US08275853B2
Presented is a method and system for a service intermediary selection in a web service management system. The method comprises: receiving a service request by the web service management system; and selecting the service intermediary from a plurality of service intermediaries by a planning module of the web service management system.
US08275847B2
An Interactive Maintenance Management System (“IMMS”) (10) is an alarm handling system (FIG. 2) for handling alarms (102) that indicate present or imminent equipment failure. The IMMS (10) may be utilized in industrial situations, such as strip-mines (14), to reduce equipment (12) downtime and reduce or prevent equipment failure. The IMMS (10) utilizes a flexible response system to track, analyze, and improve performance of the alarm handling system.
US08275846B2
A system and method for an extendable software interface includes software architecture for use in a mobile device having a processor and a memory device. The software architecture includes a set of first-order controller software instructions configured to interface the application program with a first-order data model, and a first-order data object stored in the memory device in the form of the first-order data model. The first-order data object includes a second-order data object. A second-order set of controller software instructions configured to interact with the second-order data object is also included in the software architecture.
US08275843B2
An example computing device creates a resource module that acquires resource information relating to resources of the computing device and acquire quality of experience information corresponding to a quality of audio, and creates a roster module that displays a participant list including resource information relating to resources of a plurality of other computing devices connected to the teleconference and display quality of experience information corresponding to a quality of audio a user of each of the plurality of other computing devices experiences when connected to the teleconference. The device also creates a policy module configured to evaluate the resource information and quality of experience information acquired by the client resource module against rules of a teleconference policy and implement actions based on a determination that the computing device is non-compliant with one or more of the rules of the teleconference policy to control quality of audio during the teleconference.
US08275839B2
Systems and methods for processing email messages are described. In one embodiment, the occurrence of a condition is determined indicating at least one email message transfer of an email message by an email application, wherein determining the occurrence of the condition is external to the email application, the email message is identified, wherein the email message comprises event data, an email event is compiled from at least some of the event data, and the email event is indexed.
US08275834B2
Disclosed is a flexible, multi-modal system useful in communications among users, capable of synchronizing real world and augmented reality, wherein the system is deployed in centralized and distributed computational platforms. The system comprises a plurality of input devices designed and configured to generate signals representing speech, gestures, pointing direction, and location of a user, and transmit the same to a multi-modal interface. Some of the signals generated represent a message from the user intended for dissemination to other users. A plurality of agents and one or more databases (defined by matrices which include input commands or information from the input devices, and meanings for some input commands or combinations thereof) are integrated into the system, where at least some of the agents are designed and configured to receive signals from the multi-modal interface, translate the signals into data, compare the same to a database, generate signals representing meanings as defined by the database, and transmit the signals to the multi-modal interface. In some embodiments, at least one agent resides on a computational device located on a user, and at least one other agent resides on a computation device remote from the user. Finally, a plurality of output devices are associated with the system and designed and configured to receive and process signals from the multi-modal interface, some of said signals representing messages to the user to be communicated by means of an output device in visual, auditory, or tactile modes.
US08275827B2
Software-based network attached storage (NAS) services are hosted on a massively distributed processing system configured by coupling a multiplicity of distributed devices with a network, wherein each of the distributed devices are enabled to process workloads for the distributed processing system by a client agent program. More particularly, the client agent program is configured with a NAS software component to enable selected distributed devices from the multiplicity of distributed devices to appear to client devices coupled to the network as dedicated NAS devices. The NAS software component allocates an available amount of storage resources in the selected distributed devices to provide NAS services to the client devices. Storage priority controls, including user specified constraints, standard bit, block and file priority levels, and direct bit, block or file priority markings may be utilized to facilitate the full use of the available amounts of unused storage in the selected distributed devices.
US08275825B2
One embodiment provides a computer-implemented method for enforcing a temperature limit of a client computer. The method includes receiving a request for computer-executable work to be executed on a client computer. If executing all of the requested work on the client computer would cause the client computer to exceed the temperature limit, a portion of the requested work may be selectively redirected to a remote computer in an amount selected to enforce the temperature limit of the client computer. Simultaneously, the remainder of the requested work may be executed on the client computer. The output of the redirected work may be communicated from the remote computer back to the client computer over a network.
US08275823B2
A filter intended to receive a discrete time signal at a sampling clock frequency, comprising a determined number, greater than 2, of filtering units, each filtering unit comprising head capacitors in a number equal to the determined number, assembled in parallel between an input terminal and the terminal of an integration capacitor, and means for connecting, in successive clock cycles in a number equal to the determined number, successively each head capacitor to the input terminal, and for then simultaneously connecting the head capacitors to the integration capacitor, and in which the successive clock cycles during which the head capacitors of a filtering unit are connected to the input terminal are offset by one clock cycle from one filtering unit to the next one.
US08275818B2
An apparatus including logic to receive a data packet comprising a string of characters, said apparatus having a plurality of states and at least one state for every character position in the string of characters; logic to examine the string of characters for matches with a plurality of predefined values, beginning with an initial character; and logic to execute forward exit transitions from any of the plurality of states based upon the examination of the characters, wherein a current state of the apparatus represents a count of a number of characters from the initial character of the string of characters.
US08275817B2
A frequency multiplier device including a plurality of multipliers, each of which has a first input port, a second input port and an output port; a first combiner coupled to the plurality of multipliers so as to receive an output signal from at least two of the plurality of multipliers, the first combiner outputting a first output signal; and a second combiner coupled to the plurality of multipliers so as to receive an output signal from at least two of the plurality of multipliers, the second combiner outputting a second output signal. The plurality of multipliers includes a first multiplier, a second multiplier, a third multiplier and a fourth multiplier, where the first multiplier has a first input port and a second input port and receives a first input signal at the first input port and the second input port; the second multiplier has a first input port and a second input port and receives a second input signal at the first input port and the second input port; the third multiplier has a first input port and a second input port and receives the second input signal at the first input port and the first input signal at the second input port; and the fourth multiplier has a first input port and a second input port and receives the first input signal at the first input port and the second input signal at the second input port.
US08275814B2
The disclosed embodiments relate to a multimedia data encoding/decoding method and apparatus. In some aspects, an encoding method includes generating a file type area having information on a file format; generating a data area comprising a plurality of media data areas; and generating a media information area comprising a plurality of track areas corresponding to the plurality of media data areas, respectively. According to one aspect, the multimedia data encoding/decoding method and apparatus can construct a slide show using only a small amount of multimedia data. Thus, a time taken to process and transmit the multimedia data can be reduced.
US08275811B2
A contact center system features: testing comprehension of informational messages with a quiz; capturing insight of users having a KPI score above a threshold by having them describe why they perform so well; dynamically ordering issue solutions by re-ranking the solutions periodically based on recency and frequency; integrating information used by a contact center representative while online with a customer and information for use when not online; storing content in a telecommunications industry taxonomy; directing feedback on a content item to the proper owner/manager of that content; communicating solution information using a solutions taxonomy; displaying a dual information system having a CRM application and reference material that is context-appropriate; enforcing completion of templates when creating a content item to be published; ensuring a group of templates are complete before publishing them; and searching within a contact center system portal using a continuum of search functions.
US08275810B2
An XML representation of the metadata for objects in a database system. The XML representation is called SXML. The SXML representations of two objects that belong to the same class of objects may be compared to produce a difference representation that shows the differences between the objects. Database commands that will create or alter objects may be produced from the difference representation, as well as an XML representation of the database commands. In addition to being comparable, SXML representations have the characteristics that a given property of the metadata is expressed in only one way in the representation, that SXML does not describe properties that belong only to particular instances of the object described by the metadata, that SXML describes only properties that the user can specify when creating an object, and that SXML is easy for humans to read, understand, and write.
US08275807B2
Management device for a network of audiovisual information reproduction systems or jukeboxes, including a database with a plurality of sets of arrays, each array containing grouped information either about the composition of a jukebox, or the use of the jukebox, or the payment of fees. The database is managed by a computer server connected with the audiovisual information reproduction systems to receive messages sent by each audiovisual information reproduction device and containing information necessary to update determined sets of arrays in the database, and update data or the program for each audiovisual information reproduction device with information stored in at least one set of arrays in the database and transmitted in this message.
US08275806B2
A method includes receiving a selection of a logical field of a data abstraction model. The method includes determining model entries (e.g., concepts) associated with the selected logical field and examining the data abstraction model to determine other model entries that are equal to the model entries associated with the selected logical field. For each equal model entry, the method includes determining web services to be used in performing a search, where the web services are determined by querying a discovery registry associated with the data abstraction model to discover one or more web services that are resolvable based on the selected logical field. A first discovered web service is executed with user supplied criteria provided via a user interface to obtain a list of values. A condition is created that limits acceptable values associated with the selected logical field based on the user supplied criteria.
US08275805B2
A method of decreasing a total computation time for a visual simulation loop includes sharing a common data structure across each phase of the visual simulation loop by adapting the common data structure to a requirement for each particular phase prior to performing a computation for that particular phase.
US08275803B2
A system, method and computer program product for providing answers to questions based on any corpus of data. The method facilitates generating a number of candidate passages from the corpus that answer an input query, and finds the correct resulting answer by collecting supporting evidence from the multiple passages. By analyzing all retrieved passages and that passage's metadata in parallel, there is generated an output plurality of data structures including candidate answers based upon the analyzing. Then, by each of a plurality of parallel operating modules, supporting passage retrieval operations are performed upon the set of candidate answers, and for each candidate answer, the data corpus is traversed to find those passages having candidate answer in addition to query terms. All candidate answers are automatically scored causing the supporting passages by a plurality of scoring modules, each producing a module score. The modules scores are processed to determine one or more query answers; and, a query response is generated for delivery to a user based on the one or more query answers.
US08275776B2
An apparatus, method and article of manufacture of the present invention detects the presence of references to the same concept in separate sections of text, and, with no input required from the reader, presents the reader with information concerning the detected references to the concept. The information provided may comprise information related to the location of the reference to the concept in other sections of text, and the reader also is provided the ability to move from one reference to a concept directly to another reference to the same concept.
US08275768B2
A method and system for selecting communication means are provided. The method includes receiving a request for communication (102) by a current user (101) with a target contact and searching data of prior communication attempts (105) by prior users with one or more prior target contacts using different communication means, wherein the current user and the prior users fall within a first defined category and the target contact and the prior target contacts fall within a second defined category. The success of the communication means of prior communication attempts is determined (104) and a communication means for the current user is recommended (103). The method includes referencing (107) relationship resource (109) to determine if users or target contacts fall within defined categories, such as, for example, an organizational structure level, a department, or a group of people with a given form of relationship to another group of people.
US08275764B2
A computer-implemented method includes receiving information expressing a user's interest in one or more media programs, obtaining information indicative of popularity for a plurality of media programs responsive to the received information by individuals other than the user, and transmitting one or more recommendations of media programs for display to the user, from the plurality of media programs that relate to the received information.
US08275747B2
The present invention is related to the task of retrieving numeric information in response to a textual keyword-based query by automatically associating a unit to the type of data being retrieved. An information retrieval system is presented which suggests a unit for data exploration by leveraging the local environment of numeric data across the corpus. This local environment is parsed, including through natural language processing and proximity-based techniques, to determine units relevant to particular keyword phrases. The system also relies on knowledge of semantically and scientifically related units to optimize their binning for suggested unit scoring.
US08275745B2
Techniques for performing an incremental update to a set of hierarchically structured information that do not expose the structure and content of the hierarchically structured information to unauthorized parties. The present techniques include encrypting the hierarchically structured information such that an arrangement of nodes and corresponding data of the hierarchically structured information is not exposed and each node includes a corresponding node identifier that is not encrypted and updating the hierarchically structured information by referring to the nodes using the node identifiers.
US08275735B2
The present invention provides a diagnostic system that diagnoses a diagnostic object by applying a diagnostic rule to data measured on the diagnostic object wherein an object of the present invention is to allow the diagnostic rule to be updated based on a variety of diagnostic case data. Each of multiple diagnostic devices 101 makes a diagnosis by applying a diagnostic rule to diagnostic object data measured on a diagnostic object 104 and sends diagnostic case data, which includes diagnostic object data and its diagnostic result, to a diagnostic rule generation device 102 via a network 103. The diagnostic rule generation device 102 generates a diagnostic rule based on the diagnostic case data received from the multiple diagnostic devices 101 and sends the generated diagnostic rule to the diagnostic devices 101 via the network 103. The diagnostic devices 101 update a diagnostic rule in their devices with the diagnostic rule received from the diagnostic rule generation device 102.
US08275723B2
A network-based system is provided for performing data analysis services using a support vector machine for analyzing data received from a remote user connected to the network. The user transmits a data set to be analyzed and along with an account identifier that allows the analysis service provider to collect payment for the processing services. Once payment has been confirmed, the service provider's server transmits the analysis results to the remote user.
US08275722B2
Systems and methods for determining semantically related terms using an active learning framework such as Transductive Experimental Design are disclosed. Generally, to enhance a keyword suggestion tool, an active learning module trains a model to predict whether a term is relevant to a user. The model is then used to present the user with terms that have been determined to be relevant based on the model so that an online advertisement service provider may more efficiently provide a user with terms that are semantically related to a seed set.
US08275721B2
Multi-class cost-sensitive boosting based on gradient boosting with “p-norm” cost functionals” uses iterative example weighting schemes derived with respect to cost functionals, and a binary classification algorithm. Weighted sampling is iteratively applied from an expanded data set obtained by enhancing each example in the original data set with as many data points as there are possible labels for any single instance, and where each non-optimally labeled example is given the weight equaling a half times the original misclassification cost for the labeled example times the p−1 norm of the average prediction of the current hypotheses. Each optimally labeled example is given the weight equaling the sum of the weights for all the non-optimally labeled examples for the same instance. Component classification algorithm is executed on a modified binary classification problem. A classifier hypothesis is output, which is the average of all the hypotheses output in the respective iterations.
US08275712B2
Reloadable or non-reloadable prepaid transaction card activation systems are disclosed. More specifically, the system provides a platform for activation of prepaid or stored value transaction cards and capture of customer demographic information, and verification of that information, after the customer has obtained or has been issued a prepaid transaction card. The data capture is performed at activation rather than at point of sale.
US08275706B2
Methods and system for processing transfer requests are described. In one embodiment, a value transfer request may be received from a value provider through a network. The value transfer request may include a value amount to be provided from a source user to a target user. A settlement account of the value provider may be reduced by the value amount. A target account of the target user may be increased by the value amount.
US08275705B2
A computer-based system and method for resolving disputes between a customer and an electronic payment provider concerning an electronic transaction between the customer and a merchant, including receiving data related to the transaction in a computer; transmitting the data from the computer to a dispute resolution server; comparing the transaction data to predetermined eligibility criteria for dispute resolution in the dispute resolution server, and if the dispute resolution criteria is met, declining future transactions from the merchant for the disputing consumer; and, comparing the transaction data to predetermined eligibility criteria for transaction credit, and if the credit criteria is met, and transmitting a credit instruction for the transaction.
US08275703B1
A system for processing bank account deposits may comprise at least one subsystem that creates an account at a first bank by a second bank on behalf of a customer of the second bank, at least one subsystem that sets up an automatic transfer to the second bank from the account created at the first bank, and at least one subsystem that accepts an automatic transfer from the account created at the first bank at the second bank, said automatic transfer resulting from a deposit made by the customer at the first bank.
US08275697B2
A system and method for trading order priority levels in an electronic trading environment are described. In one embodiment, a trader who is willing to have his order moved from a high priority level to a lower priority level in an order queue may advertise his willingness to do so, and other traders can place bids for the high priority level. In such an embodiment, for example, a bidder who places the highest bid or whose bid is received first may get the high priority level in the order queue in exchange for the paid fee.
US08275694B2
The present invention is a console, system and method for providing an interface to a financial market trading system or to a financial market based gaming system. The invention enables the trader to trade on financial markets using an interface simulating known and popular games from the world of sports, arcade, games of chance, strategic games and the like.
US08275684B2
An investment program for funding benefits by maintaining assets in the investment program that includes an employer owned trust account and at least one life, disability, health or annuity contract (including a terminal annuity) obtained directly or indirectly from a partially or wholly owned or non-owned captive insurance company. The insurance contract is purchased with assets from the trust account and the partially or wholly owned or non-owned captive insurance company is a least partially, wholly or non-owned by the employer. When paying or reimbursing benefits, the employer or the trust may pay the benefit and if the employer pays the benefit, the trust may reimburse the employer.
US08275683B2
Systems and methods may be provided for deposit prediction based upon an example Monte Carlo analysis. The system and methods may include receiving deposit information associated with a plurality of deposits for a deposit account of a financial institution customer, where the deposit information includes a plurality of deposit amounts, and a respective date associated with each of the plurality of deposit amounts; applying a Monte Carlo analysis to at least a portion of the received deposit information; and identifying, based upon the applied Monte Carlo analysis, a largest total monetary amount that can be expected to be deposited within a time interval according to a predetermined confidence level.
US08275682B2
Systems and methods for consumer price index determination using panel-based and point-of-sale market research data are disclosed. An example method to determine a consumer price index disclosed herein comprises obtaining panelist market research data determined by monitoring items purchased by a plurality of statistically-selected panelists, obtaining retail site market research data for items sold by a plurality of retail sites, combining the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data to determine weighted equivalent unit pricing information for each group of common items in an item stratum of the consumer price index having substantially similar attributes except for a unit amount, and determining the consumer price index using the weighted equivalent unit pricing information.
US08275678B2
The present invention automates the process of receiving transportation documentation and producing advance loading manifests therefrom to optimize load planning and dynamic product shipment and delivery control. Methods provide for receipt of the transportation documentation, initial preparation, and transmission of the documentation from on board a vehicle or while the vehicle is in transit.
US08275677B2
A storage medium for resolving demand and supply imbalances is provided. The storage medium includes machine-readable computer program code and instructions for causing a computer to implement a method. The method includes identifying an excess component inventory liability or constraint in supply capability for an end product by matching current buying patterns for the end product against inventory liability and supply capability based on a previous demand forecast. Where excess component inventory liability exists, the method includes: refocusing the excess component inventory liability by determining alternative end products that use components identified in the excess component inventory liability; and executing sales activities for enticing sales of the alternative end products. Where constrained supply capability exists, the method includes determining alternative end products that are functionally equivalent to those in the constrained supply capability, and executing sales activities for enticing sales of functionally equivalent alternative end products.
US08275672B1
In general, the subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A server system receives a request to purchase a product from a first computing device. The first computing device is one of multiple computing devices assigned to a user account. The server system requests to charge an account associated with a user of the first computing device for a price. The server system receives an indication that the account has been charged. The server system sends for receipt by each of the computing devices a notification that a purchasing event has occurred. The server system receives, as sent by each of at least a subset of the multiple computing devices, a request for details. The server system sends, for receipt by each of the at least subset of the multiple computing devices, an indication that the product has been purchased.
US08275671B2
Methods of the present invention allow for validating eCommerce transactions. An exemplary method for validating an eCommerce transaction may comprise the steps of validating a Hosting Provider, validating a Merchant using the Hosting Provider to host an eCommerce website, and validating a Customer who may purchase goods or services from the Merchant via the eCommerce website. If the Hosting Provider, Merchant, and Customer are validated, an eCommerce transaction may be approved.
US08275657B2
A method of generating and redeeming a plurality of coupons includes generating a first coupon, generating a second coupon, distributing the first coupon to the first consumer, and distributing the second coupon to the second consumer. Generating a first coupon includes selecting a first group of offers from a plurality of offers such that the first group of offers is individually customized to the first consumer, and printing a first bar code identifying a first account and indicating that the first coupon relates to the first group of offers. Generating a second coupon includes selecting a second group of offers, and printing a second bar. Each of the plurality of offers is redeemable for a discount on a corresponding one of a plurality of products offered for sale, and the first group of offers differs from the second group of offers.
US08275656B2
Embodiments employ a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) under a covariance matrix floor constraint to predict missing data from observed data. An MLE solution is obtained for approximately Gaussian distributions under the constraint that the covariance matrix is greater than or equal to a positive-definite matrix. In one embodiment, an offline model estimation is performed using an expectation-maximization (EM) approach to estimate various statistical parameters based on observed data. Then, in an online approach, parameters for various missing CTR data may be predicted based on the offline estimated statistical parameters. A non-limiting, non-exhaustive example using the constrained MLE approach is described for predicting missing click-through rate data useable in selecting an advertisement to display with a search query result.
US08275651B2
A behavior improvement system for ascertaining behavior reform by helping a person take notice of his/her behavior in regard to behavior modification from various sides. The behavior improvement system is executed using terminals connected to a LAN. The behavior improvement system is characterized by setting a goal for a behavior improvement, setting an action plan realizing the goal, a member periodically carrying out a self-check of the action plan to take notice of growth of a behavior within him/herself or comparing a diagnosis interview result replied by the member and a diagnostician using the same diagnosis interview sheet to take notice of a difference of evaluations between him/herself and another person, the member taking notice of his/her behavior improvement with each other member using a bulletin board function, and enabling the member to obtain an idea to be done by him/herself using advice from an advisor who is an expert.
US08275649B2
Techniques for providing mining life pattern are described. This disclosure describes mining a life pattern of an individual, for example, by identifying places visited during the individual's daily activities. Mining the individual life pattern includes collecting location data for the individual and predicting behaviors and preferences of the individual based at least in part on a location history. The location history of the individual is represented with a sequence of geographical regions that have been visited by the individual with corresponding arrival and departure times for each region. Once the life pattern is predicted from the location history, information is recommended to the individual based at least in part on the life pattern.
US08275636B2
The instant invention relates to a system and method for ensuring and verifying the identity of all parties involved in an online marketplace transaction involving buyers, sellers, and third parties, such as a marketplace. Anonymous transactions are supported by the present invention. Verification is provided and insurance may be purchased in accordance with the instant invention guaranteeing that the parties are who they represent themselves to be and are capable of entering into the transaction, thereby facilitating completion of the online transaction. Both the verification provided and insurance purchased take into account numerous factors including, but not limited to, the credit score of a user trading counterpart, the amount and type of a user's or trading counterpart's past trading activity, the monetary amount, size, and type of transaction for which verification and/or insurance is sought, and the nature of the goods and/or services involved in the transaction for which verification and/or insurance is sought.
US08275634B2
The method, system and user-interface allows alignment of refill dates associated with a plurality of prescriptions to a plurality of alignment dates, such that a plurality of selected prescriptions require refills on each of the plurality of alignment dates, thus limiting the number of occasions on which a customer must visit the pharmacy to retrieve refills of the aligned prescriptions, and increasing the likelihood that the customer will comply with the recommended medication regimen.
US08275628B2
A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: providing one or more relevant reported aspects associated with one or more source users that are relevant to achieving one or more target outcomes, the providing of the one or more relevant reported aspects being based, at least in part, on the one or more relevant reported aspects' association with the one or more source users; and developing one or more personalized plans designed to facilitate an end user to achieve the one or more target outcomes when one or more emulatable aspects indicated by the one or more personalized plans are emulated, the development of the one or more personalized plans being based, at least in part, on the providing In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.
US08275626B2
An apparatus for decoding an encoded audio signal having first and second portions encoded in accordance with first and second encoding algorithms, respectively, BWE parameters for the first and second portions and a coding mode information indicating a first or a second decoding algorithm, includes first and second decoders, a BWE module and a controller. The decoders decode portions in accordance with decoding algorithms for time portions of the encoded signal to obtain decoded signals. The BWE module has a controllable crossover frequency and is configured for performing a bandwidth extension algorithm using the first decoded signal and the BWE parameters for the first portion, and for performing a bandwidth extension algorithm using the second decoded signal and the bandwidth extension parameter for the second portion. The controller controls the crossover frequency for the BWE module in accordance with the coding mode information.
US08275624B2
A speech aid for persons with hypokinetic dysarthria, a speech disorder associated with Parkinson's disease. The speech aid alters the pitch at which the user hears his or her voice and/or provides multitalker babble noise to the speaker's ears. The speech aid induces increased speech motor activity and improves the intelligibility of the user's speech. The speech aid may be used with a variety of microphones, headphones, in one or both ears, with a voice amplifier, or connected to telephones.
US08275623B2
A process and system including a device, such as a set-top box, including a controller to detect a plurality of users engaging in a voice conference to discuss a presentation of a media program, convert speech dialog detected in the voice conference to textual dialog, detect from the textual dialog a behavioral profile of at least one of the plurality of users, and identify at least one of advertisement content and marketable media content for the plurality of users based on the behavioral profile of the at least one user. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08275622B2
A method and system recognizes an unknown speaker by directing an ultrasonic signal at a face of the unknown speaker. A Doppler signal of the ultrasonic signal is acquired after reflection by the face, and Doppler features are extracted from the reflected Doppler signal. The Doppler features are classified using Doppler models storing the Doppler features and identities of known speakers to recognize and identify the unknown speaker.
US08275617B1
In an interactive computer controlled display system with speech command input recognition and visual feedback, implementations are provided for predetermining a plurality of speech commands for respectively initiating each of a corresponding plurality of system actions in combination with implementations for providing for each of said plurality of commands, an associated set of speech terms, each term having relevance to its associated command. Also included are implementations for detecting speech command and speech terms. The system provides an implementation responsive to a detected speech command for displaying said command, and an implementation responsive to a detected speech term having relevance to one of said commands for displaying the relevant command. The system further comprehends an interactive implementation for selecting a displayed command to thereby initiate a system action; this selecting implementation is preferably through a speech command input. The system preferably displays the basic speech commands simultaneously along with the relevant commands.
US08275616B2
The present invention relates to a continuous speech recognition system that is very robust in a noisy environment. In order to recognize continuous speech smoothly in a noisy environment, the system selects call commands, configures a minimum recognition network in token, which consists of the call commands and mute intervals including noises, recognizes the inputted speech continuously in real time, analyzes the reliability of speech recognition continuously and recognizes the continuous speech from a speaker. When a speaker delivers a call command, the system for detecting the speech interval and recognizing continuous speech in a noisy environment through the real-time recognition of call commands measures the reliability of the speech after recognizing the call command, and recognizes the speech from the speaker by transferring the speech interval following the call command to a continuous speech-recognition engine at the moment when the system recognizes the call command.
US08275615B2
A translation method and system include a recognition engine having a plurality of models each being employed to decode a same utterance to provide an output. A model combiner is configured to assign probabilities to each model output and configured to assign weights to the outputs of the plurality of models based on the probabilities to provide a best performing model for the context of the utterance.
US08275614B2
A support device, program and support method for supporting generation of text from speech data. The support device includes a confirmed rate calculator, a candidate obtaining unit and a selector. The confirmed rate calculator calculates a confirmed utterance rate which is an utterance rate of a confirmed part having already-confirmed text in the speech data. The candidate obtaining unit obtains multiple candidate character strings resulting from a speech recognition of an unconfirmed part having unconfirmed text in the speech data. The selector preferentially selects, from among the plurality of candidate character strings, a candidate character string whose utterance time consumed in uttering the candidate character string at the confirmed utterance rate is closest to an utterance time of the unconfirmed part of the speech data.
US08275610B2
A plural-channel audio signal (e.g., a stereo audio) is processed to modify a gain (e.g., a volume or loudness) of a speech component signal (e.g., dialogue spoken by actors in a movie) relative to an ambient component signal (e.g., reflected or reverberated sound) or other component signals. In one aspect, the speech component signal is identified and modified. In one aspect, the speech component signal is identified by assuming that the speech source (e.g., the actor currently speaking) is in the center of a stereo sound image of the plural-channel audio signal and by considering the spectral content of the speech component signal.
US08275609B2
A voice activity detection (VAD) device and method provide for a VAD threshold that is adaptive to background noise variation.
US08275605B2
A computer-implemented machine translation system translates text from a first language to a second language. The system includes a plurality of mappings, each mapping indicative of associating a dependency structure of the first language with a dependency structure of the second language, wherein at least some of the mappings correspond to dependency structures of the first language having varying context with some common elements, and associated dependency structures of the second language to the dependency structures of the first language. A module receives input text in a first language and outputs output text in a second language based on accessing the plurality of mappings.
US08275601B2
An improved mobile electronic device enables the inputting of text in one alphabet, Traditional Chinese in the present example, by transliteration of inputs in another alphabet, BoPoMoFo in the present example. Since some of the inputs can be ambiguous, transliteration of an ambiguous input is delayed until a detection of a finalization event, thus avoiding the outputting of unnecessary transliteration results, and thus advantageously avoiding a distraction to the user.
US08275600B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for automatically identifying transliteration pairs are disclosed. In one implementation, a method is provided. The method includes receiving a plurality of resources, the plurality of resources including a plurality of anchor text; determining one or more potential transliterations from the plurality of anchor text; and identifying one or more potential transliteration pairs from the one or more potential transliterations, where each potential transliteration pair includes a first anchor text in a first writing system and a second anchor text in a second writing system, the second anchor text and the first anchor text identifying a same resource or location.
US08275597B1
In one embodiment, a method comprises creating a simulation model for a column of bit cells in a memory, simulating the simulation model to generate a result; and displaying the result for a user. Each of the bit cells in the column is coupled to a different wordline, and the simulation model comprises one or more linear elements in place of a nonlinear element in each bit cell that is coupled to an inactive wordline. The one or more linear elements approximate a behavior of the nonlinear element while the wordline is inactive. A computer accessible storage medium storing a simulator that implements the method is contemplated, and the simulator itself is also contemplated, in various embodiments.
US08275596B2
According to one exemplary embodiment, a method for robust statistical semiconductor device modeling includes building a semiconductor device model using at least one new device parameter variation, constructing a variation library for the semiconductor device model, and verifying the variation library against measured data from physical semiconductor devices. The variation library is constructed by determining variations of the at least one new device parameter variation and standard device parameters as functions of, for example. sizes and locations of semiconductor devices on semiconductor dies.
US08275588B2
An emulation system includes a first circuit for emulating a first logical part of a device, a second circuit for emulating a second logical part of the device that is different from the first logical part, wherein the first circuit is separate from the second circuit, and a third circuit connecting the first circuit and the second circuit to communicate signals between the first circuit and the second circuit.
US08275584B2
A method of developing a statistical model for integrated circuits includes providing a set of test patterns; collecting a set of intra-die data from the set of test patterns; collecting a set of inter-die data from the set of test patterns; generating a total variation sigma (sigma_total) from the set of intra-die data and the set of inter-die data; appointing one of a global variation sigma (sigma_global) and a local variation sigma (sigma_local) as a first sigma, and a remaining one as a second sigma; generating the first sigma from one of the set of intra-data and the set of inter-data; generating the second sigma by removing the first sigma from the sigma_total; generating a corner model for global variations based on sigma_global and the set of inter-die data; and generating a corner model for local variations based on sigma_local and the set of intra-die data.
US08275583B2
A system and method for interactively optimizing shipping density of racked parts by a user is provided. The system includes a user computer system, a communications network, a remotely located computer system, a data storage device a computer-generated model of a component part; a computer-generated model of a container for transporting the component part and an executable shipping density optimization software program. The methodology includes the steps of the user selecting the component part model and container. The methodology also includes the steps of analyzing the shipping density of component parts within the container. The methodology further includes the steps of identifying a bottleneck feature and modifying the bottleneck feature and determining the optimized density of the modified component parts in the container.
US08275577B2
A method and apparatus are provided for diagnosing faults in a monitored system that is monitored by sensors. An empirical model is generated for a targeted component of the monitored system. The empirical model is trained with an historical data source that contains example observations of the sensors. Substantially real-time estimates are generated based on instrumented data corresponding to the targeted component. The substantially real-time estimates are compared and differenced with instrumented readings from the sensors to provide residual values. The residual values are analyzed to detect the faults and determine a location of the faults in the monitored system.
US08275572B2
A method and apparatus for detecting objects. A first plurality of electromagnetic signals having a first frequency and a second plurality of electromagnetic signals having a second frequency are transmitted. At least one of the first frequency and the second frequency is changed through a range of frequencies. A delayed difference frequency signal substantially equal to a difference between the first frequency and the second frequency is monitored for. The delayed difference frequency signal is generated by an object having non-linear electrical characteristics in response to the object receiving the first plurality of electromagnetic signals and the second plurality of electromagnetic signals. A range measurement is generated for the object by comparing the delayed difference frequency signal and an undelayed difference frequency signal. The undelayed difference frequency signal is substantially equal to the difference between the first frequency and the second frequency.
US08275570B2
A method for modeling of an overhead electrical conductor, includes: collecting 3-dimensional location data of the conductor; substantially simultaneous with said collecting, acquiring a thermal measurement of the conductor with a local thermal sensor; and generating a CAD model of the conductor using the collected 3-dimensional location data of the conductor and the thermal measurement of the conductor. The CAD model facilitates thermal line analysis of the conductor, thermal rating of a power line that includes the conductor, clearance analysis relative to the conductor, and vegetation management relative to the conductor. Apparatus for determining temperature of the overhead electrical conductor, includes: a local thermal sensor that acquires thermal measurements of the conductor; and a data processor that extracts thermal readings from the thermal measurement, and processes the thermal readings and remotely collected 3-dimensional location data of the conductor to determine the temperature of the conductor.
US08275569B2
Provided is a test apparatus that tests a device under test, comprising: a plurality of modules that each include an output circuit that outputs a prescribed output signal to the device under test and a measurement circuit that measures a prescribed characteristic of the device under test; and a control section that, for each module, causes the measurement circuit to measure output of the output circuit and diagnoses the module based on a measurement result of the measurement circuit. Each measurement circuit measures the output of the corresponding output circuit in parallel, and the control section is provided in common to the plurality of modules and sequentially reads the measurement result of the measurement circuit of each module.
US08275564B2
A method and system for inspecting a surface of a material having a repeating pattern of relative work function. The method and system processes sensor data to identify data characteristic of the repeating pattern, and the sensor data is then further processed to remove the data characteristic of the repeating data, leading to a characteristic of non-uniformities of the material surface.
US08275556B2
Method for quantifying analyte polynucleotide in a test sample using real-time amplification and adjustment of a stored calibration curve. The method may be practiced using as few as a single adjustment calibrator to adjust the stored curve. This simplifies the quantitative analysis procedure, while still providing the advantages of internal calibration adjustment to account for variation in amplification reaction efficiency.
US08275552B1
The present invention is a method for communicating and forecasting the extent of toxicity of a given treatment program by deploying a uniform multi-modality grading system, and capturing significant high-grade events within defined risk periods to create a treatment-specific summary rating or classification of the toxicity experience.
US08275547B2
A method for locating a stem of a target tree is disclosed. The target tree is identified from a sensing dataset. At least one slice is created from the sensing dataset. The at least one slice includes at least a portion of the target tree. A tree stem location of the target tree is determined from the at least one slice. A system for locating a stem of a target tree is also disclosed. The system has a processor configured to implement the described method. The system also has a data input coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with the sensing dataset. The system further has a user interface coupled to either the processor or the data input.
US08275546B2
A location extraction component analyzes a set of travelogues to identify locations mentioned therein. A co-occurrence extraction component computes co-occurrence values for the identified locations. When a request to generate a travel route from a starting location to an ending location is received, suggested locations on or near the travel route are identified through the use of the co-occurrence values. A suggested travel route is then generated that passes through the starting location, the ending location, and the suggested locations. A map may be displayed showing the starting location, the ending location, the suggested locations, and the suggested travel route.
US08275544B1
A system and method for determining a position of a remote object comprising inertial sensors and three axis magnetic sensor, together with a target sighting device aligned with the observation platform to determine a target line of sight and a target range finder to determine a distance to the target along the line of sight. A GPS receiver may be included for determining an observation platform position and orientation, The three axis magnetic sensor provides both magnetic north and vertical attitude information for improved rapid initialization and operation in motion. Magnetic anomaly information is detected by comparing IMU and magnetic navigation information and by other methods. Target identification may be determined by a human operator and/or by computer. The system may be integrated with a weapon system to use weapon system sights. The system may be networked to provide target location and/or location error information to another identical unit or a command information system.
US08275536B2
A method for the determination of a fuel mass of a pre-injection injected into at least one combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine by means of at least one injection under high pressure is characterized in that a corrective variable is determined for the pre-injection by means of a comparison between a measure for the actual amount of injected fuel of at least one test post-injection carried out for a predetermined target amount of a desired pre-injection due to a measure, and the measure for the target amount.
US08275524B2
The disclosure describes, in one aspect, an implement control system that includes a controller operatively connected to an implement. The controller is adapted to receive a signal from an input device indicative of a desired implement movement by an operator and to receive an automatically generated signal indicative of an automatically determined implement movement. The controller is further adapted to determine whether to move the implement based on the input device signal or the automatically generated signal. The controller is adapted to generate a control signal to move the implement based on the input device signal when a portion of the implement is above a desired cutting plane.
US08275514B2
An intelligent vehicle seat support system may include an air storage tank for storing air and supplying the air when needed, a plurality of air cushions disposed in a vehicle seat in contact with a human body, and configured to selectively expand and shrink depending on the air flow, a pressure sensor for measuring air pressure of each air cushion, an air control valve disposed between the air storage tank and the air cushions, and configured to control the air that flows into each of the air cushions, and a control unit for, when a passenger takes the vehicle seat, automatically controlling the air control valve so that it starts injecting air into each of the air cushions, and, when the air pressure of each air cushion is higher than a preset reference value, controlling the air control valve so that it stops injecting air into each air cushion.
US08275509B2
System and method for detecting and storing at least speed as an information relevant for resignation for a tachograph system. to provide a tamperproof tachograph system offering a high degree of security. An arithmetic unit detects signals for determining the speed from at least two independent sensors and compares them with each other and stores a sensor-related error message if the signals deviate significantly from each other. The signals of at least three independent sensors are compared with each other in the arithmetic unit and are checked for their plausibility by excluding any signals that significantly deviate from a plurality of signals and determining the speed of the vehicle to be stored only using one or more of those signals that deviate from each other only within defined limits.
US08275505B2
The invention relates to a method and a control system for controlling an auxiliary device of a vehicle, wherein the auxiliary device is automatically started at a starting time which is determined based on an estimated departure time of the vehicle. In particular, the invention relates to an air-conditioning device which is automatically started for pre-air-conditioning (PAC) based on an estimate departure time of an electric or hybrid vehicle. The invention enables a precise and flexible automatic determination of an activation time of the auxiliary device, wherein determining a time of usage of at least one home appliance of a user of the vehicle; determining a departure time of the vehicle based on the time of usage of the at least one home appliance; and determining a starting time of said auxiliary device based on the determined departure time of the vehicle are determined.
US08275500B2
A system and method of controlling a gas turbine engine controller in a rotorwing aircraft includes determining when a fixed collective takeoff (FCTO) of the rotorwing aircraft is being conducted. A control loop gain of the gas turbine engine controller is at least selectively varied when the FCTO is being conducted.
US08275498B2
A system and method for assessing the risk of conjunction of a rocket body with orbiting and non-orbiting platforms. Two-body orbital dynamics are used to initially determine the kinematic access for a ballistic vehicle. The access may be represented in two ways: as a volume relative to its launcher and also as a geographical footprint relative to a target position that encompasses all possible launcher locations.
US08275488B2
A system and method of use for self-tuning a PID controller utilized with an exciter and generator is disclosed. The system includes a power source, an exciter electrically connected to the power source, a generator that is electrically energized by the exciter, and a processor that provides a PID controller that calculates an estimated exciter time constant and an estimated generator time constant using particle swarm optimization (“PSO”) to control exciter field voltage. The particle swarm optimization (“PSO”) technique includes increasing the voltage reference by a predetermined percentage over a predetermined time period, initializing each particle position of exciter time constant and generator time constant, calculating generator voltage, performing a fitness evaluation and then obtaining and updating best values. This is followed by repeating the steps of determining the generator voltage, the fitness evaluation, and the best values over a predetermined number of iterations.
US08275483B2
Demand Flow operates chilled water plants at substantially improved efficiency, regardless of plant load conditions. In general, Demand Flow utilizes an operating strategy which controls chilled and condenser water pumping according to a constant Delta T line, which is typically near or at design Delta T. This reduces or eliminates Low Delta T Syndrome and reduces energy usage by chilled and condenser water pumps for given load conditions. Operation of chilled water pumps in this manner creates a synergy which generally balances flow rates throughout the plant, reducing undesirable bypass mixing and energy usage at air handler fans and other components of the chilled water plant. At plant chillers, application of Demand Flow increases the refrigeration effect through refrigerant sub-cooling and superheating, while preventing stacking. Demand Flow includes a critical zone reset feature which allows the constant Delta T line to be reset to adjust to changing load conditions.
US08275477B2
A method for digitally processing audio signals to emulate the effects of vacuum tube amplifiers and preamplifiers, musical instrument amplification systems, and distortion effects. By use of an implicit numerical method to estimate the response of a parametrically-controlled non-linear transfer function, non-linear filters, and feedback elements, the dynamic behavior and distortion effects of tube amplification stages are simulated. This provides the capability to reproduce the desired sounds of vintage and modern tube amplifier systems and effects with the conveniences and control associated with digital signal processing systems and software.
US08275474B2
A system and method for flexibly outputting audio from a plurality of programs to the particular outputs that are desired for each audio stream. This routing flexibility enables the audio system to operate in a variety of configured usage modes, wherein each usage mode identifies the routing of each audio stream to one or more outputs such as SPDIF, HDMI, I2S, and DAC.
US08275472B2
In a field device for process automation, a reprogammable logic device is used, in order to achieve a high flexibility as regards hardware components.
US08275463B1
Exemplary techniques for recording a context for sensed biological data are described. One technique senses biological data from a patient and records supporting data with the sensed biological data.
US08275460B2
A device is provided for stimulating select body tissues and organs from within a compartment in a body. The device includes a tube having a distal end, a proximal end and a plurality of lumens. At least one distendable element is located along and coupled to the tube in closer proximity to the distal end than to the proximal end. Each distendable element is configured to expand against the compartment into a first position and contract within the compartment into a second position. At least one electrical component is in association with each of the distendable elements and configured to activate and deactivate electrical stimulation to the select body tissues and organs. The expansion and contraction of each distendable element and the activation and deactivation of each electrical component in the compartment is repeated over a period of time.
US08275458B2
Methods and systems for performing pacing interval optimization are provided. One or more optimum pacing interval is determined for each of a plurality of different ranges of heart rate, different levels of autonomic tone, different body temperature ranges, or combinations thereof. The information (e.g., measures of hemodynamic response) collected to perform pacing interval optimization can be collected and stored in a table over disjoint periods of time. Such measures of hemodynamic performance are preferably relative measures, but can alternatively be absolute measures.
US08275450B2
A method of measuring blood velocity includes obtaining a first velocity image by illuminating a tissue surface with a light source for a first exposure time, obtaining a second velocity image by illuminating the tissue surface with the light source for a second exposure time, computing a first average intensity of a first pixel block at a first predetermined location of the first velocity image and a second average intensity of a second pixel block at a second predetermined location of the second velocity image, identifying mid-range velocities of the first and second pixel blocks, computing an optimal optical coherence parameter based on the mid-range velocity of the first pixel block and the mid-range velocity of the second pixel block, and iteratively re-computing the first velocity image and the second velocity image using the optimal optical coherence parameter.
US08275443B2
A medical robot for use inside an MRI includes a horizontal motion assembly, a vertical motion assembly and a controller. The horizontal motion assembly and the vertical assembly each includes a motion joint, an ultrasonic motor operably connected to the motion joint and an encoder operably connected to the ultrasonic motor. The motor and encoder are positioned proximate to the joint of the respective horizontal motion assembly and vertical motion assembly. Each motor has a cross section positioned in one of the axial and sagittal plane of the MRI. A medical instrument assembly is operably connectable to one of the moving joint of the vertical motion assembly. The controller is operably connected to the horizontal motion joint and the vertical motion joint and it is adapted to be powered off when the magnetic resonance imager is being used to collect images.
US08275434B2
A method for measuring blood oxygen content under low perfusion, which is used in a device for measuring blood oxygen content, includes the steps of: initializing the device that is applied with power; collecting and processing data with a driving circuit of light emitting device, a bias circuit, a gain circuit and an A/D sampling circuit, which are controlled under a cone control module; calculating blood oxygen saturation based on the collected data with a data processing module which integrates the collected data in a period of time with an area integration method; and outputting from a communication functional module results of the blood oxygen saturation or pulse rate calculated with the data processing module. The method further includes a decision step of deciding the two results acquired from the data processing module with the waveform method and the integration method respectively based on the intensity of the measured signal and generating the final measured result, performed by a decision unit included in the device. By adopting the above method, the disturbance to effective signal by noise can be eliminated. As a result, the measuring accuracy of blood oxygen content under low perfusion can be improved without increasing the production cost for the measuring device.
US08275431B2
A tape-type superconductor (1), comprising an elongated substrate (2), in particular a metal tape, and a continuous superconducting layer (3), in particular of a HTS type material, deposited on the substrate (2), is characterized in that Ic∥/Ic⊥≧1.5, with Ic∥ being the width density of critical current of the continuous superconducting layer (3) in parallel to the substrate (2) and in parallel to the elongated direction of the substrate (2), and with Ic⊥ being the width density of critical current of the continuous superconducting layer (3) in parallel to the substrate (2) and perpendicular to the elongated direction of the substrate (2). The tape-type superconductor has reduced ac losses.
US08275413B1
A hand-held mobile communication device, such as smart telephone, incorporating sensors and signal conditioning modules for measuring signals from external sources of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in the low, radio, ultraviolet, and infrared spectral ranges. These include the detector for receiving and monitoring electromagnetic fields originating from various external sources of radiation that pose potential health hazards or may interfere with various electronic devices. The mobile phone equipped with such sensors could alternate between communication and monitoring functions. Other integrated EMR sensors are a photodiode for the ultraviolet detection to monitor the user's sun exposure and a thermopile for non-contact measurement of temperature of humans or inanimate objects. This infrared sensor in combination with a photographic digital camera and a pattern recognition signal processing allows measuring temperatures at specific locations and from optimal distances to the surface of the object to enhance accuracy of non-contact temperature measurements.
US08275408B2
In a wireless communications system, a serving base station performs outer and closed power control for an overhead channel and a traffic channel for data, either of which can carry an acknowledgement (Ack) channel and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) channel on an uplink from User Equipment (UE). In an exemplary aspect, data packet communication is implemented in 3GPP LTE Rel. 8 wherein the uplink has a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplex (SC-FDM) uplink waveform. The UE performs open loop power control by a determining transmit power spectral density value by using received energy per symbol for a reference signal.
US08275405B2
In a mobile communication system performing the space division multiplex, the wireless resources are saved as much as possible and the reception powers of communication signals, which are received by a base station apparatus from mobile station apparatuses, are evened. A mobile communication system wherein each of mobile station apparatuses (10) includes a maximum power transmission information transmitting part (13) that transmits, to a base station apparatus (20), maximum power transmission information indicating that a communication signal is transmitted at the maximum transmission power of that mobile station apparatus (10), while the base station apparatus (20) includes a reception power acquiring part (22) that acquires the reception powers of the communication signals transmitted from the respective mobile station apparatuses (10), a maximum power transmission.
US08275398B2
Various embodiments are directed to improved message addressing techniques. In one embodiment, a computing device may comprise a messaging client arranged to receive an input sequence of alphabetic or alphanumeric characters as a destination of an outbound message. The messaging client may recognize that the input sequence represents a mnemonic short code and may automatically generate a common short code comprising a sequence of numeric digits associated with the mnemonic short code. The messaging client may display both the input sequence comprising the mnemonic short code and the common short code and enable the outbound message to be sent using the common short code as the destination. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08275396B2
Method of transmitting paging information for a wireless communications system and related apparatus
A method of transmitting paging information for a network terminal of a wireless communications system including initiating a dedicated paging procedure to transmit dedicated paging information to a user equipment using a high speed downlink operation in a CELL_PCH state. The high speed downlink operation includes reception of a high speed downlink shared channel.
US08275395B2
A method and device for controlling the operability of a transmitter on a mobile communications device by determining if the mobile communications device is located proximate to an operator's seat of a vehicle. A condition parameter of the mobile communications device may be determined. The transmitter on the mobile communications device may be disabled in response to the mobile communications device being located proximate to an operator's seat of a vehicle and further in response to the determined condition parameter. The transmitter on the mobile communications device may be enabled, in response to determining that the mobile communications device is not located in a restricted location.
US08275385B2
The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement of facilitating the allocation of radio resources in a communication network, comprising a communication network node (15) communicating with said user equipment (18) by means of data streams over a radio interface on radio channels. A channel quality message having a length of a predefined number of bits is provided comprising information which is used for comparing an obtained channel quality if a single data stream transmission is selected or if a multi data stream transmission is selected for said communication. The available radio resources are then allocated based on said channel quality message.
US08275383B2
A method for ranging in a wireless communication system and a communication apparatus and/or system using the same are provided. A base station (BS) device includes a terminal grouping unit to group terminals associated with the BS device into a plurality of groups, a radio resource assignment unit to allocate a radio resource assigned to the BS device to each of the plurality of groups, a transmission unit to transmit information about a radio resource assigned to a first group of the plurality of groups to a terminal included in the first group, and a receiving unit to receive a ranging signal from the terminal using the radio resource assigned to the first group, wherein the terminal grouping unit assigns the terminal to be included in a second group of the plurality of groups where the ranging signal is not received by the receiving unit.
US08275381B2
Signaling resource partition of a component carrier in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The number of primary resource blocks and the number of extension resource blocks of the component carrier is encoded and signaled to a UE, so the UE can obtain the resource partition of the component carrier.
US08275376B2
In cellular mobile networks handover between base stations of adjacent cells requires the identity, address and frequency of all adjacent cells to be known to other elements of the network. Conventional networks can be extended by the addition of unlicensed-radio access networks. These include an access network controller (303) preferably connected via a broadband network (302) to a plurality of low-power local base stations (301), which communicate with mobile stations (1) over an unlicensed radio interface. The number and changing location of the local base station renders the operation and maintenance required to enable handover from the conventional network to these access networks prohibitively complex. This difficulty is alleviated by assigning the whole access network a single identifier. With this arrangement regardless of which base station mini-cell (304) an active call is being handed-over to, the conventional network will be able to route the request to the access network controller.
US08275371B2
An apparatus and method for providing communications and connection-oriented services to devices are provided. According to one aspect, an interface device for providing communications between a first device and a second comprises an input, logic, and an output. The input of the interface device receives data in a first format from the first device. The logic performs a connection-oriented service on the data. The connection oriented service may include overriding caller identification information associated with the data, sending the data to a voicemail system, and storing a detail record associated with the data. The logic also identifies the second device for receiving the data. The logic then identifies a second format compatible with the second device and translates the data to the second format compatible with the second device. The translated data is then transmitted to the second device via the one or more outputs.
US08275369B2
A method of automatically testing a mobile communication terminal selects a communication frequency band for testing the mobile communication terminal. The mobile communication terminal switches to the selected communication frequency band. One or more service modes, of the mobile communication terminal, which need to be tested under the selected communication frequency band are selected, and a test sequence of the one or more service modes is set. The mobile communication terminal using one of the service modes. Test data of the mobile communication terminal is obtained according to a preset use duration, a test frequency and the test interval of each service mode. A report is generated using the test data.
US08275362B2
In one general sense, information may be presented to a user by receiving one or more ambiguous characters that may be resolved to one of at least two disambiguated characters, exchanging at least one of the ambiguous characters with a host, receiving, from the host, results that reflect disambiguated terms related to the ambiguous characters exchanged with the host, rendering the results in a manner enabling the user to perceive which of the disambiguated terms will be used upon user selection of an aspect of the results, and enabling the user to select an aspect of the results to effect use of a corresponding one of the disambiguated terms.
US08275357B1
A method of operating a mobile wireless network comprising: receiving, by a provisioning server, a signal from a mobile wireless network specifying a location of a first mobile device having a first International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and operating in the mobile wireless network under a first condition, the mobile wireless network including a plurality of mobile switching centers (MSCs) and a plurality of mobile devices operating in the mobile wireless network; provisioning the first IMSI in the first HLR based on a state transition rule from a first provisioning state to a second provisioning state; provisioning a second IMSI in the first HLR based on the state transition rule from a third provisioning state to the first provisioning state; and transmitting data identifying the second IMSI to the first mobile device to allow the first mobile device to operate in the mobile wireless network under a second condition.
US08275353B2
A method handling payment transactions in a system using mobile communication devices as stored value devices is disclosed. A transaction operations server receives multiple records of the transaction from the stored value device—one via a communication channel through the telecommunication provider network, and another via an independent communication channel. The records are reconciled at the transaction server for transaction verification.
US08275352B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for location-based emergency information. A current geographic location of a device is determined. One or more first contact information items based on the determined geographic location are received at the device. The first contact information items include one or more contact information items associated with emergency services.
US08275346B2
Plural voice pendants 100 communicate with a remote monitoring station using a wireless communications protocol and without requiring a connection to a circuit switched telephone network. Such a configuration may be used in any group environment, such as a retirement home or an assisted living facility. The voice pendants can be carried or worn by the residents/patients/members of the home or the facility to assist in calling for help in an emergency situation, e.g., if someone has fallen and cannot get up. By activating an actuator (e.g., a button or switch) on the pendant, the person wearing the pendant is put into voice communication with the monitoring station without the need to dial any phone numbers or hit a “send” style button which indicates the end of a dialed number sequence.
US08275339B2
A fixed point finite impulse response (FIR) filter comprising: 1) an input stage for receiving an input signal as a sequence of input samples comprising: i) delay elements connected in series for receiving and shifting N sequential input samples; ii) multipliers, each multiplier receiving a selected one of the N sequential input samples from the delay elements and multiplying the selected input sample by a corresponding coefficient to produce an intermediate product; and iii) a summer for receiving and adding N intermediate products from the multipliers to produce an output sum signal comprising a sequence of output sum samples; and 2) an output stage for truncating k least significant bits (LSBs) from each of the output sum samples, wherein k is a variable number.
US08275335B2
A communication device reads and stores in memory a state value which was utilized for operating a communication subsystem during a wake-up period of the communication subsystem. The device then causes the communication subsystem to enter into a sleep mode. Subsequently, the device causes the communication subsystem to exit from the sleep mode and enter into a current wake-up period. The stored state value is provided to the communication subsystem for use in operating the communication subsystem during a warm-up period of the current wake-up period. After the warm-up period of the current wake up period, a current state value is provided from a state controller to the communication subsystem for use in operating the communication subsystem during the wake up period. The current state value is determined based on a detected signal level of a current signal received in the communication subsystem.
US08275334B1
An apparatus and method for detecting solid-state electronic devices are described. Non-linear junction detection techniques are combined with spread-spectrum encoding and cross correlation to increase the range and sensitivity of the non-linear junction detection and to permit the determination of the distances of the detected electronics. Nonlinear elements are detected by transmitting a signal at a chosen frequency and detecting higher harmonic signals that are returned from responding devices.
US08275323B1
A system including an activity sensing module to sense RF activity in first and second sub-channels of a communication channel of a first wireless network. N adjacent channel interference (ACI) filter modules arranged in parallel receive signals from N antennas, respectively, filter out signals in channels adjacent to the communication channel, and generate N filtered signals, respectively, where N>2. The activity sensing module generates control signals based on the N filtered signals. A channel identification module processes the control signals, and determines that both of the first and second sub-channels are available when the RF activity originating from a second wireless network is not present in both of the first and second sub-channels, and that the first sub-channel is available when the RF activity originating from the second wireless network is present only in the second sub-channel and is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold.
US08275321B2
An electrical circuit comprises a source of an interferer signal; at least one component configured for using the signal; at least two electrically parallel conductive paths by which the signal can pass between the source and each of the at least one components; and a signal path selector configured to selectively enable the signal to pass from the source to the component by any of the at least two conductive paths and to, when one of the paths is enabled to carry the signal, disable each of the other at least two paths from carrying the signal.
US08275318B2
A magnetic induction data transmission network comprising a master hub, at least one sensor node communicatively coupled to the master hub and a magnetic induction coil preferably adapted to be worn about a body part of a subject such as an individual's waist or neck. In at least one embodiment of the invention, the magnetic induction coil preferably includes a connector which serves as an intermediary between the coil and the hub to allow data communication.
US08275310B2
The invention relates to a wireless system for transmitting data between a base station and a relay antenna of a mobile telephony network. A link comprises, for the separating of the channels, two filters having a lower isolation than a total predetermined isolation and the antennas are dual-polarization antennas, each polarization being allocated to one of the two channels. The isolation provided by the filters and the antenna are added together to obtain the total predetermined isolation.
US08275309B2
An irrigation system includes an irrigation controller, at least one environmental sensor and a vandal resistant data relay. The irrigation controller includes a two conductor hard wired communications link for accepting an actual value of at least one parameter of interest from an environmental sensor in the form of data encoded on the conductors via current modulation. The environmental sensor is mounted in a location remote from the irrigation controller. A circuit is connected to the environmental sensor for transmitting an RF signal representing an actual value of a parameter of interest detected by the environmental sensor. The vandal resistant data relay is connected to the two conductor hard wired communication link of the irrigation controller. The vandal resistant data relay includes a receiver that receives the RF signal, and circuitry configured to extract the actual value of the parameter of interest and emulate a predetermined set of physical and protocol properties of the two conductor hard wired communication link of the irrigation controller.
US08275308B2
Disclosed is a cooperative relay station that relays between a base station and a mobile station when retransmitting a signal. Also, disclosed is a base station that receives a signal from a mobile station in mutual cooperation with the cooperative relay station. After the cooperative relay station receives and decodes a signal that the mobile station transmits to the base station or a service relay station, if an error of the decoded signal does not exist, it stores the received signal. If an error occurs when the base station decodes the signal that the mobile station transmits, the base station requests retransmission for the signal with the error to the cooperative relay station. If the cooperative relay station gets a request of retransmission, it transmits the signal that the base station requests to the base station. In this was, since an error rate may be reduced when the base station requests retransmission of the signal, resource reuse efficiency may become improved, interference may be reduced, and it is easy to adapt to a service being sensitive to time delay.
US08275294B2
A developing device includes: a container that contains a developer including toner; a partition that forms a plurality of chambers by partitioning an interior space of the container; an agitation mechanism that agitates the developer in the interior space and moves the developer between the plurality of chambers; a transport section that is supplied with the developer from the container, and transports the developer to a surface of an image carrier that carries an electrostatic latent image such that the transported developer is close to or contacts the surface of the image carrier, thereby developing the electrostatic latent image; and a driving mechanism that moves at least the partition.
US08275282B2
An image forming apparatus having a display unit for displaying a program which can be executed in the apparatus so as to be identified is disclosed. The apparatus has: an input unit for inputting a program into the image forming apparatus; a display control unit for controlling a process for displaying select keys including a plurality of select keys to instruct a selection of a desired one of a plurality of programs stored in the image forming apparatus onto a display screen displayed on the display unit; and a discriminating unit for discriminating whether the select key to instruct a selection of the program inputted by the input unit can be further displayed onto the first display screen to display the select keys corresponding to the programs registered in the image forming apparatus in response to the input of the program from the input unit or not.
US08275277B2
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a charging device, including a rotatable magnetic particle carrying member and electroconductive magnetic particles carried on the rotatable magnetic particle carrying member, for charging the image bearing member by contacting the magnetic particles to the image bearing member; a measuring device for measuring magnitudes of a first force in a first direction and a second force in a second direction which are produced in a contact region between the image bearing member and the magnetic particles, wherein the first direction and second direction are independent from each other; and a control device for controlling an image forming operation on the basis of the forces measured by the measuring device.
US08275269B2
The distributed Raman amplifier monitors an OSNR of each channel in a WDM light which has been propagated through a transmission path to be Raman amplified, and thereafter, is amplified by an optical amplifier in an optical repeating node; judges whether a monitor value of the OSNR is larger or smaller than a previously set target value thereof; and feedback controls a driving state of a pumping light source which supplies a Raman pumping light to the transmission path, based on the judgment result. The optical communication system comprises the above distributed Raman amplifier in each repeating span thereof, and performs a pumping light control of the distributed Raman amplifier corresponding to the repeating span selected based on the OSNR in each distributed Raman amplifier and the monitor result of span loss. As a result, it becomes possible to effectively improve the OSNR of each channel in the WDM light, and also, to reduce the power consumption.
US08275268B2
An optical repeater connected to an optical transmission line between an optical network unit having an optical network unit (ONU) function on the side of a subscriber and an optical line termination (OLT) on the side of a center includes first electrical/optical conversion means connected to a first optical transmission line on the side of the center, a second electrical/optical conversion means connected to a second optical transmission line on the side of the subscriber, and transmission means connected between the first electrical/optical conversion means and the second electrical/optical conversion means to transmit an optical repeater supervisory signal between the optical transmission lines.
US08275265B2
Communication devices, systems, and methods for dynamic cell bonding (DCB) for Radio-over-Fiber (RoF)-based networks and communication systems are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of operating an optical fiber-based wireless communication system is provided. The method includes determining a first plurality of remote units in a cloud bonded to a Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) communication session. The method also includes measuring a received signal strength from each of the first plurality of remote units. The method also includes measuring a received signal strength from each of a second plurality of remote units in the cloud not bonded to the RoF communication session. At least one of the second plurality of remote units is dynamically bonded to the RoF communication session if the measured received signal strength of the one of the second plurality of remote units is greater than the measured received signal strength of the first plurality of remote units.
US08275263B1
Technologies are described herein for a phase deviation multiplication apparatus that implements an in-place multiplication approach for multiplying the phase deviation of an input signal while maintaining the frequency of the carrier signal within a frequency band of operation. According to an embodiment, a multi-stage phase deviation multiplication apparatus includes a plurality of sequentially arranged phase deviation multipliers, including at least a first phase deviation multiplier and a last phase deviation multiplier. The phase deviation multipliers have respective predetermined phase deviation multiplication factors. The first phase deviation multiplier receives an input signal and the last phase deviation multiplier generates a last phase deviated signal. The last phase deviated signal has a phase deviation multiplication factor that is the product of the respective predetermined phase deviation multiplication factors of the plurality of phase deviation multipliers.
US08275260B2
The design of telecommunication networks is such that there is provision of end-to-end path protection to multiple demands under a single link or node failure in the networks. Restoration routes are provided on Preconfigured Virtual Cycles (PVC's), where each demand is assigned one restoration route and specific restoration wavelengths on a segment of one cycle. Multiple demands may share restoration wavelengths, and the number of restoration wavelengths may vary among the PVC links. First, a plurality of candidate PVC's are generated where each demand may be assigned to multiple candidates. Assignment of demands with common failure scenarios are allowed, under certain conditions, to the same PVC. Next, a set of PVC's is selected from among the candidates, while minimizing total reserved restoration capacity and ensuring that all demands are protected. Next duplicate assignments are eliminated. Finally, conflicts of wavelength assignments are resolved. The invention focuses primarily on optical networks.
US08275257B2
Methods and apparatus for varying the transmission rate of a signal transmitted within a dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system or network are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method includes obtaining a first signal and determining a transmission rate associated with the first. If it is determined that the transmission rate is a first rate, the method includes processing the first signal as having a first transmission format and the first rate. Alternatively, it is determined that the transmission rate is not the first rate and is a second rate, the method includes processing the first signal as having a second transmission format and a second rate.
US08275255B2
The lens barrel includes a flexible wire, a first supporting frame and a second supporting frame. The flexible wire has a first end with at least one terminal, a second end with at least one terminal and a bent portion disposed between the first and second ends. The bent portion includes a plurality of part overlapping each other. The first supporting frame supports the first end. The second supporting frame is movably disposed in a first direction with respect to the first supporting frame and supports the bent portion.
US08275252B1
A camera including a main body, a lens and a flashlight module is provided. The main body has an image capturing unit. The lens is disposed on the main body at a position corresponding to the image capturing unit for guiding lights to the image capturing unit. The flashlight module includes a first light source and second light sources. The first light source is disposed on the main body and has a first emitting area. The second light sources are disposed on the main body and surround the first light source. Each second light source has a second emitting area. The second emitting areas surround the first emitting area.
US08275246B2
A digital content reproducing and storing apparatus according to one aspect of the invention is configured to perform a storing operation while receiving TS packet constituting digital content and configured to perform a reproducing operation through a PES (Packetized Elementary Stream) obtained by demultiplexing the received TS packet or a read-out TS packet stored therein. The digital content reproducing and storing apparatus includes: a storing unit operable to: demultiplex the received TS packet to obtain the PES; add time information contained in the obtained PES to the received TS packet; and store the received TS packet with the time information added thereto; and a reproducing unit configured to specify a TS packet based on the time information corresponding to a designated prior time and perform the reproducing operation based on the specified TS packet.
US08275242B2
If a program is reproduced on a thumbnail image screen in thumbnail image display, it is effective for judging whether the program is a desired program. A program desired by a user is viewed at a timing not intended by the user because important scenes are viewed beforehand on the thumbnail image display screen in some cases. The recording/reproducing apparatus is structured in such a manner that a thumbnail image display method can be automatically changed for each program in accordance with whether it is highly recognized that the program is viewed by a user.
US08275237B2
A reproducing apparatus configured to reproduce moving image data based on management information including time information and position information about a plurality of intra pictures in the moving image data and display the reproduced moving image data on a display includes a determination unit configured to acquire information about a time interval and a position interval between two intra pictures from the time information and the position information and determine a bit rate between the two intra pictures, and a display control unit configured to display information concerning the bit rate determined by the determination unit, on the display.
US08275235B2
A storage medium storing: video data; and graphics data for displaying a menu. The graphics data includes first graphics data displayed on the screen when an activation command is generated by a user and may also include second graphics data displayed on the screen at a designated time.
US08275225B2
A method for installing a fiber optic cable assembly includes providing a fiber optic cable assembly. The fiber optic cable assembly includes a first jacket, a strength layer, and a second jacket. The strength layer surrounds the first jacket and includes a first set of strength members helically wrapped around the first jacket and a second set of strength members reverse helically wrapped around the first jacket. The first and second sets of strength members are unbraided. The method further includes routing the fiber optic cable assembly from a fiber optic enclosure to an end location. A portion of the second jacket at an end of the fiber optic cable assembly is split. The portion of the second jacket is removed.
US08275224B2
An optical coherent detector that employs an interleave-chirped arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). The AWG has a periodic chirp pattern that enables the AWG to function as an optical 90-degree hybrid. If the AWG is implemented using a birefringent material, then the AWG can also function as a polarization demultiplexer. In one embodiment, the AWG is designed to simultaneously function as a wavelength demultiplexer, a polarization demultiplexer for each wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) signal component, and a 90-degree hybrid for each polarization-division-multiplexed component of each WDM signal component.
US08275215B2
A method for merging first and second images includes determining a pixel difference image from the first and the second images, determining first and second locations of the foreground subject from the pixel difference image, determining a minimum path of values from the pixel difference image for a region between the first and the second locations of the foreground subject, forming a merged image by stitching the first and the second images along the minimum path, and adjusting pixels of the merged image within a width of the minimum path.
US08275210B2
Disclosed is method of encoding a set of data values (205-245). Each data value corresponds to a pixel position (205,210, 220,225) within an image (100). The method operates on a current (230) said data value at a current pixel position. The method creates (605) a context set (215,225) for the data value (230), the context set including a data value at a pixel position (225) in the set immediately preceding the current pixel position in an encoding order, wherein the immediately preceding pixel position is not adjacent said current pixel position within said image. The method then encodes (500) the data value (230) using the created context set (215,225). A corresponding decoding method is also provided.
US08275209B2
In certain embodiments, overlap operators are applied during encoding and/or decoding of digital media, where the overlap operators have reduced DC gain mismatch and/or DC leakage between interior overlap operators and overlap operators at the edge and/or corner. In other embodiments, information indicating a selected tile boundary option for overlap processing can be encoded and/or decoded. The selected tile boundary option indicates one of a hard tile boundary option and a soft tile boundary option for processing with overlap operators. Overlap transform processing can then be applied based at least in part on the selected tile boundary option.
US08275205B2
A system having an approach for prioritizing targets for an order of capturing the targets photographically or otherwise. Prioritizing is based on cost of obtaining or capturing the target for viewing or photographing in high resolution. One acquisition mechanism is for obtaining a wide field of view of a scene of targets and another acquisition mechanism is for obtaining a narrow field of view of a target for capture. The cost for prioritizing is based on the time that the narrow field of view acquisition mechanism takes to pan and tilt to get a close-up image of a target divided by the width of the target. The targets may be faces of people.
US08275203B2
A sheet music processing method of processing, by an image processing apparatus, image data of sheet music input by an input device, the method comprising setting, by a user using a designation unit of the image processing apparatus, a unit in which the image data of the sheet music is processed; dividing the image data of the sheet music into units corresponding to the unit; determining whether image data of a first one of the units is repeated in one or more others of the units; and processing the image data, when the image data of the first one of the units is determined to be repeated in the one or more others of the units, to append information using the image processing apparatus to the image data of the first one of the units and the image data of the one or more others of the units.
US08275199B2
Upon creating a color conversion table from a first color space to a second color space, a reversal region where hues are reversed is detected from at least one color gamut in step S2, and the reversal region is corrected in step S3. Mapping is done based on the corrected color gamut in step S4, thereby creating an appropriate color conversion table that suppresses any hue reversal.
US08275196B2
According to one embodiment, an image processing device includes a plurality of parallax image generators. Each of the parallax image generators is configured to generate a first image and a second image based on an input image and a parameter for setting a distance between viewpoints. There is a first parallax between the first image and the second image. The first parallax depends on the parameter for setting the distance between viewpoints. The input image is inputted to the parallax image generators in common. A plurality of parameters for setting the distance between viewpoints different from each other are inputted to the parallax image generators, respectively.
US08275193B2
This invention documents the efforts on the research and development of a miniaturized GPS/MEMS IMU integrated navigation system. A miniaturized GPS/MEMS IMU integrated navigation system is presented; Laser Dynamic Range Imager (LDRI) based alignment algorithm for space applications is discussed. Two navigation cameras are also included to measure the range and range rate which can be integrated into the GPS/MEMS IMU system to enhance the navigation solution.
US08275188B2
A system for inspecting chips in a tray comprises a three-dimensional sensor, a focus computing unit, an image sensor and a focusing device. The three-dimensional sensor is used to obtain the height signals of surfaces of the chips. The focus computing unit calculates the focusing positions of chips. The surface inspection sensor is used to inspect the surfaces of the chips. The focusing device is used to bring the images of the surfaces of the chips into the focus of the image sensor.
US08275187B2
In a radiographic image detection apparatus that can perform long-size radiography on a region of a patient that is larger than the detection range of a radiographic image detector, radiography is performed so that a collimator image is included in a radiographic image in such a manner that the collimator image is present in the vicinity of a side edge of the radiographic image. Further, the inclination of each radiographic image caused by inclination of the radiographic image detector at the time of radiography is corrected based on the collimator image. Further, a synthesis image is produced by combining the plurality of radiographic images the inclination of which has been corrected.
US08275176B2
A user authentication method and apparatus using a face image are provided. The method includes transforming a face image in a normalized spatial domain into frequency-domain data, extracting valid transform coefficients from the frequency-domain data based on energy-concentrated region information, extracting a feature vector from the extracted valid transform coefficients, and performing user authentication by comparing the extracted feature vector with a previously registered feature vector. Accordingly, it is possible to perform user authentication using a face image while using a minimum data dimension, thereby improving the speed and precision thereof.
US08275173B2
A parking assistance system (PAS) comprising an image capture device, a display device and an image analysis device is provided, wherein the image capture device captures a rear parking image of a car and the image analysis device analyses the parking image to determine an initial line, two side lines and an auxiliary line in the parking image. The image analysis device determines a first reference point according to a specific position on the car, a second reference point according to an interval of the initial line between the two side lines, a third reference point according to an interval of the auxiliary line between the two side lines and a recommended parking path according to these reference points, and transmits the parking image and the recommended parking path to the display device, such that the parking image and the recommended parking path are superimposed to be displayed on the display.
US08275167B2
There is provided an image processing apparatus including: an image information acquisition unit that acquires image information representing an image obtained by reading a recording medium containing one or a plurality of detectable substances; an extraction unit that extracts an image corresponding to the detectable substances from the image information acquired by the image information acquisition unit; a computation unit that computes feature quantities of distribution of the detectable substances in the recording medium based on the image corresponding to the detectable substances extracted by the extraction unit; and a memory that stores the feature quantities computed by the computation unit.
US08275166B2
A headphone of convenient assembly and package includes a first earpiece and a second earpiece. The first earpiece has a tubular first casing and the first casing includes a first ear plug. The second earpiece has a tubular second casing and the second casing includes a second ear plug. The first casing has a clasping portion at an end opposite to the first ear plug. The second casing has a clasping recess at an end opposite to the second ear plug for receiving the clasping portion. Therefore, the first earpiece and the second earpiece can be assembled together into a tubular single piece, benefiting the first earpiece and the second earpiece for being packaged and carried, thus improving the convenience of the headphone.
US08275158B2
Provided is a piezoelectric micro speaker. The piezoelectric micro speaker includes a device plate having a front cavity, a front plate having a radiation hole which communicates with the front cavity in front of the device plate, and a rear plate having a rear cavity and a vent portion. A rear portion of the device plate forms a wall of the vent portion. The device plate includes at least one first vent hole which communicates with the vent portion, and the front plate includes at least one second vent hole which communicates with the first vent hole.
US08275152B2
Bass frequencies of audio can be dynamically boosted using various techniques and tools. The described techniques and tools can be applied separately or in combination. Bass frequencies of audio can be boosted using a linear combination of an input audio signal and output of a high-pass filter. For example, bass frequencies of audio can be boosted by applying a high-pass filter to an input audio signal to produce an output of the high-pass filter, determining a current level, determining a target gain amount, dynamically adjusting the input audio signal and the output of the high-pass filter, and combining the gain-adjusted signals to produce an output signal. A dynamic bass boost filter can comprise a high-pass filter and a dynamic boost module.
US08275150B2
An apparatus for processing an audio signal and method thereof are disclosed, by which a local dynamic range of an audio signal can be adaptively normalized as well as a maximum dynamic range of the audio signal. The present invention includes receiving a signal, by an audio processing apparatus; computing a long-term power and a short-term power by estimating power of the signal; generating a slow gain based on the long-term power; generating a fast gain based on the short-term power; obtaining a final gain by combining the slow gain and the fast gain; and, modifying the signal using the final gain.
US08275145B2
The present invention relates to a vehicle communication system comprising a plurality of microphones adapted to detect speech signals of different vehicle passengers, a mixer combining the audio signal components of the different microphones to a resulting speech output signal, a weighting unit determining the weighting of the audio signal components for the resulting speech output signal, where the weighting unit determines the weighting of the signal components based upon non-acoustical information about the presence of a vehicle passenger.
US08275140B2
A transducer system is disclosed for detecting actual or simulated body sounds. An audio signal generation and detection system is disclosed for the purposes of simulating the medical examination of a patient or simulating the listening of sounds seeming to emanate from a live or inanimate body. A signal generator sets up a voltage potential at an electrode physically attached to the body, or electrically connected to a body, thereby setting up a voltage potential on a surface area of the body. An electric field potential sensor or a capacitive electrical sensor placed in proximity to the electrode or body surface then detects the voltage potential. The signals produced by the signal generator can represent heart, lung, bowel or other sounds and the electrical sensor can take the physical form of a listening device such as a stethoscope, thereby creating a simulation of listening to body sounds for medical diagnostic purposes.
US08275137B1
A system and methods for distortion reduction in a non-linear audio system are disclosed. A method includes the operation of defining a non-linear system transfer function which relates a system electronic input signal with a system acoustic output over a range in which the system acoustic output is in a transition between non-saturated and saturated conditions in a medium in which the system acoustic output of the non-linear audio system is broadcast. A preprocessing transfer function is created that is the inverse of the non-linear system transfer function. The preprocessing transfer function is applied to the system electronic input signal to reduce the level of harmonic distortion at the system acoustic output.
US08275136B2
Disclosed herein is an apparatus. The apparatus includes a first audio input device, a second audio input device, an analog to digital converter, a voice activity detector, and a position detector. The first audio input device is configured to receive a first audio signal. The second audio input device is configured to receive a second audio signal. The analog to digital converter is connected to the first and the second audio input devices. The voice activity detector is connected to the analog to digital converter. The voice activity detector is configured to receive input from the first and the second audio input devices. The position detector is connected to the voice activity detector. The position detector is configured to determine a position of the apparatus and classify the audio signals based on, at least partially, a ratio of the first audio signal and the second audio signal.
US08275134B2
A method for guaranteeing the security of critical data, which is used in a terminal including a secured chip and includes the steps of: activating the secured chip by the terminal platform to receive cryptograph A of said critical data; parsing internally by the secured chip the cryptograph A with a preset key A to generate a plaintext, then encrypting said plaintext with a preset key B to generate cryptograph B, and returning the cryptograph B to the terminal platform. Since cryptograph conversion is performed inside the secured chip, and the process of converting the cryptograph A to the cryptograph B is completed inside the secured chip as a one-shot action, the secured chip cannot be eavesdropped upon or stolen by any vicious software, and thus the critical data is guaranteed to be always in a cryptograph status from the secured input device to the remote server, which ensures the security of the critical data. In addition, the present invention is low in cost, advantageous in spreading and application, and convenient in customization and upgrading. The present invention further provides a terminal and a secured chip.
US08275125B2
A system and method for designing a secure hash function is provided. Both of which have been designed for secure hash functionality, Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-3) using pre processing (MP) methods and to help reduce hash collisions. It is a one way hash function which is a combination of message pre-processing which is a bijective function and the cipher block chaining mode (CBC).
US08275122B2
A communications system and a method of detecting and learning new ringtones in an automatic manner, comprising a desk phone (1), a hook switch, a ringtone detector (3), and a communications device (2). In a first embodiment a mechanical hook switch device is connected to the desk phone (1), and in a second embodiment an electronic hook switch unit (9) is connected to the desk phone (1). The ringtone detector (3) adaptively sets the filter and amplifier parameters according to the sensor position and pick-up sensitivity. The ringtone detector (3) automatically detects and learns the characteristics of new ringtones. The communications device (2) may comprise a base station (6) and a headset (7).
US08275121B2
A portable communication device includes a base, an intermediate portion and a top portion that are operatively coupled by a combination hinge assembly. The combination hinge assembly is configured to facilitate sliding motion between the base and the intermediate portion and rotation between the base and the top portion. The base, intermediate portion and top portion may be configured to include respective displays and/or touch input devices to provide a portable communication device with increased display area and/or control area with a smaller footprint often associated with conventional clamshell or slider portable communication devices.
US08275119B2
A method of operating a telephony service on a telephony network is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of establishing and/or requesting a telephonic connection and/or a call between a caller and a call recipient, receiving a command signal initiated by the caller and/or the call recipient and/or the telephony network during any phase in the call process, the command signal comprising a data signal and/or tone, and initiating a service to the caller and/or the call recipient, or initiating a transaction between the caller and the call recipient in response to receiving the command signal other than a standard call connect and/or disconnect command. Preferably, the data signal and/or tone relates to one of the “*”, “0” or “#” keys of the telephone equipment of the caller, wherein each of the “*”, “0” or “#” keys is associated with a different category of service or transaction.
US08275116B2
This document discusses, among other things, a networked contact center that includes multiple platforms to host multiple tenants. Example embodiments include receiving a message associated with one of the tenants and identifying one or more of the platforms associated with the message. For some example embodiments, the networked contact center may allow the platform to access a data location that is both associated with the tenant and shared by two or more of the multiple tenants.
US08275108B2
A teleconference between at least two participants is evaluated by monitoring the teleconference and detecting a triggering event if more than one participant desires to speak at the same time. Upon detecting a triggering event, e.g., detecting an attempt of one or more participants to interrupt another participant, or detecting a request initiated by one or more participants to interrupt another participant, a dominant source is selected from among the ones of the participants attempting/requesting to speak based at least in part upon a determined hierarchal order of those participants attempting/requesting to speak. A participant is then selected from the participants to have the role of the dominant participant based upon the selected dominant source and only the speech of the dominant participant is conveyed to each participant through the teleconference system.
US08275098B2
Architecture and methods to provide an intermediary model for inter-carrier Multi-Media Messaging (MMS) services so that numerous wireless operators can transmit MMS messages between them. The architecture also provides for delivery, at least of notification messages, to those wireless operators who are not part of the overall inter-carrier MMS infrastructure.
US08275093B2
An apparatus and method for x-ray inspection of footwear while the footwear is worn on the feet of walking persons. A source of penetrating radiation, such as an x-ray tube, mounted on one side of a system, provides a fan beam of penetrating radiation contained in a substantially vertical plane, while a detector, disposed on the opposing side of the system, detects penetrating radiation that has traversed the footwear. A controller creates an image of the footwear. The system may have a sensor for detecting presence of the person and for initiating operation of the source of penetrating radiation in response thereto. The system may be installed inside a portal including a metal detector portal.
US08275092B1
Methods for a tangible image of an inspected object. An object is illuminated with at least two sources of penetrating radiation that generate respective pencil beams and define respective viewing points and view planes. Post-interaction penetrating radiation due to the respective sources is used to generate signals based on respective views of the inspected object, and thus derive information with respect to a dimension transverse to the first view plane based on the second signal. A tangible image of the inspected object is then displayed depicting information with respect at least to the first view plane and the transverse dimension.
US08275091B2
The present invention is a self-contained mobile inspection system and method and, more specifically, improved methods and systems for detecting materials concealed within a wide variety of receptacles and/or cargo containers. In particular, the present invention is an improved method and system with a novel boom structure that reduces the weight of the boom. The single, light-weight boom of the inspection system is relatively compact in a stowed configuration and has a low height and center of gravity lending to greater maneuverability.
US08275090B2
A multi-mode tomosynthesis/mammography system and method in which a mammography gain map is used to gain correct mammographic images of a patient's breast but enhanced gain maps for respective projection angled are used to correct tomosynthesis images acquired with the same system.
US08275089B2
It discloses a shift register and a gate line driving device, relating to the technology field for a liquid crystal display, it is made to reduce the switching on errors for gate lines and improve the quality of the image. Said shift register includes: a first thin film transistor, a second thin film transistor, a third thin film transistor, a storage capacitor, a feedback module, and a switch module, wherein said feedback module is used to receive a trigger signal of the feedback module of the previous stage and a clock signal in order to pull up the level of the first node Qa as a pull up node, and to output a feedback signal to the shift register of the previous stage and output a trigger signal to the feedback module of the next stage, said switch module is used to maintain the output terminal of the shift register of the present stage at a low level when the shift register of the present stage does not operate. An embodiment of the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display panel.
US08275086B2
An apparatus for frequency synchronization is proposed to detect a synchronization signal from the baseband signals. It is featured that three types of detection values are introduced to detect whether the synchronization signal is received or not. More particularly, the claimed frequency synchronization apparatus provides at least one signal power generator for receiving a predetermined number of symbols of the baseband signals, and further calculating an average quality value therefore. Further, the apparatus includes a signal selector for producing a first detection value according to the average quality value. Still further, the apparatus provides a decision unit to produce a second detection value. After that, a signal processor inside the decision unit is used to calculate a third detection value as combining the first detection value and the second detection. Consequently, the decision unit particularly decides whether the synchronization signal is received or not in reference with the third detection value.
US08275079B2
A communication apparatus, a method, and a tangible machine-readable medium thereof for processing ranging interference of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. The communication apparatus comprises a receiving unit, a processing unit, and a mask generating unit. The receiving unit receives the OFDM signal having a plurality of OFDM symbols. The processing unit estimates a delay value and an energy value of at least one ranging code according to the OFDM symbols. The mask generating unit generates a mask function according to the delay value and the energy value. Finally, the processing unit synthesizes the ranging interference in the OFDM signal and removes it according to the mask function.
US08275078B2
In order to reduce the complexity of complex signal correlator and realize algorithm optimization, the present invention provides a method and an apparatus for implement complex signal correlation by means of shifter and adder instead of complex multiplier. In the method, the amplitude and radial angle of a corresponding received symbol is firstly adjusted based on a pre-stored local reference symbol. Then, the radial angle of the adjusted received signal is rotated based on a corresponding interchange indicator. Finally, all the processed received signals are combined to obtain a final complex correlation signal. With this method, the chip size and computing load can be greatly reduced.
US08275069B2
A transmitting apparatus and method transmits different modulated signals from a plurality of antennas, and employs a configuration that includes a modulation section that obtains a modulated signal by performing signal point mapping of transmit bits using a signal point arrangement that is divided into a plurality of signal point sets on the IQ plane, whereby the minimum distance between signal points within a signal point set is smaller than the minimum signal point distance between signal point sets; and an antenna that transmits a modulated signal obtained by the modulation section. A signal point generating apparatus generates a first and second symbols to be transmitted by first and second antennas, respectively.
US08275064B2
A multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication enhanced detection method and apparatus are proposed whereby quasi optimal link performance is achieved, at low complexity for MIMO systems including those of high dimension and those operating at very high SNR.
US08275059B2
A frequency synchronization apparatus includes: a correlating unit that obtains a first correlation value by correlating a known reference guard interval of an OFDM symbol and a reference copy interval corresponding to the reference guard interval, and obtains a second correlation value by correlating the estimate guard interval and an estimate copy interval corresponding to the estimate guard interval; a determining unit that compares the first and second correlation values to determine a first case where the first correlation value is larger by a pre-set magnification than the second correlation value, a second case where the second correlation value is larger by a pre-set magnification than the first correlation value, and a third case which is not the first case nor the second case; and a frequency offset estimating unit that estimates a frequency offset by using a correlation value corresponding to any one of the first to third.
US08275056B2
A channel characteristic calculation unit 23 estimates channel characteristics based on SP signals included in received signals, and a symbol interpolation filter 24 frequency-shifts frequency transfer characteristics and filters output signals of the channel characteristic calculation unit 23. A filter control unit 27 estimates channel characteristics based on CP signals included in the received signals and observes the estimated channel characteristics to determine a shift amount by which the symbol interpolation filter 24 frequency-shifts the frequency transfer characteristics. The symbol interpolation filter 24 frequency-shifts the frequency transfer characteristics based on the shift amount determined by the filter control unit 27.
US08275055B2
The invention relates to receivers and methods for receiving multi-carrier differentially modulated signals utilizing iterative decision-directed differential detection. The receiver includes a decision feedback loop including a channel estimator for estimating inter-symbol channel variations, and a differential equalizer for correcting channel-induced errors in a differentially detected signal based on the estimated inter-symbol channel variations.
US08275049B2
Disclosed is a graphics processing unit comprising an instruction decoder and sum-of-absolute-differences (SAD) accleration logic. The instruction decoder is configured to decode a SAD instruction into parameters describing an M×N and an n×n pixel block in U,V coordinates. The SAD accleration logic is configured to receive the parameters and compute SAD scores. Each SAD score corresponds to the n×n block and to one block contained within the M×N pixel block and horizontally offset within the n×n block. Also disclosed is a GPU comprising a host processor interface receiving video acceleration instructions and a video acceleration unit. The unit is responsive to the instructions and comprises SAD accleration logic configured to receive the parameters and compute SAD scores. Each SAD score corresponds to an n×n pixel block and to one block contained within an M×N block and horizontally offset within the n×n block. M, N, and n are integers.
US08275047B2
Methods and devices for encoding and decoding video data are provided, wherein an image data structure can be represented as a group of macroblocks and each macroblock contains a plurality of blocks. One inventive aspect includes a method of decoding image data comprises decoding a current block of data, comprising retrieving a related reference block, decoding texture information of the current block, and reconstructing the current block, prior to the decoding of another block of data.
US08275046B2
The present invention is a method to accelerate the frame/field decision by estimating more suitable structure using SAD (sum of absolute difference) between picture samples and their mean. Next the uses the correlation observed between the optimal macroblock prediction modes found with the inferred structure and the probability of the non-inferred structure being better than the inferred one. The invention can lead to the significant reduction of the computational complexity at the cost of slight degradation of coding efficiency.
US08275034B2
A moving image encoding apparatus, comprising, a first image transformation unit adapted to transform image data into first image information, with reference to reference image data, a second image transformation unit adapted to inverse transform the first image information into reconstructed image data and a determination unit adapted to determine, based on the image data and the reconstructed image data, whether or not to use the reconstructed image data as the reference image data, wherein the determination unit calculates a peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) from the reconstructed image data and the image data, and, if the PSNR is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, determines to use the reconstructed image data as the reference image data.
US08275033B2
An adaptive picture mode selection transcoder selects an encoding mode in a second format for frames of video previously encoded in a first format by determining a magnitude of interlacing phenomenon in the using picture information obtained during decoding of the video from the first format. In one aspect, the picture information includes discrete cosine coefficients for macroblocks in the frame. In another aspect, the picture information includes an encoding mode for the macroblocks in the first format. In yet another aspect, the picture information includes motion vector information for the macroblocks. In still another aspect, the determining is specific to an encoding mode for the frame.
US08275017B2
The invention achieves carrier and clock frequency synchronization in QAD packet communications systems. The invention involves using frequency-hopping radio systems that use pseudo-noise data sequences to mark the beginning of data transmissions and carrier frequency switches. The invention involves transmitting in each of the quadrature channels at an initial carrier frequency a first signal over consecutive time intervals and after transmitting the first signal, transmitting in each of the quadrature channels at a second carrier frequency a second signal over consecutive time intervals.
US08275016B2
A demodulation method and device, an equalization method and system in a transmitting diversity mode are provided. The demodulation method includes: demodulating two equalized equalization signals respectively through a transmitting diversity mode; and then performing a maximum ratio combination on the demodulated signals. According to embodiments of the present invention, the two equalized signals are respectively demodulated according to a transmitting diversity mode, and then a maximum ratio combination is performed on the two signals to get a demodulated signal, which improves the performance of the demodulated signal and the equalization system.
US08275013B2
A semiconductor laser device includes a first semiconductor laser element formed on a surface of a first conductive type substrate, obtained by stacking a first conductive type first semiconductor layer, a first active layer and a second conductive type second semiconductor layer successively from the first conductive type substrate and a second semiconductor laser element obtained by successively stacking a first conductive type third semiconductor layer, a second active layer and a second conductive type fourth semiconductor layer, wherein the third semiconductor layer is electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer by bonding a side of the third semiconductor layer to the surface of the first conductive type substrate through a fusible layer.
US08275008B2
A semiconductor laser apparatus is provided which can vary an output wavelength of a light source. A semiconductor laser diode and one or more heat source devices arranged around the semiconductor laser diode are integrated on one substrate. The semiconductor laser diode is configured to be uniformly heated by the heat source device. An output wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode can be easily and quickly varied.
US08275002B2
A broadcasting service transmitting apparatus and method and a broadcasting service receiving apparatus and method for providing a broadcasting service formed of various types of data are provided. The broadcasting service receiving apparatus includes a receiving unit, a transport frame processing unit, a transport packet processing unit, and a broadcasting data processing unit. The receiving unit receives a transport frame having a predetermined size. The transport frame processing unit acquires from the transport frame service access information for accessing at least one broadcasting service and also acquires from the transport frame at least one transport packet for transporting at least one broadcasting data packet, by using the service access information. The transport packet processing unit processes the at least one transport packet so as to acquire at least one broadcasting data packet from the at least one transport packet. The broadcasting data processing unit processes the at least one broadcasting data packet.
US08274994B2
Methods and a gateway apparatus for facilitating communication between communications devices which support different communications protocols are described. The gateway device may receive an identifier of interest from a first device which supports a first communications protocol but not a second communications protocol. The gateway monitors signals corresponding to the second communications protocol to detect signals corresponding to the identifier of interest. An externally perceivable alert is generated by the gateway device when a signal corresponding to the identifier of interest is detected. Communications is established between the first communications device and a second communications device with the gateway device performing protocol conversion to the extent required. The first device may power down its interface after sending the identifier of interest to the gateway and then power up the interface in response to sensing of the alert or input from a user responding to the alert.
US08274989B1
In an Ethernet network multiple point-to-multipoint (P2MP) trees are constructed to provide a P2MP service. Each tree provides service from a common root node to common leaves via different paths through the network. GMPLS signaling is utilized for configuring and maintaining the P2MP trees at each of the nodes in the network forming the respective tree. Each tree is constructed using a unique VID/MAC combination wherein the VID is unique to the tree and the MAC is associated with the multicast group identifying the P2MP membership. Traffic is forwarded through the network by the designated tree(s) by the VID/MAC DA combination by the common root node. The varying paths of each tree improves fault tolerance and enables redundancy and protection switching to be provided. Each tree of the service can be modified or repaired while traffic is still being routed through the remaining working tree(s), thus service impact is minimized.
US08274971B2
A method for controlling a flow of packet data in a memory management unit of a network switch fabric is disclosed. A first portion of a data packet is received at a port on an ingress bus ring of the network switch fabric. A class of service for the data packet is determined based on the first portion and the portion is stored in a packer RAM of the port based on the class of service. Subsequent portions of the data packet are stored in the packer RAM. Once the predetermined number of portions have been received, the predetermined number of portions is sent to a packet pool RAM. A reference pointer to a first predetermined number of portions is sent to a transaction queue once an end of packet is detected and an egress scheduler detects a presence of a ready packet in the transaction queue and notifies an unpacker of the ready packet. The unpacker puts the ready packet into a FIFO and the ready packet is sent to an ingress/egress module.
US08274966B2
Provided are devices, methods, communication managers and user interface solutions that enable access to multiple services from a mobile communications device. A mobile communication device that provides telephony services via a PSTN also includes multiple communication channels that exploit packet data transfer via an IP network, for example enabling VoIP, instant messaging and other internet-based communication services to be initiated from a mobile telephone.
US08274961B2
Access control based on CSMA is favorably carried out with the RTS/CTS method used together.If the RTS/CTS procedure is used together, CTS information is transmitted in response to the reception of RTS information, and data is transmitted in response to the reception of CTS. The CTS transmitting station measures the quality of RTS receive signal, and thereby determines a transmission rate at which it can receive and notifies a station as the destination of CTS. The station as the destination of CTS transmits data in response to CTS information. As the transmission rate for this data, the transmission rate indicated in the RATE field in CTS is applied.
US08274958B2
System(s) and method(s) are provided to route traffic and signaling between a set of networked femto access points (APs) and devices served there from, and enable management of content and equipment that is part of a network functionally coupled to the set of networked femto APs. Networked equipment spans a network deployed within the coverage area spanned by the set of femto APs. A routing platform functionally couples the networked equipment and the femto AP to enable content manipulation amongst a mobile device and the equipment. Routing platform also affords remote control of the networked equipment. Delivery of advertisement and monetary incentive(s) can be provided through the routing platform to the equipment. Routing platform further provides security features related to operation of specific equipment and wireless services supplied via the routing platform.
US08274956B2
Broadcast or multicast traffic is classified into different types of traffic such that different types of traffic are transmitted over different sub-networks. In addition, different transmission schedules may be associated with each of the different sub-networks. A device may thus be configured to receive only a selected portion of the different types of traffic by only waking from a power save mode at the intervals at which the corresponding sub-network sends the traffic. The standby time of the wireless station may thus be improved because the wireless station may awaken less frequently and for shorter periods of time. Different sub-networks carrying different types of broadcast and multicast traffic may be implemented in an 802.11-based system. For example, a single access point may define multiple basic service set identifiers for a single wireless channel.
US08274955B2
This disclosure describes a new keep alive timeslots based method to track registered handsets for a MAC protocol that combines contention-free and contention-based MAC protocols into a heterogeneous MAC protocol used for forwarding VoIP traffic in VoIP systems on wireless networks using multiple base stations thus allowing for transmission of high bit-rate data to multiple users over wired and wireless means.
US08274950B2
A method of performing reception status report in a mobile communication system is disclosed. The method of performing reception status report in a specific protocol layer of a user equipment which receives data transmitted from a base station in a mobile communication system includes performing reception status report of at least one first data block in the protocol layer in accordance with a first value of at least one parameter, the at least one first data block being transmitted from the base station, changing the first value of the at least one parameter to a second set value if a previously set event occurs or if at least one condition is satisfied and performing reception status report of at least one second data block in accordance with a second set value of the at least one parameter, the at least one second data block being transmitted from the base station.
US08274942B2
A service provision method in an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network is provided. A service request message is transmitted from a first user terminal to a second user terminal for requesting a service. The service request message includes global identifiers (IDs) allocated to the first user terminal and the second user terminal. A service response message is transmitted from the second user terminal to the first user terminal. A service session is established between the first user terminal and the second user terminal, when the service response message is received by the first user terminal.
US08274939B2
A method of transmitting a data block in a wireless communication system includes generating a data block having a variable size in an upper layer, transmitting a radio resource request message to a base station according to the size of the data block in a medium access control (MAC) layer and transmitting the data block by using a radio resource allocated by using the radio resource request message. For a packet service such as VoIP in which a delay time is important, QoS can be improved by decreasing the delay time of packet transmission and by decreasing a packet discard ratio.
US08274933B2
A wireless communication network is provided that includes a plurality of communication cells each defined by at least one communication coverage area and a plurality of access points each corresponding to a different one of the plurality of communication cells. Each access point is configured to communicate on a first frequency with at least one of (i) a subscriber in the at least one communication coverage area in a first communication cell and (ii) a subscriber in a second communication cell. Each access point is further configured to communicate on a second frequency with an access point in a third communication cell.
US08274931B2
Sounding reference signal presence information is incorporated into an uplink data resource assignment for a user equipment, and the uplink data assignment including the sounding reference signal presence information is sent to the user equipment.
US08274930B2
A base station transmits a set of sounding requests to a set of mobile station (MS) in a cell, using a set of beams, wherein there is one beam for each sounding request. Qualities of sounding signals transmitted by the set of MSs in response to receiving the sounding request are measured, and the set of MSs are grouped into subsets according to the qualities, wherein there is one subset of MSs associated with each beam.
US08274928B2
A wireless mesh network where a portion of the nodes have reduced receive sensitivity. The negative effects of the density of the wireless mesh network, such as interference, are reduced when fewer nodes receive messages to rebroadcast. In an alternative embodiment, some of the nodes of the mesh network are configured to not rebroadcast even if they receive a message. A method for configuring a dense mesh network is also provided. As many nodes as possible are discovered and registered in the network. Node characteristics of those nodes are adjusted to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of the dense mesh network so that additional nodes may be discovered and registered.
US08274915B2
A wireless communications system comprising at least one network station and a plurality of subscriber stations. As part of a network access procedure, a number of the subscriber stations selecting a time slot from a plurality of predefined time slots and transmitting an individual code to the network station in the selected time slot. At the network station, receiving and decoding the codes and broadcasting a preliminary decoding status report to the subscriber stations and broadcasting a detailed decoding status report associated with each time slot in which one or more codes were decoded successfully. At a subscriber station which transmitted a code, identifying successful decoding if the preliminary decoding status indicator associated with the time slot in which subscriber station transmitted its code comprises a positive indicator, and if the detailed decoding status report associated with that positive indicator identifies the code transmitted by the subscriber station.
US08274905B2
A system and method for monitoring performance of a packet network may include storing network performance information collected from a packet network, where the network performance information may distinguish network performance information associated with communications of data packets including real-time content and data packets including non-real-time content. A graphic user interface including a graphical representation of the network performance information distinguishing the network performance information associated with communications of data packets including real-time content and network performance information including non-real-time content with a node segment over a time duration may be generated.
US08274900B2
Disclosed is a radio (wireless) communication system providing a radio communication service and a terminal, and more particularly, to a method of delivering a continuously and/or consecutively received Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Service Data units (SDUs) to an upper layer immediately if a PDCP entity receives the PDCP SDUs during a process of a RLC re-establishment within an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) that has evolved from a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.
US08274891B2
Systems and techniques are described which improve performance, reliability, and predictability of networks without having costly hardware upgrades or replacement of existing network equipment. An adaptive communication controller provides WAN performance and utilization measurements to another network node over multiple parallel communication paths across disparate asymmetric networks which vary in behavior frequently over time. An egress processor module receives communication path quality reports and tagged path packet data and generates accurate arrival times, send times, sequence numbers and unutilized byte counts for the tagged packets. A control module generates path quality reports describing performance of the multiple parallel communication paths based on the received information and generates heartbeat packets for transmission on the multiple parallel communication paths if no other tagged data has been received in a predetermined period of time to ensure performance is continually monitored. An ingress processor module transmits the generated path quality reports and heartbeat packets.
US08274887B2
According to an example embodiment, a total offered traffic load for a shared resource within a network switching system may be determined, the total offered traffic load may include, for example, a sum of offered traffic loads from one or more active virtual output queues (VOQs) of the network switching system. A capacity of the shared resource within the network switching system may be determined. A transmission rate from one or more of the active VOQs over the shared resource may be adjusted such that the total traffic load from the active VOQs does not exceed the capacity of the shared resource.
US08274883B1
A method and a system for allocating restoration capacity in a network link in a communications network provides that a common pool of communication capacity is provisioned in a network link, such that the common pool of communication capacity includes spare capacity for new service and restoration capacity. A pool of pre-allocated communication capacity for future growth of at least one connection in the network link is also provisioned. The pool of pre-allocated communication capacity for future growth is available for restoration capacity, but not for spare capacity for new service. The communications network can be, for example, a private line (PL) network, a SONET-based network, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)-based network, an Internet Protocol/MultiProtocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS)-based network or a frame relay (FR)-based network.
US08274882B2
A network is configured to utilize available bandwidth to conduct bulk data transfers without substantially affecting the successful transmission of time-sensitive traffic in the network. In order to avoid this interference, the packets carrying data for bulk data transfers are associated with a low priority class such that the routers of the network will preferentially drop these packets over packets associated with the normal traffic of the network. As such, when the normal traffic peaks or there are link failures or equipment failures, the normal traffic is preferentially transmitted over the bulk-transfer traffic and thus the bulk-transfer traffic dynamically adapts to changes in the available bandwidth of the network. Further, to reduce the impact of dropped packets for the bulk-transfer traffic, the packets of the bulk-transfer traffic are encoded at or near the source component using a loss-resistant transport protocol so that the dropped packets can be reproduced at a downstream link.
US08274877B2
An optical pickup (10) includes a light emitting element (11), a holding member (14), a light receiving element (18), and a base (13). The holding member (14) is fixed to the base (13) by a combined bonding portion (17). The combined bonding portion (17) is sandwiched between the holding member (14) and the base (13) so as to fix the holding member (14) to the base (13). The combined bonding portion (17) includes a first bonding portion (15) composed of a first adhesive and a second bonding portion (16) composed of a second adhesive having a higher curing shrinkage rate than the first adhesive. The first bonding portion (15) and the second bonding portion (16) are each sandwiched between the holding member (14) and the base (13), and the second bonding portion (16) is provided to cover at least a part of an outer peripheral surface of the first bonding portion (15). A difference between the curing shrinkage rate of the first adhesive and that of the second adhesive is 3.0% or less.
US08274872B2
A system is described comprising an optical record carrier and an apparatus for recording the optical record carrier. The apparatus comprises a facility (20) for generating a visually detectable pattern at a physical location on the record carrier (40), and a facility (20) for storing pattern information. The pattern information comprises at least first information indicative for the physical location.
US08274857B2
A semiconductor memory device capable of reducing off-current in a standby mode is provided. The semiconductor memory device includes an enable signal generating unit configured to receive a plurality of address decoding signals and generate a first enable signal to select a first cell block and a second enable signal to select a second cell block, and an internal voltage generating unit for generating an internal voltage by controlling a supply of a first voltage in accordance with the first or second enable signals.
US08274855B2
A semiconductor device according to the present invention has an address scrambling circuit for performing address scrambling operation of an address and a redundancy judging circuit for judging that redundancy judgment is performed about the address scrambled by the address scrambling circuit. This structure makes it possible to completely refresh operation concerned with normal word lines and redundancy word lines.
US08274842B1
An integrated circuit may include: access circuits that couple first electrodes of a plurality of programmable metallization cells (PMC) to access paths in parallel, each PMC comprising a solid ion conducting material formed between the first electrode and a second electrode; a plurality of write circuits, each coupled to a different access path, and each coupling the corresponding access path to a first voltage in response to input write data having a first value and to a second voltage in response to the input write data having a second value; and a node setting circuit that maintains second electrodes of the PMCs at a substantially constant third voltage while write circuits couple the access paths to the first or second voltages.
US08274839B2
A method for erasing a flash EEPROM memory device is disclosed. The memory device has a first semiconductor region of one conductivity type formed within a second semiconductor region of an opposite conductivity type, source and drain regions formed from a semiconductor layer of the opposite conductivity type in the first semiconductor region, a well electrode formed from a semiconductor layer of the conductivity type inside the first semiconductor region, a charge storing layer electrically isolated from the first semiconductor region by a dielectric layer and having electric charge retention properties, and a control gate electrode electrically isolated from the charge storing layer by a inter layer of coupling dielectrics. The method comprises the steps of: applying a first voltage bias to both the well electrode and the second semiconductor region and a second bias to the control gate electrode for a duration of F/N tunneling; applying a third voltage bias to the well electrode and the second semiconductor region and a first zero voltage bias to the control gate electrode for a duration of traps depopulation; and, after the duration of traps depopulation, applying a fourth voltage bias to the control gate electrode and a second zero voltage bias to the well electrode and the second semiconductor region for a duration of traps assisted tunneling.
US08274819B2
An array of SMT MRAM cells has a read reference circuit that provides a reference current that is the sum of a minimum current through a reference SMT MRAM cell programmed with a maximum resistance and a maximum current through an reference SMT MRAM cell programmed with a minimum resistance. The reference current forms an average reference voltage at the reference input of a sense amplifier for reading a data state from selected SMT MRAM cells of the array such that the reference SMT MRAM cells will not be disturbed during a read operation. The read reference circuit compensates for current mismatching in the reference current caused by a second order non matching effect.
US08274813B2
A memristive Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) device includes a first electrode adjacent to a memristive matrix, the memristive matrix including an intrinsic semiconducting region and a highly doped secondary region, a Metal-Insulator-Transition (MIT) material in series with the memristive matrix, and a second electrode adjacent to the MIT material.
US08274810B2
A semiconductor memory device including a transistor having a vertical channel structure is provided. The device includes a first sub memory cell array including a first memory cell connected to a first bit lines and including a transistor having a vertical channel structure, a second sub memory cell array including a second memory cell connected to a first inverted bit lines and including a transistor having a vertical channel structure, and a plurality of precharge blocks. In addition, first and second precharge blocks are disposed at first and second sides of the first bit line and precharge the first bit line, and third and fourth precharge blocks are disposed at first and second sides of the first inverted bit line and precharge the first inverted bit line.
US08274807B2
A boost power module and an inverter form a semiconductor module. A smoothing capacitor is arranged outside the semiconductor module. A bus bar forming a power supply line is divided into bus bars, between which a lead member extending outward from the semiconductor module is coupled. The lead member has an electric contact with one of terminals of the capacitor arranged outside the semiconductor module. A bus bar forming an earth line is divided into bus bars, between which a lead member extending outward from the semiconductor module is coupled. The lead member has an electric contact with the other terminal of capacitor.
US08274805B2
There is provided a high voltage power supply capable of reducing voltage stress of a voltage multiplying device. The high voltage power supply includes: a power converter switching on/off and converting an input direct current power into a direct current power having a preset voltage level; and a voltage multiplier including a first multiplying cell multiplying the voltage level of the direct current power from the power converter, wherein the first multiplying cell includes: first and second capacitors charging the direct current power from the power converter, respectively; a first diode providing a path for transferring the direct current power when the power converter is switched off; and a second diode providing a path for transferring the direct current power when the power converter is switched on.
US08274804B2
A voltage transforming apparatus includes a first high voltage side coil, a first low voltage side coil magnetically coupled to the first high voltage side coil, a second low voltage side coil magnetically coupled to the first high voltage side coil, and a first switch switching an externally supplied voltage between being supplied to the first low voltage side coil and the second low voltage side coil and being supplied to the first high voltage side coil. The first low voltage side coil and the second low voltage side coil are provided such that a magnetic flux that is generated by current flowing through the first low voltage side coil and a magnetic flux that is generated by current flowing through the second low voltage side coil cancel each other out when a voltage is supplied via the first switch.
US08274803B2
A variable frequency drive comprises a diode rectifier receiving multiphase AC power from a source and converting the AC power to DC power. An inverter receives DC power and converts the DC power to AC power to drive a load. A link circuit is connected between the diode rectifier and the inverter and comprises a DC bus to provide a relatively fixed DC voltage for the inverter. A bus capacitor is across the bus. A soft charge circuit limits inrush current to the bus capacitor. The soft charge circuit comprises an inductor connected between the source and the link circuit and a switch circuit in the link circuit for selectively providing a semiconverter configuration or a full bridge converter configuration to provide two stage charging of the bus capacitor.
US08274801B2
Switching mode power supplies (SMPS) that can operate in a control mode for a normal load condition and operate with a burst-mode controller for a light load condition are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for controlling the switching mode power supply includes when the load is in a light load condition, the switching mode power supply is controlled by a burst-mode controller.
US08274798B2
A carrier substrate includes a substrate having a chip side and a PCB side, a plurality of bond pads disposed on the chip side for bonding a chip, a plurality of land grid array (LGA) pads disposed on the PCB side, and a plurality of resilient flanges installed on the PCB side in an array manner. The plurality of resilient flanges electrically connects with the LGA pads correspondingly.
US08274788B2
A portable computer includes a base, a display panel rotatably connected to the base, a locking mechanism mounted to the display panel, and a security lock. The base includes a receiving chamber and a hole communicating with the receiving chamber. The locking mechanism includes a main body, a rotation member rotatably connected to the display panel, and a sliding member. The rotation member includes an extending end defining a receiving hole. The extending end is operable to be received in the receiving chamber. The sliding member includes a hook portion being received in the receiving hole. The hook portion is capable of disengaged from the receiving hole, causing the extending end to rotate by the thereof. The security lock includes a latch for engaging the extending end to prevent the extending end of the rotation member from disengaging from the base, to lock the display panel to the base.
US08274786B2
An I/O housing holds an I/O port and is pivotable between a housed position, wherein the I/O housing is held snugly flat in a chassis of the computer, and an extended position, wherein the port end of the housing is distanced from the chassis. The I/O housing can mechanically engage an I/O device with the port establishing communication between the I/O device and the computer processor.
US08274781B2
Advanced ultracapacitor construction of irregular shape is provided, having higher utilization of the available energy storage shape in various electronic and electromechanical products over the prior art ultracapacitors. Said irregular shape of ultracapacitor is achieved by using flexible and pliable cell materials in layers, blanked into any desired shape, and stacked. The layers may be also bent to follow any contour. More capacity in given irregular volume is thus accomplished.
US08274779B2
Provided are an embedded capacitor, an embedded capacitor sheet using the embedded capacitor, and a method of manufacturing the same that may increase a surface area to thereby increase a capacity for each unit area and may provide an embedded capacitor in a sheet to thereby readily lay the embedded capacitor on an embedded printed circuit board. The embedded capacitor may include: a common electrode member 11 including a plurality of grooves 11a; a sealing dielectric layer 12 being formed by sealing a nano dielectric powder with a high dielectric constant in the plurality of grooves 11a formed in the common electrode member 11; a buffer dielectric layer 13 sealing and smoothing an uneven portion of the sealing dielectric layer 12 by applying a paste or a slurry including epoxy of 20 Vol % through 80 Vol % and dielectric powder of 20 Vol % through 80 Vol % with respect to the sealing dielectric layer 12; and an individual electrode member 14 being formed on the buffer dielectric layer 13.
US08274772B2
An apparatus for detecting and controlling current. A current detector for generating a first value that represents an amount of current being delivered to a device. A current limit circuit for generating a second value that represents a maximum permitted current level from a current source. A current controller for controlling the amount of current drawn by the device if the first value exceeds the second value.
US08274756B2
Approaches for implementing a conductive gasket comprising carbon nanotubes for deployment within a sensitive environment, such as an environment containing equipment whose operation may be affected by airborne particles or electromagnetic energy. For example, a hard-disk drive (HDD) comprises an enclosure that is formed by coupling a first component, such as a cover, to a second component, such as a base, using one or more gaskets. The one or more gaskets may be constructed using a material that includes carbon nanotubes. The composition of the material used to construct the gaskets may be selected to achieve a desired electromagnetic conductivity for the gaskets. In this way, the gaskets of the enclosure of the HDD do not render the enclosure vulnerable to external electromagnetic energy and are constructed in a manner that does not introduce any harmful airborne contaminants within the protective enclosure of the HDD.
US08274751B2
A system and method for measuring the modulation between a magnetic head and a magnetic storage medium, such as a disk, is disclosed. A magnetic read/write head is positioned above a magnetic storage medium at a given flying height. The magnetic read/write head reads a signal from the magnetic storage medium. A tester measures an alternating electric current between the magnetic read/write head through the slider and the magnetic storage medium. A computer may then calculate the modulation by the magnetic read/write head based on the alternating electric current. A DC voltage to the head may be applied to lower the flying height of the magnetic head.
US08274748B1
A lens actuator includes a housing, a loading plate, a moving unit, four magnetic elements, and an elastic plate. The housing and the loading plate cooperatively form an accommodating room. The housing includes a top panel having four fixing portions. The moving unit is movably received in the accommodating room. The four magnetic elements are received in the accommodating room around the moving unit, and are fixed on four inner sidewalls of the housing. The elastic plate is disposed between the top panel and the moving unit, and the four fixing portions of the housing firmly press the elastic plate on the four magnetic elements.
US08274747B2
An exemplary piezoelectric actuator includes a fixed barrel, a movable barrel in the fixed barrel, a piezoelectric driving module, a flexible circuit board on the fixed barrel, a bracing sheet, and a preloading module. The movable barrel receives a lens module. The driving module drives the movable barrel to move relative to the fixed barrel along an optical axis of the lens module. The driving module includes a piezoelectric member on the fixed barrel, and a friction member on the movable barrel and opposite to the friction member. The flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the piezoelectric member. The sheet is attached around the flexible circuit board. The preloading module is between the fixed barrel and the movable barrel. The preloading module is opposite to the piezoelectric driving module for exerting a pressure on the movable barrel, thereby making the friction member resist against the piezoelectric member.
US08274746B2
An exemplary voice coil motor includes a movable unit, a fixed unit, and a resilient plate. The movable unit includes a hollow lens barrel for accommodating a number of lenses, and at least one fine pattern coil fixed on a sidewall of the lens barrel and configured for electrical connection to a power source. The fixed unit includes a hollow frame structured bracket and a number of magnets mounted on the bracket. The bracket accommodates the movable unit. The magnets surround and are spaced apart from the at least one fine pattern coil. The resilient plate is resiliently connected between the bracket and the lens barrel to hold the lens barrel on the bracket.
US08274730B2
Electrochemical/electrically controllable device having variable optical and/or energetic properties, including a first carrier substrate provided with an electrically conductive layer associated with a first stack of electrically active layers and a second carrier substrate provided with an electrically conductive layer associated with a second stack of electrically active layers, wherein the first and second stacks each function optically in series on at least a portion of their surface and are separated by an electrically insulating means, which is a gas, or is a vacuum.
US08274724B2
Implementations of actuators that use flexures to provide support to actuators and pivoting mechanisms to the actuators. Such actuators can be electromagnetically activated actuators that include a magnet stator and a coil rotor mounted on a flexure. A positioning sensor, such as a capacitor sensor, is provided to measure and monitor positioning of the actuator and is coupled to a feedback circuit which uses the measured positioning of the actuator to control the actuator.
US08274718B2
The present invention is to provide methods and apparatuses for creating color conversion definition to make the same output result appear without any uncomfortable feeling when a same output result is observed under different illumination lights. To achieve this, the method comprising the successive steps of: (a) assuming an observational environment under an illumination light in which a difference in color appearance of an output result of the image output device in a plurality of observational environments with different illumination lights to observe the output result is made less; (b) determining measured color values of a device color of the image output device in the observational environment under the illumination light in which a difference in each color appearance is made less; and (c) creating a color conversion definition on the basis of the measured color values of the device color of the image output device determined at step (b).
US08274710B2
Input image data is converted into a brightness component to obtain a difference between the brightness component and a threshold. A count variation is determined based on the obtained difference, and the counter is used to follow up and change the threshold. The threshold obtained by the follow-up and change is used to execute a background color removal process in each pixel by executing a signal conversion process.
US08274707B2
An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus which provides an image with an extended region of a size suitable for performing block processing. In order to achieve the object, the image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input unit for inputting image data and printer setting information of the image data; and an extended region computing unit for dividing the image data into a block region and computing an extended region of the divided block region based on the printer setting information. The apparatus also includes a generating unit for generating a processed block region with the extended region added to the block region; and a processing unit for performing image processing on the processed block region produced by the generating unit.
US08274702B2
The subject application is directed to a system and method for color space conversion. Image data is received comprised of a plurality of pixels having a value encoded in a first multidimensional color space. Each of the pixels encoded in the first color space is converted to a corresponding pixel encoded in a second multidimensional color space, the conversion further including transforming each of the pixels based upon a function of the pixel values in the first color space having component values defining a fractional relationship having a numerator portion and a denominator portion, with each portion including at least one of the component values. A value of each denominator portion is converted relative to a threshold value and the pixels encoded in the first color space are converted to the second color space with an alternative quantity selectively substituted for each denominator portion in accordance with the comparison.
US08274696B2
A color table editing apparatus includes an image data input unit configured to input image data, a color table selection unit configured to select a given color table from a plurality of color tables in association with the input image data, an initial color data generation unit configured to generate initial color data from the selected color table and representative color data including a plurality of predetermined colors, a target color data editing unit configured to edit the initial color data to generate target color data, an optimized color data generation unit configured to generate optimized color data by performing optimization processing based on a color gamut of the edited target color data, and a user interface image display unit configured to display on a 2-dimensional color plane a user interface image including the target color data and optimized color data.
US08274687B2
An image forming apparatus includes: a communication interface accessing Web addresses; a memory for storing predetermined addresses; a first determination unit for determining whether the image forming apparatus is in a first state that access of the image forming apparatus is limited to the predetermined addresses or a second state that the image forming apparatus is permitted to access any addresses; a second determination unit for determining whether a designated address is included in the predetermined addresses, when the image forming apparatus is in the first state; and a permission unit for giving to the communication interface permission to access the designated address, when the designated address is included in the predetermined addresses.
US08274684B2
In a first route, image data from an image reading unit is processed by both a first image processing block and a second image processing block and sent to a storage unit, and in a second route, the image data processed by the first image processing block is stored in the storage unit and image data from the storage unit is processed by the second image processing block and sent to the storage unit. The control unit switches a process of the second image processing block according to a result of a process of the first image processing block, and switches an input source to the second image processing block according to a process content of the second image processing block.
US08274678B2
Methods and systems for facilitating remote access and customization of internally generated printing node status reports. In some embodiments, the methods and systems advantageously facilitate remote access and customization of internally generated printing node status reports by adapting preexisting features that generate local hard copies of printing node status reports in response to locally initiated commands. Such adaptation enables a printing node to receive, process and respond to remotely initiated requests for printing node status reports in a manner that permits remote customization of the style of printing node status reports.
US08274677B2
An information processing system includes a device having a printing unit and an information processing apparatus connected to the device via a network. The device includes a display screen sharing client unit configure to acquire data of a display screen displayed at the information processing apparatus and to display the data of the display screen on a display unit of the device, thereby achieving display screen sharing. The information processing apparatus includes a display screen sharing server unit configured to supply the data of the display screen displayed at the information processing apparatus to the device, and a print setting unit configured to acquire, through a network, usage information necessary to use the printing unit in response instruction from the device, and to spontaneously make a setting necessary to cause the printing unit to print document data stored in the information processing apparatus in response to the usage information.
US08274673B2
A multi-functional peripheral allows a user to select a productivity priority mode or an image quality priority mode. In the productivity priority mode, a scanner performs a reading operation without moving first and second carriages in a sub-scanning direction, a foreign object image removing processing is executed in accordance with image data obtained by the reading operation, and image forming is performed in accordance with the image data applied with image processing. In the image quality priority mode, the first and second carriages are moved from a reading position P to a reading position P′ at which the foreign object does not adhere to a reading slot, the scanner performs the reading operation, and an image forming is performed in accordance with image data applied with image processing not including the foreign object image removing processing.
US08274671B2
A printing system having a printing apparatus and a post-processing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus, and a method for controlling the printing system, are provided. When an in-line job is received that is set to perform a printing process by the printing apparatus and a post-process by the post-processing apparatus with respect to a sheet printed by the printing process, it is determined whether or not the in-line job is to be separated into the printing process and an off-line process of performing the post-process by the post-processing apparatus without performing the printing process. When it is determined that the separation is to be performed, the printing apparatus is caused to execute the printing process and print information for executing the off-line process is held. When a user's instruction to execute the off-line process is received, the off-line process is executed with respect to the sheet printed by the printing process.
US08274666B2
A combined projector/printer that can receive data in a printer format or a projector format, and then either generate a displayable image, a printed document or both. In the case that the input data is not in a video format but rather in a print format, the projector system is further capable of converting the print format data to image data and to render the image data on a digital display. The print format to image data conversion is provided by a coder/decoder. The combined projector/printer system is capable of displaying an image, printing an image, or recording a presentation according to the needs of the user. The present invention also includes a variety of methods for performing the functionality of the present invention including a “print-to-display” method.
US08274664B2
An image forming apparatus is provided with an image reading unit for reading the image information of a document and an image forming unit for performing a specified image forming process based on this image information. The image reading unit includes a contact glass on which a document to have image information read therefrom is to be placed, an image reading unit main body on which the contact glass is mounted, a document pressing member openable and closable to press a document placed on the contact glass, and an optical member for optically scanning a document surface of the document placed on the contact glass to read as a document image. The image reading unit main body includes a top panel formed with an opening covered by the contact glass and the outer surface of the top panel is in a dark color.
US08274663B2
A thickness detecting mechanism is provided for detecting a thickness of a to-be-measured article. The thickness detecting mechanism includes a detecting arm and an optical displacement sensing module. The detecting arm is moved as the to-be-measured article is sustained against the detecting arm. The detecting arm includes a surface. The optical displacement sensing module detects the surface of the detecting arm when the detecting arm is respectively located in a first position and a second position. According to the displacement amount of the detecting arm from the first position to the second position, the thickness of the to-be-measured article is acquired.
US08274653B2
The present invention provides a small spectroscope that has a short response time. A spectroscope according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a beam deflector that includes an electro-optic crystal, having an electro-optic effect, and paired electrodes used to apply an electric field inside the electro-optic crystal; spectroscopic means for dispersing light output by the beam deflector; and wavelength selection means for selecting light having an arbitrary wavelength from the light dispersed and output by the spectroscopic means.
US08274642B2
A maskless exposure method of drawing a circuit pattern includes: moving a substrate with respect to a projection optical system; scanning, by the projection optical system, the substrate in a first direction; shifting a scanning region in a second direction; scanning the substrate in the first direction so that an overlapping part is formed. A plurality of marks different from the circuit pattern are exposed in a vicinity of the overlapping part. The plurality of marks are a set of marks at least including two marks disposed on one side of the overlapping part and two marks disposed on another side of the overlapping part. Deviations between the pair of the scanning regions, an inclination of exposing light, and a yawing angle of a stage are analyzed by measuring deviations of distances among the plurality of marks. Calibration data are obtained from a result of the analyzing.
US08274641B2
A table is disclosed in which measures are taken to seal between the table and an edge of an object, in use, supported on the table. In particular, a capillary passage is formed between the object on the table and the table itself. A meniscus pinning feature and/or the presence of an overpressure at the radially inward side of the capillary passage holds the liquid in the passage and helps prevent it from advancing further radially inwardly. The features to perform this function may be associated with or formed in a member surrounding the object. The member may be thermally decoupled from a part of the table.
US08274631B2
Certain embodiments of liquid crystal displays and liquid crystal display functional parts have low reflection for outdoor applications. Various embodiments also have the advantage of being able to provide increased contrast and brightness for certain convenient viewing directions for outdoor viewers wearing polarized sunglasses.
US08274627B2
The invention provides a liquid crystal panel and a liquid crystal display device, which has suppressed light leakage at an angle of 45 degrees to an absorption axis of a polarizing plate, a low black-state brightness in an oblique direction and an improved contrast. The liquid crystal panel comprises a liquid crystal cell including a liquid crystal layer containing liquid crystal molecules that is oriented in homogeneous alignment when no electric field is applied thereto, a first polarizer placed on one side of the liquid crystal cell, a second polarizer placed on another side of the liquid crystal cell, a first anisotropic optical element placed between the liquid crystal cell and the first polarizer and satisfying nx1>ny1>nz1, and a second anisotropic optical element placed between the first anisotropic optical element and the liquid crystal cell and satisfying nz2>nx2>ny2, wherein the slow axis of the first anisotropic optical element is parallel to the slow axis of the second anisotropic optical element.
US08274622B2
A cooling system and a method for cooling an electronic display. A preferred embodiment utilizes a closed loop cooling system in a constricted convection cooling setup to remove heat from the backlight of a display assembly. Cooling air can be pulled or pushed through a gap between the display (or backlight) and a rear cooling chamber. The resulting warm air can then be exhausted out of the display housing. The cooling air may be air conditioned or may be exposed to a thermoelectric device. A thermostat may be used so that cooling fans are only energized when the temperature reaches a predetermined point.
US08274619B2
A display device which can reduce easily the brightness unevenness produced by the insufficient writing of TFT, wherein, the display device having: a display panel which, over a surface of an insulating substrate, includes plural scanning signal lines; plural picture signal lines; plural TFTs; plural pixel electrodes coupled to sources of the TFTs; and a counter electrode, wherein the pixel and counter electrodes are arranged over the same surface of an insulating layer overlying the surface of the insulating substrate, and when a gate insulating film provided at one TFT among the TFTs is thinner than a gate insulating film provided at another TFT among the TFTs, a gap between a pixel electrode coupled to the source of the one TFT and the counter electrode is set to be wider than a gap between a pixel electrode coupled to the source of the another TFT and the counter electrode.
US08274615B2
A mobile video system includes a housing having a front surface and a rear surface. The housing is shaped and dimensioned for attachment to a rear surface of a back support portion of an vehicle seat, wherein the housing includes a rear surface that is provided with coupling members shaped and dimensioned for attachment to the back support portion of the vehicle seat. A video monitor and a video source are supported within the housing. The video monitor is mounted within the housing for movement between an exposed orientation in which it is positioned above the housing and a storage position in which it is positioned within the housing for protection from the external environment.
US08274614B2
According to one embodiment, a television apparatus includes a main body, a housing, an exothermic component, and a heat transfer mechanism. The main body has a display screen, and is used in a first orientation where one side of the display screen is positioned on the upper side and in a second orientation where another side is positioned on the upper side. The housing at least partially constitutes the outline of the main body. The exothermic component is housed in the housing. The heat transfer mechanism includes a heat receiving portion that receives heat from the exothermic component, a heat releasing portion that releases heat, and a heat transferring portion that houses a medium to transfer heat from the heat receiving portion to the heat releasing portion. In both the first orientation and the second orientation, the heat receiving portion is located lower than the heat releasing portion.
US08274610B2
A TV remote control is powered using RFID principles from an electric field generated by the TV and so the RC requires no batteries. The RC changes the ID field of the data packet it transmits based on what button was pushed so that a first button is associated with a first ID, a second button is associated with a second ID, and so on. In this way, only a single RFID tag need be provided in the RC.
US08274609B2
Provided are a tuning method according to a variable key input length and a broadcast receiving apparatus using the tuning method. The tuning method includes: if it is determined that an input length of one of at least one or more key inputs is more than or equal to a predetermined time, tuning to a first type broadcast; and if it is determined that the input length is less than the predetermined time, tuning to a second type broadcast different from the first type broadcast. Thus, different types of broadcasts can be tuned according to a length of a key input performed by a user. As a result, a digital broadcast channel can be directly input using only a number key.
US08274607B2
An image processing apparatus is provided, including: a first image processing unit which converts an input image signal into a brightness signal and a chromaticity signal; and a second image processing unit which adjusts a bandwidth used to filter the chromaticity signal to correspond to a noise level of the image signal, and filters the chromaticity signal with the adjusted bandwidth to extract a chrominance signal.
US08274606B2
A video receiving apparatus comprises a switch, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a video processing circuit and a decoder is provided. The ADC receives a first analog channel data from the switch within a plurality of first periods and receives a second analog channel data from the switch within a plurality of second periods, and output a digital video signal. The sampling frequency of the ADC is a plurality of times of a switching frequency of the switch. The video processing circuit includes a recovery circuit and a noise reduction circuit. The recovery circuit restores the digital video signal to a recovery video signal corresponding to a video format of the analog video signal. The noise reduction circuit reduces noises generated by the switch according to the digital video signal. The decoder outputs a display signal according to the analog video signal.
US08274604B2
A image display unit is allowed to reproduce display characteristics substantially equivalent to that obtained with use of a cinema projector, when performing a image display based on a film image signal or an equivalent. The image display unit including: an image insertion section inserting an interpolation frame image into an input video signal as the film image signal or the equivalent; and a display section performing image display based on a video signal where the interpolation frame image is inserted. The image insertion section generates an optimized image as the interpolation frame image in which the insertion time period and the signal level are optimized based on display characteristics to be achieved in a projected image projected with the cinema film by a cinema projector, thereby to insert the optimized image into the input video signal at a position corresponding to a gap between frames of the cinema film.
US08274601B2
A digital camera includes a bezel and an extending ring. The bezel includes a convex ring and at least one fixing portion. The convex ring is positioned on a center of the bezel. The fixing portion is defined on an outer sidewall of the convex ring. The extending ring includes a sleeve, a flange, and at least one fastening portion. The sleeve is placed around the outer sidewall of the convex ring. The flange extends from an end of the sleeve and abuts the convex ring. The fastening portion cooperates with the fixing portion.
US08274588B2
In a CMOS image sensor (10) including a pixel array unit (12) having pixels separately arranged in even-numbered pixel rows and odd-numbered pixel rows, a reading operation performed on odd pixels having a short accumulation time is performed in an exposure start portion of even pixels having a long accumulation time. By this, even when the even pixels are saturated and signal charges overflow from the even pixels, and therefore, part of the signal charges intrude into the odd pixels adjacent to the even pixels, an adverse effect of blooming due to the saturation of the even pixels to signals of the odd pixels is eliminated since the reading operation performed on the odd pixels has already been completed. The adverse effect due to the blooming to the low-sensitive signals is eliminated when a method for attaining a dynamic range by differentiating accumulation times between adjacent pixels is employed.
US08274581B2
An image capture device includes an image capture unit, a switching unit, a calculation unit, a comparison unit, and a display unit. The image capture unit captures consecutive images. The switching unit switches to a playback mode. The calculation unit calculates each of gradient values between adjacent pixels within each the image and cumulates a total value composed of the gradient values of the image. The comparison unit compares different total values corresponding to different images to determine the image having a maximum total value. The display unit displays the acquired image.
US08274580B2
The present invention includes a color converting section carrying out color conversion processing and a coefficient correcting section setting a correcting coefficient group to a coefficient group of the color conversion. The coefficient correcting section sets a local area containing a pixel to be processed, and calculates “feature information of the local area” containing at least one of averaged color information, averaged luminance information, and flatness on the basis of the pixel signals of the local area. The coefficient correcting section determines a correcting coefficient group to be used for the pixel to be processed on the basis of the feature information of the local area. With this construction, the present invention suppresses influence of noise when changing the color conversion processing for each pixel.
US08274576B2
When still images are captured, signals read from all pixel cells of a pixel cell array having a Bayer array of color filters are selected, as a first output to be recorded and displayed, by an output selector. When moving images are captured, a 9-pixel binned signal is selected as the first output by the output selector, and a differential component between an output signal of a pixel cell located at the center-of-mass position of the 9 pixels, and the 9-pixel binned signal, is supplied as a second output from a memory circuit. Contrast information of a subject image is acquired based on the second output to perform lens focus adjustment.
US08274562B2
A camera for identifying soiling on a protective screen, such as a vehicle windscreen, is focused on a scene through the protective screen and can be used to identify soiling and for other applications, e.g. to identify driving lanes and/or objects in the scene. Soiling is identified merely by evaluating successively recorded image frames, and artificial reference frames or reference objects are not required. A prerequisite is that the relative speed vrel between the camera and at least one recorded object in the scene is not equal to zero and its trajectory in the image is predicted. By comparing the relevant image frame sections, possible soiling on subregions of the protective screen is identified.
US08274551B2
A method and apparatus for using header information of stereoscopic image data is provided. The method includes using three-dimensional reproduction period information related to three-dimensionally reproduced stereoscopic image data of image data recorded in a payload region of the stereoscopic image bitstream, in a header region of the stereoscopic image bitstream; recording camera information related to cameras used for obtaining a stereoscopic image, in the header region; recording parallax information between base and additional images of the stereoscopic image in the header region; and recording the image data in the payload region of the stereoscopic image bitstream.
US08274546B1
The present invention is a system and method for improving the audio quality during a in a living-room type of environment having multimedia equipment. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the audio signals emanating from various speakers are modified/altered, so as to capture audio signals with the highest signal to noise ratio. One situation where embodiments of the present invention are usable is in the context of a video/audio call. Since the positions of the microphone and speakers are generally fixed, in some embodiments, the speaker outputs are controlled/modified to provide an improved signal-to-noise ratio. In accordance with one embodiment, the audio emanating from the central speaker is subdued or eliminated to reduce significantly the problems that occur due to the audio from the center speaker being captured by the microphone, which is typically in close proximity to the center speaker. The audio may be provided to the speakers by various ways, such as HDMI, RCA, and so on.
US08274545B2
An apparatus and a method for casting video and audio data to a web during video telephony in a mobile communication terminal are provided. The method includes sending a transmitting request message to a counterpart terminal, if a transmitting request menu is selected in a video telephony mode, sending authentication information to a server, if a transmitting accept message is received from the counterpart terminal, and transmitting video telephony data to the server, if an authentication complete message is received from the server.
US08274539B2
A light-emitting element array drive device includes: plural light-emitting elements; plural switch elements electrically connected mutually in an array and respectively to the light-emitting elements, and setting the respective light-emitting elements ready to emit light when turned on, and unready to emit light when turned off; a transfer signal supply unit supplying transfer signals for getting the switch elements turned-on by sequentially switching each switch element from being turned-off to turned-on, and to turned-off, where periods during which the respective switch elements are turned on are displaced so that each two periods for two of the switch elements adjacently-connected overlap; and a light-emission signal supply unit supplying a light-emission signal having light-emitting periods for the light-emitting elements, where an end point of each light-emitting period is set based on a start point of the above overlap, while a start point thereof is set before each end point.
US08274537B2
Apparatus for thermal transfer printing of an image from a thermal retransfer sheet onto an article, includes heating means (40, 42, 44, 46) adapted to supply heated gas at a variable flow rate. Also disclosed is a method of printing an image, and the resulting printed article.
US08274536B2
A method is performed at a multifunction device with a touch screen display. The method includes displaying a text entry interface with a soft keyboard in a first area and a viewing area with a first size to display scrollable information. The method detects a finger gesture on the viewing area, and responds to the gesture. When the viewing area displays only a portion of the information, the response includes: (1) ceasing to display the soft keyboard, (2) expanding the viewing area to a second size, including at least some of the first area, and (3) scrolling the information in the expanded viewing area. When the viewing area with the first size displays all of the information, the response includes: (1) maintaining display of the soft keyboard, (2) keeping the viewing area at the first size, and (3) moving the information in the viewing area based on the finger gesture.
US08274534B2
After positioning the cursor and pressing-and-holding a mouse button to begin a drag, a user continues to drag the cursor out of and into plural popped up regions. While the cursor is within a region, an associated function effects the displayed graphical information in a particular way, such as continuously panning, drawing, zooming, or rotating. Upon rolling-out of a region without entering a contiguous region, the last function continues to execute and all popped up regions are removed such that the user may utilize the entire display without being switched to another function. In a simple form, after release of the mouse button, a tool may zoom out if the user held the mouse substantially stationary and zoom in on a rectangle if the mouse was dragged. Reducing the number of times a user clicks by eliminating the step of selecting a function should help avoid repetitive strain injuries.
US08274533B2
What is disclosed is a system and method for performing a background deletion that exploits both local and global context to remove background and other white space between objects with the aim of retaining structural relationships between objects in the document. A document image is received and seams are carved through the image. Seams composed of uniform background pixels are identified. Adjacent seams containing background pixels are collected into groups of seams. The background seam groups are classified according to their widths. A target number of seams to be removed for each background seam group is then determined based on the classification. Seam groups which are wider will have at least the same or a greater target number of seams to be deleted therefrom than will seam groups of narrower widths. The document image is then resized by deleting seams from the seam groups based on the assigned target number.
US08274532B2
A system adaptively orients a display image on a device for presenting data acquired via one or more cables connected to a particular side of the device. The system includes a sensor for detecting orientation of the device and providing a device orientation representative signal indicating whether the device is in a first orientation or a second orientation substantially different to the first orientation. A display screen presents display images on the device. A display generator automatically generates a display image on the display screen oriented to be upright in the first and second orientations of the device, in response to the orientation representative signal. A command processor adaptively selects functions assigned to user selectable buttons positioned on both sides of the display screen of the device, in response to the orientation representative signal.
US08274531B2
A display apparatus adapted to generate image data for controlling a first light modulation section adapted to project a first window, and image data for controlling a second light modulation section adapted to project a second window smaller than the first window and projected so as to overlap with the first window, includes: a first image conversion section adapted to convert a resolution of input image data in accordance a resolution of the first light modulation section to form the image data for controlling the first light modulation section; and a second image conversion section adapted to extract data included in a range corresponding to a resolution of the second light modulation section among the input image data to form the image data for controlling the second light modulation section.
US08274530B2
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for processing 2-D to 3-D image conversion. The system and method includes erode filling when an object has been removed from an image. In one embodiment, a target binary t image mask of the removed object is used for comparison with a binary source mask of the image. In an iterative process, color differences between pixels in the target mask and pixels in the source mask are identified and the pixels in the target mask are changed working from the periphery of the target mask to the center of the mask. Color noise is eliminated in the filled region of the target mask and, if desired, random color noise is added to the filled target mask.
US08274525B2
A color gamut mapping maps an input image signal which has input pixel colors defined by an input luminance and an input chromaticity into a mapped image signal which has corresponding mapped pixel colors defined by a mapped luminance and a mapped chromaticity for a display. The input pixel colors lie within the input color gamut different than the display color gamut. The desired mapped luminance may be retrieved by looking up stored desired luminance values in a look-up table at the mapped chromaticity, or by calculating a relative to white luminance, or a luminance decrease, etc.
US08274516B2
Architecture that expresses scene composition and animation in a form that can run entirely on the graphics processing unit (GPU). The architecture stores retained graph information (e.g., scene graph and animation information) as texture information, and uses shaders (e.g., vertex and pixel) to evaluate time information, evaluate animation, evaluate transforms, and rasterize paths. Additionally, the architecture provides the ability to compute animation positions and redraw entirely on the GPU without per primitive CPU intervention.
US08274510B2
A method, apparatus, article of manufacture for illustrating progress in achieving a goal of a system modeled by a computer program. In one embodiment, the invention is evidenced by a method comprising the steps of displaying a widget wherein the widget comprises a center portion representing a category of data represented by the computer program and the category of data includes n data points that must be fulfilled to achieve the goal and an outer portion, comprising a segment representing each one of the n data points; and updating the widget to represent each of the n data points that has been fulfilled by delineating each segment representing a fulfilled data point requirement from each segment representing a non-fulfilled data point requirement.
US08274505B2
The present invention relates to a driving device for a display and the method thereof for driving a pixel matrix containing N×M pixel units. The driving device for a display comprises: a first vertical driver generating N first vertical driving signals in sequence, each of N first vertical driving signals being used to drive the first through the K-th pixel units on each row of the pixel matrix; and a second vertical driver generating N second vertical driving signals in sequence, each of N second vertical driving signals being used to drive the (K+1)-th through the M-th pixel units on each row of the pixel matrix.
US08274502B2
A video switch for allowing at least two users to view video data from respective ones of at least two video sources. The video switch comprises a switch for selecting one of the at least two video sources and at least one sampler connected to the switch. The sampler is for sampling video data from the at least two video sources. The video switch further comprises a controller for controlling the switch and sampler to select one of the at least two video sources and sample a frame of video data. An output is provided for transmitting video data to one of the at least two users. The output supports a maximum number of simultaneous users which is at least two, and the number of samplers in the video switch is less than the maximum number of simultaneous users.A video switch according to the present invention allows a sampler for capturing video data to be shared between at least two simultaneous users. This reduces the cost, size and complexity of the hardware required to implement a video switch.In one embodiment of the invention, the sampler may comprise a programmable Phase Locked Loop which can optionally have a fast lock mode.
US08274497B2
A data input device comprises a microprocessor electrically connected to a camera device, a mirror installed in front of a lens of the camera device to allow the camera device to take a reference image reflected by the mirror. When the microprocessor detects that the camera device takes that a user touches the reference image in at least one input zone of an image, it then generates a corresponding input signal according to that the camera device takes that the user touches input images in at least one input zone. The data input device according to the present invention can more accurately and quickly generate input signal corresponding to an input operation processed by the user and saves the production cost more.
US08274487B2
A touchpad or touchscreen has a sensitive operating area for setting particular functions. To simplify operation, at least one mechanical control element is arranged above the sensitive operating area, said control element having a trigger which acts on the sensitive operating area to set functions when the control element is moved.
US08274473B2
An electro-optic display includes a first substrate provided thereon with a first electrode, a second substrate provided thereon with a second electrode forming an electric field in cooperation with the first electrode, and an electro-optic material interposed between the first and second substrates. The electro-optic material includes a non-polar solvent and a polar solvent dispersed in the non-polar solvent and controlled by the electric field. The first electrode is disposed on a non-display region of the first substrate including a plurality of pixels each of which having a display region, in which an image is displayed, and the non-display region adjacent to the display region. At least one of a reflective layer and a light sourcing layer defines an amount of light passed through the display area.
US08274466B2
An LCD controller includes at least one I/O pad for providing an LCD drive voltage in an LCD mode of operation. I/O pad logic drives the at least one I/O pad responsive to a provided bias voltage. Voltage selection logic selects a higher voltage between an LCD drive voltage and an externally provided system voltage as a first voltage. Bias voltage logic selects one of the system voltage or the first voltage as the bias voltage for the I/O pad logic. The system voltage is selected as the bias voltage for the I/O pad logic in a non-LCD mode of operation for the I/O pad and the first voltage is selected for the bias voltage for the I/O pad logic in the LCD mode of operation for the I/O pad.
US08274462B2
An electro-optical device includes a pixel that has an electro-optical element with a light transmittance that changes to a predetermined value in response to an applied voltage, which changes in response to the temperature. A light source irradiates light to the pixel. A driving unit includes a predetermined number of sub-fields having the same length in one frame. The driving unit provides either an on-voltage indicating light-on or an off-voltage indicating light-off to the pixel in each of the predetermined number of the sub-fields in response to the grayscale to be displayed. A temperature measuring unit measures the temperature and outputs a temperature signal. A time controlling unit controls the length of one sub-field on the basis of the temperature signal. A light intensity controlling unit controls the intensity of the light incident on the pixel on the basis of the temperature signal.
US08274460B2
A liquid crystal display apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel assembly having pixels arranged in a matrix form, which have a first group of pixels and a second group of pixels, gate lines having a first group of gate lines and a second group of gate lines that are connected with the first group of pixels and the second group of pixels, respectively, and data lines each of which is connected with one of the first group of pixels and one of the second group of pixels in every row of the matrix form. The liquid crystal display apparatus also includes a signal controller that receives input image signals and generates two groups of image data, a data driver that receives the two groups of image data and provides data voltages corresponding to the image data to the data lines, and a gate driving unit including a first gate driver that provides first gate-on signals to the first group of gate lines and a second gate driver that provides second gate-on signals to the second group of gate lines.
US08274454B2
Disclosed herein is an electro luminescence display panel having a pixel structure corresponding to an active matrix drive system, including: a reverse bias potential generating portion configured to generate a reverse bias potential in which corresponding one of gradation values of pixels is reflected; and a voltage applying portion configured to apply the reverse bias potential to a gate electrode of a drive transistor composing a pixel circuit adapted to operate for a non-emission time period.
US08274452B2
An organic light emitting display including a demux is disclosed. The display include a plurality of RGB switching transistors which apply a data voltage through RGB data lines as the RGB switching transistors are coupled to the respective RGB data lines, and a plurality of RGB pixel circuits coupled to the RGB switching transistors of the demux. In addition, the RGB data voltage of the demux can be applied during a period which a turn-on emission control signal is applied to the RGB pixel circuits.
US08274451B2
The present invention relates to an electroluminescent device, particularly to an organic electroluminescent device reliably receiving driving voltage from a voltage source, and a method of driving the same. A driving circuit of the electroluminescent device includes first to third sub-pixels formed on crossing areas of data lines and scan lines, a pre-charge driving circuit which applies pre-charge current to the data lines of the first to third sub-pixels and a data driving circuit which applies data current to the pre-charged data lines. The pre-charge current is applied to the first to third sub-pixels in different time. The organic electroluminescent device of the present invention and the method of driving the same can reliably receive the driving voltage from the voltage source, and prevent quick flames of the device.
US08274444B2
An antenna device includes an insulating substrate, a ground plane, a radiating element, a horizontal feed probe and a vertical feed probe. The insulating substrate has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. One end of the first surface defines an insulating area. One end of the second surface adjacent to the insulating area defines a first isolating area, a second isolating area, a horizontal feed circuit and a vertical feed circuit. The ground plane includes a first ground plane and a second ground plane. The radiating element is located onto the insulating area. The horizontal and vertical feed probes are inserted in the insulating substrate and the radiating element with one end thereof projecting beyond the radiating element and the other end thereof respectively penetrating through the first and second isolating areas so as to couple with the horizontal and vertical feed circuits, respectively.
US08274441B2
Antenna systems include adjustment mechanisms to adjust the position of dish antennas. The adjustment mechanism includes a clip, a bracket, and a cam mechanism. The clip is fixedly coupled to and projects outwardly from a mast. The bracket is pivotally coupled to the mast and is between the stationary clip and cam mechanism. The cam mechanism is pivotally coupled to the clip and positioned to rotate the bracket and the dish antenna as the cam mechanism rotates. The clip is made of a lightweight material to reduce the overall weight of the antenna system to enhance performance.
US08274434B2
According to one embodiment, an antenna unit provided on the inner surface of the upper peripheral portion of the display housing of a notebook PC includes a projection that positions a power feeder connected to an electronic component adjacent to the antenna unit such that the power feeder extends at a constant distance from the core member of the antenna unit. The projection projects from the core member at a position at which it does not interfere with an antenna wire, and includes a recess that receives the power feeder.
US08274428B2
A method for estimating a radar cross-section (RES) of a given object by using a diffraction model of this object. With the model, it is possible to determine a basis adapted to said object on which is projected a vector of measurement. With the projected vector, it is possible to obtain a more complete reconstructed vector than the measurement vector in terms of incident wave and diffracted wave observation directions/polarizations and the components of which have a better signal/noise ratio than the measurements. The reconstructed vector is then used for calculating the RCS.
US08274426B2
A radio frequency ranging system is grounded in establishing and maintaining phase and frequency coherency of signals received by a slave unit from a master unit and retransmitted to the master unit by the slave unit. For a preferred embodiment of the invention, coherency is established through the use of a delta-sigma phase-lock loop, and maintained through the use, on both master and slave units, of thermally-insulated reference oscillators, which are highly stable over the short periods of time during which communications occur. A phase relationship counter is employed to keep track of the fractional time frames of the phase-lock loop as a function of the reference oscillator, thereby providing absolute phase information for an incoming burst on any channel, thereby enabling the system to almost instantaneously establish or reestablish the phase relationship of the local oscillator so that it synchronized with the reference oscillator.
US08274421B2
A system for digitizing the magnitude of a first parameter, which can be inferred by applying to a second parameter and digitizing the magnitude of a resulting third parameter. The circuit which applies the second parameter has an associated bias point with which the magnitude of the second parameter varies. The value of the first parameter can result in an error in the value of the second parameter which results in an error being incurred when the digitized value of the third magnitude is used to infer a digitized value of the magnitude of the first parameter. This is avoided by adjusting the bias point with each successive trial and employing a sequential-trial ADC which performs sequential comparisons between the third magnitude and respective decision thresholds, such that there is no error in the magnitude of the second parameter when the third magnitude is equal to the decision threshold for a particular trial.
US08274419B2
A device may include a programmable gain amplifier and an analog-digital converter with pipeline architecture having several stages. The first stage of the analog-digital converter may incorporate the programmable gain amplifier and an analog-digital conversion circuit with a programmable threshold.
US08274414B2
An interface system between an RDC and a connected resolver dynamically matches an input range of the RDC to the output range of the resolver's output signals. The interface system may include methods and/or apparatuses to determine the amplitude of sinusoidal input signals presented to the RDC by the resolver and to compare the amplitude against high and low threshold values. A gain control signal may be generated, which may be corrected if the detected amplitude either exceeds the high threshold or falls below the low threshold. The gain control signal may be output to a circuit in the RDC or in the resolver that corrects any mismatch that occurs between the RDC input and the resolver output. For example, the gain control signal may control the amplitude of an excitation signal applied to a primary of the resolver or the gain control signal may be applied to an analog to digital converter at the input of the RDC to control its effective input range.
US08274405B2
A method of managing a Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) network in a vehicle having a primary DSRC system is provided. The method comprises detecting a secondary DSRC system operating in proximity to the vehicle and transmitting a suppression notice in response to detecting the secondary DSRC system, where the suppression notice conveys an instruction to the secondary DSRC system to suspend DSRC transmissions.
US08274400B2
Methods and apparatus for facilitating optical communications and sensing, with downhole optical or other sensors, in high temperature oilfield applications. The apparatus can include a downhole telemetry cartridge for downhole use at temperatures in excess of about 115 degrees Celsius. The apparatus can also include a downhole light source optically connected to the telemetry cartridge. The light source may include at least one remotely pumped laser optically connected to a surface pump laser via optical fiber(s). The remotely pumped laser may drive the downhole optical or other sensors for their operations.
US08274398B2
A Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive includes an USB interface, a control unit, a storage unit, a timer, a logic circuit, and a quartz meter that includes a scale dial and a dial pointer. The control unit calculates a storage capacity difference between a current storage capacity and a previous storage capacity, and calculates a runtime of the dial pointer according to a time calculation algorithm. The control unit generates an enabling signal if the storage capacity difference is not equal to zero, and generates an interrupt signal when the runtime equals the time value. The logic circuit outputs a high voltage to the quartz meter to control the dial pointer to run around the scale dial according to the enabling signal, and outputs a low voltage to the quartz meter to control the dial pointer to stop running around the scale dial according to the interrupt signal.
US08274393B2
Signaling systems are disclosed that indicate a change in an absorbent article, such as the presence of a body fluid. The various different signaling systems disclosed do not include any conductive elements contained on the interior of the article as were required in the past. Instead, the changes are monitored from the outer cover of the article. In one embodiment, for instance, conductive zones are formed directly into the outer cover for forming the signaling system. Alternatively, a sensor may be mounted to the outer cover of the article for monitoring changes within the article. The sensor may comprise, for instance, a temperature sensor, a conductivity sensor, an optical sensor, a vibration sensor, a humidity sensor, a material expansion sensor, a chemical sensor, or the like.
US08274389B2
A disposable and tamper-resistant RFID lock that employs an RFID tag. Use of tamper evident housing. Disabling an RFID tag contained in the housing cutting, crushing, or puncturing the RFID tag.
US08274385B2
A security system includes a perimeter sensor configured to cause an alarm signal to be issued after a first period of time upon sensing a security breach. An interior sensor is configured to cause an alarm signal to be issued after a second period of time upon sensing a security breach. The second period of time is shorter than the first period of time. A controller is communicatively coupled to each of the perimeter sensor and the interior sensor. The controller is adapted, in response to the perimeter sensor entering into a fault condition, to reconfigure the interior sensor to cause an alarm signal to be issued after a third period of time upon sensing a security breach. The third period of time is longer than the second period of time.
US08274378B2
A remote climate control system is for an electric vehicle without a combustion engine and including a rechargeable electrical power source and an electrical heater selectively powered thereby, a sensor associated with the rechargeable electrical power source, and a data communications bus extending throughout the electric vehicle. At least one of the electrical heater and the sensor is coupled to the data communications bus. The remote climate control system includes a remote transmitter and a receiver to be positioned at the electric vehicle for receiving signals from the remote transmitter. A vehicle remote climate controller cooperates with the receiver and to be coupled to the data communications bus extending within the electric vehicle for communication thereover to selectively operate the electrical heater responsive to the sensor and the remote transmitter.
US08274374B2
Disclosed is a synchronization method between a reader and tag according to an example embodiment, the method including: transmitting, by the reader, a first write command message to the tag at a first time; detecting, by the tag, the first write command message from the reader at a second time and transmitting a first response message to the reader in response to the first write message; transmitting, by the reader, a second write command message including first time information of the first time to the tag; and correcting, by the tag, a clock offset using a difference between the first time and the second time.
US08274368B2
A chipless microwave identification tag (200) comprising: a dielectric substrate (210); and a plurality of antenna elements (220) made from a conductive material and disposed on at least one surface (205, 255) of the dielectric substrate (210); wherein when the tag (200) is excited by an incident microwave signal (131), a reflected wave (141) to identify the tag (200) is generated with a number of specific frequencies altered by microwave resonation of the antenna elements (220).
US08274351B2
A transformer device includes an iron core, a plurality of stacked coils, wound onto the iron core, a plurality of base members arranged between the plurality of coils adjacent in a stacking direction, a plurality of flow channel member groups provided for each of the coils, each provided at a corresponding base member, and forming a flow channel directed to a flow of an insulating liquid between the corresponding base member and a corresponding coil, and an obstruction member arranged to obstruct the flow of the insulating liquid such that at least one of the flow channels formed by the plurality of flow channel member groups differs in the flow volume of the insulating liquid from another of the flow channels, and to obstruct the flow of the insulating liquid at a region not overlapping with the iron core in the flowing direction of the insulating liquid, among the flow channels.
US08274349B2
A tap-switching autotransformer for regulating the voltage supplied to a facility includes an electronics sub-assembly for controlling switching of the taps. The electronics sub-assembly and the windings are contained in a housing from which the electronics sub-assembly may be removed for repair or replacement. The electronics sub-assembly is adapted to enable an electronically actuated switch to short-circuit two of the taps. A mechanical switch enables a separate short-circuit to be maintained between the taps to enable the electronics sub-assembly to be safely removed from the housing.
US08274346B2
An electromagnetic contact device has a contactor holder (40), which moves a mounted movable contactor (42a) according to a displacement of a movable core (32) forming an electromagnet (30) for operation. The contactor holder (40) is being housed together with the electromagnet (30) for operation in a case (1). The case (1) has a lower case portion (10) housing the electromagnet (30) for operation and an upper case portion (20) engaging with the lower case portion (10) while being stacked on the lower case portion and houses the contactor holder (40) advanced from above. The upper case portion (20) has a recess (21) with an upward opening and houses the contactor holder (40) placed on the bottom wall of the recess (21). The lower case portion (10) houses one selected either a DC-only electromagnet (30b) or an AC-only electromagnet (30a).
US08274343B2
An integrated circuit structure includes a semiconductor substrate; an interconnect structure over the semiconductor substrate; a first dielectric layer over the semiconductor substrate and in the interconnect structure; a second dielectric layer in the interconnect structure and over the first dielectric layer; and a wave-guide. The wave-guide includes a first portion in the first dielectric layer and a second portion in the second dielectric layer. The first portion adjoins the second portion.
US08274341B2
The techniques described herein permit the application of methods for increasing the performance of a communications system on a medium made up of N conductors and a reference plane by means of injecting signals inductively in up to N combinations of the conductors, including injection in common mode, such that said injected signals can be made to be orthogonal to each other.
US08274340B2
A signal bus includes multiple interconnects for transporting electronic signals. The interconnects have different physical path lengths and different structures to equalize the different the physical path lengths, so that the electronic signals traverse the corresponding interconnects in same period of time.
US08274339B2
A mixed signal circuit architecture is disclosed for automatic frequency control and digital temperature compensation in an LC-PLL system. Some embodiments allow for high-volume manufacturing of products such as microprocessors and chipsets, and other circuits that employ LC-PLL technology. In some embodiments, various capacitor loadings can be selected to compensate for variation associated with process, voltage, temperature, and reference frequency. In addition, a multi-leg capacitor bank can be selectively used to further compensate for temperature variation post-lock, in accordance with some embodiments. A programmable timer can be used in some embodiments to allow for loop settling prior to assessing parameters of interest.
US08274337B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit includes: digitally controlled oscillators; a phase-data output unit; an integration processing unit; a filter unit; a multiplier (a first multiplier) that outputs, as an oscillator tuning word, a value obtained by multiplying an output signal subjected to time division from the filter unit with a predetermined coefficient; and an output selector (a tuning-word separating unit) that allocates the oscillator tuning word to the digitally controlled oscillators in synchronization with a reference frequency.
US08274333B2
A method and apparatus are provided for use with a power amplifier for protecting active devices on the power amplifier. A peak detector is used by control circuitry to detect the presence of a peak voltage that exceeds a threshold voltage. In response to the detection of a peak voltage, the gain of the power amplifier is reduced.
US08274331B2
A differential receiver includes a first amplifying circuit and a second amplifying circuit. The first amplifying circuit comprises a first differential pair of PMOS transistors, a first current source, and a first load resistance section, while the second amplifying circuit comprises a second differential pair of NMOS transistors, a second current source, and a second load resistance section. With the structure of the first and second amplifying circuits, an increased input common mode range can be obtained.
US08274330B2
A method and apparatus is provided for use in power amplifiers for reducing the peak voltage that transistors are subjected to. A power amplifier is provided with first and second switching devices and an inductor connected between the switching devices. The switching devices are driven such that the switching devices are turned on and off during the same time intervals.
US08274328B2
An amplifying apparatus includes an amplifier that amplifies a signal, using a voltage supplied; a power source unit that generates a first voltage and a second voltage having an amplitude greater than that of the first voltage; and a switching controller that, when the an envelope signal of the signal becomes current zero, switches between and supplies to the amplifier, the first voltage and the second voltage generated by the power source unit.
US08274318B2
A duty cycle correction circuit of a semiconductor memory apparatus includes a duty correction unit configured to determine a duty correction range in response to a duty correction range control signal, correct a duty of an inputted clock in response to duty correction codes to fall in the determined duty correction range, and generate a duty corrected clock; a duty detection unit configured to detect a duty of the duty corrected clock and output duty information; and a duty correction code generation unit configured to generate the duty correction codes based on the duty information.
US08274317B2
A phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit including a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with a variable gain is provided. A phase frequency detector (PFD) detects a phase difference between a reference signal and a PLL feedback signal. A charge pump and a loop filter sequentially process an output signal of the PFD. A VCO has different gains according to a mode transition. A control voltage applied to the VCO is selected from an output signal of the loop filter and an additional control signal according to the mode transition.
US08274315B2
A voltage sequence output circuit includes input terminals of a NOR gate connected to first and second input terminals. An output terminal of the NOR gate connected to a first terminal of a first electrical switch. A third terminal of the first electrical switch connected to a power source. A first terminal of a second electrical switch connected to the first input terminal and the power source through a first resistor. A second terminal of the second electrical switch connected to a second terminal of the first electrical switch. A third terminal of the second electrical switch connected to a first output terminal and a second terminal of a third electrical switch. A first terminal of the third electrical switch connected to a second input terminal and the power source through a second resistor. A third terminal of the third electrical switch connected to a second output terminal.
US08274312B2
An apparatus which provides a self-reconfigurable analog resonant computer employing a fixed electronic circuit schematic which performs computing logic operations (for example OR, AND, NOR, and XOR Boolean logic) without physical re-wiring and whose components only include passive circuit elements such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and memristor devices. The computational logic self-reconfiguration process in the circuit takes place as training input signals, which are input causing the impedance state of the memristor device to change. Once the training process is completed, the circuit is probed to determine whether the desired logic operation has been programmed.
US08274308B2
Described herein are a method and an apparatus for dynamically switching between one or more finite termination impedance value settings to a memory input-output (I/O) interface of a memory in response to a termination signal level. The method comprises: setting a first termination impedance value setting for a termination unit of an input-output (I/O) interface of a memory; assigning the first termination impedance value setting to the termination unit when the memory is not being accessed; and switching from the first termination impedance value setting to a second termination impedance value setting in response to a termination signal level.
US08274299B2
Various methods are described to characterize interferometric modulators or similar devices. Measured voltages across interferometric modulators may be used to characterize transition voltages of the interferometric modulators. Measured currents may be analyzed by integration of measured current to provide an indication of a dynamic response of the interferometric modulator. Frequency analysis may be used to provide an indication of a hysteresis window of the interferometric modulator or mechanical properties of the interferometric modulator. Capacitance may be determined through signal correlation, and spread-spectrum analysis may be used to minimize the effect of noise or interference on measurements of various interferometric modulator parameters.
US08274296B2
Provided is a test apparatus that tests a device under test, comprising a digital signal generator that outputs in parallel one or more n-bit digital test signals, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a plurality of driver circuits that are connected respectively to a plurality of digital terminals of the device under test; and an analog signal generator that generates an analog test signal by converting, into an analog signal, an n×m-bit digital multi-bit signal based on the one or more digital test signals output by the digital signal generator to the plurality of driver circuits, where m is an integer greater than or equal to 2.
US08274284B2
A method for producing background-suppressed MR images with improved resistance to subject motion and noise, particularly that associated with parallel imaging techniques. An MRI system is employed to acquire two sets of undersampled k-space data under different scan conditions. A differential k-space data set is then formed by complex, pairwise subtraction of the two undersampled k-space data sets and a background-suppressed MR is reconstructed from the differential k-space data set using an accelerated reconstruction technique, such as GRAPPA.
US08274279B2
An apparatus and method are disclosed for detecting flaws in electrically conductive materials by observing properties of the back-EMF of the eddy current field generated by driving magnetic flux through the object to be examined. The input signal may include sweeps at several frequencies, and may do so at one time under the principle of wave superposition. The sectorial observations of eddy currents summations may be compared to a known datum for a defect free material, the presence of anomalies in eddy field back EMF divergence tending to provide an indication of an irregularity in the underlying eddy field, and hence in the underlying material itself. The portable unit may have a number of different configurations depending on the nature of the object to be examined, be it a flat or large radius plate, a flange, a rail, or some other structural element.
US08274278B1
An automated, non-destructive anhysteretic magnetization characterization method for studying and modeling soft magnetic materials. This measurement method employs a “reading-waveform” that allows multiple points of reference to be established in tracing out the B waveform. In using the reference values from this waveform, the components of B that cannot be measured directly may be calculated with precision. In turn, the initial magnitude of the B waveform is identified as the unknown component of the anhysteretic state. The processes can be repeated for different values of static fields as well as a function of temperature to produce a family of anhysteretic magnetization curves. The core characterization was performed without physically altering the core, so that the true anhysteretic magnetization curve, and the true B-H loop under applied bias H, is measured.
US08274274B2
A position/displacement measuring system is provided comprising at least one magnetically encoded scale body with at least one encoding track and a sensor device with at least one sensor sensitive to the encoding, the at least one encoding track comprising main fields of at least a first type and a second type which are arranged in a periodically alternating manner in at least a first direction, the subfields of the first type and second type being north pole fields and south pole fields, wherein the main fields of the first type and the main fields of the second type are each subdivided into subfields of at least two different types; wherein a length and/or an encoding strength of the subfields within a main field varies in at least the first direction; and wherein, in the main fields of the first type, the total length in the first direction and/or the total surface of field portions of the first type is greater than the total length and/or the total surface of field portions which are not of the first type, and in the main fields of the second type, the total length in the first direction and/or the total surface of field portions of the second type is greater than the total length and/or the total surface of field portions which are not of the second type.
US08274264B2
A method for improving heavy-to-light load transient response in low-power switch-mode power supplies is described. It uses a negative voltage input power rail and a digital controller with an extended duty ratio control value to provide faster discharging current slew rate in the switched mode power supplies (SMPS) inductor.
US08274260B2
A battery pack is provided which includes: a state detection section which decides whether secondary batteries are in an electricity-charged state or in an electricity-discharging state; a power decision section which decides whether the secondary batteries are in a power-on state or in a power-off state; and a residual-capacity calculation section which, if the state detection section decides that they are in the electricity-charged state, calculates the residual capacity of the secondary batteries by accumulating a current value detected by a current sensor, and if the state detection section decides that they are in the electricity-discharging state, calculates the residual capacity of the secondary batteries by acquiring the voltage of the secondary batteries when the power decision section decides that they are in the power-off state.
US08274259B2
A charge-up circuit includes a charge-up transistor configured to supply a charge-up current to a secondary battery in accordance with a control signal, a detection resistor connected in series with the charge-up transistor to detect the charge-up current, a current-to-voltage conversion circuit configured to generate and output a monitor voltage in accordance with the charge-up current based on each voltage at both end terminals of the detection resistor, a reference voltage generator configured to generate a predetermined reference voltage and including a voltage adjusting mechanism to generate the reference voltage from the constant voltage so that the charge-up current becomes a desired current, and a charge-up current control circuit configured to control the charge-up transistor so that the monitor voltage becomes the reference voltage.
US08274257B2
This invention relates to a portable charging equipment in which a socket is provided on side edge of a backup battery and a plug is correspondingly provided on a charger device. A recessed arc portion formed on the bottom surface of the charger device is to abut closely against the peripheral outer edge of the backup battery. A boost unit provided in the charger device is electrically connected to the plug, and a lead wire connected to the boost unit has an output terminal provided on the other end. A tightening strap body having hook and loop structure is attached to the charger device. The backup battery and the charger device can be inseparably affixed together by the fastening action of the tightening strap body.
US08274254B2
A power transmission control device included in a contactless power transmission system that transmits power by electromagnetically coupling a primary coil and a secondary coil from a power transmission device to a power receiving device so as to supply the power to a load of the power receiving device includes: a controller that controls the power transmission device. The controller includes: a negotiation processing section that performs a negotiation process of contactless power transmission; and a setup processing section that performs a setup process of the contactless power transmission based on a result of the negotiation process. In the device, normal power transmission from the power transmission device to the power receiving device is started after the setup process.
US08274245B2
An actuating device for displacing a control device, such as a gate valve or other control mechanism, in particular for use in oil or gas production systems, includes a motor-gear unit and a threaded spindle drive, which is operable by said motor-gear unit. The threaded spindle drive includes at least a threaded spindle and a screw nut. The threaded spindle is displaceable in an essentially axial-direction so as to displace the control device between an advance position and a retracted position. The threaded spindle drive further includes a position holding means holding the attained position of the threaded spindle. The position holding means is directly connected to a motor shaft of the motor-gear unit so as to apply a holding torque to said motor shaft.
US08274244B2
An actuator system for assisting extension of a biological joint is provided with a motor assembly, a rotary-to-linear mechanism, and an extension stop. The rotary-to-linear mechanism includes a screw that accepts rotational output of the motor assembly, and a nut that cooperates with the screw to convert rotational movement of the screw to linear movement of the nut. The extension stop is driven by linear movement of the nut in an extension direction to cause extension of the biological joint. The motor assembly, the rotary-to-linear mechanism and the extension stop cooperate to allow unpowered flexion of the joint. The system is configured without a flexion stop, and is configured such that the nut cannot drive the joint in a flexion direction. Methods of use are also disclosed.
US08274237B2
An LED driver circuit is provided for protecting one (or more) LEDs connected in series from over-current damages which may result from a short circuit condition. The driver circuit includes a current control circuit for receiving an input signal from a power source and providing a current output for powering the LED. A voltage sensor detects a voltage across the LED. An LED current restriction circuit such as a switching element restricts a current flow into the LED. A short circuit response circuit controls the LED current restriction circuit dependent on a comparison between the voltage detected by the voltage sensor and a predetermined threshold value. When the detected voltage is less than or equal to the threshold value, the response circuit determines a short circuit, and a signal is sent to the current restriction circuit to restrict current flow into the one or more LEDs.
US08274219B2
An electro-luminescent display panel including an active device array substrate, a pixel definition layer, electro-luminescent devices, an electrode layer and a protective layer is provided. The substrate includes pixel electrodes. The pixel definition layer on the substrate includes openings, each exposing the corresponding one of the pixel electrodes. The electro-luminescent devices are in the openings. Each electro-luminescent device layer is on the corresponding one of the pixel electrode. The electrode layer is on the pixel definition layer and the electro-luminescent devices. The protective layer including a buffer layer, a first and a second encapsulation films is on the electrode layer. The buffer layer covers the pixel definition layer and the electro-luminescent devices. The first encapsulation film partially covers the buffer layer. The first encapsulation film includes island patterns on the pixel electrodes. The second encapsulation film covers the buffer layer and the first encapsulation film.
US08274218B1
A color light emitting display includes light-emitting devices constituting a plurality of red, green and blue pixels disposed in a matrix form on a substrate, said light-emitting display takes out light from a side of said light-emitting devices opposite to said substrate on which said light-emitting devices are formed, and wherein when a wavelength of the light having an interference intensity of which with respect to the light emitted from an emissive layer constituting said light-emitting device becomes a maximum value at 0 degree of a viewing angle is λimax, and a wavelength of the light becomes a maximum in a light intensity of the light emitted from said emissive layer is λemax, a relationship of λemax−50 nm≦λimax<λemax is satisfied.
US08274217B2
A LED package includes a LED chip, a first phosphor layer, a second phosphor layer, a transparent adhesive and a lens. The lens includes an inner surface and an exterior surface. The first phosphor layer is mounted on the LED chip. The transparent adhesive is filled between the LED chip and the lens. The second phosphor layer is mounted on one of the inner surface and the exterior surface of the lens. Each of the first phosphor layer and the second phosphor layer is of one color.
US08274216B2
Provided is a bottom emission type organic EL panel capable of preventing or delaying loss of light emission from an end portion of the light emission area and reduction of the light emission area in an organic EL element. This organic electro luminescence panel includes an organic electro luminescence element having at least one organic layer between an anode and a cathode arranged on a substrate. This panel has a main light emission area emitting light with a high luminance and a non-light emission area or a low light emission area emitting light with a lower luminance than the main light emission area, arranged outside the end portion of the main light emission area. By limiting the main light emission area to a smaller size than the cathode forming area, the end portion of the cathode forming area is arranged outside the end portion of the main light emission area.
US08274215B2
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to nitride-based, red-emitting phosphors in red, green, and blue (RGB) lighting systems, which in turn may be used in backlighting displays and warm white-light applications. In particular embodiments, the red-emitting phosphor is based on CaAlSiN3 type compounds activated with divalent europium. In one embodiment, the nitride-based, red emitting compound contains a solid solution of calcium and strontium compounds (Ca,Sr)AlSiN3:Eu2+, wherein the impurity oxygen content is less than about 2 percent by weight. In another embodiment, the (Ca,Sr)AlSiN3:Eu2+ compounds further contains a halogen in an amount ranging from about zero to about 2 atomic percent, where the halogen may be fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), or any combination thereof. In one embodiment at least half of the halogen is distributed on 2-fold coordinated nitrogen (N2) sites relative to 3-fold coordinated nitrogen (N3) sites.
US08274211B2
Provided is a white organic light emitting device (OLED). The white OLED includes a double cavity structure in which a first region and a second region are defined based on a transparent common electrode using a top emission method. A green phosphorescence or fluorescence emission layer is disposed in the first region, a blue fluorescence emission layer is disposed in the second region, a red emission layer is optionally disposed in the first region or the second region, and an optical path control layer (OPCL) for widening color gamut is disposed in a region in which green light and blue light are emitted so that color coordinates are not greatly changed due to a change in thickness of the OPCL and white light having good quality is obtained.
US08274207B2
An EL display panel including an EL unit and a thin film semiconductor unit, in which the EL unit includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and a light-emitting layer, and the thin film semiconductor unit includes a substrate, a gate electrode, a gate insulating film, a semiconductor layer, a first electrode, a second electrode, an interlayer insulating film, a gate line formed above the interlayer insulating film, a power supply line formed above the interlayer insulating film, in a same layer as the gate line, and side-by-side with the gate line, and an auxiliary line formed above the interlayer insulating film, in a same layer as the gate line and the power supply line, and side-by-side with the gate line and the power supply line.
US08274203B2
A spark plug electrode material that may be used in spark plugs and other ignition devices including industrial plugs, aviation igniters, glow plugs, or any other device that is used to ignite an air/fuel mixture in an engine. According to an exemplary embodiment, the electrode material includes a refractory metal (for example, tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), rhenium (Re), ruthenium (Ru) and/or chromium (Cr)) and a precious metal (for example, rhodium (Rh), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd) and/or iridium (Ir)), where the refractory metal is present in an amount that is greater than that of the precious metal. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, electrode materials including tungsten-based alloys such as W—Rh and ruthenium-based alloys such as Ru—Rh. Other combinations and embodiments are also possible.
US08274198B2
An ultrasonic motor includes a fixed member including a surface, a movable member positioned to face the surface of the fixed member, and an actuator to cause at least a portion of the movable member to contact the surface of the fixed member and cause the movable member to move relative to the fixed member.
US08274185B2
The present invention provides a rotor for a rotary electric machine, the rotor extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising: at least two poles defining between them an inter-pole space; and windings of electrical conductors wound around the poles, said windings including straight portions extending along the longitudinal axis of the rotor; at least one pole of the rotor, and in particular each pole of the rotor, including a spacer placed along at least a fraction of the straight portion between at least two conductor groups of the windings so as to form at least one cooling channel between the two conductor groups, enabling a cooling fluid to flow longitudinally and/or transversely within the windings, the spacer including at least one spacer element presenting a cross-section that is hollow, defining the cooling channel at least in part.
US08274175B2
A method in conjunction with an emergency light, and an emergency light with equipment comprising one or more LED light sources (52) for producing emergency lighting; a super capacitor (C1) arranged to supply one or more LED light sources (52), a charging apparatus (A) arranged to charge the super capacitor (C1) to a predetermined nominal voltage. The equipment of the emergency light further comprises means for deviating the charging voltage (U) produced by the charging apparatus; and means (C) for detecting the capacitor circuit voltage when the charging voltage is being deviated, the means (C) being arranged to detect a defect in the capacitor circuit in response to the voltage detection.
US08274172B2
Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for regulating or limiting the voltage output from solar modules connected in series such that the voltage on a string bus connecting those solar modules does not exceed regulatory or safety limitations. This can be accomplished via a controller, local management units (for downconverting solar module voltage output), or a combination of the two.
US08274164B2
A high power surface mount package including a thick bond line of solder interposed between the die and a heatsink, and between the die and a lead frame, wherein the lead frame has the same coefficient of thermal expansion as the heatsink. In one preferred embodiment, the heatsink and the lead frame are comprised of the same material. The package can be assembled using standard automated equipment, and does not require a weight or clip to force the parts close together, which force typically reduces the solder bond line thickness. Advantageously, the thermal stresses on each side of the die are effectively balanced, allowing for a large surface area die to be packaged with conventional and less expensive materials. One type of die that benefits from the present invention can include a transient voltage suppressor, but could include other dies generating a significant amount of heat, such as those in excess of 0.200 inches square.
US08274163B2
A method of making a semiconductor die includes forming a trench around a conductive stud extending from the first side to a second side of a substrate to expose a portion of the stud and then forming a conductive layer inside the trench and in electrical contact with the stud.
US08274157B2
A semiconductor device having redistribution interconnects in the WPP technology and improved reliability, wherein the redistribution interconnects have first patterns and second patterns which are electrically separated from each other within the plane of the semiconductor substrate, the first patterns electrically coupled to the multi-layer interconnects and the floating second patterns are coexistent within the plane of the semiconductor substrate, and the occupation ratio of the total of the first patterns and the second patterns within the plane of the semiconductor substrate, that is, the occupation ratio of the redistribution interconnects is 35 to 60%.
US08274142B2
A semiconductor device includes: a plurality of semiconductor substrates each having a pad-formed surface and being mutually laminated; a connection electrode pad formed on the pad-formed surface; a wire connecting the connection electrode pads of the plurality of semiconductor substrates so as to electrically connect the semiconductor substrates; a relay electrode pad that is provided on the pad-formed surface of a lower one of the laminated semiconductor substrates so as to be exposed by an upper one of the laminated semiconductor substrates, and that is connected to the connection electrode pad by a relay wire included in the wire; and a mounting electrode pad that is formed on a mounting surface on which the laminated semiconductor substrates are mounted, and that is connected to the relay electrode pad of the lower semiconductor substrate by the wire. In the device, the wire electrically connects the connection electrode pad of the upper semiconductor substrate to the relay electrode pad of the lower semiconductor substrate.
US08274139B2
A via connecting the front surface of a substrate to its rear surface and having, in cross-section in a plane parallel to the surfaces, the shape of a scalloped ring.
US08274131B2
A semiconductor device comprising a first transistor device (130) on or in a semiconductor substrate (115) and a second transistor device (132) on or in the substrate. The device further comprises an insulating trench (200) located between the first transistor device and the second transistor device. At least one upper corner (610) of the insulating trench is a rounded corner in a lateral plane (620) of the substrate.
US08274117B2
A semiconductor device includes a first MISFET having a first conduction type channel and formed on a semiconductor substrate; a second MISFET having a second conduction type channel and formed on the semiconductor substrate; a first strain film having a first sign strain that covers a region where the second MISFET is disposed; and a second strain film having a second sign strain that covers a region where the first MISFET is disposed. In the semiconductor device, an edge of the second strain film closer to the second MISFET overlaps with part of the first strain film; and the second strain film at a portion where the second strain film overlaps with the first strain film and at a portion extending from the portion, is thinner than the second strain film at a portion that covers the first MISFET.
US08274113B1
A trench MOSFET having shielded gate in parallel with trench Schottky rectifier is formed on a single chip to further increase the efficiency of the trench MOSFET having shielded electrode. As the size of present device is getting smaller and smaller, the trench Schottky rectifier of this invention is able to be shrink and, at the same time, to achieve lower forward voltage drop and lower reverse leakage current.
US08274110B2
A vertical semiconductor material mesa upstanding from a semiconductor base that forms a conductive channel between first and second doped regions. The first doped region is electrically coupled to one or more first silicide layers on the surface of the base. The second doped region is electrically coupled to one of a plurality of second silicide layers on the upper surface of the mesa. A gate conductor is provided on one or more sidewalls of the mesa.
US08274109B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having at least a pn-junction arranged in the semiconductor substrate. At least a field electrode is arranged at least next to a portion of the pn-junction, wherein the field electrode is insulated from the semiconductor substrate. A switching device is electrically connected to the field electrode and adapted to apply selectively and dynamically one of a first electrical potential and a second electrical potential, which is different to the first electrical potential, to the field electrode to alter the avalanche breakdown characteristics of the pn-junction.
US08274101B2
An image sensor includes a device wafer substrate of a device wafer, a device layer of the device wafer, and optionally a heat control structure and/or a heat sink. The device layer is disposed on a frontside of the device wafer substrate and includes a plurality of photosensitive elements disposed within a pixel array region and peripheral circuitry disposed within a peripheral circuits region. The photosensitive elements are sensitive to light incident on a backside of the device wafer substrate. The heat control structure is disposed within the device wafer substrate and thermally isolates the pixel array region from the peripheral circuits region to reduce heat transfer between the peripheral circuits region and the pixel array region. The heat sink conducts heat away from the device layer.
US08274091B1
A light emitting device with a light extraction layer and the fabricating method thereof are provided. Embedding a light extraction layer between an emitting layer and a packaging layer can reduce the difference in the refractive index between the emitting layer and the packaging layer. In addition, the refractive index of the light extraction layer is adjustable by doping various concentrations of metal materials in the light extraction layer. The mechanism helps improving the light emitting efficiency of the light emitting device.
US08274090B2
An organic light-emitting display device includes: a substrate; pixels on a first side of the substrate, each of the pixels comprising a first region for emitting light and a second region for transmitting external light; pixel circuits on the first regions of the pixels, each of the pixel circuits comprising at least one thin film transistor; an insulating layer covering the pixel circuits; first electrodes on the insulating layer, spaced from each other on the first regions, and electrically connected to the pixel circuits; a second electrode opposite the first electrodes and formed throughout the first and second regions of all the pixels; an organic layer between the first electrodes and the second electrode; a sealing member facing the first side of the substrate; and an anti-reflection layer located on at least one of a second side of the substrate or an outer side of the sealing member.
US08274087B2
To improve an adhesion to a substrate holder, and improve a device production yield by uniformizing a temperature distribution in a surface of a substrate and uniformizing characteristics such as a film thickness. When a concave warpage is set to be negative on a substrate front side, and a convex warpage is set to be positive on the substrate front side, then a line segment is drawn from one end of a substrate rear surface to the other end of the substrate rear surface, passing through a substrate center line, and a substrate is sliced by this line segment in a substrate thickness direction, a maximum value of shortest values of a distance from an arbitrary point on the drawn line segment to a rear side outline in a sliced surface, is defined as warpage H in a diameter direction, and when the warpage H in the diameter direction is obtained in a substrate peripheral direction, with its maximum value set to be Hmax, and its minimum value set to be Hmin, the warpage H in the diameter direction is defined to satisfy Hmax−Hmin≦30 μm.
US08274083B2
A reduction in contaminating impurities in a TFT, and a TFT which is reliable, is obtained in a semiconductor device which uses the TFT. By removing contaminating impurities residing in a film interface of the TFT using a solution containing fluorine, a reliable TFT can be obtained.
US08274075B2
Solution-processable dielectric materials are provided, along with precursor compositions and processes for preparing the same. Composites and electronic devices including the dielectric materials also are provided.
US08274068B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit device including: multiple wiring layers stacked on a semiconductor substrate with interlayer insulating films interposed therebetween; wiring hook-up portions extended from the corresponding wirings in the respective wiring layers; and contact conductors so buried in interlayer insulating films as to pass through the hook-up portions for vertically leading wirings of the respective wiring layers, wherein the hook-up portions have different sizes from each other between at least two layers in the wiring layers.
US08274066B2
This disclosure provides a method of fabricating a semiconductor device layer and associated memory cell structures. By performing a surface treatment process (such as ion bombardment) of a semiconductor device layer to create defects having a deliberate depth profile, one may create multistable memory cells having more consistent electrical parameters. For example, in a resistive-switching memory cell, one may obtain a tighter distribution of set and reset voltages and lower forming voltage, leading to improved device yield and reliability. In at least one embodiment, the depth profile is selected to modulate the type of defects and their influence on electrical properties of a bombarded metal oxide layer and to enhance uniform defect distribution.
US08274065B2
A memory, comprising a metal portion, a first metal layer and second metal oxide layer is provided. The first metal oxide layer is on the metal portion, and the first metal oxide layer includes N resistance levels. The second metal oxide layer is on the first metal oxide layer, and the second metal oxide layer includes M resistance levels. The memory has X resistance levels and X is less than the summation of M and N, for minimizing a programming disturbance.
US08274063B2
A composite focused ion beam device has a first ion beam irradiation system that irradiates a first ion beam for processing a sample and a second ion beam irradiation system that irradiates a second ion beam for processing or observing the sample. The first ion beam irradiation system has a plasma type gas ion source that generates first ions for forming the first ion beam, each of the first ions having a first mass. The second ion beam irradiation system has a gas field ion source that generates second ions for forming the second ion beam. Each of the second ions has a second mass smaller than that of the first mass.
US08274059B2
An active detector and methods for detecting molecules, including large molecules such as proteins and oligonucleotides, at or near room temperature based on the generation of electrons via field emission (FE) and/or secondary electron emission (SEE). The detector comprises a semiconductor membrane having an external surface that is contacted by one or more molecules, and an internal surface having a thin metallic layer or other type of electron emitting layer. The kinetic energy of molecules contacting the semiconductor membrane is transferred through the membrane and induces the emission of electrons from the emitting layer. An electron detector, which optionally includes means for electron amplification, is positioned to detect the emitted electrons.
US08274054B2
Methods and systems for determining a sequence of energy interactions in a detector. A plurality of discrete energy interactions is received in a plurality of detector voxels. A plurality of possible sequences of interaction is formed based on the received plurality of discrete energy interactions. For each of the plurality of possible sequences of interaction, an a posteriori probability is computed, where the a posteriori probability is based on a likelihood that the possible sequence of interaction is consistent with the received plurality of discrete energy interactions. Additionally or alternatively, the a posteriori probability may be based on an a priori probability. One of the formed plurality of possible sequences of interaction is selected based on the computed a posteriori probability.
US08274052B1
In a specimen identification system, an oscillator directs a THz wave toward a channel that accommodates a specimen. A receiver detects the THz wave transmitted through the specimen. A first controller controls the oscillator to sweep the oscillation frequency of the THz wave within a frequency band. A receiver generates a receiving signal by sweeping the receiving frequency of the THz wave within the frequency band. A specimen identification unit specifies the specimen based on the waveform of the receiving signal within the frequency band.
US08274046B1
This invention provides a monochromator for reducing energy spread of a primary charged particle beam in charged particle apparatus, which comprises a beam adjustment element, two Wien-filter type dispersion units and an energy-limit aperture. In the monochromator, a double symmetry in deflection dispersion and fundamental trajectory along a straight optical axis is formed, which not only fundamentally avoids incurring off-axis aberrations that actually cannot be compensated but also ensures the exit beam have a virtual crossover which is stigmatic, dispersion-free and inside the monochromator. Therefore, using the monochromator in SEM can reduce chromatic aberrations without additionally incurring adverse impacts, so as to improve the ultimate imaging resolution. The improvement of the ultimate imaging resolution will be more distinct for Low-Voltage SEM and the related apparatuses which are based on LVSEM principle, such as the defect inspection and defect review in semiconductor yield management. The present invention also provides two ways to build a monochromator into a SEM, one is to locate a monochromator between the electron source and the condenser, and another is to locate a monochromator between the beam-limit aperture and the objective. The former provides an additional energy-angle depending filtering, and obtains a smaller effective energy spread.
US08274045B2
A method of imaging mass spectroscopy and a corresponding apparatus are provided, wherein the m/z-ratio of ions as well as the location of said ions on a sample surface are detected simultaneously in a time of flight mass spectrometer. The detector is a semiconductor array detector comprising pixels, that each can be arranged to measure a signal intensity of a signal induced by the ions or their time of arrival. A four-dimensional image consisting of the two lateral dimensions on the sample surface, the m/z-ratio representing the ion type and the abundance of an ion type on the surface can be reconstructed from repeated measurements for which a correspondingly adapted computer program product can be involved.
US08274042B2
The invention relates to spatially resolved mass spectrometric measurement and visualization of the distribution of small molecules in a mass range from approximately 150 to 500 Daltons, for example drugs and their metabolites, in thin sections or other two-dimensional samples, preferably with ionization of the molecules by matrix-assisted laser desorption. The invention includes the steps measuring a daughter ion produced by forced decomposition of the molecular ion instead of the ionized analyte molecule itself, the daughter ion having a much better signal-to-noise ratio. The daughter ions are detected in a relatively simple reflector time-of-flight mass spectrometer instead of using an expensive time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometers for the measurement of the daughter ions. Advantageously, substantially faster and less expensive scanning of the thousands of mass spectra which serve as the basis for visualizing the spatial distribution of the analyte molecule is achieved, while the mass resolution and sensitivity are at least equally good.
US08274030B2
The present disclosure relates to a concentrator, particularly a terrestrial solar concentrator to harness the sun's energy, and a tracking system. The concentrator includes a parabolic or other curved reflective surface and an absorber positioned at the focus of the curved reflective surface. Parabolic ribs give shape to the reflective surface. The tracking system includes a rotating, swiveling, or pivoting joint. One or more cables attach to the tracking system. Selectively applying tension to the cables causes the tracking system to rotate, swivel, or pivot at the joint to track an object.
US08274029B2
An inverter for converting the direct current provided by a solar generator to alternating current includes a control providing a control signal for a drive of the solar generator, for allowing tracking the solar generator after the sun, wherein the control is integrated in the inverter.
US08274024B2
Control surface assemblies have a torque tube base. In one embodiment, a method includes moving an aerospace vehicle through a medium; and moving at least a portion of a control surface assembly to generate a force for controlling the vehicle.
US08274011B2
A soldering device includes a tip member and a temperature sensor embedded within the tip member by a buckled copper pipe that is thermally conductive. A soldering device includes a tip member and a temperature sensor embedded within the tip portion by application of a crimping force that deforms the tip portion onto the temperature sensor. A soldering device includes a tip member, a heater member, and a thermally conductive wedge that is pushed into a gap between the tip member and the heater member. A soldering device includes a tip cartridge carried by a handle assembly that includes an o-ring and an o-ring cover that keeps the o-ring from falling off of the handle assembly. The o-ring cover includes a hook portion that engages a catch feature of the handle housing.
US08273993B2
An electronic component module 1 has a circuit board 2 in which metal plates 5 and 7 are bonded to both surfaces of a ceramic substrate 3, and an electronic component 9 that is bonded to at least one surface of the metal plate 5 and is operable at least 125° C. The electronic component 9 is bonded to the metal plate 5 via a brazing material layer 8 having a higher melting point than a operating temperature of the electronic component 9.
US08273990B2
A flexible flat circuit cable includes first and second flexible circuit substrates extending in an extension direction. The first flexible circuit substrate has a first surface forming a first conductor layer and an insulation layer, and the second flexible circuit substrate has a first surface forming a second conductor layer and an insulation layer. A bonding material layer is applied at a predetermined section between the first flexible circuit substrate and the second flexible circuit substrate to bond the first and second flexible circuit substrates together in such a way to maintain a predetermined spacing distance between the first and second flexible circuit substrate and forming a gapped segment at sections where no bonding material is applied. The first and second flexible circuit substrates form a cluster section within the gapped segment, which has opposite ends respectively forming first and second connected sections each of which forms a connection plug or is provided with a connector.
US08273986B2
A device housing for an electronic device is provided. The device housing includes a main body and a decorative member. The main body and the decorative each has a metallic coating with a different color. The decorative member is positioned within the main body to form a desired symbol, logo, or pattern thereon.
US08273976B1
A synchronized performance process includes performing a first portion of a musical work using musicians and performing a second portion of the musical work using a computer.
US08273967B1
The present invention is in the field of soybean cultivar 05JR211311 breeding and development. The present invention particularly relates to the soybean cultivar 05JR211311 and its progeny, and methods of making 05JR211311.
US08273963B2
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated A1016240. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety A1016240. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety A1016240 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety A1016240 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08273961B2
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated A1015499. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety A1015499. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety A1015499 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety A1015499 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US08273960B2
A soybean cultivar designated S080187 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar S080187, to the plants of soybean S080187, to plant parts of soybean cultivar S080187, and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing soybean cultivar S080187 with itself or with another soybean variety. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to soybean cultivars, or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean variety S080187, to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar S080187, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing the cultivar S080187 with another soybean cultivar.
US08273958B2
The present invention relates to a new process for the production of arachidonic acid and/or eicosapentaenoic acid in plants through the co-expression of a Δ-12-/Δ-15-desaturase, Δ-9-elongase, Δ-8-desaturase and a Δ-5-desaturase and a process for the production of lipids or oils having an increased content of unsaturated fatty acids, in particular ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids having at least two double bonds and a 18 or 20 carbon atom chain length. Preferably the arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid are produced in at least a 1:2 ratio. The invention furthermore relates to the production of a transgenic plants, preferably a transgenic crop plant, having an increased content of arachidonic acid and/or eicosapentaenoic acid, oils or lipids containing C18- or C20-fatty acids with a double bond in position 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 or 17 of the fatty acid produced, respectively due to the expression of the Δ-12-/Δ-15-desaturase, of the Δ-9-elongase, of the Δ-8-desaturase and of the Δ-5-desaturase in the plant. The expression of the inventive Δ-12-/Δ-15-desaturase leads preferably to linoleic acid and linolenic acid as products having a double bond in the position 9, 12 and 15 of the fatty acid. The invention additionally relates to specific nucleic acid sequences encoding for proteins with Δ-12-/Δ-15-desaturase-, Δ-9-elongase-, Δ-8-desaturase- or Δ-5-desaturase-activity, nucleic acid constructs, vectors and transgenic plants containing said nucleic acid sequences.
US08273957B2
The present invention relates to fungal Δ-15 fatty acid desaturases that are able to catalyze the conversion of linoleic acid (18:2, LA) to alpha-linolenic acid (18:3, ALA). Nucleic acid sequences encoding the desaturases, nucleic acid sequences which hybridize thereto, DNA constructs comprising the desaturase genes, and recombinant host plants and microorganisms expressing increased levels of the desaturases are described. Methods of increasing production of specific omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids by over-expression of the Δ-15 fatty acid desaturases are also described herein.
US08273949B2
The present invention relates to a method for identifying and isolating native plant nucleic acid sequences that may function as T-DNAs or T-DNA border-like sequences, effecting the transfer of one polynucleotide into another polynucleotide. The present invention also provides a modified tuber, such as a genetically modified mature tuber, that comprises at least one trait that is not exhibited by a non-modified tuber of the same species.
US08273945B1
A novel maize variety designated X08A169 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing hybrid maize variety X08A169 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into X08A169 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety X08A169, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety X08A169. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety X08A169.
US08273941B2
The invention provides a nonwoven fabric having good fluid drawing properties, in which fluid hardly remains, a method for producing a nonwoven fabric, and an absorbent article.The nonwoven fabric has a thickness direction and a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction, and includes a high density region having a higher fiber density than an average fiber density. The high density region penetrates from one side to another side in the thickness direction.
US08273934B2
A process for producing a PX-rich product, the process comprising: (a) providing a PX-depleted stream; (b) isomerizing at least a portion of the PX-depleted stream to produce an isomerized stream having a PX concentration greater than the PX-depleted stream and a benzene concentration of less than 1,000 ppm and a C9+ hydrocarbons concentration of less than 5,000 ppm; and (c) separating the isomerized stream by selective adsorption.
US08273933B2
A method for forming a functionalized latex polymer includes polymerizing a heterogeneous dispersion of water insoluble monomers in water, thereby forming a latex polymer. An at least partially water soluble halogenated non-ionic group is reacted with the latex polymer, whereby a halogen is displaced from the non-ionic group, thereby forming an at least partially water soluble non-ionic group that attaches to the latex polymer.
US08273932B2
The process for producing alkylated aromatic compounds includes feeding raw materials including an aromatic compound, a ketone and hydrogen in a gas-liquid downward concurrent flow mode to a fixed-bed reactor packed with a catalyst thereby to produce an alkylated aromatic compound, wherein the catalyst includes a solid acid component and a metal component, the catalyst is loaded in the fixed-bed reactor such that the catalyst forms a catalyst layer, and the reaction gas flow rate defined by Equation (1) below is not less than 0.05 at an entrance of a layer containing the solid acid: ρg·ug·[ρair·ρwater/(ρg·ρl)]1/2 (kgm−2s−1).
US08273919B2
Problem: To provide a novel compound capable of preventing pyrolysis of fluorinated oils when it is used as an additive for the fluorinated oils.Solution Means: A compound represented by Formula (1): wherein Y represents an oxygen atom (O), a sulfur atom (S), a CO group, a SO group, or a SO2 group; k is an integer from 1 to 5; m is an integer from 1 to 10; and n is an integer of 1 or more; and wherein two substituents on each phenyl group may be in any of ortho-, meta-, and para-positions.
US08273914B1
Disclosed is a process for making vinyl chloroformate which includes reacting (a) a carbonyl compound of formula I: wherein R is a halogen or an alkyl group of 1 to about 25 carbon atoms; with (b) a silyl-containing enol ether and in the presence of an effective amount of a Group VIII-containing catalyst.
US08273912B2
The invention provides a reaction system for the production of an alkylene carbonate comprising: an epoxidation zone containing an epoxidation catalyst located within an epoxidation reactor; a carboxylation zone containing an bromide-containing carboxylation catalyst located within an alkylene oxide absorber; and one or more purification zones containing a purification absorbent capable of reducing the quantity of bromide-containing impurities in a feed comprising a recycle gas, which purification zones are located upstream from the epoxidation zone; and a process for the production of an alkylene carbonate and an alkylene glycol.
US08273911B2
At least one (poly)thio alkoxy and/or halosilane is/are prepared by reaction of at least one sulfur-containing reagent with at least one alkoxy and/or halosilane, wherein an ionic addition of a sulfur-containing reagent to an alkoxy and/or halosilane is preferably conducted with thermal and/or actinic activation; the novel polythio alkoxy and/or halosilanes of formula (III.2) thus prepared are particularly useful as coupling agents in elastomeric compositions containing a white filler of the silica type and having the formula (III.2) wherein, for example, R1.1 and R1.3=methyl and R1.2=ethoxy.
US08273904B2
Process for preparing 2,2-difluoroethylamine derivatives, wherein compounds of the general formula (IV) are reduced to the corresponding 2,2-difluoroethylamine derivatives of the general formula (III), where the A radical is as defined in the description:
US08273903B2
The disclosure provides a method for preparing the citraconic anhydride and a method for isomerizing/dehydrating itaconic acid. The method for preparing the citraconic anhydride includes the following steps: providing itaconic acid as a starting material; and subjecting the itaconic acid to an isomerization/dehydration reaction in the presence of a catalyst to obtain the citraconic anhydride, wherein the catalyst includes a heteropolyacid or heteropolyacid salt.
US08273896B2
The present invention relates to processes for the preparation of compounds useful as inhibitors of p38 kinase. The processes of the present invention are amenable for large scale preparation and produce stable phenyl-6-(1-(phenyl)ureido)nicotinamides in high purity and yields.
US08273887B2
The present invention provides processes for the synthesis of opiate alkaloids. In particular, the opiate alkaloids produced by the process of the invention are typically intermediate compounds that may be utilized to produce a variety of biologically active alkaloids including buprenorphine and diprenorphine.
US08273880B2
Disclosed herein are novel pyrazole compounds, pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, a method for preparing the same, and uses thereof as anticancer agents.
US08273873B2
A sucrose of a conformational polymorph and its manufacturing method are disclosed. The sucrose is a Form II sucrose having a melting point of 140-180° C., and furfuryl alcohol is added into a saturated sucrose solution by a reverse solution method, such that the saturated solution is recrystallized to form a new sucrose. The sucrose of this conformational polymorph has a melting point lower than the melting point of a general Form I sucrose, and the solubility of the Form II sucrose is different from the solubility of the Form I sucrose. Thus the Form II sucrose can be used as an excipient of medicines, sacrificial fiber blood vessel network structure for cell cultivations, or the manufacture of an optical interference wavy device. Since the hydrogen bonds in the molecular structure of the Form II sucrose and the Form I sucrose are different, the mechanoluminescence of the sucrose is affected.
US08273868B2
The present invention relates to a double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) having a nucleotide sequence which is less that 30 nucleotides in length and which is substantially identical to at least a part of a 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of a (+) strand RNA virus, such as HCV, as well as pharmaceutical compositions comprising the dsRNA, together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The pharmaceutical compositions are useful for treating infections and diseases caused by the replication or activity of the (+) strand RNA virus, as well as methods for inhibiting viral replication.
US08273861B2
Methods and reagents for photo-initiated carbonylation with carbon-isotope labeled carbon monoxide using alkyl/aryl iodides with carbanion precursors pretreated by a base are provided. The resultant carbon-isotope labeled ketones, and pharmaceutical acceptable salts and solvates are useful as radiopharmaceuticals, especially for use in Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Associated kits and method for PET studies are also provided.
US08273857B2
The present invention describes neuroprotective and multifunctional intra- and inter-molecular redox coupled polynitroxylated pegylated carboxy hemoglobins as high therapeutic index agents for un-met medical needs or diseases, which require acute or chronic alleviation of oxidative stress and correction of inadequate blood flow resulting from physical injury, ischemia, reperfusion injury, and inflammation injury in either or both pre-hospital and in-hospital transfusion and critical care medicine. These hemoglobins are triple-modified with a focus on therapeutic activities rather than oxygen carrying ability.
US08273856B2
Disclosed are major allergenic proteins in cashew nut, which are legumin-like proteins and 2S albumins. Also disclosed is a polypeptide allergen in the 7S superfamily, which includes vicilin-like and sucrose binding proteins. Several linear epitopes of the cashew nut are identified and characterized. The invention further discloses the sequence of cDNA encoding the allergenic polypeptide, the allergen being designated Ana o 1, and also describes the characterization of the expressed recombinant polypeptide and associated methods employing the polypeptide.
US08273846B2
The present invention relates to high-quality polyurethane and polyurethane urea elastomers which exhibit unique combinations of processing characteristics, oxidation resistance, mechanical and mechanical/dynamic properties in particularly demanding applications. These polyurethane elastomers and polyurethane urea elastomers are based on novel polycarbonate polyols.
US08273839B2
Antiballistic or composite products include high strength polyethylene films or tapes produced in a process including the steps of providing a quantity of disentangled polyethylene, applying a pressure of at least 20 bar to the quantity of disentangled polyethylene and a temperature between the α-relaxation temperature and the melting temperature of the disentangled polyethylene Tm PE resulting in a block of disentangled polyethylene, skiving a film or tape off the block of disentangled polyethylene and drawing the film or tape in a single or multi stage drawing step at a total draw ratio of at least 1:20.
US08273838B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a class of propylene/α-olefin block interpolymers. The propylene/α-olefin interpolymers are characterized by an average block index, ABI, which is greater than zero and up to about 1.0 and a molecular weight distribution, Mw/Mn, greater than about 1.3. Preferably, the block index is from about 0.2 to about 1. In addition or alternatively, the block propylene/α-olefin interpolymer is characterized by having at least one fraction obtained by Temperature Rising Elution Fractionation (“TREF”), wherein the fraction has a block index greater than about 0.3 and up to about 1.0 and the propylene/α-olefin interpolymer has a molecular weight distribution, Mw/Mn, greater than about 1.3.
US08273835B2
Process for the preparation of ethylene homopolymers or copolymers in the presence of free-radical polymerization initiators at from 100° C. to 350° C. and pressures in the range of from 160 MPa to 350 MPa in a tubular reactor with at least two spatially separated initiator injection points, wherein injecting initiator rises the temperature of the reaction mixture in the reaction zone following the injection point, and the first initiator injection point of the tubular reactor is not provided with initiator or is provided with so little initiator that the temperature of the reaction mixture does not rise more than 20° C. in the first reaction zone and method for reducing the output of a high pressure tubular reactor for the homo- or copolymerization of ethylene in the presence of free-radical polymerization initiators with at least two initiator injection points, wherein feeding of free-radical polymerization initiator to the first initiator injection point is discontinued or reduced to a level that the temperature of the reaction mixture in the first reaction zone does not rise more than 20° C.
US08273831B2
Brominated styrenic polymer is recovered from solution in a vaporizable solvent by converting the solution in a devolatilization extruder into a brominated styrenic polymer melt or flow and a separate vapor phase comprised predominately of vaporizable solvent, recovering the melt or flow from the devolatilization extruder, and allowing or causing the melt or flow to solidify. The solidified brominated styrenic polymer can be subdivided into a powder or pelletized form. Pellets so made have improved hardness and/or crush strength properties along with reduced formation of fines. Brominated anionic styrenic polymer is preferably used in the process.
US08273830B2
Provided is a method of deprotecting a protected polymer, the method being capable of, in the deprotection reaction of a polymer comprising a unit structure having a phenolic hydroxyl group protected with an acyl group, deacylating the polymer in a short period of time while maintaining the other structure, and being capable of taking out the deacylated polymer while highly suppressing contamination of the deacylated polymer with a substance other than the polymer taking part in the reaction. More specifically, provided is a method of deprotecting a protected polymer comprising at least a step of dissolving in an organic solvent the protected polymer comprising at least a unit structure having a phenolic hydroxyl group protected with an acyl group and a deprotecting reagent selected from primary or secondary amine compounds each having a ClogP value of 1.00 or less with the proviso that in the secondary amine compound, neither of the two carbon atoms coupled to the nitrogen atom of the amino group is tertiary. The primary or secondary amine compounds are each represented preferably by HNR12-nR2n (1).
US08273807B2
The present invention herein provides ceramic powder which is to be incorporated into rubber or a resin and which can be used as, for instance, a semiconductor-sealing material and for the preparation of a composition excellent in the narrow interstice-filling up property and moldability. The ceramic powder has a multiple peak-frequency type particle size distribution which has at least two peaks, as determined according to the laser diffraction-scattering type particle size distribution analyzer, wherein the maximum particle size observed for the first peak falls within the range of from 12 to 30 μm; that observed for the second peak falls within the range of from 2 to 7 μm; the content of the particles having a particle size of greater than 7 μm and less than 12 μm is not more than 18% (including 0%); and wherein the ratio (F2/F1) of the frequency value F2 of the maximum particle size for the second peak to that F1 of the maximum particle size for the first peak ranges from 0.5 to 1.3.
US08273806B2
The process for preparing a self-healing composite material comprising a matrix of epoxy polymer, in which a catalyst of ring opening metathesis reaction and microcapsules containing a cyclic olefin having 7 to 40 carbon atoms are dispersed, comprises the steps of: preparing a mixture of a precursor of the epoxy polymer, having at least one oxirane ring, a curing agent chosen from the group consisting of tertiary amines, a Hoveyda-Grubbs II metathesis catalyst reaction, having the formula (I), wherein Ar=aryl having at least one halogen or alkyl substituent and “R=alkyl with 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and microcapsules containing a cyclic olefin having 7 to 40 carbon atoms; and heating the mixture at a temperature comprised between 25 and 130° C. for at least 1 hour, so as to obtain such matrix of epoxy polymer due to a reaction between precursor and curing agent, which reaction does not substantially involve either said catalyst or said microcapsules.
US08273802B2
The present invention relates to wettable silicone hydrogels comprising the reaction product of at least one siloxane containing component and at least one reactive, hydrophilic polymeric internal wetting agent. The present invention further relates to silicone hydrogel contact lenses comprising at least one oxygen permeable component, and an amount of reactive, hydrophilic polymeric internal wetting agent sufficient to impart wettability to said device.
US08273799B2
The invention generally relates to amination reactions and amination reaction products, and particularly to methods for aminating vinyl aromatic polymers utilizing tertiary amines. In one embodiment, the invention includes conducting an amination reaction by combining a tertiary amine and a vinyl aromatic polymer comprising benzyl chloride groups to form a reaction mixture and maintaining the pH of the reaction mixture within a designated range. In another embodiment, the invention includes an aminated vinyl aromatic polymer. In yet another embodiment, the invention includes an ion exchange resin including quaternary ammonium functionality. The invention is useful in preparing ion exchange resins suitable for a variety of applications such as the removal of perchlorate ions from water sources and recovery of gold cyanide from mining leach solutions.
US08273795B2
Disclosed are modified release oral tranexamic acid formulations and methods of treatment therewith.
US08273794B2
Compounds and compositions for the delivery of active agents are provided. Methods of administration and preparation are provided as well.
US08273791B2
Compositions, kits and regimens for treatment of damaged skin, especially décolletage, include application of a retinoid, hydroquinone or hydroquinone derivatives, and a composition containing a multi-metal complex.
US08273782B2
Invented are novel heterocyclic carboxamide compounds, the use of such compounds as inhibitors of protein kinase B activity and in the treatment of cancer and arthritis.
US08273778B2
Compounds which inhibit microbial growth or attenuate the virulence of pathogen microorganisms. Compounds of the invention inhibit UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM) and have activity as inhibitors of microbial growth of microorganisms which contain this enzyme and particularly those microorganisms in which this enzyme is responsible for the incorporation of galactofuranose residues, particularly for uridine 5′-diphosphate (UDP) galactopyranose mutase. Compounds of the invention inhibit UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM) and have activity to attenuate virulence of pathogenic microorganisms, including mycobacteria.
US08273777B2
Compounds are provided which are activators of the enzyme glucokinase and thus are useful in treating diabetes and related diseases, which compounds have the structure where Q is and R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7 and R8 are as defined herein or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. A method for treating diabetes and related diseases employing the above compounds is also provided.
US08273775B2
The present invention relates to non-steroidal mimetics of brassinosteroids. More specifically, it relates to non-steroidal monocyclic compounds, capable of rescuing the brassinosteroid receptor null mutation bri1-116. Preferably, said compounds are low molecular weight, monocyclic halogenated compound.
US08273769B2
The present invention provides phenoxyacetic acid derivatives of Formula (I) for the treatment of CRTH2 related disorders and disease selected from asthma, atopic dermatitis and inflammatory dermatoses.
US08273767B2
Compounds of formula (I) are useful in treating conditions or disorders prevented by or ameliorated by histamine-3 receptor ligands. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions comprising the histamine-3 receptor ligands, methods for using such compounds and compositions, and a process for preparing compounds within the scope of formula (I).
US08273751B2
1- or 2-substituted (6aR,9aS)-3-(phenylamino)-5-6a,7,8,9,9a-hexahydro-5-methyl-cyclopent[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazolo[4,3-e]pyrimidin-4(1H or, 2H)-one compounds of Formula (I), processes for their production, their use as pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them.
US08273749B2
A series of N-substituted oxindole derivatives represented by Formula I, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. Pharmaceutical compositions comprise an effective amount of the instant compounds, either alone, or in combination with one or more other therapeutically active compounds, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Methods of treating conditions associated with, or caused by, calcium channel activity, including, for example, acute pain, chronic pain, visceral pain, inflammatory pain, neuropathic pain, urinary incontinence, itchiness, allergic dermatitis, epilepsy, diabetic neuropathy, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, anxiety, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorder, bipolar disorder and stroke, comprise administering an effective amount of the present compounds, either alone, or in combination with one or more other therapeutically active compounds.
US08273747B2
The present invention makes available methods and reagents for modulating proliferation or differentiation in a cell or tissue comprising contacting the cell with a compound. In certain embodiments, the methods and reagents may be employed to correct or inhibit an aberrant or unwanted growth state, e.g., by antagonizing a normal patched pathway or agonizing smoothened or hedgehog activity.
US08273743B2
The invention provides novel inhibitors of hedgehog signaling that are useful as a therapeutic agents for treating malignancies where the compounds have the general formula I: wherein A is a carbocycle or heterocycle; X is alkylene, NR4C(O), NR4C(S), NR4C(NH), NR4SO, NR4SO2, NR4C(O)NH, NR4C(S)NH, C(O)NR4, C(S)NR4, C(NH)NR4, NR4PO or NR4PO(OH) wherein R4 is H or alkyl; R1 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or a heterocycle each of which is optionally substituted with hydroxy, halogen, amino, nitro, alkyl, acyl, alkylsulfonyl or alkoxy; R2 is halogen, hydroxy, alkyl, acyl or alkoxy each optionally substituted with hydroxy, halogen, amino, nitro, alkyl, acyl, alkylsulfonyl or alkoxy; R3 is halogen, hydroxy, alkyl, acyl or alkoxy each optionally substituted with hydroxy, halogen, amino, nitro, alkyl, acyl, alkylsulfonyl or alkoxy; m is 0-3; n is 0-3; and salts and solvates thereof. The invention also provides methods of using these compounds for therapy and/or prophylaxis in a mammal of hyperproliferative diseases and angiogenesis mediated diseases due to their activity for inhibiting the hedgehog signaling pathway.
US08273741B2
The present invention provides a fused heterocyclic derivative having a potent kinase inhibitory activity and use thereof.A compound represented by the formula (I): wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification, except a particular compound, or a salt thereof, and a pharmaceutical agent containing the compound or a prodrug thereof, which is a kinase (VEGFR, VEGFR2, PDGFR, Raf) inhibitor, an angiogenesis inhibitor, an agent for the prophylaxis or treatment of cancer, a cancer growth inhibitor or a cancer metastasis suppressor.
US08273736B2
Compounds having the formula are useful for inhibiting protein tyrosine kinases. The present invention also discloses methods of making the compounds, compositions containing the compounds, and methods of treatment using the compounds.
US08273733B2
The disclosure relates to tetrahydroisoquinoline sulfonamide compounds of formula I: wherein R1, R2, n and B are as defined in the disclosure, their preparation and their use in therapies for the treatment of central nervous system diseases such as vigilance and sleep disorders, narcolepsy, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, attention disorders in hyperkinetic children, memory and learning disorders, epilepsy, schizophrenia, moderate cognitive disorders, depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, dizziness and travel sickness.
US08273719B2
An antiwrinkle agent which is highly effective in alleviating wrinkles caused by the photoaging. The present invention relates to an antiwrinkle agent comprising an eugenyl glycoside.
US08273718B2
The present invention provides a composition for inhibiting osteoclastogenesis and a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating a bone metabolism disorder, which comprise D-pinitol as an active ingredient. The present compositions have an inhibitory activity on the differentiation of osteoclast and are useful in the prevention or treatment of a bone metabolism disorder resulting from overactivity or hyper-proliferation of osteoclasts.
US08273712B2
A method of promoting healing of a wound in a patient, the method comprising administering to the patient (i) a prostaglandin E (PGE) or an agonist thereof and/or an agent that increases the local concentration or effect of PGE and (ii) granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GMCSF) or a derivative thereof. Use of (i) a PGE or an agonist thereof and/or an agent that increases the local concentration or effect of PGE and (ii) GMCSF or a derivative thereof in the preparation of a medicament for promoting healing of a wound in a patient. A wound dressing, bandage or fibrin glue comprising (i) a PGE or an agonist thereof and/or an agent that increases the local concentration or effect of PGE and (ii) GMCSF or a derivative thereof.
US08273710B2
Disclosed is a protein hydrolysate having DPP-IV inhibiting activity, the hydrolysate being enriched in peptides having a length of 2-8 amino acids comprising at least one proline residue, an isolated peptide derivable from such a protein hydrolysate, or a mixture thereof, and the use of such protein hydrolysate or isolated peptide for the manufacture of a medicament, food supplement, beverage or food product for prophylaxis and/or treatment of a DPP-IV mediated condition, in particular chosen from the group of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and an immunological disorder.
US08273707B2
The invention relates to a process for purifying a protein by mixing a protein preparation with a solution having a first salt and a second salt, wherein each salt has a different lyotropic value, and loading the mixture onto a hydrophobic interaction chromatography column. The dynamic capacity of the column for a protein using the two salt combination will be increased compared with the dynamic capacity of the column for either single salt alone.
US08273705B2
Compounds that modulate the function of anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL are identified. These compounds have the ability to convert the activity of Bcl-2-family member proteins from anti-apoptotic to pro-apoptotic. Methods for inducing apoptosis are described, together with methods for identifying molecules that induce apoptosis through interaction with Bcl-2-family members.
US08273700B2
The present invention relates to compounds and methods of inhibiting p97/valosin-containing protein and compounds and methods of inhibiting gp78, the compounds and methods being useful for the treatment of a disorder comprising a IκB/NFκB mediated chronic inflammatory response component, for example cystic fibrosis.
US08273697B2
The present invention relates to a liquid pipe unblocker comprising at least one strong acid, and a colored indicator capable of assuming different colors, depending on the acid concentration and on the polarity of the pipe unblocker solution.
US08273685B2
An agrochemical composition is provided in which an agrochemically active ingredient having 4 or more fluorine atoms in a molecule and having a Log P value of 3 or more is contained, and superior disintegration dispersibility is exhibited, and which is suitable for a water dispersible granule or a suspension concentrate. An agrochemical composition is characterized by containing (a1) an agrochemically active ingredient having 4 or more fluorine atoms in a molecule and having a Log P value of 3 or more, or (a2) an agrochemically active ingredient for which, in a fluidity test of a mixture composed of 50 parts by weight of the agrochemically active ingredient, 2 parts by weight of sorbitan monooleate and 48 parts by weight of water, the time for moving 85 mm is not less than 90 seconds, in an amount ranging from 0.1 to 70% by weight of the total amount of the composition, and (b) a wetting agent such as an alkylsulfate salt, in an amount ranging from 0.1 to 10% by weight of the total amount of the composition.
US08273684B2
The invention pertains to a seed coating composition comprising a certain latex binder and/or graft polymer dispersant. The seed coating composition imparts good color to treated seeds, has excellent durability, and is non-sticky after application to allow for smooth flow of coated seed in planting equipment.
US08273682B2
A method for preparing a palladium-gold catalyst containing a titania extrudate is disclosed. The titania extrudate is produced by using a carboxyalkyl cellulose and a hydroxyalkyl cellulose as extrusion aids. The titania extrudate has improved processibility and/or mechanical properties. After calcination, the extrudate is used as a carrier for the palladium-gold catalyst. After calcination, the in producing vinyl acetate by oxidizing ethylene with oxygen in the presence of acetic acid.
US08273681B2
An exhaust gas purifying catalyst includes: rhodium; a zirconium-containing oxide which supports rhodium, and comprises: at least one element selected from the group consisting of calcium, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium; and zirconium; and a NOx absorbing material comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of magnesium, barium, sodium, potassium and cesium. A degree of dispersion of rhodium is 20% or more after baking at 900° C. in air for three hours. A method for manufacturing the exhaust gas purifying catalyst includes: mixing the zirconium-containing oxide with water, thereby preparing an aqueous liquid of the zirconium-containing oxide; and supporting rhodium on the zirconium-containing oxide by mixing the aqueous liquid of the zirconium-containing oxide with an aqueous solution of a rhodium salt. A pH of a mixed liquid of the aqueous solution of the rhodium salt and the aqueous liquid of the zirconium-containing oxide is adjusted to 7 or more.
US08273673B2
The invention provides a fused cast refractory product with a high zirconia content comprising, as. a percentage by weight based on the oxides: ZrO2+Hf2O: >85%; SiO2: 6% to 12%; Al2O3: 0.4% to 1%; Y2O3: 0.2%; a dopant selected from the group formed by Nb2O5, Ta2O5, and mixtures thereof, in a quantity such that the molar ratio ZrO2/(Nb2O5+Ta2O3) is in the range 200 to 350.
US08273670B1
A semiconductor processing tool heats wafers using radiant heat and resistive heat in chamber or in a load lock where pressure changes. The wafers are heated in greater part with a resistive heat source until a transition temperature or pressure is reached, then they are heated in greater part with a radiant heat source. Throughput improves for the tool because of the wafers can reach a high temperature uniformly in seconds.
US08273662B2
A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device wherein a metal pad is etched to form a trench in which a central part is concave in form, or to form a trench in the shape of a cylinder or a parallelepiped on the edge part of a metal pad. Accordingly, the contact area between a polymide isoindro quirazorindione (PIQ) or similar curable layer and the metal pad is increased and the bondability is improved. Accordingly, the technology of improving the characteristic of device by preventing the problem that the metal pad is excessively opened in a subsequent curing process and the layer of a lower portion of the metal pad is attacked is disclosed.
US08273657B2
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor apparatus having a through-hole interconnection in a semiconductor substrate. An insulating layer is formed on the semiconductor substrate. A via hole is formed through the semiconductor substrate and the insulating layer. Another insulating layer is formed in the via hole, and a conductive layer of the through-hole interconnection is subsequently formed. The insulating layer formed in the via hole is formed such as to substantially planarize an inner surface of the via hole.
US08273646B2
A non-volatile memory device includes a memory cell region which is formed on a semiconductor substrate to store predetermined information, and a peripheral circuit region which is formed on the semiconductor substrate. The memory cell region includes a gate electrode; and a charge storage layer, the charge storage layer being formed to be a notch or wedge shape having an edge extending into both sides of a bottom end of the gate electrode. The peripheral circuit region includes no charge storage layer therein.
US08273638B2
Provided is a thin film transistor that may be manufactured using Metal Induced Crystallization (MIC) and method for fabricating the same. Also provided is an active matrix flat panel display using the thin film transistor, which may be created by forming a crystallization inducing metal layer below a buffer layer and diffusing the crystallization inducing metal layer. The thin film transistor may include a crystallization inducing metal layer formed on an insulating substrate, a buffer layer formed on the crystallization inducing metal layer, and an active layer formed on the buffer layer and including source/drain regions, and including polycrystalline silicon crystallized by the MIC process.
US08273634B2
A method of fabricating a substrate includes forming first and second spaced features over a substrate. The first spaced features have elevationally outermost regions which are different in composition from elevationally outermost regions of the second spaced features. The first and second spaced features alternate with one another. Every other first feature is removed from the substrate and pairs of immediately adjacent second features are formed which alternate with individual of remaining of the first features. After such act of removing, the substrate is processed through a mask pattern comprising the pairs of immediately adjacent second features which alternate with individual of the remaining of the first features. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08273631B2
A method of fabricating an NMOS transistor, in which, an epitaxial silicon layer is formed before a salicide process is performed, then a nickel layer needed for the salicide process is formed, and, thereafter, a rapid thermal process is performed to allow the nickel layer to react with the epitaxial silicon layer and the silicon substrate under the epitaxial silicon layer to form a nickel silicide layer.
US08273628B2
A semiconductor device manufacturing method includes: alternately stacking a plurality of insulating layers and electrode layers; forming a hole penetrating through a multilayer body of the insulating layers and the electrode layers; forming a conductive film on an inner wall of the hole; anisotropically etching the conductive film to selectively leave the conductive film on a sidewall of the hole; altering the conductive film into an insulator by heat treatment; and removing the insulator covering the electrode layers to expose the electrode layers into the hole.
US08273621B2
A MOSFET comprising a substrate of a semiconductor material; source/drain regions, which are arranged at a distance from each other at a surface of the substrate; a gate electrode arranged above an area of the surface of the substrate between the source/drain regions, the gate electrode being electrically insulated from the semiconductor material; at least one recess in the gate electrode, a through-contact arranged in the recess of the gate electrode, the through-contact being electrically insulated from the gate electrode; a terminal contact on the semiconductor material; and a terminal conductor arranged on the side of the gate electrode that faces away from the substrate, wherein the through-contact electrically connects the terminal contact to the terminal conductor.
US08273617B2
A suite of novel structures and methods is provided to reduce power consumption in a wide array of electronic devices and systems. Some of these structures and methods can be implemented largely by reusing existing bulk CMOS process flows and manufacturing technology, allowing the semiconductor industry as well as the broader electronics industry to avoid a costly and risky switch to alternative technologies. As will be discussed, some of the structures and methods relate to a Deeply Depleted Channel (DDC) design, allowing CMOS based devices to have a reduced σVT compared to conventional bulk CMOS and can allow the threshold voltage VT of FETs having dopants in the channel region to be set much more precisely. The DDC design also can have a strong body effect compared to conventional bulk CMOS transistors, which can allow for significant dynamic control of power consumption in DDC transistors. There are many ways to configure the DDC to achieve different benefits, and additional structures and methods presented herein can be used alone or in conjunction with the DDC to yield additional benefits.
US08273614B2
To reduce variation among TFTs in manufacture of a semiconductor device including n-type thin film transistors and p-type thin film transistors. Further, another object of the present invention is to reduce the number of masks and manufacturing steps, and manufacturing time. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming an island-shaped semiconductor layer of a first thin film transistor, then, forming an island-shaped semiconductor layer of the second thin film transistor. In the formation of the island-shaped semiconductor layer of the second thin film transistor, a gate insulating film in contact with the island-shaped semiconductor layer of the second thin film transistor is used as a protection film (an etching stopper film) for the island-shaped semiconductor layer of the first thin film transistor.
US08273600B2
A method of fabricating MOTFTs on transparent substrates by positioning opaque gate metal on the substrate front surface and depositing gate dielectric material overlying the gate metal and a surrounding area and metal oxide semiconductor material on the dielectric material. Depositing selectively removable etch stop material on the semiconductor material and photoresist on the etch stop material to define an isolation area in the semiconductor material. Removing uncovered portions of the etch stop. Exposing the photoresist from the substrate rear surface using the gate metal as a mask and removing exposed portions leaving the etch stop material overlying the gate metal covered. Etching the semiconductor material to isolate the TFT. Selectively etching the etch stop layer to leave a portion overlying the gate metal defining a channel area. Depositing and patterning conductive material to form source and drain areas on opposed sides of the channel area.
US08273594B2
Low temperature, multi-layered, planar microshells for encapsulation of devices such as MEMS and microelectronics. The microshells include a planar perforated pre-sealing layer, below which a non-planar sacrificial layer is accessed, and a sealing layer to close the perforation in the pre-sealing layer after the sacrificial material is removed. In an embodiment, the pre-sealing layer has perforations formed with a damascene process to be self-aligned to the chamber below the microshell. The sealing layer may include a nonhermetic layer to physically occlude the perforation and a hermetic layer over the nonhermetic occluding layer to seal the perforation. In a particular embodiment, the hermetic layer is a metal which is electrically coupled to a conductive layer adjacent to the microshell to electrically ground the microshell.
US08273591B2
Segmented semiconductor nanowires are manufactured by removal of material from a layered structure of two or more semiconductor materials in the absence of a template. The removal takes place at some locations on the surface of the layered structure and continues preferentially along the direction of a crystallographic axis, such that nanowires with a segmented structure remain at locations where little or no removal occurs. The interface between different segments can be perpendicular to or at angle with the longitudinal direction of the nanowire.
US08273584B2
A semiconductor device including a wafer-level LED includes a semiconductor structure coupled to first and second electrodes. The semiconductor includes a P-doped portion of a first layer to an N-doped portion of a second layer. The first layer includes a surface configured to emit light. The first electrode is electrically coupled to the P-doped portion of the first layer on a first side of the semiconductor structure. The first side is adjacent to the surface that is configured to emit the light. The second electrode is electrically coupled to the N-doped portion of the second layer on a second side of the semiconductor structure. The second side is also adjacent to the surface that configured to emit light.
US08273583B2
A method of manufacturing a light emitting device is provided in which satisfactory image display can be performed by the investigation and repair of short circuits in defect portions of light emitting elements. A backward direction electric current flows in the defect portions if a reverse bias voltage is applied to the light emitting elements having the defect portions. Emission of light which occurred from the backward direction electric current flow is measured by using an emission microscope, specifying the position of the defect portions, and short circuit locations can be repaired by irradiating a laser to the defect portions, turning them into insulators.
US08273575B2
Methods for the diagnosis, risk assessment, and monitoring of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are disclosed. More specifically the present invention relates to the measurement of small molecules (metabolites) in human plasma that are found to have different abundances between persons with a clinical manifestation of ASD and subjects not expressing symptoms of ASD. Further, this invention relates to the monitoring of putative therapeutic strategies designed to ameliorate the biochemical abnormalities associated with ASD.
US08273571B2
Methods for obtaining pluripotent (embryonic stem) cells from parthenogenetic embryos, especially primates, are provided. These cells are useful for producing differentiated cells, tissues and organs, especially human and non-human primate cells, tissues and organs.
US08273564B2
The present invention provides a disinfectant composition including a phage of Acinetobacter baumannii and a carrier. The present invention also provides a method for disinfecting a medical institute or a medical research institute, including the steps of applying an effective amount of a phage of Acinetobacter baumannii to the medical institute or the medical research institute for reducing amount of Acinetobacter baumannii in the medical institute or the medical research institute.
US08273559B2
A method for obtaining a concentrated alcohol solution from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The lignocellulosic feedstock is hydrolyzed to prepare a sugar solution. The sugar solution is fermented to produce a fermentation broth comprising alcohol and at least about 1 g ammonium ions/kg fermentation broth. The alcohol in the fermentation broth is then concentrated by distillation to produce an alcohol-enriched vapour. Either before distillation, during distillation or during the azeotrope breaking process, the concentration of ammonia in the alcohol-enriched vapour can be reduced by acid addition to at most about 300 ppm. The alcohol in the alcohol-rich vapour is then further concentrated by an azeotrope breaking process to provide the concentrated alcohol solution.
US08273558B2
Methods for the fermentative production of four carbon alcohols is provided. Specifically, butanol, preferably isobutanol is produced by the fermentative growth of a recombinant bacterium expressing an isobutanol biosynthetic pathway.
US08273551B2
Nucleic acids encoding erythropoietin receptor isoforms are described, as well as the encoded isoforms, methods of detecting the same, and methods of screening for and treating cancer.
US08273546B2
The invention relates to a process of fermenting plant material in a fermentation medium into a fermentation product using a fermenting organism, wherein one or more carbonic anhydrases are present in the fermentation medium.
US08273534B2
The present invention provides methods and compositions to facilitate determining whether an EGFR-expressing cancer in an individual is an EGFR inhibitor-responsive cancer, as well as methods for determining the likelihood that a patient having an EGFR-expressing cancer will exhibit a beneficial response to an EGFR inhibitor therapy. The methods generally involve determining a normalized expression level of a gene product that correlates with EGFR inhibitor responsiveness.
US08273533B2
Provided is a method of preparing a patterned spot microarray using a photocatalyst. The method comprises coating the photocatalyst on a substrate to form a photocatalyst layer, coating a composition comprising a functional group to be connected to a biomolecule on the photocatalyst layer to form an organic layer, spotting the biomolecule on the organic layer, positioning a photomask above a spot of the biomolecule; and irradiating the spot through the photomask to pattern the spot.
US08273529B2
A method for hybridizing a target nucleic acid and a probe nucleic acid that can specifically bind to the target nucleic acid and that is immobilized on a substrate includes a first reaction step of allowing the target nucleic acid contained in a sample solution to react with the probe nucleic acid, a recovery step of recovering the sample solution after the first reaction step, a heating step of heating the recovered sample solution to the denaturation temperature of the target nucleic acid or a higher temperature, and a second reaction step of allowing the target nucleic acid contained in the sample solution after the heating step to react with the probe nucleic acid.
US08273520B2
The present invention provides a resin composition for laser engraving containing at least an acetylene compound and a binder polymer, a relief printing plate precursor for laser engraving using the same, a relief printing plate, and a method for producing a relief printing plate.
US08273516B2
Toners are provided which include a resin including at least one baroplastic polymer. The baroplastic polymer, in embodiments, may be a block copolymer with discrete low glass transition temperature (Tg) domains and high Tg domains that plasticize one another at ambient temperature when subjected to pressures of from about 500 psi (about 3.45 MPa) to about 10,000 psi (about 69 MPa), enabling them to be extruded and molded without heat. The resulting polymers, in turn, may then be utilized to form toners.
US08273510B2
The present invention provides an electrophotographic photoreceptor including a photosensitive layer on a conductive substrate, an outermost layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor including a cured film of a composition which includes at least one charge transporting compound (a) having a charge transporting skeleton and at least two structural units represented by R—O—CO—CR′═CH—R″ in the same molecule, and at least one polycarbonate resin; a ratio (IA/IC) of an absorption peak intensity (IA) resulting from stretching vibration of a carbonyl group originating from the structural unit represented by R—O—CO—CR′═CH—R″ of the charge transporting compound (a) to an absorption peak intensity (IC) resulting from stretching vibration of a carbonyl group originating from the polycarbonate resin in an IR absorption spectrum of the outermost layer being from about 0.5 to about 10, and a width at half maximum of the absorption peak of the absorption peak intensity (IA) being about 25 cm−1 or more.
US08273509B2
To realize an electrophotographic photoreceptor excellent in abrasion resistance, the photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor comprises a polyester resin containing a repeating structural unit represented by the formula (1) and a hydrazone compound. (In the formula (1), Ar1 to Ar4 each represents, independently of each other, an arylene group which may have a substituent. X1 represents a bivalent group (including a single bond) and X2 represents a bivalent group (including a single bond) with 3 or less atoms.)
US08273501B2
A fuel cell hydration system comprising a first reservoir is provided. The first reservoir is positioned between a cathode supply and a fuel cell stack. The first reservoir includes corrugated regions positioned axially along the first reservoir to accumulate water discharged from a first fluid stream. The first fluid stream absorbs the accumulated water when an amount of water within the first fluid stream is below a water level to hydrate the fuel cell stack.
US08273500B2
A polymer electrolyte composition obtained by mixing a plurality of ion-conductive polymers, wherein if the ion-conductive polymer that is highest in ion exchange capacity among the plurality of ion-conductive polymers is termed first ion-conductive polymer, and the ion-conductive polymer that is lowest in ion exchange capacity is termed second ion-conductive polymer, then the first ion-conductive polymer and the second ion-conductive polymer are both block copolymers composed of a segment having an ion-exchange group and a segment having substantially no ion-exchange groups, and if the weight fraction of the segment having an ion-exchange group in the first ion-conductive polymer is termed Wh1, and the weight fraction of the segment having an ion-exchange group in the second ion-conductive polymer is termed Wh2, then the relations (I) and (II) listed below are satisfied: (I) Wh1>Wh2; (II) Wh1−Wh2≦0.25.
US08273497B2
An air battery which is capable of improving operating voltage. The air battery includes: an air electrode containing a carbonaceous matter; an anode; and an electrolyte layer containing an electrolyte which conducts ions between the air electrode and the anode, the D/G band ratio X of the carbonaceous matter being 0.058≦X≦0.18.
US08273494B2
A fuel cell stack includes a stack of fuel cells. Each of the fuel cells includes a membrane electrode assembly and a separator that are stacked. The membrane electrode assembly includes an electrolyte membrane and a pair of electrodes sandwiching the electrolyte membrane therebetween. The terminal plate, the insulation plate, and the end plate are stacked at each end of the stack of the fuel cells in a stacking direction of the fuel cells. The terminal plate has a plurality of spaces formed therein. The spaces are separated from each other by a partition wall. A connection terminal is disposed on a plate surface of the terminal plate. The plate surface faces the insulation plate, at a position at which the connection terminal does not overlap the partition wall in the stacking direction. The connection terminal protrudes outward from the end plate in the stacking direction.
US08273491B2
Methods and systems of reducing the start-up time for a fuel cell are described. One method of reducing the start-up time includes: concurrently supporting load requests for the fuel cell and stabilizing the voltage of the fuel cell; wherein stabilizing the voltage of the fuel cell comprises: providing a flow of hydrogen to the fuel cell and opening an anode valve, wherein the hydrogen flow continues for predetermined volume or a predetermined time; and ending voltage stabilization after the predetermined volume or predetermined time is exceeded while continuing to support load requests for the fuel cell.
US08273488B2
A plate-type heat exchanger for use in a fuel cell system that has a fuel cell stack and a reformer is provided. The heat exchanger includes a substrate and a pair of cover plates. The substrate has a first face and a second face opposite to the first face. The substrate is disposed between the cover plates, and combined with the cover plates to form a first passageway and a second passageway. The first passageway is formed in the first face and circulates steam discharged from the fuel cell stack. The steam or water condensed from the steam is supplied to a water supply source. The second passageway is formed in the second face, and circulates water supplied from the water supply source. The water is supplied to the reformer after the circulation. The heat exchanger of the present invention improves performance and efficiency of a fuel cell system.
US08273485B2
Fuel cells having an efficient means of thermal insulation such that all of the components requiring high temperature operation are contained within a single housing and whereby such thermal insulation is disposed exterior to such housing.
US08273480B2
A negative active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method of preparing the negative active material, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the negative active material. The negative active material for a rechargeable lithium battery includes lithium titanium oxide (Li4Ti5O12) having a tap density of about 1.2 g/cc to 2.2 g/cc. The lithium titanium oxide is prepared by a mechano-chemical treatment and a heat treatment at a low temperature of about 650° C. to 775° C. According to the present invention, lithium titanium oxide having high crystallinity and tap density can be prepared through a simple and low-cost solid-phase method, e.g., a mechano-chemical treatment, and thus an electrode with excellent electrochemical reactivity and high energy density per volume can be fabricated.
US08273474B2
Electrochemical cell battery systems and associated methods of operation are provided based on the incorporation of a thermal management matrix including a supply of phase change material disposed at least in part in a heat conductive lattice member to effectively dissipate heat produced or generated by or in the battery system such as to minimize or prevent thermal runaway propagation in the electrochemical cells of the system.
US08273469B2
Disclosed is a piston ring comprising a supporting material and a wear-resistant coating. The wear-resistant coating is composed of a ternary system A-B—N which is applied using a PVD process and in which A and B each represent an element form the group encompassing Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo W, Al, Si and C, wherein A≠B and N represents nitrogen. The thickness of the wear-resistant coating amounts to ≧3 μm.
US08273464B2
An object of the present invention is to obtain a composite in which a copper or copper alloy is securely integrated with and joined to PBT or PPS. A copper product that has been suitably roughened by chemical etching and also blackened can be used favorably. A surface-treated copper piece 1 is inserted into a cavity formed by a movable molding plate 2 and a stationary molding plate 3 of an injection molding mold 10, and a specific resin is injected to obtain an integrated product. PBT or PPS can be used as the resin component of a resin composition 4 that is used here. High injection joining strength is obtained if the resin composition contains, as an auxiliary component, PET and/or a polyolefin resin in the case of PBT, and a polyolefin resin in the case of PPS.
US08273460B2
Disclosed are a composition comprising an organic insulating polymer in which a photo-reactive functional group showing an increased crosslinking degree is introduced into a side-chain, an organic insulating film comprising the composition, an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) comprising the organic insulating film, an electronic device comprising the organic thin film transistor and methods of fabricating the organic insulating film, the organic thin film transistor and the electronic device. The OTFT comprising the organic insulating film of example embodiments may not show any hysteresis during the driving of the OTFT, and therefore, may exhibit a homogeneous property.
US08273456B2
It relates to a highly heat resistant thermosetting polyimide resin composition that is cured at a temperature of 150° C. or less, and provides a cured product that generates a less amount of decomposed gas even under heating to 250° C., and has flexibility and adhesiveness.A two-component thermosetting polyimide resin composition containing a liquid A containing a polyimide (a) having a main chain constituted by a repeating unit having a polyoxyalkylenediamine structure with amino groups on both ends thereof, and a liquid B containing a bismaleimide compound, and a cured product of a thermosetting polyimide resin composition obtained by mixing these two liquids and curing the mixture under heating.
US08273438B2
In an information recording medium that has an information layer which includes a recording layer capable of undergoing phase transition, the recording layer is formed from a material that contains Sb and S, and has composition represented by the formula (1): SbxS100-x (atomic %) where suffix x represents the proportion in atomic % that satisfies a relationship of 50≦x≦98.
