US07979356B2
For an organization having a central station and a plurality of distributed outlets, each of the outlets having a cashier's terminal, each of the cashier's terminals coupled to a respective point-of-sale (POS) controller, a method of permitting a billee to pay an invoice issued by a biller is disclosed.
US07979353B2
In an electronic transaction on the Internet, an electronic coupon having pecuniary value information usable in the electronic transaction and owner identification information based on information characteristic of an information terminal is issued to the information terminal, the pecuniary value information and the owner identification information of the electronic coupon are recorded and managed as coupon management information in a transfer management memory, and the owner identification information in the transfer management memory is changed according to a transferee apparatus of the electronic coupon, whereby a settlement in the electronic transaction can be made simply and safely.
US07979348B2
A method comprises receiving a payment instruction including a payment system routing number and a unique code associated with a payee, and employing the routing number to determine whether it includes routing information for a specific financial institution. If so, then the payment instruction is transmitted based on the routing number. The transmitted payment instruction includes the unique code associated with the payee. If the routing number is determined to not include routing information for a specific financial institution, then account identification information of the payee and a first system routing number are retrieved based on the unique code, and the unique code included in the payment instruction is replaced with the retrieved account identification information, and the routing number is replaced with the retrieved first system routing number. The payment instruction with the account identification information is transmitted to the payee and/or a financial institution associated with the payee.
US07979343B2
A system, method and computer program product for providing a trading exchange are disclosed. A request for conducting trade of a security is received from a user. The security associated with requested trade is evaluated to generate a derivative security. A trade is then executed for the user using the derivative security. Information relating to the executed trade is captured utilizing a network so that the captured information can be utilized to adjust an account of the user in accordance with the executed trade.
US07979342B2
A hedged exposure and an associated hedging instrument can be accounted for to reduce periodic earnings volatility associated with the hedged exposure. The accounting to reduce the earnings volatility includes designating a portion of the value of the financial exposure as being hedged by the hedging instrument. The designated portion is determined based on a price sensitivity of the hedging instrument with respect to changes in market value of an underlying instrument. In each of a number of sequential periods, the portion of the financial exposure is redesignated based on changed price sensitivity of the hedging instrument. Periodic earnings volatility associated with a hedged exposure also can be reduced by dividing (for accounting purposes) the hedging instrument into a first part (also referred to as a designated part) and a second part (also referred to as a residue part). This division is made in a way that ensures that changes in the value of the first part substantially offset changes in value of the financial exposure. The method also includes designating a portion of the first part as a hedge of the financial exposure such that the remainder of the first part offsets the delta of the second part. In each of a plurality of sequential periods, the portion of the first part is redesignated to maintain the relationship between the first part and the second part whereby the remainder of the first part offsets the delta of the second part.
US07979338B1
In a method for obtaining capital, a convertible or exchangeable financial instrument having an accreted value and that earns returns over a lifetime comprising at least a first and a second time period is offered. During a first time period, at least some of the returns earned are paid in cash. During a second time period all of the returns earned are accreted to the accreted value of the financial instrument. Returns may be earned during each period according to a rate associated with each period. The rate associated with each period may be fixed or variable and may be modified by one or more rate modifiers, such as a minimum or maximum rate. The financial instrument may include a provision describing how the instrument is serviced when the current value of a rate is negative.
US07979330B2
A system for generating a model of unknown values of several rate series at specified times includes a computing device configured to receive input indicative of the parametric model type of the unconditional rate dynamics; receive input indicative of a known or unknown rate value for each rate series and for each specified time into the computing device; generate the values of the known rate changes; generate an unconditional multidimensional probability distribution of the known and unknown rate changes; generate a multidimensional probability distribution of the unknown rate changes conditional on the known rate changes taking their known values; and provide output from the computing device indicative of the modelled values of the unknown values of the several rate series. The several rate series have unconditional rate dynamics characterized by a parametric model type in several dimensions, each rate series having at least one known value.
US07979327B2
A quality control method for a constant velocity universal joint 13 includes a step of attaching an IC tag 9 to the constant velocity universal joint 13, a step of recording information in the IC tag 9 about the constant velocity universal joint 13, a utilizing step for reading the information recorded in the IC tag 9 at any arbitrarily chosen time. The IC tag 9 is attached to one of elements 2 such as an outer race 14, an inner race 15, an intermediate shaft 12 and boots 18, all forming respective parts of the constant velocity universal joint 13. This IC tag 9 is recorded with information on, for example, the manufacturing step, the identification number, the date of manufacture and/or the place of manufacture with respect to the elements 2 and the constant velocity universal joint 13.
US07979322B2
A system gathers user behavior data from a group of web retailers and/or non-web retailers, analyzes the user behavior data to identify product recommendations for products offered by the web retailers, and provides one of the identified product recommendations in connection with a product page associated with one of the web retailers.
US07979318B1
A method, system and software product allows the seller of products or services to offer variable pricing while still basing that pricing on the quantity selected by a buyer. It also provides the seller with the ability to adjust the per unit price of any given product or service along a calculated adjustment curve that would exist between price breaks. Two values need to be stored for each plot point on the adjustment curve, the “quantity percentile” and the “price percentile.” To calculate the quantity percentile, the seller determines the difference in quantities between the start price break and the end price break for the specific adjustment curve that is being plotted. The “price percentile” represents the amount of the difference between the start and end price break that will be used to discount the start price breaks price at the quantity level that was calculated in the quantity percentile.
US07979317B2
The present invention relates to Mobile Broadcast Multicast technologies, and discloses a method for subscribing a purchase item in Mobile Broadcast Multicast Service, so that the subscription operation and update operation of the purchase item in BCAST are simplified, and the utilization of system resources is improved. In the present invention, a subscription management module generates a PurchaseItem identification, and sends this identification to a service distribution and adaptation module. Therefore, the PurchaseItem identification may be included in a PurchaseItem fragment sent to a user terminal from the service distribution and adaptation module. And, the function of identifying the purchase item is separated from the PurchaseItem fragment identification. Through sending a service request including the PurchaseItem identification to the subscription management module by the user terminal, the subscription of the purchase item is accomplished. The subscription management module manages service information of the purchase item based on the PurchaseItem identification. A device for implementing the above method is also disclosed in the present invention.
US07979316B2
A system and method for facilitating the purchase of goods and/or services between the holder of a wireless communications device and a commerce system is disclosed. The system enables consumers who wish to participate in promotional sales offers to register with a mobile commerce system. Consumers may further define the types of items that they are interested in purchasing. Prior to the start of a promotion, the system sends a text message alert to registered consumers, giving them an opportunity to opt-in via text message from a wireless communications device. When the promotion is activated, the opted-in consumers are alerted via text message and are given an opportunity to send a text message back to the system indicative of a desire to purchase the promotional item. If defined conditions are met, the consumer's financial account is debited in the amount of the purchase and the consumer is instructed as to how to acquire their purchase.
US07979314B2
A method and system for obtaining consumer preferences over a communication network from consumers. The system searches the product database for products or services based on consumer's search criteria. The system displays the products or services and/or advertisements related to the consumer's search criteria in accordance with the ranking parameter(s) specified by the user. The consumer's preferences, i.e., the search criteria and the ranking parameter(s), are stored in the database for future references, e.g., determine consumer trends, etc.
US07979304B2
A system and method for automatically simulating the affect of a plurality of factors on the cost of goods sold (COGS) resulting from changes in the allocation of goods to be sold in a plurality of predetermined markets. A predetermined plurality of markets are defined, each of which is allocated a default percentage of total goods to be sold. A plurality of production sites are then defined, their associated cost factors determined, their respective output assigned to predetermined markets, and the weighted, average unit COGS for each market is then calculated. A defined market is then selected for sensitivity simulation and its associated sales allocation is iteratively decremented by a predetermined percentage for reallocation to other markets. Each market's weighted, average unit cost is recalculated after each iteration, and once reallocation is completed, the global, average unit COGS is calculated. The process is then repeated for other predetermined markets and the average rate of unit cost change is calculated. Candidate production sites are then defined, with their associated cost factors, and the process is repeated until market sensitivity simulation is completed. Unit COGS results are then generated and presented as a graphical representation of the sensitivity of the COGS to changes in the allocation of goods to be sold to one or more predetermined markets.
US07979302B2
A report generation method and system. The system comprises a computing system comprising data. The computing system presents a first list comprising process categories for a plurality of processes. The computing system receives first selection of a process category from the first list. The computing system presents a second list comprising peer group options associated with the process categories. The computing system receives a second selection of at least one peer group option from the second list. The computing system retrieves a portion of from the data. The portion is associated with the first selection and the second selection. The computing system calculates a plurality of values for attributes associated with the first selection and the second selection. The computing system generates a report comprising the plurality of values.
US07979300B2
Address books, activity logs, or similar data that are normally prepared by people for purposes other than rating businesses can be parsed and processed to rate businesses without requiring users to complete reviews. As a result, a large amount of rating data is available and may provide business ratings and rankings that are more complete and statistically accurate. A local search site can provide users with lists of businesses with rankings or ratings based on community preferences as reflected in user data and activity logs.
US07979296B2
Work items are collected from one or more work item providers for presentation to a workflow participant. A work item provider is typically a workflow management system (“WFMS”), but other providers of work items might exist that generate work items and may or may not have their own local worklist. Multiple independent WFMS's of multiple types might provide work items to a universal worklist (“UWL”) service that integrates the work items from all of the providers. Additional integration might be provided between the UWL and work item providers, such as for controlling work item execution with a sub-workflow through an ad-hoc workflow engine. Additional integration provides for custom attributes. Each work item has a type that is used to determine handling for that work item. A universal work list service includes storage for work items, wherein a work item represents a task generated as part of a process flow. An engine supporting the UWL service might track item types for work items and might obtain attribute values for attributes of the work item according to the work item's type.
US07979284B2
A health monitoring system includes a plurality of remote user sites, each remote user site comprising at least one health monitoring device for collection of user health monitoring data, an interactive video device, and a user interface apparatus; at least one remote computing facility configured for signal communication with, and to receive health monitoring data-related signals from, the plurality of remote user sites; and at least one computer, configured for signal communication with the remote computing facility, wherein the interactive video device is interactively coupled with the remote computing facility. Associated methods are also described.
US07979279B1
A system and method for providing enhanced security through the monitoring of communications. In one embodiment, the monitoring process is aided through an automatic speech recognition process that is focused on the recognition of words from a limited vocabulary.
US07979278B2
A user term information extraction unit extracts term information of a user out of information that has been input by the user to an application for use other than speech recording beforehand, and a speech recognition dictionary management unit expands a vocabulary of a speech recognition dictionary according to the term information of the user. Next, the user inputs speech via a speech input unit, and a speech recognition unit executes speech recognition using the speech recognition dictionary. A representative term information selection unit extracts the term information of the user contained in the speech recognition result, and selects one or a plurality of pieces of representative term information from the term information of the user. A speech file recording unit records the speech data as a speech file, and renders a file name of the speech file according to the representative term information. Thus, a speech recognition and speech file recording system is provided that records input data as a speech file and automatically renders a file name thereto with which a content of the file can be grasped immediately.
US07979270B2
Disclosed herein is a voice processing apparatus for recognizing an input voice on the basis of a prosody characteristic of said voice, said voice processing apparatus including: voice acquisition means for acquiring said input voice; acoustic analysis means for finding a relative pitch change on the basis of a frequency-direction difference between a first frequency characteristic seen at each frame time of said input voice acquired by said voice acquisition means and a second frequency characteristic determined in advance; and prosody recognition means for carrying out a prosody recognition process on the basis of said relative pitch change found by said acoustic analysis means in order to produce a result of said prosody recognition process.
US07979269B2
Storing audio data encoded in any of a plurality of different audio encoding formats is enabled by parametrically defining the underlying format in which the audio data is encoded, in audio format and packet table chunks. A flag can be used to manage storage of the size of the audio data portion of the file, such that premature termination of an audio recording session does not result in an unreadable corrupted file. This capability can be enabled by initially setting the flag to a value that does not correspond to a valid audio data size and that indicates that the last chunk in the file contains the audio data. State information for the audio data, to effectively denote a version of the file, and a dependency indicator for dependent metadata, may be maintained, where the dependency indicator indicates the state of the audio data on which the metadata is dependent.
US07979266B2
Systems, methods, computer-readable media and other embodiments are provided for automatically determining a language of a document from a set of candidate languages. In one embodiment, a system includes a logic for setting an assumption value associated with each of the languages of the set of candidate languages where the assumption value indicates that the document is not in the language. A language analyzer determines the language and generates an output that indicates that the document is one language of the candidate languages when the assumption value for the one language passes a threshold value.
US07979252B2
Model enhancement architecture that provides selective sampling of data to enhance model performance where model testing is deemed to be poor. Sampling can include direct interaction with the user while the user is logged-in to the computing system. The system can be used to infer a computer user's current interruptability based on computer activity and relevant contextual information. Personalized models can then be created that are utilized to determine a cost of interruption and an expected utility. A modeling component is provided that builds and runs models based on data. The data can be any type of data such as application data, user profile data, tracking data, user state data, user situation data, and so on. A sampling component samples the data based on failure analysis of the model. The architecture is a utility-centric approach to gathering data to maximally enhance the current model.
US07979251B2
A computer-implemented method of generating building instructions for a building element model, the model including a plurality of building elements, the building instructions being indicative of a sequential order of construction steps for constructing the building element model, each construction step including adding at least one building element to the building element model. The method comprises determining, from a digital representation of the building element model, a sequential order of deconstruction steps for deconstructing the building element model into building elements, each deconstruction step including removing at least one building element from the building element model; and inverting the determined sequential order of deconstruction steps to obtain the sequential order of construction steps.
US07979233B2
A method and system are disclosed for use in assembling a plurality of rotatable elements in the assembly of a turbine engine. The system and method include an initialization unit, a measurement unit, and a processing unit. The initialization unit receives and stores initialization data in a computer datastore. The initialization data includes a first set of initialization data that is representative of characteristics of a first rotatable element, and a second set of initialization data that is representative of characteristics of a second rotatable element. The measurement unit receives measured data including a first set of measured data characteristic of measured features of the first rotatable element, and a second set of measured data characteristic of measured features of the second rotatable element. The processor unit determines an optimal order and rotational arrangement of the first and second rotatable elements with respect to one another responsive to the first and second sets of initialization data and the first and second sets of measured data.
US07979227B2
In a method for calibrating a measuring device, a signal of a first sensor is mapped to a measured value based on a mapping specification. A current measured value of the measuring device is recorded as current calibration measured value; a laboratory reference sample of the measured medium with properties of the calibrated measured value at the point in time of the recording is supplied to a laboratory reference measuring device; the actual value of the measured variable is ascertained based on the laboratory reference sample and made available and recorded as current laboratory reference measured value; and, based on the current calibration measured value, as well as the current laboratory reference measured value, the mapping specification is updated. At least one earlier value pair of a calibration measured value and an associated laboratory reference measured value ascertained in an earlier calibration is considered in updating the mapping specification.
US07979225B2
Method and system that test device sensitivity according to whether the device passes or fails when subjected to a test signal. The device may be repeatedly subjected to test signal at varying operating parameters in order to assess pass-fail threshold at which the device transitions from operating properly/improperly to operating improperly/properly.
US07979223B2
A system for power hardware in the loop testing is described. The system includes a power system and a control system, the power system connected to a power converter of a device under test, the control system being in communication with the power system and the power converter. The control system determines the voltage input to the power system by utilizing the voltage output of the power converter, the voltage input determination being made by a control algorithm comprising. v Ok = Sx k + Pv Ik + Qi Ak + 1 where : S = 1 T ( CL A T C + L B T + R B + R C T + CR C - L B - C L B + R B T T + CR C ) P = 1 + C T + CR C L B + R B T T Q = - L A + R A T T - L B + R B T T - C T + CR C L A + R A T T L B + R B T T
US07979218B2
Provided is a test apparatus for testing a device under test, the test apparatus including: a pattern generating section that inputs a test pattern to the device under test; a judging section that judges whether the device under test is defective or not, based on an output signal outputted from the device under test; a power supply apparatus that supplies a source power to the device under test; and a setting section that detects a fluctuation amount of the source voltage resulting when the test pattern is inputted to the device under test, and sets, based on the detected fluctuation amount, a current range within which a compensation current that is in accordance with a fluctuation of a consumption current consumed by the device under test is generated at a predetermined number of levels so as to compensate a fluctuation of a source voltage to be applied to the device under test attributable to the fluctuation of the consumption current.
US07979214B2
Peptides are identified from a list of candidates using collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry data. A probabilistic model for the occurrence of spectral peaks corresponding to frequently observed partial peptide fragment ions is applied. As part of the identification procedure, a probability score is produced that indicates the likelihood of any given candidate being the correct match. The statistical significance of the score is known without necessarily having reference to the actual identity of the peptide. In one form of the invention, a genetic algorithm is applied to candidate peptides using an objective function that takes into account the number of shifted peaks appearing in the candidate spectrum relative to the test spectrum.
US07979213B2
A blood therapy device includes an energy input component, adapted to be placed on or in a human or animal body, that directs a set of differing energy inputs towards a blood vessel, wherein the set of differing energy inputs selectively resonates a plurality of resonant structures in a target composition in the blood.
US07979211B2
Method and computer program for accepting controlled-source electromagnetic (“CSEM”) source and receiver data (40) as time series, transforming these data into the time-frequency domain, and reducing these data and survey metadata to a form suitable for interpretation or inversion. The invention includes: a number of processing tools or programs (30), each designed to take a specific action on CSEM data or metadata, combine data types in some way, and/or provide a visual representation of data; a Graphical User Interface (32) to specify the action of specific tools (34) on specific data, supply parameters to tools, and monitor progress of the processing project; and a specified common internal data format, so that processing tools may be applied in various orders (36) during different processing flows and processed CSEM data can be passed on to interpretation or inversion systems.
US07979209B2
A compositing process for selecting spatial data collected over a period of time, creating temporal data cubes from the spatial data, and processing and/or analyzing the data using temporal mapping algebra functions. In some embodiments, the temporal data cube is creating a masked cube using the data cubes, and computing a composite from the masked cube by using temporal mapping algebra.
US07979207B2
Systems and methods for detecting a vehicle static condition are provided. In this regard, a representative system includes a sensor operative to detect at least one of acceleration and angular rate of a vehicle. The sensor is further operative to generate a vehicle vibration profile based on the at least one of the detected acceleration and angular rate of the vehicle. The system further includes a computing device operative to receive the vehicle vibration profile from the sensor, the computing device being further operative to determine whether the vehicle is stationary or moving based on the vehicle vibration profile. A representative method for detecting a vehicle static condition includes detecting at least one of acceleration and angular grade of a vehicle; generating a vehicle vibration profile based on at least one of the detected acceleration and angular grade of the vehicle; receiving the vehicle vibration profile; and determining whether the vehicle is stationary or moving based on the vehicle vibration profile.
US07979206B2
Traffic information, including flow information and incident information, obtained through a traffic management system for providing and facilitating the exchange of traffic information between a remote location and a vehicle may be used in route calculation by a navigation device. The navigation device may recalculate a route based on anticipated user error. Alternatively, the navigation device may recalculate a route using received traffic information triggered by the receipt of a traffic information update, or triggered by the passage of an amount of time. The broadcast rate of traffic information updates may vary temporally (providing more frequent updates during peak commute times) or geographically (providing more frequent updates to metropolitan areas with increased traffic information needs). If route calculation is triggered by an elapsed amount of time, the amount of time may vary to be shorter during peak commute times. Additional route calculation techniques allow the incorporation of historical traffic information or the use of the most recent traffic information if incomplete traffic information is available. Still further route calculation techniques may calculate a best route by avoiding zigzagging or evaluating an assigned cost of a potential route.
US07979183B2
An engine control device detects the state of work of a working vehicle such as a construction machine or the like, and controls the power output capacity of an engine automatically. A determination is made as to whether excavation or uphill traveling is being performed, based upon the detection signals from a hydraulic oil pressure detector for a hydraulic cylinder of an arm, detectors for arm and bucket operation commands, a shift operation detector for a transmission, a pitch angle detector for the vehicle body, a traveling acceleration detector, and an accelerator opening degree detector. When the result of this determination is that excavation or uphill traveling is being performed, the engine is controlled to operate at a high power capacity, while at other times it is controlled to operate at a low power output capacity.
US07979180B2
A motion control system for a vehicle including includes control means for controlling a yaw moment of the vehicle, first detection means for detecting a longitudinal velocity (V) of the vehicle, second detection means for detecting a lateral jerk (Gy_dot) of the vehicle, and third detection means for detecting a yaw angular acceleration (r_dot) of the vehicle. The yaw moment of the vehicle is controlled by the control means so that a difference between the yaw angular acceleration (r_dot) detected by the third detection means and a value (Gy_dot/V) obtained by dividing the lateral jerk (Gy_dot) of the vehicle detected by the second detection means by the longitudinal velocity (V) detected by the first detection means, becomes small.
US07979161B2
A taught point correcting device for correcting a taught point in an operation program of a robot. The device includes a judging section judging whether position data of any of a plurality of different taught points, previously taught and included in an operation program, has been corrected or not; and a data correcting section correcting, when the judging section judges that position data of a first taught point among the different taught points has been corrected, position data of a correlative taught point having a relative positional relationship with the first taught point, in accordance with a taught-point rule previously prescribing the relative positional relationship between the different taught points. The device may also include a storing section storing the taught-point rule. The taught-point rule may include a rule prescribing a distance between any two taught points among the different taught points.
US07979160B2
A system and method for sensing and compensating for unintended joint movement of a robotic arm caused by application of a load. The system may have a plurality of external encoders each in intimate contact with an external edge portion of one of a plurality of robotic arm joints to sense joint movement caused by application of the load, and a computing device configured for calculating a compensation amount based on the sensed joint movement and sending the calculated compensation amount to a corresponding robot motor encoder to correct the position of the joint by the compensation amount. The method may comprise applying the load one portion at a time, such that a portion of the load is applied, the compensation amount is calculated, the position of the joint is corrected, and then the process repeats, with another portion of the load applied to the robotic arm.
US07979156B2
An automatic vending machine (1) is provided with a vending machine main unit (10), with a play device (20) including a stuffed toy (21) on which a user can ride and a drive mechanism (24) for driving the stuffed toy (21), and with a control device that controls the vending machine main unit (10) and the drive mechanism (24) in the play device (20). The vending machine main unit (10) and the play device (20) are interconnected via the control device. The vending machine main unit (10) includes a product dispensing mechanism ((14a (14)), and payment accepting mechanisms ((13a), (13b) (13)) for accepting payment for the item, wherein the control device activates the product dispensing mechanism ((14a (14)) so as to deliver the item to the outside, as well as activates the drive mechanism (24) in the play device (20).
US07979151B2
Disclosed herein are embodiments of an automated manufacturing system that is used to process multiple jobs in a product fabrication environment, where such processing comprises performing the same multiple consecutive process steps for each job and where each process step can be accomplished using one or more different available processing tools. The manufacturing system incorporates a unique run-time dispatch system. This dispatch system schedules the order in which jobs will be processed and further randomly assigns a particular combination of process steps and tools to each job in such a way that the processing tools are evenly distributed across the jobs. Ensuring even distribution of processing tools allows a statistical process control system to not only detect, for a given process step, product variability outside desired specifications, but also to efficiently de-convolve such product variability.
US07979148B2
An audio signal encoding apparatus includes a device for compressing multiple-channel digital audio signals into compression-resultant multiple-channel signals respectively. The multiple-channel digital audio signals relate to a sampling frequency and a quantization bit number. The compression-resultant multiple-channel signals, a signal representative of the sampling frequency, and a signal representative of the quantization bit number are formatted into a formatting-resultant signal. The formatting-resultant signal contains a sub packet and a sync information portion. The sub packet contains at least portions of the compression-resultant multiple-channel signals. The sync information portion contains the signal representative of the sampling frequency and the signal representative of the quantization bit number.
US07979145B1
An elimination-style script-selection method includes a workshop reading of scripts performed before participants who have taken a theater-patronage-frequency survey. Any parallel survey responses between participants of disparate theatrical-patronage patterns are detected, and a weight adjustment factor is applied based thereon.
US07979143B2
A PID controlling apparatus and method for providing a control value to a control object according to the difference between an output value of the control object and a target value are provided, in which an error calculator outputs an error value between the target value and the output value of the control object, a PID operator calculates a proportional value, an integral value, and a derivative value of the error value, calculates the control value using the proportional value, the integral value, and the derivative value, and outputs the control value to the control object, a first sampler samples the output value of the control object a plurality of times with respect to the target value and outputs a sampled output value, and a controller controls the PID operator to repeat a PID operation and output the control value according to a sampling period of the first sampler.
US07979139B2
A radio frequency diathermy application device, including a flexible pad and a flexible coil structure coupled to and supported by the pad The flexible coil structure has a flexible spiral-like primary winding and a flexible spiral-like secondary winding coupled to the primary winding, the primary and secondary windings each substantially lying in separate substantially parallel planes when the pad is in an unflexed state.
US07979134B2
An artificial retinal device, implanted in the subretinal space of the eye in persons with certain types of retinal blindness, induces artificial vision by electrical stimulation of the remaining viable cells of the retina. The artificial retina device includes a stimulating electrode unit preferably placed in the subretinal space.
US07979133B2
In some embodiments, a paddle lead is implanted within a patient such that the electrodes are positioned within the cervical or thoracic spinal levels. An electrode combination on a first row of electrodes can be determined that is effective for a first pain location with minimal effects on other regions of the body. The first pain location can be addressed by stimulating a first dorsal column fiber due to the relatively fine electrical field resolution achievable by the multiple columns. Then, another electrode combination on a second row of electrodes can be determined for a second pain location with minimal effects on other regions. The second pain location could be addressed by stimulating a second dorsal column fiber. After the determination of the appropriate electrodes for stimulation, the patient's IPG can be programmed to deliver pulses using the first and second rows according to the determined electrode combinations.
US07979132B2
The application relates to a stimulation device with power conservation functionality. In implantable devices, power supplies may be limited. Replenishing these power supplies may require costly surgery or periodic recharging depending on the model. A method may be implemented that skips or drops periodic pulses without apparently changing the frequency of the pulses. In this manner, the dropped pulses may be undetected by the patient. On the other hand, the dropped pulse represents power savings. Dropping one in ten pulses may lead to a 10% energy savings. The stimulation device may implement the method with one or more counters implemented in hardware or software.
US07979130B2
Systems and methods for detecting and/or treating nervous system disorders, such as seizures. Certain embodiments of the invention relate generally to implantable medical devices (IMDs) adapted to detect and treat nervous system disorders in patients with an IMD. Certain embodiments of the invention include detection of seizures based upon comparisons of long-term and short-term representations of physiological signals. Further embodiments of the invention include preparing for the delivery of therapy by warming up therapy delivery components prior to the expected delivery of therapy.
US07979127B2
An retaining device for attaching to a contractile organ such as a digestive tract organ or stomach is provided. One aspect may include a lead for stimulating a digestive organ. The device may be an electrical stimulation device configured to deliver electrical signals to the organ.
US07979125B2
In an implantable biventricular heart stimulating device, and a biventricular heart stimulating method, wherein operation takes place normally with a time VV between a pacing pulse delivered, or inhibited, by a first ventricular pacing circuit and a pacing pulse delivered, or inhibited, by a second ventricular pacing circuit, and wherein a time VVcts is determined that is to be used instead of VV during a capture threshold search.
US07979122B2
Preventing sudden cardiac death involves providing an implantable device configured to deliver only two forms of cardiac therapy, the two forms of cardiac therapy including an anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy and an asystole prevention pacing therapy. The tachyarrhythmia therapy is delivered in response to detecting a tachyarrhythmia, and the pacing therapy is delivered in response to detection of cardiac asystole. An implantable cardiac device for preventing sudden cardiac death may be configured to be fully operational upon setting a therapy On/Off parameter and two or less programmable parameters associated with therapy delivery. Control circuitry configures the device for operation to prevent sudden cardiac death after programming the two or less programmable parameters and enabling the therapy On/Off parameter.
US07979118B2
A low frequency generating poultice includes a poultice sheet; a contact fabric that is adhered to a non-medicated surface of the poultice sheet; a release sheet that is attached to a medicated surface of the poultice sheet; a low frequency oscillator; a pair of left and right first through holes; a pair of left and right second through holes that are formed in the poultice sheet, the contact fabric, and the release sheet; and a left clip portion and a right clip portion that have one end fixed to a bottom surface of the low frequency oscillator and the other end passing through the pair of left and right first through holes to be coupled to the poultice sheet through the pair of left and right second through holes and electrically connected to the low frequency oscillator.
US07979117B2
An apparatus for dermal treatment of an active substance having certain physical properties having a flexible, wearable patch conformable to the contour of a skin surface and having: a first electrode adapted to communicate the active substance into the skin by application of an electrical current on the skin surface, a second electrode capable of closing an electrical circuit with the skin surface, a power source for providing a current and voltage connected through a conductive media to the first and second electrode, and an apparatus for substantially controlling penetration depth of the active substance by selecting at least one variable from a plurality of variables.
US07979114B2
Disclosed is an apparatus for assuming the information on the amount accumulated visceral fat in a human body with a high degree of accuracy. It comprises: at least a unit for collecting pieces of information on the identification of the human body and a unit for collecting pieces of information on breathing function, thereby making the visceral fat accumulation calculating unit provide the information on the amount accumulated visceral fat based on the so collected pieces of information.
US07979107B2
A method for differentiating malignant in vivo liver tissues from normal in vivo liver tissues of a living subject includes the steps of: (a) illuminating a first area and a second area of in vivo liver tissues of the living subject with a first excitation light, (b) measuring an intensity of fluorescent light emitted from each of the first area and the second area of in vivo liver tissues in response to the first excitation light as a function of wavelength so as to obtain a first and a second fluorescent spectra, respectively, (c) illuminating the first area and the second area of in vivo liver tissues with a second excitation light, (d) measuring an intensity of diffuse light reflected by each of the first area and the second area of in vivo liver tissues in response to the second excitation light as a function of wavelength so as to obtain a first and a second diffused reflectance spectra, respectively, and (e) identifying one of the first area and the second area of in vivo liver tissues as malignant liver tissues and the other one of the first area and the second area of in vivo liver tissues as normal liver tissues, by comparing the first fluorescence spectrum and the second florescence spectrum, and comparing the first diffused reflection spectrum and the second diffused reflection spectrum.
US07979106B2
In order, despite a plurality of terminals, to enable their freedom of movement on the one hand and an unimpeded treatment process on the other hand to be guaranteed, there is provision in accordance with the invention, for recording the devices in their envisaged spatial distribution, especially by at least one camera, to check this distribution as regards a sufficient freedom of movement of the devices, especially by a processing or control unit, and to feed back a corrected distribution, especially by at least one video projector.
US07979103B2
Electrochemical biosensors consisting of two or more needle-shaped electrodes for monitoring of molecules such as glucose in the subcutaneous tissue are provided. The two electrodes are parallel to each other, and are fixed perpendicularly to the planar side of a sensor base which provides skin fixation and electric connection. The needle electrodes are made of rigid conducting materials, capable of inserting into the skin without the need of catheters. One electrode is the sensing electrode and the other, the reference electrode. A compound sensing membrane is attached onto the sensing electrode surface to detect analyzed molecules.
US07979099B2
A mobile terminal is provided that can satisfy various functions. The mobile terminal includes a first body, a second body mounted to the first body such that the second body can be opened and closed and a slide module is mounted between the first and second bodies, thereby enabling the first body to slidably move in one direction and fold in a different direction.
US07979094B2
Contemplated devices and methods employ a system in which at least two receivers are configured to receive at the same time a first and a second emergency signal via a first and a second communication pathway, respectively. The device further has a control unit that is programmed to assign priority to one channel of one communication pathway over at least one channel of the other communication pathway, wherein priority assignment is performed on the basis of geographic location and a set of predefined rules. Most preferably, the location of the device is automatically determined using global positioning signals and/or digital television signals.
US07979092B2
Provided are an apparatus and a method for controlling an image in a mobile communication terminal. The apparatus includes a display for displaying an enlarged image; and a controller for, when an input for enlarging an image is detected, enlarging the image in a position in which the input for enlarging the image is detected, and displaying the enlarged image on the display. The apparatus controls the size of the image displayed on the display of the mobile communication terminal, allowing convenient access to data displayed on the display and the selection of menus on the enlarged image and convenience in selecting menus from a small display.
US07979091B2
A method of operating a mobile communication device comprising displaying a array of selectable functions in a first direction on a display of the communication device; scrolling through the selectable functions in the array of functions by using one or more navigation keys, wherein for each one of the selectable functions, a respective array of selectable contacts is displayed in a second direction on the display as the selectable functions are scrolled through; scrolling through the selectable contacts of one of the arrays of selectable contacts by using one or more navigation keys; selecting one of the selectable functions and one of the selectable contacts by halting the scrolling in the first and second directions at selected positions; and executing the selected function for the selected contact by a single user command.
US07979087B2
A method is provided to enable the person to switch use of computing devices when working with records and/or documents. A method such as described may be implemented for an individual operating two (or more) computing devices that share and synchronize sets of records. One or more operations may be performed to update and maintain correspondence between the two sets of records. A switchover event may be detected, where the event corresponds to the individual using a second computing device while already using a first computing device. Once the switchover event is detected, state of use information may be received on the second computing device. This information indicates the state of use of one or more records on the first computing device. This information may be used to affect the state of use of corresponding records on the second computing device. In particular, the corresponding records on the second computing device may be placed in a state of use, or in a selected state for subsequent use.
US07979081B1
A distance-based paging system distributes the decision as to which base stations should send a page to a terminal. The Radio Network Controller (RNC) simply stores the location information and paging range (e.g., the route update radius) of the reference sector for each terminal. When a page message needs to be sent to the terminal, the RNC sends the location information and paging range to each base station in a broadcast or a multicast message that includes the location coordinates and route update radius of the reference sector in the message header, and the information to be sent in the over the air page in the message payload. Each base station determines whether one or more of its sectors is located within the paging area, and broadcasts a page based on the payload of the message to the terminal if it is within the paging area or discards the paging message if it is not.
US07979079B2
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, the location of a mobile device within a floor plan of a building or the like environment may be determined using a single transmission link between transceiver and the mobile device. A bit error rate value and a receiver signal strength indication value are measured for the present location of the mobile device in the floor plan. The coordinates where the mobile device is located may be determined by looking up the measured bit error rate value and the received signal strength indication value in a lookup table. Due to environmental factors of the floor plan, the combination of the bit error rate value and the received signal strength indication value corresponds to a unique coordinate location in the floor plan from which the location of the mobile device may be determined.
US07979078B2
An apparatus, system, and method efficiently manage reverse link communication in a communication system having geographically distributed base stations. Coupled load information is exchanged between base stations allowing a base station to determine an appropriate allocation of reverse link channel resources to mobile stations served by the base station. Since the allocation of reverse link channels resources are controlled directly by the base station, delays due to communications with a central controller are eliminated. As a result, adverse effects of load scheduling based on obsolete reverse channel information are minimized.
US07979072B2
The present invention provides a method and system for facilitating efficient handoff and data throughput in mobile broadband communication systems. Methods implemented by a system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention include selectively enabled soft handoff, performing Layer 2 bearer functions at the base station and using the mobile device to coordinate soft handoff and interference avoidance without the need for a centralized coordination function.
US07979062B2
Communication method between a first terminal and a second terminal on a communications network includes establishing a first connection between the terminals, the first connection being of a first media type at the first terminal and of a multimedia type at the second terminal; establishing a second connection between a repository apparatus and the second terminal, the second connection being coupled to the first connection and being of a second media type at the repository apparatus different from the first media type; said multimedia type including the first and the second media types; disabling the second connection after a request for a third connection between the terminals, the third connection being of the second media type at the first terminal; and establishing the third connection, the first and third connections forming a combinational session at the first terminal and a multimedia type connection at the second terminal.
US07979056B2
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are disclosed for providing information related to virtual environments. One such method includes receiving user input identifying an event related to the virtual environment for which a notification is to be provided to a mobile wireless communication device. User input is also received identifying an output to be provided by the mobile wireless communication device in response to receipt of the notification. A determination is then made that the event related to the virtual environment has occurred. In response to determining that the event occurred, the mobile wireless communication device is provided with the notification, and the output identified by the user input is provided by the mobile wireless communication device.
US07979055B2
When a server receives an information designating image from a communication terminal connected to a server through a network, it sends a URL identifying the storage location of the image to the communication terminal. When the communication terminal receives the URL, it loads the URL into an email and transmits the email to another communication terminal. When the communication terminal that received this email finds out that the URL integrated in the email identifies the storage location of the image, it downloads the image from the server and displays it along with the email by using the URL.
US07979051B2
A calling account recharge system, method, and device are provided. The device has an associated stored-value calling account, and typically includes a selector, a communications program configured to communicate with a recharge service via a communication network, and a recharge option selectable by a user upon actuation of the selector. The recharge option is configured to cause the communications program to initiate a recharge transaction with the recharge service via the communication network, in order to add calling units to the stored-value calling account. The device may be configured to access the communication network via a toll-free gateway.
US07979047B2
The present invention aims at providing a sampling filter capable of changing a filtering characteristic without use of a complicate waveform as a control signal. A sampling filter 100 has a control section 140, a plurality of integrators, and a plurality of switches. An input current is accumulated in a plurality of capacitors in one clock; adds up electric charges accumulated in the integrators in several preceding clocks to one preceding clock; and outputs a result of addition. When electric charges are accumulated in the integrators in each clock, output electric charges can be subjected to, while being weighted, addition by switching an electric current to be input, so that the filtering characteristic is changed.
US07979045B2
An analog die (3) and a digital die (4) are supported by a plate (1) consisting of an electrically conductive material. Pads (5) of the dies (3, 4) are connected to each other, to plate (1) or to pins (2) surrounding the latter by bond wires (6). The upper side of the plate (1) is covered by a plastic mold (7) encapsulating the dies (3, 4), the bond wires (6) and, in part, the pins (2). For the suppression of external jamming signals as well as internal ones picked up by bond wires the digital die (4) comprises an adjustable notch filter which suppresses narrow frequency bands where jamming signals have been detected.
US07979043B2
A programmable antenna interface for coupling an antenna to a transceiver having a receiver section and a transmitter section, includes a transformer that is adjustable in accordance with a control signal. A transmit/receive module couples the transformer to the receiver section in a receive mode and to the transmitter section in a transmit mode. The control signal controls the transformer to a first impedance in the transmit mode and controls the transformer to a second impedance in the receive mode.
US07979029B2
In a portable phone, a signal received by a GPS antenna passes through a SAW filter and is amplified by an LNA. An addition section adds a cancellation signal generated by a cancellation signal generation section to the amplified signal to cancel noise superimposed on the received signal.
US07979028B2
While a handsfree device being multi-profile compatible is maintaining a connection for a handsfree profile (HFP) with a mobile phone handset, the handsfree device cuts off the connection for the HFP based on a user's operation. After cutting off, the handsfree device establishes a connection for a dial-up network profile (DUN), and subsequently transmits a request for a connection for the HFP while maintaining the connection for the DUN. Subsequently, the handsfree device determines whether the handset is multi-profile compatible according to the response to the request from the handset. Based on the determination that the handset is multi-profile compatible, the handsfree device executes the processes for the HFP while maintaining the connection for the DUN.
US07979013B2
A developing device that can be formed at low cost and without increasing the complexity of a die structure of a casing comprises a development roller, a supply roller, a developing portion having an agitating member, a toner hopper disposed above the developing portion, an agitating member in the toner hopper, a partitioning member provided between the developing portion and the toner hopper and having an opening portion, and a collected developer storage portion forming portion for forming a storage space for collected toner collected from the development roller by the supply roller within a fixed distance of the supply roller such that the collected toner moves to the vicinity of the agitating member in the developing portion in accordance with a developer flow generated by the rotation of the supply roller. A pre-incorporation component formed by integrating the partitioning member, the collected developer storage portion forming portion, and a bearing portion for supporting the agitating members is incorporated into the casing.
US07979008B2
A toner supplying device which is capable of individually supplying toners of different colors. The toner supplying device can include a driving source; a plurality of toner receptacles in which different color toners are contained and respective toner discharging members are provided in order to discharge toners while being driven by power transmitted from the driving source; and a plurality of spring clutches to selectively transmit power from the driving source to the toner discharging members. The toner supplying device according to the present general inventive concept can be advantageously employed in toner-refill type color image forming apparatuses in view of the miniaturization of the apparatus and reduction in the manufacturing costs.
US07979006B2
An image forming apparatus includes: an electrostatic latent image bearing member; a toner cartridge; a developing member; a transfer member; a developing device; and a circulating member. The toner cartridge is removably coupled to the developing device. The developing device incorporates the developing member. The circulating member is capable of operating while the toner cartridge remains coupled to the developing device, to circulate the toner between the developing device and the toner cartridge irrespective of whether the developing member is operating.
US07979002B2
A sheet processing apparatus includes an opening/closing member which is turnably supported by an apparatus body and through which a user accesses the apparatus, and a conveying guide which is movably supported by a user access door and which includes a sheet conveying surface. When the opening/closing member is opened in a state where a sheet remains on the sheet conveying surface, the conveying guide is separated from the opening/closing member by the remaining sheet.
US07979001B2
A fixing device includes: a fixing member that is driven to rotate; a pressurizing member that is rotated in accordance with rotation of the fixing member while pressing the fixing member, and that forms a pressing portion through which a recording medium passes, the pressing portion being formed between the pressurizing member and the fixing member; and a surface shape adjusting member that has a surface including plural spherical projections and that rotates with the surface being in contact with the fixing member.
US07978997B2
When a developer cartridge is not attached to an image formation apparatus body frame, a developer electrode included with the cartridge is disposed at a retract position at which the developer electrode does not protrude outside the cartridge. This protects the developer electrode from damage possibly caused by interference or contact with other components. After the developer cartridge is attached to the body frame, when the developer roller is rotated, the developer electrode is displaced to a connection position at which the developer electrode protrudes outside the cartridge (and is connected to a power supply electrode provided with the body frame).
US07978992B2
In an MFP, when a count of printed sheets of paper exceeds a predetermined count, a controller reads, from internal counters, a frequency of a stabilization process executed in return, a frequency of a stabilization process executed automatically in printing, a frequency of a stabilization process executed manually based on a user's instruction, and a frequency of return, respectively. When the frequency of the stabilization process executed automatically is small while the frequency of the stabilization process executed manually is large, the controller raises a frequency level of execution of the stabilization process. When the frequency of the stabilization process executed manually is small, the controller lowers the frequency level of execution of the stabilization process.
US07978990B2
An image forming apparatus includes: a rotation shaft (71); a movable body (72) that is attached to the rotation shaft (71), that is provided with a cleaning member (73), and that moves with rotation of the rotation shaft (71); a motor M for rotating the rotation shaft (71); a control section (8) for controlling rotation of the motor M; a current detecting section (77) for detecting a current flowing through the motor M; and a time counting section for counting time. Here, the control section is provided with: an overcurrent detection checking function; a time counting function; a predetermined position attainment checking function; a reciprocation control function; an erroneous detection checking function for performing erroneous detection checking operation in which an overcurrent detected while the movable body is moving forward in the reciprocation thereof is checked while the movable body is moving backward in the reciprocation thereof; and a repeating function for performing the erroneous detection checking operation once or a plurality of times in a repeating fashion.
US07978989B2
A toner cartridge counts the number of times the toner cartridge has been shaken by a counting unit. A control unit of an image forming apparatus acquires the counting result of the counting unit, and controls each unit of the apparatus such that a display unit displays a message encouraging the worker to shake the toner cartridge since the shaking of the toner cartridge is insufficient if the acquired counting result is smaller than a predetermined value, and the toner contained in the toner cartridge is supplied to a developing unit of the image forming apparatus since the toner cartridge is sufficiently shaken and the toner in the toner cartridge is stirred and dissolved if the acquired counting result is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
US07978984B2
The present invention enables device downsizing by utilizing a light-emitting diode as a plurality of interfaces. A light-emitting diode 11 of a data communication unit using a light-emitting diode for data communication outputs light when a current flows therethrough. A transmission circuit 13 applies a forward bias to the light-emitting diode 11 based on transmission data. A separation circuit 14 outputs a voltage that changes according to a voltage which is generated in the light-emitting diode 11 when the transmission circuit 13 does not apply the forward bias to the light-emitting diode 11.
US07978982B2
An electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) system may comprise one or more EDC solution application modules. The EDC system may include a solution transition module. The solution transition module may be configured to determine a path between a first EDC solution performed by a first EDC solution application module and a second EDC solution performed by a second EDC solution application module. The solution transition module may be configured to provide transition instructions to an EDC solution application module. The transition instructions may include one or more intermediate EDC solutions disposed along a path between a first EDC solution and a second EDC solution.
US07978980B2
In a method a carrier signal is modulated depending on data to be transmitted. The modulated carrier signal is transmitted via an optical fiber line. The transmitted modulated carrier signal is demodulated, thereby producing received data. The transmitted modulated carrier signal is used to produce an auxiliary carrier signal. The auxiliary carrier signal is modulated depending on the received data and then transmitted via a radio antenna.
US07978975B2
Implementations of the present principles include methods, systems and apparatuses for transmitting data through a sub-carrier multiplexing and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access passive optical network. In accordance with aspects of the present principles, a plurality of optical network units are assigned electrical carrier frequency bandwidths that are narrower than a system capacity bandwidth. Modulation of optical waves transmitted between an optical line terminal and each optical network unit is conducted on different orthogonal sub-carrier frequencies within the assigned bandwidths such that sampling of said orthogonal sub-carrier frequencies is limited to the assigned electrical carrier frequency bandwidths. The waves are thereafter received and demodulated for the extraction of data.
US07978974B2
The embodiments disclosed herein relate an insertable shield clip for use in controlling electromagnetic interference in an optical transceiver module. The optical transceiver module may include a shell that houses first and second optical subassemblies and an enclosure that cooperates with the shell in defining a covering for the optical transceiver module. The shield clip may comprise a body composed of conductive material. The body may include first and second vertical side members. The body may also include first and second shield members that are each configured to receive a corresponding nosepiece of one of the first and second optical subassemblies. The body may further include a bottom member that interconnects the first and second vertical side members and the first and second shield members.
US07978967B2
An interchangeable lens includes an obtaining unit for obtaining first control information and second control information from the camera body, the first control information being an instruction to control the first drive unit (diaphragm), the second control information being an instruction to control the second drive unit (focus lens, etc), a storage unit for storing the obtained second control information, and a controller for controlling the first drive unit and the second drive unit based on the first and second control information obtained. The second control information (reservation control information) is an instruction to control the second drive unit when the obtaining unit receives the first control information after receiving the second control information. When the obtaining unit obtains the first control information after obtaining the second control information, the controller drives the first drive unit and the second drive unit in parallel based on the obtained first control information and the stored second control information.
US07978964B2
A thermal processing chamber with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) lamp assembly and a method for using the same are provided. In one embodiment, a thermal processing chamber includes a chamber body and a dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly further comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and a dielectric barrier. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly is positioned between the first electrode and the second electrode. The dielectric barrier defines a discharge space between the dielectric barrier and the second electrode. A circuit arrangement is coupled to the first and second electrodes, and is adapted to operate the dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly.
US07978962B2
A method for optimizing a scheduler for an optical pick-up reduces the pick-up jump frequency and the initial start-up time for reproduction. The pick-up reads data streams from different files on an optical storage medium, e.g. Blu-Ray disc, and buffers the data streams in separate buffers, e.g. for video, audio and subtitles. Buffer sizes are optimized when the video buffer is as small as possible, i.e. large enough to bridge the pick-up access and read times for the other streams, and the buffers the lower rated streams are extended such that the pick-up access frequency for lower rated streams is an integer multiple of the pick-up access frequency for the highest rated stream, usually the video stream. Initial start-up time is minimized by filling the buffers initially only to a minimum required level.
US07978961B2
Disclosed a disk reproducing apparatus including: a reproduction control unit; a repeat section setting unit; a repeat reproduction control unit; a special reproduction control unit; and an on-screen display unit, wherein the repeat section setting unit sets time information at the repeat starting point and the repeat ending point, and stores image data at the repeat starting point and/or the repeat ending point; the special reproduction control unit performs special reproduction by skipping I pictures included in the image data at a predetermined time interval; and when the special reproduction reaches the end point of the repeat section, the special reproduction control unit makes the on-screen display unit display the image based on the image data at the repeat starting point or the repeat ending point.
US07978955B2
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a recording method, a playback apparatus, a playback method, a program, and a recording medium in which random access playback of TS of audio data encoded using different encoding methods can be performed. A controller obtains PTS from TS, and sets a BS audio TS packet 261-1 as an entry point when an HQ audio TS packet 271-1 having the same PTS exists after the BS audio TS packet 261-1 in the TS. Further, the controller generates EP_map based on the PID of the BS audio ES and the HQ audio ES, the source packet number of the BS audio TS packet 261-1 set as the entry point, and the PTS.
US07978950B2
An apparatus is provided for shaping an end of an optical fiber. The apparatus may include a frame and a clamp constructed to hold the optical fiber in a fixed location relative to the frame. The apparatus may further include a tip shaper supported by the frame and movable in a first direction toward and away from the clamp, and moveable in a second direction that lies in a plane transverse to the first direction to shape the end of the optical fiber when the tip shaper is placed in contact with the optical fiber. The apparatus may include an abrasive substrate which abrades the end of the fiber.
US07978948B2
The present invention relates to an optical fiber accommodated in an optical fiber cable, and more particularly, to an optical fiber which optimizes optical fiber coating resin and color resin and restrains an increase in transmission loss of the optical fiber due to an operating environment and aged deterioration and provides an optical fiber and optical fiber ribbon without any increase of transmission loss irrespective of the operating environment and aged deterioration, and especially when exposed to water or high humidity.The optical fiber is an optical fiber coated with at least two layers of coating resin, wherein the outermost coated coating resin is a colored layer made of color resin and when the optical fiber is immersed in water which is heated to 60° C. for 168 hours, an extraction rate of the coating resin of the optical fiber is set to 1.5 mass percent or below.
US07978943B2
In one or more embodiments, an optical fiber coupler for coupling pump radiation into a rectangular optical fiber includes a fiber section and a pump fiber. The fiber section includes a core having a high aspect ratio cross-section and an interface section. The core is positioned in contact with first and second signal claddings to form reflective boundaries at fast-axis boundaries of the core. The pump fiber is side coupled to the fiber section via the interface section, and configured to couple the pump radiation into the fiber section.
US07978938B1
A system to perform modifications, or adjustments, to a digital image includes an interface component to receive selection input to enable selection of the digital data to be modified. A detector then detects a characteristic of the digital data. A configurator automatically configures a function, supported by a data modification component, to modify the digital data. The automatic configuration of the function is performed using the detected characteristic of the digital data to be modified.
US07978935B2
The invention relates to a method for changing the dimensions of an electronically stored image which is composed of individual objects that are arranged below or next to one another or that fully or partially overlap one another, in which the image is changed in at least one horizontal or vertical image dimension and at least some of the individual objects are changed in at least one horizontal or vertical object dimension and the change in the object dimension is sometimes not necessarily proportional to the change in the image dimension. This method is currently carried out manually. Automatic implementation is achieved by the invention in that in order to automatically arrange and change the size of the individual objects in the event of a change in the horizontal and/or vertical image dimension, object properties are assigned to each individual object via a data processing program that runs on a data processing system, these object properties are stored in a memory and a change in the size and/or position of the individual objects is carried out via the data processing program, wherein the object properties define a changeability of the individual objects.
US07978931B2
The invention discloses an optimized video stitching method, comprising: inputting predefined pattern images; proceeding with a transformation which combines planar and cylindrical transformation; proceeding with a merging calculation which combines linear difference merging and alpha blending calculation; and proceeding with a horizontal stitching processing by putting the processed images horizontally together into one seamless wide-angle image. The optimized video stitching method according to the invention further comprises a camera position calibration flow comprising: finding a planar matrix by using predefined pattern images; proceeding with a planar transformation of image; proceeding with an image registration by using a block matching method to find out the stitching points on the planar surface; and proceeding with a cylindrical transformation by transforming the stitching points from the planar surface to cylindrical surface.
US07978920B2
An image processing system includes a decoder configured to decode an encoded image and an encoder configured to encode the image decoded by the decoder. The decoder includes a decoder adapted to decode the encoded image, and a detector adapted to detect, on the basis of the image, a fade period included in the image and supply a fade information signal indicating a detection result to the encoder. The encoder includes an acquisition unit adapted to acquire the fade information signal, and a changing unit adapted to change a process performed in the encoding of the image in accordance with the fade information signal.
US07978909B2
An image processing apparatus includes a calculating unit configured to calculate an evaluation amount of poor color tone for every pixel in an image and an extracting unit configured to extract a candidate pixel having the poor color tone on the basis of the evaluation amount. The evaluation amount is calculated from red and green components of the image.
US07978906B2
Systems and methodologies for modeling data in accordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein are operable to receive input data, create data patches from the input data, obtain long-range correlations between the data patches, and model the input data as a patch model based at least in part on the data patches and the long-range correlations. Various learning algorithms are additionally provided for refining the patch model created in accordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein. Further, systems and methodologies for synthesizing a patch model created in accordance with various aspects of the present invention with a set of test data to perform a transformation represented by the patch model on the test data are provided.
US07978905B2
A calculation processing apparatus, which executes calculation processing based on a network composed by hierarchically connecting a plurality of processing nodes, assigns a partial area of a memory to each of the plurality of processing nodes, stores a calculation result of a processing node in a storable area of the partial area assigned to that processing node, and sets, as storable areas, areas that store the calculation results whose reference by all processing nodes connected to the subsequent stage of that processing node is complete. The apparatus determines, based on the storage states of calculation results in partial areas of the memory assigned to the processing node designated to execute the calculation processing of the processing nodes, and to processing nodes connected to the previous stage of the designated processing node, whether or not to execute a calculation of the designated processing node.
US07978902B2
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a calibration method of performing contrast threshold calibration in extracting a pattern edge from an image of a pattern formed on a processing target substrate, including simulating formation of the pattern to detect a portion predicted to have shorted or opened in the pattern, calculating a contrast of an image of the pattern including the portion predicted to have shorted or opened, and determining a threshold from the contrast, the threshold avoiding extraction of a pattern edge in the portion predicted to have shorted or opened.
US07978901B1
According to one embodiment of the invention, a system can be provided to detect fraudulent activity occurring during check processing. Such fraudulent activity can be detected for example by monitoring the electronic check imaging process and performing checks on the data to determine anomalous occurrences that are indicative of fraudulent transactions.
US07978891B2
In a method for generation of a medical image, starting from an acquired data set of an organ to be depicted, a magnification factor and/or an image section to be depicted are automatically determined dependent on the organ to be depicted. Based on this a medical image is generated from the data set. A data processing unit for medical images is fashioned for implementation of such a method and computer software implements such a method when it is executed on a data processing unit.
US07978888B2
A method and appertaining system are provided for presenting observation and measurement data that is supplementary to a native mode application to a display. A DICOM Structured Report (SR) file is read into a database using one or more mapping files. An algorithm determines which values in the SR have mappings to the database defined using the mapping files, and values of the SR having defined mappings are imported into the database. Quantity values related to a count of data imported into the database are determined, and a display of a percentage and counts of those values are provided on a display to a user.
US07978886B2
A technique is provided for performing diagnosis and/or analysis of a volumetric image generated via anatomy based reconstruction. The technique includes generating a three-dimensional image by reconstructing a plurality of residual projection images from which a contribution of one or more structures of interest has been removed. The technique also includes evaluating the three-dimensional image and/or the plurality of residual projection images to generate a diagnosis.
US07978883B2
The present invention relates to a device (4) for positioning the face of a user relative to an image-capture apparatus (1), the positioning device comprising a picture-taking device (7) arranged to supply horizontally-reversed images, a display screen (5) for displaying the reversed images and connected to the picture-taking device, and means for superposing on the images displayed on the screen at least one positioning reference mark (6) for the user, the positioning reference mark and the displayed images lying substantially in the same plane. The invention also provides a corresponding method and image-capture apparatus.
US07978882B1
A system identifies an image and determines whether the image contains inappropriate content based on first data associated with the image, second data associated with a document that contains the image or refers to the image, and/or third data associated with a group of documents with which the image is associated.
US07978871B2
In response to an applied force, a speaker system is configured to deploy from a confined area so as to function as a pelvis pusher. Additionally, portions of the speaker system are configured to collapse upon the application of the force so as to absorb the force.
US07978866B2
An acoustics correcting apparatus includes: a measurement signal supplying section; first and second collecting sections; a first distance calculating section; a second distance calculating section; a position information calculating section; an acoustics measuring section; a virtual sound image coefficient selecting section; a correction characteristic calculating section; a virtual sound image localization processing section; and an acoustics correcting section.
US07978857B2
A secure device has an input unit for dividing content into a plurality of blocks and inputting the plurality of blocks, a key generating unit for sequentially generating keys for encrypting one or plural blocks, a content encrypting unit for encrypting the one or plural blocks by using the generated key, a key information generating unit for generating key information for restoring the generated key used for the encrypting by the generated key, and a storage control unit for outputting contents of each of the blocks encrypted by the content encrypting unit and the key information generated by the key information generating unit to an external storage. The key sequentially generated by the key generating unit is newly generated when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and varies by every one or plural blocks.
US07978846B2
The computation time to perform scalar point multiplication in an Elliptic Curve Group is reduced by modifying the Barrett Reduction technique. Computations are performed using an N-bit scaled modulus based a modulus m having k-bits to provide a scaled result, with N being greater than k. The N-bit scaled result is reduced to a k-bit result using a pre-computed N-bit scaled reduction parameter in an optimal manner avoiding shifting/aligning operations for any arbitrary values of k, N.
US07978843B1
A call processing system for handling a call comprising a signaling interface configured to receive an initial address message wherein the initial address message identifies a calling party number, a processing system configured to process the calling party number to determine if the calling party number is in a first format accepted by a routing system and modify the initial address message if the calling party number is in a second format not accepted by the routing system, and the signaling interface further configured to transmit the modified initial address message to the routing system.
US07978840B2
A method and system of provisioning resources installed in a network element. Resources are installed in the network element. As resources are placed into service, a notification is transmitted to the vendor. The vendor generates an invoice, and the service provider generates a purchase order. Furthermore, a capacity planning system may monitor the system as resources are placed into service. If the amount of spare resources fall below a predetermined limit, the capacity planning system may transmit a request to the vendor for the additional equipment. In this manner, resources may be installed prior to the actual need for the resources. The resources may then be paid for by the service provider as the resources are needed and placed into service, thereby enabling a risk-sharing arrangement between the service provider and the vendor.
US07978837B2
Provided are a method and apparatus for providing a user-adapted service environment. The method includes authenticating a user, transmitting first user identification information for identifying the authenticated user to a controlled device, receiving a user profile corresponding to the first user identification information from the controlled device, and configuring a service environment using the received user profile.
US07978836B2
Methods, systems, and products provide advanced intelligent services. A dialed number is associated to an advanced telephony service. The advanced telephony service is associated to a virtual number in a service providing network. A call to the dialed number is received in a native transport network having limited or no capability of providing advanced telephony service. When the advanced telephony service is required, then the call is routed to the virtual number in the service-providing network to receive the advanced telephony service from the service-providing network.
US07978827B1
A computational component for establishing a communication between a contactor and a contactee is provided that includes a user configuration agent 324 operable to (a) determine a network configuration requirement resulting from a disability of at least one of the contactor and the contactee, (b) incorporate the disability network configuration requirement in a communication set-up message; and (c) forward the communication set-up message to a communication device associated with the contactee.
US07978826B2
Systems and methods are presented for handling calls. In one embodiment of the invention, a call handling system is configured for handling a variety of emergency and/or non emergency related calls. The call handling system may enable recognition of and response to received call information. The call handling system comprises a call interface configured for receiving the call information. A processor is communicatively coupled to the call interface and configured for processing the call information to initiate a protocol. This protocol may, as it progresses, be used to generate data for use in a CAD system. The CAD system may subsequently dispatch responders based on the generated data. The call handling system includes an advisory component that recommends a type of dispatch and a risk assessment. The call handling system also includes a build component that allows for the generation of protocols.
US07978812B2
A compression device for a mammography x-ray apparatus comprises the breast in a manner that is as comfortable as possible for the patient. For this purpose, a compression device has a frame that two-dimensionally stretches an elastic membrane and is designed so that the breast of a patient that is to be compressed by the compression device is compressed solely by the elastic membrane.
US07978808B1
A nuclear fuel element including a uranium-molybdenum alloy that provides an enhanced reactivity in research, test and radioisotope production nuclear reactors. In this uranium-molybdenum alloy, the uranium is enriched in the isotope 235-U, while the molybdenum is depleted in the isotope 95-Mo. The thus obtained enhanced reactivity provides, depending on the exact use of the fuel element, a requirement for less uranium in the fuel and the use of the fuel elements during a longer period in the reactor.
US07978801B2
A clock and data recovery method comprising the following steps: an oversampling step wherein an oversampled stream of samples is generated from an input data stream at a data rate by using reference clock signal at a clock rate, the clock rate being higher than the data rate, and a tracking step of the input data stream realised by locating transitions between adjacent samples of the oversampled stream and by moving a no transition area within the oversampled stream wherein no transitions between adjacent samples are found a recovered data signal being obtained as a central portion of the no transition area and a recovered clock signal being obtained by dividing the reference clock signal. A clock and data recovery device is also described.
US07978798B2
Provided are a spatial multiplexing apparatus and method in a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system. The spatial multiplexing detection method includes estimating channels of a received signal, and sorting the estimated channels in descending order according to a scheme; generating a subsystem of a minimum unit by nulling an arbitrary channel among the sorted channels; performing a modified maximum likelihood (MML) in the subsystem of the minimum unit to calculate a number of transmission signal vectors; and calculating Euclidean distances of the number of the transmission signal vectors, and selecting a transmission signal vector having a minimum Euclidean distance. Accordingly, the receiver exhibits a performance level similar to a Maximum Likelihood (ML) and can obtain the complexity similar to successive interference cancellation (SIC).
US07978793B2
A receiver system, which generates a soft decision signal from a hard decision signal, includes a hard output receiver for determining a received bit to generate a hard decision signal. A hard input soft output receiver determines an estimated probability of symbol data corresponding to the received bit based on the hard decision signal and generates a soft decision signal represented by a log-likelihood ratio from the estimated probability.
US07978785B2
The present invention provides an improved frequency doubling circuit, with adjustable phase offset. Briefly, rather than using the traditional equations cos (2ωt)=cos 2(ωt)−sin 2(ωt) and sin(2ωt)=2 sin(ωt)cos(ωt), the quadrature output signals are generated utilizing mixers, each having two input signals, separated in phase by the same offset. This minimizes the effects of the non-linearities introduced by the mixer, which therefore reduces amplitude mismatch between the quadrature signals. Also, the phase offset of the quadrature output signals can be tuned and calibrated using a phase shifting circuit. This phase shifting circuit realizes a tuning range of approximately 5° in programmable steps. This combination of circuits can be used to minimize the amplitude mismatch and phase errors, thereby reducing the amplitude of and interference caused by transmission of the image frequency to the receivers input.
US07978782B2
Methods and systems for polar modulation using a digital direct frequency synthesizer (DDFS) are disclosed and may comprise generating a phase modulated signal in a DDFS, amplitude modulating the generated phase modulated signal in a non-linear device and transmitting the signal via a wireless medium. A processor may control the generation of the phase and amplitude modulated signals. The non-linear device may comprise a non-linear power amplifier or a mixer. The method may also comprise generating a first phase modulated signal in a first DDFS and generating a second phase modulated signal in a second DDFS, or in a single DDFS with two integrated digital-to-analog converters, and upconverting and combining the first and second phase modulated signals and amplitude modulating the combined upconverted signals in a non-linear device. A processor may be enabled to control the generation of the first and second phase modulated signals.
US07978781B2
A first packet is transmitted via a forward channel corresponding to a signal direction from a first transceiver device to a second transceiver device, wherein the first packet includes a request to initiate calibration. A partial dimensional description of a reverse channel is determined based on the reception of a second packet received from the second transceiver device, wherein the second packet includes training information of spatial dimensions used for the transmission of the second packet but does not include training information for all available spatial dimensions of a reverse channel. A correction matrix is developed from the partial dimensional description of the reverse channel and a description of the forward channel, and the correction matrix and a steering matrix is used to process signals to be transmitted via the forward channel.
US07978777B2
Communication systems having transmitter, includes a coder configured to receive user bits and output encoded bits at an expanded output encoded bit rate, a mapper configured to map encoded bits to symbols in a symbol constellation, a modulator configured to generate a signal for transmission via the communication channel using symbols generated by the mapper. In addition, the receiver includes a demodulator configured to demodulate the received signal via the communication channel, a demapper configured to estimate likelihoods from the demodulated signal, a decoder that is configured to estimate decoded bits from the likelihoods generated by the demapper. Furthermore, the symbol constellation is a capacity optimized geometrically spaced symbol constellation that provides a given capacity at a reduced signal-to-noise ratio compared to a signal constellation that maximizes dmin.
US07978772B2
A digital transmission signal from a digital signal processing unit is converted to an analog signal in an analog circuit, and is transmitted from transmission lines via a communication transformer. The digital signal processing unit includes a time carrier detector that detects a carrier by using a time waveform of a reception signal and a frequency carrier detector that detects a carrier by using frequency characteristics of the reception signal. Under the control of a controller, carrier detection is performed by switching between the time carrier detector and the frequency carrier detector for operation.
US07978768B2
A recompression apparatus for video data possesses a first transcoder, which is able to generate an output video data by recompressing an input video data encoded by a first encode scheme, a second transcoder, which has a compressibility smaller than the first transcoder and is able to generate an output video data by recompressing an input video data by a second encode scheme, and a controller, which receives a recompression parameter including a reduction rate of a target bit rate of an output video data against an input video data, controls a transcoder to carry out compression encoding if the reduction rate is smaller than a threshold value and controls a transcoder to carry out recompression if the reduction rate is equal to or larger than the reduction value.
US07978767B2
A method of encoding moving pictures using a plurality of quantization matrices. The method involves selecting one of the plurality of quantization matrices in consideration of an at least one characteristics of an input image; transforming the input image; and quantizing the transformed input image using the selected quantization matrix.
US07978763B2
A video-coding apparatus acquires apparatus information from a connected external apparatus and automatically registers the external apparatus. Programs may be encoded in a file format appropriate for at least one external apparatus registered for the same program. A coded video file may be generated and stored. When the external apparatus is connected, a previously generated coded video file may be selected for playback by the external apparatus.
US07978761B2
A method and system are provided for ordering datagrams within an encoded datastream. The system includes a parser for separating headers from each respective datagram. A decoder decodes the separated headers to determine a frame group, a frame number within the frame group, a datagram number within the frame; and a total number of datagrams within the frame. An address generator determines a position for each datagram within the datastream and orders the datagrams within the datastream in response to decoding of the header to produce a video data stream.
US07978760B2
A decision feedback equalizer having an adjusting device and method thereof are described. The decision feedback equalizer having an adjusting device includes a feed-forward filter, a decision device, a feedback filter, the adjusting device, and a summation device. The feed-forward filter generates a forwarding signal (Sff) based on an input signal (Si). The decision device generates a first decision (Sd1) signal and a second decision signal (Sd2) which are associated with the summation signal (Ssu). The feedback filter receives the second decision signal (Sd2) for generating a feedback signal (Sfb). The adjusting device adjusts the first decision signal (Sd1) according to a first weighting value (V1) for generating a first adjusted signal (Sa1) and transmitting the first adjusted signal (Sa1) to the feed-forward filter. The adjusting device further adjusts the feedback signal (Sfb) according to a second weighting value (V2) for generating a second adjusted signal (Sa2). The summation device receives the forwarding signal (Sff) and the second adjusted signal (Sa2) for generating a summation signal (Ssu) and issuing the summation signal (Ssu) to the decision device.
US07978759B1
Systems and techniques relating to processing information received from a spatially diverse transmission. In some implementations, a method comprises: obtaining a received signal that was transmitted over a wireless channel using spatially diverse transmission, the received signal comprising multiple subcarriers; and recursively computing a signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) of the received signal while receiving channel response information of the wireless channel derived from the received signal; wherein the recursively computing comprises recursively updating a diagonal kernel matrix, the method further comprising generating an equalization matrix from the recursively updated diagonal kernel matrix, the equalization matrix being useable in equalizing the received signal across the multiple subcarriers.
US07978757B1
A configurable receiver and a method for configuring a receiver, the method includes: (i) evaluating multiple nonzero taps allocations, wherein each nonzero taps allocation evaluation includes: (i.a) allocating nonzero taps between multiple sparse equalizers, wherein different sparse equalizers are expected to equalize signals transmitted over different channels; wherein each channel is associated with an information source out of multiple information sources and with a receiving antenna out of multiple receiving antennas; wherein the number of nonzero taps is bounded by a upper limit; and (i.b) calculating multiple channel reception parameters of the multiple channels in response to the nonzero taps allocation; and (ii) configuring the receiver in response to a comparison between reception parameters obtained during different nonzero taps allocations.
US07978743B2
A driver circuit for driving loads such as LED, OLED or LASER diode devices includes a switching converter that has a switching element and reactive elements to provide an output switching voltage by sequential switching operations of the switching element. The load is connected to the output switching voltage. A linear current driver circuit is connected in series to the load and includes an amplification element and a feedback circuit with a current control input. In order to enable the circuit to be easily used, a control unit is provided with a sensing input for a current or voltage at the linear current driver. A microcontroller executes a control program for processing the sensing input and providing both a current control output and a switching control output, set in accordance with a set current value.
US07978709B1
A method of constructing a hierarchical database from an initial plurality of rules. A first rule of the initial plurality of rules is added to: a first sub-database if a first bit of the rule is a logic ‘0’ value; a second sub-database if the first bit is a logic ‘1’ value; or a third sub-database if the first bit is in a masked state, ‘X’, indicating that the first bit may be either a logic ‘1’ or a logic ‘0’ value.
US07978704B2
In a frame buffer monitoring method and device, information concerning a received frame is extracted, and a monitoring frame added to a start of the frame is written in a FIFO buffer. When the monitoring frame is read from the FIFO buffer, expectation information is generated from the information concerning the frame added to the start of the monitoring frame read, the expectation information is compared with the information concerning the frame included in the frame within the monitoring frame read, and whether or not the expectation information is consistent with the information concerning the frame is determined. As a result of the comparison, when it is determined that the expectation information is not consistent with the information concerning the frame, e.g. bits of an FCS within the frame which is determined to be inconsistent are inverted to be transmitted to a subsequent stage as a discarded frame or the frame is discarded. Also, a write destination address and a read source address for the FIFO buffer are initialized.
US07978702B2
A backplane interface adapter for a network switch. The backplane interface adapter includes at least one receiver that receives input cells carrying packets of data; at least one cell generator that generates encoded cells which include the packets of data from the input cells; and at least one transmitter that transmits the generated cells to a switching fabric. The cell includes a destination slot identifier that identifies a slot of the switching fabric towards which the respective input cell is being sent. The generated cells include in-band control information.
US07978701B2
A method of sending an information package from a first data network to at least one second data network through a communications network, in particular a SDH or SONET network, comprises a first plurality of access points, a second plurality of MPLS switches, a third plurality of paths defined from each of the access points to an Ethernet switch including MPLS switching capabilities via at least one of the MPLS switches, and a fourth plurality of paths defined from the Ethernet switch including MPLS switching capabilities to each of the access points via at least one of the MPLS switches. The method further comprises receiving the information package at a specific access point and adding a header including a MPLS label to the information package. The information package including the header is sent to the Ethernet switch including MPLS switching capabilities via a path of the third plurality. The Ethernet switch includes MPLS switching capabilities and switching and sending the information package including the header to at least one further specific access point corresponding to the at least one second data network, removes the header from the information package, and sends the information package from the at least one further specific access point to the at least one second data network.
US07978699B1
A system for transmitting data packets includes a sending node. The sending node includes means for forming the data packets using two or more communications protocols. A first protocol includes means to associate with a data load a first header having one or more fields. A second protocol includes means to associate with the data load a second header having one or more fields. The sending node includes compression means for removing one or more fields of the first header. A value of a removed field is predictable by reference to values of one or more fields of the second protocol. A predefined template is used to remove the one or more fields of the first header for compression and to replace the removed field for decompression. The predefined template is identified by a template number included in an added header.
US07978697B2
A digital broadcast transmitting/receiving system and a method for processing data are disclosed. The method for processing data may enhance the receiving performance of the receiving system by performing additional coding and multiplexing processes on the traffic information data and transmitting the processed data. Thus, robustness is provided to the traffic information data, thereby enabling the data to respond strongly against the channel environment which is always under constant and vast change.
US07978695B2
Hardware-enforced zoning is provided in Fiber Channel switches to protect against breaching of assigned zones in a switch network which can occur with software-based zoning techniques. The invention provides logic for performing a hardware-based validation of the Source ID S_ID of frames both at the point where the frame enters the Fiber Channel fabric, and at the point where the frame leaves the fabric. The S_ID is verified against an inclusion list or table of allowable S_IDs, which can be unique for each fabric port. The invention provides a way to increase the range of sources an inclusion table can express, by implementing wild cards, on an entry-by entry basis. If the S_ID is valid, it will enter the fabric and route normally. If invalid, the frame will not be routed but will be disposed of by the fabric according to FC rules. This prevents incorrect S_IDs from breaching the table-driven zoning at the point where frames exit the fabric, to prevent unauthorized access to devices connected to the switch network.
US07978690B2
A method is described to operate a crossbar switch comprising a crossbar fabric with N sending and M receiving ports, with port cards connected to at least one sending and/or receiving port each of the crossbar fabric, said crossbar switch further comprising a control unit connected with the port cards via discrete control channel links, wherein C ports are clustered on a single receiving port card so that such a receiving port card in a single time-step can receive up to C data cells from C sending port cards simultaneously. According to said method the control channel links are used to relay up to C acknowledgements between at least one receiving port card and at least one sending port card.
US07978672B2
Systems and methods for routing packets by nodes in an ad hoc network in accordance with a link quality source routing protocol are disclosed. Route discovery, route maintenance, and metric maintenance are designed to propagate and keep current link quality measurements. Metric maintenance includes a reactive approach for links that a node is currently using to route packets, and a proactive mechanism for all links. Nodes are configured to include a send buffer, a maintenance buffer, a request table, link quality metric modules, and preferably a neighbor cache and a link cache. The invention allows for asymmetric links in the network. The invention may be implemented within a virtual protocol interlayer between the link and network layers. The invention may employ any particular link quality metrics, including metrics based on probing techniques as well as metrics based on knowledge gained in other ways.
US07978667B2
A mesh network communication system includes a plurality of access points connected to a wireless local area network (WLAN) controller where at least one of the plurality access points is a detection access point (DAP) that receives reverse link (RL) wireless wide area network (WWAN) signals transmitted from a multi-mode wireless communication device. Based on an intercepted RL WWAN signal, the DAP forwards reverse link (RL) information to the WLAN controller. Based on the RL information, the WLAN controller generates and sends, to the WWAN communication system, a device to access point association list (device-AP association list) comprising one or more device identifiers associated with one or more target access point identifier. The device identifier uniquely identifies a multi-mode wireless communication device within a maximum proximity of a target access point identified by the target access point identifier. The WWAN system applies the device-AP association list to efficiently manage handoffs from the WWAN system to access points in the mesh network.
US07978664B2
A multimode-multiband terminal includes an RF antenna for transceiving a CDMA-2000 signal and/or a WCDMA signal; an RF transceiver for demodulating a WCDMA pilot signal received from the RF antenna and outputting the demodulated WCDMA pilot signal; a pilot signal measurement unit for measuring an intensity of the demodulated WCDMA pilot signal to generate an Ec/Io; a WCDMA modem and a CDMA-2000 modem for performing a call processing according to protocols defined by a WCDMA standard and a CDMA-2000 standard, respectively; a flash memory for storing therein a modem-to-modem switching program capable of performing a switching between the WCDMA modem and the CDMA-2000 modem based on the Ec/Io; and a controller for loading the modem-to-modem switching program and activating the CDMA-2000 modem if a time lapse during which the Ec/Io is maintained smaller than a predetermined CDMA-2000 ON threshold THON is greater than a preset CDMA-2000 ON condition time Hd.
US07978661B2
There is provided a multi-carrier communication method capable of preventing lowering of a throughput of another mobile device accompanying allocation of a sub-carrier for a new mobile station device. This multi-carrier communication method can acquire reception quality information for one of the sub-carriers already allocated in an MS (150a) from a BS (100a) and for one of the sub-carriers which can be allocated in the MS (150a) from the BS (100b). According to the reception quality information, a release sub-carrier is selected from the sub-carriers already allocated and a new-allocation sub-carrier is selected from the sub-carriers which can be allocated. The new-allocation sub-carrier has a frequency different from the already-allocated sub-carriers excluding the release sub-carrier. The BS (100a) is instructed to release the selected release sub-carrier and the BS (100b) is instructed to allocate the selected new-allocation sub-carrier in the MS (150a).
US07978650B2
An apparatus and a method for processing media data so that an MBS is supported in a BWA communication system. A traffic processing method supports an MBS in a broadband wireless access communication system having a number of base stations and at least one contents server for transmitting various media traffics to the base stations. The method includes reserving a resource for MBS burst assignment with regard to the base stations; requesting the contents server to provide a traffic to be transmitted to the base stations when the resource has been successfully reserved; shaping a media traffic transmitted by the contents server; and transmitting the media traffic to the base stations.
US07978646B2
One or more embodiments taught herein provide a hybrid access arrangement using a contention-based channel and a scheduled channel on a communication link. As a point of significant efficiency, given users transmit autonomously on the contention-based channel, without need for scheduling overhead. However, if a contention overload occurs on the contention-based channel, the involved users are identified from unique signature sequences included in their user transmissions. The identified users are temporarily managed as scheduled users on the scheduled channel, which supplements the contention-based channel and therefore may use limited communication link resources in comparison to the contention-based channel. Users not involved in the contention overload generally continue operating on the contention-based channel.
US07978639B2
A data request from a requesting device is received at a network of wireless sensor nodes. The data request is then forwarded through the network of wireless sensor nodes to a source wireless sensor node, where data responsive to the data request is generated. A reply including the responsive data is then forwarded along at least two communication paths through the network of wireless sensor nodes back to the requesting device.
US07978633B2
A system and method of establishing and routing paths in a network hierarchy is disclosed. A radio base station updates a path from a mobile terminal to a lowest-layer router. The lowest-layer router establishes a path in which a network address to the mobile terminal exists in the radio base station and transfers path information to an intermediate-layer router serving as an upward router. The intermediate-layer router establishes a path in which the network address to the mobile terminal exists in the lowest-layer router and transfers path information to the highest-layer router. The highest-layer router, when having received path information notification from the intermediate-layer router, establishes a path in which the network address to the mobile terminal exists in the intermediate-layer router.
US07978632B2
A method and configuration manager generates a routing topology for a wireless mesh network. The wireless mesh network has a plurality of internal nodes, at least one edge node, and at least one originating device. A plurality of potential routing solutions is determined which contain a plurality of paths through the wireless mesh network from the at least one originating device to the at least one edge node such that data communicated from the at least one originating device reaches the at least one edge node in no more than a predetermined number of hops. Each potential routing solution is based on at least one measured wireless communication parameter between internal nodes. Metric calculations for each potential routing solution are computed to determine a preferred routing solution. The wireless mesh network is configured to route traffic using the preferred routing solution.
US07978631B1
A method, apparatus, and system are directed toward overlaying a cluster of nodes over peers in a peer-to-peer network using a peer identification and communication mechanism. A string based name for a resource in a peer-to-peer network is received and is used to generate a unique identifier using a secure hash algorithm. An advertisement specifying at least one address associated with the resource is associated with the unique identifier. The advertisement is broadcasted. The unique identifier and/or the resource in the peer-to-peer network is associated with a resource in the cluster. A network packet may be addressed to the resource in the cluster by the unique identifier. The network packet may be routed to the address associated with the resource in the cluster using an Open System Interconnection (OSI) Level 2 or above protocol.
US07978630B2
A method and system for maintaining a connection between two hosts in a multi-hop network comprising at least one network node disposed between the two hosts and a network element, e.g., a NAT, designed to release the connection after a period of inactivity. The method includes determining a first node in which a keep-alive message will terminate after crossing a network element designed to release the connection after a period of inactivity, and sending a keep-alive data packet configured to terminate in the first node after crossing the network element designed to release the connection. The keep-alive packet configured to terminate in the first node after crossing the network element designed to release the connection may be sent within a time period less than the time period of inactivity after which the network element would release the connection. The method allows for a connection to be kept open without waking up a client device and/or without activating air interface procedures.
US07978627B2
Systems and methods to monitor communications to identify a communications problem are disclosed. An example method to monitor communication includes mirroring a first port on a first network element communicatively coupled to a virtual circuit to a second port on a second network element communicatively coupled to the virtual circuit, mirroring a third port on a third network element coupled to the virtual circuit to the second network element, monitoring mirrored communications data at the second network element by receiving communications data on the second port that are sent to the first port from the third port or from the first port to the third port, and analyzing the monitored communications data to identify a communications problem based on a difference between communications data mirrored from the first port and communications data mirrored from the third port.
US07978626B1
Method and system for adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request protocols based on network conditions
Methods and systems for adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) protocols are disclosed. The protocols preferably adapt to changing network conditions between a client node and an access node by omitting the transmission of certain messages when network conditions are determined to be favorable. In doing so, packets are processed faster, thus reducing communication latency as well as the memory requirements of the protocols. One scenario in which the protocols may operate is where the client node is a wireless communication device coupled to the access node via a wireless network. In such a scenario, the access node may, from time to time, measure a quality of the wireless air interface between the client node and the access node, and determine whether to transmit an acknowledgement message based on the outcome of the measurement as compared to a threshold value.
US07978622B2
A method for implementing path computation in a domain includes: storing, in each of path computation elements of a domain, global path computation information for path computation in the domain; and performing path computation by the path computation element in accordance with the global path computation information if a path is to be established as requested. A device for implementing path computation in a domain includes: a storage unit for storing global path computation information used for path computation in a domain; and a computation unit for performing path computation in accordance with the global path computation information stored in the storage unit if a path is to be established as requested.
US07978610B1
A method for asynchronous transmission of communication data between periodically blanked terminals separated by an unknown distance is disclosed. A bursted signal is transmitted from a first terminal with a burst time tB and a burst cycle period T. The bursted signal is received at a second terminal. A bursted response signal is transmitted from the second terminal to the first terminal. The bursted response signal has a burst cycle period of T/2 and includes a pair of response bursts, with each burst in the pair having a burst time tA≦T/2−tB. Each burst in the pair of response bursts carries an identical data payload. At least one of the response bursts is received at the first terminal.
US07978607B1
Congestion control techniques based upon resource utilization information stored by a network device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a network device is configured to identify a data source causing congestion based upon information stored by the network device identifying a set of data sources, and for each data source, information identifying the amount of a resource of the network device being used for processing data received by the network device from the data source.
US07978603B2
A method for transmitting signals, consisting of receiving a plurality of signals generated in an isolated region, the signals encoding respective individual payloads and payload envelopes. At least two of the signals operate under different protocols. The method includes deriving information from the signals on respective connections of the signals, and aggregating the payloads into one or more aggregated payloads. The method further includes transmitting the one or more aggregated payloads and the information via a satellite link to a receiver outside the region, the one or more aggregated payloads and the information amounting to less data than an aggregated amount of data in the individual payloads and payload envelopes. The method also includes reconstituting the plurality of signals at the receiver using the one or more aggregated payloads and the information.
US07978597B2
A failure is detected in at least one of an active system including an active packet transfer board, an active system packet processing board, and an active system switch board. At least function setting information for executing functions of the active system packet transfer board and the active packet processing board is stored. When failure is detected in active system, a system switching instruction is outputted to the standby system including a standby packet transfer board, a standby system packet processing board, and a standby system switch board. The stored function setting information of one or both of the active system packet transfer board and the active system packet processing board that have been detected a failure is transmitted to the one or both of the standby system packet transfer board and the standby system packet processing board that correspond to boards that have been detected a failure.
US07978595B2
The present invention discloses a method for processing multiple active devices in a stacking system. In the method, each active device in a stacking system exchanges unique identity information with any another active device through a preconfigured Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) session when a stacking link in the stacking system is in failure, determines an active priority of its own by comparing unique identity information of its own with the unique identity information received; and the active device stops providing services as an active device when determining that the active priority of its own is not the highest priority. The present invention also discloses a member device in the stacking system. The present invention can solve the collision of multiple Active devices, and is applicable to both a stacking system including two member devices and a stacking system including more than two member devices.
US07978591B2
Signals in a multi-channel, impaired communication system are post-processed at the receiver. A triangular matrix Decision Feedback Demodulator (DFD) at the receiver extracts channels without requiring delivery of receiver parameters to the transmitter. Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) processing matrices and DFD parameters are computed by first applying matrix transformations to diagonalize the noise covariance matrix of the multiple channels received at the receiver. QR decompositions (i.e., decompositions into orthogonal and triangular matrices) are then applied to the main channels to obtain triangular channel matrices. The noise-diagonalizing transformations and QR decompositions are then combined to form the MIMO postprocessing matrices and DFD parameters. MIMO postprocessing matrices and DFD parameters are computed from training data and then adapted during live data transmission.
US07978590B2
An optical pickup apparatus, a reproducing apparatus, a recording apparatus, and a tracking error signal generation method are provided. Four light-receiving elements receive stray light of main and sub beams reflected from, out of a plurality of recording layers of the optical disk, the one other than that for effecting recording or reproduction. The four light-receiving elements are disposed individually near every side of the four-part split light-receiving element, of which light-receiving elements are disposed between the two-part split light-receiving elements. Based on stray-light intensity detected by the four light-receiving elements, intensity distribution is calculated for tracking-error signal correction.
US07978582B2
Disclosed herein are a high-density recording medium and a method and apparatus for controlling data playback thereof. Playback control information, such as channel bit length information, is recorded in a burst cutting area (BCA) of a high-density optical disc in a wobble type. When the high-density optical disc is reproduced, the playback control information is detected in a push-pull signal detection mode and the optimum data playback operation corresponding to the recording capacity of the optical disc is performed on the basis of the detected playback control information. Alternatively, bit error rates (BERs) are calculated while a plurality of predetermined bit detection modes are sequentially performed, one of the bit detection modes corresponding to the smallest one of the calculated BERs is selected and the data playback operation is performed in the selected bit detection mode. Therefore, it is possible to perform a data playback operation optimal to the recording capacity of a BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc-ROM) even through disc information (DI) is recorded in a PIC (Permanent Information & Control data) zone of the BD-ROM in a recording format necessitating a decoding process and the recording capacity is any of different values such as 23 Gbytes, 25 Gbytes, 27 Gbytes, etc.
US07978578B2
An optical disc device includes an optical head section and a regularity monitoring circuit. The optical head section generates a wobble signal indicating wobbling of a track formed on a recording surface of an optical disc medium based on a reflected light reflected by the optical disc medium. The regularity monitoring circuit judges an existence or absence of a defect on the optical disc medium based on a difference between the wobble signal and a signal indicating the wobble under a normal condition.
US07978575B2
An optical media playback device includes a memory to store calibration data specifying how a mark of a particular length should be formed on an optical storage media. A control module writes a training pattern onto the optical storage media based on the calibration data. The training pattern includes a first mark having a first length. A control module reads the training pattern previously written onto the optical storage media and determines whether the first length of the first mark corresponds to the particular length specified by the calibration data. The control module adjusts the calibration data stored in the memory in response to the first length of the first mark not corresponding to the particular length specified by the calibration data.
US07978563B2
A method for seismic event mapping includes selecting a plurality of subvolumes representing possible locations of origin of a seismic event in the Earth's subsurface. For each subvolume a plurality of possible directions of motion of subsurface formations is selected. For each subvolume and each possible direction of motion, polarity correction is applied to seismic signals recorded at a plurality of positions proximate a volume of the Earth's subsurface to be evaluated. The polarity correction is based on the direction of motion and the position of each seismic sensor with respect to the subvolume. The recorded, polarity corrected seismic signal recordings are time aligned. The time aligned recordings are summed. A most likely direction of motion and subvolume position are determined based on a selected attribute of the summed, time aligned seismic signals.
US07978560B2
A static memory cell, composed of cross-coupled MOS transistors having a relatively high threshold voltage, is equipped with MOS transistors for controlling the power supply line voltage of the memory cell. To permit the voltage difference between two data storage nodes in the inactivated memory cell to exceed the voltage difference between the two nodes when write data is applied from a data line pair DL and /DL to the two nodes in the activated memory cell, the power supply line voltage control transistors are turned on to apply a high voltage VCH to the power supply lines after the word line voltage is turned off. The data holding voltage in the memory cell can be activated to a high voltage independent of the data line voltage, and the data holding voltage can be dynamically set so that read and write operations can be performed at high speed with low power consumption.
US07978558B2
A primary-side regulation (PSR) controller integrated circuit includes a PSR CC/CV controller and a non-volatile shift register. An assembled power supply that includes the integrated circuit is in-circuit tested to determine errors in power supply output voltage and/or current. Programming information is determined and shifted into the shift register. During programming, the power supply regulates to a different output voltage, and the different voltage is used for shift register programming. After programming, the power supply operates in a normal mode so that the output voltage and current are within specification. The voltage and current to which the power supply regulates are set by some of the bits of the programming information. Other of the bits set error correction circuits of the PSR CC/CV controller such as a primary inductance variation compensation circuit, a line input voltage variation compensation circuit, an efficiency variation compensation circuit, and a cord resistance compensation circuit.
US07978551B2
A bit line equalizing control circuit of a semiconductor memory apparatus includes a control signal generating unit that receives a bank active signal to generate a control signal such that a bit line equalizing signal is delayed and enabled, a bit line equalizing selecting unit that generates a bit line equalizing detection signal in response to a plurality of mat select signals and the control signal, and a driver that receives the bit line equalizing detection signal to generate the bit line equalizing signal.
US07978549B2
The fuse circuit includes a first program unit, a second program unit and a sensing circuit. The first and second program units are programmed simultaneously. The first program unit is programmed in a program mode in response to a fuse program signal and outputs a first signal in a sensing mode, such that the first signal increases when the first program unit is programmed. The second program unit is programmed in the program mode in response to the program signal and outputs a second signal in the sensing mode, such that the second signal decreases when the second program unit is programmed. The sensing circuit generates a sensing output signal in response to the first and second signals, such that the sensing output signal indicates whether or not the program units are programmed.
US07978545B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit has a central processing unit and a rewritable nonvolatile memory area disposed in an address space of the central processing unit. The nonvolatile memory area has a first nonvolatile memory area and a second nonvolatile memory area, which memorize information depending on the difference of threshold voltages. The first nonvolatile memory area has the maximum variation width of a threshold voltage for memorizing information set larger than that of the second nonvolatile memory area. When the maximum variation width of the threshold voltage for memorizing information is larger, since stress to a memory cell owing to a rewrite operation of memory information becomes larger, it is inferior in a point of guaranteeing the number of times of rewrite operation; however, since a read current becomes larger, a read speed of memory information can be expedited. The first nonvolatile memory area can be prioritized to expedite a read speed of the memory information and the second nonvolatile memory area can be prioritized to guarantee the number of times of rewrite operation of memory information more.
US07978540B2
An integrated cell and method for extracting a binary value based on a value difference between two resistors values, including connection circuitry for a binary reading of the sign of the difference between the resistors, and connection circuitry for a modification of the value of one of the resistors to make the sign of the difference invariable.
US07978536B2
Semiconductor memory device and method of operating the same includes an enable signal generator configured to generate first and second enable signals having activation timings determined in response to activation of an active command, the first enable signal being deactivated after a first time from a deactivation timing of the active command, and the second enable signal being deactivated after a second time longer than the first time from the deactivation timing of the active command. Internal voltage generators are configured to generate internal voltages. At least one of the internal voltage generators is turned on/off in response to the first enable signal, and at least one other of the internal voltage generators is turned on/off in response to the second enable signals.
US07978534B2
A memory device includes a configurable address register having a first set of input buffers coupled to a first set on address bus terminals and a second set of input buffers coupled to a second set of address bus terminals. In a first addressing configuration, address signals are simultaneously applied to the address bus terminals in the first and second sets, and they are simultaneously stored in respective address registers. In a second addressing configuration, a plurality of sets of address signals are sequentially applied to the address bus terminals in only the first set of address bus terminals. Each set of address signals is then stored in a different address register.
US07978529B1
Subject matter disclosed herein relates to multilevel flash memory, and more particularly to a method of changing a logic level of a single-bit-per-cell flash memory device multiple times before an erase operation.
US07978527B2
When erasing non-volatile storage, a verification process is used between erase operations to determine whether the non-volatile storage has been successfully erased. The verification process includes separately performing verification for different subsets of the non-volatile storage elements.
US07978526B2
In sensing a page of nonvolatile memory cells with a corresponding group of sense modules in parallel, as each high current cell is identified, it is locked out from further sensing while others in the page continued to be sensed. The sense module involved in the locked out is then in a lockout mode and becomes inactive. A noise source from the sense module becomes significant when in the lockout mode. The noise is liable to interfere with the sensing of neighboring cells by coupling through its bit line to neighboring ones. The noise can also couple through the common source line of the page to affect the accuracy of ongoing sensing of the cells in the page. Improved sense modules and method isolate the noise from the lockout sense module from affecting the other sense modules still active in sensing memory cell in the page.
US07978525B2
Circuits and methods to minimize power required for sensing and precharge of DRAMs have been achieved. A control circuit ensures that during READ operations the duration of sensing of DRAM cell and precharging is kept to a minimum. A test DRAM cell is used to determine the exact time required for data sensing. Furthermore no precharging is performed during WRITE-operations. In case data is changing from “1” to “0” or vice versa data lines are inverted accordingly during WRITE operation.
US07978513B2
A semiconductor storage apparatus comprising: a plurality of cells that store data; a threshold determination section that determines, based on management information that is used to manage data, a binary or multiple-valued form by which values are written to a plurality of the individual cells and determines a threshold based on the determined form of values that are to be written to a plurality of the individual cells; and a write section that writes the data to a plurality of the cells on the basis of the threshold determined by the threshold determination section.
US07978512B2
A semiconductor memory system includes: a memory cell array having a plurality of memory cells arranged therein, the plurality of memory cells capable of storing N bits of information in each memory cell (where N is a natural number more than 3, other than a power of two); a control circuit configured to control read, write, and erase operations on the memory cell array; and an ECC circuit configured to correct data read from the memory cell array, based on redundant data. The memory cells that share one of word lines and can be written or read at a time are configured to store multiple pages of data therein. A total amount of data stored in the multiple pages is set to a power-of-two number of bits, and the redundant data is stored in a residual portion of the multiple pages.
US07978505B2
A MRAM structure is described that has a dedicated data storage layer formed between first and second electrodes and a dedicated data sensing layer between second and third electrodes to enable separate read and write functions. A diode between the storage layer and first electrode allows a heating current to flow between first and second electrodes to switch the data storage layer while a field is applied. A second diode between the sensing layer and third electrode enables a sensing current to flow only between second and third electrodes during a read process. Data storage and sensing layers and the three electrodes may be arranged in a vertical stack or the sensing layer, second diode, and third electrode may be shifted between adjacent stacks each containing first and second electrodes, a storage layer, and first diode. Second electrode and the sensing layer may be continuous elements through multiple MRAMs.
US07978495B2
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device for suppressing a current consumption caused by a transient current because of the potential change of the bit and word lines at the time of shifting between the programming, reading, and erasing actions in a highly integrated memory cell array is provided. A memory cell (1) array comprises two-terminal memory cells each having a variable resistance element whose resistance value reversibly changes by pulse application are arranged in a row and column directions, wherein the memory cells in a row are connected at one end to common word lines (WL1 to WLn), the memory cells in a column are connected at the other end to common bit lines (BL1 to BLm), and a common unselected voltage VWE/2 is applied to both unselected word and bit lines not connected to the selected memory cell during the reading, programming, and erasing actions for the selected memory cell.
US07978488B2
Each phase of a three-level power converting apparatus is configured by a single unit, and four switching devices (1u-4u) and two diodes (9u, 10u) provided in each unit are arranged along a flow direction of cooling air on a heat sink (15) of a cooling device with long sides of the switching devices (1u-4u) and the diodes (9u, 10u) oriented perpendicular to the flow direction of the cooling air. The first and second diodes (9u, 10u) are arranged in a central area of the heat sink (15), whereas the second switching device (2u) and the third switching device (3u) with high heat generation loss are arranged in a distributed fashion to sandwich a group of diodes in the central area in between.
US07978484B2
A flyback AC/DC switching converter has a constant voltage (CV) mode. The CV mode has sub-modes. In one sub-mode (“mid output power sub-mode”), the output voltage (VOUT) of the converter is regulated using both pulse width modulation and pulse frequency modulation. Both types of modulation are used simultaneously. In a second sub-mode (“low output power sub-mode”), VOUT is regulated using pulse width modulation, but the converter switching frequency is fixed at a first frequency. By setting the first frequency at a frequency above the frequency limit of human hearing, an undesirable audible transformer humming that might otherwise occur is avoided. In some embodiments, the converter has a third sub-mode (“high output power sub-mode”), in which pulse width modulation is used but the switching frequency is fixed at a second frequency. By proper setting of the second frequency, undesirable EMI radiation and other problems that might otherwise occur are avoided.
US07978479B2
The present invention provides a SiP module for wireless local area network comprising a base. A control unit is formed on a first surface of the base and a RF front end components is formed on a second surface of the base and coupled to the control unit through the base. A plurality of group of bumps is arranged on the first surface and coupled to the control unit, and separated with one another to reduce the interference.
US07978465B2
The function expanding method for a display device comprises: a step of preparing a plurality of types of function expanding modules; a step of selecting a function expanding module or modules from the plurality of types of function expanding modules; and a step of stacking the selected single or plurality of function expanding module(s) to a rear part of the display device at will, and connecting the module(s) by using expanding connector(s).
US07978462B2
An electronic apparatus includes an electronic apparatus main body and a movable body which is mounted in the electronic apparatus main body, with its predetermined direction-wise one end supported thereon, so as to be displaceable between an encased condition where one surface faces the electronic apparatus main body and an unfolded condition where one surface is exposed. The movable body has predetermined-directionally extending guide slot formed at each side face thereof in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction. The electronic main body has guide rails for guiding the movable body that are inserted into their respective guide slots under a condition where one surface of the movable body faces the electronic apparatus main body, and a pressing portion disposed at predetermined direction-wise other end of the movable body, which abuts against the electronic apparatus main body in the encased condition for pressing the movable body against the guide rails.
US07978455B2
A variable trip limit transient blocking unit (TBU) is provided. The variable trip limit transient blocking unit circuit includes a transient blocking unit and a low-pass filter, such as an RC circuit having an RC time constant. The RC circuit is disposed to approximate an integrator operating over periods of time that are short compared to the RC time constant. The RC circuit integrates a signal representing an approximated current flowing through the transient blocking unit and triggers a disconnect threshold in the transient blocking unit when a voltage stored across a capacitor of the RC circuit reaches a predefined limit.
US07978453B2
A driver circuit includes a driver module having a first transistor for receiving a driver voltage signal. In response to the driver voltage signal, the first transistor conducts current through an electronic device. A protection module includes a second transistor in electrical communication with the first transistor for receiving a logic voltage signal and for inhibiting current flow through the first transistor in response to receiving the logic voltage signal. The protection module further includes a digital logic gate having at least one input in electrical communication with the first transistor for detecting a short-circuit voltage signal. At least one output of the digital logic gate is in electrical communication with the second transistor for outputting the logic voltage signal in response to receiving the short-circuit voltage signal.
US07978451B2
A description is given of a circuit arrangement including at least one electronic component having first and second terminals, and comprising an ESD protection arrangement against disturbance pulses, is the ESD protection arrangement connected via connection terminals in parallel with the electronic component between the first and second terminals. The ESD protection arrangement includes a first ESD protection unit and a second ESD protection unit, that is connected in parallel with the first ESD protection unit and that reacts more rapidly than the first protection unit to a voltage rise at the connection terminals with the formation of a conductive current path between the connection terminals.
US07978450B1
An integrated circuit has pins to which electrostatic discharge voltages may be delivered during electrostatic discharge events. Circuitry in the integrated circuit can be protected from damage by the electrostatic discharge voltages by electrostatic discharge protection circuitry. The electrostatic discharge protection circuitry may include one or more diodes that are connected between a given pin and ground to discharge negative electrostatic discharge voltages. Positive electrostatic discharge voltages may be discharged using a transistor that is connected between the pin and ground and that breaks down at a breakdown voltage. A voltage blocking circuit such as a circuit based on a voltage blocking transistor may be used to prevent damaging electrostatic discharge voltages from reaching sensitive circuitry. Pull down circuitry may be used to help ensure that the circuitry is protected from damage during electrostatic discharge events.
US07978441B2
CPP magnetic read head designs have been improved by increasing the length of the AFM layer relative to that of both the free and spacer layers. The length of the pinned layer is also increased, but by a lesser amount, an abutting conductive layer being inserted to fill the remaining space over the AFM layer. The extended pinned layer increases the probability of spin interaction while the added conducting layer serves to divert sensor current away from the bottom magnetic shield which now is no longer needed for use as a lead.
US07978439B2
An insertion layer is provided between an AFM layer and an AP2 pinned layer in a GMR or TMR element to improve exchange coupling properties by increasing Hex and the Hex/Hc ratio without degrading the MR ratio. The insertion layer may be a 1 to 15 Angstrom thick amorphous magnetic layer comprised of at least one element of Co, Fe, or Ni, and at least one element having an amorphous character selected from B, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, Si, or P, or a 1 to 5 Angstrom thick non-magnetic layer comprised of Cu, Ru, Mn, Hf, or Cr. Preferably, the content of the one or more amorphous elements in the amorphous magnetic layer is less than 40 atomic %. Optionally, the insertion layer may be formed within the AP2 pinned layer. Examples of an insertion layer are CoFeB, CoFeZr, CoFeNb, CoFeHf, CoFeNiZr, CoFeNiHf, and CoFeNiNbZr.
US07978434B2
A magnetic recording medium includes recording regions formed on a substrate, isolation regions formed between the recording regions so as to define the recording regions, and recording dots formed of a dot-like magnetic recording layer and arrayed in the recording regions, the recording dots including first recording dots arrayed in a line in each edge part of each recording region along the isolation region and second recording dots arrayed into a regular lattice in a central part of each recording region. A distance between a first recording dot and a second recording dot which are nearest neighboring is larger than a distance between second recording dots which are nearest neighboring.
US07978433B2
When a medium casing is properly inserted, a first pair of projections and a second pair of projections are passed through between a first bottom surface and a second bottom surface of a chassis in the moving direction and are thus prevented from coming into contact with the first and second bottom surfaces, thereby allowing for smooth insertion of the medium casing. In contrast, when the medium casing is inserted improperly from its wrong end, one of the projections on the lower surface of the medium casing comes into abutment with the second bottom surface of the chassis near the opening. Accordingly, an improperly inserted medium casing can be prevented from being inserted any further at an early stage of the insertion process.
US07978413B2
A micro-lens substrate having a precise micro-lens array suitable for higher resolution, the micro-lens array substrate of high quality without having a distortion, and a method for manufacturing thereof are provided.In the micro-lens array substrate of the present invention, a micro-lens array formed of a plurality of consecutive concave lens-shaped micro-lenses is directly formed in a surface of a quartz substrate or glass substrate, and the micro-lens array is formed by a transfer method based on dry-etching. In the micro-lens array substrate of the present invention, a taper portion is formed toward the surface of the substrate in a peripheral portion of the micro-lens array in the quartz substrate or glass substrate.In a method for manufacturing the micro-lens array substrate of the present invention, a resist layer having a plurality of consecutive lens-shaped concave portions is formed in a surface of a quartz or glass substrate, the lens-shaped concave portion of the resist layer is transferred to the substrate by dry-etching, and a micro-lens array is formed by injecting a resin into the lens-shaped concave portion of this substrate. In addition, a taper portion is formed in a peripheral portion similarly to the formation of the lens-shaped concave portion, and a micro-lens array is formed by injecting a resin into the lens-shaped concave portion and taper portion.
US07978412B2
The energy distribution of the beam spot on the irradiated surface changes due to the change in the oscillation condition of the laser or before and after the maintenance. The present invention provides an optical system for forming a rectangular beam spot on an irradiated surface including a beam homogenizer for homogenizing the energy distribution of the rectangular beam spot on the irradiated surface in a direction of its long or short side. The beam homogenizer includes an optical element having a pair of reflection planes provided oppositely for reflecting the laser beam in the direction where the energy distribution is homogenized and having a curved shape in its entrance surface. The entrance surface of the optical element means a surface of the optical element where the laser beam is incident first.
US07978404B2
A surgical microscope (100) has a viewing beam path for main viewing and a secondary beam path (106) for viewing by another person. The surgical microscope (100) has a microscope main objective (101) through which the viewing beam path for main viewing and the viewing beam path (106) for secondary viewing pass. The surgical microscope (100) includes an OCT-system (120) for examining an object region. The OCT-system (120) includes an OCT-scanning beam (123) which is guided through the microscope main objective (101). In the viewing beam path (106) for secondary viewing, an in-coupling element (150) is provided to couple the OCT-scanning beam (123) into the viewing beam path (106) for secondary viewing and to guide the same through the microscope main objective (101) to the object region (108).
US07978394B1
A photonic/plasmonic device is disclosed that uses a ferroelectric material and its magnetization state in order to affect the physical properties of electromagnetic waves. The magnetization state of the ferromagnetic material may either be zero or nonzero. When the magnetization state of the ferromagnetic material is non-zero physical properties of the electromagnetic waves are altered. This effect can be used to make switches and the like.
US07978376B2
A digital photographic display frame includes a processor, a communication module responsive to the processor, and a touch screen display. The touch screen display is responsive to the processor to display a digital photographic image and to provide a touch screen number pad interface. The processor is configured to initiate a voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) telephone call via the communications module in response to a number entered via the touch screen number pad interface.
US07978374B2
In print processing performed for a print document based on a print instruction that instructs plural processes applied to the print document, a process that uses resource information embedded in the print document is identified among the plural processes instructed by the print instruction. Then, a process for embedding the resource information into the print document is performed before starting the identified process.
US07978371B2
What is disclosed is a system and method for improving vector halftoning in ink-jet printers capable of dot-on-dot printing. In one embodiment, n input Ci/Mi/Yi channel and a colorant Ki are received. If any of the Ci/Mi/Yi is greater than 100−Ki then that channel is clipped to 100−Ki. Next, a minimum total coverage area of a secondary color RGB dot required to achieve a remaining CMY coverage area is determined. If the minimum total coverage area is non-zero, then the following steps are performed. Each of a primary output Co/Mo/Yo is determined. Each of the primary outputs is then scaled by a ratio of the remaining primary color area over the total remaining toner coverage. The results are sorted and secondary color RoBoGo outputs are determined from the sorted results.
US07978370B2
A method and system for monitoring and controlling machines, such as printers, copiers, facsimile machine and other image forming machines. A server is used for transmitting and communicating information among machines and computers. The server acquires, after machine installation, reference values and during operation, current condition information. The server evaluates this information with the reference values such that a response to the machine may be executed remotely. The server also may update the reference values which change during operation.
US07978369B2
A measurement-based color management system (MBCMS) plugin device model, methods, and a color profiler program that use the plugin device model. The plugin device model provides both an interface used to convert between device dependent and device independent color values, and an interface used to create a color device profile for use with the plugin device model. The color profiler receives color sample information from the plugin device model, using the color profiler interface provided by the plugin device model. The color profiler generates a color target having color samples as specified by the received color sample information. The color values of the color target's color samples are measured. The color device profile is generated, based on the measured color values.
US07978355B2
A job scheduling device that sequentially stores jobs, for which processing requests were received from terminals, in a queue and sequentially processes the jobs held in the queue using a job execution section having a plurality of queues provided corresponding to a status of a sequential job process, a scheduling unit that schedules the jobs using the plurality of queues, wherein each job has associated job information which includes job status information, and a recovery unit that recovers the status of each of the jobs being held in the plurality of queues.
US07978354B2
A restriction information generation apparatus configured to generate access restriction information to be transmitted from a client terminal to a printing apparatus to determine whether to permit/inhibit execution of a print job based on the access restriction information containing functional restriction information of the printing apparatus, comprises an acquisition unit, adapted to acquire, from a restriction information management server, functional restriction information directly assigned to a user specified by user information received from a requesting client terminal, and indirectly assigned functional restriction information; a merge unit, adapted to merge the pieces of functional restriction information acquired by the acquisition unit to generate access restriction information; and a transmission unit, adapted to transmit the access restriction information generated by the merge unit to the client terminal.
US07978353B2
A document input and output device with a security protection function, the document input and output device being connected to a network and using a plurality of communication protocols, the document input and output device communicating documents in various data forms with plural information devices, includes a protection part configured to provide security protection for the document that is input; a confirmation part configured to encourage reconfirmation of information that is input by a user; and a restriction part configured to limit use of functions of the document input and output device. The document is protected and a document input and output process is performed.
US07978348B2
An imaging device capable printing images in a plurality of print modes includes an image storage, a print mode data storage that stores a plurality of pieces of print mode data corresponding to the plurality of print modes, a consumable substance quantity calculating system that calculates quantity of consumable substances necessary for printing images in accordance with image data stored in the image storage, a print cost calculating system that calculates, for each of the plurality of print modes, a print cost based on the quantity of the consumable substances calculated by the consumable substance quantity calculating system. The print costs corresponding to the plurality of print modes are displayed in association with the plurality of print modes, and a printing system executes a printing operation in a designated print mode in accordance with the image data stored in the image storage.
US07978344B2
The system for surface inspection is arranged to detect relative displacement and/or vibration features of a plurality of points of a plurality of elements (51) forming part of a mechanical structure (5), such as a micro- or nanomechanical structure. A light beam is displaced along the mechanical structure along a first trajectory (A), so as to detect a plurality of subsequent reference positions (C) along said first trajectory (A), and the light beam is further displaced along the mechanical structure along a plurality of second trajectories (B), each of said second trajectories (B) being associated with one of said reference positions (C).The invention further relates to a corresponding method and to a program for carrying out the method.
US07978343B2
An apparatus and methods for nanoscale optical tomography based on back-scattering mode near-field scanning optical microscopy with a volumetric scan of the probe. The back-scattered data collected by a volumetric scan of the probe contains three-dimensional structural information of the sample, which enables reconstruction of the dielectric sample without other mechanical movements of the instrument.
US07978338B2
Interferometry system are disclosed that include a detector sub-system including a monitor detector, interferometer optics for combining test light from a test object with primary reference light from a first reference interface and secondary reference light from a second reference interface to form a monitor interference pattern on a monitor detector, wherein the first and second reference interfaces are mechanically fixed with respect to each other and the test light, a scanning stage configured to scan an optical path difference (OPD) between the test light and the primary and secondary reference light to the monitor detector while the detector sub-system records the monitor interference pattern for each of a series of OPD increments, and an electronic processor electronically coupled to the detector sub-system and the scanning stage, the electronic processor being configured to determine information about the OPD increments based on the detected monitor interference pattern.
US07978332B2
An optical measurement device for measuring the optical appearance of a surface (12) of a sample (10), in particular a surface (12) of a human skin, wherein the surface is at least partly translucent, comprising: an illumination device (18) for illuminating the surface (12) with an illumination beam (20), wherein the illumination beam (20) is generated from a radiation beam emitted from a radiation source (58), a detection device (56) for intercepting a response beam (30, 32), wherein the response beam (30, 32) is generated as a response of the sample (10) to the illumination beam (20), incident on the surface (12). The optical measuring device comprises a measuring head (14), that can be brought into contact with the surface (12) of the sample (10), wherein the measuring head (14) comprises at least one elongated aperture (40) that is designed such that the response beam (30, 32), generated below the surface (12) in a sub-surface area (16) of the sample (10), is detected by the detection device (56), wherein the illumination beam (20) directly reflected at the surface is cut off.
US07978329B2
An apparatus having scattering and multi-color fluorescence detecting, analyzing and identification capabilities of blood or other fluids of interest. The sample to be tested may be entered in a disposable microfluidic cartridge which in turn is insertable in a hand-holdable or implantable miniaturized and portable cytometer instrument. This cytometer has significant application in biological warfare agent detection, hematology and other clinical and research fields.
US07978319B2
In a method and an optical switch by which a signal light is accurately switched even if a polarization state of a signal light inputted has a fluctuation, power of an output light of a polarizer which receives a signal light extracted from an output light of a nonlinear optical medium is monitored and a polarization state of an input signal light to the nonlinear optical medium is controlled so that the power becomes minimum (or maximum). The polarization state of the input signal light is monitored, a calculation of performing a predetermined conversion is executed to the polarization state of the input signal light, and a calculated polarization state is recorded (or recorded without conversion). A polarization state of a control light with respect to the input signal light is monitored and the polarization state of the control light is controlled so as to coincide with the polarization state of the input signal light recorded.
US07978318B2
The present invention provides improved capillaries that lead to increased resolution in conventional capillary-flow cytometers. The cross-sectional shape of capillaries made according to the present invention lack a center of symmetry. In some embodiments, capillaries have inner side walls that are tilted at angles with respect to the collection-system optical axis so that the widest dimension of the inner bore is closest to the collection optical system and have an outer wall closest to the collection optical system with a dimension large enough to minimize the contribution of outer-wall refraction to the collected light signal. Exemplary capillary embodiments include tubes with a rectangular outer wall and a trapezoidal inner wall, a rectangular outer wall and a triangular inner wall, triangular outer and inner walls, a triangular outer wall with a trapezoidal inner wall, and a hemispherical or rhomboid outer wall and trapezoidal or triangular inner wall.
US07978316B2
An optical perturbation sensing system includes a probing beam incident on a medium with perturbations and a sensing beam redirected from the medium and incident on a surface area of a photodetector. A reference beam directed onto the photodetector surface forms, with the sensing beam, an interference pattern on the photodetector surface and a phase patterner with at least two phase regions across its section, generates different phases in different regions of the interference pattern. An array of photodetector elements detects each phase region of the interference pattern and a constructive combiner subtract pairs of the detected signals, squares the subtracted signal squares, and sums the squared signals to form a stronger detected signal with reduced intensity noise, reduced background noise, and reduced sensitivity to phase drifts.
US07978315B2
A range finder is provided. A light emitting unit emits a light pulse. A light receiving unit senses an incident light pulse. A reflective mirror reflects the light pulse emitted from the light emitting unit to an outside space and reflects the light pulse incident from the outside space to the light receiving unit. An actuator is configured to move the reflective mirror in a first direction rotating about a vertical axis and a second direction rotating about a horizontal axis. A controller controls the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit and driving the actuator. The actuator includes: a rotation motor unit supporting the reflective mirror to be rotated in the second direction and rotating the reflective mirror in the first direction; a bushing hinge-coupled with the reflective mirror to rotate in the first direction together with the reflective mirror and installed movably in a vertical direction; and a vertical driving unit moving the bushing in the vertical direction.
US07978307B2
A gas bearing has a first bearing part defining a first bearing surface and a second bearing part defining a second bearing surface. Between the first bearing surface and the second bearing surface there is a gap. A gas supply device supplies a gas to the gap. The first bearing part is at least partly ferromagnetic, and the second bearing part has at least one permanent magnet interacting with the first bearing part for pre-tensioning the gas bearing. The gas bearing may be part of a lithographic apparatus.
US07978305B2
An exposure apparatus which exposes a pattern of an original onto a substrate via a projection optical system in a state in which a gap between the projection optical system and the substrate is filled with a liquid. A liquid supply unit supplies liquid to the gap. A front side degassing unit performs a degassing to the liquid prior to being supplied to the gap. A dissolved gas measurement unit is provided on the downstream side of the front side degassing unit, and a rear side degassing unit is provided on the downstream side of the dissolved gas measuring unit. The front side degassing unit has a dissolved oxygen control unit, which controls a supply amount of nitrogen gas so as to be the amount of dissolved oxygen, measured by the dissolved gas measurement unit, to a predetermined value.
US07978304B2
An apparatus for processing an object includes a vessel which forms a pressure-reduced inner space and accommodates the object, a member which is supported by an inner side of the vessel through a heat insulator, and a temperature adjusting portion which adjusts a temperature of the member.
US07978302B2
A method for the manufacture of a polarizer is provided. The method comprises providing a liquid crystal composition comprising a liquid crystal host and a viscosity enhancer; providing a thin film of said composition on a substrate; orienting said liquid crystal host to obtain an aligned film in a first liquid crystal mesophase, wherein the liquid crystal host is aligned planar to said substrate; gelating said viscosity enhancer to congeal said film; and obtaining a second liquid crystal state in said congealed film. By the use of a viscosity enhancer in the composition, homeotropic alignment of the liquid crystal host can be suppressed.
US07978292B2
The invention is directed to simultaneously etching thin films to different uniform depths depending on positions by using a photoresist pattern having different thickness depending on positions as an etch mask in order to form a contact hole for a gate pad along with at least one other layer, or a data wire and a semiconductor pattern, via a single photolithography step.
US07978284B2
An illumination device comprising: a wired board having flexibility and including a light source member mounted on one of principal planes; a light-shielding member disposed so as to cover at least part of the other principal plane of the wired board on the opposite side from the one principal plane and having at least partly a light-shielding property; a fixing member having first and second sticking surfaces to which the wired board and the light-shielding member are stuck respectively, a first adhesive layer being interposed between the one principal plane of the wired board and the first sticking surface of the fixing member, having an adhesive property with respect to both of the one principal plane of the wired board and the first sticking surface, and having a first adhesive force with respect to the one principal plane, and a second adhesive layer being disposed on a surface opposing the fixing member of the light-shielding member, and having a portion having an adhesive property with respect to both of the light-shielding member and the second sticking surface and a portion having an adhesive property for both of the light-shielding member and the other principal plane of the wired board, wherein the second adhesive layer includes a non-adhesive portion having no adhesive property with respect to the other principal plane or a low-bond strength adhesive portion having a second adhesive force lower than the first adhesive force at least in a portion having an adhesive force for both the light-shielding member and the other principal plane of the wired board.
US07978262B2
A digital camera including an imaging unit, a flash unit, a face detection unit that performs face detection on image data generated by the imaging unit, and an emission control unit that controls a redeye reduction emission and a main emission performed by the flash unit. The emission control unit obtains a result of face detection performed on image data generated at the time of the redeye reduction emission. Alternatively, it obtains one or more results of face detection performed on one or more sets of image data generated during the period after the time point when the redeye reduction emission is performed and before the time point when the main emission is performed. Otherwise, it obtains both of them. The emission control unit determines the emission amount for the main emission using one of the obtained face detection results.
US07978259B2
An image capturing apparatus illuminates an object and captures an image of the object using the reflected light from the object. On a circuit substrate mounted an image sensor, a plurality of light-emitting devices are mounted in the peripheral positions of the image sensor. By means of a ring-shaped light guide member, the light from the plurality of light-emitting devices is guided to an image capturing range, so as to illuminate the object. With this, by mounting a light receiving system and a light emitting system on an identical substrate, miniaturization can be achieved, and the image capturing range can be illuminated by substantially uniform light. Also, using the ring-shaped light guide member, an optical unit is housed inside the ring, thus enabling further miniaturization.
US07978257B2
When an exposure value calculated according to a result of photometric measurement for predetermined main imaging units among a plurality of imaging units is used for setting exposure of the main imaging units and sub-imaging units other than the main imaging units, judgment is carried out as to whether an image or images obtained in photography with the sub-imaging units by setting the exposure thereof according to the exposure value is/are saturated. In the case where a result of the judgment is affirmative, any one of the sub-imaging units having obtained the saturated image or images is designated as new main imaging units. The exposure value is calculated newly, and the exposure is set for the new main imaging units and for new sub-imaging units other than the new main imaging units.
US07978256B2
An imaging device, comprising a photographing lens having a manual focus mechanism, an imaging unit for receiving subject light flux, that has been made incident by the photographing lens, on an imaging surface, a display unit for carrying out a live view display operation using image data acquired by the imaging unit, a contrast AF unit for obtaining contrast information of the subject information from image data acquired by the imaging unit and guiding the photographing lens into a specified focus permissible range based on the contrast information, and a control unit for, when a manual focus operation is carried out after executing a focus adjustment operation using the contrast AF unit during the live view display, carrying out control so that there is a transition to a shooting operation without again executing the focus adjustment operation.
US07978255B2
A solid-state image sensor includes: a plurality of image-capturing pixels, each equipped with a first micro-lens used to condense light; and a plurality of focus detection pixels engaged in focus detection, each equipped with a second micro-lens used to condense light; the plurality of image-capturing pixels and the plurality of focus detection pixels being disposed in a two-dimensional array. The first micro-lens and the second micro-lens are formed so that a light condensing position at which light is condensed via the second micro-lens is set further toward a micro-lens side than the light condensing position at which light is condensed via the first micro-lens.
US07978245B2
A digital imaging device provides for different exposure times for each of a set of color components, the exposure time of each color component being inversely related to its strength relative to the other color components in a pre-exposure frame. By compensating for color imbalance in the scene during exposure, the digital imaging device improves the signal-to-noise ratio and, hence, the quality of the resulting digital image.
US07978243B2
In an imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the driving unit drives each of the pixels in the non-readout region in the first mode such that the setting unit sets the input unit to a third electric potential with the transfer unit being ready to transfer the electric charge to reset the photoelectric conversion unit in a first period and that the setting unit sets the input unit to a fourth electric potential for the pixel to be deselected in a second period later than the first period.
US07978239B2
A method and apparatus for capturing image data from multiple image sensors and generating an output image sequence are disclosed. The multiple image sensors capture data with one or more different characteristics, such as: staggered exposure periods, different length exposure periods, different frame rates, different spatial resolution, different lens systems, and different focal lengths. The data from multiple image sensors is processed and interleaved to generate an improved output motion sequence relative to an output motion sequence generated from an a single equivalent image sensor.
US07978231B2
On embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for automatically computing exposure parameters for a digital video camera (DVC) system. The exposure parameters include exposure gain, analog gain, and digital gain. Each frame is analyzed with respect to an image luma value. Exposure gain and analog gain are adjusted to reduce differences between a target image luma value and measured image luma values over sequential frames. Digital gain is adjusted with respect to each frame to reduce visually abrupt changes in sequentially captured video frames.
US07978225B2
An image recording/playback control apparatus includes a moving image capturing section capturing a moving image and generating moving image data; a still image capturing section capturing a still image and generating still image data; a still image information generation section generating still image information in which the moving image data and the still image data are associated with each other by an image-capturing time; moving and still image coding sections coding the moving and still image data, respectively; a recording section recording the coded moving and still image data; a separation section separating the coded moving and still image data; moving and still image decoding sections decoding the coded moving and still image data, respectively; a still image information indication section indicating the moving or still image data; a selection section selecting the moving and still image data; and a display control displaying the moving or still image data.
US07978215B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide for methods, devices and systems for setting up an agent shortcut operation to be activated at an electronic device in a network. The agent shortcut operation can be setup at an electronic device connected to a network by receiving a selection of an agent shortcut operation from a user on an agent setup device, and sending the selected agent shortcut operation through the network to the electronic device to be available for subsequent activation. The agent shortcut operation can be activated by sending an agent shortcut operation to the electronic device, receiving an activation signal from an agent activation device for the agent shortcut operation, and in response to the received activation signal, sending a signal to the electronic device to activate the agent shortcut operation.
US07978212B2
Disclosed is a disk label printer that includes a slot-in type optical disk driving mechanism and a printing mechanism integrated with each other, has a small size, and smoothly transfers optical disks. The disclosed disk label printer includes: a case that has a slot through which an optical disk is inserted or ejected formed therein; an optical disk driving mechanism that is provided in the case and writes and/or reads signals to and/or from the optical disk mounted to a disk mounting portion; and a printing mechanism that is provided in the case and includes a thermal head which prints a desired image on a label surface of the optical disk. The printing mechanism is provided on a transfer path of the optical disk toward the optical disk driving mechanism between the slot and the optical disk driving mechanism. The thermal head and a platen roller come into pressure contact with each other with the optical disk interposed therebetween on the transfer path, only when the optical disk is transferred during the driving of the printing mechanism. The thermal head and the platen roller are withdrawn from the transfer path so as to be separated from each other, when the optical disk is transferred during operations other than the driving of the printing mechanism.
US07978208B2
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a video display processing system including a video source input component, a compositing component, and a composite video output component. The video source input component is adapted to receive video data from a plurality of video sources. The compositing component is adapted to generate a composite video image from the video data. The composite video image is based at least in part on a configuration. The configuration specifies an arrangement of the video data. The composite video output component adapted to output the composite video image.
US07978205B1
An enhanced graphics pipeline is provided that enables common core hardware to perform as different components of the graphics pipeline, programmability of primitives including lines and triangles by a component in the pipeline, and a stream output before or simultaneously with the rendering a graphical display with the data in the pipeline. The programmer does not have to optimize the code, as the common core will balance the load of functions necessary and dynamically allocate those instructions on the common core hardware. The programmer may program primitives using algorithms to simplify all vertex calculations by substituting with topology made with lines and triangles. The programmer takes the calculated output data and can read it before or while it is being rendered. Thus, a programmer has greater flexibility in programming. By using the enhanced graphics pipeline, the programmer can optimize the usage of the hardware in the pipeline, program vertex, line or triangle topologies altogether rather than each vertex alone, and read any calculated data from memory where the pipeline can output the calculated information.
US07978204B2
A1A system embodying the invention includes a controlling device and a set of rendering devices, with the effect that the controlling device can distribute a set of objects to the rendering devices. Each rendering device computes a (2D) image in response to the objects assigned to it, including computing multiple overlapping images and using a graphics processor to blend those images into a resultant image. To interface with the graphics processor, each rendering device spoofs the α-value with a pixel feature other than opacity (opacity is expected by the graphics processor), with the effect that the graphics processor delivers useful α-values, while still delivering correct color values, for each pixel. This has the effect that the resultant images include transparency information sufficient to combine them using transparency blending.
US07978203B1
A method for color grading within a component color space associated with a display includes receiving a source image comprising a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel is associated with a color comprising a plurality of color component values in the component color space, wherein the component color space comprises RGB, and wherein a pixel is associated with a color inside a gamut of the display but outside a gamut of a target media, receiving a color grading signal from a user, modifying the color associated with the pixel from the plurality of pixels in response to the color grading signal, to form a graded image comprising the pixel, wherein the pixel is associated with a graded color comprising a plurality of color component values, displaying the graded image on the display to the user, automatically performing a gamut remapping of the graded color associated with the pixel, to form a gamut remapped image comprising the pixel, wherein the pixel is associated with a gamut remapped color comprising a plurality of color component values, wherein at least one color component value of the graded color is substantially similar to one color component value of the gamut remapped color, and displaying the gamut remapped image on the display to the user, wherein the gamut remapped image comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel from the plurality of pixels is associated with a color within a gamut of the target media.
US07978198B2
An image data transfer method including the steps of: (a) reading pixel data of a two-dimensional image stored in a first image storage and having a plurality of pixels, the position of each of the pixels being represented by coordinates of first and second directions, the pixel data being read by scanning data transfer units of the pixel data in the second direction where each of the data transfer units is formed by data of a predetermined number of pixels consecutive in the first direction; (b) writing the data transfer units read at step (a) in a temporary data storage where data is stored at a position designated by a combination of first and second addresses, the data transfer units being written in burst mode in a region of the temporary data storage in which the first addresses are consecutive while the second address is fixed; and (c) reading the data transfer units written in the temporary data storage from the region in which the first addresses are consecutive while the second address is fixed in burst mode and writing the read data transfer units in a second image storage.
US07978196B2
A method (600) is disclosed of generating a representation of a page (1500) to be rendered to a raster image (1600) of pixels. The page (1500) comprises one or more graphical objects (1520 and 1530), arranged in a rendering order. Each the object (1520 and 1530) comprises one or more object edges and an associated fill. The method (600) comprises decomposing the objects (1520 and 1530) into a plurality of fillmap edges (1750, 1755, 1760, 1765, and 1770) defining disjoint regions (1710, 1720, 1730, 1740, and 1780) of the page. The method (600) further comprises setting a reference from at least one fillmap edge (1750, 1755, 1760, 1765, and 1770) to a sequence comprising a plurality of fills to be composited to generate the values for all pixels within the defined region (1710, 1720, 1730, 1740, and 1780).
US07978189B2
An integrated photonics module includes at least one light source and a MEMS scanner coupled to and held in alignment by an optical frame configured for mounting to a host system. According to some embodiments, the integrated photonics module may include a plurality of light sources and a beam combiner coupled to the optical frame. According to some embodiments, the integrated photonics module includes a selective fold mirror configured to direct at least a portion of emitted light toward the MEMS scanner in a normal direction and pass scanned light through to a field of view. The selective fold mirror may use beam polarization to select beam passing and reflection. The integrated photonics module may include a beam rotator such as a quarter-wave plate to convert the polarization of the emitted light to a different polarization adapted for passage through the fold mirror. The integrated photonics module may include one or more light detectors.
US07978184B2
A method and system for providing an enhanced and interactive window shopping and retail information exchange with shoppers, includes acoustic sensing in connection with one or more storefront windows of a retail store, and a corresponding transparent display located within the store and visible through the storefront window, the interior of the store being visible through the transparent display. Display of information on the transparent display, and in optional combination with audio information external to the store, prompts shoppers to tap the storefront window at locations which correspond to the locations of information displayed on the transparent display. The system and method is programmed to respond to taps on the window according to the locations of the taps with incentives to enter the store and/or to redeem awards or coupons in the store.
US07978161B2
Disclosed is an organic light emitting diode display and method for minimizing a change of a driving current of R, G, and B organic light emitting diode devices to improve a display quality when a temperature within a panel is changed and an organic light emitting diode device is degraded.
US07978154B1
An AC or DC gas discharge plasma display panel (PDP) device having one or more substrates and a multiplicity of pixels or sub-pixels that are defined by a hollow plasma-shell filled with an ionizable gas. The plasma-shell is illustrated with reference to a plasma-dome, but other plasma-shell shapes may be used including plasma-disc and plasma-sphere. A plasma-dome has at least one domed or round side and one opposing flat side such as a dome top and flat bottom or vice versa. One or more other sides or edges may also be flat or non-flat. Two or more addressing electrodes are in electrical contact with each plasma-dome, at least one electrode being in electrical contact with a side or end of the plasma-dome that is not flat. The electrical contact may include a conductive pad in electrical contact with the electrode and/or the plasma-dome.
US07978151B2
A three-dimensional image display apparatus includes an image display configured to output image light which arrays a plurality of pixels and has polarization, a lens array arranged in front of the image display, configured to function as lens at light which has a 1st polarization direction, and not to function as lens at light which has a 2nd polarization direction differed from the 1st polarization direction, and a birefringent phase modulator placed between the image display and the lens array and configured to rotate a polarization plane of the image light.
US07978138B2
Techniques are disclosed that allow for the detection, identification, and direction finding of wireless emitters in a given multipath environment. For example, the techniques can be used to detect and identify a line of bearing (LOB) to an IEEE 802.11 emitter in a building or in an open field or along a roadside. In some cases, multiple LOBs can be used to geolocate the target emitter if so desired. The techniques can be embodied, for instance, in a handheld device that can survey the target environment, detect an IEEE 802.11 emitter and identify it by MAC address, and then precisely determine the LOB to that emitter. In some cases, a sample array of response data from the target emitter is correlated to a plurality of calibrated arrays having known azimuths to determine the LOB to the target emitter.
US07978137B2
A system for enhancing the performance of a wireless communication device (WCD) while executing a direction of arrival (DoA) estimation. The performance may be improved through device management, and may include the collection of information from one or more sensors installed within the WCD. The sensor information may initially be used to determine an appropriate configuration for the device. Further, the sensor information may also be used to affect the behavior of the device while performing the DoA estimation.
US07978124B2
Methods to quantify the amount of radial platform motion of a portable sensor are described. In an exemplary embodiment, the method uses the frequency domain phase data in the range bin corresponding to a large stationary object. A correction factor is computed and applied back into the time domain samples prior to processing by Doppler filters used to measure motion in the scene.
US07978120B2
A radar imaging system for capturing an image of an object within an area of interest through at least one visual impairment. The radar imaging system comprises at least one radar array. The radar array includes a plurality of transmitter elements and a plurality of receiver elements for receiving a plurality of coded return signals from an object through the at least one visual impairment. The system further comprises at least one processor coupled to the transmitter and receiver elements, which is adapted to transmit a plurality of differently coded signals toward the object and the at least one visual impairment; decode the plurality of coded return signals received by each of the receiver elements; extract from the decoded return signals a multiplicity of captured signals for each transmitter to receiver path; focus the multiplicity of signals on all points of interest within the area of interest by aligning the multiplicity of captured signals to be co-incident from a particular point within the area of interest; and sum the aligned signals to produce an image of the object. A method for capturing an image of an object in an area of interest through at least one visual impairment is also provided.
US07978117B2
A multi-stage dual successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC) and a method of performing analog-to-digital conversion using the same are provided. The multi-stage dual SAR ADC includes: a plurality of SAR ADC stages for converting an analog input voltage into a predetermined bit digital signal, each SAR ADC stage being serially connected to one another and including two SAR ADCs; and at least one residue amplifier respectively connected between every two successive SAR ADC stages, amplifying residue voltage output from a previous SAR ADC stage to output the amplified residue voltage to a next SAR ADC stage. The two SAR ADCs of the previous SAR ADC stage share the residue amplifier.
US07978101B2
An encoder/decoder architecture including an arithmetic encoder that encodes the MSB portions of a Factorial Pulse Coder output, and that encodes an output of a first-level source encoder, e.g., MDCT. Sub-parts (e.g., frequency bands) of portions (e.g., frames) of the signal are sorted in increasing order based on a measure related to signal energy (e.g., signal energy itself). In a system that overlays Arithmetic Encoding on Factorial Pulse coding, the result is bits re-allocated to bands with higher signal energy content, yielding higher signal quality and higher bit utilization efficiency.
US07978100B2
Systems, apparatuses, and methods for encoding and decoding using generalized concatenated codes (GCC) are described. The methods include receiving data; encoding the received data to obtain first encoded data; encoding the first encoded data until a GCC encoding reaches an intermediate level; and terminating the GCC encoding at the intermediate level.
US07978094B2
An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a reflective element assembly portion and at least one cap portion adapted to attach to the reflective element assembly portion. The reflective element assembly portion includes a reflective element. The reflective element assembly portion comprises a first molding that encompasses at least a perimeter portion of the reflective element. The first molding is formed by molding a first resinous material having a tool shrinkage factor equal to or greater than about 1%. The cap portion comprises at least one second molding formed by molding a second resinous material having a tool shrinkage factor of less than or equal to about 1%. The cap portion preferably includes internal structure for supporting at least one accessory.
US07978093B2
In the specification and figures a method of displaying comparative tire data is described and shown, wherein a vehicle with a particular set of tires is driven through a test course, vehicle data is recorded, the vehicle is driven through the test course with a different set of tires, the recorded data is processed, the processed data is transformed into an animation, and the animation is displayed.
US07978092B2
Disclosed is a portable electronic device, including: an interface unit connected to an external device; a housing provided with the interface unit; a cap placed in a location allowing for the covering of the interface unit and covering the interface unit when attached to the housing; a signal detecting line placed in the interface unit and connected to a predetermined electric potential when the external device is connected to the interface unit; a switch which electrically connects the signal detecting line to the predetermined electric potential when the cap is attached to the housing and electrically disconnects the signal detecting line from the predetermined electric potential when the cap is separated from the housing; and a control unit connected to the interface unit and configured to determine whether the signal detecting line is electrically connected to the predetermined electric potential or not.
US07978089B2
In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and apparatus for ground fault detection. One embodiment of a method for diagnosing a ground fault in a notification appliance circuit comprising a plurality of field wiring connections includes individually testing each of the plurality of field wiring connections until a source of the ground fault is detected and outputting a signal identifying the source of the ground fault.
US07978087B2
A fire detector operating by the scattered radiation principle is described, having at least one radiation transmitter and at least one radiation receiver, whose beam paths form a scattering volume. The fire detector includes, in addition to at least one first radiation transmitter and one first radiation receiver, at least one second radiation transmitter and one second radiation receiver, whose beam paths form at least two spatially separated scattering volumes.
US07978081B2
Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for measuring and analyzing movements of a body and for communicating information related to such body movements over a network. In certain embodiments, a system gathers biometric and biomechanical data relating to positions, orientations, and movements of various body parts of a user performed during sports activities, physical rehabilitation, or military or law enforcement activities. The biometric and biomechanical data can be communicated to a local and/or remote interface, which uses digital performance assessment tools to provide a performance evaluation to the user. The performance evaluation may include a graphical representation (e.g., a video), statistical information, and/or a comparison to another user and/or instructor. In some embodiments, the biometric and biomechanical data is communicated wirelessly to one or more devices including a processor, display, and/or data storage medium for further analysis, archiving, and data mining. In some embodiments, the device includes a cellular telephone.
US07978080B2
A security tag that can be attached to an item or items that provides a zero or low impact to the item or items such as elegant or soft goods. The security tag includes a security element that is enclosed within a pliable material that is looped around the item or items it is protecting and then is closed on itself or on an extension of the pliable material. No puncturing, piercing or adhesive attachment to the elegant or soft goods occurs, thereby making a “zero or low impact” on the item while also making a pleasant presentation to customers when the item (or items) is displayed.
US07978073B2
An excitation reference source (FC) is split through a 90 degree splitter. One output from the splitter is fed to the LO port of a mixer. Data is fed to the mixer's IF port and causes PRK modulation of the LO port's signal. The output of the mixer at the RF port is a PRK modulated quadrature signal. This is attenuated and added back onto the reference by a zero degree combiner ready for transmission to the transponder.
US07978062B2
A portable patient communicator (PPC) includes a portable housing that supports a processor coupled to memory for storing medical firmware and wireless radio firmware, first and second radios, a processor, and a power source. Communications between a patient implantable medical device (PIMD) and the first radio of the PPC are effected in accordance with program instructions of the medical firmware, and communications between the second radio of the PPC and the wireless network are effected in accordance with program instructions of the wireless radio firmware. Data from the PIMD is received via the first radio to which a priority level is assigned, such as in a tiered manner. A data transport mechanism is selected among disparate data transport mechanisms based at least in part on the priority level. PIMD data is transmitted to the wireless network using the selected transport mechanism via the second radio.
US07978061B2
A plurality of modules interact to form an adaptive network in which each module transmits and receives data signals indicative of proximity of objects. A central computer accumulates the data produced or received and relayed by each module for analyzing proximity responses to transmit through the adaptive network control signals to a selectively-addressed module to respond to computer analyses of the data accumulated from modules forming the adaptive network.
US07978056B2
A vehicle includes a passenger compartment, a touch-screen for receiving an input signal from an occupant when the occupant touches the touch-screen, an output device, and a controller. The controller changes a characteristic of an electromagnetic wave in the form of visible light and/or an audible sound, which is transmitted into the passenger compartment via the output device in response to the input signal. The output device includes light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LED) or electro-luminescent (EL) ribbon and a speaker. The controller presents a predetermined set of lighting and/or sound options on the touch-screen which the occupant can touch to generate the input signal, thus selectively illuminating the light sources or playing a particular sound file. The controller can also play a digital sound file whenever a corresponding vehicle condition is detected.
US07978053B2
An apparatus for managing information about an integrated circuit tag includes an acquiring unit and a storing unit. The acquiring unit acquires communication range information that is information about a range in which the integrated circuit tag communicates with an antenna of a reader/writer. The integrated circuit tag includes a transmitting device that transmits position identification information for identifying a position of the integrated circuit tag. The storing unit stores the communication range information in association with antenna identification information and integrated-circuit-tag identification information.
US07978042B2
A multilayer body is formed by laminating multiple insulating layers. External electrodes are provided on the opposed side surfaces of the multilayer body and extend in the z axis direction. Coil conductors are laminated together with the insulating layers and form a coil. Coil conductors other than coil conductors connected to the external electrodes are made up of pairs of adjacent coil conductors having an identical shape, and coil conductors forming each pair are connected in parallel to each other. None of the coil conductors connected to the external electrodes is connected in parallel to coil conductors with an identical shape.
US07978038B2
The invention relates to an electromagnetic actuator with variable reluctance comprising a fixed ferromagnetic armature (3) comprising at least two concentric cylinders of revolution linked by a ring nut, at least one magnetizing winding (2) arranged between said cylinders, a ferromagnetic moving armature (4) guided in reciprocating translation movements relative to said fixed armature (3), with which it defines a magnetic circuit with an air gap (20), the dimension of which varies during reciprocating translation movements of the moving armature (4), wherein said fixed armature (3) comprises at least two series of slots, a first series of slots provided radially in said outer cylinder and extending over the entire height of said outer cylinder, and a second series of slots provided radially in said outer and inner cylinders and extending only over a major part of the height of said cylinders.
US07978013B2
A constant determination unit (90) determines various constants, that are the magnitude of a charge current outputted from a charge pump circuit (30), the time constant of a loop filter (40), and the gain of a voltage controlled oscillator (50), so as to make the proportionality constant of a natural frequency of a phase locked loop circuit for the input frequency of the phase locked loop circuit and the damping factor to be predetermined values, and outputs various control signals based on the determined constants. The charge pump circuit (30), the loop filter (40), and the voltage controlled oscillator (50) modify the magnitude of the charge current, the time constant, and the gain, respectively, in accordance with control signals outputted from the constant determination unit (90).
US07978010B2
A boost operational amplifier. A boot operational amplifier may include a differential amplifying unit amplifying and/or outputting an inputted differential voltage, a first mirroring unit mirroring a current flowing through a first output terminal of a differential amplifying unit, which may output a mirrored first mirror current, a second mirroring unit mirroring a current flowing through a second output terminal of a differential amplifying unit, which may output a mirrored second mirror current, a pull-up transistor connected between a first power source and an output node, which may switch based on a first and/or a second mirror current, and/or a pull-down transistor connected between a second power source and an output node, which may switch based on a first and/or a second mirror current.
US07978009B2
A digital modulated power amplifier unit includes a differential radio frequency (RF) amplifier circuit having differential output nodes, a digital modulation signal input and complimentary clock signal inputs. The differential RF amplifier circuit includes a first pair of transistors operable to receive a digital modulation signal and a second pair of transistors operable to receive complimentary clock signals. The digital modulated power amplifier unit further includes an impedance compensation circuit connected between the differential output nodes of the differential RF amplifier circuit. The impedance compensation circuit includes a transistor connected in series between first and second RC circuits. The transistor is operable to electrically connect and disconnect the first RC circuit and the second RC circuit responsive to the digital modulation signal.
US07978007B2
The invention relates to a feedback network (60) for cascade amplifiers (200), which comprises an active stage (30) to feed signal back to a first internal node (65) at the output of the first amplifier stage (61) of the cascade. The invention further relates to a feedback network (60) which comprises said active feedback stage (30) with said first internal amplifier node (65) connection and a feedback resistor (10) connected from said cascade amplifier output port (out) to its input port (in).
US07977996B1
A digital pulse generator including a fractional delay filter is provided as having a plurality of step response functions that can be selected on a sample by sample basis by selection of filter coefficients. The step response functions are all identical but each have different group delay. Responsive to an input waveform having leading and trailing edges aligned with a system clock, the fractional delay filter can output the impulse responses as a pulse waveform having respective leading and trailing edges delayed by different respective fractions of a signal clock cycle from the respective leading and trailing edges of the input waveform. The pulse waveform as output can thus have desired pulse width and desired period of repetition with finer edge placement resolution of improved accuracy.
US07977993B2
A signal delay circuit including a capacitive load element is described. The capacitive load element has a first input end, a second input end, and a third input end. The first input end receives a first signal, the second input end receives a second signal inverted to the first signal, and the third input end receives a control signal. The capacitance of the capacitive load element changes with the control signal.
US07977989B2
Disclosed is a circuit that adjusts a characteristic of a signal transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver over a communication channel (e.g., a wire, a backplane, etc.). The circuit includes a latch that receives the signal at a predetermined point in the circuit and samples a voltage of the signal many times after a threshold voltage is applied to the latch. The circuit also includes a processor that determines the characteristic of the signal when the sampled voltages indicate a transition point and that adjusts the threshold voltage when the sampled voltages do not indicate a transition point. The processor adjusts the characteristic of the signal by adjusting at least one of a current and a voltage of the transmitter when the characteristic of the signal is outside a predetermined range.
US07977985B2
An improved bias generator incorporates a reference voltage and/or a reference current into the generation of bias voltages. In some cases, the output of a biased delay element has a constant voltage swing. A delay line of such constant output voltage swing delay elements may be shown to provide reduced power consumption compared to some known self-biased delay lines. Furthermore, in other cases, providing the reference current to a novel bias generator allows a delay line of delay elements biased by such a novel bias generator to show reduced sensitivity to operating conditions, reduced sensitivity to variation in process parameters and improved signal quality, thereby providing more robust operation.
US07977978B2
Provided are an inverter, a method of manufacturing the inverter, and a logic circuit including the inverter. The inverter may include a first transistor and a second transistor having different channel layer structures. A channel layer of the first transistor may include a lower layer and an upper layer, and a channel layer of the second transistor may be the same as one of the lower layer and the upper layer. At least one of the lower layer and the upper layer may be an oxide layer. The inverter may be an enhancement/depletion (E/D) mode inverter or a complementary inverter.
US07977977B1
A circuit including is disclosed. The circuit includes a precharge circuit configured to pull a dynamic node toward a voltage present on the voltage supply node during a precharge phase, and an evaluation circuit configured to, during an evaluation phase, pull the dynamic node toward a ground voltage responsive to a first input condition and configured to inhibit pulling of the dynamic node down responsive to a second input condition. A pull-up circuit coupled between the first dynamic node and the voltage supply node includes first and second pull-up transistors. The first pull-up transistor is configured to activate responsive to the precharge phase. The second pull-up transistor is configured to activate at a delay time subsequent to entry of the evaluation phase. When the first and second pull-up transistors are active, a pull-up path is provided between the dynamic node and the voltage supply node.
US07977965B1
A system and method for soft error detection in digital ICs is disclosed. The system includes an observing circuit coupled to a latch, which circuit is capable of a response upon a state change of the latch. The system further includes synchronized clocking provided to the latch and to the observing circuit. For the latch, the clocking defines a window in time during which the latch is prevented from receiving data, and in a synchronized manner the clocking is enabling a response in the observing circuit. The clocking is synchronized in such a manner that the circuit is enabled for its response only inside the window when the latch is prevented from receiving data. The system may also have additional circuits that are respectively coupled to latches, with each the additional circuit and its respective latch receiving the synchronized clocking. Responses of a plurality of circuits may be coupled in a configuration corresponding to a logical OR.
US07977964B2
Superconducting single flux quantum circuits are disclosed herein, each having at least one Josephson junction which will flip when the current through it exceeds a critical current. Bias current for the Josephson junction is provided by a biasing transformer instead of a resistor. The lack of any bias resistors ensures that unwanted power dissipation is eliminated.
US07977961B2
Component for testing device for electronic component and testing method of the electronic component
A component for a testing device for an electronic component includes a testing board; a projection electrode provided on a main surface of the testing board; a positioning part provided on the main surface of the testing board, the positioning part being configured to position the electronic component; and a pressing part configured to press the electronic component being positioned by the positioning part and make a lead part of the electronic component come in contact with the projection electrode so that the lead part is elastically deformed and made come in contact with the projection electrode.
US07977959B2
Methods and apparatus for testing devices using serially controlled intelligent switches have been described. In some embodiments, a probe card assembly can be provided that includes a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs) serially coupled to form a chain, the chain coupled to at least one serial control line, the plurality of ICs including switches coupled to test probes, each of the switches being programmable responsive to a control signal on the at least one serial control line.
US07977954B2
Methods, systems and devices are described for detecting a measurable capacitance using sigma-delta charge transfer techniques that can be implemented with many standard microcontrollers, and can share components to reduce device complexity and improve performance. In the various implementations of this embodiment, the passive network used to accumulate charge can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. A switch or IO controlling the charge sharing and/or charge changing can also be shared Likewise, in various implementations a voltage conditioning circuit configured to provide a variable reference voltage can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. Finally, in various implementations a guarding electrode configured to guard the measurable capacitances can be shared between multiple measurable capacitances. In each of these cases, sharing components can reduce device complexity and improve performance.
US07977950B2
The present invention provides a time domain reflectometer for testing an electrical cable. The time domain reflectometer includes a test signal generator, at least one line feed resistor, connected between the test signal generator and a pair of terminals, for connection to the ends of the electrical cable under test, and a signal processor, connected to the terminals, to receive a line signal including a reflection of a test signal transmitted into the cable under test. The signal processor is programmed to filter the line signal to enhance a portion of the signal indicative of any fault on the cable by balancing the signal according to the electrical characteristics of a normal cable of the same type as the cable under test by applying a filter function, and acquiring at least one estimate of the input admittance of the transmission line from known or estimated electrical characteristics of the cable under test.
US07977948B2
A sensor device determines a value based on a sensed parameter by applying a voltage across two voltage terminals of a sensor. In response, the sensor provides an electrical signal representative of a sensed parameter to a controller via a pair of conductors. The controller samples the electrical signal to determine the value. In addition, the controller alternates the polarity of the voltage applied to the voltage terminals, thereby reducing the risk of damage to the conductors due to ion drift.
US07977946B2
A magnet assembly primarily for use in MRI Interventional applications having an array of four mam permanent magnets that are spaced-apart and arranged into a ring-like geometry with six easy-access openings The magnetization direction in each permanent magnet is anti-parallel to any other adjacent permanent magnet in the πng assembly while it is parallel to any other permanent magnet in the array that is oppositely located just as in a quadrupolar system Such an arrangement has the advantage of concentrating the magnetic field inside the nng enclosure while minimizing magnetic field generated outside Together, these four spatially spaced-apart permanent magnets create a very homogeneous and strong magnetic field in the central enclosure with two orthogonal access paths and one parallel access path to the enclosure Through one access pathway a patient can be inserted while through the other pathways a doctor can fully access the patient.
US07977945B2
A magnetic resonance system has a number of components including a basic magnetic field generation unit, gradient coils as well as a radio-frequency coil arrangement. The components are respectively controllable according to a control sequence via at least one digital module and at least one analog module. The analog modules are arranged external to a control computer that controls the digital modules. The digital modules are likewise arranged external to the control computer and are associated with the analog module or modules controlled via the control computer. The digital modules are networked via the following networks for communication of the digital modules among one another and/or with the control computer: a synchronous first network to synchronize the digital modules, an isochronous or semi-isochronous second network, a third network, wherein the digital modules are connected with the control computer via serial peripheral component interfaces and a signal transmission between the peripheral component interface of the respective digital module and the associated peripheral component interface of the control computer thereby occurs on optical paths.
US07977934B2
Open-loop electrical current sensor (1) for measuring the electrical current flowing in a primary conductor, comprising a magnetic circuit (3) with an air-gap (4), and a magnetic field sensing device (5) positioned at least partially in said air-gap. The magnetic field sensing device comprises a circuit board (7), a first magnetic field detector (8) mounted on the circuit board, and a second magnetic field detector (11). The second magnetic field detector comprises a conductive coil formed on the circuit board, the output signals of the first magnetic field detector and the second magnetic field detector being adapted for connection to a signal processing circuit (6) generating an output signal representative of the primary electrical current.
US07977925B2
An exemplary method for starting a generator, the method comprising, starting a rotor with an AC voltage across the rotor. Starting a stator. Increasing a speed of the rotor.
US07977921B2
Voltage conversion and charging circuitry and method for converting an alternating current (AC) voltage to a direct current (DC) voltage for charging an energy storage element (e.g., battery or supercapacitor). An output capacitance, which is initially charged quickly for use in the slower charging of a battery, also maintains the charge on an input capacitance which provides power for the charging control circuitry during such charging process. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the DC charging current is substantially constant during a first time interval following which the DC charging power is substantially constant during a second time interval.
US07977911B2
A power supply system can include a primary power supply coupled to an output, and a secondary power supply coupled to the output. The primary power supply provides power to the output when a voltage level of the secondary power supply is less than a first predetermined level. The secondary power supply provides power to the output when the voltage level of the secondary power supply is greater than the first predetermined level. The secondary power supply not only provides power to the output, but also charges the primary power supply when the voltage level of the secondary power supply is greater than a second predetermined level that is greater than the first predetermined level.
US07977908B2
While a numerical controller is operating, an abnormality of a numerical control section is detected. In response to an abnormality detection signal, a motor deceleration stop control circuit of a servo section is actuated to perform speed control with a speed command “0”, thereby stopping a motor. If an actual speed of the motor becomes not higher than a preset speed, an off command signal for turning off a DO signal is delivered to a PMC section. In response to this off command signal, the PMC section turns off a brake control DO or all DO signals. Thus, a brake device that is attached to the motor is activated to brake the motor.
US07977906B1
Described is a fault-tolerant electro-mechanical system that is able to saccade to a target by training and using a signal processing technique. The invention enables tracking systems, such as next generational cameras, to be developed for autonomous platforms and surveillance systems where environment conditions are unpredictable. The invention includes at least one sensor configured to relay a signal containing positional information of a stimulus. At least one actuator is configured to manipulate the sensor to enable the sensor to track the stimulus. A processing device is configured to receive positional information from each sensor and each actuator. The processing device sends a positional changing signal to at least one actuator and adjusts at least one positional changing signal according to the information from each sensor and each actuator to enable the actuator to cause the sensor to track the stimulus.
US07977903B2
In an electrically powered door actuating system of a motor vehicle with a slide door, there is employed a control unit for controlling a door actuating device of the slide door. The control unit is configured to carry out, under a condition wherein the door actuating device is controlled to move the door in a closing or opening direction upon manipulation of a door control switch means, controlling the door actuating device to move the door in an opposite direction upon detecting an obstacle by a contact type obstacle sensor, and controlling the door actuating device to temporarily stop the movement of the door upon detecting an obstacle by a non-contact type obstacle sensor; and under a condition wherein the temporary stop of the door is kept, controlling the door actuating device to continue the temporary stop of the door upon detecting an obstacle by the contact and non-contact type obstacle sensors, and controlling the door actuating device to move the door in the same direction as that in which the door moved before the temporary stop of the door upon detecting no obstacle by the contact and non-contact type obstacle sensors.
US07977899B2
A motor control device is disclosed which is arranged so as to perform a PWM control for a permanent magnet motor including a rotor having a permanent magnet and a stator with a multiphase winding. The motor control device includes a position detection unit which executes an analog computation process for induced voltages of respective phases of the motor based on a phase voltage equation having, as operation terms, respective phase voltages, respective phase currents, winding inductance, winding resistance and a neutral point voltage, the winding inductance and the winding resistance being motor constants of the motor, thereby generating and delivering a rotational position signal of the rotor based on a phase relation of the induced voltages, and a digital processing unit which has a function of generating and delivering a sinusoidal PWM signal based on the rotational position signal, thereby controlling the motor.
US07977895B2
A perturbation device for a charged particle circulation system, capable of readily generating a distribution profile of a perturbation magnetic field, is provided. By partially superposing a perturbation magnetic field on a main magnetic field for circulating charged particles, perturbation is produced in trajectories of the charged particles. Then, the charged particles that have been injected into the charged particle circulation system are captured into a stable circular closed orbit. Using a leakage magnetic field formed of a magnetic field generated by magnetic field generation devices, each including a high-frequency coil, the perturbation magnetic field is generated.
US07977892B2
A lighting apparatus includes a solid state lamp including one or more solid state lighting elements, and a power circuit including a current limiting device electrically connected to the lamp. The current limiting device configured to impose a maximum threshold on the current delivered to the lamp, wherein the current limiting device functions as essentially a constant current source. The lighting apparatus includes a housing for the power circuit and lamp, as a module unit.
US07977886B2
There is provided a mercury-free discharge bulb for a vehicle. The mercury-free discharge bulb includes an arc tube. The arc tube includes: a light-emitting portion which is formed of a ceramic tube and includes a light-emitting material and a starting xenon gas filled therein, wherein a filling pressure of the starting xenon gas from about 6 atm to about 18 atm; thin tube portions which are formed at respective ends of the light-emitting portion; and electrodes which are fixed inside the thin tube portions and which are provided in the light-emitting portion so as to face each other. The light-emitting material includes at least a sodium halide and a rare-earth metal halide excluding a scandium halide, and a difference between a vapor pressure of the sodium halide and a vapor pressure of the rare-earth metal halide under an environment of about 1000° C. is about 10 kPa or less.
US07977875B2
A light emitting display includes light-emitting devices in which unnecessary layers for the emission operation of the light-emitting device are removed in an emission region, and in a case where a wavelength of a light, of which an interference intensity to the light emitted from an emissive layer constituting the light-emitting device becomes a maximum value at 0 degree of a viewing angle, is λimax and a wavelength of the light becoming a maximum in a light intensity in relation to the light emitted from the emissive layer is λemax, a relationship of λimax<λemax is satisfied, obtaining a light emitting display with a little variation in color over a wide range of viewing angles.
US07977863B2
An electro-optical device that drives each of plural pixels individually arranged in two dimensions so as to display information, is provided with a group of pixels displaying the information within an effective display region among the plural pixels arranged in two dimensions. A group of plural pseudo-pixels that do not contribute to the display of the information are located adjacent to a group of pixels within the effective display region. A bank layer separates a pixel in the group of the plural pseudo-pixels from a pixel in the group of pixels in the effective display region, and shields light leaked from a space between pixels located adjacently each other within the effective display region.
US07977862B2
A white organic light emitting device includes an anode; a cathode; and a light emitting region comprising one or more phosphorescent materials that emit red light, one or more phosphorescent materials that emit green light, and one or more fluorescent materials that emit blue light.
US07977860B2
An organic light-emitting display device and a method of fabricating the same. The organic light-emitting display device includes: a substrate; a first electrode including a first metal layer disposed on the substrate and formed of titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), a titanium or aluminum alloy, a second metal layer disposed on the first metal layer, and a transparent conductive layer disposed on the second metal layer; an organic layer disposed on the first electrode and including at least one organic emission layer; and a second electrode disposed on the organic layer. The method includes: forming a first electrode including a first metal layer formed of Ti, Al, or a titanium or aluminum alloy, a second metal layer, and a transparent conductive layer, on a substrate; forming an organic layer including at least one organic emission layer on the first electrode; and forming a second electrode on the organic layer.
US07977848B2
An acoustic wave device of the present application includes a piezoelectric substrate (14), interdigital transducer electrodes (13) formed on the piezoelectric substrate (14), and an SiO2 film (12) formed so as to cover the electrodes (13). The acoustic wave device also includes a displacement adjustment film (11) formed on the SiO2 film (12), and the displacement adjustment film (11) is formed from a substance whose acoustic velocity is slower than that of the substance forming the SiO2 film (12). According to this configuration, it is possible to suppress unnecessary waves as well as improve temperature characteristics. Also, by mounting such an acoustic wave device in a communication module or communication apparatus, it is possible to achieve an improvement in reliability.
US07977847B2
The vehicle alternator comprises a rotor. The rotor comprises a first pole core 12, a second pole core 14, a field coil 13, and holders 15 each containing a magnet 16 and disposed between a first claw 123 and a second claw 143. The holder 15 consists of the magnet 16 inserted in a tubular member X having an opening x1/openings x2, and is formed with the tubular member X deformed so as to close the opening x1/openings x2.
US07977837B2
A rotary body used in an energy storage device and capable of storing a large amount of external energy is provided in an energy storage device that stores external energy as the energy of the rotary motion of the rotary body for which the frictional resistance of the bearing parts has been reduced to a high degree using the fishing effect of superconductivity. The rotary body is used in an energy storage device capable of storing energy by rotating the rotary body for which the frictional resistance of the bearing parts having floating support that makes use of the fishing effect of superconductivity has been made very small. The rotary body is made of CFRP, and the required compressive stress is applied to it in the direction opposite to the centrifugal force of the rotary body when rotating. The rotary body has a bar-like structure elongated in the direction of the centrifugal force when the rotary body rotates.
US07977832B2
A cooling system is provided for an electric motor having control circuitry and including a motor housing surrounding the motor. The motor drives at least one radial fan at one end thereof for directing airflow through the motor housing across the motor. A fan housing encloses the cooling fan and defines a diverter chamber radially outboard of the fan that is sized to divert a portion of the airflow away from the electric motor. A control box contains the control circuitry and includes a base having a heat sink for contacting the control circuitry. The base defines a plenum in communication with the diverter chamber and a channel in communication with the plenum and the heat sink to direct the diverted airflow across the heat sink.
US07977819B2
Provided is a power converter having an inverter (13) wherein capacitors (12) are connected in parallel on a direct current side, and a power supply circuit configured to supply the inverter with a direct current from a power supply (1) and a power storage element (14). A controller using such power converter is also provided for electric rolling stocks. The power supply circuit is provided with a power supply switch (S1) arranged between the power supply and the inverter, a DC-to-DC converter (15A) arranged between the power storage element and the inverter, and a bypass switch (S2) arranged between the power storage element and the inverter.
US07977815B2
A polyphase power distribution and monitoring apparatus having sets of outputs for each phase of power and monitors for each phase of power disposed in the housing. Each monitor provides a visible display of current for an associated phase of power and an audible alarm for each phase of power if the current exceeds a predetermined value or falls below a predetermined value. In three-phase wye power systems, the apparatus preferably includes a neutral line monitor, including a neutral line current display and audio alarm, for the neutral line of the wye power circuit. The apparatus preferably is lightweight, elongated, portable, and mountable to the side of an electronic equipment rack. It may also include additional power monitoring systems such as network power monitoring tools for remotely monitoring the apparatus.
US07977809B2
An energy conversion system for converting tidal energy into electrical energy includes a barrier deployable across a body of water. The barrier has an upper and lower closed loop of cable between which are secured a series of sail arrays adapted to effect displacement of the cables around the closed loop, which motion is converted into electrical energy by one or more transducers forming part of the system.
US07977804B2
A ball-bump bonded ribbon-wire interconnect has a ball-bump attached to an integrated circuit's bond pad. A ribbon-wire has one end attached to the ball-bump and its opposing end attached to a substrate's metallized surface. The ribbon-wire may be wider than the ball-bump, and the ball-bump may separate the ribbon-wire from the integrated circuit's surface. The ribbon-wire may interconnect multiple integrated circuits, each of which has a ball-bump or a suitably wide metallized surface, to a substrate's metallized surface. The present invention also includes a method of electrically connecting an electronic component to a substrate.
US07977800B2
The semiconductor device includes: a transistor having a gate electrode formed on a semiconductor substrate and first and second source/drain regions formed in portions of the semiconductor substrate on both sides of the gate electrode; a gate interconnect formed at a position opposite to the gate electrode with respect to the first source/drain region; and a first silicon-germanium layer formed on the first source/drain region to protrude above the top surface of the semiconductor substrate. The gate interconnect and the first source/drain region are connected via a local interconnect structure that includes the first silicon-germanium layer.
US07977798B2
An integrated circuit having a semiconductor substrate with a barrier layer is disclosed. The arrangement includes a semiconductor substrate and a metallic element. A carbon-based barrier layer is disposed between the semiconductor substrate and the metallic element.
US07977790B2
When manufacturing a semiconductor device by mounting a semiconductor chip 2 on a substrate 1 with a flip-chip method, projections 9 are formed between pads 4 arranged in multiple annular concentric layers on the semiconductor chip 2 other than pads 4 arranged along the innermost periphery thereof. On the substrate 1, bonding resin 3 is dispensed onto an area inside the innermost periphery along which the pads 4 are arranged. By heating and applying pressure, the bonding resin 3 is spread over the entire gap between the substrate 1 and the semiconductor chip 2 so as to secure the substrate 1 to the semiconductor chip 2 by the bonding resin 3, thereby preventing a void from being formed in an area outside the innermost periphery along which the pads 4 are arranged and thus stabilizing an electrical connection state between the semiconductor chip 2 and the substrate 1.
US07977788B2
A contact structure having both a compliant bump and a testing area and a manufacturing method for the same is introduced. The compliant bump is formed on a conductive contact of the silicon wafer or a printed circuit board. The core of the bump is made of polymeric material, and coated with a conductive material. In particular, the compliant bump is disposed on the one side of the conductive contact structure that includes both the bump and the testing area, wherein the testing area allows the area to be functionality tested, so as to prevent damage of the coated conductive material over the compliant bump during a probe testing.
US07977787B2
A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus is provided with a drawing pattern printing part having a print head which injects a conductive solvent, an insulative solvent and an interface treatment solution. The print head is formed in such a way that desired circuit drawing pattern can be printed on a wafer based on information on the drawing pattern from a wafer testing part, information on the wafer from a storage part and coordinate information from a chip coordinate recognition part. In a semiconductor device manufacturing method according to the present invention, a semiconductor device is manufactured by using the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus in such a manner that desired circuits are formed through printing process. In the semiconductor device, pad electrodes and so on are formed in such a way that trimming process can be conducted by printing circuit drawing patterns.
US07977768B2
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a workpiece having a buried layer disposed beneath a top portion thereof. A trench is disposed in the workpiece extending at least through the buried layer. At least one sinker contact is disposed in the top portion of the workpiece. The at least one sinker contact is proximate sidewalls of at least a portion of the trench and is adjacent the buried layer. An insulating material is disposed on the sidewalls of the trench. A conductive material is disposed within the trench and is coupled to a lower portion of the workpiece.
US07977767B2
An inductor includes an inductor wiring made of a metal layer and having a spiral planar shape. In a cross-sectional shape in a width direction of the inductor wiring, the inductor wiring has a larger film thickness at least in its inner side end than in its middle part.
US07977761B2
Controlled growth of a nanostructure on a substrate, and electron emission devices based on the same
The present invention provides for an array of nanostructures grown on a conducting substrate. The array of nanostructures as provided herein is suitable for manufacturing electronic devices such as an electron beam writer, and a field emission device.
US07977760B2
A manufacturing method is provided for a photoelectric conversion device in which no plane channeling is produced. The photoelectric conversion device includes a silicon substrate and a photoelectric conversion element on one principal plane of the silicon substrate that forms an off-angle θ with at least two planes perpendicular to a reference (1 0 0) plane within a range of 3.5°≦θ≦4.5°, and an ion injecting direction for forming a semiconductor region constituting the photoelectric conversion element forms an angle θ to a direction perpendicular to the principal plane within a range of 0°<φ≦45°, and further a direction of a projection of the ion injecting direction to the principal plane forms each angle α with the two plane direction within a range of 0°<α<90°.
US07977754B2
A semiconductor device and method for fabricating a semiconductor device is disclosed. The semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate; an active region of the substrate, wherein the active region includes at least one transistor; and a passive region of the substrate, wherein the passive region includes at least one resistive structure disposed on an isolation region, the at least one resistive structure in a lower plane than the at least one transistor.
US07977751B2
Disclosed herein is an insulated gate field effect transistor including: (A) a source/drain region and a channel formation region; (B) a gate electrode formed above the channel formation region; and (C) a gate insulating film; wherein the gate insulating film is composed of a gate insulating film main body portion formed between the gate electrode and the channel formation region, and a gate insulating film extension portion extending from the insulating film main body portion to a middle of a side surface portion of the gate electrode, and when a height of the gate electrode is HGate and a height of the gate insulating film extension portion is HIns with a surface of the channel formation region as a reference, a relationship of HIns
US07977747B2
The invention specifically relates to methods of fabricating a composite substrate by providing a first insulating layer on a support substrate at a thickness of e1 and providing a second insulating layer on a source substrate at a thickness of e2, with each layer having an exposed face for bonding; providing plasma activation energy in an amount sufficient to activate a portion of the thickness of the face of the first insulating layer emp1 and a portion of the thickness of the face of the second insulating layer emp1; providing a final insulating layer by molecular bonding the activated face of the first insulating layer with the activated face of the second insulating layer; and removing a back portion of the source substrate while retaining an active layer comprising a remaining portion of the source substrate bonded to the support substrate with the final insulating layer interposed therein to form the composite substrate. The thicknesses e1, e2 of the first and second insulating layers are sufficient to provide the final insulating layer with a thickness of 50 nanometers or less, and the plasma activation energy and respective thicknesses e1, e2 of the first and second insulating layers are selected such that only respective thicknesses emp1 and emp2 of the faces of the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer are activated.
US07977744B2
A MOSFET comprises a first semiconductor region having a first surface, a first insulation-filled trench region extending from the first surface into the first semiconductor region, and strips of semi-insulating material along the sidewalls of the first insulation-filled trench region. The strips of semi-insulating material are insulated from the first semiconductor region.
US07977743B2
A semiconductor device is provided. In an embodiment, the device includes a substrate and a transistor formed on the substrate. The transistor may include a gate structure, a source region, and a drain region. The drain region includes an alternating-doping profile region. The alternating-doping profile region may include alternating regions of high and low concentrations of a dopant. In an embodiment, the transistor is a high voltage transistor.
US07977735B2
A stacked non-volatile memory device comprises a plurality of bit line and word line layers stacked on top of each other. The bit line layers comprise a plurality of bit lines that can be formed using advanced processing techniques making fabrication of the device efficient and cost effective. The device can be configured for NAND operation.
US07977734B2
A method for fabricating a silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) flash memory, comprising: preparing a silicon substrate including a silicon oxide-silicon nitride-silicon oxide (ONO) layer, a first polysilicon layer and a first etch stop layer in sequence; etching the first etch stop layer along a direction of bit line; selectively etching the first polysilicon layer with the first etch stop layer as a mask, till the silicon oxide-silicon nitride-silicon oxide (ONO) layer is exposed, the etched first polysilicon layer having an inverse trapezia section along a direction of word line; filling a dielectic layer between portions of the first polysilicon layer, the dielectric layer having a trapezia section along the direction of word line. After the above steps, it becomes easy to remove the portion of the first polysilicon layer on a sidewall of the dielectric layer by vertical etching. Thus, no polysilicon residue will be formed on the sidewall of the dielectric layer. Thereby, the short circuit between different memory cells may be avoided.
US07977730B2
A method of forming a memory device, where a first insulator layer and a charge trapping layer may be formed on a substrate, and at least one of the first insulator layer and charge trapping layer may be patterned to form patterned areas. A second insulation layer and a conductive layer may be formed on the patterned areas, and one or more of the conductive layer, second insulator layer, charge trapping layer and first insulator layer may be patterned to form a string selection line, ground selection line, a plurality of word lines between the string selection and ground selection lines on the substrate, a low voltage gate electrode, and a plurality of insulators of varying thickness. The formed memory device may be a NAND-type non-volatile memory device having a SONOS gate structure, for example.
US07977717B1
Systems and methods of pixel sensing circuits. In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a pixel sensing circuit includes a floating diffusion functionally coupled to and surrounded by a ring transfer gate. The ring transfer gate is functionally coupled to and surrounded by a photo diode. The photo diode may be surrounded by a region of poly silicon. The disclosed structure provides radiation hardening and low light performance.
US07977711B2
The present invention is a pixel sensor cell and method of making the same. The pixel sensor cell approximately doubles the available signal for a given quanta of light. The device of the present invention utilizes the holes produced by impinging photons in a pixel sensor cell circuit. A pixel sensor cell having reduced complexity includes an n-type collection well region formed beneath a surface of a substrate for collecting electrons generated by electromagnetic radiation impinging on the pixel sensor cell and a p-type collection well region formed beneath the surface of the substrate for collecting holes generated by the impinging photons. A circuit structure having a first input is coupled to the n-type collection well region and a second input is coupled to the p-type collection well region, wherein an output signal of the pixel sensor cell is the magnitude of the difference of a signal of the first input and a signal of the second input.
US07977707B2
Provided are a capacitorless DRAM and methods of manufacturing the same. The capacitorless DRAM may include a substrate including a source, a drain and a channel, a gate on the channel of the substrate, and a hole reserving unit below the channel.
US07977706B2
Semiconductor structures include a trench formed proximate a substrate including a first semiconductor material. A crystalline material including a second semiconductor material lattice mismatched to the first semiconductor material is formed in the trench. Process embodiments include removing a portion of the dielectric layer to expose a side portion of the crystalline material and defining a gate thereover. Defects are reduced by using an aspect ratio trapping approach.
US07977702B2
A light-emitting device that includes an LED and a light extraction layer and the method for making the same are disclosed. The LED includes a substrate on which an active layer is sandwiched between a p-type layer and an n-type layer, the active layer generating light in a band of wavelengths about a central wavelength when holes and electrons recombine therein. The n-type layer, active layer, and p-type layer are formed on the substrate. First and second electrodes for providing a potential difference between the p-type layer and the n-type layer are included in the LED. The light extraction layer includes a clear layer of material having a first surface in contact with a surface of the LED and a second surface having light scattering features with dimensions greater than 0.5 times the central wavelength. The material of the clear layer can be polycrystalline or amorphous.
US07977690B2
Techniques for combining nanotechnology with photovoltaics are provided. In one aspect, a method of forming a photovoltaic device is provided comprising the following steps. A plurality of nanowires are formed on a substrate, wherein the plurality of nanowires attached to the substrate comprises a nanowire forest. In the presence of a first doping agent and a first volatile precursor, a first doped semiconductor layer is conformally deposited over the nanowire forest. In the presence of a second doping agent and a second volatile precursor, a second doped semiconductor layer is conformally deposited over the first doped layer. The first doping agent comprises one of an n-type doping agent and a p-type doping agent and the second doping agent comprises a different one of the n-type doping agent and the p-type doping agent from the first doping agent. A transparent electrode layer is deposited over the second doped semiconductor layer.
US07977683B2
Disclosed is a light emitting device. The light emitting device includes a light emitting structure comprising an active layer to generate first light, a first conductive semiconductor layer on the active layer, and a second conductive semiconductor layer on the active layer so that the active layer is disposed between the first and second conductive semiconductor layers, wherein a portion of the light emitting structure is implanted with at least one element which generates second light from the first light.
US07977682B2
Provided is a compound light emitting device which facilitates easy connection of power supply lines, and has a high emission intensity in-plane uniformity. The light emitting device includes a first-conduction-type cladding layer, active layer structure, and second-conduction-type cladding layer each containing a III-V compound semiconductor. The first-conduction-type cladding layer and second-conduction-type cladding layer sandwich the active layer structure. The light emitting device includes a first-conduction-type-side electrode (7) for injecting carriers into the first-conduction-type cladding layer, and a second-conduction-type-side electrode (6) for injecting carriers into the second-conduction-type cladding layer. The first-conduction-type-side electrode (7) has an opening (7p). The second-conduction-type-side electrode (6) has a main-electrode-portion (6-0) partially surrounded by the first-conduction-type-side electrode (7), and extracting portions (6-1, 6-2) for extracting the main-electrode-portion (6-0) outside the first-conduction-type-side electrode (7) though the opening (7p). The main-electrode-portion (6-0) is a part of a constant-width figure. The interval between the outer edge of the main-electrode-portion (6-0) and the inner edge of the first-conduction-type-side electrode (7) is almost constant.
US07977680B2
In a semiconductor device having a substrate which has a metal surface, an insulating film which is formed on the substrate having the metal surface, and a pixel unit which is formed on the insulating film; the pixel unit includes a TFT, and wiring lines connected with the TFT, and a storage capacitor is constituted by the substrate (11) having the metal surface, the insulating film (12), and the wiring line (21). As the insulating film is thinner, and as the area of a region where the insulating film and the wiring line lie in contact is larger, the storage capacitor is endowed with a larger capacity.
US07977674B2
A phase change memory device and a method of fabricating the same are provided. A phase change material layer of the phase change memory device is formed of germanium (Ge)-antimony (Sb)-Tellurium (Te)-based Ge2Sb2+xTe5 (0.12≦x≦0.32), so that the crystalline state is determined as a stable single phase, not a mixed phase of a metastable phase and a stable phase, in phase transition between crystalline and amorphous states of a phase change material, and the phase transition according to increasing temperature directly transitions to the single stable phase from the amorphous state. As a result, set operation stability and distribution characteristics of set state resistances of the phase change memory device can be significantly enhanced, and an amorphous resistance can be maintained for a long time at a high temperature, i.e., around crystallization temperature, and thus reset operation stability and rewrite operation stability of the phase change memory device can be significantly enhanced.
US07977672B2
A two-terminal organic light-emitting device structure is presented with low absorption losses and high current densities. Light generation and emission occur at a predetermined distance from any metallic contact, thereby reducing optical absorption losses. High current densities and thus high emitted light intensity are achieved by combining two types of conduction in one device: by combining space charge limited conduction and field-effect conduction or by combining ohmic conduction and field-effect conduction, thereby optimizing the current densities. This results in a very high local concentration of excitons and therefore a high light intensity, which can be important for applications such as organic lasers, and more in particular electrically pumped organic lasers.
US07977667B2
Methods of forming planar carbon nanotube (“CNT”) resistivity-switching materials for use in memory cells are provided, that include depositing first dielectric material, patterning the first dielectric material, etching the first dielectric material to form a feature within the first dielectric material, depositing CNT resistivity-switching material over the first dielectric material to fill the feature at least partially with the CNT resistivity-switching material, depositing second dielectric material over the CNT resistivity-switching material, and planarizing the second dielectric material and the CNT resistivity-switching material so as to expose at least a portion of the CNT resistivity-switching material within the feature. Other aspects are also provided.
US07977664B2
Growing a first nitride semiconductor layer on an AlxGayIn1-x-yN(0≦x≦1, 0
US07977656B2
A charged particle beam irradiation system includes an accelerator for accelerating a charged particle beam, a beam irradiation apparatus having a beam energy modulator and arranged for irradiating an object with the charged particle beam extracted from the accelerator and having passed the beam energy modulator, which is rotated and whose thickness in the axial direction differs in the rotational direction, and a controller for controlling the extraction intensity of the charged particle beam extracted from the accelerator, while the charged particle beam is being extracted, on the basis of the rotational angle of the beam energy modulator.
US07977647B2
A radiological imaging apparatus using a semiconductor radiation detector to make it possible to reduce a radiation measurement off time that may result from an attempt to avoid polarization, the radiological imaging apparatus comprising a capacitor that applies a voltage to a semiconductor radiation detector that detects a radiation from a subject, first current regulated means for conducting a charge current to the capacitor, and second current regulated means for conducting a discharge current from the capacitor, or comprising a capacitor that applies a voltage to the semiconductor radiation detector, a first resistor that conducts a charge current to and a discharge current from the capacitor, and a second resistor connected in parallel with the first resistor to subject the capacitor to charging and discharging.
US07977646B2
A scintillation detector and system includes a scintillation crystal having a surface and a reflector surrounding at least a portion of the scintillation crystal. The reflector includes an organic substrate and an inorganic material fixed to the organic substrate, wherein at least a portion of the inorganic material contacts at least a portion of the crystal surface.
US07977636B2
A method for performing sub-micron optical spectroscopy, using a heated SPM probe and far-field collection optics is described. The enhanced emission characteristics at a sharp heated tip constitute a highly localized wideband IR source. Thus the IR absorption and emission properties of a sample surface adjacent can be observed and measured in the farfield even though the interaction region is sub-micron in scale. . . . providing spatial resolution mapping of sample composition.
US07977632B2
To make it possible to observe the bottom of a contact hole and internal wires, in observation of the contact hole 102, by scanning it at a predetermined acceleration voltage, the positive charge 106 is formed on the surface of the insulator 101, and the secondary electrons 104 are attracted in the hole by this electric field, and the hole is continuously scanned at an acceleration voltage different from the acceleration voltage, and the sample is observed. When the wires embedded in the insulator are to be observed, by observing the insulator at a predetermined acceleration voltage, an electron beam is allowed to enter the sample, and the sample is continuously scanned at an acceleration voltage different from the acceleration voltage, and hence the existence of wires is reflected as a change in the charge of the surface, and it is observed. In either case, the acceleration voltage before observation is different from the one during observation, and the sample surface is temporarily radiated at an acceleration voltage positively generating a positive or negative charge, and thereafter, the acceleration voltage is returned to a one suited to observation, and the sample is observed.
US07977630B2
There is disclosed an electron microscope that achieves low-magnification imaging while the objective lens is kept at high excitation in the same way as during high-magnification imaging. An objective minilens located immediately behind the objective lens demagnifies a specimen image magnified by the objective lens. Consequently, a sharply focused electron beam enters the first intermediate lens. This greatly reduces the effects of off-axis aberrations in the intermediate lenses. The first, second, and third intermediate lenses create a crossover image and a microscope image in the entrance window plane and entrance image plane, respectively, of an energy filter. The energy filter focuses the microscope image and crossover image onto the exit image plane and exit window plane, respectively. The output image from the filter is projected onto the final image plane by first and second projector lenses.
US07977626B2
A method and apparatus for performing time of flight mass spectrometry wherein the number of sums of transients taken for generating a given spectra is determined as a function of a characteristic of the incoming data for that spectrum. For instance, the number of transient measurements taken for a given spectrum output can be determined as a function of the abundance of ions in the sample or the abundance of ions corresponding to a base peak or another selected peak. In yet another embodiment, the collection of transients is terminated when a threshold signal to noise ratio is attained.
US07977621B2
A thermochromic optical filter incorporating quantum confinement devices is formed as multilayered composite film of semiconducting materials. A quantum well adjacent a barrier layer ensures proper confinement of charge carriers within the well. A transition wavelength (i.e., the energy/wavelength at which the filter becomes transparent) is established by selecting a quantum well material with a bandgap near the desired energy and a barrier layer material with a higher bandgap. For a given reference temperature (e.g., room temperature), the exact transition wavelength is fixed by the thickness of the quantum well. The quantum confinement energy is added to the bandgap energy to yield the transition energy. A thermal control system varies the temperature of the thermochromic filter to adjust the transition wavelength. Temperature changes affect both the bandgap and the quantum confinement energy, and thus the optical properties of the thermochromic filter. The thermochromic filter may function as a longpass filter.
US07977620B2
A laser welding method for stacked workpieces. A laser irradiation diameter that is irradiated on a surface of one workpiece among two stacked workpieces is set such that a laser irradiation diameter at a weld ending-edge portion is equal to or greater than approximately 1.5 times a laser irradiation diameter at a weld starting-edge portion. Thus, at the weld ending-edge portion, the material is melted in a wider area compared to a conventional example, and therefore, the melted material is supplied to the center portion of the weld ending-edge portion while the weld ending-edge portion is solidifying. As a result, a depth of the recess at the weld ending-edge portion can be made shallow enough to guarantee the welding quality of each of the workpieces.
US07977617B2
An image intensifying device includes a lens that is positioned at a light input that forms an image of a scene. The image intensifying device also includes an image intensifier tube that includes a photocathode that is positioned to receive the image formed by the lens. The photocathode generates photoelectrons in response to the light image of the scene. The image intensifier tube also includes a microchannel plate having an input surface comprising the photocathode. The microchannel plate receives the photoelectrons generated by the photocathode and generating secondary electrons. An electron detector receives the secondary electrons generated by the microchannel plate and generates an intensified image of the scene.
US07977610B2
A device and a method for receiving ceramic heating elements (PTC elements, cold conductors) in a heating device, use an insulating frame and at least one contact plate held by the latter and on which the heating elements can be placed. The device is characterized in that the contact plate is frictionally held in the frame. The method is characterized in that at least on the contact plate side remote from the heating element reception side is moulded on or spread a layer of the following materials: plastic, polymer ceramic, ceramic.
US07977589B2
A tap changer and a method for measuring a contact sequence of a tap changer is provided. The tap changer includes a cylinder and a shaft that is rotatably arranged inside the cylinder, the cylinder is provided with fixed contacts, the shaft is provided with a contact circuit facing the cylinder and including mechanical contacts, which mechanical contacts are adapted to selectively mate with the fixed contacts of the cylinder upon rotation of the shaft, the contact circuit also includes at least two measuring points for measuring the function of the contact circuit. The tap changer includes at least one measuring contact device, which is electrically connected to the respective measuring points in the contact circuit, and which the measuring contact device is arranged inside the shaft. This facilitates access to the measuring points of the tap changer.
US07977588B2
An on-load tap changer position sensor includes a series of radially spaced reed switches and a magnetic indicator that is rotated by a shaft that is coupled directly or indirectly to a load tap changer. As the position of the magnetic indicator changes, the location of the magnetic field created by the magnetic indicator moves. Each reed switch includes a set of contacts that close when in the presence of the magnetic field. The closed contacts create a voltage differential that is detected and used to determine the location of the closed reed switch and thus the position of the on-load tap changer.
US07977586B2
A weight sensor includes an arm having an end fixed to a pillar and a free end; a filtrate holder, a replacement fluid holder, and a dialysate holder provided at three locations of the arm along a longitudinal direction of the arm to hold respective substances; a first strain value sensor, a second strain value sensor, and a third strain value sensor each of which detects a strain value of the arm corresponding to a total weight of the substances held by the holders ranging from a holder proximate to the free end to a corresponding holder; and a weight calculation unit that calculates the total and each of the weights from the obtained detection results.
US07977582B2
A flexible multilayer printed circuit assembly with shield fences. The flexible multilayer printed circuit assembly with multiple conductive layers includes logic ground vias that connect logic ground plane layers together, and shield vias that connect a top and a bottom shield plane layer together. Each of the shield fences is formed between the shield vias on an outside perimeter of each of the conductive layers. Each of the shield fences contains the logic ground vias inside, and also contains each corresponding conductive layer in the horizontal direction to which each layer extends.
US07977564B2
In normal mode or expansion mode, a normal load table 53 or an expansion load table 54 is selected, respectively, to store half area start position HS and half area end position HE as effect-switchable positions. The selected load table is referenced to generate and output drive signals so as to obtain depression reaction force F according to position ST. In accordance with player's depression/release of keys, musical tone signals are generated on the basis of waveform data 51 and envelope data 52 corresponding to the manipulated keys, designated basic tone color and depression area to carry out tone emission/tone-vanishing processes. Both the characteristics of musical tones and the rate of change in the reaction force switch at the effect-switchable positions.
US07977561B2
Disclosed is a modular electronic musical keyboard performance system that can be separated into modules for better portability and flexibility.
US07977558B2
Intended is to provide a strainer having a switch mechanism, which is hardly rattled by a wear, which can be stably operated by a weak force, which does not load a snare assembly and which can maintain an excellent operation feel, and a snare assembly holding structure which has a reliable clamping force so that it can prevent the looseness of the snare assembly end portion. An operation lever is hinged on its base end side to a base body. A link is turnably connected on its one end side to the lower side portion of a snare assembly holding member, and is likewise turnably connected on its other end side to a midway position of the operation lever. When the operation lever turns upward, the snare assembly holding member is pulled upward through the link. When the operation lever turns downward, the snare assembly holding member is pushed downward.
US07977552B1
A novel maize variety designated X7P254 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing maize variety X7P254 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X7P254 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X7P254, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X7P254. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X7P254.
US07977546B1
According to the invention, there is provided a novel soybean variety designated XB13D09. This invention thus relates to the seeds of soybean variety XB13D09, to the plants of soybean XB13D09 to plant parts of soybean variety XB13D09 and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing plants of the soybean variety XB13D09 with another soybean plant, using XB13D09 as either the male or the female parent.
US07977532B2
A catamenial tampon comprises a compressed absorbent member having an inner region and an exterior surface, the compressed absorbent member comprising an absorbent material. An overwrap substantially covers the exterior surface of the compressed absorbent member. The overwrap comprises an apertured fluid pervious material that is hydrophobic or rendered hydrophobic relative to the compressed absorbent member. The fluid pervious overwrap therefore tends to remain free of fluid as the fluid is preferentially partitioned into the absorbent member.
US07977512B2
Disclosed is a benzonitrile derivative which is useful as a production intermediate for benzylamine derivative represented by the general formula (5) below and s secondary amine derivative represented by the general formula (9) below. Also disclosed are a method for producing such a benzonitrile derivative and a use thereof as a bactericide. Specifically disclosed are a novel benzonitrile derivative represented by the general formula (1) below, a salt thereof, a production method thereof, and a use thereof as a pharmaceutical intermediate or a bactericide. [Chemical formula 1] (5) (In the formula, n represents an integer of 0-3, and R1 represents a hydrogen, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms or the like.) [Chemical formula 2] (9) (In the formula, n and R1 are a defined above, and R4 represents a hydrogen, a linear or branched alkl group having 1-6 carbon atoms or the like.) [Chemical formula 3] (1) (In the formula, n represents an integer of 0-3, and R1 represents a hydrogen, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms or the like.)
US07977511B2
Carnitine conjugates of adamantanamines and neramexane derivatives as dual prodrugs for various uses
This invention concerns compounds of adamantanamines and neramexane, including their pharmaceutically-acceptable salts, diesterioisomers, and formulations for treating Alzheimer's related dementias, depression, AIDS related dementias, as antivirals, inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and cerebral ischemia, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes.
US07977502B2
The invention provides an integrated, continuous process for the production of 3-pentenenitrile, the refining of 3-pentenenitrile, and the refining of 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile, the process comprising: (a) contacting, in a reaction zone, a hydrogen cyanide-containing feed, a butadiene-containing feed, and a catalyst composition, wherein the catalyst composition comprises a zero-valent nickel and at least one bidentate phosphorus-containing ligand selected from the group consisting of a phosphite, a phosphonite, a phosphinite, a phosphine, a mixed phosphorus-containing ligand, and combination thereof; (b) maintaining a residence time in the reaction zone sufficient to convert about 95% or more of the hydrogen cyanide and to produce a reaction mixture comprising 3-pentenenitrile and 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile, wherein the 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile concentration is maintained below about 15 weight percent of the total mass of the reaction mixture; (c) distilling the reaction mixture to obtain a first stream comprising 1,3-butadiene, a second stream comprising 3-pentenenitrile, 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile, (Z)-2-methyl-2-butenenitrile, and optionally 1,3-butadiene, and a third stream comprising the catalyst composition; (d) distilling the second stream to obtain a fourth stream comprising 1,3-butadiene, a fifth stream comprising 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile, (Z)-2-methyl-2-butenenitrile, and optionally 1,3-butadiene, and a sixth stream comprising 3-pentenenitrile; and (e) distilling the fifth stream to obtain a seventh stream comprising 1,3-butadiene, an eighth stream comprising (Z)-2-methyl-2-butenenitrile, and a ninth stream comprising 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile.
US07977486B2
An electron donor-acceptor dyad is provided that can provide a charge-separated state with longevity and not only high oxidizing power but also high reducing power. A compound of the present invention is a quinolinium ion derivative represented by the following formula (I), a stereoisomer or tautomer thereof, or a salt thereof: where R1 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, and Ar1 to Ar3 each are a hydrogen atom or an electron-donating group. The compound of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure and therefore can provide a charge-separated state with longevity and not only high oxidizing power but also high reducing power and can be used for various products such as photocatalysts, photosensitizers, dyes, oxidants, reductants, dye-sensitized solar cells, and organic EL devices.
US07977482B2
The present invention relates to a) a non-oxidative coloring agent for keratin fibers, in particular human hair, comprising at least one dye according to formula (I) or (II), b) an oxidative coloring agent for keratin fibers, in particular human hair, which comprises at least one oxidizing agent (e.g. hydrogen peroxide), at least one oxidative dye precursor and at least one dye according to formula (I) or (II), and c) a lightening agent for keratin fibers, in particular human hair, which comprises at least one oxidizing agent (e.g. hydrogen peroxide) and at least one dye according to formula (I) or (II), with R4 being a cationic group.
US07977476B2
Disclosed are methods of attaching biologically active compounds to a solid surface, comprising modifying the solid surface using triazine chloride and attaching the biologically active compound to the triazine moiety.
US07977473B1
A non crystalline or low crystallinity cellulose is able to be formed into a medicine tablet medium. A method of making a tablet of non crystalline or low crystallinity cellulose comprises providing cellulosic material, adding an effective acid in an amount effective to at least wet the cellulosic material, mixing the cellulosic material and acid under conditions effective to form an essentially uniformly wet condition, letting the mixture sit at ambient conditions for a period of time sufficient to form a viscous fluid, adding water or other diluent in an amount sufficient to lower the acid concentration and to form a slurry, dewatering the slurry, removing any residual acid from the dewatered slurry and forming the tablet.
US07977462B2
The invention discloses 482 novel phosphorylation sites identified in carcinoma and/or leukemia, peptides (including AQUA peptides) comprising a phosphorylation site of the invention, antibodies specifically bind to a novel phosphorylation site of the invention, and diagnostic and therapeutic uses of the above.
US07977461B2
The present invention provides an antibody which has the following features, its active fragment, or a derivative thereof: a) It specifically binds to human platelet membrane glycoprotein VI (GPVI); b) The function to activate a platelet and/or the function to induce a thrombocytopenia in vivo are low; and c) It at least partially depletes GPVI on the platelet membrane by contacting with a platelet.
US07977459B2
The object is to isolate and identify human and mouse adiponectin receptors, to provide a novel protein having adiponectin binding ability, and to provide a screening method and screening kit for a ligand, agonist and antagonist to an adiponectin receptor using such protein. To achieve this object, a protein is used, as novel protein having adiponectin binding ability, that is (a) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence according to Seq. No. 2, 4, 6 or 8, or (b) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence according to Seq. No. 2, 4, 6 or 8 with one or more amino acids deleted, replaced or added, and having adiponectin binding ability.
US07977457B2
This invention provides fusion proteins comprising consecutive amino acids which beginning at the amino terminus of the protein correspond to consecutive amino acids present in (i) a cytomegalovirus human MHC-restricted peptide, (ii) a first peptide linker, (iii) a human β-2 microglobulin, (iv) a second peptide linker, (v) a HLA-A2 chain of a human MHC class I molecule, (vi) a third peptide linker, (vii) a variable region from a heavy chain of a scFv fragment of an antibody, and (viii) a variable region from a light chain of such scFv fragment, wherein the consecutive amino acids which correspond to (vii) and (viii) are bound together directly by a peptide bond or by consecutive amino acids which correspond to a fourth peptide linker, wherein the antibody from which the scFv fragment is derived specifically binds to mesothelin. This invention provides nucleic acid constructs encoding same, processes for producing same, compositions, and uses thereof.
US07977448B2
The invention relates to a continuous or discontinuous method for the production of highly condensed polyesters in the solid state, comprising a crystallization of a polyester material, wherein the crystallization is carried out in the presence of a gas with a dew point of (less than or equal to) ≦approximately −10° C. The invention also relates to a method for the production of polyester formed bodies using the polyester material obtained for the production of bottles, films and high strength threads.
US07977442B2
A polymer includes a repeating unit shown by a general formula (1) in which R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, R2 represents a substituted or unsubstituted linear or branched monovalent alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an alicyclic group having 3 to 25 carbon atoms, or an aryl group having 6 to 22 carbon atoms, and X represents a substituted or unsubstituted methylene group or a substituted or unsubstituted linear, branched or alicyclic hydrocarbon group having 2 to 25 carbon atoms. The polymer has a polystyrene-reduced weight average molecular weight determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of 3000 to 100,000.
US07977438B2
A process for polymerizing at least one fluorinated monomer in an aqueous polymerization medium in the presence of initiator and polymerization agent to form an aqueous dispersion of particles of fluoropolymer having a fluoropolymers solids content of at least about 10% by weight. The polymerization agent is a combination of fluoropolyether acid or salt thereof and siloxane surfactant. The aqueous polymerization medium contains less than about 300 ppm of perfluoroalkane carboxylic acid or salt fluorosurfactants.
US07977432B2
The present invention is a, solid block copolymer comprising at least two polymer end blocks A and at least one polymer interior block B wherein each A block is a polymer block resistant to lithiation and each B block is a polymer block susceptible to lithiation, and wherein said A and B blocks do not contain any significant levels of olefinic unsaturation. After lithiation, the lithiated polymer is reacted with at least one graftable functional molecule selected from the group consisting of an electrophilic graftable molecule containing a functional group and an electrophile. Preferred are carbon monoxide and ethylene oxide. Also claimed are processes for making such block copolymers, and the various end uses and applications for such block copolymers.
US07977430B2
The present invention provides a water-soluble crosslinkable polyurea prepolymer. The crosslinkable polyurea prepolymer of the invention is prepared by reacting an amine- or isocyanate-capped polyurea with a multifunctional compound having at least one one ethylenically unsaturated group and a function group coreactive with the capping amine or isocyanate groups of the amine- or isocyanate-capped polyurea. The amine- or isocyanate-capped polyurea is a copolymerization production of: (a) at least one poly(oxyalkylene)diamine, (b) optionally at least one organic di- or poly-amine, (c) optionally at least one diisocyanate, and (d) at least one polyisocyanate. The crosslinkable polyurea prepolymer of the invention can find use in economically producing contact lenses which have durable, highly elastic soft contact lenses with desired physical properties. In addition, the present invention provides method for making a medical device, preferably an ophthalmic device, more preferably a contact lens.
US07977428B2
To provide a block copolymer composition excellent in balance of transparency, impact resistance, etc. in the form of not only an excluded product and a blow molded product but also an injection molded product.A linear block copolymer composition having at least three types of polymer blocks with different molecular weights each comprising a vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon as monomer units, wherein the molecular weight distribution of a mixture of the polymer blocks is within a specific range, and in GPC of the mixture, M1/M2 is within a specific range, where M1 is the peak top molecular weight corresponding to a peak at which the peak top molecular weight becomes maximum among peaks forming a proportion of the area of at least 30% to the whole peak area, and M2 is the peak top molecular weight corresponding to a peak at which the peak top molecular weight becomes minimum among peaks at which the peak top molecular weight is at most 50,000 and which form a proportion of the area of at least 20% to the whole peak area.
US07977424B2
A soy-based polyol is mixed with an isocyanate and aggregate to produce a soy-based polyurethane having superior mechanical properties. The aggregate composition may be varied to obtain different mechanical properties, as can the amount of resin. The resin may be crosslinked using a low molecular weight polyol, such as glycerine, to also improve structural performance. A catalyst may be added to accelerate curing time without reducing structural performance.
US07977423B2
Carbon nanotube reinforced polymers include a polymer and carbon nanotubes reinforcing the polymer. The carbon nanotube reinforced polymer exhibits a conductivity percolation threshold of less than 106 Ω/cm at a carbon nanotube content of 1.5 wt. % and less. The polymer may be selected from a polyamide or a polystyrene based polymer. In certain embodiments, the carbon nanotube content is between 0.1 to 1.5 wt. %, and the reinforced polymer will have a percolation threshold at a carbon nanotube content of less than 0.5 wt. %.
US07977421B2
A brominated diphenyl ethane mixture of the present invention comprises about 0 to about 2% by weight of pentabromodiphenyl ethane, about 55 to 85% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane, about 1 to 20% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, about 1 to 25% by weight of octabromodiphenyl ethane, about 0 to about 10% by weight of nonabromodiphenyl ethane, and about 0 to about 5% by weight of decabromodephenyl ethane. The brominated diphenyl ethane mixture can be added to thermoplastic resin as a flame retardant, can exhibit excellent compatibility with thermoplastic resins, can minimize the generation of environmental problems, and can obtain excellent impact resistance, thermal stability, weatherability and flowability as well as improved flame resistance.
US07977408B2
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording ink which contains at least a pigment, a dispersant, a water-soluble solvent, a wetting agent and water, wherein the pigment contains at least one of diketopyrrolopyrrole red pigment and phthalocyanine green pigment in order to obtain a recording ink and ink set which excel in discharge stability with no head clogging during printing and can obtain high quality images with good color tone on the regular paper as well as on an exclusive recording paper; and ink cartridge, ink record, inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method which utilize the recording ink and ink set respectively.
US07977403B2
The present invention relates to compositions comprising silicone elastomers and antiseptics in homogeneous distribution, to processes for the preparation thereof and to uses thereof, for example, in medical articles.
US07977400B2
Using a photosensitive resin composition comprising a polyimide (a) having, at the end of the main chain, at least one group selected from the group consisting of a carboxyl group, a phenolic hydroxyl group, a sulfonic acid group and a thiol group, an unsaturated bond-containing polymerizable compound (b1) represented by the general formula (1), and a photopolymerization initiator (c), it is possible to conduct alkaline development and to form a polyimide film having excellent heat resistance, strength and elongation.
US07977390B2
A method for etching features in a dielectric layer is provided. A mask is formed over the dielectric layer. A protective silicon-containing coating is formed on exposed surfaces of the mask. The features are etched through the mask and protective silicon-containing coating. The features may be partially etched before the protective silicon-containing coating is formed.
US07977388B2
Use of idebenone for the preparation of a medicament for the treating of a muscular dystrophy in particular for treating and/or preventing weakness and/or loss of skeletal muscle tissue and/or cardiomyopathy associated with a muscular dystrophy.
US07977382B2
A novel bio platinum complex which increases the therapeutic applicability and effectiveness of platinum used as a cancer treatment in humans and animals especially in anti tumor treatments and to prevent the spread of cancer without fear of high toxicity. The present invention provides for a new method of administration of the bio platinum complex, which is oral administration in specific dosage with suitable carriers either by itself or in combination with other metals or minerals. The administration of the novel bio platinum complex can be carried out in combination with other plant materials depending on the nature of the treatment afforded. Use of the novel bio Platinum complex extends to agriculture and horticulture. Further, the invention is characterized by the irreversible nature of the bio platinum to its metallic form, high solubility, and the non-toxic nature when used in specific dosage, which increases the utility of platinum, in various other fields apart from its therapeutic applications. The present invention also provides for a new process for the preparation of bio platinum with the aid of plant materials.
US07977368B2
The invention provides compounds of Formula I wherein A, Y, R1, R1a, R2, and R2a are as described in the specification. Compounds of Formula I are useful in treating and/or preventing cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. The invention also encompasses pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds of Formula I, methods of preparing compounds of Formula I, and methods of treating cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.
US07977367B2
The present invention provides Formula (1A) compounds that act as glucokinase activators; pharmaceutical compositions thereof; and methods of treating diseases, disorders, or conditions mediated by glucokinase. X, Y, Z, R1, R2, R3, and R4 are as described herein.
US07977345B2
A compound for modulating kinase activity according to Formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, Wherein J1, J2, J3, R2, J4, Z, Ar and R3 are as defined in the specification, compositions thereof, and methods of use thereof.
US07977344B2
The present invention includes novel compounds useful in the treatment of various disorders in particular infectious diseases, cancer, and allergic diseases and other inflammatory conditions for example allergic rhinitis and asthma, and as vaccine adjuvants.
US07977341B2
The present invention provides compounds of formula I: (I) along with methods of making the same, compositions thereof, and methods of use thereof, particularly methods of use as fungicides.
US07977335B2
The present invention provides a method of preventing or reducing the severity of a stress-associated condition in a subject by systemically administering to the subject an effective amount of brimonidine or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, ester, amide, stereoisomer or racemic mixture thereof. Stress-associated conditions that can be treated according to a method of the invention include, but are not limited to, dyspepsia, tachycardias other than tachycardia associated with myocardial ischemia, panic attack, non-inflammatory dermatological conditions, disorders of muscle contraction, sensory hypersensitivity associated with migraine, and behavioral disorders.
US07977329B2
The present invention relates to novel compounds of Formula (I): which act as 5HT2C receptor modulators. These compounds are useful in pharmaceutical compositions whose use includes the treatment of obesity.
US07977328B2
Compounds of formula (I) wherein R1, HET-1 and HET-2 are as described in the specification, and their salts and pro-drugs, are activators of glucokinase (GLK) and are thereby useful in the treatment of, for example, type 2 diabetes. Processes for preparing compounds of formula (I) are also described.
US07977325B2
This invention relates to compounds of general formula I in which R1 and R2 are described in this application, the use of the compounds of general formula I as inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinases for treatment of various diseases as well as the compounds of general formulas II and III as intermediate compounds for the production of compounds of general formula I, wherein X, R1a and R2a have the meaning that is described in general formulas II and III.
US07977320B2
The present invention provides compositions and methods for increasing the amount of active Syk protein kinase and or SHP-1 protein phosphatase in a cell. The compositions and methods are useful for increasing the efficacy of anti-neoplastic agents, such as those that target the CD33 protein, and which are used to treat leukemia. The invention thus provides for treatment of cancers, including leukemias. The invention also provides screening assays for anti-neoplastic agents in vitro. Methods of screening patients for responsiveness to anti-CD33 treatments are also provided.
US07977318B2
An O-acyl product derived from glucose which may be obtained by partial or total esterification of glucose and of vitamin F, comprising a mixture of esters, for example, monoesters, of glucose and of at least one acid chosen from linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid, compositions, for example, cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions, comprising this novel derivative, and their use for improving the condition of head hair and/or other hairs, and, for example, for reducing and/or impeding the loss of head hair and/or other hairs, and/or for inducing and/or stimulating hair growth, as well as a process for preparing O-acyl derivatives mainly in position 6 of glucose, comprising preparing a mixed anhydride by reacting a carboxylic acid with a trimethylacetyl halide, followed by reacting said mixed anhydride formed with glucose.
US07977314B2
The invention provides a method for treating a medical condition, disease, or disorder mediated by a misfolded form of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in a subject in need of treatment. The method optionally comprises administering to the subject a composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle and an agent selected from (1) an exogenous antibody or fragment thereof that binds selectively to the misfolded form of SOD, and/or (2) an immunogen that elicits production of an endogenous antibody that binds selectively to the misfolded form of SOD, and/or (3) a nucleic acid sequence encoding (1) or (2). In certain embodiments, the invention provides methods of treating diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using amyotrophic disease-specific epitopes, and compositions including these epitopes. The invention also provides antibodies that bind to monomeric or misfolded SOD1, and not on the molecular surface of native homodimeric SOD1. In addition, the invention includes methods of diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a subject. Also, the invention provides methods of identifying substances for the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and kits using the binding proteins of the invention.
US07977308B2
Dipeptides and derivatives and analogs, such as Pal-KT have been developed. These dipeptides, derivatives and analogs may be used alone or in an additive, to produce cosmetics, topical pharmaceuticals and personal care products, particularly for skin care. Methods of making the dipeptides, derivatives, analogs and additives containing same are also described.
US07977307B2
The present invention is direct to a method of producing analgesia in a mammalian subject. The method includes administering to the subject an omega conopeptide, preferably ziconotide, in combination with an analgesic selected from the group consisting of morphine, bupivacaine, clonidine, hydromorphone, baclofen, fentanyil, buprenorphine, and sufentanil, or its pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein the ω-conopeptide retains its potency and is physically and chemically compatible with the analgesic compound. A preferred route of administration is intrathecal administration, particularly continuous intrathecal infusion. The present invention is also directed to a pharmaceutical formulation comprising an omega conopeptide, preferably ziconotide, an antioxidant, in combination with an analgesic selected from the group consisting of morphine, bupivacaine, clonidine, hydromorphone, baclofen, fentanyl, buprenorphine, and sufentanil.
US07977301B2
The present invention provides a wet wipe made up of a substrate impregnated with a cleaning lotion where the cleaning lotion includes a particulate material.
US07977300B2
The present invention relates to thiazolium dyes and laundry care compositions comprising one or more thiazolium dyes. The dyes and compositions are advantageous in providing improved hueing of fabric, including whitening of white fabric, while avoiding significant build up of bluing dyes on the fabric.
US07977294B2
The present invention includes a process using environmentally friendly materials for the removal of adhesive residues from hard substrates, particularly vehicles, e.g., cars, trucks, buses, aerospace vehicles including airplanes, and the like. The process uses a novel adhesive remover composition comprising one or more non-halogenated organic solvents, a non-abrasive thickening agent, a surfactant, and a vapor-pressure modulating agent. The total Hansen Solubility Parameter (δt) at 25° C. for each of the non-halogenated organic solvents is from about 14 MPa1/2 to about 24 MPa1/2. The invention provides a cost effective, safe, environmentally friendly adhesive remover composition specifically formulated for removal of, e.g., pressure sensitive adhesive residues from large areas of aircraft composite and aluminum surfaces, as well as others.
US07977291B2
Graffiti removal compositions has been developed and are disclosed that when coupled with reliable methods: a) consistently removes graffiti and other unwanted or undesirable paint, inks or permanent markers from a surface, b) is packaged such that it is easily transported, c) is easy to use and requires no additional on-site additives or special equipment, and d) utilizes less harmful chemicals and lower concentrations of chemicals that may be considered harmful. Graffiti removal compositions are described that include: at least one alcohol-based compound, at least one aromatic compound, at least one halogenated compound, at least one hydrocarbon; and at least one lactam-based compound.
US07977287B1
A micro-emulsion forming (nanotechnology) oil additive composition is disclosed which improves the fuel economy and reduces the exhaust emissions of internal combustion machines when used at a cost effective dose level of about 20:1 to 2,000:1 in the crankcase lubricating oil.
US07977285B2
Hydrocarbon fluid compositions comprising a liquid hydrocarbon, an aluminum soap, a hydrocarbon foaming agent and a gas. The fluids can be used in various oil field operations.
US07977282B2
Methods of stimulating biogenic production of a metabolic product with enhanced hydrogen content are described. The methods may include accessing a consortium of microorganisms in a geologic formation that includes a carbonaceous material. They may also include providing a phosphorous compound to the microorganisms. The phosphorous compound stimulates the consortium to metabolize the carbonaceous material into a metabolic product with enhanced hydrogen content. Also, methods of stimulating biogenic production of a metabolic product with enhanced hydrogen content by providing a yeast extract amendment to a consortium of microorganisms is described. The yeast extract amendment stimulates the consortium to metabolize carbonaceous material in the formation into the metabolic product with enhanced hydrogen content.
US07977279B2
Disclosed herein are methods for identifying, isolating and comparing proteins and other biomolecules differing between two complex biological samples using affinity chromatography and phage display techniques.
US07977272B2
Catalyst system for the production of acetic acid comprising a rhodium carbonylation catalyst, methyl iodide and at least one heteropolyacid promoter.
US07977271B2
A multiple-metal complex-containing compound in accordance with an embodiment has a plurality of metal complexes in each of which a ligand is coordinated to one metal atom or a plurality of metal atoms of the same kind. The plurality of metal complexes are bound to each other via a polydentate ligand that substitutes partially the ligands of the two or more metal complexes, and have 2 to 1000 metal atoms.
US07977269B2
Novel α-diimine metal complexes, particularly iron complexes, having a phenyl sulfidyl or substituted phenyl sulfidyl metal complexing group are disclosed. The α-diimine metal complexes having a phenyl sulfidyl or substituted phenyl sulfidyl metal complexing group are produced by forming one of the α-diimine metal complex imine bonds in the presence of a metal salt or an α-acylimine metal complex. The α-diimine metal complexes having phenyl sulfidyl or substituted phenyl sulfidyl metal complexing group are useful for polymerizing or oligomerizing olefins.
US07977264B2
The optical glasses designated to be used in the areas of imaging, sensors, microscopy, medical technology, digital projection, photolithography, laser technology, wafer/chip technology as well as telecommunications, optical communications engineering and optics/illumination in the automotive sector with a refractive index nd of 1.60≦nd≦1.72 and/or an Abbe number vd of 32≦vd≦45 and with a Tg of 567° C. to 640° C., pronounced short flint character, good chemical resistance, excellent resistance to crystallization, good solarization stability and the following composition (in % by weight based on oxides): SiO230-45 B2O3 8-12 Na2O 8-15 CaO0.1-7 ZnO0 ≦ 5 ZrO210-20 Nb2O512-24 Ta2O50 ≦ 9 AgO 0 ≦ 5.
US07977259B2
A roofing membrane suitable for use as an underlayment comprising a flexible, non-woven mat of polymeric fibers which are substantially uniformly dispersed throughout the non-woven mat and thermally bonded together at the points of intersection by the polymeric materials of the fibers, the mat having a top side and a bottom side, a layer of an asphaltic material being disposed on the bottom side of the mat to provide a coated mat and a liquid parting agent applied to the top side of the mat.
US07977255B1
A method for forming a thin-film transistor gate insulating layer over a substrate disposed in a processing chamber is provided. The method includes: introducing a processing gas for producing a plasma in the processing chamber; heating the substrate to a substrate processing temperature of between 50 and 350° C.; and depositing silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, or silicon nitride over the heated substrate by sputtering a target assembly at a medium frequency.
US07977253B2
A method for forming a semiconductor layer having a fine shape is provided. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with few variations is provided. In addition, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with a high yield is provided where the cost can be reduced with few materials. According to the invention, a semiconductor film is partially irradiated with a laser beam to form an insulating layer, and the semiconductor film is etched using the insulating film as a mask so as to form a semiconductor layer having a desired shape. Then, the semiconductor layer is used to manufacture a semiconductor device. According to the invention, a semiconductor layer having a fine shape can be formed in a predetermined position without using a known photolithography step using a resist.
US07977251B2
Methods of selectively etching BPSG over TEOS are disclosed. In one embodiment, a TEOS layer may be used to prevent contamination of other components in a semiconductor device by the boron and phosphorous in a layer of BPSG deposited over the TEOS layer. An etchant of the present invention may be used to etch desired areas in the BPSG layer, wherein the high selectivity for BPSG to TEOS of etchant would result in the TEOS layer acting as an etch stop. A second etchant may be utilized to etch the TEOS layer. The second etchant may be less aggressive and, thus, not damage the components underlying the TEOS layer.
US07977244B2
Disclosed is a semiconductor manufacturing process, in which a fluorine radical-containing plasma is used to etch a hard mask and a layer therebeneath; and a treatment is carried out using a gas reactive to fluorine radicals for reacting with residual fluorine radicals to form a fluorine-containing compound and remove it. Thus, precipitates formed by the reaction of fluorine radicals and titanium components existing in the hard mask to cause a process defect can be avoided.
US07977241B2
A method of fabricating highly reliable tungsten interconnects takes into consideration the effects of charging that can occur within a CMP apparatus due to unrestricted DI water flow, limited only by house supply. Such effects are addressed with the use of a variable pressure input constant flow output in-line controller to the DI water line coupled to the head cleaning loading and unloading module of the CMP apparatus.
US07977233B2
A semiconductor device has first wiring layers 30 and a plurality of dummy wiring layers 32 that are provided on the same level as the first wiring layers 30. The semiconductor device defines a row direction, and first virtual linear lines L1 extending in a direction traversing the row direction. The row direction and the first virtual linear lines L1 define an angle of 2-40 degrees, and the dummy wiring layers 32 are disposed in a manner to be located on the first virtual linear lines L1. The semiconductor device also defines a column direction perpendicular to the row direction, and second virtual linear lines L2 extending in a direction traversing the column direction. The column direction and the second virtual linear lines L2 define an angle of 2-40 degrees, and the dummy wiring layers 32 are disposed in a manner to be located on the second virtual linear lines L2.
US07977226B2
A flash memory device and a method for fabricating the same are disclosed. The flash memory device includes an ONO layer on a substrate, polysilicon gates on the ONO layer, a gate oxide layer on the substrate, the ONO layer and the polysilicon gates, and a low temperature oxide layer and polysilicon sidewall spacers on outer side surfaces of the polysilicon gates, except in a region between nearest adjacent polysilicon gates.
US07977225B2
In extremely scaled semiconductor devices, an asymmetric transistor configuration may be established on the basis of tilted implantation processes with increased resist height and/or tilt angles during tilted implantation processes by providing an asymmetric mask arrangement for masked transistor elements. For this purpose, the implantation mask may be shifted by an appropriate amount so as to enhance the overall blocking effect for the masked transistors while reducing any shadowing effect of the implantation masks for the non-masked transistors. The shift of the implantation masks may be accomplished by performing the automatic alignment procedure on the basis of “shifted” target values or by providing asymmetrically arranged photolithography masks.
US07977223B2
A method of forming a nitride semiconductor through ion implantation and an electronic device including the same are disclosed. In the method, an ion implantation region composed of a line/space pattern is formed on a substrate at an ion implantation dose of more than 1E17 ions/cm2 to 5E18 ions/cm2 or less and an ion implantation energy of 30˜50 keV, and a metal nitride thin film is grown on the substrate by epitaxial lateral overgrowth, thereby decreasing lattice defects in the metal nitride thin film. Thus, the electronic device has improved efficiency.
US07977220B2
Aspects of the invention include methods for depositing silicon on a substrate. In certain embodiments, the methods include exposing a substrate containing silicon to a halogenated silane in a manner sufficient to deposit the silicon on the substrate. In certain embodiments, the method includes providing a substrate, one or more sources of gas, and a reaction vessel that is in fluid communication with the substrate and the one or more sources of gas. In certain embodiments, the substrate is a low or metallurgical grade silicon which may be subjected to a purification process. In certain embodiments, the reaction vessel is a particle bed reaction vessel that includes a moving bed, such as a fluidized bed which contains silicon and the gas includes a halide.
US07977211B2
The current invention presents a method for thinning wafers. The method uses a two-step process, whereby first the carrier wafer (2) is thinned and in a second step the device wafer (1) is thinned. The method is based on imprinting the combined thickness non-uniformities of carrier (2) and glue layer (3) essentially on the carrier (2), with a resulting low TTV of the wafer (100) after thinning.
US07977207B2
A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device includes a frame, an actuator formed on the same layer as the frame and connected to the frame to be capable of performing a relative motion with respect to the frame, and at least one stopper restricting a displacement of the actuator in a direction along the height of the actuator. The MEMS device is fabricated by bonding a second substrate to a first substrate, forming the frame and the actuator by partially removing the first substrate, and forming the at least one stopper by partially removing the second substrate.
US07977194B2
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a first MISFET including first source/drain regions and a first gate electrode of a polycrystalline silicon, and a second MISFET including second source/drain regions and a second gate electrode of a polycrystalline silicon and having a gate length larger than that of the first gate electrode; and substituting the polycrystalline silicon forming the first and the second gate electrodes with a metal silicide. In the step of substituting the polycrystalline silicon with the metal silicide, the polycrystalline silicon forming the first gate electrode is totally substituted with the metal silicide and a part of polycrystalline silicon forming the second gate electrode is substituted with the metal silicide by utilizing that the gate length of the second gate electrode is larger than the gate length of the first gate electrode.
US07977189B2
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor substrate (10) having source/drain diffusion regions (14) formed therein and control gates (20) formed thereon, with grooves (18) being formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate (10) and being located below the control gates (20) and between the source/drain diffusion regions (14). The grooves (18) are separated from the source/drain diffusion regions (14), thereby increasing the effective channel length to maintain a constant channel length for charge accumulation while enabling the manufacture of smaller memory cells. The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device.
US07977188B2
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprises forming a first spacer layer at sidewalls of one or more gate electrodes, forming a trench by etching an isolation insulating layer exposed between the gate electrodes, forming a second spacer layer on sidewalls of the gate electrodes and an inner surface of the trench and forming an interlayer insulating layer between the gate electrodes.
US07977187B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductive channel region and a gate region. The gate region has at least one buried part extending under the channel region. The buried part of the gate region is formed by forming a cavity under the channel region. That cavity is at least partial filled with silicon and a metal. An annealing step is performed so as to form a silicide of said metal in the cavity. The result is a totally silicided buried gate for the semiconductor device.
US07977183B2
To provide a technique capable of improving the reliability of a semiconductor device even if the downsizing thereof is advanced.The technical idea of the present invention lies in the configuration in which in a first to a third silicon nitride film to be formed by lamination, the respective film thicknesses thereof are not constant but become smaller in order from the third silicon nitride film in the upper layer to the first silicon nitride film in the lower layer while the total film thickness thereof is kept constant. Due to this it is possible to improve the embedding characteristic of the third silicon nitride film in the uppermost layer in particular, while ensuring the tensile stress of the first to third silicon nitride films, which makes effective the strained silicon technique.
US07977182B2
Described herein is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device realizing higher performance by reducing contact resistance of an electrode. In the method, a gate insulating film, a gate electrode are formed on a semiconductor substrate. A first metal is deposited substrate, and a metal semiconductor compound layer is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate by making the first metal and the semiconductor substrate react each other by a first heat treatment. Ions having a mass equal to or larger than atomic weight of Si are implanted into the metal semiconductor compound layer. A second metal is deposited on the metal semiconductor compound layer. An interface layer is formed by making the second metal segregated at an interface between the metal semiconductor compound layer and the semiconductor substrate by diffusing the second metal through the metal semiconductor compound layer by a second heat treatment.
US07977168B2
An object is to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, in which the number of photolithography steps can be reduced, the manufacturing process can be simplified, and manufacturing can be performed with high yield at low cost. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the following steps: forming a semiconductor film; irradiating a laser beam by passing the laser beam through a photomask including a shield for shielding the laser beam; subliming a region which has been irradiated with the laser beam through a region in which the shield is not formed in the photomask in the semiconductor film; forming an island-shaped semiconductor film in such a way that a region which is not irradiated with the laser beam is not sublimed because it is a region in which the shield is formed in the photomask; forming a first electrode which is one of a source electrode and a drain electrode and a second electrode which is the other one of the source electrode and the drain electrode; forming a gate insulating film; and forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film.
US07977164B2
Disclosed herein is a fuse of a semiconductor memory device and a repair process for the same. The fuse includes a lower conductive film of a multilayer interconnection formed on a lower structure of a semiconductor substrate, an upper conductive film of the multilayer interconnection spaced apart upward from the lower conductive film to define a predetermined vertical space therebetween, and a contact electrode, which vertically connects the upper and lower conductive films to each other and forms a fuse body. The lower conductive film includes a form not coinciding with that of the upper conductive film. With such a configuration, the device can achieve a stable minimization in the length of the fuse and the distance between adjacent fuses in consideration of a laser beam irradiation region for the high integration of the semiconductor memory device. In this way, the device performs the repair process of cutting the contact electrode and/or upper conductive film using a laser beam.
US07977154B2
Self-aligned fabrication of silicon carbide semiconductor devices is a desirable technique enabling reduction in the number of photolithographic steps, simplified alignment of different device regions, and reduced spacing between the device regions. This invention provides a method of fabricating silicon carbide (SiC) devices utilizing low temperature selective epitaxial growth which allows avoiding degradation of many masking materials attractive for selective epitaxial growth. Another aspect of this invention is a combination of the low temperature selective epitaxial growth of SiC and self-aligned processes.
US07977150B2
In manufacturing a device using an organic TFT, it is essential to develop an element in which a channel length is short or a channel width is narrow to downsize a device. Based on the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an organic TFT in which characteristic is improved. In view of the foregoing problem, one feature of the present invention is that an element is baked after an organic semiconductor film is deposited. More specifically, one feature of the present invention is that the organic semiconductor film is heated under atmospheric pressure or under reduced pressure. Moreover, a baking process may be carried out in an inert gas atmosphere.
US07977146B2
For the manufacture of a photovoltaic module (1), there are attached to a transparent substrate (2) a transparent front electrode layer (3), a semiconductor layer (4) and a rear electrode layer (5) which, for forming cells (C1, C2, . . . , Cn, Cn+1) connected in series, are structured by dividing lines (6, 7, 8). A water-soluble detachment mass (12) is applied using an inkjet printer (15) to the regions of the semiconductor layer (4) at which the dividing lines (8) are to be formed in the rear electrode layer (5), whereon the rear electrode layer (5) is attached. The detachment mass (12), with the regions attached thereto of the rear electrode layer (5), is removed using a water jet (13) while forming the dividing lines (8) in the rear electrode layer (5).
US07977145B2
Fabrication of a three-dimensional semiconductor structure is provided by the present disclosure. A buffer oxide film, a nitride film, and an ONO dielectric layer are formed on a handle wafer. A semiconductor layer and an oxide film are formed on a donor wafer, which is turned over and is then bonded to a handle wafer. Silicon of the donor wafer is then removed. In the same manner, blue, green, and red diode layers, and a transistor layer are sequentially formed. A metal layer is formed on the transistor layer. Inter-elements contact and pixel separation processes are performed and a support layer is bonded. The whole device is turned over and the nitride film is etched using an etch-stop layer, thus removing the handle wafer. After the elements are separated, packaging is performed to complete the device. Therefore, a back illuminated image sensor of a multi-layer structure can be provided.
US07977143B2
A CMOS image sensor and fabricating method thereof are disclosed. The method includes forming a plurality of photodiode regions on a semiconductor substrate, forming a plurality of color filters respectively corresponding to the photodiode regions, forming a planarization layer on the color filters, forming a protective layer on the planarization layer, and forming a microlens layer comprising a plurality of microlenses corresponding to the photodiode regions by depositing a low-temperature oxide layer on the protective layer and then patterning the low-temperature oxide layer. After the planarization layer is formed, the protective layer is formed by plasma processing. Thus, the planarization layer can be protected from chemical penetration via numerous pin holes in the microlens layer in the course of wet processing. Accordingly, the method prevents the microlens from lifting from the planarization layer.
US07977139B2
Before a buffer layer deposition step P5, a pre-rinse step P4 is provided to remove deposits deposited on the surface of a CIS-based light absorbing layer 3D. Thus, the disturbing factors of the formation reaction of the buffer layer are removed, thereby to improve the coverage of the buffer layer, and to hold the transparency thereof. In addition, a rinse step P6 is provided after the step P5. Thus, the colloidal solid matter remaining on the buffer layer surface is cleaned and removed with a rinse solution, thereby to hold the high resistivity. The rinse solution from a second rinse tank of the step P6 is re-used. After the step P6, a draining/drying step P7 is provided. After drying, an n-type window layer (transparent conductive film) is deposited.
US07977136B2
Disclosed are one-port and two-port microelectromechanical structures including variable capacitors, switches, and filter devices. High aspect-ratio micromachining is used to implement low-voltage, large value tunable and fixed capacitors, and the like. Tunable capacitors can move in the plane of the substrate by the application of DC voltages and achieve greater than 240 percent of tuning. Exemplary microelectromechanical apparatus comprises a single crystalline silicon substrate, and a conductive structure laterally separated from the single crystalline silicon substrate by first and second high aspect ratio gaps of different size, wherein at least one of the high aspect ratio gaps has an aspect ratio of at least 30:1, and is vertically anchored to the single crystalline silicon substrate by way of silicon nitride.
US07977126B2
A method for manufacturing an organic light emitting device including a photo diode and a transistor includes forming a first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer on separate portions of a buffer layer formed on the substrate; forming a gate metal layer on the first semiconductor layer, the gate metal layer covering a central region of the first semiconductor layer; forming a high-concentration P doping region and a high-concentration N doping region in the first semiconductor layer by injecting impurities into regions of the first semiconductor layer not covered by the gate metal layer to form the photodiode; forming a source and drain region and a channel region in the second semiconductor layer; and removing the gate metal layer from the central region of the first semiconductor layer by etching and simultaneously forming a gate electrode by etching, the gate electrode being insulated from the channel region of the second semiconductor layer, to form the transistor.
US07977119B2
Methods and compositions for generating mixtures of product molecules from an initial chemical array are provided. In the subject methods, a chemical array of surface immobilized first moieties is subjected to cleavage conditions such that a composition of solution phase first moieties is produced. The resultant composition of solution phase first moieties is then contacted with one or more reactants to produce a mixture of product molecules that are different from the first moieties. Also provided are the arrays employed in the subject methods and kits for practicing the subject methods.
US07977111B2
A magnetic sensor for identifying small superparamagnetic particles bonded to a substrate contains a regular orthogonal array of MTJ cells formed beneath that substrate. A magnetic field imposed on the particle, perpendicular to the substrate, induces a magnetic field that has a component within the MTJ cells that is along the plane of the MTJ free layer. If that free layer has a low switching threshold, the induced field of the particle will create resistance changes in a group of MTJ cells that lie beneath it. These resistance changes will be distributed in a characteristic formation or signature that will indicate the presence of the particle. If the particle's field is insufficient to produce the free layer switching, then a biasing field can be added in the direction of the hard axis and the combination of this field and the induced field allows the presence of the particle to be determined.
US07977107B2
A method for confirming the active intake of marijuana and its active component Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (“Δ9-THC”) by detecting the amount of 11-nor-Δ9-THC carboxylic acid (“THCA”) in oral fluid at the picogram per milliliter (pg/ml) level using chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (“GC/MS/MS”).
US07977104B2
The present invention provides a method of predicting pregnancy outcome in a subject by determining the amount of an early pregnancy associated molecular isoform of hCG in a sample. The present invention further provides a method for determining the amount of early pregnancy associated molecular isoforms of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in a sample. The present invention also provides a diagnostic kit for determining the amount of early pregnancy associated hCG in a sample. The present invention additionally provides an antibody which specifically binds to an early pregnancy associated molecular isoform of human chorionic gonadotropin. Finally, the present invention provides methods for detecting trophoblast or non-trophoblast malignancy in a sample.
US07977102B2
Compounds having stable isotopes 13C and/or 2H were synthesized from precursor compositions having solid phase supports or affinity tags.
US07977100B2
Provided is a punching apparatus for use in dispensing, having a blood specimen contained therein, and punching a dispensing hole in a plug body of a test tube serving as a specimen container closed by the plug body whose upper end opening is made of a rubber or synthetic resin material, the apparatus comprising a guide rail serving as a transport passage which transports the test tube while the plug body thereof is held at the upper side in a vertical state, an elevating mechanism provided at a punch position P in the middle of the guide rail, and an ultrasonic cutter which is supported by the elevating mechanism, and which is lowered when the test tube reaches the punch position, thereby punching a dispensing hole immediately before penetrating the plug body from a top face thereof.
US07977099B2
The present invention provides a low-cost, easy-to-use, and accurate method and apparatus for determining alcohol content in a test sample, such as wine. The method for alcohol content determination includes the following steps. A known quantity of a test sample is provided. A measurement of electrolytic conductivity EC0 of the test sample is taken. Next, a known quantity of conductive additive with known composition is added to the test sample to produce a first solution. A measurement of Electrolytic conductivity EC1 is taken for the first solution. Data representing predetermined values for EC0 and EC1 with corresponding known alcohol concentrations is provided for comparison. The electrolytic conductivity values for EC0 and EC1 are cross-referenced against the known data to determine a value for the alcohol concentration of the test sample. In addition, the values for EC0 and EC1 are adjusted for temperature and other variables.
US07977096B2
The invention provides media formulations. A complete media formulation of the invention includes, for example, the following components: albumin, an iron carrier, glutamine, a glycosidase or hydrolase, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), a salt or mineral, and essential amino acids, at an osmolarity of about 220-330 mOsm/Liter.
US07977092B2
Methods for identifying stem cells and other cells specific to embryogenesis and carcinogenesis, classifying tissue samples, diagnosing precancerous and cancerous or atherosclerotic lesions, testing the value of anticancer agents, discovering macromolecules specifically expressed in particular cell types, using stem cells in restorative tissue therapy as well as methods for preparing tissue samples so heteromorphic nuclear morphotypes remain intact are disclosed.
US07977091B2
The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for utilizing recombinant alphavirus vectors. Also disclosed are compositions and methods for making and utilizing eukaryotic layered vector initiation systems.
US07977090B2
An open-topped container (10) is sealed by a cap (12) to the underside of which is fixed a sealed enclosure (13) containing a fixative solution. At the end of the enclosure remote from the cap is a receptacle (14) for a fecal specimen and this is surrounded by protrusions (15) of the enclosure which are ruptured by teeth (22) surrounding an uppermost filter (19) as the cap is screwed on. The fixative solution escapes from the enclosure, mixes with the fecal matter and passes through filters so that parasitic eggs are collected in the conical false bottom (23) of the container. During the final travel of the cap skirts engage the non-perforated periphery (21) of the upper filter to prevent the fixative solution flowing back into the enclosure when the container is inverted. The filtrate can be poured or pippetted out of the container through its spout (24).
US07977081B2
A nucleic acid coding for pro-carboxypeptidase B (Pro-CPB), comprising three segments A, B and C, wherein at least one of the segments has one of the sequences according to SEQ ID No. 1, 2 or 3.
US07977076B2
A process for production of biofuels from biomass can include depolymerizing a biomass to form a feed. The feed can be formed by autotrophically growing algal biomass and extracting the feed therefrom. The algal feed can be converted to an algal oil by introducing the algal feed to an oil-producing algae under growth conditions sufficient to encourage formation of algal oil within the oil-producing algae. The algal oil can be extracted from the oil-producing algae and can further be converted to biodiesel.
US07977065B2
The present invention relates to genetically modified yeast strains autonomously producing, from a simple carbon source, steroids. The invention also relates to a method for producing steroids from such yeast strains.
US07977063B2
The present invention concerns a method for determining an allergic response by determining the extent of degranulation of human IgE sensitized cells upon activation by allergens in food products.
US07977062B2
A novel gene 0161P2F10B (also designated 161P2F10B) and its encoded protein, and variants thereof, are described wherein 161P2F10B exhibits tissue specific expression in normal adult tissue, and is aberrantly expressed in the cancers listed in Table I. Consequently, 161P2F10B provides a diagnostic, prognostic, prophylactic and/or therapeutic target for cancer. The 161P2F10B gene or fragment thereof, or its encoded protein, or variants thereof, or a fragment thereof, can be used to elicit a humoral or cellular immune response; antibodies or T cells reactive with 161P2F10B can be used in active or passive immunization.
US07977060B2
The present invention provides isolated nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of sweet taste receptors comprising two heterologous G-protein coupled receptor polypeptides from the T1R family of sensory G-protein coupled receptors, antibodies to such receptors, methods of detecting such nucleic acids and receptors, and methods of screening for modulators of sweet taste receptors.
US07977059B2
The present invention relates to a newly identified human aminopeptidase. The invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding the aminopeptidase. The invention further relates to methods using the aminopeptidase polypeptides and polynucleotides as a target for diagnosis and treatment in aminopeptidase-related disorders. The invention further relates to drug-screening methods using the aminopeptidase polypeptides and polynucleotides to identify agonists and antagonists for diagnosis and treatment. The invention further encompasses agonists and antagonists based on the aminopeptidase polypeptides and polynucleotides. The invention further relates to procedures for producing the aminopeptidase polypeptides and polynucleotides.
US07977055B2
To provide a method for selectively amplifying a target nucleic acid and a method for detecting a nucleic acid by the method, which are useful as a method for synthesizing the nucleic acid. A method for amplifying a nucleic acid sequence (EVA (Endonuclease V-dependent Amplification) method) which selectively amplifies a target nucleic acid in a sample, by the use of an oligonucleotide primer containing a base which can be recognized by an endonuclease V, the endonuclease V and a DNA polymerase having a strand displacement activity, and a method for detecting a nucleic acid by the method.
US07977050B2
A method mediated with in-vitro transcription (“IVT”) which permits miniaturization of multiplexed DNA and RNA analysis, and in which elongation-mediated multiplexed analysis of polymorphisms (eMAP®) is used as the analysis step, is described. Also described is a method mediated with IVT is for selecting a designated strand from T7-tagged double stranded DNA: wherein, the selected strand forms the template for RNA synthesis. In one embodiment, double stranded DNA incorporating the T7 (or other) promoter sequence at the 3′ end or the 5′ end is produced, for example, by amplification of genomic DNA using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Also disclosed are nested PCR designs permitting allele analysis in combination with strand selection by IVT. Further, in one embodiment of a homogeneous format for transcription-mediated amplification and multiplexed detection (which may be particularly suited for viral or pathogen detection), encoded microparticles display “looped” capture probe configurations permitting the generation of a signal upon capture of RNA product and real-time assay monitoring.
US07977047B2
The present invention is the identification of a nucleotide sequence which make it possible in particular to distinguish an infection resulting from the vast majority of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from an infection resulting from Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium canetti, Mycobacterium microti, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium bovis BCG. The subject of the present invention is also a method for detecting the sequences in question by the products of expression of these sequences and the kits for carrying out these methods. Finally, the subject of the present invention is novel vaccines.
US07977044B2
A method for producing a pelletized material includes mixing a media powder with a treated water, the treated water comprising a additive for substantially preventing bacterial contamination, pouring a mixture of the media powder and halogenated water on a non-binding surface, spreading the mixture into a wafer, drying the mixture, and grinding the mixture to produce the pelletized material.
US07977043B2
An assay for use in high-throughput screening of chemical libraries to determine whether compounds in such libraries will inhibit CD38 catalytic activity, and CD38 production of ADPR and cADPR.
US07977038B2
In the present invention, the position of a substrate on a thermal plate is detected when baking after exposure is performed in a first round of patterning. In a second round of patterning, the setting position of the substrate is adjusted based on a detection result of the position before the substrate is mounted on the thermal plate in the baking after exposure. In the baking after exposure in the second round of patterning, the substrate is mounted at the same position with respect to the thermal plate as that in the baking after exposure in the first round of patterning. In performing a plurality of rounds of patterning on a film to be processed, a pattern with a desired dimension is finally formed above the substrate, and the uniformity of the pattern dimension within the substrate is ensured.
US07977037B2
A photoresist processing method includes treating a substrate with a sulfur-containing substance. A positive-tone photoresist is applied on and in contact with the treated substrate. The method includes selectively exposing a portion of the photoresist to actinic energy and developing the photoresist to remove the exposed portion and to form a photoresist pattern on the substrate. The treating with a sulfur-containing substance reduces an amount of residual photoresist intended for removal compared to an amount of residual photoresist that remains without the treating.
US07977036B2
A fine and high-accuracy resist pattern, which is excellent in etching resistance, can be formed. Disclosed is a resist pattern forming method, which includes the steps of developing a resist composition having photosensitivity to a predetermined light source through a lithography technique to form a resist pattern 2 on a substrate 1, and bringing the resist pattern 2 into contact with a supercritical processing solution 5′ including a supercritical fluid 3′ which contains a crosslinking agent 4.
US07977033B2
The present invention relates to a method of forming a pattern of a semiconductor device. According to the method in accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a photoresist film is formed on a semiconductor substrate. An exposure process is performed on a plurality of light transparent patterns arranged in tandem and the photoresist film corresponding between the light transparent patterns using a photomask including the light transparent patterns. A photoresist pattern is formed by performing a development process so that an opening portion of a line form is formed in the light transparent patterns and the photoresist film between the light transparent patterns. Accordingly, a uniform line pattern can be formed.
US07977031B2
A method of processing an on-press developable lithographic printing plate involves the removal of overcoat by brushing or rubbing while in contact with water or an aqueous solution after imagewise exposure and before on-press development. The plate comprises a substrate, an on-press ink and/or fountain solution developable photosensitive layer, and a water soluble or dispersible overcoat. Preferably, the overcoat is incapable of being completely removed with ink and/or fountain solution on a lithographic press during roll up. Such a method allows the use of more durable overcoat for on-press developable plate.
US07977026B2
An imaging method is disclosed. An imaging composition is coated on a work piece followed by applying a sufficient amount of energy from a 3-D imaging system to form an image on the coated work piece. The image may be a logo or marker for alignment of parts.
US07977018B2
In the exposure data preparation method for charged particle beam exposure in which an exposure object is exposed while dose is adjusted for each pattern, the method including the steps of: classifying a pattern in terms of a target linewidth; setting a standard characteristic showing the relationship between a standard dose and a resultant linewidth of a resist pattern for a group of patterns having the target linewidth; and preparing exposure data by correcting a shape and dose so that a characteristic showing the relationship between dose of each pattern having the target linewidth and a resultant linewidth of a resist pattern follows the standard characteristic.
US07977014B2
In a manufacturing method for an electrode-membrane-frame assembly in a fuel cell, a first frame member and an electrolyte membrane member are arranged in a first mold for injection molding such that the edge of the electrolyte membrane member is arranged on the first frame member, a second mold is arranged to form a resin flow passage for forming a second frame member which is in contact with the first frame member by interposing the electrolyte membrane member, and a part of the edge of the electrolyte membrane member is pressed and fixed to the first frame member by a presser member mounted on the second mold and a molding resin material is injected into the resin flow passage to form a second frame member.
US07977012B2
A method of coating a surface of a fuel cell plate is disclosed herein. The method involves forming a sol gel mixture including a metal oxide modified with at least one functional group, where the at least one functional group is configured to improve adhesion; and adding carbon modified with a hydrophilic functional group to the mixture, thereby forming a suspension. The suspension is applied to the surface of the fuel cell plate, and is activated to form a porous, hydrophilic, and conductive film on the surface of the fuel cell plate.
US07977006B2
The present invention provides a fuel cell in which electricity is generated and a paraffin is converted to an olefin. Between the anode and cathode compartment of the fuel cell is a ceramic membrane of the formula BaCe0.85-eAeLfY0.05-0.25O(3-δ) wherein A is selected from the group consisting of Hf and Zr and mixtures thereof, e is from 0.1 to 0.5, L is a lanthanide and f is from 0 to 0.25 and δ is the oxygen deficiency in the ceramic.
US07976995B2
A fuel cell system that has a fuel cell stack with a plurality of laminated cells, each of the laminated cells includes an electrolyte membrane interposed between a fuel electrode receiving a supply of fuel gas and an oxidizing agent electrode receiving a supply of oxidizing agent gas. A fuel gas supply device supplies a fuel gas to the fuel electrode. An oxidizing agent gas supply device supplies an oxidizing agent gas to the oxidizing agent electrode. A fuel electrode side discharge system discharges a discharge gas from the fuel electrode to an external. A circulation device re-circulates the discharge gas discharged from the fuel electrode into an upstream side of the fuel electrode. A voltage limit device limits a voltage across the fuel cell stack by drawing a current from the fuel cell stack at a time of an activation of the fuel cell system. A controller halts the supply of the oxidizing agent gas to the oxidizing agent electrode from the oxidizing agent gas supply device at the time of the activation of the fuel cell system, inhibits a discharge of the discharge gas to the external through the fuel electrode side discharge system, and starts the supply of fuel gas to the fuel electrode from the fuel gas supply device in a state where the discharge gas is circulated through the circulation device.
US07976992B2
A PEM fuel cell (4) power plant includes a passive air vent (24) through which air separated from a cathode effluent stream can be expelled from the power plant. The air vent operates satisfactorily during ambient freezing conditions thus it is eminently suitable for use in mobile applications such as in PEM fuel cell-powered automobiles, buses, or the like. The vent is formed from a liquid antifreeze layer (40) that is disposed in a sparging tank (36) which communicates with ambient surroundings. Any water vapor in the stream can condense out of the gas-stream in the antifreeze. In order to facilitate this result, the antifreeze can be a liquid that is immiscible with water so that the condensed water will form a separate layer (38) in the sparging tank.
US07976989B2
The invention is directed to iridium oxide based catalysts for use as anode catalysts in PEM water electrolysis. The claimed composite catalyst materials comprise iridium oxide (IrO2) and optionally ruthenium oxide (RuO2) in combination with a high surface area inorganic oxide (for example TiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2 and mixtures thereof). The inorganic oxide has a BET surface area in the range of 50 to 400 m2/g, a water solubility of lower than 0.15 g/l and is present in a quantity of less than 20 wt. % based on the total weight of the catalyst. The claimed catalyst materials are characterised by a low oxygen overvoltage and long lifetime in water electrolysis. The catalysts are used in electrodes, catalyst-coated membranes and membrane-electrode-assemblies for PEM electrolyzers as well as in regenerative fuel cells (RFC), sensors, and other electrochemical devices.
US07976976B2
Composite current collectors containing coatings of metals, alloys or compounds, selected from the group of Zn, Cd, Hg, Ga, In, Tl, Sn, Pb, As, Sb, Bi and Se on non-metallic, non-conductive or poorly-conductive substrates are disclosed. The composite current collectors can be used in electrochemical cells particularly sealed cells requiring a long storage life. Selected metals, metal alloys or metal compounds are applied to polymer or ceramic substrates by vacuum deposition techniques, extrusion, conductive paints (dispersed as particles in a suitable paint), electroless deposition, cementation; or after suitable metallization by galvanic means (electrodeposition or electrophoresis). Metal compound coatings are reduced to their respective metals by chemical or galvanic means. The current collectors described are particular suitable for use in sealed primary or rechargeable galvanic cells containing mercury-fee and lead-free alkaline zinc electrodes.
US07976968B2
A microbial fuel cell includes a bio-compatible body having a micro-pillar structure defining an anode compartment adapted to contain a catalyst that metabolizes glucose to generate electrons and protons. A nano-porous membrane prevents loss of the catalyst from the anode compartment, while providing fluid access for ingress of glucose fuel and egress of waste.
US07976967B2
A main surface of a glass substrate for a magnetic disk is disk-shaped and has a ski jump on an outer peripheral end portion of the main surface opposing a magnetic head slider to be loaded. A rate of change of angles of tangents to a slope of the ski jump in a radial direction in a range between an inner circumferential side and a transition point on the slope is equal to or less than 10/W μrad/mm where W is a width of the magnetic head slider.
US07976965B2
A magnetic recording medium comprises a nonmagnetic substrate on which is disposed at least a vertical magnetic layer. The vertical magnetic layer comprises at least three layers including a lower layer, an intermediate layer and an upper layer from the substrate side. The lower, intermediate and upper magnetic layers are bound by ferro-coupling and are constituted of magnetic particles which are columnar crystals extending continuously from the lower layer to the upper layer. A nonmagnetic layer is between the lower and intermediate magnetic layers or between the intermediate and upper magnetic layers. The upper layer has a magnetic anisotropic constant (Ku) from 0.8×106 to 4×106 (erg/cc), the intermediate layer has a magnetic anisotropic constant (Ku) from 2×106 to 7×106 (erg/cc) and the lower layer has a magnetic anisotropic constant (Ku) from 1×106 to 4×106 (erg/cc).
US07976963B2
A concrete product is provided having a body including an ornamental surface layer, an intermediate strengthening layer and a concrete substrate layer. The intermediate strengthening layer functions as a buffer between any air bubbles remaining in the concrete substrate layer and the ornamental facing layer following curing of the product.
US07976961B2
A laminate of a magnetic substrate comprising a high molecular compound layer and a magnetic metal thin plate wherein the volume resistivity defined in JIS H 0505 in a direction perpendicular to the high molecular compound layer surface of the laminate is less than 108 Ωcm. The laminate is provided with an electrical continuity point created among magnetic metal thin plates such that the high molecular compound inside the laminate is pushed out to the outside of the laminate by pressurizing the laminate. The laminate can exhibit high thermal conductivity in order to prevent deterioration of heat releasing properties caused by low thermal conductivity when exothermic heat due to the core loss of the laminate of the magnetic substrate is released to the outside.
US07976955B2
The rubber compositions described herein have been found to have an exceptionally long life as a spring-biased actuator diaphragm material that maintains its position compressed, e.g., bolted, between opposed flanges, while maintaining excellent compressibility, low temperature flexibility, hydrocarbon resistance, abrasion resistance and mechanical strength. The compositions include a copolymer rubber component; a plasticizer for the copolymer rubber; a vulcanizing agent for the copolymer rubber; a silica filler; and a coupling agent, such as a silane coupling agent, capable of coupling the silica filler to the copolymer rubber.
US07976954B1
The preparation of robust, thin film materials with large second-order optical nonlinearities through the covalent self-assembly of chromophoric compositions and innovative use of silyl chemistry.
US07976952B2
To provide a pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet used during processing articles such as semiconductor wafers and laminate sheet used for such a pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet, which does not contaminate or break the semiconductor wafers during the processing and can minimize the curl of the articles due to residual stress of the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet, a multi-layer sheet includes a composite film containing a urethane polymer and a vinyl-based polymer as effective components and a first film made of a material different from that of the composite film, wherein the urethane polymer is formed from a polyolefin diol and a polyisocyanate. A pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is obtained by providing a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on at least one side of the multi-layer sheet.
US07976943B2
The present invention relates to a yarn, comprising (a) a plurality of fibers having an orientation angle of no more than 8.0 degrees and made of a para-aramid having an inherent viscosity of 5.2 to 6.2 dl/g, (b) a linear density of at least 2666 dtex (2400 denier), (c) a modulus of at least 810 grams per dtex (900 grams per denier), and (d) a tenacity of at least 18 grams per dtex (20 grams per denier). The invention further relates to methods of making such yarn.
US07976940B2
Coatings which are applied to a component have to be removed again in a complex way in certain regions, since a coating was not desired to be present in those regions. The subsequent removal of this layer adversely affects the component, for example its geometry. The method according to the invention for coating a component includes a masking which at least partially comprises a ceramic powder and can therefore easily be removed after the component has been coated.
US07976935B2
A UV curable intermediate transfer media, such as a belt, that includes a first supporting substrate, such as a polyimide substrate layer, and a second surface layer of a carbon nanotube.
US07976929B2
A liquid-controlling surface, comprising a formation comprising a plurality of individual cells for containing liquid, each of said cells having a cell wall; a plurality of distribution channels, one connecting each cell to each adjacent cell, each distribution channel being positioned on the internal cell wall at a height so as to channel liquid to the adjacent cell when a cell liquid level exceeds a predetermined limit; a perimeter wall for preventing liquid from leaking to an area outside the wall.
US07976923B2
A fastening assembly and a cushion having the same are provided. The fastening assembly includes a first band, a second band, a third band, and a magnetic layer. The first band has a first surface protrudingly provided with plural hooks, and a second surface. The second band has a third surface and a fourth surface, with the third surface bonded to the second surface of the first band. The second band is wider than the first band and forms a pair of wings protruding beyond longitudinal edges of the first band, respectively. The third band, narrower than the second band, has a fifth surface and a sixth surface, with the fifth surface bonded to a central portion of the fourth surface of the second band. The magnetic layer is located on the third surface or the fourth surface of the wings of the second band and comprises a magnetic material.
