing an iodine cation suitable for use as an iodizing agent that does not require a sophisticated separation operation after iodizing reaction is completed, and (ii) an electrolyte used in the method. Further, a method of the present invention, for producing an aromatic iodine compound, includes the step of causing an iodizing agent, and an aromatic compound whose nucleus has one or more substituent groups and two or more hydrogen atoms, to react with each other under the presence of a certain ether compound. This realizes such a method of producing an aromatic iodine compound that position selectivity in iodizing reaction of an aromatic compound is improved.
US08809598B2

This invention relates to processes for producing ethanol from at least two different streams obtained by carbonylating methanol. The process comprises the steps of reacting carbon monoxide with at least one reactant in a first reactor containing a reaction medium to produce a reaction solution comprising acetic acid, wherein the at least one reactant is selected from the group consisting of methanol, methyl acetate, methyl formate, dimethyl ether and mixtures thereof and wherein the reaction medium comprises water, acetic acid, methyl iodide, and a first catalyst, purifying the reaction solution to yield an acetic acid product stream and at least one derivative stream, introducing the acetic acid product stream and the at least one derivative stream into a second reactor in the presence of a second catalyst to form a crude ethanol product, and recovering ethanol from the crude ethanol product.
US08809591B2

The present invention is directed to a process for the manufacture of 2,3,5-trimethyl-hydro-p-benzoquinone comprising the following steps: a) hydrogenating 2,6-dimethyl-p-benzoquinone with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst in an organic solvent to obtain 2,6-dimethyl-hydro-p-benzoquinone; b) reacting 2,6-dimethyl-hydro-p-benzoquinone with a secondary amine and formal-dehyde in an organic solvent to obtain 2,6-dimethyl-3-(N,N-disubstituted aminomethyl)-hydro-p-benzoquinone; c) reacting 2,6-dimethyl-3-(N,N-disubstituted aminomethyl)-hydro-p-benzoquinone with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenolysis catalyst in an organic solvent to obtain 2,3,5-trimethylhydro-p-benzoquinone; wherein the organic solvent in all steps a), b) and c) is independently selected from the group consisting of methyl tert.-butyl ether, ethyl tert.-butyl ether, methyl tert.-amyl ether, methoxycyclopentane and any mixtures thereof. Preferably the organic solvent used in all steps a), b) and c) is the same.
US08809582B2

The present invention relates to an economic process for preparing surface-reacted calcium carbonate. The present invention further relates to a surface-reacted calcium carbonate having an increased specific BET surface area, and the use of a process for adjusting the specific BET surface area.
US08809581B2

The present invention provides a method for making 6-aminocaproic acid as an active pharmaceutical ingredient. The method comprises: performing a hydrolysis procedure to have ε-caprolactam react with acid or base to generate a first reaction mixture, performing a modification procedure to have a solubility regulating agent reacts with 6-aminocaproic acid in the first reaction mixture to form a second reaction mixture including an aminocaproic acid intermediate, performing a separation procedure to have the intermediate separated from the second reaction mixture and performing a hydrogenation procedure to have the aminocaproic acid intermediate hydrogenated to form a 6-aminocaproic acid product.
US08809565B2

This invention relates to methods for the production of sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, magnesium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, aluminum, copper (II) and zinc salts of 5-sulfoisophthalic acid. In addition, this disclosure describes new compositions of matter, specifically, the rubidium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, and copper (II) salts of 5-sulfoisophthalic acid. The method utilizes the addition of metals salts to a crude sulfonation solution of 5-sulfoisophthalic acid.
US08809558B1

The invention provides novel synthetic intermediates and synthetic methods that are useful for preparing compounds of the xenicane family. Certain compounds of the invention may also possess anti-cancer properties.
US08809557B2

Disclosed is a method of producing an optically active fluorinated oxetane, which can be an important pharmaceutical or agricultural intermediate, by reaction of a fluorinated α-keto ester with an acyl alkenyl ether in the presence of a transition metal complex with an optically active ligand. This method utilizes a catalytic asymmetric synthesis process and does not require a stoichiometric amount of chiral source. It is thus possible to dramatically reduce the amount of use of the asymmetric catalyst especially when the reaction is performed at a high concentration of substrate (with the use of a small amount of reaction solvent) or in the absence of a reaction solvent (under neat conditions). Further, the target optically active fluorinated oxetane can be obtained with high yield and with very high optical purity. The product contains almost no difficult-to-separate impurity and shows high chemical purity.
US08809549B2

The present invention relates to particular esters of bendamustine and related compounds, and medical uses thereof.
US08809545B2

The present invention provides a compound of formula I; a method for manufacturing the compounds of the invention, and its therapeutic uses. The present invention further provides a combination of pharmacologically active agents and a pharmaceutical composition.
US08809538B2

A method for preventing and/or treating a metabolic disease, cerebrovascular disease, etc. which comprises administering to a mammal an effective amount of the compound of the formula (I): wherein all symbols have the same meanings as defined in the specification; a salt thereof, an N-oxide thereof, a solvate thereof, or a prodrug thereof. And a novel compound of the formula (I-1): wherein all symbols have the same meanings as defined in the specification; a salt thereof, an N-oxide thereof, a solvate thereof, or a prodrug thereof has an anti-diabetic effect and a neuroprotective effect. Accordingly, the compound of the formula (I) and the compound of the formula (I-1) are useful in a method for preventing and/or treating for a metabolic disease such as diabetes, cerebrovascular disease such as stroke, etc.
US08809531B2

The present invention relates generally to novel rhodamine dyes which upon conjugation with another molecule form single isomeric conjugation products. These novel rhodamine dyes contain only one single functional group on the rhodomine molecule for conjugation so that their conjugation products are single isomeric conjugation products.
US08809530B1

The present invention relates to novel synthetic substituted heterocyclic compounds and pharmaceutical compositions containing the same that are capable of inhibiting or antagonizing a family of receptor tyrosine kinases, Tropomysosin Related Kinases (Trk), in particular the nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor, TrkA. The invention further concerns the use of such compounds in the treatment and/or prevention of pain, cancer, restenosis, atherosclerosis, psoriasis, thrombosis, or a disease, disorder or injury relating to dysmyelination or demyelination or the disease or disorder associated with abnormal activities of NGF recptor TrkA.
US08809527B2

Provided are modulators of TLRs of Formula II: pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, compositions containing such compounds, and therapeutic methods that include the administration of such compounds.
US08809526B2

A method of producing 6-amino-cyclopenta[g]quinazolines, in enantiomerically enriched form, is provided. In particular, the method may be applicable to the synthesis of N—{N-{4-[N-((6S)-2 -hydroxymethyl-4-oxo-3,4,7,8-tetrahydro-6H-cyclo-penta[g]quinazolin-6-yl)-N-(prop-2 -ynyl)amino]benzoyl}-L-γ-glutamyl}-D-glutamic acid (ONX-0801).
US08809525B2

According to the invention there is provided a compound of formula A1 which may be useful in the treatment of a condition or disorder ameliorated by the inhibition of the A1-A2b or, particularly, the A2a receptor wherein the compound of formula A1 has the structure, wherein, A represents Cy1 or HetA; Cy1 represents a 5- to 14-membered aromatic, fully saturated or partially unsaturated carbocyclic ring system comprising one, two or three rings, which Cy1 group is optionally substituted by one or more R4a substituents; HetA represents a 5- to 14-membered heterocyclic group that may be aromatic, fully saturated or partially unsaturated, and which contains one or more heteroatoms selected from O, S and N, which heterocyclic group may comprise one, two or three rings and which HetA group is optionally substituted by one or more R4b substituents; B represents a Cy2 or HetB; Cy2 represents a 3- to 10-membered aromatic, fully saturated or partially unsaturated carbocyclic ring system comprising one or two rings, which Cy2 group is optionally substituted by one or more R4c substituents; HetB represents a 3- to 10-membered heterocyclic group that may be aromatic, fully saturated or partially unsaturated, and which contains one or more heteroatoms selected from O, S and N, which heterocyclic group may comprise one or two rings and which HetB group is optionally substituted by one or more R4d substituents.
US08809524B2

A compound represented by formula (I), wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom, etc., R2 and R3 each independently represents a hydrogen atom, optionally oxidized C1-4 alkyl group or optionally protected hydroxyl group, or R2 and R3 taken together represent optionally oxidized C2-5 alkylene group, R4 represents an optionally oxidized C1-6 alkyl group, etc., R5 represents an optionally oxidized C1-6 alkyl group, etc., R6 represents an optionally oxidized C1-6 alkyl group, etc., m represents 0 or an integer from 1 to 3, n represents 0 or an integer from 1 to 4, and i represents 0 or an integer from 1 to 7.
US08809522B2

The present invention provides a method of preparing a glycoside of a mono- or diacylglycerol product from a plant material. The method comprises the steps of: (i) optionally milling the plant material, (ii) extracting the optionally milled plant material with a first aqueous extraction solution obtaining a first liquid phase and a first solid phase, (iii) separating the liquid phase from the solid phase to obtain a glycoside of mono- or diacylglycerol product, (iv) extracting the solid phase from step (iii) with a second extraction solution obtaining a second liquid phase and a second phase, and (v) separating the second liquid phase from the second solid phase to obtain a second and a third glycoside of mono- or diacylglycerol product, wherein the second extraction solution further comprises a cell wall degrading enzyme or a mixture of cell wall degrading enzymes.
US08809520B2

The invention is directed to processes of preparing phosphonate nucleosides comprising a phosphonalkoxy-substituted five-membered, saturated or unsaturated, oxygen-containing ring coupled to a heterocyclic nucleobase such as a pyrimidine or purine base. These compounds can be described by general formula (II)
US08809519B2

Methods for isolating nucleic acids using a solid phase having alkylene sulfonyl-containing compounds on its surface are provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises: contacting a sample containing nucleic acids with a solid phase having alkylene sulfonyl-containing compounds on its surface in a first aqueous solution to provide a loaded solid phase; washing the loaded solid phase with a second aqueous solution to provide a washed solid phase; and eluting the washed solid phase with a low ionic strength liquid to obtain the isolated nucleic acids. Kits containing a solid phase having alkylene sulfonyl-containing compounds also are provided.
US08809515B2

The invention is directed to compositions and methods for selectively reducing the expression of a gene product from a desired target gene in a cell, as well as for treating diseases caused by the expression of the gene. More particularly, the invention is directed to compositions that contain double stranded RNA (“dsRNA”), and methods for preparing them, that are capable of reducing the expression of target genes in eukaryotic cells. The dsRNA has a first oligonucleotide sequence that is between 25 and about 30 nucleotides in length and a second oligonucleotide sequence that anneals to the first sequence under biological conditions. In addition, a region of one of the sequences of the dsRNA having a sequence length of at least 19 nucleotides is sufficiently complementary to a nucleotide sequence of the RNA produced from the target gene to trigger the destruction of the target RNA by the RNAi machinery.
US08809508B2

Diagnostic assays for the diagnosis of amyloidosis, in particular Alzheimer's disease, and related aspects. In particular, monoclonal antibodies and an antibody assay are provided.
US08809504B2

The invention relates to molecules inhibiting biologically active compounds and further comprising moieties specifically cleavable by a reagent produced by a target cell. The invention relates to inhibitors that bind, inhibit, suppress, neutralize, or decrease activity of a biologically active agent. Inhibitors comprise at least one moiety that bind, inhibit, suppress, neutralize, or decrease activity of a biologically active agent and at least one moiety that can be cleaved specifically by a reagent produced by target cells. The cleavage deactivates the inhibitor. Following cleavage, the active agent is liberated into the local environment. Administration of the inhibitor alone or together with the active agent suppress the compound's activity until it reaches the proximity of a target cell. Targeted specific release enables the agent concentration in specific site to reach levels that have desired therapeutic effects without systemic toxicity.
US08809503B2

The present invention relates to optimized Fc variants, methods for their generation, and antibodies and Fc fusions comprising optimized Fc variants.
US08809501B2

The invention relates to materials and methods of conjugating a water soluble polymer to an oxidized carbohydrate moiety of a therapeutic protein comprising contacting the oxidized carbohydrate moiety with an activated water soluble polymer under conditions that allow conjugation. More specifically, the present invention relates to the aforementioned materials and methods wherein the water soluble polymer contains an active aminooxy group and wherein an oxime or hydrazone linkage is formed between the oxidized carbohydrate moiety and the active aminooxy group on the water soluble polymer, and wherein the conjugation is carried out in the presence of a nucleophilic catalyst.
US08809500B2

The present invention relates to isolated raptor nucleic acid molecules of mammalian origin (e.g., human) and complements, portions and variants thereof. Another aspect of the invention are isolated raptor polypeptides of mammalian origin and portions thereof, and antibodies or antigen binding fragments thereof that specifically bind a raptor polypeptide. The present invention also relates to constructs and host cells comprising the nucleic acid molecules described herein. In addition, the present invention relates to uses of the nucleic acid and polypeptide molecules provided herein.
US08809498B2

The invention relates to a compound having a structure according to the general formula P3-P2-P1-P1′-P2′ (I), wherein residues P3, P2, P1, P1′ and P2′ are specifically defined and may be, e.g., certain amino acid residues. The invention further relates to the use of said compound and to a method for synthesizing a peptide.
US08809497B2

The present invention relates to a method for the treatment of vascular dysfunction, reducing ischemic pain and/or treatment of a vascular disease comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of Annexin A5 or a functional analogue or variant thereof to a patient in need of such treatment. The vascular dysfunction, ischemic pain and/or vascular disease may be associated with impaired endothelium mediated vasodilatation, a reduced eNOS activity, and/or a reduced NO bioavailability. The patient may be suffering from a disease selected from angina pectoris, ischemic heart disease, peripheral artery disease, systolic hypertension, migraine, type 2 diabetes and erectile dysfunction.
US08809495B2

Provided are peptides imparting cell permeability to a lipid membrane structure and/or enhancing the cell permeability of a lipid membrane structure, and a lipid membrane structure which comprises, as a constituent lipid, a lipid bound to such a peptide and has cell permeability or shows enhanced cell permeability. The amino acid sequences of the peptides imparting cell permeability to a lipid membrane structure and/or enhancing the cell permeability of a lipid membrane structure are represented by: LX1X2X1X1X1L, LLX2X1X1X1L and LX1X2X1X1L (wherein L represents a leucine residue; X1 represents a polar amino acid residue; and X2 represents a polar, non-charged and branched chain amino acid residue).
US08809489B2

Methods for preparing active carbonate esters of water-soluble polymers are provided. Also provided are other methods related to the active carbonate esters of water-soluble polymers, as well as corresponding compositions.
US08809456B2

This invention relates to methods for producing an alkene terminated polystyrene, including: contacting a styrenic block copolymer and an alkene in the presence of a metathesis catalyst under conditions sufficient to produce an alkene terminated polystyrene having an unsaturation functionality of at least 0.7 and a MWD of about 1.5 or less. Methods for producing functionalized polymers and polyethylene blend composition comprising these functionalized polymers are also disclosed.
US08809455B2

A dynamically vulcanized alloy contains at least one isobutylene-containing elastomer and at least one thermoplastic resin, wherein the elastomer is present as a dispersed phase of small vulcanized or partially vulcanized particles in a continuous phase of the thermoplastic resin. The dynamically vulcanized alloy also contains an anhydride functionalized oligomer. The alloy maintains a high Shore A hardness value while obtaining improved flowability for processing.
US08809454B2

A pressure-sensitive adhesive layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is formed by using: a pressure-sensitive adhesive composition comprising (A) a polyrotaxane having a linear-chain molecule passing through opening portions of at least two cyclic molecules, the cyclic molecules having a reactive group, the polyrotaxane having blocking groups at both ends of the linear-chain molecule, and (B) a pressure-sensitive adhesive polymer having two or more functional groups capable of reacting with the reactive group; or, a pressure-sensitive adhesive composition comprising (A) a polyrotaxane having a linear-chain molecule passing through opening portions of at least two cyclic molecules, the cyclic molecules having a reactive group, the polyrotaxane having blocking groups at both ends of the linear-chain molecule, (B′) a pressure-sensitive adhesive polymer having two or more reactive groups, and (C) a compound having two or more functional groups capable of reacting with the reactive group of the polyrotaxane (A) and the reactive groups of the polymer (B′). As a result there can be provided a pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet comprising a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer excellent in flexibility and having high gel fraction and durability, and a pressure-sensitive adhesive composition that constitutes the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer.
US08809453B2

The present invention is directed to branched reactive water-soluble polymers comprising at least two polymer arms, such as poly(ethylene glycol), attached to a central aliphatic hydrocarbon core molecule through heteroatom linkages. The branched polymers bear at least one functional group for reacting with a biologically active agent to form a biologically active conjugate. The functional group of the branched polymer can be directly attached to the aliphatic hydrocarbon core or via an intervening linkage, such as a heteroatom, -alkylene-, —O-alkylene-O—, -alkylene-O-alkylene-, -aryl-O—, —O-aryl-, (—O-alkylene-)m, or (-alkylene-O—)m linkage, wherein m is 1-10.
US08809446B2

Substituted 3-oxopentanoates are disclosed that correspond to the following formula 1: in which R is hydrogen, or a methyl group; X is a straight-chain, branched, or cyclic alkyl or alkyl ether group having from 1 to 15 carbon atoms or aromatic group having from 6 to 15 carbon atoms; and Y1 and Y2 are independently hydrogen or an alkyl having 1 to 2 carbon atoms. Also disclosed are emulsion polymers, suspension polymers, and solution polymers that comprise residues from the substituted 3-oxopentanoate monomers, and that may also include one or more additional ethylenically unsaturated monomers. Also disclosed are coating compositions that include a latex emulsion polymer and the substituted 3-oxopentanoate monomer of formula 1 provided as a coalescent.
US08809434B2

The invention concerns processes for forming a polymer comprising residues of terephthaloyl chloride, paraphenylene diamine, and a salt of formula I wherein A− is a halogen anion, HSO4−, OH−, NO3−, C2H3O2−, or H2PO4−; the process comprising the steps of: a) forming a mixture comprising salt of formula I and paraphenylene diamine in a solvent system comprising an organic solvent and an inorganic salt; and b) adding terephthaloyl chloride to the mixture and allowing the formation of the polymer.
US08809430B2

Mixtures are provided that can include: latex polymer; antifoam; surfactant; plasticizer; ether; fungicide; glycol; and liquid stabilizer. Mixtures comprising: glycol; antioxidant; and defoamer. Compositions are provided that can include: a substrate; and a mixture over the substrate, the mixture comprising one or more of: latex polymer; antifoam; surfactant; plasticizer; ether; fungicide; glycol; liquid stabilizer; and antioxidant. Vehicle tires are provided. Plastic vehicle components are provided. Substrate treatment methods are provided that can include applying compositions to the substrate, the compositions comprising one or more of: latex polymer; antifoam; surfactant; plasticizer; ether; fungicide; glycol; liquid stabilizer; and antioxidant. Vehicle tire treatment methods are provided. Vehicle component treatment methods are provided.
US08809428B2

The present disclosure relates to golf balls having components including intermediate layers and outer cover layers prepared from blends of polyamides mixed with one or more functional polymer modifiers. The functional polymer modifier incorporates a copolymer or a terpolymer having a glycidyl group, hydroxyl group, maleic anhydride group or carboxylic group, or a mixture of these. When used in golf ball covers or mantles, these materials exhibit improved impact durability when compared to analogous balls but having ionomeric- or polyurethane-based layers of similar hardness.
US08809412B2

The present invention relates to the use of oligomeric siloxane components in radiation-curable formulations which in the cured state offer a particular degree of corrosion control for metallic substrates.
US08809410B2

Flexible polyurethane foam having a density of 25-70 kg/m3 and a compression load deflection of 5-15 kPa. Process for making a flexible polyurethane foam and the use as plant growth medium and in green roofs and green walls.
US08809400B2

Disclosed is a pharmaceutical composition for treating oxidative stress comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a substantially pure compound of pterostilbene and a physiologically acceptable carrier. Pterostilbene is administered in an amount between about 2.5 mg to about 10 mg per kilogram of subject body weight. Also disclosed is a method for increasing a working memory of a subject, the method comprising administrating an effective amount of a substantially pure compound of pterostilbene, wherein the working memory for a subject increase and the therapeutic effectiveness is about 10 mg of pterostilbene per kilogram of subject body weight.
US08809396B2

The invention relates to compounds of structural formula (I) or (II): or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate, clathrate, or prodrug thereof, wherein L, L1, Y, R1, R2, R9, R10, ring A, ring B, ring C, and ring D are defined herein. These compounds are useful as immunosuppressive agents and for treating and preventing inflammatory conditions, allergic disorders, and immune disorders.
US08809386B2

There is provided a method for promoting dynamin ring formation and/or maintenance of dynamin rings in a cell, comprising treating the cell with an effective amount of a dynamin ring stabilizer, or a prodrug or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the dynamin ring stabilizer. The maintenance or accumulation of dynamin ring formation has particular application in the prophylaxis or treatment of a kidney disease or condition characterized by proteinuria. A dynamin ring stabilizer can be any agent that interacts with dynamin to promote dynamin ring assembly and/or inhibit dynamin ring disassembly. There are also provided methods for prophylaxis or treatment of podocyte dysfunction and/or maintaining or inducing actin cytoskeleton formation in a cell utilizing dynamin ring stabilizers, and for screening a test agent for use as a dynamin ring stabilizer.
US08809383B2

The present invention relates to a novel serotonin reuptake inhibitor which also exhibits 5-HT2C antagonistic action (antidepressive and anxiolytic effects), in particular, 5-HT2C inverse agonistic action comprising Compound (1): or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein R1, R2, R3 and R4 are independently hydrogen or C1-6 alkyl etc.; R5 is C4-7 alkyl or —(CR8R9)r-E; R6, R7, R8 and R9 are independently hydrogen, fluorine or C1-6 alkyl; A is C6-10 aryl or heteroaryl etc.; r is 1, 2, 3 or 4; E is C3-8 cycloalkyl or C6-10 aryl etc.; L is oxygen, sulfur or —NR10—; n is 1, 2 or 3; R10 is hydrogen or C1-6 alkyl etc.; and X is hydrogen or halogen etc.
US08809378B2

The instant invention describes compounds having metalloenzyme modulating activity, and methods of treating diseases, disorders or symptoms thereof mediated by such metalloenzymes.
US08809375B2

A spot-on pesticide composition for animals, specifically mammals, including dogs and cats, which composition comprises a combination of active components, including fipronil and a pyrethroid, and optionally an insect growth regulator, in doses and proportions which are parasiticidally effective against a variety of insects and pests, and in a formulation which is convenient for local application to the animal's skin, preferably localized over a small surface area.
US08809364B2

Polycyclic aryl and polycyclic heteroaryl substituted triazoles and pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds are disclosed as being useful in inhibiting the activity of the receptor protein tyrosine kinase Axl. Methods of using the compounds in treating diseases or conditions associated with Axl catalytic activity are also disclosed.
US08809357B2

The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I), a derivative, or a tautomer thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of said compound or said tautomer; methods of preparation of the same; and methods of counducting drug discovery and research by applying the same in an investigation.
US08809356B2

Disclosed are chemical entities which are inhibitors of Nedd8-activating enzyme (NAE), namely, the compound {(1S,2S,4R)-4-[(6-{[(1R,2S)-5-chloro-2-methoxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-yl]amino}pyrimidin-4-yl)oxy]-2-hydroxycyclopentyl}methyl sulfamate and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; solid state forms thereof; and prodrugs thereof. Also disclosed are methods of using the chemical entities to treat disorders such as cancer.
US08809352B2

The present invention includes novel compound and methods of treating a disease or disorder by antagonizing Bcl-2 family proteins, particularly compounds of formula (I): or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, as well as methods of treating a disease, disorder, or syndrome associated with Bcl-2 inhibition, particularly hyperproliferative diseases. The present invention also includes pharmaceutical compositions including compounds of formula I and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
US08809344B2

Various tetrahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine compounds, compositions, methods of making, and methods for the prevention and treatment of HCV infections and associated diseases are disclosed. The invention further relates to biomarkers for identification of HCV strains which are resistant to the tetrahydropyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine compounds.
US08809339B2

Compounds having activity as phosphate transport inhibitors, more specifically, inhibitors of intestinal apical membrane Na/phosphate co-transport, are disclosed. The compounds have the following structure (I): including stereoisomers, pharmaceutically acceptable salts and prodrugs thereof, wherein X, Y and A are as defined herein. Methods associated with preparation and use of such compounds, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, are also disclosed.
US08809336B2

The invention provides a compound for use as a protein kinase B inhibitor, the compound being a compound of the formula (I) or salts, solvates, tautomers or N-oxides thereof, wherein T is N or CR5; J1-J2 is N═C(R6), (R7)C═N, (R8)N—C(O), (R8)2C—C(O), N═N or (R7)C═C(R6); E is a monocyclic carbocyclic or heterocyclic group of 5 or 6 ring members, the heterocyclic group containing up to 3 heteroatoms selected from O, N and S; Q1 is a bond or a saturated C1-3 hydrocarbon linker group, one of the carbon atoms in the linker group being optionally be replaced by an oxygen or nitrogen atom, or an adjacent pair of carbon atoms may be replaced by CONRq or NRqCO where Rq is hydrogen or methyl, or Rq is a C1-4 alkylene chain linked to R1 or a carbon atom of Q1 to form a cyclic moiety; and wherein the carbon atoms of the linker group Q1 may optionally bear one or more substituents selected from fluorine and hydroxy; Q2 is a bond or a saturated hydrocarbon linker group containing from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, wherein one of the carbon atoms in the linker group may optionally be replaced by an oxygen or nitrogen atom; and wherein the carbon atoms of the linker group may optionally bear one or more substituents selected from fluorine and hydroxy, provided that the hydroxy group when present is not located at a carbon atom a with respect to the G group; and provided that when E is aryl or heteroaryl, then Q2 is other than a bond; G is hydrogen, NR2R3, OH or SH provided that when E is aryl or heteroaryl and Q2 is a bond, then G is hydrogen; R1 is hydrogen or an aryl or heteroaryl group, with the proviso that when R1 is hydrogen and G is NR2R3, then Q2 is a bond; and R2, R3, R4, R6 and R8 are as defined in the claims.
US08809325B2

Disclosed is a benzyl-oxathiazine derivative, as shown in Formula I, the derivative being substituted with adamantane or noradamantane: the variables of which are as described herein; also disclosed is a method of preparation and use of same.
US08809320B2

The invention relates to novel benzodiazepine derivatives with antiproliferative activity and more specifically to novel benzodiazepines of formula (I) and (II), in which the diazepine ring (B) is fused with a heterocyclic ring (CD), wherein the heterocyclic ring is bicyclic or a compound of formula (III), in which the diazepine ring (B) is fused with a heterocyclic ring (C), wherein the heterocyclic ring is monocyclic. The invention provides cytotoxic dimers of these compounds. The invention also provides conjugates of the monomers and the dimers. The invention further provides compositions and methods useful for inhibiting abnormal cell growth or treating a proliferative disorder in a mammal using the compounds or conjugates of the invention. The invention further relates to methods of using the compounds or conjugates for in vitro, in situ, and in vivo diagnosis or treatment of mammalian cells, or associated pathological conditions.
US08809314B1

The cephalosporin compound of formula (I) is disclosed, which exhibits antibiotic activity against Gram-negative (e.g., Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (e.g., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. Methods of manufacturing the compound of formula (I), and uses of the compound in the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions and antibacterial applications are also disclosed.
US08809312B2

A composition including an effective amount of a compound including manganese [III]tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)porphyrin (MnTBAP), derivatives or analogs thereof to induce a reduction in body weight of a mammal or to improve insulin sensitivity of an obese mammal. A method including introducing an effective amount of a compound including manganese [III]tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)porphyrin (MnTBAP), derivatives or analogs thereof to a mammal to induce a reduction in body weight or to induce an increase in metabolism or insulin sensitivity of the mammal.
US08809302B2

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. More specifically, the present invention relates to novel combinatorial therapies of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. In particular, the invention concerns compounds which, alone or in combination(s), can effectively modulate synapse function and/or angiogenesis and/or cell stress response. The invention also relates to methods of producing a drug or a drug combination for treating Alzheimer's disease and to methods of treating Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder.
US08809298B2

Methods are presented that comprise the administration of a pharmaceutical composition comprising adenosine and dipyridamole, as well methods comprising the combined administration of dipyridamole administered as a bolus with adenosine given as an infusion, both at dosages below their respective single agent dosages, for detecting the presence and/or assessing the severity of myocardial ischemia during pharmacologic stress tests. The methods are useful for exploiting the vasodilating abilities of adenosine at doses at which side effects related to adenosine are substantially reduced while optimal coronary artery perfusion is achieved. Also presented are compositions, unit dosage forms, and kits that are useful in performing the methods.
US08809282B2

The present invention relates, in general, to a method of treating patients undergoing enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) or other therapy involving the administration of a proteinaceous therapeutic agent as well gene replacement therapy with non-viral or viral vectors, or other therapeutic modality or modalities, used alone or in combination, which involve the administration of exogenous substances for potential therapeutic benefit, including, but not limited to DNA vaccines, siRNA, splice-site switching oligomers (SSOs) as well as RNA-based nanoparticles (RNPs) and nanovaccines. The invention further relates to compounds and compositions suitable for use in such methods.
US08809275B2

Provided herein are peptoids capable of inhibiting or reversing amyloid β (Aβ) fibril or plaque production. The peptoids form a helical structure with three monomers per helical turn and have at least two monomers with a side-chain having an arylalkyl group having the same chirality positioned such that the side-chains are on the same side of the peptoid. Also provided are methods of using the peptoids to inhibit or reverse aggregation of Aβ and methods of treating subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or slowing the progression of AD.
US08809267B2

The invention is related to anti-viral compounds, compositions containing such compounds, and therapeutic methods that include the administration of such compounds, as well as to processes and intermediates useful for preparing such compounds.
US08809260B2

This application describes a family of compounds acting as β-arrestin effectors. Such compounds may provide significant therapeutic benefit in the treatment of chronic and acute cardiovascular diseases.
US08809258B2

The present invention provides a method for producing a peptide, characterized in that it comprises converting an —SH group of a peptide comprising an amino acid residue having the —SH group to an —OH group, wherein said method comprises the following steps (a) to (c): (a) allowing an —SH group in a peptide to react with a methylating agent to convert the —SH group to an -SMe group; (b) allowing the -SMe group obtained in the step (a) to react with a cyanizing agent to produce a reaction intermediate; and (c) converting the reaction intermediate obtained in the step (b) to a peptide comprising an amino acid residue having an —OH group under more basic conditions than the conditions in the step (b).
US08809254B2

Provided are azeotrope-like compositions comprising heptafluoropropane and trifluoroiodomethane and uses thereof, including use in refrigerant compositions, refrigeration systems, blowing agents, fire suppressant compositions, and aerosol propellants.
US08809250B2

A water soluble strip that includes a carrier film that include water soluble polymer, one or more actives and one or more agents such as heat forming agent and/or degrading accelerator. The water soluble strip can optionally include other additives. The actives includes antimicrobial agent, cleaning agent and/or surfactant. The water soluble strip can include other materials. The heat forming agent and/or degrading accelerator, when used, are designed facilitate in degrading or dissolving the water soluble strip and/or increase the activity of the one or more actives. The water soluble film can be used for a variety of applications such as a hard surface cleaning strip, dishwashing strip, laundry cleaning strip, stop removing strip, drain unclogging strip, toilet bowl cleaning strip and the like. The water soluble strip eliminates the need to purchase and store numerous containers and/or heavy containers of cleaner that take up large amounts of shelf space.
US08809238B2

The invention provides a method for detecting a target nucleotide sequence by tagging the nucleotide sequence with a nucleotide tag, providing a probe oligonucleotide with a melting temperature Tm1, comprising a regulatory sequence and a nucleotide tag recognition sequence; incorporating the probe oligonucleotide into the tagged polynucleotide in a polynucleotide amplification reaction, providing a regulatory oligonucleotide with a melting temperature Tm2, comprising a sequence segment that is at least partially complementary to the regulatory sequence, amplifying the tagged target nucleic acid sequence in a PCR amplification reaction using the probe oligonucleotide as a primer, and detecting the amplification product; wherein Tm1 and Tm2 are higher than the annealing temperature associated with the polynucleotide amplification reaction.
US08809234B1

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of agricultural chemicals and, more particularly, to compositions which can be added to agricultural chemicals for the purpose of improving efficacy and reducing drift of sprayed chemicals away from target areas. Further disclosed are processes for preparing combination water conditioning adjuvant and drift reduction compositions as well as methods of drift reduction utilizing such compositions.
US08809229B2

An aggregate composition and process for making the aggregate composition. The aggregate composition includes an insoluble rare earth-containing compound and a polymer binder. The insoluble rare earth-containing compound can include one or more of cerium, lanthanum, or praseodymium. A suitable insoluble cerium-containing compound can be derived from cerium carbonate or a cerium salt. In a specific embodiment, the aggregate composition consists essentially of one or more cerium oxides, the polymer binder and optionally a flow aid. A process for making the composition includes mixing the insoluble rare earth-containing compound with a polymer binder to form a mixture, and subjecting the mixture to mechanical, chemical and/or thermal treatment to adhere the rare earth compound to the polymer binder. The aggregate composition can be used in a variety of fluid treatment applications to remove one or more chemical and biological contaminants in a fluid.
US08809228B2

According to one embodiment, an oil adsorbent includes inorganic particles and a polymer formed on surfaces of or between the inorganic particles. The content rate of the inorganic particles is 50% by volume or more and 97% by volume or less relative to the inorganic particles and the polymer, and an area of the inorganic particles is 30% or more and 60% or less relative to a cross-section of the inorganic particles and the polymer.
US08809227B1

A composite product for the selective removal of dissolved heavy metal ions from water includes a high bulk cotton fabric incorporating a thermally generated polymer in sufficient amount to cause stiffening of the composite product and self-curling when immersed in water.
US08809226B2

A method of producing a carrier used for a catalyst for oxidative dehydrogenation of n-butane; a method of producing a magnesium orthovanadate catalyst supported by the carrier; and a method of producing n-butene and 1,3-butadiene using the catalyst are described.
US08809220B2

A process for making a Ziegler-Natta-type catalyst precursor including contacting a Group 4 metal compound with one or more Titanium compounds selected from the group of TiCl3 (Al-activated or hydrogen-reduced), and Ti(OR)4 where R is ethyl, isopropyl or butyl in the presence of an alcohol solution having at least one C2-C4 alcohol and at least one of MgCl2 and magnesium compounds which form MgCl2 in the presence of the alcohol solution to form a catalyst precursor solution is provided. Also provided are catalysts made from the precursors produced by the process. Also provided are polymers made using the catalysts.
US08809212B1

Methods and apparatus for forming non-woven fiber mats from polymers and monomers that are traditionally difficult to use for fiber formation are shown and described. Applicable techniques include electrospinning and other traditional fiber formation methods. Suitable polymers and monomers include those having low molecular weight, a low melting point, and/or a low glass transition temperature.
US08809211B2

An industrial two-layer fabric includes an upper side fabric and a lower side fabric. The upper side warps of the upper side fabric comprise a first warp set and a second warp set. The first warp set contains two upper side warps and a warp binding yarn that binds the upper side fabric and the lower side fabric. The two upper side warps are woven with the same upper side wefts. The second warp set contains one upper side warp. At a position where the warp binding yarn passes above one of the upper side wefts, the warp binding yarn is placed between the two upper side warps of the first warp set and pass below the same one of the upper side wefts, whereby the two upper side warps and the warp binding yarn of the first warp set form the upper side warp design.
US08809203B2

It is an object to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device that has a semiconductor element including a film in which mixing impurities is suppressed. It is another object to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with high yield. In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device in which an insulating film is formed in contact with a semiconductor layer provided over a substrate having an insulating surface with use of a plasma CVD apparatus, after an inner wall of a reaction chamber of the plasma CVD apparatus is coated with a film that does not include an impurity to the insulating film, a substrate is introduced in the reaction chamber, and the insulating film is deposited over the substrate. As a result, an insulating film in which the amount of impurities is reduced can be formed.
US08809199B2

A processing method is provided for plasma etching features in a silicon nitride (SiN) film covered by a mask pattern. The method includes preparing a film stack on a substrate, the film stack containing a SiN film on the substrate and a mask pattern on the SiN film, forming a plasma from a process gas containing HBr gas, O2 gas, and a carbon-fluorine-containing gas, applying pulsed RF bias power to the substrate, and transferring the mask pattern to the SiN film by exposing the film stack to the plasma.
US08809196B2

A method for transferring a feature pattern to a thin film on a substrate is described. The method comprises disposing a substrate comprising one or more mask layers overlying a thin film in a plasma processing system, and forming a feature pattern in the one or more mask layers. The method further comprises transferring the feature pattern in the one or more mask layers to the thin film by: performing a first plasma etching process at a first pressure less than about 80 mtorr, and performing a second plasma etching process at a second pressure greater than about 80 mtorr.
US08809192B2

A method for deposition of at least one electrically conducting film on a substrate, wherein the method includes the steps of: selecting a layer of a film material, wherein the layer includes a mask on a front side, and wherein the layer and the mask are one piece; positioning the front side of the layer upon the substrate; applying at least one laser pulse onto a back side of the layer, so as to melt and to vaporize at least parts of the layer such that melt droplets are propelled toward and deposited upon the substrate; and forming the film, wherein at least one slot of the mask limits the distribution of the melt droplets.
US08809188B2

A method of fabricating through substrate vias is disclosed. In one aspect, vias are etched from the backside of the substrate down to shallow trench isolation (STI) or the pre-metal dielectric stack (PMD). Extra contacts between metal 1 contact pads and the through-wafer vias are fabricated for realizing the contact between the through wafer vias and the back-end-of-line of the semiconductor chips.
US08809179B2

A method for forming a semiconductor structure includes providing a substrate; forming a gate stack of a flash memory cell, wherein a top portion of the gate stack comprises a capping layer; forming a gate having at least a portion over the capping layer; and reducing a thickness of the portion of the gate over the capping layer. The topography height difference between the flash memory cell and MOS devices on the same chip is reduced.
US08809178B2

One illustrative method disclosed herein includes forming a plurality of spaced-apart trenches in a semiconducting substrate to thereby define a fin structure for the device, forming a local isolation region within each of the trenches, forming a sacrificial gate structure on the fin structure, wherein the sacrificial gate structure comprises at least a sacrificial gate electrode, and forming a layer of insulating material above the fin structure and within the trench above the local isolation region. In this example, the method further includes performing at least one etching process to remove the sacrificial gate structure to thereby define a gate cavity, after removing the sacrificial gate structure, performing at least one etching process to form a recess in the local isolation region, and forming a replacement gate structure that is positioned in the recess in the local isolation region and in the gate cavity.
US08809174B2

A MOSFET is described incorporating a common metal process to make contact to the source, drain and the metal gate respectively which may be formed concurrently with the same metal or metals.
US08809172B2

Methods of forming self-aligned patterns for performing oppositely doped deep implantations in a semiconductor substrate are disclosed. The semiconductor substrate has implantation and non-implantation regions. The methods include forming a hardmask pattern for a first implantation with a first conductivity-type dopant, depositing an etch stop layer, filling trenches between the hardmask pattern with a sacrificial filler material having a higher wet etch resistance than the hardmask, removing a top portion of the sacrificial filler material and the etch stop layer over a top surface of the hardmask pattern, removing the hardmask pattern in the implantation region by wet etching, and performing a second ion implantation with a second conductivity type dopant opposite of the first conductivity type.
US08809169B2

A method of patterning a substrate. A sacrificial film is formed over a substrate and a pattern created therein. A first spacer layer is conformally deposited over the patterned sacrificial film and at least one horizontal portion of the first spacer layer is removed while vertical portions of the first spacer layer remain. A second spacer layer is conformally deposited over the patterned sacrificial film and the remaining portions of the first spacer layer. At least one horizontal portion of the second spacer layer is removed while vertical portions of the second spacer layer remain. Conformal deposition of the first and second spacer layers is optionally repeated one or more times. Conformal deposition of the first layer is optionally repeated. Then, one of the first or second spacer layers is removed while substantially leaving the vertical portions of the remaining one of the first or second spacer layers.
US08809164B2

Methods for detecting the physical layout of an integrated circuit are provided. The methods of the present disclosure allow large area imaging of the circuit layout without requiring tedious sample preparation techniques. The imaging can be performed utilizing low-energy beam techniques such as scanning electron microscopy; however, more sophisticated imaging techniques can also be employed. In the methods of the present disclosure, spalling is used to remove a portion of a semiconductor layer including at least one semiconductor device formed thereon or therein from a base substrate. In some cases, a buried insulator layer that is located beneath a semiconductor layer including the at least one semiconductor device can be completely or partially removed. In some cases, the semiconductor layer including the at least one semiconductor device can be thinned. The methods improve the detection quality that the buried insulator layer and a thick semiconductor layer can reduce.
US08809143B2

Fabricating a semiconductor device includes: forming a gate trench in an epitaxial layer overlaying a semiconductor substrate; depositing gate material in the gate trench; forming a body; forming a source; forming an active region contact trench that extends through the source and the body into the drain; forming a Schottky barrier controlling layer in the epitaxial layer in bottom region of the active region contact trench; and disposing a contact electrode within the active region contact trench.
US08809141B2

A silicon nitrate layer (110) is formed over a transistor gate (40) and source and drain regions (70). The as-formed silicon nitride layer (110) comprises a first tensile stress and a high hydrogen concentration. The as-formed silicon nitride layer (110) is thermally annealed converting the first tensile stress into a second tensile stress that is larger than the first tensile stress. Following the thermal anneal, the hydrogen concentration in the silicon nitride layer (110) is greater than 12 atomic percent.
US08809140B2

A method for cleaning residues from a semiconductor substrate during a nickel platinum silicidation process is disclosed, including a multi-step residue cleaning, including exposing the substrate to an aqua regia solution, followed by an exposure to a solution having hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The SC2 solution can further react with remaining platinum residues, rendering it more soluble in an aqueous solution and thereby dissolving it from the surface of the substrate.
US08809139B2

Embodiments of the present disclosure are a FinFET device, and methods of forming a FinFET device. An embodiment is a method for forming a FinFET device, the method comprising forming a semiconductor strip over a semiconductor substrate, wherein the semiconductor strip is disposed in a dielectric layer, forming a gate over the semiconductor strip and the dielectric layer, and forming a first recess and a second recess in the semiconductor strip, wherein the first recess is on an opposite side of the gate from the second recess. The method further comprises forming a source region in the first recess and a drain region in the second recess, and recessing the dielectric layer, wherein a first portion of the semiconductor strip extends above a top surface of the dielectric layer forming a semiconductor fin.
US08809132B2

A capping layer may be deposited over the active channel of a thin film transistor (TFT) in order to protect the active channel from contamination. The capping layer may affect the performance of the TFT. If the capping layer contains too much hydrogen, nitrogen, or oxygen, the threshold voltage, sub threshold slope, and mobility of the TFT may be negatively impacted. By controlling the ratio of the flow rates of the nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen containing gases, the performance of the TFT may be optimized. Additionally, the power density, capping layer deposition pressure, and the temperature may also be controlled to optimize the TFT performance.
US08809120B2

A method of dicing a semiconductor wafer includes forming a layer stack on a first main surface of a substrate. The layer stack and a portion of the substrate are etched according to a pattern defining an intended dicing location to obtain a trench structure. The substrate is irradiated with a laser beam to locally modify the substrate between a bottom of the trench structure and a second main surface of the substrate opposite to the first main surface.
US08809118B2

Described herein are microelectronic packages including a plurality of bonding fingers and multiple integrated circuit chips, at least one integrated circuit chip being mounted onto the bonding fingers. According to various embodiments of the present invention, mounting the integrated circuit chip onto the bonding fingers may reduce the pin-out count by allowing multiple integrated circuit chips to be interconnected within the same microelectronic package. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08809114B2

A method of forming a memory cell is provided that includes forming a steering element above a substrate, forming a material layer on the substrate, patterning and etching the material layer, and oxidizing the patterned and etched material layer to form a reversible resistance-switching material. Numerous other aspects are provided.
US08809113B2

A method is provided for forming a solution-processed metal and mixed-metal selenide semiconductor using selenium (Se) nanoparticles (NPs). The method forms a first solution including SeNPs dispersed in a solvent. Added to the first solution is a second solution including a first material set of metal salts, metal complexes, or combinations thereof, which are dissolved in a solvent, forming a third solution. The third solution is deposited on a conductive substrate, forming a first intermediate film comprising metal precursors, from corresponding members of the first material set, and embedded SeNPs. As a result of thermally annealing, the metal precursors are transformed and the first intermediate film is selenized, forming a first metal selenide-containing semiconductor. In one aspect, the first solution further comprises ligands for the stabilization of SeNPs, which are liberated during thermal annealing. In another aspect, the metal selenide-containing semiconductor comprises copper, indium, gallium diselenide (CIGS).
US08809112B2

The present invention refers to a method for selectively structuring of a polymer matrix comprising CNT (carbon nano tubes) on a flexible plastic substructure. The method also includes a suitable etching composition, which allows to proceed the method in a mass production.
US08809111B2

Methods and compositions for obtaining patterned structures comprising fluorine-containing polymeric materials. The fluorine-containing polymeric materials have sufficient fluorine content such that the materials can be patterned using conventional photolithographic/pattern transfer methods and maintain desirable mechanical and physical properties. The patterned structures can be used, for example, in light-emitting devices.
US08809107B2

A method for making a Schottky barrier diode includes the following steps. A first metal layer, a second metal layer and a carbon nanotube composite material are provided. The carbon nanotube composite material is applied on the first metal layer and the second metal layer to form a semiconductor layer. The carbon nanotube composite material includes an insulated polymer and a number of carbon nanotubes dispersed in the insulated polymer. The semiconductor layer is in Schottky contact with the first metal layer and in ohmic contact with the second metal layer.
US08809105B2

A method for processing a semiconductor assembly is presented. The method includes thermally processing a semiconductor assembly in a non-oxidizing atmosphere at a pressure greater than about 10 Torr. The semiconductor assembly includes a semiconductor layer disposed on a support, and the semiconductor layer includes cadmium and sulfur.
US08809104B2

Provided are a dye-sensitized solar cell and a method of fabricating the same. The dye-sensitized solar cell includes an electrode structure including a conductive layer having pores that are regularly arranged, a semiconductor oxide layer disposed on a surface of the conductive layer, and a dye layer disposed on a surface of the semiconductor oxide layer.
US08809101B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light emitting device includes: first and second semiconductor layers, a light emitting part, and an In-containing layer. The first semiconductor layer is formed on a silicon substrate via a foundation layer. The light emitting part is provided on the first semiconductor layer, and includes barrier layers and a well layer provided between the barrier layers including Ga1−z1Inz1N (0
US08809082B2

A method for producing luminous means proposes providing a carrier serving as a heat sink, said carrier comprising a planar chip mounting region. The planar chip mounting region is structured for the purpose of producing a first partial region and at least one second partial region. In this case, the first partial region has a solder-repellent property after structuring. Afterward, a solder is applied to the planar chip mounting region, such that said solder wets the at least one second partial region. At least one optoelectronic body is fixed into the at least one second partial region with the solder at the carrier. Finally, contact-connections are formed for the purpose of feeding electrical energy to the optoelectronic luminous body.
US08809081B2

An electronic device comprising at least one die stack having at least a first die (D1) comprising a first array of light emitting units (OLED) for emitting light, a second layer (D2) comprising a second array of via holes (VH) and a third die (D3) comprising a third array of light detecting units (PD) for detecting light from the first array of light emitting units (OELD) is provided. The second layer (D2) is arranged between the first die (D1) and the third die (D3). The first, second and third array are aligned such that light emitted from the first array of light emitting units (OLED) passed through the second array of via holes (VH) and is detected by the third array of light detecting units (PD). The first array of light emitting units and/or the third array of light detecting units are manufactured based on standard semiconductor manufacturing processes.
US08809072B2

According to a sub-resolution assist feature arranging method in embodiments, it is selected which of a rule base and a model base is set for which pattern region on pattern data corresponding to a main pattern as a type of the method of arranging the sub-resolution assist feature for improving resolution of the main pattern formed on a substrate. Then, the sub-resolution assist feature by the rule base is arranged in a pattern region set as the rule base and the sub-resolution assist feature by the model base is arranged in a pattern region set as the model base.
US08809068B2

The invention provides a method of dispersing or circulating magnetically responsive beads within a droplet in a droplet actuator. The invention, in one embodiment, makes use of a droplet actuator with a plurality of droplet operations electrodes configured to transport the droplet, and a magnetic field present at a portion of the plurality of droplet operations electrodes. A bead-containing droplet is provided on the droplet actuator in the presence of the uniform magnetic field. Beads are circulated in the droplet during incubation by conducting droplet operations on the droplet within a uniform region of the magnetic field wherein droplet operations do not allow magnetically responsive beads to be introduced into a region of the magnetic field which is sufficiently non-uniform to cause bead clumping resulting in a more homogenous distribution of the beads in the droplet. Other embodiments are also provided.
US08809066B2

An analyzing apparatus contains an image detection unit and an analysis unit. The image detection unit contains a view field area that covers at least a reaction area and a background area in a test piece. The reaction area exhibits a reaction color when exposed to a test substance in a specimen. The analysis unit detects the test substance based on the reaction color and determines, during detection of the test substance, whether a state of the background area falls within an acceptable range set for the test substance.
US08809046B2

Provided herein are exemplary isolated nucleotide sequences encoding polypeptides having elongase activity, which utilize fatty acids as substrates.
US08809043B2

A system and method for rotating a cell growth chamber of a cell expansion system includes a rotatable member for engaging a chamber coupling attached to the cell growth chamber. The rotatable member includes an independently operable mechanism for engaging a rotatable fitting associated with the chamber coupling. In at least one embodiment, the chamber coupling is selectively rotatable by turning the rotatable member, thereby rotating the cell growth chamber around a first axis. The cell growth chamber is also selectively rotatable around a second axis by turning the rotatable fitting associated with the chamber coupling. Other novel aspects include a way of attaching the cell growth chamber to the shaft assembly, and a new tube routing clip.
US08809042B1

The present invention is generally related to systems and methods to permit the growth of anaerobic, ethanol-producing bacteria using pretreated biomass such as cellulose in a manner to facilitate the efficient conversion of cellulose to ethanol.
US08809039B2

An automated nucleic acid analysis method and analytical system are described comprising separate modules, wherein the air flow of any one of said modules is controlled and wherein at least the air flow between the module for isolation and purification of the analyte and the module for analysis of the analyte are separated.
US08809036B2

The present invention relates to a method for expressing antimicrobial peptide CAD by means of a recombinant Bacillus subtilis expression system. The SUMO protease expression operon is first artificially synthesized. The protein expression operon genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae small ubiquitin-related protein is then fused with the antibacterial peptide AD. The fusion protein is further cloned into the pNF11 plamid to be introduced into Bacillus subtilis, thereby ensuring the induced expression of recombined Bacillus subtilis in shake flasks. The method has the advantages of a simple expression system, large-scale production, low production cost, strong biological activity and no toxic or harmful substance production. Moreover, the method provides a medicine with low price and strong antibacterial capacity for clinic disease prevention and treatment. This invention can also be used as a feedstuff additive.
US08809035B2

According to the invention there is provided a strain of lactic acid bacteria of the species Bifidobacterium globosum obtainable by isolation from resected and washed canine gastrointestinal tract having a probiotic activity in animals. Methods of use and compositions comprising the Bifidobacterium globosum of the present invention are also provided.
US08809028B2

Microorganisms are genetically engineered to synthesize caffeic acid from simple carbon sources via a tyrosine intermediate by means of a dual pathway that utilizes both endogenous and engineered enzymatic activities.
US08809026B2

The present invention relates to processes for extracting lipid from vegetative plant parts such as leaves, stems, roots and tubers, and for producing industrial products such as hydrocarbon products from the lipids. Preferred industrial products include alkyl esters which may be blended with petroleum based fuels.
US08809024B2

A process for production of cyclopropyl-fused pyrrolidine-based inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase IV is provided which employs a BOC-protected amine of the structure prepared by subjecting an acid of the structure to reduce amination by treating the acid with ammonium formate, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, dithiothreitol and partially purified phenylalanine dehydrogenase/formate dehydrogenase enzyme concentrate (PDH/FDH) and without isolating treating the resulting amine of the structure 2 with di-tert-butyl dicarbonate to form the BOC-protected amine.
US08809018B2

Modified nucleotide molecules of xylanase and the application of the nucleotide molecules in constructing recombinant vectors, host cells or producing xylanase are disclosed, wherein the nucleotide molecules contain nucleotide sequences having greater than 80% identity with nucleotide sequence shown by SEQ ID NO: 1.
US08809017B2

This invention relates to nucleic acid molecules comprising at least one nucleic acid sequence encoding for a peptide or protein of interest, at least one nucleic acid sequence encoding for a selectable marker, and at least one IRES sequence, wherein the at least one IRES sequence is located between the at least one nucleic acid sequence encoding for the peptide or protein of interest and the at least one nucleic acid sequence encoding for the selectable marker. Furthermore, this invention relates to host cells comprising such nucleic acid molecule and to methods of recombinant protein expression using such host cells.
US08809009B2

Provided herein are methods of diagnosing or monitoring the treatment of abnormal glycan accumulation or a disorder associated with abnormal glycan accumulation.
US08809007B2

A method for determining the activity of a proteolytic coagulation factor in a sample may include (a) providing and incubating a reaction mixture comprising (i) the sample, (ii) an agent for direct or indirect activation of the proteolytic coagulation factor in the sample, (iii) a cleavable substrate which has at least one cleavage site for the activated coagulation factor, (iv) a solid phase to which the cleavable substrate is bound or becomes bound during the incubation; (b) separating off the solid phase; and (c) determining the amount of solid-phase-bound, uncleaved substrate, wherein the determined amount of solid-phase-bound, uncleaved substrate indicates a quantitative measure of the activity of the proteolytic coagulation factor in the sample.
US08809005B2

A composition comprising a conjugate of an anti-idiotype antibody specifically binding to a CDR region of a parent antibody and method of using polyclonal human serum immunoglobulin of class E, G, M, or A, and the use of said composition as a standard in an immunoassay is presented.
US08809004B2

Method, device and kit for the detection of antibodies directed to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). The method includes contacting the felid biological sample with FIV env polypeptide and detecting whether the polypeptide substantially binds to the antibody in the biological sample. The method will detect FIV antibodies in a sample from animals that have been naturally infected but the method will not detect antibodies in a sample from animals that have not been infected and that have not been vaccinated with an FIV vaccine after within about the previous five to eight weeks.
US08809003B2

Methods and reagents are disclosed for detecting a false result in an assay measurement for determining a concentration of an analyte in a sample suspected of containing the analyte. The method comprises measuring assay signal resulting from background only and measuring assay signal resulting from the presence of analyte in the sample plus background and subtracting the first measurement from the second measurement to determine the concentration of analyte in the sample. For example, a measurement result 1 is determined by means of an assay conducted on a portion of the sample where analyte in the sample is substantially sequestered and a measurement result 2 is determined by means of the assay conducted on an equal portion of the same sample where analyte in the sample is substantially non-sequestered. Measurement result 1 is subtracted from measurement result 2 to determine the concentration of analyte in the sample.
US08809000B2

Newly identified mammalian taste-cell-specific G protein-coupled receptors which function as hetero-oligomeric complexes in the sweet taste transduction pathway, and the genes and cDNA encoding said receptors are described. Specifically, T1R G protein-coupled receptors active in sweet taste signaling as hetero-oligomeric complexes, and the genes and cDNA encoding the same, are described, along with methods for isolating such genes and for isolating and expressing such receptors. Methods for identifying putative taste modulating compounds using such hetero-oligomeric complexes also described, as is a novel surface expression facilitating peptide useful for targeting integral plasma membrane proteins to the surface of a cell.
US08808992B2

The present invention is directed to methods of diagnosing Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair comprising detecting a mutation in SHOC2 gene. One specific diagnostic mutation disclosed is an A-to-G transition at position 4 resulting in a mutation at position 2 of SHOC2 amino acid sequence from serine to glycine. The invention also provides related sequences and kits.
US08808988B2

The invention provides nucleoside and nucleotide molecules containing cleavable linkers linking a label such as a dye. The invention also provides nucleosides and nucleotide molecules containing a blocking group, either removable or non-removable. The invention additionally provides methods of using the nucleoside and nucleotide molecules containing a cleavable linker and/or a blocking group.
US08808979B2

The present invention pertains to the field of toxicological assessments for risk stratification of chemical compounds. Specifically, it relates to a method for diagnosing the pro-pathological effect of compounds which are inducing liver enzymes. It also relates to a method of determining whether a compound is capable of exhibiting pro-pathological effects on the liver by enzyme induction in a subject and to a method of identifying a drug for treating the pro-pathological effect of liver enzyme induction. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a data collection comprising characteristic values of at least five analytes, a data storage medium comprising said data collection, and a system and a device for diagnosing the pro-pathological effect of liver enzyme induction. Finally, the present invention pertains to the use of a group of analytes or means for the determination thereof for the manufacture of a diagnostic device or composition for diagnosing the pro-pathological effect of liver enzyme induction in a subject. For each sex, a different metabolome pattern, i.e. a different set of analytes is disclosed. The liver enzyme induction markers are mainly selected from free fatty acids, but also include various phosphatidylcholines, galactose, 3- and 5-Methoxysphingosine, Cholesterol, Threonic acid, 1,2-Dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidyl-L-serine, Glycerol, Glycerophosphate, Dodecanol, myo-Inositol-2-monophosphate.
US08808970B2

To improve the manufacturing yield of semiconductor devices. Over a semiconductor wafer, a film to be processed is formed; over that film, an antireflection film is formed; and, over the antireflection film, a resist layer is formed. Then, the resist layer is subjected to liquid immersion exposure, and a development and rinsing process to form a resist pattern. After that, the antireflection film and the film to be processed are etched sequentially using the resist pattern as an etching mask. In the development process of the resist layer, the antireflection film is exposed from parts from which the resist layer has been removed by the development process. When performing a rinsing process after the development, the water repellent property of the surface of the antireflection film exposed from the resist layer is not lower than the water repellent property of the surface of the resist layer.
Patent Agency Ranking