US07918518B2
An inkjet recording apparatus includes: a setting portion on which a recording medium is set; a feeder which feeds the recording medium from the setting portion in a feed direction; a recording head which ejects ink so that an image is recorded on the recording medium fed by the feeder; a gap changing device which changes a gap between the recording head and the recording medium; a judgment portion which judges a setting direction of the recording medium on the setting portion; and a changing control portion which controls the gap changing device to change the gap between the recording head and the recording medium, according to the judged setting direction of the recording medium.
US07918514B2
A composite rim (1) for a bicycle wheel (60). The rim has at least one braking surface (20) and a wear indicator (40) that indicates when a predetermined level of wear has been reached at the braking surface (20). The wear indicator (40) is arranged in the rim (1) so that its does not affect the outer surface of the rim (1) or weaken its mechanical strength.
US07918512B2
In an automotive machine (1) for producing carriageways by stabilizing insufficiently stable soils or by recycling road surfaces, with a machine chassis (4) supported by a running gear (2), a working drum (20) mounted to pivot in relation to the machine chassis (4), the shaft of which is mounted in pivoting arms (42) and runs transversely to the direction of travel, a cover (28) surrounding the working drum (20), a combustion engine (32) supported by the machine chassis with at least one output shaft (34) for the drive power required for driving the working drum, whereby at least one mechanical power transmission device (36) transfers the drive power from the output shaft (34) to the working drum (20), it is intended that the combustion engine (32) is arranged in a fixed manner at the machine chassis (4) between the pivoting arms (42) and that the at least one mechanical power transmission device (36), together with the working drum (20) mounted in the pivoting arms, can pivot about the axis of the output shaft (34) of the combustion engine (32).
US07918509B1
A bench includes at least two feet and two seat plates. Each foot has a sustaining surface in a top thereof and a support frame in a bottom thereof. The seat plate is a rectangular plate. A plurality of protruding blocks is formed to a bottom surface of the seat plate, and a bolt block is embedded in each protruding block. By fastening the feet to the corresponding bolt blocks through holes with bolts, the feet are fixed to the seat plate so as to form a strong and fine bench.
US07918507B2
A device for limiting the adjustability of a component, in particular, a vehicle seat is provided. The device has an adjustment range, running in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle wherein the adjustment range comprises a first forward partial range and a second rear partial range. If the component is adjusted to a functional position that is different from the normal position, the device limits the adjustability of the component to the first partial range.
US07918502B2
An apparatus and method for attaching a child car seat (14) to luggage (12) is provided, including at least one strap (16) extending from an upper region of the luggage for attachment to a top (20) or back (22) portion of the child car seat, or to a separate strap extending from the top or back region of the child car seat. At least one additional strap may also extend from a side, front or bottom portion of such rolling luggage to attach to a side, back or bottom portion of the child car seat. In such embodiment, the at least one additional strap facilitates additional stability of the child car seat as attached to the rolling luggage. Additionally, a flat fabric material or bag (34) may be provided at least partially over the back of the luggage and may be attached to one or more of the various straps.
US07918501B1
A vehicle seat with that is movable in response to a collision that automatically shifts the position of an individual sitting the seat while having minimal change in the space behind the seat.
US07918500B2
A quick-mount frame structure, particularly for bicycle saddles and similar supports. The structure comprises at least one shell (2) having a top user-supporting surface (6) and a bottom surface (7), said shell (2) having a front portion (8) and a rear portion (9), saddle rails (3) for attachment of said shell (2) to a movable or stationary support, said rails (3) having an outer peripheral edge (10) and means for stable connection between said rails (3) and said shell (2). The connection means include snap engagement means (11) at least at one of said front (8) and rear (9) portions of said shell (2) for quick connection between the shell (2) and the rails (3). A process for making the above structure, and a saddle incorporating such structure.
US07918483B2
An adjustable steering column for a motor vehicle includes a steering shaft that is mounted in such a manner as to be able to rotate about its axis in an adjusting part, a holding clamp attached to the vehicle for holding the steering column, a holding part, and a fixing device that is opened and closed to allow the adjustment or fixing of the position of steering shaft. The holding clamp includes side cheeks which can be drawn together by closing the fixing device and as a consequence the holding part can be clamped. The holding clamp is formed as a once-piece component and the holding part is swivel mounted on a swivel pin in the holding clamp.
US07918480B2
A roof airbag apparatus, may include an inflator, a housing mounted to an opening frame provided in a vehicle roof, the opening frame defining an opening therein to receive the housing, an airbag cushion contained in the housing, the airbag cushion being deployed downwards by gas supplied from the inflator to protect a passenger, an airbag door coupled to the housing by a hinge to support the airbag cushion, and angle limiting means for limiting a rotating angle to a predetermined angle when the airbag door is rotated to open.
US07918472B2
A dual-lever compression system comprising a shock absorber, a first lever, and a second lever. The shock absorber first end is pivotally coupled to a frame. The shock absorber second end is pivotally coupled to a first lever first end and the first lever second end is coupled to the frame. The second lever first end is pivotally coupled to the shock absorber second end and the second lever second end is coupled to a swing- arm. The compression performance control provided by embodiments of the dual-lever compression system is directly related to the incorporation of dual levers coupled to the shock absorber; that is, the first lever and the second lever. Angles, position, and pivotal rotations of the dual levers provide for controlled shock absorption. Compression performance of two connecting points between the rigid frame regions where by a first lever pivotally couples to one point of a rigid frame and pivotally couples to the impact point of the shock absorber, with the base mount of the shock absorber pivotally coupled to a second point of the rigid frame. The second lever completes the system, where a first end of the second lever is pivotally coupled to the first lever or the shock absorber impact point. A second end of the second lever is pivotally coupled to a swing-arm or wheel region. The dual lever assembly manipulates the shock absorber force tension which in return produces increased suspension performance.
US07918467B2
A foldable stroller includes a rear composite supporting member interposed between and pivoted to two rear supporting rod parts of a frame; the rear composite supporting member can be expanded to hold the stroller in an in-use position, and it can be compressed so as to reduce the width of the stroller when the stroller is not-in-use; the stroller further includes a composite fixing member, which will fix the rear composite supporting member automatically when the rear composite supporting member is moved to the expanded position; the stroller frame has two front supporting rod parts, which each include an upper rod, and a lower rod pivoted to the upper rod; the stroller can be reduced in its height by making the lower rods of the front supporting rod parts become close to the upper rods.
US07918458B2
To enabling actions that meet even diversified display patterns such as a prize hooked on a prize drop hole. An article housing section for storing articles, an article capturing section for capturing an article in the article housing section, lifting device for moving the article capturing section up and down, control device for controlling the movement of the article capturing section by the lifting device, and detection device for detecting that the article capturing section being moved downward by the lifting device strikes against any object including the article in the article housing section are provided. The control device performs control for operating the lifting device to continue to move the article capturing section downward even after the control device receives a detection signal from the detection device, and after the continued downward movement, stopping the downward movement of the article capturing section.
US07918457B2
The invention relates to a ball-shaped puzzle comprising a spherical support element (1; 31) and a plurality of movable puzzle elements (16; 33) which all have substantially the same size and shape, the movable puzzle elements (16; 33) being slidably engaged in a trajectory (2; 32) on the outside of the spherical support element (1; 31), the trajectory (2; 32) defining a plurality of predetermined positions on the outside of the spherical support element (1; 31) between which the puzzle elements (16; 33) are movable. The spherical support element (1; 31) comprises a core and a plurality of trajectory forming elements (15; 45-46) which form the trajectory (2; 32), the trajectory forming elements (15; 45-46) being fixed onto the core (13; 43-44) by a snap-fitting arrangement (40-41).
US07918456B2
Disclosed are apparatus and method that allow a card player to identify the face of cards that are dealt face-down to the player and while the cards are maintained face-down. The dealt cards maintained face-down are slid into position onto a transparent window portion in the top planar surface of the apparatus where at least an identifying portion of face-down cards is exposed downward onto a reflecting mechanism which then reflects the image of the identifying portion of the card upward and in normal orientation for viewing by the player.The apparatus permits a player to comfortably and securely view the identity of face-down cards.
US07918453B2
A media path jam clearance apparatus installable in a supporting structure includes media drive mechanisms for moving flexible media through media paths and a rotatable, removable jam clearance element. Within the jam clearance element facing surfaces of guide elements define guide surfaces for media paths, with the guide elements having external surfaces capable of supporting the flexible media as it is wrapped around the external surfaces. A pivotal support element supports and enables rotational movement of the jam clearance element within the supporting structure. The jam clearance element may be partially or entirely extracted from the supporting structure.
US07918437B2
Pressure vessel filled with at least one medium, where a gas mass enclosed by an envelope is pre-pressurized by a fluid, especially for volume compensation in piston-cylinder assemblies. The separating means is provided in an annular space, which is bounded by an interior wall and an exterior wall, and where at least one port for the annular space and at least one port for the enclosed gas mass are provided. The ports are aligned when the piston-cylinder assembly is inserted in the pressure vessel, which moves seals into their sealing positions.
US07918435B2
A combination gravimetric and volumetric fluid dispenser which includes a scale linked to a controller. The controller is linked to a plurality of two stage valves which control the dispensing of large quantities of base materials. The controller is also linked to a plurality of nutating pumps which together with the controller controls the dispensing of smaller quantities of additive materials. The base material dispensing valves include stepper motor actuators having multiple steps per revolution and are under the control of an analog signal from a controller. The base material dispensing valve is opened or closed via a rod that is slidably raised or lowered upon rotation of the drive shaft of the stepper motor actuator.
US07918426B2
An adjustable mount for mounting a flat panel display screen on a support comprises a first component adapted for securement to the support and forming a rear of the mount, a second component engaged with the first component and forming a front of the mount to which the screen is intended to be secured, in use, and an adjustment device acting between the first and second components to alter the relative positioning therebetween.
US07918407B2
An energy saving air quality control system modulates supply fan speed by use of controlled, variable-frequency drive controls for automatic dampers or suction pressure to maintain adequate air flow across the evaporator coil at partial cooling loads. Demand ventilation in the system balances air quality and energy consumption by controlling the outdoor air damper in response to indoor CO2 levels. The control system variously either (1) produces a variable 0-10 VDC output signal to modulate the outside ventilation air damper as required to keep the CO2 concentration below a set point; (2) produces a 0 or 24 VAC signal to either open or close a two-position outside air damper for as long a time period as is required in order to keep the CO2 concentration below a set point; or (3) allows manually setting the outside air damper to provide proper ventilation air at maximum occupancy and maximum air flow and modulates the supply fan speed as required to keep the CO2 concentration as measured by a CO2 monitor below set point.
US07918399B2
A portable scanning device for scanning a product item is provided. The product item has visible information relating thereto and a plurality of tags disposed thereon. Each tag encodes data on an identity of the product item and the location of that tag on the product item. The scanning device has a sensor for sensing the data encoded by at least one tag, and a processor for determining, from the sensed data, product identity data indicative of the identity of the product item and location data indicative of a location of said at least one tag on the product item.
US07918395B2
An electronic product identification price display system for installation in a retail environment storing a plurality of consumer products on shelves. The system includes a plurality of remote activator modules installed within the retail environment, and a plurality of remotely-updateable electronic-ink labels applied to consumer products stored in the retail environment. Each remote activator module sends and transmits electromagnetic signals within the space of the retail environment. Each electronic-ink label employs an addressable display assembly including a layer of electronic ink including a bi-stable non-volatile imaging material. The device includes an integrated circuit structure having a storage element for storing instructions, programs and data, and a programmed processor in communication with storage element. A signal transmitting structure transmits signals from the antenna structure to the remote activator modules. A signal receiving structure receives electromagnetic signals from the remote activator modules, using the antenna structure. An on-board battery power structure, operably connected to the integrated circuit structure, supplies electrical power to the integrated circuit structure. The electronic-ink label applied to each consumer product displays graphical indicia representing the price and/or promotional information for the consumer product, that is remotely updated by one or more remote activator modules installed within the retail environment.
US07918387B2
A label having a coded pattern provides information regarding the type of thread on a thread spool loaded on an embroidery machine and feeding one of the needles. A detector positioned at the base of a spindle on the thread tree reads the label. The label is attached to the bottom of a thread spool such that it is substantially flush with the detector. The label has a pattern that is readable by the detector regardless of its rotational orientation and provides information about the type of thread on the spool. This pattern corresponds to thread type information stored in data base.
US07918372B2
The present disclosure relates an apparatus for controlling the lateral offset of webs of material. The apparatus can include a support structure for supporting a roll and a mechanism for lifting the web of material off the roll. The support structure can include a fixed portion and at least one movable portion. The roll is preferably journaled to first mountings, the first mountings being attached to the movable portion of the support structure, so that the roll can be moved together with the first mountings. A potential advantage of this design is that the journal bearing of the roll on a respective shaft can be configured more easily and given smaller dimensions. According to a further aspect of the disclosure, the lifting mechanism can include at least two single rollers, rotatably journaled to two lateral supports. Such single rollers are advantageously arranged along a circular-arc plane. The web of material can thus be deflected with as large a radius as possible. This can reduce undesirable back-sway of the sagging portion of the web of material as a result of the intermittent operation. The end portions of the circular-arc plane can also extend tangentially to the provided direction of travel of the web of material, thereby potentially resulting in crease-free deflection of the web of material.
US07918369B2
A dispensing system for plural components mixture including second containers placed within a first container. The first container is held by an operator during dispensing. Separate conduits are coupled between the containers and the dispensing device and include passageways for the passage of each respective component. Each passageway includes an actuator controlled valve. A second valve coupled in the conduits between the respective components' sources and includes an inlet port for each component, an equal number of outlet ports, and an inlet port for a material for flushing the plural components from respective conduits and the mixed plural components. The second valve has a first state in which each respective inlet port is coupled to an outlet port. The second valve also has a second state in which the inlet port for flushing the plural components from the respective conduits and the mixed plural components is coupled to the outlet ports.
US07918368B2
A refrigerator having a container support configured to removably support at least one liquid container having an end with a gas inlet valve and a liquid outlet valve. The refrigerator has at least one gas line and at least one gas inlet valve engager positionable adjacent to such end of the liquid container, and the gas inlet valve engager is configured to be fluidly connected to the gas inlet valve of such end of the liquid container. The refrigerator has at least one liquid outlet valve engager positionable adjacent to such end of the liquid container. The refrigerator has at least one electrical line operatively coupled to the liquid outlet valve engager.
US07918367B2
A system for monitoring and controlling the delivery of CO2 from a bulk storage tank to at least one gas-driven pump is disclosed. By monitoring certain conditions, the flow of CO2 can be quickly and easily terminated if necessary, thereby reducing or eliminating undesirable consequences of CO2 gas flow in abnormal operational scenarios. The invention is particularly well suited for deployment in conjunction with beverage dispensing machines and can be configured to shut down the flow of CO2 if a drop in pressure occurs due to a leak in the system or if a syrup delivery system runs out of product.
US07918362B2
A transparent, portable secure container is configured to accommodate a standard retail package for a consumer product not legally purchased by minors. The container comprises a plurality of panels, a hinge and a lock. Some of the panels are joined to form the container, such that the container conforms to outside dimensions of the standard retail package. One of the panels is coupled to the container via the hinge to form a door. The lock secures the container by locking the door in a closed position. The panels are formed of a lightweight, durable structural material, such that the container is portable. At least one of the panels is transparent, such that the container provides an interior view when the door is in the closed position.
US07918352B2
A product display system and method includes a support and at least one product container supported by the support. The packages are tilted such that the front faces of the tilted packages face at least partially upward, such as toward the illumination source, so as to provide enhanced illumination of the front faces of the tilted packages. The tilted packages may be supported at a support arm or the like, and have a center of gravity located behind a header for suspending the packages from the support arm, causing the packages to angle or tilt with their front faces angled somewhat upwardly, such as toward the illumination source, when suspended from the support arm.
US07918346B2
A tensioning apparatus for tensioning a screen in a vibrating screen separator of the type having a box structure defined by two opposing spaced-apart upright side walls separated by at least one screen bed support structure. Included is an actuator support mounted to an exterior surface of a side wall of a box structure for pivotally securing the stationary end of an actuator thereto. The actuator includes a movable end that is cyclically movable from a first releasing position adjacent the sidewall, to a second engaging position, transversely spaced apart from the side wall, responsive to a track follower moving along a track inclined transversely to the side wall of the box. A clamp rail assembly is fixed to the movable end of the actuator to engage and tension a screen responsive to transverse movement of the movable end of the actuator.
US07918313B2
An improved acoustically and thermally insulating composite material suitable for use in structures such as buildings, appliances, and the interior passenger compartments and exterior components of automotive vehicles, comprising at least one airlaid fibrous layer of controlled density and composition and incorporating suitable binding agents and additives as needed to meet expectations for noise abatement, fire, and mildew resistance. Separately, an airlaid structure which provides a reduced, controlled airflow therethrough useful for acoustic insulation is provided, and which includes a woven or nonwoven scrim.
US07918306B2
In an electric power steering apparatus, a phase control characteristic for a signal corresponding to detected steering torque is changed according to the judgment whether the steering is in a return steering state or a feed steering state, so that a response of a variation of target output value of a motor for generating steering assist power to a variation of the detected steering torque decreases in the return steering state in comparison with that in the feed steering state. An output control characteristic of the motor is changed according to the judgment synchronously with the change of the phase control characteristic, so that a response of a variation of the output command value to a variation of deviation between the target output value and actual output value decreases in the return steering state in comparison with that in the feed steering state.
US07918295B2
A power assist system for a motor vehicle subsystem having a component support structure is described. The power assist system comprises a fluid reservoir, a pump having an inlet for receiving a fluid from the reservoir and a pump securing structure including at least one aperture. The system additionally includes at least one fastener. The reservoir fluid outlet is directly coupled to the pump inlet and the at least one fastener secures the reservoir mounting structure by passing directly through the pump mounting structure and attaching to the motor vehicle component support structure.
US07918293B1
Methods of evaluating a superabrasive volume or a superabrasive compact are disclosed. One method may comprise exposing a superabrasive volume to beta particles and detecting a quantity of scattered beta particles. Further, a boundary may be perceived between a first region and a second region of the superabrasive volume in response to detecting the quantity of scattered beta particles. In another embodiment, a boundary between a catalyst-containing region and a catalyst-diminished region of a polycrystalline diamond volume may be perceived. In a further embodiment, a boundary may be perceived between a catalyst-containing region and a catalyst-diminished region of a polycrystalline diamond compact. Additionally, a depth to which a catalyst-diminished region extends within a polycrystalline diamond volume of a polycrystalline diamond compact may be measured in response to detecting a quantity of scattered beta particles. A system configured to evaluate a superabrasive volume is disclosed.
US07918292B2
An earth-boring bit has a bit body having a plurality of bit legs extending longitudinally therefrom, each bit leg comprising one or more groove regions formed along a laterally outer surface thereof. Each groove region comprises a fluid course for drilling fluid and cuttings to pass across the outer surface. A ridge may be disposed adjacent a lower edge of one or more of the groove regions. Each groove region may also be positioned at differing heights on the bit legs. Methods of forming earth-boring bits are also disclosed.
US07918289B2
A method for drilling and completing a wellbore that includes drilling a wellbore through a subterranean formation with a wellbore fluid, the wellbore fluid comprising: a base fluid; and micronized weighting agent; and disposing a sand screen in an interval of the wellbore with the wellbore fluid is disclosed.
US07918284B2
A tubular sleeve is coupled to and overlaps the threaded connection between a pair of adjacent tubular members.
US07918280B2
A communication tool apparatus is described which is adapted to provide selective communication of control fluid through a downhole tool, such as a safety valve. The downhole safety valve is a tubing retrievable subsurface safety valve (“TRSSSV”). The communication tool may be run downhole and within the TRSSSV. Once within the TRSSSV, the communication tool apparatus activates a cutting device within the TRSSSV such that communication of control fluid through the TRSSSV is possible. A replacement safety valve run on a wireline may then be inserted into the TRSSSV and be operated via the control fluid line, as a new communication path created by the communication tool described herein. A method of using the communication tool apparatus is also described.
US07918268B2
A heat exchanger (10) comprises a first sheet (12), a second sheet (14) and an additional sheet (30). The first and second sheets (12,14) are wound around an axis (X), each sheet (12,14) has hot and cold edges at the hot and cold ends (16,18) respectively of the heat exchanger (10). The hot and cold edges of the first sheet (12) are joined to the hot and cold edges of the second sheet (14). The end (12A) of the first sheet (12) is joined to the second sheet (30) by an axially extending join (28) at a position spaced from the end (14A) of the second sheet (14). The end (30A) of the additional sheet (30) is joined to the end (14A) of the second sheet (14) by an axially extending join (28). The additional sheet (30) is thicker and wider than the first and second sheets (12,14) such that at least one of the hot and cold edges (30C,30D) of the additional sheet (30) extend beyond the hot and cold edges of the first and second sheets (12,14). The additional sheet (30) is wound around the first and second sheets (12,14) about the axis (X) and the end (30B) of the additional sheet (30) is joined to the additional sheet (30) by an axially extending join (34).
US07918267B2
A heat dissipation device includes a heat sink having a base with thermal interface material thereon and a protective cap covering the base. The protective cap includes a body shielding the thermal interface material and sidewalls extending from the body and engaging with a periphery of the base of the heat sink. A rotatable portion is rotatable relative to the body of the protective cap. The rotatable portion includes a base-wall being rotatably connected with the body of the protective cap and a plurality of positioning sides extending from the base-wall and engaging lateral sides of a corner of the base of the heat sink.
US07918265B2
An investment casting mold article includes a wall for retaining casting material and a cavity defined by the wall. The cavity includes an airfoil portion, a root portion adjacent to the airfoil portion, and a labyrinth seal portion extending from the root portion.
US07918263B2
This high-speed door is provided for closing a bay made in a wall (4) delimited by a lintel and by two vertical sides. The door comprises: two lateral parts placed in an essentially vertical manner against each of the vertical sides of the bay; a shaft (12) positioned at the level of the lintel of the bay and rotationally driven by electromechanical means, and; a curtain (7) made of a flexible material having a first side (7a) and a second side (7b), joined to the shaft (12), the rotation of the shaft (12) being able to move the curtain (7) between a closed position in which the curtain (7) closes the bay and an open position in which the curtain (7) opens the bay. In addition, the door comprises flexible means for protecting the shaft (12) which extend between the two lateral parts (2) and (3) and which are capable of coming in contact with the lintel, the flexible protecting means also having first transversal sealing means that can come in transversal contact with the first side (7a) of the curtain (7) when it is in a closed position.
US07918261B2
An apparatus for assembling a lens module includes a UV light source and a pressing device. The lens modules each having a first component, a second component and UV curable adhesive applied between the first and second components. The UV light source is configured for emitting UV light toward the UV curable adhesive. The pressing device is configured for pressing the first components against the second components. A method for assembling a lens module is also included in the invention.
US07918245B2
A hydraulic pressure reservoir having at least one pressure chamber formed between two opposed, movable inner boundary members. Each inner boundary members includes a spring cover and a diaphragm spring. An outer boundary member peripherally surrounds the movable inner boundary members and has a U-shaped cross section along at least a part of its periphery to axially support the diaphragm springs in a fixed axial position. The outer boundary member can be formed in several pieces that are held together by interconnections or by a surrounding outer tensioning member.
US07918235B2
The invention is a dual functioning system for de-scaling or blowing down an electrically powered steam boiler. The steam boilers are generally used for sterilizing equipment and other items commonly used by health care professionals. The system includes a microprocessor controlled module, which is interfaced with the sterilizer controlled module, to measure the frequency and duration of the cleaning or blow down cycles. Typically, a cleaning cycle involves the use of an acid, such as phosphoric acid, to facilitate chemical removal of scale which is mineral deposits resulting from the use of hard water in the boiler. In the blow down cycle, the scale is removed by simple mechanical means without the use of a phosphoric acid cleaning solution. Various pumps and valves are utilized so that cleaning or blow down may be accomplished without having to disassemble or modify any input or drain lines.
US07918224B2
A nasal air filtration device includes a pair of either planar or concave-convex filters, a support structure incorporating a pair of generally annular bases or sleeves for supporting the filters, and a bridge that couples the bases or sleeves to maintain them in a desired spaced-apart relation and to determine a desired angular relationship. The support structure is insertable into the nasal cavities to position the filters within corresponding nasal cavities. Flexible rims maintain the support structure and the filters in spaced-apart relation to the surrounding nasal wall. The rims conform to surrounding nasal tissue to form seals. The rims can be selectively inclined to facilitate insertion and resist accidental removal. In certain embodiments the device is combined with a filter that covers the mouth to provide an air filtration system.
US07918220B2
A portable and compact grill apparatus can be implemented in the form of free standing portable propane fueled cooking device, which utilizes one or more legs (e.g., four legs) to support the cooking surface. The device permits a standard propane tank to fit between the legs and directly under the cooking surface. The design permits one of the legs to be removed (by rotating it away from the center) to accommodate the exchange of the propane unit (required for refill of fuel). This design creates a very compact unit due to the fact that the fuel tank, burner and cooking surface all fit in a vertical column thus requiring minimal space.
US07918213B2
In a control method for an internal combustion engine (1) which has a fuel tank (18), a fuel vapor storage device (25) for storing the escaping fuel vapors and a controllable valve (28) for adjusting the stream of fuel vapors fed to the intake tract (4) during a period of tank ventilation, the valve (28) is controlled in such a way according to the method that the stream of fuel vapors varies during the tank ventilation period. The regeneration of the fuel vapor storage device is intended to be improved thereby.
US07918212B2
A method and control system for controlling an engine includes an instantaneous crankshaft acceleration determining module determining an instantaneous crankshaft acceleration. An engine parameter adjustment module adjusts an engine parameter in response to the instantaneous crankshaft acceleration.
US07918211B2
A fuel injector for delivering fuel to an engine in which a housing of the injector has an internal fuel chamber and at least one exhaust port in fluid communication with the fuel chamber. A valve member is moveable relative to the housing between a closed position in which fuel within the fuel chamber is inhibited against exhaustion from the housing, and an open position in which fuel is exhaustable from the housing. An ultrasonic waveguide is separate from the housing and valve member. The ultrasonic waveguide is elongate and has longitudinally opposite ends. The waveguide further has a first waveguide segment and a second waveguide segment. The first and second segments are disposed entirely within the fuel chamber of the housing. An excitation device is operable in the open position of the valve member to ultrasonically excite the ultrasonic waveguide.
US07918207B2
A fuel delivery system for an engine is described. The system includes a controller for adjusting injection timing when switching between two injectors of a cylinder. The system can improve engine air-fuel control when switching between two injectors of a cylinder.
US07918197B2
A variable valve system includes a camshaft in which a first lobe having a first height and a second lobe having a second height that is higher than the first height from a rotational center axis of the camshaft are formed; a first tappet that corresponds to the first lobe and that has a depression negatively formed in one side thereof; a second tappet corresponding to the second lobe and that is inserted into the depression; at least a pin positioned at the first tappet and fixing a position of the second tappet; and a hydraulic pressure control portion that transfers hydraulic pressure into the depression so as to move the second tappet upwards or downwards and to the pin so as to engage or disengage the first tappet with the second tappet.
US07918193B2
A cooling device for a vehicle is provided at a vehicle comprising an engine control unit which stops an engine due to establishment of engine stoppage conditions and restarts the engine due to establishment of engine restart conditions. The cooling device for a vehicle is able to cool a coolant within a heat exchanger for cooling by cooling wind, which is guided from an exterior of the vehicle, passing through the heat exchanger for cooling. Cooling by driving force of either one of an electric motor or the engine can be selected in accordance with preset conditions.
US07918182B2
The temperature of a developing solution is varied depending on the type of resist or the resist pattern. The developing solution is applied while scanning a developer nozzle having a slit-shaped ejection port that has a length matching the width of the effective area of the substrate. After leaving the substrate with the developing solution being coated thereon for a predetermined period of time, a diluent is supplied while scanning a diluent nozzle, thereby substantially stopping the development reaction and causing the dissolved resist components to diffuse. A desired amount of resist can be quickly dissolved through the control of the developing solution temperature, while the development can be stopped before the dissolved resist components exhibit adverse effect through the supply of the diluent a predetermined timing, whereby achieving a pattern having a uniform line width and improved throughput.
US07918179B2
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for a drop indicator having a magnet installed therein. The drop indicator according to the invention is used to determine whether a product has ever been dropped or impacted, either in delivery or in use, by inspecting changes in the original condition of the magnet caused by the interaction between the magnetic force and the acceleration of gravity, inertia force, and colliding force, etc. generated upon collision. Take a cell phone or a PDA, for example, changes in the indicative material of the drop indicator will help decide whether the faulty product has ever been dropped or impacted in delivery or in use, so that liability can be determined.
US07918173B2
A personal watercraft has a hull and sub-deck (HSD) assembly, a deck above the sub-deck, and a suspension member pivotally connected therebetween. A suspension element, including a spring assembly, is connected between any two of the deck, the HSD assembly, and the suspension member. The spring assembly has first and second portions having first and second spring rates respectively. The second spring rate is greater than the first. A controller controls a lifting device to set an initial distance between the deck and the sub-deck to one of a first distance and a second distance greater than the first. The suspension element moves through a majority of a full stroke with the first portion of the spring assembly at least partially expanded when the initial distance is the first distance, and with the first portion of the spring assembly fully compressed when the initial distance is the second distance.
US07918170B2
A quilting machine has at least one needle and looper set for forming chain-stitched patterns on a thick multilayered material such as a mattress ticking, preferably a panel of the continuous web clamped stationary on a frame. The stitch forming elements are mounted on separate heads that move independently transversely relative to the panel on a bridge that moves longitudinally relative to the panel. The bridge is longitudinally moved by a servo and the heads are transversely moved on the bridge by separate linear servos. The needle and looper are each driven by a linear servo having an armature to which the element is directly fixed to reciprocate without intervening mechanical linkage assemblies. A controller drives the servos to chain-stitch patterns, differentially move the heads transversely to account for transverse needle deflection and to phase the needle and looper to compensate for longitudinal needle deflection. The controller determines or predicts needle deflection, either based on stored empirically determined data or optical sensing, and generates deflection compensation signals to drive the servos.
US07918165B2
A reusable container for a golf car component having a body operably associated with at least one bottom and top support member, the bottom and top support members are adapted to receive a bottom dunnage piece and top dunnage piece respectively, the bottom and top dunnage pieces each having contact surfaces to engage and retain a golf car component. The body includes a base portion, opposing sidewall portions, and a back portion. The bottom support member is operably connected to the base portion of the body, and the top support member is operably connected to the back portion of the body. A plurality of recesses and profiles formed in the bottom and top dunnage pieces provides contact surfaces adapted for nestably receiving and separating a plurality of a golf car component.
US07918151B2
The present invention relates to a film cutter assembly in which a blade housing slides bilaterally along a pair of rails. The blade housing houses a blade. An elongated rail base is coupled or integral with a pair of rails. The rails are formed of a material which provides a cling property to hold the film to the rail and maintain the film in flat position before, during and after cutting. A double-side adhesive tape can be applied to a surface of the elongated rail base which is adapted for attaching the elongated rail base to a carton of film.
US07918150B2
A blind cut-down apparatus for trimming a blind down to size the blind having at least a head rail component, and blind slats suspended from the head rail, and having a blind holding plate with an opening for holding the components in position for cutting, a slat cutter moveable relative to the holding plate for cutting blind components held in the holding plate, and including a movement device for moving the cutter. Also disclosed is a method of saw cutting ends of blind components in which the blind components are held in a head plate and in which a cutter cuts the components. Also disclosed is a blind cut down machine having a moveable head rail support mounted on a blind holder plate, with a moveable head rail opening in the support, with the support being selectively moveable into and out of position for accommodating various types of head rail.
US07918145B1
A combination shift and brake lever arrangement for a bicycle, includes a single lever. A braking arrangement mounts the single lever for movement in a first pivoting direction to perform a braking operation, and a first shifting arrangement mounts the single lever for movement in a second different pivoting direction. A shift control mechanism controls shifting of gears of the bicycle in a first shifting direction upon movement of the single lever in the second pivoting direction. A second shifting arrangement mounts at least a portion of a reverse shifting lever for linear movement in a first linear direction. A reverse control changes over the shift control mechanism to control shifting of the gears of the bicycle in a second opposite shifting direction upon linear movement of the at least a portion of the reverse shifting lever in the first linear direction.
US07918142B1
The present invention is related to a sensor for simultaneously measuring both normal and shear forces applied to two or more flexible sensors, and further a statically responsive sensor for measuring shear forces. The present invention further includes a method of designing an object, prototype or a device using these sensors to detect both shear and normal forces encountered at the sensor locations.
US07918141B1
The present invention provides a method for evaluating degradation of a thermal barrier coating disposed on a turbine blade. The method includes measuring a residual stress of an outer surface portion of a thermal barrier coating on a turbine blade, the turbine blade having been subjected to normal operating conditions and determining degradation of the thermal barrier coating based on a comparison between the residual stress measurement and a control stress measurement.
US07918139B2
A Pirani vacuum gauge in which a response to a rapid pressure rise is improved and restrictions on a mounting direction of a container on a chamber to be measured for pressure are eliminated is provided. The Pirani vacuum gauge includes a heat filament of metal wire and a support unit for supporting the heat filament in a container, wherein a gas pressure is measured based on an amount of heat conducted away from the heat filament by gas molecules colliding with the heat filament, characterized in that a body of the container is filled with metal material, but a first cylindrical bore and a second cylindrical bore extend through the body, the heat filament being inserted into the first cylindrical bore and the support unit being inserted into the second cylindrical bore.
US07918138B2
A wireless microelectromechanical system (MEMS) pressure sensor with built in calibration. An actuator is coupled with a pressure sensing device to enable the pressure to be calibrated against the known pressure exerted by the actuator. The sensing component is configured to flex under the application of force to a pure bending condition, i.e., the sensing component flexes with no or insignificant shear forces in the sensing component.
US07918136B2
A micromechanical sensor element (1) is provided, which has a sealed diaphragm (2) affixed in a frame (3), exhibits high sensitivity at high overload resistance and has a small size, and which allows a piezoresistive measured-value acquisition. To this end, at least one carrier element (4), which is connected to the frame (3) via at least one connection link (5), is formed in the region of the diaphragm (2). Furthermore, piezoresistors (6) for detecting a deformation are situated in the region of the connection link (5).
US07918130B2
A cam phaser diagnostic system is provided. The system includes: a first sample variance module that computes a first variance based on a desired cam phaser position. A second sample variance module computes a second variance based on a measured cam phaser position. An evaluation module diagnoses faulty cam phaser operation based on the first variance and the second variance.
US07918126B2
A subsea leak detection system is disclosed which includes a plurality of subsea leak detection sensors and a leak detection controller adapted to receive leak detection data from the plurality of subsea leak detection sensors and direct the sensing activities of the plurality of subsea leak detection sensors based upon the received leak detection data.
US07918123B2
A gas sensor has at least one gas sensitive layer, which has at least one surface area in which the work function is dependent upon the concentration of a target gas capable of being brought into contact with the surface zone. At least one electric potential sensor is capacitatively coupled to the surface zone over an air gap. The surface zone of the gas sensitive layer is covered with an electrically insulating coating which is inert to the target gas and which is adhesively bound to the gas sensitive layer. The coating is configured so that it is permeable to the target gas and so that when the target gas contacts the surface zone of the gas sensitive layer, it prevents or at least impedes an alteration of the bound state of atoms and/or molecules bound to the surface zone and differing from the target gas.
US07918121B2
A test system comprises a sensor container and a testing device. The sensor container has a base and a lid. The container encloses a plurality of test sensors therein. The container includes a calibration label attached thereto. The label includes electrical contacts located thereon that encode calibration information onto the calibration label. The testing device has a sensor-container opening formed thereon. The sensor-container opening has an auto-calibration feature located therein. The auto-calibration feature is external to the testing device. The auto-calibration feature includes calibration elements to communicate with the electrical contacts on the calibration label. The testing device determines the calibration information encoded on the calibration label in response to the calibration elements engaging the electrical contacts. A portion of the sensor container remains external to the meter while the encoded calibration information is being determined.
US07918119B2
A method is disclosed for controlling the speed of a curved rotatably driven laying pipe through which a longitudinally moving product is directed to exit from the delivery end of the pipe as a helical formation of rings. The method comprises determining the maximum and minimum internal radii Rmax, Rmin of the pipe at the location of the maximum radius R of the pipe as measured from its rotational axis; continuously measuring the velocity Vp of the product entering the laying pipe; and, controlling the rotational speed of the laying pipe such that the rotational velocities Vmax, Vmin of the pipe at said maximum and minimum internal radii bracket a range containing the velocity Vp of the product.
US07918112B2
A security device a plurality of cables which are securable about an item of merchandise with a locking member and a cable-tightening mechanism each connected to the cables in a spaced apart manner. The locking member includes a key portion for unlocking the tightening mechanism when the cable is removed from the item. The tightening mechanism includes a spool and a ratchet mechanism. Alternate embodiments for locking and unlocking the ratchet mechanism are disclosed. The tightening mechanism carries sense loops which if compromised actuate an onboard audible alarm. The cables are part of one or more of the sense loops. The device is configured to sound a security gate alarm upon passing through the gate and upon simply reaching a certain distance from the gate. The tightening mechanism includes a housing having a flip-up handle for tightening the ratchet mechanism to tighten the cable.
US07918103B1
This is a device to provide airflow comfort to an individual while sleeping. It will be comprised in part by air flow that is provided by a fan. The air flow may be cooled. The air that is provided escapes through a series of holes on the top of the device.
US07918093B2
According to various embodiments, a portable cryogenic treatment system comprises a transportable housing. The transportable housing comprises a plurality of side walls, a front wall, a rear wall, a ceiling and a floor. The transportable housing includes a cryogenic liquid source and a cryogenic treatment chamber in fluid communication with the cryogenic liquid source. The cryogenic treatment chamber is configured to treat a treat able object using a cryogenic liquid.
US07918088B1
A dual pump apparatus for use on a vehicle or industrial application having a housing in which a pair of hydraulic pumps are mounted and driven by a prime mover. The prime mover is drivingly coupled to a main input shaft, which drives the hydraulic pumps. An auxiliary pump may be drivingly coupled to the main drive shaft and a power take off unit may also be connected thereto. The power take off unit may be driven by a power take off unit output drive shaft, on which a cooling fan may be attached.
US07918083B2
There is described a method of controlling air intake flow of an internal combustion engine (1), the method including the steps of calculating a reference airflow (AREF) as the sum of a feed-forward contribution (AFF), calculated as a function of the reference air/fuel ratio ((A/F)REF) to be obtained in the combustion chamber, and a feed-back contribution (AFB), calculated as a function of the oxygen concentration (% O2) of the exhaust gas; and closed-loop controlling the air intake flow of the engine so that it equals the reference airflow (AREF).
US07918072B2
A manually operated bale wrapping apparatus for a round baler having a wrapping apparatus position indicator device which is visually observable by an operator that enables the operator to manually monitor and manipulate the wrapping apparatus, thereby reducing the need for an electronic control system on the baler to manage the operations of the bale wrapping process.
US07918071B2
A method, system and article for producing an envelope having improved seal integrity. A method includes the steps of: disposing at least one material at the interface of the adhesive seal between the flap and the body portion of the envelope, which material radiates thermal energy when combined with an activating agent. The envelope is then sealed by closing the flap onto the body portion of the envelope and combining the material with the activating agent at the sealing interface so as to change the thermal energy radiated therefrom. The seal is then inspected to determine whether the thermal energy radiated from the activated material has changed thereby confirming that a seal has been produced between the flap and body portion of the envelope. The system and article are directed to the various modules of a mailpiece fabrication system employed to produce the mailpiece including an inspection module for confirming that a seal has been formed.
US07918069B2
Providing in conjunction with a large round baler is a wrapping arrangement for enveloping a large round bale with an enveloping material. The wrapping arrangement includes a propulsion element, preferably a propulsion roll, that withdraws the enveloping material from a supply, preferably in the form of a roll, and a clutch arrangement effectively connected to the propulsion element. The clutch arrangement is arranged to maintain the force acting upon the enveloping material generally at a constant level once the enveloping material is grasped by the bale during the wrapping process.
US07918068B2
A tablet filling instrument 1 for dispensing tablets into a vial 9 in accordance with prescription data and discharging the vial 9 filled with the tablets in one of a plurality of outlets 113 designates at least one of the outlets 113 to be a priority outlet 113p and discharges the vial 9 filled with the tablets in the priority outlet 113p when the tablets are to be dispensed in one of the outlets 113 at a time-point within a predetermined time length from a present time-point.
US07918067B2
A grating system provides enhanced see through characteristics and typically includes longitudinal deep bars, axial crossbars, axial filler bars between the crossbars and longitudinal joining bars which join the crossbars and filler bars to one another. The deep bars are part of a first subassembly and the other bars are part of a second subassembly which may be lowered to join the two subassemblies to one another. The crossbars and filler bars are seated on the deep bars with the crossbars typically within upwardly opening notches formed in the deep bars. The joining bars are typically above and aligned with the deep bars. The upper surfaces of the crossbars and filler bars are usually substantially flush with one another. The grating system is configured to support vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
US07918064B2
The present invention relates to structural couplings for forming of a variety of structures such as floor and wall panels for buildings and internal structures such as hand rails. The structural coupling comprises a structural component or components (1) provided with coupling leg formations (2) and locking flanges (F) and a channel section (8) which interconnect one with the other by means of a snap fit engagement (12) of the leg formations (2) of the structural component (1) with the channel section (8). This has considerable advantages over the prior art where nuts and bolts were needed to fasten the components together. The use of a common channel section which can be engaged by snap fit action provides an elegant and non-limited method of joining structural components together rather than in a direct fashion as with prior systems.
US07918057B2
The present invention provides floor tiles and modular floors. The floor tiles may include a locking system that allows adjacent tiles to interlock, while also permitting a predetermined amount of lateral sliding relative to one another. The modular tiles may be injection molded, and a minor change in the mold facilitates variation to the amount of lateral slide allowed between interlocked tiles. The floor tiles may also provide three layers of traction, providing more sure footing than previous flooring systems. In addition, the floor tiles may comprise a two-tier suspension system that yields a flex or spring-like effect.
US07918056B2
A hole is drilled at a depth of about 5 to 6 m from the ground surface, a shelter outer shell floor slab 3 is provided, and a shelter inner shell 1 is provided thereon. Next, a load-bearing partition wall 6 is provided in the shelter inner shell 1, and thereafter a shelter outer shell 2 is provided and integrated. If required, a neutron beam-shielding shell 4 is provided at the outer surface-side of the wall section and the ceiling section of the shelter outer shell 2 or the shelter inner shell 1-side to subsequently backfill the beam-shielding shell 4.
US07918054B2
Various novel roofing brackets and roofing systems are disclosed. A first embodiment can be considered a roofing bracket to be coupled to a vertical post and a horizontal purlin of a roofing system whereby the horizontal purlin is positioned to support roof panels at a requisite pitch. The roofing bracket includes a reference brace and a clip. The reference brace includes a first brace face positioned planarly parallel with the vertical post and a second brace face extending at an angle angle from the first brace face and positioned planarly parallel with the vertical post. The clip includes a first clip face positioned to be fastened generally flush with the horizontal purlin and a second clip face extending at an angle from the first clip face and positioned to be fastened planarly parallel with the vertical post. The second clip face is coupled to the first brace face at a pivot point such that the clip can be rotated a particular angle relative to the reference brace. The angle of rotation is consistent with the requisite pitch of the roofing system.
US07918052B2
A drywall construction and method including an installation element, such as shelving, a cupboard shell, or the like, for the keeping of objects including a frame construction with vertical upright profiles having a C-shaped cross section with legs, wherein the installation element is fastened to the upright profiles. The installation element may have, on at least part of its outer surfaces, a first groove and a second groove parallel to the first groove and spaced away from it, and in a fastening condition, the legs of the upright profiles are inserted into the first groove and the second groove.
US07918041B2
An article of footwear including a cooling system is disclosed. The article of footwear includes a sole system. The sole system includes a first compression chamber and a second compression chamber, each configured to compress during motion. The compression of the first compression chamber and the second compression chamber creates a pressure imbalance that facilitates the exchange of air throughout the article of footwear by means of apertures disposed along the upper sole portion, and channels configured to transfer air to the apertures.
US07918031B2
A thread ring gauge includes a body having inner and outer peripheries spaced in a radial direction. The body includes a split extending from the outer periphery through the inner periphery, separating the body into two sections respectively having first and second end faces. The first end face includes a groove extending away from the second end face in a width direction perpendicular to the radial direction. The groove extends from the outer periphery towards but spaced from the inner periphery. The groove has a bottom wall facing the second end face. An adjusting member is extended through the first and second sections and movable to adjust a width of the slit between the first and second end faces in the width direction. A gauge block is received in the groove and abuts the bottom wall of the groove and the second end face.
US07918025B2
A thermal spreading device disposable between electronic circuitry and a heat sink includes a substrate having parallel first and second faces and conduits extending through the substrate between the faces. The substrate material has a first thermal conductivity value in a direction parallel to the faces and a second thermal conductivity value in a direction normal to the faces, with the second thermal conductivity value being less than the first thermal conductivity value. The conduit material has a thermal conductivity value associated with it, with the thermal conductivity value being greater than the second thermal conductivity value of the substrate. One method of fabricating the thermal spreading device includes disposing a molding material radially about the rods and hardening the material. Other methods include press fitting and shrink fitting the rods into a substrate material.
US07918024B2
A method for manufacturing a turbine nozzle assembly using a fixture includes providing a first position of the fixture, positioning at least one datum of the turbine nozzle assembly adjacent at least one datum location point on the fixture when the fixture is in the first position, coupling the turbine nozzle assembly to the fixture when the fixture is in the first position, rotating the fixture from the first position into a second position that facilitates manufacturing the turbine nozzle assembly, and performing a manufacturing process on the turbine nozzle assembly when the fixture is in the second position.
US07918022B2
A method of producing a cooling channel piston for an internal combustion engine having a cooling channel in its piston crown, wherein a piston lower section with piston bosses, piston pin bores and piston skirts attach to the piston crown, wherein a piston blank is first produced with a circumferential collar radially projecting in the area of the piston crown, wherein the collar is then formed over, wherein, a seating area for the collar is formed in a transition zone between the piston crown and the piston lower section and the collar is formed over in such a way until its outer radially circumferential edge comes very close to or butts completely against the seating area to form a closed cooling channel.
US07918020B2
Disclosed is a method for manufacturing an electroconductive material-filled throughhole substrate that is free from any void part in the electroconductive material filled into the throughholes. The method comprises forming an electroconductive base layer on one side of a core substrate having throughholes, and precipitating and growing an electroconductive material from one direction within the throughholes by electroplating using the electroconductive base layer as a seed layer to fill the electroconductive material into the throughholes without forming any void part and thus to manufacture an electroconductive material-filled throughhole substrate.
US07918015B2
A process for making a fluid ejector head for a micro-fluid ejection device. In one embodiment, the process comprises depositing a thin film resistive layer on a substrate to provide a plurality of thin film heaters. The thin film resistive layer comprises a tantalum-aluminum-nitride material consisting essentially of AlN, TaN, and TaAl alloys, and containing from about 30 to about 70 atomic % tantalum, from about 10 to about 40 atomic % aluminum and from about 5 to about 30 atomic % nitrogen.
US07918004B2
A tampon applicator barrel including a cardboard tube having a first end and a second end and at least one gripping structure defined from the cardboard tube proximate the second end is provided. The cardboard tube has a wall thickness of between about 0.015 and about 0.020 inches, while the gripping structure has a height of up to about 0.035 inches.
US07918003B2
The kingpin bushing installation tool is a dual-headed insertion tool for installing kingpin bushings within the cylinder cavities of a steering knuckle. The kingpin bushing installation tool includes a rod having opposed upper and lower ends. An upper bushing-engaging member is mounted on the upper end of the rod and includes an upper portion, an intermediate portion and a lower portion. The intermediate portion has a diameter greater than a diameter of the lower portion, and the upper portion has a diameter greater than the diameter of the intermediate portion. A lower bushing-engaging member is adjustably and removably mounted on the lower end of the rod and includes an upper portion, an intermediate portion and a lower portion. The intermediate portion thereof has a diameter greater than a diameter of the upper portion, and the lower portion has a diameter greater than the diameter of the intermediate portion.
US07917995B2
Furniture hinge with alternative damping and/or braking device with respect to those existing and able to guarantee a better functional efficiency during closing and opening operation of the doors, or other parts of furniture, even after long periods of inactivity of the same device. The better efficiency of such hinge is also obtained by increasing the friction surfaces with a viscous means present in suitable areas of the hinge and by allowing the regulation of the angular velocity trend of a circular shaped element, for example a disk, that acts as a braking element in contact with the viscous means.
US07917991B2
A steam generator is provided that includes an external case having an opening that allows an internal space to communicate with an external environment. Additionally, the steam generator may be provided with a supplier that supplies water to the internal space, a heater provided to the opening to generate steam, an outlet pipe having a first side that communicates with the external environment to discharge steam, and a steam discharge controller provided to a second side of the outlet pipe to open/close the outlet pipe according to a presence or absence of a discharge of the steam.
US07917981B1
An inflatable inner sole for footwear has a flexible, inflatable enclosure with an inflation system that may includes an on-board air pump and a pressure relief valve. The inflatable enclosure may include a plurality of chambers that are independently adjustable by selectively adding or removing a gas from each chamber. The inflatable enclosure may also include a pressure gauge and an improved pressure relief valve sleeve with a spring seat. The inflatable enclosure may be formed with one or both of first and second sheets formed as contoured prefabricated sheets. Alternatively, the sheets may be flat sheets. A recess is formed in the sheets so that the recess extends out of a plane of intersection between the first and second sheets. The recess may be formed by causing a portion of the first and second sheets to bend out of the plane of intersection of the first and second sheets.
US07921460B1
A network device coordinates with other devices in a network to create a distributed filtering system. The device detects an attack in the network, such as a distributed denial of service attack, and forwards attack information to the other devices. The devices may categorize data into one or more groups and rate limit the amount of data being forwarded based on rate limits for the particular categories. The rate limits may also be updated based on the network conditions. The rate limits may further be used to guarantee bandwidth for certain categories of data.
US07921458B2
A gateway receives from a file server a packet addressed to another gateway in the same alliance, and transfers the packet to the other gateway. The gateway transmits a packet to the file server via another gateway in the same alliance. Upon receiving a packet from another gateway in the same alliance, the gateway transfers the packet to a PPTP server. The PPTP server transmits a packet received from the file server to a gateway via a different gateway in the same alliance.
US07921456B2
E-mail based user authentication is described herein. A user can access resources of a service provider by submitting only an e-mail address to which the user has access. The service provider generates an authentication ticket corresponding to the user's login request, and transmits the authentication ticket to the e-mail service provider indicated by the submitted e-mail address. The e-mail service provider processes the authentication ticket, and enables either approval or denial of the authentication ticket, whether by explicit user action or by automated processing.
US07921449B2
A live video is directed to a display buffer of the device. The device is preferably a set top box and a live video frame stored in the display buffer is preferably displayed by a display device coupled to the set top box. The display device is preferably a television. A capture command preferably signals the set top box to store one or more frames of the currently displayed live video. Upon receiving the capture command, the live video is paused, thereby preventing the display buffer from loading subsequent live video frames. The live video is then re-directed to a capture buffer, the live video is un-paused, and a current live video frame is captured from the capture buffer. The captured frame is then stored using a conventional storage medium. After the frame is captured, the live video is re-directed from the capture buffer to the display buffer to resume display of the live video.
US07921443B2
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods that overcome deficiencies in the prior art. One embodiment of the invention comprises an integrated system for providing video and data services to a customer premises. The integrated system comprises a digital broadcast satellite receiver, a data source, and an integrated network interface device. The integrated network interface device can be coupled to a receiver and/or the data source, and the integrated network interface device can be configured to receive video information from the receiver and data (e.g. Internet Protocol data) from the data source. In certain embodiments, the integrated network interface device can further be configured to distribute the data to the customer premises via a first internal transport medium and/or distribute the video information to the customer premises via a second internal transport medium. In one aspect, network interference devices can be attached to an external wall of customer premises.
US07921425B2
Techniques for allocating computing resources to tasks include receiving first data and second data. The first data indicates a limit for unblocked execution by a processor of a set of at least one task that includes instructions for the processor. The second data indicates a maximum use of the processor by the set. It is determined whether a particular set of at least one task has exceeded the limit for unblocked execution based on the first data. If it is determined that the particular set has exceeded the limit, then execution of the particular set by the processor is blocked for a yield time interval based on the second data. These techniques can guarantee that no time-critical tasks of an embedded system on a specific-purpose device are starved for processor time by tasks of foreign applications also executed by the processor.
US07921420B2
In an exemplary method, an imaging device that is logically connected to at least one host computer system receives installation of a firmware upgrade. The firmware upgrade includes at least one new feature that is not accessible to the host(s) without a driver upgrade. The firmware upgrade includes the driver upgrade and/or driver upgrade information. In response to receiving installation of the firmware upgrade, the imaging device identifies the host(s) to which it is logically connected. The imaging device sends the driver upgrade and/or the driver upgrade information to the host(s).
US07921419B2
A method and mechanism for managing data to resolve incompatibilities between different versions of data is disclosed. According to one approach, incompatibilities to private data is managed using group/member dependent key(s)/link(s), static shared data is managed using group/member dependent key(s)/link(s), and dynamic shared data is managed using data transformation function(s).
US07921416B2
The present invention, in an example embodiment, provides a special-purpose formal language and translator for the parallel processing of large databases in a distributed system. The special-purpose language has features of both a declarative programming language and a procedural programming language and supports the co-grouping of tables, each with an arbitrary alignment function, and the specification of procedural operations to be performed on the resulting co-groups. The language's translator translates a program in the language into optimized structured calls to an application programming interface for implementations of functionality related to the parallel processing of tasks over a distributed system. In an example embodiment, the application programming interface includes interfaces for MapReduce functionality, whose implementations are supplemented by the embodiment.
US07921415B1
An interpreter program is described that may be loaded from an external resource when needed by a host. In one implementation, the interpreter program is written in a first language and is capable of interpreting a second language. A program, written in the second language, is provided as data to the interpreter program. The interpreter program may then execute the program.
US07921412B1
A system and method for monitoring an application is provided. The system comprises a first module operable to read application values stored in a memory area by the application, a second module in communication with the first module and operable to request the first module to read the application values, the second module further operable to receive the application values from the first module, and a third module in communication with the second module, the third module operable to display the application values. A system for non-intrusively monitoring variables during operation of an application is also provided.
US07921404B2
A method is disclosed for electronically processing constraints rules defined in a previously developed first PCB design having a first constraints output file, to facilitate the development of a second PCB design having a second constraints output file. The second design has substantially identical topology to the first design and the second constraints output file comprises constraints for signals with identical attributes. The method includes several steps. Firstly, the board file of the first design is compared with the net list file of the second design to identify respective differences between the designs. On the basis of the established differences, a file attributes change report is generated. At least some data from the file attributes change report is stored into an attributes change file. Finally, the method includes the step of processing the first design constraints output file, the second design constraints output file, and the attribute change file to map constraints associated with changed attributes, thus defining a revised constraints output file for the second design. The revised second constraints output file comprises constraints for at least some signals with changed attributes.
US07921401B2
A stress analysis method is provided: including dividing, by using a division unit, an inside of a chip into a plurality of analysis areas, deriving, by using a composite property derivation unit, a composite property into which physical property values of a plurality of materials included in an analysis area are compounded, about each of the plurality of analysis areas on the basis of wiring structure data for each of the plurality of analysis areas, and creating, by using a stress analysis unit, a three-dimensional model of a finite element method which uses each analysis area as an element, to apply the composite property to each element, and to perform a stress analysis.
US07921394B2
A method, system and computer program product for performing verification of an electronic design is disclosed. The method includes receiving a design, including a first target set, a primary input set, and a first register set comprising one or more registers. A binary decision diagram analysis of the design is generated. A recursive extraction of one or more next states of selected registers is generated using the binary decision diagram analysis of the first target set and the primary input set. The recursive extraction is decomposed to generate a second target set, and the second target set is verified.
US07921392B2
Simultaneous Dynamical Integration modeling techniques are applied to global placement of elements of integrated circuits as described by netlists specifying interconnection of morphable-devices. Solutions to a system of coupled ordinary differential equations in accordance with Newtonian mechanics are approximated by numerical integration. A resultant time-evolving system of nodes moves through a continuous location space in continuous time, and is used to derive placements of the morphable-devices having one-to-one correspondences with the nodes. Nodes under the influence of net attractive forces, computed based on the interconnections between the morphable devices, tend to coalesce into well-organized topologies. Nodes are also affected by spreading forces determined by density fields that are developed based on local spatial node populations.
US07921386B2
Disclosed herein is a fabrication method for a semiconductor device, including a lithography step of connecting a plurality of mask patterns to each other to form a pattern image of an area greater than the size of the mask patterns. The lithography step includes the steps of: assuring an overlapping exposure region to be exposed in an overlapping relationship by both of two mask patterns to be connected to each other, carrying out exposure transfer of the pattern portions of the two mask patterns to the overlapping exposure region to form a first measurement mark and a second measurement mark in the overlapping exposure region, and carrying out positional displacement measurement of pattern connection by the two mask patterns based on a manner of combination of main marks and sub marks of the measurement marks formed in the overlapping exposure region.
US07921380B2
A portal environment may include at least one detachable and reattachable portal page. The detachable and reattachable portal page may include a detach feature to detach the portal page from the portal environment. A reattach feature may be provided to reattach a detached portal page to the portal environment. In another embodiment, a method to detach and reattach at least one portal page may include detaching a selected portal page in response to activating a detach feature. The method may also include reattaching the detached portal page in response to activating a reattach feature. The selected, detached portal page may be transferred to a window in response to activating the detach feature. Tunneling communication may be provided between the detached portal page and the portal environment.
US07921363B1
To visualize data, an input data set having a plurality of data items is received, and data thinning processing is applied to identify data items of the input data set to deselect from visualizing in a visualization screen. Identifying the data items to deselect is based at least on density of the data items, and on deselection of attributes of the input data set to reduce a number of the attributes to be visualized. After applying the data thinning processing, the data set is presented for display in the visualization screen.
US07921357B2
A method for processing and displaying individual views of the application of pre-defined criteria to textual, graphical, video, or audio material. The use of visually-differentiated emphasis to display similarities and differences can take a variety of forms, including color-coded highlighting, underlining, circling, or the insertion of graphical symbols.
US07921356B2
A method, system and computer readable medium for providing for providing a function item, such as a key, button, icon, or menu, tied to a user operation in a computer, whereby a single click on the function item in a window or program on a computer screen, or one single selection in a menu in a program, initiates retrieval of name and addresses and/or other person or company related information, while the user works simultaneously in another program, e.g., a word processor. The click on the function item initiates a program connected to the button to search a database or file available on or through the computer, containing the person, company or address related data, in order to look up data corresponding to what the user types, or partly typed, e.g., name and/or address in the word processor, the correct data from the database, data related to the typed data, e.g., the name of the person, company, or the traditional or electronic address, or other person, or company, or address related data, and alternatively the persons, companies, or addresses, are displayed and possibly entered into the word processor, if such related data exists.
US07921349B2
A method and communication system for selecting a mode for encoding data for transmission in a wireless communication channel between a transmit unit and a receive unit. The data is initially transmitted in an initial mode and the selection of the subsequent mode is based on a selection of first-order and second-order statistical parameters of short-term and long-term quality parameters. Suitable short-term quality parameters include signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), power level and suitable long-term quality parameters include error rates such as bit error rate (BER) and packet error rate (PER). The method of the invention can be employed in Multiple Input. Multiple Output (MIMO), Multiple Input Single Output (MISO), Single Input Single Output (SISO) and Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) communication systems to make subsequent mode selection faster and more efficient. Furthermore the method can be used in communication systems employing various transmission protocols including OFDMA, FDMA, CDMA, TDMA.
US07921346B2
A method, system and computer program product for testing the Design-For-Testability/Design-For-Diagnostics (DFT/DFD) and supporting BIST functions of a custom microcode array. Upon completion of the LSSD Flush and Scan tests, the ABIST program is applied to target the logic associated direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) faults of ABIST array Design-For-Testability/Design-For-Diagnostics DFT/DFD functions that support the microcode array. A LSSD test of the DFT functional combinational logic is performed by applying generated LSSD deterministic test patterns targeting the ABIST design-for-test faults to determine if the DFT supporting the microcode array is functioning correctly. Additional tests may be terminated upon resulting failure of the applied ABIST DFT circuitry surrounding the arrays.
US07921336B1
A system and method are provided for avoiding categorization of non-error events as actual error events. This is accomplished by categorizing potential error events as actual error events or non-error events based on a proximity to a physical layer signal state change. By this feature, the result of the categorization may be used to more effectively avoid categorizing non-error events and accompanying noise, etc., as actual error events. To this end, in various embodiments, more accurate error counting is afforded to preclude inadvertent disabling, etc. of a mass storage device or associated link that would otherwise result from a flawed error count.
US07921329B2
A thread has a corruption detection mechanism that compares a beginning state of a function with an ending state to determine any inconsistencies. Based on the type of inconsistency, a remedial action may be taken, such as ignoring the inconsistency, cleaning up the inconsistency, and terminating the thread with an exception. The analysis may also include analyzing various states after function execution to find problems such as incomplete transactions. Such a thread may be useful in an operating system as well as a multi-threaded application environment.
US07921327B2
A method for recovery from uncorrectable errors in an information handling system including an operating system (OS) and one or more network interface cards (NICS) is provided. The method may include detecting an uncorrectable error; determining whether the uncorrectable error is isolated to a particular NIC; determining whether the particular NIC is teamed with one or more other NICs; and notifying the OS of a successful recovery from the uncorrectable error if it is determined that (a) the uncorrectable error is isolated to a particular NIC, and (b) the particular NIC is teamed with one or more other NICs.
US07921318B2
A processor (400) includes a clock source (402), a central processing unit (CPU) (408), and a clock generator (404). The clock source (402) includes an output for providing a periodic clock signal. The CPU (408) includes an input for receiving a CPU clock signal. The clock generator (404) includes a first input coupled to the output of the clock source (402), a second input for receiving a mode signal that indicates an output frequency, and an output coupled to the input of the CPU (408). The clock generator (404) provides the CPU clock signal using periodic pulse skipping such that the CPU clock signal has a number of transitions over a unit of time corresponding to the output frequency.
US07921314B2
A method for power delivery comprises coupling an Ethernet cable comprising four wire pairs to a power delivery system and providing power to a powered device on all of the wire pairs. A power delivery system includes an interface operable to couple to an Ethernet cable comprising four wire pairs and a controller operable to provide power to a powered device on all of the wire pairs.
US07921307B2
A system conducts a plurality of cycles on the powered device. Each cycle has a detection phase and a classification phase. A classification voltage is applied to the conductors during each cycle. The system measures a current in the conductors while the classification voltage is applied. The system determines a final class responsive to a plurality of measured currents. The final class utilized to determine an amount of inline power to deliver to the powered device.
US07921303B2
A system and method for providing a secure environment for mobile telephones and other devices are disclosed. The system and method may utilize trust zoning, layered memory, and a secure matrix model having, for example, a memory protection module for protecting memory; a secure debug module for ensuring security of the debug module; a secure file system module for protecting the secure file system; and a trusted time source module for protecting components. Embodiments of the present invention may protect against security attacks on a variety of hardware and software components while permitting suitable levels of accessibility for developmental and maintenance purposes.
US07921293B2
An apparatus and method for unilaterally loading a secure operating system within a multiprocessor environment are described. The method includes disregarding a received load secure region instruction when a currently active load secure region operation is detected. Otherwise, a memory protection element is directed, in response to the received load secure region instruction, to form a secure memory environment. Once directed, unauthorized read/write access to one or more protected memory regions are prohibited. Finally, a cryptographic hash value of the one or more protected memory regions is stored within a digest information repository as a secure software identification value. Once stored, outside agents may request access to a digitally signed software identification value to establish security verification of secure software within the secure memory environment.
US07921292B1
A system is provided that uses cryptographic techniques to support secure messaging between senders and recipients. A sender may encrypt a message for a recipient using the recipient's public key. The sender may send the encrypted message to the message address of a given recipient. A server may be used to decrypt the encrypted message for the recipient, so that the recipient need not install a decryption engine on the recipient's equipment.
US07921286B2
Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement (DRTM) mechanisms can be initiated, not by CPU-manufacturer-specific instructions, but by the execution of code in System Management Mode (SMM) that can modify the values stored in specific Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs) of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The SMM code can be verified prior to execution and it can be trusted based on the secure mechanisms used to update such code. The SMM code can restore a known, trusted state of the computing device and can initiate the measuring of subsequently executed code. In such a manner the Trusted Computing Base (TCB) can be limited.
US07921285B2
Means of mitigating denial of service attacks on IP fragmentation in high performance IPsec gateways
Embodiments of the invention reduce the probability of success of a DOS attack on a node receiving packets by decreasing the probability of random collisions of packets sent by a malicious user with those sent by honest users. The probability of random collisions may be reduced in one class of embodiments of the invention by supplementing the identification field of the IP header of each transmitted packet with at least one bit from another field of the header. The probability of random collisions may be reduced in another class of embodiments of the invention by ensuring that packets sent from a transmitting IPsec node to a receiving IPsec node are not fragmented.
US07921281B2
A processor for sequentially executing a plurality of programs using a plurality of register value groups stored in a memory that correspond one-to-one with the programs. The processor includes a plurality of register groups; a select/switch unit operable to select one of the plurality of register groups as an execution target register group on which a program execution is based, and to switch the selection target every time a first predetermined period elapses; a restoring unit operable to restore, every time the switching is performed, one of the register value groups into one of the register groups that is not selected as the execution target register group; a saving unit operable to save, prior to the restoring, register values in the register group targeted for restoring, by overwriting a register value group in the memory that corresponds to the register values; and a program execution unit operable to execute, every time the switching is performed, a program corresponding to a register value group in the execution target register group.
US07921275B2
While an asynchronous memory move (AMM) operation is ongoing, a prefetch request for data from the source effective address or the destination effective address triggers cache injection by the AMM mover of relevant data from the stream of data being moved in the physical memory. The memory controller forwards the first prefetched line to the prefetch engine and L1 cache, the next cache lines in the sequence of data to the L2 cache, and a subsequent set of cache lines to the L3 cache. The memory controller then forwards the remaining data to the destination memory location. Quick access to prefetch data is enabled by buffering the stream of data in the upper caches rather than placing all the moved data within the memory. Also, the memory controller places moved data into only a subset of the available cache lines of the upper level cache.
US07921269B2
The first storage subsystem, when new data is written in a first memory device beyond a certain timing, writes pre-updated data prior to update by said new data into a pre-updated data memory region and, in addition, updates snapshot management information that expresses a snapshot of a data group within the first memory device to information that expresses the snapshot at the certain timing and, at a later timing than the certain timing, judges, on the basis of the snapshot management information, in which of either the pre-updated data memory region or the first memory device the data constituting the data group at a certain timing exists, acquires data from the one in which the data exists and writes it into the second memory device of the second storage subsystem, and generates the certain timing repeatedly.
US07921264B2
A dual-mode memory chip supports a first operation mode in which received data access commands contain chip select data to identify the chip addressed by the command, and control logic in the memory chip determines whether the command is addressed to the chip, and a second operation mode in which the received data access command addresses a set of multiple chips. Preferably, the first mode supports a daisy-chained configuration of memory chips. Preferably the second mode supports a hierarchical interleaved memory subsystem, in which each addressable set of chips is configured as a tree, command and write data being propagated down the tree, the number of chips increasing at each succeeding level of the tree.
US07921259B2
This invention is related to content delivery systems and methods. In one aspect of the invention, a content provider controls a replacement process operating at an edge server. The edge server services content providers and has a data store for storing content associated with respective ones of the content providers. A content provider sets a replacement policy at the edge server that controls the movement of content associated with the content provider, into and out of the data store. In another aspect of the invention, a content delivery system includes a content server storing content files, an edge server having cache memory for storing content files, and a replacement policy module for managing content stored within the cache memory. The replacement policy module can store portions of the content files at the content server within the cache memory, as a function of a replacement policy set by a content owner.
US07921246B2
A method for automatically identifying available storage components within a storage system, which are appropriate for storing consumer data in compliance with specified service level objectives (SLOs), including discovering available storage components; identifying and assigning service levels provided by each available storage component, wherein identifying and assigning service levels provided by each available storage component, includes classifying the available storage components based on their type of technology, and determining the SLO relevant capabilities of the available storage components; and storing resultant mapping of service levels to available storage components in a metadata repository.
US07921244B2
A communication system may include one or more communication interfaces, a controller, and a storage unit. The communication interface(s) may be configured to be coupled to first and second computing devices. The controller is configured to establish a communication channel between the first and second computing devices. The first and second communication interfaces are coupled with the controller, and the controller is further configured to receive from at least one of the first and second computing devices a communication command communicated in a first format consistent with an external storage device protocol. The storage unit is coupled with the controller and contains a set of instructions recognizable and executable by the first and second computing devices for converting communication requests from at least one of the first and second computing devices to the communication command. The controller is configured to be recognizable by at least one of the first and second computing devices as a storage device controller.
US07921241B2
A traffic manager includes an execution unit that is responsive to instructions related to queuing of data in memory. The instructions may be provided by a network processor that is programmed to generate such instructions, depending on the data. Examples of such instructions include (1) writing of data units (of fixed size or variable size) without linking to a queue, (2) re-sequencing of the data units relative to one another without moving the data units in memory, and (3) linking the previously-written data units to a queue. The network processor and traffic manager may be implemented in a single chip.
US07921237B1
A storage system includes a host computer coupled to a device to transfer a DMA descriptor between the host and the device. An integrity manager manages the integrity of the DMA descriptor between the host computer and the device. The integrity manager embeds a host-side DMA descriptor integrity value in the DMA descriptor and the device transfers the DMA descriptor to a device memory. The device generates a device-side DMA descriptor integrity value and compares it to the host-side DMA descriptor integrity value to determine if the descriptor is corrupted.
US07921230B2
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the illustrative embodiments provide a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for configuring devices. Device information for a plurality of devices is retrieved from an object data manager. A determination is made as to whether a keyboard-video-mouse environment exists. If a keyboard-video-mouse environment does not exist, each device in a plurality of devices is configured to either an available state or a defined state. If a keyboard-video-mouse environment exists, each device in the plurality of devices is configured to the available state. A list of all enumerated devices is requested and a determination is made as to whether a particular device is in the list of enumerated devices. If the particular device is not in the list of enumerated devices, a pseudo device is added to the list to form a modified list of all enumerated devices.
US07921227B2
A method and apparatus for processing message is described. In one embodiment, an application programming interface is configured for receiving and sending messages. A building block layer is coupled to the application programming interface. A channel layer is coupled to the building block layer. A transport protocol stack is coupled to the channel layer for implementing properties specified by the channel layer. The transport protocol stack has a concurrent stack consisting of an out of band thread pool and a regular thread pool. The transport protocol layer is to process messages from each sender in parallel with the corresponding channel for each sender.
US07921225B2
A messaging system, method, and computer program product is disclosed, including a client device having stored therein a client application, which is adapted to be executed by the client device, a server having stored therein a server application, which is adapted to be executed by the server, a plurality of wireless networks, each of which is adapted to communicate messages between the client device and the server, and support one or more wireless network protocols, a protocol gateway encapsulating a fundamental network protocol, which underlies each of the one or more wireless network protocols, means for communicating a message between the client application and the server application, over a selected wireless network protocol through the protocol gateway, independent of the selected wireless network protocol, and a message router for routing the message between the protocol gateway and the server, the message router including means for authenticating an origin of the message, wherein the authenticating means authenticates the origin before the message is routed by the message router, and a database, which is accessible by the message router and adapted to store information relating to routing and authentication of the message. Moreover, the present invention features methods of communicating such messages over wireless networks efficiently, without requiring significant bandwidth, a valuable resource in wireless networks.
US07921216B2
The present invention provides for an automated, user friendly way of constructing and using a binding object. A developer is presented with and selects binding elements that will ultimately be used to create a runtime communication channel for transporting a message between a client and service endpoint. After receiving the user input, metadata, a channel factory and listener factory are created. The metadata describes binding elements and provides an abstract representation of a protocol stack that implements communication aspects at runtime. The channel factory is configured to use the collection of metadata at runtime to generate the runtime communication channel. Further, the listener factory is configured to accept the runtime communication channel for de-multiplexing the communication aspects in order to process the message at a service endpoint. The present invention also provides for groupings of binding elements and standardized binding objects organized based on industry need.
US07921215B2
There is provided a communications network including a server forming part of a virtual private network, a plurality of client computers operative to request connection to the server and to be connected to the server when a request for connection is granted, thereby to be added to the virtual private network and a server response module, operative, in response to a connection request from at least one of the plurality of client computers which connection request cannot be processed by the server, to provide to the at least one of said plurality of client computers a server response indicating that the connection request should be retransmitted only after at least one criterion is met.
US07921205B2
Website load testing using agents is disclosed. An address of a website and a window of time in which to perform a load test are received. The address and the window of time are distributed to a plurality of remotely operating agents, distributed over a wide area. Each agent in the plurality is to access the website at the received address during the window of time to load test the website. Data from the plurality of agents is received upon passage of the window of time, describing a load placed upon the website by the plurality of agents. The received data describing the load placed upon the website is presented. Alternatively, a script may be used to load test a website, the script a series of commands to be executed across the website as a simulation of a transaction, the script to be executed in the window of time.
US07921203B2
Specifying associations among attributes of entities in a data center, the data center comprising a facility that houses computers and equipment supporting computer operations, the entities including the computers and the equipment, some attributes associated with a resource domain, the resource domain composed of a physical characteristic shared by some of the computers and equipment, including inducing, by a management module within the data center, a change in a value of a first attribute of a first entity; monitoring, by the management module within the data center, a change in a value of a second attribute of a second entity; determining whether the monitored change in the second attribute correlates with the induced change in the first attribute; and, if the monitored change in the second attribute correlates with the induced change in the first attribute, specifying an association among the first attribute, the second attribute, and the resource domain.
US07921195B2
A mechanism for using information in an execution context and other information to optimally select a business service implementation and service execution path. Responsive to receiving a request for a service from a service requester, an execution context is created, wherein the execution context comprises information about business aspects and operational aspects of the service being requested. The request is sent with the execution context to a next component in the service request/response flow in the service oriented architecture. Responsive to the next component receiving the request, current execution context information about the service is obtained based on a current processing of the request for the service and historical execution context information about the service based on previous processing of requests for the service. A service execution decision is then made based on the current execution context information and the historical execution context information.
US07921185B2
An SAS domain map is automatically generated at an SAS concentrator switch by a virtual mapping device that presents itself as a target for discovery by SAS devices interfaced with the concentrator, such as information handling systems and storage devices. During the SAS protocol discovery process, the virtual mapping device generates the SAS domain map by acquiring the device name and the device port for each concentrator port that interfaces with a device. A management application running on the concentrator applies the SAS domain map to provide network functions, such as zoning or diagnostics.
US07921176B2
A mechanism is disclosed for generating a composite email for an email conversation. The composite email includes content automatically extracted from a plurality of the emails in the email conversation, and may be generated in response to a user accessing just one of the emails in the email conversation. A mechanism is also disclosed for discovering and recovering lost emails in an email conversation. A mechanism is further disclosed for automatically moving emails from one container to another after an email has been read. These and other advantageous email generating, manipulation, and organization mechanisms are disclosed herein.
US07921169B2
A system for managing a message store in a network includes an object acting as a message store. In one embodiment, the message store is for Java Message Service. A lead server is selected from several servers. The lead server uses a distributed consensus algorithm to select a host server. The selected host server hosts the message store, providing sole access to the message store. The other servers are notified of the new host by messaging. In one embodiment, servers can send messages to the message store on the host and pick up any messages from the message store.
US07921166B2
A system is provided that prints email messages. The system includes a document surrogate that represents one or more email messages and a multifunction device that at least one of prints, scans, emails, faxes, and copies one or more documents. The multifunction device includes a scanning element that scans the document surrogate and electronically encodes information contained therein, a retrieval component that retrieves the one or more emails based at least in part upon information contained in the document surrogate; and a printing element that prints the one or more emails retrieved. The information is associated with at least one of the location, content, and status of the one or more email messages.
US07921165B2
A processor 104 executes computer-executable instructions to receive messages 302; store 304 the received messages in a foreground memory 108; process 306 the stored messages in the foreground memory 108; send 306 the processed messages; move 308 the sent messages to a background memory 110; evaluate 310, 312 the messages in the background memory with respect to a parameter; and delete 314 selected messages in the background memory as a function of the evaluating. Alternatively, a message queue may be used to track lost messages.
US07921164B2
Method and apparatus for stopping output of a correspondence are provided. A correspondence is created and it is determined whether an automatic flag is defined in the user settings for the correspondence and if the automatic flag is set. If it is determined that the automatic flag is not defined in the user settings, it is determined whether an automatic flag is defined in customizing for the correspondence. If the automatic flag is not set in the user settings or the automatic flag is not defined in the customizing, the correspondence is stored in a storage area and output is initiated. The correspondence is then rendered.
US07921133B2
A method, system, and program for query meaning determination through a grid service are provided. A search service within a grid environment receives a free text string as a search query, wherein the free text string includes multiple specifications. The search service controls distribution of the free text string to a selection of grid components, wherein each of the selection of grid components is enabled to interpret a particular aspect of the meaning of the multiple specifications in the free text string. Multiple aspect interpretations of the free text string are received at the search service from the selection of grid components. Next, the search service synthesizes the aspect interpretations into a search-ready query, such that the search request is first interpreted by the selection of grid components to determine a thorough meaning of the free text string before submission to a search engine.
US07921132B2
An improved system and method for query processing in a distributed column chunk data store is provided. A distributed column chunk data store may be provided by multiple storage servers operably coupled to a network. A storage server provided may include a database engine for partitioning a data table into the column chunks for distributing across multiple storage servers, a storage shared memory for storing the column chunks during processing of semantic operations performed on the column chunks, and a storage services manager for striping column chunks of a partitioned data table across multiple storage servers. Query processing may be performed by storage servers or query processing servers operably coupled by a network to storage servers in the column chunk data store. To do so, a hierarchy of servers may be dynamically determined to process execution steps of a query transformed for distributed processing.
US07921121B2
A method and apparatus assigns a quantative variable to each object (or set of objects) in a collection available to a user. The quantative variable is referred to as the Interest Priority Value (IPV). The IPV defines a range of states of the object, between ‘accessed’ and ‘unaccessed’, and is calculated based on one or more attributes of the object. A object with the highest IPV is the most ‘unaccessed,’ and the object with the lowest IPV is the least ‘unaccessed.’ The IPV may be used in a visual representation of the collection of objects, thereby permitting a user to readily identify and obtain those objects of greatest interest to the particular user.
US07921119B2
The present invention provides a software facility for identifying the items most relevant to a current query based on items selected in connection with similar queries. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the facility receives a query specifying one or more query terms. In response, the facility generates a query result identifying a plurality of items that satisfy the query. The facility then produces a ranking value for at least a portion of the items identified in the query result by combining the relative frequencies with which users selected that item from the query results generated from queries specifying each of the terms specified by the query. The facility identifies as most relevant those items having the highest ranking values.
US07921115B2
Disclosed are methods for processing distribution channel data integrating business information with geographic data to produce integrated data, wherein the integrated data has greater resolution than the business information. Distribution channel data is captured and correlated with the integrated data to increase the resolution of the distribution channel data.
US07921113B2
A dictionary creation device and dictionary creation method which optimally create and update a dictionary for classifying, searching, or extracting text information in accordance with a changes in content of text information groups. The dictionary creation device includes a keyword extraction unit that extracts a keyword from inputted text information; a keyword statistics unit that finds statistics regarding an appearance of the keyword; a keyword assessment value calculation unit that calculates an assessment value of the extracted keyword based on the statistics regarding the appearance of the keyword; a determination unit that determines whether or not to register or delete the keyword based on the calculated assessment value; a dictionary registration and deletion unit which registers or deletes the keyword in or from a dictionary database based on a result of the determination performed by the determination unit; and the dictionary database.
US07921107B2
A system is described for generating query suggestions using a network of users and advertisers. The system may include a memory, an interface, and a processor. The memory may store a data representing a network comprising query items linked to advertisement items via link items, wherein each link item comprises a weight representing the strength of the relationship between each query item and advertisement item, a search query item, and a relevance value for each query item. The processor may be operatively connected to the memory and the interface and may identify the data representing the network and receive a search query item. The processor may calculate a relevance value for each additional query item in the network based on its relationship to the received search query item. The processor may then suggest the query items with the highest relevance values to the user via the interface.
US07921105B2
According to one aspect of the present invention, a bio-item searching apparatus searches for a target bio-item with a keyword input by a user. In the bio-item searching apparatus, the storage device stores a bio-item literature set having a literature in which the bio-item name is described for each of bio-items. The control device searches each of the bio-item literature sets with the keyword to acquire the number (Nh) of literatures including the keyword for each of the bio-items, selects the bio-item in which the number-of-literatures Nh is 1 or larger as a candidate bio-item, creates, for each of the candidate bio-items, a number-of-literatures table constituted by any one or both of a) the number-of-literatures Nh, and b) the number of literatures each not including the keyword and including the bio-item name (the number of literatures in the bio-item literature set of the bio-item—Nh), calculates a correlation score between the bio-item and the keyword based on statistical calculation by using the number-of-literatures table for each of the candidate bio-items, and outputs the candidate bio-items to the output device based on the correlation score.
US07921102B2
A method, apparatus and program product is provided for optimizing a database query. A query syntax, system generated predicates, and requisite statistics of the database query are analyzed to determine if a predicate structure is a good candidate for a symbol table only data structure. The predicate structure is analyzed to determine if the predicate structure is already encompassed by an encoded vector index. The symbol table only data structure is generated for at least one column in a database table without generating a corresponding vector data structure from an encoded vector index if the predicate structure is a good candidate and not encompassed by an encoded vector index. The symbol table only data structure is maintained by detecting a change in data associated with the symbol table only data structure and updating the symbol table only data structure to reflect the change in the data.
US07921087B2
An improved system and method for query processing in a distributed column chunk data store is provided. A distributed column chunk data store may be provided by multiple storage servers operably coupled to a network. A storage server provided may include a database engine for partitioning a data table into the column chunks for distributing across multiple storage servers, a storage shared memory for storing the column chunks during processing of semantic operations performed on the column chunks, and a storage services manager for striping column chunks of a partitioned data table across multiple storage servers. Query processing may be performed by storage servers or query processing servers operably coupled by a network to storage servers in the column chunk data store. To do so, a hierarchy of servers may be dynamically determined to process execution steps of a query transformed for distributed processing.
US07921086B1
Deterministic space management queries are answered in a deduplication context. A block subkey data structure comprises a subkey (a subset of the bits of a corresponding hash key identifying a block) and refcount (an indication of the total number of objects that reference a given block) for each block in a deduplication store. For each object, an object subkey data structure is maintained. An object subkey data structure comprises a list of subkeys corresponding to blocks referenced by that object. To answer a space management query concerning a given object set, a corresponding object set subkey data structure is created, comprising an entry for each block referenced by at least one object in the object set. Each entry comprises a subkey identifying that block and an object set refcount for that block. The data structures are utilized to efficiently answer space management queries.
US07921081B2
In one embodiment, at least one snapshot thread manages a point in time snapshot of a file system stored within the space allocated to the file system. The snapshot thread tracks, for at least one block of the plurality of blocks of the file system, a separate entry in a snapshot map specifying if each at least one block is newly allocated following the creation of the point in time snapshot and specifying an addressed location of a snapshot copy of the at least one block if copied. Separately, a file system handling thread tracks a mapping of an allocation state of each of said plurality of blocks of the file system. Responsive to detecting the file system triggered to write or delete a particular block from among the at least one block of the file system, the snapshot thread allows the file system to write to or delete the particular block without making a snapshot copy of the particular block if a particular entry for the particular block in the snapshot map specifies the particular block is newly allocated, wherein a block marked newly allocated was not in-use at the point in time of the file system snapshot.
US07921074B2
An information processing system includes a recognition portion that recognizes a document shown in a given space, a detection portion that detects an event occurring in the given space, and an index-giving portion that gives information on the event detected by the detection portion to the information on the document recognized by the recognition portion, as an index for search.
US07921068B2
The data mining platform comprises a plurality of system modules, each formed from a plurality of components. Each module has an input data component, a data analysis engine for processing the input data, an output data component for outputting the results of the data analysis, and a web server to access and monitor the other modules within the unit and to provide communication to other units. Each module processes a different type of data, for example, a first module processes microarray (gene expression) data while a second module processes biomedical literature on the Internet for information supporting relationships between genes and diseases and gene functionality. In the preferred embodiment, the data analysis engine is a kernel-based learning machine, and in particular, one or more support vector machines (SVMs). The data analysis engine includes a pre-processing function for feature selection, for reducing the amount of data to be processed by selecting the optimum number of attributes, or “features”, relevant to the information to be discovered.
US07921066B2
A method of predicting the behavior of software agents in a simulated environment involves modeling a plurality of software agents representing entities to be analyzed, which may be human beings. Using a set of parameters that governs the behavior of the agents, the internal state of at least one of the agents is estimated by its behavior in the simulation, including its movement within the environment. This facilitates a prediction of the likely future behavior of the agent based solely upon its internal state; that is, without recourse to any intentional agent communications. In the preferred embodiment the simulated environment is based upon a digital pheromone infrastructure. The simulation integrates knowledge of threat regions, a cognitive analysis of the agent's beliefs, desires, and intentions, a model of the agent's emotional disposition and state, and the dynamics of interactions with the environment. By evolving agents in this rich environment, we can fit their internal state to their observed behavior. In realistic wargame scenarios, the system successfully detects deliberately played emotions and makes reasonable predictions about the entities' future behavior.
US07921063B1
A computer system can evaluate electronic messages based on probabilistic analysis, including Bayesian analysis. In one embodiment, a data processing system comprises logic configured for perform training a probabilistic filter using first properties of one or more first network resource identifiers obtained from a whitelist; training the probabilistic filter using second properties of one or more second network resource identifiers obtained from a blocklist; testing third properties of a third network resource identifier using the probabilistic filter, resulting in creating a probability output; and adding the third network resource identifier to the blocklist when the probability output is greater than a specified threshold. The blocklist can be communicated to messaging gateways in the field for local use in evaluating messages that contain spam or other threats.
US07921060B2
A method for pricing a productivity enhancing product or method, such as a feed additive, a fertilizer, or the like, that includes consideration of an expected or realized added benefit from the productivity enhancing product or method to an end user and the price that is expected to be received or has been received by the end user. Programs and systems with which such a pricing method are used are also disclosed.
US07921059B2
A licensing system provides for various versions of an application within a software product. A license type is identified from a product key that is associated with the software product. The license type may correspond to a hybrid license. When the license type is a hybrid license, an application state is determined for any applications included in the software product. A use experience for the applications is provided according to the application state when the application state is determined. For applications that are provided as upgradeable versions, an upgrade may be obtained by simply obtaining a new product key that is associated with the upgraded versions of the applications.
US07921056B2
An apparatus for processing a composite trading order comprises an interface operable to display a composite value representing a weighted quantity of a plurality of trading products. The apparatus further comprises a processor operable to receive at least one input representing a composite trading order, wherein the at least one input comprises a quantity that is equal to at least a portion of the weighted quantity. The at least one input is usable to generate one or more constituent trading orders that, when filled, combine to satisfy the composite trading order.
US07921055B2
A method of opening option trading in an automated exchange trading system. The system receives orders and quotes and matches the orders and quotes to generate trades. The method includes the step of accepting, during a first time period, quotes and orders associated with an option class. The first time period precedes the opening of trading. An opening value of an underlying security is received and opening prices for a number of option series in the option class are determined. Additional quotes and orders are received during a second time period and the opening prices are responsively updated. The second time period is terminated at a randomly selected time and opening rotations begin.
US07921054B2
A method and system for trading financial instruments which reduces the leakage of trading interest when buyers and sellers of financial instruments desire to trade. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a trading system allows traders to speculate on the hidden liquidity in the market by offering liquidity at fixed prices which are inferior to the NBBO (National Best Bid Offer) in exchange for rights to sweep the market for better priced quotes. In another embodiment of the invention, a liquidity provider can set their own fee. This fee is charged to the liquidity taker if their quote is executed. This fee compensates traders for the risk of taking a position in a financial instrument. In another embodiment of the invention, dummy orders are used to reduce trading interest leakage when limit orders are placed into order books. In another embodiment of the invention, a trading system will only match liquidity taking orders with single liquidity providing orders of equal or greater in size.
US07921053B2
Method and system for conducting electronic auctions with multi-parameter price equalization bidding
An auction is conducted by obtaining, from a buyer, information associated with a product to be purchased using an auction, where the buyer purchases the product from a winning bidder. The obtained information associated with the product is made available to at least a first bidder and a second bidder. A first bid that includes a first price and a first non-price information is received from the first bidder. A second bid that includes a second price and a second non-price information is received, from the second bidder. Non-price information is associated with (1) a description of a particular product a given bidder will provide in the event the given bidder wins the auction and/or (2) delivery of a product by the given bidder in the event the given bidder wins the auction. A first comparison value is generated based at least in part on the first price and the first non-price information. A second comparison value is generated based at least in part on the second price and the second non-price information. The first comparison value and the second comparison value are compared and the winning bidder of the auction is selected based at least in part on the comparison.
US07921050B1
Providing computer-based systems and methods for analyzing historical performance of financial securities and identifying trades in those securities based on the securities' current position as compared to this historical performance. These computer-based systems and computer-implemented methods include identifying stock pairs to include in a trading portfolio, based on a measure of the pair's relative performance, such as a modified Sharpe Ratio. The value of the stocks in each stock pair in the portfolio is assessed and deviations determined. This assessment can occur daily or at a longer or shorter time step. Stocks are bought or sold based on the current price of the stock as compared to historical performance. The present invention preferably employs a large number of stock pairs in the trading portfolio. This use of a large number of pairs results in a plurality of stocks being in more than one stock pair.
US07921049B2
A financial product is created by receiving funds from investors to purchase collateral, such as stock or bonds, in companies to populate an insurance portfolio and a risk portfolio. Notes backed by the collateral are issued to the investors and pay a coupon amount based on the performance of the collateral. The collateral is monitored over time to determine whether distressed equity events occur which coincide with the collateral value falling below a predetermined amount of its original share price. The number of distressed equity events between companies in the insurance portfolio and risk portfolio offset each other to give a total number of net hits. Subsequently, the total number of net hits is used to calculate an impact on the amount of the coupon pay-out to the investors.
US07921035B2
Systems and methods of the present invention allow for providing suggested domain names on parked webpages. A parked webpage is placed on a website associated with an original domain name. A domain name module generates suggested domain names based on the properties of the original domain name (e.g. WHOIS records). Suggested domain names are displayed on the parked webpage. A user may visit the parked webpage with the intention to check if the original domain name is available for registration. The original domain name is already registered, but the user may notice an appealing domain name among the suggested domain names. Then the user may register, purchase, or backorder it. The invention may be used as a marketing technique for registration, sale, or resale of the domain names.
US07921031B2
A custom survey generation method and system. The system comprises a computing apparatus comprising a list of business processes, reporting outcomes, and groups of questions. The computing system presents to a user the list. The computing system receives from the user a selection for a business process and an associated reporting outcome from the list. The computing system generates a custom survey for the user in response to the selection. The custom survey comprises a first group of questions associated with the associated reporting outcome. The computing system receives from the user a response to each question of the first group of questions. The computing system generates a first benchmarking report based on each said response.
US07921025B2
A trend of attributes associated with plural market participants is determined. A representation of the trend is computed, and market models for the market participants are built according to the representation of the trend.
US07921017B2
The invention is generally directed to systems and methods for medical care, and more particularly to systems and methods for voice control of a medical device. A first embodiment includes a voice controlled surgical system, such as a phacoemulsification system, a microphone coupled to the surgical system, and a voice controlled computer interface coupled with the surgical system. The voice controlled interface is configured to receive a request to invoke a voice command via the microphone, to listen for a voice command upon receipt of a valid request to invoke a voice command, and to forward a valid voice command upon receipt of the valid voice command to the surgical system for execution.
US07921003B2
A system and method for shallow water simulation may provide a framework for solving General Shallow Wave Equations (GSWE) to efficiently simulate 3D fluid effects on arbitrary surfaces using a height field representation. The height field representation may include height columns constructed along surface normals, which may be dependent on a condition of boundary cells adjacent to fluid cells and/or artificial viscosity effects. The framework may provide implicit schemes for solving for the effects of external forces applied to the fluid, including gravity and surface tension, and explicit schemes for solving for advection effects. The system and method may be implemented on general-purpose CPU(s) and/or GPU(s) and may be capable of simulating a variety of fluid effects including: waves, rivulets and streams, drops, and capillary events. In some embodiments, the system and method may achieve real-time fluid control and fluid shape design through user-interaction (e.g., in a graphical painting application).
US07920995B2
A nonlinear technical product or process described by stochastic system output target values dependent on stochastic system input parameter values, thereby stating discrete technical system dependencies, is optimized by using a Response Surface Methods based on discrete technical system dependencies to generate at least one continuous auxiliary function for the real dependencies of the target values on the input parameter values. Next, an auxiliary function is used to generate at least one optimizing parameter for optimization by an objective function, thereby generating an additional discrete technical system dependence. The technical system is adaptively optimized by repeating the above, using the additional discrete technical system dependence, until the difference of successive optimized optimizing parameters is below a threshold. The final additional discrete technical system dependence is an optimal technical system operating point.
US07920982B2
Optical distortion calibration for an Electro-Optical sensor in a chamber eliminates calibration of the mirror controller and allows for calibration while the target is in motion across the FOV thus providing a more efficient and accurate calibration. A target pattern is projected through sensor optics with line of sight motion across the sensor FOV to generate a sequence of frames. Knowing that the true distances between the same targets remain constant with line of sight motion across the sensor's FOV, coefficients of a function F representative of the non-linear distortion in the sensor optics are fit from observed target positions in a subset of frames to true line of sight so that distances between targets are preserved as the pattern moves across the FOV. The coefficients are stored as calibration terms with the sensor.
US07920980B2
A method for dynamically providing feedback is presented. The method includes monitoring one or more steps performed by one or more components in a machine, where the one or more steps are associated with a workflow. Further, the method includes analyzing the one or more steps performed by the one or more components to dynamically determine feedback based on the one or more steps performed by the one or more components, where the feedback comprises other steps in the workflow. In addition, the method includes presenting the feedback. Systems and computer-readable medium that afford functionality of the type defined by this method is also contemplated in conjunction with the present technique.
US07920977B2
A noncontact method for measuring currents flowing through superconductive wires connected in parallel is provided. The method includes arranging hall sensors for measuring voltage levels based on magnetic fields generated around the superconductive wires, setting a matrix relation between the measured voltage values, values of currents flowing through the superconductive wires, and a variable matrix having variables defining relations between the voltage values and the current values, applying predetermined current levels to the superconductive wires a number of times and measuring voltage values through the hall sensors, substituting the predetermined current values and the measured voltage values into the matrix relation to calculate the variables of the variable matrix, and substituting the calculated variable matrix and unknown voltage values, measured by the hall sensors when unknown currents flow through the superconductive wires, into the matrix relation to calculate values of the unknown currents flowing through the superconductive wires.
US07920965B1
A computer-implemented method for identifying a route that is configured to travel through multiple points of interest includes receiving a query that includes an origin location, a destination location, and at least a first point of interest and a second point of interest. The method also includes identifying a perimeter that surrounds the received origin and destination locations in response to the query. The perimeter is then used to identify a set of locations for each of the first and second points of interest.
US07920964B2
A navigation apparatus includes: a map data obtaining unit that obtains map data; a navigation processing unit that executes navigation processing by using the obtained map data; a search data obtaining unit that obtains search data; a specific data detection unit that detects specific data for a specified search target by using the obtained search data; a correspondence table obtaining unit that obtains a correspondence table indicating correspondence between identification information used to identify individual road units into which each road is divided in predetermined units and map data road unit information related to map data road units defined in the map data individually corresponding to the road units; and a map position determining unit that determines a position of the specified search target in the map data based upon the specific data for the specified search target having been detected and the correspondence table having been obtained.
US07920962B2
A method for moving one or more mobile drive units within a workspace includes receiving, from a first mobile drive unit, a reservation request requesting use of a first path segment to move in a first direction. The method further includes determining that a second mobile drive unit is currently located on the first path segment and determining whether the second mobile drive unit is moving in the first direction. Additionally, the method includes transmitting a reservation response indicating that the reservation request is denied, in response to determining that the second mobile drive unit is not moving in the first direction. The method also includes transmitting a reservation response indicating that the reservation request is granted, in response to determining that the second mobile drive unit is moving in the first direction.
US07920957B2
A method for metering fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine is provided, in which a fuel quantity to be metered for a combustion is metered by a preinjection and at least one additional injection, and in which, in the operation of the internal combustion engine, quantity errors of the preinjection are ascertained from the signal of at least structure-borne noise sensor. The method is distinguished in that a correction value is formed as a function of the quantity error of the preinjection, and at least one of the additional injections is corrected using the correction value. A control device is also provided that controls the method.
US07920955B2
In a method for changing the operating mode in an internal combustion engine it is possible to switch between an operating mode with spark ignition of the engine and an operating mode with auto-ignition of the engine. Hereby, a first map is provided in which at least one range is specified in which a suitable auto-ignition of the engine can take place. After the engine start, therefore, it is determined whether the engine has reached an operating point lying within this range of the first map in order then to switch the engine to the operating mode in which auto-ignition can take place reliably.
US07920954B2
A system and a method is disclosed for universal operation of an internal-combustion engine (2), comprising at least an actuator connected to a working device of the engine, an electronic card (3) including a recording medium for a programmable logic FPGA component and a card synchronization component (9, 10) for synchronizing the card according to the engine cycle. The method, generates, in the component, an angular reference point in the engine cycle for each cylinder; generates, through the component, actuator control pulses, the pulses being parameterizable in phase and in duration, independent and linked with a single cylinder, performing multiplexing of the pulses to distribute the pulses over at least one of the physical outputs of the card specific to the cylinder considered; and controlling at least one of the actuators linked with one of the physical outputs of the card specific to the cylinder considered, with at least one of the control pulses.
US07920953B2
The running control device according to the present invention has an operation stability control unit which calculates a control lateral acceleration from the actual lateral acceleration measured by the lateral acceleration sensor and the estimated lateral acceleration calculated by the estimated lateral acceleration calculation unit and which carries out a control of drive power distribution transmitted from the engine to the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the calculated control lateral acceleration. If either the estimated lateral acceleration or the control lateral acceleration differs from the actual lateral acceleration by not less than a predetermined value, the operation stability control unit carries out a control to reduce the drive power distributed to the front wheels or the rear wheels.
US07920946B2
A control system for controlling a steering system is provided. The control system includes a first module that estimates a command adjust value based on a current position of a hand wheel of the steering system relative to an end of travel region. A second module generates a motor assist command based on the command adjust value to control the steering system.
US07920939B2
A method and system are disclosed for creating and manipulating embroidery designs over a wide area network. The method includes steps to transmit various embroidery design data over a wide area network between a client and a server The manner in which the embroidery design data is created, manipulated, and transmitted allows a user to preview photo realistic renderings of possible finished products, and more precisely adjust interpretations through a provided user interface with minimum latency.
US07920935B2
A manufacturing process for automatically delivering an appropriate level of instructions to a manufacturing operator on demand based on the manufacturing operator's level of activity and performance, the particular characteristics of the product being manufactured, and the particular production environment. Responsive to receiving an order for a product, the manufacturing process identifies an authorization level assigned to an operator performing a particular manufacturing activity on a part in the product and assigns a default level of instructions to the operator based on the authorization level. The process collects and models characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator to determine an appropriate level of instructions to provide to the operator performing a particular manufacturing activity. The manufacturing instructions associated with the appropriate level of instructions are then provided to the operator.
US07920931B2
Video clips (160) are selected for viewing or recording in a video system (160) based on songs that are selected for play in an audio system (110). A history (120) of audio selections is maintained, and based on this history (120), the system identifies ‘favorite’ songs. The system searches sources of video material for video clips (160) that are related to the favorite songs, and records the clips (160). When a favorite song is subsequently selected for play (410), the video system is configured to also play (440), or offer to play (430), the corresponding video clip (160). Optionally, the system is configured to store (390) the location of previously recorded video clips, such as the location of the clip in a user's video collection, or the URL of the clip in a computer network, such as the Internet.
US07920919B1
Provided herein are implantable systems, and methods for use therewith, for estimating a level of noise in a signal produced by an implantable sensor that is sensitive to motion induced noise. Sample data is obtained that is representative of a signal produced by the implantable sensor that is sensitive to motion induced noise. Such a sensor signal has a corresponding morphology. The morphology of a portion of the sensor signal is compared to a template, and a level of motion induced noise in the sensor signal is estimated, based on results of the morphology comparison.
US07920908B2
A method for the evaluation of target media parameters in the visible and near infrared is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a light source, an illuminator/collector, optional illumination wavelength selector, an optional light gating processor, an imager, detected wavelength selector, controller, analyzer and a display unit. The apparatus illuminates an in situ sample of the target media in the visible through near infrared spectral region using multiple wavelengths and gated light. The sample absorbs some of the light while a large portion of the light is diffusely scattered within the sample. Scattering disperses the light in all directions. A fraction of the deeply penetrating scattered light exits the sample and may be detected in an imaging fashion using wavelength selection and an optical imaging system. The method extends the dynamic range of the optical imager by extracting additional information from the detected light that is used to provide reconstructed contrast of smaller concentrations of chromophores. The light detected from tissue contains unique spectral information related to various components of the tissue. Using a reiterative calibration method, the acquired spectra and images are analyzed and displayed in near real time in such a manner as to characterize functional and structural information of the target tissue.
US07920902B2
A mobile personal audio device including a case maintaining a power source, first and second speakers, a microcontroller, and first and second stem assemblies. The stem assemblies extend from opposite sides of the case, respectively, and each include a tube having a first end adjacent and open to a corresponding one of the speakers and terminating at a second end. The stem assemblies are configured such that the tube is positionable in a user-selected extended state in which the second end of the tube is displaced from the case, and a collapsed state in which the second end is in close proximity to the case. In the extended state, the case is locatable at the back of the user's neck, with the tubes extending along opposite sides of the user's head. The microcontroller operates the speakers to generate audio sounds waves that are delivered to the user's ears.
US07920892B2
A rebroadcast content scheduling device receives reception state information and schedules rebroadcast content, where the reception state information includes content identification information for identifying content represented by the broadcast wave received by the receiving section and indicates that the reception defection occurred in the reception of the content. Thus, the rebroadcast content scheduling device can determine to rebroadcast, as the rebroadcast content, the content that was received with many reception defections.
US07920888B2
A radio network entity in charge of outer loop power control for a communication with a mobile radio is informed about erroneous data units, requested retransmissions, and/or data units transmission attempts associated with the data units sent by the mobile radio to the radio network. Another radio network entity, which sends a transmission power control signal to the mobile radio to control the mobile's transmit power level based on a target value, detects errors in data units received from the mobile radio and requests retransmission. Information associated with the requested retransmission is used to generate a revised target value. The target value may be revised by an outer loop power controller node or by an outer loop power controller entity in the same node as an ARQ entity that generates the information about erroneous data units, requested retransmissions, and/or data units transmission attempts associated with the data units sent by the mobile radio to the radio network.
US07920885B2
A method and system for establishing a subnet in a wireless network is provided for wireless transmission of information between two stations in the network. A subnet access process in a wireless communication system establishes a subnet comprising a direct wireless link on a secondary frequency channel for wireless transmission of data between two stations.
US07920879B2
Apparatuses and methods are disclosed herein for implementing dormant mode with paging in a WLAN. Power savings in the computing device and reduction in traffic across the network are achieved by requiring a computing device to inform the WLAN of its location only when it crosses a paging area boundary or is to receive IP traffic. Dormant mode with paging is implemented in a protocol that supports dormant functionality and paging functionality but does not itself provide methods or standards for implementing such functionality, such as the IEEE 802.11. The methods and apparatuses disclosed herein provide the methods needed to implement dormant mode with paging in such a protocol. Generally, the methods and apparatuses for implementing dormant mode with paging basically include (1) establishing paging areas; (2) communicating access group information to a computing device; and (3) locating a computing device.
US07920874B2
A position estimating system capable of accurately estimating the position assumed by a target terminal user based upon measurement of wireless reception signal levels of signals from a target terminal is provided. The position estimating system includes a target terminal that wirelessly transmits a position estimation request, a plurality of reference terminals disposed at specific positions which, measure the signal strength of wireless signals from the target terminal and a position estimating server that estimates the position of the target terminal based upon the reception signal levels measured in correspondence to each of the reference terminals. The reference terminals each include a reception signal level utilization OK/NG judgment unit that makes a judgment as to whether or not the reception signal level value having been measured is to be used in position estimation based upon an index indicating the level of reliability of the reception signal.
US07920867B2
A MOAF algorithm is used to resize cells for balancing capacity. The MOAF algorithm bases its decision on a cell and all other cells which the algorithm decides are sufficiently close in a propagation sense to affect the results. The MOAF algorithm also automatically determines those cells in an area which are most heavily loaded and those cells which are lightly loaded. The MOAF algorithm will only decrease the size of a cell if it determines specific adjacent cells that are willing and able to accept the load, and the MOAF algorithm will increase the size of a cell only if there is a nearby heavily loaded cell that requires the removal of load. Moreover, the MOAF algorithm can be tuned (via the threshold parameter T) to shift the focus of the optimization from avoidance of coverage holes to the avoidance of creation of excessive handover legs. Because the changes are electrical rather than physical they can be deployed instantaneously via the network management system thus saving the cost of sending a field crew to the site. Moreover, it is possible to make these changes much more frequently than has been possible in the past thereby permitting the optimization of the network to be done in near real time to meet the temporal changes in the geographic distribution of customers.
US07920854B2
A system for printing a map on a print medium, the system comprising: a mobile telecommunications device which comprises: a printer module to print the map on the print medium; and, a sensor module to sense a print media identifier of the print medium.
US07920847B2
In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing privacy protection to network users includes receiving a subscription request from a first end user. The subscription request identifies a second end user for whom the first end user would like to become a registered presence watcher. A cost to be assessed to become the registered presence watcher of the second end user is determined, and the first user is registered as the registered presence watcher of the second end user.
US07920829B2
A method and system are provided for locally controlling the distribution of an application at an access point to a shared wireless network and of an application to a mobile node which is located using the address thereof. According to the present method and system, for the access point, the data rate per type of application is measured, the charge rate of the access point per type of application is calculated from the access point and the distribution of a novel application at said access point is either authorized or refused according to the internal priority rules associated with each application following any request for the distribution of said novel application. The present method and system are suitable for the management of access points to an IEEE P802.11-type shared wireless network.
US07920814B2
Disclosed are embodiments that use multiple, belt-steering systems to control and maintain alignment of an endless belt. The position of the edge of the belt is measured by multiple belt edge sensors and then corrected by at least two steering rollers connected to corresponding steering mechanisms. The steering mechanisms tilt the rollers in order to selectively adjust the lateral position of the belt. Steering can be controlled independently with the tilt of each steering roller being adjusted based solely on information obtain from a corresponding belt edge sensor. Alternatively, steering can be controlled dependently with the tilt of each steering roller being adjusted based on information obtain from multiple sensors at multiple locations and further based on the predictable impact of the simultaneous movement of both rollers on belt positioning. In addition, at least one of the steering rollers can also be configured as a drive roller.
US07920811B2
A storage container includes: a storage container main body; a flow-out opening; a shutter; a seal member; a restricting portion; and an open-close movement restricting portion.
US07920810B2
Embodiments of an electrophotography device are disclosed.
US07920789B1
A system for communication of signals between remote devices and monitoring and control devices via fiber. The system in accordance with one aspect of the invention includes a plurality of remote interface units each coupled to a corresponding one of the remote devices, a base unit coupled to one or more monitoring devices and one or more control devices, and a central hub coupled between the base unit and the plurality of remote interface units. The central hub is coupled to the base unit by a first fiber optic link, and is coupled to the remote interface units by additional fiber optic links.
US07920785B2
To improve the quality of photographs of people, the disclosure describes a system and method of photography using desirable feature recognition. The system and method recognize when the subject persons in a photograph possess one or more desirable features for a desirable photograph, such as when they are all smiling and/or not blinking. The system and method may be applied either to individual or group photographs. The system and method of the present invention may operate in a “Full Mode”, in which a picture is taken when all subject persons possess the desirable feature(s). The system and method also may operate in a “Proportional Mode”, in which a picture is taken when a set proportion of the subject persons possess the desirable feature(s). The system and method also may operate in a “Best Picture Mode”, in which multiple photographs are imaged, and the best photograph is selected for keeping, as measured by the photograph containing the highest proportion of subject persons who possess the desirable feature(s). The system and method also may operate in a timer mode, which permits the camera user to appear in the photograph.
US07920784B2
Electronic device, electronic camera, light source device, illumination device, and projector device
An electronic device includes a heat generating member arranged in a body, and a heat transmission member of a shape of a three-dimensional body having at least a first surface that is joined to the heat generating member and a second surface that is joined to an inner surface of the body. The first surface of the heat transmission member has an area greater than or equal to an area of the heat transmission member joined to the heat generating member, and an entire area of the second surface is joined to the inner surface of the body.
US07920777B2
The present invention concerns capillary force vaporizers for use in vaporizing liquids and emitting pressurized vapors. In one embodiment, the inventive capillary force vaporizer includes a porous member, a heater component to convey heat to the porous member, and a vapor containment region. The porous member further includes a capillary network, a surface for receiving liquid and a vaporization area in which vapor is produced from the liquid. The vapor is collected and pressurized within the vapor containment region, which includes one or more openings for the release of vapor at a velocity greater than zero. Several different embodiments for capillary force vaporizers and systems comprising capillary force vaporizers are disclosed along with methods for their use.
US07920762B2
A method of sensing coded data on a surface is disclosed. Images of the coded data on the surface are captured using a sensor of a sensing device. The coded data is formed from tags, with each tag encoding a unique identity of a region of the surface and the position of the tag within the region. A perspective distortion of the coded data is estimated and compensated for when detecting data elements in the tags. The unique identity of the region from the images is determined, and the position of the sensing device within the region from the position of at least one tag in at least one image captured by the sensor is determined.
US07920754B2
A digital image filtering method and system are provided. A first matrix of a plurality of pixels is selected from a digital image to be displayed. The luminosity values of each of the pixels in the pixel matrix are analysed and the luminosity difference between the maximum and minimum luminosity values thereof is calculated. The central pixel of the matrix is then classified according to the luminosity difference in comparison to a predetermined threshold luminosity value, and the above selection, analysis and classification is repeated for each of the pixels of the image in turn. A target pixel is then selected from the classified pixels for further analysis, wherein a second pixel matrix of which the target pixel is the central pixel is selected, the classification of the pixels surrounding the target pixel in the second matrix is analysed, and the target pixel is filtered to an extent dependent upon the classification analysis.
US07920752B2
An image processing device includes a reduced-image creating portion, a reduced-retinex-image forming portion, a normalizing-parameter setting portion, and an original-image correcting portion. The reduced-retinex-image forming portion calculates reflectance of each pixel in a reduced image based both on a pixel value of a subject pixel in a reduced image and on a peripheral average luminance of the subject pixel, thereby forming a reduced retinex image that is configured of reflectance of each pixel in the reduced image. The normalizing-parameter setting portion obtains frequencies of the reflectance in the reduced retinex image and sets an upper limit and a lower limit for normalization. The original-image correcting portion includes a retinex-image forming portion, a first normalizing portion, and a first correcting portion. The retinex-image forming portion calculates reflectance of each pixel in the original image based both on a pixel value of a subject pixel in the original image and on a peripheral average luminance of the subject pixel. The first normalizing portion normalizes the reflectance of the original image based on the upper limit and the lower limit, thereby obtaining a normalized reflectance for each pixel in the original image. The first correcting portion corrects the original image based both on the normalized reflectance and on the pixel value for each pixel in the original image, thereby obtaining a corrected original image.
US07920747B2
Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to video scaling and compression and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for pre-distribution image scaling for screen size. In one embodiment of the invention, a compressed video delivery method can be provided. The method can include determining a display size for a target computing platform, pre-scaling video imagery to comport with the display size of the target computing platform, compressing the pre-scaled video imagery, and transmitting the compressed, pre-scaled video imagery to the target computing platform over a computer communications network.
US07920744B2
A system comprising a first computer and a second computer remotely located from the first computer and in communication with the first computer via a network. The second computer comprises an encoder module which encodes and transmits a pixel color datum to the first computer. The encoder module encodes the pixel color datum by generating a bit indicative of the number of different pixel color data encoded since a datum having a same color as the pixel color datum was last encoded.
US07920742B2
An image processing apparatus includes a document input unit that inputs document data of a document, a first identifying unit that identifies a position of a string included in the document, a second identifying unit that identifies a range of a mark given in the document based on an orientation of the string, and a string extracting unit that extracts a string subject to the mark, based on the position of the string identified by the first identifying unit and the range of the mark identified by the second identifying unit.
US07920740B2
A hue segmentation system and method thereof suitable for image devices are described. First, a plurality of hue segments are generated based on color data of a plurality of colors in a color gamut. Then, the area difference between the hue segments and the color gamut is calculated. If the area difference is greater than a predetermined value, the hue segmentation system searches at least one vertex among the hue segments to divide the segments for generating a plurality of additional hue segments. The above-mentioned steps are performed repeatedly until the area difference is less than the predetermined value. Thus fewer hue segments indicate the color gamut of color processing of the image devices to effectively decrease calculation times and save required memory.
US07920739B2
Automatically selected adjusters are described, including selecting an area of an image, determining a characteristic of the area, and selecting an adjuster of a set of adjusters based on the characteristic of the area.
US07920738B2
The invention regards a method and a system for establishing correspondence between wafers and solar cells produced from said wafers. The method comprises for each wafer and each solar cell, providing an image of the wafer, providing an image of the cell, comparing the wafer image to the cell image, upon match between a cell image and a wafer image, assigning the current cell to the current wafer. The system comprises at least one imaging device for providing images of the wafers and the cells, a processing unit for comparing a wafer image to a cell image, and upon match between a cell image and a wafer image, assigning the current cell to the current wafer, and a memory unit.
US07920727B2
An image evaluation system and method are provided. The system includes an image register, an evaluation window, an image feature generator, and an evaluation unit. In addition, the image evaluation method includes the steps of in case that the image is a human figure, the image is analyzed based on a basic rule of image composition, and an evaluation score is calculated according to the position of the face feature in the image as analyzed and obtained from the image; in case that the image is a landscape, first if a horizontal line exists in the image is determined, if the answer is affirmative, the evaluation score is calculated based on the inclination of a horizontal line in the image; and the evaluation score is reported to the user as a reference. As such, the user may determine the quality of the image based on the evaluation score.
US07920721B2
A system or the like capable of detecting lane marks more accurately by preventing false lane marks from being erroneously detected as true lane marks. A vehicle-use image processing system (100) allows a “road surface cluster” to be extracted from the “histogram” of luminance of each pixel in a “reference area” in a road surface image. Among “primary lane mark candidates,” those that overlap the “reference area” are detected as “secondary lane mark candidates.” Among the “secondary lane mark candidates,” those that have “luminance parameter” values falling within the luminance range of the “road surface cluster” are not detected as true lane marks. Thereby, lane marks are prevented from being erroneously detected (erroneous detection). This allows only lane marks to be detected more accurately.
US07920712B2
A loudspeaker is provided for receiving an electrical signal and transmitting an acoustic signal through a transmission medium. The system includes generally two elements: a coaxial transducer and an acoustic transformer. The coaxial transducer includes a high-frequency driver and a mid-frequency driver that are coaxially arranged. The acoustic transformer is acoustically coupled to the coaxial transducer and includes an initial horn section that expands from a first end to a second end in a direction away from the coaxial transducer. The initial horn section defines a plurality of openings therethrough, such that the initial horn section is acoustically opaque to high-frequency acoustic signals to thereby function as a waveguide for the high-frequency acoustic signals, while it is acoustically transparent to mid-frequency acoustic signals.
US07920692B2
Enhanced call management services to users receiving incoming calls on extensions on a private branch exchange (PBX) is provided by an application server configured to provide call management services to at least one of the users and a protocol proxy configured to receive call information from the PBX according to a protocol for establishing call sessions. The application server is further configured to receive the call information from the protocol proxy.
US07920688B1
A call processing system comprising an interface configured to receive a call request for a call from a caller to a service having a plurality of service variations and transmit a first control message, and a processing system configured to process the call request to select a first service variation of the plurality of service variations based on a first preference indicated by the caller prior to the call and generating the first control message identifying the first service variation.
US07920682B2
A dynamic voice user interface system is provided. The dynamic voice user interface system interacts with a user at a first level of formality. The voice user interface system then monitors history of user interaction and adjusts the voice user interface to interact with the user with a second level of formality based on the history of user interaction.
US07920672B2
It is described a gain calibration for a two-dimensional X-ray detector (315), in which the gain coefficients for scattered radiation (307b) and direct radiation (307a) are measured or estimated separately. A weighed average may be applied on the appropriate scatter fraction. The scatter fraction depending gain calibration method produces less ring artifacts in X-ray images as compared to known gain calibration methods, which do not take into account the fraction of scattered radiation reaching the X-ray detector (315).
US07920666B2
A safety injection tank, used for quickly injecting emergency core cooling water (ECCW) to a reactor vessel in the case of a cold leg large break accident (CLLBA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), is disclosed. The safety injection tank has a gravity-driven fluidic device configured to efficiently change the ECCW injection mode from a high flow injection mode to a low flow injection mode. The gravity-driven fluidic device includes a spring placed in the upper end of the vertical pipe, and a vertically movable water tub placed on the spring so as to be movable in a vertical direction. When ECCW contained in the pressure vessel is discharged and the water level is reduced lower than the height of the tub, the tub is moved downwards such that the lower surface thereof comes into contact with the vertical pipe and closes the high flow inlet port.
US07920665B1
A symmetrical range controller for phase-locked loop circuits includes a first counter coupled to a first signal line, where the first counter is configured to count state transition edges of the first signal, inhibit logic coupled to the first counter, where the inhibit logic is configured to inhibit an output signal of a second counter in response to a predetermined count of the first counter, and reset logic coupled to the first counter, where the reset logic is configured to reset the second counter in response to a full count of the first counter.
US07920664B2
A clock synchronization circuit includes a clock generation circuit generating a sampling clock for sampling a received signal from an output of a local oscillator, a phase error detection circuit finding a phase error between sampling timing of the sampling clock and ideal sampling timing, and a timing correction circuit finding a correction quantity to correct a frequency error between a frequency of the sampling clock and a frequency of the ideal sampling timing and the phase error every sampling timing of the sampling clock, and outputting a sampling value interpolated according to the found correction quantity.
US07920657B2
Apparatus and method for decoding a Space-Time Block Coded (STBC) signal. The decoding apparatus includes a channel estimator for estimating a real equivalent channel based on a coded signal; a channel converter for decomposing the real equivalent channel to a unit matrix and a subchannel; a receive signal converter for converting the coded signal to a real equivalent receive signal and converting the real equivalent receive signal to a converted receive signal based on the unit matrix; and a detector for detecting an estimate of a transmit signal by performing a maximum likelihood decoding using the converted receive signal and the subchannel. Since the transmit signal candidates are independent of each other, the complexity of the maximum likelihood decoding can be decreased. With the lowered complexity of the receiver, the power consumption for the decoding can be reduced and the high-speed data can be transmitted more easily in the actual mobile communication environment.
US07920656B2
The present invention relates to a method for searching a solution point of maximum-likelihood detection. The solution point locates at a symbol constellation. The method includes the following steps: determining a central point and a norm by a zero-forcing detection method; determining a searching range according to the central point and the norm; determining at least one qualified solution point according to the searching range; and determining the solution point of maximum-likelihood detection from the qualified solution points.
US07920646B2
The present invention relates to a system for selecting a switched beam for supplying a maximum received power to a subscriber station, and a method thereof. The number of switched beams used by a base station is limited, and a weight value vector for forming the switched beam is predefined. The subscriber station uses a pilot signal for discerning transmitting antennas to estimate channel values for the respective transmitting antennas, and uses the channel values and the predefined weight value vectors to determine a switched beam for supplying a maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The subscriber station notifies the base station of an identifier of a selected beam by using a feedback channel, and the base station uses the switched beam to transmit traffic data.
US07920645B2
The invention relates to methods for transmitting and receiving a data bit stream in a communication system using 16-QAM constellations. Further, an apparatus for performing the methods is provided. To improve the bit-error rate performance of the communication using the 16-QAM constellations the invention suggests the use 16-QAM constellations with specially selected mapping rules together with a special constellation rearrangement for creating different versions of the 16-QAM constellations. Further, the data stream is transmitted according to a diversity scheme employing different versions of the 16-QAM constellations obtained adhering the mapping rules and rearrangement rules defined by the invention.
US07920644B2
A predistortion apparatus for compensating for a distortion arising from a non linear property in input to output characteristics of an amplifier, by processing calculation of a plurality of coefficients for a plurality of power series defining the predistortion characteristics for a plurality of power ranges, respectively, the predistortion apparatus includes: a coefficient update unit for setting and updating coefficients of the power series to provide the predistortion characteristics for the plurality of power ranges in accordance with a comparison between the input and output of the amplifier; and a determination unit for determining at least one threshold value defining the plurality of power ranges by shifting the threshold value and operating the coefficient update unit for updating the coefficients for each of the power series corresponding to each of the power ranges defined by the shifted threshold value.
US07920638B2
An embodiment of the invention relates to a method for sending a signal formed by successive vectors each comprising N symbols to be sent, and implementing at least two transmitter antennas. A distinct sub-matrix is associated with each of said antennas, said sub-matrices being obtained by subdivision of a unitary square matrix, and each of said antennas sends sub-vectors, obtained by subdivision of said vectors, respectively multiplied by said sub-matrices so as to form, as seen from a receiver, a single combined signal representing the multiplication of said vectors by said unitary matrix.
US07920636B2
The invention relates to methods for transmitting and receiving a data bit stream in a communication system using a 16-QAM constellation. Further, an apparatus for performing the methods is provided. To provide a modulation and coding scheme using a signal space expansion and 16-QAM which improves the bit-error rate in comparison to QPSK modulated signals and still provides the possibility to implement coders and decoders with low complexity the invention suggests the use a 16-QAM constellation with specially selected mapping rules together with repetition coding (signal space expansion) and interleaving of the data stream to be transmitted.
US07920616B2
A method/apparatus may comprise a laser light source which may comprise a solid state seed laser system producing a seed laser output having a nominal center wavelength at a pulse repetition rate; a first and a second gas discharge laser amplifier gain medium each operating at a pulse repetition rate less than that of the seed laser system; a beam divider providing each of the respective first and second amplifier gain mediums with seed laser output pulses; a frequency converter modifying the nominal center wavelength of the output of the seed laser to essentially the nominal center wavelength of the amplifier gain medium; a beam combiner combining the outputs of the respective amplifier gain mediums to provide a light source output having the pulse repetition rate of the seed laser; a coherence buster operating on either or both of the output of the seed laser or amplifier gain mediums.
US07920599B1
Methods and systems for synchronizing wireless transmission of data packets is provided. Signals having a data packet frame format including a preamble (with a pattern of symbol sequences) and data are received, and patterns of symbol sequences are correlated. A first metric can be calculated that is a ratio of an average of the correlation values and an average of a power of the signals. A second metric can be calculated that defines an average of a power of noise in the signals. The methods include determining an approximate division of the preamble and data in the data packet of each signal based on the first and second metrics. The methods further include determining a cross-correlation between versions of a transmitted signal to produce a number of peaks equal to a number of transmit antennas, generating a third metric based on combinations of cross-correlations, and identifying a position of a maximum peak within the third metric as a fine timing offset amount.
US07920598B2
Systems and methods are provided that facilitate generation and detection of synchronization channels in a wireless communication system. A one-to-one relationship is established among a set of scrambling codes (SCs) and a set of primary synchronization channel (P-SCH) sequences which are determined by a reusable sector identifier that is determined through detection of the P-SCH channel. The set of scrambling codes are utilized to (i) scramble a secondary synchronization channel sequence which facilitates detection of the S-SCH sequence once the reusable sector identifier is detected, or (ii) compose an unscrambled S-SCH sequence through a sequential or interleaved concatenation of SCs wherein a concatenation indication is received in a mobile terminal. Cyclic shifts and sign-flip operations applied to a base sequence are employed to generate SCs. A lookup table and a library of SCs facilitate scrambling code determination in a mobile terminal that receives associated P-SCH and S-SCH sequences.
US07920594B2
A method for providing network access to a shared access communications medium for a plurality of users includes the steps of conducting predictive admission control by arbitrating user requests for access to the shared medium based on predicted aggregate demands, conducting lookahead scheduling for use in making user channel assignments by forecasting schedule transmission opportunities one or more channels of the shared medium, and balancing load by making channel assignments such that a plurality users are each assigned a respective channel of the shared medium based upon a predicted need. Congestion parameters can predicted for each channel of the shared medium and mapped to a congestion measure using a mathematical function that takes into account packet loss rate, packet delay, packet delay jitter, and available capacity.
US07920593B2
In a passive optical network, dynamic bandwidth allocation and queue management methods and algorithms, designed to avoid fragmentation loss, guarantee that a length of a grant issued by an OLT will match precisely the count for bytes to be transmitted to an ONU. The methods include determining an ONU uplink transmission egress based on a three-stage test, and various embodiments of methods for ONU report 700 threshold setting.
US07920590B2
A mobile station (100) and a compression/decompression node in a wireless network (5), preferably the GGSN 30 (30), agree on whether to apply compression/decompression, and what compression/decompression scheme to use either by pre-configuration (when the GGSN 30 is in the home network of the mobile terminal) or by signalling (when the GGSN 30 is in a visited or a roamed-to network). Additional information, such as a profile-specific dictionary, may be used to increase the compression efficiency, particularly during start-up. Dynamic data can also be accommodated. The compression/decompression may be turned on and off on a packet-by-packet basis, depending on whether the compression actually results in a smaller packet. A compressed/uncompressed indicator bit or bits can be inserted explicitly on a per packet basis, and/or the compressed/uncompressed indication can be derived implicitly. A desired data compression/decompression algorithm, or any desired Proprietary Feature, can be signaled, possible without requiring standardization changes, by using a Packet Data Protocol PDP Context Activation message with a predetermined Access Point Name (APN) message information element that is sent from a first network element to a second network element for at least identifying the desired compression/decompression algorithm. It another embodiment, for the case where Proprietary Feature capability is exchanged between a RAN and a UE network element, a transmission of an extension to a UE Capability Enquiry message is sent to the UE for identifying the Proprietary Feature.
US07920589B2
Certain exemplary embodiments provide a method for converting data packets based upon IPv4 protocol into data packets based upon IPv6 protocol, said method comprising converting any data packet based upon the IPv4 protocol into a data packet based upon the IPv6 protocol before transmitting it to an IP switched network using information provided by an external server, and converting any data packet based upon the IPv6 protocol provided by said IP switched network into a data packet based upon the IPv4 protocol before transmitting it to a first or second workstation.
US07920587B2
A method for establishing a global time base in a time-controlled communications system comprising a network and multiple subscribers connected to it. At least one of the subscribers of the communications system is defined as a time master with which the remaining subscribers are synchronized. In order to allow for a synchronization of the communications system that is on the one hand as simple as possible and realizable at low cost and on the other hand is secure and reliable, the present invention provides for one subscriber to be defined as the main time master and at least one further subscriber to be defined as a reserve time master. The order of the reserve time masters is predefined in the event that more than one subscriber is defined as a reserve time master. First an attempt is made to synchronize all subscribers of the communications system with the main time master. If this fails, then in each case the next reserve time master in the predefined order is selected and the attempt is made to synchronize all subscribers of the communications system with the selected reserve time master until either the synchronization of the subscribers of the communications system is successful or a synchronization of the subscribers with the last reserve time master fails as well.
US07920586B2
A system and method for transmitting packets in a network (100). A node (102, 106, 107) in the network (100) accesses uses one of a plurality of medium access techniques for transmitting packets on the network (100). The node (102, 106, 107) separates packets to be transmitted into classes based on at least one characteristic of the packets and selects one of the medium access techniques for each class of packets based on whether the medium access technique provides improved transmission efficiency for the at least one characteristic of the packets in the class. The node (102, 106, 107) transmits the packets in each respective class using the respective selected medium access technique.
US07920582B2
A method for reporting events by a media gateway in a next generation network includes: executing a state machine which is established in a media gateway and includes service states driven by events, the state machine including a state of Suspension; the executing process includes: entering into the state of Suspension when an event is reported, if the state machine is in a state other than the state of Suspension; and storing an event which can not be reported temporarily in an EventBuffer queue which is established in the media gateway, and returning to a state prior to the state of Suspension when the event reported is responded, if the state machine is in the state of Suspension. A media gateway for reporting events in a next generation network is also disclosed.
US07920554B2
Middleware may accommodate both packet data and circuit data services in the same cellular telephone. A cellular telephone may travel between networks that are packet and circuit data service based. A protocol middleware may determine whether packet data services are available, and, if so, may determine the mobility management state of the system. Depending on the mobility management state of the system, inappropriate applications may be closed or suspended.
US07920544B2
A method and apparatus for generating and use of a position location reference signal that allows a receiver to receive position location signals from relatively weak signal generators when in the presence of a strong signal source. The position location reference signals from multiple sources can be synchronized to occur within a scheduled time slot of a time division multiplexed communication system. During the scheduled time slot, each signal source can configure a transmission that includes a media access control address that corresponds to a value reserved for position location signals. Each signal source also configures the transmission to include a position location reference signal that corresponds to the signal source. The position location signals from each of the signal sources is positioned to occur at a time within the data portion of the scheduled time slot that no neighboring signal source transmits its corresponding position location signal.
US07920542B1
The present invention provides for improved security in a VoIP architecture. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a system for providing VoIP service to a user domain having user accessible equipment includes a first domain having VoIP service provider equipment and a second domain having at least one border element communicating with the service provider equipment and the user accessible equipment to enable communications between the service provider equipment and the user accessible equipment. The user accessible equipment is prevented from directly communicating with the service provider equipment.
US07920534B2
A wireless LAN setting system mounted on an image forming apparatus that performs network connection through a wireless LAN and used for performing wireless communication with plural terminals, the wireless LAN setting system including a mode for checking, before setting is performed, existing setting contents (setting items and setting states) presently set. Guide indications are attached to respective setting screens. With the wireless LAN setting system, proper determination is performed and setting operation is correctly performed even if a user (an administrator) does not have professional knowledge.
US07920529B1
An intermediary system that seamlessly evolves the 2G/2.5G storage mediums to the 3G entities (e.g., a logical HSS) and provides subscriber data to 3G services such as IMS, from legacy data sources. An Intermediary Query Manager (IQM) is provided that functions as intermediary/broker system, and supports defined standard 3GPP interfaces specific to the IMS system (utilizing the existing storage medium servicing the PS domain) and also allows the continued support of the 2G/2.5G interfaces to 2G HLRs (servicing the CS domain). The IQM provides the capability to leverage usage of the current subscriber databases without requiring extraordinary efforts to migrate subscriber information to a new dedicated HSS element. The IQM provides data from multiple sources and processes requests necessary to fulfill these requests. The IQM can look like a MSC (Mobile Switching Center), VLR (Visitor Location Register), and/or SCP (Service Control Point) to the HLRs depending on the type of queries.
US07920527B2
A real-time/non-real-time/RF IC includes first and second baseband processing modules, an RF section, a wireline interface, and a bus structure. The first baseband processing module converts real-time outbound data into real-time outbound symbols and converts real-time inbound symbols into real-time inbound data. The second baseband processing module converts non-real-time outbound data into non-real-time outbound symbols and converts non-real-time inbound symbols into non-real-time inbound data. The RF section converts the real-time outbound symbols into real-time outbound RF signals, converts real-time inbound RF signals into the real-time inbound symbols, converts the non-real-time outbound symbols into non-real-time outbound RF signals, and converts non-real-time inbound RF signals into the non-real-time symbols. The wireline interface couples the non-real-time outbound data, the non-real-time inbound data, the real-time outbound data, and/or the real-time inbound data to an off-chip wireline connection.
US07920526B2
A method and device for transmitting a frame of a wireless communication begins by generating a preamble of the frame that includes a short training sequence and at least one long training sequence. The at least one long training sequence includes non-zero energy on each of a plurality of subcarriers except a DC subcarrier. The at least one long training sequence corresponds to the number of antennas and applicable wireless communication standards. A matrix is defined to represent the at least one long training sequence. The preamble is compatible with legacy and current standards. A channel is defined with a set of sub carriers to transmit the frame.
US07920525B2
A method for measuring/reporting a channel quality in a broadband wireless access communication system. The method for reporting channel qualities of active BS and neighbor BSs measured by an MSS to the active BS when the MSS exists in a specific area covered by the active BS and neighbor BSs in a communication system includes receiving channel quality report information indicative of channel periods of the channel qualities from the active BS, and receiving channel quality measurement information associated with individual channel qualities of the neighbor BSs and the active BS from the active BS: measuring SINRs of the neighbor BSs and the active BS according to the channel quality measurement information; and reporting the measured SINRs of the neighbor BSs and the active BS to the active BS.
US07920513B2
When a mobile node suffers an abrupt shut down while operating in a foreign network and recovers in its home network, the present invention enables the mobile node to reestablish communication capability, without time delay, with the nodes that had established one or more communication sessions with the mobile node prior to the abrupt shut down. The mobile node of the present invention includes an update module that determines whether additional information needs to be sent to the nodes in communication with the mobile node prior to the mobile node suffering an abrupt shut down. Based on that determination, the update module may provide additional information to such nodes.
US07920508B2
An apparatus and method for generating an RS SCH in a wireless communication system are provided, in which a base station checks a BS SCH sequence and a mask sequence, and generates an RS SCH sequence by XOR-operating the BS SCH sequence and the mask sequence.
US07920505B2
The invention provides a system that implements an algorithm for integrated link adaptation and power control to achieve specified error rates and to improve an overall throughput for real-time applications in wireless packet networks. The system initially divides wireless terminals into groups according to their signal path gains. Afterwards, the system can periodically adapt transmissions (i.e., link adaptations) based on the required error rates, actual error statistics and average transmission power for each wireless terminal group. Furthermore, transmission power can be adjusted by an enhanced Kalman-filter method to ensure successful reception.
US07920501B2
A relaying node is in bidirectional communication with at least a first and a second sending/receiving radio node, and the relaying radio node receives at least a first signal carrying at least first data and a second signal carrying at least second data. The relaying node generates a reduced representation of at least the first and second signal, with a reduced information content as compared to the first and second data, by a joint non-linearly encoding operation, and transmits the reduced representation to at least the first and the second communication node. The first and second sending/receiving node can extract data from the reduced representation by a non-linear decoding operation using stored a priori information.
US07920498B2
A method of decoding a control channel in a wireless communication system is provided. In the method, a terminal calculates the number of sub-bursts to be used during a next decoding and positions of the sub-bursts, based on a signal-to-noise ratio of at least one of a first burst or a second burst. Then, the terminal compares the calculated number of sub-bursts with a reference value. When the calculated number of sub-bursts is greater than the reference value, the terminal does not receive more bursts or sub-bursts and instead enters into a sleep state. When the calculated number of sub-bursts is smaller than or equal to the reference value, the terminal receives and decodes only sub-bursts at the calculated positions.
US07920494B2
A method and apparatus for performing mobility measurement in a communication network (100) is described. The method includes of receiving a subframe sequence pattern from a node in the communication network (100). The subframe sequence pattern indicates types of subframes being transmitted by a neighboring cell node (104) in a neighboring cell (112). The method includes receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node (104) in the neighboring cell (112), and determining that the received subframe is a multicast subframe based on the subframe sequence pattern. The method then includes performing a single cell-specific reference symbol measurement in response to determining that the received subframe is the multicast subframe.
US07920485B2
A method and system for processing data streams is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes establishing a plurality of initial sample zones; establishing a plurality of wakeup zones; sampling a plurality of data packets based on the plurality of initial sample zones; estimating the traffic based on the sampling of the plurality of data packets; and modifying the wakeup zones based on the estimated traffic. According to the method and system disclosed herein, the traffic estimation enables a mobile station to optimize wakeup periods.
US07920480B2
A system and method of determining broadband transport performance data are provided. The system includes an input to receive a request including a telephone number corresponding to a broadband data transport element. The system also includes logic to map the telephone number to a port address of network equipment associated with the broadband data transport element. The system further includes a performance analysis tool to determine performance information associated with the broadband data transport element.
US07920478B2
Streams of data traffic from various applications may be handled by a network-aware adapter module as part of a greater platform for filtering communicating the streams to intelligent network components. A distinguishing factor associated with a given data stream may be determined and used as a basis for selecting a QoS policy setting for the given data stream. The selected QoS policy setting may then be signaled to a media access control layer to take advantage of the QoS function of the embedded underlying active media type that is active and optimal (both from technical and business perspective) to carry out the communication for the application.
US07920475B2
Systems, modules, methods and computer readable mediums for adaptive removal of delay jitter and low end-to-end delay are provided. The method may include the following operations at a delay buffer: calculating a holding time for a plurality of packets input into a network; buffering each of the plurality of packets for the duration of the holding time; and arranging the buffered packets in a sequence indicative of an order in which the buffered packets were input into the network. The holding time may be based on a difference between a current maximum delay of the plurality of packets in a current time window and a delay of a first packet of the plurality of packets in the current time window. The method may also include playing back the buffered packets at a selected playback time. Playing back the buffered packets may be performed at a reception mechanism.
US07920468B2
A method of calculating traffic values in a communications network (1), the communications network comprising a plurality of nodes (2,4), the nodes being connected to one another by links (24), the method comprising: (a) obtaining traffic data measurements (102) through said nodes and/or links in an initial scenario as input data; (b) deriving a traffic flow model for a modified scenario using a plurality of constraints describing the interdependency of said initial to said modified scenario (116); and (c) calculating values and/or upper and lower bounds of traffic values for said modified scenario from said traffic flow model using said input data (118).
US07920465B2
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for transmitting control signal of Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) Medium Access Control (MAC), including: encapsulating a control signal of RPR MAC interface to be transmitted into an RPR data frame of predefined format, and directly sending it to a receiving unit through a standard interface. In this invention, an RPR data frame of predefined format is utilized to transmit signals between an RPR MAC and a receiving unit, e.g., an RPR client, via standard interfaces, which may avoid the increase of unstable factors affecting signal transmission and hardware cost caused by the appending of hardware devices in the standard interfaces. Thus, the reliability of signal transmission is enhanced, and the hardware cost of communication system is reduced.
US07920463B2
The invention relates to a method and to a network control unit for deactivating a network component for example, one or several connections or an entire network node, the method being used to carry out deactivation in simple manner without impairing the traffic and optionally, the reliability. The invention also relates to a method for deactivating a network component, in particular one or several connections and/or a network node in a communication network including a plurality of network components. The method includes: a) the network components which are to be deactivated are identified; b) a new metric set (M1) for the remaining network components is calculated c) the new metric set is configured in the network and the network is rerouted; and d) the network components which are to be deactivated are removed.
US07920462B2
This disclosure relates to amplitude correction for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signals received by a communication device. An amplitude attenuation estimation is performed for amplitude correction on received OFDM signals.
US07920459B2
When recording or reading an optical disc having plural data recording layers, which data recording layer the light spot is focused on is detected to improve playback signal quality and signals written to the layer on which the light spot is focused are read more reliably. A convergent lens converges the laser beam on the optical disc, and a focus controller controls the focal point of the laser beam on the data layer. A tracking controller positions and tracks the focal point of the laser beam converged by the convergent lens on a track of the optical disc. A photodetector detects the reflected laser beam from the disc. A convergence detector then detects the convergence state of the laser beam emitted to the plural data recording layers. Based on output from the convergence detector, the laser driver is controlled to separately set beam power appropriately for each of the plural data layers of the disc during playback.
US07920457B2
Device for recording data comprising microdots with free ends forming a convex surface and method for the production thereofThe data recording device comprises a storage medium arranged facing a two dimensional array of microdots, of nanometric dimensions, formed directly on a substrate. An electronic circuit for addressing and controlling the microdots is integrated in the substrate. The microdots and/or substrate are shaped in such a way that the set of free ends of the microdots defines a convex surface, which enables a contact to be ensured in all cases between each of the microdots and the corresponding storage medium. The radius of curvature of the surface convex is preferably comprised between 1 m and 5 m.
US07920454B2
An optical recording medium wherein a laser beam at a wavelength λ is irradiated and recording and reproducing of information are performed by optical power modulation of binary or more, and when the refraction index of the first substrate being n1, the refraction index of the intermediate layer being n2, the groove depth, the groove width and the track pitch of the first information layer being d1, w1 and p1 respectively and the groove depth, the groove width and the track pitch of the second information layer being d2, w2 and p2 respectively, the following conditions are satisfied. 4λ/16n1≦d1≦7λ/16n1 λ/16n2≦d2≦3λ/16n2 or 4λ/16n2≦d2≦7λ/16n2 0.2≦w1/p1≦0.55 0.2≦w2/p2≦0.55
US07920447B2
The present invention sets forth a method and a system for calibrating optimized power of an optical pick-up unit of an optical disk drive. The system comprises a micro-processor, and a signal processor. The micro-processor coupled to the optical pick-up unit sets an initial power corresponding to an optical disk, and calculates a predetermined number of power levels to cover the range of the initial power for performing a recording procedure. The signal processor coupled to the micro-processor determines whether a servo state failed during optimized power calibration, and calculates recording performance of each power level. The signal processor transmits the servo state and the recording performance to the micro-processor for determining the optimized power.
US07920445B2
An optical disc signal processing apparatus comprising: a binarizing circuit configured to compare a level of an RF (Radio Frequency) signal obtained by photoelectrically converting a reflected light of a laser beam applied to an optical disc and a level of a DC signal, to output a binarized signal for reproducing information recorded on the optical disc, a level of the DC signal being adjusted to a level at which jitter included in the binarized signal is minimized.
US07920443B2
An optical pickup device includes light sources for respectively emitting a plurality of different wavelengths of light, a unit structured for causing at least a part of the light emitted from the light sources to pass a same optical path; and a focusing unit for focusing the light. The focusing unit includes at least first and second focusing parts, the first focusing part being to focus mainly a wavelength of light different from a wavelength of light to be mainly focused by the second focusing part. The optical pickup device and optical disk device are capable of realizing at least one of thickness reduction, size reduction and suppression against characteristic deterioration even where coping with various wavelengths of laser including a blue laser.
US07920442B2
An optical pickup device includes light sources for respectively emitting a plurality of different wavelengths of light, a unit structured for causing at least a part of the light emitted from the light sources to pass a same optical path; and a focusing unit for focusing the light. The focusing unit includes at least first and second focusing parts, the first focusing part being to focus mainly a wavelength of light different from a wavelength of light to be mainly focused by the second focusing part. The optical pickup device and optical disk device are capable of realizing at least one of thickness reduction, size reduction and suppression against characteristic deterioration even where coping with various wavelengths of laser including a blue laser.
US07920439B2
A semiconductor memory device includes a boosting power supply circuit that boosts a first voltage to a second voltage, which is higher than an external power supply. A first bandgap reference (BGR) circuit operates on the second voltage generated by the boosting power supply circuit. Thereby, the power supply circuit generates a voltage by using a bandgap reference circuit.
US07920438B2
An SRAM circuit operates at a reduced operation margin, especially at a low operating voltage by increasing or optimizing the operation margin of the SRAM circuit. The threshold voltage of the produced transistor in the SRAM circuit is detected to compare the operating voltage of a memory cell with the operating voltage of a peripheral circuit in order to adjust it to the optimum value, and the substrate bias voltage is further controlled.
US07920437B2
An address control circuit for a semiconductor memory apparatus so as to make a refresh operation test possible by designating a refresh address is presented. The circuit includes a buffer block, a decoder, and a latch block. The buffer block receives coding information coded testing address information in accordance to a test signal. The decoder generates a test refresh address by decoding the coding information. The latch block latches the test refresh address depending on the test signal.
US07920429B2
A semiconductor memory device which includes: a voltage supplying unit for outputting a power source voltage as a driving source signal during a predetermined time, and then outputting a high voltage as the driving source signal in response to a driving control signal activated in response to an address signal; and a word line control unit for activating a word line at a voltage level of the driving source signal in response to the driving control signal.
US07920423B1
A non-volatile memory (NVM) circuit is provided, that includes at least a first and second NVM sub-array. The first sub-array is built from first memory cells. The second NVM sub-array is built from second memory cells that are constructed differently from the first memory cells. The NVM sub-arrays share a support circuit. In some embodiments the sub-arrays can be constructed, so that they exhibit different characteristics tailored to their intended use. For example one sub-array might be tailored for data retention, while the next sub-array for programming endurance, still another for write disturb immunity.
US07920421B2
A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell, a source line, and a source line control circuit. The memory cell includes a charge storage layer and a control gate and is capable of holding 2 levels or more levels of data. The source line is electrically connected to a source of the memory cell. The source line control circuit detects a current passed to the source line and controls a potential of the source line in accordance with a detected current amount in a reading operation or a verification operation of the data.
US07920417B2
A semiconductor memory cell includes a plurality of memory cells configured to store data having polarity corresponding to a direction of current flowing in first and second driving lines, a current generator configured to generate a predetermined read current, apply the predetermined read current to the plurality of memory cells, and generate a data current corresponding variation of the read current according to the data and a current controller connected to a current path of the read current and configured to control a current amount of the read current.
US07920414B2
An asymmetric-threshold three-terminal electronic switching device includes three terminals coupled to a threshold-switching material. A signal applied across first and second terminals affects an electrical characteristic between the second and third electrodes to a greater extent than the same signal applied across the first and third electrodes. The affected electrical characteristic may be a threshold voltage or conductivity, for example.
US07920410B1
Memory elements are provided that exhibit immunity to soft error upset events when subjected to radiation strikes such as high-energy atomic particle strikes. The memory elements may each have four inverter-like transistor pairs that form a bistable element and a pair of address transistors. There may be four nodes in the transistor each of which is associated with a respective one of the four inverter-like transistor pairs. There may be two control transistors each of which is coupled between the transistors in a respective one of the inverter-like transistor pairs. During data writing operations, the two control transistors may be turned off to temporarily decouple the transistors in two of the four inverter-like transistor pairs.
US07920402B2
A resistance variable memory apparatus (100) of the present invention is a resistance variable memory apparatus (100) using a resistance variable element (22) transitioning between plural resistance states in response to electric pulses of the same polarity, in which a series resistance setting unit (10) is configured to set a resistance value of the series current path and a parallel resistance setting unit (30) is configured to set a resistance value of a parallel current path such that the resistance values become resistance values at which a node potential is not larger than a second voltage level in a state where an electric pulse application device (50) is outputting a first electric pulse after the resistance variable element (22) has switched to the high-resistance state, and the node potential is not larger than a first voltage level in the state where the electric pulse application device (50) is outputting a second electric pulse after the resistance variable element (22) has switched to the low-resistance state.
US07920400B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit device having a 6F2 layout is provided. The semiconductor integrated circuit device includes a substrate; a plurality of unit active regions disposed in the substrate and extending in a first direction; first and second access transistors including first and second gate lines disposed on the substrate and extending across the unit active regions in a second direction forming an acute angle with the first direction; a first junction area disposed in the substrate between the first and second gate lines and second junction areas disposed on sides of the first and second gate lines where the first junction area is not disposed; a plurality of bitlines disposed on the substrate and extending in a third direction forming an acute angle with the first direction; and a plurality of bitline contacts directly connecting the first junction area and the bitlines.
US07920393B2
A four pole, three-phase, NPC converter that produces virtually no common mode voltage. The low common mode voltage output is achieved by constraining the switch states of the NPC converter. A fourth pole and associated control balance the upper and lower DC link voltages. The converter may be an inverter or a rectifier.
US07920382B2
The invention relates to an improved aircraft electronics cooling system for an aircraft having a liquid cooling system (2), the aircraft electronics cooling system providing a thermal coupling between an electronic device (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 42, 44) to be cooled and the liquid cooling system (2) of the aircraft. A coolant delivered by the liquid cooling system (2) may flow through a board of the electronic device (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d), through a heat sink on which the electronic device (42) is arranged and/or through a housing in which the electronic device (44) is arranged. The coolant may be permanently in the liquid state in a cooling circuit. The coolant may vaporize at least partially while cooling the electronic device.
US07920368B2
A static eliminator that can be placed at a close distance capable of eliminating static electricity while preventing furious elevation of the surface electric potential of a work when the static eliminator is placed at a close distance to the work. A cover formed by an electro conductive porous material covering discharge needles is attached to a holding member in which a plurality of the discharge needles are provided and air blowing openings for ejecting air around the discharge needles are provided. The cover evenly discharges ionized air from the surface of the cover, and is electrically connected to ground to have a function for absorbing a part of generated ions.
US07920364B2
A power supply with adjustable outputted voltage includes an AC power input processing circuit and a DC power input processing circuit. The AC power input processing circuit has at least one voltage adjuster that is electrically connected with the DC power input processing circuit for adjusting the outputted voltage. The DC power input processing circuit includes a current sensor, a DC/DC converter, a ripple filter, and a DC/DC self-drive switch. When an extremely large inputted current is detected by the current sensor and the DC/DC converter stops actions, the DC/DC self-drive switch is turned off to protect the circuit.
US07920362B2
A giant magneto-resistive effect device having a CPP structure including a spacer layer, and a fixed magnetization layer and a free layer stacked one upon another with said spacer layer interposed between them. The free layer functions such that its magnetization direction changes depending on an external magnetic field. The spacer layer comprises a first nonmagnetic metal layer and a second nonmagnetic metal layer, each formed of a nonmagnetic metal material. A semiconductor oxide layer is interposed between them. The semiconductor oxide layer forming a part of the spacer layer comprises zinc oxide as a main ingredient.
US07920357B2
Provided is a thin-film magnetic head capable of writing data with high accuracy on a magnetic recording medium having high coercive force without heating. The head comprises an electromagnetic coil element comprising: a main magnetic pole; an auxiliary magnetic pole; and a write coil formed so as to pass through at least between the main magnetic pole and the auxiliary magnetic pole, for generating the write magnetic field. In this head, a part of the write coil has a layered structure of: a resonance coil layer for generating a resonance magnetic field having ferromagnetic resonance frequency of a magnetic recording layer of a magnetic recording medium or having a frequency in the vicinity thereof; and a write coil layer. And further, the resonance coil layer and the write coil layer sandwich an insulating layer therebetween.
US07920355B2
According to one embodiment, disclosed herein is a disk drive that has a disk of discrete-track media (DTM) type. The DTM disk has servo regions. Each servo region has dividing grooves and non-servo data parts. Each dividing grooves extends along the centerline of any projecting region having a width larger than a prescribed value. Each non-servo data part suppresses reproduction noise. The disk drive has a read/write channel that includes a reproduced-signal processing unit. This unit reproduces servo data from each servo region.
US07920353B2
According to one embodiment, a search module searches for a timing when a moving direction of a head changes in order to detect a first timing when the head collides against a stopper of a ramp during a head unload operation and a second timing when the head rebounds as a result of the collision. A calculation module calculates a rebound distance that the head has rebounded based on the first timing and the second timing.
US07920347B2
In one implementation, an assembly for testing a head gimbal assembly comprises a rotatable test disc, a mounting surface configured to mount the head gimbal assembly, and a shroud covering the head gimbal assembly. The mounting surface is located in proximity to the test disc to facilitate loading the head gimbal assembly on the test disc. The shroud is configured to shield the head gimbal assembly from airflow produced when the test disc rotates.
US07920346B2
A method for testing performance of a magnetic head slider includes the steps of: (1) rotating the disk and positioning the slider over the rotating disk at an initial fly-height; (2) exciting the fly-height actuator to make the slider touch the disk and recording a touch down spacing of the read head of the slider; (3) backing off the slider at a predetermined backoff amount from the disk; (4) testing dynamic performance of the slider to obtain a reference value which is related to the spacing between the disk and the slider; (5) varying the initial fly-height of the slider; (6) repeating the steps (2) to (4) with the backoff amount fixed; and (7) calculating a dynamic fly-height gamma ratio based at least in part on the recorded touch down spacing and the obtained reference values.
US07920339B2
Methods and apparatus to correct a curved Petzval focusing surface to a plane using a convex lens, a concave lens, and a space arranged between the curved side of the convex lens and the curved side of the concave lens. The method and apparatus may also include a Fresnel lens arranged between the concave lens and a pixel array.
US07920314B2
A multi-sheet through-vision panel includes a first outer sheet, a second outer sheet, and a middle sheet located between the first and second outer sheets. The first and second outer sheets are superposed with one another. At least one light impairing zone is disposed on at least one of the first and second sheets, as well as the middle sheet. A sliding mechanism slides the middle sheet with respect to the first and second outer sheets so that the light impairing zones are moved between a first and second position. The light impairing zones are superposed with one another when the middle sheet is in the first position, but are in a staggered arrangement when the middle sheet is in the second position.
US07920310B2
A complex objective lens composed of a hologram and an objective lens, capable of realizing stable and high-precision compatible reproducing/recording of a BD with a base thickness of about 0.1 mm for a blue light beam (wavelength λ1) and a DVD with a base thickness of about 0.6 mm for a red light beam (wavelength λ2). In an inner circumferential portion of the hologram, a grating is formed. The hologram transmits a blue light beam as 0th-order diffracted light without diffracting it, and disperses a red light beam passing through an inner circumferential portion as +1st-order diffracted light and allows it to be condensed by an objective lens. Because of this, the focal length of the red light beam becomes longer than that of the blue light beam, whereby a working distance is enlarged.
US07920297B2
Techniques for generated variable density mono-color under-print layer(s) for printing underneath an image on a substrate to improve the appearance of the printed image.
US07920295B2
An image processing circuit includes: a plurality of counters that extract image blocks each of which includes a predetermined number of pixels from input image data, count a number of pixels having a predetermined value for each of the image blocks, calculate a pixel value for each of the extracted image blocks, and output a plurality of bit streams each of which represents the counted number for a respective image block, the number of the plurality of counters being larger than a bit length defined for a single writing process with the memory divided by the bit length of a value calculated for an image block; a converter that converts the bit streams output from the plurality of counters, by adjusting a bit length of the bit streams for writing in the memory, and outputs the converted bit streams; and a synthesizer that synthesizes the plurality of bit streams output from the converter to generate a bit stream having the bit length defined for a single writing process with the memory, and outputs the generated bit stream.
US07920294B2
There is provided a dither pattern capable of reducing deterioration in image quality caused due to beading by suppressing the occurrence of grains in printing images using a plurality of color inks. If among threshold dots, for which repulsive force potentials are totalized, a threshold dot Do has the largest total, a change in repulsive force potential is obtained between before and after the movement of dot Do. The threshold dot Do is moved to a dot with the smallest total of repulsive force potentials between before and after its movement. By repeating this process, the total energy of all the three planes can be reduced, achieving a dot distribution, in which the number of low frequency components is reduced and the dots are appropriately dispersed, for superposed dither patterns.
US07920290B2
When a user enters control information for controlling a printing device, the information is stored in a user information storage unit. All combinations of items of the control information capable of being set by the user and values of items incapable of being set by the user, these having been selected so as to be the optimum values for the combinations, are stored as preset values in a combined information storage unit. An information storage unit compares a value in the user information storage unit with a value in the combined information storage unit. If a combination for which agreement is achieved is found in the combined information storage unit, this value is stored in a printing information storage unit and transmitted to the printing device. Thus, an optimum value can be selected and sent to the printing device even with regard to an item incapable of being selected by the user.
US07920277B2
A laser irradiation process includes: scanning a substrate with laser having a predetermined lasing frequency at different irradiation intensities to form a plurality of first irradiation areas corresponding to the irradiation intensities; illuminating the first irradiation areas to reflected light receive from the first irradiation areas; determining microcrystallization intensity based on the received reflected light; and determining irradiation intensity based on the thus determined microcrystallization intensity. The laser irradiation process uses the irradiation intensity for irradiating a polycrystalline film in a product semiconductor device.
US07920276B2
Apparatus for tracking an object (12A, 12B, 12C) including radiator modules (16A, 16B, 16C), disposed in an array of known locations adjoining a region (13) in which the object moves; each module includes at least one emitter (44, 46, 48) which emits a respective color selected from among a first plurality of colors. The apparatus includes a controller (32), which drives the at least one emitter to emit during a respective time slot, selected from among a second plurality of time slots during which the modules may emit. The apparatus also includes a location unit (22), fixed to the object and including at least one camera (72), which captures a sequence of electronic images containing some of the locations of the modules. The apparatus further includes a processing unit (26), which processes the electronic images to determine, responsively to the colors emitted by the modules and the time slots in which the colors are emitted, a location of the object.
US07920275B2
In a method for improving imaging properties of an illumination system or a projection objective of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, which comprises an optical element having a surface, the shape of the surface is measured directly at various points. To this end, a measuring beam is directed on the points, and the reflected or refracted beam is measured, e.g. using an interferometer. Based on deviations of the measured shape from a target shape, corrective measures are derived so that the imaging errors of the optical system are improved. The corrective measures may comprise a change in the position or the shape of the optical element being analyzed, or another optical element of the optical system. The target shape of the surface may, for example, be determined so that the optical element at least partially corrects imaging errors caused by other optical elements.
US07920272B2
A laser radar system using collocated laser beams to unambiguously detects a range of a target and a range rate at which the target is moving relative to the laser radar system. Another aspect of various embodiments of the invention may relate to a laser radar system that uses multiple laser radar sections to obtain multiple simultaneous measurements (or substantially so), whereby both range and range rate can be determined without various temporal effects introduced by systems employing single laser sections taking sequential measurements. In addition, other aspects of various embodiments of the invention may enable faster determination of the range and rate of the target, a more accurate determination of the range and rate of the target, and/or may provide other advantages.
US07920253B2
In a method of measuring cumulative polarization mode dispersion (PMD) along the length of a fiber-under-test (FUT), a polarization-sensitive optical time domain reflectometer (POTDR) is used to inject into the FUT plural series of light pulses arranged in several groups. Each group comprises at least two series having closely-spaced wavelengths and the same state of polarization (SOP). At least two of such groups are injected and corresponding OTDR traces obtained for each series by averaging the impulse-response signals of the several series in the group. The process is repeated for a number of groups. The PMD is obtained by normalizing the OTDR traces of all of the groups, then computing the difference between each normalized OTDR trace in one group and the corresponding normalized OTDR trace in another group, followed by the mean-square value of the differences. Finally, the PMD is computed as a predetermined function of the mean-square difference.
US07920250B2
A process for the detection from a vehicle of a visibility interference phenomenon, comprising the following steps: the emission of a beam of light to illuminate the rear of the vehicle, the beam of light being emitted into a field of vision of a camera mounted in the vehicle, and the determination of a presence and the nature of a visibility interference phenomenon on the basis of at least one image captured by the camera.
US07920249B2
A device for measuring movement of an object (15) and the device relative to each other. The device comprises a laser (3) for generating a measuring beam (13), which is converged by a lens (10) in an action plane. Radiation reflected by the object (15) is converged to re-enter the laser cavity to generate a self-mixing effect in the laser (3). Measuring means (4) are provided to receive the reflected measuring beam radiation and enable the frequency difference between the measuring beam (13) and the reflected measuring beam radiation to be determined, which is representative of the relative movement.
US07920248B2
The invention relates to a method for optoelectronic contactless distance or range measurement or finding according to the transit time principle, in which a distance of an object from a sensor unit is determined from a time difference between a starting signal and an echo signal, which is derived from an optical measurement pulse reflected by the object and where for determining the time difference the following steps are performed: a) by comparing the starting signal and echo signal with a digital clock a digital raw value is obtained, b) with the aid of at least two fine interpolators an initial time difference between the starting signal and the beginning of the digital raw value as well as a final time difference between the echo signal and the end of the digital raw value is determined, c) to the fine interpolators are in each case supplied analog signals corresponding to the initial time difference or final time difference, respectively, and converted into a digital initial time difference or digital final time difference, respectively. The method is characterized in that for the automatic calibration of the fine interpolators a plurality of measurements according to steps a) to c) are carried out and, assuming an equal distribution for the probability with which the values in a given value interval for the initial time difference and final time difference are measured, corrections for nonlinearities and/or drifts of the characteristics of the fine interpolators are calculated. The invention also relates to an apparatus for optoelectronic contactless distance or range measurement according to the transit time principle.
US07920234B2
A transflective liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer, and a pixel electrode. The first substrate has a thin film transistor and the second substrate has a color filter and faces the first substrate. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first and the second substrates. The pixel electrode is disposed above the first substrate and electrically connected to the thin film transistor. The transflective liquid crystal display device further includes a pixel region. The pixel region is divided into a transmit part and a reflective part, and the reflective part includes a first region and a second region. The pixel electrode extends to the transmit part and only the second region of the reflective part.
US07920226B2
A display comprises: a transmissive pixilated spatial light modulator (21); and a backlight (22). The backlight has a light-transmissive waveguide (26), with a first face of the waveguide being opposed to the spatial light modulator (21). The first face of the waveguide comprises a plurality of regions that are not totally internally reflective for at least one polarization of light propagating within the waveguide, and the remainder of the first face of the waveguide is totally internally reflective for light propagating within the waveguide. Light is extracted from the waveguide at the regions where first face of the waveguide is not totally internally reflective. The pitch of the regions where first face of the waveguide is not totally internally reflective is substantially an integer multiple of the pitch of the pixels of the spatial light modulator.
US07920223B2
A liquid crystal display panel formed by using a TFT substrate and a color filter substrate is polished to decrease the thickness thereof so that it can be curved. The liquid crystal display panel and various optical sheets are sandwiched between a frame forming a curved surface and a light guide plate forming a curved surface, to thereby form a curved surface. An upper polarizer plate and a lower polarizer plate are, respectively, sandwiched between the surface cover and the liquid crystal display panel, and between the liquid crystal display panel and the optical sheet, and are not adhered or are partly adhered to the liquid crystal display panel.
US07920221B2
A backlight assembly which includes a first mold comprising a frame including a plurality of side portions defining an opening; and a light source disposed in the opening, wherein an external surface of the side portions includes a reverse-inclined surface extending downwardly and inwardly from an upper portion of the external surface and a width of the side portions is smaller at the upper portion and becomes larger downwardly.
US07920220B2
In a pixel for displays capable of simplifying manufacturing process, a display apparatus having a simplified pixel structure and a method of manufacturing a cost competitive display device, a display pixel includes a channel layer, first to third signal lines, first and second insulating layers and a pixel electrode. The first signal line is formed on the first insulating layer. The first insulating layer insulates the channel layer from the first signal line. The second insulating layer insulates the first signal line from the second and third signal lines, and includes contact holes. The second and third signal lines are connected to the channel layer through the contact holes. The pixel electrode including indium zinc oxide is formed on the identical layer with the first and second signal lines, and disposed on the second insulating layer. Therefore, manufacturing process is simplified and manufacturing time is reduced.
US07920212B2
A digital gamma correction circuit includes: a data setting portion for setting set data including a section width W1 and coordinates (Xp,Yp) of a break point P; a coefficient calculation portion for calculating coefficients for straight-line equations representing a broken baseline including a break point and three predetermined approximate line segments for defining a gamma correction broken line approximating an ideal gamma correction curve, the approximate line segments gradually varying in slope in the vicinity of the break point; arithmetic portions for performing arithmetic operations based on the coefficients to subject input data to gamma correction; and a result selection portion for making a suitable selection from among results for the arithmetic operations. Thus, it is possible to obtain a gamma correction broken line approximating an ideal gamma correction curve, and achieve a smooth correction characteristic with a small number of data items.
US07920210B2
An integrated circuit includes display processing components to process pixel data of digital video. The integrated circuit also includes mask-programmable logic integrated with one or more of the display processing components to receive the pixel data in a first color space and at least a second color space, where the mask-programmable logic can further process the pixel data to enhance the digital video.
US07920207B2
A video apparatus has a digital encoder which receives a first analogue video signal with ancillary information in a given time window and generates on an output a digital stream based on the first analogue video signal. A digital decoder is connectable to this output to generate a second analogue video signal. A switch selects between the first analogue video signal and the second analogue video signal as an output depending on a control signal based on the occurrence of said time window.
US07920205B2
A digital camera (10) includes a face detecting section (74), a color temperature detecting section (76) and a flash device (86) having an LED array in which RGB LEDs are regularly arranged as a light source. When a shutter button (18) is pressed halfway, the face detecting section (74) reads out image data of a through image from a memory (60) and detects a person's face in the image. A CPU (64) identifies a scene based on brightness values of face and surrounding areas as, for example, a backlit scene, and specifies a face peripheral area according to an exposure pattern corresponding to the backlit scene. When the shutter button (18) is fully pressed, the CPU (64) sends a flash projection command to an LED control circuit (87), thereby illuminating the LEDs corresponding to the face peripheral area. By controlling illumination of the RGB LEDs, the LED control circuit (87) directs to project the flash light having color temperature that corrects the person's face color into an appropriate skin color.
US07920203B2
An image pickup apparatus is provided which has an exposure correction function and which determines a correction measure of exposure correction based on a parameter for determining an exposure amount, and performs the exposure correction by the determined correction measure so as to provide an image in a suitable exposure state intended by a person who shot the image.
US07920200B2
An image pickup device may include an optical system having a distortion that captures a distortion-containing optical image, a conversion unit that converts the distortion-containing optical image into distortion-containing image data, a storage unit that stores the distortion-containing image data and additional data related to a distortion of the distortion-containing image data, and a distortion correction unit that corrects the distortion of the distortion-containing image data with reference to the additional data.
US07920179B2
A device may include an image capturing assembly to frame an image of a subject for capturing; and a processor to automatically identify a shadow or a reflection corresponding to a user of the device in the framed image. The image capturing assembly is configured to capture the image following the automatic identification of the shadow or the reflection. The processor is configured to perform one of: adjusting the image capturing assembly based on the automatic identification of the shadow or the reflection prior to the capturing of the image, or modifying the captured image based on the automatic identification of the shadow or the reflection.
US07920171B2
Methods and apparatuses for vignetting correction of imager pixels signals. A polynomial correction surface is determined based on a pixel array center, height, and width, surface fitting parameters, and pixel coordinates. The pixel signal is then multiplied by the corresponding value from the polynomial correction surface to create a vignetting corrected signal.
US07920168B2
Systems and methods are disclosed for customizing a color palette on a digital camera. An exemplary method of customizing a color palette on a digital camera may comprise identifying for a user a color from a scene the digital camera is focused on. The method may also comprise capturing the color as a digital image on the digital camera. The method may also comprise adding the captured color to the color palette for the user to apply as a photo-editing effect to other digital images on the digital camera.
US07920166B2
A camera is provided having a camera module, a network interface module and printing module. The camera module receives user input and captures the image with an image sensor in response to the user input. The interface module transfers the captured image to a computer system. The printing module prints an interface onto a surface including the image and coded data at least partially indicative of an identity of the image. This allows the identity of the image to be obtained from the interface. The coded data is also at least partially indicative of at least one of a plurality of locations of the interface and a region of the interface. A sensing device generates indicating data at least partially indicative of at least one of a location of the sensing device relative to the interface and an identity of the region.
US07920165B2
A self-viewing environment and an apparatus enabling unrestricted movement of a subject within the self-viewing environment are disclosed. A subject wears a head mounted display that receives a video signal by wireless transmission. The subject is positioned within the field of view of a video camera that sources a video image for transmission to the subject. Video mirror-imaging and signal-processing are employed to adapt the perceived self-viewing environment for the benefit of the subject.
US07920162B2
A method and system includes multiple displays that can be separately controlled by users who are part of a surgical team. The first display will include information to assist a first user through the steps of a surgical procedure and the second display will assist a second user though the steps taken by the second user to perform the surgical procedure.
US07920160B2
There is provided an information terminal device in an electronic conference system, including a reception unit that receives information on a state of attendance of participants in a conference, who are present in a plurality of conference holding spaces; a disadvantageous degree calculation processor that calculates a disadvantageous degree indicating a degree of disadvantage which each participant has when participating in the conference, based on the received information; and a disadvantageous degree output processor that outputs the calculated disadvantageous degree.
US07920156B2
The apparatus is adapted to deflect a light beam from a laser light source for each of the color components by means of a deflection mirror surface which oscillates, thereby making the light beam reciprocally scan in a main scanning direction. In this apparatus, however, only a light beam SL which scans in a first direction (+X) of the main scanning direction is irradiated in an effective image region on a photosensitive member, so as to form a latent image thereon. The resultant latent image is developed to form a toner image. Since image formation is performed using only the light beam SL which scans in the first direction (+X), the images may be formed at the consistent density irrespective of the image types. Furthermore, the scanning directions of the light beams SL for all the color components are uniformly defined to be the first direction (+X), so that the toner images of the respective colors may maintain the consistent density.
US07920137B2
A color display system includes a sensor assembly having a plurality of sensor pixels for sensing incident light. Each of the sensor pixels generates a photocurrent in response to sensing the incident light. An image processor being in communication with the sensor assembly receives each of the photocurrents and computes a plurality of photocurrent values with each of the photocurrent values corresponding to one of the photocurrents. A display processor receives each of the photocurrent values and calculates a plurality of power values based on the photocurrent values. The color display system further includes a display driver that receives each of the power values and that generates a plurality of power signals having a power corresponding to one of the power values. A display device includes a plurality of light emitting devices being powered by the power signals for emitting light. The light emitting devices include at least one deep-violet light emitting device for emitting deep-violet light.
US07920135B2
Methods and systems are disclosed for providing video data and display signals. In one embodiment, a system is configured to display video data on an array of bi-stable display elements, where the system includes a processor, a display comprising an array of bi-stable display elements, a driver controller connected to the processor and configured to receive video data from the processor, and an array driver configured to receive video data from the driver controller and display signals from the processor, and to display the video data on the array of bi-stable display elements using the display signals. In another embodiment, a method of displaying data on a bi-stable display includes transmitting display signals from a processor to a driver of an array of bi-stable display elements, and updating an image displayed on the array of bi-stable display elements, wherein the updating is based on signals from the driver and performed on a periodic basis that is based at least in part upon the transmitted display signals.
US07920133B2
An acoustic wave type touch panel is equipped with: a substrate that objects contact; reflective arrays having a great number of inclined lines provided on the substrate; acoustic wave generating sections provided on the substrate; and detecting sections provided on the substrate. An array of micro reflectors, which are shorter than the inclined lines, for attenuating spurious waves generated by reflection of the acoustic waves by the reflective arrays, is provided in the reflective array regions between the inclined lines at least one end thereof.
US07920120B2
A pixel circuit of a display device of the present invention has a drive transistor which serves also as a transistor adapted to control the emission and non-emission periods of an organic EL element or other elements. A final stage buffer in an output circuit of a write scan circuit (WS) has its power supply separated from the power supply of circuit portions of a previous stage. In a first embodiment, a scan signal WS from the write scan circuit is activated instantaneously. In a second embodiment, the trailing edge of the scan signal WS falls slowly. This allows for writing of an input signal voltage in a stable manner.
US07920116B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for driving a liquid crystal display (LCD) device using gray-scale voltages whose dynamic ranges are different from each other depending on pixel color. The gray-scale voltages are output to a source line driver. Embodiments of the invention also provide a gray-scale voltage generation circuit coupled to a LCD source line driver. The disclosed method and circuit reduce coupling phenomena in source lines to substantially remove artifacts such as stripes or flicker in an LCD device.
US07920113B2
An additional capacitor (“sharing capacitor”) is provided for each pixel of a liquid crystal display to store the previous voltage on the pixel electrode (i.e. the voltage obtained in the previous frame). At an opportune time after the pixel electrode has begun to charge for the current frame, the sharing capacitor's electrode is coupled to the pixel electrode to combine the pixel electrode's voltage with the sharing capacitor's voltage. As a result, the pixel electrode's voltage is changed to take into account the previous voltage so as to increase the liquid crystal's response speed. More particularly, the sharing capacitor's voltage changes the pixel voltage to provide a greater voltage overshoot or undershoot when the pixel color is changed a lot, so as to increase the liquid crystal response time. Therefore, greater response speed is provided at low power.
US07920110B2
A pixel circuit has an organic light emitting diode, a driving transistor, a capacitor and a first switch. The organic light emitting diode has a first end coupled to a first power source terminal. The driving transistor has a source and a drain respectively coupled to a second power source terminal and a second end of the light emitting diode. The capacitor couples a gate of the driving transistor to a reference voltage terminal. The first switch couples the second end of the light emitting diode to the capacitor, and couples the gate and the drain of the driving transistor together when a first scan signal is asserted.
US07920108B2
A driving circuit to decrease an error of a grey level voltage without affecting a voltage drop when a grey level signal of a D/A converter is generated in an analog switch, and an organic electroluminescence display using the same. The driving circuit includes first and second switches to select respective reference voltages corresponding to a data signal; resistor arrays to receive and distribute the respective reference voltages using at least two resistances to generate a grey level voltage; a third switch to select one resistor array in response to the data signal and transmit the reference voltages to the selected resistor array; a fourth switch to output the grey level voltage; a MUX circuit connected to the fourth switch to select a data line to transmit the grey level voltage; and a precharge circuit connected between the fourth switch and the data line to select one of the reference voltages to precharge the data line.
US07920105B2
Disclosed is a method of driving a plasma display panel and apparatus thereof enabling to minimize power consumption for driving the plasma display panel 1. The present invention includes the steps of generating a reset discharge by supplying ramp waves so as to equalize cells in the plasma display panel in a reset period, supplying selected specific ones of the cells with a scan voltage pulse swinging between a lowest voltage levels of the reset discharge and a data pulse of a voltage level lowered as much as a negative voltage level of the scan voltage pulse, generating an address discharge by the scan voltage pulse and data pulse applied to the selected cells in an address period, and maintaining the address discharge for a sustain period.
US07920097B2
A multiband antenna includes at least two polygons. The at least two polygons are spaced by means of a non-straight gap shaped as a space-filling curve, in such a way that the whole gap length is increased yet keeping its size and the same overall antenna size allowing for an effective tuning of frequency bands of the antenna.
US07920094B2
In an antenna structure having a plurality of serially fed patch elements, at least one of the patch elements has a slot coupling to the continuation of the feed line for influencing the radiation of this patch element.
US07920093B2
A method reduces consumption of computational resources in a satellite signal receiver. The method includes segmenting a sample of a received global positioning base band vector, segmenting a sample of a replica code/acquisition signal into segments corresponding in length to the segments of the base band vector, circularly correlating segments of the base band vector to zero padded segments of the code/acquisition signal to form a time domain correlation vector, inserting a portion of the time domain correlation vector in a matrix, continuing to correlate circularly the segments of the received signal sample with zero padded segments of the code signal sample until all of the segments in received signal sample have been circularly correlated, dividing rows in the matrix into blocks that are equal to a smallest increment corresponding to a bit edge, sorting the blocks from the divided rows into zero padded blocks, transforming the zero padded blocks into frequency domain columns, summing the frequency domain columns in different combinations to form a plurality of coherent integration matrices for testing possible bit edge locations and bit values.
US07920092B2
A GPS receiver (10) is disclosed comprising a GPS antenna and a GPS RF front-end including an analogue to digital converter for sampling received GPS signals; and a processor for outputting, including to an external device, the GPS signal samples together with ancillary information either directly or indirectly describing characteristics of the GPS signal samples and/or the GPS signals contained therein. Also disclosed is a corresponding method of providing a position fix and a computer program, computer-readable storage medium and apparatus for the same.
US07920084B2
A system, apparatus and method for a folding analog-to-digital converter (ADC) are described. The general architecture of the folding ADC includes an array (1-N) of cascaded folding amplifier stages, a distributed array of fine comparators, and an encoder. Each folding amplifier stage includes folding amplifiers that are configured to receive inputs from a prior stage, and also generate output signals for the next stage. The folding amplifiers output signals for a given stage are evaluated by a corresponding comparator stage, which may include multiple comparators, and also optionally coupled to an interpolator. The outputs of the comparators from all stages are collectively evaluated by the encoder, which generates the output of the folding ADC. Unlike conventional folding ADCs that require fine and coarse channels, the presently described folding ADC provides conversion without the need for a coarse channel. The encoder can also be arranged to facilitate recursive error correction.
US07920082B2
The present invention provides a D/A converter circuit which enables D/A conversion with a high precision and can prevent occurrence of a limit cycle component in the case where an input signal is low, and can also prevent the effect of dither signal from occurring in an analog signal which is a D/A conversion result.A dither signal generation section 505 outputs a dither signal (DITHER) which is an alternating current signal and a reversal dither signal (DITHER_N) inverted from the dither signal. A DEM decoder 502 processes an input digital signal including a component of the dither signal (DITHER), and outputs a plurality of lines of time-series digital signals having a density of “1” or “0” conforming to the input digital signal to be processed. An analog addition section 503 converts a plurality of lines of time-series digital signals and the reversal dither signal (DITHER_N) into an analog signal respectively and adds them, and outputs an analog signal which is a D/A conversion result.
US07920081B2
An embodiment of the present invention provides a phase locked loop that operates on clock signals derived from an RF clock signal generated by the phase locked loop. A frequency reference input provides a reference clock. A controllable oscillator generates the RF clock signal. A phase detection circuit operates on the reference clock to provide digital phase error samples indicative of a phase difference between the reference clock and the RF clock. A dithering circuit is coupled to the reference signal and injects a short sequence dither signal into the reference signal in order to overcome quantization noise and thereby improve RMS phase-error detection for integer channels.
US07920077B2
A method for decompressing at least two two-valued symbol sequences into a three-valued communication sequence is described comprising converting a first two-valued symbol sequence into an intermediate symbol sequence and symbol-wise multiplying the intermediate symbol sequence with the second two-valued symbol sequence to generate the three-valued communication sequence.
US07920072B2
Provided is a single repository for capturing, connecting, sharing, and visualizing information based on a geographic location, for example. Detailed information of a structure or object information can be displayed on a rooftop or over an area of interest. The detailed information can be provided for a single structure or for each structure shown on a map area. According to an embodiment is a system that facilitates surface overlay and bounding on a map. The system can include a receiver component that receives information for an object, a boundary component that ascertains a perimeter of the object, and a rendering component that selectively displays the object information and object on a map based in part on a user perspective.
US07920070B2
A parking guidance device storing the information of length and width of a car is disclosed, which comprises: a central controller, a distance detector electrically connecting to said central controller for detecting the distances from obstacles, an image detector electrically connecting to said central controller for detecting the shape of a parking space, a two-axis rotating detector electrically connecting to said central controller for detecting the direction of said car, a human-machine operation interface electrically connecting to said central controller for inputting signals, and a car controller area network bus interface electrically connecting to said central controller for controlling wheel, engine and braking system, wherein said central controller integrates the information of distances and shape of said parking space, compares the same to the information of length and width of said car to gain a parking track, and makes the moving track of said car correspond with said parking track by controlling wheel, engine and braking system through the car controller area network bus interface.
US07920063B2
Systems, apparatuses and methods for deterring product theft and preventing the fraudulent return or exchange of products. Products are associated with a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. Tag readers located at store access points can detect the presence of the RFID tag and can be used to help determine a direction of travel of the RFID tag. When a product is determined to be leaving the store, the transaction history of the product can be accessed, as well as the supply chain history of the product, to confirm the product has been validly purchased and therefore authorized for removal from the store. When a product is determined to be entering a store, the supply chain history and transaction history of the product can be consulted to determine if the product can be validly exchanged or returned.
US07920061B2
Systems and methods for controlling an alarm state, such as volume, based on the presence or absence of a caregiver in a patient's room. More specifically, a local sound producing device provides an audible alarm within a room when a caregiver is in the room, while a remote sound producing device provides an audible alarm external of the room when the caregiver is not in the room. Accordingly, volume levels of the sound producing devices depend on the sensed presence or absence of the caregiver within the room. For example, when the caregiver leaves the room, the local sound producing device is deactivated and/or the remote sound producing device is activated, thereby allowing the patient to enjoy a more relaxed environment within the room, yet still continue to be monitored. Conversely, when the caregiver enters the room, the local sound producing device is activated and/or the remote sound producing device is deactivated, thereby allowing the caregiver to monitor the patient when within the room, yet allow decreased monitoring external of the room.
US07920060B2
The image processing apparatus is provided with: an acquisition unit that acquires disaster information obtained based on the occurrence of a disaster; a form generation unit that generates an information registration form describing items for registering information on a disaster to be collected based on the disaster information acquired by the acquisition unit; and an output unit that outputs the information registration form generated by the form generation unit.
US07920057B2
The invention relates to a method and a device for localization of the position of a wheel (2) of a vehicle (1). According to the method of the invention, the vehicle (1) is equipped with two transmitting antennas—a lateral antenna (11) and a frontal antenna (13) —placed so as to have coverage zones comprising a common zone in which is located the wheel (2) to be localized, and the transmission by the two transmitting antennas (11 and 13) of two identical, in phase identification request signals of powers suited to obtain in the area of wheel (2) to be localized a resulting signal of power greater than the detection threshold of an electronic box (6) with which said wheel is equipped is ordered simultaneously.
US07920050B2
A proxy device is disclosed for use in an RFID system comprising a plurality of RFID devices and at least one reader which communicates with the proxy device and one or more of the RFID devices. The proxy device acquires information characterizing at least a given one of the RFID devices, controls the given RFID device so as to at least partially prevent the given RFID device from being read by the reader, and communicates with the reader in a manner which simulates the given RFID device. This advantageously allows the proxy device to implement privacy policies of arbitrary sophistication on behalf of the given RFID device. The proxy device subsequently releases control of the given RFID device so as to permit the given RFID device to again be read by the reader.
US07920048B2
A container has a lid and a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism includes a male wall with a switch. A female wall mounts to the inside wall of the container and, when closed, encompasses the male wall. The female wall has a magnet that activates the switch. A lever contained inside the male wall moves into and out of a slot formed in the female wall. The switch completes a circuit that generates a close signal to the lever when the lid is closed. A button extends through a hole in the lid such that the button can be depressed to indicate locking and cannot be depressed when unlocked. When unlocked, the button cannot be depressed because the lever blocks the button. To open the container when closed, the actuation mechanism moves the lever in response to an entered code that must match a stored code or calculated content-specific code.
US07920043B2
A planar magnetic device 1 includes a first magnetic layer 3 and a second magnetic layer 5 that are made of a mixture of a magnetic powder 7 and a resin, and a planar coil 4 disposed between the magnetic layers. When the planar coil 4 has an adjacent winding interval W between the potions 4c of the coil and the magnetic powder 7 has a maximum particle size L, planar magnetic device 1 satisfies the relationship W>L. In the planar magnetic device 1 having the above structure, fine magnetic powder that can produce a high inductance fills the spaces between the adjacent windings. Thus, the invention can achieve a high-performance planar magnetic device, such as a thin inductor.
US07920042B2
A micromagnetic device includes a first insulating layer formed above a substrate, a first seed layer formed above the first insulating layer, a first conductive winding layer selectively formed above the first seed layer, and a second insulating layer formed above the first conductive winding layer. The micromagnetic device also includes a first magnetic core layer formed above the second insulating layer, a third insulating layer formed above the first magnetic core layer, and a second magnetic core layer formed above the third insulating layer. The micromagnetic device still further includes a fourth insulating layer formed above the second magnetic core layer, a second seed layer formed above the fourth insulating layer, and a second conductive winding layer formed above the second seed layer and in vias to the first conductive winding layer. The first and second conductive winding layers form a winding for the micromagnetic device.
US07920041B2
In a coil device for an antenna, a wide surface of a connector connecting section and a mounting surface of a fixing section are substantially vertically arranged. A connecter terminal can take a first arrangement or a second arrangement to a resin member. In the first arrangement the connector terminal can take, the connector connecting section is positioned on one end side in the width direction of the resin member, and in the second arrangement, the connector connecting section is positioned on the other end side in the width direction of the resin member by turning the connector connecting section in the first arrangement 180 degrees.
US07920037B2
A fault interrupter and load break switch includes a trip assembly configured to automatically open a transformer circuit electrically coupled to stationary contacts of the switch upon the occurrence of a fault condition. The fault condition causes a Curie metal element electrically coupled to at least one of the stationary contacts to release a magnetic latch. The release causes a trip rotor of the trip assembly to rotate a rotor assembly. This rotation causes ends of a movable contact of the rotor assembly to electrically disengage the stationary contacts, thereby opening the circuit. The switch also includes a handle for manually opening and closing the electrical circuit in fault and non-fault conditions. Actuation of the handle coupled to the rotor assembly via a spring-loaded rotor causes the movable contact ends to selectively engage or disengage the stationary contacts.
US07920036B2
A lattice tunable filtering circuit includes a first input and a second input, and a first output and a second output. The circuit includes two series branches and two parallel branches. The first and second series branches include a Tunable Resonator Component (TRC) which presents a first series resonance frequency whereas the third and fourth parallel branches present a second series resonance frequency which has a value being lower than that of the first series resonance frequency. The first and second series resonance frequencies are tunable by one analog control quantity. The filtering circuit further includes a feedback control loop for the control of the analog quantity, which feedback is based on a criterion of equality between the modulus of impedances Zs and Zp.
US07920027B2
Techniques for biasing an amplifier using a replica circuit are disclosed. In an embodiment, a replica circuit having substantially the same topology and sizing as a push-pull amplifier circuit is coupled to a main push-pull amplifier circuit. A transistor in the replica circuit may be biased using feedback to generate a predetermined DC output voltage level, and such bias level may be applied to a corresponding transistor in the main push-pull amplifier circuit. In another embodiment, a transistor in a current bias module may be used to bias corresponding transistors in the main push-pull amplifier circuit and the replica circuit. Further techniques are disclosed for configuring the amplifier to have a non-uniform step size with finer resolution at lower power levels and coarser resolution at higher power levels to reduce power consumption at lower power levels.
US07920021B2
A method of applying a wire voltage to a semiconductor device including a plurality of active regions and a field region insulating the plurality of active regions, wherein the field region includes a plurality of wires. The method includes applying an operating voltage required for an operation of the semiconductor device to at least one of the plurality of wires, and applying a voltage lower than the operating voltage to a wire adjacent to at least one of the plurality of active regions from among the plurality of wires. Thus, leakage current caused by an imaginary parasitic transistor due to a wire of the field region may be prevented.
US07920017B2
A programmable clock booster system including a clock booster circuit including at least one boost capacitor connected between a first node and a second node for sampling an input voltage in a first phase and applying a boosting voltage to said second node during a second phase, and a programmable capacitor circuit connected to said first node for providing a programmable boosted voltage on said first node during said second phase.
US07920016B2
A testing procedure may determine whether a monolithic voltage reference device meets a temperature drift specification. A first non-room temperature output voltage of the monolithic voltage reference device may be measured while the monolithic voltage reference device is at a first non-room temperature which is substantially different than room temperature. First non-room temperature information may be stored in a memory within the monolithic voltage reference device which is a function of the first non-room temperature output voltage. A second non-room temperature output voltage of the monolithic voltage reference device may be measured while the monolithic voltage reference device is at a second non-room temperature which is substantially different than the room temperature and the first non-room temperature. Second non-room temperature information may be stored in the memory without destroying the first non-room temperature information which is a function of the second non-room temperature output voltage. A determination may be made whether the monolithic voltage reference device meets the temperature drift specification based on a computation that is a function of both the first non-room temperature information and the second non-room temperature information.
US07920015B2
In a traditional, fully-isolated bandgap reference circuits, it was difficult to detect currents that are proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT). Here, a PTAT reference in a fully isolated NPN-based bandgap references are disclosed. These circuits in particular are able to make detections using various current without the need for stand-along operational amplifiers.
US07920011B1
A voltage trimming circuit is provided. The voltage trimming circuit has an input stage, an up-trimming resistor ladder, a down-trimming resistor ladder and a control means. The input stage has a first input, a second input and an output, wherein the first output is to receive an input voltage, the second input is connected to a connection point and the output is to provide an output voltage based on a difference between the voltage of the first and the second input. The up-trimming resistor ladder is connected between the output of the input stage and the connection point and the down-trimming resistor ladder connected between a ground potential and the connection point. The control means controls the resistance of the up-trimming and the down-trimming resistor ladder to up-trim or down-trim the output voltage.
US07920000B2
A PLL circuit according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention includes: a PFD that detects a phase difference between two clock signals; an LPF that outputs a voltage based on a detection result of the PFD; a VCO that controls a frequency of a VCO output clock output based on the voltage; a frequency divider that divides a frequency of the VCO output clock and outputs an output clock; and an automatic adjustment circuit that adjusts a frequency division ratio of the frequency divider based on the voltage. The automatic adjustment circuit includes a comparison circuit that outputs a control signal for controlling the frequency divider and a control signal for controlling the reference voltage. This circuit configuration makes it possible to control an oscillation frequency of a PLL circuit with accuracy and stability.
US07919984B2
A reconfigurable transceiver is claimed for a wide range of I/O systems. The reconfigurable transmitter of the reconfigurable transceiver is capable of transmitting multi-level signals in single-ended and differential modes by current and voltage mode signaling. The signal for transmission can be pre-emphasized for all transmitting modes. The reconfigurable transceiver can dynamically scale bandwidth and power consumption based on performance metrics.
US07919981B2
An integrated circuit is provided with a scan chain including a scan flip-flop and a dummy block. The dummy block has a clock terminal receiving a clock signal, a scan input terminal connected to a scan data line within the scan chain, and a scan output terminal connected to another scan data line within the scan chain. The dummy block is configured to output data on the scan output terminal in response to input data fed to the scan input terminal, not responsively to the clock signal.
US07919970B2
A system and method for measuring a characteristic impedance of a transmission-line comprises transmitting energy to the line, and shortly after measuring the voltage/current involved and thus measuring the equivalent impedance. The measured characteristic impedance may then be used in order to determine the termination value required to minimize reflections. In another embodiment, the proper termination is set or measured by adjusting the termination value to achieve maximum power dissipation in the terminating device. The equivalent characteristic impedance measurement may be used to count the number of metallic conductors connected to a single connection point. This abstract is not intended to limit or construe the scope of the claims.
US07919957B2
A digital linear voltage regulator includes a comparator, a finite state machine, and a current digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The comparator is preferably coupled to receive a reference voltage and an operating voltage supplied to a dynamic load. The comparator generates, during a clock cycle, a binary output based on a comparison between reference and operating voltages. The finite state machine (FSM) is coupled to receive at least one control signal that indicates a target operating state for the digital linear voltage regulator. The FSM receives the binary output from the comparator and generates a digital word, during a clock cycle, based on the target operating state of the digital linear voltage regulator and on the binary output. The current DAC is coupled to the FSM, receives the digital word and delivers current at the desired voltage to the dynamic load.
US07919943B2
A fan system includes a connecting device, a controlling device and a fan device. The connecting device includes a first pin receiving at least one driving signal, and a second pin receiving a start signal, wherein a length of the first pin is greater than a length of the second pin. The controlling device is electrically connected with the connecting device and includes an enabling unit. The enabling unit generates at least one first enabling signal according to the start signal, and the controlling device outputs the driving signal and the first enabling signal. The fan device is electrically connected with the controlling device and includes at least one fan. The fan device transmits the driving signal to the fan and drives the fan according to the first enabling signal.
US07919942B2
A wiper system for a vehicle includes a first wiper assembly, a second wiper assembly spaced apart from the first wiper assembly, and a controller in communication with at least one of the first wiper assembly and the second wiper assembly. The controller controls at least one of the first wiper assembly and the second wiper assembly based on at least one of an aerodynamic characteristic of the vehicle and a soiling characteristic of the vehicle.
US07919937B2
A method and system for adjusting a light source that is capable of displaying light of different colors receives inputs from various sources and provides an output color selection signal. The output color selection signal is applied to the light source to adjust the intensity and color thereof.
US07919936B2
There is provided a driving circuit for powering a plurality of light sources. The driving circuit includes a power converter, a plurality of switching regulators and a plurality of switching balance controllers. The power converter is operable for receiving an input voltage and for providing a regulated voltage to the light sources. The switching regulators are operable for adjusting forward voltages of the light sources respectively. The switching balance controllers are operable for generating pulse modulation signals to control the switching regulators respectively.
US07919930B2
The coil component comprises a primary coil, and a first secondary coil and a second secondary coil which are opposed to the primary coil. A first terminal is a terminal of the first secondary coil, that is a terminal for connection to one end of a lamp, and a second terminal is a terminal of the second secondary coil, that is a terminal for connection to the other end of the lamp. The first secondary coil and the second secondary coil are coaxially disposed, and the first terminal and the second terminal are reverse in polarity.
US07919918B2
Provided is an organic light emitting display device that reduces a unused area and reduces the voltage drop of a driving power bus line. The organic light emitting display device includes a pixel region having a plurality of organic light emitting diodes; a power bus line that is located on an outer side of the pixel region and supplies power to each of the organic light emitting diodes; and a metal layer that overlaps the driving power bus line, is electrically connected to the driving power bus line, and comprises a panel mark.
US07919915B2
A monochromic, multi-color and full-color cold cathode fluorescent display (CFD), comprises of some shaped white or multi-color or red, green blue color cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), reflector, base plate, temperature control means, luminance and contrast enhancement face plate, shades and its driving electronics. CFD is a large screen display device which has high luminance, high efficiency, long lifetime, high contrast and excellent color. CFD can be used for both outdoor and indoor applications even at direct sunlight, to display a character, or graphic and video image.
US07919913B2
A light illuminating element including a transparent closed casing, an exciting gas, a first exciting coating, and a first dielectric multi-layer long-pass filter is provided. The transparent closed casing has a first inner side, a second inner side, a first outer side corresponding to the first inner side, and a second outer side corresponding to the second inner side. The exciting gas is disposed inside the transparent closed casing, and suitable for providing an ultraviolet light. The first exciting coating is disposed on the first inner side or the first outer side, and is suitable for absorbing the ultraviolet light to provide a visible light. The first dielectric multi-layer long-pass filter is disposed on the second inner side or the second outer side, and suitable for reflecting the ultraviolet light and allowing the visible light to pass through.
US07919912B2
An electron emission source includes a carbon-based material and resultant material formed by curing and heat treating at least one silicon-based material represented by formula (1), (2), and/or (3) below: where R1 through R22 are each independently a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C20 alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C20 alkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C20 alkenyl group, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group or a mercapto group, and m and n are each integers from 0 to 1,000. An electron emission device and an electron emission display device include the electron emission source. A composition for forming electron emission sources includes the carbon-based material and the silicon-based material. A method of forming the electron emission source includes applying the composition to a substrate; and heat treating the applied composition. The adhesion between the electron emission source including the cured and heat treated resultant material of the silicon-based material and a substrate is excellent, and thus the reliability of the electron emission device including the cured and heat treated resultant material of the silicon-based material can be enhanced.
US07919900B2
The Lundell motor apparatus includes a controller for controlling a field current passed to a field coil of a Lundell-type rotor of a motor and an armature current passed to a stator coil of the motor in order to generate a required torque. When the field current is If, the armature current is Ia, a d-axis inductance is Ld, a q-axis inductance is Lq, a q-axis current as a q-axis component of the armature current is Iq, a d-axis current as a d-axis component of the armature current is Id, a field torque is Tf, a field flux is Φf, a reluctance torque is Tr, and a combined torque of the field torque and the reluctance torque is ΣT, the controller passes the d-axis current Id to the stator coil within a phase angle range in which the combined torque ΣT become larger than the field torque Tf in order to generate the reluctance torque Tr which is equal to (Ld−Lq)Id·Iq in addition to the field torque Tf.
US07919890B2
A rotating electric machine, comprising a stator, a rotor, a case storing the stator and the rotor, and an oil pump. Oil discharge ports are formed at the terminal part of an oil discharge passage of the case, and a cooling oil is supplied to the upper cutout parts of the stator. A groove part is covered by a cover to form a closed flow passage. Since the cooling oil is sufficiently applied to the portion of a coil exposed to the inside of the flow passage, a cooling efficiency is increased. Also the cooling oil is guided to an orifice on the lower side in the gravitational direction. Accordingly, since the cooling oil does not flow in an air gap between the rotor and the stator, a power loss can be prevented from occurring.
US07919876B2
A small-sized power package includes a tubular case, a magnet tube, a coil, a power-generating magnet, a shaft, a movable box, and a positioning magnet. The power-generating magnet is attracted by the positioning magnet and thus suspended within the magnet tube. The small-sized power package has enhanced power generating efficiency by utilizing the benefit of magnetic levitation. An electronic device including such a small-sized power package is also provided.
US07919874B2
A chip package including a base, a chip, a molding compound and a plurality of outer terminals is provided. The base is essentially consisted of a patterned circuit layer having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other and a solder mask disposed on the second surface, wherein the solder mask has a plurality of first openings by which part of the patterned circuit layer is exposed. The chip is disposed on the first surface and is electrically connected to the patterned circuit layer. The molding compound covers the pattern circuit layer and fixes the chip onto the patterned circuit layer. The outer terminals are disposed in the first openings and electrically connected to the patterned circuit layer.
US07919872B2
An integrated circuit (IC) carrier assembly comprises a printed circuit board (PCB), a carrier soldered to the PCB, the carrier comprising a plurality of electrical contact islands surrounding a receiving zone for receiving an IC, a first resilient suspension means interconnecting pairs of adjacent islands, and a second resilient suspension means connecting the islands adjacent to the receiving zone with the receiving zone.
US07919871B2
An integrated circuit package system includes: providing a lower interposer substrate with lower exposed conductors; attaching a die over the lower interposer substrate; applying a stack encapsulant over the die and the lower interposer substrate having the lower exposed conductors partially exposed adjacent the stack encapsulant; and attaching an upper interposer substrate having upper exposed conductors over the stack encapsulant and with the upper exposed conductors substantially exposed.
US07919865B2
A new method is provided for the creation of interconnect lines. Fine line interconnects are provided in a first layer of dielectric overlying semiconductor circuits that have been created in or on the surface of a substrate. A layer of passivation is deposited over the layer of dielectric, a thick second layer of dielectric is created over the surface of the layer of passivation. Thick and wide interconnect lines are created in the thick second layer of dielectric. The first layer of dielectric may also be eliminated, creating the wide thick interconnect network on the surface of the layer of passivation that has been deposited over the surface of a substrate.
US07919862B2
An integrated circuit structure having improved resistivity and a method for forming the same are provided. The integrated circuit structure includes a dielectric layer, an opening in the dielectric layer, an oxide-based barrier layer directly on sidewalls of the opening, and conductive materials filling the remaining portion of the opening.
US07919860B2
One aspect of the invention provides a semiconductor device that includes a microchip having an outermost surface. First and second bond pads are located on the microchip and near the outermost surface. A first UBM contact is located on the outermost surface and between the first and second bond pads. The first UBM contact is offset from the first bond pad. A second UBM contact is located on the outermost surface and between the first and second bond pads. The second UBM contact is offset from the second bond pad, and a capacitor supported by the microchip is located between the first and second UBM contacts.
US07919855B2
Topside thermal management of semiconductor devices using boron phosphide contacting a gate terminal
A semiconductor device including at least one gate terminal in operational contact with an active layer or top surface of the semiconductor substrate includes a deposited layer of boron phosphide covering the gate terminal and at least a portion of the active layer or the top surface next to and extending from the gate terminal. According to an aspect, the layer of boron phosphide is deposited by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The boron phosphide layer will have a thickness less than or equal to about 10 microns. The boron phosphide provides a heat spreading coating across the die surface, thus increasing the surface area that conducts the heat from the die. Since the boron phosphide coating is in intimate contact with the gate terminal(s) and the immediately adjacent passivation surfaces of the device, generated heat can rapidly spread away from the active junction or channel. The additional thermal path(s) provided by the boron phosphide coating may terminate away from the active region to further conduct away the heat through thermally unused areas of the device.
US07919850B2
A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: providing a lead; mounting an inner package so that the lead is peripheral to the inner package, and the inner package having a connection pad; forming an exposed terminal interconnect on the connection pad; and encapsulating the inner package, and partially encapsulating the exposed terminal interconnect with an encapsulation.
US07919849B2
A package substrate includes a laminated body having a conductor circuit and an insulating layer formed and laminated, solder resist layers formed and laminated on both sides of the laminated body, respectively, an optical element, and an optical path for transmitting an optical signal. One or more of the solder resist layers formed and laminated on the laminated body is an outermost layer which has a transmittance for light having a wavelength for communication of about 60% or more at a thickness of 30 μm.
US07919837B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip with bonding pads, the bonding pads being arranged along one side of an element forming surface of the semiconductor chip, a lead frame including first and second internal leads arranged such that tips thereof correspond to some of the bonding pads of the semiconductor chip, and first and second bonding wires by which the first internal leads and the some of the bonding pads are bonded to each other. The semiconductor device further includes a hanging pin section provided on the element non-forming surface of the semiconductor chip, and a sealing member with which the semiconductor chip is sealed including the hanging pin section and a bonding section between the first and second internal leads and the first and second bonding wires.
US07919835B2
The present invention provides a semiconductor device having a low-k film including an interconnect layer and a highly-reliable through-substrate contact plug. The semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface facing each other; a first insulating film formed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate and having a specific permittivity of 4 or higher; a circuit constituent element formed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate and covered with the first insulating film); a contact plug formed in the first insulating film and electrically connected to the circuit constituent element; a through-substrate contact plug penetrating through the semiconductor substrate and the first insulating film; a second insulating film formed on the first insulating film and having a specific permittivity of 3.5 or lower; an interconnect layer formed in the second insulating film and electrically connected to the through-substrate contact plug and the contact plug; a first electrode formed in an exposed state and external to the second insulating film and electrically connected to the interconnect layer; and a second electrode formed in an exposed state and external to the second surface of the semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to the through-substrate contact plug.
US07919830B2
A method for fabricating a low-value resistor such as a ballast resistor for bipolar junction transistors. The resistor may be fabricated using layers of appropriate sheet resistance so as to achieve low resistance values in a compact layout. The method may rely on layers already provided by a conventional CMOS process flow, such as contact plugs and fully silicided (FUSI) metal gates.
US07919827B2
A method and device is disclosed for reducing noises in CMOS image sensors. An improved CMOS image sensor includes a light sensing structure surrounded by a support feature section. An active section of the light sensing structure is covered by no more than optically transparent materials. A light blocking portion includes a black light filter layer and an opaque layer covering the support feature section. The light blocking portion may also cover a peripheral portion of the light sensing structure. The method for forming the CMOS image sensors includes using film patterning and etching processes to selectively form the opaque layer where the light blocking portion is desired but not over the active section.
US07919820B2
Example embodiments provide a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the CMOS semiconductor device. The CMOS semiconductor device may include gates in the nMOS and pMOS areas, polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) capping layers, metal nitride layers underneath the poly-Si capping layers, and a gate insulating layer underneath the gate. The metal nitride layers of the nMOS and pMOS areas may be formed of the same type of material and may have different work functions. Since a metal gate is formed of identical types of metal nitride layers, a process may be simplified, yield may be increased, and a higher-performance CMOS semiconductor device may be obtained.
US07919819B2
Embodiments comprise an adjusted polysilicon gate pitch to metal wire pitch relationship to improve area scalars while increasing ACLV tolerance with a fixed polysilicon gate pitch. In some embodiments, the wire pitch for at least one metallization layer is adjusted to match the pitch for the polysilicon gate. In one embodiment, the next to the lowest metallization layer running in the same orientation as the polysilicon gate, utilized to access the input or output of the interconnected cell structures is relaxed to match the minimum contacted gate pitch and the metal is aligned above each polysilicon gate. In another embodiment, the polysilicon gate pitch may be relaxed to attain a smaller lowest common multiple with the wire pitch for an integrated circuit to reduce the minimum step off.
US07919816B2
A gate controlled fin resistance element for use as an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection element in an electrical circuit has a fin structure having a first connection region, a second connection region and a channel region formed between the first and second connection regions. Furthermore, the fin resistance element has a gate region formed at least over a part of the surface of the channel region. The gate region is electrically coupled to a gate control device, which gate control device controls an electrical potential applied to the gate region in such a way that the gate controlled fin resistance element has a high electrical resistance during a first operating state of the electrical circuit and a lower electrical resistance during a second operating state, which is characterized by the occurrence of an ESD event.
US07919806B2
Disclosed herein is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, including a memory transistor. The memory transistor has a channel formation region defined between two source and drain regions formed on a semiconductor substrate a bottom insulating film, a charge storage film and a top insulating film formed in order at least on the channel formation region, the charge storage film having a charge storage function, and a gate electrode formed on the top insulating film. The bottom insulating film is formed from a plurality of films containing nitrogen such that the content of nitrogen of a lowermost one of the films which contacts with the channel formation region and an uppermost one of the films which contacts with the gate electrode is higher than that of the other one or ones of the films which exist between the uppermost and lowermost films.
US07919803B2
A semiconductor memory device in which a plurality of capacitors each including a columnar lower electrode, a capacitor insulation film and an upper electrode are stacked with interlayer films therebetween, a contact plug connects an upper face of each lower electrode of a lower layer with a bottom face of each lower electrode of an upper layer, and another contact plug connects upper electrodes of the capacitors in respective layers with each other.
US07919801B2
In various embodiments, semiconductor structures and methods to manufacture these structures are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a portion of the unidirectional transistor and a portion of a bidirectional transistor in or over a semiconductor material simultaneously. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US07919791B2
A Group III-V nitride microelectronic device structure including a delta doped layer and/or a doped superlattice. A delta doping method is described, including the steps of: depositing semiconductor material on a substrate by a first epitaxial film growth process; terminating the deposition of semiconductor material on the substrate to present an epitaxial film surface; delta doping the semiconductor material at the epitaxial film surface, to form a delta doping layer thereon; terminating the delta doping; resuming deposition of semiconductor material to deposit semiconductor material on the delta doping layer, in a second epitaxial film growth process; and continuing the semiconductor material second epitaxial film growth process to a predetermined extent, to form a doped microelectronic device structure, wherein the delta doping layer is internalized in semiconductor material deposited in the first and second epitaxial film growth processes.
US07919790B2
A semiconductor substrate and a method of its manufacture has a semiconductor substrate having a carbon concentration in a range of 6.0×1015 to 2.0×1017 atoms/cm3, both inclusively. One principal surface of the substrate is irradiated with protons and then heat-treated to thereby form a broad buffer structure, namely a region in a first semiconductor layer where a net impurity doping concentration is locally maximized. Due to the broad buffer structure, lifetime values are substantially equalized in a region extending from an interface between the first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer formed on the first semiconductor layer to the region where the net impurity doping concentration is locally maximized. In addition, the local minimum of lifetime values of the first semiconductor layer becomes high. It is thus possible to provide a semiconductor device having soft recovery characteristics, in addition to high-speed and low-loss characteristics, while suppressing a kinked leakage current waveform.
US07919786B2
A nanowire light emitting device is provided. The nanowire light emitting device includes a substrate, a first conductive layer formed on the substrate, a plurality of nanowires vertically formed on the first conductive layer, each nanowire comprising a p-doped portion and an n-doped portion, a light emitting layer between the p-doped portion and the n-doped portion, a second conductive layer formed on the nanowires, and an insulating polymer in which a light emitting material is embedded, filling a space between the nanowires. The color of light emitted from the light emitting layer varies according to the light emitting material.
US07919776B2
A high frequency diode comprising: a P type region, an N type region, and an I layer as a high resistivity layer interposed between the P type region and the N type region, wherein the I layer is made of a silicon wafer that has a carbon concentration of 5×1015 to 5×1017 atoms/cm3, interstitial oxygen concentration of 6.5×1017 to 13.5×1017 atoms/cm3, and a resistivity of 100 Ωcm or more.
US07919775B2
A method of operating a semiconductor device, a semiconductor device and a digital micromirror system are presented. In an embodiment, the semiconductor device comprises a grounded substrate, a memory array, and a reset driver. The memory array may be isolated from the grounded substrate with a buried layer. The set of voltages of the memory array may be shifted with respect to a reset voltage. The reset driver may drive the reset voltage and the reset driver may have at least one extended drain transistor in the grounded substrate.
US07919772B2
A nonvolatile memory has a problem in that applied voltage is high. This is because a carrier needs to be injected into a floating gate through an insulating film by a tunneling effect. In addition, there is concern about deterioration of the insulating film by performing such carrier injection. An object of the present invention is to provide a memory in which applied voltage is lowered and deterioration of an insulating film is prevented. One feature is to use a layer in which an inorganic compound having a charge-transfer complex is mixed with an organic compound as a layer functioning as a floating gate of a memory. A specific example is an element having a transistor structure where a layer in which an inorganic compound having a charge-transfer complex is mixed with an organic compound and which is sandwiched between insulating layers is used as a floating gate.
US07919769B2
An exemplary illuminator includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a light-emitting chip. The light-emitting chip includes light-emitting layers arranged three-dimensionally. The first and second electrodes are configured for providing different voltages to the light-emitting chip, and the light-emitting chip is capable of emitting light simultaneously along all dimensional axes.
US07919768B2
A phase-change memory cell is proposed. The phase-change memory includes a bottom electrode; a phase-change spacer formed to contact the bottom electrode; an electrical conductive layer having a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, wherein the electrical conductive layer electrically connects to the phase-change spacer via the horizontal portion; and a top electrode electrically connected to the electrical conductive layer via the vertical portion of the electrically conductive layer.
US07919765B2
Method and apparatus are disclosed for treating a non-continuous particle beam produced by an accelerator in order to irradiate a target volume, wherein an irradiation spot located in the target volume is formed from this beam, and wherein the location of the irradiation spot is controlled by location controlling elements. The setting of the location controlling elements may take place in between subsequent particle bunches of the beam, for example.
US07919763B2
An exit window for an electron beam emitter through which electrons pass in an electron beam includes a structural foil for metal to metal bonding with the electron beam emitter. The structural foil has a central opening formed therethrough. A window layer of high thermal conductivity extends over the central opening of the structural foil and provides a high thermal conductivity region through which the electrons can pass.
US07919761B2
Clearly observing the state of an examination site is made by sufficiently suppressing the influence of residues. Fluorescence observation apparatus includes: a light source emits excitation light for irradiating the vicinity of an examination site; a fluorescence information acquisition unit acquires information about fluorescence emitted from the vicinity of the examination site through the irradiation with the excitation light from the light source; a residue fluorescence information acquisition unit acquires information about fluorescence emitted from residues selectively dyed with a fluorescent dye, through the irradiation with the excitation light from the light source; and a fluorescence information correction unit generates fluorescence information about the examination site in which the fluorescence from the residues is suppressed, based on the fluorescence information from the vicinity of the examination site, acquired by the fluorescence information acquisition unit, and the fluorescence information from the residues, acquired by the residue fluorescence information acquisition unit.
US07919754B2
A system for the detection and analysis of at least one volatile substance in breath samples of a subject, including at least one source of infrared radiation adapted to the wavelength range of specific absorption peaks of said substances, a plurality of reflecting surfaces of said radiation adapted for collimation onto at least one detector providing a plurality of electrical output signals corresponding to the transmission of said radiation within wavelength intervals corresponding to said absorption peaks, at least one measuring cell including a mechanical support structure defining the position of said source, reflecting surfaces and detector, adapted to the reception and disposal of said breath sample, and exposing it to said radiation, at least one electronic signal processing unit with capacity to analyse said signals with respect to pre-programmed information concerning infrared absorption spectra of said substances. The response of the system being displayed or otherwise communicated, and perceived as essentially instantaneous.
US07919752B2
An inspection apparatus includes a terahertz wave detection portion, a waveform shaping portion configured to shape a first answer signal with respect to a terahertz wave by using a signal acquired in the above-described terahertz wave detection portion, a measurement condition acquisition portion configured to acquire a first measurement condition, an answer signal storage portion configured to store second answer signals corresponding to measurement conditions, a selection portion configured to select the above-described second answer signal from the above-described answer signal storage portion, and a signal processing portion configured to conduct deconvolution with respect to the above-described first answer signal on the basis of the above-described second answer signal.
US07919751B2
A small infrared sensor has a wide infrared light-receiving area (viewing angle), high electromagnetic shielding characteristics, and excellent electromagnetic-wave resistance characteristics. In the infrared sensor, supporting portions are disposed at four corners of a substantially rectangular opening in a package. The supporting portions support an optical filter, disposed so as to cover the opening, at positions that are lower than an upper end of an inner peripheral wall defining the opening. While the optical filter is supported by the supporting portions as a result of inserting a portion of a surface side of the optical filter facing the supporting portions into the opening, the optical filter is secured to the package. The optical filter and the package are joined and secured, and electrically connected to each other through a conductive adhesive.
US07919748B2
The mass spectrometer includes a mass analyzer having a pair of planar electrode structures. The electrode structures are disposed opposite one another, parallel to one another, and axially offset from one another, and are structured to generate, in response to a common pattern of voltages applied to them, a cylindrically-symmetric, annular electric field surrounding a cylindrical central region. The electric field includes an annular axially focusing lens region surrounding the central region, and an annular mirror region surrounding the lens region. Ions injected tangentially in the central region towards the electric field reach an ion detector after executing a number of ellipse-like orbits, which enables a long flight path to be accommodated within a small evacuated space.
US07919747B2
An ion guide or mass analyser (2) is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes (2a) having apertures through which ions are transmitted in use. A pseudo-potential barrier is created at the exit of the ion guide or mass analyser (2). The amplitude or depth of the pseudo-potential barrier is inversely proportional to the mass to charge ratio of an ion. One or more transient DC voltages (4) are applied to the electrodes (2a) of the ion guide or mass analyser (2) in order to urge ions along the length of the ion guides or mass analyser (2). The amplitude of the transient DC voltage (4) applied to the electrode (2a) may be increased with time so that ions are caused to be emitted from the ion guide or mass analyser (2) in reverse order of their mass to charge ratio.
US07919742B2
A projector includes: an operation unit which receives operation by a user; a projection unit which projects light corresponding to an image signal; and a light intensity control unit which controls light intensity of the light projected by the projection unit. The light intensity control unit controls the light intensity in the order of reception of plural operations received by the operation unit from the user.
US07919739B2
The invention relates to a locking device for a deployable surface or fin of a projectile characterized in that it incorporates at least one flexible tongue, one end of which protrudes in the groove, a recess to the side of the groove enabling the tongue to bend in a first direction to enable the fin to enter the groove.
US07919737B2
The present invention is directed to improving the conventional high-speed cooking oven based on a combination of hot air impingement and microwave heating by providing a time-dependent spatial variation in the net air impingement and/or net microwave energy applied to the food product in the oven. This is aimed at optimizing heat transfer and microwave efficiencies in a high-speed cooking oven, thereby enabling the oven to deliver an optimal cooking efficiency in comparison to the conventional high-speed cooking oven. In addition, under the present invention, the cooking efficiency may be further optimized by dimensioning the nozzles for hot air impingement to tighten impingement plumes, subject to the space constraint of the oven's cooking chamber, and dimensioning the cooking chamber of the oven in integer multiples of the wavelength of the microwave energy to match the microwave load. With the optimized cooking efficiency provided by the present invention, the high speed cooking technology may now be extended to ovens operating on a power supply based on a voltage less than 220 volts, preferably between 110 and 125 volts, with more productive results, so that the high-speed cooking technology may find a wider applicability and customer base.
US07919729B2
A heating vessel comprises a bottom portion made of conductive material and perimeter wall extending upward from the bottom portion to form a perimeter and covers the vessel such as to form a cavity. The perimeter wall comprises an outer wall and an inner wall, and at least an adiabatic portion defined between the outer wall and the inner wall, which is as an adiabatic layer. The dimension of the inner wall is less than the outer wall. The inner wall is connected to the bottom.
US07919727B2
A laser processing apparatus includes: a laser beam radiation part that radiates a laser beam to a target position on a substrate; a liquid supply source; a liquid supply nozzle that is connected to the liquid supply source through a liquid supply channel; a guide member for the ejected liquid; and a movement mechanism that allows a substrate holding part, and the laser beam radiation part, the guide member and the liquid supply nozzle to relatively move in a horizontal direction in a state that a center of a radiation spot of the laser beam is in a projection region on the substrate when the liquid ejection port of the liquid supply nozzle is extended in an ejection direction.
US07919713B2
In an embodiment, one or more conductive cable cords are twisted with the sensitive signal carrying cables. The cords may advantageously comprise dummy wires, or very flexible hollow cables without an inner conductor. As the conductive cords do not carry and inner conductor, the conductive cords are individually flexible and small, resulting in a twisted bundle that more is flexible while potentially having a smaller outer diameter.
US07919710B2
A solar cell includes a first electrode, a second electrode and a stacked semiconductor layer. The stacked semiconductor layer is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The stacked semiconductor layer includes a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer and an intrinsic semiconductor layer. The first semiconductor layer has a first energy gap. The second semiconductor layer has a second energy gap. The intrinsic semiconductor layer is disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer, wherein the intrinsic semiconductor layer is a chalcopyrite layer and has a third energy gap. The third energy gap is less than the first energy gap and the second energy gap.
US07919701B2
A connection device for a drum set has a connecting bridge, multiple resilient pads and a clamping device. The connecting bridge has a base board and two connecting arms. The connecting arms protrude respectively from two sides of the base board and each has a connecting end for connection to an adjusting rod attached to a drum shell of a drum. The resilient pads are mounted respectively on the connecting ends of the connecting arms and are mounted around the adjusting rods. The clamping device is securely mounted on the base board and has a clamping base, a clamping leaf, a locking rod and a locking element. Therefore, the connection device allows the drum to vibrate for improved timbre.
US07919695B2
According to the invention, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH610543. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety CH610543, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH610543 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH610543.
US07919682B2
The present invention relates to plant cells and plants, which are genetically modified, wherein the genetic modification leads to the reduction of the activity of a starch phosphorylating OK1 protein in comparison with corresponding wild type plant cells or wild type plants that have not been genetically modified. Furthermore, the present invention relates to means and methods for the manufacture of such plant cells and plants. Plant cells and plants of this type synthesise a modified starch. The present invention therefore also relates to the starch synthesised by the plant cells and plants according to the invention, methods for the manufacture of this starch, and the manufacture of starch derivatives of this modified starch, as well as flours containing starches according to the invention.Furthermore, the present invention relates to nucleic acid molecules, which are suitable for manufacturing plants according to the invention.
US07919678B2
The present invention concerns a method for modifying plant growth characteristics by modifying expression in a plant of a nucleic acid encoding a methionine aminopeptidase (MAP protein) and/or by modifying level and/or activity in a plant of a MAP protein. The invention also relates to transgenic plants having modified growth characteristics, which plants have modified expression of a nucleic acid encoding a MAP protein. Particularly the present invention discloses a method to increase yield of a plant, preferably in a cereal such as rice or corn.
US07919671B2
A method for testing compound for a therapeutic effect utilizing a non-human animal or cell having disruption in the prostatic acid phosphatase gene resulting in a decrease or absence in the activity or the level of prostatic acid phosphatase. The compound may be used for treating disorders related to unbalanced phosphatidylinositol phosphate cascade or signaling pathway. Diagnostic methods and methods for treating the disorders with therapeutic compounds or by gene therapy are also disclosed.
US07919666B2
Personal care articles are provided having odor control patches thereon. The patches include a cavity that house one or more fragrant materials or odor absorbing materials. A portion of the patch is detachable in order to expose and release the odor control materials contained therein. The patches can be removably-attached to the personal care article thereby allowing the patch to be affixed to the personal care articles at the time of manufacture or by the consumer just prior to use. The personal care articles are provided with an air-permeable pocket to house the patch and cover odor absorbing materials when the cavity is exposed.
US07919664B2
A process for producing a jet fuel, comprising contacting an olefin and an isoparaffin with an unsupported catalyst system comprising an ionic liquid catalyst and a halide containing additive in an alkylation zone under alkylation conditions to make an alkylate product, and recovering the jet fuel from the alkylate product, wherein the jet fuel meets the boiling point, flash point, smoke point, heat of combustion, and freeze point requirements for Jet A-1 fuel. Also a process for producing a jet fuel, comprising providing a feed produced in a FC cracker comprising olefins, mixing the feed with an isoparaffin, alkylating the mixed feed in an ionic liquid alkylation zone, and separating the jet fuel from the alkylated product. We also provide a process comprising alkylating isobutane and butene in the presence of specific chloroaluminate ionic liquid catalysts, to produce a jet fuel.
US07919660B2
A method of converting methanol feedstock to olefins is provided and includes contacting the methanol feedstock in a first conversion zone with a catalyst at reaction conditions effective to produce a first reaction zone effluent comprising DME, unreacted methanol and water, and recycling at least a portion of an overhead vapor product to the first conversion zone and/or to the second conversion zone.
US07919654B2
Provided are a cyclopentaphenanthrene-based compound and an organic EL device using the same. The cyclopentaphenanthrene-based compound is easy to prepare and excellent in solubility, color purity, and color stability. The cyclopentaphenanthrene-based compound is useful as a material for forming an organic layer, in particular, a light-emitting layer in an organic EL device, and as an organic dye or an electronic material such as a nonlinear optical material.
US07919650B2
Organofunctional silanes, inclusive of dimers and oligomers, are provided in which individual silanes possess both free and blocked mercaptan functionality or particular mixtures of the organofunctional silanes possess both free and blocked mercaptan functionality. The organofunctional silanes and silane mixtures are useful, inter alia, as coupling agents for elastomeric compositions, e.g., rubber formulations employed in the manufacture of tires, where they exhibit a desirable balance of low scorch and good performance properties.
US07919648B2
The invention relates to compounds represented by Formula (1): wherein Ra is alkyl or the like; Rb is fluorine or —CF3; A is 1,4-cyclohexylene, 1,4-phenylene or the like; Z is a single bond, alkylene or the like; Y is a single bond, alkylene or the like; and m and n are an integer of approximately 0 to approximately 5.
US07919647B2
This invention provides a class of androgen receptor targeting agents. The agents define a new subclass of compounds, which are selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM).
US07919646B2
The invention provides a process for hydrocyanation, comprising: contacting 2-pentenenitrile with hydrogen cyanide at a temperature in the range of about 0° C. to about 150° C. in the presence of at least one Lewis acid promoter and a catalyst precursor composition, wherein the catalyst precursor composition comprises a zero-valent nickel and at least one bidentate phosphite ligand selected from a member of the group represented by Formula I and Formula II, in which all like reference characters have the same meaning, except as further explicitly limited: wherein R1 and R5 are independently selected from the group consisting of C1 to C5 hydrocarbyl; and R2, R3, R4, R6, R7 and R8 are independently selected from the group consisting of H and C1 to C4 hydrocarbyl.
US07919641B2
A method for the in-situ preparation of an ionic comonomer, such as zinc dimethacrylate, dissolved in styrene monomer, for use in production of polystyrene is disclosed. The method generally includes adding comonomer chemical precursors to a solution of styrene and nonionic surfactant. The resulting ionic comonomer may be further dissolved in styrene and polymerized to form a product that may have improved properties.
US07919640B2
A method for the in-situ preparation of an ionic comonomer from its chemical precursors, prepared in a solution of styrene monomer is disclosed. In one embodiment, the ionic comonomer is zirconium methacrylate, Zr(MA)4 or zirconyl methacrylate, ZrO(MA)2, or a combination thereof, and zirconium carbonate hydroxide oxide, ZrCO3(OH)2.ZrO2, and methacrylic acid, CH2═C(CH3)—COOH, are used as precursors used for its in-situ preparation.
US07919638B2
A method of preparing an ultra-pure metal amidinate compound comprising using a microchannel device for synthesis in reacting a metal halide solution with a lithium amidinate solution to produce an ultra-pure alkylmetal compound for processes such as chemical vapor deposition.
US07919637B2
A fluorine-containing spiroacetal compound represented by the following formula (A): wherein X represents >C(CF3)(Y) or >C═CF2, in which Y represents —CF2OCOR1, —COOR2, —COF, or —CH2OR3, R1 represents an alkyl or cycloalkyl group having at least one fluorine atom, R2 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, an alkyl group, or a cycloalkyl group and R3 represents a hydrogen atom or an acyl group; wherein the alkyl or cycloalkyl group for R1 may have a substituent other than fluorine atom; the alkyl or cycloalkyl group for R2 may have a substituent; and the acyl group for R3 may have a substituent.
US07919636B2
Compositions of purified and biologically active ellagitannins are provided by separation from pomegranate husk using a method of extraction and purification using a solid polymeric adsorbent and the uses of the said compounds.
US07919634B2
Fused thiophene (FT) compounds, FT polymers, FT containing articles, and methods for making and using the FT compounds and polymers thereof of the formulas, as defined herein.
US07919632B2
The present invention relates to a novel process for preparing known fungicidally active 1,3-dimethyl-5-fluoro-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxamides from the corresponding acid fluoride and aniline derivatives in the absence of an acid acceptor.
US07919622B2
The present invention provides novel fluorophilic compounds having structure VII wherein R1 is a C1-C20 aliphatic, a C2-C20 cycloaliphatic, or a C2-C20 aromatic radical comprising at least one functional group susceptible to reaction with nucleophilic fluoride ion or an electrophilic fluorinating agent; R2 is a C1-C10 aliphatic radical; R3 is hydrogen or a C1-C10 aliphatic radical; R4 is hydrogen or a C1-C10 aliphatic radical; and R5 is hydrogen, a C1-C10 aliphatic radical, a C2-C10 cycloaliphatic radical, or a C2-C20 aromatic radical. The fluorophilic compounds are provided in both racemic and enantiomerically enriched forms and are useful as intermediates in the preparation of novel PET imaging agents and probes useful in the discovery and performance assessment of PET imaging agents. The fluorophilic compounds are particularly useful in the preparation of PET imaging agents and probes having a high affinity for VMAT-2, a biomarker implicated in human diabetes and other illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.
US07919611B2
There is provided a nucleotide primer set for LAMP amplification, used for detecting genotypes of single-nucleotide polymorphisms G590A, G857A and T341C of a NAT2 gene. There is also provided a nucleotide probe for detection of an amplification product amplified with the primer set according to the present invention. There is also provided a method of detecting the genotypes of NAT2 gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms G590A, G857A and T341C by using the primer set according to the present invention.
US07919609B2
Novel bacterial insecticidal proteins and equivalents thereof were isolated. These proteins and the DNA sequences encoding them are useful to make insecticidal compositions or transgenic plants to protect plants from damage by insects, particularly coleopteran insects.
US07919608B2
Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) isolated from maize are disclosed. The ESTs provide a unique molecular tool for the targeting and isolation of novel genes for plant protection and improvement. The disclosed ESTs have utility in the development of new strategies for understanding critical plant developmental and metabolic pathways. The disclosed ESTs have particular utility in isolating genes and promoters, identifying and mapping the genes involved in developmental and metabolic pathways, and determining gene function. Sequence homology analyses using the ESTs provided in the present invention, will result in more efficient gene screening for desirable agronomic traits. An expanding database of these select pieces of the plant genomics puzzle will quickly expand the knowledge necessary for subsequent functional validation, a key limitation in current plant biotechnology efforts.
US07919594B2
Compositions and methods are provided for treating diseases associated with CD100, including certain types of cancers, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases including central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) inflammatory diseases, transplant rejections, and invasive angiogenesis. Compositions include anti-CD100 antibodies capable of binding to a soluble human CD100 antigen or a CD100 antigen located on the surface of a human CD100-expressing cell, wherein the antibody has CD100 blocking activity that is achieved by having at least one optimized CDR or FWR engineered within the variable region of the antibody. Compositions also include antigen-binding fragments, variants, and derivatives of the monoclonal antibodies, cell lines producing these antibody compositions, and isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding the amino acid sequences of the antibodies. The invention further includes pharmaceutical compositions comprising the anti-CD100 antibodies of the invention, or antigen-binding fragments, variants, or derivatives thereof, in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, and methods of use of these anti-CD100 antibodies.
US07919588B2
The invention provides methods and compositions relating to vertebrate UNC-5 proteins which function as receptor proteins for netrins, a family of cell guidance proteins. The proteins may be produced recombinantly from transformed host cells from the disclosed vertebrate UNC-5 encoding nucleic acid or purified from human cells. The invention provides specific hybridization probes and primers capable of specifically hybridizing with the disclosed vertebrate unc-5 gene, vertebrate UNC-5-specific binding agents such as specific antibodies, and methods of making and using the subject compositions in diagnosis, therapy and in the biopharmaceutical industry.
US07919579B2
The present invention provides methods for imaging and the treatment of cancer. In certain embodiments, a polyarginine (e.g., R11) may be used to selectively image prostate or bladder cells (e.g., a metastatic prostate cancer). In other embodiments, a DOC-2/DAB2 peptide, optionally conjugated to a cell permeable peptide (e.g., R11) may be used to treat a cancer, such as prostate cancer.
US07919577B2
ACTH analog compounds of the present invention include compounds comprising an ACTH peptide sequence with one or more structural modifications that can have one or more of the following preferred ACTH analog biological functions: (1) reduction of corticosteroid secretion by adrenal membrane in the presence of the ACTH analog compared to unmodified ACTH, (2) reduction of corticosteroid secretion by adrenal membrane in the presence of endogenous ACTH and (3) increased MC-2R binding affinity with reduced activation of the MC-2R receptor compared to unmodified ACTH binding to the MC-2R melanocortin. The ACTH analog compounds of the present invention are therefore useful for treatment or prevention of diseases and disorders related to ACTH, ACTH receptors or corticosteroid secretion, such as premature labor and Cushing's Disease.
US07919568B2
The current invention provides a method of improving the efficiency of one or more heat exchangers used in cooperation with a high temperature solution polymerization process. Addition of surface active agents, such as C6 to C22 carboxylic acids, to a two phase liquid-liquid polymer solution downstream of a reactor system and upstream of a heat exchanger system can increase the efficiency of heat exchange by more than 10%.
US07919559B2
Disclosed herein is a chemical-resistant and impact-resistant thermoplastic resin composition having excellent hydrolysis resistance. The thermoplastic resin composition comprises (A) about 1 to about 97.9% by weight of an epoxy group-containing vinyl copolymer resin; (B) about 1 to about 97.9% by weight of a rubber modified aromatic vinyl copolymer resin; (C) about 1 to about 97.9% by weight of a polyester resin; and (D) about 0.1 to about 97% by weight of an amorphous cycloaliphatic diol modified polyester.
US07919550B2
A photosemiconductor encapsulating resin composition, excellent in light transmittance, ultraviolet resistance and heat resistance, comprising the following component (A) and component (B): (A): a (meth)acrylic polymer containing an epoxy group, and (B): at least one hardener selected from the group consisting of the following components (b1) to (b4) (b1) a polyvalent carboxylic acid, (b2) a polyvalent carboxylic anhydride, (b3) a reaction product of a polyvalent carboxylic acid with a compound of the following general formula (B-1), and (b4) a reaction product of a polyvalent carboxylic anhydride with a compound of the following general formula (B-2) wherein R1 to R6 represent each independently a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, R3 and R4 may be bonded to form an alkylene group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms; R7 represents an alkylene group; a methylene group contained the alkylene group and the alkyl group represented by R1 to R7 may be substituted by an ether group and/or carbonyl group; Y1 and Y2 represent each independently an oxygen atom, or sulfur atom, is provided.
US07919549B2
Disclosed is a resin composition excellent in molding processability which comprises a plant-derived biodegradable plastic produced by actively fixing carbon dioxide present in the earth. A resin composition excellent in molding processability, comprising (A) a biodegradable (3-hydroxyalkanoate) copolymer having a recurring unit represented by the formula (1): [—CHR—CH2—CO—O—] (wherein R represents an alkyl group represented by the formula CnH2n+1 and n is an integer of 1 to 15) and 0.1 to 100 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of (A) the biodegradable (3-hydroxyalkanoate) copolymer, of (B) an acrylic modifier having a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 500,000 to 10,000,000.
US07919547B2
A water-dispersible composition including a nanofiller-containing epoxy resin and a low temperature nonionic surfactant having a molecular weight of less than about 7,000 Daltons; and optionally an anionic surfactant or optionally a high temperature nonionic surfactant. The water-dispersible composition can be used to prepare an aqueous dispersion of the nanofiller-containing epoxy resin. The aqueous dispersion advantageously has a long shelf- stability. One method for preparing the aqueous dispersion includes using a high internal phase ratio emulsion process.
US07919544B2
An ink-media set, comprising an ink composition and a recording medium, wherein the ink composition comprises a polymer fine particle containing a dye and an inorganic pigment particle, a water-soluble solvent, and water, and has a surface tension of 20 mN/m to 35 mN/m at 25° C., and the recording medium comprises a support and a coating layer on at least one side of the support, and the amount of pure water transferred to the recording medium is no less than 2 ml/m2 and less than 35 ml/m2 at a contact period of 100 ms and the amount of pure water transferred to the recording medium is no less than 3 ml/m2 and less than 40 ml/m2 at a contact period of 400 ms by measurement of a dynamic scanning absorptometer.
US07919532B2
Pharmaceutical compositions comprising at least one compound of the formula (I) and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier which is useful in a medicine wherein the symbols and substituents have the following meaning —X— is e.g. and Y being e.g. or the pharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters or amides and prodrugs can be applied to modulate the in-vitro and in-vivo binding processes mediated by E-, P- or L-selectin binding.
US07919531B2
The present invention refers especially to 3,5-dihydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadienones of the general formula (I) wherein R1 and R2 are independently from each other C1-6-alkyl, C2-6-alkenyl or x-oxo-Cx-alkyl with x being an integer from 1 to 6, preferably R1 and R2 are independently from each other C2-6-alkenyl or y-oxo-Cy-alkyl with y being an integer from 2 to 5, and wherein R3 and R4 are independently from each other hydroxy, C1-6-alkyl, C2-6-alkenyl or x-oxo-Cx-alkyl with x being an integer from 1 to 6, preferably R3 and R4 are independently from each other hydroxy or y-oxo-Cy-alkyl with y being an integer from 2 to 5, for use as mood balancing agents and stress relievers, as well as to dietary compositions and fortified food/feed/beverages containing such 3,5-dihydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadienones of the general formula (I), and their uses.
US07919519B2
The present invention relates to compounds of the general formula (I) that have activity as S1P receptor modulating agents and the use of such compounds to treat diseases associated with inappropriate S1P receptor activity. The compounds may be used as immunomodulators, e.g., for treating or preventing diseases such as autoimmune and related immune disorders including systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, type I diabetes, uveitis, psoriasis, myasthenia gravis, rheumatoid arthritis, non-glomerular nephrosis, hepatitis, Behçet's disease, glomerulonephritis, chronic thrombocytopenic purpura, hemolytic anemia, hepatitis and Wegner's granuloma; and for treating other conditions.
US07919515B2
The invention relates to new compounds, being 3-phenylpropionic acid derivatives of formula I wherein W represents COOH group or its bioisosters, or —COO—C1-C4-alkyl group; Y represents NH, N—C1-C10-alkyl, O, or S; Z represents NH, N—C1-C10-alkyl, N-aryl, N-heteroaryl, S, or O; X represents O, S, NH, N—C1-C10-alkyl, N-aryl, NSO2—C1-C10-alkyl, N—SO2-aryl, or N—SO2-heteroaryl; R, to R8 each independently represent hydrogen atom or a substituent defined in the description; A is as defined in the description; n represents an integer from 0 to 4, inclusive; and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The compounds are the ligands of PPAR-gamma receptor and are useful as medicaments.
US07919511B2
Chemical entities that modulate smooth muscle myosin and/or non-muscle myosin, and chemical entities, pharmaceutical compositions and methods of treatment of diseases and conditions associated with smooth muscle myosin and/or non-muscle myosin are described.
US07919505B2
The present invention relates to the compound of the formula To methods of treating upper and lower obstructive airway diseases using said compound, to formulations comprising it, and to polymorphs and processes of synthesis of the polymorphic forms.
US07919501B2
Pharmaceutical formulations and methods including an immune response modifier (IRM) compound and an oleic acid component are provided where stability is improved by using oleic acid have low polar impurities such as peroxides.
US07919496B2
Methods of treating an SCD-mediated disease or condition in a mammal, preferably a human, are disclosed, wherein the methods comprise administering to a mammal in need thereof a compound of formula (I): where x, y, G, J, K, L, M, W, V, R2, R3, R5, R5a, R6, R6a, R7, R7a, R8 and R8a are defined herein. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of formula (I) are also disclosed.
US07919484B2
This invention is directed to the use of SCD-1 inhibitors of the formula (I): where x, y, V, W, G, J, L, M, R2, R3, R5, R5a, R6, R6a, R7, R7a, R8 and R8a are defined herein, in combination with other drug therapies to treat adverse weight gain.
US07919483B2
A method for treatment of acne with tetracyclines is provided. A lower sustained dose and no loading dose is employed, with an optional once-a-day dosing regimen.
US07919482B2
Chemically stable, insecticidally active pellets having a low moisture content and at least about 95% active ingredient are described, as well as a method for manufacturing them. The active ingredient is selected from a class of N-hydrocarboyl phosphoroamidothioate and phosphoroamidodithioate compounds as described in the specification. The pellets generally have a moisture content of about 0.5% by weight or less, preferably less than about 0.3% by weight. The pellets can be produced by one of two types of processes as described in detail, including a high pressure axial extrusion process and a low pressure basket extrusion process.
US07919481B2
The present invention comprises compounds, compositions thereof, and methods capable of delivering modified inositol hexaphospahte (IHP) comprising an internal pyrophosphate ring to the cytoplasm of mammalian cells. In certain embodiments, the present invention relates to compounds, compositions thereof, and methods that enhance the ability of mammalian red blood cells to deliver oxygen, by delivering IHP to the cytoplasm of the red blood cells.
US07919466B2
Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for and involving selectively targeting tumor lymphatics.
US07919461B2
The present invention relates to peptide compounds that are agonists of the erythropoietin receptor (EPO-R). The invention also relates to therapeutic methods using such peptide compounds to treat disorders associated with insufficient or defective red blood cell production. Pharmaceutical compositions, which comprise the peptide compounds of the invention, and dosages are also provided.
US07919460B2
The present invention is intended to provide a novel pharmaceutical agent having an excellent preventive effect on post-stroke RSD. The present invention provides an agent for preventing the onset of post-stroke RSD, comprising natural calcitonin or a calcitonin derivative as an active ingredient. The present invention is also intended to provide a method for preventing the onset of post-stroke RSD, comprising administering natural calcitonin or a calcitonin derivative and use of natural calcitonin or a calcitonin derivative for producing an agent for preventing the onset of post-stroke RSD.
US07919448B2
The present invention relates to compositions including a water soluble magnesium salt, water soluble calcium salt, and gluconate, which have a beneficial effect on corrosion during cleaning. The present compositions can reduce corrosion of glass, aluminum, or steel. The present invention also relates to methods employing these compositions.
US07919443B2
An exfoliating scrub bar for various parts of the body is made from natural ingredients that exfoliate the skin gently and effectively. The scrub bar comprises powdered or crushed nuts; powdered or crushed oats; and glycerin. The combination of ingredients allows a person to gently exfoliate different parts of the body depending on the location and/or skin sensitivity. The scrub bar provides the user with an effective tool for exfoliation that allows for the removal of dead skin cells.
US07919437B2
Wellbore fluid having a continuous aqueous phase, and comprising at least one polymer which has a number average molecular weight in the range of from 10,000 to less than 100,000, wherein the polymer is selected from a copolymer of at least one hydrophilic monomer and at least one hydrophobic monomer containing an alkyl group having at least 8 carbon atoms. The hydrophilic monomer is selected from acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid, maleic anhydride, fumaric acid and itaconic acid, and sulfonate groups have been introduced into the copolymer by reaction of at least a portion of the carboxylic acid and/or anhydride groups with a compound of general formula R12N(CH2)nSO3X (I) or a compound of general formula HO(CH2)nSO3X (II). Each R1 is independently selected from hydrogen, methyl or ethyl, X is either H or a Group IA metal, and n is an integer of from 1 to 6. The combined molecular weight of the pendant alkyl groups that are introduced into the copolymer by the hydrophobic monomer is in the range of from 15 to 70% by weight based on the molecular weight of the polymer such that the polymer has a solubility of at least 2% in water at 20° C. The fluid further comprises at least one additive selected from additional fluid loss control agents, bridging particulate materials, finely dispersed additives for increasing the fluid density, thinners, and shale inhibitors.
US07919435B2
The present invention relates to a method for producing a defect-containing superconducting film, the method comprising (a) depositing a phase-separable layer epitaxially onto a biaxially-textured substrate, wherein the phase-separable layer includes at least two phase-separable components; (b) achieving nanoscale phase separation of the phase-separable layer such that a phase-separated layer including at least two phase-separated components is produced; and (c) depositing a superconducting film epitaxially onto said phase-separated components of the phase-separated layer such that nanoscale features of the phase-separated layer are propagated into the superconducting film.
US07919432B2
In an adsorbent of the present invention, at least a surface and its vicinity thereof is composed of an apatite represented by the formula Ca10(PO4)6((OH)1-xAx)2, where A represents a halogen element and 0≦x≦1, and a phosphate group contained in the apatite is bonded to a trivalent metal ion. Further, preferably, the trivalent metal ion is Fe3+. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an adsorbent capable of specifically adsorbing an object compound, an adsorption apparatus capable of separating and purifying the object compound easily and reliably, and a method capable of manufacturing such an adsorption apparatus easily in a short time.
US07919430B2
It is an object to provide a novel oxide catalyst for producing an unsaturated acid or unsaturated nitrile by which reaction results are good and a high yield can be stably maintained for a prolonged period of time, a process for producing the oxide catalyst, and a process for producing an unsaturated acid or unsaturated nitrile using the oxide catalyst. According to the present invention, there is provided an oxide catalyst represented by following compositional formula (1): Mo1VaSbbNbcMndWeYfOn (1) wherein Y represents at least one element selected from alkaline earth metals and rare earth metals; a, b, c, d, e, f, and n each represents an atomic ratio based on one atom of Mo; 0.1≦a≦1, 0.01≦b≦1, 0.01≦c≦1, 0≦d≦0.1, 0≦e≦0.1, 0<(d+e)≦0.1, 0≦f≦1; and n is a number determined by valencies of the constituent metals.
US07919429B2
The present invention provides a zirconia-ceria-yttria-based mixed oxide having a stable crystal structure after 12 hours of heat treatment at 1100° C. under a reducing atmosphere, and a process for producing the mixed oxide.
US07919427B2
A catalyst carrier, being characterized in that a catalyst metal for promoting an oxidation-reduction reaction is carried on a vapor-grown carbon fiber having an average outer diameter of from 2 nm to 500 nm, which has been subjected to a crushing treatment so as to have a BET specific surface area of from 4 m2/g to 100 m2/g and an aspect ratio of from 1 to 200, and exhibiting high activity per unit amount of a catalyst metal, a low reaction resistance and an improved output density, and is useful for a fuel cell; a production method thereof and a fuel cell using the catalyst carrier.
US07919425B2
A photocatalyst-coated body and a photocatalytic coating liquid which exert an excellent weather resistance, harmful gas decomposability, and other desired characteristics (such as transparency and film strength), while preventing erosion of the substrate are provided. The photocatalyst-coated body comprises a substrate and a photocatalytic layer provided on the substrate. The photocatalytic layer comprises photocatalytic particles and inorganic oxide particles, and has interstices between the particles in the layer.
US07919417B2
The present invention relates in general to a method and variations thereof for making an article, such as cloth, water repellent and/or water resistant (i.e., hydrophobic) as well as oil repellent (i.e., oleophobic). In particular, the method involves the process of providing a thin-layer polymer coating on the article thereby rendering the article water repellent and/or water resistant. Articles made according to the method of the present invention are also disclosed and claimed herein as are the treated articles' use.
US07919413B2
A method for forming patterns comprises providing a substrate. A set of seed features is formed over the substrate. At least one bi-layer comprising a first layer followed by a second layer is formed on the set of seed features. The first layer and the second layer above the set of seed features are removed. The first layer and the second layer are anisotropically etched successively at least one time to form an opening next to the set of seed features.
US07919406B2
A method for forming a metal pillar bump structure is provided. In one embodiment, a passivation layer is formed over a semiconductor substrate and a conductive layer is formed over the passivation layer. A patterned and etched photoresist layer is provided above the conductive layer, the photoresist layer defining at least one opening therein. A metal layer is deposited in the at least one opening. Portions of the photoresist layer are etched along one or more interfaces between the photoresist layer and the metal layer to form cavities. A solder material is deposited in the at least one opening, the solder material filling the cavities and a portion of the opening above the metal layer. The remaining photoresist layer and the conductive layer not formed under the copper layer are removed. The solder material is then reflown to encapsulate the metal layer.
US07919394B2
A method for thinning a substrate and a method for manufacturing a circuit device which make it possible to prevent the pattern of penetrating holes of a supporting plate from being transferred to the surface of the substrate and prevent non-uniform grinding of the surface of the substrate from occurring. The supporting plate and the substrate are joined by using an adhesive layer, and a sheet is attached to the supporting plate. The surface of the supporting plate to which the sheet has been attached is mounted and fixed by attraction onto an attracting head. The surface of the semiconductor wafer on which no circuit device is formed is ground by a grinder in this state.
US07919393B2
A method for forming a structure that includes a relaxed or pseudo-relaxed layer on a substrate. The method includes the steps of growing an elastically stressed layer of semiconductor material on a donor substrate; forming a glassy layer of a viscous material on the stressed layer; removing a portion of the donor substrate to form a structure that includes the glassy layer, the stressed layer and a surface layer of donor substrate material; patterning the stressed layer; and heat treating the structure at a temperature of at least a viscosity temperature of the glassy layer to relax the stressed layer and form the relaxed or pseudo-relaxed layer of the structure.
US07919390B2
An isolation structure in a memory device and a method for fabricating the isolation structure. In the method, a first trench is formed in a cell region of a semiconductor substrate and a second trench in a peripheral region of the semiconductor substrate. A liner layer comprising a silicon nitride layer is formed on the first and second trenches. A spin on dielectric (SOD) layer comprising polysilazane is formed on the liner layer so as to fill the first and second trenches. A portion of the SOD layer filling the second trench is removed. A portion of the silicon nitride layer, which is disposed on the second trench and is exposed after the removing of the portion of the SOD layer, is oxidized using oxygen plasma and heat generated from the plasma. A high density plasma (HDP) oxide layer is formed to fill the second trench.
US07919389B2
A semiconductor memory device having a memory cell region and a peripheral circuit region, and a method of manufacturing such a semiconductor memory device, are proposed, in which trench grooves are formed to be shallow in the memory cell region in order to improve the yield, and trench grooves are formed to be deep in the high voltage transistor region of the peripheral circuit region, in particular in a high voltage transistor region thereof, in order to improve the element isolation withstand voltage. A plurality of memory cell transistors having an ONO layer 15 serving as a charge accumulating insulating layer are provided in the memory cell region, where element isolation grooves 6 for these memory cell transistors are narrow and shallow. Two types of transistors, one for high voltage and the other for low voltage, having gate insulating layers 16 or 17, which are different from the ONO layer 15 in the memory cell region, are provided in the peripheral circuit region, where at least element isolation grooves 23 for high voltage transistors are wide and deep. In this way, it is possible to improve the degree of integration and yield in the memory cell region, and secure withstand voltage in the peripheral circuit region.
US07919387B2
The present invention provides a memory device including at least two of a first dielectric on a semiconductor substrate; a floating gates corresponding to each of the at least two gate oxides; a second dielectric on the floating gates; a control gate conductor formed atop the second gate oxide; source and drain regions present in portions of the semiconducting substrate that are adjacent to each portion of the semiconducting substrate that is underlying the at least two of the first gate oxide, wherein the source and drain regions define a length of a channel positioned therebetween; and a low-k dielectric material that is at least present between adjacent floating gates of the floating gates corresponding to each of the at least two gate oxides, wherein the low-k dielectric material is present along a direction perpendicular to the length of the channel positioned therebetween.
US07919381B2
Germanium circuit-type structures are facilitated. In one example embodiment, a multi-step growth and anneal process is implemented to grow Germanium (Ge) containing material, such as heteroepitaxial-Germanium, on a substrate including Silicon (Si) or Silicon-containing material. In certain applications, defects are generally confined near a Silicon/Germanium interface, with defect threading to an upper surface of the Germanium containing material generally being inhibited. These approaches are applicable to a variety of devices including Germanium MOS capacitors, pMOSFETs and optoelectronic devices.
US07919380B2
The present invention relates to a transistor in a semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same. Trenches are formed in a semiconductor substrate at gate edges. Low-concentration impurity regions are then formed at the sidewalls and the bottoms of the trenches. High-concentration impurity regions are formed at the bottoms of the trenches in a depth shallower than the low-concentration impurity regions. Source/drain consisting of the low-concentration impurity regions and the high-concentration impurity regions are thus formed. Therefore, the size of the transistor can be reduced while securing a stabilized operating characteristic even at high voltage. It is thus possible to improve reliability of the circuit and the degree of integration in the device.
