US08312560B2
The invention relates to a multifunctional scanning probe microscope comprising: a base (1); a preliminary approach unit (3) movably mounted on the base (1); a piezo-scanner (4) disposed on the preliminary approach unit (3); an object holder (5) disposed on the piezo-scanner (4); a sample (6) which comprises a measuring area (M) and is attached to the piezo-scanner (4) with the aid of the object holder (5); a platform (9) attached to the base (1) opposite the sample (6); an analyzer mounted on the platform (9) and comprising a first measuring head (13) which is oriented towards the sample (6) and is adapted for probing the measuring area (M) of the sample (6). According to the invention, it comprises first and second guides (10, 11) fastened to the platform (9), the analyzer comprises a second measuring head (16) which is oriented towards the sample (6) and is adapted for probing the measuring area (M) of the sample (6), and the first (13) and second (16) measuring heads, are movably mounted on the first (10) and second (11) guides respectively.
US08312555B2
A method for service delivery to a client, in which the client selects a service, and establishes a connection with a system server to which it sends an identity associated with the client and an identifier of the service. The system server verifies that the client is authorized to access to the service and that the client is non-emulated. If this is verified, the service is provided to the client. In a preferred embodiment, the service is scrambled content and the system server provides a descrambling key to the client, and instructs a content server to provide the scrambled content to the client. Also claimed are a device, a system, and a system server.
US08312554B2
A data protecting method for a portable memory storage apparatus is provided. The method includes determining whether a mode signal is at a data protecting mode, and performing a file hiding procedure to change a file allocation table if the mode signal is at the data protecting mode, wherein a host system coupled to the portable memory storage device is allowed to only access a portion of logical addresses of the portable memory storage apparatus according to the changed file allocation table and files stored in the portable memory storage apparatus before the file hiding procedure are written into another portion of the logical addresses. Additionally, the method still includes performing a file showing procedure to change the file allocation table if the mode signal is not at the data protecting mode, wherein the host system may access all the logical addresses according to the changed file allocation table.
US08312548B1
A volume metadata manager manages volume metadata including antivirus attributes. When a volume is to be relocated, the volume metadata manager updates a generation indicator in volume-level metadata for the volume but does not update a generation indicator in file-level metadata for a file in the volume. After the volume is relocated, the volume metadata manager updates the generation indicator and antivirus attributes of the file when the file is requested for access.
US08312542B2
A network intrusion detection system and method that includes a grammar inference engine. A grammar-based Minimum Description Length (MDL) compression algorithm is used to determine an attack based on closeness of fit to one or more compression models. The network intrusion detection system and method can determine zero day attacks.
US08312537B1
A signature is identified in association with an entity at a client. A reputation score associated with the entity is identified, the reputation score indicating a likelihood that the entity will compromise the client. Whether the signature detection event is a false positive signature detection event is evaluated based on the reputation score and reported.
US08312536B2
A reputation server is coupled to multiple clients via a network. Each client has a security module that detect malware at the client. The security module computes a hygiene score based on detected malware and provides it to the reputation server. The security module monitors client encounters with entities such as files, programs, and websites. When a client encounters an entity, the security module obtains a reputation score for the entity from the reputation server. The security module evaluates the reputation score and optionally cancels an activity involving the entity. The reputation server computes reputation scores for the entities based on the clients' hygiene scores and operations performed in response to the evaluations. The reputation server prioritizes malware submissions from the client security modules based on the reputation scores.
US08312533B2
A virtual local area network switching device and an associated computer system and method are provided to permit operation in accordance with a plurality of different security classifications. The computer system includes a computer, a virtual local area network switching device and a plurality of peripheral units having different security classifications. The virtual local area network switching device may include a computing device that includes the plurality of ports and that is configured to control communications with the peripheral units in accordance with the respective security classifications. The virtual local area network switching device may also include a memory device configured to store information associating the plurality of the ports with the security classification of the respective peripheral unit. The memory device may also store information associating each port with both a logical address and a physical address of the respective peripheral units.
US08312526B2
A method and system to delegate an authority to access collaborative resources are provided. The system enables a participant to re-delegate the authority to another participant by an authorization certificate. A chain of the authorization certificate is established along with the re-delegation of the authority from one participant to another. The participant requesting access to the collaborative resources is requested to provide the owner with the chain of authorization certificate for verification. Therefore, the re-delegation process may be performed without the need to notify the owner and yet without comprising the security of the collaborative resources. In addition, the system provides for restricting the participant from accessing the collaborative resources. Consequently, though the participant may not have access to the collaborative resources, he is still able to re-delegate the authority to another participant.
US08312522B2
A solution is provided for associating network traffic traversing on a networked environment according to a selected category item, such as a user name or other network entity identity-related information, by using a monitor device. The solution includes: obtaining user information from the directory service by obtaining at least one set of user object attributes from the directory service; identifying at least one authentication exchange packet from packets traversing on the networked environment; extracting a user ID and a network address from the authentication exchange packet; filtering or selecting packets traversing on the network environment that each have a network address equivalent to the extracted network address; and associating packets that were selected with user information having a name attribute equivalent to the extracted user ID.
US08312518B1
The present invention is directed to establishing an island of trust using credentials issued by a manufacturer or service provider and protecting the credentials by embedding them in application code.
US08312515B2
A method and a computer program product for creating roles in an enterprise system comprising monitoring a system for instances of a change from a first normal user to a first super user; mapping said first user with a terminal; scanning said system to derive a plurality of commands executed from said terminal; mapping at least one of the plurality of command executed from said terminal to said first super user; and creating a first role comprising an authorization to execute the at least one command executed by said first super user.
US08312508B2
In an information processing apparatus for generating an operation permission specifying an application subject for a permission determination of an operation based on a subject of the operation, a resource to be a subject for the operation, and a type of the operation, an operation permission managing part manages the operation permission, and an operation permission generating part generates the operation permission for each combination of one or more categories of the subject, one or more categories of the resource, and one or more types of the operation, which are indicated as the application subject of the operation permission in a generation request, in response to the generation request of the operation permission, and a duplication detecting part detects a duplication of the application subject with an existing operation permission registered in the operation permission data managing part, with respect to the operation permission for each combination.
US08312489B2
Inquiry about information on a CM can be made based on a feature of that CM, and a server can be inquired about a CM which meets a condition such as keyword, thereby permitting the user to view his desired CM. Detecting a commercial message from a television broadcast, calculating a feature of the detected commercial message and accepting input information appendant to the commercial message, a CM information server creates a data base in which the calculated commercial-message feature and commercial message-appendant information are associated with each other. In response to a request for a commercial message search in which a keyword sent from the user via a network is taken as a key, the CM information server searches the data base for a commercial-message feature and sends the commercial-message feature detected in the data base to the user via the network. The user calculates a feature of the commercial message detected in the television broadcast to select a commercial message whose feature is coincident with the commercial-message feature sent from the CM information server. Also, in response to a request for commercial message-appendant information sent from the user via the network, the CM information server searches the data base on the basis of the commercial-message feature as a key to read commercial message-appendant information whose feature is coincident with the feature detected in the data base and sends it to the user via the network.
US08312482B2
The present invention relates to an improved automation disk feeding device, comprising: a base, a pushing member, two disk feeding members, and a cover, wherein the base has a operation space, a supporting member and a disk exporting hole. In the present invention, a driving device is used to drive the pushing member to slide forward and backward on the operation space, such that a disk stored in a disk storing district of the cover is able to be exported via the disk exporting hole; Moreover, the disk feeding members are not formed integrally with the base but capable of being assembling to and disassembling from the base, so that, the applications of the improved automation disk feeding device can be increased by way of changing the disk feeding members with different shaped slide ways.
US08312481B2
An optical disk drive includes a main body and a tray. The main body includes a housing and two rails disposed in the housing. The tray is slidably coupled to the two rails, and is operable to be switched between a first state and a second state. The tray is received in the housing in the first state, and protrudes out of the housing in the second state. The main body further includes a first resisting member. The tray includes a second resisting member. The first resisting member is adapted to apply a resisting force to the second resisting member in the first state to secure the tray. The first resisting member is away from the second resisting member in the second state.
US08312473B2
Provided is a method and an apparatus for selectively returning parameters from an invoked object. Specifically, a requestor can invoke an object by transmitting a message. The message can include specified return parameters from an interface, such as an interface definition language (IDL). Alternatively, an object stub locally accessible by the requester can be invoked. The object stub, similar to the IDL, can specify the parameters to return. After the execution of a method in the invoked object, the requestor receives the return parameters or a subset of the return parameters previously selected.
US08312465B2
A method and apparatus of operating a central processing unit (CPU) including a plurality of processors, is provided and includes collecting real-time statistics relating to the processors during dispatching activities, identifying give-help processors from the real-time statistics when the real-time statistics indicate that one or more of the nodes is overworked, and implementing help to be provided by the give-help processor to relieve the overworked node of a portion of the work to be distributed thereto.
US08312461B2
A system includes a virtualized I/O device coupled to one or more processing units. The virtualized I/O device includes a storage for storing a resource discovery table, and programmed I/O (PIO) configuration registers corresponding to hardware resources. A system processor may allocate the plurality of hardware resources to one or more functions, and to populate each entry of the resource discovery table for each function. The processing units may execute one or more processes. Given processing units may further execute OS instructions to allocate space for an I/O mapping of a PIO configuration space in a system memory, and to assign a function to a respective process. Processing units may execute a device driver instance associated with a given process to discover allocated resources by requesting access to the resource discovery table. The virtualized I/O device protects the resources by checking access requests against the resource discovery table.
US08312432B2
A method of adjusting a control timing accompanying a program correction of a machine language program executed by an information processor includes preparing a first machine language program obtained by compiling a first source program and generating a second intermediate language program from a second source program, the second source program being corrected from the first source program. Then, the method computes a first number of clock cycles, that is a number of clock cycles to execute a first machine language program obtained by compiling the first source program and computes a second number of clock cycles, that is a number of clock cycles to execute a second machine language program obtained by compiling the second source program, using the second intermediate language program, the second intermediate language program including an instruction that is uniquely correlated with a machine language instruction of the second machine language program.
US08312424B2
There are provided methods and computer program products for generating code for an architecture encoding an extended register specification. A method for generating code for a fixed-width instruction set includes identifying a non-contiguous register specifier. The method further includes generating a fixed-width instruction word that includes the non-contiguous register specifier.
US08312419B2
A system for automated lifecycle management of a computer implemented service, according to requirements, having a service model (30) representing the service at a given development state in the lifecycle, and a transition model (70) representing allowed operations to change the service model to a different one of the development states of the service, according to the requirements, and the transition model having a transparent structure suitable for automated inspection of the allowed operations, and suitable for automated adaptation of the allowed operations. The service model can be developed to another of its states of development according to the transition model. This can help facilitate more automation of the service development than for example code in a closed and fixed form such as for example a compiled program for altering the service model. This in turn can enable more complex services to be developed, or reduce development costs.
US08312418B2
Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to traceability visualization in a model driven development (MDD) tool and provide a method, system and computer program product for visualization of implicit relationships in a trace query for MDD. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for visualization of implicit relationships in a trace query for MDD can be provided. The method can include issuing a model query in an MDD tool, retrieving an implicit relationship in response to the model query, generating a trace link for the implicit relationship and displaying the trace link in a trace query diagram for the MDD tool.
US08312415B2
Various technologies and techniques are disclosed that allow project requirements to be associated with underlying code elements. A particular software project is analyzed to generate a list of code elements contained in the particular software project. Input is received from a user of a requirements management application to associate one or more project requirements to one or more of the code elements. The project requirements and an association with the one or more code elements are stored in a data store for later retrieval. These associations are used to determine when changes that potentially affect the project requirement are made to the underlying code elements. A software development application is operable to interact with the data store and provide a notice to a user of the software development application that a change to a particular code element of the software project will impact one or more project requirements.
US08312411B2
A wiring verification system is provided which is capable of simultaneously solving problems of wiring constraints on each board and of total skew in a wire passing through a plurality of boards. Board data, external connection board data, inter-board connection information, and wiring constraints are inputted in advance. When a system netlist creating unit (including a software means) creates a system netlist showing a theoretical connection relation of each board, an external connection tracing unit (including a software means) extracts external connection information based on the system netlist. An external load producing unit (including a software means) produces an external dummy load converted to a wire length or wire delay of the outside based on extracted external connection information. A wiring verification unit (including a software means) performs verification of a wiring state of an entire board by using the produced external dummy load. This enables proper distribution of wiring constraints on each board and solution of the total skew simultaneously.
US08312409B1
A method is described that includes: determining that nets of the circuit design comprise overlap, where the overlap indicates that at least two of the nets of the circuit design use a same routing resource; dividing the nets with overlap among a plurality of buckets, where for each bucket, a net of the bucket does not overlap any other net in the bucket; sequentially processing each bucket by unrouting and rerouting, via at least one processor, nets in the bucket; and storing routing information specifying routes for nets of the circuit design.
US08312407B2
An access pad is used to provide access to a functional block of an integrated circuit (IC) device. The access pad is formed using dummy metal in an open space in a metallization level that is between a top metallization level and a base level on which the functional block is formed in the IC device. The access pad at the metallization level provides a contact to access an underlying circuit of the functional block so that the functional integrity of the functional block of the IC device can be verified during probing.
US08312402B1
Systems and methods for modeling a multilayer integrated circuit include three-dimensional interconnect models in multilayered substrates for greater accuracy. Mesh models are used to resolve effects of nearby elements and grid models are used to resolve effects of far-away elements. Sidewall mesh elements of three-dimensional interconnects are projected onto parallel (or substantially parallel) grids between the top and bottom walls of the interconnects so that grid models can be used to resolve three-dimensional effects of interconnects in multilayered substrates.
US08312400B2
A verification target register to be verified is specified from a configuration of a verification target circuit, and patterns requiring verification are extracted as a coverage standard with regard to the specified verification target register. When the patterns are extracted, a DIRW matrix is prepared to indicate possibly occurring state transitions among four states Declare, Initialize, Read, and Write in the register included in the verification target circuit, and used to decide two coverage standards, a matrix coverage standard and an implementation coverage standard.
US08312397B2
Method for generating layout pattern of semiconductor device and layout pattern generating apparatus
In a layout pattern generating method, a specific rework cell used for edition is specified among rework cells and fill cells which are arranged in a semiconductor chip area and a specific pattern of a predetermined shape is generated in a wiring layer for the specific rework cell. A dummy wiring pattern is arranged in at least a part of the wiring layer of and the fill cell and un-specific rework cells among the rework cell other than the specific rework cell. The specific pattern is deleted from the wiring layer for the specifying rework cell. A wiring pattern is arranged in the wiring layer for the specific rework cell by wiring the specific rework cell as a logic cell.
US08312385B2
A computer-implemented system and method for providing context-sensitive sidebar window display on an electronic desktop is provided. A document that includes digital data is maintained in electronic storage. The document is operated upon through an application window generated by an application program on an electronic desktop. A sidebar window is initially generated. Contextual information relevant to the document is determined. Part of the contextual information to present is selected based on a current state of the document in the application window. The selected part of the contextual information is presented in the sidebar window positioned visually adjacent to the application window. The contextual information presented in and the positioning of the sidebar window is continually updated in step with the current state of the document and the application window.
US08312381B2
A computer network system for posting content at a web site includes computer servers configured to host a web site for a group of users, and a data storage configured to store an email address in association with a destination at the website. The computer servers can receive an email message at the email address by the computer servers from a user. A computer processor can automatically extract content from the email message. The computer servers can automatically post the content extracted from the email message at the destination at the website.
US08312371B2
In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a device with a touch screen display is disclosed. In the method, a multifinger twisting gesture is detected on or near the touch screen display. The multifinger twisting gesture has a corresponding degree of rotation. A 90° screen rotation command is executed if the corresponding degree of rotation exceeds a predefined degree of rotation. A screen rotation command with an acute angle of rotation is executed and, upon ceasing to detect the multifinger twisting gesture, a screen rotation command with an angle of rotation opposite to the acute angle is executed if the corresponding degree of rotation is less than the predefined degree of rotation.
US08312369B2
An apparatus includes a context information extracting part that monitors a state of the apparatus and extracts context information indicative of the state; a note information saving part that saves note information in association with context information when the note information for displaying is registered; a context information similarity evaluating part that determines, for each piece of the note information, similarity between the context information extracted by the context information extracting part at a certain point in time and context information which is associated with note information saved by the note information saving part; and a note information display part that displays the note information saved in the note information saving part in a display mode in accordance with the determined similarity of the note information.
US08312364B2
Systems and methods of the present invention provide for publishing an announcement of a registered domain name and a link to an associated website on a social networking website. A control panel for the registered domain name and associated website may be displayed on a client.
US08312348B2
An error correcting device for correcting erroneous data included in data read out from a nonvolatile memory includes a determining unit that determines whether the data read out from the nonvolatile memory include an error beyond an error correcting capability of the error correcting device. When the determining unit has determined that an error beyond the error correcting capability exists, the error correcting device does not perform the correction of the error.
US08312347B2
A digital lighting control network protocol with forward and backward frames, each of the frames including an error check code. A no-acknowledgment (NAK) signal is sent from a receiving node to a transmitting node responsive to the error check code. An interface circuit of the receiving node may include an energy storage section to store at least some energy from the network while receiving digital signals, and an output section to transmit digital signals to the network using the stored energy. The interface circuit may also include a high voltage buffer circuit. The transmitting node may send forward frames to receiving nodes based on device type.
US08312346B2
Systems, methods, and an article of manufacture for performing serial concatenated decoding are shown and described. The decoding includes monitoring a measure of the number of corrections made to a plurality data blocks during outer decoding and determining whether applying sub-optimal inner decoding would reduce a computational load experienced by a processor performing the serial concatenated decoding when compared to the computation load experienced by the processor when optimal inner decoding is applied.
US08312343B2
Various approaches related to systems and methods for reusing decoding parity.
US08312342B2
In one embodiment, a reconfigurable minimum operator has two five-bit non-reconfigurable minimum operators and is selectively configurable to operate in a five- or ten-bit mode. In five-bit mode, the first non-reconfigurable minimum operator determines whether a first five-bit message is less than a second five-bit message, and the second non-reconfigurable minimum operator determines whether a third five-bit message is less than a fourth five-bit message. In ten-bit mode, the first non-reconfigurable minimum operator determines whether a first half of a first ten-bit message is less than a first half of a second ten-bit message, and the second non-reconfigurable minimum operator determines whether a second half of the first ten-bit message is less than a second half of the second ten-bit message. The reconfigurable minimum operator determines whether the first ten-bit message is less than the second ten-bit message based on the comparisons of the first and second non-reconfigurable minimum operators.
US08312338B2
A data transmitting and receiving method is disclosed. In transmitting a response signal for a transmission signal from at least one transmitter, the present invention includes receiving at least one data block from the at least one transmitter, the at least one data block grouped into at least one group and then transmitted by the at least one transmitter, checking whether each data block is successfully received for the at least one data block belonging to the corresponding group per the group, selecting a transmission scheme of transmitting a response signal instructing a presence or non-presence of successful reception of the each data block to the at least one transmitter, and transmitting a response signal for the each data block to the at least one transmitter by the selected response signal transmission scheme. Hence, the present invention reduces overhead of control information necessary for data transmission.
US08312337B2
A system and method of increasing data throughput in a wireless communications network between a base station (BS) and one or more mobile stations (MS) includes establishing a service flow (SF) and initially enabling a hybrid automated repeat request (HARQ) protocol; determining, at a particular time, the measure of quality of the communications channel; comparing the determined measure of quality with a predetermined channel quality threshold; and selectively disabling the HARQ protocol based upon a first comparison result while continuing the SF between the BS and MS. In other aspects, after selectively disabling the HARQ protocol, the method further includes determining that the time-varying measure of quality of the communications channel has deteriorated below the predetermined channel quality threshold; and selectively re-enabling the HARQ protocol in the established SF.
US08312329B1
A system and method is disclosed for testing a communication device. In accordance with the described invention, a single vector signal generator (VSG) is utilized to test manufactured 2x2, 3x2 and 4x2 MIMO wireless devices to identify possible manufacturing defects that may impair or disable the device under test (DUT) receivers from properly receiving constituted MIMO TX signals and accurately decoding the bits/symbols conveyed by transmitted TX signals. Disclosed embodiments may include a VSG coupled to a DUT. The VSG being configured to transmit data packets as a first codeword and a second codeword, wherein the VSG includes software and hardware architecture to manipulate the first codeword and the second codeword as emulated first and second waveforms, wherein the first waveform is different than the second waveform. The DUT being configured to receive the emulated first and second waveforms as prescribed signals from the VSG. The prescribed signals including a first received signal and a second received signal, wherein the DUT includes software and hardware architecture to manipulate the first received signal and the second received signal to generate block error rate results therefrom.
US08312321B2
A storage control apparatus of the present invention reduces the frequency of disk drive failures. An error management part manages the number of times errors occur in respective disk drives. A disk drive in which the number of errors meets or exceeds a threshold value is selected as a disk drive to be restarted. A restart control part commences difference management prior to restarting the disk drive targeted for restart. A difference management part manages parity group-related update locations using a difference bitmap. After commencing difference management, the restart control part restarts the disk drive in which the error was detected. This makes it possible to resolve an error caused by a firmware hangup or the like.
US08312313B2
An information processing apparatus has a first storage unit and a second storage unit and operates in one of a normal power mode and a power saving mode. When the information processing apparatus is operating in the power saving mode, if an error occurs in a storage process, the power mode of the information processing apparatus is switched to the normal power mode and the storage process is executed again. The storage process is a process in which when the first storage unit is replaced with a new storage unit, information equivalent to that stored in the first storage unit is stored in the new storage unit.
US08312309B2
A technique to promote determinism among multiple clocking domains within a computer system or integrated circuit, In one embodiment, one or more execution units are placed in a deterministic state with respect to multiple clocks within a processor system having a number of different clocking domains.
US08312308B2
The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for managing SSL session persistence and reuse in a multi-core system. A first core may indicate that an SSL session established by the first core is non-resumable. Responsive to the indication, the core may set an indicator at a location in memory accessible by each core of the multi-core system, the indicator indicating that the SSL session is non-resumable. A second core of the multi-core system may receive a request to reuse the SSL session. The request may include a session identifier of the SSL session. In addition, the session identifier may identify the first core as an establisher of the SSL session. The second core can identify from encoding of the session identifier whether the second core is not the establisher of the SSL session. Responsive to the identification, the second core may determine whether to resume the SSL session.
US08312302B2
Circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide for the powering of active components in connector inserts at each end of a cable may in various ways. For example, where a host is coupled to a device that is not self-powered, the host may provide power for circuitry at each end of the cable. In various embodiments of the present invention, the device may request higher voltage from the host, such that more power can be delivered. In these cases, the device may regulate the voltage received from the host to a lower voltage, and then provide the lower voltage to circuitry at one or both ends of the cable. Where the host is connected to a device that is self-powered, the host and the self-powered device may power their respective connector insert circuits.
US08312296B2
Systems and methods for reducing problems and disadvantages associated with traditional approaches to encryption and decryption of data are provided. An information handling system may include a processor, a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, and a computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor. The computer-readable medium may have instructions stored thereon, the instructions configured to, when executed by the processor: (i) periodically store, during an encryption or decryption operation performed on the computer-readable medium, one or more variables indicative of an encryption status of a volume of the computer-readable medium; (ii) determine, based on the one or more variables, whether the volume is in a partially encrypted or decrypted state; and (iii) in response to a determination that the volume is in a partially encrypted or decrypted state, boot from the volume and continue the encryption or decryption operation.
US08312287B2
An apparatus and method for dynamically changing a password are provided. In the method, a random number is generated, and an original password and an operator are checked. The original password is changed by performing an operation of the random number and the original password based on the operator. Accordingly, the password exposure can be prevented and the personal information and asset information can be protected without using additional devices.
US08312284B1
This invention relates to creating a verifiable timestamp for a data object, such as a digital photograph. The verifiable timestamp includes a first and second timestamp and a data object. The verifiable timestamp enveloped with several different tiers of digital signatures that together authenticate that the data object was created at a time after the first timestamp, but before the second timestamp.
US08312268B2
The present invention is directed to various systems and/or methods relating to a software platform that provides for authentication of a requestor. Preferably, this authentication happens before there is an opportunity for any resource intensive request to harm operation of the system. Preferably, a reliability level is based on authentication so that the amount and/or type of resource access is controlled based, at least in part, on the authentication information. Preferably, heap usage is controlled by this reliability level. Preferably, the software platform is a virtual machine, preferably the Java Virtual Machine.
US08312266B2
A computer extracts the header information from an electronic mail, including an originality guarantee. The computer generates a header characterization for the header information subject to originality guarantee, and extracts message body information from the electronic mail and generates a body characterization for the message body information as well. The generated characterization set applies the header characterization and the body characterization, combined. The verification information is added to the generated characterization set for applying a signature, and characterization set is linked to electronic mail.
US08312265B2
Encrypting content included in a program or service is disclosed, wherein the encrypted content is transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver in a subscriber network. Generally, in one embodiment, the encrypted program or service is packetized, and the packets are transmitted to the receiver. When a packet having ciphertext of the encrypted program or service is received at the receiver, the ciphertext of the packet is preferably converted to a different form of ciphertext.
US08312264B2
A digital certificate associating a unique identifier for a computer-based appliance with an authentication key pair for that appliance is obtained from a certificate authority using a different, manufacturing key pair for the appliance. The manufacturing key pair may be generated by the appliance at or about its time of manufacture. The public key portion of the manufacturing key pair along with the unique identifier for the appliance may be provided via secure means to the certificate authority prior to the request for the digital certificate concerning the authentication key pair. Eventually, the digital certificate associated with the authentication key pair may be used by the appliance when joining a network, as part of a one-way or two-way authentication process.
US08312252B2
A content receiver is compatible with a plurality of rights management and protection methods (RMP) devised for each content distribution system. Only the format which specifies the specification of the RMP formed of information such as content billing, security, and copyright protection, is standardized. Each content provider inputs encrypted content and rights processing information to content in a form conforming to the standardized specification. For content users, by merely being provided with functions corresponding to each RMP method in advance, even if the content is based on any RMP method, the content can be decrypted and used in the same content receiver.
US08312250B2
Described embodiments provide a media controller that determines the size of a cache of data being transferred between a host device and one or more sectors of a storage device. The one or more sectors are segmented into a plurality of chunks, and each chunk corresponds to at least one sector. The contents of the cache are managed in a cache hash table. At startup of the media controller, a buffer layer module of the media controller initializes the cache in a buffer of the media controller. During operation of the media controller, the buffer layer module determines a number of chunks allocated to the cache. Based on the number of chunks allocated to the cache, the buffer layer module updates the size of the of the cache hash table.
US08312249B1
A method and apparatus for performing a function based on an executable code in response to receiving a request including function parameters are described. The executable code may be validated when loaded in a memory according to a signature statically signed over the executable code. A data location in the memory for storing the function parameters may be determined according location settings included inside the executable code. A target code location for storing a copy of the executable code may be determined based on the location parameters and the determined data location. A function is performed by executing the executable code from the target code location referencing the stored function parameters.
US08312246B2
A storage system, method and program product, the system comprising: storage devices; and a controller configured to: provide virtual volumes to a host computer; manage logical units on the storage device and storage pools; allocate, in response to receiving a write request to a virtual volume, a storage region of the storage pools; and store data related to the write request in the storage region allocated, wherein the controller is further configured to: allocate first storage region in first storage pool to first virtual volume based on first size of the first storage region or the first virtual volume; allocate a second storage region in a second storage pool to a second virtual volume of the plurality of virtual volumes based on a second size of the second storage region or the second virtual volume.
US08312242B2
One embodiment is a method that uses a hierarchical bitmap tree in a storage system to store where available and unavailable memory space exists. Bitmap blocks are retrieved from the hierarchical bitmap tree to locate the available memory space.
US08312239B2
An apparatus and method for improving performance in high-availability systems are disclosed. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, pages of memory of a primary system that are to be shadowed are initially copied to a backup system's memory, as well as to a cache in the primary system. A duplication manager process maintains the cache in an intelligent manner that significantly reduces the overhead required to keep the backup system in sync with the primary system, as well as the cache size needed to achieve a given level of performance. Advantageously, the duplication manager is executed on a different processor core than the application process executing transactions, further improving performance.
US08312238B2
A microcomputer includes a CPU, a protection information storage configured to store memory protection information specifying an access permission or prohibited state to a memory space by a program executed by the CPU, a memory access control apparatus configured to determine whether or not to allow a memory access request from the CPU according to the memory protection information and a reset apparatus configured to invalidate the memory protection information stored in the protection information storage according to a reset request signal output from the CPU.
US08312234B2
There are a loose coupling and a tight coupling as the coupling configurations for a first module and a second module. The loose coupling is a coupling configuration in which the first and second modules are coupled together by way of a front-end path, and the first module is not able to access a second storage resource. The tight coupling is a coupling configuration in which the first and second modules are coupled together by way of a back-end path, and the first module is able to access the second storage resource. A switch from the loose coupling to the tight coupling is performed using the following processing flow without the first and second modules being partitioned into respectively independent storage modules. Specifically, first, the first and second modules are coupled together by way of the back-end path, and next, the first module merges information denoted by second management information from the second storage resource with first management information via the back-end path.
US08312223B2
An approach is provided for pre-fetching of virtual content in a virtual universe based on previous traversals. In one embodiment, there is a pre-fetching tool, including a ranking component configured to rank each of a plurality of parcels of locations previously visited by an avatar according to predefined ranking criteria. The pre-fetching tool further includes a pre-fetching component configured to pre-fetch a virtual content of said parcels of locations based on the ranking.
US08312218B2
A cache controller that writes data to a cache memory, includes a first buffer unit that retains data flowing in via an external bus, a second buffer unit that retrieves a piece of the data to be written to the cache memory, and a write controlling unit that controls writing of the piece of the data retrieved by the second buffer unit to the cache memory.
US08312208B2
A memory access controller is disclosed. A packet memory stores a packet and has a clock parallel outputting function of parallel-outputting first data and a clock. A read controller reads the first data. A clock transfer unit performs a clock transfer operation by writing the first data using the clock and reading second data using a system clock. A packet assembly unit receives the second data and reassembles the packet. An information memory stores a read start address where head data of the packet is stored and packet length information indicating a length of the packet. A read controller receives the read start address and the packet length information, generates a read address necessary for reading one packet, and reads the first data from the packet memory.
US08312203B2
In a semiconductor storage device, a memory controller divides each of blocks in each of chips into a first page set composed of pages and a second page set composed of pages, divides a logical address space into groups, and divides each group into lines. Block units are created each of which is obtained by assembling a predetermined number of blocks from the blocks in each chip. A predetermined number of block units from the block units are managed as standard block units, and the other block units are managed as spare block units. Each standard block unit is made to correspond to one group. The corresponding group data is stored in the pages in the first page set in each block constituting the standard block unit, and unwritten pages for recording update data for the group data are provided to be included in the second page set.
US08312201B2
A mechanism for operating a virtual memory is provided in an operating system. The mechanism detects the existence of a central memory loan pool, identifies a segment of memory that is loanable, and transmits an indicator that the segment is available for loaning to the memory loan pool. The operating system contributing memory can monitor its actual memory capacity and reclaim the loaned segment if the amount of memory available to the loaning operating system (OS) gets below a predetermined value.
US08312196B2
A dual processor system comprises a first processor, a second processor, and a dual-ported random access memory (DPRAM). When the first processor stores data to be processed by the second processor to the DPRAM and writes interrupt data to the DPRAM, the DPRAM generates a first information status. The second processor reads the interrupt data once when detecting the first information status, processes the to be processed data when successfully reading the interrupt data once, and reads the interrupt data twice when completing processing the to be processed data. The DPRAM generates a second information status when the second processor successfully reads the interrupt data twice, and the first processor identifies that the second processor has processed the to be processed data when detecting the second information status.
US08312193B2
A master device sends a request to communicate with a slave device to a switch. The master device waits for a period of cycles the switch takes to decide whether the master device can communicate with the slave device, and the master device sends data associated with the request to communicate at least after the period of cycles has passed since the master device sent the request to communicate to the switch without waiting to receive an acknowledgment from the switch that the master device can communicate with the slave device.
US08312189B2
A computer program product, an apparatus, and a method for processing communications between a control unit and a channel subsystem in an input/output processing system are provided. The computer program product includes a tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method. The method includes: sending a command from the channel subsystem to the control unit to initiate an input/output operation; setting a time period for completion of the operation; and responsive to the operation not completing within the time period, sending a message to determine whether the control unit has an exchange open for the command.
US08312185B2
A storage apparatus 10 includes channel devices (each being CHA_PK 11) and microprocessors (each being MP_PK 12). CHA_PK 11 and MP_PK 12 respectively store therein control information being information designating logical volumes (LDEVs) 171 accessible by respective MP_PKs 12. Upon receipt of an I/O request from a management apparatus 20, CHA_PK 11 transmits, based on the control information stored therein, an I/O command to MP_PK 12 having an access right to a logical volume to which the I/O request is directed. In the storage apparatus 10, MP_PK 12 having received the I/O command from CHA_PK 11 judges based on the control information stored therein whether MP_PK 12 itself has an access right to the logical volume, and transmits the control information therein to CHA_PK 11 when judging that it does not have the access right, whereby the control information in CHA_PK 11 is updated.
US08312174B2
The invention relates to a wireless device for medical data transmission that comprises a wireless interface, a processor, and a medical equipment interface arranged to provide connection to an item of medical equipment. The processor is arranged to communicate with the medical equipment interface and the wireless interface, and is also 5 arranged to perform a protocol adaptation. The protocol adaptation takes place from a protocol of incoming data received at the medical equipment interface to a protocol of data to be transmitted through the wireless interface, or vice versa. The protocol adaptation comprises individual or combined filtering, gathering, partitioning, prioritizing, or discarding the incoming data. The processor is further arranged to read a configuration file containing an 10 adaptation specification that pertains to the protocol adaptation; and to perform the protocol adaptation in compliance with the adaptation specification. The invention also relates to a method for setting up the wireless device.
US08312167B2
A method and apparatus for timely delivery of classes and objects is provided. A header comprising timing information is attached to said classes and/or objects. A “start loading” time and a “load by” time are specified in the header. Other classes and/or objects to be loaded are also specified in the header. Optional compression, security, and/or error resilience schemes are also specified in the header. A process for creating the header and attaching it to a class or object is provided. A process for receiving and processing a class or object with an attached header is provided. Embodiments of the invention allow timely delivery of classes and/or objects over a wide variety of transport mechanisms, including unreliable transport mechanisms and those lacking any guarantees of timely delivery.
US08312165B2
A system and method for handling e-mail address mismatches between the address contained within a user's certificate or certificate chain, and the account address actually being used is disclosed. In order to resolve address mismatches a canonical or generic domain name or user name may, for example, be used as a lifelong address of a user that is contained in the user's certificate. Upon detection of an address mismatch, the system and method disclosed herein may automatically re-check the certificate or search for a certificate containing the canonical or generic domain name and/or user name to attempt to resolve the mismatch. This mismatch resolution is preferably transparent to the user and occurs automatically. The canonical or generic domain and/or user names that are available to the device may be typically controlled by IT policy that is in place on the system for the device. While this system is suitable for any type of electronic messaging system, it has particular applicability to systems that use mobile wireless communication devices with electronic messaging capability.
US08312151B2
The present invention discloses a communication system and a method. The communication system includes at least first 802.11 equipment and second 802.11 equipment. The first 802.11 equipment including a network connector for searching relevant information of the second 802.11 equipment and modifying a network setting of the first 802.11 equipment according to the searched relevant information, and a 802.11 driver interface. The second 802.11 equipment includes a 802.11 driver interface. The driver interface of the first 802.11 equipment communicates with the driver interface of the second 802.11 equipment in accordance with the modified network setting.
US08312146B2
Methods and apparatus for enabling collaboration with web pages and other resources is described. A method includes the step of establishing a collaboration session between a first client and a second client. A requested resource is cached with the session host in response to a request having a first uniform resource locator (URL) issued by the first client, if the requested resource is a pre-determined type of resource. A second URL is provided to the second client. The second URL identifies the requested resource or the cached resource in accordance with whether the requested resource is cached. Apparatus for enabling collaboration includes a web server, a cache, and a filter. The web server provides a requested web page in response to a first client's request. The filter stores the requested web page in the cache, if the requested web page is a pre-determined type of web page.
US08312139B2
Traffic flow between each pair of nodes in a network are determined based on loads measured at each link and based on gravity measures. The gravity measures correspond to a likelihood of the node being a source or a sink of traffic and may be assigned based on characteristics associated with each node, such as the demographics of the region in which the node is located, prior sinking and sourcing statistics, and so on. The gravity measures are used to generate an objective function for solving a system of linear equations, rather than as criteria that must be satisfied in the solution. The measured link loads are allocated among the traffic flows between nodes to at least a given allocation efficiency criteria by solving a system of linear equations with an objective of minimizing a difference between the assigned gravities and the resultant gravities corresponding to the determined flows.
US08312132B2
A system, device, and method provide for the selection of a device to perform a service using context information for the device. The context information may be included in a request from a control point device to the device or may be included in a response from the device to the control point device. The context information provides additional information relative to the services provided by the device or relative to the device itself. For example, if the device is a camera, the camera may include for each photograph taken by the camera a date the photograph is taken, a time the photograph is taken, a location at which the photograph is taken, a subject matter of the photograph, a temperature at the photograph location, a photographer, etc in the context information. Additionally, the camera may include the current geographic location of the camera in the context information.
US08312126B2
In a system for managing at least one computer node, a first device is configured to perform out-of-band operations in the at least one computing node. The system also includes a second device configured to perform compute-intensive tasks in the at least one computing node and a third device that is external to the at least one computing node configured to perform administration operations for the first device and the second device.
US08312125B1
A system and method for enabling networked computer users to bulk create and manage multiple web domains is disclosed. A particular embodiment includes collecting, by use of a processor, a set of domain names for bulk content development, at least one domain name of the set of domain names being derived from a user-provided keyword; filtering the set of domain names based on network search matching; automatically submitting at least one domain name of the set of domain names for purchase by a domain purchase agent; applying a template to pages of a plurality of sites, each site corresponding to a domain name of the set of domain names; and inserting a plurality of content items into the pages of the plurality of sites, at least one of the plurality of content items being an original content item retrieved from an original content portal.
US08312119B2
A system and method for providing information concerning the use of processing devices coupled to a network. Each device has an IP address the system and method: determines whether a user is authorized to receive information about the use of the processing device by reference to the IP address; verifies the authority of the user to receive information about the processing device; and provides aggregated usage information about activities based on the address of the processing device. The information provided can be email protocol command metadata.
US08312118B2
A method for remote maintenance of a technical device by a maintenance technician by a maintenance computer as well as a computer-readable storage medium on which is stored information for execution of the method on a data processing device. In the method, a remote data connection is established between the maintenance computer and the technical device, electronic access information dependent on a scope of intended access to data stored in the technical device is transmitted from the maintenance computer to the technical device an electronic identifier identifying the maintenance technician is transmitted from the maintenance computer to the technical device, an approval by an operating personnel of an access is determined by the technical device dependent on access information and the identifier, and by the technical device, electronic authentication information is generated by the technical device dependent on the determination of the approval.
US08312112B2
Systems and methods for automatically locating web-based social network members are provided. According to one embodiment, contact content including an associated GPS identifier and status for web-based social network members located at or near the same location automatically appears on a GPS-enabled device. A further exemplary system includes a GPS-enabled device configured to receive a GPS identifier and a status representing a location and a current state for a web-based social network member, a processing module that associates the received GPS-identifier and the received status, and a communications module that sends the associated GPS-identifier and status to a server comprising a web-based social network database. Contact content in a web-based social network database record in the web-based social network database is updated to include the associated GPS identifier and status for the web-based social network member.
US08312109B2
In an information processing method, objects are given unique labels expressed by a tree structure by a plurality of nodes. The label includes (A) name information showing node names from a highest order node to a lowest order node and (B) a storing position of the object. Each node corresponds to data required for a process or a software application. Information expressed in an external language is transmitted and received to and from devices in a network. A received label expressing an object is processed such that a process of calling-up, writing, deletion, and partial change with respect to each node of the object is performed. At least one node of the object is acquired via the network expressed in the external language together with a request for processing. The designated object is converted into information expressed in an internal language while preserving the acquired node tree structure.
US08312103B2
Disclosed are apparatus and methodology subject matters for controlling the allocation of system nodes to a variable number of communication servers in an Advanced Metering System (AMS). An Orchestration Manager is provided through which all requests for end-device communications are routed. The Orchestration Manager periodically rebalances node assignments to reallocate nodes among communication servers in order to maintain data collection efficiency and in order to redistribute end devices from a failed communication server, or to otherwise adjust for the addition of a newly activated communication server.
US08312093B2
A multi-user e-mail messaging system is described that is interfaced through the Internet and includes a first user group sharing a first server, which first server is interfaced to the Internet. In this system, after an e-mail message has been originated by an originating user of the first user group, the e-mail message is directed onto an e-mail enhancement path, and additional content is added to the e-mail message using the e-mail enhancement path to produce an enhanced e-mail message. Thereafter, the enhanced e-mail message from the e-mail enhancement path to the intended recipient. In one feature, the path taken by an incoming e-mail message is different from an outgoing path taken by an e-mail message sent from the first user group. The outgoing path defined to the intended recipient includes the enhancement path.
US08312091B2
A conference organizer uses conference software to define a conference and to store conference information on the organizer's computer system. The stored conference information includes a list of attendees, and a personal proxy mailbox for each attendee. Each attendee has a wireless device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA). The organizer's computer system includes a wireless communication station that can communicate in wireless fashion with the wireless devices of the attendees at the conference. During the conference, an attendee uses his/her wireless device to access the conference information, select another attendee or a group of attendee from the list of attendees, and send the selected attendee or attendees a message. The message can be conveyed to and stored in the personal proxy mailbox or mailboxes of the selected attendee or attendees. The use of personal proxy mailboxes allows attendees to send messages to one another and to receive messages from one another without divulging their primary email addresses.
US08312090B2
A method, system and graphical user interface for a chat system is disclosed. One aspect of certain embodiments includes broadcasting popular messages to users that have not previously received the popular messages and including with the popular messages one or more qualitative signals based on user feedback.
US08312082B2
A meeting record, including identified participant information associated with each of a group of meeting participants, and a topic for a meeting is generated using a social network computing device. A meeting participant link that accesses the social networking profile of a meeting participant is stored within the meeting record for each of the group of meeting participants that has authorized access by others to a social networking profile of the meeting participant. A meeting notification, including a link to the meeting record, is sent to each of the group of meeting participants.
US08312078B2
A data transfer system includes: a local unit (LU) that transmits data from the USB device connected to a local computer (LC) to a remote computer (RC); and a remote unit (RU) that acquires the data from LC and transfers the data to an application. LU includes: a unit that receives the data from the USB device to store the data in a memory, and notifies the USB device about the reception: and a unit that reads non-transferred data, converts the data to a network format, and transfers the data to RC when the amount of non-transferred data stored in the memory is equal to or greater than a threshold. RU includes: a unit that receives the data from LC and stores the data in a memory: and a unit that reads the unread data in the memory and transmits the data in an application format.
US08312061B2
A database system includes a processor configured to receive broadcasts according to a plurality of broadcast formats. The processor determines broadcast information associated with each received broadcast. The processor stores a database entry for each received broadcast within a database stored in the memory. Each database entry is indicative of the broadcast information associated the received broadcast. The processor continuously populates the database with broadcast information associated with received broadcasts. The database is user-accessible, allowing database entries to be viewed and altered. Ratings for various broadcast information are user-provided allowing preferred broadcast content to be user-designated based on the broadcast information. The ratings are used to notify a user of preferred broadcast content being broadcast according to at least one of the broadcast formats allowing the user to select receipt of the preferred broadcast content while available.
US08312058B2
Providing element dossiers may include obtaining records of relationships between elements from all lifecycle phases of interest, and querying and retrieving a list of all elements related to a target element using the relationship records including relationships between intermediary adjacent lifecycle phases. The method also includes determining inferential and correlation based relationships among dynamically changing elements.
US08312053B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques, including systems, methods, and computer readable medium, for dynamic atomic arrays. A dynamic atomic array is a data structure that provides an array that can grow or shrink in size as required. The dynamic atomic array is non-blocking, wait-free, and thread-safe. The dynamic atomic array may be used to provide arrays of any primitive data type as well as complex types, such as objects.
US08312052B2
The present invention establishes a process for creating a set of structures that allows efficient storage and subsequent handling. The multigraph is represented using bitmaps with element counters and mappings between values and organized bitmaps to faciliate the handling of the multigraphs. The bits in the bitmaps represent two aspects of the multigraph: 1) indexing of all the objects of the multigraph as a function of their identifiers and 2) connectivity between objects of the multigraph, whether they are vertices or edges. Mappings allow, given a value, accessing the objects of the multigraph which contain such value. Multigraph operations are solved by accessing the mappings and applying logical operations on the bitmaps. This way of representing a graph allows efficiently performing graph operations such as: inserting a vertex or an edge, inserting an attribute, acquiring the incoming and outgoing edges of an attribute, etc.
US08312047B2
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for storing documents that are being tracked in an on-demand service. These mechanisms and methods for storing documents in an on-demand service can enable embodiments to provide the sharing of documents and the storing of the documents in association with a tag. The ability of embodiments to provide the sharing of documents and the storing can enable an efficient searching for a shared document. In an embodiment, the shared document is categorized upon being stored.
US08312042B2
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for providing search results automatically to a user of a computing device. A spoken input provided by a user to a computing device is received. The spoken input is transmitted to a computer server system that is remote from the computing device. Search result information that is responsive to the spoken input is receiving by the computing device and in response to the transmitted spoken input. An alert is provided to the user that the device will connect the user to a target of the search result information if the user does not intervene to stop the connecting of the user. The user is connected to the target of the search result information based on a determination that the user has not intervened to stop the connecting of the user.
US08312036B2
Providing a recommendation of one or more items is disclosed. In some embodiments, a selection of a set of one or more items to be included in a recommendation is received from a first member of an online community, and the recommendation is stored so that the recommendation can be presented to a second member of the online community when an indication is received that the recommendation is of interest to the second member.
US08312026B2
A relational dependency transform is introduced as a way to exploit information redundancy in conditioning data in a relational database for better compressibility. An optimum relational dependency transform of the relational database is first computed. Fields of the relational database are then sorted topologically based on a weighted, directed graph having nodes representing predictor and predictee fields. For each predictee field in the topological order, a transformed field is then computed via the relationship between predictor and predictee in the optimum relational dependency transform.
US08312024B2
The invention relates to a system and method for acquiring and aggregating information relating to the reproduction of multimedia files or elements in a database, said data including information relating to the number of multimedia file or element reproductions. The inventive system comprises a plurality of digital devices which can access and reproduce multimedia files and an acquisition and storage device which communicates with each of the digital devices in order to receive data from each of the identification/characterization programs, such that said identification/characterization program can count the reproductions at least in a direct and/or weighted manner.
US08312023B2
Methods and systems are provided for a proactive approach for computer forensic investigations. The invention allows organizations anticipating the need for forensic analysis to prepare in advance. Digital representations are generated proactively for a specified target. A digital representation is a digest of the content of the target. Digital representations of a collection of targets indexed and organized in a data structure, such as an inverted index. The searching and comparison of digital representations of a collection of targets allows quick and accurate identification of targets having identical or similar content. Computational and storage costs are expended in advance, which allows more efficient computer forensic investigations. The present invention can be applied to numerous applications, such as computer forensic evidence gathering, misuse detection, network intrusion detection, and unauthorized network traffic detection and prevention.
US08312020B2
A database management system stores data form a plurality of logical tables as independent copies in different format. In one specific example the system organizes tables into table groups and de-normalizes the table in each table group. It also organizes data in a second format including vertical column containers that store all the data for one attribute, there being one column container for each table and each attribute within that table. The receipt of a query causes the system to develop a query plan that can interact with either or both of the container sets.
US08312018B2
A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to convert an entity to a standard form including normalized attributes, a tag reference and a feature. The entity is expanded with corresponding variants. The standard form and corresponding variants are combined to form an annotated entity in a first processing step. The entity is assigned to a group in a second processing step that accesses the annotated entity. The entity is processed in a single pass comprising the first processing step and the second processing step.
US08312012B1
Image galleries are automatically located within documents, such as web pages. Documents that are determined to contain image galleries may be treated differently when storing the document for later retrieval by an image search engine. In one implementation, the image galleries are automatically located within a document by calculating position information indicating relative positions of images in the document. The document may be determined to contain an image gallery when the position information indicates that the images in the document are generally evenly distributed.
US08311999B2
Knowledge research and mapping system and method automatically construct a knowledge research map representing the researched topics, their inter-relationships, and related responses retrieved through the processing of, for example, a natural language or Boolean query that is automatically submitted via a knowledge search tool to a database.
US08311997B1
In particular embodiments, annotating each keyword of a plurality of keywords with one or more labels of a plurality of labels, comprising: for each label, computing a score for the keyword document corresponding to the keyword and the label using an annotation model; and annotating the keyword with a specific label where the keyword document corresponding to the keyword and the specific label have the highest or the lowest score. Constructing a classifier based on a plurality of training keywords. For each keyword of the plurality of keywords, for each label annotating the keyword, calculating a second index-wise product between a word count vector of the keyword document corresponding to the keyword and a word count vector of the label document corresponding to the label; and predicting whether the label annotating the keyword is correct using the classifier with the second index-wise product as an input to the classifier.
US08311996B2
Generating content to satisfy search engines queries is described. A knowledge base including a plurality of prior search queries for a search engine and corresponding prior search results provided by the search engine is accessed and a plurality of underserved search queries are identified, wherein each of the underserved search queries comprises a search query pattern having a below threshold number of search results. Each of the underserved search queries are heuristically related to one another. The plurality of underserved search queries are aggregated into a taxonomy category having a set of associated attributes, the attributes descriptive of the plurality of underserved search queries. Targeted content is generated based on the attributes, wherein the targeted content is tailored satisfy the underserved search queries.
US08311992B2
An object is to achieve efficient shredding of recording media.For a storage system 10 which accepts a data input/output request transmitted in units of files from the client device 2 and includes a recording medium (hard disk drives 171) for storing in units of data blocks a file entity specified by the received data input/output request, in the information processing device (server device 3) performing data write or read, for shredding data blocks including a recording medium, from the files stored in the recording medium, a file whose update frequency exceeds the previously set threshold is selected and the selected entity file is stored in the data block to realize pseudo shredding for the data block.
US08311986B2
Database backup system identifies and extracts any changed database record using only two copies of the database from two different points in time. A first copy of the database is generated at a first time. Copies of log files including changes to the database since the first time are generated at a second time. The copy of the log files is applied to the database copy, and any changed blocks of the first copy of the database are identified. The changed blocks and a second copy of the database are used to identify changes to any record of the database between the first and second time. An archived database is generated and updated over time by archiving only data of any record that subsequently changes. Restoration of the database to a state corresponding to any point in time uses only the archived database and data of changed data records.
US08311984B2
A system for integrating service management systems includes an interface and a processor. The processor may be operative to monitor a first service management system to detect a first system event, and monitor a second service management system to detect a second system event. The processor may retrieve first information from the first database, transform first information into a second system request message, and provide second system request message to the second service management system, responsive to detecting the first system event. The processor may retrieve a data update from second database, transform the data update into a first system update message, and provide the first system update message to the first service management system, responsive to detecting the second system event. The processor may replicate the first database in globally distributed databases, when the first system event corresponds to replication of the first database.
US08311979B2
An automated system displays enables a user to observe the activities in a system based on information in the display. From this display, the user can quickly identify the source of problems for the purpose of troubleshooting without the need to manually determine the source and nature of the problem. In this system, data about the system is gathered through a plurality of agents positioned throughout the network. This data is analyzed and a system monitor deployment configuration is developed. This monitor deployment information along with information about the various devices in the system and any relationships of devices in the system are imported to the display system. The display system then displays this information showing the present relationships of the devices in the system.
US08311972B2
A method of building a data integration environment is provided. According to one embodiment of the invention as applied to a computer network, the method comprising: identifying the data integration environment and the policies that apply to it 200, negotiating with the environment 202, and generating a new interface rule set enabling information to be passed in dependence thereon between the system which is made part of the integration environment and the integration environment. The method can be usefully applied in UAV networks, robot networks as well as in networks of fixed sensors. The invention finds utility in various important applications such as in network-enabled capability and in rapid integration of systems.
US08311971B2
A method for decision aiding in batching of items of varying weight, size, or shape into packs of fixed weight and item count, said method characterized by controlling the average weight of items used, by rejecting selected portion of the available pool of items, according to calculated ‘Optimal Usage Curve’, wherein the ‘Optimal Usage Curve’ represents the ‘overweight of batches’ as a function of the ‘ratio of items used’, the ‘overweight of batches’ represents the average batch weight while the ‘ratio of items used’ is the number of items used in the batching process over the total number of items in the pool of items.
US08311970B2
A method of payload estimation of weight bearing machinery, the method comprising the steps of: (a) creating a series of Kalman filter approximations to the weight bearing machinery for different levels of payload; (b) determining from the series an approximation to the current operating characteristics of the weight bearing machinery; and, (c) utilizing the parameters derived from the step (b) to determine an estimated payload of the weight bearing machinery.
US08311965B2
A neuromorphic circuit includes a first field effect transistor in a first diode configuration establishing an electrical connection between a first gate and a first drain of the first field effect transistor. The neuromorphic circuit also includes a second field effect transistor in a second diode configuration establishing an electrical connection between a second gate and a second drain of the second field effect transistor. The neuromorphic circuit further includes variable resistance material electrically connected to both the first drain and the second drain, where the variable resistance material provides a programmable resistance value. The neuromorphic circuit additionally includes a first junction electrically connected to the variable resistance material and providing a first connection point to an output of a neuron circuit, and a second junction electrically connected to the variable resistance material and providing a second connection point to the output of the neuron circuit.
US08311964B1
A system and method for efficiently reducing a number of duplicate blocks of stored data. A file server both removes duplicate data and prevents duplicate data from being stored in the shared storage. A sampling rate may be used to determine which fingerprints, or hash values, are stored in an index. The sampling rate may be modified in response to changes in characteristics of the system, such as a change in the shared storage size, a change in a utilization of the shared storage, a change in the size of the storage unit, and reaching a threshold corresponding to utilization of the index. Also, a small cache may be maintained for holding fingerprint and pointer pair values prefetched from the shared storage. Each prefetched pair may be associated with data corresponding to a previous hit in the index. The association may be related to spatial locality, temporal locality, or otherwise.
US08311953B1
In general, one aspect of the subject matter described can be embodied in a method that includes receiving a first repair request for a first computer hardware component and receiving a second repair request for a second computer hardware component. The method can further include selecting first numerical tokens to describe the first repair request and selecting second numerical tokens to describe the second repair request, wherein each of the first and second tokens are associated with a different level of a hierarchy of tokens. The method can additionally include, for each level of the hierarchy of tokens, selecting each unique individual token associated with the level of the hierarchy of tokens from the first tokens and from the second tokens. The method can further include determining an aggregate cost of the first request and the second request from the selected unique individual tokens.
US08311946B1
A mechanism gives users meaningful access to information while protecting the interests of publishers and creators of information including text, graphics, photos, executable files, data tables, audio, video, and three dimensional data and allows a user to review a document while connected to a network but prevents the user from downloading, printing, or copying the document unless a fee is paid. The user is allowed to review documents at a first cost basis, but only provides other access to documents, such as copying, printing, or downloading on a second cost basis. The user is also allowed to purchase a selectable portion of a document at a price based on the amount of material selected where that amount of material can include a portion of a document, an entire document, or an anthology of components of multiple documents.
US08311944B2
A transaction process system (10) provides for data transactions between parties. In a credit card transaction, the parties are the merchant (20), acquiring bank (24), card association (34), issuing bank (14), and cardholder (12). A transaction processing center (30) is positioned between the acquiring bank and the card association. The transaction processing center provides data processing channels for message-based processing (72) and filed-based processing (76). The file-based processing uses an incoming queue (80) and outgoing queue (84) to simplify the interface. The transaction processing center also provides for currency conversions and account reconciliation on a per transaction basis. The transaction processing center uses a scheduler (160) to efficiently manage the data processing resources.
US08311941B2
Systems and techniques for receiving transaction information at an authentication system. The transaction information may be processed using different rule sets, based on the financial instrument used for the transaction (for example, a particular credit card, debit card, bank account, brokerage account, and the like). One or more alerts may be generated and communicated to the user. The alerts may be formatted based on user device configuration information, such as a cell phone type, email type, and the like.
US08311930B2
An enhanced system and method for handling, matching and executing a diverse group of limit-priced orders in an electronic options environment is disclosed. Most of the order types disclosed are automatically repriced and reposted as the NBBO changes to increase their execution opportunities. Market maker entitlements are integrated with the order processing, so that the market maker is guaranteed an allocation of the trade if the market maker is at the NBBO when an order priced at or better than the NBBO is received. Once posted to the order book, the displayed price of an order may be eligible for preferential execution in a market maker entitlement process, regardless of whether the displayed price is original or has been automatically repriced.
US08311929B2
An integrated circuit (IC) includes at least one baseband section, at least one radio frequency (RF) section, and an interface module. The interface module is operable to couple the at least one baseband section to the at least one RF section, wherein the interface module includes an analog interface module and a digital interface module.
US08311924B2
In at least one embodiment computerized methods and corresponding systems for providing guaranteed income payments to an investor are provided that include the step or steps of: receiving information from the investor representing at least a current age of the investor, a desired income start date, a desired income payment amount, and a premium payment amount; receiving a premium payment from the investor and placing the premium payment into a first investment sleeve; and automatically transferring using at least one computing device, during a waiting period and according to a predefined event, a portion of the premium payment from the first investment sleeve to a second investment sleeve, wherein the portion of the premium payment transferred calculated by the at least one computing device as a function of a time remaining in the waiting period and the desired income amount.
US08311913B2
A method begins with a payment entity device receiving payables process data from a client device. The payables process data includes a list of a plurality of creditors and associated payment data, wherein, for a creditor of the plurality of creditors, the associated payment data includes at least one payment scheme for paying at least a portion of debt owed to the creditor via at least one of: a client credit card, a funds transfer, commercial paper, tangible consideration, and a debit account. The method continues with the payment entity device determining level of service for a client associated with the client device. The method continues with the payment entity device generating a payables profile for the client based on the payables process data in accordance with the level of service.
US08311909B2
A method and system for managing legal fees and minimizing costs of an organization involves periodically receiving case budget information consisting at least in part of identification, billing rate, and hours for each person projected to work on a legal project for the organization. The case budget information is received by internal counsel for the organization from external counsel via entry of the information on a template provided by internal counsel and uploaded to an internal matter management system of the organization if approved by internal counsel. At the end of each billing cycle, current bill data from external counsel is also uploaded to the internal matter management system of the organization, and the current bill data is compared with the case budget information. A report is generated flagging any discrepancies between the current bill data and the case budget information.
US08311905B1
A computerized automated demand-based parts delivery management system and method is disclosed. Parts for use in a production facility are received at a warehouse and housed in storage inventory areas such as trailers parked in a yard. Data about the parts in storage inventory areas and their locations as well as an inventory of parts in the warehouse are stored in a database. A “demand pegging” operation is performed by viewing current delivery inventory levels within the warehouse and applying them to production demand data to determine when parts will be depleted from delivery inventory areas. The operation further identifies storage inventory areas that have the needed parts. Process times for transporting parts between locations are considered in determining task times for transporting parts from storage inventory areas to delivery inventory areas so parts are replenished in advance of the deplete time determined by the demand pegging operation.
US08311903B2
In an embodiment, a method of evaluating an impact on inventory levels of migrating from a pre-processing environment to a dynamic processing environment may include identifying a plurality of form types to migrate from a pre-processing environment to a dynamic processing environment and identifying an inventory policy. For each identified form type, corresponding job demand information may be received. A computing device may determine a plurality of total inventory requirements for the identified form types based on the identified inventory policy. The computing device may determine a plurality of migrated inventory requirements for the dynamic processing environment based on the identified inventory policy. One or more statistics pertaining to one or more of the job demand information, the total inventory requirements and the migrated inventory requirements may be displayed to a user.
US08311898B2
The present invention discloses a method for dynamic two-way auction, applicable for auctioning participating goods, comprising: (1) setting, by a server. The descriptive information, possible search conditions and the relations which associate each search condition with the descriptive information of all participating goods are set up and stored on the server side; (2) sending, by a buyer terminal and/or a seller terminal, a search request which includes a search condition to the server; (3) parsing, by the server, the search request to obtain the search condition, determining whether a definition of a relation which associates the search condition with the descriptive information has been recorded, and performing step (4) if the relation has not been recorded; (4) defining, by the server, a relation which associates the search condition with the descriptive information of some participating goods.
US08311893B2
There are disclosed systems and methods which provide for an inter-action between unrelated databases such that information provided to a first database by a first provider can be pushed from the first database to a user based, at least in part, on data provided by that user to a second database unrelated to the first database. This then allows a user to have information pushed to him/her based upon information previously obtained from that user or about that user. In one embodiment, the user enters his/her information into one or more databases and the entered information forms the basis for information to be pushed to that user from any database even if the pushed information resides in a non-related database. In another embodiment, the data required from a provider is determined based upon data gathered from other providers for similar items. In some situations certain data is gathered without active participation from the provider.
US08311892B2
A method for using electronic product identification devices to track product sales and enable sales transactions to be registered in an electronic registration (ER) system without causing privacy or security concerns for the purchasers. RF-ID devices are placed on products being sold and include detailed information about the products. When the products are purchased, the detailed information is loaded into an ER database and all but a limited amount of information is removed from the RF-ID device. The limited information is sufficient to enable the detailed information to be located in the ER database by authorized individuals in connection with a return transaction or the like.
US08311875B1
One or more content items associated with a content property are identified, each of the one or more content items associated with one or more performance measures. A rank score is determined for each of the one or more content items. One or more locations are identified for display proximate to the one or more content items based on the rank score for each of the one or more content items, and one or more other content items are provided for display in each of the one or more content item locations.
US08311873B2
A risk framework is described for computing application risks. A risk value associated with each of one or more products included in an application may be determined. The risk value associated with each of the products may be classified as declining software risk, not-permitted software risk, declining hardware risk, and not-permitted hardware risk and may be weighted and summed to produce a technical risk score. A business criticality score may be computed based on how critical the application is to a business. The technical risk score and the business criticality score may be weighted and summed to produce a composite risk score. Based on one or more of the scores, planning may be conducted and strategies may be formulated to mitigate risk.
US08311868B2
To readily understand contents of business operations without burdening an operator, this invention provides a business analysis method including: obtaining information on operations of a user with respect to software programs selected by the user among the plurality of software programs operated by a computer; estimating one business content that is executed by the computer in each of time spans based on a combination of exploited identification information of the plurality of software programs.
US08311863B1
A high performance capability assessment model helps a utility industry business meet the challenges of the global marketplace. As a result, the utility industry business can achieve the clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of core processes that reduce inefficiencies and waste that result from unnecessary process complexity and exceptions. In addition, the high performance capability assessment model helps the utility industry business to identify specific areas in which improvements may be made and understand how to make the improvements, and establishes levels of capability along the way to reaching an ultimate capability goal.
US08311858B2
A data logging device tracks the operation of a vehicle or driver actions. The device includes a storage device, which may be removable or portable, having a first memory portion that may be read from and may be written to in a vehicle and a second memory portion that may be read from and may be written to in the vehicle. The second memory portion may retain data attributes associated with the data stored in the first removable storage device. A processor reads data from an automotive bus that transfers data from vehicle sensors to other automotive components. The processor writes data to the first memory portion and the second memory portion that reflect a level of risk or safety. A communication device links the storage device to a network of computers. The communication device may be accessible through software that allows a user to access files.
US08311857B2
A system for preventing fraud is disclosed as is a method of performing the same. Information is received by the system and a database is created containing personal information of deceased individuals. The system then interacts with a billing system to prevent the information of a deceased individual present in the database from being used to submit a false claim.
US08311851B2
A computerized tool and method for delivery of pharmacogenetic and pharmacological information, comprising a core system having algorithms and databases for storing, collating, accessing, cross-referencing, and interpreting genetic and pharmacologic data, with a graphical user interface for a client network of providers of laboratory genetic testing services to access the core services under contract. The system includes “paypoints” in support of improved business models. Included are mechanisms for ‘pass through’ third party and insurance reimbursement for interpretive reports, insurance reimbursement for on-line access to pharmacogenetic information at the point of care, tools for market segmentation, and a conversion tool for capturing new subscribers. Also disclosed are tools and predictive algorithms for preventing drug-drug and drug-gene adverse drug reactions.
US08311844B2
A method is provided for analyzing compliance of one or more pieces of equipment with a payload standard. A target payload for the one or more pieces of equipment is determined. Payload weight data is obtained for the one or more pieces of equipment. The payload weight data is then compared with the target payload, and compliance with the payload standard is analyzed based on the results of the comparison.
US08311843B2
A method of encoding a time-domain audio signal is presented. In the method, an electronic device receives the time-domain audio signal. The time-domain audio signal is transformed into a frequency-domain signal including a coefficient for each of a plurality of frequencies, which are grouped into frequency bands. For each frequency band, the energy of the band is determined, a scale factor for the band is determined based on the energy of the band, and the coefficients of the band are quantized based on the associated scale factor. The encoded audio signal is generated based on the quantized coefficients and the scale factors.
US08311838B2
Devices and methods for identifying a prompt corresponding to a voice input in a sequence of prompts
This is directed to processing voice inputs received by an electronic device while prompts are provided. In particular, this is directed to providing a sequence of prompts to a user (e.g., voice over prompts) while monitoring for a voice input. When the voice input is received, a characteristic time stamp can be identified for the voice input, and can be compared to periods or windows associated with each of the provided prompts. The electronic device can then determine that the prompt corresponding to a window that includes the characteristic time stamp was the prompt to which the user wished to apply the voice input. The device can process the voice input to extract a user instruction, and apply the instruction to the identified prompt (e.g., and perform an operation associated with the prompt).
US08311834B1
Methods and apparatus for providing information useful to a particular user of a computerized apparatus. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a portable computerized apparatus (such as for example a digital assistant or notebook computer) which obtains information configured according to a user profile after identification of the user via a short range wireless technology such as RFID.
US08311832B2
A hybrid-captioning system for editing captions for spoken utterances within video includes an editor-type caption-editing subsystem, a line-based caption-editing subsystem, and a mechanism. The editor-type subsystem is that in which captions are edited for spoken utterances within the video on a groups-of-line basis without respect to particular lines of the captions and without respect to temporal positioning of the captions in relation to the spoken utterances. The line-based subsystem is that in which captions are edited for spoken utterances within the video on a line-by-line basis with respect to particular lines of the captions and with respect to temporal positioning of the captions in relation to the spoken utterances. For each section of spoken utterances within the video, the mechanism is to select the editor-type or the line-based subsystem to provide captions for the section of spoken utterances in accordance with a predetermined criteria.
US08311826B2
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method, comprising: (a) maintaining a database of known fraudsters, wherein each fraudster has a voice signature and metadata associated therewith; (b) performing a screening operation to match a candidate with a fraudster in the database based on matching a voice signature and metadata for the candidate with a voice signature and metadata for the fraudster in the database.
US08311817B2
Provided are methods and systems for enhancing the quality of voice communications. The method and corresponding system may involve classifying an audio signal into speech, and speech and noise and creating speech-noise classification data. The method may further involve sharing the speech-noise classification data with a speech encoder via a shared memory or by a Least Significant Bit (LSB) of a Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) stream. The method and corresponding system may also involve sharing acoustic cues with the speech encoder to improve the speech noise classification and, in certain embodiments, sharing scaling transition factors with the speech encoder to enable the speech encoder to gradually change data rate in the transitions between the encoding modes.
US08311809B2
Synthesizing an output audio signal is provided on the basis of an input audio signal, the input audio signal comprising a plurality of input sub-band signals, wherein at least one input sub-band signal is transformed (T) from the sub-band domain to the frequency domain to obtain at least one respective transformed signal, wherein the at least one input sub-band signal is delayed and transformed (D, T) to obtain at least one respective transformed delayed signal, wherein at least two processed signals are derived (P)from the at least one transformed signal and the at least one transformed delayed signal, wherein the processed signals are inverse transformed (T−1) from the frequency domain to the sub-band domain to obtain respective processed sub-band signals, and wherein the output audio signal is synthesized from the processed sub-band signals.
US08311808B2
A system and method for providing vocabulary information includes one or more computer processors that, for each of a plurality of words of a text, determine a relevance of the word to the text, and, for each of at least a subset of the plurality of words, output an indication of the respective determined relevance of the word to the text, where, for each of the plurality of words, the determination includes comparing a frequency of the word in the text to a frequency threshold.
US08311806B2
An apparatus for processing a sequence of tokens to detect predetermined data, wherein each said token has a token type, and the predetermined data has a structure that comprises a predetermined sequence of token types, including at least one optional token type. The apparatus comprises a processor arranged to: provide a tree for detecting the predetermined data, the tree comprising a plurality of states, each said state being linked with at least one other state by a respective condition, the arrangement of linked states forming a plurality of paths; and compare the token types of the sequence of tokens to respective conditions in the tree to match the sequence of tokens to one or more paths in the tree, wherein the predetermined data can be detected without using an epsilon reduction to take account of said at least one optional token type.
US08311801B2
A method, system and computer program product for improving the efficiency of changing or modifying a message displayed by a program. A memory unit stores a message read and displayed by the execution of a program, associating it with a language in which the message is written. An execution unit reads from the memory unit and displays the message corresponding to a language set by a user by executing the program. An editing unit edits the message stored in the memory unit and stores the edited message into the memory unit, associating it with a different language from that of the unedited message. A setting unit changes the language of the message displayed by the execution unit, where the execution unit reads from the memory unit and displays the message corresponding to the language changed by the setting unit thereby displaying the edited message instead of the unedited message.
US08311798B2
A translation method and device (1) enabling a first individual speaking in a first language to converse with a second individual speaking in a second language different from the first language, the device includes translation element (30) translating the first words of the first individual into the second language and the second words of the second individual into the first language. The device is provided with a headset (12) connected to the translation element (30) by connection element (20), the headset (12) being provided with at least one earpiece (11, 11′), a microphone (14), and a loudspeaker (15), the microphone (14) picking up first and second words from the first and second individuals in order to enable the first and second words to be translated by the translation element (30) and then, once translated, to be delivered respectively to the earpiece (11, 11′) or to the loudspeaker (15).
US08311794B2
A computer-implemented method for performing testing on executable logic includes providing, in a test framework, an instance of at least one object that is associated with an object-processing framework. The test framework has at least one interface that is common with the object-processing framework. The method includes calling a logic portion that is to be tested, the logic portion being called with at least one test parameter received from a user. The method includes recording a result of an operation that is performed as the logic portion causes the at least one object in the test framework to be accessed using the at least one interface. Also a related computer program product and graphical user interface.
US08311779B2
A multipoint geostatistics computer-implemented method for modeling of discrete properties, comprising acquiring by a computer software program a training image made from at least one dimensional array of discrete property values, the values depicting the spatial relationship and variability considered to be typical of a n-dimensional surface to be modeled; constructing a search tree, the tree representing the probability of occurrence of combinations of values of a discrete property value, the construction being performed by counting these occurrences in the training image. The non-branching sequences of the search tree are compressed to what essentially amounts to a single node, by keeping only the relevant information the sequences contain.
US08311773B2
Methods and apparatus for computer-estimating a function of a probability distribution of a variable
Robust methods are developed to provide bounds and probability distributions for the locations of objects as well as for associated variables that affect the accuracy of the location such as the positions of stations, the measurements, and errors in the speed of signal propagation. Realistic prior probability distributions of pertinent variables are permitted for the locations of stations, the speed of signal propagation, and errors in measurements. Bounds and probability distributions can be obtained without making any assumption of linearity. The sequential methods used for location are applicable in other applications in which a function of the probability distribution is desired for variables that are related to measurements.
US08311771B2
An inspection method of an SOI wafer in which profiles P1 and P2 are calculated in the SOI wafer to be inspected and in an SOI wafer having a film thickness of the SOI layer thicker or thinner than that of the SOI wafer to be inspected, respectively; a profile P3 of a difference between P1 and P2, or a profile P4 of a change ratio of P1 and P2 is calculated; light having the wavelength band selected on the basis of a maximum peak wavelength within the calculated profiles P3 or P4 is irradiated to the surface of the SOI wafer to be inspected, to detect the reflected-light from the SOI wafer; and a place of a peak generated by an increase in reflection intensity of the detected reflected-light is found, as the defect caused by the change in the film thickness of the SOI layer.
US08311763B2
A method of compensating a temperature measurement of a thermal device in a user environment as a function of a thermal transfer of the thermal device in a temperature measurement system. The method includes inputting thermal transfer parameters associated with heat transfer characteristics of the thermal device stored by a thermal transfer indicia. The method further includes measuring a signal of the thermal device during the temperature measurement and compensating the measured thermal device signal as a function of the thermal transfer function based on one of a plurality of predetermined specific thermal environments and one of a plurality of predetermined specific thermal errors associated with the thermal device.
US08311760B2
An embodiment of a method for a determination, section after section, of a parameter-dependent correction value approximation course includes determining a first measurement signal value with a first parameter value associated with a sensor arrangement when the first parameter value fullfils a predetermined condition or a trigger condition is fulfilled, changing the first parameter value to obtain a second parameter value, determining a second signal value with the second parameter value and determining a second partial section of the correction value approximation course for a second parameter range based on a functional connection describing the second partial section, the first parameter value, the second parameter value, the first measurement signal value, the second measurement signal value and an initial correction value.
US08311758B2
An improved method and apparatus for automatically aligning probe pins to the test or bond pads of semiconductor devices under changing conditions. In at least one embodiment, a dynamic model is used to predict an impact of changing conditions to wafer probing process. This reduces the need for frequent measurements and calibrations during probing and testing, thereby increasing the number of dice that can be probed and tested in a given period of time and increasing the accuracy of probing at the same time. Embodiments of the present invention also make it possible to adjust positions of probe pins and pads in response to the changing conditions while they are in contact with each other.
US08311757B2
An innovative configuration of Miniaturized Smart Self-calibration EPD for mortar applications, as the azimuth/heading and elevation measurement device. This innovative EPD configuration uses only two FOGs or DTG and accelerometers and it is self-contained. This leads to a new EPD implementation that produces a small and light device with lower cost and adequate accuracy for the small dismounted mortar applications.
US08311756B2
A setup and calibration unit for a barrier operator is operable to communicate with the operator's own controller. The calibration unit includes a control circuit connected to a visual display and to a set of switches controlled by switch actuators for placing the operator controller in a controller run mode or calibration mode, scrolling through selected actions displayed on the display in one direction or the other, a set/clear function and display backlighting for user interaction with the setup and calibration unit. The setup and calibration unit is particularly adapted for use with upward acting sectional and roll-up doors and other types of barriers movable between open and closed positions by motorized operators. The calibration unit may be operably connected to the operator controller via hard wiring, a radio frequency link or an infrared or visible light transmission link.
US08311755B2
A sampling rate adjustment system includes a detecting circuit and a processor. The detecting circuit detects a frequency of an alternating current (AC) power source and outputs a detecting signal. The processor receives the detecting signal of the detecting circuit and determines whether a difference between the frequency of the AC power source and a sampling rate of a camera is less than a predetermined value. The processor outputs a control signal to the camera and changes the sampling rate of the camera when the difference between the frequency of the AC power source and the sampling rate of the camera is less than the predetermined value.
US08311744B2
Use of chemically and geologically consistent constraints for obtaining elemental chemistry downhole
A method for estimating a lithotype of an earth formation, the method includes: obtaining at least two different energy spectra of radiation received from the earth formation using the logging tool, each energy spectrum having at least one of a natural gamma-ray spectrum, a fast neutron-induced inelastic spectrum, and a thermal neutron induced capture spectrum; establishing at least one geochemically-based constraint related to elemental spectral yields to be determined; determining the elemental spectral yields from the at least two different energy spectra by decomposing the at least two different energy spectra over weighted sum of monoelemental standards wherein at least one weight is constrained by the at least one geochemically-based constraint and each weight represents a proportion of one monoelemental standard; converting the elemental spectral yields to elemental concentrations; and using a classifier to receive the elemental concentrations as input and to provide a lithotype as output.
US08311734B2
A mobile computer that can be borne in a vehicle and that can receive position information may adjust a maximum speed limit to account for unfavorable weather or road conditions and cause the vehicle to automatically reduce speed below the adjusted maximum limit.
US08311733B2
Provided is a computer system and method for providing key frame image mapping. A method includes collecting one or more images of a predetermined area on the map of a physical location; and organizing the one or more images on the map as a function of a time, location, and/or image history parameter. A computer system includes a mapping module including a data store configurable to organize one or more images according to locations on a map and a table. The table can associate metadata for images with a time line, an image history and/or a location. The association can enable an instantiation of a time-related image from images at locations of the map. The mapping module enables a personalized iconographic map of a physical location illustrating icons associated with a catalog of images that are incorporated with the time line. The time line can be associated with a trip taken to an area in a map such that scrolling the time line automatically causes images associated with that time appear as well as the location on the map wherein the picture was taken.
US08311729B2
A traffic lane deviation preventing system includes a traffic line detecting unit for detecting traffic line positions on a road, a control unit for determining a possibility of a vehicle's deviation from a traffic line based on the traffic line positions detected by the traffic line detecting unit and setting a travel target point to which the vehicle is to travel if it is determined that there is a possibility of a traffic line deviation. The control unit moves the travel target point toward the center of a traffic lane according to the passage of a control operation time.
US08311728B2
The invention relates to a navigation system for aircraft comprising inertial sensors, a GNSS receiver and potentially a baro-altimeter. The measurements from the inertial sensors are hybridized with the code and phase measurements from the receiver within a main Kalman filter and, possibly, secondary filters. The said measurements are corrected for several types of errors, notably those due to the passage of the satellite signals through the ionospheric layers. The precision of the determination of the position of the aircraft is greatly improved, both in the horizontal plane and in the vertical direction. This is also the case for the corresponding protection radii, which allows margins to be created in order to satisfy the integrity constraints for the navigation solution.
US08311727B2
A motor vehicle operating system includes a navigation system for providing road map information, a vehicle monitoring system for providing vehicle information, a display device for displaying road map information and vehicle information, an operating device for detecting an operating action and a control device. The control device is set up and coupled with the navigation system, the vehicle monitoring system, the display device and the operating device such that, in a zoom operating condition, in at least one predefined operating situation or zoom situation, particularly in the case of the adjustment of the zoom factor to a limit value. A switching-over takes place from the zoom operating condition to a monitoring operating condition by way of an additional zoom operating action.
US08311718B2
An engine control system comprises a derivative module and a slip remediation module. The derivative module determines a mathematical derivative of a driven wheel speed of a vehicle. The slip remediation module, when the mathematical derivative is more negative than a predetermined deceleration, at least one of disables regenerative braking being performed by one or more electric motors, increases an axle torque request, and unlocks a torque converter.
US08311714B2
A method for monitoring an automated drive train of a motor vehicle, in particular of a passenger car. The drive train comprises a drive engine, a friction clutch arrangement and a multi-speed transmission. The friction clutch arrangement connects or disconnects the drive engine to/from the multi-speed transmission. The method comprises the step of determining at least one rotational speed parameter of the drive train; checking whether the rotational speed parameter is greater than a first threshold value for a first predetermined time interval, and initiating a measure in the drive train in order to lower the rotational speed parameter if the rotational speed parameter is greater than the first threshold value for the first predetermined time interval.
US08311701B2
A hood pop-up system for a vehicle that pops up a hood of the vehicle when detecting or predicting a collision of the vehicle. The hood pop-up system includes an oscillation-offsetting unit that offsets and reduces oscillation of the hood caused by the popping-up of the hood.
US08311690B2
A charging system provided for vehicles prevents theft of a charging cable, insertion of foreign matter into a vehicle-side receptacle, or tampering when an onboard battery usable for running power is charged from a household power supply. A cable connector of the charging cable is opposed to the vehicle-side receptacle in a connecting part to prepare for charging. When a PHV is exited, a switching command switching from an unlocked state of a door locking mechanism to a locked state is inputted to a PHV ECU responsive to an inputting manipulation performed on a key or door key sensor. The PHV ECU allows the door locking mechanism to switch from the unlocked state to the locked state. The PHV ECU allows locking mechanisms to switch from the unlocked states to the locked states in the manner interlocked with the switching action of the door locking mechanism.
US08311685B2
The invention provides a method of managing the braking of an aircraft having a plurality of brakes comprising friction elements, the method comprising the following steps for at least one group of brakes: estimating an energy level (□E) to be dissipated by the brakes of the group; and estimating individual braking setpoints (Fi) for each of the brakes of the group so that the individual braking setpoints make it possible, at least under normal operating conditions of the brakes, to implement braking that dissipates said energy level, the individual braking setpoints also being determined so as to satisfy at least one other given operating objective.
US08311675B2
The invention describes a method of controlling an autonomous device (1), which autonomous device records ambient data and optionally transmits the recorded ambient data, which method comprises positioning an indicator (S1, S2, S3, S4) at a boundary (B) between a private area (P) and a non-private area (N) to optically distinguish the private area (P) from the non-private area (N) for a user of the autonomous device (1). The indicator (S1, S2, S3, S4) is detected by the autonomous device (1) and interpreted to determine whether the autonomous device (1) is in a private area (P) or a non-private area (N). Subsequently, recording or transmission of ambient data is restricted while the autonomous device (1) is within the private area (P). The invention also describes a system ( ) for controlling an autonomous device (1), an autonomous device (1), and an indicator (S3, S4) for placement at a boundary between a private area (P) and a non-private area (N), to optically distinguish the private area (P) from the non-private area (N) for a user (2), comprising a number of electronically detectable components (23, 24).
US08311674B2
An Autonomous robot, that is for example, suitable for operations such as vacuuming and surface cleaning includes a payload configured for vacuum cleaning, a drive system including a steering system, a navigation system, and a control system for integrating operations of the aforementioned systems.
US08311671B2
In a robot for training a rehabilitator, the driving of actuators is controlled to generate the forces acting in six directions at the distal end of a bi-articular arm device to reproduce the relationship between the muscular output of the upper or lower limb of the human body and the output direction at the distal end of the limb. The rehabilitator can experience the relationship between the outputs of his or her limb muscles and the output direction at the distal end of the limb. Thus, the six actuators are run in operation along a predetermined sequence. One or more of the actuators, selected so that the direction of the force generated at the distal end of the first link will be the selected direction, is run in operation. The rehabilitator holding the distal end of the first link may physically experience the direction of that force.
US08311660B2
An appliqué emblem having a three dimensional embroidered appearance for decoration and identification when applied to uniforms, fashion, “basic” and performance apparel, swimwear, and intimate apparel, as well as other textile products. The appliqué emblem being an alternative to direct embroidery, embroidered emblems, thermo-transfer films, silk screen or sublimated printing.
US08311655B2
An apparatus and method for preparing a playlist in a sound source data player are provided. For the preparation of the playlist, the position of a sampling of the sound source data is set by user's arbitrary selection or by searching out the thematic part of the sound source data. Then, if the sampling time taken for playing back the sampling has been set, the player plays back the sound source data file selected by moving a cursor from the position of the sampling. Finally, the user adds the individual information of the presently selected sound source data to the playlist. Thus, the user may quickly and readily sample a large number of songs stored in the player and thus more easily prepare the playlist.
US08311653B2
One method includes obtaining a preliminary model associated with a system to be controlled and constructing a weighted model using one or more weighting factors. The method also includes identifying a final model of the system using the preliminary and weighted models, where the final model has a stability margin that is greater than an uncertainty associated with the final model. The method further includes controlling the system using a controller designed based on the final model. Another method includes identifying a first model associated with a system to be controlled, performing model order reduction to identify a second model, and controlling the system using a controller designed based on the second model. Performing the model order reduction includes reducing a weighted coprime factor model uncertainty between the first and second models.
US08311651B2
A process automation system for determining, monitoring and/or influencing different process variables and/or state variables in at least one manufacturing or analytical process. Included is: at least one control station; and a plurality of field devices; wherein in each field device at least one sensor is provided for ascertaining a measured value of a process variable and/or state variable and/or an actuator is provided for influencing a process variable and/or state variable by means of an actuating value. Each field device makes available its cyclically or acyclically ascertained, measuring-device-specific, measured values and/or actuating values of the process variable and/or state variable to every other field device of the process automation system as information, and the current information of all ascertained measured values and/or actuating values of the process variables and/or state variables is available to each field device as a current process-state-vector.
US08311639B2
System and methods for adjusting electrical therapy based on impedance changes are disclosed herein. A method in accordance with a particular embodiment includes applying a therapeutic electrical signal to a patient via an implanted portion of a patient stimulation system that includes a signal delivery device in electrical communication with a target neural population of the patient. The electrical signal is delivered in accordance with a signal delivery parameter having a first value. Using the implanted portion of the patient stimulation system, a change in an impedance of an electrical circuit that includes the signal delivery device is detected. Based at least in part on the detected impedance change, the method can further include automatically adjusting the value of the signal delivery parameter from the first value to a second value different from the first, without human intervention.
US08311628B2
A TANK filter is provided for a lead wire of an active medical device (AMD). The TANK filter includes a capacitor in parallel with an inductor. The parallel capacitor and inductor are placed in series with the lead wire of the AMD, wherein values of capacitance and inductance are selected such that the TANK filter is resonant at a selected frequency. The Q of the inductor may be relatively maximized and the Q of the capacitor may be relatively minimized to reduce the overall Q of the TANK filter to attenuate current flow through the lead wire along a range of selected frequencies. In a preferred form, the TANK filter is integrated into a TIP and/or RING electrode for an active implantable medical device.
US08311627B2
One example includes a battery that includes a stack of at least one substantially planar anode and at least one substantially planar cathode, wherein the stack defines a contoured exterior, and a battery housing enclosing the stack, the battery housing defining a battery housing exterior, wherein the contoured exterior of the stack is shaped to conform to a contoured interior of the battery housing that approximately conforms to the battery housing exterior, the battery produced by the process of modeling, using fluid dynamics, an exterior of a biocompatible housing and shaping the battery housing to conform to at least some of the exterior of the biocompatible housing.
US08311623B2
A rehabilitation device is presented that is inexpensive to produce and is easy to use. The device uses a predictable method to estimate the activity of muscle and therefore provide many ways to train and rehabilitate a person having a prosthetic limb or other neuromuscular disorder.
US08311621B2
A device for judging a degree of awakening and a method for judging a degree of awakening which can more reliably detect weak sleepiness of people in action. The device for judging a degree of awakening in accordance with the present invention comprises a heartbeat sensor for acquiring a heartbeat signal from a driver and an ECU for detecting sleepiness of the driver by processing the heartbeat signal. In the ECU, a heartbeat signal preprocessing section for acquiring a heartbeat period time series from the heartbeat signal, a feature amount extracting section for acquiring a heartbeat fluctuation low frequency component power from the heartbeat period time series, a sleepiness detecting section for judging whether sleepiness occurs in the driver or not according the heartbeat fluctuation low frequency component power, a stimulus timing setting section for setting a timing for imparting a stimulus for removing sleepiness to the driver according to the heartbeat fluctuation low frequency component power, and a sleepiness removing stimulus output section for imparting the stimulus to the driver at thus set timing.
US08311618B2
Method and apparatus for computer enabled analysis of ECG (electro cardiographic) data by exploiting computerized three-dimensional spatial presentation of the measured data using vectors. A three-dimensional presentation of the human heart may be correlated with waveforms specific for standard ECG or derived ECG signals based on the dipole approximation of the heart electrical activity. Additional tools for analyzing ECG data are also provided which may be used to determine the time of cardiac electrical events, to select specific beats for automated cardiac interval determination, and to flag ECGs that have been evaluated by automated means but may benefit by human reading.
US08311612B2
The technology herein provides a dark blood delayed enhancement technique that improves the visualization of subendocardial infarcts that may otherwise be disguised by the bright blood pool. The timed combination of a slice-selective and a non-selective preparation improves the infarct/blood contrast by decoupling their relaxation curves thereby nulling both the blood and the non-infarcted myocardium. This causes the infarct to be imaged bright and the blood and non-infarct to both be imaged dark. The slice-selective preparation occurs early enough in the cardiac cycle so that fresh blood can enter the imaged slice.
US08311596B2
Provided is an electronic device for detecting the relative rotational positions of two casing members optically without utilizing the difference in the reflecting efficiency between a plurality of reflecting portions. The electronic device comprises a first light emitting unit (51) for emitting a light (R), a first casing member (2) mounting the first light emitting unit (51), a first light receiving unit (61) for receiving the light (R), a second casing member (3) mounting the first light receiving unit (61) and so connected to the first casing member (2) as to rotate on a spindle (41), and a detecting unit for detecting the rotational position of the second casing member (3) relative to the first casing member (2), on the basis of the reception of the light (R) emitted from the first light emitting unit (51) in the first light receiving unit (61). The first light emitting unit (51) is arranged in the first casing member (2) and on a first circumference (C1) centering on the spindle (41), and the first light receiving unit (61) is arranged in the second casing member (3) and on a second circumference (C2) facing the first circumference (C1) and centering on the spindle (41).
US08311590B2
An electronic device comprises a microphone, a transceiver circuit, a loudspeaker, a sense element and a processing circuit. The microphone is configured to receive a first audio signal. The transceiver circuit is configured to communicate the first audio signal to a remote device and to receive a second audio signal from the remote device. The loudspeaker is configured to provide an audible signal based on the second audio signal. The sense element is configured to sense the audible signal provided by the loudspeaker. The sense element may be positioned at a distance from the loudspeaker different than a distance between the microphone and the loudspeaker. The processing circuit is configured to process at least one of the first audio signal and the second audio signal based on a sensed signal from the sense element.
US08311589B2
A handsfree device in communication with a remote communication device by one of wireless communication and wired communication for establishing a handsfree call includes a call interruption detection unit for detecting a call interruption by a second call while the remote communication device is involved in a first call and a response command transfer unit for transferring a response command to the remote communication device in response to the call interruption when the call interruption is detected by the call interruption detection unit.
US08311577B2
At least one embodiment of the invention addresses the problem of accidental user operation (e.g., dialing) of a mobile communication device such as a mobile telephone. In this regard, embodiments of the invention provide a proactive solution for preventing unintended operation of a mobile device based on various types of input data of the device, most notably sensory data.
US08311576B2
A wireless device receives neighbor information broadcasted by a current serving network. The neighbor information includes frequency information of neighbors and overlay RAT (radio access technology). According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the wireless device avoids various frequency blocks when scanning for a RAT when it is known from the neighbor information that those frequency blocks are used for a different RAT. Those frequency blocks can either be skipped altogether or scanned only after other frequency blocks are scanned. Therefore, the amount of network scanning can be reduced.
US08311575B2
A handheld mobile phone includes at least two buttons, a logic circuit, and a processing unit, wherein each button is used for performing at least one specific function. The logic circuit is coupled to the at least two buttons for generating a corresponding specific signal when one of the at least two buttons is pressed alone, and for generating at least a control signal when all of the at least two buttons are pressed. The processing unit executes the specific function of the pressed button according to the corresponding specific signal. When all of the at least two buttons are pressed, the processing unit controls the handheld mobile phone to enter a reset state from an operating state according to at least the control signal.
US08311571B2
A transmission level control method in a wireless local loop system capable of suppressing occurrence of an unnecessarily high transmission level, comprises a step of generating a required reception level corresponding to a classification of data, a step of detecting the reception level of data at a receiver side transceiver apparatus, a step of finding a level difference between the detected reception level and the required reception level corresponding to the classification of the related received data, and a step of controlling a change of the transmission level at a transmitter side transceiver apparatus according to this level difference.
US08311567B2
Disclosed is a method for enabling a terminating-side Push-To-Talk (PTT) over Cellular (PoC) client to open a PoC session by using a pre-established session, and to maintain the pre-established session when the terminating-side PoC client terminates the open PoC session, and a PoC system and a PoC User Equipment (UE) for implementing the same. To this end, a REFER BYE message is used to terminate the PoC session while keeping the pre-established session maintained. The REFER BYE message must include information, such as pre-established session parameter information, a session IDentifier (ID), etc. Also, the REFER BYE message is transmitted from the PoC client to the PoC server, and the PoC server receives the REFER BYE message, checks the contents of a header in the received message, and terminates the PoC session while keeping the pre-established session maintained when a specified condition is satisfied.
US08311558B2
A real-time location system and method for a wireless network includes, in one embodiment: (a) obtaining received signal-strength indicator measurements between stationary routers and mobile devices; (b) determining the relative angles of mobile devices from stationary routers using directional antenna systems; and (c) using signal strength and angle information to calculate the location of mobile devices.
US08311557B2
A facility for selecting a location determination technique from multiple available location determination techniques in order to determine the location of a mobile device in a cost or resource efficient manner. In order to select the location determination technique, the facility may consider various criteria such as the cost of employing the techniques, quality of service (QoS) criteria, the capabilities and/or resources of given mobile devices and/or networks, and/or the like. To select the location determination technique, the facility may rank the multiple location determination techniques according to weighted criteria and select the location determination technique according to the ranking. The criteria may be weighted according to the relative importance of each criterion to a requesting location-based service.
US08311556B2
A method and system for managing images and associated geographic location data in a mobile device uses an integrated camera to generate one or more images. After generating an image, the system determines a geographic location associated with the image. The system then stores the image, the associated geographic location data, and a record of the association in the mobile device's storage component. The system may also associate supplemental information, such as telephone number, category, and street address, with the image. The system provides one or more display modes for displaying the image and the associated information. The display modes may include a list mode for displaying multiple images and portions of the associated data and a detail mode for displaying a selected image and the full set of associated data. The system may also provide a map display mode for displaying locations associated with one or more images on a map of a geographical area.
US08311542B2
The invention relates to a method in a second communication node within a communications network supporting a handover process of a first communication device from a first cell in the communications network to a second cell of the second communication node in the communications network. The second communication node determines (12) that a handover is to be performed of the first communication device from the first cell to the second cell. The second communication node then estimates (T4) an offered bit rate for the communication device within the second cell of the second communication node based on at least one parameter of the second cell. The offered bit rate is then transmitted (T6) in a message to the first communication device from the second communication node.
US08311540B2
A wireless communication terminal includes a first detecting section for detecting whether or not a reception signal level indicating a level of a received signal from a base station currently in connection as the first base station reduces to be equal to or lower than a first threshold level, a second detecting section for detecting whether or not a communication situation of a communication application program currently in communication is a situation suitable for handover, a third detecting section for detecting whether or not a predetermined handover forcedly performing condition is established, a determining section for determining whether or not the handover control is necessary, based on detection results of the first to third detecting section, and a communication control section for performing a handover control to switch from the first base station to a second base station when the switching to the handover control is necessary.
US08311534B2
A method of providing telecommunication services in next generation networks involves at least one landline terminal (3). The terminal (3) has a home network (1) and is capable of registering via another network (2) so as to be used in the other network while charging telecommunication costs to the home network. Advantageously, the home network (1) is a private network, for example a next generation corporate network, while the other network (2) is a public network. An interface (4) between the home network (1) and the other network (2) may be constituted by a network-network interface.
US08311528B2
Systems and methods are provided for connecting a caller to an alternate telephone number, such as 911, when a call to a private response center does not result in immediate assistance. In one example, when the call to the private response center does not connect, the communications device used to make the call may prompt the user to indicate that the call relates to an emergency, and the communications device may call the emergency services telephone number. Failure to connect may result when the call does not connect to a receiving party, or upon failure to timely reach a customer service representative. The communications device may prompt the user to indicate whether an alternate telephone number should be called.
US08311521B1
Methods are disclosed for managing notifications sent from various applications accessible by a mobile device. Notifications, representing an occurrence of an event, are received at a notification manager from applications. It is determined that the mobile device is registered with the network. A first set of applications to which the mobile device is currently subscribed and a first set of notifications from the applications are identified. A notification message that includes the first set of notifications is communicated to the mobile device.
US08311518B2
A method and system allow a mobile device user to automatically execute a service application to provide a requested service. The user may enter a USSD code or initiate a voice call to a special number. The wireless network recognizes the user's act as a request for a specific service and notifies the service provider. The service provider sends an activation command to the mobile device and may also initiate installing the service application.
US08311507B2
Exemplary embodiments are provided of a telematics system for a vehicle with a main power supply. The telematics system includes a secondary power supply and a telematics unit that provides vehicle information. The telematics unit includes a communication device that selectively provides two-way communication between the telematics unit and an external device. The telematics system further includes a power management system that selectively causes the telematics unit to be powered by at least one of the main power supply and the secondary power supply. Further, the system includes a controller that controls the power management system such that the telematics unit is powered by the secondary power supply for communication between the telematics unit and the external device when the telematics unit is electrically disconnected from the main power supply.
US08311506B2
An radio frequency identification (RFID) receiver front end includes an antenna module coupled to generate a plurality of millimeter wave RFID signals from a remote RFID device. A plurality of a phase adjusters generate a plurality of phase adjusted signals from the plurality of millimeter wave RFID signals, based on a plurality of control signals. A combining module combines the plurality of phase adjusted signals to generate a received signal. A signal strength module generates a signal strength of the received signal. A control module generates the plurality of control signals to reduce the signal strength of the received signal.
US08311503B2
Embodiments and methods and means for filtering radio frequencies (RF) via coaxial cables with a computer system are provided. Such embodiments generally include modifying an RF coaxial cables communicatively coupling an antenna to a wireless radio module within a mobile computing device allow an RF signal within certain frequency band(s) to pass with minimal attenuation while other frequencies, the RF signal is either reflected or attenuated. Modifying the RF coaxial cable entails inserting sections of varied impedance into the uniform impedance of the RF coaxial cable by altering the mechanical structure of the RF coaxial cable.
US08311498B2
A communication device includes an RF transceiver for communicating first data with at least one of a plurality of remote communication devices via a first protocol and a first frequency band. A millimeter wave transceiver communicates second data with at least one of the plurality of remote communication devices via a second protocol and a second frequency band. A communication control module coordinates the communication of the first data and the second data with the at least one of the plurality of remote communication devices and for establishing a mesh network between the communication device and the plurality of remote communication devices.
US08311483B2
User equipment comprising a receiver obtains information about a set of channels to be sensed in a sensing process, wherein each channel is associated with a respective one of a number of radio frequencies. The receiver obtains a radio frequency signal by simultaneously sensing two or more of the channels included in the set of channels. A total power level of the sensed two or more channels is measured, and a comparison result is generated by comparing the total power level of the sensed two or more channels with a predetermined power level. The user equipment is controlled based on the comparison result. For example, if the total power level is below a threshold, then the sensed channels can be considered to not be in use by external transmission equipment.
US08311475B1
A portable MP3 player, which includes radio capability therein. The device includes a radio part which enables receiving radio, either over the airwaves, or via a network. The radio information can be time shared for later use, and sequences within the radio information can be identified for storage within the memory. The memory can store compressed information, such as MP3 information, indicative of songs which are stored. The memory can also store information that is received over the radio.
US08311474B2
A system for charging one or more learning session to one or more student accounts comprises an online learning system having one or more nodes that creates one or more online learning sessions over one or more communications channels between one or more students and corresponding teachers. An enrollment node receives student enrollment information. A scheduling node schedules the online learning session. A database that stores information relating to one or more charge criterion information for charging the one or more learning sessions to the one or more student accounts based on communications channel activity. An activity node receives communications channel activity information associated with one or more learning sessions, and an accounting node associates a charge information for a learning session to the student account based on the channel activity information and one or more charge criterion information. The charge information for the learning session is associated with the student account based on a determination of whether one or more communications channel activity associated with the learning session satisfy the one or more charge criterion.
US08311466B2
An image forming apparatus including an image carrier that carries an image, a transfer roller that abuts on the image carrier and has a grooved portion in an axial direction, an abutting member that is arranged in an axial end side of the transfer roller and includes a first circumference portion having a first distance from a rotation center of the transfer roller and a second circumference portion having a second distance which is shorter than the first distance, and a support member that abuts the abutting member.
US08311464B2
An image forming apparatus includes a direct transfer control unit that controls a direct transfer unit and a first image forming unit so as to directly transfer an image onto a transfer sheet, an indirect transfer control unit that controls an intermediate transfer unit and a second image forming unit so as to transfer images onto the intermediate transfer unit, a secondary transfer control unit that controls contact/separation between the direct transfer unit and the intermediate transfer unit, a first alignment control unit that corrects an amount of misalignment among the images formed on the intermediate transfer unit, thereby performing a first alignment control process, and a second alignment control unit that corrects an amount of misalignment of an image directly transferred onto the transfer sheet with respect to the image on which the first alignment control process has been performed, thereby performing a second alignment control process.
US08311461B2
An image forming apparatus, a developing device and a developer cartridge are disclosed. The developer cartridge includes a cartridge housing and a developer delivery unit to deliver a developer received in the cartridge housing. The developer delivery unit includes a delivery member and a contact portion to come into contact with the delivery member. The contact between the contact portion and the delivery member form a length longer than a straight line connecting one end of the contact portion to the other end.
US08311457B2
A constant velocity joint includes a first rotation body and a second rotation body. The first rotation body includes a cup unit, a shaft, and ribs that project from the cup unit and connect the cup unit to the shaft. One of the first rotation body and the second rotation body transmits a rotational driving force to other one of the first rotation body and the second rotation body through balls. The first rotation body is so formed that the cup unit and the shaft are formed into one piece using resin material. Moreover, the rib is so formed into one piece with the cup unit and the shaft using resin material.
US08311452B2
A transfer device is provided and includes: a rotatable transfer roller; and a controller controls a balance of a pressure contact force exerted on the transfer roller in the axial direction, the controller including: a bearing member; a movable holding section that holds the bearing member; and a stationary holding section that holds the movable holding section. The movable holding section and the stationary holding section oppose each other by way of opposed surfaces, an adjustment unit is inserted into one of the opposed surfaces, and the movable holding section and the stationary holding section are arranged in such a manner that an extremity of the adjustment unit contacts the other of the opposed surfaces.
US08311449B2
A process cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus, the process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a developer carrying member for carrying a developer to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member; a development frame member rotatably supporting first and second longitudinal ends of the developer carrying member; a photosensitive member frame member rotatably supporting the electrophotographic photosensitive member at the first end and swingably supporting the development frame member at the first end; and a supporting member mounted to the photosensitive member frame member at the second end, the supporting member rotatably supporting the electrophotographic photosensitive member at the second end and swingably supporting the development frame member at the second end.
US08311444B2
A cleaning device may include a cleaning member, a toner recovery roller, a scraping member, and a supporting member. The cleaning member may rotate so as to remove residual toner from an intermediate transfer belt looped between multiple rollers. In some embodiments, a toner recovery roller may electrically recover the toner from the cleaning member. Some embodiments include a scraping member in contact with the cleaning member at a downstream side, in a rotating direction of the cleaning member, relative to a cleaning nip section where the intermediate transfer belt and the cleaning member are in contact with each other and at an upstream side, in the rotating direction of the cleaning member, relative to a recovery nip section where the cleaning member and the toner recovery roller are in contact with each other. The supporting member may be configured to fix a relative position between the toner recovery roller and the cleaning member and support the scraping member.
US08311442B2
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; toner image forming means for forming a toner image on the image bearing member; a transfer member for transferring the toner image from the image bearing member onto a recording material; an executing portion for executing a first cleaning mode in which the transfer member is cleaned by being supplied with a voltage of an identical polarity to a normal charge polarity of toner during non-image formation and executing a second cleaning mode in which the transfer member is cleaned by being supplied with a voltage of an opposite polarity to the normal charge polarity of the toner during the non-image formation; and a control portion for changing a ratio between a first cleaning mode execution period and a second cleaning mode execution period depending on an operation environment of the image forming apparatus.
US08311437B2
A color multifunction printer as one example of an image forming apparatus includes a plurality of cartridges each contains a photoconductor; a support frame configured to support the cartridges arranged in tandem, the support frame being allowed to be pulled out horizontally from a casing of the apparatus to a position in which each of the cartridges is detachable from the support frame; and a plurality of exposure units mounted to the support frame, wherein each of the exposure units is disposed opposite to the corresponding photoconductor and is configured to expose the photoconductor to light, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. Each of the cartridges is configured to be detachable in such a direction that the photoconductor in the cartridge moves away from the corresponding exposure unit upon detachment.
US08311434B2
Toner is removed, after a selected time interval, from a skive mount in a dry electrophotographic printer. An end block is disposed at one end of the rotatable development member, and a skive mount disposed adjacent to the development member connects a skive to the end block. A timing device measures a time interval of printer operation. At the selected time interval, a controller causes a backup bar to lift away from the photoreceptor, then, after a selected time delay, causes the backup bar to make physical contact with at least one point on the end block, so that the backup bar applies a selected force to the end block to cause toner on the skive mount to be removed.
US08311432B2
An image forming apparatus prevents the occurrence of the combinations of output wave numbers which are ineffective to suppress flicker in a case where a set heater temperature is significantly reduced. If the set temperature is significantly reduced from 200° C. to 130° C., for example, so that the reduced temperature does not require current to be applied to a ceramic heater, which can occur at the time of starting reverse conveyance of the recording sheet in the double-faced printing mode, temperature control is temporarily suspended and the output wave number of power controlled by a controller is varied to 0 waves based on the previously set combinations of 12, 10, 4 and 0 waves, for example, if the output wave number is varied from 12.
US08311415B2
A frequency up-conversion system includes an optical splitter, an optical modulator, an optical phase-shifter, and an optical coupler. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the optical splitter is configured to split an optical wave into a first optical wave and a second optical wave, the optical modulator is configured to modulate the first optical wave to form a modulation wave, the optical phase-shifter is configured to shift the phase of the second optical wave by a predetermined phase to form a shifting wave, and the optical coupler is configured to couple the modulation wave and the shifting wave. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the optical modulator and the optical phase-shifter are connected in a parallel manner.
US08311406B2
A focusing device includes a first focus-position determining unit configured to determine a focus position based on a change in a radio-frequency component in an image signal obtained with movement of a focusing lens, a second focus-position determining unit configured to determine a focus position by using a different process from a process performed by the first focus-position determining unit, a mode setting unit configured to select at least a first mode which uses a result with the first focusing-position determining unit together with the second focusing-position determining unit or a second mode which uses a result with the first focus-position determining unit without the second focus-position determining unit, and a control unit configured to control driving of the focusing lens according to selection by the mode setting unit such that the focusing lens is driven in the first mode at a higher speed than in the second mode.
US08311402B2
A heater system is provided that includes a plurality of carrier members, each carrier member defining an inner periphery surface, an outer receiving portion, and connecting portions. A plurality of resistive heating elements are disposed within the outer receiving portions of the carrier members, and end fittings are disposed proximate the carrier members and the resistive heating elements. A cover is disposed around the carrier members and the resistive heating elements, and the inner periphery surfaces of the carrier members are adapted to transfer heat to a target and the connecting portions are adapted to be secured to at least one of an adjacent carrier member and a heating target. In one form, at least one set of a carrier member and a resistive heating element are resiliently movable such that the heater system provides tactile feedback to an installer that the heater system is properly installed around a target.
US08311396B2
In a DVD video playback system adapted to transmit data in the form of a PS (program stream) from a source device to each sink device, a navigation manager of the source device stores system parameters, which are necessary for each sink device to decode the PS, in an unused area of a NV_PACK received from a PS demultiplexer and transmits it to a PS multiplexer. The navigation manager of the source device also produces an ORG_PACK in which navigation data necessary for each sink device to decode the PS, and transmits it to the PS multiplexer. The PS multiplexer produces a PS by multiplexing ORG_PACK and NV_PACK received from the navigation manager, V_PACK received from a video transcoder, and A_PACK and SP_PACK received from the PS demultiplexer, and the PS multiplexer transmits the resultant PS to each sink device via an in-vehicle LAN interface.
US08311393B2
The motion picture image print apparatus extracts a plurality of frames from recorded motion picture data for printing, the apparatus enabling the range of loaded images to be determined from images reproduced on a screen, not from the results of measurement of time, thus allowing a desired print to be more easily obtained. An operator reads motion picture image data recorded on a recording medium. The operator then sets a layout of a print output and the number of image frames in the print output to display a list of motion picture image files on a list screen, thereby selecting motion picture image file to be printed. The operator then depresses a motion picture control button to reproduce the selected motion picture image file in the check area. While viewing the reproduced images, the operator sets at least either a print starting image or a print ending image by depressing a “From” button or a “To” button, respectively. Thus, images corresponding to a predetermined number of frames are extracted from the set range of images at equal intervals. The extracted images are edited so as to be arranged in the set layout and are then printed.
US08311384B2
An image processing method receives a sequence of image frames and generates a computer generated object. The method combines the object with the sequence of frames to generate a sequence of augmented reality images. The method divides each received image frame into a respective array of image motion cells, detects inter-image motion in successive image frames for each motion cell, and generates a motion object comprising one or more image motion cells. The image motion cells in the motion object correspond to a set of image motion cells detected as comprising inter-image motion over a threshold number of image frames. The method detects relative distance between the object and the motion object within the augmented reality images, and generates a point of interest within a current image frame so the object may appear to interact with an image region corresponding to an image motion cell at the point of interest.
US08311383B2
Disclosed herein is a receiving apparatus for sending received contents to a recording apparatus and for getting the recording apparatus to record the contents in accordance with preset recording reservations, the receiving apparatus including: a recording ready time information acquisition section configured to acquire from the recording apparatus information about a recording ready time; a continuous recording determination section configured to determine whether two chronologically successive broadcast contents are reserved for recording based on the preset recording reservations; and an end time setting section configured such that if the two chronologically successive broadcast contents are found reserved for recording, then the end time setting section sets the time at which to end processing for recording the earlier of the two contents based on a broadcast start time of the latter of the two contents and on the acquired information about the recording ready time.
US08311374B2
An integrated photonic beam steering device includes a planar photonic substrate. An input waveguide is configured to accept an electromagnetic energy from a source of electromagnetic energy radiation. A first splitter is configured to split the electromagnetic radiation into one or more paths. One or more phased array rows are optically coupled to each of the one or more paths. Each phased array row includes a row splitter configured to split the each of the one or more paths into two or more row paths. Two or more phase modulators are each optically coupled respectively to each of the two or more row paths. Two or more output couplers are optically coupled respectively to each phase modulator output of the two or more phase modulators. The two or more output couplers are configured to radiate a steered photonic beam away from the integrated photonic beam steering device.
US08311372B2
Liquid crystal waveguides for dynamically controlling the refraction of light. Generally, liquid crystal materials may be disposed within a waveguide in a cladding proximate or adjacent to a core layer of the waveguide. In one example, portions of the liquid crystal material can be induced to form refractive or lens shapes in the cladding that interact with a portion (e.g. evanescent) of light in the waveguide so as to permit electronic control of the refraction/bending, focusing, or defocusing of light as it travels through the waveguide. In one example, a waveguide may be formed using one or more patterned or shaped electrodes that induce formation of such refractive or lens shapes of liquid crystal material, or alternatively, an alignment layer may have one or more regions that define such refractive or lens shapes to induce formation of refractive or lens shapes of the liquid crystal material. In another example, such refractive or lens shapes of liquid crystal material may be formed by patterning or shaping a cladding to define a region or cavity to contain liquid crystal material in which the liquid crystal materials may interact with the evanescent light.
US08311371B2
Herein disclosed is an optical modulation device, comprising: a substrate 1 having a polarization non-reversal region 17a and a polarization reversal region 17b; an optical waveguide 18 including first and second branched optical waveguide portions 18a, 18b; and a traveling waveguide including a center electrode 19a and a ground electrode 19b, 19c to have an electric signal applied thereto, said traveling waveguide and said first and second branched optical waveguide portions collectively forming an interaction portion to have said incident light interacted with said electric signal, said interaction portion being constituted by a first interaction sub-portion 20a and a second interaction sub-portion 20b, said first and second interaction sub-portions being respectively positioned in regions of said substrate having opposite polarization orientations with each other, in which said center electrode is positioned in face to face relationship with one of said first and second branched optical waveguide portions at said first and second interaction sub-portion to ensure that said incident light in said first and second branched optical waveguide portions are phase modulated, and in which said interaction portion includes an optical waveguide shift sub-portion sandwiched between said first and second interaction sub-portions to have positions of said first and second branched optical waveguide portions shifted therein in a transverse direction, ensuring that positions of said first and second optical waveguides relative to said center and ground electrodes are interchanged between said first and second interaction sub-portions.
US08311362B2
Sharpness is calculated in all of focus-bracketed images on a pixel basis. Then, a first reference value indicating an image of the plurality of images to which a pixel whose sharpness is the highest among the pixels located on the identical positions in the plurality of images belongs is obtained on each pixel of the images, and a second reference value is calculated based on the first reference value on each pixel by spatially smoothing the first reference value on each pixel based on the first reference values on adjacent pixels. The focus-bracketed images are processed based on the second reference values to generate an omni-focus image or a blur-enhanced image. Accordingly, it is possible to judge a region having high contrast as an in-focus region and acquire a synthesized image having smooth gradation.
US08311357B2
A visual processing device, display device, visual processing method, program, and integrated circuit that change a strength of visual processing of an image in real-time. A spatial processing portion (2) creates an unsharp signal US from an input signal IS. A target level setting portion (4) sets a predetermined target level value L for setting a range according to which the strength of the visual processing is adjusted. An effect adjustment portion (5) creates a synthesized signal MUS by synthesizing the predetermined target level value L and the unsharp signal US in accordance with an effect adjustment signal MOD that has been set externally. A visual processing portion (3) outputs an output signal OS in accordance with the input signal IS and the synthesized signal MUS, making it possible to change the strength of the visual processing.
US08311356B2
An image processing apparatus includes a level-value-limit smoothed-image creating unit, a level-value combining unit, and a smoothed-image creating unit. The level-value-limit smoothed-image creating unit calculates, from the pixels in a received input image within a filter size of the low-pass filters each having different level value ranges, an average value of the pixels in the level value ranges, and creates level-value-limit smoothed images. The level-value combining unit creates a level-value combined image by selecting and combining one or more of the level-value-limit smoothed images. The smoothed-image creating unit determines, based on image information that is different from image information used by the level-value-limit smoothed-image creating unit, a combining ratio of the input image to the level-value combined image and creates a smoothed image by combining the input image and the level-value combined image using the determined combining ratio.
US08311338B2
In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method is provided for processing an image. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of providing an image file depicting an image, in a computer memory, assembling a feature vector for the image file, the feature vector containing information regarding a likelihood that a selected pair of regions of the image file are of a same intrinsic characteristic, providing a classifier derived from a computer learning technique, computing a classification score for the selected pair of regions of the image file, as a function of the feature vector and the classifier and classifying the regions as being of the same intrinsic characteristic, as a function of the classification score.
US08311332B2
An image processing system and a mask preparation method able to prepare a mask by simple processing and a program executed in such an image processing system are provided. To extract the edges of the image, strings of pixels corresponding to the contours of an object are extracted from the edge extracted image, and border lines for the masking are acquired based on an approximation line thereof.
US08311327B2
The subject application is directed to a system and method for detecting backlit images. Encoded color image data is first received into a computer having a processor and associated data storage. Histogram data is then calculated from the received encoded color image data, and a mid-tone range in normalized histogram data is then detected. A zone of normalized pixel counts within the mid-tone range is then selected. Data representing an entry point and an exit point of the normalized histogram data relative to the selected zone is then generated. A plateau area is detected in the histogram data in the selected zone between the entry point and the exit point. Thereafter, a backlit image detection signal is generated indicating whether a backlit image portion is present in the color image data according to the plateau detection.
US08311326B2
A histogram preparer reads image data scanned from an original sheet by the line, preparing a histogram of pixel numbers of respective background densities of a read line, a background density estimator estimates a background density of the read line as a density at a local maximal value in view of a highlight end of the histogram, a background removal reference value setter sets up a background removal reference value as a reference margin based on a pixel number normalized on the estimated background density, a background removal threshold determiner increments the estimated background density by the background removal reference value to set a provisional background removal threshold of the read line, and determines a background removal threshold of the read line as a weighting combination of the provisional background removal threshold and a background removal threshold of a previous line, and a background remover removes a background of the read line based on the determined background removal threshold.
US08311325B2
The present invention discloses a method for automatically detecting and correcting red eye in a photo taking process. The method utilizes a preview function which all of the current digital cameras have. When flash light is needed during the photo taking process, an image which is closest to the shutter pressing time is read from a preview image sequence and this image is stored. Then, red eye detection is performed according to various related information (e.g., chroma information) of this image and the image actually taken. A correction process is conducted on the detected red eye area. The corrected image is stored as a resulting image in a storage unit in the camera. Therefore, the red eye is removed rapidly and accurately during a single normal exposure process and the image without red eye is thus obtained.
US08311324B2
Spectral gamut mapping is performed for reproducing an image comprising a plurality of pixels using a device. Sample data is generated to span a spectral gamut of the device, the sample data is divided into plural subdivisions based on colorimetry of the sample data, a local interim connection space (ICS) is constructed for each of the plural subdivisions, and a sub-gamut is constructed corresponding to each of the local ICS's. For each of the plurality of pixels, a sub-gamut which corresponds to the pixel is selected from the constructed sub-gamuts, and spectral gamut mapping is performed for the pixel using the selected sub-gamut in the local ICS.
US08311319B2
An Active Appearance Model, AAM, uses an L1 minimization-based approach to aligning an input test image. In each iterative application of its statistical model fitting function, a shape parameter coefficient p and an appearance parameter coefficient λ within the statistical model fitting function are updated by L1 minimization. The AAM further includes a canonical classifier to determine if an aligned image is a true example of the class of object being sought before the AAM is permitted to output its aligned image.
US08311318B2
The present invention provides a system for generating images of multi-views. The system includes a processing unit; an image range calculating module coupled to the processing unit to calculate the ranges of a background image and a main body image of a 2D original image of an article; a depth model generating module coupled to the processing unit to generate a depth model according to an equation; an image cutting module coupled to the processing unit to cut the 2D original image of the article or the depth model to generate a cut 2D image of the article or a depth model with a main body image outline; a pixel shifting module coupled to the processing unit to shift every pixel in the main body image of the 2D original image of the article according to the depth model with the main body image outline to obtain shifted main body images of multi-views; and an image synthesizing module coupled to the processing unit to synthesize the shifted main body images of multi-views and background figures of multi-views to obtain final images of multi-views for 3D image reconstruction.
US08311298B2
The present invention provides a method and system for processing visual images of a digestive system. The method comprises: detecting visual images of a digestive system; storing the detected visual images; analyzing the stored visual images to identify corresponding event frames; and displaying the identified event frames quantitatively with respect to at least one reference. With the method and system, visual images of a digestive system can be processed more accurately, efficiently and conveniently for diagnostic purposes.
US08311293B2
An image processing apparatus includes: a subject information storage unit configured to store feature quantities and attributes relating to a plurality of subjects; a subject detecting unit configured to detect a subject included in an image; an attribute determining unit configured to determine the attributes of the detected subject; a feature quantity extracting unit configured to extract a feature quantity relating to the detected subject; and a similarity calculating unit configured to select one or a plurality of feature quantities from feature quantities relating to a plurality of subjects stored in the subject information storage unit based on the determined attributes to calculate similarity between a subject according to the selected feature quantities, and the detected subject, based on the selected feature quantities and the extracted feature quantity.
US08311289B2
A similarity search may be performed on the image of a person, using visual characteristics and information that is known about the person. The search identifies images of other persons that are similar in appearance to the person in the image.
US08311288B2
A printmaking device, a method, and a system for securely handling a set of documents are provided herein. The printmaking device includes a printing module capable of printing the set of documents, and a processor operatively connected to the printing module to facilitate providing the set of documents to said printing module. The processor is configured to receive an initial biometric sample; encrypt a set of documents using said initial biometric sample; transmit the set of documents to another device; and delete said initial biometric sample from the device after the set of documents are encrypted.
US08311282B2
An image processing apparatus includes: a motion prediction processing unit detecting an inter-image motion between a standard image and a reference image; a motion compensation processing unit generating a motion-compensated image by moving the reference image so as to be aligned with the standard image in a pixel position; an addition processing unit generating a noise-reduced image from which noise of the standard image is reduced; and an addition determination unit calculating an addition weight of the motion-compensated image. The addition determination unit includes a first motion region detection unit calculating a motion region determination value, a second motion region detection unit calculating a motion region determination value, a control map generation unit selecting and outputting one of two motion region determination values, a noise determination table generation unit generating or correcting a noise determination table, and an addition determination processing execution unit determining the addition weight.
US08311262B2
A ceiling mount bracket for a loudspeaker. The ceiling mount bracket includes a mounting plate; an assembly to orient the loudspeaker; an assembly to receive audio signals and to provide the audio signals to the speaker; and a wiring block to connect to signal transmission wires. The wiring block includes a first terminal designated for 70/100 volt operation; a second terminal designated for 8 ohm operation; an electrically conductive path from the first terminal to a first pin of the receptacle; and an electrically conductive path from the second terminal to a second pin for the receptacle. The ceiling mount bracket also includes a mounting position for a ceramic connector and thermal fuse. The mounting position includes a threaded hole to accommodate a corresponding threaded extension of the ceramic connector and thermal fuse. The ceiling mount bracket also includes a cover enclosing more than 200 cubic centimeters.
US08311261B2
A loudspeaker system comprises a plurality of speaker transducer units divided among and arrayed in at least three linear arrays. The linear arrays are disposed in a like plurality of elongated rectangular baffles. The elongated rectangular baffles are disposed in side by side relationship along the respective elongated sides of the baffles in the form of a tube. The speaker transducer units are aligned in a plurality of ranks. The ends of the tube are closed with the result that one side of speaker transducers radiates into the interior of the enclosure and the other side radiates into the environment. The speaker transducers of each rank are spaced no further from one another than one quarter wavelength at a selected frequency.
US08311252B2
The present invention generally relates to a hearing device with a main housing (10) to be worn behind the ear, a secondary housing (20) separated thereof and to be arranged partly or completely within the ear and a speaker, and a connecting element (30) being arranged between the main housing (10). The secondary housing (20), includes at least an electrical and/or an acoustical connection between the speaker and the main housing (10). According to the present invention, at least one damping element (44) is arranged between the main housing (10) and the secondary housing (20). The damping element (44) reduces or prevents the transfer of vibrations between the microphone (15) and the speaker.
US08311246B2
A microphone includes: a needle-like electrode; an opposite electrode facing the needle-like electrode; a discharge section formed between the needle-like electrode and the opposite electrode; a high-frequency oscillating circuit including the discharge section and producing a high-frequency discharge at the discharge section; a sound wave introduction section through which a sound wave is introduced to the discharge section; and a modulated signal extracting unit that extracts a signal modulated, according to the sound wave oscillated by the high-frequency oscillating circuit and introduced to the discharge section. The high-frequency discharge is produced at the discharge section as the high-frequency oscillating circuit performs high-frequency oscillation with the discharge section between the needle-like electrode and the opposite electrode as a return path, and a frequency modulation is performed as an equivalent impedance of the discharge section changes according to the sound wave.
US08311245B2
A thermoacoustic module includes a substrate, at least one first electrode, at least one second electrode, a sound wave generator, and at least one spacer. The sound wave generator electrically connect to, span between the at least one first electrode and the at least one second electrode. The at least one first electrode and the at least one second electrode are located on the substrate and provide support to the sound wave generator. The at least one spacer is located on the substrate, between the substrate and the sound wave generator. The at least one spacer supports the sound wave generator. An interval is defined between the sound wave generator and the substrate.
US08311244B2
A speaker includes a base and a thermoacoustic device. The base includes a first connector, a second connector for receiving external signals, a first engaging member, and an amplifier circuit device electrically connecting to the first connector and the second connector. The thermoacoustic device includes a second engaging member and a fourth connector. The thermoacoustic device is detachably installed on the base by a detachable engagement between the first engaging member and the second engaging member and a fourth connector corresponds to the first connector of the base.
US08311243B2
An energy-efficient consumer device audio power output stage provides improved battery life and reduced power dissipation. A power supply having a selectable operating mode supplies the power supply rails to the power amplified output stage. The operating mode is controlled in conformity with the audio signal level, which may be determined from a volume control setting of the device and/or from a signal level detector that determines the amplitude of the signal being amplified. The power supply may be a charge pump in which the operating mode uses a capacitive divider to provide for selection of a power supply output voltage that is a rational fraction of the power supply output voltage in a full-voltage operating mode.
US08311231B2
An automated sound system design device and a method for operating it. A computer is constructed and arranged to accept input of facility information signals and sound system preference signals requirements, and using a previously stored assemblage of component performance capability data signals to generate a sound system output signal configuration, representative of a desired sound system.
US08311230B2
A speaker system and method, in which the intelligibility of reproduced speech or music sound, derived from an audio program signal, is enhanced by means of at least one of a first and second transfer function of a signal process applied to the audio program signal. The first transfer function incrementally varies the volume of the reproduced sound directly as a function of the volume of ambient noise. The second transfer function incrementally or continuously varies the high frequency response of the reproduced sound inversely as a function of the volume of the ambient noise. The ambient noise can be measured by a microphone, for example, located on or near the speaker system and can also be electronically averaged over a predetermined time period. The signal process provides an audio output signal that is applied to at least one amplifier and at least one speaker.
US08311227B2
A method for processing an audio signal, comprising: receiving a downmix signal in time domain; if the downmix signal corresponds to a mono signal, bypassing the downmix signal; if the number of channel of the downmix signal corresponds to at least two, decomposing the downmix signal into a subband signal, and processing the subband signal using a downmix processing information, wherein the downmix processing information is estimated based on an object information and a mix information is disclosed.
US08311226B2
A method for assigning audio channels of audio data content to speakers, each of which is associated with a different one of N speaker nodes of a wireless network. The method is performed by a manager node of the wireless network. The method includes, for each of the N speaker nodes, obtaining a piece of orientation information for each of N−1 other speaker nodes different from the given speaker node, regarding an orientation of a reception antenna of the given speaker node when receiving data sent by each of the N−1 other speaker nodes through the wireless network. The method also includes assigning a different one of the audio channels to a different one of the speaker nodes, as a function of N−1 pieces of orientation information obtained for each of the N speaker nodes.
US08311225B2
A solution for scalable key archival includes, at a network device, determining whether a key management device that is not part of a current key management device configuration has been newly added to a network. The method also includes, if the key management device has been newly added to the network, determining whether the network device has a first application program interface (API) or device driver for communicating with the key management device. The method also includes, if the network device does not have the first API, obtaining the API. The method also includes creating a binding between a virtual device driver of the network device and the key management device via the first API, the network device having a second API for communications between the virtual device driver and a security processor of the network device. The security processor communicates with the key management device using the second API.
US08311213B2
Embodiments of the invention discloses a system and a method for determining a result of applying a function to signals including a first signal and a second signal, wherein the function is a polynomial function of the signals such that a monomial in the function includes the first signal having a power less than or equal to a first maximum power, and wherein the first signal is partitioned into a first subsignal and a second subsignal, comprising a processor for performing steps of the method, comprising the steps of acquiring a second signal and a second subsignal; acquiring a set of encrypted powers of the first subsignal, wherein the set of encrypted powers of the first subsignal includes homomorphically encrypted powers of the first subsignal; and determining an encrypted result of the function based on a second subsignal, the set of encrypted powers of the first subsignal, and the second signal.
US08311207B2
A distributed call control system is provided that can allot bandwidth amongst several call controllers. The distributed call control system includes one or more servers that execute two or more instances of call processing servers that administer call control. The call processing servers form a cluster or group. The cluster members negotiate and determine bandwidth allocation amongst the members. If a member requires more bandwidth, the call processing server, of that member, assesses its own needs and requests more bandwidth from other members. The negotiation and requests for bandwidth are accomplished with a set of dynamic and static bandwidth data that regiment the control of the bandwidth.
US08311204B2
In an embodiment, call information is received indicating that a called party, responsive to receiving a call from a calling party, desires to record a complaint against the calling party relating to receipt of the call. A call complaint based on the call information is added to a complaint database. Call rejection information based on the call information is forwarded to a call rejection database configured to indicate blocking of further calls from the calling party to the called party. The complaint information may be forwarded to the complaint database through a number of different communications paths. In another embodiment, a request for a change in status of an identifier entry on a user call rejection list is received. The status of the identifier entry on the user call rejection list is changed based on a comparison of the current status of the identifier entry with the request. The identifier entry and corresponding status are sent to a gateway for call rejection treatment based on the identifier entry and status.
US08311198B2
A method for processing telephone call includes: access number configuration information corresponding to a called number is stored in an access number configuration equipment in a communication system; the calling party requests for the pre-call registration in the communication system, the communication system adds a corresponding pre-call registration record into a pre-call registration list according to the access number configuration information; the calling party initiates the call to the called party, after the communication system receives the call request of the calling party and before calling the called party, the communication system determines whether the calling party has been registered in the pre-call registration list, if the calling party has been registered, connects the call request and initiates the call to the called party; otherwise, refuses to initiate the call to the called party. In the method for processing telephone call according to the present invention, it is ensured that a called party would not miss important incoming calls when he does not want to be disturbed. A calling party can request for the pre-call registration by means of short message or Internet so as to call the called party.
US08311192B2
There is provided a communication device, comprising: a display screen; a communication unit; an image data storage unit storing of image data; a registration information storage unit to store registration information and area information in such a manner that the area information is associated with the registration information; and an output control unit to display an image corresponding to image data associated with registration information corresponding to a source which transmitted a communication request such that an area corresponding to the source is distinguished from other areas.
US08311188B2
In one embodiment, a graphics user interface is provided. The graphics user interface includes a plurality of graphical representations. Each of the plurality of graphical representations identifies a separate voice message. A summary of content of each of the separate voice messages is displayed for each of the plurality of graphical representations, respectively. Each of the plurality of graphical representations is configured to be selected for playback of the respective voice message.
US08311180B2
A fuel assembly, comprising: a plurality of first fuel rods including uranium and not including a burnable poison; a plurality of second fuel rods including said uranium and said burnable poison; and a water rod; wherein said second fuel rods are placed at corners of an outermost layer of a fuel rod array; other second fuel rods are placed, in said outermost layer, adjacent to said second fuel rods placed at said corners; and other second fuel rods are placed adjacent to said water rod.
US08311166B2
The disclosure relates to an active antenna array for a mobile communication system which comprises a plurality of receive paths, a sounding signal generator generating a sounding signal, and a coupler for coupling the sounding signal into at least one of a plurality of receive paths. A sounding signal extractor substantially removes the sounding signal from digitized ones of the receive signals to form a wanted signal. The disclosure also provides a method for the calibration of the receive path of the active antenna array.
US08311159B2
Techniques proposed in the present disclosure may used to update an FFT window position and perform linear phase compensation for OFDM wireless systems with up to two antennas at the receiver. Techniques presented herein may help resolve a problem of determining an optimum FFT window position under the condition that the length of channel impulse response is larger than the length of cyclic prefix.
US08311154B2
Techniques for performing joint detection with a common midamble for downlink transmission are described. In one design, a user equipment (UE) may obtain samples for a burst transmitted by a Node B on the downlink. The burst may include at least one data field and a common midamble. The UE may derive a channel impulse response estimate for each of multiple orthogonal codes based on (i) a channel impulse response estimate derived based on samples for the common midamble and (ii) a traffic-to-pilot ratio (T2P) estimated for that orthogonal code based on the samples for burst. The UE may perform joint detection, for the multiple orthogonal codes, on samples for the at least one data field based on the multiple channel impulse response estimates.
US08311152B1
An adaptive receiver comprises a receiver module that receives an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. An operating parameters module monitors at least one operating parameter of the receiver module and generates a select signal based the at least one operating parameter. An estimator module selects between first and second algorithms based on the select signal and selectively estimates a carrier frequency offset (CFO) of the OFDM signal using the one of the first and second algorithms. Alternately, an estimator module adjusts algorithm operating parameters of a first algorithm based on the select signal and selectively estimates a carrier frequency offset (CFO) of the OFDM signal using the selected algorithm operating parameters of the first algorithm.
US08311136B2
The present invention is to provide a wireless communication system that is capable of preventing occurrence of radio interference caused by radio wave used by a radio wave generator without requiring any improvement of existing wireless devices. The wireless communication system of the present invention includes: a radio wave generator (1) that uses at least a radio wave in a frequency band that overlaps a frequency band used by a wireless standard; and wireless devices (AP, STA) each of which uses a radio wave conforming to the wireless standard. The radio wave generator (1) transmits a dummy frame conforming to the wireless standard to the wireless devices near the radio wave generator (1) before generating the radio wave in the same frequency band as the frequency band used by the wireless standard. When the wireless devices (AP, STA) receive the dummy frame, the wireless devices (AP, STA) control themselves to stop using the radio wave in the frequency band that has radio interference caused by the radio wave generated from the radio wave generator (1).
US08311134B2
A method for transmitting scattered pilot signals in a multi-carrier system is disclosed. The method includes: in each time slot, in time dimension, putting each 4 OFDM symbols into a group according to the order of the OFDM symbols; in each group of OFDM symbols, in frequency dimension, selecting, for each OFDM symbol, a plurality of valid sub-carriers to transmit scattered pilots, wherein for a same OFDM symbol, between each 2 valid sub-carriers selected, there are 7 valid sub-carriers; for different OFDM symbols in a same group, the valid sub-carriers selected are interleaving in frequency domain; and transmitting scattered pilot signals on the valid sub-carriers selected. The solution helps the multi-carrier system to handle multi-path channel with large delay spread, to obtain more accurate channel estimation and to achieve better receiving performance.
US08311132B2
A technique for estimating the Doppler frequency of an input signal comprising a pilot signal. In one embodiment, the technique comprises: (a) accumulating a plurality of samples from the input signal over a specified time duration to derive a channel tap estimate; (b) obtaining a sequence of channel tap estimates by repeating step (a) until a specified number of channel tap estimates have been accumulated; (c) performing a Fourier transform of the sequence of channel tap estimates to obtain a complex sequence of values; (d) finding the smallest index value for which a power spectral distribution function of the complex sequence of values exceeds a specified threshold; and (e) obtaining an estimate of the Doppler frequency by dividing the smallest index value found in step (d) by the product of the specified number of channel tap estimates and the specified time duration.
US08311124B2
A decoding method and a decoding apparatus is provided. The decoding apparatus includes a control unit, a lookup unit, an arithmetic unit, a first switch and a second switch. The control unit receives a part of a bin string. The lookup unit finds out a flag, a length and an indicator, corresponding to the part of the bin string, from a lookup table according to the part of the bin string and a node, and judges whether the flag is equal to a predetermined value. The arithmetic unit finds out a syntax element symbol corresponding to the bin string according to a basic syntax element symbol. The first switch connects the control unit to the lookup unit or the arithmetic unit. The second switch outputs the indicator as the basic syntax element symbol to the arithmetic unit or feeds the indicator as a next node back to the lookup unit.
US08311120B2
This disclosure describes techniques for coding mode selection. In particular, an encoding device determines whether or not to code a block of pixels in a coding mode currently being considered for selection using information associated with at least one other coding mode with a different block partition. In one aspect, the encoding device uses information associated with at lest one coding mode that has block partitions that are sub-partitions of the block partitions of the coding mode currently being considered for selection. Additionally, the encoding device may use information associated with another coding mode that has the same block partitions as the coding mode currently being considered for selection or information associated with the coding mode currently being considered for selection.
US08311114B1
Systems and methods for a streamlined transcoder architecture. A transcoder system includes an encoder and a decoder. The encoder compares a decoded frame and a encoder reference frame to produce an output stream. The decoder produces the decoded frame including decoder reference frame and the encoder reference frame. The decoded frame is produced from an input stream, and the encoder reference frame is produced from the output stream of the encoder. In one embodiment, the encoder refines motion vectors, quantization, and macroblock type/mode from the input stream for reuse in the output stream. Furthermore, the decoded frames from the input stream can be modified in various ways including changing picture resolution and performing image enhancement on them before encoding.
US08311101B2
An apparatus comprising an estimation circuit, a rate control circuit, a queue circuit, and an encoder circuit. The estimation circuit may be configured to generate a size value in response to an input signal comprising (i) a plurality of frames and (ii) a plurality of embedded subtitle elements. The rate control circuit may be configured to (i) generate a control signal, (ii) pass through the plurality of frames, (iii) present a first one or more of subtitle elements for current processing in response to the size value, and (iv) present a second one or more of subtitle elements for subsequent processing. The queue circuit may be configured to (i) receive the second one or more subtitle elements, (ii) present the second one or more of subtitle elements for current processing when the control signal is in a first state and (iii) hold a second one or more subtitle elements for subsequent processing when the control signal is in a second state. The encoder circuit may be configured to generate an output signal in response to (i) the plurality of frames, (ii) the first one or more subtitle elements, and (iii) the second one or more subtitle elements.
US08311092B2
A communication device is operable to manage communication of data streams, which comprise data encoded utilizing scheme that generate plurality of frames with logical grouping and/or inter-frame dependencies, based on determination of network payload parameters that are utilized for the data transmission. Exemplary encoding schemes comprise MPEG encoding, which generates data streams comprised I-frames, P-frames and/or B-frames. Network packets that are utilized to perform data communication are generated such that packet payloads comprise only data corresponding to a single frame and/or logical grouping within the encoded data stream. Feedback from networking subsystem in the communication device may be provided during processing of the data streams to enable use of network payload parameters during encoding operations. Frame sizes may be adjusted, for example, so that a size of each frame is multiple of a size of a payload of the network packets that are utilized in data communication.
US08311091B1
Cache usage optimization is disclosed. At runtime, a number of blocks of video data to be processed as a batch is determined based at least in part on a performance metric. A group of blocks that includes the determined number of blocks is processed as a batch.
US08311081B2
Disclosed are a frame synchronization method and a receiver for a communication modem using the same. The frame synchronization method includes performing a correlation operation between a reception data stream and a preamble to output a synchronous signal; and computing correlation values between spreading codes and a reception data stream synchronized with the synchronous signal, wherein a maximum value of the computed correlation values is compared with a preset threshold value, and the outputting of the synchronous signal is performed again when the maximum value is smaller than the preset threshold value.
US08311063B2
After power is restored to a node in a utility network, that node employs one or more of its neighboring nodes as proxies to route a message to a central control facility of the utility. The message contains information about the restored node, and possibly one or more of its neighbor nodes. This information may include reboot counters, the amount of time that the node was down, momentary outages or power fluctuations, and/or the time of power restoration. The node that creates and initially sends the message can be the restored node itself, or another node that recognizes when a restored node has recently come back online.
US08311060B2
The present disclosure discloses a method for transmitting an IP message, negotiating a bandwidth saving capability and saving network bandwidth. The method for transmitting an IP message includes: sending more than one bandwidth saving capability supported by a sender to a receiver; receiving one bandwidth saving capability selected by the receiver; obtaining a type of an IP message for transmitting data according to the bandwidth saving capability selected by the receiver; and sending the IP message to the receiver after constructing the IP message, wherein the one bandwidth saving capability is selected from the more than one bandwidth saving capability and is supported by the receiver. By applying the methods provided by the present disclosure, the bandwidth and resources of an IP bearer network in a communication system are saved.
US08311059B2
An apparatus and method is disclosed for reducing the computational overhead incurred by a host processor during packet processing and improving network performance by adding additional functionality to a Network Interface Controller (NIC). Under certain circumstances the NIC coalesces multiple receive packets into a single coalesced packet stored within a coalesce buffer in host memory. The coalesced packet includes an Ethernet header, a coalesced Internet Protocol (IP) header, a coalesced Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header, and a coalesced TCP payload containing the TCP payloads of the multiple receive packets. By coalescing received packets into fewer larger coalesced packets within the host memory, the host software needed to process a receive packet will be invoked less often, meaning that less processor overhead is incurred in the host.
US08311055B2
In accordance with an embodiment, a method of operating a base station configured to operate with user devices includes scheduling transmission for the user devices. Scheduling transmission includes determining a first fading metric for at least one user device from the at least one user device to the base station, determining at a second fading metric for the at least one user device from the at least one user device to at least one other base station, and determining a priority metric for the at least one user device based on the first and second fading metrics. The priority metric is configured to assign a higher priority to a user device with a first fading metric indicating an up-fade and the second fading metric indicating a down-fade. The method further includes transmitting a transmission schedule to the at least one user device based the priority metric.
US08311047B1
Methods, systems, and devices are described for dynamically multiplexing user sessions among multiple terminal devices. A switch device establishes a session with a host device on behalf of a user logged in to a first terminal device communicatively coupled with the switch device. The switch device forwards packets received from the host device to the first terminal device, the packets associated with the session. The switch device may receive a selection of a second terminal for association with the session while maintaining the session with the host device on behalf of the user. The switch device forwards at least a portion of the packets associated with the session from the host device to the second terminal device responsive to receiving the selection of the second terminal device.
US08311040B2
A communication system and method are disclosed for transmitting packets of information in at least one first format over a communications link that utilizes packets of information in a second format. In certain embodiments, the packets of information in a first format are converted to packets of information in the second format prior to transmission via the communications link by packing and fragmenting the information in the first format in a coordinated manner. Embodiments may also utilize packing subheaders and fragmentation control bits in the packing and fragmentation processes.
US08311033B2
It is made possible for a DTMF tone signal associated with a button depressed on an IP telephone terminal to arrive at the opposite party even if an IP telephone terminal does not have a function of sending a DTMF tone signal. If a DTMF tone signal transmission request signal detection unit in a proxy detects a DTMF tone signal transmission request signal inserted in an RTP packet or a SIP packet received from an IP telephone terminal or detects a DTMF digit signal contained in the DTMF tone signal transmission request signal, a DTMF tone signal generation unit generates a DTMF tone signal associated with the DTMF digit signal. A voice encoder encodes the DTMF tone signal in the same way as a voice signal. An RTP payload replacement unit replaces a voice signal in a payload of the RTP packet with the encoded DTMF tone signal.
US08311029B2
An apparatus and method for generating a Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes reconstructing at least one MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU) according to scheduling information of the MAC layer and generating at least one MPDU data portion, adding control information to each MPDU data portion and generating at least one MPDU payload, adding a General MAC Header (GMH) to each MPDU payload and generating at least one MPDU, and transmitting the MPDU to a receive end. The control information includes at least one piece of MSDU information constituting each MPDU data portion. The GMH includes length information on the MPDU and Connection IDentifier (CID) information.
US08311027B2
In a data communication system capable of variable rate transmission, high rate packet data transmission improves utilization of the forward link and decreases the transmission delay. Data transmission on the forward link is time multiplexed and the base station transmits at the highest data rate supported by the forward link at each time slot to one mobile station. The data rate is determined by the largest C/I measurement of the forward link signals as measured at the mobile station. Upon determination of a data packet received in error, the mobile station transmits a NACK message back to the base station. The NACK message results in retransmission of the data packet received in error. The data packets can be transmitted out of sequence by the use of sequence number to identify each data unit within the data packets.
US08311026B2
In a cell having a system bandwidth wide enough to allow a RACH from a UE and a PUSCH from another UE to be frequency-division multiplexed in the same subframe, a PUCCH unattached to the PDSCH and the RACH are frequency-division multiplexed in the same subframe. In a cell having a narrow system bandwidth, a PUCCH unattached to the PUSCH and the RACH are time-division multiplexed, and the RACH is transmitted for a period for a BCH or others not required to feed ACK/NACK back to a base station apparatus. Alternatively, the PUCCH unattached to the PUSCH and the RACH are frequency-division multiplexed, and the bandwidth for the RACH may be set to be narrower than the bandwidth scheduled for the RACH in a cell having a wider system bandwidth.
US08311019B2
In adjusting transmission timings of frames sequentially transmitted from a radio network controller to a base transceiver station, the frame transmission schedule is changed in appropriate manner in response to a necessary Timing Adjustment control frame (TA). In a first period of time, which is a period of ignoring the received TA, the adjustment of the transmission timings of the frames is suspended. Also, out of the first period, the first period is varied in accordance with a variety of the delayed amount in transmission between the radio network controller and the base transceiver station. There is provided a period of ignoring a first control frame to be informed from the radio base transceiver station to the radio network controller. By setting the period to be a variable value, the synchronization control is accomplished with certainty.
US08311011B2
Disclosed is a method of performing procedures for network entry of a mobile station in a broadband wireless access system. The method includes being allocated with transmission parameters from a base station, at least one time performing a request of an uplink band for transmission of an uplink management message to the base station, and receiving a downlink message for next procedure from the base station if the uplink band is not allocated even after the lapse of a preset time period.
US08311010B1
Techniques and system designs are described for providing mobile communication systems with negotiation mechanisms to select data integrity schemes based on quality of service (QoS) schemes to enhance system performance during mobile handover processes. In one aspect, a method for providing data integrity in a wireless communication network includes providing a quality of service (QoS) profile for a service flow for a mobile station to include information of one or more QoS requirements of the service flow and a data integrity indicator to indicate information of data integrity for the service flow during a handover of the mobile station from one base station to another base station; and using the data integrity indicator to assist selection of a data integrity scheme from one or more data integrity schemes available to the service flow during the handover of the mobile station.
US08311006B2
Novel satellite communications systems, methods, and related devices are described. In some embodiments, a satellite communications system is configured to dynamically allocate bandwidth to terminals. Such a system may be made up of a satellite in communication with terminals (e.g., user terminals or gateways). The satellite or a Network Control Center (NCC) may receive and compile bandwidth request data from the terminals. In each of a series of one or more epochs, and according to the bandwidth requests, the satellite and/or NCC may allocate carrier group resources to particular traffic classes. The assignment of allocated resources to particular terminals is also described.
US08311001B2
A radio resource allocation control apparatus for controlling allocation of radio resources used in communication by a plurality of user equipment in a wireless communication system, the apparatus including a selecting unit for selecting a user equipment to which the allocation is performed by using a priority evaluation formula in which a plurality of user equipment having wireless communication characteristics that have a higher tendency of being selected as a target of the allocation vary when different coefficients are imparted. The apparatus includes a control unit for controlling the coefficients individually for the radio resources.
US08310996B2
A wireless media access control supports asynchronous communication and overlapping transmissions. Here, a wireless node may determine whether to request or schedule a transmission based on control messages it receives from neighboring nodes. In some implementations a scheduled transmission may be divided up into several segments so that a transmitting node may receive and transmit control messages between segments. In some implementations a monitoring period is defined after a scheduled transmission period to enable the transmitting node to acquire control information that may otherwise have been transmitted during the scheduled transmission period. In some implementations data and control information are transmitted over different frequency division multiplexed channels to enable concurrent transmission of the data and control information.
US08310987B2
An apparatus and method for notifying a change of system control information in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes, changing a Group Configuration Change Counter (GCCC) and upon change of a Secondary-Super Frame Header/Sub-Packet1 (S-SFH/SP1) whose transmission period is changeable within a range of one or more super frames, changing the GCCC and information representing the change of the common control message upon change of at least one common control message, and transmitting the GCCC and the information representing the change of the at least one common control message.
US08310976B2
A transmitting system, a receiving system, and a method of processing a broadcast signal are disclosed herein. The receiving system include a tuner, a demodulator, a block decoder, an RS frame decoder, and a service manager. The tuner receives a broadcast signal. Herein the broadcast signal includes mobile service data, a service map table signaling access information of the mobile service data, and a plurality of known data sequences. The mobile service data and the service map table are packetized to an RS frame. The demodulator demodulates the received broadcast signal. The block decoder turbo-decodes the mobile service data and the service map table included in the demodulated broadcast signal in block units. The RS frame decoder forming an RS frame including the turbo-decoded mobile service data and service map table, performs primary first cyclic redundancy check (CRC)-decoding and RS-decoding, and performs secondary CRC-decoding on the primarily CRC-decoded and RS-decoded RS frame. The service manager acquires source IP address information of IP datagrams of the RS frame-decoded mobile service data from the service map table.
US08310968B2
The present invention implements an intermittent reception method with which a portable station that does not receive a multicast service does not enter the Awake state unnecessarily. A packet buffer portion buffers a received packet in such a memory as RAM and recording device, and judges whether the buffered packet is a multicast packet. When the packet buffer unit judges that the packet buffered by the packet buffer unit is a multicast packet, a DTIM beacon generation unit generates a DTIM beacon in which multicast notification data indicating that the multicast packet is buffered is set. A packet transmission unit transmits the DTIM beacon generated by the DTIM beacon generation unit to wireless communication stations or the like.
US08310946B2
A method for applying a priority of a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, including receiving priority information for each of a plurality of communication frequencies over which the CSG cell can communicate; storing the priority information at a wireless transmit/receive unit; and applying the priority information to at least one of: taking measurements on a communication frequency, selecting to a CSG cell in the communication frequency, or reselecting to a CSG cell in the communication frequency.
US08310941B2
A Connection Fault Management (CFM) maintenance point and method for providing Data Driven Connection Fault Management (DDCFM) in CFM maintenance points in a communication network. A Reflection Responder, an RFM Receiver, and a Decapsulator Responder are implemented in existing CFM maintenance points. The Reflection Responder selects frames to be reflected, mirrors the selected frames if a Continuation option is set, and encapsulates the selected frames with Return Frame Message (RFM) OpCode. The RFM Receiver sends received RFM frames to an analyzer if addressed to the maintenance point and otherwise to a passive multiplexer. The Decapsulator Responder decapsulates Send Frame Message (SFM) frames and sends decapsulated frames toward the destination specified in each frame.
US08310938B2
There is provided a method and a device for detecting interfering radio technologies. The method in accordance with the invention is applicable in order to detect and identify possible interfering technologies that can be found, e.g., in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, by use of a device having a single transceiver which is adapted to employ a first wireless radio access technology. For example, a device having an IEEE 102.15.4 cordless transceiver is able to identify according to the method in accordance with the invention radio signals sent by disquieters which use other interfering technologies by use of only this transceiver. The device can for example be a sensor of a wireless body sensor network.
US08310931B2
A method for inferring network link topology includes receiving an address of a seed node in a network, initializing a set of links and monitors of the network, refining, iteratively beginning at the seed node, the set of links and monitors of the network, wherein a local topology of links is inferred from routing information of a current node and a remote topology of links is inferred from routing information of the set of monitors, wherein the set of monitors is created from the local topology of links, and outputting the topology of links including the local and remote topology of links as a topology of the network.
US08310912B2
A method for monitoring an optical disk drive performance quality by determining a laser diode quality indicator for a laser diode arranged in an optical disk drive for scanning an optical disk, includes measuring an actual value of a parameter associated with a laser diode characteristic, obtaining a reference value of the parameter, comparing the actual value with the reference value for obtaining a comparison result, and determining the laser diode quality indicator from the comparison result. The laser diode quality indicator can at least take a warning level signaling a precursor for a defective state of the optical disk drive and an error level signaling a defective state of the optical disk drive. The laser diode characteristic may be a light-current or a voltage-current relationship.
US08310909B2
An objective lens relating to the present invention includes a first optical path difference providing structure in which a first basic structure and a second basic structure are overlapped with each other. The first basic structure is a blaze-type structure which emits a Xth-order diffracted light flux, when the first light flux passes through the first basic structure, where the value of X is an odd integer. At least a part of the first basic structure arranged around an optical axis includes a step facing an opposite direction to the optical axis. The second basic structure is a blaze-type structure which emits a Lth-order diffracted light flux, when the first light flux passes through the second basic structure, where the value of L is an even integer. At least a part of the second basic structure arranged around the optical axis includes a step facing the optical axis.
US08310907B2
A recording medium having a data structure of a control information recorded on the recording medium or to be recorded/reproduced on/from the recording medium, characterized in that the control information is associated with a specific recording velocity and the control information includes write strategy information dependent on a type information indicating whether the control information is associated with CAV mode or CLV mode.
US08310898B2
According to the embodiments, a semiconductor storage device includes a memory cell array, a plurality of word lines, a plurality of bit lines, and a row selector that multiply-selects the word lines, wherein the semiconductor storage device satisfies Ncell/NWL≦(4×Cbl×VDD)/(Icell×Tcyc), where Ncell is number of memory cells connected to each of the bit lines, NWL is a unit of number of word lines multiply-selected by the row selector, Cbl is a value obtained by dividing a capacitance of the bit line by Ncell, VDD is a power supply voltage, Tcyc is an operating frequency of each of the memory cells, and Icell is a target value of current read out via each of the bit lines.
US08310889B2
A semiconductor device including a plurality of memory cells arranged in a matrix pattern, a write amplifier which writes write data to the memory cell in synchronization with a clock, a sense amplifier which reads out the write data written in the memory cell in synchronization with the clock, a plurality of column select switches which connect the plurality of the memory cells with the sense amplifier and the write amplifier, a column address decoder which makes the column select switch corresponding to one column among the plurality of the memory cells a conductive state based on a column address, a row address decoder which activates the memory cell of one row based on a row address, and a test write circuit which writes data corresponding to a logical level of a test signal to the memory cell based on a test mode signal.
US08310888B2
A repair fuse device is provided. The repair fuse device remarkably reduces the number of the enable fuse cuttings by making initial states of all repair fuse sets to a repair state, cutting an address fuse corresponding to a defective cell, and cutting an enable fuse corresponding to a defective redundancy cell.
US08310885B2
Measuring control signal timing for synchronous dynamic random access memory (‘SDRAM’), including combining into a trigger signal for an oscilloscope display control signals of an SDRAM under test, the control signals derived only from a single type of memory operations; and driving, continually during both READ and WRITE operations to and from the SDRAM under test, the oscilloscope display with a memory bus data signal (‘DQ’) and a memory bus clock signal (‘DQS’) from the SDRAM under test.
US08310882B2
A package apparatus includes at least one memory chip, a voltage detection circuit configured to make a determination of whether a voltage supplied to the memory chip is a specific voltage or higher, and a controller configured to control an operation of the memory chip based on a result of the determination.
US08310876B2
Methods of accessing storage devices. The methods include rearranging a writing order of continuous first and second data according to a reading order, and writing the first and second data in a first and second storage region of the storage device, respectively, according to the writing order. The reading order reads the second storage region first that provides interference on the first storage region.
US08310874B2
A non-volatile memory device includes a cell array configured to read or write data, a local column switch configured to selectively connect a bit line of the cell array to a global bit line in response to a column selection signal, a global column switch configured to selectively connect the global bit line to a sense-amp in response to an enable signal, and a switching unit configured to selectively connect or sever a current path of the global column switch in response to a control signal corresponding to a bank active operation.
US08310871B2
Data storage circuits are connected to the bit lines in a one-to-one correspondence. A write circuit writes the data on a first page into a plurality of 5 first memory cells selected simultaneously by a word line. Thereafter, the write circuit writes the data on a second page into the plurality of first memory cell. Then, the write circuit writes the data on the first and second pages into second memory cells adjoining 10 the first memory cells in the bit line direction.
US08310851B2
The invention relates to a method for operating an inverter comprising a step-up device which is upstream-connected by means of an intermediate circuit and is connectable to a direct-current source with a variable reference sampling current wherein said inverter and the step-up device are provided with an efficiency optimizing working area, respectively. When the variable reference sampling current is raised and the step-up device approaches a pulse duty factor value, the intermediate circuit voltage is reduced and the variable reference sampling current is stabilized, said intermediate circuit voltage is re-raised. When the direct-current source is in a permanent operational state, the inverter and the step-up device operate in the efficiency optimizing working area thereof, respectively.
US08310850B2
A power supply controller is disclosed. An example power supply controller includes an input voltage sense input coupled to sense an input voltage sense signal representative of an input voltage of a power supply. An output voltage sense input is coupled to sense an output voltage sense signal representative of an output voltage of the power supply. A current limit circuit is coupled to generate a current limit signal. The current limit signal is varied relative to a first ratio representative of a ratio of a product of the input voltage and a scaled output voltage of the power supply, to a sum of the input voltage and the scaled output voltage of the power supply. A drive signal generator is coupled to generate a drive signal in response to the current limit signal to drive the power switch of the power supply to limit an output power of the power supply in response to the input voltage.
US08310828B2
There is disclosed a storage enclosure (10) and method of manufacturing a storage enclosure (10) comprising a plurality of bays (22) for receiving disk drives (100), the storage enclosure comprising: a chassis (24); a plurality of guide members (28), each bay having a first guide member at one end of the bay and a second guide member at the opposed end of the bay, the guide members (28) being constructed and arranged to engage with and guide a disk drive (100) into the bay (22) and to hold the disk drive (100) in a received position in the bay (22); and, a plurality of resilient mounts (97) by which each guide member (28) is attached to the chassis (24), wherein the mount (97) is arranged to isolate the disk drive from the chassis to reduce vibration being transmitted between the disk drive and the chassis.
US08310816B2
A capacitor with an anode, a dielectric on the anode and a cathode on the dielectric. A transition layer is on the cathode wherein the transition layer has a blocking layer. A plated layer is on the transition layer. The cathode is electrically connected to a cathode termination through the transition layer.
US08310807B2
Capacitors and methods of forming capacitors are disclosed, and which include an inner conductive metal capacitor electrode and an outer conductive metal capacitor electrode. A capacitor dielectric region is received between the inner and the outer conductive metal capacitor electrodes and has a thickness no greater than 150 Angstroms. Various combinations of materials of thicknesses and relationships relative one another are disclosed which enables and results in the dielectric region having a dielectric constant k of at least 35 yet leakage current no greater than 1×10−7 amps/cm2 at from −1.1V to +1.1V.
US08310805B2
A multilayer ceramic electronic component includes external terminal electrodes that are formed by direct plating on the first and second side surfaces of a ceramic body including stacked ceramic layers and inner conductors. The external terminal electrodes include base plating films formed so as to cover the exposed portions of inner conductors. Voids are provided that are open to the side surfaces of the ceramic body so as to be adjacent to the ends in the width direction of the exposed portions of the inner conductors. A plating metal defining the base plating films enters the voids and is electrically connected to the inner conductors in the ceramic body.
US08310804B2
A multi-terminal monolithic ceramic capacitor arranged to reduce an equivalent series inductance and having an array structure is provided. A first same-polarity-connection conductor and a second same-polarity-connection conductor are provided inside a capacitor body so as to extend over at least two capacitors. The first same-polarity-connection conductor is electrically connected to a plurality of first external terminal electrodes, and the second same-polarity-connection conductor is connected to a plurality of second external terminal electrodes. In the monolithic ceramic capacitor which is mounted on a wiring substrate, the overall capacitance can be maintained even if an accident, such as cracking of a solder joint, occurs in one of the external terminal electrodes.
US08310801B2
A system for operating a flame sensing device to obtain readings of increased accuracy without degrading the life of the sensor. There may be levels of a flame requiring a precise measurement. One improvement of accuracy uses higher voltage on the sensor, but this degrades the sensor and thus shortens it life. Further improvement may be achieved by limiting the time that the sensor is operated at a higher voltage. Readings, as if the sensor were operated at a higher voltage, may be inferred from actual readings of the sensor operated at a lower voltage.
US08310800B1
A fault sensor is disclosed for detecting the failure of a surge suppression device such as a metal oxide varister (MOV). The fault sensor comprises a fault sensor conductive layer overlaying an insulated portion of the surge suppression device. A fault sensor connector is connected to the fault sensor conductive layer for conducting a fault current upon a failure of the insulated portion of the surge suppression device.
US08310799B2
A transient voltage suppression device includes a dielectric layer defining a receptacle for a variable impedance material proximate a gapped electrode. Methods for manufacturing the device and for formulating a variable voltage material at lower cost and with higher manufacturing yields is also provided.
US08310787B1
Thin-film magnetic head, method of manufacturing the same, head gimbal assembly, and hard disk drive
A thin-film magnetic head is constructed such that a main magnetic pole layer, a write shield layer, a gap layer, and a thin-film coil are laminated on a substrate. The thin-film magnetic head has a shield magnetic layer. The shield magnetic layer is connected to the main magnetic pole layer. The shield magnetic layer has a lower front shield part. A front end angle representing an angle formed between a front end face of the lower front shield part and a lower end face is set at an obtuse angle. The front end face is disposed in the medium-opposing surface. The lower end face is disposed at a position closest to the substrate in the lower front shield part.
US08310785B1
A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head comprises a PMR pole having at least one side, a bottom, and a top wider than the bottom, a first portion of the at least one side being substantially vertical, a second portion of the at least one side being nonvertical, the top portion having a width not greater than one hundred fifty nanometers. The PRM head further comprises a nonmagnetic layer surrounding the bottom and the at least one side of the PMR pole, an intermediate layer substantially surrounding at least the second portion of the at least one side of the PMR pole, and a hard mask layer adjacent to the first portion of the at least one side of the PMR pole.
US08310783B2
The present invention provides a magnetic head that can sustain favorable head contact even when magnetic tapes having different thicknesses are used. A magnetic head has a sliding surface coming in contact with a moving magnetic tape. An electromagnetic transducing element is disposed in the sliding surface. First edges are formed at each end of the sliding surface in the direction of movement of the magnetic tape. Second edges are formed in positions extended in the direction of movement of the magnetic tape from each end of the sliding surface and come in contact with the magnetic tape.
US08310776B2
An apparatus comprising a control circuit, a driver circuit and a write head. The control circuit may be configured to generate a plurality of control signals in response to a data input signal. The driver circuit may be configured to generate a differential write control signal in response to the plurality of control signals. The driver circuit may receive the plurality of control signals through a flexible bus. The driver circuit may be located remotely from the control circuit. The write head may be configured to write information by physically moving above one of a plurality of tracks on a disk in response to the write control signal. The driver circuit may be configured to move along with the write head.
US08310771B2
An LED light converting resin composition and an LED member using the same. The LED light converting resin composition having 20˜99 wt % of transparent resin, 0.8˜60 wt % of a lighting color converting fluorescent substance, and 0.2˜20 wt % of a light diffusing bead with an average particle diameter of 0.2˜30 μm.
US08310762B2
A lens array includes a plurality of lenses having respective optical axes that are approximately parallel to each other, wherein the plurality of lenses are configured in a direction approximately perpendicular to the optical axes and are formed integrally with each other, and a maximum inclination angle of a lens surface on each of a predetermined number of the plurality of lenses is less than or equal 50.8 degrees or less, the maximum inclination angle being defined as a maximum value of an angle formed by an optical axis and a normal line of a lens surface of one of the predetermined number of the plurality of lenses.
US08310758B2
A static interferometric image device including a plurality of solidified liquid layers is formed over a substrate by an inkjet process such that the layers are lateral to one another. In some embodiments, the substrate includes pre-defined cavities, and the liquid layers are formed in the cavities. In other embodiments, the substrate includes a substantially planar, stepped, or continuously transitioning surface, and the solidified liquid layers are formed on the surface. Optical fillers or spacers are provided for defining interferometric gaps between absorbers and reflectors in the display device, based at least partially on an image that the display device is designed to display.
US08310755B2
A reflection-type screen which reflects projection light from a projector is provided. The screen includes a base one surface of which has a plurality of curved portions having concave or convex surfaces. Each of the curved portions of the base has a reflection area and a non-reflection area. A reflection film is formed on each of the reflection areas. An anti-reflection film is formed on each of the non-reflection areas. Each of the anti-reflection films has a plurality of transparent columnar components.
US08310754B2
The present application has a proposition to provide a highly efficient laser excitation fluorescent microscope. Accordingly, a laser excitation fluorescent microscope of the present application includes a laser light source part radiating at least two types of excitation lights having different wavelengths; a light collecting part collecting the two types of excitation lights on a sample; a high-functional dichroic mirror, disposed between the laser light source part and the light collecting part, reflecting the two types of excitation lights to make the excitation lights incident on the light collecting part, and transmitting two types of fluorescence generated at the sample; and a detecting part detecting light transmitted through the high-functional dichroic mirror, in which an incident angle θ of the excitation lights and the fluorescence to the high-functional dichroic mirror satisfies a formula of 0°<θ<45°.
US08310753B2
A confocal scanning microscope including: an objective system (second objective lens 23 and objective lens 24) illuminating a sample SA with illumination light; a scanning mechanism 31 scanning the sample SA to obtain an intensity signal; and a scanning optical system 32 provided between the scanning mechanism and the objective system. The scanning optical system composed of, in order from the scanning mechanism side, a first positive lens group G1, a second negative lens group G2, and a third positive lens group G3. The third lens group has two chromatic aberration correction portions each formed by a positive lens and a negative lens or negative lens and positive lens. Glass materials are selected such that one performs chromatization and the other performs achromatization, thereby providing a confocal scanning microscope capable of correcting lateral chromatic aberration generated in the objective system in the specific wavelength region by the scanning optical system.
US08310751B2
Method and apparatus for making a high resolution light pattern generator on a transparent substrate
A light pattern generator that can be used to form a gobo for use in a projection optical system. A transparent plate is coated with a stack that is absorptive and reflective. The stack is formed to be ablatable in the form of a pattern. The stack can have multiple different layers with multiple different characteristics, all of which are ablated by the laser.
US08310750B2
A waveform shaping circuit enhances a rise of a waveform of a voltage applied to a load and includes an input unit to which the voltage is input; a supply unit configured to apply the voltage input from the input unit to the load; a first resistor connected in series between the input unit and the supply unit; a second resistor branch-connected to a portion between the input unit and the supply unit; and a stub connected to the first resistor or the second resistor and including a transmission path of a given length configured to shuttle the voltage by transmitting and reflecting the voltage as a voltage wave.
US08310745B2
A method for forming an information recording layer including a multilayer stack of reflection hologram layers modulated in the depth direction of a hologram material layer is provided. The method includes: generating a first pair of polarized coherent laser beams and a second pair of polarized coherent laser beams that are incoherent with the first pair; directing the first pair of polarized coherent laser beams to the hologram material layer from opposite sides thereof, respectively, such that the incident angles of the first pair are symmetric with respect to the hologram material layer; directing the second pair of polarized coherent laser beams to the hologram material layer from the opposite sides thereof, respectively, at incident angles different from the incident angles of the first pair; and forming the multilayer stack of reflection hologram layers according to the interference pattern of the first and second pairs of polarized coherent laser beams.
US08310731B2
In the present invention, paper fingerprint information of a document is read (step 801) and whether the paper fingerprint information is registered is judged (step 802). If it is judged that the paper fingerprint information is registered, read image data are acquired (step 814). Super-resolution processing is then applied to the read image data and read image data, which had been acquired from the document up to a previous time, and high-resolution image data are thereby acquired (step 816). Next, paper fingerprint information of a recording sheet is read (step 808), and the paper fingerprint information and added information, including information indicating a storage location of the read image data that have been acquired up until now in regard to the document, are stored in an associated manner (step 810). An image is then formed on the recording sheet based on the high-resolution image data (step 812).
US08310715B2
A printing system is disclosed. The printing system includes a first printer to print to a medium a first type of data and a shadow image of variable data to be printed on the medium, and a second printer to print the variable data to the medium based on the barcode over the shadow image.
US08310714B2
A print control apparatus includes an input unit configured to input a binding position of sheets related to a binding processing for the sheets on each of which an image is printed based on print data, a setting unit configured to set a printing position of an auxiliary image of transparent color to be printed with the image that is printed based the print data, according to the binding position of the sheets input by the input unit, and a print control unit configured, based on the printing position of the auxiliary image set by the setting unit, to control printing of the auxiliary image.
US08310713B2
The printer successively stores the objects contained in the PDF file as they are transmitted from the PC, and conducts the printing process for said specific page when it judges that all the objects necessary for displaying said page are stored. Also, when a memory overflow occurs, it successively prints out content objects contained in the constituent data of the PDF file stored in the RAM, while assigning identification names, and deletes the data for the content objects already printed out from the RAM so that additional constituent data of the PDF file can be received successively. It finally generates and prints out the table of contents based on the identification names of the content object and the information of the page object and the page list object. Thus, it is possible to form images directly receiving a document file such as a PDF file on a printer with a limited usable memory capacity.
US08310709B2
In a color printing system the printer driver automatically obtains local characteristic information, such as countries, cities, languages, etc., stored in the OS of the host computer. The printer driver or the image forming apparatus color-converts the input data into output data, which reflects the color preference of the specific region where the image forming apparatus is installed, by using the look-up table corresponding to the local characteristic information obtained by the printer driver. Accordingly, the color preference of the specific region, in which the image forming apparatus is installed, is set more quickly and easily without requiring a complicated structure. The system includes a host computer to store local characteristic information of a region where an apparatus is installed, a printer driver to store look-up tables according to the local characteristic information, to select a look-up table corresponding to the local characteristic information obtained from the host computer, and to convert input data into output data representing a color corresponding to a color preference of a specific region by using the selected look-up table, and an image forming apparatus which is connected to the host computer so as to receive and print the output data, which is color-converted by the printer driver.
US08310706B2
A method and apparatus is provided for printing to a Web services-enabled printing device. A print driver executing on a client device receives, from the printing device, printing device capability data that specifies a plurality of features and options currently supported by the printing device. The print driver generates a second version of a PrintCapabilities Document from a first version. The PrintCapabilities Document indicates, in XML, a particular print feature and one or more options for the particular print feature that are indicated in the printing device capability data. A user interface may be generated based on the second version. As a result of one or more user (and/or default) selections, a PrintTicket Document may be generated that indicates that an option of the particular print feature is selected. The print driver generates a print job ticket based the PrintTicket Document.
US08310704B2
An image forming apparatus implements a print restriction depending on the environment of the image forming apparatus, such as who is or is not near the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus communicates with a short-range wireless terminal for authenticating print data with reference to access right information in which document identifying information identifying the print data is associated with wireless terminal identifying information identifying the short-range wireless terminal. The image forming apparatus includes an acquiring unit for acquiring the wireless terminal identifying information from the short-range wireless terminal; a determining unit for determining whether the printing of the print data should be permitted or not based on the wireless terminal identifying information acquired by the acquiring unit and the access right information; and a control unit for controlling the printing of the print data depending on a result of the determination made by the determining unit.
US08310698B2
An image forming apparatus includes a memory interface configured to receive an external memory, an internal memory, a reading unit, a writing unit, and an activating unit. The activating unit activates the image forming apparatus when an external memory is connected to the memory interface and model data read from the external memory by the reading unit is the same as model data about the image forming apparatus stored in the internal memory.
US08310690B2
The presence or absence of outside light is individually decided with respect to each of the time of executing AFE adjusted value acquiring processing, the time of executing LED adjusted value acquiring processing and the time of executing black correction data acquiring processing. In the case of deciding that the outside light is present, a parameter in the case of deciding that the outside light is present is modified to a predetermined value or a reacquired value. As a result of this, even when an incident state of outside light changes at the time of acquiring each of the parameters, it can properly be switched whether or not their parameters are replaced with the predetermined value or the reacquired value.
US08310688B2
A set value output circuit includes a first output unit and a second output unit. The first output unit outputs a signal input to a first input when a first timing signal is input to a second input, and continues to output the signal until a next first timing signal is input. The second output unit outputs the signal input to a third input when the second timing signal is input to a fourth input, and continues to output the signal until a next second timing signal is input. A selection unit inputs a selected timing signal as the second timing signal to the fourth input. A control unit inputs the first timing signal to the second input, so that a set value for an image to be formed next is output during image formation using the signal output from the second output.
US08310687B2
In an image information storage device, a registration information storage unit stores registration information while associating it with first image data stored in an image data storage unit, while storing registration information for area information representing one of areas set in a drawing area of first image data stored in the image data storage unit. When an input specifying an area represented by area information is made while an image represented by first image data stored in the image data storage unit is displayed on a display screen, a search unit searches for second image data associated with registration information that has been associated with the area information in the registration information storage unit. An output control unit controls output of image/information to the display screen while outputting an image represented by the second image data search by the search unit to the display screen.
US08310683B2
An apparatus for determining surface topology of a portion of a three-dimensional structure is provided, that includes a probing member, an illumination unit, a light focusing optics, a translation mechanism, a detector and a processor.
US08310670B2
Disclosed embodiments include methods for cleaning wax, substantially equivalent impurities, and other contaminants from porous stones in historical monuments and artworks using nondestructive means. According to one embodiment the method for removal of contaminants from porous stones using laser comprises the following method steps: (a) identifying regions of a contaminant on the porous stone monument; (b) characterizing the contaminant on the porous stone monument; (c) exposing the contaminant on the porous stone monument to irradiation from a laser characterized by a wavelength, a pulse length, a repetition rate, and a laser energy fluence determined and optimized for a given contaminant-porous stone system and the laser characteristics; and (d) adaptively evaluating the cleaning results by quantifying the thickness of the remaining contaminant.
US08310657B2
Broad band optical strain sensing systems for a wind turbine. The strain sensing system includes an optical fiber with an input at one end and an output at the opposite end. The optical fiber is provided with Bragg sensors between the input and the output. By injecting light at the input of the fiber, measuring the spectral intensity distribution of at the output of the fiber and determining spectral locations of intensity notches in the spectral intensity distribution, it is possible to determine strain values at the locations of the Bragg sensors from the transmitted light.
US08310655B2
There is provided a system and a method for acquiring a detected light optical signal and generating an accumulated digital trace The method comprises providing a light source for illumination of a field of view, an optical detector, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), emitting one pulse from the light source in the field of view, detecting a reflection signal of the pulse by the optical detector, acquiring j points for the detected reflection signal by the ADC, storing, in a buffer, the digital signal waveform of j points, introducing a phase shift of 2pi/P, repeating, P times, the steps of emitting, detecting, acquiring, storing and introducing, to store, in the buffer, an interleaved waveform of P×j points, accumulating M traces of interleaved P×j points for a total of N=M×P acquisition sets, N being a total number of pulses emitted, creating one combined trace of the reflected signal of j×P points by adding each point of the M traces Additionally, the combined trace can be compared to a detected reference reflection signal of the pulse to determine a distance traveled by the pulse.
US08310641B2
Image display device having an electrode forming layer which includes a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of drain lines, a plurality of switching elements and the a plurality of pixel electrodes, and having reference electrode layer between the electrode forming layer and a substrate where the electrode forming layer formed thereon, and the reference electrode layer and the electrode forming layer are insulated by insulating layer.
US08310636B2
The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device capable of suppressing generation of the image sticking in AC mode and a polymer for alignment film materials. The present invention is a liquid crystal display device including: a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer containing liquid crystal molecules; and an alignment film, the liquid crystal layer being interposed between the pair of substrates, the alignment film being arranged on a liquid crystal layer side-surface of at least one of the pair of substrates, wherein the alignment film is obtainable by providing a film with an alignment treatment by photoirradiation, the film being formed from an alignment film material, the alignment film material including a polymer containing a first constitutional unit and a second constitutional unit, the first constitutional unit exhibiting a property of controlling alignment of the liquid crystal molecules by photoirradiation, the second constitutional unit exhibiting the property of controlling alignment of the liquid crystal molecules regardless of photoirradiation.
US08310620B2
A surface light source device has a reflector plate, a light guide plate placed on an upper surface of the reflector plate, the light guide plate including a light guide plate main body having a light outgoing area, and a light introducing portion provided continuously from an end of the light guide plate main body, the light introducing portion having an upper surface side projected from an upper surface of the light guide plate main body in such a manner as to have a maximum thickness greater than a thickness of the light guide plate main body, a light source disposed such that light emitted therefrom is introduced into the light guide plate from a light incidence surface of the light introducing portion, a frame-like member having a uniform thickness, the frame-like member being adhesively applied to the upper surface of the reflector plate in such a manner as to enclose the light guide plate and the light source, a wiring substrate mounted at a lower surface thereof with the light source, the wiring substrate being adhesively applied to an upper surface of the frame-like member and to the upper surface of the maximum thickness area of the light introducing portion, and at least one optical sheet disposed on the upper surface of the light guide plate main body, the light introducing portion being sandwiched between the wiring substrate adhesively applied to the upper surface of the frame-like member and the reflector plate adhesively applied to the lower surface of the frame-like member.
US08310617B2
A liquid crystal display device includes: a liquid crystal display panel having a liquid crystal layer disposed between substrates facing each other; and a supporting frame holding the liquid crystal display panel and capable of being attached to backlight means, wherein an optical sheet disposed on the backlight means side of the liquid crystal display panel is provided, the supporting frame includes an upper frame, a mold frame, and a lower frame, the upper frame and the mold frame sandwiching the liquid crystal display panel therebetween, the mold frame and the lower frame sandwiching the optical sheet therebetween, and first fixing means (including a screw) for fixedly coupling the upper frame, the mold frame, and the lower frame with one another and second fixing means (including a screw) for fixedly coupling only the lower frame with the backlight means are separately disposed.
US08310614B2
A liquid crystal display device preventing a liquid crystal display panel from damage by bending of a light-transmissive substrate and capable of curving a display surface of the panel is provided. The liquid crystal display device comprising: a liquid crystal display panel having a liquid crystal layer sealed between a pair of light-transmissive substrates having pixel formation electrodes on inner surfaces thereof, and formed by assembling positive and negative curved surfaces with respect to one direction; a backlight mounted on a rear surface of the panel along a curved shape of the panel and having at least one light emission device irradiating illumination light toward the rear surface; and a resin member held in a space between peripheral portions where the panel is opposed to the backlight, and fixing and holding a curved state, is provided. Distortion of the light transmissive glass substrates by bending of the panel is eased.
US08310608B2
A lateral electric field mode liquid crystal device comprising: a first substrate having pixel electrodes and common electrodes which are provided on one surface thereof; a second substrate disposed so as to face that surface of the first substrate with a predetermined distance therebetween; a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate; and a loop-shaped sealing member disposed so as to surround the liquid crystal layer, with the liquid crystal device driving the liquid crystal layer by an electric field generated between the pixel electrodes and the common electrodes.
US08310588B2
An image capture system comprises a lens module, a color filter frame, and a cover. The lens module has an image sensor received in the cover. The cover has a threaded hole corresponding to the image sensor. The color filter frame comprises at least one bracket and a fixing frame. The bracket including a color filter is fixed by the fixing frame corresponding to the threaded hole.
US08310584B2
An image sensing device includes an image sensing chip, an optical module and a protecting element. The image sensing chip has a front surface defining an image sensing region thereon. The optical module includes a barrel and at least one transparent element. The barrel is directly disposed on the front surface and around the image sensing region. The transparent element is disposed in the barrel and faces to the image sensing region. The protecting element covers an area of the front surface outside the optical module and surrounds the barrel. The image sensing device has a thin thickness.
US08310583B2
A lens unit using an aberration control module is disclosed. The lens unit can be operable to intentionally produce aberration. In the lens unit, a point-spread-function of a light beam passing through the lens unit becomes substantially circular.
US08310569B2
Embodiments of circuits and methods for suppressing row-wise noise in the analog domain in an image sensing device. In one embodiment, a pixel sampling circuit includes a readout circuit that is connected to a plurality of pixels to receive analog signals from the pixels. The pixel sampling circuit also includes a noise correction circuit that provides a reference signal to remove at least a portion of the noise in the analog signals received from the pixels before the analog signals are converted into digital signals.
US08310565B2
A photographic apparatus comprises a monitor, a face detector, and an electronic zoom controller. The monitor displays a first through-image based on image data. The face detector performs face detection on an image of an area displayed on the monitor, based on the image data. The electronic zoom controller performs first electronic zoom control that enlarges and displays a second through-image corresponding to a predetermined area including a face area detected by the face detector, to the size of a display area of the first through-image, on the monitor. The electronic zoom controller performs second electronic zoom control that enlarges and displays an intermediate through-image corresponding to an intermediate area including the predetermined area and larger than the predetermined area, to the size of the display area of the first through-image, on the monitor, before performing the first electronic zoom control.
US08310561B2
A specific target included in an image is detected by a specific target detection unit based on a specific target evaluation value representing likeliness of the specific target. Using a first white balance correction value calculation unit for obtaining a first white balance correction value for the region of the image other than the specific target, a second white balance correction value calculation unit for obtaining a second white balance correction value for the specific target region, and a white balance correction value comparison unit for making a comparison between the first and second white balance correction values, white balance in the region other than the specific target is corrected using the first white balance correction value, and white balance in the specific target region is corrected using the second white balance correction value, if the white balance correction values are different from each other.
US08310558B2
An imaging apparatus fetches an optical image of an object so as to produce an image signal, records on a recording medium an image signal corresponding to a still-image-use image size according to a still-image recording instruction, records on the recording medium an image signal corresponding to a moving-image-use image size according to a moving-image recording instruction, repeatedly creates the image signal and causes a displayer to display a still-image-use through image corresponding to the still-image-use image size, repeatedly creates the image signal and causes the displayer to display a moving-image-use through image corresponding to the moving-image-use image size, switches the still-image-use through image and the moving-image-use through image, and accepts the still-image recording instruction or the moving-image recording instruction when the still-image-use through image or the moving-image-use through image is displayed.
US08310548B2
A method and system for automatically evaluating the quality of a signal transmitted by an imaging device. The amount of noise in the video signal is analyzed using an algorithm that does not require comparison to a template signal. The results of the algorithm determine whether the signal meets a pre-determined threshold value for signal quality.
US08310538B2
According to the present invention, a cut-out size with a predetermined aspect ratio common to a plurality of images acquired from each of a plurality of imaging units is determined based on a minimum size among sizes of possible areas around an initial optical axis center, and an image for output is cut out from each of the plurality of images in the common cut-out size determined by a size determination unit based on the initial optical axis center before each vibration correction of the plurality of imaging units. Alternatively, according to the present invention, a cut-out size with a predetermined aspect ratio common to images from each of a plurality of imaging units is determined based on a minimum value of sizes of possible cut-out areas independent of vibration correction corresponding to the plurality of imaging units, and an image for output is cut out from each of the plurality of imaging units in the common cut-out size determined by the size determination unit based on the initial optical axis center before each vibration correction of the plurality of imaging units. As a result, output images, in which the optical axis center position is maintained before and after the camera shake correction, can be obtained, and stereoscopic vision is possible using the images for output.
US08310535B2
The present invention provides a surveying system, which comprises a surveying device 1 having a function for tracking a target 13 and a remote control device 16 for remotely controlling the surveying device on a target side, wherein the surveying device comprises measuring units 21, 25 and 27, image pickup units 22 and 23, a first radio unit 33, and a first control arithmetic unit 29, and the remote control device comprises a second radio unit 37, a second control arithmetic unit 35, a second display unit 18, and a second operation input unit 20, wherein the surveying device transmits an image data acquired at the image pickup unit to the remote control device via the radio unit, and the remote control device receives the image data via the second radio unit and the second display unit displays the image in inversion display based on the image data.
US08310532B2
A first image data set of the real-world object is received at a processor where the real-world object was illuminated with substantially uniform illumination. A second image data set of the real-world object is received at the processor where the real-world object was illuminated with substantially structured illumination. A high pass filter is applied to the first-image data set to remove out-of-focus content and retrieve high-frequency in-focus content. The local contrast of the second-image data set is determined producing a low resolution local contrast data set. The local contrast provides a low resolution estimate of the in-focus content in the first-image data set. A low pass filter is applied to the estimated low resolution in-focus data set, thus making its frequency information complementary to the high-frequency in-focus data set. The low and high frequency in-focus data sets are combined to produce an optically-sectioned data set of the real-world object.
US08310525B2
A 3D image is created by using two digital projectors having overlapping projection regions. The two digital projectors both emit polarized light, and are arranged at different angles to each other, such that individual images projected from respective digital projectors can be discerned by the use of polarized eyeglasses. Individualized light transport matrices are used to coordinate together the two digital projectors.
US08310522B2
Disclosed is a method for photographing a panoramic image. The method includes comparing an current image input with a previous image to obtain a motion information of a corresponding photographing apparatus, when photographing respective images forming the panoramic image, recognizing a degree of movement of the corresponding photographing apparatus at least based on the obtained motion information, and photographing corresponding image by a manual input or automatically when the recognized degree of movement is satisfied with a pre-set movement distance reference.
US08310521B2
The present virtual video muting technique seamlessly inserts a virtual video into a live video when the user does not want to reveal his/her actual activity. The virtual video is generated based on real video frames captured earlier, and thus makes the virtual video appear to be real.
US08310508B2
The present invention relates to a processing device and a method of providing privacy for a display device comprising a display panel arranged to display a first image signal (405), the display panel having an off-axis tonal reproduction curve that is different from the on-axis tonal reproduction curve of the display panel, and the display panel comprising a group of adjacent subpixels, wherein subpixels of the group of adjacent subpixels contribute at least a common primary color component, and wherein the group of adjacent subpixels associated with at least one pixel; the method comprising modulating control signals of individual subpixels of the group of adjacent subpixels, using a second image signal (425), the control signals arranged to generate tonal values for at least two of the individual subpixels of the group of adjacent subpixels that are at least in part decorrelated from the first image signal when viewed off-axis, and to generate tonal values for the group of adjacent subpixels that on average correspond to the first image signal when viewed on-axis.
US08310502B2
Systems and methods of providing user-selected color characteristics for an LCD device to a host system are disclosed. An exemplary method includes receiving user input at the LCD device, the user input specifying color information for each of a plurality of color presets selected by the user. The method also includes each time the user changes color information for each of the plurality of color presets selected by the user, merging the color information with static information for the LCD device. The method also includes communicating the merged color information and static information to the host system in a standardized format.
US08310497B2
A circuit arrangement and method utilize texture data prefetching to prefetch texture data used by an anisotropic filtering algorithm. In particular, stride-based prefetching may be used to prefetch texture data for use in anisotropic filtering, where the value of the stride, or difference between successive accesses, is based upon a distance in a memory address space between sample points taken along the line of anisotropy used in an anisotropic filtering algorithm.
US08310495B2
In one aspect, an apparatus for driving display data includes an address mapping unit which generates second address units by dividing gradation data displayed on a plurality of pixels in a display panel into a plurality of first address units that are in the form of an a×b matrix, and mapping addresses of the gradation data in each of the first address units into the form of a b×a matrix, wherein the plurality of the first and second address units are arranged in the form of an M×N matrix, wherein a, b, M and N are natural numbers, and a is greater than b. The apparatus further includes a memory unit which stores the second address units having the mapped addresses in the form of a b×a matrix as units in the form of an M×N matrix, a data output unit which receives the data in a×N columns output from the memory unit and outputs the data as data in b×N columns, and a source driver block which receives the data in the b×N columns and transmitting the data to the display panel.
US08310490B2
A computer memory system (20) which comprises a media module (22); a host computer (24) configured to accommodate the media module (22) in removable fashion; and a display unit (26). The media module (22) is configured to store electronic data. The host computer (24) comprises a docking station (30) configured to accommodate the media module (22); an interface (32) through which electronic signals representing the electronic data are transmitted between the host computer (24) and the media module (22); an optical indicator (34); and a host processor (36). The host processor (36) is configured to control a read/write operation over the interface between the host computer (24) and the media module (22) and to activate the optical indicator (34) whereby the optical indicator (34) provides a first optical signal depicting transmission of electronic signals over the interface in the read/write operation. The host processor (36) is further configured to drive the optical indicator (34) whereby the optical indicator provides a second optical signal modulated to represent media module management information which can be displayed upon an output display device (52).
US08310488B2
Graphics processing in a computer graphics apparatus having architecturally dissimilar first and second graphics processing units (GPU) is disclosed. Graphics input is produced in a format having an architecture-neutral display list. One or more instructions in the architecture neutral display list are translated into GPU instructions in an architecture specific format for an active GPU of the first and second GPU.
US08310487B2
A method and an apparatus are provided for combining multiple independent tile based graphic cores. An incoming geometry stream is split into a plurality of streams and sent to respective tile based graphics processing cores. Each one generates a separate tiled geometry lists. These may be combined into a master tiling unit or, alternatively, markers may be inserted into the tiled geometry lists which are used in the rasterization phase to switch between tiling lists from different geometry processing cores.
US08310482B1
A system for distributed of plane equation calculations. A work distribution unit is configured to receive a set of vertex data that includes meta data associated with each vertex in a modeled three-dimensional scene, to divide the set of vertex data into a plurality of batches of vertices, and to distribute the plurality of batches of vertices to one or more general processing clusters (GPCs). A processing cluster array includes the one or more (GPCs), where each GPC includes one or more shader-primitive-controller units (SPMs), and each SPM is configured to calculate plane equation coefficients for a subset of the vertices included in a batch of vertices. Advantageously, a distributed configuration of multiple plane equation calculation units decreases the size of the data bus that carries plane equation coefficients and increases overall processing throughput.
US08310477B2
A power circuit for a liquid crystal display includes a voltage divider which generates a voltage-divided voltage between a first power source and a second power source, an operational amplifier which receives the voltage-divided voltage to output a driving voltage, a first switch connected between the first power source and a common node, and a second switch connected between the second power source and the common node. The first switch provides a first current path between the first power source and the common node in response to the driving voltage, and the second switch provides a second current path between the second power source and the common node in response to the driving voltage.
US08310476B2
For the purpose of providing a display apparatus capable of improving display quality by expanding the light-emission area of pixels by improving the layout of pixels and common power-feed lines formed on a substrate, pixels (7A, 7B) including a light-emission element (40), such as an electroluminescence element or an LED element, are arranged on both sides of common power-feed lines (com) so that the number of common power-feed lines (com) is reduced. Further, the polarity of a driving current flowing between the pixels (7A, 7B) and the light-emission element (40) is inverted so that the amount of current flowing through the common power-supply lines “com” is reduced.
US08310475B2
For the purpose of providing a display apparatus capable of improving display quality by expanding the light-emission area of pixels by improving the layout of pixels and common power-feed lines formed on a substrate, pixels (7A, 7B) including a light-emission element (40), such as an electroluminescence element or an LED element, are arranged on both sides of common power-feed lines (com) so that the number of common power-feed lines (com) is reduced. Further, the polarity of a driving current flowing between the pixels (7A, 7B) and the light-emission element (40) is inverted so that the amount of current flowing through the common power-supply lines “com” is reduced.
US08310467B2
There is provided an optical-emission-signal output apparatus for outputting an optical-emission signal specifying an optical-emission timing to an optical-emission unit for outputting light to an optical-scan unit for scanning incident light by resonance. The optical-emission-signal output apparatus comprises a frequency divider for dividing a master clock output at predetermined intervals, a delay-time setting unit for specifying one of a plurality of delay times, and a signal output unit for outputting the optical-emission signal in accordance with a result of division by the frequency divider and a delay time specified by the delay-time setting unit.
US08310466B2
A thumbwheel switch for a handheld electronic device is mechanically and electrically mounted on the substrate of a printed circuit board using SMT with the thumbwheel seated in a cutout in the substrate and with the top surface of the thumbwheel about flush with the top surface of the substrate so that the thumbwheel is ergonomically positioned on the side of the handheld electronic device at the level of the display.
US08310458B2
An electronic device includes a housing including a base, a touch-sensitive input assembly coupled to the housing and spaced from and moveable relative to the base to generate sound, an accelerometer housed within the housing, an actuating arrangement comprising a piezoelectric actuator between the base and the touch-sensitive input surface and arranged to receive a driving signal and move the touch-sensitive input surface relative to the base, and functional components in the housing comprising a memory and a processor operably coupled to the memory, the touch-sensitive input assembly, the actuating arrangement, and the accelerometer to execute a program stored in the memory to determine an orientation of the electronic device and adjust the driving signal to the actuating arrangement based on the orientation of the electronic device.
US08310455B2
An electronic apparatus includes an input interface, a controller and a processor. The input interface includes a first touch sensing region, a second touch sensing region and a third sensing region. The first touch sensing region has a plurality of touch pads arranged in a radial array. The second touch sensing region and the third touch sensing region are respectively adjacent to two sides of the first touch sensing region, and each includes a plurality of touch pads arranged in a matrix array. The controller is coupled to each of the touch pads for detecting a user input on the user interface and generating a plurality of sensing signals according to the user input. The processor is electrically coupled to the controller, and executes a corresponding function according to the plurality of sensing signals.
US08310449B1
A touch interface that includes a plurality of push-buttons, each of which has a first stage portion and a second stage portion. A display screen displays a plurality of display items each of which is associated with a corresponding one of the push-buttons. Activation of the first stage portion of one of the push-buttons causes the corresponding display item on the screen to highlight thereby indicating to the user that the push-button associated with that display item is being pressed, without launching a function associated with the display item. This allows the user to determine whether or not he is pressing the correct push-button prior to activating a function without taking his eyes off of the display screen. If the user is satisfied that he is contacting the correct push-button, the user can then activate the second stage portion and thereby launch the function.
US08310448B2
A wheel mouse includes a base, a circuit board, a scroll wheel, a wheel swing member, two tilt switches, and a mode-switching element. The wheel swing member has an extension arm. The mode-switching element has an engaging part. The mode-switching element is penetrated through the base and the circuit board and partially protruded outside the surface of the base. By moving the mode-switching element to a first position or a second position, the engaging part is engaged with or separated from the extension arm, so that the wheel mouse is selectively operated in a third-axial wheel operating mode or a tilt wheel operating mode.
US08310438B2
An image display device includes a gain calculator, a multiplier and an overdrive unit. The gain calculator calculates a ratio “Gmax0/Gmax1” as gain, with respect to each segmented region of liquid crystal panel. The symbol “Gmax1” represents a maximum gradation in one frame period of an image signal to be supplied to each segmented region. The symbol “Gmax0” represents a maximum gradation to be determined depending on the number of bits in the image signal. The multiplier multiplies an image signal subjected to frame frequency conversion in a frame frequency conversion unit by the gain to generate an image signal subjected to the area control processing, with respect to each segmented region. The overdrive unit emphasizes the image signal subjected to the area control processing, using an image signal generated by delaying the image signal subjected to the area control processing for one frame period.
US08310426B2
A liquid crystal display device is provided with a liquid crystal display panel, and a data driver IC that drives the liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal display panel is provided with a gate line, first and second data lines, and a pixel that includes a first sub-pixel connected to the gate line and the first data line and a second sub-pixel connected to the gate line and the second data line. The data driver IC is provided with a gamma correction circuitry and a drive circuitry. The gamma correction circuitry generates first gamma-corrected data by performing gamma correction on externally received image data in accordance with a first gamma curve, and generates second gamma-corrected data by performing gamma correction on the image data in accordance with a second gamma curve. The drive circuitry drives the first data line in response to the first gamma-corrected data and drives the second data line in response to the second gamma-corrected data.
US08310422B2
An operational amplifier circuit includes: an input differential stage circuit supplied with power supply voltages in a first voltage range; and an output stage circuit supplied with power supply voltages in a second voltage range which is different from the first voltage range. The operational amplifier circuit amplifies a signal supplied to the input differential stage circuit and outputs the amplified signal from the output stage circuit to drive a load.
US08310421B2
An apparatus and method for driving a display a display. Two switches for each common line are used to couple the common line to a respective first and second hold voltage supply lines. A third switch for each common line is used to couple the common line to a drive line. A waveform generator is used to generate the driving waveform on the drive line.
US08310418B2
A self-luminous display device includes: pixel circuits; and a drive circuit, wherein each of the pixel circuits includes a light-emitting diode, a drive transistor connected to a drive current channel of the light-emitting diode, and a holding capacitor coupled to a control node of the drive transistor, the drive circuit applies a light emission enabling bias to the light-emitting diode after correcting the drive transistor and writing a data voltage to the control node, provides, during a light emission enabled period in which the light emission enabling bias is applied, a light emission interruption period adapted to change the light emission enabling bias to a non-light emission bias with the data voltage held by the holding capacitor, and performs a light emission disabling process, adapted to reverse-bias the light-emitting diode to stop the light emission, for a constant period after the light emission enabled period.
US08310408B1
A first presenting display device of a first aspect ratio includes a predefined pixel region for a display area, such as displaying video image content from one or more video input devices, and a graphical user control interface within a predefined pixel area representing the pixel area difference between the first display device and the predefined pixel region for the display area. A second display device has an aspect ratio matching the pixel region for the display area of the first device. Content from the display area of the first device is simultaneously displayed on the full display of the second device without the graphical user control interface.
US08310404B2
Lamp apparatus, antenna unit for lamp apparatus, communication system, and traffic signal controller
A lamp apparatus 1 includes an optical unit 2 and a patch antenna 4. The optical unit 2 includes an LED 7 and a substrate 8 having the LED 7 mounted at the front face, and a cover member 9 having visible-light transmittance, spread over the LED 7 at the front. In this optical unit 2 are stored the patch antenna 4 including a patch element 11 and a ground element 12 located at the rear of the patch element 11.
US08310399B2
The invention provides a wireless chip which can secure the safety of consumers while being small in size, favorable in communication property, and inexpensive, and the invention also provides an application thereof. Further, the invention provides a wireless chip which can be recycled after being used for managing the manufacture, circulation, and retail. A wireless chip includes a layer including a semiconductor element, and an antenna. The antenna includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and a dielectric layer sandwiched between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, and has a spherical shape, an ovoid shape, an oval spherical shape like a go stone, an oval spherical shape like a rugby ball, or a disc shape, or has a cylindrical shape or a polygonal prism shape in which an outer edge portion thereof has a curved surface.
US08310380B2
Selectable communication interface configurations for motion sensing devices. In one aspect, a module for a motion sensing device includes a motion processor connected to a device component and a first motion sensor, and a multiplexer having first and second positions. Only one of the multiplexer positions is selectable at a time, where the first position selectively couples the first motion sensor and the device component using a first bus, and the second position selectively couples the first motion sensor and the motion processor using a second bus, wherein communication of information over the second bus does not influence a communication bandwidth of the first bus.
US08310379B2
A monitoring device for a tracking system is described. The device includes a: communication circuit for communication with radio frequency identification (RFID) tag on an article to-be transported by the vehicle, and a-position system (PS) circuit for determining vehicle location. The device includes a control circuit having a microprocessor and a memory, and electrically connected to the communication and PS circuits. The microprocessor acquires tag data and location in memory, and operates the communication circuit to: interrogate tag, operate the PS circuit to determine vehicle location, and associate tag data with vehicle location The device includes an alarm electrically connected to the microprocessor. The device determines, approximates, distance from the tag to device, based on received signal strength, or time delay in receiving the tag's response, and activates the alarm if a distance threshold from tag to device is exceeded. This threshold is lower than the maximum range of the tag.
US08310378B2
An apparatus and method for displaying photo realistic features (230, 232, 234) on a display (116) of an aircraft (218) include storing (302) a plurality of photo realistic features (230, 232, 234), the photo realistic features including at least one of terrain (230) and obstacle (232) features. A priority factor is determined (304) that is based on one of, for example, aircraft type, speed, and altitude, and a plurality of display state is prioritized (304) for each of the plurality of photo realistic features (230. 232, 234) in accordance with the priority factor. One of the first and second display states is displayed (308) for each of the plurality of photo realistic features (230, 232, 234) as determined by the prioritizing step (306).
US08310366B2
A method of providing assistance for locating a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device is provided. The RFID device preferably comprises a power source having a power level and a feedback device. The method comprises determining the power level of the power source is below a first predetermined power level, and transmitting a first signal that indicates the power level of the power source is below the first predetermined power level. Thereafter, the method comprises receiving a second signal that instructs the RFID device to activate the feedback device, and operating the feedback device in response to receiving the second signal.
US08310365B2
A control system for a security system having a plurality of sensors includes a sensor communication device configured to communicatively couple to the plurality of sensors and to receive a plurality of sensor notifications from the plurality of sensors. Each sensor notification of the plurality of sensor notifications includes at least one of a detection type, a detection location, and a detection duration. The control system also includes a processor configured to receive the plurality of sensor notifications from the sensor communication device, associate a plurality of detection states with the plurality of sensor notifications such that at least one detection state of the plurality of detection states is entered upon receiving at least one combination of sensor notifications of the plurality of sensor notifications, and associate at least one detection response with each detection state of the plurality of detection states.
US08310364B2
A real-time method and system of determining and validating location of a relocated mobile object or person in a tracking environment in which a plurality of sensors are located are provided. The method includes modulating a first carrier signal with a first packet including a first set of data to obtain a modulated first signal. The first signal contains the first packet and has a first precision and a first range within the environment. A modulated second signal is received from at least one of the sensors including the nearest sensor. The second signal contains a second packet including a second set of data and has a second precision and a second range within the environment. The method further includes determining and validating current location of the relocated tag within the environment based on a plurality of second packets.
US08310362B2
A method of processing location information on a mobile device which includes a primary receiver for receiving a primary signal; a diversity receiver for receiving a diversity signal or location information; a diversity combiner which can combine primary and diversity signals to form a combined signal; and a first processing unit for processing the combined signal; the method comprising the steps of: identifying whether the device is in a location mode or a diversity mode; if the device is in location mode, disabling the diversity combiner; passing the output from the primary receiver directly to the first processing unit; and passing location information from the diversity receiver to a location processing unit.
US08310361B1
A geographical alert system creates an alert for a user-defined geographical area, detects a change to a feature stored in a map-related database, identifies whether the changed feature falls within the user-defined geographical area, and sends a notification to a user when the changed feature of the map-related database falls within the user-defined geographical area. To set up a geographical alert, an alert editor retrieves map data from a map-related database via an alert engine and displays the map data in a visual display to a user. The user then selects a geographical area that the system will automatically monitor for changes. The user may also specify a feature type, and an alert notification type for the alert. The alert engine then processes the user-specified geographical area into geographical area data and stores an alert and its corresponding geographical area data, feature type, and alert notification type in an alert database. When a change in the map-related database is detected, the alert engine obtains the geographic coordinate point data associated with the change and determines whether the geographical coordinate point data associated with the change falls within the geographical area of the stored alert in the alert database and if so, determines if the feature of the changed feature matches the feature of the stored alert. If the feature and geographical coordinate point data of the change corresponds to the feature and geographical area data of the stored alert, then the alert engine transmits an alert to the user using the alert notification type attributes of the stored alert.
US08310358B2
Disclosed is an authentication apparatus easily achieving convenience and high accuracy in authentication. The authentication apparatus has an authentication accuracy simulation section that simulates authentication accuracy and also has a registration information setting section that sets an ID and biometric information input as registration information. The authentication accuracy simulation section uses an ID and biometric information that has been input as registration information by a user at the time of registration and the registered registration information to simulate authentication accuracy with which the user is authenticated. When the authentication accuracy simulated by the authentication accuracy simulation section does not satisfy a predetermined condition, the registration information setting section rejects registration of the ID input as the registration information.
US08310347B2
A method and device for writing a binary count of a length n to a memory having a limited number of write cycles, a physical storage location of bits (R-bits) of the count in the memory are periodically changed, fixed bits of the count are stored at fixed physical storage locations, and a bit value pattern of the fixed bits is used as an indicator for the physical storage locations of the changing bits (R-bits).
US08310346B2
Apparatus and system for verifying a route taken during movement of an RFID tag, comprising a trusted platform module; sealed storage (80) comprising one or more stores (50, 52) for storing a public key (64), a private key (68) and a policy (62); and processors arranged to: receive data (60) read-out from the RFID tag (4) and comprising an RFID tag identity and an encrypted signature (9); use the public key (64) to decrypt the encrypted signature (9); verify that the decrypted signature (9) corresponds to a first entity from which, according to the policy (62), a second entity is authorised to receive the given RFID tag (4); use the private key (68) to provide an encrypted signature (9); and forward data comprising the encrypted signature (9) to an RFID tag writer (22).
US08310340B2
A radio method for doors in the 2.4 GHz frequency band with operating channels, wherein a stationary unit is bidirectionally networked by means of a wireless radio connection with at least one battery-powered mobile unit and uses a frequency-hopping method, wherein channel hops are executed in a time raster between 0.625 ms and 10 ms, the channels used for the frequency-hopping method are adaptively selected, at least one complete communication cycle takes place on one channel within the time raster, the number of transmitted data is adapted to the useful data that must be transmitted, the synchronization for establishment of a connection between the stationary unit and the mobile unit takes place on a synchronization channel.
US08310336B2
A method of storing streaming physiological information obtained from a medical patient in a multi-patient monitoring environment includes receiving identification information, retrieving parameter descriptors, creating a round-robin database file, receiving a data stream, and using a predetermined data rate to map the data stream to locations in the round-robin database file.
US08310324B2
Apparatus and methods for guiding one or more tools are provided. In at least one specific embodiment, the apparatus for guiding one or more tools can include an elongated member. The elongated member can have one or more switchable magnets disposed thereon.
US08310319B2
An example two-way integrator includes a first current source, a second current source, a first offset current source, a second offset current source, a capacitor, a switching reference and a comparator. The capacitor integrates a sum of a first input current and a first offset current by charging with both the first current source and the first offset current source. The capacitor subsequently integrates a sum of the second input current and the second offset current by discharging with both the second current source and the second offset current source. The switching reference outputs a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage responsive to pulses of a pulse signal. The comparator is coupled to compare the switching reference with a voltage on the capacitor.
US08310318B2
A method is provided for controlling an actuator that can be switched into an on state and an off state by means of pulse duration modulation, as well as to a control system. The inventive method includes, but is not limited to defining a standard pulse repetition period for the square wave signal for a range of a nominal pulse-duty factor, and increasing the pulse repetition period of the square wave signal referred to the standard pulse repetition period if a nominal pulse-duty factor falls short of a first lower threshold value and/or if a nominal pulse-duty factor exceeds a first upper threshold value.
US08310317B2
A vibrating member includes a base portion, a plurality of vibrating arms which extend from one end portion of the base portion, are provided in parallel in a first direction, and extend in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a linking portion which is provided between the base end portions of two adjacent vibrating arms and extends from the other end portion of the base portion, and a support portion which is connected to the base portion through the linking portion.
US08310315B2
A system for generating a frequency reference signal comprising an oscillator, a direct digital synthesizer coupled to the oscillator and configured to receive a signal output from the oscillator, a digital to analog converter coupled to the direct digital synthesizer and configured to receive a sampled signal from the direct digital synthesizer and to convert the sampled signal to an analog waveform, and a bandpass filter coupled to the digital to analog converter and configured to select an aliased output signal from the digital to analog converter at a Nyquist zone other than a first Nyquist zone and to output the frequency reference signal.
US08310312B2
Amplifiers with improved linearity and noise performance are described. In an exemplary design, an apparatus includes first through sixth transistors. The first transistor receives an input signal and provides an amplified signal. The second transistor receives the amplified signal and provides signal drive for an output signal. The third transistor receives the input signal and provides an intermediate signal. The fourth transistor provides bias for the third transistor in a high linearity mode. The fifth transistor receives the intermediate signal and provides signal drive for the output signal in a low linearity mode. The third and fourth transistors form a deboost path that is enabled in the high linearity mode to improve linearity. The third and fifth transistors form a cascode path that is enabled in the low linearity mode to improve gain and noise performance. The sixth transistor generates distortion component used to cancel distortion component from the first transistor.
US08310311B2
According to an embodiment, a semiconductor integrated circuit device includes an amplifier and a feedback circuit. The amplifier includes an input terminal receiving an input signal and an output terminal outputting an output signal. The feedback circuit includes a first transistor generating a bias current. The feedback circuit is configured to operate based on the bias current. The feedback circuit is configured to receive the output signal to supply a feedback signal to the input terminal. A signal having a reverse phase to the output signal is input to a gate of the first transistor.
US08310304B1
A digital power amplifier is disclosed. The digital power amplifier may comprise an amplifying stage configured for applying a first level of attenuation to an RF input signal in response to a desired output power level of the digital power amplifier; a reference loop configured for determining an average power of a sample of the RF input signal and providing a reference value at least partially based upon the average power of the sample of the RF input signal; a feedback loop configured for applying a second level of attenuation to a sample of an output of the amplifying stage and providing a feedback value indicating an average power of the attenuated sample of the output; and an error amplifier configured for providing a gain control adjustment signal to the amplifying stage, the gain control adjustment signal being determined based upon the reference value and the feedback value.
US08310303B2
Disclosed herein is a demodulator, including: a frequency synchronization section adapted to synchronize a frequency of a local oscillation signal to be produced on the demodulator side with a local oscillation frequency of a modulation signal transmitting from a modulator side; a demodulation signal production section adapted to produce a demodulation signal based on the local oscillation signal synchronized by the frequency synchronization section and the modulation signal transmitted from the modulator; and a direct current correction section adapted to detect a direct current voltage of the demodulation signal from the demodulation signal produced by the demodulation signal production section and correct the direct current voltage of the demodulation signal so that the direct current voltage becomes equal to a reference voltage set in advance.
US08310302B2
An abutment structure comprises a power rail, a ground rail parallel to the power rail, first cells and second cells. An area is defined between the power and the ground rails. A portion of each first and second cell overlaps the power and the ground rails, and another portion thereof is within the area. The first cells are within the abutment structure with original patterns thereof. The second cells respectively has an original pattern and a base pattern being a flip pattern of the original pattern, and are within the area with alternate of the original and the base patterns. The first and the second cells are within the area alternately without overlapping. Alternatively, the first and the second cells may also be within different areas, and the second cells are within different areas respectively with the base pattern and a flip pattern of the base pattern thereof.
US08310301B2
An apparatus comprises at least one input connection, at least one output connection, at least one control connection, a voltage converter circuit having an input coupled to the control connection and an output, wherein the voltage converter circuit is configured to provide a voltage at its output that is greater than a voltage present at its input, and at least one switch circuit coupled to the input connection, the output connection, and the output of the voltage converter circuit. The switch circuit passes a signal received at the input to the output when the switch circuit is activated by the voltage converter output. Power to the voltage converter circuit is provided via the control connection, and power to the switch circuit is provided via the output of the voltage converter circuit.
US08310297B2
Disclosed is a semiconductor device including a mode control circuit that, when a standby control signal is in an activated state, based on a timer output signal from a timer circuit, generates a MODE control output signal that changes a logic state of a functional circuit part at every prescribed time interval, and an output control circuit that receives an output signal of the functional circuit part and controls output of the output signal; based on a delay output signal generated by delaying a MODE control output signal by a delay circuit. While the functional circuit part is changing the logic state by the MODE control output signal, the output control circuit does not transfer the functional circuit part output signal to output, but holds and outputs a functional circuit part output signal immediately before the functional circuit part changes the logic state by the MODE control output signal.
US08310293B2
A forward converter circuit includes a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding. A first transistor is coupled in series with the primary winding and a second transistor is coupled in series with the secondary winding. A control circuit generates PWM control signals for controlling operation of the first and second transistors. The control signals are generated responsive to source PWM signals processed through programmable delay timers to generate set/reset control signals which set an output PWM control signal duty cycle.
US08310288B2
In the PLL circuit including a phase comparator, a charge pump circuit, a loop filter, and a voltage controlled oscillator, the loop band after the locking can be expanded in such a manner that, when the phase difference between a reference clock signal and a feedback clock signal is larger than a threshold value, an output current corresponding to the phase difference is outputted by reducing the change of the output current per unit amount of the phase difference, and that, when the phase difference is at most the threshold value, the output current corresponding to the phase difference is outputted by increasing the change of the output current per unit amount of the phase difference.
US08310280B2
A half-power buffer amplifier is disclosed. A buffer stage includes a first-half buffer stage and a second-half buffer stage, wherein an output of the first-half buffer stage is controllably fed back to a rail-to-rail differential amplifier, and an output of the second-half buffer stage is controllably fed back to the rail-to-rail differential amplifier. The switch network controls the connection between the outputs of the buffer stage and an output node of the half-power buffer amplifier in a manner such that a same pixel, with respect to different frames, of a display panel is driven by the same rail-to-rail differential amplifier. In one embodiment, the rail-to-rail differential amplifier and the buffer stage comprise half-power transistors operated within and powered by half of a full range spanning from power to ground.
US08310276B2
A differential transmission circuit comprises a sending unit that generates a pair of differential signals from an input signal, and sends the differential signals; a receiver that receives the differential signals sent by the sending unit; and a transmission path that transmits the differential signals from the sending unit to the receiver, wherein the sending unit has a selector that selects one of the input signal and a signal obtained by inverting a polarity of the input signal, and generates the differential signals from the signal selected by the selector.
US08310273B2
An inspecting ECU 4 and a GD substrate 3 are connected to an inverter circuit 100 for converting a power to be supplied from a voltage source 2 and outputting the converted power to a motor 5, and switch a conducting state of each of the elements in the inverter circuit 100. A conducting state of the element is switched in accordance with a driving condition for inspection corresponding to a whole active region of the element in a state that an inspecting load 50 is connected to the inverter circuit 100. A phase current flowing in the element and a voltage between terminals of the element through a voltage detector 11 and a current detector 12 are detected to obtain a correlation of an ON time of the element and a phase current value based on the current and the voltage which are detected.
US08310271B2
An alternator and starter tester system having a starter current zero test. The current is measured before and after a solenoid of a starter motor is energized and deenergized to determine if the starter motor should be failed. This allows the operator to quickly determine if the starter motor is stuck on during normal starter motor testing.
US08310269B2
A test system for determining leakage of an integrated circuit (IC) under test includes a test circuit formed on a same chip as the IC, the test circuit further having pulse generator configured to generate a high-speed input signal to the IC at a plurality of selectively programmable duty cycles and frequencies, the IC powered from a first power source independent from a second power source that powers the pulse generator; and a current measuring device configured to measure leakage current through the IC in a quiescent state, and current through the IC in an active switching state, responsive to the high-speed input signal at a plurality of the programmable duty cycles and frequencies, and wherein the test circuit utilizes only external low-speed input and output signals with respect to the chip.
US08310264B2
A method for configuring a combinational switching matrix comprises the steps of setting a first switching module and a second switching module, coupling at least one of the output ports of the first switching module with at least one of the input ports of the second switching module to form the combinational switching matrix, building a connection mapping table based on the coupling relationship between the output port of the first switching module and the input port of the second switching module, and displaying a channel switching interface showing the input terminals, the output terminals, and the on/off states of the virtual switching devices of the combinational switching matrix.
US08310258B2
A probe for testing electrical properties of test samples includes a body having a probe arm defining proximal and distal ends, the probe arm extending from the body at the proximal end of the probe arm, whereby a first axis is defined by the proximal and the distal ends. The probe arm defines a geometry allowing flexible movement of the probe arm along the first axis and along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and along a third axis orthogonal to a plane defined by the first axis and the second axis.
US08310255B2
A sensing probe for measuring device performance electrically at a delivery inspection is disclosed. The probe comprises a plunger, a barrel and a coil spring. The plunger provides a groove in an outer surface thereof, while, the inner surface of the barrel provides a projection. The groove comprises a plurality of unit patterns including a front groove and a rear groove. The projection slides in the front groove as the plunger is pulled into the barrel, while, it slides in the rear groove as the plunger is pushed out from the barrel. Moreover, the plunger rotates in the barrel as the projection slides in the front and rear grooves, which makes an area of the plunger coming in contact with the barrel always fresh and lowers the contact resistance between them.
US08310248B2
A capacitive sensor device includes first and second sensor capacitors coupled in series, a clock signal generating part, an operational amplifier, a feedback capacitor, a compensating capacitor, and a compensating signal generating part. The clock signal generating part generates a first clock signal and the second clock signal applied to the first and second sensor capacitors, respectively. The compensating signal generating part generates a compensating signal applied to the compensating capacitor. The first clock signal and the second clock signal have the same frequency and the same amplitude and have phases being opposite each other. The compensating signal has a frequency same as the first clock signal and the second clock signal, has a phase same as one of the first clock signal and the second clock signal, and has an amplitude that is adjustable.
US08310246B2
A continuity testing apparatus includes open/short detection circuits provided for to-be-tested terminals, respectively and configured to determine the presence or absence of at least any one of an open-circuit failure and a short-circuit failure in to-be-tested terminals. Then, the continuity testing apparatus generates detected results of the open/short detection circuits based on the condition of continuity of the to-be-tested terminals having connections to the open/short detection circuits and the detected results from the open/short detection circuits in the preceding stages, and outputs the generated detected results to the open/short detection circuits in the succeeding stages. Further, the continuity testing apparatus determines the condition of continuity based on the output from the open/short detection circuit in the last stage.
US08310242B2
An inverter application comprises at least one apparatus fed by an inverter (10). The determining of insulation defects is effected by way of a differential voltage of part voltages (U, U′) of an intermediate circuit (7) or the ratio of one of these part voltages (U, U′) to the total voltage of an intermediate circuit, and by way of an operating condition of the inverter (10). The monitoring of the insulation is carried out only with the means (1a, 1b, 1c, 1a′, 1b′, 1c′, 5, 5′) which are present in the inverter (10) in any case. The operating condition is set as a particular switch position in the inverter (10) by an insulation monitoring system. Alternatively, the operating condition is, while the inverter is on-line or in operation, transferred from the inverter control (9) to an insulation monitoring system for improving the quality of the monitoring.
US08310238B2
A system for monitoring movement in a subsurface environment, which may be used to determine flow dynamics within a fluid mass such as an ore body, or track subsurface persons or moving assets. A plurality of underground positioning system (UPS) elements in the subsurface environment transmit characteristic signals to a plurality of antennas, which transmit the signals to a data processing apparatus. The system thus determines changes in the positions of the UPS elements to derive an indication of the motion of the fluid mass or the locations and movement of subsurface persons or assets.
US08310232B2
This invention relates generally to detection devices having one or more small wells each surrounded by, or in close proximity to, an NMR micro coil, each well containing a liquid sample with magnetic nanoparticles that self-assemble or disperse in the presence of a target analyte, thereby altering the measured NMR properties of the liquid sample. The device may be used, for example, as a portable unit for point of care diagnosis and/or field use, or the device may be implanted for continuous or intermittent monitoring of one or more biological species of interest in a patient.
US08310224B2
Embodiments of circuits, devices, and methods related to calibration circuits are disclosed. In various embodiments, a calibration circuit may be used for calibrating a power detector circuit. In various other embodiments, a calibration circuit may be used for calibrating a resistor module. Other embodiments may also be described and claimed.
US08310220B2
A power supply controller includes an analog to digital (A/D) converter that performs analog-digital conversion of an output voltage and outputs a digital signal, a deviation signal generator unit that generates a deviation signal from the digital signal and a standard voltage value serving as an output voltage target value, and a power controller unit that controls the output voltage based on the deviation signal. The power supply controller includes a conversion range setting unit that sets a range of the reference voltage into the A/D converter based on a first signal as the digital signal in a power supply startup period, and sets the reference voltage range into the A/D converter based on a second signal as the deviation signal or as a signal corresponding to the deviation signal in a steady state period.
US08310218B2
A multiple output DC-to-DC voltage converter using a new time-multiplexed-capacitor converter algorithm and related circuit topologies is herein disclosed. One embodiment of this invention includes a flying capacitor, a first output node, a second output node, and a switching network. The switching network configured to provide the following modes of circuit operation: 1) a first mode where the positive electrode of the flying capacitor is connected to an input voltage and the negative electrode of the flying capacitor is connected to ground; 2) a second mode where the negative electrode of the flying capacitor is connected to the input voltage and the positive electrode of the flying capacitor is connected to the first output node; and 3) a third mode where the positive electrode of the flying capacitor is connected to ground and the negative electrode of the flying capacitor is connected to the second output node.
US08310208B2
A method of developing an optimum a lithium battery charging algorithm is conducted by providing a salt dissolved in solvent permitting lithium ions to leave a cathode in large format battery cells. Charge and discharge are then measured under different C-rate conditions. Using the cathode material phase transformations to ascertain a differential curve, peaks in the differential curve are observed with all data plotted against dV/dt and V, where V represents voltage and t represents time. Areas in voltage ranges are then observed where the rate of increase is higher than in other areas. By varying the charging current, an optimum charging voltage can be ascertained and maintained.
US08310202B2
A power transmission system includes a loosely coupled air core transformer having a resonance frequency determined by a product of inductance and capacitance of a primary circuit including a primary coil. A secondary circuit is configured to have a substantially same product of inductance and capacitance. A back EMF generating device (e.g., a battery), which generates a back EMF with power transfer, is attached to the secondary circuit. Once the load power of the back EMF generating device exceeds a certain threshold level, which depends on the system parameters, the power transfer can be achieved at higher transfer efficiency if performed at an operating frequency less than the resonance frequency, which can be from 50% to 95% of the resonance frequency.
US08310197B2
A control device that includes an AC voltage command determination section that determines an AC voltage command value, which is a command value of the AC voltage supplied from the DC/AC conversion section to the AC electric motor, on the basis of a target torque of the AC electric motor and a rotational speed of the AC electric motor; and a system voltage command determination section that determines a system voltage command value, which is a command value of the system voltage generated by the voltage conversion section, on the basis of the AC voltage command value and the system voltage.
US08310176B2
A method of propelling a mobile machine is disclosed. The mobile machine may have a plurality of DC traction motors, including a first DC traction motor and a second DC traction motor. The method may include driving a first traction device with the first DC traction motor, the first DC traction motor including a first field coil and a first armature electrically connected in series. The method may also include driving a second DC traction device with the second DC traction motor electrically connected in series with the first DC traction motor, the second DC traction motor including a second field coil and a second armature electrically connected in series. Additionally, the method may include, in response to slippage of the first traction device, bypassing at least a portion of electric current flowing through the first field coil around the first armature. The method may also include directing at least a portion of the bypassed electric current through the second field coil and the second armature.
US08310158B2
A light emitting diode (LED) light engine is provided for use in a light fixture to enable improved and efficient dissipation of heat generated in the light fixture. The light engine includes a circuit board that includes multiple LEDs for emitting light. The light engine includes a chassis that has a plurality of upper fins that extend upward from a central flanged portion to dissipate heat generated by the LEDs into the lighting fixture. The circuit board is mounted to a mounting surface on the chassis that is surrounded by a fin wall that depends from the central flanged portion. The chassis also has a plurality of lower fins that extend outward from an outer surface of the fin wall to dissipate heat out of the fixture and into the ambient air environment.
US08310155B2
Methods for protecting circuit device materials, optoelectronic devices, and caps using a reflowable getter are described. The methods, devices and caps provide advantages because they enable modification of the shape and activity of the getter after sealing of the device. Some embodiments of the invention provide a solid composition comprising a reactive material and a phase changing material. The combination of the reactive material and phase changing material is placed in the cavity of an electronic device. After sealing the device by conventional means (epoxy seal for example), the device is subjected to thermal or electromagnetic energy so that the phase changing material becomes liquid, and consequently: exposes the reactive material to the atmosphere of the cavity, distributes the getter more equally within the cavity, and provides enhanced protection of sensitive parts of the device by flowing onto and covering these parts, with a thin layer of material.
US08310150B2
Organic light emitting devices having a low-index electrode and a substrate with a surface treatment are provided. The combination of a relatively low-index electrode and a surface-treated substrate may eliminate guided modes and increase the light outcoupled by the device. It has been found that the combination surprisingly provides up to 1.5 times more outcoupled light than would be expected based on the performance of similar devices having higher-index electrodes.
US08310139B2
The core of this invention is that using recycled metal cans (after pretreatment processes) as a good heat sink, the lamp cups, of the LED lamps to adhere to the lamp bases, circuit boards with LED and lamp cups through advanced technology, there by producing a variety of LED lamps. And finally, this invention achieves a complete metal construction of LED lamps which not only improves the thermal performance of LED lamps but also develops a low-carbon, environmentally friendly and economical way of metal containers recycling consequently makes this LED lamps suitable to be widely used for the purpose of illumination or decoration.
US08310137B2
A resonator element includes: three or more resonating arms, each of the resonating arms including; a lower electrode provided on a first surface of the resonating arm, a piezoelectric film formed on the lower electrode, an upper electrode formed on the piezoelectric film, a first wiring line coupled to the lower electrode, and a second wiring line coupled to the upper electrode; and a base to which the resonating arms are connected. In the resonator element, the resonating arm vibrates in a thickness direction of the resonating arm. The resonating arms adjacent to each other vibrate in opposite directions from each other. The first surface is opposed to a second surface in the thickness direction. The second wiring line is drawn out to the second surface through side surfaces of the resonating arm so as to surround the resonating arm.
US08310132B2
The invention relates to an insonification device (100) comprising a plurality of elementary ultrasonic transducers (110) each comprising at least one electro-acoustic element (111) and distributed on a chassis (120, 140) so that the electro-acoustic elements (111) are distributed on a so-called front surface (120′) of the device (100) intended to be placed facing the medium to be insonified. According to the invention, as each transducer (110) comprises a longitudinal body (113) made in a heat conducting material at the so-called front end of which the electro-acoustic element (111) is placed, the chassis (120, 140) comprises a sealed cooling chamber (130) placed behind the front surface (120′), crossed by the bodies of the transducers (113) and intended to be gone through by a coolant fluid flow.
US08310131B2
A megasonic processing apparatus and method has one or more piezoelectric transducers operating in thickness mode at fundamental resonant frequencies of at least 300 KHz. A generator powers the transducers with a variable-frequency driving signal that varies or sweeps throughout a predetermined sweep frequency range. The generator repeatedly vanes or sweeps the frequency of the driving signal through a sweep frequency range that includes the resonant frequencies of all the transducers.
US08310129B2
Acoustic resonator comprising an electret, and method of producing said resonator, application to switchable coupled resonator filters.The resonator comprises: at least one piezoelectric layer (30); electrodes (24, 26) on either side of this layer; and at least one electret layer (32) between the electrodes, to apply a permanent electric field to the piezoelectric layer. The intensity of this electric field is determined to shift the resonance frequency of the resonator by a desired value. The piezoelectric layer may contain electrical charges to itself constitute the electret layer.
US08310126B1
A radial flux permanent magnet AC motor/generator employs a flat circular stator plate having a plurality of separately-formed electromagnets mounted in a ring pattern on a top surface thereof. A circular flux ring fabricated of powdered metal is mounted to the stator plate outside the ring of electromagnets. A plurality of permanent magnets are mounted in a ring pattern on the outer cylindrical surface of a steel rotor. The stator plate and rotor are axially and diametrically aligned such that the ring of permanent magnets rotates in close proximity to and inside the ring of electromagnets. The electromagnets utilize powder metal cores shaped to have rounded corners and flat sides that permit the use of heavier gauge windings and eliminate the air gaps that exist between the core and windings of prior art electromagnets.
US08310122B2
A rotating machine has a stator and a permanent magnet rotor that is more easily made, lower cost, and lighter by virtue of a plurality of permanent magnet assemblies mounted on a rotor body. Each magnet assembly includes two facing core plate stacks supporting a permanent magnet between them. Each core plate stack is made from a plurality of core plates of substantially identical size and shape and with on or more holes in substantially the same location to form respective bores in the stack. A tie rod is formed in each bore and retains the plates in a stack via bevels in the holes of the end plates. Preferably, the tie rods also apply compressive force as a result of placing the stacked plates in an injection mold, injecting plastic into the mold to fill each bore with plastic, and allowing the plastic to cure. As the plastic cures, it shrinks so that the tie rods pull the end plates together. To enhance the pressure, the stacked plates can be compressed before and during the injection process.
US08310120B2
A system for monitoring health of an electrical machine is provided. The system includes at least one sensor element embedded in at least one substrate element located in a stator core. The system further includes a measuring subsystem coupled to the at least one sensor element and configured to monitor the health based on changes in electromagnetic characteristics of the sensor element due to changes in force acting on the substrate element or compression of the substrate element.
US08310116B2
Each of vibration dampers is separated from each circumferentially adjacent one of the vibration dampers upon cutting of each of a plurality of connectors, which is initially integrally formed with the vibration dampers to circumferentially join between corresponding circumferentially adjacent two of the vibration dampers to form a single closed loop body. At least a part of each of first and second circumferential end portions of each vibration damper is engaged with a corresponding one of outer protrusions of a centerpiece in a circumferential direction of a stator. A primary recess is radially inwardly recessed at an outer peripheral portion of the vibration damper and is engaged with a corresponding one of primary protrusions of the stator in the circumferential direction of the stator.
US08310115B2
A system and method of manufacturing an electric machine comprising a rotor and a stator, wherein the stator comprises a fractional-slot concentrated winding having two sets of terminals, wherein a first set of terminals configures the fractional-slot concentrated winding to have a first pole-number (P1), and wherein a second set of terminals configures the fractional-slot concentrated winding to have a second pole number (P2) different from the first pole-number (P1).
US08310114B2
A power generating device includes a carrier module, a stator module, a rotor module and a power generating module. The stator module is assembled to the carrier module, and has a first circuit board and a plurality of driving coils. The rotor module is located in an electromagnetic field, and has a multipolar magnetic rotor and a rotating axle. A magnetic field of the multipolar magnetic rotor interacts with the electromagnetic field to make the rotor module rotating relative to the stator module, and make the multipolar magnetic rotor producing a varying magnetic field. The power generating module is located in the varying magnetic field, and has a second circuit board and a plurality of induction coils. The induction coils induct the varying magnetic field to output an induction circuit to the second circuit board.
US08310112B2
A control unit for triggering a plurality of electric loads with a plurality of input signals, wherein the electric loads are triggered by pulse width modulated signals, and the input signals are PWM signals. A method is described with which the control unit triggers a plurality of electric loads with a plurality of input signals. The control unit includes controllable switching provisions, wherein these switching provisions connect at least one load respectively with one of at least two different PWM inputs. A method is described for triggering a plurality of electric loads with the aid of the control unit.
US08310111B2
A system and methods providing for minimizing the arc energy delivered to the pads of a plurality of contactors using a single control coil based on monitoring the electrical sine waves of the three alternating current electrical poles and calculating the instant to energize or deenergize a single control coil. The remainder of the contactors will make or break based on an offset in time from the making or breaking of the control contactor.
US08310103B2
Systems, apparatuses, and methods for managing battery circuits in systems such as wireless communications service base stations are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a battery circuit having multiple strings of one or more serially connected batteries. The apparatus may be configured to rotate between battery strings such that one or more strings are maintained at or near an upper threshold while other string(s) are disconnected from the maintained string(s). The apparatus may also be configured to charge the battery circuit, to test the battery circuit, and to handle power failures.
US08310102B2
A multilevel inverter is provided. The multilevel inverter includes a plurality of bridges, each bridge configured to receive a respective portion of an input DC power and convert the respective portion to a respective converted AC power. The multilevel inverter also includes at least one bridge controller for operating at least one of the plurality of bridges in a square waveform mode. The multilevel inverter further includes a plurality of transformers, each transformer coupled to a respective bridge and configured to increase a voltage level of the respective portion of converted AC power. The plurality of transformers further includes secondary windings coupled in series with the other secondary windings to combine the respective increased voltage level portions of the converted AC power. The multilevel inverter also includes a grid converter configured to provide output power for a power grid.
US08310098B2
A technique for preventing power interruptions and extending backup power life is provided. The technique automatically prevents power interruptions in a line between a power source and a load. The technique can also extend the operating life of the power source. In one embodiment, a circuit for preventing power interruptions is provided. The circuit may include at least one arrays of capacitors, with the capacitors being arranged in parallel within an array, at least one switching elements configured to couple the at least one array of capacitors to a load, and a controller operatively coupled to the at least one switching element. The controller is configured to selectively drive the at least one switching element based on predetermined criteria.
US08310093B1
Various power processing systems are described that employ a multiply-connected velocity inhibiting circuit. At least one active circuit is employed to synthesize at least one passive lumped element in the multiply-connected velocity inhibiting circuit.
US08310087B2
Embodiments of a system, topology, and methods for providing electrical power to electronic devices from various power sources are described generally herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08310082B2
An electrical junction box that includes a switching device such as a FET can prevent a ground potential on a circuit board from being indefinite and provides a power distribution unit utilizing the electrical junction box.
US08310081B2
A power line communications coupler for effecting signal coupling between electric signalling equipment and an electric power system, said coupler including a fuse coupleable to a power line of said electric power system; and a signal coupler in electrical communication with said fuse and being couplable to said signalling equipment.
US08310077B2
A turbine adapted to be constrained within a flow of fluid includes a stator adapted to be constrained within a flow of fluid, and a rotor defining an aperture and having rotor blades protruding from a peripheral region of the rotor into the aperture. The rotor is adapted to be rotatably mounted to the stator such that movement of fluid through the aperture causes rotation of the rotor relative to the stator. Electricity is generated as a result of rotation of the rotor relative to the stator.
US08310066B2
A semiconductor apparatus capable of detecting a crack generated in a semiconductor chip while the design freedom, the layout freedom of a wiring, the layout efficiency of LSI, and the layout efficiency of a package substrate are improved. The semiconductor apparatus according to the invention includes a semiconductor chip having a multilayered wiring structure; plural electrode pads being formed on a top surface along the outer periphery of the semiconductor chip; and a wiring being coupled to a first electrode pad and a second electrode pad selected from the plural electrode pads and formed along the entire outer periphery of the semiconductor chip in plan view. The wiring includes a first wiring and a second wiring that are formed on different layers, and the first wiring and the second wiring are connected in series by a connection plug.
US08310065B2
A fabrication method of a wafer structure includes: providing a substrate having a plurality of die regions and an edge region surrounding the die regions defined thereon; then, forming a dielectric layer, a plurality of MEMS devices, a plurality of metal-interconnect structures and a plurality bonding pads on the substrate in the die regions; next, removing the dielectric layer disposed on the substrate of the edge region to expose the substrate; and thereafter, forming a passivation layer to cover the substrate and the dielectric layer.
US08310060B1
A package includes a first plated area, a second plated area, a die attached to the first plated area, and a bond coupling the die to the second plated area. The package further includes a molding encapsulating the die, the bond, and the top surfaces of the first and second plated areas, such that the bottom surfaces of the first and second plated areas are exposed exterior to the package. Additional embodiments include a method of making the package.
US08310057B2
A substrate includes an insulating film in which a penetrating hole is formed, the penetrating hole extending between a first surface of the insulating film and a second surface of the insulating film opposite to the first surface of the insulating film. A wiring pattern is adhered to the first surface of the insulating film by an adhesive material. A first portion of the wiring pattern is formed over the penetrating hole, and a part of the adhesive material is formed on an internal wall surface forming the penetrating hole so as not to stop up the penetrating hole. An external electrode contacts the first portion of the wiring pattern and projects through the penetrating hole and extends beyond the second surface of the insulating film.
US08310056B2
In a semiconductor device, a lower multi-layered interconnect structure, an intermediate via-level insulating interlayer, and an upper multi-layered interconnect structure are stacked in this order in a region overlapped with a bonding pad in a plan view; upper interconnects and vias of the upper multi-layered interconnect structure are formed so as to be connected to the bonding pad in the pad placement region; the intermediate via-level insulating interlayer has no electro-conductive material layer, which connect the interconnects or vias in the upper multi-layered interconnect structure with interconnects or vias in the lower multi-layered interconnect structure, formed therein; and the ratio of area occupied by the vias in the via-level insulating interlayers contained in the lower multi-layered interconnect structure is smaller than the ratio of area occupied by the vias in the via-level insulating interlayers contained in the upper multi-layered interconnect structure.
US08310055B2
Semiconductor devices and methods of forming semiconductor devices are provided in which a plurality of patterns are simultaneously formed to have different widths and the pattern densities of some regions are increased using double patterning. The semiconductor device includes a plurality of conductive lines each including a first line portion and a second line portion, where the first line portion extends on a substrate in a first direction, the second line portion extends from one end of the first line portion in a second direction, and the first direction is different from the second direction; a plurality of contact pads each of which is connected with a respective conductive line of the plurality of conductive lines via the second line portion of the corresponding conductive line; and a plurality of dummy conductive lines each including a first dummy portion extending from a respective contact pad of the plurality of contact pads, in parallel with the corresponding second line portion in the second direction.
US08310054B2
A semiconductor device manufacturing method includes removing copper deposits, by use of an organic acid gas and an oxidizing gas, from a surface of a second interlayer insulation film having a groove formed therein and reaching a copper-containing electric connector member. The second interlayer insulation film is disposed on a first interlayer insulation film provided with the electric connector member. The method then includes reducing a surface of the electric connector member exposed at a bottom of the groove of the second interlayer insulation film; forming a barrier layer on the second interlayer insulation film; and forming a copper-containing conductive film to fill the groove of the second interlayer insulation film.
US08310053B2
A micro-device with a cavity, the micro-device including a substrate. A method of forming the micro-device includes the steps of: A) providing the substrate having a surface and comprising a sacrificial oxide region at the surface; B) covering the sacrificial oxide region with a porous layer being permeable to a vapor HF etchant; and C) selectively etching the sacrificial oxide region through the porous layer using the vapor HF etchant to obtain the cavity. This method may be used in the manufacture of various micro-devices with a cavity , i.e. MEMS devices, and in particular in the encapsulation part thereof, and semiconductor devices, and in particular the BEOL-part thereof.
US08310043B2
A semiconductor chip assembly includes a semiconductor device, a heat spreader, a conductive trace and an adhesive. The heat spreader includes a post, a base, an ESD protection layer and an underlayer. The conductive trace includes a pad and a terminal. The semiconductor device is electrically connected to the conductive trace, electrically isolated from the underlayer and thermally connected to the heat spreader. The post extends upwardly from the base into an opening in the adhesive, the base extends laterally from the post and the ESD protection layer is sandwiched between the base and the underlayer. The conductive trace provides signal routing between the pad and the terminal.
US08310040B2
A semiconductor device package includes a semiconductor device having connection pads formed thereon, with the connection pads being formed on first and second surfaces of the semiconductor device with edges of the semiconductor device extending therebetween. A first passivation layer is applied on the semiconductor device and a base dielectric laminate is affixed to the first surface of the semiconductor device that has a thickness greater than that of the first passivation layer. A second passivation layer having a thickness greater than that of the first passivation layer is applied over the first passivation layer and the semiconductor device to cover the second surface and the edges of the semiconductor device, and metal interconnects are coupled to the connection pads, with the metal interconnects extending through vias formed through the first and second passivation layers and the base dielectric laminate sheet to form a connection with the connection pads.
US08310037B2
A light emitting apparatus comprising a substrate, a first functional chip and a first light emitting component is provided. The substrate, the first functional chip, and the first light emitting component have a plurality of first bumps. In addition, the first functional chip has a plurality of first vias. The first light emitting component and the first functional chip are stacked on the substrate. Hence, the first light emitting component is electrically connected to the first functional chip and the substrate by the first vias and the first bumps.
US08310036B2
A microelectronic unit is provided in which front and rear surfaces of a semiconductor element may define a thin region which has a first thickness and a thicker region having a thickness at least about twice the first thickness. A semiconductor device may be present at the front surface, with a plurality of first conductive contacts at the front surface connected to the device. A plurality of conductive vias may extend from the rear surface through the thin region of the semiconductor element to the first conductive contacts. A plurality of second conductive contacts can be exposed at an exterior of the semiconductor element. A plurality of conductive traces may connect the second conductive contacts to the conductive vias.
US08310032B2
In a wafer, a first chip region and a second chip region are separated from each other by a dicing region. The dicing region includes: a first center region; a first intermediate region located on the first chip region's side of the first center region; a second intermediate region located on the second chip region's side of the first center region; a first outer region located on the first chip region's side of the first intermediate region; and a second outer region located on the second chip region's side of the second intermediate region. Surfaces of the first and second intermediate regions are respectively covered by bank-shaped resin films extending in a longitudinal direction of the dicing region. Respective surfaces of the first center region, the first outer region and the second outer region are not covered by resin films.
US08310027B2
Embodiments relate to a bipolar transistor that includes a body region having a fin structure. At least one terminal region may be formed over at least a portion of the body region. The at least one terminal region may be formed as an epitaxially grown region. Embodiments also relate to a vertically integrated electronic device that includes a first terminal region, a second terminal region and a third terminal region. The second terminal region may be arranged over at least a portion of the third terminal region, and at least two of the first, second and third terminal regions may be formed as epitaxially grown regions.
US08310018B2
The inventive ferromagnetic semiconductor comprises at least one magnetic element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and Cr, and has a Curie temperature which is equal to or higher than 350 K, and advantageously 400 K or higher. The semiconductor has a matrix which is depleted in magnetic element(s) and contains a discontinuous phase which is formed from columns, enriched with magnetic elements, and is ferromagnetic up to said Curie temperature, in such a way as to generate a lateral modulation of the composition of the semiconductor in the plane of the thin layer. Also disclosed is a method for the production of the semiconductor, a diode-type electronic component for the injection or collection of spins into or from another semiconductor respectively, or an electronic component which is sensitive to a magnetic field, and uses of the semiconductor relating to such a component.
US08310011B2
An electrostatic discharge protection device and methodology are provided for protecting semiconductor devices against electrostatic discharge events by temporarily forming during normal (non-ESD) operation two more inversion layers (112, 113) in a first well region (104) that is disposed between anode and cathode regions (105, 106) in response to one or more bias voltages (G1, G2) that are close to Vdd in order to reduce leakage current and capacitance during normal operation (non-ESD) condition. During an electrostatic discharge event, the bias voltages can be removed (e.g., decoupled or set to 0V) to eliminate the inversion layers, thereby forming a semiconductor resistor for shunting the ESD current.
US08310009B2
A display apparatus includes a first substrate including a plurality of pixels, a first electrode arranged on the first substrate, a second substrate facing the first substrate, and a second electrode arranged on the second substrate and spaced apart from the first electrode, the second electrode to form an electric field in cooperation with the first electrode. At least one of the first and second electrodes includes a transparent conductive nanomaterial having a transmittance of no less than 73% to no more than 100% and a sheet resistance of 0 ohms to 100 ohms.
US08310003B2
A charge accumulation region of a first conductivity type is buried in a semiconductor substrate. A charge transfer destination diffusion layer of the first conductivity type is formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate. A transfer gate electrode is formed on the charge accumulation region, and charge is transferred from the charge accumulation region to the charge transfer destination diffusion layer.
US08309999B2
The method includes the steps of forming an upper electrode of a capacitor by patterning a second conductive film; forming a capacitor dielectric film by patterning a ferroelectric film; and forming a lower electrode by patterning a first conductive film. A step of forming the first conductive film includes the steps of forming a lower conductive layer made of a noble metal other than iridium over a first interlayer insulating film; and forming an upper conductive layer made of a conductive material, which is different from a material for the lower conductive layer, and which is other than platinum.
US08309992B2
A problem of a switching element using for the active layer a carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion film that can be manufactured at low temperature has been that sufficient electrical contact and thermal conductivity between the CNTs and the source and drain electrode surfaces are not obtained. The switching element of the present invention has a structure in which a mixed layer of carbon nanotubes and a metal material, and a metal layer of the metal material are laminated in this order on source and drain electrodes, and thereby, the CNT-dispersed film and the electrode surfaces can be in firm electrical, mechanical, and thermal contact with each other. Thus, a switching element exhibiting good and stable transistor characteristics is obtained with a low-temperature, convenient, and low-cost process.
US08309980B2
Provided is an infrared light emitting device in which dark current and diffusion current caused by thermally excited holes are suppressed. Thermally excited carriers (holes) generated in a first n-type compound semiconductor layer (102) tend to diffuse in the direction of a π layer (105). But, the dark current by holes is reduced by providing an n-type wide band gap layer (103) with a larger band gap than the first layer (102) and the π layer (105) that suppresses the hole diffusion between the first layer (102) and the π layer (105). The wide band gap layer (103) has a band gap shifted relatively to valence band direction by n-type doping and thereby more effectively functions as a diffusion barrier for the thermally excited holes. Namely, the band gap and n-type doping of the wide band gap layer (103) are adjusted to suppress diffusion of the thermally excited carriers.
US08309964B2
A thin film transistor (TFT) using an oxide semiconductor as an active layer, a method of manufacturing the TFT and an organic light emitting display device having the TFT. In one embodiment, a TFT includes a first gate electrode formed on a substrate. A source electrode is formed to be spaced apart from the gate electrode on the substrate. A first insulating layer is formed on the substrate. An active layer is formed of an oxide semiconductor on the first insulating layer, and connected to the source electrode. A second insulating layer is formed on the first insulating layer. A second gate electrode is formed on the second insulating layer so as not to overlap with the first gate electrode. A drain electrode is formed to be spaced apart from the second gate electrode on the second insulating layer, and connected to the active layer.
US08309956B2
A thin film transistor includes: a gate electrode; a gate insulting film formed on the gate electrode; an oxide semiconductor thin film layer forming a channel region corresponding to the gate electrode on the gate insulating film; a channel protective layer that is formed at least in a region corresponding to the channel region on the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor thin film layer, and that includes a first channel protective layer on a lower layer side and a second channel protective layer on an upper layer side; and a source/drain electrode that is formed on the channel protective layer and is electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor thin film layer. The first channel protective layer is made of an oxide insulating material, and one or both of the first channel protective layer and the second channel protective layer is made of a low oxygen permeable material.
US08309951B2
In one disclosed embodiment, the present test structure for determining gate-to-body current in a floating body FET includes a floating body FET situated over a semiconductor layer, where the floating body FET includes a first gate and first and second source/drain regions. The floating body test structure further includes a second gate and a first contact situated over the first source/drain region. A gate-to-channel current measured between the second gate and the first contact is utilized to determine the gate-to-body tunneling current. The gate-to-body tunneling current can be determined by subtracting the gate-to-channel current from twice a source/drain current of the floating body FET. The test structure may also include a second contact situated on a doped region in the semiconductor layer, where a diode current flow through the doped region determines a body voltage for the floating body FET.
US08309947B2
A hybrid LED comprising an anode, an organic hole-transport layer for transporting holes injected into the diode from said anode, a light-emitting quantum dot layer, an electron-transport layer, and a cathode for injecting electrons into said transport layer, wherein the LED also comprises, between said hole- and electron-transport layers, at least one assembly formed by a phosphorescent light-emitting layer presenting an emission spectrum that covers at least part of an absorption spectrum of said quantum dots, and by a buffer layer separating said phosphorescent layer from said quantum dot layer, the material of said or each buffer layer presenting a forbidden band greater than that of a phosphorescent element of said phosphorescent layer so as to prevent excitons diffusing towards said quantum dot layer.
US08309940B2
The invention relates to a plurality of light sources to power a variety of applications including microarray readers, microplate scanners, microfluidic analyzers, sensors, sequencers, Q-PCR and a host of other bioanalytical tools that drive today's commercial, academic and clinical biotech labs.
US08309936B2
An ion deflector, for deflecting a beam of charged particles along an arc in a deflection plane, includes a pair of non-spherical deflection electrodes adapted for being charged with different voltages. The pair of deflection electrodes are configured to control, in both the deflection plane and in a direction perpendicular to the deflection plane, a cross sectional spread of charged particles in a deflected beam that exits the ion deflector. In some embodiments, a first electrode has a first height perpendicular to the deflection plane and a second electrode has a different second height.
US08309928B2
An infrared imaging system including a substrate, a plurality of hexagonal shaped micro-bolometer pixels combined to define a focal plane array. Each pixel is electrically connected to the substrate with a pair of opposing isolation legs. One end of the isolation leg is attached to the pixel's periphery while the other is fixed to that substrate so that the focal plane array and a plane containing the substrate have a parallel, spaced-apart relationship. In this manner, the isolation legs provides an electrical communication path from each pixel to the substrate as each pixel undergoes an internal change in resistance due to absorption of infrared energy. At the same time, the legs separate the pixels from the substrate so that there is no heat transfer between the pixel and the substrate due to direct contact. The hexagonal shape arrangement also allows for a staggered arrangement of adjacent rows in the array, thereby increasing the fill factor for the focal plane array of the device. The addition of stepped areas to the hexagonal pixel provides for improved energy absorption through increase in area and multiple coupling of resonant cavities between the pixel and the substrate.
US08309925B2
A method comprising polarizing and coupling an electromagnetic beam to a first-order transverse electric (TE1) mode with respect to a parallel plate waveguide (PPWG) integrated resonator comprising two plates and a cavity, sending the electromagnetic beam into the PPWG integrated resonator to excite the cavity by the TE1 mode and cause a resonance response, and obtaining wave amplitude data that comprises a resonant frequency, and obtaining the refractive index of fluids filling the cavity via the shift in resonant frequency.
US08309920B2
When a sample is cut to update an observed section, an electron beam is focused on the observed section. An apparatus of the invention includes an ion gun 102 which irradiates an ion beam onto a sample 200 to form an observed section 202, an electron gun 104 which irradiates an electron beam EB onto the observed section 202 formed by the ion gun 102, a focal point adjusting unit 106 which adjusts a relationship between the observed section 202 and a focal point of the electron beam EB, and a focal point control unit 108 which controls the focal point adjusting unit 106 on the basis of an amount of cut of the sample 200 obtained by irradiation of the ion beam IB obtained by the ion gun 102.
US08309913B2
An angled dual-polarity mass spectrometer includes a dual-polarity ion generator, a first mass analyzer, and a second mass analyzer. The dual-polarity ion generator includes an ion source to generate positive ions and negative ions from a sample, and electrodes to generate electric fields for guiding the negative ions into a beam of negative ions and guiding the positive ions into a beam of positive ions. The first mass analyzer can analyze the negative ions, and the second mass analyzer can analyze the positive ions. The central axes of the first and the second mass analyzers are at an angle between 0 to 179 degrees.
US08309910B2
A phantom includes a housing enclosing an interior volume and having a plurality of passages formed therein, wherein each passage is fluidly isolated from the interior volume. First and second inserts are included and configured to be positioned in a first passage of the plurality of passages and include materials having a known material density. The material is selected from iodine, hydroxyapatite (HAP), tricalcium phosphate (TCP), body fat, fatty plaque, sodium chloride (NaCl), gold (Au), and iron (Fe). The material of the inserts can be different materials or the same material at different densities.
US08309901B2
In a liquid crystal display device (1), (i) regions where respective detecting devices (201) are provided and (ii) regions where respective reference devices (202) are provided are separately arranged so as to be alternated along a frame. In each region, a predetermined number of PIN photodiodes (413) are connected in series and in parallel. In the whole of the first regions, (i) a series connection of n PIN photodiode(s) and (ii) a predetermined number of parallel connections are provided; in the whole of the second regions, (i) a series connection of n PIN photodiode(s) and (ii) a predetermined number of parallel connections are provided. Thus, even in a case where there is a great variation in the characteristics of photoelectric conversion device elements in a display panel which photoelectric conversion device elements configure a photoelectric conversion device, an intensity of ambient light can be detected accurately in the display device.
US08309896B2
Various containers with an enlarged base for receiving a food item are provided. The containers may be formed from various sleeves for heating, browning, and crisping a food item. Blanks for forming such sleeves and containers also are provided. The blanks, sleeves, and/or containers may include a removable portion at least partially defined by a line of disruption.
