US09326653B2
A surface treating appliance includes a surface treating head rotatably connected to a yoke, and a main body pivotably moveable relative to the yoke about a pivot axis between an upright position and a reclined position. A retaining mechanism is provided for inhibiting rotation of the head relative to the yoke when the main body is in the upright position. The retaining mechanism includes a locking member which is moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position for inhibiting rotation of the head relative to the yoke, and an actuator for urging the locking member towards its deployed position. To provide a compact appliance, the actuator moves with the main body about the pivot axis to urge the locking member towards its deployed position as the main body is moved to the upright position.
US09326646B2
A fibrous structure having a total dry tensile strength of greater than about 59 g/cm and at least one embossed ply having a surface thereof is disclosed. The surface has a surface area comprising from about 10.0 percent to about 20.0 percent line embossments. Also, a fibrous structure having at least two plies is disclosed. One of the two plies has a total dry tensile strength of greater than about 59 g/cm and at least one embossed ply having a surface thereof. The surface has a surface area comprising from about 10.0 percent to about 20.0 percent line embossments.
US09326641B2
An assistive bath ring for use by a child or adult to provide support for the user to sit in a bathtub. The bath ring comprises an essentially cylindrically shaped framework comprising a circular solid base, a circularly shaped ring attached to the base by height adjusting telescoping leg components; wherein the ring has a front and a rear; and further comprising a hinge in the circular shaped arm rail creating a gate to allow the circularly shaped ring arm rail to open and close.
US09326640B2
A food processor feed tube assembly includes a first feed tube extension and a second feed tube extension telescopically and slidably received in the first feed tube extension. The second feed tube extension is configured to be movable from a retracted position in which the second feed tube extension is substantially entirely nested within the first feed tube extension, and an extended position in which the second feed tube extension is extended from the first feed tube extension.
US09326623B2
A mounting device for housing a smart device having a user interface comprises a horizontal armature, a screen housing, and a mounting bracket. The mounting device is configured for attachment to a display unit having a plurality of posts. The horizontal armature includes coupling mechanisms disposed at each end thereof, wherein each coupling mechanism is configured to be removably coupled to one of the posts. The screen housing has a hollow interior configured to receive the smart device therein, wherein the screen housing includes at least one aperture for providing visual and tactile access to desired portions of the smart device. The mounting bracket is securely coupled to the screen housing and includes at least one projection extending therefrom and configured to be received in a corresponding opening formed in the horizontal armature to couple the screen housing to the horizontal armature.
US09326617B2
A spring mattress structure comprises a mattress body with a top bed surface and a bottom bed surface which consists of a plurality of shaft levers separated by a regular spacing between any two adjacent shaft levers and prepared for placement of a plurality of springs; each of the springs allows the bottom's both ends to be placed on surfaces of two adjacent shaft levers and develops a hollow space which correspond to a spacing developed by the two adjacent shaft levers; the bottom of each spring is fixed on one of the shaft levers with a spring-loaded locating piece so that the spring is securely connected to the shaft lever.
US09326613B2
An upholstered seat with flexible pelvic support having a seat bottom with a seat pan, upholstery, and resiliently deflectable pelvic support structures retained at least partially within the central area of the seat pan. Plural resiliently deflectable fingers can project to within a left portion of the central area and plural resiliently deflectable fingers can project to within a right portion of the central area. The resiliently deflectable fingers can have different deflection resistances to permit hyper-localized control over the resilient support provided. A U-shaped rigidifying member secured to the seat pan establishes rigidified lateral and posterior portions of the seat pan. A resiliently compressible foam structure can have a U-shaped outer portion and a softer inner portion to facilitate a cradling of a seat occupant. A support and positioning member can be retained by a seat back in a fixed angular orientation relative to the seat bottom.
US09326603B2
A slide rail includes: a rail assembly 2; an inner rail 4 mounted on the rail assembly 2, and slidable in a longitudinal direction of the rail assembly 2; and a locking arm 5 a rear end portion of which is secured to a surface of the inner rail 4 facing the rail assembly 2, and a front end portion of which is a free end, wherein the locking arm 5 has a lock protrusion portion 5a that, when pulling out the inner rail 4 from the rail assembly 2, locks slide at a predetermined position, and wherein the rail assembly 2 has a lock hole 2a for catching the lock protrusion portion 5a.
US09326592B2
Disclosed is a toothbrush and a toothbrush having interdental brush. There is provided the configuration of the toothbrush in which toothbrush bristles are aligned in two lines without the bristles in the middle of toothbrush head, and interdental brush bristles are also provided, so that toothbrush bristles can be deeply fit into and touched to every teeth and interdental portions without needs of applying excessive power or pressure during toothbrushing, thereby to prevent damages on teeth and gums, easily remove food particles and plagues remained on the toothbrush, and prevent the secondary bacteria diseases due to fast dry of the toothbrush.
US09326580B2
Containers are described herein for the transportation and distribution of replaceable consumer products, e.g. interchangeable shaving assemblies. The containers described herein include a mechanism to securely hold the container in predetermined open and closed positions. The interior of the container may provided features which serve to hold and protect the shaving assemblies when not in use, e.g., during transport or storage.
US09326569B1
A clasp for releasably holding opposed ends of an elongated filament element. The clasp includes a housing having opposed sides each having a receiving port for accommodating respective opposed ends of the elongated filament element, and an open center chamber, a slide member received in the open center chamber of the housing, including opposed walls that each have a locking aperture, having an open center passage, and an end actuation button having locked and released positions, a locking disc engaged between the slide member and housing, and a spring disposed within the open center passage of the slide member and positioned between the locking disc and the end actuation button.
US09326566B2
An article of footwear may include a motorized tensioning system including a tensile member and a motorized tightening device attached to an outer surface of the article of footwear, the tightening device configured to apply tension in the tensile member to adjust the size of an internal void defined by the article of footwear. The article of footwear may also include a tightening device cover configured to be removably attached to the article of footwear over the tightening device.
US09326565B1
A shoe with interchangeable attachable heel that includes a connection seat disposed upon a sole of an extant shoe, said connection seat disposed between a shank and a counter of said extant shoe, wherein a top plate, disposed atop at least one attachable heel, is expediently connectable to the connection seat by sliding engagement therewith and superimposition thereupon, whereby a lozenge-shaped protrusion disposed atop the top plate is positional for engagement interior to a connection aperture centrally disposed upon the connection seat, and each of a pair of arcuate rails slidingly engages interior to each of a pair of arcuate channels disposed upon the connection seat, whereby a plurality of pegs are extendable interior to each of a plurality of holes disposed upon the connection seat and the attachable heel is expediently securable for custom wear upon the connection seat, as desired.
US09326563B2
A base (1) is provided for a ski boot (2) and comprises a one-piece sole (4) defining heel and toe portions (6, 7) that is adapted to be secured to one or more outsole elements (8, 9, 10). Preferably, toe and heel outsole elements (8, 9) are bonded to the toe and heel portions (6, 7) respectively to form a base (1) with a unitary construction. The sole (4) also has a fiber-reinforced composite structure wherein a majority of the fibers in at least a mid-section (7) of the sole (4) between the heel and toe portions (6, 7) are angled at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis (L) of the sole (4). Preferably, the mid-section (7) of the sole covers a position anatomically beneath the location of the metatarsal bones and the plantar arch of a person wearing the ski boot and a majority of the fibers in this mid-section (7) of the sole are angled at substantially ±45°±10° to the longitudinal axis (L) of the sole (4) and between 5% and 10% of the fibers in the mid-section (7) of the sole (4) are substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the sole at angles within ±20° of being parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the sole (4). A ski boot (2) incorporating such a sole (4) is also provided.
US09326560B2
A safety helmet has a protective shell, an inner liner with several attachment branches, and at least a first securing clip to fit an accessory on the outer surface of the shell. Each attachment branch of the liner comprises a fixing part inserted and blocked in a slide of the shell by said first securing clip which acts both as latch to attach the liner to the shell and as female loop for clipping of a second securing clip connected to a chinstrap.
US09326552B2
Disclosed herein are abdominal-restraint garments comprising an outer garment layer and an inner abdominal-restraint layer. The inner abdominal-restraint layer can be attached to the outer garment layer. In some embodiments, a front bottom and/or back bottom of the inner abdominal-restraint layer are attached to an inner side of the outer garment layer. The front top of the inner abdominal-restraint layer can be configured to be even with the front rise of the outer garment layer or extend above the front rise of the outer garment layer. The inner abdominal-restraint layer can be configured to extend across a garment-wearer's abdominal region. In some embodiments, the abdominal-restraint garment is a pair of pants, jeans, a pair of shorts, a skirt, leggings, or tights. Also disclosed herein are methods of assembling the abdominal-restraint garments disclosed herein.
US09326550B2
An electronic cigarette includes a battery assembly, an atomizer assembly and a cigarette bottle assembly. An external thread electrode is located in one end of battery assembly. An internal thread electrode is located in one end of atomizer assembly. The battery assembly and the atomizer assembly are connected by the screwthread electrode. The cigarette bottle assembly is inserted into the other end of the atomizer assembly and both form a cigarette type or cigar type body.
US09326544B2
One variation of a method for dispensing toppings onto topping vehicles includes: indexing a first topping vehicle to a first position adjacent a first topping module, the first topping module comprising a first hopper containing a first topping of a first topping type; indexing a second topping vehicle to a second position adjacent a second topping module comprising a second hopper containing a second topping of a second topping type; retracting a first blade of the first topping module; advancing the first blade through the first topping; retracting a first retaining plate to dispense a topping slice from the first topping onto the first topping vehicle according to a first topping order for the first topping vehicle specifying the first topping type, the first retaining plate offset from the first blade opposite the first hopper; advancing the first retaining plate; and indexing the first topping vehicle to the second position.
US09326537B2
A frozen, microwaveable, coated food product comprising: a core of cooked edible material having a weight equal to 15-95 wt. % of the food product; a fried coating that envelops the core of edible material and has a weight equal to 5-85 wt. % of the total weight of the food product, said coating comprising at least three coating layers, including an inner crumb layer, an outer crumb layer and a batter layer that separates the inner crumb layer from the outer crumb layer; wherein both the inner crumb layer and the outer crumb layer comprise a milled farinaceous dough extrudate containing 0.05-5 wt. % of added hydrocolloid.
US09326534B2
A beet processing process including the step of washing of the beets and the step of partial pressing of the beets for the production, on the one hand, of a press cake containing more than 20% sugar relative to the dry matter content and, on the other hand, of a sugar juice at a concentration greater than 15% dry matter content. The process further includes the step of separation of the press cake and of the sugar juice.
US09326533B2
The present invention provides a means to concentrate, dry and formulate biomaterials such as polysaccharides, gums and related biopolymers, and microorganisms such as cells, spores, and the like from dilute solutions using spent germ and other oil bearing residues. In addition, the spent germ can serve as a carrier for such biomaterials. The sorbed materials are useful in animal feeds.
US09326532B2
A preformed serving of a frozen confection configured to be received in a substantially hollow edible container is provided including a body of a frozen confection. A first portion of the body has a shape generally complementary to the edible container. When the body is received within the container, the first portion extends substantially below a surface of the container such that the body of the frozen confection is substantially wedged therein.
US09326527B2
In a deboning process, a knee joint length is measured in a work loading section of a first process station, and incision making of a thigh meat portion is performed in a second process station based on the measured knee joint length. At the same time, the entire length of a work is measured, and the knee joint length is calculated from previously collected data based on the measured entire length of the work. Positioning of a cutting blade and a meat separator is performed based on these values in subsequent process stations, and cutting of a tendon adhering to a knee joint and tearing of thigh meat are performed. A thigh bone is separated from a lower thigh in a further process station.
US09326525B2
The present invention provides a kneading device including a hopper having a hopper body that stores raw powder, and a mixer that kneads material to be kneaded, which contains the raw powder, wherein the hopper includes a stirring device that stirs the raw powder in the hopper body, and a temperature-controlled air supply device 6 that supplies temperature-controlled air into the hopper body. This kneading device can stably prepare high-quality kneaded dough.
US09326519B2
This invention provides granulated methylene dithiocyanate for safe and environmentally friendly industrial antimicrobial use, and a process for manufacturing it.
US09326510B2
Novel compounds of formula (I) their use as germination trap for parasitic weeds, for the regulation of branching, tillering and root development, for enhancement of cambium growth, for the regulation of hyphal growth of mycorrhizal fungi and compositions comprising compounds of formula (I) and insecticides and/or fungicides.
US09326499B1
A tubular, adjustable, reed-type game call has axially aligned, adjustable sections. A tubular horn is threadably interconnected with a tubular handle comprising a mouthpiece and an intermediate coupling with an internal sounding chamber. The horn is threadably mated to internal coupling threads, and relative twisting of the horn relative to the mouthpiece causes axial lengthening or shortening of the game call, as the horn is displaced relative to the coupling. A cylindrical anchor supports an elongated reed and a parallel, elongated sounding board. A contactor pressures the reed at a point that is varied when the parts are twisted together or apart, to shorten or lengthen the effective reed length, producing different user selectable sounds. A lock washer is positioned proximate the contactor for securing it.
US09326492B2
A cleaning device for aquariums comprises a water-tight enclosure configured to be submerged under water and a water pump comprising an inlet for receiving water and an outlet pipe for expelling water. The outlet pipe comprises a central axis. A power source is disposed within the water-tight enclosure for powering the water pump. An adjustable nozzle comprises a nozzle outlet in fluid communication with the outlet pipe, and the adjustable nozzle is configured to be rotated about the central axis of the outlet pipe to selectively adjust a position of the nozzle outlet. In one example, water volume flow or water velocity flow expelled from the nozzle outlet can be selectively adjusted via rotational adjustment of the adjustable nozzle relative to the outlet pipe.
US09326491B1
An animal and attacker deterrent system to be mounted to a bicycle or equivalent vehicle is disclosed herein. The deterrent system in one form included: a gas cylinder; a valve coupled to the gas cylinder and mounted to the bicycle; a gas conduit having a first end coupled to the user actuated valve; and at least one fluid reservoir coupled to a second end of the gas conduit; a plurality of mist producing spray apertures fluidly coupled to at least one of the fluid reservoir(s). The system as disclosed may include a plurality of reservoirs mounted to each of the left and right front fork components of the bicycle and having spray apertures mounted thereto. Alternatively, the system may include a plurality of spray apertures mounted at a single position and directed to mist fluid to left and right sides of the bicycle therefrom.
US09326484B2
An apparatus and process for impinging a fluid upon an object to be treated is described. A generally conical-shaped flow of fluid is directed from the cleaning device onto a surface. The fluid contacts the surface and then is reflected through an opening defined by the device and against a deflection plate. The deflection plate has a shape configured to direct the fluid into a fluid return and back onto the surface to be treated.
US09326478B2
A soybean cultivar designated UA 5414RR is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar UA 5414RR, to the plants of soybean cultivar UA 5414RR, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar UA 5414RR, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar UA 5414RR. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar UA 5414RR. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar UA 5414RR, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar UA 5414RR with another soybean cultivar.
US09326477B2
A soybean cultivar designated S130056 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar S130056, to the plants of soybean cultivar S130056, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar S130056, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar S130056. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar S130056. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar S130056, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar S130056 with another soybean cultivar.
US09326472B1
A novel maize variety designated X13D088 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 X13D088 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X13D088 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X13D088, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X13D088. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X13D088.
US09326465B1
The invention provides seed and plants of Tagetes patula variety ‘PAS1077396’. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds, and tissue cultures of Tagetes patula variety ‘PAS1077396’, and to methods for producing a marigold plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another marigold plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the gametes of such plants.
US09326463B2
Provided is a method for producing a homozygous non-human organism from a heterozygous non-human organism, which homozygous organism can be crossed to obtain a hybrid, comprising providing a heterozygous starting organism; allowing the organism to produce SDR-0 cells through meiosis, which cells originate from second division restitution; regenerating SDR-0 organisms from the SDR-0 cells; and producing the homozygous organism from the SDR-0 organisms thus obtained. Further provided is a method for producing a hybrid, comprising crossing a first homozygous organism that is produced according to the above method with a second homozygous organism. Also provided is a homozygous non-human organism and hybrid non-human organisms obtainable by these methods. In a preferred embodiment, the organisms are plants.
US09326451B1
The disclosure provides compositions and methods to improve seeding success. In an exemplary embodiment the compositions and methods disclosed herein are used to improve seeding success in rangeland areas. However, the compositions and methods are useful to improve seeding success in any environment where seeding is difficult. In an exemplary embodiment, the invention provides a “seed pillow”, a multifunctional seed treatment that mitigates the limiting factors controlling seedling establishment. In one embodiment, the seed pillow comprises a pillow-shaped agglomeration of absorbent earth materials and other additives, with seeds attached within a concave well on the underneath side of the pillow. To increase the probability that the seeds will be covered by the pillow, soil and tackifier are placed with the seeds for increased weight on the seed side of the pillow, and to glue the pillow to the soil. The shape of the pillow is also designed to improve coverage by having a flat bottom and convex top. Upon wetting, the pillow material melts over the seeds, thus providing seed coverage and enhanced conditions for seed germination and growth.
US09326445B1
A composite discharge spout portion for a discharge spout for a forage harvester defines at least a portion of a path for crop materials. The spout portion may include a proximal end, a distal end, an upper wall and a pair of side walls extending between the proximal end and distal end. The side walls depend from the upper wall, and the top and side walls have opposite major faces and edges. A spine may be integrated into each of the side walls and extends between the proximal and distal ends, with each of the spines forming a tubular structure on either side of the spout portion. The upper wall, the side walls and the spines may be integrally formed of a composite material.
US09326444B2
A spout is pivotally mounted to a transferring material for transferring the agricultural material to the receiving vehicle. An imaging device faces towards the storage portion of the receiving vehicle and collects image data. A container module is adapted to determine a container position of the storage portion, or its container perimeter. An alignment module determines the relative position of the spout and the container perimeter and for generating command data to shift a relative longitudinal alignment between the vehicles in or against a direction of travel of the vehicles when the discharge end of the spout is in misalignment state. An angle sensor is associated with the spout for measuring an observed rotational angle of the spout, wherein the misalignment state means the observed rotational angle is equal to or greater than a rotational angle limit.
US09326443B2
An arrangement for the automatic transfer of agricultural crops from a harvesting machine to a transport vehicle has an image capture device, which optically detects one or more features of the transport vehicle. A computer controls an actuator to adjust a transfer device relative to the harvesting machine and/or to change the position of the loading container relative to the harvesting machine based on signals of the image capture device. The computer continually sets up, with the aid of the signals of the image capture device, a virtual movement model of the loading container and controls the actuator with the aid of extrapolated data for an expected position of the loading container derived from the movement model, if the signals of the image capture device are no longer sufficient to recognize the transport vehicle because of an impairment of the visibility conditions.
US09326440B2
An apparatus for maintaining a tillage implement such as a plow at a consistent working depth utilizes a spring biased quadrilateral linkage to maintain the tillage implement in a position having to float forwardly and upwardly from the working depth thereby preventing unwanted flotation of the tillage implement from the working depth until the tillage implement encounters a substantially vertical load.
US09326439B2
An agricultural implement having a rolling basket is disclosed. A stationary blade is disposed inside an inner chamber of the rolling basket and attached at ends of the rolling basket near the bearings that are connected to the rolling basket. The rolling basket rotates around its major axis via the bearings, while the blade is held stationary. The stationary blade has sleeves at the ends, and each of the sleeves is connected to a post of a support arm and locked into the posts via a pin.
US09326438B2
An attachment assembly for the disc of a mobile agricultural device, including a washer configured to attach to a disc of the mobile agricultural device. The washer may be attached to a center location of the disc. The washer is operatively connected to a deflector bar. The deflector bar substantially prevents debris from accumulating between the disc and a fertilizer assembly attached to the disc, as the disc rotates. The deflector bar in other embodiments, may be directly connected to a fertilizer assembly, rather than to the washer.
US09332686B2
A lower supporting pin module 22 is given a shape having a contact surface 26a. On the occasion of position recognition for determining a position of a pin on the lower supporting pin module 22, an image of the lower supporting pin module 22 is captured, and the image is subjected to recognition processing, to thus detect an outer shape of an upper shaft 24B. Even when an extraneous matter on a downside surface of a substrate adheres to the contact surface 26a, the position of the lower supporting pin module 22 can be stably recognized with superior recognition precision.
US09332682B2
In an electronic component mounting method, electronic components are picked up from a component supply unit in which first and second tray supply mechanisms are arranged, and mounted on substrates. In the method, a first substrate and a second substrate different in type from the first substrate are transported by first and second substrate transport lanes, respectively, and a first component to be mounted on the first substrate and a second component to be mounted on the second substrate are supplied by the first and second tray supply mechanisms, respectively. If use stop setting indicating that the pickup of the electronic components is no longer conducted is enabled in one tray supply mechanism, the controller prohibits an access of a mounting head to the one tray supply mechanism, and permits an operation access of an operator to a tray housing unit of the one tray supply mechanism.
US09332669B1
A cable management arm of a server rack includes two cable frames, two first connecting bases and two first connecting members. The cable frames are pivotally connected with each other as a whole, and the first connecting bases are installed between a rear end of a slide and the server rack, and the first connecting members are installed at open ends of the cable frames respectively. A first snap portion designed on a first elastic plate of the first connecting member is snapped into the first connecting base by the elasticity of the first elastic plate and provided for accommodating at least one connecting wire. The cable management arm may change its length as the slide is stretched or pushed, and the structural design of the first connecting base and the first connecting member is simplified significantly to lower manufacturing costs and facilitate installation and removal.
US09332661B2
A printer includes a body case and an interface connector unit that is movable between a hidden position where the interface connector unit is hidden by the body case and an exposed position where the interface connector unit is exposed from the body case.
US09332658B2
A wiring board includes first and second insulating layers, first and second through holes, a via, a plane layer, and signal wirings. The first insulating layer covers a first wiring layer. The first through hole opens on a surface of the first insulating layer and exposes a surface of the first wiring layer. The via fills the first through hole. The plane layer is connected to the via and is stacked on the first insulating layer. The second through hole opens on a surface of the plane layer and exposes the surface of the first insulating layer. The second insulating layer at least partially fills the second through hole and covers the plane layer. The signal wirings are stacked on the second insulating layer. The first through hole overlaps the signal wirings in a plan view. The second through hole does not overlap the signal wirings in a plan view.
US09332657B2
A method for manufacturing a multilayer printed wiring board includes preparing a metal layer having metal member portions and connector portions connecting the metal member portions, forming laminated multilayer structures having electronic components and the metal member portions, respectively, forming cut penetrating holes in the connector portions of the metal layer, respectively, such that the connector portions of the metal layer are cut, and forming interlayer insulation layers on the laminated multilayer structures such that the laminated multilayer structures are interposed between the interlayer insulation layers. The forming of the interlayer insulation layers includes filling the cut penetrating holes with a resin derived from one or more interlayer insulation layers on the laminated multilayer structures.
US09332649B2
A flexible circuit board, a semiconductor package, and methods of forming the same are provided. The flexible circuit board includes: a base film; an input line pattern, an output line pattern, and a dummy pattern on a first surface of the base film; and a ground pattern on a second surface of the base film and electrically connected with the dummy pattern.
US09332648B2
The method for producing conductive tracks includes applying continuous metallization layers to a non-conductive substrate, forming a metallization pattern, and applying to the formed tracks a protective barrier layer and a layer for soldering and/or welding elements of parts to the conductive tracks. The continuous metallization layers are applied by consecutively applying an adhesive layer, a conductive layer, and a metal layer, acting as a mask, to the non-conductive substrate. To form the metallization pattern, a mask is formed by laser ablation on sections of the metal layer not occupied by conductive tracks, then selective chemical etching removes the conductive layer and adhesive sublayer from the exposed sections, and selective chemical etching removes the mask, after which the protective barrier layer and layer for soldering and/or welding are applied.
US09332645B2
A main body of an electronic part has multiple electrodes, to which multiple terminals are respectively connected. The terminals include a fuse terminal and a normal terminal, each of which extends from the main body to a printed board so that the main body is supported at a position above and separated from a board surface of the printed board. The fuse terminal has an intermediate portion between an electrode-connected portion and a land-connected portion. The intermediate portion has a cut-off portion having a smaller width than other portions of the fuse terminal, so that the cut-off portion is melted down when excess current flows in the fuse terminal. The intermediate portion extends in a direction parallel to the board surface or in a direction inclined to the board surface at an angle smaller than 90 degrees.
US09332639B2
Embodiments of the invention relates to a method for rework of a BGA package. Memory shape material is placed adjacent to a plurality of solder joints of the package. Stimulation is applied to the material, with the stimulation causing the material to change from a non-stimulated shape to a stimulated shape. This stimulation causes an expansion of the material. As the material expands, it exerts a tensile force on the BGA package and an adjacently positioned carrier, causing a separation of the two components, while mitigating collateral heat of adjacently positioned components.
US09332628B2
A microelectronic structure and a method for fabricating the microelectronic structure provide a plurality of voids interposed between a plurality of conductor layers. The plurality of voids is also located between a liner layer and an inter-level dielectric layer. The voids provide for enhanced electrical performance of the microelectronic structure.
US09332622B1
A lighting system for emulating at a first location the lighting conditions of a remote location includes a lighting control circuit that controls the brightness and color of each of a plurality of lamps at the first location. The lighting control circuit further includes a power source, a networking module that is adapted to receive lighting scene information, via a network, a non-transitory storage medium, and optionally at least one mirror. A remote command module is accessible by the networking module of the control circuit and is adapted to provide the lighting scene information to the lighting control circuit. The remote command module is preferably resident at least in part in a portable electronic device of a user. Alternately, the remote command module may be resident on the remote network server that is in communication with the networking module of the lighting control circuit through the network.
US09332602B2
A system and apparatus including a light emitting diode (LED) driver provides an operating DC voltage to a plurality of LEDs connected in series (LED array) for providing illumination. A rectifier circuit and a filter are coupled to an AC power supply and provide a rectified and filtered DC source voltage to a transformerless voltage boost circuit, which provides the operating DC voltage to the LED array. A hysteretic self-oscillating circuit drives the transformerless voltage boost circuit at an oscillation frequency. A tap is connected between two LEDs in the LED array, which provides an auxiliary DC voltage, which is used to power the oscillating circuit and which eliminates the need for the LED driver to have a conventional transformer or auxiliary DC-DC power converter. The transformerless voltage boost circuit includes an inductor, a capacitor, a diode, and a switch wherein the switch is controlled by the oscillating circuit.
US09332601B2
A two-stage AC-DC power converter for powering a load at a substantially constant current, and related methods and systems. The first stage of the AC-DC power converter includes a conventional power factor correction (PFC) circuit that outputs a direct current (DC) voltage and a DC current. The second stage of the AC-DC power converter includes a low voltage flyback circuit that receives the DC voltage and the DC current. The low voltage flyback circuit includes a flyback transformer and a switch circuit that selectably toggles the substantially constant output current provided by the low voltage flyback circuit to the load between a first and a second, preset constant current. The secondary windings of the flyback transformer are split into two sections, and the switch circuit toggles the two sections of the secondary windings between a series and a parallel configuration to provide the first and second, preset constant currents.
US09332600B2
A driving circuit that switches a light emitting element between an ON state and an OFF state in synchronization with an input signal is provided. The circuit includes a driving current supply unit that has a control terminal and supplies the light emitting element with a driving current whose value changes with dependency on the potential of the control terminal; a control unit that changes the potential of the control terminal in synchronization with the input signal; and a supplementary current supply unit that supplies the control terminal with a supplementary current that promotes change in the potential of the control terminal. The supplementary current supply unit has a capacitor, a voltage that is applied to the capacitor changes in synchronization with the input signal, and the supplementary current is generated by change in the voltage of the capacitor.
US09332596B2
A microwave oven has an oven chamber, a door hinged to the chamber, and at least one door position switch. The switch provides a signal on door position to a central process unit of the oven. A door position switch assembly includes the switch mounted on the door and adjacent a sliding cover element that is adapted to protect the switch in an open configuration of the door and a first protruding element adapted to move the sliding cover element when the door is closed on the oven chamber in order to make the switch accessible. Additionally, a second protruding element may be included that is adapted to actuate the switch in its accessible configuration.
US09332595B2
The present invention is directed to a portable and microwaveable container into which a vessel may be inserted, and which assists in preserving or prolonging elevated temperatures of the contents of the vessel for an extended period of time. The container includes a receptacle area, or opening, into which the vessel is inserted. The container of the present invention may be heated, such as in a microwave oven, and once heated, a vessel containing a warmed food product, typically an elevated temperature liquid, may be inserted. The container of the present invention internally contains a microwaveable absorbing material which retains thermal energy. Once heated, the container passively improves the heat retention of the contents of the inserted vessel.
US09332582B2
In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided for wireless communication. The method, apparatus, and computer program product may be configured to provide a first peer connection with a first node, provide a second peer connection with a second node, and coordinate communication between the first and second nodes via the first and second peer connections.
US09332576B2
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, at a base station, communicating with a mobile phone where the base station comprises a premises wireless access point, at the base station, communicating with a mobile communication system by way of a broadband connection, and instructing a landline phone communicatively coupled to the base station to communicate with a remote end user device via the mobile communication system utilizing identification information of the mobile phone and responsive to communications between the base station and the mobile phone. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09332571B2
Wireless communication in a wireless system using a multiple user transmission opportunity is provided. Data blocks at a wireless station are transmitted to multiple wireless receivers over a shared wireless communication medium. The data blocks are organized in order of transmission priority based on access categories. Contention for access to the communication medium during a transmission opportunity period is based on a backoff timer of each access category and the transmission priority. Upon successful contention for a transmission opportunity period, during the transmission opportunity period, a data block of a primary access category is wirelessly transmitted from the wireless station to one or more primary destination wireless receivers. Simultaneously, a data block of a secondary access category is wirelessly transmitted from the wireless station to one or more secondary destination wireless receivers.
US09332566B2
The invention relates to a method for service aware scheduling of wireless resources in a wireless network. According to the inventive method, a service request for service delivery of a service type is received (51). A performance to value relationship for the service type is determined (52) and approximated (53) with a scheduling weight function associated with the service type. Previous performance for service delivery related to this service request is evaluated and approximated with a performance estimate (54). A scheduling weight is determined (55) by introducing the performance estimate in the scheduling weight function. Resource scheduling is performed (58) following a step of comparing (56) scheduling weights for on-going service requests. The invention also includes a network node and a system for service aware scheduling of wireless resources in a wireless network.
US09332565B2
A communications apparatus includes a first radio frequency (RF) signal processing device, a first baseband signal processing device and a processor. The first RF signal processing device transceives a plurality of RF signals to and from a peer communications apparatus to communicate with the peer communications apparatus in compliance with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) and processing the RF signals. The first baseband signal processing device processes a plurality of baseband signals corresponding to the RF signals. The processor obtains an uplink scheduling indicating a predetermined time assigned by the peer communications apparatus to transmit uplink data from the baseband signals, determines whether to transmit the uplink data at the predetermined time according to a gap-creation criterion, and transmits padding instead of the uplink data to the peer communications apparatus at the predetermined time when the gap-creation criterion is satisfied.
US09332558B2
A method for allocating radio resources, a base station, and a system are provided. The method includes: acquiring statistical average user satisfaction of each access point in a relay cell, where the access point includes the base station and a relay node in the relay cell, the average user satisfaction is an average ratio of a total user rate obtained by an access point to a total user rate required by the access point, where the average ratio is in a statistical period; and when a difference between the statistical average user satisfaction of the base station and the statistical average user satisfaction of each relay node approaches a preset value, determining a resource partitioning weight of each access point; and calculating radio resources of each access point according to the resource partitioning weight of each access point, and allocating the radio resources to each access point.
US09332551B2
Techniques for opportunistic resource sharing between mobile devices are described. A method comprises identifying a set of homogeneous device resources implemented by multiple devices based in part on resource configuration information received by a wireless transceiver, selecting a shared homogeneous device resource of one of the multiple devices to share between the multiple devices, and sending shared configuration information to identify the shared homogeneous device resource and a share role for each of the multiple devices. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09332547B1
In systems and methods of frequency band selection for wireless device communication, a first frequency band comprising a first channel bandwidth is associated with a first application type and a second frequency band comprising a second channel bandwidth is associated with a second application type. When a request to establish a communication session is received at an access node from a wireless device, an application type associated with the request, a frequency band for the communication session with the wireless device based on the application type from among the first frequency band and the second frequency band, and the communication session is established between the access node and the wireless device using the selected frequency band.
US09332540B2
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and device for transmitting and receiving a downlink control channel for controlling inter-cell interference in a wireless communication system. An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting a downlink control channel from a base station to a terminal, and the method may comprise: a step of determining whether a downlink subframe is of a first type or a second type; and a step in which if the downlink subframe is of the first type, the number of OFDM symbols for transmitting the downlink control channel is set to a preset value (N), and the downlink control channel is transmitted using N OFDM symbols.
US09332533B2
Examples of the present disclosure provide an ACK/NACK/SR resource mapping method and an apparatus. According to the technical solution provided by the examples of the present disclosure, in a system including a terminal utilizing a first type protocol and a terminal utilizing a second type protocol, the base station allocates the ACK/NACK/SR resources corresponding to the second type protocol in an area outside of the ACK/NACK/SR resource area reserved for the terminal utilizing the first type protocol, and informs the terminal utilizing the second type protocol of the allocation information of the corresponding ACK/NACK/SR resources. Thus, the terminal utilizing the second type protocol may transmit feedback information via the corresponding ACK/NACK/SR resources.
US09332528B2
The present invention relates to a method and a device for feeding back a channel through precoding matrix indicator (PMI) interpolation. As one embodiment of the present invention, a method for feeding back a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) in a CoMP environment comprises the steps of: allowing a terminal to perform PMI interpolation by using PMIs that are included in the PMI window; allowing the terminal to select an optimum PMI by comparing the interpolated PMIs with a channel state of a current channel; and allowing the terminal to feed back the optimum PMI to a base station.
US09332527B2
The disclosure provides a method for processing a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) counting message. The method includes: a network side configures counting message for performing feedback counting on an MBMS service; and the network side determines a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area to which the counted MBMS belongs and a Multimedia Control Channel (MCCH) which corresponds to the MBSFN area, and transmits the counting message to user equipment (UE) through the MCCH which corresponds to the MBSFN area, or transmits the counting message to the UE through a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH). The disclosure also discloses an apparatus for processing an MBMS counting message. By using the method and the apparatus provided by the disclosure, the network side can know the reception situation of the MBMS service in the MBSFN area.
US09332522B2
An audio-based navigation system for determining a present location or position of a mobile device such as a smartphone within a venue. The system includes a sound system with a first speaker playing first audio content and a second speaker playing second audio content. The first speaker is positioned in a first space in a venue, and the second speaker is positioned in a second space of the venue. The navigation system also includes a mobile device with memory storing a database of fingerprints of a plurality of differing audio content. The mobile device includes a microphone for receiving an audio signal associated with the first audio content or with the second audio content. The mobile device includes a processor(s) selectively running software to determine the mobile device location in the first or second space using either fingerprinting or watermarking module by processing the received audio signal.
US09332513B2
A method and an apparatus for performing synchronization by a first device in a Device-to-Device (D2D) network are provided. The method includes detecting a synchronization signal from at least one second device during one period, determining a phase adjustment value depending on a number of synchronization signals, which have been detected from the at least one second device during the one period, adjusting a phase value of a first device using the phase adjustment value, and transmitting a synchronization signal if the phase value of the first device reaches a predetermined specific value.
US09332509B2
Methods, systems, and devices are provided that may address problems pertaining to effective transmit power control of a communications device operating in a wireless communications system. Some embodiments utilize mechanisms or techniques with dynamically adaptive steps sizes for transmit power control based on one or more trends. Some of these techniques may identify a trend in the transmit power control (TPC) commands and may adapt a TPC step size as a result. Other techniques may be utilized in which transmit power control is based on multiple interference estimates in a frame slot. Having multiple interference estimates at sub-slot intervals may provide additional transmit power control by allowing more transmit power adjustments, or more appropriate adjustments, for each slot. Metric calculations may be performed on one or more techniques to determine appropriate TPC operations.
US09332494B1
A technique includes communicating with a base station via a transmitter and a receiver of a first client device based on a static schedule. The static schedule indicates an uplink time and a downlink time allocated to the first client device and associated with each of multiple frames of the base station. Communication time between the base station and multiple client devices linked to the base station including the first client device is divided into multiple frames. A mode request signal is transmitted or received and performs one of: (i) requesting operation in a sleep mode for a selected number S of the frames, and (ii) indicating operation in a standby mode. An initiate signal is transmitted from the first client device to the base station via the transmitter and indicates when to begin operating in the one of the sleep mode and the standby mode.
US09332492B2
The disclosure relates to a transmission scheme for nodes in a network. More specifically, the disclosure relates to an acknowledgment scheme that minimizes energy requirements for an acknowledgment of a transmission between nodes. The disclosure describes that an energy constrained node may transmit to other nodes in a network and may only require that an acknowledgment of that transmission is received from at least one of the proximal recipients, which may or may not be the ultimate target. In order to minimize the complexity of the receiver in a node and its energy requirements, the acknowledgment scheme may employ simple on-off keying (OOK) irrespective of the modulation technique of the sending transmission. The acknowledgment comprises a series of OOK pulses sent at a specified time after receipt of the transmission. In addition, simultaneously received acknowledgments can be processed and verified without confusion.
US09332487B2
A method provided in one embodiment includes determining a first resource indicator indicative of a first resource capability of a first network element, determining a second resource indicator indicative of a second resource capability of the first network element, determining a third resource indicator indicative of a third resource capability of the first network element, and sending the first resource indicator, the second resource indicator, and the third resource indicator to a second network element. The second network element is configured to determine a first metric value for the first network element based upon the first resource indicator, the second resource indicator, and the third resource indicator. The second network element is further configured to utilize the first metric value to determine a list of one or more acceptable network elements for a wireless device to establish a connection therewith.
US09332484B2
A method and apparatus for operating within a white space band using a message indicating whether an available channel information is valid in the wireless system are disclosed. In a method for a first station (STA) to operate as an unlicensed device which is permitted to operate on an available channel within a White Space (WS) band of a wireless system, comprises: receiving a message indicating whether an available channel information of the first STA is valid from a second STA, wherein the available channel is a channel not used by a licensed device, wherein the message includes a Map ID of a current valid available channel information; and determining whether an existing available channel information of the first STA is valid by comparing a Map ID of the existing available channel information of the first STA with the Map ID included in the received message.
US09332482B2
A method for communication of a base station includes: receiving first data from a first terminal; transmitting the first data to a second terminal by local forwarding without passing through an access service network (ASN); receiving second data from the second terminal; and transmitting the second data to the first terminal without passing through the ASN.
US09332481B2
A wireless communication system constitutes a wireless ad hoc network. A plurality of wireless terminals include a receiving terminal and a plurality of the transmitting terminals. Each of the transmitting terminals executes direct communication or indirect communication. The wireless communication system includes a first obtainer that obtains a reception side terminal number which is the number of the wireless terminals with which the receiving terminal is able to communicate directly, a second obtainer that obtains a transmission side terminal number which is the number of the wireless terminals with which a target transmitting terminal, which is one of the plurality of transmitting terminals, is able to communicate directly, and a setter that selects one of the direct communication and the indirect communication based on the reception side terminal number and the transmission side terminal number, and sets the target transmitting terminal so as to execute the selected communication.
US09332479B2
A wireless network site comprises a base station and a cell site gateway. The cell site gateway comprises a first interface connected to the base station, a second interface connected to a packet network gateway, a label forwarding layer, and a third interface connected to a signaling peer to exchange control plane information to program the forwarding layer. The label forwarding layer transmits and receive packets. The control plane information comprises at least one first label value for transmitting a first plurality of packets to the base station and at least one second label value for transmitting a second plurality of packets to the packet network gateway.
US09332476B2
A system and method may dynamically correct the dead reckoning (DR) position of a mobile device. An indoor or outdoor venue may have Access Points (APs) dispersed around its interior. Each time that a mobile device experiences a handover from one AP to a new AP, the mobile device and/or the local network associated with the venue may determine whether or not the mobile device's DR position corresponds to the location of the new AP. If the mobile device's DR position does not correspond to the location of the new AP within a predetermined threshold, then the mobile device's DR position may be updated to a position associated with the new AP. As a result, the DR position of the mobile device may be continuously checked, and if need be, corrected at each AP handover associated with the venue. The APs may be Wi-Fi/WLAN APs, eNodeB's, or other APs.
US09332474B2
A method in a controller for a first cell in a mobile cellular network for making a decision to handover a user equipment to a second cell of the mobile cellular network is described. The method may include obtaining a first measurement of an uplink signal from a user equipment at the first cell, obtaining a second measurement of an uplink signal from the user equipment at the second cell, and making a decision to handover the user equipment from the first cell to the second cell using the obtained first and second measurements.
US09332447B2
The present invention is directed to a base station including a transceiver configured to communicate with another base station using a radio resource, wherein the radio resource is allocated to the base station to serve communication devices located in a radio cell operated by the base station. A method of operating a base station is also disclosed.
US09332437B2
A wireless communications device is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device includes: a transceiver configured to facilitate communications with a radio access network; and a processing unit configured to: determine that a cell update message is to be transmitted to the network; determine if a security mode configuration procedure is in progress at the device; and if a security mode configuration procedure is not in progress, transmit a second type of cell update message to the network entity, the second type of cell update message not including an indicator indicating that the device has not had to abort an on-going security procedure and in place of said indicator including information not pertaining to a security procedure.
US09332432B2
A request is received to access a user account. A geolocation of a mobile device registered with the user account is obtained directly from the mobile device. Authentication credentials for the user account are verified for correctness. A mobile device geolocation verification request is transmitted to a cellular data provider. The cellular data provider is equipped to independently determine a true geolocation region of the mobile device for comparison with the geolocation of the mobile device as obtained directly from the mobile device. A verification response to the mobile device geolocation verification request is received from the cellular data provider. The verification response indicates whether or not the geolocation of the mobile device as obtained directly from the mobile device corresponds to the true geolocation region of the mobile device. A response to the access request based on the verification response is transmitted.
US09332430B2
A method and apparatus are provided for identifying and authenticating a radio tag by a radio reader. The tag forms part of a set of tags in a radio range of the reader and has selected a time slot from a set of available time slots. The method includes: a step of the reader sending a query message during the selected time slot; and a step of the reader receiving a reply message from the tag that selected the time slot. The reply message includes a random value selected by the tag. The tag stores authentication coupons and the reply from the tag received by the reader during the time slot contains, as a random value selected by the tag, a value that is a function of one of the coupons.
US09332427B2
A wireless computing device includes an antenna that is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. The wireless computing device comprises a transmitter component that causes a first wireless signal to be transmitted to a wireless access point via the antenna, wherein the first wireless signal comprises a request for a location proof, wherein the request for the location proof comprises data that identifies the wireless computing device, and wherein the location proof comprises data that is indicative of a geographic location of the wireless access point. The system also includes a receiver component that receives, via the antenna, a second wireless signal from the wireless access point, wherein the second wireless signal is received by the receiver component subsequent to the transmitter component causing the first wireless signal to be transmitted to the wireless access point.
US09332407B2
There is provided a method of processing a rich-media message by a mobile device having a display, a mobile device operating system and a software application. The method includes receiving the rich-media message over a network by the mobile device, depacketizing the rich-media message by the mobile device operating system to retrieve an encoded rich-media message and address data in the rich-media message, and activating the software application on the mobile device by the mobile device operating system based on the address data in the rich-media message. The method also includes decoding the encoded rich-media message by the software application to generate rich-media content information, determining, using the rich-media content information, whether a rich-media element identified by the rich-media content information is resident on the mobile device, and if the determining determines that the rich-media element is resident on the mobile device, displaying the rich-media element on the display.
US09332403B2
Systems and methods are described that facilitate the generation of calling lists for use in planning or setting up conference calls. The system may include a communications module and a contact database comprising a plurality of contact records, each contact record corresponding to a different contact. Each contact record may include at least one contact address and at least one descriptor. For example, the descriptor may include a job title and/or expertise for the contact. The system may also include a selection module configured to select at least one of the contacts and also configured to compare the at least one descriptor to at least one qualifier criteria. The method may include: providing a contact database comprising a plurality of contact records, each contact record corresponding to a different contact; wherein each contact record comprises at least one contact address and at least one descriptor; determining at least one qualifier criteria; comparing the qualifier criteria to the at least one descriptor; determining a calling list corresponding to at least one contact.
US09332401B2
A method for providing dynamically translated public address announcements can begin with a multi-lingual module maintaining a listing of mobile devices that are currently active within a specified geographic area serviced by a public address system. The native language used by a mobile device that is different than a language used by the public address system can be noted. Content for an announcement broadcast by the public address system can be converted into a format capable of being transmitted via a wireless communications message. The converted content can be translated to the native languages noted in the listing. The wireless communications message containing the translated content can be pushed to corresponding mobile devices in the listing and the wireless communications message containing the converted content can be pushed to a remainder of the mobile devices in the listing via a non-cellular wireless network local to the specified geographic area.
US09332399B2
An apparatus includes a network node configured to communicate with other network nodes via a communication network. The network node includes a plurality of transceivers and a controller. The controller includes a packet management module that identifies a link profile solution set that includes a set of link profiles corresponding to communication links for multicasting the message packet. The link profile solution set maximizes coverage of network target nodes of the multicast message packet. The packet management module places a first message clone of the message packet in a transceiver queue for transmission to one or more of the network target nodes, updates the link profile solution set when the first message clone reaches the end of the transceiver queue, and initiates transmission of the first message clone or drop the first message clone according to the updated link profile solution set.
US09332392B1
A method of remotely activating a combination of mobile device functions using a network application includes receiving, using the network application at a server, a client command from a client computer and sending an instruction to activate a combination of mobile device functions on the mobile device based on the client command. The method further includes receiving, at the server, information from the mobile device based on the activated combination of mobile device functions and sending client information to the client computer based on the received information from the mobile device.
US09332388B1
A composite device includes an RFID device and a controller. The controller allows the RFID to respond to a query from an external source only when the composite device is at a predetermined location. In this manner, a code associated with the RFID is not released by the RFID anywhere in the world except at the location of the query requester.
US09332386B2
Methods, devices and systems for generating enhanced location information on or about a mobile device may include hybrid lateration and/or trilateration solutions in which the mobile device determines whether information obtained via a geospatial system of the mobile device is accurate, collects location information from a plurality of mobile devices in a communication group in response to determining that the information obtained via the geospatial system of the mobile device is not accurate, computes computing more precise location information (including three-dimensional location and position information) based on the location information collected from the plurality of mobile devices, and using the generated location and position information to provide an enhanced location based service, such as an emergency location service, a commercial location service, an internal location service and/or a lawful intercept location service.
US09332385B1
Based on wireless communication between a mobile device and at least one beacon, a present physical location of a mobile device can be identified. Responsive to determining that the mobile device is located at a particular physical location, at least a first message can be communicated to the mobile device. The first message can specify at least one application to be disabled while the mobile device is present at the physical location. Responsive to receiving from the mobile device a response to the first message indicating that the at least one application is disabled, the mobile device can be authorized to establish presence on a network maintained for the physical location.
US09332382B1
Systems and methods are provided for estimating the locations and coverage ranges of wireless transmission stations based on the existing location and coverage range data. The system divides the transmitting stations into a plurality of pairs and estimates new coverage range and location for each transmitting station in each pair based on confidence level, distance to another transmitting station in the same pair and coverage range overlap with other transmitting stations. Systems and methods are provided to estimate the location and accuracy range of the location of a client device based on the intersections of the coverage ranges of wireless transmission stations detected by the client device. The system repeatedly removes the transmission station with fewer number of intersections from further process if the number of intersections for each remaining transmission station is not the same.
US09332378B2
A wireless communication device includes a memory unit that stores a communication setting information, and a communication control unit that controls a wireless communication in accordance with the communication setting information. When the first wireless communication switches to the second wireless communication, the communication control unit keeps the communication setting information of the first wireless communication being stored. After that, when the second wireless communication is turned off, the communication control unit controls the first wireless communication in accordance with the communication setting information of the first wireless communication.
US09332377B2
The present invention concerns devices and methods for control of data transfer in a personal area network. The data transfer being performed by body coupled communication (BCC) and short-range wireless communication between a first portable electronic communication device (10) and a second portable electronic communication device (20, 30). The devices being adapted to be in close proximity to a body of a user and the first portable electronic communication device (10) is configured to initiate and perform execution of predefined actions by means of the method to cooperate with the second portable electronic communication device (20, 30) in a system/personal area network.
US09332375B2
An image forming apparatus includes a communication unit, a radio wave intensity measurement unit, and a communication control unit. The radio wave intensity measurement unit measures a radio wave intensity of radio waves received by the communication unit. The communication control unit performs control associated with communication disruption between the portable terminal and the communication unit when the measured result is lower than a predetermined first radio wave intensity and continuously decreases for a predetermined reference time.
US09332371B2
A system for determining loudspeaker position estimates comprises motion sensors (201,203) and a movement processor (205) arranged to determine motion data for a user movable unit where the motion data characterizes movement of the user moveable unit. A user input interface (207) receives user inputs and a user processor (209) processes them into user activations which indicate that at least one of a current position and orientation of the user movable unit is associated with a loudspeaker position. An analyzing processor (211) then generates loudspeaker position estimates in response to the motion data and the user activations. The system thus performs speaker position estimations based on (i) the motion data of the user moveable unit being pointed towards or positioned on a speaker and (ii) the user activations.
US09332369B2
In accordance with an embodiment, an interface circuit includes a variable voltage bias generator coupled to a transducer, and a measurement circuit coupled to an output of the transducer. The measurement circuit is configured to measure an output amplitude of the transducer. The interface circuit further includes a calibration controller coupled to the bias generator and the measurement circuit, and is configured to set a sensitivity of the transducer and interface circuit during an auto-calibration sequence.
US09332365B2
A stereo device testing method includes the following steps. Firstly, a stereo device is fixed, and a gas is continuously inputted into an inner space of the stereo device. After a predetermined time period, an internal pressure value of the inner space of the stereo device is detected. By judging whether the internal pressure value is higher than or equal to a default pressure value, the tester may determine whether the stereo device is qualified or not. After the stereo device is tested, the manufacturer of the stereo device may repair the gas leakage position. Since the influence of the gas leakage condition on the resonant effect is minimized, the sound quality of the stereo device is enhanced.
US09332345B1
Use of microphone capacitance as a switched capacitor in an input network of a delta-sigma modulator
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for providing a digitized microphone signal to a digital processing device may include an analog signal path portion, a digital signal path portion, and a control circuit. The analog signal path portion may have an audio input configured to receive an analog input signal indicative of audio sounds incident upon an audio transducer. The digital signal path portion may have an analog-to-digital converter for converting the analog microphone signal to the digitized microphone signal. The control circuit may be configured to control a magnitude of the analog input signal or a derivative thereof in order to reduce audio distortion occurring in either or both of the analog signal path portion and the digital signal path portion.
US09332339B2
Flexible connectors that can be mated into specially designed electronic receptacles are described. In some embodiments, additional connections on the connector can make contact with the receptacle. However, the additional connections are also provided in a manner wherein if the connector is plugged into a legacy, conventional receptacle, the additional connectors become disengaged and slide away from, back from, or inside the jack so that the connector can still be used on legacy devices.
US09332338B2
A Bluetooth communication bracelet includes a main body and a Bluetooth earphone. The main body includes a wearing member, a charging plate, an USB interface, and an audio jack. The wearing member defines a receiving groove, a positioning portion and a charging electrode. The receiving groove is located on the outer peripheral of the wearing member, the positioning portion. The charging electrode is located on sidewalls of the receiving groove. The charging plate is located in the wearing member. The USB interface is electrically coupled to the charging plate for charging the charging plate. The Bluetooth earphone, which is received in the receiving groove, includes a carrier, an earplug, and a microphone. The carrier sets a matching portion and a contact electrode. The matching portion matches the positioning portion to make the Bluetooth earphone releasably mounted to the wearing member. The contact electrode is in contact with the charging plate.
US09332337B2
A headset (1) comprising at least one earphone (2, 3) with at a first earphone side (39) and earphone attachment means (14) for detachably attaching an ear pad (8) with co-operating ear pad attachment means (16) to the first earphone side (39). The headset (1) further comprising a wearing device (4) for attaching the headset (1) to the head of a user, such that the first earphone side (39) faces the ear. The earphone attachment means comprise magnetic elements (14), such that an ear pad (8) with co-operating magnetic ear pad attachment means (15) can be magnetically attached to the earphone (2, 3). The invention also relates to such an ear pad (8).
US09332334B2
A case for a mobile communications device is provided that is configurable to take on at least two audio/audible configurations. The first audio/audible configuration is a handset configuration and the second audio configuration is a headphone/earphone/earbud configuration. The case has a housing and a headphone male connector. The headphone male connector forms part of a headphone male connector assembly. The headphone male connector assembly is capable of moving the headphone male connector to selectively and/or mechanically engage a mobile communications device headphone port to actuate the first audio/audible configuration in a first position, and to actuate the second audio/audible configuration in a second position. A method of switching between different modes of operation of a mobile communications device, such as an iPhone™ smartphone, using the functionality of a removable, protective case for the device is also provided herein.
US09332309B2
An error recovery method may be engaged by an encoder to recover from misalignment between reference picture caches at the encoder and decoder. When a communication error is detected between a coder and a decoder, a number of non-acknowledged reference frames present in the decoder's reference picture cache may be estimated. Thereafter, frames may be coded as reference frames in a number greater or equal to the number of non-acknowledged reference frames that are estimated to be present in the decoder's reference picture cache. Thereafter, ordinary coding operations may resume. Typically, a final reference frame that is coded in the error recovery mode will be coded as a synchronization frame that has high coding quality. The coded reference frames that precede it may be coded at low quality (or may be coded as SKIP-coded frames). On reception and decoding, the preceding frames may cause the decoder to flush from its reference picture cache any non-acknowledged reference frames that otherwise might collide with the new synchronization frame. In this manner, alignment between the encoder and decoder may be restored.
US09332282B2
The present invention relates to an image encoding and decoding technique, and more particularly, to an image encoder and decoder using unidirectional prediction. The image encoder includes a dividing unit to divide a macro block into a plurality of sub-blocks, a unidirectional application determining unit to determine whether an identical prediction mode is applied to each of the plurality of sub-blocks, and a prediction mode determining unit to determine a prediction mode with respect to each of the plurality of sub-blocks based on a determined result of the unidirectional application determining unit.
US09332275B2
Compared to conventional intra divided-picture encoding, deterioration in the coding efficiency is suppressed and the encoding computational complexity and the decoding computational complexity are reduced. A divided picture generating unit divides an input encoding target picture into blocks of the same size and generates divided pictures having the same size by collecting pixels having the same relative position within each block. An intra divided-picture encoding processing unit performs intra divided-picture encoding on part of the divided pictures. An inter divided-picture encoding processing unit performs inter divided-picture encoding using another encoded divided picture as a reference picture. When there are a plurality of candidates for the reference picture, a correlation direction calculating unit obtains a combination in which a correlation of a pixel on an original picture is high among combinations of encoded divided pictures and their reference pictures. A reference picture selecting unit selects an encoded divided picture in a direction in which a correlation with an encoding target divided picture is high as the reference picture to be used in the inter divided-picture encoding processing unit.
US09332271B2
A method, a device and computer readable storage media facilitate providing screen content including a plurality of video frames that are displayed by a computing device. During coding of the screen content, a suitable predictor is found that is used to code pixel blocks from one or more frames. The suitable predictor is found by selecting a pixel block of a current frame, conducting a direction based search by comparing pixel blocks within a search window of a reference frame with the selected pixel block of the current frame to determine whether a match exists, and, in response to a determination that no sufficient match has been found, conducting a feature oriented search by comparing pixel blocks of the reference frame with the selected pixel block of the current frame to find a suitable match based upon a common feature.
US09332269B2
An example video coding system may include a processor and memory. The processor may determine sets of parameters for slices that correspond to a picture of a video sequence, and determine, and store in overhead information, the set of parameters that has the highest commonality. The processor may determine for each slice whether the set of parameters determined for the slice is equivalent to the set of parameters stored in overhead information. If the set of parameters for the slice is equivalent to the set of parameters stored in overhead information, the processor may store an indication in a slice header of the slice that indicates that the set of parameters stored in overhead information applies to the slice, otherwise the processor may store in the slice header of the slice the determined set of parameters for the slice. The processor may transmit the overhead information and the slices.
US09332265B2
An image decoding method is provided. The image decoding method includes obtaining information about a color representation from a bitstream, entropy decoding a residue, which corresponds to a difference between a current image and a predicted image of the current image, and reconstructing the current image by using the entropy decoded residue and the predicted image, based on the information about the color representation.
US09332261B2
A network management module includes a network interface module, memory, and a processing module. The network interface module is operable for coupling the network management module to a vehicle communication network. The processing module is operable to manage a global vehicle network communication protocol that includes instituting a content-based network packet processing protocol and managing the vehicle communication network to support the network packet processing protocol. The content-based network packet processing protocol includes determining content type of a packet, determining a processing requirement of the packet, and prioritizing execution of the processing requirement based on the content type.
US09332254B2
A method and device for encoding, decoding, storage and transmission of a scalable data stream to include layers having different coding properties including: producing one or more layers of the scalable data stream, wherein the coding properties include at least one of the following: Fine granularity scalability information; Region-of-interest scalability information; Sub-sample scalable layer information; Decoding dependency information; and Initial parameter sets, and signaling the layers with the characterized coding property such that they are readable by a decoder without the need to decode the entire layers. A corresponding method of encoding, decoding, storage, and transmission of a scalable bit stream is also disclosed, wherein at least two scalability layers are present and each layer has a set of at least one property, such as those above identified.
US09332250B2
In order to provide a display device capable of improving the display quality at the time of 2D display and 3D display, the present invention provides a display device that includes: a display panel that displays an image; and a liquid crystal lens panel that is arranged on the display surface side of the display panel, controls a refractive index in a cylindrical lens manner to form parallax barriers, and switches 2D display and 3D display, and the liquid crystal lens panel includes: a first transparent substrate that is arranged on the display panel side; a second transparent substrate that is arranged to face the first substrate through a liquid crystal layer; and a first polarizing plate that is formed on the display surface side of the second transparent substrate to control a polarization direction of light transmitting through the liquid crystal lens panel.
US09332240B1
A method, device, and/or medium may be associated with controlling media content delivery to a remote device by generating and transmitting a request to schedule media content for recording. An identification of a remote device that is prohibited from accessing the scheduled media content may be generated and included in the request. A request to transmit the recorded media content may be denied based, at least in part, on the identification of the prohibited device.
US09332231B2
In a method for monitoring safe driving of a vehicle, the method obtains a current image captured by an image capturing device positioned on an outside sideview mirror of the vehicle, determines a horizontal distance and a vertical distance between each pixel point in the current image and the lens of image capturing device, and selects a reference point from first specified pixel points whose horizontal distances are less than a first preset value. The method further determines second specified pixel points whose vertical distances are less than or equal to a second preset value based on the reference point, to obtains a processed image based on the second specified pixel points, and displays the processed image on an inside rearview mirror of the vehicle.
US09332226B2
A video session manager and method for enabling, optimizing, and managing inter-domain video communication sessions, including telepresence and videoconferencing sessions. The video session manager is configured to receive and analyze a video communication session request from one or more endpoints; to determine the viability of a communication session based on one or more attributes of the session; and to connect the one or more requesting endpoints to start the session. The video session manager is further configured to connect the one or more requesting endpoints via a bridging resource, such as a multipoint control unit, based on one or more considerations such as geography and transmission channel utilization.
US09332225B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus, and a system for controlling a conference including a telepresence conference site, and relate to the field of network communications technologies. An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling a conference site in a telepresence conference, including: receiving attribute information of a telepresence conference site sent by the telepresence conference site, where the telepresence conference site includes at least two video areas; and performing conference control according to the received attribute information of the telepresence conference site. Through application of the present invention, the conference control process of the telepresence conference site may be simplified.
US09332215B1
A method and system for displaying to a pilot, or other airborne personnel, high resolution video signal content on a lower resolution display, by providing a plurality of pilot selectable aspects of the high resolution video signals, which are predetermined to accentuate a particular characteristic of said high resolution video signals, where the aspects are non-linear mappings of the high resolution signals (x) to (y) on said lower resolution display, where the non-linear mapping has y determined by a constant with an exponent which includes x and a logarithmic constant.
US09332203B2
A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a photoelectric-conversion element configured to output electric charges generated by photoelectric conversion to a first node, and an accumulation circuit having an input terminal connected to the first node and being capable of changing an integral capacitance value. The number of drain or source of a MOS transistor in an OFF state connected to the first node is one.
US09332202B2
A solid-state imaging apparatus, wherein an analog to digital conversion unit converts an analog signal from the pixel, a first memory holds the digital signal from the analog to digital conversion unit, and thereafter, a second memory holds the digital signal held by the first memory. The analog to digital conversion unit converts an analog signal from the pixel based on a photoelectric conversion of the pixel, and the first memory holds the digital signal from the analog to digital conversion unit. The first memory includes a first latch circuit holding a digital signal from the analog to digital conversion unit and a second latch circuit holding a signal held by the first latch circuit. The second memory includes a third latch circuit holding a signal held in the first latch circuit and a fourth latch circuit holding a signal held in the third latch circuit.
US09332187B2
A camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first Printed Circuit Board (PCB) configured to have an image sensor mounted thereon; a housing unit disposed over the first PCB; a holder module spaced apart from a bottom surface within the housing unit at a specific interval and configured to have first coils wound on its outer circumferential face and to include at least lens therein; a second PCB combined with the bottom surface of the holder module; a third PCB disposed over the holder module; a plurality of wire springs each configured to have one end connected to the second PCB and the other end connected to the third PCB; and buffer units provided at the connection units of the wire springs and the third PCB and configured to surround the connection units of the wire springs and the third PCB.
US09332183B2
An imaging device that captures an image using an imaging section includes a control section that controls a signal modulation process that decreases or increases a signal level of an image signal acquired by the imaging section during an exposure period from a start of exposure to an end of exposure when the imaging section captures an image, and a blur correction section that performs a blur correction process on the image signal subjected to the signal modulation process.
US09332180B2
An image capture apparatus includes an image capture unit, an image processing unit, an image quality adjusting unit, and an output unit. The image capture unit generates first image data using an image capture device. The image processing unit generates second image data from the first image data so that an image quality of the second image data corresponds to a flat image quality. The image quality adjusting unit converts the second image data into third image data by adjusting the image quality of the second image data to be a predetermined image quality. The output unit outputs the third image data instead of the second image data to an external apparatus if a predetermined condition is satisfied.
US09332175B2
An image photographing apparatus and a photographing method thereof are provided. The image photographing method includes displaying a photographing mode selection user interface (UI), in response to a plurality of photographing modes being selected through the photographing mode selection UI, calculating a final setting value based on a photographing setting value of the plurality of selected photographing modes, and in response to a photographing command being input, photographing an image according to the calculated final setting value.
US09332173B2
An imaging device is configured to include an imaging lens, an imaging unit which acquires image data based on an optical image of a subject received via the imaging lens, a motion detector which detects a motion of the subject based on image data sequentially obtained from the imaging unit, a focus detector which calculates focus position data based on the image data obtained from the imaging lens when the motion detector detects a motion of the subject, and an in-focus position estimating unit which estimates an in-focus position based on the calculated focus position data.
US09332167B1
Approaches are described for selectively managing imaging elements on a computing device. A portable computing device can include a camera module that can manage the capture and/or processing of image data. The module can include a first imaging element attached to a first surface of a substrate and a second imaging element attached to a second surface of the substrate, the first surface being opposite the second surface. The image module can also include an image signal processor (ISP) or other dedicated imaging processing circuitry attached to or otherwise in connection with the substrate. The circuitry can be shared between the imaging elements, and can be configured to receive a selection of one of the imaging elements and process (e.g., depth pixel correction, etc.) captured image data based on the selected imaging element.
US09332160B1
A system and method of synchronizing the processing and distribution of audio-visual assets in a distributed production studio are presented. The method addresses the processing of broadcast television, including match moving computer graphics technology, in such an environment. Audio-visual sources provide the assets while processing nodes interact with them to produce a composite output. Synchronization of the communication between, and the processing by, the sources and nodes is managed by a master controller and delay buffers located on the nodes. Assets are tagged with updatable reference-to-zero values indicative of a current transmission delay between their last source and the controller. These reference-to-zero values are used by processing nodes to determine where in their local buffer to place each asset so they emerge from the buffer to a local digital signal processor in synchronicity and that assets originally produced at a common time are executed locally at a common time.
US09332151B2
An image processing apparatus, having a reconstruction circuit for which reconstruction based on construction data is possible, comprises a first storage unit configured to store the construction data; a writing unit configured to, when the image processing apparatus transitions to a power saving state, write the construction data, which is stored in a first storage unit, in a second storage unit which is different to the first storage unit; and a reconstruction unit configured to, when the image processing apparatus returns from the power saving state, reconstruct the reconstruction circuit based on the construction data stored in the second storage unit.
US09332145B2
System and methods for prevention of empty media trays in a print system. In one embodiment, a system includes a print controller configured to receive a print job, and to initiate collection of media from a media tray based on information in the print job. The system also includes a supply detection module configured to detect a low supply of the media in the media tray, and to generate an error responsive to detection of the low supply before the media tray is empty. The print controller is configured to stop the collection of the media based on the error signal so that at least one sheet of the media remains in the media tray.
US09332136B2
An image processing apparatus and method includes inputting user information, setting folder information about a specified user based on the user information as a destination of image data, registering the set folder information, and performing control so as not to register folder information corresponding to a transmission protocol set to be disable from among a plurality of transmission protocols.
US09332133B2
A cellular traffic monitoring system includes: a Traffic Detection Function (TDF) module to monitor cellular traffic associated with a cellular subscriber device, and to generate application detection output indicative of an application used by the cellular subscriber device; an application-based charging module to generate, based on the application detection output of said TDF module, application-based charging data related to said cellular subscriber device; a Policy Charging and Enforcement Function (PCEF) module to enforce one or more charging rules that are Service Data Flow (SDF) based and are related to said cellular subscriber device; an SDF-based charging module to generate SDF-based charging data related to said cellular subscriber device; and a charging correlator module to identify a potential over-charging due to an overlap between the application-based charging data and the SDF-based charging data.
US09332128B2
A method and system are described for servicing a second line service (“SLS”) based communication request originating from a subscriber's telecommunications device (“TD”) even if the call signal does not include sufficient information to identify the phone number from which the subscriber initiated the call. The method involves associating the SLS phone number of the subscriber, the primary number of the subscriber and the primary number of a third party via a special relationship number.
US09332123B1
A system, method, and computer readable medium for feedback of survey results comprises a data center, a call center, and a survey platform communicably coupled to the data center and to the call center, wherein the data center receives a communication initiated by an individual, wherein the communication is routed to the survey platform after an event, wherein data related to at least one of: the individual and the communication is collected, wherein the individual is prompted for participation in a survey, if the individual agrees to participate in the survey, the data is routed to the call center, based on the data and information related to the individual, the individual is routed to an agent within a call center, wherein the agent conducts a survey, and wherein results of the survey are dynamically provided to quality control database.
US09332118B2
A computer-implemented method for distributing phone calls includes the steps of receiving or initiating a telephone call from or with a caller associated with caller identification information, generating masked caller identification information by masking a portion of the caller identification information, transmitting the masked caller identification information to a plurality of potential call-buyers, determining a call-buyer of the plurality of potential call-buyers to receive the incoming phone call, and storing the caller identification information with the masked caller identification information. A system and computer-readable medium are also disclosed.
US09332111B2
A method of transferring data between a first mobile terminal and a second terminal, the method includes displaying an object on a display unit of the first mobile terminal; receiving an input of a directional gesture on the displayed object; and transmitting the object to the second mobile terminal based on the input gesture, when the first mobile terminal and the second terminal are in a predetermined directional range with respect to each other.
US09332110B2
An operation method and mobile terminal connected to an electronic device are provided. An extracted piece of content among multiple pieces of content displayed on a screen of the electronic device and a command of a functional application are received. The functional application is executed according to the command using the extracted piece of content.
US09332109B2
Phone call tracing is a law enforcement tool best known for its use by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in trying to catch kidnappers. Tracing a call is useful for law enforcement and intelligence agencies in order to capture potentially dangerous people. Although useful, tracing a phone call has one drawback: time. It takes time to trace a call. Because of the time it takes to trace a call, the phone is usually hung up or turned off before a trace can be completed. Since there is no way for the trace to be hurried, I propose a phone app that when uploaded to a phone will prevent the phone from disconnecting from the network. This app would upload on the electrical signal carrying the audio and/or video signal. The app will upload into the phone and interfere with the phones ability to terminate the call without indicating that the phone is still connected to the network. With the app downloaded, the app will keep the phone call active so that the trace can then be completed.
US09332107B1
A wireless handset for avoiding application interruption is disclosed that comprises a processor, a first component, and a second component. The first component, when executed by the processor, supports an application interruption avoidance feature that promotes preventing an incoming voice call from interrupting an application and forwarding the voice call to a voice mail server. Optionally, the first component also supports alerting a user without interrupting the in-progress application with one of a voice mail notification and an incoming call notification. The second component, when executed by the processor, is configured to receive control inputs to activate the application interruption avoidance feature and to deactivate the application interruption avoidance feature to allow a new voice call to come to the handset. The second component is also configured to select incoming call indicators and to activate/deactivate an incoming call alert to allow/prevent display of the incoming call indicators on the handset.
US09332098B2
An electronic device includes a cover panel, a piezoelectric vibration element, and a drive section. The cover panel is provided on a front surface of the electronic device. The piezoelectric vibration element is provided on an inner main surface of the cover panel. The drive section causes the piezoelectric vibration element to vibrate based on a sound signal. The cover panel has no earpiece hole.
US09332096B2
A mobile terminal includes: a display module formed to output image information to one surface thereof; a window covering one surface of the display module; and a bonding member formed on an upper surface of the display module to bond the window to the display module, wherein the bonding member extends from the upper surface of the display module to one point of a rear surface the display module through a lateral surface of the display module to integrally fix a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and a backlight module installed in the display module, and the display module is disposed between a rear surface of the window and a case forming the exterior of a terminal body.
US09332094B2
A modem is disclosed. An embodiment thereof includes: a first interface arranged to connect to a network, a second interface arranged to connect to a host processor on the terminal, an audio interface arranged to connect to an audio processing means and a processing unit arranged to receive a plurality of parameters from the terminal via the second interface. The plurality of parameters are associated with a call established by the host processor to at least one further terminal connected to the network; wherein the processing unit is further arranged to receive input voice data from the audio processing means, process the input voice data in dependence on at least one of said parameters; and transmit the processed input voice data via the first interface to the at least one further terminal over said network during the call in dependence on a further at least one of said parameters.
US09332085B2
The present invention provides a method for realizing a REST (Representational State Transfer) interface of a cloud cache in an Nginx. The method includes: receiving a Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP) message transmitted from a client, and parsing out key information and an operation type corresponding to the HTTP message according to a preset configuration file; converting the key information and the operation type into a parameter required by a cloud cache operation and a cloud cache operation type, and transmitting the parameter to a cloud cache apparatus, so that the cloud cache apparatus performs the cloud cache operation according to the parameter and the cloud cache operation type; receiving a cloud cache operation result returned by the cloud cache apparatus, processing the cloud cache operation result, and returning the processed result to the client. The present invention also provides a corresponding system. The present invention enables a larger cache capacity and better saves CPU resources, thereby enabling a more powerful cache function of the Nginx.
US09332083B2
A server and/or a client stores a metadata hash map that includes one or more entries associated with keys for data records stored in a cache on a server, wherein the data records comprise Java Virtual Machine (JVM) artifacts or monitoring information. Each of the entries stores metadata for a corresponding data record, wherein the metadata comprises a server-side remote pointer that references the corresponding data record stored in the cache, as well as a version identifier for the key. A selected data record is accessed using a provided key by: (1) identifying potentially matching entries in the metadata hash map using the provided key; (2) accessing data records stored in the cache using the server-side remote pointers from the potentially matching entries; and (3) determining whether the accessed data records match the selected data record using the provided key and the version identifiers from the potentially matching entries.
US09332080B1
Methods and Systems for determining a user state for a member of a social network are described. According to one embodiment, a method comprising receiving in a network of associated users user state information for a first user, wherein the network of associated users comprises user established relationships between users, determining a current user state for the first user; and outputting to a second user the user state information based at least in part on the current user state and a relationship based permission status is set forth.
US09332077B2
To enhance information about connections in a social networking service, embodiments of the invention enable users to reference nodes while posting content to a communication channel. To identify connections within content in the social networking service, users of the social networking service are provided an interface to post content items in communication channels of the social networking service. A trigger received in the interface indicates that a user wishes to identify a connection in the posted content item. Selectable links enable the user to mention another node in the social networking service when posting a content item. As users reference nodes in content items, information about the connections with the referenced nodes is gathered and stored in a database that is indexable and searchable in real-time.
US09332075B2
A method performed by a network appliance having a plurality of application processing units, includes: receiving a first packet at the network appliance; calculating a first value using a mathematical algorithm based on one or more information regarding the first packet; and using the calculated first value to identify a first application processing unit of the plurality of application processing units in the network appliance. A network appliance includes: a plurality of processing units that are communicatively connected to each other; wherein a first processing unit of the plurality of processing units is configured for: calculating a first value using a mathematical algorithm based on one or more information regarding a first packet; and using the calculated first value to identify a second processing unit of the plurality of processing units.
US09332074B2
The present invention relates to memory to memory communication and storage for hybrid systems. Under the present invention, a data stream is received on a first computing device of a hybrid system. An attempt is made to store the data stream on the first computing device up to a per stream limit and a total storage limit of the first computing device. It is then determined whether to store at least a portion of the data stream on a second computing device of the hybrid system that is in communication with the first computing device. This decision is based on the per stream limit and the total storage limit of the first computing device as well as a per stream limit and a total storage limit of the second computing device. Thereafter, the at least a portion of the data stream and a control signal are communicated to the second computing device for storage.
US09332070B2
The communications method for synchronization of service event related communications at an event management platform, may include receiving a notification transmitted from a service event source including event information related to at least one service offered by the service event source and for a mobile wireless device associated with a given service user, and including a synchronization value associated with a service instance. The method may further include storing the synchronization value, and receiving a subsequent notification transmitted from the service event source including a subsequent synchronization value associated with the service instance. The subsequent synchronization value is compared with the stored synchronization value and based thereon a request is generated and sent to the service event source for event information associated with notifications having synchronization values between the subsequent synchronization value with the stored synchronization value. The notifications are provided to the mobile wireless device associated with the given service user.
US09332065B2
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for in obtrusively determining previous actions and information associated with a user and generating web page content based upon previous actions and stored information.
US09332064B2
A computer system and a remote control method thereof are provided. The method is adapted for the computer system having a network and a processor. In the method, the network card is used to receive a management interface request sent by a remote device thorough a network and send a system management interrupt to the processor, so as to wake up the processor and control the processor to enter a system management mode. Then, the processor loads a management monitoring program into a memory so as to execute the management monitor program. Finally, the processor processes the management interface request by using the management monitoring program in the system management mode, and replies a processing result to the remote device through the network by using the network card.
US09332054B2
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling access to a network by a network device comprises returning a message prompting connectivity to a captive portal that is different from a HTTP Source Code redirect. The message is an HTML document such as a frameset.
US09332051B2
Methods and systems for adaptive streaming cost management are described. A processing device can receive a request over a network from a media player executing on a client device to adaptively stream media content. The media content can include a plurality of media slices. The processing device can identify a geographical location of the client device from the request. The processing device can generate a media manifest file based on the geographical location of the client device. The media manifest file can indicate one or more media sources at which a copy of the plurality of media slices is geographically located and a cost associated with delivery of the plurality of media slices from the respective one of the one or more media sources. The processing device can transmit the media manifest file to the client device over the network.
US09332048B2
Mechanisms are provided for allowing a streaming server to efficiently provide frames associated with a media stream to a client device. A streaming server receives multiple media streams and determines which frames in the multiple media streams are key frames. When a connection request is received from a client device, a key frame is selected and provided to the client device. A client device receiving a key frame does not have to drop any predictive frames prior to playing a media stream.
US09332043B1
A system and method for facilitating user interactions with a virtual space through a graphical chat interface is disclosed. One or more potential inputs to the virtual space and/or virtual space status information may be determined dynamically for a user participating in a chat session through a graphical chat interface. An activity notification may be generated for the user based one the determined potential inputs and/or the virtual space status information. The generated activity notification may comprise graphical representation for the notification and as well as representation information for one or more controls facilitating the user to provide inputs requested by the activity notification through the graphical chat interface. User acceptance to the activity notification via the graphical chat interface may be received. One or more activity commands may be generated based on the received user acceptance and executed in the virtual space.
US09332034B2
Disclosed are system, methods, and computer program product for designation of encryption policies for user devices. An example method includes determining one or more criteria for the user device related to encryption requirements of the user device; determining numeric values for each of the one of more criteria; determining a coefficient for the device based on the numeric values; determining an encryption policy for the device based on the coefficient; and applying the determined encryption policy to the device.
US09332027B1
A web browser may implement a single origin policy that makes an exception for media files such as markup language image files. In cases where the delivery of data to a browser may be blocked by a single origin policy, such as where the data originates from a domain other than the domain that originates the initially presented content, the data may be encoded in one or more media files, such as images, to circumvent the single origin policy. The data may be encoded using height and width dimensions, pixel colors, transparencies, or other characteristics of the media file(s). The media file(s) may be sent to the browser and decoded to access the data.
US09332026B2
The invention features systems and methods for detecting and mitigating network attacks in a Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) network. A server is configured to receive information related to a mitigation action for a call. The information can include a complexity level for administering an audio challenge-response test to the call and an identification of the call. The server also generates i) a routing label based on the identification of the call, and ii) a script defining a plurality of variables that store identifications of a plurality of altered sound files for the audio challenge-response test. Each altered sound file is randomly selected by the server subject to one or more constraints associated with the complexity level. The server is further configured to transmit the script to a guardian module and the routing label to a gateway.
US09332019B2
A method of controlling access to a remote system includes granting a connecting device full access to the system upon determining the device is registered to a user, upon determining the device is not registered, determining whether the device has connected to the system before, granting the device full access to the system if the device has connected before and a trust index based on a trust level for the device and a trust level of a location the device is currently connecting from exceeds a threshold, and granting the device limited access to the system otherwise.
US09332002B1
An administrator may issue a credential to a user and may define a policy that authorizes its use based on a predefined location. The policy and the credential may be bound in a digital certificate signed by a trusted party. When the user operates a computing device to access a resource, the computing device may present the digital certificate to the resource. In turn, the resource may use the digital certificate to authenticate the user and to verify that the policy authorizes his or her access.
US09332000B2
A one-pass authentication mechanism and system for heterogeneous networks are provided. The mechanism comprises authenticating a user based on an authentication key and an authentication algorithm in response to a request of the user to register a first network, wherein the authentication key and the authentication algorithm are associated with a first user identity for the first network and a second user identity for a second network; and if the authentication is successful, then comparing the first user identity retrieved from an authentication database through the second user identity provided by the user to the first user identity provided by the user in the authentication, in response to a request of the user to register the second network, and setting up security associations between the user and the second network if the retrieved first user identity matches the first user identity provided by the user.
US09331991B2
Techniques are provided for improving security in a single-sign-on context by providing, to a user's client system, two linked authentication credentials in separate logical communication sessions and requiring that both credentials be presented to a host system. Only after presentation of both credentials is the user authenticated and permitted to access applications on the host system.
US09331989B2
Systems and methods used to securely communicate a shared key to devices. One embodiment describes a method to securely communicate a shared key to a first device and a second device that includes receiving, using the first device, a shared key and unique identifier pairing associated with the first device from a key generator; receiving, using a trusted third party, the shared key and unique identifier pairing from the key generator; generating, using the first device, a signature using the unique identifier and the shared key; transmitting, using the first device, the signature and the unique identifier to the trusted third party; verifying, using the trusted third party, the unique identifier based on the signature; determining, using the trusted third party, the shared key when the unique identifier is verified; and transmitting, using the trusted third party, the shared key to the second device to enable the first device and the second device to communicate securely by encoding and decoding communicated data using the shared key.
US09331986B2
An encrypted communication method relating to communication technologies includes allocating a same encryption key for a first application and a terminal that is only bound to the first application. The method also includes transparently transmitting information communicated between the terminal and the first application when determining that the terminal communicates with the first application by using the same encryption key.
US09331985B2
A method includes sensing an image of a portable device by using a camera unit, acquiring an orientation information estimation value of the portable device by using the sensed image, extracting key generation information for secure communication by using the orientation information estimation value, generating a secret key by using the extracted key generation information, and performing secure communication with the portable device by using the secret key.
US09331973B1
In order to facilitate access to relevant information, a system may determine topics that are of interest based on skills of users in a social network of users and annotations associated with content in the social network. Then, the system may identify experts knowledgeable about the topics among the users in the social network. These experts may be invited to aggregate and edit the topic content. For a given topic, the system may provide, to a subset of the experts, documents with suggested topic content and presentation formats for the topics. Based on feedback from the subset of the experts (such as modifications to one or more of the documents and/or the presentation formats), the system may modify or revise the documents.
US09331964B2
A method for transferring data between a first and a second computer system by way of a storage location in a third computer system. When needed for a transfer, the third computer system creates the storage location associated with the first computer system. Using the association, the first computer is able to access the storage location. The second computer system reads access information from a close proximity identification medium, where the information is associated with the storage location. Using the information, the second computer system is able to access the storage location. In a data transfer, one of the first and second computer system stores information in the storage location and the other of the first and second computer systems reads the data from the storage location. Once the data has been transferred from the storage location, the storage location is deleted.
US09331963B2
Mechanisms provide hosts such as servers and mobile devices with access to virtualized I/O resources including virtual Host Bus Adapters (vHBAs) and virtual Network Interface Cards (vNICs) over a wireless I/O interconnect. Host applications access virtualized I/O resources using virtual device drivers that communicate with virtualized I/O resources on an I/O director using a reliable communication protocol running over a wireless network. I/O data is throttled if necessary based on wireless network considerations.
US09331962B2
A packet based switched multimedia network which consolidates networking of high throughput, time sensitive data, and control streams, with Ethernet data networking over home span. The multimedia network may support in parallel, over the same home span cabling infrastructure, high quality networking including time sensitive data streams, such as HDMI, USB, and Ethernet, transparent network attachment for legacy devices, multi stream, and low power modes.
US09331961B2
Methods and systems for bridging network packets transmitted over heterogeneous media channels are provided. According to one embodiment, a network switching/routing blade server comprises network interfaces, including a first and second set operable to receive packets encapsulated within a first and second set of media transmissions, respectively, and each having a first and second framing media format, respectively. A single bridging domain is provided by a shared bridging application. A memory stores data structures for translating between the first and second framing media formats via an intermediate format. The netmods pass a received packet, through a switching fabric, to the bridging application, which determines a relay location for the packet and whether the relay location is among the other set of netmods. Responsive to an affirmative determination, the bridging application uses the translation data structures to translate the packet before relaying the packet to the relay location.
US09331959B2
A transmission apparatus includes a detector to receive a multiplexed signal including a plurality of signals having different frame periods and detect switching information included in the multiplexed signal; a sorter to sort a plurality of pieces of detected switching information into one or more groups according to types of corresponding signals; an adjuster to adjust an order of transferring the switching information sorted, according to a period with which the switching information is received; a transfer unit to transfer the plurality of pieces of switching information sorted, based on a result of the adjustment performed by the adjuster; a controller to generate path setting information to set transmission paths of the signals based on the plurality of pieces of switching information transferred from the transfer unit; and a switch unit to set the transmission paths based on the path setting information generated by the controller.
US09331949B2
A control network management system for relaying first and second wireless communications comprises a first repeater having a packet control means for writing priority information in a header of communication packet data of the first wireless communication, as received and transmitting the communication packet data with a hash value of the header, added thereto, a second repeater having a packet control means for zero-clearing priority information in a header of communication packet data of the second wireless communication, as received, or changing the priority information to a predetermined value before transmitting the communication packet data with a hash value of the header, added thereto, and a third repeater having a priority control means for applying priority control to the header of the communication packet data received from the first repeater or the second repeater, on the basis of priority information, thereby transmitting the communication packet data to a control system.
US09331948B2
An example method is provided and includes receiving a request from a mobile node for an Internet protocol (IP) address and establishing a point-to-point (PPP) link for the mobile node. The method also includes provisioning a first tunnel associated with a first communication flow for the mobile node, and provisioning a sub-tunnel with the first tunnel for a second communication flow. The second communication flow is associated with a high priority type of data to be transported on the sub-tunnel. In more specific embodiments, a call admission control (CAC) mechanism is used to establish the sub-tunnel with the first tunnel for the second communication flow. Additionally, an inner label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the second communication flow in order to identify the sub-tunnel.
US09331947B1
Systems and methods can provide for packet-rate policing and admission control with optional stress throttling. In some implementations, a broadband device can monitor bandwidth usage and respond after exceeding a maximum packet-rate threshold based on a per-channel basis. In other implementations, a broadband device can monitor bandwidth usage and respond after exceeding a maximum packet-rate threshold based on a per-service-flow basis. In additional implementations, a broadband device processor can feedback data to the packet-rate policer to throttle the packet rate based on processor utilization. Policing data traffic based on packet-rate instead of bandwidth can increase flexibility to service providers as an increasing number of services are deployed to users.
US09331937B2
Some embodiments provide a network control system that includes a network controller and a set of hosts on which a set of managed forwarding elements operate. The network controller computes forwarding state information and pushes the computed forwarding state information to a set of managed forwarding elements to define forwarding behaviors of the managed forwarding elements. The managed forwarding elements receive the forwarding state information from the network controller and directly exchange with each other updates to the forwarding state information. The updates are exchanged between the managed forwarding elements without a network controller relaying the updates.
US09331930B1
A controller may be used to control client switches in a network that includes non-client switches. The controller may form client domains from groups of client switches that are separated by intervening non-client domains formed from non-client switches. The controller may determine a network domain topology from the client domains and non-client domains. The controller may determine a spanning tree that interconnects the nodes of the network domain topology. The controller may control client switches of the client domains to allow only network traffic between the client domains and the non-client domains along the spanning tree. The controller may use the network domain topology to generate inter-domain forwarding maps. The inter-domain forwarding maps may be used to determine network forwarding paths between end hosts in the network.
US09331927B2
A communication system includes a first communication device configured to transmit input data to a transmission path, detects a first accumulated amount of the input data, and transmit notifying data to the transmission path when the detected first accumulated amount has reached a threshold value, and a second communication device configured to receive data transmitted to the transmission path by the first communication device, detect a second accumulated amount of the received data, and output measurement information based on the detected second accumulated amount and the threshold value when having received the notifying data.
US09331920B2
Techniques are provided for obtaining header information from a packet configured for real-time communications transport over a network. The header information is used to monitor network performance of one or more secure portions of the network. The packet is encrypted using a security protocol and encapsulated using a transport protocol to produce a transport packet for transmission over the network. The transport packet header information is inserted into the transport packet prior to transmission over the network. The header information is used by a downstream network device or network analyzer to determine performance metrics for the network without decrypting the encrypted packet.
US09331919B2
A method for organizing network flow information within a relational database relates to minimizing contention for the network flow information. In particular, data is generally aggregated at certain time intervals and separately organized. In this way, contention is decreased as analysis can occur on the separated existing flow records, which are optionally aggregated, while new raw flow records are stored. In another embodiment, the aggregated data can be re-aggregated at second, larger time intervals.
US09331918B2
A method, performed by a computer system, of providing usage data for a plurality of hyperlinks in a resource is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes maintaining hyperlink usage data for each of the hyperlinks within the resource and adjusting a copy of the resource to incorporate the hyperlink usage data associated with each hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink usage data represents the number of times users have selected a hyperlink of the resource. The method also includes sending the adjusted copy of the resource to a networked device to provide a display representing the hyperlink usage data with each associated hyperlink. The hyperlink usage data is incorporated into the copy of the resource so as to be displayed adjacent to the corresponding hyperlinks of the resource.
US09331915B1
Data packets may be mirrored or replicated to network ports and/or listening stations. Additionally, the data packets may include characteristics. Based at least in part on the characteristics of the data packets, dynamic capture lengths may be determined. A portion of the data packets may be transmitted to the network ports and/or listening station based at least in part on determined capture lengths.
US09331913B2
A method is implemented in a first node for charging of a mobile device in communication with the first node in a communications network. The method includes determining a number of data packets lost between the first node and the mobile device within a predetermined period. The method includes determining a packet loss rate using the number of data packets determined to be lost. The method includes determining whether a first predetermined condition is met based on an evaluation of the determined packet loss rate. The method also includes transmitting, by the first node after determination that the first predetermined condition is met, a notification to a second node causing the second node to stop charging the mobile device for packets sent to the mobile device.
US09331904B2
A method includes establishing an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth and establishing one lender of the at least two lenders as a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network between the borrower and lenders of the at least two lenders of bandwidth. The method may include providing a computer infrastructure to perform the steps of the invention. A system is also provided which includes a server having a database containing data associated with one or more lenders and a borrower in an ad-hoc network and at least one hardware and/or software component. The system may further include computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium to perform processes of the invention.
US09331903B2
The disclosure relates to a portable computing device configured to selectably switch between a wired zero client mode in which the portable computing device operates as a terminal for a host computer via a wired communication channel, a wireless zero client mode in which the portable computing device operates as a terminal for the host computer via a wireless communication channel, and a local mode in which the portable computing device operates independently from the host computer. The portable computing device may include one or more zero client processors that facilitate operation in the wired or wireless zero client mode and one or more local control processors that facilitate operation in the local mode. The portable computing device may include input devices used to receive inputs for the host computer during the wireless or wired zero client modes or for the local control processors during the local mode.
US09331885B2
Embodiments of a system and method for providing fundamental group modulation are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a trajectory mapper is arranged to receive a modulation symbol sequence. A signal trajectory sample memory is arranged to store a representation of signal trajectories for a topological space having a set of predetermined removed regions therein. The trajectory mapper accesses the signal trajectory sample memory to select a signal trajectory relative to the set of predetermined removed regions in the topological space based on the received modulation symbol sequence and produces a sequence of in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) sample values at a specified sample rate in response to the selected signal trajectory, the I and Q sample values serving as a basis for an amplified radio frequency signal.
US09331874B2
A wireless communication system including a base station and a plurality of terminals, the wireless communication system uses a frame including a plurality of sub-frames, the sub-frames including a plurality of data symbols and guard intervals between the data symbols, each sub-frame being transmitted every frame period, and a different guard interval length being available for each sub-frame; configured to insert a guard interval of a fixed length between each of the data symbols in a specified sub-frame of the frame; a placement information determination section configured to determine placement information pertaining to a placement of a sub-frame to which guard intervals different in length from the guard interval of the fixed length are to be applied; and configured to multiplex the placement information determined by the placement information determination section into a transmission; wherein the plurality of terminals is notified of information containing the placement information.
US09331872B2
In one embodiment, a list of source identifiers is maintained at a virtual switch. These source identifiers are allowed to send packets through the virtual switch to ports in a private virtual local area network (PVLAN). When a packet is received at the virtual switch from a particular source destined for a particular port in the PVLAN, the virtual switch determines whether a particular identifier associated with the particular source matches one of the source identifiers in the list. If that particular source identifier is not on the list, the packet is prevented from being forwarded to the particular port in the PVLAN.
US09331859B2
Method and system for establishing a combined local area network (CLAN) in a conference network (CN)
A method including: receiving, at a conference unit, a command to establish a conference call between the conference unit and another conference unit, the conference unit being connected to at least one access point and the access point being accessible by a terminal; utilizing, by the conference unit, an internet telephony protocol to setup at least one media line between the conference unit and the other conference unit; establishing at least one data channel that transmits LAN traffic between the conference unit and the other conference unit utilizing the internet telephony protocol; establishing, by the conference unit, a connection with the terminal, the terminal being part of a combined local area network; and receiving, at the conference unit, an input from the terminal via the connection to access the combined local area network.
US09331856B1
A computer-implemented method for validating digital signatures may include (1) receiving, through a camera of smart glasses, an image of an object, (2) decrypting, using a processor of the smart glasses, a digital signature on the object to obtain a decrypted digital signature, (3) attempting, using the processor of the smart glasses, to validate the object by comparing content of the object with the decrypted digital signature, and (4) outputting a result of the attempt to validate the object from an output component of the smart glasses. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09331850B2
Method to secure the communication of components within self-service automats that are linked to each other by a bus system, having a transmitter and a receiver, characterized in that data are exchanged as tupels (C,A,R,N,Z) on the transport layer of the bus system where C are the message data M encrypted with an encryption key, A are the message data M authenticated with an authentication key, R represents the role of a component on the bus system of active or passive participants, N represents a message counter, Z represents a session counter.
US09331844B2
Distribution of reference frequency and timing information in a network involves determining latency between a first and second node from time delay between transmission of a reference frequency and timing signal and reception of an optical return timing signal in response. In a network with pairs of first and second optical fibers in optical fiber connections between network nodes, for transmission of optical data signals separately in mutually opposite directions between the network nodes respectively, provisions are made to transmit the reference frequency and timing signal and the resulting optical return signal via the same fiber, one in the same direction as the unidirectional data signal over that fiber and the other upstream. Repeaters between the nodes may be modified to pass such signals upstream and downstream. In an embodiment wherein the network provides for an optical supervisory channel, the optical filters for combining the optical supervisory channel signal with the unidirectional data signal and separating the optical supervisory channel signal from the unidirectional data signal are used to combine and separate the reference frequency and timing signal and to pass the optical return timing signal. For this purpose, further optical filters may be added outside the main optical data channel to combine and separate the reference frequency and timing signal and the optical supervisory channel and to pass the optical return signal back to the filter that separates the optical supervisory channel signal from the data signal.
US09331834B2
A method for detecting a channel bandwidth for a signal, comprises the steps of: determining a differential operator between carriers of the signal; determining a signal power for the signal; and detecting the channel bandwidth as a function of the determined differential operator and the determined signal power, wherein the signal is processed as a function of the detected channel bandwidth.
US09331828B2
The present invention relates to a bundling scheduling method in a wireless access system and an apparatus therefor. Specifically, the bundling scheduling method in the wireless access system comprises the steps of: transmitting the bundled downlink control information including a plurality of downlink control information through one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to a terminal; transmitting the downlink data, to the terminal, through a plurality of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH) scheduled by the bundled downlink control information; and receiving acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information for the plurality of PDSCHs from the terminal.
US09331824B2
Transmission of data is scheduled via a first communication channel within a first cell of a cellular network. A first base station is assigned to the first cell. A user equipment is served by the first base station, and the first communication channel is divided into subframes. The cellular network includes a second base station assigned to a second cell, wherein the second base station uses a second communication channel divided into subframes, and a part of the subframes is unscheduled by the second base station due to a predefined muting pattern. The first base station determines a first subframes of the first communication channel related in time with the unscheduled subframes of the second communication channel, and schedules transmission of data between the first base station and the user equipment via the first communication channel so that the data is transmitted in the determined first subframes.
US09331818B2
A method and apparatus for improved downlink data transport with hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback and a measurement gap are provided. A user equipment (UE) receives from a network a transmission grant for downlink data on a first control channel. The UE receives the data from the network via a transport channel. In response to the received data, the UE determines whether transmission of an acknowledgement message falls in a measurement gap. Upon determining that the transmission of the acknowledgement message by the UE falls in the measurement gap, and prior to receiving from the network a retransmission grant for the data on the first control channel, the UE sends the acknowledgement message on a second control channel in a sub-frame following the measurement gap. The first control channel is associated with the second control channel.
US09331808B2
An optical transmission apparatus includes: an optical amplifier configured to amplify a wavelength multiplexing light to be transmitted, the wavelength multiplexing light being input thereto; a combining unit configured to combine a plurality of non-signal lights in such a way that angles formed between polarization planes of the plurality of non-signal lights of a wavelength of wavelengths belonging to an amplification band of the optical amplifier become equal, the wavelength being different from a wavelength of a polarization multiplexing signal light; and a wavelength multiplexer configured to generate the wavelength multiplexing light to be input to the optical amplifier by multiplexing the plurality of non-signal lights combined by the combining unit and the polarization multiplexing signal light.
US09331806B2
A system that includes an interface, a processor; and a hardware accelerator. The hardware accelerator is arranged to perform, for each Zadoff-Chu sequence of at least a first sub-set of the set of Zadoff-Chu sequences, a first hardware accelerator set of operations that includes frequency to time domain conversion to provide third intermediate vector that is associated with the Zadoff-Chu sequence. The processor is arranged to complete the Zadoff-Chu sequence search in response to the third intermediate vector—whereas the hardware accelerator and the processor are arranged to partially search the same Zadoff-Chu sequence at different periods of time.
US09331805B2
In a network based on IEEE 1588, comprising a plurality of nodes (201, 501) and a plurality of connections where each connection connects at least two nodes to allow communication between nodes including the exchange of messages according to a network protocol, the synchronization of IEEE 1588 is improved by allowing multiple grandmaster clocks (701) to operate simultaneously in the system. Thus, the re-election protocol of IEEE 1588 is made obsolete. For this, a multitude of nodes form a subsystem implementing a high-availability grand master clock (301) according to the IEEE 1588 Standard, wherein the subsystem is configured to tolerate the failure of at least one of said nodes forming said subsystem. Bi-directional communication link (401) are configured for physically connecting a IEEE 1588 Master clocks (201) and/or IEEE 1588 Slave clocks (201) to the subsystem implementing a high-availability grand master clock (301).
US09331799B2
A method and device for synchronously playing audio data over a number of audio playback devices that are connected to a network. The distribution of particular audio data to a plurality of audio playback devices that are adapted to play audio, where the audio playback devices are all connected to a network over which audio data is delivered from a digital audio source to the audio playback devices, can be accomplished by determining when more than one of the audio playback devices has been directed to play the particular audio data, and in response to the determination directing that two or more of the audio playback devices synchronously play the particular audio data.
US09331797B2
An RF receiver device includes a semiconductor chip in a chip package, and a test signal generator integrated in the chip. The test signal generator generates an RF test signal including first information. An RF receiver circuit integrated in the chip receives an RF input signal, down-converts the RF input signal into an intermediate frequency (IF) or base band, and digitizes the down-converted signal to obtain a digital signal. An RF receive channel includes a coupler having first and second input ports and an output port. The output port is coupled to the input of the RF receiver circuit, the first input port receives an antenna signal and the second input port receives the test signal from the test signal generator. A signal processor is integrated in the chip and determines, during a test cycle, whether the first information in the digital signal matches a predetermined criterion.
US09331796B2
A mobile user terminal, which communicates with a base station in an intermittent fashion, the mobile user terminal includes a radio transmitter which transmits downlink channel quality information indicating downlink channel quality and an uplink pilot signal to a base station in an intermittent fashion; and a transmit time controller which synchronizes transmit time of the downlink quality information and transmit time of the uplink pilot signal relative to each other, such that the downlink quality information and the uplink pilot signal are sent in adjacent different timings in a period corresponding to a state of intermittent communicate.
US09331787B2
An optical communication device includes a printed circuit board (PCB), a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and a light waveguide. The PCB includes a substrate. The substrate includes a first end surface and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface. The light emitting element is electrically connected to the first end surface. The light receiving element is electrically connected to the second end surface. The light waveguide includes a light incident end and a light emergent end. The light waveguide is embedded in the substrate. The light incident end is exposed to the first end surface and optically aligned with the light emitting element along a transmitting direction of the light waveguide. The light emergent end is exposed to the second end surface and optically aligned with the light receiving element along the transmitting direction of the light waveguide.
US09331783B2
A method and device for compensating, within a node of an optical network, chromatic dispersion undergone by optical packets transmitted within time slots of wavelength division multiplexed channels along at least one link of the optical network, a time slot duration corresponding to the sum of a packet duration and an inter-packet gap duration. The method and device demultiplexes the wavelength division multiplexed channels into a plurality of bands, and transmits the bands, via a respective plurality of delay lines having predetermined delays, toward a respective plurality of packet add/drop structures comprising a coherent receiver.
US09331781B2
A digital burst mode communication system operates at a fixed wavelength for transmission and reception of burst mode signals using a pair of transceivers and a single optical cable. The stray noise level in the system is significantly reduced by use of angled plate absorbers that receive scattered transmission burst signal from a 45 degree partially reflecting mirror. Use of transparent glass ferrule with or without a front surface anti-reflection coating instead of an opaque ceramic ferrule to support optical fiber at a selected location within the transreceiver reduces optical detector signal noise. Isolation of received burst signal from transmitted burst signal is increased to better than 30 dB. The system operates by sending only data bits across the single optical cable without scrambling or encoding preambles, significantly improving the efficiency of high speed communication.
US09331774B2
A satellite system for detecting radio frequency signals from space including at least two sensors, a processing unit and at least one receiver. Each sensor receives a plurality of radio frequency signals containing messages and outputs a sensor signal that is representative of the plurality of radio frequency signals. The processing unit selects a predetermined number of mathematical combinations of the sensor signals and combines the sensor signals into the predetermined number of mathematical combinations to produce a plurality of zone signals. The characteristics of each zone signal are undefined at the time the predetermined number of mathematical combinations is selected. The receiver extracts the messages contained in the zone signals.
US09331773B2
A method is described that involves establishing a wireless network between a wireless access node of an existing network and a remote location by wirelessly linking a plurality of electronic processing circuits each transported by a respective parafoil. The wirelessly linked processing circuits are to route packets from the wireless access node to the remote location.
US09331770B2
The present document provides a precoding method and system for open loop spatial multiplexing and a precoding indication method. The method includes: in transmission resources, a base station precodes N-layer data to be sent by using w a = [ u a a · u a ] , wherein ua is a vector or matrix related to a transmission resource location i; α is a real number or a complex number related to the transmission resource location i; and N is an integer less than or equal to the number of base station transmission antennas.
US09331758B2
The embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an apparatus for sub-sampling of a codebook in the LTE-A system where a precoding matrix W is a product of two matrices W1 and W2, i.e. W=W1W2, codebooks for W, W1 and W2 are denoted as C, C1 and C2 respectively, and r indicates a rank. The method includes sub-sampling the codebook C such that the sub-sampled codebook C has a size of equal to or less than 4 bits. In the sub-sampling, codewords evenly distributed in the codebook C are extracted, where some or all of the codewords are in a form of discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vector to be suitable for evenly linear arrays, and the other codewords are suitable for cross-polarized linear arrays.
US09331756B2
A multiple-user multiple input-multiple output wireless communication system uses a set of multiple subcarriers arranged in plural subsets or resource blocks. Precoding of signals transmitted from a base station to user terminals involves acquiring channel state information on the connection channel between the base station and user terminals in the plurality. Channel quality indicators are detected with user terminals for respective subsets of resource blocks to produce user/resource block pairs having associated channel quality indicators. The user/resource block pairs are subjected to selection as a function of the channel quality indicators associated therewith so that precoding is performed by acquiring channel state information exclusively for the user/resource block pairs surviving the selection as a function of the channel quality indicators and, possibly, other selection steps as a function of other parameters, such as, speed, maximum bit rate, and direction of arrival or angular spread in a multiple-stage selection process.
US09331754B2
A communication device which generates a beamforming link between the communication device and an external device is provided. The communication device includes: a beamforming link generating unit which generates a first beamforming link between a first antenna of a plurality of antennas of the communication device and the external device, and which generates a second beamforming link between a second antenna of the plurality of antennas of the communication device and the external device; and a transmission unit which transmits data to the external device via each of the first beamforming link and the second beamforming link.
US09331751B2
Described embodiments calibrate an array antenna using near-field antenna measurements individually for each antenna element in an antenna under test (AUT). A signal is received at a first AUT antenna element from an antenna probe assembly by transmitting from the antenna probe assembly at each of multiple known probe locations in a near-field of the AUT. A signal is received at each probe location by transmitting from the first antenna element of the AUT to the antenna probe assembly. The received signals are combined into a combined signal for the first antenna element that de-correlates multi-path in the combination result. The combined signal is processed to generate a calibration coefficient for the first AUT antenna element. Remote boundary condition (RBC) testing is performed to reduce temporal instability. The multiple known probe locations lie on one of the following: a planar surface, a cylindrical surface, and a spherical surface.
US09331748B2
A method for sending data by inductive coupling includes: extracting an antenna signal from an antenna circuit, extracting from the antenna signal a first periodic signal, producing a second periodic signal by way of a synchronous oscillator, placing the oscillator in a free oscillation mode and applying to the antenna circuit the second periodic signal, modifying the impedance of the antenna circuit, restoring the amplitude of the antenna signal, then resynchronizing the oscillator on the first periodic signal.
US09331742B2
A system for driving a first signal onto a wireline includes a driver and feedback circuitry. The driver drives a deterministic signal onto the wireline with an unknown impedance load. The feedback circuitry measures a quality of the output signal from the wireline and modifies a gain of the first signal based on the quality of the output signal. The driver then drives the first signal onto the wireline with the modified gain.
US09331738B2
Embodiments of RF switching amplifiers are described generally herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09331736B2
Provided is a time division duplex (TDD) transceiver. A receiver chain processing received signals and a transmitter chain processing signals to be transmitted share an electronic component used in a circuit, such as an amplifier, a mixer, a filter, etc., so that the size of a semiconductor die needed to manufacture a radio frequency (RF) chip can be reduced.
US09331734B2
A system on a chip (SoC) includes a transceiver comprising a transmitter and a receiver, wherein at least one of the transmitter and receiver has a configurable portion that can be configured to operate in a single ended mode and in a differential mode. Two interface pins are provided for coupling the transceiver to an antenna via a matching network, wherein the two interface pins are shareably coupled to the transmitter and to the receiver. A tunable capacitor is coupled to differential signal lines of the configurable portion, wherein the tunable capacitor is configured to be tuned to optimize impedance matching of the configurable portion for each mode of operation.
US09331733B2
A wireless communication terminal device according to the present invention comprises a main body which has a built-in electronic component, a casing which houses the main body, a cover body which is detachably attached to the casing, an antenna for wireless communication which is mounted on the cover body, a pair of electrodes which are disposed on the inner face of the cover body and connected to the antenna, a pair of terminals which are disposed on the main body and make contact with the pair of electrodes, and at least two projection pieces which are formed on the inner face of the cover body near the pair of electrodes as well as on both sides with the pair of electrodes interposed therebetween and project higher than the surfaces of the pair of electrodes.
US09331728B2
Methods and circuits for reducing power dissipation in wireless transceivers and other electronic circuits and systems. Embodiments of the present invention use bias current reduction, impedance scaling, and gain changes either separately or in combination to reduce power dissipation. For example, bias currents are reduced in response to a need for reduced signal handling capability, impedances are scaled thus reducing required drive and other bias currents in response to a strong received signal, or gain is increased and impedances are scaled in response to a low received signal in the presence of no or weak interfering signals.
US09331721B2
The present disclosure shows new mechanisms for sampling an input signal. In particular, some embodiments of the present disclosure include a new type of a level-crossing sampling mechanism called a derivative level-crossing sampling (D-LCS). At a high level, D-LCS involves quantizing the derivative of an input signal when the derivative of the input signal crosses one of the quantization thresholds. For certain class of signals, the derivative of the input signal can vary at a slower speed compared to the amplitude of the input signal. Therefore, by sampling the derivative of the input signal, instead of the input signal itself, the number of samples per unit time can be reduced.
US09331719B2
An electronic device may be provided with a primary antenna that is used for transmitting and receiving signals and a secondary antenna that is used for receiving signals. The primary and secondary antennas may be used together in a diversity arrangement when receiving signals. The electronic device may have a transceiver. A phase shifter may be interposed between the transceiver and the secondary antenna. Control circuitry may select a communications band of interest for transmitting signals with the primary antenna. The control circuitry can adjust the phase shifter in real time based on which communications band of interest has been selected for transmission with the primary antenna. The phase shifter may impose a phase shift on signals carried between the secondary antenna and the transceiver that ensures that primary antenna efficiency degradation associated with the presence of the secondary antenna in the vicinity of the primary antenna is avoided.
US09331715B2
A transmission apparatus includes an encoder that codes a data sequence with a parity check matrix, wherein the data sequence includes a final information bit sequence and virtual information bits, and outputs the final information bit sequence and a parity sequence, as LDPC codes, and a transmitter that transmits the LDPC codes as a transmission data. A column length of the parity check matrix is longer than a total length of the final information bit sequence and the parity sequence, by a length of the virtual information bits that are set to “0” and are not transmitted. The total length of the final information bit sequence and the parity sequence has a sequence length corresponding to a length from a first column to a predetermined column of the parity check matrix. The encoder generates the LDPC codes by using the first column to the predetermined column among one or more column(s) of the parity check matrix.
US09331713B2
According to an embodiment, an encoding apparatus includes a parameter holding unit configured to hold a parameter; an error-detecting code holding unit configured to hold an error-detecting code that is generated from the parameter; an error detecting unit configured to detect an error in the parameter, which is held in the parameter holding unit, with the use of the error-detecting code held in the error-detecting code holding unit; an error correcting unit configured to correct the error detected by the error detecting unit; a selecting unit configured to select the parameter that has been subjected to error correction by the error correcting unit; and an encoding unit configured to encode data with the use of the parameter selected by the selecting unit.
US09331712B1
Data compression systems, methods, and computer program products are disclosed. For each successive input word of an input stream, it is determined whether the input word matches an entry in a lookback table. The lookback table is updated in response to the input word. Input words may be of a number of data types, including zero runs and full or partial matches with an entry in the lookback table. A codeword is generated by entropy encoding a data type corresponding to the input word. The lookback table may be indexed by the position of the input word in the input stream.
US09331711B2
In method for processing a measured-value signal determined in an analog manner and a resolver system for implementing the method, the measured-value signal being supplied to a delta-sigma modulator, which makes a bit stream, particularly a one-bit data stream, available on the output side, in particular, whose moving average corresponds to the measured-value signal, the bit stream being supplied to a first digital filter, which converts the bit stream into a stream of digital intermediate words, that is a multibit data stream, the first digital filter having three serially arranged differentiators, the bit stream being clocked at a clock frequency fS, that is, at a clock-pulse period TS=1/fS, and therefore the stream of digital intermediate words being clocked, and thus updated, at a clock-pulse frequency fD, that is, at a clock-pulse period TD=1/fD, the output signal of the first digital filter being supplied to a second digital filter, the second digital filter having as its output data-word stream the difference between a first and a second result data-word stream, the first and second result data-word stream being determined around a first and second time interval from the intermediate data-word stream, the first and second time interval being situated at a distance in time T1, the first result data-word stream being determined as a time-discrete second derivation with time scale TD and the second result data-word stream being determined as a time-discrete second derivation with time scale TD.
US09331707B1
A programmable temperature compensated voltage reference is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that uses a reference voltage and a code to generate a DAC output voltage. The apparatus also includes a temperature compensator that uses a temperature measurement (T) and the DAC code to generate a temperature compensation signal. The temperature compensation signal is represented by a third order polynomial equation. The apparatus also includes a signal combiner that combines the DAC output voltage and the temperature compensation signal to generate a temperature compensated programmable reference voltage.
US09331698B2
A level shifter circuit for level shifting voltages of signals crossing multiple circuit domains includes an input stage and a driver stage. The input stage receives an oscillating signal generated by a ring oscillator and generates an inverted oscillating signal. The differential oscillating signals are provided to the driver stage, which level shifts a voltage level of the oscillating signal to a level of a supply voltage of the ring oscillator.
US09331697B2
An output apparatus includes an output driving unit configured to drive a final output signal; an output compensating signal generation unit configured to generate a delayed output signal by delaying the output signal by a predetermined time, and generate an output compensating signal based on the delayed output signal and the output signal; and an output driving compensation unit configured to compensate for the final output signal to a level opposite to a level to which the final output signal is driven.
US09331694B2
A capacitive coupling based proximity sensor is disclosed. In some embodiments, a sensor embedded in a mobile device comprises a transmitter configured to transmit a transmit signal and a receiver configured to receive a receive signal via capacitive coupling between the receiver and the transmitter as well as a circuit configured to detect human proximity to the mobile device in the event that the receive signal does not sufficiently match the transmit signal and configured to generate an output signal indicating human proximity to the mobile device that is employed to facilitate an appropriate response.
US09331687B2
A power-up circuit of a semiconductor apparatus using a plurality of external power voltages is configured to determine a stableness of the plurality of external power voltages through relative comparison of the plurality of external power voltages, and to activate a power-up signal.
US09331683B2
A ramp signal generator includes a reset control block suitable for generating a switch control signal according to a reset control signal from a control unit; a ramp signal generation block suitable for generating differential ramp signals, which include a power noise or a ground noise as well as a ramp noise; and a common noise canceling unit suitable for being initialized according to the switch control signal, and suitable for canceling common noise through a differential operation between the differential ramp signals.
US09331680B2
A flip-flop that includes a multiplexer configured to generate a multiplexer output. The multiplexer output is generated in response to an input and a scan enable, and is given to a transmission gate. A master latch is coupled to the transmission gate and to a tri-state inverter. The master latch is configured to receive an output of the transmission gate. A slave latch is configured to receive an output of the tri-state inverter and the multiplexer output. A data inverter is coupled to the slave latch. The data inverter is configured to generate a flip-flop output. A half clock gating inverter is configured to generate an inverted clock input in response to a clock input and the multiplexer output.
US09331675B2
Provided is a transmission drive circuit which can reduce distortions of a transmission signal and transmission noise, and is isolable from a signal line. A transmission drive circuit 700 includes a drive transistor 10 and an isolation diode 31 connected between a node n1 coupled to a signal line SL commonly used to propagate a transmission signal and a reception signal and a power source line HVP, and further includes an isolation diode 32 and a drive transistor 20 connected between the node n1 and a voltage line HVM. Furthermore, the transmission drive circuit 700 includes a switch 41 connected between a node n2 between the drive transistor 10 and the isolation diode 31, and a node n4 of a ground voltage Vs, and a switch 43 connected between a node n3 between the drive transistor 20 and the isolation diode 32, and a node n4. When the transmission signal is propagated through the signal line SL, the switches 41 and 43 are turned off by the clamp switch control circuit 200 such that bias current flows through the drive transistor 10, the isolation diode 31, the isolation diode 32 and the drive transistor 20.
US09331674B2
A multi-phase signal generator and a multi-phase signal generating method thereof. The multi-phase signal generator includes a signal generator, a first comparator, a second comparator and a logic operation circuit. The signal generator generates a periodic signal. The first comparator receives the periodic signal and respectively compares the periodic signal with a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage to generate a first output signal. The second comparator receives the periodic signal and compares the periodic signal with a first threshold voltage to generate a second output signal. The logic operation circuit performs logic operations on the first output signal and the second output signal so as to generate a plurality of first phase output signals.
US09331673B2
An integrated circuit having an external connection pad and an active circuit for generating signals to be output from the integrated circuit by means of the pad, the integrated circuit including an interface circuit associated with the pad, the interface circuit including a latch coupled between the pad and an output of the active circuit, the latch being capable of operating in a first mode in which the state of the pad follows the state of the output of the active circuit and a second mode in which the state of the pad is held by the latch.
US09331668B2
A method for manufacturing a vibrator according to the present invention includes: forming a coating layer that covers a silicon substrate; patterning the coating layer; forming a semiconductor layer that covers the silicon substrate and the coating layer; forming a vibrating portion having a beam shape on the coating layer and a support portion that supports the vibrating portion by patterning the semiconductor layer; forming an opening that exposes the silicon substrate; forming a recess portion by removing the silicon substrate through the opening; and removing the coating layer. In the step of forming the vibrating portion and the support portion, the support portion having a first portion that is located on the silicon substrate, and a second portion that connects the first portion and the vibrating portion and is located on the coating layer is formed.
US09331662B2
An adaptive voltage divider for measuring a high voltage between a ground terminal (GND) and a measurement terminal (U). It comprises a first branch comprising a first set of impedance elements (Z, R) forming a voltage divider circuit connected between the ground terminals (GND) and the measurement terminal (U) and a voltage meter (AD2) configured to measure voltage on one of the impedance elements (Z, R) of the first branch. Furthermore, it comprises a second branch comprising a second set of impedance elements (Q, P) connected between the ground terminal (GND) and the measurement terminal (U) and switchable between a plurality of configurations, wherein in at least one configuration the second set of impedance elements (Q, P) forms a voltage divider circuit, and voltage meters (AD1, AD3) configured to measure voltage on at least one of the impedance elements (Q, P) of the second branch. Moreover, a control circuit (DCSS) is configured to consecutively switch the configuration of the second branch between the plurality of configurations thereof, such that the relationships between the values of impedance elements (Z, R) of the first branch and the values of impedance elements (Q, P) of the second branch can be determined for consecutive configurations of the second branch as a function of the outputs of the voltage meters (AD1, AD2, AD3) and the total transmittance of the voltage divider can be determined at any instance as a function of the outputs of the voltage meters (AD1, AD2, AD3).
US09331652B2
An auto gain adjusting device and method is disclosed. The auto gain adjusting device comprises a predistorter, a gain unit, a power amplifier, a receiving unit and a calculation unit. The predistorter generates a plurality of test signals in a calibration mode, wherein the powers between a current test signal and a previous test signal includes a first difference value. The gain unit provides a substantially constant gain value to the current test signal and the previous test signal to generate a current amplified test signal and a previous amplified test signal. The power amplifier amplifies the current amplified test signal and the previous amplified test signal to generate a first transmitting signal and a second transmitting signal. The receiving unit converts the first transmitting signal and the second transmitting signal into a first baseband signal and a second baseband signal respectively. The calculation unit calculates a second difference value between powers of the first baseband signal and the second baseband signal, and compares the second difference value with the first difference value to determine whether the substantially constant gain value causes the plurality of test signals to be operated in a linear region and a compression region of the power amplifier.
US09331644B2
A clamping circuit for a class AB amplifier includes a reference voltage circuit, four NPN Darlington transistors having inputs coupled to the reference voltage circuit, and outputs for providing four clamped voltages and a split NPN Darlington transistor having an input coupled to the reference voltage circuit, and four separate outputs for providing four AC ground voltages.
US09331641B2
Disclosed is a circuit structure for implementing an adaptive function in a class-D audio power amplifier circuit, comprising an operation amplifier, a pulse width modulator and a driver stage that are sequentially and serially connected, an input terminal of the operation amplifier being connected to an external audio signal output terminal, and an output terminal of the driver stage being connected to a loudspeaker and connected to the input terminal of the operation amplifier via a feedback loop. The circuit structure further comprises: one or a plurality of a carrier adaptive circuit, a frequency adaptive circuit, a driver adaptive circuit, a temperature adaptive circuit.
US09331640B2
An amplifier includes: a package which includes a pair of edge portions; an input terminal which is provided in the edge portion; output terminals which are provided in the edge portion; a first-stage FET chip which includes an input port directly connected to the input terminal by a bonding wire; a first-stage terminal which is provided in the edge portion and is directly connected to an output port of the first-stage FET chip by a bonding wire; a second-stage terminal which is provided in the edge portion; a second-stage FET chip which includes an output port directly connected to output terminals and by a bonding wire; and an impedance matching capacitor element of which one electrode is connected to the second-stage terminal and the input port of the second-stage FET chip.
US09331635B2
A quadrature modulator includes a first switched capacitor power amplifier that amplifies a first high-frequency signal, a second switched capacitor power amplifier that amplifies a second high-frequency signal, a first combiner which includes at least one pair of winding wires, one winding wire in one pair being disposed on a primary side to which the amplified first high-frequency signal and the amplified second high-frequency signal are separately input and the other winding wire in the one pair being disposed on a secondary side, the first combiner combining the input amplified first high-frequency signal and the input amplified second high-frequency signal to generate a quadrature modulation signal from the secondary side, a first inductor disposed between the first switched capacitor power amplifier and the primary side of the first combiner, and a second inductor disposed between the second switched capacitor power amplifier and the primary side of the first combiner.
US09331628B2
In some preferred embodiments, a motor control circuit 1 for controlling driving of a plurality of motors 3 and 4 includes a serial communication circuit configured to perform serial communication with an outside, a received data storage 15 configured to store data from the serial communication circuit, a motor mode setting holding circuit 16 configured to store motor mode settings which decide operations of the motors, and a detection circuit 24 configured to detect changes in driving pulse of the motor. Depending on the detected result of the detection circuit 24, the data stored in the received data storage 15 is transferred to the motor mode setting holding circuit 16.
US09331626B2
A movable barrier operator apparatus having a motor and a control system is disclosed. The motor is configured to couple to a movable barrier. The control system is configured to cause the motor to move the movable barrier by supplying power to the motor. The control system is further configured to selectively supply nonoperational power to the motor to generate heat without moving the movable barrier.
US09331612B2
A motor control apparatus has an inverter circuit having a plurality of pairs of upper and lower arms provided so as to correspond to a number of phases, and switching elements provided on each of the upper arms and the lower arms of each phase that drive a motor on the basis of ON or OFF operations of the respective switching elements, a single current detector that detects a current of the motor flowing through the inverter circuit, and a duty calculator that calculates duties of PWM signals for turning the switching elements ON or OFF on the basis of a deviation between a current value of the current detected by the current detector and a target current value.
US09331606B2
A device with a suspended beam and piezoresistive means of detecting displacement of the beam and a method of manufacturing the device are disclosed. The device comprises a support, a suspended beam, moving parallel to the plane of the support, and means of detecting displacement, comprising at least two piezoresistive strain gauges that are not in line with each other. The beam is suspended through detection means. The two gauges are located on two opposite lateral faces of the beam respectively.
US09331603B2
An energy collection system may collect and use the energy generated by an electric field. Collection fibers are suspended from a support system. The support system is electrically connected to a load by a connecting wire. The collection fibers may be made of any conducting material, but graphene, carbon and graphite are preferred. Diodes may be used to restrict the backflow or loss of energy.
US09331601B2
The present disclosure relates to an inverter with power cell of dual structure for use in high input voltage by changing a conventional 6-level cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter to thereby reduce product development cost, manufacturing cost and volume of the product, the inverter including a first SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) connected to a first power cell region, a second SMPS connected to a second power cell region and a controller connecting the first and second SMPSs, where each phase is formed by serially connecting a plurality of power cells formed with a plurality of stages operated by receiving a power supplied from a phase shift transformer, and each of the plurality of power cells is mutually connected, and includes the first power cell region and the second power cell region independently operating.
US09331597B2
A latching comparator includes a switching logic circuit coupled to receive a first signal from a first signal circuit, and a second signal from a second signal circuit. The switching logic circuit is further coupled to receive a latching signal that is a rectangular pulse waveform in either a first or a second state. An output circuit having an input terminal is coupled to the switching logic circuit. The input terminal of the output circuit is coupled to receive both the first and second signals to compare the first signal and second signal when the latching signal is in the first state. The input terminal of the output circuit is coupled to receive only one of the first and second signals when the latching signal is in the second state.
US09331594B2
A method and apparatus for converting direct current into alternating current. An initial voltage level of an input voltage source is changed using a dual converter to form a plurality of voltage sources. Each of the plurality of voltage sources has voltage levels different from the initial voltage level. An inverter is supplied direct current from the plurality of voltage sources formed by the dual converter. The direct current is converted into a number of alternating currents using the inverter.
US09331593B2
In a switching power supply device having low loss in synchronous rectifying switches, exhibiting high power efficiency, and not causing troubles by reverse current in the switches. A secondary control circuit includes a reference voltage circuit to generate a reference voltage having a predetermined potential, and an ON-timing detector circuit to detect an ON timing of a synchronous rectifying switch through monitoring of a terminal voltage of the switch, an OFF-timing detector circuit to detect an OFF timing of the switch, and a timer circuit to be turned on at the ON timing and measure a predetermined period. The threshold voltage consisting of the reference voltage generated by the reference voltage circuit and an offset voltage is applied to the OFF-timing detector circuit during the measurement of the timer circuit, and the threshold voltage consisting of the reference voltage is applied to the OFF-timing detector circuit during the non-measurement.
US09331592B2
Driver circuits comprise power converters detecting automatically a topology used by the driver circuits. A controller controls a plurality of different types of power converters in accordance to a corresponding plurality of different operation modes. The controller comprises a measurement pin coupled to a first topology resistor of a first power converter of a type from the plurality of different types. The different types of power converters comprise topology resistors of corresponding different resistor values. The controller senses a voltage at the measurement pin wherein the voltage at the measurement pin is indicative of a voltage drop at the first topology resistor. Furthermore, the controller determines a type of the first power converter based on the sensed voltage, and selects an operation mode for controlling the first power converter.
US09331590B2
A device for detecting an average output current of a power converter includes a current generation unit, a first voltage generation unit, a first current mirror unit, and a second current mirror unit. The current generation unit generates a first charge current according to an intermediate voltage. The first voltage generation unit generates a first node voltage according to the first charge current, a first discharge current, a turning-on time, and an inverse turning-on time. The first current mirror unit generates a first current according to the first node voltage, and generates a second voltage corresponding to the average output current of a secondary side of the power converter according to the first current. The second current mirror unit generates the first discharge current according to the first current.
US09331575B2
A phase adjustment circuit of a power converter, the power converter, and a control method of the power converter are provided. The control method includes following steps. A delay signal is generated according to an error signal, and the error signal is associated with an output voltage of the power converter. A difference between the error signal and the delay signal is amplified. A control signal is provided according to the amplified difference and the error signal, and a phase of the control signal leads a phase of the error signal. The control signal serves to improve a response speed of the power converter.
US09331571B2
A power converter is disclosed. The power converter includes a comparator and a timing generator. The comparator compares a first input signal with a second input signal to provide a control signal. The timing generator is coupled to the comparator. The timing generator includes a plurality of timing generating units, a logic unit, and a calculation unit. The timing generator generates a plurality of timing signals through the timing generating units and the logic unit according to the control signal, and the calculation unit forms a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal according to the timing signals. At least a part of the timing signals are overlapped.
US09331569B1
A current generating circuit, which comprises: a first capacitor, comprising a first terminal and a second terminal; a second capacitor, comprising a first terminal and a second terminal; a first charge adjusting path, arranged for adjusting charges of the first capacitor according to a first charge adjusting voltage; a second charge adjusting path, arranged for adjusting charges of the second capacitor according to the first charge adjusting voltage; and a current generating path, coupled to the first capacitor and the second capacitor, arranged for generating a target current based on a difference between a first voltage provided by the first capacitor and a second voltage provided by the second capacitor.
US09331559B2
A system, method, and apparatus for kinetic energy harvesting are disclosed. An example kinetic energy harvesting apparatus includes a tubular-shaped magnet housing, a first end-cap magnet configured to connect to a first end of the magnet housing and a second end-cap magnet configured to connect to a second end of the magnet housing. The apparatus also includes a first wire coil configured to be connected to the magnet housing between the first end and a center of the magnet housing and a second wire coil configured to be connected to the magnet housing between the second end and the center of the magnet housing. The apparatus further includes a central magnet configured to be located within the magnet housing between the first end and the second end such that the central magnet is suspended within the magnet housing.
US09331555B2
An apparatus, brush holder and system are provided. The apparatus includes a main body configured for attachment to a brush holder, and a proximity sensor on the main body. The proximity sensor is configured for detecting the presence of a brush located at least partially inside the brush holder. The apparatus is configured to transmit a wireless signal to a remote location, and the wireless signal is transformable into an indication of a remaining life of the brush.
US09331539B2
A motor power distribution apparatus includes first insulating holders and second insulating holders. The first insulating holders are disposed to retain every other one of a plurality of stacked power distribution members that are unified by insert molding. The second insulating holders are disposed to retain power distribution members other than the power distribution members retained by the first insulating holders.
US09331538B2
A winding for a rotating electric machine includes conductive bars having straight parts and end windings and terminal portions of the end windings that are connected together. A protective cap is disposed on at least a portion of each respective connected end winding terminal portion. An electrical insulating material is disposed between each end winding terminal portion and respective protective cap and a seal is inside each protective cap.
US09331530B2
Disclosed herein is a laminated core of a motor including: a first core sheet including a first rounded core base, a plurality of first teeth which are radially formed on the first core base, and first tooth ears formed at the end of each of the first teeth; and a second core sheet including a second rounded core base, a plurality of second teeth which are radially formed on the second core base, and second tooth ears formed at the end of each of the second teeth, the second core sheet having the same shape as the first core sheet but being smaller than the first core sheet, wherein the second core sheet is located at the lowermost part, one or more the first core sheets are laminated on the second core sheet, and another second core sheet is located at the uppermost part.
US09331525B2
A method of controlling access to an electrical power network, comprising: receiving a power network access rule from a power network, the power network access rule defining an access condition which permits a device to access the power network; receiving a device usage rule, the device usage rule being a condition when the device is permitted use of the power network; comparing the device usage rule with the received power network access rule; and permitting the transfer of energy between the power network and the device upon a positive comparison between the device usage rule and the power network access rule.
US09331524B1
A system and method for remotely monitoring, measuring and controlling power to furniture having an electrically powered feature is disclosed herein. The furniture is preferably modular furniture (such as a cubicle) and the electrically powered feature is at least one of lighting or a power outlet. Alternatively, the furniture is a lectern and the electrically powered feature is at least one of lighting or a power outlet. Alternatively, the furniture is a charging cart and the electrically powered feature is at least one of lighting or a power outlet.
US09331516B2
A single power supply level shifter has first and second inverters in tandem that invert an input signal from a first voltage domain and provide a first inverted signal and an output signal in a second voltage domain. A charging control circuit charges a capacitor towards the second voltage when the input signal is high, and conducts a discharge current from the capacitor during a transition of the input signal from high to low to accelerate a corresponding transition of the first inverted signal from low to high. A third inverter controls a current reduction transistor in series with the first inverter, and a third control transistor connected between the input and the charging control circuit to accelerate the flow of discharge current during the transition of the input signal from high to low.
US09331511B2
A method for controlling an energy storage system. The same battery system shall support multiple services at the same time. During a planning phase, the multiple services to be provided are determined, based on the market situation and the capabilities of the energy storage system, and prioritized according to predefined criteria. During an operation phase, the power and energy status of the energy storage system is periodically monitored, and compared against the power and energy demands of the multiple services, in order to determine whether at each time instance, the multiple services can indeed be supported at the same time. In case power and/or energy limits are exceeded by the multiple services, at least one service is interrupted to allow the operation of the energy storage system to be within power/energy limits again. The interrupted service(s) is resumed when the power/energy limits are met.
US09331504B2
The disclosure relates to a method for charging a battery having at least one battery cell. A first connection of a charging device is connected to a first pole of the at least one battery cell by a rectifying device. The rectifying device is set up such that charging current can flow. The disclosure further relates to a charging device, a battery, and a motor vehicle, which are configured to carried out the method.
US09331502B2
According to one embodiment, there is provided a charge/discharge instruction apparatus including: a communicating unit, a communication frequency deciding unit, an information collecting unit and a charge/discharge managing unit. The communicating unit communicates with a battery storage system. The communication frequency deciding unit decides a collection frequency of Information related to the battery storage system according to a state of the battery storage system. The information collecting unit collects the information from the battery storage system at the collection frequency decided in the communication frequency deciding unit. The charge/discharge managing unit controls at least one of charge and discharge of the battery storage system based on the information collected in the information collecting unit.
US09331499B2
An energy transfer device for solar power systems operates to draw power from high-producing photovoltaic devices and apply that power across low-producing photovoltaic devices. An embodiment is a self-regulating energy exchanger using bidirectional DC-DC converters that operates to maintain uniform voltage across each series-connected photovoltaic device. An alternative embodiment is an energy exchanger that is controlled to maintain each of several series-connected photovoltaic devices at a maximum power point by drawing power from high-performing devices and applying that power across low-performing devices to provide uniform current among series-connected photovoltaic devices.
US09331497B2
An electrical energy storage unit and control system, and applications thereof. In an embodiment, the electrical energy storage unit includes a battery system controller and battery packs. Each battery pack has battery cells, a battery pack controller that monitors the cells, a battery pack cell balancer that adjusts the amount of energy stored in the cells, and a battery pack charger. The battery pack controller operates the battery pack cell balancer and the battery pack charger to control the state-of-charge of the cells. In an embodiment, the cells are lithium ion battery cells.
US09331483B2
Thermal energy storage apparatus, controllers and thermal energy storage control methods are described. According to one aspect, a thermal energy storage apparatus controller includes processing circuitry configured to access first information which is indicative of surpluses and deficiencies of electrical energy upon an electrical power system at a plurality of moments in time, access second information which is indicative of temperature of a thermal energy storage medium at a plurality of moments in time, and use the first and second information to control an amount of electrical energy which is utilized by a heating element to heat the thermal energy storage medium at a plurality of moments in time.
US09331481B2
A power transmission system is provided. The power transmission system includes at least one power substation for receiving power from a power source, and a Direct Current (DC) cable for transferring the power from the power source to the power substation. The DC cable includes a plurality of segments individually or in combination forming a path to route the power to the power substation. The system further includes at least one segment switch unit electrically coupled to each segment. At least one of the segment switch units includes a shorting switch element for providing a short circuit path to prevent the power from the power source to be routed to a respective segment in response to a shorting command, and a disconnect switch element for disconnecting the respective segment in response to a disconnect command.
US09331478B2
A circuit is configured for providing reverse battery protection. The circuit includes a load driver circuit having at least a first half-bridge circuit with topside and bottomside transistors coupled at a midpoint node by a first current terminal of both the topside and bottomside transistors. A second current terminal of the bottomside transistor is coupled to a voltage common node. The circuit also includes: a reverse battery protection transistor having a first current terminal coupled to a battery supply node and a second current terminal coupled to a second current terminal of the topside transistor; a bootstrap capacitor having a first terminal coupled to a the midpoint node between the topside and bottomside transistors of the first half-bridge circuit; and a diode having an anode coupled to a second terminal of the bootstrap capacitor and a cathode coupled to a control terminal of the reverse battery protection transistor.
US09331476B2
A solid-state fault current limiter including a current splitting reactor, comprising a system current input, a passive current output and a control current output. A voltage control reactor includes a first end and a second end, the first end coupled to the control current output and the second end coupled to the passive current output. A fault current trigger circuit coupled in parallel with the voltage control reactor and configured to open when a fault current, received by the system current input, exceeds a predefined trigger current. A transient voltage control circuit coupled in parallel with the voltage control reactor to receive the fault current.
US09331474B1
A drive transistor is connected to a resonant load in a low-side drive configuration. The voltage across the conduction terminals of the drive transistor is sensed and compared to an over-voltage threshold. An over-voltage signal is asserted in response to the comparison. The drive transistor is controlled by a PWM control signal in normal mode. In response to the assertion of the over-voltage signal, the drive transistor is forced to turn on (irrespective of the PWM control signal) to relieve the over-voltage condition. Operation of the circuit may be disabled or forced into soft start mode in response to the assertion of the over-voltage signal. Additionally, the pulse width of the PWM control signal may be reduced in response to the assertion of the over-voltage signal.
US09331464B2
An electrical power system including a first power entry unit, at least one receptacle, and a second power entry unit. The at least one receptacle is electrically connected to the first power entry unit. The second power entry unit is electrically connectable to the at least one receptacle. The first power entry unit and the second power entry unit include at least one detection device. Either the first power entry unit or the second power entry unit is a selected power entry unit and the remaining one is another power entry unit. The detection device is configured to preclude an electrical power connection of both the selected power entry unit and the other power entry unit to the at least one receptacle.
US09331449B2
A gas laser oscillator includes a first control valve for controlling an amount of laser gas supplied into a gas container, a second control valve for controlling an amount of laser gas exhausted from the gas container, and a controller for controlling openings of the first and second control valves. The controller includes a storage unit for storing data indicating a relationship between the laser gas pressure in the gas container, the opening of the second control valve, and the exhaust amount of laser gas, a gas pressure control unit for controlling the openings of the first and second control valves, respectively, such that the laser gas pressure becomes closer to a reference gas pressure, and a gas consumption amount control unit for controlling the openings of the first and second control valves, respectively, such that the exhaust amount of laser gas becomes closer to a target consumption amount.
US09331447B2
A crimping apparatus includes a ram having crimp tooling for crimping a terminal to a wire during a crimp stroke and a force sensor detecting a crimp force during the crimp stroke. The crimping apparatus also includes a controller that monitors the crimp quality of a crimp based on a frequency profile of the crimp. Optionally, the controller may create the frequency profile based on a force profile using a frequency transform algorithm. The frequency transform algorithm may be a Fast Fourier Transform algorithm.
US09331441B2
An electrical power adapter has first and second prongs that are retractable and deployable. When the prongs are in the deployed position the adapter may be mated with a receptacle and when in the retracted position the adapter has a reduced physical size. A linkage couples the first prong to the second prongs such that the first and second prongs retract and deploy simultaneously. An actuation mechanism causes the prongs to have a first detent in the deployed position and a second detent in the retracted position.
US09331440B2
A connector (10) includes a first housing (12) made of synthetic resin and including a fitting (11), and a second housing (14) made of synthetic resin and including a tubular receptacle (13) into which the fitting (11) is to be fit. At least one first projection (37) projects forward on a front end part (40) of the fitting (11) in the connecting direction and at least one second projection (43) projecting toward the first projection (37) is formed on a part of a back wall (27) of the receptacle (13) corresponding to the first projection (37). A fitting depth of the first and second housings (12, 14) is specified by the contact of a tip (38) of the first projection (37) and a tip (44) of the second projection (43) when the first and second housings (12, 14) are connected properly.
US09331436B2
Provided is a multi-outlet capable of conveniently organizing cables connected to electric appliances. The provided multi-outlet capable of conveniently organizing cables connected to electric appliances comprises: a plug housing comprising an upwardly opened housing space formed inside for accommodating cables and plugs of electric appliances, downwardly opened cable entry roads formed at a lower portion, inducing holes formed on the bottom for connecting the housing space and the entry roads, and curved arc-shaped apertures formed at the upper ends; a finishing cover insertedly connected to the upper end of the plug housing for finishing the housing space, and having a cable winding drum projected at a lower portion; and a power connection portion embedded in the finishing cover so as to supply electric power to the electric appliances, and comprising a plurality of plug terminals for power supply at all times which is opened toward the housing space to be electrically connected to the plugs accommodated in the housing space, and a plug terminal for power supply at any time which is opened outwardly, individual switches formed at the plug terminals for power supply at all times for controlling the power supplied thereto, a power input cable formed at the outside of the cable winding drum so as to be electrically connected to the terminals for supplying external power, and a main switch formed at the upper portion of the finishing cover to be connected to the power input cable for controlling the power supplied therethrough. It is possible to make the surroundings of a multi-output be neat and improve user convenience.
US09331432B1
A contact assembly for an electrical connector includes a holder and multiple ground contacts and signal contacts. The ground contacts and signal contacts are held by the holder along an outer side of the holder. The ground contacts and the signal contacts each have a mating segment proximate to a front end of the holder and a terminating segment proximate to a rear end of the holder. Ground contacts nearest to each other define a contact spacing therebetween. The nearest ground contacts are mechanically connected by a bridge member that connects the mating segments of the nearest ground contacts to electrically common the ground contacts. At least one signal contact is disposed in the contact spacing between the nearest ground contacts. The ground contacts provide electrical shielding between the signal contacts that are in different contact spacings.
US09331423B2
Aesthetically pleasing strain-relief members for cables and methods for making the same are disclosed. The strain-relief member include a tapered, inner strain-relief portion and an aesthetically pleasing outer strain-relief portion.
US09331420B2
A compressor may include a shell, a compression mechanism supported within the shell, a motor drivingly engaged with the compression mechanism, and a terminal assembly. The terminal assembly may include a cover secured relative to the shell, a terminal block fixed to the shell and in electrical communication with the motor, and a plug. The plug may be engaged with the terminal block and may provide electrical communication between the terminal block and a wire. The plug may include a first side facing the terminal block and a second side facing a wall of the cover. The second side may include a protrusion extending toward the wall and spaced a distance therefrom.
US09331418B2
A mini SAS HD connector comprises: front and rear housings combined together, wherein the rear housing comprises first and second rear shell pieces; a positioning mechanism disposed between the first and second rear shell pieces and providing a positioning effect; a first combination mechanism disposed between the front and rear housings and providing a combination effect when the front and rear housings are combined; and combinations of a first inner module, a second inner module and circuit boards. The combination of the first inner module and the circuit board is mounted in the first rear shell piece. The combination of the second inner module and the circuit board is mounted in the second rear shell piece. Stopper mechanisms are provided between the first inner module, the second inner module and the circuit boards, so the circuit boards have no distinct displacement due to plugging and unplugging operations of the connector.
US09331414B2
An electrical connector is to be connected to a mating side connector. The electrical connector includes a fixed housing to be fixed to a board; a movable housing arranged to be movable relative to the fixed housing; and a plurality of terminals disposed between the fixed housing and the movable housing. The terminal includes a connecting portion held with the fixed housing; a first elastic portion connected to the connecting portion; a terminal portion held with the movable housing; a second elastic portion connected to the terminal portion; and a wide width portion connected between the first elastic portion and the second elastic portion so that the first elastic portion is curved in a direction opposite to a direction that the second elastic portion is curved. The wide width portion has a width greater than that of the first elastic portion and the second elastic portion.
US09331408B2
An electrical connector assembled component includes a first connector to be disposed on a circuit board and including a receiving portion; and a second connected to be accommodated in the receiving portion. The receiving portion includes a cylindrical receiving portion and an open receiving portion. The open receiving portion includes a locking piece connected to the side plate portion. The locking piece includes a locking portion at a front edge thereof. The cylindrical receiving portion includes an elastic contact piece. The second connector includes an elastic locking arm extending from the flat plate portion. The elastic locking arm is situated inside the cylindrical receiving portion at a position different from that of the elastic contact piece in the width direction, and at a position overlapped with that of the elastic contact piece in a vertical direction.
US09331405B2
A connector system includes an interface connector having a housing having a main body holding a contact array therein. The housing extends between a front end and a back end along a mating axis. The housing includes a cavity therein open to the front end and open to the back end. The cavity is situated proximate to a side of the housing. The cavity has a receiving channel open to the side of the housing. The receiving channel has mounting shoulders at least partially extending therein. The interface connector also includes a fastener having a retention surface. The fastener is configured to be side-loaded into the receiving channel through the side of the housing. The mounting shoulders engage the fastener within the cavity to limit transaxial movement of the fastener along the mating axis.
US09331396B2
An antenna structure is disclosed that includes a dipole antenna and a slot antenna extending along a first axis. The dipole antenna and the slot antenna each have a radiation pattern that is omni-directional in an azimuth plane of the Earth. The dipole antenna radiates vertically polarized electric field, and the slot antenna radiates a horizontally polarized electric field.
US09331391B2
A mobile device includes a substrate, a ground element, and a radiation branch. The ground element includes a ground branch, wherein an edge of the ground element has a notch extending into an interior of the ground element so as to form a slot region, and the ground branch partially surrounds the slot region. The radiation branch is substantially inside the slot region, and is coupled to the ground branch of the ground element. The ground branch and the radiation branch form an antenna structure.
US09331386B2
Some example embodiments presented herein are directed towards an eNodeB, and corresponding method therein, for establishing beamforming for downlink communications in a multiple antenna system. The eNodeB may transmit a plurality of reference signals, where each reference signal is beamformed into a distinct direction with in at least one correlated domain (e.g., an elevation and/or azimuth domain). The eNodeB may generate beamformed downlink communications for antenna elements and/or subelements based on received signal quality assessments of the plurality of reference signals. Some example embodiments may be directed towards a user equipment, and corresponding methods therein, for establishing beamforming for downlink communications. The user equipment may receive the plurality of reference signals and provide signal assessments of the reference signals based on measurements performed by the user equipment. The user equipment may transmit the signal quality assessments to the eNodeB and receive beamformed downlink communications based on the signal quality assessments.
US09331379B2
A mobile device includes a substrate, a ground element, and a radiation branch. The ground element includes a ground branch, wherein an edge of the ground element has a notch extending into the interior of the ground element so as to form a slot region, and the ground branch partially surrounds the slot region. The radiation branch is substantially inside the slot region, and is coupled to the ground branch of the ground element. The ground branch and the radiation branch form an antenna structure.
US09331378B2
Active load modulation antennas for contactless systems typically require the presence of a battery power source in the transponder device. The transponder typically cannot be powered by the reader device alone and also transmit an active load modulation signal. Embodiments in accordance with the invention are disclosed that allow transponder devices to transmit an active load modulation signal when powered only by the reader in the contactless system.
US09331377B2
An underwater top-pivoting antenna assembly (or array thereof) suitable for subsurface RFID tag interrogation in flowing water such as a river. In preferred embodiments, the antenna interrogates RFID tags implanted in aquatic species. The antenna resides in an elongate antenna housing whose cross-sectional shape is preferably a symmetric hydrodynamic teardrop shape. When the assembly is deployed in water with an upper end thereof suspended above a lower end, the upper end of the housing is linked to a pivot/swivel mechanism such that when the pivot/swivel mechanism is held substantially stationary with respect to the water flow, the lower end of the housing is free to rotate generally about the first end, including in a substantially vertical plane parallel to the water flow direction. The length of the antenna housing is advantageously selected to enable the antenna to monitor for signals across substantially the entire water depth.
US09331376B2
An underwater basal-pivoting antenna assembly (or array thereof) suitable for subsurface RFID tag interrogation in flowing water such as a river. In preferred embodiments, the antenna interrogates RFID tags implanted in aquatic species. The antenna resides in an elongate antenna housing whose cross-sectional shape is preferably a hydrodynamic teardrop shape. When the assembly is deployed in water with a lower end thereof anchored below an upper end, the lower end of the housing is linked to a pivot/swivel mechanism such that when the pivot/swivel mechanism is held substantially stationary with respect to the water flow, the upper end of the housing is free to rotate generally about the first end, including in a substantially vertical plane parallel to the water flow direction. The length of the antenna housing is advantageously selected to enable the antenna to monitor for signals across substantially the entire water depth.
US09331368B2
A battery module has at least four battery cells that are cooled via a cooling plate arranged between them. Fins project on the cooling plate and at the same time serve as stops for individual battery cells. As a result, a powerful and very rigid battery module is provided that is of structurally simple construction.
US09331363B2
Provided is a novel structural electric device having improved safety. More particularly, provided is a novel structural electric device devised to resolve several issues regarding heat generation, ignition, and explosion, which may be caused by a sharp needle-shaped object penetrating an electric device.
US09331355B2
The electrolyte sheet for solid oxide fuel cell of the present invention has different surface roughnesses between the peripheral region and the region other than the peripheral region at least on one side. The surface roughness Ra(b) in the peripheral region is at least 0.05 μm and less than 0.3 μm. The surface roughness Ra(i) in the region other than the peripheral region is at least 0.2 μm and at most 1.2 μm. And, the ratio of Ra(i) to Ra(b) (Ra(i)/Ra(b)) is more than 1 and at most 4. Here, the surface roughness Ra(b) and the surface roughness Ra(i) are arithmetic mean roughness values and determined by an optical and laser-based non-contact three-dimensional profile measuring device in accordance with a German standard ‘DIN-4768’.
US09331354B2
An electrolyte membrane is prepared from a liquid composition comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of trivalent cerium, tetravalent cerium, bivalent manganese and trivalent manganese; and a polymer with a cation-exchange group. The liquid composition is preferably one containing water, a carbonate of cerium or manganese, and a polymer with a cation-exchange group, and a cast film thereof is used as an electrolyte membrane to prepare a membrane-electrode assembly. The present invention successfully provides a membrane-electrode assembly for polymer electrolyte fuel cells being capable of generating the electric power in high energy efficiency, having high power generation performance regardless of the dew point of the feed gas, and being capable of stably generating the electric power over a long period of time.
US09331349B2
A waste heat recovery system includes a fuel cell, a coolant circulation flow passage, a first heat exchanger, a waste heat recovery flow passage, a second heat exchanger, an upstream end of the waste heat recovery flow passage, and a downstream end of the waste heat recovery flow passage. The coolant circulation flow passage includes a first coolant supply flow passage, a first coolant exhaust flow passage, and a first bypass flow passage. The upstream end is connected to at least one of an inlet coolant reservoir and the first coolant exhaust flow passage at a position downstream of a connection point between the first coolant exhaust flow passage and the first bypass flow passage. The downstream end is connected to at least one of the inlet coolant reservoir, an outlet coolant reservoir, and the first coolant supply flow passage.
US09331337B2
A positive electrode active material with least part of a surface coated with a surface treatment layer composed of a phosphate compound. The phosphate compound contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.
US09331331B1
The present invention generally relates to using water-based binders for high voltage cathode materials, such as LMNO (spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4), in Li-ion batteries. An example of a water compatible polymer binder according to some embodiments of the present invention is a combination of CMC (carboxymethylcellulose) and a second water compatible polymer that produce coatings of adequate thickness and loading (mAh/cm2). A method of forming a cathode for a Li-ion battery may include: preparing an aqueous solution of CMC; mixing together LMNO and carbon black; combining the LMNO and carbon black mixture with the CMC solution, an aqueous polyacrylic solution and distilled water, and mixing to form a slurry; coating a conductive substrate with the slurry; and drying the coated substrate, forming a cathode layer on the substrate. Furthermore, this invention describes a cathode for Li-ion batteries and tools for carrying out the above method.
US09331330B2
An electrode includes a conductive substrate and a plurality of conductive structures providing a compressible matrix of material. An active material is formed in contact with the plurality of conductive structures. The active material includes a volumetrically expanding material which expands during ion diffusion such that the plurality of conductive structures provides support for the active material and compensates for volumetric expansion of the active material to prevent damage to the active material.
US09331322B2
The present invention relates to a storage-battery vent cap which adjusts an internal pressure of a storage battery by exhausting a gas generated inside the storage battery to the outside and blocking inflow of external air. The vent cap includes a cylindrical body installed in a vent hole of the battery and formed with an exhaust hole; a cylindrical insert coupled to the body, a partition being formed inside the insert and a coupling hole and a air vent being formed in the partition; and a valve fixed to the coupling hole and elastically deformed by an internal pressure of the battery to open the air vent. The valve has an umbrella-like shape including a valve body having a larger diameter than that of the coupling hole, a cover formed on an outer circumferential surface of the valve body, and a fixing portion downwardly protruded from the valve body.
US09331316B2
A battery cell holder is disclosed. In one embodiment, the holder includes first and second outer frames respectively positioned at first and second sides of a plurality of battery cells arranged substantially parallel with each other, wherein the first and second sides are opposing each other, and wherein the outer frames comprise first and second outer fastening members, respectively. The cell holder may further include at least one inner frame disposed between the outer frames, wherein the at least one inner frame comprises a first inner frame adjacent to the first outer frame, wherein the first inner frame has first and second inner fastening members which are respectively formed at opposing sides thereof and have corresponding shapes with respect to each other. The first inner fastening member may be connected to the first outer fastening member.
US09331313B2
Disclosed herein is a battery pack including a battery cell array including two or more battery cells, each of which has an electrode assembly of a cathode/separator/anode structure disposed in a battery case together with an electrolyte in a sealed state, arranged in the lateral direction, a protection circuit module (PCM) connected to the upper end of the battery cell array to control the operation of the battery pack, a pack case in which the battery cell array and the protection circuit module are disposed, and a spacer mounted between the pack case and the battery cell array to provide a space accommodating the increase in thickness of the battery cell array during charge and discharge of the battery pack.
US09331311B2
Methods for forming an OLED device are described. An encapsulation structure having organic buffer layer sandwiched between barrier layers is deposited over an OLED structure. The buffer layer is formed with a fluorine-containing plasma. The second barrier layer is then deposited over the buffer layer. Additionally, to ensure good adhesion, a buffer adhesion layer is formed between the buffer layer and the first barrier layer. Finally, to ensure good transmittance, a stress reduction layer is deposited between the buffer layer and the second barrier layer.
US09331308B2
An organic light emitting display apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The apparatus includes a substrate, a first electrode formed on the substrate, an intermediate layer formed on the first electrode. The intermediate layer includes an organic emission layer. A second electrode is formed on the intermediate layer, and a capping layer is formed on the second electrode in a first region. The capping layer includes a first edge portion and at least two layers. A third electrode is formed on the second electrode in a second region. The second region is not overlapped with the first region, and the third electrode includes a second edge portion having a side portion facing a side portion of the first edge portion of the capping layer. Electric properties and image quality may be improved.
US09331305B2
[Problem] The aim of the invention is to provide a method of sealing an electronic element such as an organic EL element using a normal temperature bonding method that enables bonding at low temperature and in which permeation of external gases such as hydrogen or oxygen through the sealed section (dam) formed by the organic material, or the junction interface of the sealed section and a cover substrate is suppressed. [Solution] A method of sealing an electronic element comprises a step of forming a sealing section by forming a sealing section including an organic material on the surface of a first substrate formed with the electronic element, surrounding this electronic element with a thickness that is larger than that of this electronic element; a step of forming a first inorganic material layer in which a first inorganic material layer is formed at least on the exposed surface of this sealing section; and a substrate bonding step of bonding the first substrate and the second substrate by pushing together the sealing section of the first substrate and the junction location of the second substrate.
US09331294B2
A vertical electro-optical component and a method for forming the same are provided. The vertical electro-optical component includes a substrate, a first electrode layer formed on the substrate, a patterned insulating layer formed on the first electrode layer, a metal layer formed on the patterned insulating layer, a semiconductor layer formed on the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer formed on the semiconductor layer, wherein the semiconductor layer encapsulates the patterned insulating layer and the metal layer. The vertical electro-optical component thus has a low operational voltage of a vertical transistor and a high reaction speed of a photo diode, and may be used to form light-emitting transistors.
US09331293B2
A field effect transistor photodetector that can operate in room temperature includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, a channel to allow an electric current to flow between the drain and source electrodes, and a gate electrode to receive a bias voltage for controlling the current in the channel. The photodetector includes a light-absorbing material that absorbs light and traps electric charges. The light-absorbing material is configured to generate one or more charges upon absorbing light having a wavelength within a specified range and to hold the one or more charges. The one or more charges held in the light-absorbing material reduces the current flowing through the channel.
US09331283B2
The method of manufacturing nanoparticles of a target material includes mixing graphene oxide with an aqueous solvent to prepare an aqueous solution, mixing the target material with an organic solvent to prepare an organic solution, mixing the aqueous solution with the organic solution, and preparing nanoparticles of the target material by the graphene oxide.
US09331281B2
Embodiments in accordance with the present invention relate generally to the use of polycycloolefinic polymers as a structure defining material in organic electronic devices, and more specifically to separators, insulating structures or bank structures of such devices and to organic electronic devices comprising such structures, to processes for preparing such structures and to organic electronic devices encompassing such structures.
US09331279B2
An embodiment of the present invention sets forth an embedded resistive memory cell that includes a first stack of deposited layers, a second stack of deposited layers, a first electrode disposed under a first portion of the first stack, and a second electrode disposed under a second portion of the first stack and extending from under the second portion of the first stack to under the second stack. The second electrode is disposed proximate to the first electrode within the embedded resistive memory cell. The first stack of deposited layers includes a dielectric layer, a high-k dielectric layer disposed above the dielectric layer, and a metal layer disposed above the high-k dielectric layer. The second stack of deposited layers includes a high-k dielectric layer formed simultaneously with the high-k dielectric layer included in the first stack, and a metal layer disposed above the high-k dielectric layer.
US09331276B2
A nonvolatile resistive memory element includes an oxygen-gettering layer. The oxygen-gettering layer is formed as part of an electrode stack, and is more thermodynamically favorable in gettering oxygen than other layers of the electrode stack. The Gibbs free energy of formation (ΔfG°) of an oxide of the oxygen-gettering layer is less (i.e., more negative) than the Gibbs free energy of formation of an oxide of the adjacent layers of the electrode stack. The oxygen-gettering layer reacts with oxygen present in the adjacent layers of the electrode stack, thereby preventing this oxygen from diffusing into nearby silicon layers to undesirably increase an SiO2 interfacial layer thickness in the memory element and may alternately be selected to decrease such thickness during subsequent processing.
US09331275B2
Switching device structures and methods are described herein. A switching device can include a vertical stack comprising a material formed between a first and a second electrode. The switching device can further include a third electrode coupled to the vertical stack and configured to receive a voltage applied thereto to control a formation state of a conductive pathway in the material between the first and the second electrode, wherein the formation state of the conductive pathway is switchable between an on state and an off state.
US09331273B2
A memory cell array includes a semiconductor substrate, a first word line formed on the semiconductor substrate, a second word line formed on the semiconductor substrate and extending substantially parallel to the first word line, a first inter-pattern insulating layer interposed between the first and second word lines, first active pillars formed within the first word line and arranged along the first word line at a first interval, and second active pillars formed within the second word lines, and arranged along the second word line to face the first active pillars, respectively, with the first inter-pattern insulating layer interposed therebetween.
US09331267B2
Electronic devices having semiconductor elements and methods for fabricating such devices including, a method for fabricating an electronic device including a semiconductor memory, which includes: forming a sacrificial layer on a substrate including a first region and a second region; selectively etching the sacrificial layer and the substrate of the first region to form a trench; forming a first gate that fills a part of the trench in the first region; forming a gate protection layer on the first gate to fill the remaining part of the trench; removing the sacrificial layer of the first region to form a grooved portion surrounded by the gate protection layer; forming a conductive plug to cover the grooved portion; removing the sacrificial layer of the second region; and forming a second gate on the substrate of the second region.
US09331261B2
A piezoelectric element includes, in sequence, a substrate containing metallic material; a first intermediate layer; a lower electrode layer; a piezoelectric layer; and an upper electrode layer. The first intermediate layer contains, as a main component, a nitrogen-containing silicon oxide having a silicon-nitrogen bond. The lower electrode layer contains a perovskite-type oxide in (100) preferential orientation. The piezoelectric layer contains a perovskite-type oxide in (001) or (100) preferential orientation.
US09331259B2
An intrinsic piezoelectric transformer circuit a piezoelectric transformer circuit is provided that has a primary side component including first and second electrodes, a secondary side component including first and second electrodes, and at least one tertiary component including first and second electrodes. A power bridge is provided which includes one or more switches, each switch has a gate terminal that is directly connected to the second electrode of the tertiary component of the piezoelectric transformer. The first electrode of the tertiary component of the piezoelectric transformer is connected to a reference for the one or more switches of the power bridge. The first electrode of the primary component of the piezoelectric transformer is electrically connected to a power bridge output and the second electrode of the primary component of the piezoelectric transformer is connected to a ground terminal.
US09331250B1
A light emitting device includes: a light emitting layered structure; an electrode unit connected to the light emitting layered structure and including a transparent electrode layer of a primary metal oxide which is stacked on the light emitting layered structure along a stacking direction; and a total-internal-reflection suppression material dispersed in the transparent electrode layer and containing a secondary metal oxide that is different from the primary metal oxide. The secondary metal oxide has a concentration gradient within the transparent electrode layer along the stacking direction. The light output power of the light emitting device may be increased by about 44% as compared to a conventional light emitting device.
US09331246B2
The present invention relates to a p-doped contact for use in a light-emitting diode for the ultraviolet spectral range, comprising a p-contact layer having a first surface for contacting a radiation zone and a second surface comprising, on the side facing away from the first surface: a) a coating, which directly contacts 5%-99.99% of the second surface of the p-contact layer and contains or consists of a material having a maximum reflectivity of at least 60% for light with a wavelength of 200 nm to 400 nm; b) a plurality of p-injectors, which are disposed directly on the second surface of the p-contact layer.
US09331243B2
The invention relates to a light-emitting semiconductor component, comprising—a first semiconductor body (1), which comprises an active zone (11) in which during the operation of the light-emitting semiconductor component electromagnetic radiation is generated, at least some of which leaves the first semiconductor body (1) through a radiation exit surface (1a), and—a second semiconductor body (2), which is suitable for converting the electromagnetic radiation into converted electromagnetic radiation having a longer wavelength, wherein—the first semiconductor body (1) and the second semiconductor body (2) are produced separately from each other, —the second semiconductor body (2) is electrically inactive, and—the second semiconductor body (2) is in direct contact with the radiation exit surface (1a) and is attached there to the first semiconductor body (1) without connecting means.
US09331221B2
Separation layers, usable in devices for converting radiation energy to electrical energy, allow at least some of the components of the devices to be separated from one another for disposal thereof. A separation layer may be interposed between and bonded to adjoining layers, and when acted upon by application of an external source, may be degraded to release the layers from one another. Once released, the layers may be disposed of more efficiently and economically, including proper disposal of hazardous waste, and recycling of materials which may be re-usable.
US09331207B2
A semiconductor device includes a gate electrode; a gate insulating film over the gate electrode; an oxide semiconductor film in contact with the gate insulating film and including a channel formation region which overlaps with the gate electrode; a source electrode and a drain electrode over the oxide semiconductor film; and an oxide insulating film over the oxide semiconductor film, the source electrode, and the drain electrode. The source electrode and the drain electrode each include a first metal film having an end portion at the end of the channel formation region, a second metal film over the first metal film and containing copper, and a third metal film over the second metal film. The second metal film is formed on the inner side than the end portion of the first metal film.
US09331196B2
A semiconductor device including a gate structure, a source region, a drain region, a first conductive type epitaxial layer, a high voltage second conductive type well, a linear graded high voltage first conductive type well and a first conductive type buried layer is provided. The first conductive type buried layer is located within the first conductive type epitaxial layer and below the high voltage second conductive type well, and a length of the first conductive type buried layer is smaller than a length of the high voltage second conductive type well.
US09331190B2
An intermediate layer composed of i-AlN is formed between a channel layer and an electron donor layer, a first opening is formed in an electron donor layer, at a position where a gate electrode will be formed later, while using an intermediate layer as an etching stopper, a second opening is formed in the intermediate layer so as to be positionally aligned with the first opening, by wet etching using a hot phosphoric acid solution, and a gate electrode is formed so that the lower portion thereof fill the first and second openings while placing a gate insulating film in between, and so that the head portion thereof projects above the cap structure.
US09331182B2
Semiconductor devices and methods for manufacturing the same are disclosed. In one aspect, the method comprises forming a first shielding layer on a substrate, and forming one of source and drain regions with the first shielding layer as a mask. Then, forming a second shielding layer on the substrate, and forming the other of the source and drain regions with the second shielding layer as a mask. Then, removing a portion of the second shielding layer which is next to the other of the source and drain regions. Lastly, forming a first gate dielectric layer, a floating gate layer, and a second gate dielectric layer, and forming a gate conductor as a spacer on a sidewall of a remaining portion of the second shielding layer.
US09331169B2
According to an embodiment, a nitride semiconductor Schottky diode includes a first layer including a first nitride semiconductor and a second layer provided on the first layer and including a second nitride semiconductor having a wider band gap than the first nitride semiconductor. The diode also includes an ohmic electrode provided on the second layer and a Schottky electrode provided on the second layer. The second layer includes a region containing an acceptor in the vicinity of the Schottky electrode between the Schottky electrode and the ohmic electrode.
US09331165B2
The present invention discloses a thin-film transistor (TFT), a manufacturing method thereof, an array substrate and a display device. The present invention is used for improving the electrical properties of the TFT and the image quality of the display device. The TFT provided by the present invention comprises: a gate electrode, a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor layer, a gate electrode insulating layer and a first metal barrier layer, which are disposed on a substrate; the gate electrode insulating layer is disposed between the gate electrode and the semiconductor layer; and the first metal barrier layer is disposed between the source/drain electrodes and the gate electrode insulating layer, and the first metal barrier layer is arranged on the same layer as the semiconductor layer and configured to prevent interdiffusion between the material for forming the source/drain electrodes and the material for forming the gate electrode.
US09331162B2
An array substrate, comprising a substrate, a multi-layer electrode and a switch element, is provided. The multi-layer electrode is disposed on the substrate and comprises an electric conductive layer and a first etch-stop layer. The electric conductive layer covers the first etch-stop layer. The switch element is disposed on the substrate and electrically connected to the multi-layer electrode, and has a second etch-stop layer.
US09331159B1
Methods of fabricating transistors having raised active region(s) with at least partially angled upper surfaces are provided. The method includes, for instance: providing a gate structure disposed over a substrate, the gate structure including a conformal spacer layer; forming a raised active region adjoining a sidewall of the conformal spacer layer; providing a protective material over the raised active region; selectively etching-back the sidewall of the conformal spacer layer, exposing a side portion of the raised active region below the protective material; and etching the exposed side portion of the raised active region to partially undercut the protective material, wherein the etching facilitates defining, at least in part, an at least partially angled upper surface of the raised active region of the transistor.
US09331154B2
A high electron mobility transistor comprises a substrate, an epitaxial stack arranged above the substrate and having a first region and a second region surrounding the first region, a matrix electrode structure arranged in the first region, and a plurality of first bridges electrically connecting the plurality of second electrodes. The matrix electrode structure comprises a plurality of first electrodes arranged on the epitaxial stack and a plurality of second electrodes arranged on the epitaxial stack and adjacent to the plurality of first electrodes. One of the bridges is arranged between two of the second electrodes and crossed over one of the first electrodes.
US09331148B1
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprises forming a fin on a substrate, forming a dummy gate stack on the fin and the substrate, removing a portion of an exposed portion of the fin, forming a source/drain region on an exposed portion of the fin, forming a conductive contact on the source/drain region, removing the dummy gate stack to expose a channel region of the fin, implanting ions in the channel region of the fin, performing an annealing process, and forming a gate stack on the channel region of the fin.
US09331143B1
A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure comprises: a substrate; a first doping region, a first well and a second doping region formed in the substrate; a plurality of first heavily doped regions formed in the first doping region; a plurality of conductors and a plurality of dielectrics formed on the substrate between the first heavily doped regions; a second heavily doped region formed in the first well; a third heavily doped region and a fourth heavily doped region formed in the second doping region; as well as a first gate electrode and a first gate dielectric. The first doping region, the first well, the second heavily doped region and the fourth heavily doped region have a first type of doping. The second doping region, the first heavily doped regions and the third heavily doped region have a second type of doping.
US09331142B2
A semiconductor device such as a Zener diode includes a first semiconductor material of a first conductivity type and a second semiconductor material of a second conductivity type in contact with the first semiconductor material to form a junction therebetween. A first oxide layer is disposed over a portion of the second semiconductor material such that a remaining portion of the second semiconductor material is exposed. A polysilicon layer is disposed on the exposed portion of the second semiconductor material and a portion of the first oxide layer. A first conductive layer is disposed on the polysilicon layer. A second conductive layer is disposed on a surface of the first semiconductor material opposing a surface of the first semiconductor material in contact with the second semiconductor material.
US09331139B2
A ruthenium film formation method including: forming a ruthenium oxide film on a substrate; and reducing the ruthenium oxide film into a ruthenium film, wherein the reducing the ruthenium oxide film comprises at least supplying a ruthenium compound gas containing hydrogen as a reducing agent.
US09331135B2
The present disclosure provides an organic light emitting display including: a first substrate including a display area where an organic light emitting device is formed and a non-display area where a plurality of pads are formed, a second substrate facing and spaced apart from the first substrate, a pattern formed in the non-display area of the first substrate and having openings, and an adhesive layer formed between the first substrate and the second substrate and covering a portion of the pattern.
US09331134B2
An organic EL display device has a pixel electrode and a common electrode, a first insulating layer that covers a thin-film transistor, a first wire provided on the first insulating layer to electrically connect the thin-film transistor and the pixel electrode, a second wire provided on the first insulating layer to be connected to a gate electrode of the thin-film transistor, and a conducting film formed on the first wire and the second wire from a material on which an oxide film is harder to be formed than those of the first wire and the second wire. At least one of the pixel electrode, the first wire, and the second wire and the conducting film are located to overlap above the first insulating layer in electrical insulation so that a capacitor that retains a control signal is formed between the first wire and the second wire.
US09331133B2
On a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of transistors that includes a drive transistor which controls a drive current according to a potential of a gate, a light emitting element that emits a light having a brightness corresponding to the drive current, and an element isolation portion that electrically isolates each transistor are formed. The element isolation portion has a structure in which an insulator fills inside of a groove formed on the semiconductor substrate.
US09331126B2
Provided is a method for fabricating a flexible display device. The method includes attaching a shape memory alloy film memorizing a shape thereof as a curved shape at a shape memory temperature or lower to a flexible substrate at a temperature higher than the shape memory temperature, forming a display device on the flexible substrate, and returning the shape memory alloy to the curved shape to remove the shape memory alloy film from the flexible substrate.
US09331111B2
To provide a method of refresh operation for a flat panel radiation imager that makes it possible to carry out a refresh operation in such a way that electric charge that is accumulated in pixels by photoelectric conversion is efficiently released with low power consumption and during a short period of time. Control signals of the refresh operation are turned into a plurality of successive pulses at regular intervals; and timing is adjusted in a way that adjacent switching elements disposed on the same signal line are not turned ON at the same timing.
US09331106B2
A fabrication method of a pixel structure includes the following steps. A first metal layer is patterned to form a source electrode and a drain electrode. A semiconductor material layer is patterned to form a channel layer and a pixel pattern. A first insulation layer is formed to cover the channel layer, the source electrode, the drain electrode and the pixel pattern. A gate electrode is formed on the first insulation layer located above the channel layer. A second insulation layer is formed to cover the gate electrode and the first insulation layer. A pixel opening is formed in the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer to expose a partial region of the pixel pattern. The partial region of the pixel pattern exposed by the pixel opening is modified so as to form a pixel electrode electrically connected to the drain electrode.
US09331096B2
Methods and systems for hybrid integration of optical communication systems are disclosed and may include receiving continuous wave (CW) optical signals in a silicon photonics die (SPD) from an optical source external to the SPD. The received CW optical signals may be processed based on electrical signals received from an electronics die bonded to the SPD via metal interconnects. Modulated optical signals may be received in the SPD from optical fibers coupled to the SPD. Electrical signals may be generated in the SPD based on the received modulated optical signals and communicated to the electronics die via the metal interconnects. The CW optical signals may be received from an optical source assembly coupled to the SPD and/or from one or more optical fibers coupled to the SPD. The received CW optical signals may be processed utilizing one or more optical modulators, which may comprise Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulators.
US09331085B2
A semiconductor device may include: a substrate. First and second gate electrode patterns are disposed on first and second fin type active patterns. The first and second fin type active patterns include a first channel region disposed between a first impurity region and a second impurity region. The second gate electrode pattern crosses a first gate-separating region included in the second fin type active region. The first gate-separating region includes a trench and an embedded insulator filling at least a portion of the trench.
US09331063B2
A semiconductor device simplifies the manufacturing process. The device includes a protective chip which has a surface Zener diode to protect a light emitting chip with an LED formed therein from surge voltage. The protective chip is mounted over a wiring electrically coupled through a metal wire to an anode electrode coupled to a p-type semiconductor region whose conductivity type is the same as that of the semiconductor substrate of the chip. The anode electrode of the protective chip is electrically coupled to the back surface of the chip without PN junction, so even if the back surface is in contact with the wiring, no problem occurs with the electrical characteristics of the Zener diode. This eliminates the need to form an insulating film on the back surface of the chip to prevent contact between the back surface and the wiring, thus simplifying the manufacturing process.
US09331062B1
Integrated circuits with backside power delivery capabilities are provided. An integrated circuit may include a substrate having front and back surfaces, a first interconnect stack formed on the front surface, and a second interconnect stack formed on the back surface. Routing structures that carry data signals, control signals, and other user signals may be formed only in the first interconnect stack. A large majority of routing structures that carry power supply signals may be formed in the second interconnect stack. Decoupling capacitor circuitry such as deep trench capacitors may be formed in the back surface of the substrate. The integrated circuit may be mounted on a package substrate. The first interconnect stack may be coupled to the package substrate via wire bond pads, whereas the second interconnect stack may be coupled to the package substrate via an array of solder bumps.
US09331059B2
In various embodiments, a chip for a chip package is provided. The chip may include a substrate and an integrated circuit over the substrate. The integrated circuit may include a test circuit, for example a built-in self-test circuit, and an operation circuit, the test circuit including one or more first driver stages each having a first driver performance and the operation circuit including one or more second driver stages each having a second driver performance which is different from the first driver performance, first contacts electrically coupled with the first driver stages, and second contacts electrically coupled with the second driver stages, wherein the test circuit and the first contacts are configured to provide a test mode for testing the integrated circuit and wherein the operation circuit and the second contacts are configured to provide an operating mode of the integrated circuit being different from the test mode.
US09331056B2
A white LED assembly includes a string of series-connected blue LED dice mounted on a substrate. The substrate has a plurality of substrate terminals. A first of the substrate terminals is coupled to be a part of first end node of the string. A second of the substrate terminals is coupled to be a part of an intermediate node of the string. A third of the substrate terminals is coupled to be a part of a second end node of the string. Other substrate terminals may be provided and coupled to be parts of corresponding other intermediate nodes of the string. A single contiguous amount of phosphor covers all the LED dice, but does not cover any of the substrate terminals. In one example, the amount of phosphor contacts the substrate and has a circular periphery. All the LEDs are mounted to the substrate within the circular periphery.
US09331050B2
Methods of forming gold-aluminum electrical interconnects are described. The method may include interposing a diffusion retardant layer between the gold and the aluminum, the diffusion retardant layer including regions containing and regions substantially devoid of a diffusion retardant material; bringing into contact the diffusion retardant layer, the gold, and the aluminum; forming alloys of gold and the diffusion retardant material in regions containing the material and forming gold-aluminum intermetallic compounds in regions substantially devoid of the material; and forming a continuous electrically conducting path between the aluminum and the gold. A structure for gold-aluminum interconnect is provided. The structure may include an aluminum alloy bond pad and a diffusion retardant layer in contact with the bond pad, the diffusion retardant layer including regions containing and regions substantially devoid of a diffusion retardant material. The structure may include a gold free air ball in contact with the diffusion retardant layer.
US09331048B2
A method including: providing a first wafer stack; applying a first bonding layer on the first wafer stack; providing a second wafer stack, where the second wafer stack includes vias; and applying a second bonding layer to the second wafer stack. The vias extend through the second wafer stack and to the second bonding layer. The second bonding layer is bonded to the first bonding layer. A seed layer is applied on a side of the second wafer stack opposite the second bonding layer such that a material of the seed layer (i) contacts the vias, and (ii) extends over and past ends of the second wafer stack and onto the first bonding layer.
US09331037B2
“Thick line dies” that, during manufacture, avoid locating an upstanding edge of a photoresist layer (for example, the edge of a dry film photoresist layer) on top of a “discontinuity.” In this way solder does not flow into the mechanical interface between the photoresist layer and the layer under the photoresist layer in the vicinity of an upstanding edge of the photoresist layer.
US09331021B2
A package according to an embodiment includes a first device package and a fan-out RDL disposed over the first device package. The fan-out RDL extends past edges of the first device package. The first device package comprises a first die having a first redistribution layer (RDL) disposed on a first substrate, a second die having a second RDL disposed on a second substrate, an isolation material over the first die and extending along sidewalls of the second die, and a conductive via. The first RDL is bonded to the second RDL, and the first die and the second die comprise different lateral dimensions. At least a portion of the conductive via extends from a top surface of the isolation material to contact a first conductive element in the first RDL.
US09331020B2
An interconnect is disclosed with enhanced immunity of electrical conductivity to defects. The interconnect includes a material with charge carriers having topological surface states. Also disclosed is a method for fabricating such interconnects. Also disclosed is an integrated circuit including such interconnects. Also disclosed is a gated electronic device including a material with charge carriers having topological surface states.
US09331016B2
An SOC apparatus includes a plurality of gate interconnects with a minimum pitch g, a plurality of metal interconnects with a minimum pitch m, and a plurality of vias interconnecting the gate interconnects and the metal interconnects. The vias have a minimum pitch v. The values m, g, and v are such that g2+m2≧v2 and an LCM of g and m is less than 20 g. The SOC apparatus may further include a second plurality of metal interconnects with a minimum pitch of m2, where m2>m and the LCM of g, m, and m2 is less than 20 g.
US09331012B2
A method for fabricating an interconnect function array includes forming a first plurality of conductive lines on a substrate, forming an insulator layer over the first plurality of conductive lines and the substrate, removing portions of the insulator layer to define cavities in the insulator layer that expose portions of the substrate and the first plurality of conductive lines, wherein the removal of the portions of the insulator layer results in a substantially random arrangement of cavities exposing portions of the substrate and the first plurality of conductive lines, depositing a conductive material in the cavities, and forming a second plurality of conductive lines on portions of the conductive material in the cavities and the insulator layer.
US09331011B2
An electronic component built-in substrate, includes, a substrate having an opening portion, a first wiring layer formed in the substrate, an electronic component arranged in the opening portion, a first insulating layer formed on one face of the substrate and sealing the electronic component, a second insulating layer formed on other face of the substrate, a second wiring layer formed on the first insulating layer, and a third wiring layer formed on the second insulating layer. The first insulating layer is formed of an inner insulating layer covering the one face of the substrate and filling an inside of the opening portion, and an outer insulating layer formed on the inner insulating layer.
US09331002B2
A semiconductor device is made by providing a first semiconductor wafer having semiconductor die. A gap is made between the semiconductor die. An insulating material is deposited in the gap. A portion of the insulating material is removed to form a first through hole via (THV). A conductive lining is conformally deposited in the first THV. A solder material is disposed above the conductive lining of the first THV. A second semiconductor wafer having semiconductor die is disposed over the first wafer. A second THV is formed in a gap between the die of the second wafer. A conductive lining is conformally deposited in the second THV. A solder material is disposed above the second THV. The second THV is aligned to the first THV. The solder material is reflowed to form the conductive vias within the gap. The gap is singulated to separate the semiconductor die.
US09330997B1
A heat spreader structure includes a planar portion and a slanted portion. The slanted portion extends at an angle from an edge of the planar portion. The first slanted portion includes a first slot. A second heat spreader structure includes a planar member, a first edge member and a second edge member. The first edge member extends only perpendicularly from a first edge of the planar member whereas the second edge member extends from the second edge of the planar member and has a slanted surface with respect to that of the planar member. In addition to that, the first and second heat spreader structure may be formed using different manufacturing methods.
US09330993B2
Methods of forming a microelectronic packaging structure and associated structures formed thereby are described. Those methods and structures may include modifying an underfill material with one of a thiol adhesion promoter, an azole coupling agent, surface modified filler, and peroxide based cross-linking polymer chemistries to greatly enhance adhesion in package structures utilizing the embodiments herein.
US09330989B2
A method for forming a field-effect transistor with a raised drain structure is disclosed. The method includes depositing a low-k inter-metal layer over a semiconductor substrate, depositing a porogen-containing low-k layer over the low-k inter-metal layer, and etching a space for the via through the low-k inter-metal layer and the porogen-containing low-k layer. The method further includes depositing a metal layer, a portion of the metal layer filling the space for the via, another portion of the metal layer being over the porogen-containing low-layer, removing the portion of the metal layer over the porogen-containing layer by a CMP process, and curing the porogen-containing low-k layer to form a cured low-k layer.
US09330987B2
A method for identifying, inspecting, and reviewing all hot spots on a specimen is disclosed by using at least one SORIL e-beam tool. A full die on a semiconductor wafer is scanned by using a first identification recipe to obtain a full die image of that die and then design layout data is aligned and compared with the full die image to identify hot spots on the full die. Threshold levels used to identify hot spots can be varied and depend on the background environments close thereto, materials of the specimens, defect types, and design layout data. A second recipe is used to selectively inspect locations of all hot spots to identify killers, and then killers can be reviewed with a third recipe.
US09330986B2
The invention includes: a first process of forming a texture structure on both surfaces of a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; a second process of measuring a reflectance distribution of the both surfaces of the semiconductor substrate on which the texture structure is formed; a third process of forming an impurity diffusion layer, in which an impurity element of a second conductivity type is diffused, on one of the both surfaces of the semiconductor substrate which is narrower in the reflectance distribution; a fourth process of forming, on the impurity diffusion layer, a light receiving surface-side electrode having a predetermined pattern and electrically connected to the impurity diffusion layer; and a fifth process of forming a back surface-side electrode on another of the both surfaces of the semiconductor substrate which is wider in the reflectance distribution.
US09330983B1
A method including forming a p-type field effect transistor (pFET device) and an n-type field effect transistor (nFET device) each having sidewall spacers on opposite sidewalls of a dummy gate, conformally forming a first liner on the nFET device and depositing a fill material directly on the first liner of the nFET device, protecting the nFET device while growing an epitaxy in a source drain region of the pFET device, conformally forming a second liner above and in direct contact with the pFET device, including the epitaxy in the source drain regions of the pFET device, and along a vertical sidewall of a remaining portion of the fill material above the nFET device, depositing a first inter level dielectric above the second liner, and protecting the pFET device and the first inter level dielectric while growing a second epitaxy in a source drain region of the nFET device.
US09330982B1
A method of forming a diffusion barrier film over fins and the resulting device are provided. Embodiments include forming silicon fins over a substrate; depositing a borosilicate glass (BSG) liner cap over a first set of the silicon fins; depositing a phosphosilicate (PSG) liner cap over a second set of the silicon fins; and depositing a silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) diffusion barrier film over the BSG and PSG liner caps.
US09330981B2
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.
US09330975B2
A method of forming a through-substrate via includes forming a through-substrate via opening at least partially through a substrate from one of opposing sides of the substrate. A first material is deposited to line and narrow the through-substrate via opening. The first material is etched to widen at least an elevationally outermost portion of the narrowed through-substrate via opening on the one side. After the etching, a conductive second material is deposited to fill the widened through-substrate via opening. Additional implementations are disclosed. Integrated circuit substrates are disclosed independent of method of manufacture.
US09330974B2
In one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a first metal line disposed in a first metal level above a substrate. A second metal line is disposed in a second metal level disposed over the first metal level. A third metal line is disposed in a third metal level disposed over the second metal level. A through level via contacts the first metal line and the third metal line.
US09330971B2
Integrated circuits and methods for fabricating integrated circuits are provided. In one example, a method for fabricating an integrated circuit includes etching an ILD layer of dielectric material overlying a semiconductor substrate that includes a device region to form first contact vias that expose active areas of the device region. The ILD layer is etched to form second contact vias that correspondingly expose a gate that is disposed in the device region and a patterned resistive metal-containing layer that is disposed in the ILD layer adjacent to the device region. The first contact vias and the second contact vias are filled with an electrically-conductive material to form first contacts that are in electrical communication with the active areas and second contacts that include a gate contact and a metal resistor contact that are in electrical communication with the gate and the patterned resistive metal-containing layer, respectively.
US09330966B2
Methods of forming a semiconductor device are provided. The methods may include forming a second insulation pattern on a first insulation pattern. The first insulation pattern may cover a plurality of conductive structures, and may include a hole therein. The second insulation pattern may include a trench therein that is connected with the hole. The methods may also include forming a spacer on sidewalls of the hole and the trench. The methods may further include forming a wiring structure in the hole and the trench.
US09330965B2
A method including forming a penta-layer hardmask above a substrate, the penta-layer hardmask comprising a first hardmask layer above a second hardmask layer; forming a trench pattern in the first hardmask layer; transferring a first via bar pattern from a first photo-resist layer above the penta-layer hardmask into the second hardmask layer resulting in a first via pattern, the first via pattern in the second hardmask layer overlapping the trench pattern and being self-aligned on two sides by the trench pattern in the first hardmask layer; and transferring the first via pattern from the second hardmask layer into the substrate resulting in a self-aligned via opening, the self-aligned via opening being self-aligned on all sides by the first via pattern in the second hardmask layer.
US09330964B2
A method is provided for fabricating a semiconductor structure. The method includes providing a substrate; and forming a to-be-etched layer made of porous low dielectric constant material on one surface of the semiconductor substrate. The method also includes forming a first hard mask layer made of nitrogen-doped silicon oxycarbide (SiOC(N)) on the to-be-etched layer; and etching the first hard mask layer to have patterns corresponding to positions of subsequently formed openings. Further, the method includes forming the plurality of openings without substantial undercut between the to-be-etched layer and the first hard mask layer in the to-be-etched layer using the first hard mask layer as an etching mask; and forming a conductive structure in each of the openings.
US09330961B2
Protection device structures and related fabrication methods and devices are provided. An exemplary device includes a first interface, a second interface, a first protection circuitry arrangement coupled to the first interface, and a second protection circuitry arrangement coupled between the first protection circuitry arrangement and the second interface. The second protection circuitry arrangement includes a first transistor and a diode coupled to the first transistor, wherein the first transistor and the diode are configured electrically in series between the first protection circuitry arrangement and the second interface.
US09330958B2
The invention relates to a process for fabricating a heterostructure comprising at least one thin layer and a carrier substrate made of a semiconductor, the process comprising: bonding a first substrate made of a single-crystal first material, the first substrate comprising a superficial layer made of a polycrystalline second material, to a second substrate so that a bonding interface is created between the polycrystalline layer and the second substrate; removing from the free surface of one of the substrates, called the donor substrate, a thickness thereof so that only a thin layer is preserved; generating a layer of amorphous semiconductor material between the first substrate and the bonding interface by amorphization of the layer of polycrystalline material; and crystallizing the layer of amorphous semiconductor material, the newly crystallized layer having the same orientation as the adjacent first substrate.
US09330956B1
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided and comprises steps as follows. A Si substrate is provided. The Si substrate includes a first region and a second region. A sacrificial oxide layer is formed on the substrate with respect to the first region. A sacrificial nitride layer is conformally formed on the sacrificial oxide layer and on the substrate with respect to the second region. A photoresist layer is coated over the sacrificial nitride layer. A shallow trench isolation (STI) mask is provided. The STI mask has at least one first STI pattern and at least one second STI pattern to be transferred to the Si substrate to form at least one first trench and at least one second trench in the substrate. A STI oxide layer is deposited. A chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process is performed until the sacrificial oxide layer is removed.
US09330948B2
A heater unit according to an embodiment includes: a flat heater including a linear heating element arranged in a planar pattern; a first mesh body formed in a mesh pattern using a material with high heat conductivity and placed at least on one side of the flat heater facing the flat heater; and a second mesh body formed in a mesh pattern using a material with lower heat conductivity than that of the first mesh body and placed to face a surface of the first mesh body opposite to the surface of the first mesh body facing the flat heater.
US09330947B2
Package-on-Package (PoP) structures and methods of forming the same are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of forming a PoP structure may include: placing a device die having a plurality of metal posts over a release layer, wherein the release layer is over a first carrier; forming a plurality of through-assembly vias (TAVs) over the release layer; forming a dam member between the device die and the plurality of TAVs; molding the device die, the dam member, and the plurality of TAVs in a molding compound; and grinding the molding compound to expose ends of the plurality of metal posts and ends of the plurality of TAVs, wherein a top surface of the molding compound is substantially level with the exposed ends of the plurality of metal posts and exposed ends of the plurality of TAVs.
US09330946B1
Structures and processes for die stacking using an opaque or translucent pre-applied underfill material generally include selectively applying a low surface tension material to at least a portion of an alignment mark surface on a die; and applying the opaque or translucent underfill material to the die surface, wherein the underfill material does not wet or adhere to the low surface tension material such that the alignment mark surface is free of underfill material.
US09330944B2
An implantable bio-compatible integrated circuit device and methods for manufacture thereof are disclosed herein. The device includes a substrate having a recess. An input/output device including at least one bio-compatible electrical contact is coupled to the substrate in the recess. A layer of hermetic bio-compatible, hermetic insulator material is deposited on a portion of the input/output device. An encapsulating layer of bio-compatible material encapsulates at least a portion of the implantable device, including the input/output device. At least one bio-compatible electrical contact of the input/output device is then exposed. The encapsulating layer and the layer of bio-compatible, hermetic insulator material form a hermetic seal around the at least one exposed bio-compatible electrical contact.
US09330943B2
A method for mounting and embedding a thinned integrated circuit within a substrate is provided. In one embodiment, the thinned integrated circuit can receive one or more biasing substrate layers on a first surface of the thinned integrated circuit. When the thinned integrated circuit is embedded within a supporting substrate, such as a printed circuit board, the biasing substrate layers can position the thinned integrated circuit toward a centerline of the printed circuit board. Positioning the thinned integrated circuit toward the centerline can increase the resistance to breakage.
US09330942B2
Miniaturization and high-performance of a semiconductor device are promoted, which has a package on package (POP) structure in which a plurality of semiconductor packages is stacked in a multistage manner. A testing conductive pad for determining the quality of a conduction state of a microcomputer chip and a memory chip is arranged outside a conductive pad for external input/output and thereby the route of a wire that couples the microcomputer chip and the memory chip to the testing conductive pad is reduced in length. Further, the wire that couples the microcomputer chip and the memory chip to the testing conductive pad is coupled to a pad in the outer row among conductive pads in two rows to be coupled to the microcomputer chip.
US09330938B2
A method of fabricating advanced node field effect transistors using a replacement metal gate process. The method includes dopant a high-k dielectric directly or indirectly by using layers composed of multi-layer thin film stacks, or in other embodiments, by a single blocking layer. By taking advantage of unexpected etch selectivity of the multi-layer stack or the controlled etch process of a single layer stack, etch damage to the high-k may be avoided and work function metal thicknesses can be tightly controlled which in turn allows field effect transistors with low Tinv (inverse of gate capacitance) mismatch.
US09330932B1
Some embodiments include a method in which a mixture of polynucleotide structures comprises a set of surface shapes. Surface shapes of some polynucleotide structures are complementary to surface shapes of other polynucleotide structures. The complementary surface shapes lock together along interfaces between adjacent polynucleotide structures to incorporate the polynucleotide structures into a polynucleotide mask. The polynucleotide mask is used during fabrication of features associated with a semiconductor substrate. Some embodiments include a method in which a semiconductor substrate comprises registration regions configured to adhere individual polynucleotide structures to specific locations of the semiconductor substrate. The adhered polynucleotide structures are incorporated into a polynucleotide mask which is used during fabrication of features associated with the semiconductor substrate.
US09330928B2
A method is disclosed for the selective etching of a multi-layer metal oxide stack comprising a platinum layer on a TiN layer on an HfO2 or ZrO2 layer on a substrate. In some embodiments, the method comprises a physical sputter process to selectively etch the platinum layer, followed by a plasma etch process comprises CHF3 and oxygen to selectively etch the TiN, HfO2 or ZrO2 layers with respect to the substrate.
US09330927B2
System, method and apparatus for generating pressure pulses in small volume confined process reactor
A plasma processing system and method includes a processing chamber, and a plasma processing volume included therein. The plasma processing volume having a volume less than the processing chamber. The plasma processing volume being defined by a top electrode, a substrate support surface opposing the surface of the top electrode and a plasma confinement structure including at least one outlet port. A conductance control structure is movably disposed proximate to the at least one outlet port and capable of restricting an outlet flow through the at least one outlet port to a first flow rate and capable of increasing the outlet flow through the at least one outlet port to a second flow rate, wherein the conductance control structure restricts the outlet flow rate moves between the first flow rate and the second flow rate corresponding to a selected processing state set by the controller during a plasma process.
US09330925B2
A thin-film transistor includes a substrate, a gate electrode over the substrate, an insulating layer over the gate electrode, and a semiconductor layer over the insulating layer. The semiconductor layer includes a channel region, a source region, and a drain region. A source electrode is over the source region, and a drain electrode is over the drain region. The source electrode and the drain electrode each comprise Ni and a metal other than Ni. The channel region, the source region, and the drain region comprise at least one of a polycrystalline silicon that is formed by crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer by thermally diffusing the Ni in the source electrode and the drain electrode into the semiconductor layer and a microcrystalline silicon that is formed by crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer by thermally diffusing the Ni in the source electrode and the drain electrode into the semiconductor layer.
US09330915B2
A robust metallization profile is formed by pre-treat an anti-reflective coating layer by plasma before forming a hard mask layer. Pre-treatment is helpful especially in small feature size process, for example, 50 nm and below. By changing constitution of a surface layer of the anti-reflective coating, interface of the anti-reflective coating layer and the hard mask layer is smoothed which results in less overhang and better gap-filling performance.
US09330909B2
A semiconductor device in which an increase in oxygen vacancies in an oxide semiconductor layer can be suppressed is provided. A semiconductor device with favorable electrical characteristics is provided. A highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. A semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor layer in a channel formation region, and by the use of an oxide insulating film below and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and a gate insulating film over and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, oxygen of the oxide insulating film or the gate insulating film is supplied to the oxide semiconductor layer. Further, a conductive nitride is used for a metal film of a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, whereby diffusion of oxygen to the metal film is suppressed.
US09330905B2
A semiconductor device, in which the generation of interface states in the interface region between a nitride semiconductor layer and an aluminum oxide layer is suppressed, includes a first nitride semiconductor layer and an aluminum oxide layer. The first nitride semiconductor layer includes Ga. The aluminum oxide layer directly contacts the upper surface of the first nitride semiconductor layer, and includes H (hydrogen) atoms at least within a defined region from the interface with the first nitride semiconductor layer. In addition, the peak value of an H atom concentration in the above region is in a range of 1×1020 cm−3 to 5×1021 cm−3.
US09330902B1
A method for forming a HfOx film based on atomic layer deposition (ALD) process includes: providing a substrate; dividing a plurality of ALD cycles as needed into multiple depositing stages, wherein each of the ALD cycles includes applying HfCl4 pulse and applying H2O pulse over the substrate and a content ratio of HfCl4 to H2O is different and increasing for the depositing stages; and performing the depositing stages to form a HfOx film.
US09330896B2
An object of the present invention is to provide a mass spectrometer and a mass separator whose design and performance are less restricted by problems arising from the principle of operation, and which have in principle no limitation on the mass-to-charge ratio range to be able to deal with and are each capable of repeatedly analyzing or extracting plural ionic species of different mass-to-charge ratios in a short time.A mass spectrometer (10) is configured from an ion source (1), an ion introduction unit (2), a mass analyzer (3), an ion detection unit (4), and the like. Crude ions are introduced into a separation space (5) at a predetermined acceleration voltage as a pulse synchronized with the phase of a one-dimensional high-frequency electric field. In the separation space (5), each ion travels in an incident direction by inertia, and besides they are displaced by force received from the one-dimensional high-frequency electric field which acts in the y-direction crossing the incident direction. Ionic species having different mass-to-charge ratios with each other are separated by the difference in displacement magnitude. At this time, the acceleration voltage and the period of the one-dimensional high-frequency electric field are set in order that the measured ionic species may exit from the separation space (5) having received the action of the electric field for one period.
US09330885B2
The embodiments disclose a method of stack patterning, including loading a stack into a stationary stack stage, rotating one or more ion beam grid assemblies substantially concentrically aligned with the stationary stack stage to etch the stack and controlling the operation of the one or more ion beam grid assemblies to achieve substantial axial uniformity of the etched stack.
US09330877B2
Logic devices are provided in multiple sub-collector and sub-emitter microplasma devices formed in thin and flexible, or inflexible, semiconductor materials. Logic operations are provided with one of a plurality of microplasmas forming sub-collectors with a common emitter, or a common collector plasma with a plurality of sub-emitter regions in a solid state semi-conductor pn-junction, and generating a logic output from an electrode, based upon electrode inputs to two other electrodes.
US09330867B2
Vacuum switching apparatus, and electrode extension assembly and associated assembly method therefor
An electrode extension assembly is for a vacuum switching apparatus, such as a vacuum interrupter, including a vacuum envelope and separable contact assemblies. Each contact assembly includes a contact disposed in the interior of the vacuum envelope, and an electrode stem extending outwardly from the contact to the exterior of the vacuum envelope. The electrode extension assembly includes a number of extension members each being be joined to the electrode stem of a corresponding one of the contact assemblies on the exterior of the vacuum envelope by a welded joint formed by electron beam welding or plasma welding.
US09330864B2
The embodiments discussed herein relate to electrical switches. Specifically, the embodiments include a pivoting switch that translates a rotational movement of a portion of the pivoting switch into a linear movement for toggling a button. The pivoting switch can include a pin that extends into a bracket in order to define and limit a rotational movement of the pivoting switch. The pivoting switch can further include a switch cavity that can force a knob of the button to move with the pivoting switch. The embodiments can further include an electrical switch having a welded cover plate. The welded cover plate can include arms that extend across and are welded to one or more surfaces of the electrical switch. The welded cover plate provides a more secure retaining mechanism for the electrical switch in order to reduce bending of certain portions of the electrical switch when the electrical switch is toggled.
US09330858B2
A power tool, especially an angle grinder, includes at least one grip housing, at least one switching unit that has at least one latch element arranged on the grip housing, and at least one bearing unit configured to mount the latch element such that it is mobile at least with respect to the grip housing. When the latch element is actuated, the bearing unit is configured to guarantee a stroke movement of the latch element along a trajectory of a value greater zero, starting from an end of the latch element closer to the connecting region of the grip housing in the direction of an end of the latch element away from the connecting region, which end is configured to be gripped.
US09330853B2
A photoelectric conversion element includes an optically transparent support, a porous semiconductor layer containing fine semiconductor particles and a photosensitizer, a conductive layer, and a counter electrode provided in that order, each of the porous semiconductor layer and the conductive layer contains a carrier-transport material. The porous semiconductor layer includes at least two layers each containing fine semiconductor particles having different particle sizes. The fine semiconductor particles contained in a layer of the layers located closest to the counter electrode, the layers constituting the porous semiconductor layer, have an average particle size of 380 nm or less.
US09330844B2
There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including: a ceramic body having dielectric layers laminated in a width direction thereof; an active region in which capacitance is formed, by including first and second internal electrodes alternately exposed to end surfaces of the ceramic body while having the dielectric layer interposed therebetween; an upper margin part prepared above the active region; a lower margin part prepared below the active region on the dielectric layer and being thicker than the upper margin part; and first and second external electrodes, wherein, when half of thickness of the ceramic body is denoted by A, thickness of the lower margin part is denoted by B, half of thickness of the active region is denoted by C, and thickness of the upper margin part is denoted by D, 1.047≦(B+C)/A≦1.562 is satisfied.
US09330840B2
An apparatus for manufacturing a field pole magnetic body formed by laminating magnet segments produced by cutting and dividing a permanent magnet and to be arranged in a rotary electric machine includes a housing part adapted to successively house a plurality of the magnet segments having adhesive applied to cut surfaces with the cut surfaces facing each other and has an inner side surface adjacent to outer side surfaces of the housed magnet segments, and a pressing unit adapted to press the magnet segments housed in the housing part toward a bottom part of the housing part in a longitudinal direction. The magnet segments are restrained in a width direction and a thickness direction by the inner side surface of the housing part when the magnet segments are pressed by the pressing unit.
US09330835B2
A signal transmitting apparatus using a plane coil for a sending coil and a receiving coil respectively, so that the outer diameters of the sending coil and the receiving coil can be decreased, and a signal can be stably transmitted from a sending side to a receiving side. The signal transmitting apparatus is provided with: a sending coil driven by an inputted signal; a receiving coil configured to output a received signal in response to the sending coil being driven; a pre-processing circuit to which the received signal outputted by the receiving coil is inputted; and a detecting circuit configured to detect the inputted signal from a signal outputted by the pre-processing circuit.
US09330834B2
A core member (2) of the disclosed reactor (Da) comprises a magnetic wire material and is arranged outside a plurality of coils (1). As the core member (2) in the reactor (Da) having this structure is a wire material and is arranged outside the plurality of coils (1), the core member (2) can be formed by the winding of the wire material, simplifying manufacturing.
US09330832B2
Apparatus and method example embodiments provide an improved common mode rejection ratio in high frequency transformer baluns. According to an example embodiment of the invention, an apparatus comprises a first winding of at least one turn forming a primary coil, having first and second differential leads oriented in a first direction, the primary coil formed in a first conductive layer over a substrate and the first differential lead of the primary coil being grounded; and a second winding of at least one turn forming a secondary coil, having a third and fourth differential leads oriented in a second direction offset by an angle of greater than zero degrees and less than 180 degrees from the first direction, the secondary coil formed in a second conductive layer separated by an insulating layer from the first conductive layer.
US09330828B2
A subsea transformer that includes a transformer and a transformer tank adapted to accommodate the transformer is provided. The transformer tank has an opening that is sized so as to enable insertion of the transformer into the transformer tank through the opening. A closing plate is adapted to close the opening of the transformer tank. At least one component having a double barrier against ingress of an ambient medium surrounding the subsea transformer when installed subsea is mounted to the closing plate.
US09330821B2
Methods for preparing magnetic nanoparticles comprising metal, metal carbide, metal nitride, metal sulfide, metal phosphide, metal oxide or a mixture thereof are disclosed. Methods for preparing magnetic nanoparticles having a core comprising metal, metal carbide, metal nitride, metal sulfide, metal phosphide, or a mixture thereof and a metal oxide shell are also disclosed. The methods comprise the solution-phase decomposition of a precursor at elevated temperature then exposure of the reaction mixture to an oxidizing medium, such as air.
US09330818B2
An electrical cable includes at least one conductor and a barrier arranged externally to the at least one conductor. The barrier includes two first layers including an inorganic material and a second layer including a polymer-metal composite material, the second layer being interposed between the two first layers. The electrical cable also includes, in an intermediate position between the at least one conductor and the barrier, solely discontinuous layers and/or layers of non-thermally-collapsible materials.
US09330813B2
A conductive path structure includes a conductor that includes a first conductive portion and a second conductive portion which are connected to each other through a cut-off facilitating portion, a first covering member that covers the first conductive portion and the cut-off facilitating portion, and a second covering member that covers the second conductive portion and the cut-off facilitating portion. The second covering member covers the cut-off facilitating portion through the first covering member. The second covering member slidably covers the first covering member.
US09330802B2
A chopper for a particle beam comprises at least one control element, which is divided into at least two regions A and B, wherein region B is less transparent to the particle beam than region A, and at least one drive source for moving the control element through the particle beam in such a way that the beam impinges on regions A and B in a chronologically alternating manner. The control element has a band-shaped design and is non-positively seated against the outer circumference of at least one element that can be caused to rotate by the drive source. It was found that the chopper can have a significantly more space-saving design when the control element is designed as a band-shaped element than as a wheel-shaped or ring-shaped chopper according to the known art. In particular, the drive source, which is bulky compared to the control element, can be disposed spatially separated from the beam path, while the band itself transmits the force of the drive source.
US09330788B2
According to one embodiment, there is provided a semiconductor integrated circuit including a memory, a capture register, a writing unit, and a control unit. The memory includes a plurality of memory bit cells. The capture register stores data read out from a memory bit cell selected out of the plurality of memory bit cells. The writing unit writes relevant data according to the data stored in the capture register to the memory bit cell. The control unit reads the relevant data from the written memory bit cell, compares the relevant data according to the data stored in the capture register and the read-out relevant data, controls the capture register such that a comparison result is stored by overwriting a result as a self-test result about the written memory bit cell, and controls the writing unit such that the original data according to the read-out relevant data is rewritten to the selected memory bit cell.
US09330787B2
According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a non-volatile memory and a memory controller that controls the non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory includes a memory cell array and an access control unit. The access control unit performs a program operation for changing threshold voltages of memory cells and a read operation for reading data from the memory cells. The memory controller includes a read/write control unit having a first program parameter set and a second program parameter set. The read/write control unit causes the access control unit to perform a program operation based on the first program parameter set, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied, performs switching from the first program parameter set to the second program parameter set and causes the access control unit to perform a program operation based on the second program parameter set.
US09330782B2
A shift register 10 is configured such that m unit circuits 11 each including a shift unit 12 and three buffer units 13r, 13g, and 13b are in a multi-stage cascade connection and that 3m signals in total including three signals from each stage are outputted. The m shift units 12 perform a shift operation, and a first signal Y is outputted from each stage. When a clock signal CK is at a high level, the first signal Y rises higher than a normal high level due to bootstrapping. The buffer unit 13r controls an output signal YR to be at a high level based on the buffer control signal CR and the first signal Y. A buffer control circuit 7 controls buffer control signals CR, CG, and CB to be at a high level for a time period shorter than a half cycle of the clock signal. With this, a shift register with a reduced circuit amount and low power consumption is provided.
US09330781B2
A nonvolatile memory device is provided. The nonvolatile memory device includes a memory cell array, an anti-fuse cell array, a sense amplifier, a page buffer, and a control logic. The memory cell array includes memory cells connected to word lines and bit lines. The anti-fuse cell array stores setting information for controlling the memory cell array. The anti-fuse cell array includes anti-fuse cells connected to the bit lines. The sense amplifier is connected to the bit lines to sense the memory cells or the anti-fuse cells. The page buffer stores data that is read out from the memory cells or the anti-fuse cells. The control logic controls the sense amplifiers and the page buffer to read out data from the memory cell array or the anti-fuse cell array.
US09330774B2
A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array, a voltage generation circuit that generates a voltage applied to the memory cell array, the voltage generation circuit including a plurality of boosting circuits connected in series between an input terminal and an output terminal, and a switching circuit configured to short-circuit one or more of the boosting circuits to the input terminal, and a control circuit that controls a conduction state of the switching circuit to vary the number of boosting circuits that are driven to generate the voltage applied to the memory cell array.
US09330767B1
A flash memory module and a method for programming a page of flash memory cells, the method includes: receiving a cycle count indication indicative of a number of program cycles of the page of memory cells; setting a value of a programming parameter of a programming operation based on the cycle count indication; and programming at least one flash memory cell of the page of flash memory cells by performing the programming operation.
US09330762B2
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a first memory cell array including a first block that includes memory cells, a second memory cell array including a second block that includes memory cells, word lines arranged in the first and second memory cell arrays, and a row decoder including transfer gates that respectively transfer voltages to the word lines. Word lines arranged in the first block include first and second groups, word lines arranged in the second block include third and fourth groups, and the first and third groups commonly use the transfer gates.
US09330761B2
A three dimensional stacked nonvolatile semiconductor memory according to an example of the present invention includes a memory cell array comprised of first and second blocks disposed side by side in a first direction, and a driver disposed on one end of the memory cell array in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. First select gate lines in the first block and first select gate lines in the second block are connected to the driver after they are commonly connected in one end in the second direction of the memory cell array in a relation of one to one.
US09330759B2
A signal processing circuit whose power consumption can be suppressed is provided. In a period during which a power supply voltage is not supplied to a storage element, data stored in a first storage circuit corresponding to a nonvolatile memory can be held by a first capacitor provided in a second storage circuit. With the use of a transistor in which a channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor layer, a signal held in the first capacitor is held for a long time. The storage element can accordingly hold the stored content (data) also in a period during which the supply of the power supply voltage is stopped. A signal held by the first capacitor can be converted into the one corresponding to the state (the on state or off state) of the second transistor and read from the second storage circuit. Consequently, an original signal can be accurately read.
US09330758B1
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a series connection including first to Nth (N being an integer greater than or equal to 2) two-terminal-type resistance change memory elements connected in series with one another, and having first to (N+1)th terminals from one end thereof to the other end thereof, a first, second, third, and fourth bit lines, first transistors connected between the first bit line and odd-numbered terminals of the series connection, one or more second transistors connected between the second bit line and one or more even-numbered terminals of the series connection, a third transistor connected between the third bit line and the first terminal of the series connection, and a fourth transistor connected between the fourth bit line and the (N+1)th terminal of the series connection.
US09330757B2
An electronic device comprising a semiconductor memory unit that may include a cell array including a plurality of storage cells; a first line connected to one ends of the plurality of storage cells; a second line connected to the other ends of the plurality of storage cells; a first driver connected to one end of the first line at a first contact location on one side of the cell array, and configured to apply a first electrical signal to the one end of the first line; and a second driver connected to one end of the second line at a second contact location on a side of the cell array opposing the side of the cell array where the first contact location is located, and configured to apply a second electrical signal to the one end of the second line.
US09330756B2
The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for sensing a resistance variable memory cell. A number of embodiments include circuitry to provide a programming signal to a memory cell in the array, the programming signal associated with programming the memory cell to a particular data state; and determine, via an integration component, if a data state of the memory cell changes to a different data state responsive to the programming signal being provided.
US09330755B1
A circuit can include at least one two terminal element programmable between at least two impedance states; a write section configured to place the element into different impedance states in a write mode; and a read section configured to generate an output value corresponding to the impedance state of at least one element in a read mode; wherein the at least one element draws substantially no current in a standard mode that is different from the write and read modes.
US09330742B2
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of data output circuits suitable for outputting data; an address training driver suitable for generating a plurality of address training data and a control signal; a plurality of data lines suitable for transferring the address training data to the data output circuits; and a self-correction circuit suitable for correcting a delay time of the address training data that reaches the data output circuits from the address training driver through the plurality of data lines, and correcting skew of the data that is outputted from the data output circuits.
US09330736B2
To utilize the most efficient memory available to a mobile processor, page access counters may be used to record utilization associated with multiple different memory types. In one embodiment, an operating system routine may analyze the page access counters to determine low utilization pages and high utilization pages to dynamically assign between the multiple different memory types, which may include a more efficient memory type having greater capacity, greater throughput, lower latency, or lower power consumption than a less efficient memory type. As such, in response to detecting a high utilization page in the less efficient memory or a low utilization page in the more efficient memory, contents associated therewith may be copied to the more efficient memory and the less efficient memory, respectively, and virtual-to-physical address mappings may be changed to reflect the reassignment.
US09330723B2
An ad in a movie can be a static ad having a position in the movie that cannot be moved, or a dynamic ad having a position in the movie that can be changed. When a viewer of the movie wishes to skip a portion of the movie containing the ad, the playback system determines whether the ad is static or dynamic. If the ad is static, then only the portion of the movie preceding the static ad can be skipped, that is, the ad is unskippable; this technique is referred to as “bounceback” since the end of the skip bounces back to the start of the static ad. If the ad is dynamic, then the ad is moved to after the end of the skip; this technique is referred to as “slipad” since the ad slips to later in the movie. When a movie has multiple ads, some can be static and some can be dynamic.
US09330719B2
Apparatus for generation of playable media from structured data, comprises a structured data reading unit for reading in of content of a first structure, a transformation unit for transforming said content into a second structure, said transformation comprising incorporating media play instructions, and a rendering unit for rendering content from the second structure using said media play instructions to generate playable media from the content.
US09330715B1
Mapping out restricted areas on at least one disk of a data storage device. The at least one disk includes overlapping tracks with a plurality of sectors for storing data. A first addressing is provided for the plurality of sectors on the at least one disk. Defective sectors of the plurality of sectors are detected and mapped out from the first addressing. A restricted area is calculated including sectors of the plurality of sectors and the restricted area is mapped out from a second addressing.
US09330706B1
This invention teaches a methodology and an optical apparatus that provides long-term, archival storage using a chemically stable, high-resolution, photosensitive emulsion, such as silver halide, for the long-term, archival storage and retrieval of data, images and text. Multiple state data substantially increasing data density is stored as vertical diffraction gratings in the archival photosensitive emulsion. The data can be read out in parallel, substantially increasing retrieval speeds beyond that of current optical and magnetic techniques.
US09330705B2
An optical recording and playback apparatus includes: a light source configured to emit a light beam; a tracking mirror configured to change a direction of the light beam; a collimator configured to form the light beam into a parallel light beam; an objective lens configured to collect the parallel light beam to the optical tape; a lens actuator configured to adjust a position of the objective lens in a focus direction of the optical tape and a position of the objective lens in a tracking direction of the optical tape; a polarization hologram plate configured to separate a reflected light beam of the light beam; a photodetector receiving elements configured to receive the plurality of light fluxes; and a control circuit configured to control the lens actuator and the tracking mirror. The tracking mirror is disposed near the light source, and movable in the tracking direction.
US09330703B2
The invention provides a chemical-mechanical polishing composition comprising alpha alumina, fumed alumina, silica, an oxidizing agent that oxidizes nickel-phosphorous, a complexing agent, and water. The invention also provides a method of chemically-mechanically polishing a substrate comprising contacting a substrate with a polishing pad and the chemical-mechanical polishing composition, moving the polishing pad and the polishing composition relative to the substrate, and abrading at least a portion of the substrate to polish the substrate.
US09330692B2
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a TMR sensor for reading a recording from a magnetic recording medium using TMR, and in particular, to a magnetic capping structure of the TMR sensor. The sensor comprises a free layer and a magnetic capping structure. The magnetic capping structure comprises a ferromagnetic capping layer and an absorption layer formed on the ferromagnetic capping layer. The absorption layer is adapted to absorb molecules from the ferromagnetic capping layer and prevent the ferromagnetic capping layer from diffusing into the free layer.
US09330685B1
Recording media press systems and methods of operating such press systems. Embodiments of a press system include a first and second die at least one of which is configured to be coupled to an embossing foil. A stopper may be used to space the embossing foil apart from a magnetic recording disk disposed within the press system by a predetermined gap when the die set is in a closed position. In an embodiment, a piston disposed within at least one of the first and second die is moved relative to the first and second die to press the embossing foil against the magnetic recording disk after the die set stopped in the closed position by the stopper.
US09330678B2
A voice control device includes a calculation section configured to calculate a response time representing a time difference between a voice in a received signal and a voice in a sending signal; a hearing estimate section configured to estimate hearing of a user based on the calculated response time; and a voice control section configured to control the received signal by a compensation quantity responsive to the estimated hearing.
US09330668B2
A system is described for processing voice applications comprising a client device (10) having associated data indicative of its computing capability. The system has access to a plurality of scripts specifying tasks to be performed in a voice-based dialog between a user and the system. The scripts are interpretable at a browser level. A server (20) selects an appropriate script for the client device (10) based on the associated data. An interpreter layer processes the selected script to determine a first set of instructions to be performed on the client device (10) and a second set of instructions to be performed on the server (20) for the dialog. Computation is thus shared between the client device and the server based on the computational capability of the client.
US09330654B2
Active noise cancellation (ANC) circuitry is coupled to the input of an earpiece speaker in a portable audio device, to control the ambient acoustic noise outside of the device and that may be heard by a user of the device. A microphone is to pickup sound emitted from the earpiece speaker, as well as the ambient acoustic noise. Control circuitry deactivates the ANC in response to determining that an estimate of how much sound emitted from the earpiece speaker has been corrupted by noise indicates insufficient corruption by noise. In another embodiment, the ANC decision is in response to determining that an estimate of the ambient noise level is greater than a threshold level of an audio artifact that could be induced by the ANC. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US09330651B1
An acoustic absorbing combination includes a receptacle having a chamber formed by an outer peripheral wall and a bottom wall, a number of acoustic absorbing devices are arranged in the chamber of the receptacle and each include a housing having a number of couplers extended out of the housing, and an assembling device includes a number of plates extended radially and outwardly from a center member for engaging with the couplers of the housings and for securing the housings together. The assembling device includes a bead formed on each of the plates for detachably engaging with the couplers of the housing.
US09330647B1
A broadcast radio architecture includes an internet-enabled radio and a remote audio services system. The internet-enabled radio receives broadcast audio content and plays through a speaker, the audio content that is received. The internet-enabled radio receives a user command to replay, from the beginning, a song that is currently being played. In response to the user command, the internet-enabled radio transmits over a network to the audio services system, a snippet of the song that is currently being played. Using the snippet of the song, the audio services system identifies a song from which the snippet was likely recorded and transmits a data stream that includes the song, in its entirety, back to the internet-enabled radio. To provide additional value, the audio services system may also identify and transmit to the internet-enabled radio, additional content that is deemed likely of interest to users interested in the identified song.
US09330626B2
Provided are a driving circuit and a display panel, the driving circuit comprises a voltage dividing module, a comparing module and a switching module, wherein the voltage dividing module has a first terminal connected to a first terminal of the switching module, a second terminal connected to a first terminal of the comparing module, and a third terminal serving as a grounding terminal; a second terminal of the comparing module is connected to a first voltage input terminal, third, fourth and fifth terminals of the comparing module are connected to three control terminals of the switching module respectively; the first terminal of the switching module is connected to a voltage output terminal, a second terminal of the switching module is connected to the first voltage input terminal, and third and fourth terminals of the switching module are connected to second and third voltage input terminal, respectively.
US09330623B2
A display device including a display panel which includes pixels connected to gate lines and data lines; and an image display control unit controlling an input image signal to be converted into a data signal and, thereby, display an image on the display panel. The image display control unit outputs the data signal so that a position of an image being displayed on the display panel is changed when the image signal is the same for a preselected time period and sets a next position change time period of the image according to a distance between an original position of the image and a changed position of the image.
US09330621B2
A display device is provided. The display device includes a display unit having pixels arranged in a two-dimensional matrix, each pixel including additive mixture subpixels and a luminance adjustment subpixel, and a signal control unit controlling a luminance at a maximum gray scale in the luminance adjustment subpixel depending on an external light illuminance.
US09330618B2
A driving circuit for a display device, for reducing power consumption of a data driver, and a method of driving the driving circuit are disclosed. The driving circuit includes a data driver for maintaining buffers of the data driver in an on state every preset specific frame period and maintaining the buffers in an off state every remaining period except for specific frame periods in a refresh mode for processing image data of one image for the specific frame periods only.
US09330613B2
Uniformize afterimages caused by black insertion to each image when two types of images are alternately displayed. There are provided a left and right image alternate output unit, a mask pattern storage unit, a mask pattern selection counter, and a mask synthesizing unit. The left and right image alternate output unit alternately outputs two types of video frames. The mask pattern storage unit stores m mask patterns, wherein basic regions are defined in a pixel region of a liquid crystal panel, the pixel region has m pixels arrayed in a matrix, m is an even number equal to or greater than 4, the in mask patterns have different arrangements of mask pixels in the basic region, and the number of the mask pixels is an even number smaller than m and equal to or greater than 2.
US09330607B2
A display device is disclosed. In one embodiment, the display device includes a first conversion unit receiving gray data and outputting a gray data value of a second gamma curve, which has a luminance equal to a luminance of the gray data on a first gamma curve. The device may also include a memory storing a look-up table (LUT) which includes first and second data groups and compensated gray data for the second gamma curve. The device may further include a reference unit generating the compensated gray data based on the two converted gray data. Coordinates formed of i) each value in the first data group and ii) each value in the second data group may correspond to any one of the compensated gray data.
US09330599B2
Provided is an organic light emitting display including a display panel, a data driver supplying a data signal to the display panel, a timing controller controlling the data driver, a power source supply unit converting an external voltage and outputting a high potential voltage and a low potential voltage through a first power source line and a second power source line, a measurement unit measuring a current or a voltage flowing through the first power source line and the second power source line and outputting a measured value, and a compensation coefficient calculator matching the measured value and a reference value stored in the compensation coefficient calculator to a driving signal and comparing the measured value and the reference value to judge a degree of noise and calculating a compensation coefficient.
US09330598B2
A method and system for driving a light emitting device display is provided. The system provides a timing schedule which increases accuracy in the display. The system may provide the timing schedule by which an operation cycle is implemented consecutively in a group of rows. The system may provide the timing schedule by which an aging factor is used for a plurality of frames.
US09330594B2
The prior art power consumption control techniques convert the video signal (gray level) in one way or another based on the estimated power consumption level. The present invention proposes a power consumption controller which includes (a) a power consumption calculation section which sequentially calculates the power consumption level of a self-luminous display device based on a video signal input from the beginning of each frame up to the time of calculation, (b) a power consumption status determination section which determines whether the calculated power consumption level exceeds a reference value for comparison by constantly comparing the two levels. If this is the case, the same section detects the timing at which the power consumption exceeds the reference value for comparison and (c) a peak brightness control section which controls the peak brightness of the self-luminous display device if the power consumption level exceeds the reference value for comparison based on the detected timing.
US09330587B2
A display system includes a plurality of individual display devices to collectively generate an image on a display surface. At least one camera captures at least one image of the image on the display surface and captures at least one image of an object positioned near the display surface. A controller automatically adjusts a color of an object appearing in the image on the display surface based on the at least one image of an object.
US09330584B2
The described embodiments relate to methods and systems for developing an electroluminescent sign. In particular, described embodiments relate to methods and systems that process an image file to generate data for use in developing the electroluminescent sign. Further embodiments relate to an electroluminescent sign developed and/or produced in accordance with the described methods and/or systems. Certain embodiments relate to a method of developing an electroluminescent sign based on an image file. The method comprises processing the image file to generate image data representing at least one illuminating image layer and electrical configuration data, transferring the at least one illuminating image layer onto a substrate and configuring a luminescence controller of the electroluminescent sign based on the electrical configuration data. The configured luminescence controller cooperates with the substrate to provide a luminescent image based on the image file.
US09330583B2
An electronic billboard generally includes a plurality of hand mountable structural frames mounted to the poster panels of an existing in field non electronic static billboard; the hand mountable structural frames being laid out in an array; and where individual ones of the hand mountable structural frames are configured in a further array of structural bay members adapted to receive therein display modules with dual LED display panels; a plurality of preformed power and data harnesses electrically and mechanically coupled between individual ones of the bays and a universal power and data distribution system coupled to the harnesses for providing data and direct current low voltage to the display modules to facilitate the conversion of the distributed data display information into visible radiant energy which is displayed by the electronic billboard.
US09330577B2
A system and method are that includes a frame and a weapon mount on the frame that receives a weapon mock-up. The system also includes a substantially non-rotatable sensing platform, coupled to the frame, on which a single trainee stands, where rotational pressure applied to the platform by the trainee generates a virtual orientation signal. The system also includes a head-mounted display worn by the trainee that receives a display signal representative of a virtual environment to be simulated to the trainee; and a controller in electrical communication with the sensing platform and the display, wherein the controller receives the virtual orientation signal and generates the display signal in response such that rotational pressure applied to the platform by the trainee results in rotation of the virtual environment displayed to the trainee. A method for the simulation of a single weapon system in a transportable enclosure is also presented.
US09330565B2
Traffic congestion detection, classification and identification includes analysis of link-speed data representative of vehicular speed and capacity on one or more roadway segments to determine non-linear, multi-segment traffic bottlenecks in a transportation network graph. Link-speed data is processed to detect bottleneck conditions, classify bottlenecks and bottleneck-like traffic features according to their complexity, and identify sustained or recurring bottlenecks. Such a system and method of traffic congestion detection, classification and identification provides a framework for using this link-speed data to detect the head and queue of bottlenecks on a directed graph representing the transportation network, classify the resulting bottlenecks and bottleneck-like traffic features according to the shape of their queue, and identify and measure sustained or recurrent bottlenecks even when the location, or head, of the bottleneck varies slightly across multiple time periods or across multiple days.
US09330564B2
A method and system for using data associated with a first vehicle and a given road segment defined for a road network and using data associated with a second vehicle and the given road segment to determine a multi-vehicle probability value that indicates a probability that the first vehicle and the second vehicle will arrive at a common position of the given road segment simultaneously. The multi-vehicle probability value can be compared to a threshold probability value to determine whether the first vehicle and/or the second vehicle should take a responsive measure to avoid those vehicles arriving at the common position of the given road segment simultaneously. The data associated the first vehicle and the data associated with the second vehicle can each include a respective electronic horizon for that vehicle, and time parameters and probability values associated with those vehicles being on the given road segment.
US09330558B2
Textiles coupled with electrical components that are responsive to actions of the wearer and the surrounding environment. The textiles comprise a variety of sensors that interface with the cloud, networks, and devices. The textiles monitor physiological characteristics of the wearer. Objects in the environment may interact with the electrical components of the textiles. Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems that include electrical components, such as, accelerometers, gyroscopes, Bluetooth chips, NFC chips, and RF tags integrate with the textiles to wirelessly communicate with networks.
US09330550B2
Embodiments relate to systems for, and methods of, providing low nuisance, fast response hazard notification. Advantageously, the disclosed techniques avoid sounding an alarm in response to typical nuisance events, such as burnt food.
US09330546B2
In an embodiment, a system and method for automatically converting a plurality of events in a plurality of channels in a structured representation sequence into haptic events. The method comprises calculating an event score for each event of the sequence in one or more channels. The method also comprises calculating a cumulative score based on the event scores in the one or more channels. The method includes selectively designating haptic events to the events based on the event scores in one or more selected channels, wherein the haptic events are output by a haptic actuator. This may be done by the system by calculating properties of the sound or by taking already existing values associated with those properties to efficiently produce haptic events.
US09330542B1
A computing device includes a memory storing executable instructions, a processor configured to execute the instructions, a programmable display screen configured to display text-based information, and a multi-color indicator. The multi-color indicator is located on a surface of the computing device and includes a plurality of segments, each segment configured to display at least four different colors, where colors displayed by segments of the multi-color indicator are programmable, through execution of the instructions by the processor, to display non-text-based information.
US09330535B2
Embodiments of the invention include a gaming device that has a video display. When the player initiates the game, an animation is shown. If the game had a losing outcome, the animation is very short and allows the player to quickly try for a win. If instead the game has a winning outcome the gaming device spins reels or otherwise shows the player how much he or she has one. The animation may also indicate progress toward a mystery jackpot or a group mystery jackpot.
US09330534B2
Provided is a game apparatus for discharging free gifts. The game apparatus for discharging the free gifts, including: a betting button unit that sets betting sums of money; a gift showcase that includes two or more betting zones according to the betting sums of money, the betting zones in which the free gifts are displayed; lamps that enable the two or more betting zones to be distinguished from each other; an extruder that is driven to be moved forward or backward, in a direction (Z) in which the free gifts are displayed, within a plane located at an outer side of the gift showcase; and a control unit that controls the extruder to be moved to a betting zone corresponding to a betting sum of money set through the betting button unit.
US09330533B2
An anti-cheating system includes a real world controller constructed to provide a randomly generated payout of real world credits for a wager of an amount of real world credits; an entertainment software controller constructed to provide outcomes upon a player's skillful execution of an entertainment game; a game world controller connecting the real world controller to the entertainment software controller using a communication link, the game world controller constructed to: manage the entertainment software controller and communicate gameplay gambling event occurrences to the real world controller; analyze player performance information to determine whether cheating is occurring by evaluating whether the player's current gameplay performance is beyond a statistical limit of randomness inherent in the hybrid game by comparing the player's current gameplay performance with historical gameplay using an outlier test; and communicate a command to penalize the player during play of the hybrid game.
US09330532B2
Although wagering games and wagering game machines provide significant entertainment and excitement, outcomes of wagering games can be used to provide entertainment and excitement external to the wagering game machines and even distinct and/or separate from the wagering games that generate the outcomes. A wagering game machine can communicate wagering game outcome data to a machine that is external to the wagering game machine for evaluation of the wagering game outcome data (“external evaluator”). The external evaluator can evaluate the wagering game outcome data against rules and/or criteria that lead to an exciting and entertaining event separate and/or distinct from the wagering game itself. Evaluating wagering game outcome data separate from the hosting wagering game machine allows a variety of events to be associated with game outcomes and allows for events to adapt to a dynamic environment and/or to player preferences.
US09330520B2
The disclosed embodiments provide a charging station for portable electronic devices. Upon initiating a transaction associated with charging of the portable electronic device by the charging station, the charging station attempts to detect a presence of the portable electronic device in a secure compartment of the charging station, wherein power is supplied to the portable electronic device within the secure compartment. If the presence of the portable electronic device in the secure compartment is detected, the charging station secures a door of the secure compartment. If the presence of the portable electronic device in the secure compartment is not detected, the charging station queries a user of the portable electronic device for input related to a lack of detection of the presence and processes the transaction based on the input.
US09330518B2
An automatic teller machine (ATM) including a medium receiving portion to receive a paper medium, a medium transfer portion to transfer the paper medium received through the medium receiving portion to a cassette as a storage space, and a medium alignment portion disposed on a transfer path of the medium transfer portion to align the paper medium. The medium alignment portion includes a drum-type alignment body including a transfer path connected to the transfer path of the medium transfer portion so that the paper medium passes through the transfer path in a rotating manner, and including an alignment reference surface to align the paper medium; driving rollers disposed in the alignment body to drive the paper medium forward along the transfer path; and inclined rollers disposed outside of the alignment body corresponding to the driving rollers, and selectively inclined from a transfer direction of the paper medium.
US09330512B2
A method for managing information obtains, through a first communication circuit, a locker identifier and a user identifier from a locker into which a user card has been inserted, obtaining, through a second communication circuit, a machine identifier and a key identifier from a machine that has read the key identifier, and outputting, using a first database that associates the locker identifier and the key identifier with each other and the obtained locker identifier and user identifier, the user identifier corresponding to the key identifier to the machine to set the user identifier to the machine.
US09330505B2
A method of automatically performing a search based on user interest detected in a vehicle is provided. A user interest of a user in a vehicle is detected by examining sensor information from one or more sensors in the vehicle. A search is automatically performed for items relevant to the user interest. A user interface in the vehicle is then caused to display the items relevant to the user interest.
US09330502B2
Mixed reality simulation in general, and more specifically to mixed reality simulation devices and systems for training purposes, for example in the medical field, may be provided. For example, a mixed reality simulation method for rendering on a display a mixed reality scenario of a virtual environment adapted to a physical environment, may comprise acquiring, with a sensor, a position of a physical environment object; identifying a mismatch between a physical environment surface and a virtual environment surface, the mismatch depending on the physical environment object position and a mixed reality scenario parameter; and computing a mapping displacement for a virtual environment surface based on the identified mismatch.
US09330498B2
It is proposed a computer-implemented method, system and program product designing a path connecting a first point to a second point in a three-dimensional scene. The method comprises: providing the first point coupled with a first vector; providing the second point coupled with a second vector; and providing a set of paths by following at the most three portions of a parallelepiped, the parallelepiped comprising the provided first point on a first vertex and the provided second point on a second vertex, a portion of the parallelepiped being an edge, a diagonal of a face, a space diagonal.
US09330497B2
In an electrophysiology (EP) lab, a bedside interface device allows an EP physician to directly control various diagnostic and therapeutic systems, including an electro-anatomic mapping system. The bedside interface device can include a computer with wireless communication capability as well as a touch-responsive display panel and voice recognition. The bedside interface device can also be a hand-graspable wireless remote control device that is configured to detect motions or gestures made with the remote control by the physician, allowing the physician to directly interact with the mapping system. The bedside interface device can also be a motion capture camera configured to determine motion patterns of the physician's arms, legs, trunk, face and the like, which are defined in advance to correspond to commands for the mapping system. The bedside interface device may also include voice recognition capabilities to allow a physician to directly issue verbal commands to the mapping system.
US09330495B2
The present disclosure provides for path rendering including receiving, with a graphics processing unit (GPU), data indicative of a path segment of a path to be rendered. The systems and methods render the path segment by performing a fill of the path segment, which includes tessellating the path segment into a first plurality of primitives including a triangle per primitive, storing a first plurality of primitives in a stencil buffer, and drawing a bounding box of the path segment and rendering the bounding box with a stencil test enabled. The systems and methods also stroke the path segment, including tessellating the path into a second plurality of primitives, re-tessellating the second plurality of primitives, cutting the second plurality of primitives according to a dash pattern, creating a cap at a location of a cut, and creating a triangulation of a stroke and rasterizing the stroke based on the triangulation.
US09330493B2
There is described a method for generating a 3D representation of an object, the method comprising retrieving a 3D structure representative of the object and comprising a plurality of voxels each having a respective position therein, each one of the voxels being shaped to mimic a shape of at least a portion of a potential internal feature for the respective position; receiving a densitometry measurement comprising densitometry data of the object; assigning a density value to each one of the voxels using the received densitometry data, thereby generating a 3D model of the object; and outputting the 3D model.
US09330488B2
Technologies are described herein for generating a three-dimensional display. Some technologies are adapted to retrieve a model defining a feed-forward network related to a development process. The technologies generate a first three-dimensional shape representing each internal product according to the model. The technologies also generate a second three-dimensional shape representing each dependency of each internal product corresponding to each first three-dimensional shape. The technologies further generate a third three-dimensional shape representing each component of each dependency corresponding to each second three-dimensional shape.
US09330485B2
Certain embodiments provide a photo-realistic rendering apparatus and method. An illumination model is used that includes placing a synthetic or virtual light source adjacent a region of tissue of interest in order to visualize the thickness of the tissue by modeling how light from the virtual light source interacts with the tissue of interest, through effects including absorption and scattering, as light emitted from the light source travels through the tissue of interest to a view point of view plane. It is simulated how some light is absorbed making tissue regions that are thicker darker (since more of the light is absorbed and the intensity reduces) and more red (since tissue tends to absorb blue and green wavelengths more strongly than red wavelengths and this chromatic effect is incorporated in the illumination model). A 2D image can thus be provided in which the color and intensity of light propagating through the tissue provides visual feedback on the tissue thickness.
US09330484B2
Correction of the locations of panoramas and associated physical locations in a region are disclosed. The task of correcting the locations of the panoramas is divided into XY location correction followed by Z location correction. The panorama set is filtered to remove extraneous planes. In XY-plane correction, neighboring panoramas are identified using a neighbor graph, and the locations of sets of neighboring planes are constrained to be within a specified distance of one another, and a system of linear equations is constructed to represent the locations of the panoramas. A weighted absolute sum of the constraints is minimized across the entire system using a convex quadratic program solver to derive new locations for the planes. The location of ground planes is similarly corrected using a minimization of errors technique.
US09330482B2
A control unit detects first coordinates, second coordinates, and third coordinates in this order, and renders a line based on a writing pressure at the time of detecting the second coordinates, on a writing pressure at the time of detecting the third coordinates, and on the direction of a line segment connecting between the first coordinates and the second coordinates.
US09330473B2
Provided is an image processing apparatus including a color conversion unit that performs color conversion to convert an original image to a luminance image and to a chromaticity image, an illumination image generation unit that generates an illumination image having an illumination component of the luminance image as a pixel value from the luminance image, a reflectance image generation unit that generates a reflectance image having a stabilized reflectance component of the luminance image as a pixel value, a luminance reproduction image generation unit that enhances the reflectance component of the luminance image to generate a luminance reproduction image reproduced with being improved visibility of the luminance image, and an inverse color conversion unit that performs conversion inverse to the color conversion performed by the color conversion unit on the luminance reproduction image and the chromaticity image.
US09330463B2
A system and method for calibrating a camera includes an energy source and a camera to be calibrated, with at least one of the energy source and the camera being mounted on a mechanical actuator so that it is movable relative to the other. A processor is connected to the energy source, the mechanical actuator and the camera and is programmed to control the mechanical actuator to move at least one of the energy source and the camera relative to the other through a plurality of discrete points on a calibration target pattern. The processor further, at each of the discrete points, controls the camera to take a digital image and perform a lens distortion characterization on each image. A focal length of the camera is determined including any lens connected to the camera and an extrinsic camera position for each image is then determined.
US09330444B2
The present invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus, an image processing method and a medical image device. The medical image processing apparatus comprises a deformation field calculation unit, a deformation field weighting unit and an image deformation unit. The deformation field calculation unit may calculate a field of deformation of a first image of an object with respect to a second image. The deformation field weighting unit may weight the field according to motion intensities of respective components of the object. The image deformation unit may deform the first image by using the weighted field.
US09330443B1
A computed tomography (CT) imaging system is provided including processing circuitry configured to obtain a plurality of basis images that are combined to generate a target image; de-noise the basis images using a noise-reduction method to generate de-noised basis images; calculate noise maps of the basis images by subtracting the de-noised basis images from the basis images; calculate a weight for each of the noise maps using the target image and the calculated noise maps; and generate a reduced-noise target image using the target image, the calculated noise maps, and the calculated weights.
US09330441B2
A filter selection technique is described for automatically selecting filters and filter parameters to apply to a given input data. The technique first receives input data and accesses a library storing information from previously analyzed data. The technique selects an entry from the library where the entry contains data that is correlated with the input data. The technique then applies a filter to the input data. The filter and filter parameters are determined by the selected entry.
US09330438B1
An apparatus generally having a first memory, a second memory and a circuit is disclosed. The first memory may be configured to store a warp table. The warp table is generally accessed through a single data port of the first memory. The second memory may be configured to buffer an input image. The input image may have a plurality of input pixels arranged in two dimensions. The circuit may be configured to generate an output image by a warp correction of an input image. The warp correction may be defined by the warp table. The output image may include a plurality of output pixels. At least one of the output pixels may be generated during each clock cycle of the circuit.
US09330430B2
According to one aspect of the invention, a query request is received from a client application at a multithreaded graphics framework. The multithreaded graphics framework including a first thread configured to place graphics commands from the client application into a command queue and a second thread configured to dispatch the graphics commands from the command queue to a graphics processing unit (GPU) for execution. In response to the query request, the first thread is configured to store query information of the query request in a query block of memory that is separated from the command queue and notifying the second thread. In response to the notification, the second thread is configured to issue a query command to the GPU based on the query information retrieved from the query block, prior to dispatching remaining graphics commands pending in the command queue.
US09330424B2
A system and method for performing a hypothetical power management analysis on a distributed computer system uses chronologically consecutive snapshots of the distributed computer system. The snapshots are used to extract demands of clients running in the distributed computer system for a resource for different time intervals, which are then stitched together to produce a workload trace. The snapshots and the workload trace are used to construct modeling scenarios for the distributed computer system. The modeling scenarios are used to perform analyzes to simulate the operation of the distributed computer system during which the power management module is enabled to compute potential power savings.
US09330415B1
A method for saving money through payroll withholding, including: obtaining, for a tax year, a projected tax liability of an employee and a target savings amount selected by the employee; identifying, for the tax year, multiple pay periods for the employee; calculating multiple of tax withholding amounts for the multiple pay periods based on the projected tax liability; calculating multiple savings withholding amounts for the multiple pay periods based on the target savings amount; withholding the multiple tax withholding amounts and the multiple savings withholding amounts from multiple paychecks of the employee corresponding to the multiple pay periods; sending the multiple tax withholding amounts to a tax authority for paying the projected tax liability; and disbursing the target savings amount from a financial account funded by the multiple savings withholding amounts.
US09330412B2
In various example embodiments, systems and methods to mine product recommendations from query reformulation is provided. In example embodiments, a search query is mapped to a particular product. Transition data for the particular product is accessed. The transition data includes values reflecting a number of search transitions between the particular product and other products in session sets of previous queries. One or more recommendations based on the transition data is determined and provided to the user.
US09330408B2
A method of providing corrective eyewear is disclosed, the method including providing a kiosk having a plurality of eyeglass frame. The plurality of eyeglass frames vary in at least one of a dimension and a size from one another and each of the plurality of eyeglass frames has at least one reference dimension on a body of the eyeglass frame. The method further includes receiving a digital image of the consumer wearing a selected eyeglass frame and determining a pupillary distance of the consumer based on the digital image and the at least one reference dimension of the consumer-selected eyeglass frame.
US09330407B2
In an embodiment, a method includes receiving one or more attribute location inputs. Each attribute location input identifies a location within a product image depicting a customizable product. The method includes receiving an attribute definition for each of the one or more attribute location inputs. The method also includes storing customization information that associates the locations specified in the location inputs with attribute definition information included in the respective attribute definition. In another embodiment, a method includes causing the display of a product image depicting a customizable product. One or more locations within the product image are each associated with a respective customizable attribute. The method includes causing the display of an attribute image representing a particular customizable attribute associated with the particular location in association with a particular location of the one or more locations within the product selection image.
US09330398B2
A system and method may comprise providing, via a computing device, a connection link to an end user device having a network connectivity access network element; extracting, via an advertisement server, an offer of a value voucher unique to the end user from a database connected to the advertisement server and presenting, through the end user device, an offer of the value voucher to the end user; receiving, via the computing device, from the end user an acceptance of the value voucher; and storing the value voucher in a coupon database in an Internet accessible coupon storage locker unique to the end user.
US09330394B2
Computing apparatus, computer-readable storage medium, and method associated with application of content rules to content. The computing apparatus may have a processor and a content management service to be operated on the processor. The content management service may receive content rules, each content rule specifying one or more criteria for application of the content rule to one or more instances of content. The content management service may identify one or more instances of content that match the criteria specified by the content rules. The content management service may apply one or more of the content rules to the identified one or more instances of content in a hierarchical manner based on a specificity of the criteria, wherein a rule specifying more specific criteria is applied with priority over a rule specifying less specific criteria. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09330379B2
Embodiments of apparatus, packages, computer-implemented methods, systems, devices, and computer-readable media (transitory and non-transitory) are described herein for providing a notification of a message to a recipient for consumption using a computing device. In various embodiments, provision of the notification may be in a timing or manner that is based on a characteristic of the message, an operational context of the system, and/or empirical data about preferred timing or manner of notification of at least another message to the same or different recipient. In various embodiments, the at least another message may share the same characteristic, or may have a related characteristic.
US09330377B2
The present disclosure is directed to updating related documents. In some implementations, a method includes receiving a notification of an intention to update to a predecessor document in a business process prior to receiving a specific update to the predecessor document. In response to at least the potential-update notification, a successor document in the business process is identified. The successor document depends on information identified by the predecessor document. Release of the successor document is substantially prevented in connection with the notification of the intent to update to the predecessor document.
US09330372B2
Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for generating an optimal development infrastructure. An embodiment operates by decomposing a development process into one or more functional requirements, mapping each functional requirement of the decomposed development process to the one or more corresponding functional capabilities, and selecting one or more services operable to implement each mapped functional capability, wherein each service comprises one or more functional capabilities.
US09330370B2
A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computer system for updating progression of performing computer system management. A computer system receives a log-on of a change implementer onto a managed computer system and searches a change request on a managing computer system. In response to that the change request is found, the computer system receives from the change implementer a command with a current date and time and matches the command to one or more tasks within the change request. In response to determining that the command matches the one or more tasks, the computer system updates start dates and times of the one or more tasks. And, in response to that the one or more tasks are completed, the computer system updates stop dates and times of the one or more tasks.
US09330369B2
A solution for validating a set of data protection solutions is provided. A validation scenario can be defined, which can include data corresponding to a set of attributes for the validation scenario. The attributes can include a time frame for the validation scenario. The validation scenario also can include a set of backup images to be validated, each of which is generated using one of the set of data protection solutions. The set of backup images can be identified using the time frame. A set of resource requirements for implementing the validation scenario can be determined based on the set of backup images and the set of attributes for the validation scenario.
US09330366B2
A system and methodology for collaborating. The system and method utilize a plurality of computing appliances, each assigned a respective team designation and a respective role designation. Team control logic is responsive to a respective said team designation, to control operation of each respective said computing appliance to operate as a part of a group. Within a defined Team, the plurality of computing appliances operate having a defined set of roles. Role control logic controls operations of a respective one of the computing appliances in accordance with functionality as defined responsive to the respective said role designation for that respective one of the plurality of computing appliances. Each of the plurality of computing appliances is assigned a respective team designation and a respective role designation. Memory storage is structured as a plurality of mapped data layers, for associative storage of user input mapped by user to a respective one of the data layers. Thereafter, responsive to the respective team control logic and the role control logic, each of at least two of the plurality of computing appliances utilizes a respective associated said data layer in the memory for associated storage of annotation data representative of annotations as originated at that respective one, for the at least two of the plurality of computing appliances. Display logic selects which of the plurality of data layers are selected data layers utilized to locally generate a display presentation that is provided at each of at least two of the plurality of computing appliances.
US09330360B1
In some embodiments, techniques for rationalizing a recommendation include determining a recommended item for a user using a first recommendation engine, wherein the first recommendation engine receives as an input first behavioral data associated with a user, and generates an identifier corresponding to a recommended item; creating a rationalization for the recommended item using a first rationalization engine, wherein the first rationalization engine receives as inputs the recommended item and second behavioral data associated with the user, and generates a rationalization, wherein the rationalization includes a constructed rationalization of why the recommended item is recommended for the user, and wherein the creation of the rationalization is not based solely on an actual reason the first recommendation engine determined the recommended item; associating the rationalization for the recommended item with the recommended item; and providing the recommended item and associated rationalization.
US09330353B2
An antenna module includes a base including two opposing mounting surfaces, an antenna coil provided on or in the base so as to define an opening, the antenna coil having a shape that is symmetrical or substantially symmetrical with respect to a reference plane, and an IC chip and a plurality of electronic components mounted on one of the mounting surfaces and electrically coupled to the antenna coil, the IC chip and the electronic components being arranged inside the opening when viewed in plan from a normal direction of the mounting surface. At least two of the plurality of electronic components are arranged so as to be symmetrical or substantially symmetrical to each other with respect to the reference plane when viewed in plan from the normal direction.
US09330335B2
A diagnostic support apparatus includes a base vector matching unit configured to match test image base vectors used for a base representation of a test image feature quantity of a test image and normal image base vectors used for a base representation of a normal image feature quantity of a normal image, a lesion determination unit configured to determine that the test image includes an image of a lesion site when a difference between a test image base coefficient and a normal image base coefficient is greater than a threshold, the test image base coefficient being a coefficient with which the test feature quantity is transformed to the base representation, and the normal image base coefficient being a coefficient with which the normal feature quantity is transformed to the base representation, and a determination result output unit configured to output a result of the determination by the lesion determination unit.
US09330333B2
A method and apparatus for image automatic brightness detection. The method includes determining region of interest (ROI) candidates in an image, extracting features from each of the ROI candidates, selecting the optimum ROI based on weighted score of each of the ROI candidate, and calculating brightness value of the selected optimum ROI candidate as brightness feedback. The method and apparatus for image automatic brightness detection according to embodiments of the present invention, can automatically detect the point of interest for clinicians, and then provide a more accurate feedback to the imaging system, in order to provide a more efficient dose management in the imaging system and thus to achieve constant image quality without wasting any dose, thereby further optimizing the dose/IQ performance and the high efficient utilization of the system.
US09330328B2
A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object.
US09330325B2
An apparatus for processing a fingerprint image, the apparatus includes a noise information estimation unit configured to estimate information for a noise removal from at least two or more images recognized for a first section before a point of time when a fingerprint contact is initiated. The apparatus includes a fingerprint image acquiring unit configured to correct at least one image recognized for a predetermined time period after the completion of the fingerprint contact using the estimated information to acquire the fingerprint image.
US09330319B2
Disclosed is a camera image compensating apparatus for a vehicle, including a detecting unit which detects a base line and a vehicle body contour line; a coordinate storing unit which stores a first reference image coordinate value and a second reference image coordinate value; a first coordinate calculating unit which calculates a first base line image coordinate value and calculates a first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value; a coordinate comparing unit which compares the first reference image coordinate value and the first base line image coordinate value and compares the second reference image coordinate value and the first vehicle body contour line image coordinate value; and a correcting unit which calculates angle change information of the camera, calculates correction information based on the angle change information, and corrects the camera parameter using the correction information.
US09330314B2
Alerts to object behaviors are prioritized for adjudication as a function of relative values of abandonment, foregroundness and staticness attributes. The attributes are determined from feature data extracted from video frame image data. The abandonment attribute indicates a level of likelihood of abandonment of an object. The foregroundness attribute quantifies a level of separation of foreground image data of the object from a background model of the image scene. The staticness attribute quantifies a level of stability of dimensions of a bounding box of the object over time. Alerts are also prioritized according to an importance or relevance value that is learned and generated from the relative abandonment, foregroundness and staticness attribute strengths.
