US09055700B2
In some embodiments, a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises a substrate comprising an insulating material. The PCB further comprises a plurality of conductive tracks attached to at least one surface of the substrate. The PCB further comprises a multi-layer coating deposited on the at least one surface of the substrate. The multi-layer coating (i) covers at least a portion of the plurality of conductive tracks and (ii) comprises at least one layer formed of a halo-hydrocarbon polymer. The PCB further comprises at least one electrical component connected by a solder joint to at least one conductive track, wherein the solder joint is soldered through the multi-layer coating such that the solder joint abuts the multi-layer coating.
US09055676B2
A differential signal transmission circuit comprises: an insulating layer; two signal lines provided in parallel on one surface of the insulating layer; a GND line formed on each of outer sides of the two signal lines on the one surface of the insulating layer; and a wiring line layer formed on the other surface of the insulating layer, the differential signal transmission circuit being configured by a double-sided flexible printed circuit board, the signal lines, the GND line and the wiring line layer being formed by a semi-additive method on the insulating layer, and the signal line and the GND line being formed such that a distance S between the two signal lines is greater than a distance D between the signal line and the GND line.
US09055665B2
The present invention may be deployed in a system comprising a security module housed on a chip card and a host device comprising a chip card reader. The host device is comprised in a housing with a slot for the chip card. The housing is shielded to reduce the amount of electromagnetic radiation generated by the security module and/or the host device from penetrating to the exterior of the housing. Similarly, the shielding is adapted to reduce the effects of electromagnetic radiation generated outside of the host device on the components within the housing. The slot is also shielded by a flap made of an electrically conductive epoxy material or an electrically conductive resin.
US09055664B1
The tool for removing a smoke detector cover is a set of housings that are biased away from one another, and which when pressed together shall engage release posts against the locking tabs of an existing base plate of an existing smoke detector in order to release a cover of the smoke detector. The upper housing and the lower housing collectively mount between a wall surface or ceiling surface and the base plate of the smoke detector. Upon pressing the upper housing towards the lower housing, the release posts shall act in concert to push all lock tabs of the base plate outwardly thereby releasing the cover from the smoke detector.
US09055659B2
A method for manufacturing an outer conductor of a higher-order-mode coupler for a superconducting acceleration cavity. The outer conductor includes a cylindrical main body that is open at one end surface thereof, a port formed in a side of the main body so as to penetrate therethrough, and a protruding part formed outside another end surface of the main body. The method includes a deep drawing step of deep-drawing a metal plate to form the main body, a port-forming step of flanging the thus-formed main body to form the port, and a first machining step of machining the main body to adjust an outer shape thereof.
US09055658B2
Disclosed is a target for isotope production, that comprises a porous, nanostructured material with structure elements having in at least one dimension an average size of 700 run or less, preferably 500 nm or less and most preferably 150 nm or less, said nanostructured material comprising one Of Al2O3, Y2O3 and ZrO2.
US09055657B2
An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus may include a droplet production device configured to produce a droplet of a target substance in a predetermined traveling direction, a first laser device configured to generate a first laser beam and irradiate the droplet with the first laser beam to diffuse the droplet, a second laser device configured to generate a second laser beam and irradiate the target substance diffused by irradiation of the first laser beam with the second laser beam to produce plasma of the diffused target substance and generate extreme ultraviolet light from the plasma of the target substance, and a beam shaping unit configured to elongate a beam spot of the first laser beam in the traveling direction of the droplet produced by the droplet production device.
US09055644B2
Of the various technological features disclosed in the present specification, a structure according to the one technological feature is as follows. A lighting apparatus changeable between an illuminating state and a non-illuminating state comprising: a non-contact motion sensor arranged to sense a movement of a hand near the lighting apparatus; and a controller arranged to control the lighting apparatus in the non-illuminating state to change from the non-illuminating state to the illuminating state in response to the movement of hand sensed by the non-contact motion sensor, and to control the lighting apparatus in the illuminating state to cause a change in illumination with the illuminating state kept in response to the same movement of hand sensed by the non-contact motion sensor.
US09055640B2
There is provided a light emitting diode driving apparatus capable of uniformly maintaining current balance between light emitting diode channels. The light emitting diode driving apparatus includes: a DC to DC converting unit converting the direct current power into settable driving power; a detecting unit detecting voltage drops generated in each of a plurality of light emitting diode channels each having a plurality of light emitting diodes; a converting unit converting an analog value into a digital value; and a driving unit differentially setting duty cycles of switching signals according to the digital values from the converting unit to drive the plurality of light emitting diode channels.
US09055638B2
The controller changes an applied time (ON-time) of a DC voltage while keeping an intermittent period in which the DC voltage is supplied intermittently constant, when adjusting an average value of currents to a predetermined reference value or more, and changes a stopped time (OFF-time) of the DC voltage together with the intermittent period while keeping the applied time constant, when adjusting the average value to a value less than the predetermined reference value. Therefore, the lighting device can reduce variation in emission color compared with the conventional lighting device adopting DC Dimming Method, and can reduce variation in amount of light compared with the case where ON-time is changed until the dimming level reaches a lower limit. As a result, the lighting device can modulate light even at a low dimming level while reducing variation in emission color and variation in amount of light.
US09055635B2
Disclosed are light-emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, methods, and a switch mode power supply. In one embodiment, an LED driver can include: (i) a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) and a rectifier bridge configured to receive an AC voltage, and to generate a phase-loss half sine wave voltage signal; (ii) a threshold voltage control circuit configured to receive a threshold voltage and an input voltage signal that represents the phase-loss half sine wave voltage signal, and to determine whether to output the threshold voltage based on angle information of the input voltage signal; (iii) a first control circuit configured to compare the input voltage signal against the threshold voltage output by the threshold voltage control circuit, and to generate a first control signal; and (iv) a power switch controllable by the first control signal to be off until an absolute value of the AC voltage is reduced to zero.
US09055629B2
The present invention relates to an SCR dimming circuit and method for regulating the luminance of an LED load. In one embodiment, an SCR dimming circuit can include: an SCR element that generates a lack-phase AC voltage based on a sinusoidal AC supply; a rectifier bridge that generates a lack-phase DC voltage based on the lack-phase AC voltage; a conduction angle generator that receives the lack-phase DC voltage, and generates a controlling signal representative of a conduction angle of the SCR element; and a dimming signal generator that generates a dimming signal to regulate luminance of the LED load, where the dimming signal generator receives the controlling signal, an adjustable signal, and a clamping voltage, an amplitude of a dimming phase angle range is selected by a fixed signal determined by the clamping voltage, and the dimming phase angle range may be shifted by regulating the adjustable signal.
US09055623B1
A method for controlling a buck converter of an alternating current (AC)-powered light emitting diode (LED) circuit. The method includes receiving an input voltage, and converting the input voltage to a feedback voltage. The method can also include sending the feedback voltage to the buck converter. The feedback voltage is proportional to the input voltage by a first factor when the input voltage is less than an upper threshold voltage and greater than a lower threshold voltage. The feedback voltage is proportional to the input voltage by a second factor when the input voltage is at least as great as the upper threshold voltage. The upper threshold voltage is less than a maximum voltage of the input voltage.
US09055622B2
Disclosed examples of optical systems having a plurality of light sources with each source having a different spectral outputs may be calibrated by measuring a spectral characteristic of the combined light with two measurements, e.g., one from a colorimeter and one from a sensor included in the system. Accordingly, one can determine a transform function in response to the two measures that models a feedback response of the optical system for each of a plurality of the inputs that would cause the optical system to generate radiant energy within a predetermined range of a spectrum. In order to calibrate the optical system, the transform function is programmed in the optical system to enable the optical system to transform an input to the optical system to a plurality of unique control signals each for controlling a respective light source of the plurality of light sources.
US09055621B2
An automation system for providing activity-adapted automation in an environment, comprising at least one controllable appliance (1), and a sensor (3) arranged to collect sensor data associated with user activities in the environment. A controller includes a user behavior analyzer (6), arranged to recognize, based on the sensor data, user activities and to identify unique combinations of simultaneously performed activities, and a user interface (4), arranged to display the unique combinations of simultaneously performed activities and representations of the predefined automation settings, and to allow the user to associate each unique combination with a desired setting. The controller is further adapted to subsequently control the appliance according to the predefined automation setting associated with a currently recognized combination of user activities. This provides activity-based automation of the environment, in accordance with preprogrammed preferences of the user, without requiring any programming experience.
US09055617B2
An electrically heated aerosol generating system for receiving an aerosol-forming substrate includes at least one electric heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to form the aerosol. The heater includes a heating element of a first cross section electrically connected to a plurality of elongate support elements. Each support element has a cross section greater than the first cross section. At least one of the support elements is integrally formed with the heating element.
US09055607B2
Multi-modal, multi-lingual devices can be employed to consolidate numerous items including, but not limited to, keys, remote controls, image capture devices, audio recorders, cellular telephone functionalities, location/direction detectors, health monitors, calendars, gaming devices, smart home inputs, pens, optical pointing devices or the like. For example, a corner of a cellular telephone can be used as an electronic pen. Moreover, the device can be used to snap multiple pictures stitching them together to create a panoramic image. A device can automate ignition of an automobile, initiate appliances, etc. based upon relative distance. The device can provide for near to eye capabilities for enhanced image viewing. Multiple cameras/sensors can be provided on a single device to provide for stereoscopic capabilities. The device can also provide assistance to blind, privacy, etc. by consolidating services.
US09055602B2
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of estimating a channel in a wireless communication network using the IEEE 802.11ad communication standard, and more particularly, to a method of estimating a channel which can determine a channel environment and actively select a channel estimation scheme according to the determined channel environment, and correctly estimate the channel while reducing the amount of computation by selectively using a pilot channel estimation value only in a pilot estimation period and adjacent pilot estimation periods when the channel changes severely, i.e., when a deep hole occurs, in the pilot estimation period although an LTF channel estimation value is used.
US09055594B2
A method of generating a transmission signal may include mixing a baseband signal assigned for transmission within a narrow frequency range (“assigned narrow frequency range”) included in a wireless communication channel to produce a shifted signal. The shifted signal may have a shifted frequency that is based on a shift from the assigned narrow frequency range toward a center frequency of the wireless communication channel by a frequency offset. The method may further include shifting a modulation frequency of a modulating signal toward the assigned narrow frequency range frequency range and away from the center frequency by the frequency offset. Additionally, the method may include mixing the shifted signal with the modulating signal to produce a transmission signal having a transmission frequency within the assigned narrow frequency range.
US09055583B2
Upon detecting at a two-way communication device that a communication link has been terminated, the two-way communication device can provide a unique corresponding signal (such as a unique audible signal) to indicate such termination. Pursuant to one approach, a plurality of such unique signals are available and a specific one of the available signals is selected for use in a given circumstance using a selection criteria of choice.
US09055582B2
Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for managing resources utilized for enhanced physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmissions. According to certain aspects, a method is provided for wireless communications which may be performed, for example, by a user equipment (UE). The method generally includes receiving signaling indicating a set of time and frequency resources in one or more subframes allocated for an enhanced physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), receiving a downlink transmission in a subframe, making a determination to monitor for the enhanced PDCCH in the subframe based on the signaling, and decoding the enhanced PDCCH transmitted using the set of time and frequency resources in the subframe, in response to the determination.
US09055581B2
A system, method, and computer readable medium for abbreviated dialing in a femtocell network is provided. A user having authorized access to the femtocell network may dial another authorized user using an abbreviated code. On receipt of the call request, a femtocell system may evaluate the destination number to determine if it is an abbreviated code. If the dialed number is not an abbreviated code, the femtocell system may direct the call request to the telecommunication core network for processing thereby. If the dialed number is evaluated by the femtocell system as an abbreviated code, the femtocell system may direct the call request to an on-site PBX for call handling. If the abbreviated code is a valid code and the dialed user equipment is currently in the femtocell network service area, the PBX may then complete the call setup within the femtocell network.
US09055580B2
A method for transmitting a downlink control channel in a mobile communication system and a method for mapping the control channel to physical resources using a block interleaver are provided. In order to transmit a downlink control channel in a mobile communication system, information bits are modulated to generate one or more modulation symbols according to a specific modulation scheme, the modulation symbols are interleaved using a block interleaver, and the interleaved modulated symbols are mapped to resource elements allocated for transmission of at least one control channel in a subframe, thereby transmitting the at least one control channel.
US09055568B2
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting uplink control information when TDD and a plurality of cells are configured, and comprises the following steps: receiving one or more of at least one PDCCH signal and at least one PDSCH signal; generating for each of the cells reception reply information on one or more of the at least one PDCCH signal and the at least one PDSCH signal; and transmitting the reception reply information for each of the plurality of cells which are connected.
US09055565B2
The present invention proposes a method for activating secondary carriers in addition to the primary carrier in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation technology. Through the present invention, the UE sorts the operations for activating an SCell into two groups that are executed at different timings, thereby facilitating communication without malfunctioning.
US09055563B2
An address management method is provided, for use when a mobile terminal accesses a service from a WLAN access network, wherein the service is provided in a 3GPP network or in a service provider network via the 3GPP network. First, the mobile terminal connects to the WLAN access network. Second, the mobile terminal sends a tunnel setup request message from the WLAN access network to a network entity located in the 3GPP network, wherein the tunnel setup request message includes a service request identifier for accessing a requested service and a mobile terminal identifier. Third, the network entity receives the tunnel setup request message, and allocates an address for use by the mobile terminal to access the requested service based on the service request identifier and the mobile terminal identifier.
US09055560B2
An enhanced connection recovery upon lost RRC connection due to radio link failure (RLF) or handover failure (HOF) is proposed. A UE first establishes an RRC connection in a source cell in a mobile communication network. Later on, the UE detects a failure event and starts an RRC reestablishment procedure in a target cell to restore the RRC connection. In a first novel aspect, a fast NAS recovery process is applied to reduce the outage time in the target cell. In a second novel aspect, context fetching is used to reduce the outage time in the target cell. In a third novel aspect, a loss-less reestablishment procedure is proposed to reduce data loss during the connection recovery.
US09055548B2
A method of handling location service for a network in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method comprises transmitting a message including positioning support information of the network via a first RAT to a mobile device in the wireless communication system, for informing the mobile device whether positioning is supported in the first RAT, wherein the positioning support information indicates whether positioning is supported in the first RAT.
US09055547B1
An subscriber location device for determining location information for User Equipment (UE) in a communication network monitors a network interface between a Mobility Management Entity node and an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) node, receive location information from network interface between the MME node and the E-SMLC node, associates the received location information with corresponding UE to yield associated location information and stores the associated location information in a subscriber location database, indexed according to the UE.
US09055546B2
The invention relates to a method for providing service continuity with respect to a registration of a mobile terminal, UE (1), at a control server (3) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, network, while a CS-communication session between the UE (1) and a switching server, MSC (2), of a circuit-switched, CS, network is established. The control server (3) comprises a registration timer which is used for initiating a termination of the registration of the UE (1) at the IMS network, when the registration timer expires, wherein the control server (3) updates the registration timer in dependence of a control information received (11, 24) from the MSC (2). The invention further relates to a MSC (2) providing such service.
US09055544B2
One embodiment of the method includes defining, at the user equipment, a range for the maximum output power. The range includes a maximum value and a minimum value. The minimum value is based on a maximum power signalled by a base station, a power class of the user equipment, a maximum power reduction permitted, an additional maximum power reduction permitted, a reduction term dependent on transmission bandwidth, and a power management term. The method further includes setting, at the user equipment, the maximum output power within the defined range.
US09055534B2
Disclosed is a method for determining transmission power for transmitting uplink signals between terminals in a wireless communication system that supports terminal-to-terminal communication, and an apparatus therefor. A method in which a first terminal determines transmission power for transmitting an uplink signal to a second terminal in a wireless communication system that supports terminal-to-terminal communication comprises the following steps: estimating a channel state based on a second terminal-specific signal received from the second terminal; transmitting the estimated channel information to a base station; receiving a message, including information on a transmission power control factor, from the base station or from the second terminal; and determining transmission power for transmitting an uplink signal to the second terminal based on the received message.
US09055533B2
Disclosed in some examples is a method including receiving a downlink data packet over a first wireless link using a first wireless protocol during communications over a second wireless link using a second wireless protocol the first and second wireless protocols being different; and sending a control packet in response to the downlink data packet over the first wireless link using a reduced power setting during the communications over the second wireless link, the reduced power setting being less than a non-control packet power setting.
US09055530B2
Systems, methods, and devices for saving power in wireless communications devices are described herein. In some aspects, an apparatus includes a memory unit configured to store wake-up information associated with a wake-up time duration for receiving a beacon signal, and includes a processor operationally coupled to the memory unit. The wake-up time duration identifies a time for the processor to wake-up before an expected arrival time of the next beacon signal. The processor may be configured to retrieve the wake-up information from the memory, and vary, over a period of time, the wake-up time duration based on the wake-up information.
US09055528B2
Methods, systems, and devices are described for dynamically adjusting a ZeroCorrelationZoneConfig (Ncs) parameter of a base station. An initial Ncs parameter is set for the base station. A determination is made as to whether a count of timing synchronization failures between a mobile device and the base station exceeds a threshold. A determination is also made as to whether the timing synchronization failures correspond to a predetermined range of timing advanced (TA) estimated values. Upon determining that the count of timing synchronization failures exceeds the threshold and that the failures correspond to the predetermined range of TA estimated values, the initial Ncs parameter is dynamically adjusted.
US09055526B2
A communication device calculates a signal travelling time indicating a time period from a first time at which the signal has been transmitted from the communication device, to a second time at which the transmitted signal is expected to arrive at another communication device serving as a communication partner. The communication device retransmits the signal to the another communication device when a retransmission request of the signal is received from the another communication device after the signal has been transmitted to the another communication device, and suspends a retransmission of the signal when the retransmission request is received again from the another communication device before the signal travelling time elapses from the first time.
US09055514B2
Apparatus and methods that provide wireless communications, where a method for wireless communications includes determining network performance; and sharing NPI with a network node; wherein the NPI comprises information necessary for the network node to determine the performance available on a network.
US09055510B2
A method and apparatus are disclosed for enabling very high throughput (VHT) communications. A wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU) may receive, from an access point (AP), a management frame comprising VHT capabilities information. The VHT capabilities information may comprise an indication of support for reception via non-contiguous channels. The WTRU may transmit, on a condition that reception via non-contiguous channels is supported, at least one data packet, to the AP, via multiple non-contiguous channels. The multiple non-contiguous channels may be used simultaneously.
US09055503B2
Described embodiments provide a method of effectively selecting a target cell to hand over user equipment from a LTE network to a non-LTE network when the user equipment requests a CS service. A LTE cell may determine a CS fallback hysteresis parameter in advance. The LTE cell may receive signal quality measurements of at least two candidate non-LTE cells from the user equipment. The LTE cell may select one target cell among the at least two candidate non-LTE cells based on the CS fallback hysteresis parameter and the received signal quality measurements of the at least two candidate non-LTE cells.
US09055499B1
A communication control system controls communication over a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network and a non-LTE network. The communication control system receives a communication session request transferred from a wireless communication device over the non-LTE network. In response, the communication control system initiates a voice communication session between the wireless communication device and a first communication interface. The communication control system requests an LTE registration notification for the wireless communication device. After the wireless communication device registers with the LTE network, the communication control system receives the LTE registration notification. In response, the communication control system initiates a media communication session over the LTE network between the wireless communication device and a second communication interface.
US09055492B2
The exemplary embodiments of the presently claimed invention relate to a method and a radio base station (600) for identifying candidate or neighbor base stations. The radio base station (600) is configured to include in a first message an information element (IE) including the name of the radio base station (600) and to transmit this message, via the X2 interface, to a candidate or target radio base station. In response, the target base station includes its name in an IE of a response message and send it to the first (initiating) radio base station (600). The name sharing improves visualization and topology since the closest neighbor radio base station is easily identifiable when building radio base station's relations.
US09055486B2
Systems and methods for managing coexistence between a plurality of radio networks configured to operate over a shared spectrum are disclosed. These may include gathering a plurality of data about each of the plurality of radio networks; determining a load level associated with each of the plurality of radio networks; determining a bandwidth allocation value, the bandwidth allocation value based at least on the load level; and allocating a plurality of channel slices among the plurality of radio networks.
US09055480B2
A mobile communication method according to the present invention includes a step A of notifying, by a radio base station eNB, a mobile station UE during communication in a subordinate cell #1 of “CSI-RS/Muting configuration information” indicating a transmission method of CSI-RS; and a step B of performing, by the mobile station UE, a reception process on the basis of the “CSI-RS/Muting configuration information”.
US09055463B2
A intelligent backhaul radio is disclosed that is compact, light and low power for street level mounting, operates at 100 Mb/s or higher at ranges of 300 m or longer in obstructed LOS conditions with low latencies of 5 ms or less, can support PTP and PMP topologies, uses radio spectrum resources efficiently and does not require precise physical antenna alignment.
US09055454B2
A method for execution by a mobile station (MS) in a mobile communications network, the method comprising: receiving a first MS identifier from the network during a ranging operation involving the MS; using the first MS identifier to extract the contents of at least one message received from the network during said ranging operation; using a second MS identifier, different from the first MS identifier, to extract the contents of at least one message received from the network after said ranging operation is complete. Also, a method for execution by the base station, comprising: outputting a first message destined for the MS, the first message including a first identifier for use by the MS during a ranging operation; determining that said ranging operation is complete; outputting a second message destined for the MS, the second message including a second identifier for use by the MS in subsequent communication with the network.
US09055446B2
A method and devices are provided to enable operation while experiencing reduced interference of at least two base stations in a wireless network wherein at least one of base stations is deployed in a femto deployment configuration and at least one of the others is deployed in a different deployment category. The method comprises preventing the usage of at least one radio resource selected from among sub-carriers comprised within a radio channel and/or time-domain resource, from one of the at least two base stations.
US09055431B2
A system for selecting and monitoring data plans for telecommunications systems, and methods of determining, learning and estimating usage patterns in-order to predict usage and tie this to cost and the overlaying of plan selection for cost optimization. Further, additional methods are applied to determine anomalous user behaviors and raise security and data leakage related events.
US09055425B2
An approach is provided for leveraging mobile devices to enhance emergency calling. The connectivity processor determines a request to initiate at least one call from at least one device. Next, the connectivity processor determines one or more devices with connectivity to the at least one device. Then, the connectivity processor determines at least one main devices from among the at least one device and the one or more other devices to initiate the at least one call based, at least in part, on operational status information, device capability information, resource availability information, or a combination thereof.
US09055421B2
In one embodiment, a method includes displaying by a mobile computing device of a first user a notification of an incoming call. The notification identifies a second user associated with a source of the incoming call. The method further includes detecting by the mobile computing device user input provided during the display of the notification of the incoming call. In response to the user input, one or more previous communications between the first and second users is determined by the mobile computing device. The method further includes displaying by the mobile computing device the one or more previous communications.
US09055416B2
A method of cross-platform messaging including receiving, by a messaging system, at least one initial message having a message format, an initial message layout and data indicative of at least one user associated with the at least one initial message, and before delivery to a destination communication device associated with the at least one user, converting, by the messaging system, an initial message into an adapted message, and facilitating, by the messaging system, delivery of the adapted message to the destination communication device. The adapted message is characterized by, at least, an adapted message layout, and the adapted message layout differs from the initial message layout in a characteristic associated with respective message layout such as number of media objects, a graphical image of a media object, a size of a placeholder related to a media object, and a location of a media object within a respective message layout.
US09055412B2
A utility within a mobile device or other device computes and provides an optimal mobile coverage route. The device receives a stating point/location and a destination point/location. The mobile device downloads a provider's mobile coverage information, accesses historical data stored by the mobile device, and obtains user feedback from the provider. The optimal mobile coverage route is then computed at the device, and the optimal mobile coverage route is provided via one of the following: a web site, or a text message (SMS) to, a voice operated feed, or any direct feed to the user of the mobile device. The computed optimal mobile coverage route is then used by the user of the mobile device when communicating with another mobile device while travelling from the starting point to the end point.
US09055406B2
Provided is a distributed system and method for enabling new and useful location dependent features and functionality to mobile data processing systems. Mobile data processing systems (MSs) interact with each other as peers in communications and interoperability. Data is shared between mobile data processing systems to carry out novel Location Based eXchanges (LBX) of data for new mobile applications. Information which is transmitted inbound to, transmitted outbound from, or is in process at, a mobile data processing system, is used to trigger processing of actions in accordance with user configured permissions, charters, and other configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a user configurable platform is provided for quickly building well behaving LBX applications at MSs and across a plurality of interoperating MSs.
US09055404B2
An apparatus, method, and computer program product are described that provide for a user to share content with other users who are proximate to his or her device in a simple and intuitive manner. In some embodiments, a “wave” gesture is used to identify users of devices that nearby to the source user's device with whom the source user may communicate, such as to share content. Upon receiving a first orientation input, a scanning mode may be initiated during which one or more devices proximate the apparatus are determined. A second orientation input that is different from the first orientation input, and the scanning mode may be terminated in response. As a result, a communication with at least one selected device of the one or more devices determined to be proximate the apparatus may be facilitated.
US09055403B2
A method and user device for limiting a time for which location data sharing is enabled for a user device of a data sharing group, the data sharing group comprising at least two user devices inclusive of the user device, each user device of the data sharing group configured to store data shared by user devices of the data sharing group on the respective user device and to maintain a list of the user devices in the data sharing group. The method comprises receiving an instruction through a user interface on the user device indicating that location data sharing is to be enabled for a limited time period after which location sharing is to be disabled, obtaining location data for the user device during the limited time period; and sending the location data to at least one other user device of the sharing group during the limited time period.
US09055396B2
Technologies and implementations for determining the location of a device in an indoor environment are generally disclosed.
US09055393B2
A device includes a near field communication (NFC) module that stores data and a list of devices authorized to receive the data. A request for the data is received at the NFC module from a second device while the device is operating in a first mode. The data is transferred from the NFC module to the second device using NFC communications protocol based on a determination that the second device is an authorized device.
US09055389B2
According to a first aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method in a method in a network node for handling beacon signal transmission. The beacon signal transmission is for discovering devices for Device to Device, D2D, transmission. The network node is associated with a cellular communications network. The network node obtains (1401) information from a number of master devices within a specific area comprised in the cellular communications network. The respective information comprises information about location and capability of D2D transmission of the respective master devices. The network node then decides (1403) properties for beacon signal transmission from a first master device. The deciding is based on the obtained information, and the number of master devices within the specific area.
US09055363B2
A noise dosimeter (xOO) for monitoring the exposure to noise of a user wearing a headset is described. The noise dosimeter includes a housing to be worn external to the ear of the user, an earpiece (xO1) for placement in or near an ear canal of the user, a microphone transducer, and a signal transmission means (xO3) for transmission of a signal from the earpiece (xO1) to the housing. The earpiece (xO1) comprises sound collection means (xO4) for collecting sound emitted from a speaker of the headset, and the housing comprises signal processing circuitry for processing and accumulating signals from the microphone transducer in order to evaluate a user's exposure to noise when using the headset. The noise dosimeter can be integrated in a headset.
US09055352B2
A system and method for delivering interactive video and audio content items, e.g., movie clips, music videos, adverts, to a user playback device, such as a television (TV) set. In a preferred embodiment, the content items are delivered within a video on demand (VoD) environment. Each content item has associated attributes that detail the navigational properties for that content item. The content items are delivered as entries in a content sequence. Nonlinear navigation of the video content sequence is facilitated by querying the associated attributes for the current content item and enabling navigational actions (e.g. FF/REW/PAUSE/SKIP/Jump to target) for that content item accordingly. The content items thus permit varying degrees of user interaction. The user interaction is not bound by predetermined navigational rules, since the user is free to experience the sequenced VoD content items in any order.
US09055350B2
A method that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example transmitting, by a system comprising a processor, via a first emergency media channel a first video stream comprising first evacuation routing information for a first evacuation group responsive to receiving a notification of an emergency event, instructing, by the system, a first media processor device to select the first emergency media channel while disabling selection of other media channels according to the first evacuation routing information, where the content of the emergency media channel is presented at a display device by way of the first media processor device, and enabling, by the system, the first media processor device to select the other media channels responsive to receiving user input acknowledging the emergency media channel. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09055349B2
An apparatus for communicating content includes an image capturing module that captures a rendering of at least a portion of a first still image. The first still image includes a shot from a sequence of images of a video. The first still image includes an embedded cryptographic representation of a code. The code corresponds to the sequence of still images comprising the video. The apparatus includes a decoding module that decodes the embedded cryptographic representation of the code to identify the code, a content retrieval module that retrieves the sequence of still images of the video corresponding to the code, and a display module that displays the sequence of still images of the video. A first displayed shot of the video includes the first still image and a remainder of the video includes a remaining series of images from the sequence of images of the video displayed in chronological order.
US09055345B2
Systems and methods of monitoring blackout events are provided. A particular method includes receiving a server blackout event specifying a scheduled blackout of a first media service. The method also includes receiving a client blackout event from at least one set top box affected by the scheduled blackout. The method further includes generating a compliance report indicating whether the set top box complied with the scheduled blackout.
US09055340B2
According to one embodiment, profile information of new user and items to be selected are inputted. Each item has an attribute value of a plurality of attributes. Profile information and preference information of a plurality of users are acquired. The preference information represents whether each user has selected each item. The plurality of users is classified into a plurality of clusters by the profile information and the preference information of the plurality of users. A parameter of each attribute of each cluster is calculated by the preference information of each cluster. A similar cluster to classify the new user is estimated from the plurality of clusters by the profile information of the new user. A preference degree of each item is calculated by the parameter of each attribute of the similar cluster and the attribute value of each item. An item to be recommended is decided by the preference degree.
US09055339B2
A broadcast reception system, apparatus, and method for a Conditional Access System (CAS) function without a cablecard are provided. A security processor for performing a CAS function without using a cablecard includes a security processor for receiving Entitlement Control Message (ECM) information and Entitlement Management Message (EMM) information from a set-top box, extracting a Control Word (CW) using the ECM information and the EMM information, encrypting the CW, and transmitting the encrypted CW to the set-top box.
US09055337B2
Presence detection having granularity sufficient to passively facilitate personalizing services according to particular individuals. Wireless signaling associated with individuals may be assessed to determine individual presence relative to a particular servicing device. The services accessed through the servicing device may be personalized according to an arrival and a departure of the individuals in order to vary services according to individual presence.
US09055330B2
Data between a client and a server is pinned through a receiving interworking unit and a transmitting interworking unit connected via a non-IP based communications path. The receiving interworking unit and transmitting interworking unit convert received data between IP and a non-IP based communications protocols. The transmitting interworking unit receives IP data for the client from the server. The data is converted and transmitted via the non-IP based communications link to the receiving interworking unit, which converts the data back into an IP format and forwards the converted data on to the client. One segment of the path between server and client transports the data in a non-IP format. Neither IP client nor the server are aware of the non IP segment and no change in their IP network mode of operation is required.
US09055327B2
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide and/or utilize a system, device, and/or method for managing changes to data, such as a method that includes transmitting a change to a static object (SO1) by means of a change object (SO*) in a data distribution service that communicates a plurality of static objects (SO1, . . . , SO5) via a carousel transmission (KUE) and real time data (RD) via a streaming transmission (SUE), wherein the change object (SO*) is formed on the basis of at least one information item (I*) to be changed and on the basis of at least one change rule (R*) specifying a procedure for carrying out the change, and the change object (SO*) is communicated via the streaming transmission (SUE).
US09055321B2
A broadcast signal receiving apparatus including a broadcast receiving unit that receives a broadcast signal; a communicating unit that performs communication with a mobile apparatus; a signal converting unit that converts the received broadcast signal; and a controller that controls the signal converting unit to convert the broadcast signal into a format corresponding to the mobile apparatus, and controls the communicating unit to transmit the converted broadcast signal to the mobile apparatus.
US09055313B2
In one embodiment, a method activates a first device for delivering media to the first device. The method captures, by a second device, an encoded representation being output by the first device. The encoded representation is output by an application upon being provided on the first device where activation of the first device via a server is necessary for configuring a media program delivery service for a user on the first device. The method then determines information encoded in the encoded representation. The information includes a unique identifier (ID) for the first device. A user identifier is determined for the user and the method automatically communicates the unique ID and the user identifier to the server associated with the media program delivery service to allow the server to activate the first device for the media delivery service using the unique ID.
US09055307B2
In a data transmission system such as a television service provider system, compensation value data corresponding to information lost during lossy compression of program content (which may or may not already be compressed prior to the lossy compression) may be sent to a customer along with the lossy-compressed content. At the customer end, the compensation value data may be used during decompression to provide higher quality content to the customer than would otherwise be experienced without access to the compensation values.
US09055299B2
A method and apparatus for encoding video by using deblocking filtering, and a method and apparatus for decoding video by using deblocking filtering are provided. The method of encoding video includes: splitting a picture into a maximum coding unit; determining coding units of coded depths and encoding modes for the coding units of the maximum coding unit by prediction encoding the coding units of the maximum coding unit based on at least one prediction unit and transforming the coding units based on at least one transformation unit, wherein the maximum coding unit is hierarchically split into the coding units as a depth deepens, and the coded depths are depths where the maximum coding unit is encoded in the coding units; and performing deblocking filtering on video data being inversely transformed into a spatial domain in the coding units, in consideration of the encoding modes.
US09055291B2
In a video processing system, a method and system for generating a transform size syntax element for video decoding are provided. For high profile mode video decoding operations, the transform sizes may be selected based on the prediction macroblock type and the contents of the macroblock. A set of rules may be utilized to select from a 4×4 or an 8×8 transform size during the encoding operation. Dynamic selection of transform size may be performed on intra-predicted macroblocks, inter-predicted macroblocks, and/or direct mode inter-predicted macroblocks. The encoding operation may generate a transform size syntax element to indicate the transform size that may be used in reconstructing the encoded macroblock. The transform size syntax element may be transmitted to a decoder as part of the encoded video information bit stream.
US09055287B2
A lens structure is disclosed and the associated method of manufacturing the same having as its primary steps the provision of a substantially transparent substrate material; forming a plurality of lenses on a first side of the substrate; and shaping the substrate to correspond to a display area of a display device, wherein the plurality of lenses are angled to correspond to the pixel size and pitch of the display area. A display system is also disclosed, wherein the display systems generally includes a data source for processing, saving and playing at least one image; software for interlacing the image; software for processing slides and movies comprised of multiple images; a lenticular screen overlaid upon a video display device for viewing the interlaced images in three dimensions.
US09055271B2
An electronic device can be synchronized with a broadcast of a live sporting event to obtain supplemental sports data over a data network from a server storing data associated with the live sporting event. Supplemental sports data is obtained from the server for display on the electronic device following a triggering activity associated with the broadcast of the live sporting event. Supplemental sports data can be transmitted for rendering on a display associated with the electronic device. Supplemental sports data can include display of an instant replay video of a sports athlete combined with audio of a pre-recorded statement by the sports athlete associated with the instant replay video, an announcement of a score change for a sporting event monitored by the electronic device, and a display of a football widget providing updates on football game status (possession, ball location, current score) monitored by the electronic device.
US09055268B2
Multi-tier recording to enable, for example, seek-back unique copy recording may be provided. First, content may be recorded to a time-shift buffer. Recording instructions may be received and a virtual recorder corresponding to a user may be instantiated. Next, content from the time-shift buffer may be obtained according to the received recording instructions. Then the obtained content may be saved to the instantiated virtual recorder.
US09055267B2
A method of input processing for augmented reality comprises the steps of capturing a video image, generating an augmented image layer for superposition over the captured video image, and for a region of the augmented image layer, detecting for each pixel in the region a property of a corresponding pixel in the captured video image, and mapping with a first mapping the property detected for each pixel of the region back to a reference two-dimensional array of pixels; and generating an input based upon the property values as mapped to the reference two-dimensional array of pixels.
US09055263B2
An image processing apparatus includes a unit configured to calculate a plurality of characteristic amounts from an input image, a unit configured to calculate a first multidimensional lookup table based on the characteristic amounts, a unit configured to calculate attribute information of a specific object from the input image, a unit configured to calculate a second multidimensional lookup table based on the attribute information, a unit configured to generate a control parameter from the input image, an interpolation unit configured to apply the first and second multidimensional lookup tables to the input image, and a control unit configured to control interpolation intensity of the second multidimensional lookup table using the control parameter.
US09055258B2
A video display apparatus includes: a receiving unit which receives plural videos; a display unit; and a control unit which controls display of the display unit such that the plural videos appear on the display unit in a multi-window format for displaying the plural videos, wherein for each of the plural windows, the control unit determines a window projecting amount indicating an amount of projection of the window, and controls the display such that a video to be displayed in the window appears to be projecting or receding, due to parallax, by an amount obtained by adding the window projecting amount to a video projecting amount indicating an amount of projection of the video.
US09055256B2
A system for remotely controlling one or more components coupled to a display or TV. Remote application software is provided on the TV for communicating a first signal between remote control and the processor via a receiver coupled to the processor, the remote application software comprises a graphical user interface for output on the, wherein the graphical user interface allows a user to assign the buttons on the remote keypad first to one or more commands that operate one or more external devices coupled to the display.
US09055252B2
Provided is an image processing apparatus that can accurately and efficiently reduce color unevenness that occurs in a color image, which is formed by color mixture of a plurality of different types of inks, due to a variation in ejection characteristic among nozzles. The inks are respectively ejected from the nozzle arrays to print patches; regions where color correction for test color images should be performed are specified; a different types of color correction processing for color signals corresponding to the color correction regions are performed to print color correction patches; a color correction patch to be used is selected; on the basis of selected color correction processing, a table parameter corresponding to a nozzle is formed; when the plurality of color correction patches are formed, only correction candidate values having larger color differences than a predetermined threshold value in a uniform color space are generated for color signals.
US09055251B2
Methods and systems divide an image into image blocks, determine a number of high-variation blocks within valid image blocks, determine a page variance measure by dividing the number of high-variation blocks by the total number of valid image blocks, and classify the image as comprising a halftone and/or text image if the page variance measure exceeds a halftone threshold. Such methods and systems classify the image as being a continuous tone image if the page variance measure does not exceed the halftone threshold and a text index is below a text index threshold, and classify the image as being a continuous tone and text image if the page variance measure does not exceed the halftone threshold and the text index is not below the text index threshold. Further, such methods and systems select an image processing mode based on such image classifications.
US09055248B2
A lens unit (120) shows longitudinal chromatic aberration and focuses an imaged scene into a first image for the infrared range in a first focal plane and into a second image for the visible range in a second focal plane. An optical element (150) manipulates the modulation transfer function assigned to the first and second images to extend the depth of field. An image processing unit (200) may amplify a modulation transfer function contrast in the first and second images. A focal shift between the focal planes may be compensated for. While in conventional approaches for RGBIR sensors contemporaneously providing both a conventional and an infrared image of the same scene the infrared image is severely out of focus, the present approach provides extended depth of field imaging to rectify the problem of out-of-focus blur for infrared radiation. An imaging system can be realized without any apochromatic lens.
US09055247B2
An imaging device includes: a pixel array section having an array of pixels, each of which has a photoelectric converting device and outputs an electric signal according to an input photon; a sense circuit section having a plurality of sensor circuits each of which makes binary decision on whether there is a photon input to a pixel in a predetermined period upon reception of the electric signal therefrom; and a decision result IC section which integrates decision results from the sense circuits, pixel by pixel or for each group of pixels, multiple times to generate imaged data with a gradation, the decision result IC section including a count circuit which performs a count process to integrate the decision results from the sense circuits, and a memory for storing a counting result for each pixel from the count circuit, the sense circuits sharing the count circuit for integrating the decision results.
US09055243B2
There is provided an image shooting device including a pixel part that is formed with a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, and a timing control part that provides an exposure start timing and a reading timing after exposure to the pixel part, in which the timing control part controls the exposure start timing and the reading timing such that a time interval between the exposure start timing and the reading timing is longer than the frame rate and that a row that outputs the reading timing is different for each frame when reading a plurality of successive images at a preset frame rate.
US09055234B2
Methods and systems permit one or more users to navigate through imagery of an environment. The system may include a first user interface device having first user inputs associated with first movement through the environment and a second user interface device having second user inputs associated with a second movement through the environment. Thus, a first user and a second user are able to navigate simultaneously and independently. In certain embodiments the system processes imagery of the environment to smooth user navigation through the environment.
US09055216B1
Image data and position and orientation data collected by a computing device can be aggregated to create enhanced videos. One example of an enhanced video is a panoramic video generated from a single video camera having a standard field of view. Enhanced videos can also be created to have a display resolution that is greater than is capable of being recorded by at least one video camera of the computing device providing input to the computing device. Enhanced videos can also be streamed live to a viewer, and the viewer can change the perspective of the streamed video or auto-center and auto-focus on a specified location or object in the streamed video.
US09055214B2
An electronic device and a method of controlling the same are provided. When the electronic device captures a predetermined number of images through a camera in a predetermined location, the captured images are grouped into a group and a title for the group is recommended. Accordingly, a group title is recommended depending on photographing situation when a user continuously captures images, and thus captured images can be managed more efficiently.
US09055204B2
An image capture device as an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: an image capturing section configured to generate video data by performing an image capturing session; a first interface that is connectable to a first storage medium; a second interface that is connectable to a second storage medium; a network interface configured to transmit and receive data by connecting itself to a network; and a controller configured to control writing the video data on the first and second storage media so that if the image capturing section's image capturing session overlaps with transmission of the video data from the first storage medium over the network via the network interface, the video data that has been generated as a result of the image capturing session is written on the second storage medium.
US09055187B1
A method, device and/or medium for sensing, by an image sensor in an imaging device, light corresponding to an image, in which the image sensor is one of a plurality image sensors interleaved with a plurality of picture elements in the imaging device and displaying, by a picture element in the imaging device, a representation of the image, in which the picture element is one of the plurality of picture elements.
US09055185B2
Some embodiments provide a method for conducting a video conference between a first mobile device and a second device. The first mobile device includes first and second cameras. The method selects the first camera for capturing images. The method transmits images captured by the first camera to the second device. The method receives selections of the second camera for capturing images during the video conference. The method terminates the transmission of images captured by the first camera and transmits images captured by the second camera of the first mobile device to the second device during the video conference.
US09055184B2
An image reading apparatus includes an imaging unit, a moving mechanism moving the imaging unit between a first position and a second position, a conveyance mechanism, a sun gear, and a planetary gear that rotates by being meshed with the sun gear and having a rotation center configured to revolve around the sun gear. The apparatus also includes a first output gear meshed with the planetary gear and transmits a driving force to the moving mechanism, a second output gear meshed with the planetary gear and transmits a driving force to the conveyance mechanism, a load generation part increasing a rotational resistance of the first output gear when the imaging unit is located at the first position, and a meshing part being meshed with teeth of the planetary gear when the planetary gear revolves around the sun gear.
US09055181B2
According to one embodiment, a solid-state imaging device includes a first image sensor, a second image sensor, and an image pickup processing circuit. The first image sensor is configured to output a first image signal according to an intensity distribution of each of color lights from an object. The second image sensor is configured to output a second image signal according to a luminance distribution of the light from the object. The image pickup processing circuit includes an image synthesizer. The image synthesizer is configured to synthesize color information included in the first image signal and luminance information included in the second image signal.
US09055175B2
Provided is an image reading apparatus including a light source that irradiates an original document that passes through a reading position with light, a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from the original document, a background member that is inclined at an angle where a difference between an incident angle of the light from the light source and a reflection angle of the light to the light receiving unit is smaller than a difference therebetween on the original document present at the reading position, with the original document at the reading position interposed between the background member and the light source, and a foreign substance detecting section that detects, when the original document is not present at the reading position, a foreign substance present at the reading position.
US09055174B2
An apparatus includes first and second moving mechanisms and a processor. The processor causes apparatus to instruct the second moving mechanism to move a holding member to a reading unit, instruct the reading unit to read first image data that is an image of mark on the holding member, calculate an amount of deviation of a first set position of the holding member by the second moving mechanism in the first image data, from a reference set position of an object, instruct the second moving mechanism to move the holding member to a reading unit, instruct the reading unit to read second image data of a pattern, generate processing data based on the second image data, correct the processing data based on the deviation amount, and control the moving mechanisms based on the corrected processing data to process the object by the pen or the cutter.
US09055173B2
An image reading apparatus capable of efficiently performing shading correction. The image reading apparatus includes a reading unit that is rotatable for reading an original. A CPU causes the reading unit to read, while the reading unit rotates after reading an image of the original, image data for use in correction of the read image. The CPU performs the correction using the image data read by the reading unit.
US09055170B2
Provided is an image forming system including plural image forming devices, a first storage unit that stores user information and device information, an updating unit that updates the device information, and a transmitting device that transmits image data to an image forming device, each image forming device including a second storage unit that stores the image data, a receiving unit that receives an input of the user information, a first acquiring unit that acquires image data from an image forming device, an image forming unit that forms an image, a counter unit that measures frequency in which image data is acquired by another image forming device and stores the user information, the device information, and the measured frequency in the second storage unit in a correlated manner, and a transmitting unit that transmits the user information and the device information to the updating unit.
US09055168B2
A first communicating section communicates with a mobile terminal through first non-contact communication protocol having a first communication range. A mobile terminal has a telephone function via a telephone network. A second communicating section communicates with the mobile terminal through second non-contact communication protocol having a second communication range greater than the first communication range. A public-line communicating section transmits data via the telephone network. When executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processor to perform: acquiring destination information from the mobile terminal via the first communicating section, the destination information being associated with a counterpart apparatus connected to the telephone network; acquiring subject data from the mobile terminal via the second communicating section, the subject data being a subject of transmission to the destination information; and controlling the public-line communicating section to transmit transmission data corresponding to the subject data to the counterpart apparatus at the destination information.
US09055158B2
A vehicular apparatus includes a communication portion and a vehicular display portion to communicate with a mobile phone having a touch panel. The vehicular apparatus acquires pixel information about a screen of the touch panel and displays the pixel information on the vehicular display portion. When a user performs a press manipulation onto the vehicular display portion, the vehicular apparatus transmits a signal indicating a manipulation target area to the mobile phone via the communication portion. The vehicular apparatus performs changeover to handsfree phone call when detecting that the mobile phone enters a phone call state within a specified time since detection of the press manipulation onto the vehicular display portion.
US09055153B2
In one embodiment, a method of directing calls on a mobile communication device comprises receiving a call at the mobile communication device; determining that the received call is directed to subscriber identity information associated with a short-range enabled communication device; selecting on which of the mobile communication device and the short-range enabled device to answer the call; and directing the call to the selected device.
US09055149B2
Embodiments of a system and method are disclosed for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology. Embodiments include capturing an image using an image sensor, sending the captured image to a communication system, searching a database of images for persons corresponding to the captured image, sending a request in a data format to the communication system for a connection with the persons, receiving an identification of active queues, displaying an indication of the active queues on a display screen using a session queuing component, obtaining a user selection of a queue as a selected queue using the session queuing component, sending a request to the communication system in a data format for expected wait time, receiving the expected wait time from the communication system, and sending a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back.
US09055140B2
A system and method for providing hold queue prioritizing for a contact center includes an automated system and a contact receiver/director for connecting contacts to the automated system. A contact identifier obtains identifying information from each of the contacts connected to the system. A hold queue is coupled to the contact receiver/director for storing contact records associated with contacts connected to the automated system. A contact status identifier determines a connection status of each of the contacts in the hold queue and stores the connection status in the respective contact record for each contact. A contact-back identifier identifies a received contact-back by matching the contact identifying information associated with a contact to a contact record in the hold queue. The contact receiver/director selects a contact record with a “connected” connection status and connects the caller in the hold queue associated with the selected contact record to an available agent.
US09055133B2
An apparatus, and an associated method, facilitates selection of content for play out pursuant to a media service at a device having media player functionality. A set of content streams are identified together with exemplars. Representations of the selected set are displayed at a display element, providing for selection of content therefrom. An indication of selection of content is detected and used in subsequent set identification and display.
US09055132B2
Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving from a communication system media content with metadata, recording the media content, detecting in the metadata a description of the media content correlating with a preference profile, presenting a first prompt requesting an acceptance or rejection of the media content, presenting a second prompt requesting a selection from a plurality of communication devices to direct in whole or in part the media content thereto, detecting the selection from the plurality of communication devices, and transmitting in whole or in part the media content to the selected communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09055130B1
Systems and methods for initiating presentation of media content prior to receiving seek index data associated with the media content. In particular, if necessary, the seek index data can be received after playback and/or presentation of the media content begins. Thus, delays associated with obtaining or otherwise processing seek index data can be reduced or postponed or in cases of adaptive streaming, higher quality presentation of the media content can be achieved.
US09055125B2
A social networking site that communicates with a plurality of human users can also communicate with a plurality of non-human users. Information from one of the non-human users can be automatically received at the site and evaluated. Commands can be automatically transmitted to another of the non-human users in response to the evaluation. A human readable indicator can be posted at a page of the site.
US09055122B2
A system to collect personal and demographic data from user's of cellular mobile communications system devices. This system uses a standard web browser to collect the personal and demographic data instead of the device itself because of the limited interactive experience available to cellular mobile communications system device users. After obtaining data from the user including the user's cellular mobile communications system device's cellular phone number, a message is sent to the device. When a link is the message is activated a small event collection data software module is downloaded to the cellular mobile communications system device. The return message to the data collection entity incorporates the cellular mobile communications system device's International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number. This number then ties the event data collected by the module to the personal and demographic information collected from the cellular mobile communications system device user.
US09055117B1
Systems and methods are disclosed that facilitate the management of network address information utilized by hosted computing devices. Each host computing device includes a local network and port address management component that is configured with port address translation information for the specific host computing device. Additionally, one or more edge computing devices also include a local network and port address management component that is configured with network and port address translation information. The network and port address translation information facilitates the correlation of internal network address information associated with a virtual machine instance with a tuple of an externally accessible network address and port address information. The local network and port address translation management components utilize the network and port address translation information to translate communication requests to and from the virtual machine instances without requiring a centralized network and port address translation component.
US09055115B2
Methods and systems of managing feed items may involve receiving a feed item and determining an estimate of an amount of time to read the feed item. In addition, the feed item can be prioritized in a feed aggregator based at least in part on the estimate of the amount of time to read the feed item.
US09055110B2
Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for monitoring and controlling electronic activity. A policy service can be called for policies for controlling electronic activity occurring at one or more managed devices. The policies can include a number of rules, each of which can include a number of variables. The rules can be defined by a manager device and/or received from third parties. Third party rule submissions can be validated. If electronic activity at the managed device deviates from a rule, the manager device can be notified and the electronic activity can be blocked. The manager device can update the policy and/or issue exceptions, if desired.
US09055105B2
An approach is provided for discovering a location-based service over an ad-hoc mesh network. A location-based service is discovered sending an anonymous flooding message including a query over the ad-hoc mesh network. A wireless node replies to the flooding message over the ad-hoc mesh network with a pointer to the discovered location-based service.
US09055103B2
Provided is a method of creating a mashup application in a host device in communication with a peer device by sharing remote services. The method includes discovering a second device that uses a middleware remote service sharing mechanism within a network, wherein a mashup framework of a first device performs the discovering; analyzing functionalities of the first device and the second device, and determining one of the first device and the second device as a host device and the other of the first device and the second device as the peer device; transmitting a list of available mashup combinations to the host device, wherein the peer device performs the transmitting; and selecting a mashup combination that is to be formed from the list, wherein the host device performs the selecting.
US09055094B2
A method performed in a processor of an intrusion detection/prevention system (IDS/IPS) checks for valid packets in an SMB named pipe in a communication network. In a processor configured as an IDS/IPS, a packet in a transmission is received and a kind of application of a target of the packet is determined. Also, the data in the packet is inspected by the IDS/IPS as part of the SMB named pipe on only one of a condition that: (a) the FID in an SMB command header of the packet is valid (i) for segments/fragments in the SMB named pipe and (ii) for the determined kind of application of the target of the packet, as indicated by a reassembly table, and (b) the determined kind of application of the target of the packet does not check the FID, as indicated by the reassembly table.
US09055090B2
Protection against security attacks involves monitoring network traffic for a computing device security attack and determining whether there is a security event, using one or more network based security tools. Next, it is determined whether an event pattern involving two or more security events meets a predetermined criteria. Upon determining that there is a security attack, corrective action is tailored, based on the type of the computing device, the operating system of the computing device, the type of security attack, and/or the available protection tools. A course of action is performed depending on whether an account of the computing device includes a security protection service. If there is a security protection service, a message is sent over a secure link to the computing device. This message includes the corrective action to cure the computing device from the security attack.
US09055086B2
An exemplary data transfer manager includes a datacenter configured to communicate over at least one link and a scheduler that is configured to schedule a plurality of jobs for communicating data from the datacenter. The scheduler determines a minimum bandwidth requirement of each job and determines a maximum bandwidth limit of each job. The scheduler determines a flex parameter of each job. The flex parameter indicates how much a data transfer rate can vary between adjacent data transfer periods for the job.
US09055085B2
Systems, apparatuses, methods, and software for using a network to efficiently distributing media content assets from a virtually unlimited content library and/or other storage to a plurality of client devices, as well as bi-directional local content sharing between head ends, and dynamic distribution and generation of media content assets within the network.
US09055080B2
The present invention is directed towards systems and methods of streaming an application from a remote location to a local machine system, and using local machine system resources in executing that application. In various embodiments, services needed by a streamed application may be started with high local system privileges in their own isolation environment. These service may be started, stopped, and otherwise managed by a Service Control Manager. In order for an application to both access services that operate at high local system privileges and the network so that it can access remotely stored, streaming, information; a streaming application may rely on privileges of the user when accessing network information rather than the higher privileges of the services running in isolation.
US09055072B2
A process definition is partitioned for execution in a system architecture that enables the communication and meta-orchestration of multiple distributed engines. The partitioning method creates separate scripts for each group (execution engine, computer, distributed computer, etc.) where each script has the same representation as the original control flow, but keeps local services and replaces remote services with data flow messages and synchronization points. This method ensures that the resulting process has the same result as the original process executed with a single engine. Additional advantages include: the number of partitions of the process is minimized to equal to the number of distributed engines; the communication between engines is minimized to only data flow messages; there is no dependency on a specific process representation such as BPMN; and reduced implementation complexity.
US09055071B1
Methods for preventing the transmission of sensitive information to locations outside of a secure network by a person who has legitimate access to the sensitive information are described. In some embodiments, in order for an end user of a computing device to establish a secure connection with a secure network and access data stored on the secure network, a client application running on the computing device may be required by the secure network. The client application may monitor visual cues (e.g., facial expressions and gestures) associated with the end user, detect suspicious activity performed by the end user based on the visual cues, and in response to detecting suspicious activity may perform mitigating actions to prevent the transmission of sensitive information such as alerting human resources personnel or requiring authorization prior to sending information to locations outside of the secure network.
US09055067B1
Methods and apparatus for flexible-location reservations and pricing for network-accessible resources are disclosed. A system includes a plurality of resources of a provider network distributed across multiple locations, and a resource manager. The resource manager implements a programmatic interface to allow a client to specify a flexible location option for a resource reservation request, indicating that the resource manager is to select one or more locations at which to reserve resource capacity. When a reservation request with the flexible location option specified is received, the resource manager selects a particular location based at least in part on heuristics using resource utilization data. In response to a resource activation request for the reservation, the resource manager activates a resource at a launch location selected from the multiple locations.
US09055060B2
The present invention relates to cloud service supporting technology. Particularly, a cloud service system based on an enhanced security function includes a terminal that includes a trusted platform therein and is configured to perform security authentication based on encrypted information provided by the trusted platform, to perform normal authentication based on preregistered ID and password information, and to use a cloud service according to the security authentication and the normal authentication, and a cloud service apparatus that is configured to provide the cloud service to the terminal after completing the security authentication and the normal authentication with the terminal that includes the trusted platform therein. The service apparatus, the terminal, and a method for supporting them are also disclosed.
US09055058B2
Disclosed in the present invention are a method and apparatus for serial device registration. Said method comprises: a first serial device establishes connection with a second serial device; the first serial device reports the device attribute information of the first serial device to the second serial device, so as to initiate the process of registering the first serial device in the second device; in the registration process, after receiving the request of asking for signature certificate from the second serial device, the first serial device sends a first signature certificate to the second serial device; computing the received first challenge code returned from the second serial device, and obtaining a first signature value; sending the first signature value to the second serial device, so as to authenticate the first signature value by the second serial device and return the authentication result to the first serial device; after the authentication, the first serial device accomplishes the registration in the second serial device. The present invention solves the problem of lacking security authentication mechanism at the time of registering, thus improving communication security.
US09055057B1
A system for automatic setting of system security comprises an input interface and a processor. The input interface is configured to receive an indication to set a secure mode. The processor is configured to: determine whether the indication to set the secure mode comprises an indication to set a certificate mode; in the event that the indication to set the secure mode comprises an indication to set a certificate mode: 1) detect one or more connected systems for which to set the certificate mode; 2) select one or more certificates for the certificate mode; 3) update initialization files for the certificate mode; and 4) reinitialize local and one or more connected systems.
US09055050B2
In one embodiment, a first computing device receives an access token from a second computing device, the access token being generated by the second computing device for a specific software application executing on a specific computing device; stores the access token; receives a request for the access token from a software application executing on a third computing device; verifies whether the software application is the same as the specific software application and the third computing device is the same as the specific computing device for which the access token is generated; and sends the access token to the third computing device only when the software application is the same as the specific software application and the third computing device is the same as the specific computing device for which the access token is generated.
US09055047B2
A method and a device for negotiating encryption information are provided. In one embodiment, the method for negotiating encryption information includes: obtaining information about encryption capabilities of a first device and information about encryption capabilities of a second device; determining encryption information applicable to the first device and the second device according to the information about encryption capabilities of the first device and the information about encryption capabilities of the second device; and sending the encryption information to the first device and the second device, wherein the encryption information serves as a basis for encrypting and/or decrypting data streams between the first device and the second device. Embodiments of the present invention ensure security of data streams transmitted between a Telephony Client (TC) and a Telephony Server (TS).
US09055044B2
In order to reduce the amount of consumption of a back-end bandwidth in a storage apparatus, a computer system includes: a first storage device; and a second storage device that is coupled to the first controller through a first interface and is coupled to the second controller through a second interface. The first controller receives data from a host computer through a first communication channel; write the received data into the first storage device; identify part of the received data as first data, the part satisfying a preset particular condition; and write a replica of the first data as second data into the second storage device. The second controller reads the second data from the second storage device in response to a Read request received from the host computer through a second communication channel; and transmit the second data to the host computer through the second communication channel.
US09055023B2
The approved email generation system described is capable of producing email communications between user and customer by using approved email templates and content that have been aligned with customer information regarding access to such content. Once the approved email has been generated, the content may be verified again for accuracy and validity before being delivered to the customer. When the customer accesses delivered content, the approved email generation system again verifies the content and allows the customer access to only the most current version of the content available. The system provides for control of the content of electronic communications to customers.
US09055015B2
A system and method for composing an audio message are disclosed, which may include a memory for storing control parameters identifying respective preconfigured audio segments, the preconfigured audio segments being emotones; a recorder for enabling a user of the recording system to introduce user voice input into an audio message; and a command for enabling the user of the recording system to selectively add user voice input and emotones into the audio message.
US09055013B2
A communication system provides a user with the ability to redirect telephone calls to a voice chat account and vice versa. In one example, a voice chat gateway may receive communication requests and determine whether communications directed to a first party is to be redirected. If so, the voice chat gateway may reroute the communication request to an appropriate destination. For instance, a user may request that all communications such as telephone calls be rerouted as a voice chat to the user's voice chat account. Alternatively, a user may request that all communications including voice chats be redirected to a telephone number. Users may further be allowed to call a voice chat account through a telephone network and initiate a voice chat with a telephone number through a data network.
US09055009B2
A method for hybrid arrival-occupancy based congestion management includes increasing a recent arrivals counter associated with a data flow from one or more sources in response to receiving a data packet from one of the sources and storing the data packet in a buffer including multiple storage units. The method includes determining if a buffer is congested, randomly selecting an occupied unit of the buffer and determining the source of the packet stored in the occupied unit of the buffer, generating a congestion notification message, sending the congestion notification message to the source of the packet stored in the occupied unit of the buffer if the recent arrivals counter exceeds a threshold value and decreasing the recent arrivals counter associated with the source of the packet stored in the occupied unit of the buffer and discarding the congestion notification message if the recent arrivals counter has a zero value.
US09054999B2
A method and system for static routing in a TRILL network is disclosed. Routing bridges in the TRILL network use LLDP discovery to identify their next hop routing bridges. A data packet, with an inner header specifying a MAC address of a destination host, is sent by a source host and received by an ingress routing bridge. The ingress routing bridge encapsulates the data packet with a TRILL header and an outer header and sends the data packet to a next hop routing bridge on path to the destination host. The next hop routing bridge determines it is not the egress routing bridge for the data packet and sends the data packet onward to the egress routing bridge. The egress routing bridge decapsulates the data packet and forwards the data packet to the destination host specified in the inner header.
US09054992B2
Disclosed are systems, computer-readable mediums, and methods for receiving client quality of service values associated with a first client. Client metrics of a volume in a storage system are determined for the first client. The client metrics reflect usage of the storage system by the first client. A client load value based is determined upon the client metrics. A quality of service management policy for the first client is determined from a plurality of quality of service management policies based upon the client load value. Each quality of service management policy comprises a formula based on a quality of service parameter. A client target performance value is determined based upon the formula of the quality of service management policy and the received client quality of service values. Performance of the storage system is adjusted for the first client based upon the client target performance value.
US09054983B2
A network includes a first switching domain having a distributed fabric comprised of interconnected standalone switches. The standalone switches communicate with each other in accordance with a packet-based distributed fabric protocol. A second switching domain has a plurality of cell-based switches in communication with a cell-based switch fabric. The cell-based switches communicate with each other through the cell-based switch fabric in accordance with a cell-based distributed fabric protocol. One of the cell-based switches is coupled by a communication link to one of the standalone switches of the first switching domain. The second switching domain includes a server device coupled to one of the cell-based switches. The server device is configured with logic to process control packets for the standalone switches in accordance with the packet-based distributed fabric protocol and control packets for the cell-based switches in accordance with a protocol that is different from the packet-based distributed fabric protocol.
US09054975B2
A method and system of analyzing a network to identify a network defect allows user selection of traffic subset to be recorded. After recording the selected traffic subset of the network traffic during network operation, the recorded traffic is then replayed at least in part to the network to replicate, and thus assist in identifying, the network defect.
US09054970B2
A method and system of measuring performance and capacity of a network includes monitoring network activity using an application programming interfaces (API) monitoring system with a web services definition language (WSDL) file and a probe. The WSDL file provides instructions to a probe control system in the API monitoring system and the probe control system provides regular expressions to the probe. Performance data are collected using the probe. The performance data includes a collection of performance information. Using the probe, performance data are transmitted between the network and the API monitoring system. The API monitoring system stores the performance data in a database of performance data monitored and analyzes the performance data to determine performance and capacity of the network. The API monitoring system reports information on performance and capacity of the network to a network operations center dashboard.
US09054965B2
A system and method for managing captured network traffic data is provided. The invention comprises a plurality of capture agents, each being configured to capture the network traffic associated with one or more applications. Each application is associated with one or more capture agents according to an application profile that is stored and maintained in a capture server. When analysis of an application's network traffic is required, the capture server contacts the corresponding capture agents according to the application profile. The capture server then effects the identification and archiving of the network traffic that corresponds to a user-defined capture condition. A database at the capture server maintains a record that associates the corresponding network traffic with the user-defined capture condition such that the corresponding network traffic can later be retrieved and analyzed using an analysis engine.
US09054955B2
Apparatus for enabling recovery from failures in up to M working paths of a set of N working paths that are allocated N frequency slots of L different slot widths, where M, N and L are positive integers, N≧L>1, and N>M>1. The apparatus includes a processor and a control plane interface. The processor is operative to allocate protection frequency slots to M protection paths in different manners depending on whether M is greater than L, equal to L or less than L. The control plane interface is operatively associated with the processor and is operative to effect provisioning of the M protection paths for supporting recovery from the failures. Related network, apparatus and methods are also disclosed.
US09054951B2
In an embodiment, a method comprises: receiving, at a data packet router, a path advertisement comprising information about an available path; determining whether the path advertisement comprises an originator identifier of an originator of the available path; in response to determining that the path advertisement comprises the originator identifier of the originator of the available path, determining whether the originator identifier of the available path is a router identifier of the data packet router, and in response to determining that the originator identifier of the available path is the router identifier of the data packet router, not accepting the path advertisement; wherein the method is performed by one or more processors of the data packet router.
US09054950B2
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for updating zone information in a distributed switch of data forwarders. For each data forwarder, a sequence number is maintained for zone distribution messages sent to the data forwarder. A change to the ports in the network is detected comprising at least one of an allocation or deallocation of at least one port in the network. The sequence number for each data forwarder is incremented in response to detecting the change. For each data forwarder, a zone distribution message is generated indicating the at least one port allocated and/or deallocated, port information indicating each port in the network that may communicate with each other port, and the sequence number for the data forwarder. The generated zone distribution message is transmitted for each data forwarder to the data forwarder for which the zone distribution message was added.
US09054949B2
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for updating zone information in a distributed switch of data forwarders. For each data forwarder, a sequence number is maintained for zone distribution messages sent to the data forwarder. A change to the ports in the network is detected comprising at least one of an allocation or deallocation of at least one port in the network. The sequence number for each data forwarder is incremented in response to detecting the change. For each data forwarder, a zone distribution message is generated indicating the at least one port allocated and/or deallocated, port information indicating each port in the network that may communicate with each other port, and the sequence number for the data forwarder. The generated zone distribution message is transmitted for each data forwarder to the data forwarder for which the zone distribution message was added.
US09054946B2
A system for mapping a network is described, where the system comprises a computer coupled to the network and a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS may be configured to convert network line data into point data for a network; associate the point data with cells of a grid overlaying the network; and analyze the network by determining the relationship of the point data to the cells of the grid.
US09054945B1
Described are techniques for configuring storage access control. A set of inputs including a first identifier of an initiator port and a device set devices in a data storage system is received. Responsive to receiving the set of inputs, an allowable path set is automatically defined for the initiator in accordance with an initiator-level of granularity. Each device in the device set is accessible by the initiator over each path in the allowable path set. The allowable path set includes paths between the initiator port and each target port of the data storage system. A set of target ports is either specified using a wildcard indicator denoting all target ports of the data storage system, or the set of target ports is otherwise determined implicitly as all target ports of the data storage system.
US09054942B1
Various systems, methods, and programs embodied on a computer readable medium that facilitate monitoring of services and servers. In one embodiment, an amount of data is stored in at least one storage device, the data being generated by a plurality of services executed on a plurality of servers, and by the servers upon which the services are executed. A plurality of monitoring applications are executed in a monitoring server, the monitoring applications being configured to perform a plurality of monitoring functions with respect to at least a portion of the data to facilitate an assessment of an operating condition of the services and the servers. An interface layer surrounds the monitoring applications in the monitoring server. The interface layer defines a messaging format that is used by devices external to the interface layer to interact with the monitoring applications.
US09054937B2
A system according to one embodiment includes a digital data modulator configured to generate encoded symbols; an envelope detector configured to receive the encoded symbols and to estimate transmission power information associated with the encoded symbols; a peak detector configured to receive the transmission power information, detect a peak transmission power from two or more sequential data points of the received transmission power information, and to generate a power regulation signal representative of the detected peak transmission power; and a digital to analog converter (DAC) configured to receive the power regulation signal and to provide a reference voltage to a power supply associated with an RF amplifier.
US09054934B1
A specialized preamble is provided to facilitate matrix channel estimation of a MIMO channel. In a particular implementation, a channel training preamble provided by the IEEE 802.11a standard is modified to facilitate MIMO channel estimation.
US09054929B2
Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for constructing a VHT-SIG field of a transmission preamble in a manner that may reduce peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmission.
US09054926B1
During transmission of a signal, a decoder receives a data symbol sequence and one or more copies of the data symbol sequence. The data symbol sequence and each of the copies have unknown noise, including unknown phase shifts. The unknown phase shifts are estimated such that the data symbol sequence that was transmitted is substantially recovered.
US09054923B2
A communication terminal (6a, 6s, 6L) includes the following functional units. A relay communication establishment unit (621) establishes communication paths via respective relay devices (4a to 4N, 6p, 6q). A communication processing unit (624a) performs communication for pieces of divided data via the relay devices. A communication state monitor unit (622) changes a current set of the relay devices to a new set of relay devices so as to be used for the communication, based on estimation results of communication states.
US09054921B2
A method and an apparatus provide a plurality of modulated signals by frequency shifting an output signal of a carrier signal generation circuit for obtaining a first carrier signal and a second carrier signal, and by modulating the first and second carrier signals.
US09054919B2
Device pinning capabilities for cloud-based services and/or storage accounts are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a method, which may be implemented on a system, for authorizing synchronization of a synchronization client on a device with content associated with an account in the cloud-based service, responsive to determining that the device is on a list of devices that are authorized, and synchronizing the synchronization client on the device with the content associated with the account such that the content is also locally available for access on the device. The list of devices can be specific to and associated with devices for a user in the account and can be limited to an allowable number of devices for the account or a user associated with the account.
US09054910B1
A method and apparatus provide terminal status information by a telecommunication terminal as audio information by generating terminal status information by a telecommunication terminal; establishing a direct connection by a monitor computer to the telecommunication terminal via a direct link to the telecommunication terminal; transmitting the generated terminal status information to the monitor computer by the telecommunication terminal via the direct link; converting the generated terminal status information to audio terminal status information by the monitor computer; and presenting the audio terminal status information to a user of the telecommunication terminal. In addition, the method and apparatus establish a firewall by the telecommunication terminal to prevent the monitor computer from communicating on a network to which the telecommunication terminal is connected whereby the monitor computer is also denied access to other devices connected to the network.
US09054909B2
A system controls forwarding of an incoming call. The system receives the incoming call directed to an original recipient. Forwarding settings are processed for routing the incoming call. In some embodiments, the forwarding settings may include a listing of at least one group having more than one member and at least one forwarding instruction based on the at least one group. In these embodiments, the incoming call is forwarded according to the at least one forwarding instruction to at least one first member and at least one second member of the at least one group. The forwarding settings may be based on a user's presence settings, subject to categorization rules, and/or utilize protocol extensions. In some embodiments, the system can map communication routing scenarios to a markup document, such as an XML document, that the system can use to implement team or forwarding call rules. In some embodiments, client devices can set preamble routing independent from the communication server.
US09054908B2
A chip is provided to include a circuit to transmit one or more data bursts, where the circuit includes burst timing logic to insert gaps of a determined length between adjacent data bursts to reduce noise at a desired frequency, where the length of each gap is to be determined based on energy of a preceding burst and a current burst.
US09054903B2
A method for equalizing a received radio signal in a WCDMA system, comprises receiving (210), in a radio receiver, of a digital radio signal spread by scrambling codes. A channel estimation is performed (230) on the received digital radio signal for a plurality of channels. The received digital radio signal is in an equalizer equalized (240) into an equalized digital radio signal. This equalizing is performed by combining a plurality of part signals, deduced from the digital radio signal, with a respective delay and a respective combining weight. The equalizing (240) comprises provision of the combining weights based on a signal impairment matrix having elements compensated for systematic colouring caused by said scrambling codes.
US09054897B2
The present invention provides a method and apparatus of synchronizing AAL2 path states between ATM adaptation layer type 2 (AAL2) signaling nodes, wherein a AAL2 signaling node as a synchronization requesting end sends a path state request message to a peer AAL2 signaling node of an AAL2 path, the peer AAL2 signaling node performs local check on the state of the AAL2 path designated by the request message after receiving the request message, and the peer AAL2 signaling node controls consistency synchronization processing on the AAL2 path states at two ends based on the result of the check. The present invention may avoid initial call failure incurred by inconsistency between states at two ends of an AAL2 path and improves success ratio of AAL2 path establishment.
US09054890B2
According to an embodiment, a communication apparatus controls controllable nodes. The apparatus includes an acquisition unit and a generation unit. The acquisition unit acquires at least one of a first evaluation value indicating an occurrence frequency of a control request to a target controllable node and a second evaluation value indicating an occurrence frequency of communication error at the target controllable node. The generation unit generates identification information to be assigned to control the target controllable node in a manner such that a bit length of the identification information becomes shorter as at least one of the first evaluation value and the second evaluation value increases.
US09054887B2
The present invention enables packet-switched network providers, e.g., VoIP network providers, to use commonly deployed components and capabilities to support surveillance services, e.g., CALEA services. Specifically, signaling and media streams that flow through Border Elements can be forked and simultaneously redirected to a surveillance server, a CALEA Server in addition to the terminating endpoint. Additionally, a Media Server (MS) can unobtrusively join a third leg to a communication media path between the CALEA Server and the two, calling party and called party, endpoints. A CALEA Server provides the ability to identify and collect content of voice telephone calls traversing the VoIP Network, as mandated by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.
US09054886B2
A system and method can support a flooding mechanism using a multicast group in a middleware machine environment. The middleware machine environment can comprise a gateway instance that includes an external port for receiving one or more data packets from an external network. The middleware machine environment also comprises one or more host servers, each of which is associated with one or more virtual machines that can process the data packets. Furthermore, said host servers can provide virtual interfaces that belong to a virtual hub associated with the gateway instance. At least one said packet is a flooded packet that is specified with an unknown destination address when it is received at the external port. The gateway instance operates to send the flooded packet to the multicast group that operates to forward the flooded packet to one or more said host servers in the multicast group.
US09054885B2
A method and system for distributing audio, visual, data, annunciator and other information within an educational facility utilizes a bit-wise addressing scheme to route UDP message packets to individual classrooms. The audio/video network system includes a central processor that controls a plurality of audio/video sources (e.g., DVD players, cable TV receivers, etc.). Output from audio/video sources is encoded by audio/video encoders for transmission via a local area network. Classroom control hubs within each classroom recognize data packets addressed with the bit-wise addressing scheme and in combination with a video decoder, recover the encoded audio/video signal for presentation within the classroom, such as by a video projector and classroom speakers. Transmitting audio/video information in UDP packets addressed with the bit-wise addressing scheme enables near simultaneous presentation of audio and video programs throughout the educational facility. The system can also manage traditional school bells and public address functions.
US09054877B2
A method for computation is described, the method including configuring a processor to expand input seed values into respective output data values using an approximated expansion process such that the output data values are not guaranteed to satisfy a required output data criterion, selecting a seed value so that an output data value generated by the processor by application of the approximated expansion process to the selected seed value will yield an output data value that satisfies the required output data criterion, and storing the selected seed value in a non-volatile memory to be accessed by the processor. Related apparatus and systems are also described.
US09054871B2
A device, including one or more Communication Physical Unclonable Function (CPUF) and key storage devices, the CPUF devices each including: a coherent Electromagnetic (EM) radiation source; a spatial light modulator (SLM) connected to the coherent EM radiation source; a volumetric scattering medium connected to the SLM; a detector connected to the volumetric scattering medium; and one or more processors or circuits connected to the detector and one or more processors or circuits connected to the SLM. A communication protocol is also provided.
US09054870B2
Provided is an eigendecomposition cipher. Input data is formatted into a numerical representation and arranged as a data matrix. Eigendecomposition is performed on the data matrix to determine at least a first component matrix (of eigenvalues) and a second component matrix (of eigenvectors). The eigendecomposition process is modified to ensure that the first component matrix has a diagonalized matrix of eigenvalues. Provided are additional features of shaping, compression, and message generation for an eigendecomposition-based cipher. A first message is generated based upon the first component matrix. A second message is generated based upon the second component matrix. The first and second messages comprise separate indecipherable parts of the input data. The first and second messages may be transmitted or stored separately such that the source data may not be recovered without both messages.
US09054863B2
Aspects of the present invention provide machines, systems, and methods in which industrial control systems may be secured from compromise and/or disruption via authentication and firewall. In particular, an industrial controller may: randomly generate an exchange key and send the exchange key to a client device in response to a transaction request originating from the client device; combine the exchange key with a locally stored pass key to produce an authentication code; and compare a challenge key received from the client device to the authentication code to determine a match between the challenge key and the authentication code. A successful match between the challenge key and the authentication code may allow the client device to further access the industrial controller using a common industrial protocol (CIP), and a failed match between the challenge key and the authentication code may prevent the client device from further access to the industrial controller.
US09054853B2
Signaling resource partition of a component carrier in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The number of primary resource blocks and the number of extension resource blocks of the component carrier is encoded and signaled to a UE, so the UE can obtain the resource partition of the component carrier.
US09054849B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for encoding information bits. The information bits are segmented, and one or more coded blocks are generated by adding parity bits to each segment of the information bits. Segmenting the information bits includes determining a number of coded blocks to be generated using a reference value, and segmenting the information bits based on the determined number of coded blocks.
US09054829B2
A spectrum-aware rate selection includes finding a set of channels based on spectrum availability information such that the total required spectrum for a requested data rate of a traffic demand is minimized.
US09054828B2
A method for generating optical paths in a photonic network is provided. A model of a photonic network is used to store relationship information that describes the relationships between photonic network elements, as well as configuration information about the elements of the photonic network. A path manager receives a request to generate one or more paths based on an input port and one or more output ports. Using the information stored in the photonic network model, the path manager generates one or more candidate paths.
US09054825B1
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method that includes receiving, by a traffic arbiter, a predetermined time-slot allocation of one or more uplink time slots and/or one or more downlink time slots for a first wireless media access control (MAC) configured to operate within a first wireless transmission system. The method also includes determining, by the traffic arbiter, whether to grant a second wireless MAC, configured to operate within a second wireless transmission system, permission to transmit or receive based at least in part on the predetermined time-slot allocation.
US09054823B2
A networking device includes a plurality of network ports and a clock synchronizer. Each network port is configured to receive a respective signal over a respective physical medium. A selected network port is configured to recover a clock signal from the respective signal received by the selected network port. Each of the network ports is configured to be selectable as the selected network port. The clock synchronizer is configured to generate a transmit clock signal in response to the clock signal recovered by the selected network port. The selected network port is configured to transmit data over the respective physical medium according to a local clock signal generated by a clock signal generator local to the networking device. Each network port other than the selected network port is configured to transmit data over the respective physical medium according to the transmit clock signal generated by the clock synchronizer.
US09054815B2
A method to control an optical receiver implemented with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is disclosed. The SOA has a p-n junction operable in a PD mode when it is supplied with a zero or reverse bias. The SOA detects the magnitude of the incoming light and the driving current supplied thereto is adjusted based on thus detected magnitude of the incoming light such that the outgoing light provided to the PD has a magnitude within a preset range.
US09054810B2
Novel tools and techniques providing for the robust wire-based plus wireless distribution of communications signals from a provider to multiple customer premises. Certain embodiments comprise one or more modular communications apparatuses which are located near to customer premises. The modular communications apparatuses features an enclosure which is, at least in part, transparent to radio frequencies. A modular communications apparatus also typically includes one or more communications radios or transmitter/receiver devices within the enclosure. The apparatus also includes at least one and possibly more than one antenna located within the enclosure along with wire or cable-based signal output apparatus.
US09054788B2
Available bandwidth is divided into multiple sub-channels, and respective sub-bands containing one or more of these sub-channels are allocated to one or more users. A first frequency allocation is determined, and mathematical operators are used to determine at least one further frequency allocation from the first frequency allocation. A frequency hopping sequence is then determined, including the first frequency allocation, and the or each further frequency allocation. A network node may perform the allocation method, and a user equipment may operate using the allocated bandwidth.
US09054785B2
Method and arrangement in a telecommunication system for estimating frequency dependent resistance of a transmission line. Insertion loss per length unit of the transmission line at a first frequency is determined. Thereupon a first resistance per length unit based on the determined insertion loss per length unit of the transmission line is calculated. Effective resistance per length unit at a second frequency based on the calculated first resistance is calculated. The calculated effective resistance could be used when estimating the insertion loss for the second frequency and all frequencies of interest.
US09054780B2
A radiation power level control scheme for a wireless user equipment (UE) device. In one embodiment, a method comprises determining that a current transmission event involving the wireless UE device is commenced outside a time duration from a last transmission event. If so, responsive to the determining, the method involves disregarding or resetting a power data history associated with the wireless UE device in computing a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value for the wireless UE device during the current transmission event. Otherwise, at least a portion of the power data history may be used in computing the SAR values.
US09054776B2
A signal transmission and reception system includes a transmitter adapted to transmit a signal by radio, and a receiver adapted to wirelessly receive the signal from the transmitter and transmit the signal to a monitoring and control device of a plant through a transmission cable connecting the receiver to the monitoring and control device, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are provided in the plant, and wherein the receiver is attached to a cable tray used to lay a cable other than the transmission cable.
US09054768B2
The present invention reduces the degradation in performance of one or more radio signals that are co-transmitted with a first radio signal from the same transmitting antenna in the same frequency channel and received by the same antenna due to multipath or other shared interference, where the one or more radio signals can be separated from the first radio signal. All received signals are coupled to the same adaptive array or adaptive filter to reduce multipath or other shared interference of the first radio signal, which reduces multipath and other shared interference in the other radio signals before they are separated and processed by their respective receivers, or the individual radio signals are separated before the first signal enters the adaptive array and coupled to a slave weighting network slaved to the weights of the adaptive array of the first signal to reduce interference in all the signals.
US09054767B2
A system is provided for optimizing throughput in a communication system. During operation, the system receives, at a first antenna, estimated channel state information (CSI) at least one channel between the first antenna and at least one second antenna. The system obtains antenna correlation information associated with the first antenna and the second antenna, respectively. The system further calculates a set of noise terms associated with random noise for the at least one channel, and optimizes a configuration of beamformers for the first antenna and the at least one second antenna that maximizes a throughput of all antennas, in accordance with the estimated CSI, the obtained antenna correlation information, and the noise terms.
US09054765B2
Systems and methods are provided for suppressing interference from a received data signal. A characteristic of a channel is estimated, the channel being configured for transmission of data between a transmitting device and a receiving device having two or more receive antennas. A spatial correlation of interference is determined for the two or more receive antennas based on the channel characteristic. The received data signal is filtered based on the spatial correlation.
US09054764B2
A novel beamforming post-processor technique with enhanced noise suppression capability. The present beamforming post-processor technique is a non-linear post-processing technique for sensor arrays (e.g., microphone arrays) which improves the directivity and signal separation capabilities. The technique works in so-called instantaneous direction of arrival space, estimates the probability for sound coming from a given incident angle or look-up direction and applies a time-varying, gain based, spatio-temporal filter for suppressing sounds coming from directions other than the sound source direction, resulting in minimal artifacts and musical noise.
US09054762B2
A transmitter circuit with a passive mixer network includes a first outbound signal path configured to carry a first outbound signal. The transmitter circuit includes a second outbound signal path configured to carry a second outbound signal. The transmitter circuit includes N passive mixers coupled to the first and second outbound signal paths and configured to up-convert the first and second outbound signals from a first frequency to a second frequency based on a clock cycle, where N is a positive even integer. The first and second outbound signals are passed through the N passive mixers during each phase of 2*N phases in the clock cycle. The transmitter circuit also includes N radio frequency signal paths coupled to an output of respective ones of the N passive mixers and configured to receive the first and second outbound signals in the second frequency during each phase of the clock cycle.
US09054759B2
In this VSWR measurement circuit, a power measurement unit measures the power level of a reflected signal which is included in a feedback signal which has been extracted at a second CPL which has been deployed at a position connecting to an antenna end via a cable. To this end, the VSWR measurement circuit is provided with a main signal component removal circuit, wherein the main signal which has been extracted from the prestage of a digital pre-distortion circuit, and a signal in which the feedback signal that had been extracted at the second CPL has been converted to a digital signal at an A/D CONV, are provided as inputs, the main signal component included in the feedback signal is removed, and only the reflected signal is extracted so as to be output to the power measurement unit.
US09054757B2
A transmission method for simultaneously transmitting a first modulated signal and a second modulated signal at the same frequency includes performing precoding on both signals using a fixed precoding matrix and regularly changing the phase of at least one of the signals. In this method, the power ratio between a plurality of signals transmitted from a plurality of antennas at the same frequency and at the same time differs from the power ratio between a plurality of pilot signals transmitted from the plurality of antennas at the same frequency and at the same time, whereby the accuracy of channel estimation by a reception device is improved.
US09054755B2
Transmission quality is improved in an environment in which direct waves dominate in a transmission method for transmitting a plurality of modulated signals from a plurality of antennas at the same time. All data symbols used in data transmission of a modulated signal are precoded by hopping between precoding matrices so that the precoding matrix used to precode each data symbol and the precoding matrices used to precode data symbols that are adjacent to the data symbol in the frequency domain and the time domain all differ. A modulated signal with such data symbols arranged therein is transmitted.
US09054753B1
Some of the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for reducing interference feedback in a mobile device operating in a wireless system employing coordinated transmission. The method comprises the mobile device establishing a plurality of channels with a plurality of base stations. The plurality of base stations includes a serving base station and one or more interfering base stations. The method further comprises the mobile device reporting, to the serving base station, reduced feedback information including a vector approximation of a feedback matrix associated with an interfering channel established with an interfering base station. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US09054752B2
A high rate radio frequency (RF) link system and method for spatially multiplexing data transmission is presented. The system can comprise a common communications point characterized by a first collection of antennas having independent channels interconnected with a known latency connection to a central process location, such as with optical fiber; and a second similarly configured collective endpoint or set of endpoints wherein multi-path between the first collection and the second collection is negligible. Signal decorrelation between independent channels is achieved through a combination of spatial separation and signal processing. In one aspect, decorrelation is performed using near-maximum likelihood Multiple-Input Multiple-Output signal processing.
US09054751B2
One embodiment of the present invention provides a transmitter for wireless communication. The transmitter includes a wideband tunable modulator, a number of power amplifiers with a particular power amplifier associated with a particular frequency range, and a wideband power amplifier (PA) driver. The PA driver is configured to receive an output signal from the wideband tunable modulator, amplify the output signal, and send the amplified output signal to at least one of the power amplifiers.
US09054738B2
The present invention provides a quantizer with a sigma-delta modulator, an analog-to-digital converter including the same and a quantization method using the same capable of obtaining a high signal-to-noise ratio with a relatively small number of comparators. The quantizer, the analog-to-digital converter and the quantization method of the present invention reduces quantization errors and increases noise shaping order.
US09054736B2
An analog to digital converter receives an analog input signal. The analog input signal is converted into a digital output signal. The converting includes shaping quantization noise in response to: a signal-to-noise ratio of the analog input signal; and a power of the converter.
US09054720B2
According to various embodiments, a system, an apparatus and a method are presented that relate to determining and correcting signal imbalances between output samples of an analog-to-digital (A-D) converter array (that may be implemented as part of a wideband ADC). A statistic module and correction module are associated with the A-D converter array. The statistic module is configured to receive digital samples from the plurality of A-D converters, and generate a statistical sample value for each A-D converter using a set of digital samples received therefrom. The correction module is configured to, for at least one of the plurality of A-D converters, determine an offset value by comparing the statistical sample value for the at least one of the plurality of A-D converters with a reference value, and apply the offset value to a digital sample from that at least one A-D converter to generate a corrected digital sample.
US09054715B2
A delay locked loop includes: a variable delay unit configured to delay a reference clock signal in response to a delay code and generate a delay locked loop clock signal; a delay model unit configured to delay the delay locked loop clock signal by a modeled delay value and output delayed delay locked loop clock signal as a feedback clock signal; a calculation code generation unit configured to convert a phase of the reference clock signal and a phase of the feedback clock signal into a first code and a second code, respectively, and perform a calculation on the first and second codes so as to generate a calculation code; and a delay code generation unit configured to control the delay code in response to the calculation code.
US09054714B2
A clock recovery circuit includes: a phase comparison circuit to compare a data signal and a recovered clock; a charge pump circuit to output a current based on a phase difference signal; a loop filter to convert the current into a control voltage; an oscillation circuit to generate a first sine-wave clock having a frequency corresponding to the control voltage and a second sine-wave clock having a phase obtained by shifting a phase of the first sine-wave clock by 90 degrees; and a clock selector to select, as the recovered clock, the first sine-wave clock or the second sine-wave clock, a selected clock having a voltage difference between a voltage at a transition of the data signal and a center of an amplitude is larger than a voltage difference between a voltage of a non-selected clock at the time and a center of an amplitude of the non-selected clock.
US09054708B2
A touch sensor using a graphene diode and/or a touch panel including the touch sensor. The touch sensor includes a first sensing electrode configured to sense a touch; a first output line configured to transmit an electrical signal; and a first diode device including a first control terminal connected to the first sensing electrode, a first anode terminal connected to a voltage application unit, and a first cathode terminal connected to the first output line.
US09054701B1
A semiconductor device includes a switching unit that is provided on a substrate and controls selection of a high-frequency signal, a low-frequency circuit that is provided on the substrate and processes signals having a frequency lower than that of the switching unit, a first ground portion connected to a ground node of the low-frequency circuit, a ground conductor provided on the substrate, connected to the first ground portion at a first connection position, and connected to the ground node of the switching unit at a second connection position, and a second ground portion connected to the ground conductor, the second ground portion being closer to the second connection position than the first connection position.
US09054688B2
This disclosure relates generally to sequential state elements (SSEs). More specifically, embodiments of flip-flops are disclosed, along with computerized methods and systems of designing the same. In one embodiment, the flip-flop includes a substrate and subcircuits that are formed on the substrate. The subcircuits provide subfunctions, wherein each of the subcircuits provides at least one of the subfunctions. More specifically, the subfunctions are provided in a sequential logical order by the subcircuits so that the flip-flop provides a flip-flop function. However, the subcircuits are interleaved out of the sequential logical order with respect to a corresponding subfunction provided by each of the subcircuits along a vector defined by the substrate. In this manner, interleaving the subcircuits along the vector of the substrate can provide separation between charge collection nodes without requiring increases in size. Thus, the flip-flop can be more compact and less expensive to manufacture.
US09054678B2
A novel semiconductor device and a driving method thereof are provided. In the semiconductor device, a (volatile) node which holds data that is rewritten by arithmetic processing as appropriate and a node in which the data is stored are electrically connected through a source and a drain of a transistor whose channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor layer. The off-state current value of the transistor is extremely low. Therefore, electric charge scarcely leaks through the transistor from the latter node, and thus data can be held in the latter node even in a period during which supply of power source voltage is stopped. In the semiconductor device, a means of setting the potential of the latter node to a predetermined potential is provided. Specifically, a means of supplying a potential corresponding to “1” or “0” that is data stored in the latter node from the former node is provided.
US09054673B2
A resonator fabrication method is provided. A method includes providing a plurality of electrode patterns disposed apart from each other on a substrate using a nano-imprint technique; and forming an extended electrode pattern connected to a plurality of electrode patterns, and forming a nano structure laid across an extended electrode patterns. Therefore, a nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) resonator is easily fabricated at a nanometer level.
US09054672B2
Variable capacitive attenuation circuitry and associated methods are disclosed that may be implemented to employ a plurality of multi-purpose capacitors that may be selectably coupled together in different configurations to form a capacitive divider having different respective attenuation properties. In a particular embodiment, each of the capacitors of the disclosed capacitive attenuation circuitry may be selectably coupled to an RF reference as either a shunt capacitor or coupled in series between an RF signal input and an attenuated RF signal output as a series capacitor, thus forming a capacitive divider having selected attenuation properties. The disclosed variable capacitive attenuation circuitry may be advantageously utilized to attenuate an input RF signal and to provide a resulting attenuated RF output signal, for example, in the front end of RF receiver circuitry.
US09054669B2
In an embodiment of the disclosure, an electronic device arranged for eliminating wireless noise interference is provided. The electronic device includes a circuit board and two first metal components. The metal components are arranged on different sides of the circuit board. Each of the first metal components comprises a first terminal and a second terminal opposite to the first terminal. The first terminal is coupled to the circuit board and the second terminal is open loop. The length of the first metal component is about one-fourth wavelength of a pre-determined frequency.
US09054666B2
A method for improving the performance of a noise cancellation device, the method includes determining whether one or more noise making objects (NMO) are near an audible range of the noise cancellation device and receiving a signal from the one or more NMOs indicative of a kind of noise the one or more NMOs is generating. The method also includes selecting a specific noise cancellation model to reduce an expected noise in response to the received kind of noise the one or more NMOs is generating.
US09054662B2
An automatic audio signal level adjustment circuit is capable of automatically adjusting a level of an input audio signal within a specific range. The automatic audio signal level adjustment circuit includes an amplitude adjustment determining unit and an amplitude adjusting unit. The amplitude adjustment determining unit is configured to generate an amplitude reduction instruction when the level is greater than a first reference value, and an amplitude augmentation instruction when the level is small than a second reference value. The amplitude adjusting unit is configured to output an output audio signal having an amplitude reduced from that of the input audio signal upon the amplitude reduction instruction, and an output audio signal having an amplitude augmented from that of the input audio signal upon the amplitude augmentation instruction. Further, the amplitude adjusting unit is configured to output an output audio signal equal to the input audio signal upon no instruction.
US09054660B1
A digital-to-analog conversion system includes a digital-to-analog converter and an output stage for converting an output signal of the digital-to-analog converter into a voltage range. The output stage includes a first amplifier including a first input for receiving the output signal of the digital-to-analog converter, a first resistance element coupled between a second input and an output of the first amplifier, a second resistance element coupled between the second input of the first amplifier and a ground reference, and a third resistance element switchably coupled from the second input of the first amplifier to an offset voltage.
US09054659B2
An apparatus (20) for use as an amplifier has a transistor (26) for providing signal amplification, a heat pipe or circulated fluid heat sink (22) and a thermal interface device (24) for providing mechanical and thermal connection between the transistor (26) and the heat sink (22). In use, to facilitate efficient transfer of heat/thermal energy from the transistor (26) to the heat sink (22), the plate (24) is provided between the heat sink (22) and the transistor (26). The plate (24) connects the heat sink (22) to the transistor (26) and provides a thermal conduit therebetween.
US09054657B2
In an amplifier, a first stage receives a differential input voltage, which is formed by first and second input voltages, and outputs a first differential current in response thereto on first and second lines having respective first and second line voltages. A second stage receives the first and second line voltages and outputs a second differential current in response thereto on third and fourth lines having respective third and fourth line voltages. A third stage receives the third and fourth line voltages and outputs an output voltage in response thereto. A slew boost circuit detects a slew condition, in which a threshold difference arises between the first and second input voltages, and outputs a slew current in response thereto for maintaining a slew rate of the output voltage during the slew condition. The first stage includes circuits for reducing a variable difference between the first and second line voltages.
US09054656B2
First and second channel bridge amplifiers are dynamically configured to drive either speakers or headphones. The first channel bridge amplifier includes a first amplifier driving one end of a first speaker through a mechanical switch in a headphone-jack, and a second amplifier driving another end of the first speaker. The second channel bridge amplifier includes third and fourth amplifiers driving respective ends of a second speaker. An amplifier control circuit dynamically detects the insertion or removal of a plug in the jack and configures the amplifiers accordingly. When a plug is inserted into the jack, the mechanical switch disconnects the first speaker from the first amplifier, and the fourth amplifier is tri-stated disconnect the second speaker. The first and third amplifiers are configured to drive the first and second channels of the headphones, while the third amplifier drives the headphone common point (shield ring) as a virtual ground connection.
US09054651B2
A power amplifier circuit, comprising: a final stage, comprising first and second amplifying elements for amplifying an input signal; and a driver stage, for providing the input signal to the final stage. The circuit is characterized by a first capacitor coupled between an input of the first amplifying element and an output of the second amplifying element; and a second capacitor coupled between an input of the second amplifying element and an output of the first amplifying element.
US09054634B1
Provided are voltage controlling assemblies that may be operable as clocks and/or oscillators. A voltage controlling assembly may include a comparator and a variable resistance device connected to one differential signal node of the comparator. The other node may be connected to a capacitor. Alternatively, no capacitors may be used in the assembly. During operation of the voltage controlling assembly, the variable resistance device changes its resistance between two different resistive states. The change from a low to a high resistive state may be associated with a voltage spike at the differential signal node of the comparator and trigger a response from the comparator. This resistance change may have a delay determining an operating frequency of the voltage controlling assembly. Specifically, the variable resistance device in the low resistive state may be kept for a period of time at a certain voltage before it switches into the high resistive state.
US09054632B2
Characteristics of partially assembled photovoltaic modules can be determined using electrical connection apparatuses and methods. By providing deformable electrical contacts against a partially assembled module on an assembly line, an electrical bias can be applied to the module before the module is completely assembled. An electrical connection apparatus for a photovoltaic module may include a first contact configured to engage a first lead on the photovoltaic module, a second contact configured to engage a second lead on the photovoltaic module, and an electrical power source configured to apply an electrical bias between the first contact and the second contact.
US09054628B2
There is provided a power inverter that fixes a connector in which a DC-side connector and an AC-side connector are mechanically combined to a casing in which a power semiconductor module converting a DC current into an AC current is housed, a positive-side DC terminal and a negative-side DC terminal are arranged to be aligned along one side, which is formed in the widthwise direction, of one side face of the casing, and a U-phase side terminal, a V-phase side terminal, and a W-phase side terminal are arranged to be aligned along one side, which is formed in the longitudinal direction, of one side face of the casing.
US09054625B2
This disclosure relates to a variable speed drive for driving a single phase motor. The variable speed drive generates enhanced motor voltages including harmonic components configured to reduce torque pulsations.
US09054622B2
The present invention is a control device of a motor, for drawing out a capacity of the motor as much as possible so as to achieve a high-speed high-output performance thereof while securing a stability, including: a converter unit configured to rectify and smooth an AC voltage, and to output a DC main circuit voltage; an inverter unit configured to pass a current for driving the motor, with the use of the main circuit voltage; a current detector configured to detect an armature current passing through the motor; a position detector disposed on the motor, the position detector being configured to detect a motor speed; and a current control unit configured to control, upon reception of a q-axis current command (Iqr), the armature current passing through the motor, by outputting a signal for driving the inverter unit, with the use of data from the current detector and data from the position detector.
US09054616B2
An assembly comprising a movable element being movable in relation to a base, a first electric motor for moving the element in relation to the base, the motor having one or more first windings each having at least two inputs, a first braking element being adapted to determine whether power and/or signals are provided to the first motor and being adapted to alter between at least two modes wherein, in a first of the modes, no power/signals is/are provided to the first motor and a first galvanic connection is provided between the inputs of at least one of the first windings and a first element having a predetermined resistance and wherein in a second of the modes, power/signals is/are provided to the first motor and the first galvanic connection is disconnected.
US09054615B2
A synchronous permanent magnet motor is controlled independently of position sensing means by determining the system parameters including the motor impedance and back-emf and the cable impedance and supplying power according to a predefined voltage:frequency ratio which is determined based on said system parameters to provide a desired rate of acceleration determined by the supply voltage.
US09054614B2
An apparatus and method to control a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor, which accurately detect driving current. To this end, the BLDC motor control apparatus includes a BLDC motor, a driver to generate driving current to drive the BLDC motor, a current measurer to measure the driving current, a pulse width modulator to change a driving voltage to drive the BLDC motor; and a controller to control the BLDC motor. The controller detects the amount of the driving current in synchronization with pulse width modulation of the pulse width modulator and determines current with a minimum change due to a variation of counter electromotive force, among currents flowing through a plurality of coils, as the driving current, thereby accurately detecting the driving current.
US09054612B2
A motor control system is provided. The motor control system includes a motor having plurality of motor harmonics, and a torque ripple compensation controller in communication with the motor. The torque ripple compensation controller is configured to determine a harmonic ripple current for a corresponding one of the plurality of motor harmonics. The harmonic ripple current is based on a reference q-axis current and a reference d-axis current. The torque ripple compensation controller is configured to add the harmonic ripple current for each of the plurality of motor harmonics together to determine the ripple compensating current.
US09054611B2
Motor drives and control methods are presented for sensorless motor speed control in which inverter output currents are sampled from the inverter output, and a frequency modulation value is determined based on the current feedback and either one or more voltage commands or one or more voltage feedback signals. A speed or frequency setpoint is adjusted at least partially according to the frequency modulation value to provide an adjusted frequency or speed setpoint value that is then used in controlling the inverter to provide stability control to mitigate hunting or motor stoppage.
US09054600B2
A control apparatus for regenerative medium voltage inverter is disclosed. The control apparatus controls a switching of a PWM converter unit by generating a voltage compensating a power difference between an input and an output of the PWM converter unit.
US09054584B2
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to AC-DC adapters, and more particularly, to systems, devices and methods of employing a load detector to detect a load condition of the AC-DC adapters based on transient variation of a DC output voltage; and therefore, enable the AC-DC adapters to switch from a low power mode to a normal power mode. At the low power mode, a DC output voltage is generated at a target voltage by the AC-DC adapter, and subsequently drops at a decay rate dependent on load condition. The load detector is electrically coupled to monitor the output voltage and measure the decay time between two threshold voltages. An enable instruction is provided to configure the AC-DC adapter to the normal power mode as soon as the decay time is lower than the threshold decay time or the variation of consecutive decay times reaches a certain threshold.
US09054582B2
A load control circuit includes one or more current regulators, in particular in an electronic motor vehicle control unit, wherein one or more preferably inductive load(s) is/are connected to a circuit located outside the control unit or inside the control unit, and wherein the load current flowing through the load(s) is or can be reduced by way of one or more step-down converters to a voltage potential below the supply voltage. A step-down converter includes a clocked DC/DC converter having at least one clocked switch and an energy storage medium, in particular a capacitor, for conversion, wherein the clock control of the switch or switches is modified according to the charge state of the energy storage medium and wherein the charge state is determined according to the voltage present at the energy storage medium.
US09054575B2
In a voltage converter, a mode configuration is selected in response to a mode control signal using a switch matrix having two or more mode configurations. Each mode configuration corresponds to one of two or more output signal voltages. The output signal is compared with a reference signal to produce a direction comparison signal. The direction comparison signal is used to produce the mode control signal.
US09054574B2
A method determines the value of a characteristic quantity (U1dc, U2dc) of a system for powering a load which includes M DC-DC converters, connected in series to the terminals of the load and at the output of a DC current power supply, and at least one storage capacitor and includes the measurement of a plurality of values of a first characteristic quantity (Ic) with a first high resolution, the measurement with a low resolution of a value of a second characteristic quantity (U1dc, U2dc), and a determination with a second high resolution of a value of the second characteristic quantity (U1dc, U2dc) from the plurality of values measured with the first high resolution of the first characteristic quantity (Ic) and from the value with the low resolution of the second characteristic quantity (U1dc, U2dc). The first and second high resolutions are at least 10 times greater than the low resolution.
US09054573B2
The invention concerns the electric asynchronous engines including a rotor as a flat disc, and a stator, which is coaxial to the rotor, and is installed with a working backlash relative to the rotor's disk. The stator includes three laminated packages of cores with phase coils, which are situated around the shaft of the motor under 120° angle, one in relation to other. The cores' packages are enclosed between the first and the second flat base plates, which are executed from nonconductive material, and the planes of the base plates are perpendicular to the axis of the shaft. The cores are executed as rectilinear laminated packages, and their axes are parallel to the shaft's axis. The second base plate is identical to the first one, and the butt-ends of the other side of the cores' packages are fixed in it. The invention is presented in three variants, where different fulfillments of the motor are shown: with a sectioned stator, with a sectioned rotor or with the stator and the rotor both sectioned.
US09054565B2
Embodiments of the invention provide an electric machine module including a housing. In some embodiments, the housing can include a sleeve member coupled to at least one end cap. The housing can include an inner wall at least partially defining a machine cavity, a coolant sump, and at least one coolant channel positioned between the inner wall and an outer wall of the housing. In some embodiments, the coolant channel can be in fluid communication with the coolant sump. In some embodiments, an electric machine can be positioned in the machine cavity. The electric machine can comprise a stator assembly including stator end turns and a rotor assembly. In some embodiments, a coolant jacket can be at least partially defined by the housing and can be positioned so that to at least partially circumscribe a portion of the stator assembly.
US09054563B2
A motor for an electric power steering device, includes: a housing side bearing which is placed on the output side of a shaft of a rotor placed in a frame, and is supported by a housing connected to the frame; and a frame side bearing which is placed on the opposite output side of the shaft of the rotor, and is composed of an outer ring and an inner ring supported by the frame. The motor is controlled by an electronic control unit which is coaxially placed with the rotor, the motor including: a bearing box which supports the frame side bearing, and is formed with a closed end section between the closed end section and the side of the frame side bearing; an axial elastic body which is placed on the closed end section of the bearing box, and applies a preload in an axial direction to the outer ring of the frame side bearing; and a radial elastic body which is placed on the outer circumferential side of the outer ring of the frame side bearing, and applies a preload in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction.
US09054561B2
A drive apparatus for a concentrator photovoltaic array including a gearbox case, a motor body housed within the gearbox case and a motor shaft coupled to and extending though a motor bearing of the motor body and having an axis of rotation. A front shaft mount bearing is coupled to one distal end of the motor shaft and a rear shaft mount bearing coupled to the other distal end of the motor shaft, and the front and rear shaft mount bearings are constrained by the gearbox case. A driver gear can be coupled to the motor shaft to drive the photovoltaic array. The front and rear shaft mount bearings transfer loads from the motor bearing to the gearbox case.
US09054551B2
A battery charging method and a battery pack using the same. The method including: counting an increased number of charging and discharging cycles of the battery for a first reference time; determining a user type of the battery according to the counted increased number of charging and discharging cycles; and reducing a charging voltage of the battery from a first reference voltage to a second reference voltage.
US09054550B2
There are provided a control device, a power-supply cord, and a charging cable to be connected to an automobile, wherein the control device includes an electric-leakage detection portion for detecting an electric leakage in the charging cable or the automobile, a connection detection portion for detecting the charging cable being connected to the automobile, and a power-supply interruption portion for controlling supply of electricity from the power-supply cord to the charging cable, and, further, the control device has a function of activating the electric-leakage detection portion in a predetermined case, in a state where the automobile charging apparatus is supplied with a commercial power supply.
US09054545B2
A power supply control device includes a photoelectric conversion unit to convert light energy to electricity, and a power supply control signal output unit driven by power converted by the photoelectric conversion unit and configured to detect a change in lighting intensity at an installation environment of the power control device based on an output voltage of the photoelectric conversion unit to output a power control signal which causes power of an external device to start up or shut down to the external device.
US09054541B2
A portable power source apparatus has a closing surface (21) facing an open end of a main case (10) and an exposed surface (22) externally exposed at an opposite end of a cap section (20) from the closing surface; a planar circuit board (38) housed in the cap section with voltage conversion circuitry for converting the voltage of the circular cylindrical batteries CB contained in the main case; and a power supply terminal (50) disposed in the exposed surface of the cap section and capable of outputting power from the circular cylindrical batteries CB contained in the main case. The circuit board is disposed diametrically across a circular cross-section of the cap section, and a pair of ribs (42) is provided approximately perpendicular to the circuit board.
US09054539B2
The invention is directed to arrangement and process for housing a battery charger. The battery charger housing arrangement includes a battery charger configured to provide power to charge a vehicle battery, a reinforcement structure configured to hold the battery charger, and a housing configured to cover the reinforcement structure and the battery charger. The housing forms a waterproof covering to protect the battery charger from the environment, a charge cable extends from the housing and is configured to connect to and charge a vehicle, and a window is arranged in the housing so that a user can operate the battery charger. The reinforcement structure is configured to structurally locate the housing in a stable non-movable location.
US09054529B2
The present disclosure discloses a battery protection circuit and a method thereof for protecting a battery pack. The battery protection circuit comprises a hardware protection circuit, a software protection circuit and a current detecting circuit. When the battery pack is not in the active status, the hardware protection circuit is used to execute a protective operation; and when the battery pack is in the active status, the software protection circuit is used to execute the protective operation. Furthermore, the hardware protection circuit is electrically connected to the software protection circuit to detect a status of the software protection circuit. When the battery pack is in the active status, the software protection circuit is used to execute the protective operation, and when the software protection circuit is in an abnormal status, the hardware protection circuit is used instead to execute the protective operation.
US09054528B2
Operating a battery management and protection system includes generating a set of events each of which has a respective frequency F/n1, F/n2 . . . F/nm, where ni are integers. One or more of the events are provided to one or more modules in the system. The events, which are generated and provided to the modules independently of a central processing unit, trigger performance of respective actions by the modules.
US09054525B2
Methods and apparatus for dynamically adjusting an over-current protection threshold (514) are disclosed. A dynamic over-current protection circuit (104) receives a first trigger to switch to a high discharge current mode. The dynamic over-current protection circuit (104) starts a high-current timer (210) and increases the over-current protection threshold (514) in response to receiving the trigger. The dynamic over-current protection circuit (104) decreases the over-current protection threshold (514) and starts a hold-off timer (212) in response to an expiration of the high current timer (210). The hold-off timer (212) prevents a second trigger from causing a switch to the high discharge current mode until the hold-off timer expires.
US09054523B2
A current detecting mechanism according to this invention includes a direct current shunt having a plurality of resistor members with high resistivity to output an electric potential difference across the resistor members, proportional to a current flowing through an electric load side terminal, as a voltage signal, and a hall sensor assembly having a pair of magnetic cores installed to face each other with an air gap therebetween, and a hall sensor to output an output voltage according to a magnetic flux induced in proportion to a current flowing through a load side terminal, without being connected with the direct current shunt, of load side terminals.
US09054515B2
Techniques are described for determining the amount of current flowing through an electrical conductor of an isolation device by measuring the voltage level across the electrical conductor. The isolation device also includes a sensor that provides a measure of the amount of current flowing through the electrical conductor. By using both the voltage level and the sensor to determine the amount of current flowing through the electrical conductor, the techniques provide for verifying the current measurements made by the isolation device. Also, the techniques provide for fast overcurrent protection.
US09054512B2
A method of installing an off-shore tidal hydroelectric turbine generator is described. The method provides for a number of safety features, ensuring that all components are safe to handle during the installation operation, and also ensuring that the turbine will not start spinning during the installation operation.
US09054506B2
A cable manager includes one or more cable manager units. Each cable manager unit includes a pair of side cable guides, each comprised of a plurality of finger-like projections extending forwardly from a support column. At least one of the pair of support columns has a socket arranged at a side thereof. Each cable manager unit further includes a separate midsection member capable of insertion into the socket for interconnecting the pair of side cable guides.
US09054492B2
The invention provides a semiconductor light-emitting device having a monolithically integrated master laser, such as a distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR) master laser, and injection-locked ring slave laser with modulated photon lifetime for optical communication beyond 100 GHz.
US09054488B2
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a laser driver, and more particularly, to systems, devices and methods of applying low current pulses to a laser modulation current to reduce the speckling noise on the projected images.
US09054485B1
A laser driver circuit compensates for non-linear behavior of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) devices. A VCSEL has an internal parasitic capacitance that is charged while the VCSEL is on. When the VCSEL turns off, this internal parasitic capacitor discharges, keeping the VCSEL on longer, increasing the physical turn-off or fall time. The laser driver circuit compensates for the slower fall time by modulating both anode and cathode terminals of the VCSEL as the VCSEL is turned on and off. Both plates of the internal parasitic capacitor are discharged at turn off, cutting the parasitic discharge time in half. A cathode driver transistor modulates the cathode voltage while a source-follower transistor modulates the anode voltage. A modulating current may be switched using a current mirror structure. Multiple source-follower transistors may be selectable in parallel, with switches to select the total anode current, allowing for programmable compensation of the fall time.
US09054480B2
A tunable laser configured in a small package coupled to a printed circuit board. The tunable laser includes a housing with a volume formed by exterior walls. An electrical input interface is positioned at the first end of the housing. An optical output interface is positioned at the second end of the housing and configured to transmit a continuous wave optical beam. A semiconductor optical amplifier or gain chip produces an optical output beam, and an optical isolator is positioned directly downstream of the gain chip to prevent the incoming light from the downstream optics from reflecting back though the isolator and into the cavity of the laser. A beam splitter directs a portion of the light transmitted through the isolator back into the other end of the gain chip.
US09054470B2
Electrical connector including a connector housing having a mating side that faces in a mating direction. The mating side configured to engage a mating connector. The electrical connector also includes an electrical contact held by the connector housing. The electrical contact includes a common body section and first, second, and third contact beams that are arranged along the mating side and have respective contact bases coupled to the body section. Each of the first, second, and third contact beams extend in the mating direction from the respective contact base to a respective distal end. Each of the first, second, and third contact beams has a beam length that is measured from the respective contact base to the respective distal end. The beam lengths of the first, second, and third contact beams being different from one another.
US09054457B2
The present invention relates to squib connectors for instance for airbag ignition systems, which allow the electrical or electronic monitoring of the correct coupling of a squib plug-connector with its corresponding counterpart. According to the invention, a squib connector has at least two terminals having corresponding signal lines. In order to allow an electrical monitoring of the correct coupling of the plug connector, the terminals are in electrical contact with each other in the uncoupled or incorrectly coupled condition of the plug connector. This electrical contact between the terminals is adapted for being separated upon correct coupling to a corresponding counter-connector either automatically or by an actuating action. The disconnecting of the terminals may then be monitored by any suitable monitoring means.
US09054454B2
An electrical connector assembly including a moveable terminal stabilizer is presented. The terminal stabilizer is moveable from a stabilizing position to a stowed position. In the stabilizing position terminal stabilizer is near the tips of the terminals and in the stowed position is near the base of the terminals. The tip of the terminal is received in an aperture defined by the terminal, whereby the terminal stabilizer protects the terminal from being bent away from the terminal axis by a force applied to the terminal in a direction substantially orthogonal to the terminal axis. The terminal stabilizer also includes an integral lock retainer that engages a terminal lock member when the terminal stabilizer is in the stowed position thereby inhibiting movement of the lock member and disengaging the lock member when the terminal stabilizer is in the stabilizing position thereby allowing movement of the lock member.
US09054451B2
An engagement amount of a latch lock part with respect to a signal transmission medium is sufficiently and constantly ensured by a simple configuration. A reference abutting surface having a stepped shape projecting toward an upper surface of the signal transmission medium compared with other part of an inner wall surface of a medium insertion path is formed at part of the inner wall surface of the medium insertion path facing the upper surface of the signal transmission medium, the upper surface of the signal transmission medium is caused to abut at least the reference abutting surface of the medium insertion path, and the position of the upper surface of the signal transmission medium is determined in the thickness direction while using the reference abutting surface as a reference. As a result, the engagement amount and the canceling amount of a latch lock part can be constantly maintained regardless of variations in the thickness of the signal transmission medium, the force of retaining the signal transmission medium is stabilized, and this electrical connector can be downsized.
US09054447B1
An electrical connector system is configured for extinguishing a DC arc without the need for externally-driven forces by utilizing the mechanical action of a contact being removed from a pressurized cavity and releasing a flow of air to extinguish the arc. A female connector is disposed within an air-tight cavity. The male connector is removably inserted into the air-tight cavity, sealing the cavity, and providing an electrical connection. When the male connector separates from the female connector, a DC arc is created. However, the male connector continues to restrict air flow into or out of the cavity. The temperature rise within the cavity causes a pressure build-up and the eventual removal of the male connector from the cavity forcefully releases a blast of pressurized air through a constricted opening and extinguishes the arc.
US09054439B1
Devices having embedded structural features that permit assembly of such devices in a manner that design efficiencies and packaging efficiencies can be accomplished satisfactorily and substantially without mutual exclusivity. In one aspect, structure(s) associated with a functionality of user equipment can be leveraged in order to couple a front housing of the user equipment with a rear housing thereof. In another aspect, leveraging such structure can permit assembly of the user equipment in a manner that provides a seamless appearance of the user equipment and mechanical reliability and/or versatility.
US09054437B2
Provided is a terminal fitting capable of making an electric contact portion and a cap member retained at the electric contact portion to be reliably engaged together. A terminal fitting includes an electric contact portion provided at one end side and formed into a tube-like shape such that a mating terminal is fitted thereto, an electric wire connection portion provided at the other end side and arranged to fasten an electric wire, and a cap member fitted to a distal end of the electric contact portion and retained at the distal end. A first engagement portion arranged to engage with the cap member is provided at the distal end of the electric contact portion, and the cap member is provided with a second engagement portion arranged to engage with the first engagement portion.
US09054431B2
A press bond terminal in which the terminal is provided with an electrical connection part on which is provided a conductor press bond part connected by being pressed and bonded to a conductor of an electric wire through a first joining part and the conductor press bond part is further provided with a coating crimp part through a second joining part and the conductor press bond part is formed in substantially a U-shaped cross section by a base plate and a pair of conductor crimp pieces and both joining parts are formed in substantially U-shaped cross sections by base plates and a pair of low side plates, with projections provided on any inner surfaces of the conductor crimp pieces or inner surfaces of the side plates of the joining parts.
US09054429B2
According to one embodiment, an antenna apparatus includes a first antenna unit disposed along a side of a ground pattern, a second antenna unit disposed along the side of the ground pattern so as to be juxtaposed with the first antenna unit, a first RF cable configured to connect the first antenna unit and the radio circuit unit, and a second RF cable configured to connect the second antenna unit and the radio circuit unit. The first RF cable and the second RF cable are routed from the first antenna unit and the second antenna unit in an arrangement direction of the first antenna unit and the second antenna unit so as to be parallel to each other, with the first RF cable being disposed so as to pass over the ground pattern.
US09054428B2
An antenna includes: a first resonator and a second resonator each having an open end, in which the first resonator and the second resonator are disposed side by side to allow the open ends thereof to be opposed to each other; and a first capacitor connected between the open ends which are opposed to each other.
US09054419B2
An antenna device of a mobile terminal that can secure radiation performance is provided. The antenna device having a battery cover composed of a metal material includes a radiation unit for transmitting and receiving a signal, a feeding unit formed at an end portion of a first side of the radiation unit for electrically connecting the radiation unit to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), and a ground part disposed a predetermined distance from the feeding unit and formed at a second side of the radiation unit. When the battery cover is fastened to the mobile terminal, the ground part contacts a first side of the battery cover.
US09054416B2
A wideband antenna is disclosed. The wideband antenna comprises an inverted cone, at least one sinuous arm coupled to the cone, and a ground plane behind the apex of the cone. The sinuous arm comprises at least two active resonators.
US09054406B2
A nonreciprocal transmission line apparatus is provided with a cascade connection of unit cells between ports. Each unit cell includes a transmission line part for a microwave signal, and shunt branch circuits equivalently including inductive elements. Each unit cells has spontaneous magnetization or is magnetized by an external magnetic field so as to have gyrotropy by being magnetized in a magnetization direction different from a propagation direction of the transmission line part. In each of the unit cells, the shunt branch circuits includes a first stub conductor formed on one side with respect to a plane composed of the propagation direction and the magnetization direction, and a second stub conductor formed on the other side with respect to the plane, and the stub conductors have different electric length from each other.
US09054405B2
Disclosed is a waveguide for even dispersion of microwaves into a microwave chamber. The microwaves are dispersed in a manner that the target in the microwave chamber does not need to be turned in order to accomplish even and uniform heating of the target. The waveguide includes a first rectangular section adjacent to the source, and a second rectangular section which is sized to separate, disperse and randomized microwaves received from the first waveguide.
US09054398B2
A cooling structure for batteries and electrical units, that cools the batteries being driving sources of a motor mounted in a vehicle capable of traveling by a driving force of the motor and electrical units for driving the motor, the cooling structure including: a plurality of battery boxes that each contain one of the batteries; cooling passages that are each formed in each of the battery boxes, through which cooling air flows; a merging part where downstream ends of the cooling passages of the battery boxes are merged with each other; and cooling portions of the electrical units, that are provided on a downstream side of the merging part, wherein the electrical units are disposed on a downstream side of the battery boxes.
US09054395B2
A battery pack having improved safety while implementing its small size and light weight. The battery pack includes an electrode assembly, a protective circuit module and an electrode tab. The electrode assembly has an electrode tab. The protective circuit module has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. In the protective circuit module, the first surface is positioned to face a surface to which the electrode tab of the electrode assembly is extended. The connection tab is positioned on the second surface of the protective circuit module so as to connect the electrode tab and the protective circuit module.
US09054377B2
A cathode composition of lithium ion battery includes a number of nanoparticles and coating material coating outer surfaces of the nanoparticles.
US09054376B2
A cathode material structure and a method for preparing the same are described. The cathode material structure includes a material body and a composite film coated thereon. The material body has a particle size of 0.1-50 μm. The composite film has a porous structure and electrical conductivity.
US09054375B2
A rechargeable lithium battery includes a positive electrode including a current collector, a positive active material layer on the current collector and including a lithium manganese-based positive active material, and a protective layer on the positive active material layer and including a phosphite-based compound; a negative electrode; and an electrolyte coupled with the positive electrode and the negative electrode and including a lithium salt, a non-aqueous solvent, and an additive.
US09054367B2
A rechargeable battery assembly is disclosed. The rechargeable battery assembly holds rechargeable battery cells. The battery cells are oriented so as to have all of the positive terminals at the one end of the assembly and the negative terminals at the other end. The positive and negative terminals are respectively connected together by positive and negative tabs, which have connection holes substantially equidistant from each of the positive and negative terminals of the battery cells. In some embodiments, multiple assemblies are connected to form a battery pack.
US09054366B2
An electrical energy storage device is provided which comprises at least one module with a negative electrode, a positive electrode made from an anion generating material or material combination and conducting anions, and an anion conducting solid electrolyte located between the negative electrode and the positive electrode. The negative electrode of each module comprises a porous structure that conducts anions and the pore space of which is at least partially filled by a first redox mass which comprises a metal/metal oxide pair. The positive electrode of each module comprises a porous structure that conducts anions and the pore space of which is at least partially filled by a second redox mass which comprises a metal/metal oxide pair with an increased oxidation potential compared to the first redox mass.
US09054365B2
A negative active material for a rechargeable lithium battery and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same. The active material includes a silicon-containing compound represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 where Si exists with a concentration gradient from the surface to the center of the negative active material: SiCx [Chemical Formula 1] where 1, 0.05≦x≦1.5.
US09054364B2
A battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode where a negative electrode active material layer containing a negative electrode active material containing natural graphite is formed on at least one surface of a negative electrode collector, and an electrolyte. A thickness of the negative electrode active material layer per one surface of the negative electrode collector is 50 μm or more and 100 μm or less, and in the negative electrode active material layer from the negative electrode collector up to ½ of the thickness of the layer in a surface direction of the negative electrode active material layer, an orientation degree A expressed as (peak intensity of carbon 002 face/peak intensity of carbon 110 face) that is a peak intensity ratio of a carbon 002 face and a carbon 110 face measured by an X-ray diffraction is 100 or more and 500 or less.
US09054363B2
A degassing system for a housing of an accumulator includes a labyrinth bolt having a bolt wall in which a plurality of channels are provided, which extend from the bolt interior toward outlets which are arranged in an axial section of the bolt wall. The degassing system also includes a labyrinth corso having a corso wall which, in the installed state, runs around the axial section of the bolt wall such that a gap is formed in the axial section between the bolt wall and the corso wall. The degassing system further includes a gas permeable membrane, which is arranged on an upper face of the labyrinth bolt.
US09054347B2
One variation may include a method which may include depositing a hydrophilic coating over at least a portion of a fuel cell bipolar plate. The bipolar plate may include a reactant gas header opening communication with the plurality of tunnels. Moreover, the tunnels may be communicating with a plurality of channels which may be defined by reactant gas flow field which may include a plurality of lands. At least a portion of the hydrophilic coating may be reacted with the material including a hydrophobic group which may provide a hydrophobic portion. Thereafter, at least a portion of the hydrophobic portion comprising oxidizing the hydrophobic group may be removed in order to regenerate the hydrophilic coating.
US09054345B2
Pixel defining layer, preparation method thereof, organic light-emitting diode substrate and display
A method for preparing a pixel defining layer (PDL), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) substrate prepared by the PDL, and a display device are provided, which can overcome the problem that the conventional PDL comprising hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials involves a complicated process. The method for preparing the PDL comprises: step 1: forming a mixed solution on a substrate to form a mixed solution film, in which the mixed solution includes a hydrophilic material, a hydrophobic material and a solvent; step 2: performing heat treatment on the mixed solution film to form a pixel defining material layer in which the content of the hydrophilic material on the upper portion is less than that of the hydrophilic material on the lower portion and the content of the hydrophobic material on the upper portion is more than that of the hydrophobic material on the lower portion; and step 3: forming a pattern of the PDL on the pixel defining material layer by a patterning process. This method for preparing a PDL is simple and easy to realize.
US09054342B2
Provided are an apparatus and method for etching an organic layer, in which an organic material deposited in a non-layer forming area of a substrate is etched. The apparatus includes an etching chamber; a plasma generator configured to supply plasma into the etching chamber; a stage disposed in the etching chamber and configured to support the substrate; and a mask configured to guide the plasma toward the non-pixel area.
US09054338B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure include organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices having hollow objects configured to scatter otherwise trapped light out of the device, thereby improving the performance of the device. The hollow objects are dispersed in one or more organic layers of the OLED device. The hollow objects may have a similar refractive index to that of air, such that visible light emitted by the emissive layer may contact the hollow objects in the OLED device and may be scattered out of the device. In some embodiments, the hollow objects may be spherical or tubular, and may be sized to be larger than the visible light wavelength spectrum.
US09054328B2
The present invention provides a process for the adjustment of the electron acceptor strength of a transition metal oxide (TMO) to the HOMO of a semiconducting hole transport layer material (HTL material) in a device comprising an anode, a layer of said TMO deposited on said anode and a layer of said HTL material deposited on said TMO layer, comprising: depositing a solution comprising a precursor for said TMO on said anode, wherein the precursor solution has a pH selected so that the acceptor strength of the TMO for which the solution is a precursor is adjusted to the HOMO of said HTL material; drying the deposited solution to form a solid layer precursor layer; depositing a solution of said HTL material onto said solid layer precursor layer; and annealing thermally the resulting product to give the desired device having TMO at the interface between said anode and said HTL.
US09054327B2
An organic light emitting display device is disclosed which includes: a substrate defined into a display area and a non-display area; a light emission diode layer formed on the substrate and configured to emit light; a TFE layer formed on the light emission diode layer and configured to protect the light emission diode layer; an intrusive moisture guide layer configured to prevent moisture intrusion into the light emission diode layer; and a getter configured to absorb moisture which is guided by the intrusive moisture guide layer.
US09054324B2
An organic molecular memory of an embodiment includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and an organic molecular layer interposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, the organic molecular layer including variable-resistance molecular chains or charge-storage molecular chains, the variable-resistance molecular chains or the charge-storage molecular chains having electron-withdrawing substituents.
US09054321B2
A heterocyclic compound represented by Formula 1, and an organic layer including the heterocyclic compound: wherein Formula 1 is as defined in the specification. The organic light-emitting device including the heterocyclic compound has high efficiency, low driving voltage, high brightness, and long lifespan.
US09054315B2
A method for manufacturing a light-emitting device includes a step of forming an etching resistant protection layer on a substrate provided with an organic planarizing layer, a step of forming a plurality of electrodes on the etching resistant protection layer, a step of forming an organic compound layer on the substrate provided with the plurality of electrodes, a step of forming a resist layer on the organic compound layer formed on parts of electrodes among the plurality of electrodes using a photolithographic method, and a step of removing the organic compound layer in a region not covered with the resist layer by dry etching, wherein an entire surface of the organic planarizing layer on the substrate on which steps up to the step of forming the plurality of electrodes have been performed is covered with at least one of the etching resistant protection layer and the electrode.
US09054308B1
A fabrication process for a resistance-switching memory cell uses metal oxide as a resistance-switching material. A metal oxide film having an initial stoichiometry is deposited on an electrode using atomic layer deposition. A changed stoichiometry is provided for a portion of the metal oxide film using a plasma reduction process, separate from the atomic layer deposition, and another electrode is formed adjacent to the changed stoichiometry portion. The film deposition and the plasma reduction can be performed in separate chambers where conditions such as temperature are optimized. The metal oxide film may be deposited on a vertical sidewall in a vertical bit line 3d memory device. Optionally, the mean free path of hydrogen ions during the plasma reduction process is adjusted to increase the uniformity of the vertical metal oxide film. The adjustment can involve factors such as RF power, pressure and a bias of the wafer.
US09054307B2
Provided are semiconductor devices, such as resistive random access memory (ReRAM) cells, that include current limiting layers formed from alloys of transition metals. Some examples of such alloys include chromium containing alloys that may also include nickel, aluminum, and/or silicon. Other examples include tantalum and/or titanium containing alloys that may also include a combination of silicon and carbon or a combination of aluminum and nitrogen. These current limiting layers may have resistivities of at least about 1 Ohm-cm. This resistivity level is maintained even when the layers are subjected to strong electrical fields and/or high temperature processing. In some embodiments, the breakdown voltage of a current limiting layer is at least about 8V. The high resistivity of the layers allows scaling down the size of the semiconductor devices including these layers while maintaining their performance.
US09054306B2
A method of manufacturing a phase change memory device includes forming a lower electrode in a cell region of a substrate and a transistor in a peripheral circuit region of the substrate. A first insulating interlayer is formed on the substrate and covers the lower electrode and the transistor. A first contact is formed to penetrate through the first insulating interlayer to connect with the transistor. A second insulating interlayer is formed on the first insulating interlayer and the first contact. A first opening and a second opening are formed by partially removing the first and second insulating interlayers. A phase change material layer pattern is formed to partially fill the first opening. A bit line is formed to fill a remaining portion of the first opening, and a wiring is formed to fill the second opening. Accordingly, the manufacturing process may be simplified.
US09054301B2
A method to make magnetic random access memory (MRAM), or integrated device in general, is provided. Oxygen ion implantation is used to convert the photolithography exposed areas into metal oxide dielectric matrix. To confine the oxygen ions within the desired region, heavy metals with large atomic number, such as Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au is used as ion mask and bottom ion-stopping layer. An oxygen gettering material, selected from Mg, Zr, Y, Th, Ti, Al, Ba is added above and below the active device region to effectively capture the impinging oxygen. After a high temperature anneal, a buried metal oxide layer with sharp oxygen boundaries across the active device region can be obtained.
US09054298B2
A spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STTMRAM) element and a method of manufacturing the same is disclosed having a free sub-layer structure with enhanced internal stiffness. A first free sub-layer is deposited, the first free sub-layer being made partially of boron (B), annealing is performed of the STTMRAM element at a first temperature after depositing the first free sub-layer to reduce the B content at an interface between the first free sub-layer and the barrier layer, the annealing causing a second free sub-layer to be formed on top of the first free sub-layer and being made partially of B, the amount of B of the second free sub-layer being greater than the amount of B in the first free sub-layer. Cooling down the STTMRAM element to a second temperature that is lower than the first temperature and depositing a third free sub-layer directly on top of the second free layer, with the third free sub-layer being made partially of boron (B), wherein the amount of B in the third sub-free layer is less than the amount of B in the second free sub-layer.
US09054293B2
A piezoelectric element includes a substrate, and a lower electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode layer sequentially formed on the substrate. The substrate has a linear thermal expansion coefficient higher than that of the piezoelectric layer, and the piezoelectric layer includes a polycrystalline body having an in-plane stress in a compressive direction. Thus, the piezoelectric element realizes the piezoelectric layer having a high orientation in a polarization axis direction, high proportionality of a displacement amount with respect to an applied voltage, and a large absolute value of the displacement amount.
US09054288B2
A light emitting diode includes a light emitting structure, a transparent conductive layer and a transparent protecting layer formed in sequence. A plurality of holes are defined in the transparent protecting layer to expose the transparent conductive layer out of the transparent protecting layer. A plurality of micro-structures are formed on a top surface of the transparent conductive layer in the holes. The micro-structures refract light emitted from the light emitting structure and travelling through the transparent conductive layer.
US09054287B2
To provide a substrate for mounting a light-emitting device, which is provided with a silver reflection layer having a high reflectance and being less susceptible to deterioration of the reflectance due to corrosion and which has an improved light extraction efficiency.A substrate for mounting a light-emitting element 1, which comprises a substrate main body 2, a silver reflection layer 6 composed mainly of silver or a silver alloy, formed on the substrate main body 2, and a protective layer formed so as to cover the entire surface of the silver reflection layer 6, wherein the protective layer 7 contains an alumina filler and further contains a glass constituting the protective layer 7, having silver ions diffused therein. The concentration of silver ions contained in the glass of the protective layer 7 is at least 0.5 mass % and at most 5.0 mass %.
US09054278B2
Disclosed are a lighting apparatus and its driving method. A disclosed lighting apparatus comprises a blue light-emitting diode die, a red light-emitting diode die, an electrical-connection structure connecting the blue light-emitting diode die and the red light-emitting diode die and having a correlated color temperature TN. A disclosed driving method of a lighting apparatus comprising operating a blue light-emitting diode emitting a first color light with an electrical power WB consumed and operating a red light-emitting diode die emitting a second color light with an electrical power WR consumed, respectively. Then, the correlated color temperature of the lighting apparatus is about TN, and a power ratio RW, the ratio of WB over WR, is about between 7.67*ln(TN)−56.6 and 5.01*ln(TN)−37.2.
US09054277B2
A light-emitting diode (LED) with a bump structure on a sidewall is provided. The LED comprises a substrate, an epitaxial structure, a first conductive bump, a second conductive bump, a first extended electrode and a second extended electrode. The substrate has a top surface, a first side surface and an inclined surface between the top surface and the first side surface. The epitaxial structure is disposed on the top surface of the substrate, and comprises a N-type semiconductor layer, a light-emitting layer, a P-type semiconductor layer, a transparent conductive layer, a P-electrode and a N-electrode. The first extended electrode and the second extended electrode connect the P-electrode and the N-electrode, extend through the inclined surface, and are electrically connected to the first and the second conductive bumps, respectively. A mounting structure comprises said LED, a sub-mount and a connector mounting the LED onto the sub-mount.
US09054272B2
The thermoelectric module includes a first electric path including a first set of thermocouples electrically connected in series. It further includes a second electric path including a second set of thermocouples electrically connected in series, the number of thermocouples of the second set being smaller than the number of thermocouples of the first set.
US09054270B2
A method for manufacturing a light emitting diode includes providing an epitaxial wafer having a substrate and an epitaxial layer allocated on the substrate. The epitaxial layer comprises a first semiconductor layer, an active layer, a second semiconductor layer sequentially allocated, and at least one blind hole penetrating the second semiconductor layer, the active layer and inside the first semiconductor layer; then a first electrode is formed on the first semiconductor layer inside the at least one blind hole and a second electrode is formed on the second semiconductor layer; thereafter a first supporting layer is allocated on the first electrode and a second supporting layer is allocated on the second electrode.
US09054255B2
Solar cells having emitter regions composed of wide bandgap semiconductor material are described. In an example, a method includes forming, in a process tool having a controlled atmosphere, a thin dielectric layer on a surface of a semiconductor substrate of the solar cell. The semiconductor substrate has a bandgap. Without removing the semiconductor substrate from the controlled atmosphere of the process tool, a semiconductor layer is formed on the thin dielectric layer. The semiconductor layer has a bandgap at least approximately 0.2 electron Volts (eV) above the bandgap of the semiconductor substrate.
US09054249B2
A method is disclosed for making semiconductor films from a eutectic alloy comprising a metal and a semiconductor. Through heterogeneous nucleation said film is deposited at a deposition temperature on relatively inexpensive buffered substrates, such as glass. Specifically said film is vapor deposited at a fixed temperature in said deposition temperature where said deposition temperature is above a eutectic temperature of said eutectic alloy and below a temperature at which the substrate softens. Such films could have widespread application in photovoltaic and display technologies.
US09054243B2
A solid-state image sensor including photoelectric conversion elements, comprises a first insulating film arranged on a substrate and having openings arranged on the respective elements, insulator portions having a refractive index higher than that of the first insulating film and arranged in the respective openings, a second insulating film arranged on upper surfaces of the insulator portions and an upper surface of the first insulating film, and a third insulating film having a refractive index lower than that of the second insulating film and arranged in contact with an upper surface of the second insulating film, wherein letting λ be a wavelength of entering light, n be the refractive index of the second insulating film, and t be a thickness of the second insulating film in at least part of a region on the upper surface of the first insulating film, a relation t<λ/n is satisfied.
US09054240B2
A solar cell and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The solar cell includes a semiconductor layer containing first impurities, a first portion positioned on a first part of one surface of the semiconductor layer, the first portion being more heavily doped with second impurities different from the first impurities than the semiconductor layer, a second portion positioned on a second part of the one surface of the semiconductor layer, the second portion being more heavily doped with the first impurities than the semiconductor layer, and a third portion positioned between the first portion and the second portion, the third portion having an impurity concentration lower than an impurity concentration of the first portion and an impurity concentration of the second portion.
US09054219B1
A method of fabricating semiconductor devices includes providing a semiconducting substrate. The method also includes defining a heavily doped region at a surface of the semiconducting substrate in at least one area of the semiconducting substrate, where the heavily doped region includes a heavily doped layer having a doping concentration greater than a doping concentration of the semiconducting substrate. The method also includes forming an additional layer of semiconductor material on the semiconducting substrate, the additional layer comprising a substantially undoped layer. The method further includes applying a first removal process to the semiconducting substrate to define an unetched portion and an etched portion, where the unetched portion defines a fin structure, and the etched portion extends through the additional layer, and then isolating the fin structure from other structures.
US09054211B2
An FET device structure has a Fin-FET device with a fin of a Si based material. An oxide element is abutting the fin and exerts pressure onto the fin. The Fin-FET device channel is compressively stressed due to the pressure on the fin. A further FET device structure has Fin-FET devices in a row. An oxide element extending perpendicularly to the row of fins is abutting the fins and exerts pressure onto the fins. Device channels of the Fin-FET devices are compressively stressed due to the pressure on the fins.
US09054210B2
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method including forming on a substrate a transistor that includes a gate electrode and a source and drain region, forming an interlayer insulating film on the transistor, forming a contact hole in the interlayer insulating film to expose a top surface of the source and drain region, and a thin film is formed at an interface between the contact hole and the exposed top surface of the source and drain region. The method further including selectively removing at least a portion of the thin film by performing an etching process in a non-plasma atmosphere, forming an ohmic contact film on the source and drain region where at least a portion of the thin film was selectively removed, and forming a contact plug by filling the contact hole with a conductive material.
US09054207B2
Storage transistors for flash memory areas in semiconductor devices may be provided on the basis of a self-aligned charge storage region. To this end, a floating spacer element may be provided in some illustrative embodiments, while, in other cases, the charge storage region may be efficiently embedded in the electrode material in a self-aligned manner during a replacement gate approach. Consequently, enhanced bit density may be achieved, since additional sophisticated lithography processes for patterning the charge storage region may no longer be required.
US09054205B2
A semiconductor device having a novel structure or a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device is provided. For example, the reliability of a transistor which is driven at high voltage or large current is improved. For improvement of the reliability of the transistor, a buffer layer is provided between a drain electrode layer (or a source electrode layer) and an oxide semiconductor layer such that the end portion of the buffer layer is beyond the side surface of the drain electrode layer (or the source electrode layer) when seen in a cross section, whereby the buffer layer can relieve the concentration of electric field. The buffer layer is a single layer or a stacked layer including a plurality of layers, and includes, for example, an In—Ga—Zn—O film containing nitrogen, an In—Sn—O film containing nitrogen, an In—Sn—O film containing SiOx, or the like.
US09054203B2
As a display device has a higher definition, the number of pixels, gate lines, and signal lines are increased. When the number of the gate lines and the signal lines are increased, there occurs a problem that it is difficult to mount an IC chip including a driver circuit for driving the gate and signal lines by bonding or the like, whereby manufacturing cost is increased. A pixel portion and a driver circuit for driving the pixel portion are provided over the same substrate, and at least part of the driver circuit includes a thin film transistor using an oxide semiconductor interposed between gate electrodes provided above and below the oxide semiconductor. Therefore, when the pixel portion and the driver circuit are provided over the same substrate, manufacturing cost can be reduced.
US09054202B2
An oxide semiconductor thin film transistor includes a source, a drain, a channel layer, an insulation layer, a first conductor and a second conductor. The channel layer is disposed between the source and the drain, and separated from the source and the drain. The insulation layer covers the source, the drain and the channel layer. The first conductor is at least disposed in a first opening of the insulation layer so as to touch the source and the channel layer. The second conductor is at least disposed in a second opening of the insulation layer so as to touch the drain and the channel layer.
US09054192B1
A stack of a germanium-containing layer and a dielectric cap layer is formed on an insulator layer. The stack is patterned to form germanium-containing semiconductor fins and germanium-containing mandrel structures with dielectric cap structures thereupon. A dielectric masking layer is deposited and patterned to mask the germanium-containing semiconductor fins, while physically exposing sidewalls of the germanium-containing mandrel structures. A ring-shaped compound semiconductor fin is formed around each germanium-containing mandrel structure by selective epitaxy of a compound semiconductor material. A center portion of each germanium-containing mandrel can be removed to physically expose inner sidewalls of the ring-shaped compound semiconductor fin. A high-mobility compound semiconductor layer can be formed on physically exposed surfaces of the ring-shaped compound semiconductor fin. The dielectric masking layer and fin cap dielectrics can removed to provide germanium-containing semiconductor fins and compound semiconductor fins.
US09054185B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, a first region of a second conductivity type formed in the semiconductor substrate, a second region of the first conductivity type formed in the first region, a source region of the second conductivity type formed in the second region, a drain region of the second conductivity type formed in the first region, a first junction part including a part of a border between the first region and the second region, which is on the side of the drain region, a second junction part including a part of the border between the first region and the second region, which is at a location different from the first junction part, a gate electrode formed above the first junction, and a conductor pattern formed above the second junction part and being electrically independent from the gate electrode.
US09054181B2
A semiconductor device includes a transistor. The transistor includes a source region, a drain region, a body region, a drift zone, and a gate electrode being adjacent to the body region. The body region, the drift zone, the source region and the drain region are disposed in a first semiconductor layer having a first main surface. The body region and the drift zone are disposed along a first direction between the source region and the drain region, the first direction being parallel to the first main surface. The transistor further includes a drift control region arranged adjacent to the drift zone, the drift control region being disposed over the first main surface.
US09054178B2
A transistor comprises a substrate, a pair of spacers on the substrate, a gate dielectric layer on the substrate and between the pair of spacers, a gate electrode layer on the gate dielectric layer and between the pair of spacers, an insulating cap layer on the gate electrode layer and between the pair of spacers, and a pair of diffusion regions adjacent to the pair of spacers. The insulating cap layer forms an etch stop structure that is self aligned to the gate and prevents the contact etch from exposing the gate electrode, thereby preventing a short between the gate and contact. The insulator-cap layer enables self-aligned contacts, allowing initial patterning of wider contacts that are more robust to patterning limitations.
US09054172B2
The present invention provides a semiconductor structure including a substrate, a transistor, a first ILD layer, a second ILD layer, a first contact plug, second contact plug and a third contact plug. The transistor is disposed on the substrate and includes a gate and a source/drain region. The first ILD layer is disposed on the transistor. The first contact plug is disposed in the first ILD layer and a top surface of the first contact plug is higher than a top surface of the gate. The second ILD layer is disposed on the first ILD layer. The second contact plug is disposed in the second ILD layer and electrically connected to the first contact plug. The third contact plug is disposed in the first ILD layer and the second ILD layer and electrically connected to the gate. The present invention further provides a method of making the same.
US09054164B1
Embodiments of the invention describe low capacitance interconnect structures for semiconductor devices and methods for manufacturing such devices. According to an embodiment of the invention, a low capacitance interconnect structure comprises an interlayer dielectric (ILD). First and second interconnect lines are disposed in the ILD in an alternating pattern. The top surfaces of the first interconnect lines may be recessed below the top surfaces of the second interconnect lines. Increases in the recess of the first interconnect lines decreases the line-to-line capacitance between neighboring interconnects. Further embodiments include utilizing different dielectric materials as etching caps above the first and second interconnect lines. The different materials may have a high selectivity over each other during an etching process. Accordingly, the alignment budget for contacts to individual interconnect lines is increased.
US09054162B2
A method is disclosed for forming conductive vias in a substrate by filling preformed via holes, preferably through via holes, with conductive material. The method includes providing a plurality of preformed objects at least partly including ferromagnetic material on a surface of the substrate; providing a magnetic source on an opposite side of the substrate with respect to the plurality of preformed objects, thereby at least partly aligning at least a portion of the preformed objects with a magnetic field associated with the magnetic source; and moving the magnetic source relative the substrate, or vice versa, thereby moving the at least portion of the preformed objects into at least a portion of the via holes.
US09054159B2
A method including forming a first pattern having a first and second feature is described. A masking layer is formed over the first and second features. An opening is patterned in the masking layer. The opening can extend over at least one of the first and second features. The patterned opening is then used to form a third feature (filled trench) between the first and second features. A second pattern is then formed that includes a fourth feature and fifth feature each having an edge defined by the third feature. The first, second, fourth and fifth features may then be used to pattern an underlying layer over the semiconductor substrate.
US09054151B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor body including a first surface having a normal direction defining a vertical direction, a first n-type semiconductor region arranged below the first surface and having a first maximum doping concentration and a second n-type semiconductor region arranged below the first n-type semiconductor region and including, in a vertical cross-section, two spaced apart first n-type portions each adjoining the first n-type semiconductor region, having a maximum doping concentration which is higher than the first maximum doping concentration and having a first minimum distance to the first surface, and a second n-type portion adjoining the first n-type semiconductor region, having a maximum doping concentration which is higher than the first maximum doping concentration and a second minimum distance to the first surface which is larger than the first minimum distance. A p-type second semiconductor layer forms a pn-junction with the second n-type portion.
US09054147B2
A method of carrying out alignment between a substrate and a mask, each having respective alignment marks. Vibrations attic substrate in a direction of gravity are measured. An antiphase vibrational wave is calculated, based an data corresponding to the measured vibrations. The antiphase vibrational wave is applied to the substrate, thereby reducing the vibrations or the substrate. When the vibrations of the substrate in the direction of gravity fall within a predetermined value that is set in advance, images are taken of relative positions of the alignment marks provided on the substrate and the mask, respectively, from the substrate side, and corresponding data is produced. Based on the data corresponding to the obtained images, an amount of movement of one of the substrate and the mask is calculated in a horizontal direction. One of the substrate and the mask is moved, based on the calculated movement amount.
US09054137B2
An object is to manufacture a highly reliable semiconductor device including a thin film transistor with stable electric characteristics. In a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a thin film transistor in which an oxide semiconductor film is used for a semiconductor layer including a channel formation region, heat treatment (for dehydration or dehydrogenation) is performed to improve the purity of the oxide semiconductor film and reduce impurities including moisture or the like. After that, slow cooling is performed under an oxygen atmosphere. Besides impurities including moisture or the like exiting in the oxide semiconductor film, heat treatment causes reduction of impurities including moisture or the like exiting in a gate insulating layer and those in interfaces between the oxide semiconductor film and films which are provided over and below the oxide semiconductor and in contact therewith.
US09054129B1
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device, including a semiconductor substrate, an epitaxial structure, a well region, a drain region and a source region respectively formed in the epitaxial structure inside and outside of the well region. At least one set of first, second and third heavily doped regions formed in the well region between source and drain regions, wherein the first, second and third heavily doped regions are adjoined sequentially from bottom to top. A gate structure disposed over the epitaxial structure. The present disclosure also provides a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device.
US09054126B2
After formation of a gate stack, regions in which a source and a drain are to be formed are recessed through the top semiconductor layer and into an upper portion of a buried single crystalline rare earth oxide layer of a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate so that a source trench and drain trench are formed. An embedded single crystalline semiconductor portion epitaxially aligned to the buried single crystalline rare earth oxide layer is formed in each of the source trench and the drain trench to form a recessed source and a recessed drain, respectively. Protrusion of the recessed source and recessed drain above the bottom surface of a gate dielectric can be minimized to reduce parasitic capacitive coupling with a gate electrode, while providing low source resistance and drain resistance through the increased thickness of the recessed source and recessed drain relative to the thickness of the top semiconductor layer.
US09054122B2
To improve a performance of a semiconductor device having a capacitance element. An MIM type capacitance element, an electrode of which is formed with comb-shaped metal patterns composed of the wirings, is formed over a semiconductor substrate. A conductor pattern, which is a dummy gate pattern for preventing dishing in a CMP process, and an active region, which is a dummy active region, are disposed below the capacitance element, and these are coupled to shielding metal patterns composed of the wirings and then connected to a fixed potential. Then, the conductor pattern and the active region are disposed so as not to overlap the comb-shaped metal patterns in the wirings in a planar manner.
US09054114B2
An embodiment of the present invention provides a manufacturing method of a chip package structure including: providing a first substrate having a plurality of predetermined scribe lines defined thereon, wherein the predetermined scribe lines define a plurality of device regions; bonding a second substrate to the first substrate, wherein a spacing layer is disposed therebetween and has a plurality of chip support rings located in the device regions respectively and a cutting support structure located on peripheries of the chip support rings, and the spacing layer has a gap pattern separating the cutting support structure from the chip support rings; and cutting the first substrate and the second substrate to form a plurality of chip packages. Another embodiment of the present invention provides a chip package structure.
US09054103B2
A gate interconnection portion includes a first gate interconnection portion, a second gate interconnection portion, and a third gate interconnection portion. The first gate interconnection portion is formed in parallel to a Y axis direction toward a power supply interconnection and extends to a prescribed position within an element formation region. The second gate interconnection portion is formed in parallel to a direction obliquely bent with respect to the Y-axis direction from the first gate interconnection portion toward the power supply interconnection, and extends across a boundary between the element formation region and an element isolation insulating film, which is in parallel to an X axis direction. The third gate interconnection portion further extends in parallel to the Y-axis direction from the second gate interconnection portion toward the power supply interconnection.
US09054095B2
A semiconductor device has a first substrate with a plurality of first conductive vias formed partially through the first substrate. A first semiconductor die is mounted over the first substrate and electrically connected to the first conductive vias. A plurality of bumps is formed over the first substrate. A second substrate has a plurality of second conductive vias formed partially through the second substrate. A penetrable encapsulant is deposited over the second substrate. The second substrate is mounted over the first substrate to embed the first semiconductor die and interconnect structure in the penetrable encapsulant. The encapsulant can be injected between the first and second substrates. A portion of the first substrate is removed to expose the first conductive vias. A portion of the second substrate is removed to expose the second conductive vias. A second semiconductor die is mounted over the second substrate.
US09054090B2
A semiconductor package that includes a substrate having a metallic back plate, an insulation body and a plurality of conductive pads on the insulation body, and a semiconductor die coupled to said conductive pads, the conductive pads including regions readied for direct connection to pads external to the package using a conductive adhesive.
US09054084B2
Staggered bond ads and I/O cells are arranged on an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes at least a first I/O cell having a first bond pad and first opposing set of recesses, a second I/O cell having a second bond sad and second opposing set of recesses, and a third I/O cell having a third bond sad and third opposing set of recesses. Each set of opposing recesses can be arranged in a staggered formation to receive adjacent bond pads, which can also be configured in a staggered formation.
US09054073B2
Disclosed is a semiconductor device in which a resistance component resulting from wiring is reduced. A plurality of transistor units are arranged side by side in a first direction (Y direction in the view), each of which has a plurality of transistors. The gate electrodes of the transistors extend in the first direction. First source wiring extends between first transistor unit and second transistor unit, and first drain wiring extends between the second transistor unit and third transistor unit. Second drain wiring extends on the side of the first transistor unit opposite to the side where the first source wiring extends, and second source wiring extends on the side of the third transistor unit opposite to the side where the second drain wiring extends.
US09054070B2
An isolation region includes an element isolation film and a field plate electrode. The field plate electrode overlaps the element isolation film and surrounds a first circuit when seen in a plan view. A part of the field plate electrode is also positioned on a connection transistor. A source and a drain of the connection transistor are opposite to each other through the field plate electrode when seen in a plan view. In addition, the field plate electrode is divided into a first portion including a portion that is positioned on the connection transistor, and a second portion other than the first portion.
US09054069B2
A variable capacitance semiconductor structure is disclosed. Embodiments include a capacitor having three plates, a top plate, a middle plate, and a bottom plate. The top plate serves as a positive plate. The middle and bottom plates serve as ground plates for the capacitor. A switching circuit selects between the middle plate and the bottom plate for use as the ground plate of the capacitor. The middle plate is slotted, allowing electric fields to penetrate through the middle plate to the bottom plate. The slots prevent the electric fields from terminating at the middle plate. A different capacitance value can be selected, depending on whether the middle plate or bottom plate is selected as the ground plate. Logic circuitry is configured to control the selection of plates to achieve a variety of capacitance values.
US09054065B2
This disclosure relates to bipolar transistors, such as heterojunction bipolar transistors, having at least one grading in the collector. One aspect of this disclosure is a bipolar transistor that includes a collector having a high doping concentration at a junction with the base and at least one grading in which doping concentration increases away from the base. In some embodiments, the high doping concentration can be at least about 3×1016 cm−3. According to certain embodiments, the collector includes two gradings. Such bipolar transistors can be implemented, for example, in power amplifiers.
US09054060B2
An organic light-emitting display device including a substrate on which a display region and a non-display region are defined is described, the organic light-emitting display device comprising: a first electrode disposed on a substrate; an intermediate layer disposed on the first electrode and including an organic light-emitting layer; a second electrode disposed on the intermediate layer; an encapsulation layer disposed on the substrate; a plurality of pad units disposed on the non-display region; a wiring unit disposed on the display region; and a bridge wiring that is disposed across the display region and the non-display region and connects one of the plurality of pad units and the wiring unit to each other.
US09054055B2
A display capable of suppressing color mixture caused by the diffraction of the light passing through the adjacent transmission color region of the color filter, even when a size of a light emitting element is small, and an electronic device including the display are provided. The display includes a plurality of light emitting elements, and a color filter having a transmission color region facing the plurality of light emitting elements, and a semi-transmissive region provided at a part of the transmission color region.
US09054053B2
A display device includes a circuit layer including: a plurality of transistors; a plurality of metal layers; and a plurality of wirings. The display device includes a display layer including first, second and third light emitting elements. The first light emitting element includes a first anode electrode and a first light emitting layer, a surface of the first anode electrode having a first surface contour structure; the second light emitting element includes a second anode electrode and a second light emitting layer, a surface of the second anode electrode having a second surface contour structure which is different from the first surface contour structure; and the third light emitting element includes a third anode electrode and a third light emitting layer, a surface of the third anode electrode having a third surface contour structure which is different from the second surface contour structure.
US09054050B2
Techniques disclosed herein include methods for etching deep silicon features using a continuous gas pulsing process that etches high aspect ratio features having a relatively smooth profile. Such methods provide an etch rate faster than time-multiplexed etch-deposition processes. Techniques include using a continuous process that comprises a cyclic gas-pulsing process of alternating chemistries. One process gas mixture includes a halogen-containing silicon gas and oxygen that creates an oxide layer. A second process gas mixture includes a halogen-containing gas and a fluorocarbon gas that etches oxide and silicon.
US09054046B2
A thin film including characteristics of low permittivity, high etching resistance and high leak resistance is to be formed. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a thin film containing a predetermined element on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including: forming a first layer containing the predetermined element, nitrogen and carbon by alternately performing supplying a source gas containing the predetermined element and a halogen element to the substrate and supplying a first reactive gas containing three elements including the carbon, the nitrogen and hydrogen and having a composition wherein a number of carbon atoms is greater than that of nitrogen atoms to the substrate a predetermined number of times; and forming a second layer by supplying a second reactive gas different from the source gas and the first reactive gas to the substrate to modify the first layer.
US09054040B2
A first electrode at a first side of a first semiconductor die is connected to a first conductive region of a substrate. A first electrode at a first side of a second semiconductor die is connected to a second conductive region of the substrate. Each die has a second electrode at an opposing second side of the respective die. A first metal layer extends from a periphery region of the substrate to over the first die. The first metal layer has a generally rectangular cross-sectional area and connects one of the conductive regions in the periphery region of the substrate to the second electrode of the first die. A second metal layer separate from the first metal layer extends over the first and second dies. The second metal layer has a generally rectangular cross-sectional area and connects the second electrodes of the first and second dies.
US09054039B2
A semiconductor device includes: a substrate; a lower wiring on the substrate; an inter-layer insulating film covering the lower wiring; first and second upper wirings on the inter-layer insulating film and separated from each other; and a semi-insulating protective film covering the first and second upper wirings, wherein the protective film is not provided in a region right above the lower wiring and between the first upper wiring and the second upper wiring.
US09054036B2
According to one embodiment, a nitride semiconductor device includes a stacked body and a functional layer. The stacked body includes an AlGaN layer of AlxGa1-xN (0
US09054026B2
A semiconductor structure comprising a substrate, an active device, a field oxide layer and a poly-silicon resistor is disclosed. The active device is formed in a surface area of the substrate. The active device has a first doped area, a second doped area and a third doped area. The second doped area is disposed on the first doped area. The first doped area is between the second and the third doped areas. The first doped area has a first type conductivity. The third doped area has a second type conductivity. The first and the second type conductivities are different. The field oxide layer is disposed on a part of the third doped area. The poly-silicon resistor is disposed on the field oxide layer and is electrically connected to the third doped area.
US09054025B2
A method for fabricating an integrated circuit with improved uniformity among the step heights of isolation regions is disclosed. The method comprises providing a substrate having one or more trenches; filling the one or more trenches; performing a chemical mechanical polishing on the one or more filled trenches, wherein each of the one or more filled trenches comprises a thickness; measuring the thickness of each of the one or more filled trenches; determining, based on the measured thickness of each of the one or more filled trenches, an amount of time to perform an etching process; and performing the etching process for the determined amount of time.
US09054024B2
An integrated circuit package includes a substrate having a recess formed along at least a portion of a perimeter of the substrate, and an optical die having opto-electric circuitry, the optical die coupled to the substrate such that a portion of the optical die with the opto-electric circuitry overhangs the recess. The integrated circuit package also includes an optical unit disposed in the recess such that optical signals emitted by the opto-electric circuitry are reflected away from the substrate and incident optical signals are reflected onto the opto-electric circuitry.
US09054021B2
A method is provided for fabricating a transistor. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, and forming a metal layer on the semiconductor substrate. The method also includes forming a silicon layer having at least one layer of graphene-like silicon on the metal layer, and forming a metal oxide layer by oxidizing a portion of the metal layer underneath the silicon layer. Further, the method includes forming a source region and a drain region connecting with the silicon layer.
US09054020B2
Methods and structures having increased fin density are disclosed. Structures with two sets of fins are provided. A lower set of fins is interleaved with an upper set of fins in a staggered manner, such that the lower set of fins and upper set of fins are horizontally and vertically non-overlapping.
US09054019B2
A low profile lighting module. Devices according to this disclosure can produce a uniform light intensity output profile, limiting the perceived appearance of individual point sources, from direct lighting modules comprising several light emitting diodes. Individual lighting device components are disclosed that can contribute to this uniform profile, including: primary optics, secondary optics, and contoured housing elements. These components can interact with and control emitted light, thus adjusting its pattern. These components can alter the direction of emitted light, providing a more uniform light intensity over a wider range of viewing angle.
US09054014B2
A unit pixel has a light receiving device containing a photoelectric conversion element for detecting a light to generate photoelectrons. The light receiving device contains a plurality of photoelectron distributors, which each have a first transfer unit for transferring the photoelectrons generated in the photoelectric conversion element, a photoelectron hold unit for temporarily holding the photoelectrons generated in the photoelectric conversion element, a second transfer unit for transferring the photoelectrons held in the photoelectron hold unit, and a floating diffusion layer for storing the transferred photoelectrons and converting the photoelectrons to a voltage. The unit pixel contains a reset transistor for resetting the potential of the floating diffusion layer to a reference potential and a photoelectron discharger for discharging the photoelectrons generated in the photoelectric conversion element.
US09054011B2
A mask includes a substrate, an effective pixel formation region and a reference pattern formation region. A pixel pattern for forming a pixel component that constitutes a pixel is arranged in the effective pixel formation region. A reference pattern for indicating a reference position where pixel pattern should be arranged in the effective pixel formation region is arranged in the reference pattern formation region. Pixel pattern is arranged to be displaced from the reference position toward a center side of the effective pixel formation region.
US09054008B2
Described herein is device configured to be a solar-blind UV detector comprising a substrate; a plurality of pixels; a plurality of nanowires in each of the plurality of pixel, wherein the plurality of nanowires extend essentially perpendicularly from the substrate.
US09054007B2
A pixel cell includes a photodiode disposed in an epitaxial layer in a first region of semiconductor material. A floating diffusion is disposed in a well region disposed in the epitaxial layer in the first region. A transfer transistor is disposed in the first region and coupled between the photodiode and the floating diffusion to selectively transfer image charge from the photodiode to the floating diffusion. A deep trench isolation (DTI) structure lined with a dielectric layer inside the DTI structure is disposed in the semiconductor material isolates the first region on one side of the DTI structure from a second region of the semiconductor material on an other side of the DTI structure. Doped semiconductor material inside the DTI structure is selectively coupled to a readout pulse voltage in response to the transfer transistor selectively transferring the image charge from the photodiode to the floating diffusion.
US09054000B2
A solid-state imaging device 2A includes a CCD-type solid-state imaging element 10 having an imaging plane 12 formed of M×N pixels that are two-dimensionally arrayed in M rows and N columns and N signal readout circuits 20 arranged on one end side in the column direction for each of the columns with respect to the plane 12 and for outputting electrical signals according to the magnitudes of charges taken out of the respective columns, respectively, a C-MOS-type semiconductor element 50 for digital-converting and sequentially outputting as serial signals electrical signals output from the circuits 20 for each of the columns, a heat transfer member 80 having a main surface 81a and a back surface 81b, and a cooling block 84 provided on the surface 81b, and the semiconductor element 50 and the surface 81a of the heat transfer member 80 are bonded to each other.
US09053998B2
A range sensor includes a charge generating region, a signal charge collecting region, an unnecessary charge collecting region, a photogate electrode, a transfer electrode, and an unnecessary charge collecting gate electrode. Outer peripheries of the charge generating region extend to sides of a polygonal pixel region except for corner portions thereof. The signal charge collecting region is disposed at a center portion of the pixel region and inside the charge generating region so as to be surrounded by the charge generating region. The unnecessary charge collecting region is disposed in the corner portion of the pixel region and outside the charge generating region. The photogate electrode is disposed on the charge generating region. The transfer electrode is disposed between the signal charge collecting region and the charge generating region. The unnecessary charge collecting gate electrode is disposed between the unnecessary charge collecting region and the charge generating region.
US09053993B2
Electronic devices may include image sensors having image pixel arrays with image pixels arranged in pixel rows and pixel columns. Each pixel column may be coupled to a column line having column readout circuitry. The column readout circuitry on each column line may include signal processing circuitry and a latch circuit. The latch circuit on each column line may be used to selectively enable and disable the signal processing circuitry on that column line. Each latch circuit may be coupled to first and second signal lines for globally enabling and disabling the signal processing circuitry on all of the column lines. Each latch circuit may be coupled to column decoder circuitry. The column decoder circuitry may provide a column-select signal to latch circuits on a chosen subset of column lines that enables the signal processing circuitry on those column lines by setting those latch circuits.
US09053992B2
A contact resistance test structure, a method for fabricating the contact resistance test structure and a method for measuring a contact resistance while using the contact resistance test structure are all predicated upon two parallel conductor lines (or multiples thereof) that are contacted by one perpendicular conductor line absent a via interposed there between. The test structure and related methods are applicable within the context of three-dimensional integrated circuits.
US09053986B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer on a substrate, a gate electrode electrically insulated from the semiconductor layer by a gate insulating layer, an insulating layer on the gate insulating layer and on the gate electrode, and a source electrode and a drain electrode on the insulating layer, the source and drain electrode being connected to the semiconductor layer. The source electrode overlaps at least a part of the gate electrode. The source electrode, the insulating layer, and the gate electrode overlap each other so as to provide a capacitor.
US09053985B2
A semiconductor device including n, where notation n denotes a positive integer at least equal to three, conductive layers created as stacked layers on a substrate and connected to each other through a contact pattern, a manufacturing method thereof and a display apparatus thereof are provided.
US09053976B2
A microelectronic flash memory device including a plurality of memory cells including transistors fitted with a matrix of channels connecting a block of common source to a second block on which bit lines rest, the transistors also being formed by a plurality of gates including at least one gate material, including a first selection gate coating the channels, a plurality of control gates coating the channels, a plurality of second selection gates each coating the channels of the same row and the matricial arrangement, at least one or more of the gates based on superposition of layers including at least one first layer of dielectrical material, at least one charge store zone, and at least one second layer of dielectrical material.
US09053969B2
The semiconductor device includes a source line, a bit line, a first signal line, a second signal line, a word line, memory cells connected in parallel between the source line and the bit line, a first driver circuit electrically connected to the source line and the bit line, a second driver circuit electrically connected to the first signal line, a third driver circuit electrically connected to the second signal line, and a fourth driver circuit electrically connected to the word line. The memory cell includes a first transistor including a first gate electrode, a first source electrode, and a first drain electrode, a second transistor including a second gate electrode, a second source electrode, and a second drain electrode, and a capacitor. The second transistor includes an oxide semiconductor material.
US09053966B2
An integrated circuit device that includes a plurality of multiple gate FinFETs (MuGFETs) is disclosed. Fins of different crystal orientations for PMOS and NMOS MuGFETs are formed through amorphization and crystal regrowth on a direct silicon bonded (DSB) hybrid orientation technology (HOT) substrate. PMOS MuGFET fins are formed with channels defined by fin sidewall surfaces having (110) crystal orientations. NMOS MuGFET fins are formed with channels defined by fin sidewall surfaces having (100) crystal orienations in a Manhattan layout with the sidewall channels of the different PMOS and NMOS MuGFETs aligned at 0° or 90° rotations.
US09053959B2
Semiconductor light converting constructions are disclosed. The semiconductor light converting construction includes a first semiconductor layer for absorbing at least a portion of light at a first wavelength; a semiconductor potential well for converting at least a portion of the light absorbed at the first wavelength to light at a longer second wavelength; and a second semiconductor layer that is capable of absorbing at least a portion of light at the first wavelength. The first semiconductor layer has a maximum first index of refraction at the second wavelength. The second semiconductor layer has a second index of refraction at the second wavelength that is greater than the maximum first index of refraction.
US09053958B2
An electronic device may include a packaging substrate having a packaging face and first and second pluralities of light emitting diodes electrically and mechanically coupled to the packaging face of the packaging substrate. The packaging substrate may include first and second electrically conductive pads on the packaging face. The light emitting diodes of the first plurality of light emitting diodes may be electrically coupled in parallel between the first electrically conductive pad and an interconnection structure on the packaging face. The light emitting diodes of the second plurality of light emitting diodes may be electrically coupled in parallel between the interconnection structure and the second electrically conductive pad.
US09053954B2
To improve the assemblability of a semiconductor device.When a memory chip is mounted over a logic chip, a recognition range including a recognition mark formed at a back surface of the logic chip is imaged and a shape of the recognition range is recognized, alignment of a plurality of bumps of the logic chip and a plurality of projection electrodes of the above-described memory chip is performed based on a result of the recognition, and the above-described memory chip is mounted over the logic chip. At this time, the shape of the recognition range is different from any portion of an array shape of the bumps, as a result, the recognition mark in the shape of the recognition range can be reliably recognized, and alignment of the bumps of the logic chip and the projection electrodes of the above-described memory chip is performed with high accuracy.
US09053952B2
One embodiment for forming a shaped substrate for an electronic device can form a shaped perimeter to define the substrate shape on the surface of a substrate. The shaped perimeter can extend at least part way into the substrate. A subsequent thinning process can remove substrate material and expose the shaped perimeter effectively forming shaped dies from the substrate.
US09053938B1
Methods and devices are provided for forming a low-resistance, high light transmission layer. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided comprised of creating a plurality of vias on a substrate, the vias formed in material that has a maximum processing temperature that less than a pre-defined threshold; adding a plurality of electrically conductive material into the vias; and solution depositing a nanowires infused window layer that has a first thickness at certain areas and a second thickness at other areas, wherein overall sheet resistance is between about 1 to 10 ohms per square, while light transmission combined is at least 70% and creates less than 5% shadow loss. The method may involve using a transparent conductive oxide layer beneath the window layer. This can create a layer that eliminates opaque bus bars or fingers associated with traditional solar cells. This may be an all-solution deposited process using only one deposition set or multiple deposition steps.
US09053936B2
Layout method of semiconductor device with junction diode for preventing damage due to plasma charge
A method for forming a unit layout pattern includes: forming first through third active regions in the unit layout pattern, each of the first through third active regions aligning and extending along a length in a first direction and having a width in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; forming first and second gate regions on the first and second active regions, the first and second gate regions electrically connected to each other; forming the first active region of a first conductive type within a second conductive type well region; forming the second active region of a second conductive type; and forming the third active region connected with the first and second gate regions to form a junction diode, the third active region being located between the first or the second active region and an end of the length in the first direction of the unit pattern.
US09053935B2
A chemical vapor deposition reactor and method. Reactive gases, such as gases including a Group III metal source and a Group V metal source, are introduced into the chamber (10) of a rotating-disc reactor and directed downwardly onto a wafer carrier (32) and substrates (40) which are maintained at an elevated substrate temperature, typically above about 400° C. and normally about 700-1100° C. to deposit a compound such as a III-V semiconductor. The gases are introduced into the reactor at an inlet temperature desirably above about 75° C. and most preferably about 100°-350° C. The walls of the reactor may be at a temperature close to the inlet temperature. Use of an elevated inlet temperature allows the use of a lower rate of rotation of the wafer carrier, a higher operating pressure, lower flow rate, or some combination of these.
US09053934B2
A method of fabricating a fin field effect transistor (FinFET) comprises providing a substrate comprising a major surface, forming a first and second fin extending upward from the substrate major surface to a first height, forming an insulation layer comprising a top surface extending upward from the substrate major surface to a second height less than the first height, wherein a portion of the first and second fin extend beyond the top surface of the insulation layer. The method also includes selectively growing an epitaxial layer covering each fin, annealing the substrate to have each fin covered by a bulbous epitaxial layer defining an hourglass shaped cavity between adjacent fins, wherein the cavity comprises an upper and lower portion. The method includes forming a metal material over the bulbous epitaxial layer and annealing the substrate to convert the bulbous epitaxial layer bordering the lower portion of the cavity to silicide.
US09053932B2
A method of preparing graphene includes forming a silicon carbide thin film on a substrate, forming a metal thin film on the silicon carbide thin film, and forming a metal composite layer and graphene on the substrate by heating the silicon carbide thin film and the metal thin film.
US09053930B2
Various methods to integrate a Group III nitride material on a silicon material are provided. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a structure including a (100) silicon layer, a (111) silicon layer located on an uppermost surface of the (100) silicon layer, a Group III nitride material layer located on an uppermost surface of the (111) silicon layer, and a blanket layer of dielectric material located on an uppermost surface of the Group III nitride material layer. Next, an opening is formed through the blanket layer of dielectric material, the Group III nitride material layer, the (111) Si layer and within a portion of the (100) silicon layer. A dielectric spacer is then formed within the opening. An epitaxial semiconductor material is then formed on an exposed surface of the (100) silicon layer within the opening and thereafter planarization is performed.
US09053921B2
A high-pressure discharge lamp having an ignition aid, may include a discharge vessel which is fitted in an outer bulb, wherein a UV enhancer is fitted as an ignition aid in the outer bulb, wherein the UV enhancer comprises a UV-transparent can-like container having an inner wall and end side and longitudinal axis, the container enclosing with its inner wall a cavity which is filled with a gas that can emit UV radiation, an inner vent electrode, which has at least one bend or kink, being fitted in the cavity in such a way that a bend or kink lie as close as possible to the inner wall of the container, and wherein an external electrode is applied externally in the vicinity of the container.
US09053905B2
The present invention has for its object to provide an electron beam irradiation apparatus which can suppress influences the electric fields generated by a plurality of backscattered electron detectors have. To attain the above object, an electron beam irradiation apparatus equipped with a scanning deflector comprises a plurality of backscattered electron detectors, a power source for detectors which applies voltages to the plural backscattered electron detectors, respectively, and a controller device which adjusts application voltages the power source for detectors delivers, on the basis of an image shift when the voltages are applied to the plural backscattered electron detectors.
US09053904B2
In accordance with an embodiment, a method of adjusting quality of an image of patterns common in shape includes acquiring a first gray value and a first waveform within a reference image, acquiring a sample image, acquiring a second gray value and a second waveform from third and fourth regions within a sample image, respectively, and adjusting the brightness and contrast of the sample image. The first gray value is a standard for the brightness of the image from a first region within a reference image. The first and second waveforms represent a luminance profile of second and fourth regions including edges, respectively. The third and fourth regions correspond to the first and second regions. The brightness and contrast of the sample image are adjusted by matching the first gray value and the first waveform with the second gray value and the second waveform.
US09053901B2
An x-ray system includes x-ray tube containing a cathode which supplies electrons and an anode which can be maintained at high positive electrical potential to the cathode and has a target area which is impacted by electrons from the cathode when the positive potential is maintained generating x-rays. The x-ray tube is enclosed in a radiation resistant casing. The radiation resistant casing has a window which allows some of the x-rays generated at the target area to exit the system. The window has a vapor deposited layer of a filtering metal of sufficient thickness to effectively condition the x-rays passing through the window and located to intercept the x-rays passing through the window.
US09053889B2
Embodiments may include an eFuse cell. The eFuse cell may include an eFuse having a first end and a second end. A blowFET has a first source/drain area, a second source/drain area, and a first gate. The first source/drain area is coupled to the second end of the eFuse, the second source/drain area is coupled to ground, and the first gate is coupled to a first node. The eFuse cell includes a senseFET having a third source/drain area, a fourth source/drain area, and a second gate. The second gate is coupled to the first node, and the third source/drain area is coupled to a second node. The second node is coupled to an operation signal and the second end of the eFuse. The eFuse cell includes a select eFuse logic element having an input to receive a select eFuse signal and an output coupled to the first node.
US09053887B2
A switching device is disclosed, in particular an electrical circuit breaker, including a housing and a switching unit disposed inside the housing. In at least one embodiment, the housing includes an openable housing cover with a switching opening through which a control lever head, which can be moved between an on-position and an off-position, of a control lever for switching the switching unit projects. The switching opening includes an opening contour and the control lever head includes an outer contour, which are aligned with one another such that the control lever head in the on-position prevents any movement of the housing cover via the control lever head, and in the off-position permits a movement of the housing cover via the control lever head.
US09053886B2
In one embodiment, there is a fault interrupter device comprising at least one sensor comprising at least one first transformer having at least one outer region forming an outer periphery and at least one inner hollow region. There is also at least one second transformer that is disposed in the inner hollow region of the at least one first transformer. The transformers can be substantially circular in configuration, and more particularly, ring shaped. In another embodiment there is a rotatable latch which is used to selectively connect and disconnect a set of separable contacts to selectively disconnect power from the line side to the load side. The rotatable latch is in one embodiment coupled to a reset button. In at least one embodiment there is a slider which is configured to selectively prevent the manual tripping of the device.
US09053870B2
A supercapacitor comprising a two electrodes, a porous separator disposed between the two electrodes, and an ionic liquid electrolyte in physical contact with the two electrodes, wherein at least one of the two electrodes comprises a meso-porous structure being formed of a plurality of nano graphene platelets and multiple pores having a pore size in the range of 2 nm and 25 nm, wherein the graphene platelets are not spacer-modified or surface-modified platelets. Preferably, the graphene platelets are curved, not flat-shaped. The pores are accessible to ionic liquid molecules, enabling the formation of large amounts of electric double layer charges in a supercapacitor, which exhibits an exceptionally high specific capacitance and high energy density.
US09053863B2
An electrochemical energy storage device includes a housing, at least one energy storage element in the housing and operable with an electrolyte, a cap coupled to the housing, at least one electrolyte impregnation hole formed in the cap, and a first terminal lug attachable to the cap via the electrolyte impregnation hole.
US09053844B2
An electrical device that includes a first electrode and a second electrode that are separated from one another so as to form a gap structure. A layer of protective material spans the gap structure to contact the first electrode and the second electrode. A dimension of the gap structure, corresponding to a separation distance between the first electrode and the second electrode, is varied and includes a minimum separation distance that coincides with a critical path of the layer of protective material between the first electrode and the second electrode.
US09053839B2
The present invention relates to a method for producing a composition comprising polythiophene, comprising the method steps: I) provision of a composition Z1 comprising thiophene monomers and an oxidising agent; II) oxidative polymerisation of the thiophene monomers by reducing the oxidising agent to a reduction product and oxidation of the thiophene monomer, to form a polythiophene and a composition Z2 comprising the reduction product; III) at least partial removal of the reduction product from the composition Z2 obtained in method step II), to obtain a composition Z3; wherein it is ensured that, following completion of method step III), the content of non-polymerised thiophene monomer in the composition Z3 is in the range from 1 ppm to 100 ppm, based on the total weight of the composition Z3. The present invention also relates to a composition obtainable as the composition Z3 produced with this method, a composition comprising a polythiophene, a layer construction, an electronic component and the use of a composition.
US09053832B2
The present invention provides for a composition comprising an inorganic scintillator comprising an optionally lanthanide-doped strontium-barium, optionally cesium, halide, useful for detecting nuclear material.
US09053828B2
A method for removing and replacing a bottom-mounted instrumentation nozzle on a nuclear reactor pressure vessel. The method (i) caps or plugs the existing bottom-mounted instrumentation nozzle; (ii) cuts the nozzle at or near the nozzle to in-core instrument tube weld; (iii) installs a water-tight sealing enclosure outside the vessel over the bottom of the bottom-mounted instrumentation nozzle creating a water-tight seal with the underside of the reactor vessel; (iv) cuts to sever the existing bottom nozzle from the reactor vessel; (v) extracts the existing nozzle; (vi) installs a replacement alloy 690 nozzle or plug from inside the vessel; and (vii) welds the replacement nozzle or plug in place. The replacement bottom-mounted instrumentation nozzle incorporates an integral shoulder that prevents ejection during operation and facilitates installation, and the entire method is performed while the reactor pressure vessel is filled with water.
US09053823B2
A method and apparatus for providing an alternative cooling system for the suppression pool of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) nuclear reactor. The cooling system is operated to cool the suppression pool in the event of a plant accident when normal plant electricity is not available for the conventional residual heat removal system and pumps. The cooling system may also be used to supplement the cooling of the suppression pool via the residual heat removal system. The cooling system is operated and controlled from a remote location, which is ideal during a plant emergency.
US09053822B2
Methods of operating nonvolatile memory devices may include identifying one or more multi-bit nonvolatile memory cells in a nonvolatile memory device that have undergone unintentional programming from an erased state to an at least partially programmed state. Errors generated during an operation to program a first plurality of multi-bit nonvolatile memory cells may be detected by performing a plurality of reading operations to generate error detection data and then decoding the error detection data to identify specific cells having errors. A programmed first plurality of multi-bit nonvolatile memory cells and a force-bit data vector, which was modified during the program operation, may be read to support error detection. This data, along with data read from a page buffer associated with the first plurality of multi-bit nonvolatile memory cells, may then be decoded to identify which of the first plurality of multi-bit nonvolatile memory cells are unintentionally programmed cells.
US09053821B2
A semiconductor device includes a memory cell array that is divided into a plurality of memory cell mats by a plurality of sense amplifier arrays, and each of the plurality of memory cell mats includes a plurality of word lines and a test circuit for performing a test control to activate, at a time, a plurality of word lines included in each of a plurality of selected memory cell mats that are not disposed adjacent to each other in the plurality of memory cell mats. According to the present invention, the memory cell mats with the plurality of activated word lines are distributed. Therefore, as compared with many word lines activated in one memory cell mat, the load applied to a driver circuit for driving word lines and the load applied to a power supply circuit for supplying an operation voltage to the driver circuit are reduced. As a result, more word lines can be activated at the same time.
US09053818B2
A circuit includes a PMOS transistor, an NMOS transistor, and a logic level generation section comprising an input and a logic level output. The PMOS gate receives an input voltage having a voltage level determined based on an operational voltage, the PMOS drain is coupled to the NMOS drain and the input of the logic level generation section, and the PMOS source is coupled to the operational voltage. The NMOS gate receives a voltage that causes the NMOS transistor to have a first driving capability. The first driving capability of the NMOS transistor is less than that of the PMOS transistor if the input voltage has a voltage level greater than a predetermined voltage level.
US09053807B2
A non-volatile semiconductor device includes a memory array including a plurality of memory cell transistors electrically connected between bit lines and source lines, wherein the memory array is partitioned into a plurality of memory blocks, and a source line driver configured to set a voltage level of the source lines to a reference voltage level. First and second wirings are respectively connected to a first monitoring position of the source lines and a second monitoring position of the source lines different from the first monitoring position. A selection circuit selects between the first and second monitoring positions. A source line voltage control circuit compares a source line voltage at a selected monitoring position, and outputs a result to the source line driver.
US09053806B2
In this flash memory, after first and second nodes are precharged to a power supply voltage, a sense amplifier is activated, and signals appearing at the first and second nodes are held in a register. With output signals of the register, a transistor is rendered conductive, so that a constant current source for offset compensation is connected to the first or second node. Accordingly, the offset voltage of the sense amplifier can be compensated for with a simple configuration.
US09053803B2
An integrated circuit and methods for manufacturing and operating the same are provided. The integrated circuit comprises a fork architecture and a first conductive structure. The fork architecture comprises a handle portion and prong portions extending from the handle portion. The fork architecture comprises a stacked structure and a dielectric layer. The dielectric layer is between the first conductive structure and the handle portion of the stacked structure.
US09053801B2
Memory cells having ferroelectric materials and methods of operating and forming the same are described herein. As an example, a memory cell can include a first electrode and a second electrode, and an ion source and a ferroelectric material formed between the first electrode and the second electrode, where the ferroelectric material serves to stabilize storage of ions transitioned from the ion source.
US09053799B2
A memory repair system in an integrated circuit (IC) that optimizes the fuseROM used for memory repair. The IC includes a plurality of memory wrappers. Each memory wrapper includes a memory block with a fuse register and a bypass register. The bypass register has a bypass data that indicates a defective memory wrapper of the plurality of memory wrappers. A fuseROM controller is coupled to the plurality of memory wrappers. A memory bypass chain links the bypass registers in the plurality of memory wrappers with the fuseROM controller. The fuseROM controller loads the bypass data in the memory bypass chain. A memory data chain links the fuse registers in the plurality of memory wrappers with the fuseROM controller. The memory data chain is re-configured to link the fuse registers in a set of defective memory wrappers of the plurality of memory wrappers responsive to the bypass data loaded in the memory bypass chain.
US09053798B2
A non-volatile memory circuit is formed of a P-channel MOS transistor and includes a P-channel non-volatile memory element having a floating gate and a control gate capacitively coupled together. A resistor divider has a first resistor and a second resistor for dividing a voltage difference between a power supply voltage and a ground voltage. A divided voltage output of the resistor divider is connected to the control gate. First and second switches are connected in parallel to the respective first and second resistors. The first and second switches are controlled so that a voltage of the control gate is set to a voltage of the divided voltage output which maximizes an electric field between a pinch-off point and a drain point of the P-channel MOS transistor in a writing mode.
US09053794B2
A nonvolatile memory comprises a memory block having memory cells stacked in a three dimensional structure. The nonvolatile memory device performs an erase operation to erase a selected sub block among sub blocks of the memory block, a verification operation to determine whether program states of memory cells of an unselected sub block of the memory block have changed as a consequence of the erase operation, and a reprogramming operation to reprogram at least a portion of the unselected sub block upon determining that at least one of the program states have changed as a consequence of the erase operation.
US09053786B2
According to one embodiment, a resistance-change memory includes a memory cell and a control circuit. The memory cell comprises first and second electrodes, and a variable resistance layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The control circuit applies a voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode to perform writing, erasing, and reading. During the writing, the control circuit applies a first voltage pulse between the first electrode and the second electrode, and then applies a second voltage pulse different in polarity from the first voltage pulse after applying the first voltage pulse.
US09053783B2
According to one embodiment, in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, a first line is disposed on a semiconductor substrate. A first memory cell is disposed on a side opposite to the semiconductor substrate with respect to the first line. A second line intersects with the first line via the first memory cell. A second memory cell is disposed on a side opposite to the semiconductor substrate with respect to the second line. A third line intersects with the second line via the second memory cell. The first memory cell has a first resistance change layer and a first rectification layer. The second memory cell has a second resistance change layer and a second rectification layer. A composition of the first resistance change layer is different from a composition of the second resistance change layer.
US09053779B2
A semiconductor device includes a first input terminal configured to receive a first clock signal, first control terminals configured to receive first control signals respectively, an output terminal, first inverters each including an input node coupled to the first input terminal, a control node coupled to a corresponding one of the first control terminals and an output node coupled to the output terminal, each of the first inverters being configured to be controlled to output an inverted first clock signal to the output terminal in response to a corresponding one of the first control signals supplied to a corresponding one of the control nodes, and an additional first inverter including an input node coupled to the first input terminal and an output node coupled to the output terminal, the additional first inverter being free from any other control nodes to output an inverted first clock signal to the output terminal.
US09053759B2
The semiconductor device includes a plurality of word lines classified into a plurality of groups and a selection circuit for selecting a word line according to an address. The selection circuit has a level shifter arranged for each of the groups. The address includes a first address for selecting any of the groups and a second address for selecting a word line in the selected group. The selection circuit selects a word line by allowing supply of active potential for word line by the level shifter of a group selected by the first address and further allowing supply of the active potential to the word line selected by the second address out of a plurality of word lines belonging to the selected group.
US09053754B2
Thumbnail images representative of recorded TV programs are generated and presented to aid a user in browsing the recorded TV programs. In one implementation, a temporary thumbnail image is generated when a TV program first starts recording. The temporary thumbnail is used to populate any user interface (UI) screens that reference the recoded TV program. Once the TV program has reached a threshold amount of recording (e.g., a prescribed duration of recording, or completion of the recording), a permanent thumbnail image is generated and associated with the TV program. The permanent thumbnail is then presented in any subsequent UI screens, replacing the temporary thumbnail. In another implementation, display of the thumbnail images in the UI screens may be further controlled by setting preferences, such as parental controls.
US09053745B2
Mechanisms for writing a file on a tape medium in a manner that enables high-speed reading are provided. A predetermined format is applied to the medium that divides the medium into a first region of a predetermined length in a longitudinal direction from a region of the medium, and a second region that extends from an end of the first region to a terminal region of the medium in a longitudinal direction and that has a predetermined width with respect to a width of the medium in a transverse direction. Writing a top data portion of a predetermined data amount of the data of the file in the first region and writing data of the file in the second region are performed.
US09053742B1
Systems, methods, apparatus, and techniques are provided for producing an estimate of a digital sequence. A continuous-time signal is obtained. The continuous-time signal is sampled with an oversampling factor to produce a discrete-time signal corresponding to the continuous-time signal. A phase offset estimate of the continuous-time signal is produced based on the discrete-time signal. The discrete-time signal is interpolated based on the phase offset estimate to produce an interpolated discrete-time signal. The interpolated discrete-time signal is processed to produce an estimate of a digital sequence.
US09053739B2
Disclosed herein is an information processing apparatus, including: a data processing section reproducing contents stored in a medium having a general purpose area storing encrypted contents and utilization controlling information corresponding to the contents, and a protected area including blocks to which access limitation is set and which include a title key storage block in which an encryption key for decrypting the contents and validity period information applied to the application contents of the encryption key are stored and a status storage block in which date information upon content first-time reproduction is stored; the data processing section acquires validity period information indicative of the content utilization permission period determined in response to date information upon the content first-time reproduction from the title key storage block and decides whether or not content reproduction is to be permitted based on comparison between the acquired validity period information and current date information.
US09053730B1
A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, and a fly height transducer operable to generate a fly height signal for the head. The disk drive further comprises control circuitry comprising a current sensor operable to detect a current flowing through the fly height transducer. The current sensor comprises a differential amplifier operable to amplify the current flowing through the fly height transducer over a first range using a first gain, and amplify the current flowing through the fly height transducer over a second range using a second gain less than the first gain, wherein at least part of the second range is different than the first range.
US09053728B1
Embodiments of servo systems for disk drives are described that include servo identifiers (SIDs) that can be used in mini-mode with a shortened servo gate window that skips over the initial fields in the SID. The SID embodiments include a Servo Address Mark (SAM), Track-ID (TID), P and Q PES bursts, and one or more Integrated Servo sequences that provide a Servo Track Mark (STM) that is detectable in mini-mode. The Integrated Servo sequences can also provide additional PES information, as well as, sector identification information. In one embodiment the servo pattern includes only one IS sequence (which is aligned with the P-Burst) and the Q-Burst is made longer than the P-Burst. The additional number of cycles (bits) in the Q-Burst increases the equivalent number of bits in the PES to compensate for the lack of the second IS sequence.
US09053725B1
A hard disk drive electronic component processes a signal from a piezoelectric actuator to identify where on a disk the slider encounters a disk defect. The signal received from the piezoelectric actuator may be based on the mechanical propagation, through the suspension to the piezoelectric actuator, of an effect of slider contact with the protrusion. Further, an actuator may be commanded to systematically move the head slider across the writeable portion of the disk to map all the protrusions on the writeable portion of the disk.
US09053720B1
A magnetically stable, read sensor uses low-coercivity magnetic material without seed layers in side shields for longitudinal biasing in order to improve micro-magnetic read width of the sensor. The sensor is formed between an upper and lower shield and includes a symmetric pair of abutting side shields adjacent to the sides of the sensor. In one configuration the side shields are partially covered by a layer of high magnetic moment material that extends along a bottom surface and side surface of the side shields and is contiguous and conformal with the layer of insulating material, but does not cover the backside of the sensor. The high moment layer focuses flux at the sensor sides and also improves the micro-magnetic read width. The side shields include a multiplicity of horizontal ferromagnetic layers that are antiferromagnetically coupled to each other and magnetically coupled to the upper shield.
US09053708B2
A speech recognition system, method of recognizing speech and a computer program product therefor. A client device identified with a context for an associated user selectively streams audio to a provider computer, e.g., a cloud computer. Speech recognition receives streaming audio, maps utterances to specific textual candidates and determines a likelihood of a correct match for each mapped textual candidate. A context model selectively winnows candidate to resolve recognition ambiguity according to context whenever multiple textual candidates are recognized as potential matches for the same mapped utterance. Matches are used to update the context model, which may be used for multiple users in the same context.
US09053699B2
A method and apparatus provide for audio frame recovery by identifying a sequence of lost frames of coded audio data as being lost or corrupted; identifying a first frame of coded audio data which immediately preceded the sequence of lost frames, as having been encoded using a time domain coding method; identifying a second frame of coded audio data, which immediately followed the sequence of lost frames of coded audio data, as having been encoded using a transform domain coding method; obtaining a pitch delay; generating a second decoded audio portion of the second frame based on the second frame; generating a first decoded audio portion of the second frame based on the pitch delay and decoded audio samples; and generating a decoded audio output of the second frame based on a sequential combination of the first and second decoded audio portions.
US09053697B2
Methods and apparatus for generating an anti-noise signal and equalizing a reproduced audio signal (e.g., a far-end telephone signal) are described, wherein the generating and the equalizing are both based on information from an acoustic error signal.
US09053694B2
An electronic percussion instrument includes a stand, a support member (e.g. a stay), a pad member with a head, and an impact sensor. The support member has an L-shape including a stand-attaching portion and a pad-attaching portion. The stand-attaching portion is fixed to the stand while the pad-attaching portion is extended vertically from the front end of the stand-attaching portion at an inflection point. Owing to the elasticity of the support member, the pad-attaching portion is deflected about the inflection point in the rearward direction in comparison with the stand-attaching portion due to a striking force applied to the head being struck with a beater. Upon detecting an impact applied to the head, the impact sensor generates an electric signal so as to generate a musical sound. Thus, it is possible to suppress floor reverberation by absorbing an impact between the head and the beater via the support member.
US09053685B2
Methods and devices for attaching a one touch tuning system to different drum types. Components preferably include a retrofit ring for fitting the one touch tuning system to a lug style drum, and elevators to attach and adjust the height of the tuning system on the drum. On full floating drums, a framework is provided so that no hardware need be attached to the drum's shell. Framework may also include adjustable pull rods which can attach a tuning system on one end of the drum to another tuning system on the opposite end. Twisting the adjustable pull rods one direction extends the length of them, twisting the opposite direction retracts them thereby shortening the overall length of the framework in relation to the depth of the drum shell. Offset rim rollers help align the inner hoop and rotating actuator rings to offer more precise tuning and free movement.
US09053682B2
The present invention provides, for musical instruments such as organs, action-magnets and action-magnet drivers that facilitate reduction of wiring, connections, and logic circuitry. Some embodiments of present invention provide stop action-magnets, also called SAM's, comprising integral drive circuitry and, which may further comprise additional integral circuitry. Embodiments of this invention may comprise, logic circuits such as a shift-register cells, micro-controllers, or both. Some embodiments of this invention comprise shift-cells and registers combining both SIPO and PISO functions for addressing SAM's. A single-coil SAM embodiment of the present invention may respond to signals intended to operate traditional two-coil SAM's. In another embodiment, a pipe action-magnet driver comprises logic circuitry. In yet another embodiment a pipe action-magnet comprises an integral driver that further comprises logic circuitry.
US09053679B2
Semiconductor display device correcting system and correcting method of semiconductor display device
A semiconductor display device correcting system includes a control circuit for carrying out gamma correction of a picture signal supplied from the outside and a nonvolatile memory for storing data for gamma correction. The data for gamma correction is prepared for each semiconductor display device, so that excellent gradation display can be made.
US09053671B2
The present invention proposes a liquid crystal display device and a transforming circuit thereof. One terminal of a first coil connects to input voltage. One terminal of a energy-storage unit connects to the other terminal of the first coil. One terminal of a second coil connects to the other terminal of the energy-storage unit, and the other terminal of the second coil connects to the light source. An input terminal of a unidirectional unit connects to the one terminal of the first coil which is connected to the input voltage, and the output terminal connected to the one terminal of the second coil which is connected to the light source. A driving signal is fed into a controlling terminal of a switch unit. A first terminal of the switch unit is grounded, and the second terminal of the switch unit is connected a medial point between the first coil and the energy-storage unit.
US09053663B1
The present invention discloses an array substrate and a liquid crystal display panel. In the array substrate, each pixel unit has a first pixel area, a second pixel area, and a third pixel area. The voltage applied at the first pixel area is Va. The voltage applied at the second pixel area is Vb, and the voltage applied at the third pixel area is Vc, and the relationship among the voltages is Va>Vb>Vc. Ranges of area ratios of the first pixel area, the second pixel area and the third pixel area to the pixel unit are respectively 5%-25%, 20%-45% and 35%-75%. Therefore, it can reduce the color difference at the large viewing angle to obtain a better low color shift effect and improve the display quality.
US09053660B2
This invention discloses a combined-screen-based multi-pitching angle suspended panoramic space 3D display device comprising: a combined deflective diffusing screen, a high speed projector, an image control module, a rotation detecting module, a motor and a drive mechanism. The high speed projector projects the composite images of the 3D objects of different pitching angles and horizontal 360° FOV to different areas of the combined deflective diffusing screen. Each area of the combined deflective diffusing screen controls the deflecting angle and the scattering angle in the vertical direction and the diffusing angle in the horizontal direction, ensuring that the eyes of the surrounding viewers of different height levels can see the 3D images corresponding to their respective positions, representing the 3D scene suspended over the combined deflective diffusing screen.
US09053654B2
An apparatus for performing data entry by a user includes a first electronic device configured to be attached to a person's head and including a display for viewing by the person; and a second electronic device configured to be attached to a person's forearm and used in combination with the first electronic device. The first and second electronic devices are configured for wirelessly communications with each other, at least some of the wireless communications representing user input by the person for interfacing with a user interface displayed to the person on the display of the first electronic device, whereby data entry by the person is accomplished. The first electronic device is configured to wirelessly transmit data entered by the person to a computer system for electronic storage in a non-transitory computer readable medium.
US09053648B1
A modular display including a monolithic backlight module to generate light and a plurality of display panels disposed over the monolithic backlight module, and tiled such that each display panel abuts another display panel along at least one edge thereof to form a seam. Each display panel includes a light modulation layer disposed adjacent to the monolithic backlight module to modulate the lamp light received from a first side and to output a display image from a second side, and seam-concealing optics disposed over the second side of the light modulation layer. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.
US09053641B2
A medical procedure training system and method for using is provided. The system includes a sensing system structured to detect the position and motion of a medical device inserted into a simulated body, a processor structured to generate images of the medical device and relevant anatomical structures based on the detected position and motion of the medical device, and a display system structured to display the images in a correct registration on the outer surface of the simulated body.
US09053639B2
An educational device comprising a game board demarcated with a plurality of positions, each position having associated with it and actuator, actuation of which causes the communication device to provide instruction to the player as to what the player is supposed to do. A player can activate a random number generator to determine how many positions to move. Once instruction has been received, the player utilizes game pieces on the game board to execute the instruction. By going through this process, any player can learn a particular skill or gain particular knowledge that can be applied in life.
US09053621B2
An image surveillance system and an image surveillance method are provided. The image surveillance method includes following steps. An image is captured, and at least one reference target is defined in the captured image. A monitored object in the image is identified. A distance between the monitored object and each of the at least one reference target is individually calculated. Whether to announce at least one warning is determined according to a relationship between at least one threshold and the distance.
US09053614B2
A gaming machine includes: a reel having an outer circumferential surface on which symbols are lined up; a reel driving mechanism which rotates the reel to rearrange the symbols; a magnet which is provided in the reel driving mechanism to change an external magnetic field in accordance with the rotation of the reel; a magnetic force detecting mechanism which detects a magnetic force of the external magnetic field so as to output a magnetic force detection signal; a reel setting unit by which the magnetic force detection signal and arrangement positions of the symbols are associated with one another; and a reel drive control unit which controls the reel driving mechanism so that the symbols are rearranged in a predetermined arrangement based on the magnetic force detection signal and the arrangement positions of the symbols.
US09053611B2
A bonus event for Blackjack card games is provided. The bonus event has two or more designated bonus element, such as card hands. If one of the bonus elements is achieved as the result of play of a first Blackjack game, the bonus event is triggered. A bonus award is paid to the player if the player receives remaining required bonus elements as a result of the play of additional Blackjack games during the bonus period. The game is preferably played against a dealer at a video Blackjack machine and offers the player the opportunity for awards for each Blackjack game win and one or more additional bonus awards.
US09053609B2
A method for determining an award during a keno game includes, but is not limited to any of combination of: generating a predetermined number of draws for placement on a keno board during the keno game, wherein the keno board includes a predetermined number of spots; evaluating a plurality of sub-regions of the keno board associated with the keno game for matches between the generated draws and one or more predetermined patterns; and determining an award based on results of the evaluating step.
US09053604B2
Systems and methods for trusted initialization of wagering game machines are described herein. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving, from a wagering game machine, a request for an operating system image that includes a first component for booting the wagering game machine. The method can also include transmitting the operating system image to the wagering game machine, wherein the operating system image also includes a second component for procuring software that authenticates content on the wagering game machine. Additionally, the method can include receiving a request for the software that authenticates content on the wagering game machine and transmitting the software that authenticates content on the wagering game machine.
US09053599B2
An apparatus is provided for adjusting an installation position of modules in a self-service device that has a first module, a second module and a transfer module with a transfer slot for transferring notes of pecuniary value from the first module to the second module or vice versa. The transfer module is held in an operating position by a fastening device and forms a spacing to the second module. An adjusting mechanism is associated with the transfer module so that the transfer module, by forming different spacing to the second module, is mounted so as to be adjustable in an adjusting direction that extends perpendicularly with respect to the transfer slot and in a transfer plane of the notes of pecuniary value which is predefined by the transfer slot.
US09053588B1
Methods, computer-readable media, software, and apparatuses provide a system for establishing base stations and allocating service vehicles to the base stations in order to provide roadside assistance. The system may include computing devices associated with customer vehicles and service vehicles as well as network computing devices. The system may receive a service request from a customer regarding a disabled vehicle. The system may then identify an appropriate service vehicle to assist the customer and assign the service request to the identified service vehicle. The system may select the appropriate service vehicle based on a location of the disabled vehicle. In an example, the system may choose a service vehicle from a base station closest to or within the shortest driving time to the disabled vehicle. By setting-up base stations in advance of service requests, service vehicles may reach disabled vehicles within a predetermined period of time.
US09053586B1
The present invention is directed to a security system and method for child safety. Advantageously, the present invention includes displaying an image of a child, and for departure, the child recognizing the image of himself/herself, and being informed upon seeing his/her image that a person has arrived who is authorized to leave a setting such as a day care center, with the child. The invention is particularly useful in the case of young children unable to read, but capable of identifying their own images.
US09053584B2
Systems and methods are provided for enhancing postal discounts. The system receives multiple print jobs, each print job assigned for printing at a different printing system. Each print job comprises mail pieces that correspond with capabilities of the assigned printing system. The system identifies mail pieces of the print jobs that have delivery addresses that are not confirmed by a mailing address database (“non-automated mail pieces”), and extracts non-automated mail pieces that may be produced at printing systems having different capabilities. Further, the system determines a threshold number of non-automated mail pieces to reach a bulk postal discount for a print job, and redistributes the extracted mail pieces across the print jobs based upon the threshold to increase the number of print jobs that reach the bulk postal discount.
US09053583B1
A patient monitoring station (44) includes a display (12) that displays a plurality of sectors (60), each sector including one or more tiles (64). A controller (46) displays patient data received from a patient information server (10) in a corresponding sector of the display. The controller is programmed to populate the tiles of the sectors with patient data according to a selected clinical theme.
US09053581B2
A method for rendering elements in a browser includes determining a first element and a line grid element to be rendered in three dimensions (3D) in the browser. The browser treats individual elements as having independent 3D spaces in the browser. The method transforms and projects the first element into a 3D space for the browser in which lines of the line grid element will be drawn. Geometry information for the first element in the 3D space is determined after the transform and projection into the 3D space. The positions are calculated in the 3D space to hide lines of the line grid element based on the geometry information for the first element and geometry information for the lines of the line grid element. The method renders lines in the 3D space in the browser, wherein portions of the lines are hidden based on the calculated positions.
US09053579B2
A system and method generate a graph lattice from exemplary images. At least one processor receives exemplary data graphs of the exemplary images and generates graph lattice nodes of size one from primitives. Until a termination condition is met, the at least one processor repeatedly: 1) generates candidate graph lattice nodes from accepted graph lattice nodes; 2) selects one or more candidate graph lattice nodes preferentially discriminating exemplary data graphs which are less discriminable than other exemplary data graphs using the accepted graph lattice nodes; and 3) promotes the selected graph lattice nodes to accepted status. The graph lattice is formed from the accepted graph lattice nodes and relations between the accepted graph lattice nodes.
US09053577B2
A visual representation of a set of instantiated virtualized resources may be displayed and include a linear row of graphical representations of individual ones of a set of instantiated virtualized resources. In addition, a performance-related metric for individual ones of the set of instantiated virtualized resources may be monitored, and the display may be caused to reflect values for the metric for the individual instantiated virtualized resources in connection with the corresponding graphical representations of the individual instantiated virtualized resources.
US09053568B2
Techniques are disclosed to provide user control over the manipulation of a digital image. The disclosed techniques enable a user to apply various textures that mimic traditional artistic media to a selected image. User selection of a texture level results in the blending of texturized versions of the selected image in accordance with the selected texture level. User selection of a color level results in the adjustment of color properties of the selected image that are included in the output image. Control of the image selection, texture type selection, texture level selection, and color level selection may be provided through an intuitive graphical user interface.
US09053566B1
The subject matter is suitable for facilitating conversion of standard architectural blueprints/maps and panoramic photos, both being directed to a property, and creating an interactive top down viewable map of the blueprint superimposed over an image comprised of the panoramic photos merged together to form a unified perspective. The subject matter uses the processed blueprints to generate a grid template of capture points for panoramic high definition video, images, and audio. Each capture point captures a ground-up and a ceiling-down capture and some captures in between both facing up and down.
US09053559B1
A method and system for presenting image data to a video output device is disclosed. One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a method, which includes the steps of queuing the buffer of image data for display, attaching an object to a command associated with presenting the buffer of image data, wherein the object is capable of storing timing information relating to executing the command, and enabling an application program to access the timing information.
US09053556B2
An image processing apparatus synthesizing a plurality of sub-images in a panoramic way to create a panoramic image includes a face recognizing unit recognizing a person's face from a plurality of the sub-images, a sampling image selecting unit selecting a sub-image which has a face recognized by the face recognizing unit, out of a plurality of the sub-images as a sampling image, a sampling unit sampling a plurality of pixels from the selected sampling image.
US09053554B2
An object detection device including: an imaging unit (11) carried on a movable body; a first calculation unit (21; 22; 23) that calculate an observed value of an image displacement among a plurality of images captured by the imaging unit (11) at respective different timings; a first object detection unit (10, 21; 10, 22; 10, 23) that detects an object candidate and acquires information of the object candidate; a second calculation unit (21, 22, 23) that calculates a theoretic value of the image displacement on the basis of the information of the object candidate; and a second object detection unit (21; 22; 23) that compares the observed value of the image displacement and the theoretic value of the image displacement and determines whether the object candidate is an object on the basis of the comparison result.
US09053548B2
A lithography apparatus converts vector pattern data into bitmap data and performs writing on a substrate with a charged particle beam based on the bitmap data. Here, the lithography apparatus includes a display unit and a processing unit that causes the display unit to display an image corresponding to the bitmap data and performs processing for updating the bitmap data by changing at least one of a pixel value, dimension, and shape of the image displayed on the display unit via a graphical user interface.
US09053538B2
An image processing apparatus can perform time-sequential weighting addition processing on a moving image constituted by a plurality of frames includes a filter unit configured to obtain an image by performing recursive filter processing on a frame image that precedes a present target frame, which is one of the plurality of frames constituting the moving image, a coefficient acquisition unit configured to acquire a weighting coefficient for the present target frame based on a noise statistic of a differential image between an image of the present target frame and the image obtained by the filter unit, and an addition unit configured to perform addition processing on the moving image constituted by the plurality of frames based on weighting coefficients acquired by the coefficient acquisition unit.
US09053532B2
A method, system, and computer program product to automatically evaluate a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image are described. The method includes obtaining a source image and the SEM image taken of the source image. The method also includes evaluating the SEM image based on comparing source contours extracted from the source image and SEM contours extracted from the SEM image to determine whether the SEM image passes or fails.
US09053522B2
An image processing device comprises: image display means which displays at least one of transformation target images containing an object of interest; first reference point receiving/determining means which receives information on first reference point candidates according to a user operation, receives according to a user operation a determination signal targeted at the first reference point candidates displayed on the transformation target image based on the information on the first reference point candidates, and determines first reference points based on the information on the first reference point candidates targeted by the received determination signal; second reference point receiving/determining means which determines second reference points by receiving information on the second reference points; and geometric transformation means which outputs a transformed image by conducting geometric transformation to the transformation target image based on the first reference points determined by the first reference point receiving/determining means and the second reference points determined by the second reference point receiving/determining means.
US09053520B2
A device agent including an information accessor for accessing association information obtained via an information reader. The association information includes medical device information for uniquely identifying the medical device, and device agent information for facilitating in an association between the medical device and the information reader. The device agent also includes an associator for associating the medical device and the information reader based on the association information.
US09053516B2
In one embodiment, a method of evaluating vehicle operation performance comprises obtaining first information correlating to the movement of a vehicle; obtaining second information different from the first information correlating to the movement of a portable device relative to the vehicle; and correlating the first information with the second information to evaluate the vehicle operation performance by an operator of the portable device during use of the portable device while operating the vehicle. In another embodiment, the information correlating to the movement of the vehicle is correlating to the use of one or more software applications or the use of one or more functional features of a portable device by an operator of the portable device while operating the vehicle.
US09053515B1
A rich-media system allows a user to illustrate damage and request payment in accordance with an insurance policy or another arrangement. The rich-media system includes network servers that may operate and appear to remote client applications and remote computers as if the network servers were a single computer. A damage indicator tool resident to one of the network servers enables a remote user to visually illustrate damage to an item through a rich-media application. The damage indicator may support a relative pointing device and an absolute pointing device. An incident animator tool linked to the damage indicator tool in some rich media systems enables the remote user to visually recreate an event in a second rich media application. An optional scheduler linked to the incident animator tool and the damage indicator tool may enable the remote user to schedule an appointment to have the damage inspected or repaired.
US09053506B2
A method and computer for responding to an assistance request message. An assistance request message from a requester mobile device associated with a requester is received at a response computer. The assistance request message includes at least one input parameter. A responder is determined, from multiple potential responders, to respond to the assistance request message. The responder is associated with responder data corresponding to the at least one input parameter. An availability inquiry message to a responder device associated with the responder is transmitted. A response to the availability inquiry message is received from the responder device. When the response to the availability inquiry message indicates that the responder is available to respond to the assistance request message, the requester mobile device is notified that the responder is available.
US09053502B2
A method of processing a specification may include receiving, by a home site, information regarding a search for at least one good or service, automatically generating, by the home site, a specification comprising a command block, an origin block and a routing block, based on the received information, and transmitting, by the home site, the specification to the one or more destination marketplaces. One or more of the command block, the origin block and the routing block may include one or more domain-specific language instructions. The command block may include one or more instructions defining the search and one or more instructions defining one or more actions to perform with respect to results of the search. The origin block may include information identifying the home site. The routing block comprises information identifying one or more destination marketplaces.
US09053498B2
A system and method are provided for indicating an existence of a link to information pertaining to an article of commerce. The present disclosure provides for downloading a look-up table from a server database to a mobile device via a communication network. The look-up table is configured to store a plurality of UPC numbers associated with a plurality of articles of commerce and a plurality of information link indicators. Each information link indicator is associated with a respective UPC number and article of commerce and indicates the existence of a link via the communication network to information pertaining to the respective article of commerce. The mobile device allows a consumer to immediately determine if product information is available for a particular article of commerce, via a visual or audible indication on the mobile device, without access to the communication network.
US09053497B2
Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention target advertisements to groups with strong ties in a social network. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for targeting advertising campaigns includes obtaining a set of advertising content, where the advertising content includes advertising keywords and brand data, identifying one or more target members within a set of members associated with an online social network, where the target members are associated with messages on the online social network having target member keywords associated with the advertising keywords, determining a set of member groups within a set of members associated with an online social network, where a member group includes at least one target member and at least one non-target member that is related to at least one of the at least one target member, and targeting a portion of the advertising content to each of the member groups.
US09053490B2
Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, methods and computer program products for collecting product information based on a navigation history of the user, the product information being associated with the product; generating a readable indicia based on the collected product information, wherein, in response to selection of the readable indicia, the readable indicia is configured to provide instructions for purchasing the product based on the collected product information; and presenting the readable indicia to the user for saving for subsequent consideration or distributing to one or more other users. In some embodiments, shipping information indicative of the user's desired destination address for the product is collected from user input and discount information is collected based on the navigation history of the user or user input. In such cases, the readable indicia may be generated based on all of the product information, the shipping information and the discount information.
US09053483B2
A system provides a recommendation of food items to a user based on nutritional preferences of the user, using a head-mounted display device (HMDD) worn by the user. In a store, a forward-facing camera of the HMDD captures an image of a food item. The food item can be identified by the image, such as based on packaging of the food item. Nutritional parameters of the food item are compared to nutritional preferences of the user to determine whether the food item is recommended. The HMDD displays an augmented reality image to the user indicating whether the food item is recommended. If the food item is not recommended, a substitute food item can be identified. The nutritional preferences can indicate food allergies, preferences for low calorie foods and so forth. In a restaurant, the HMDD can recommend menu selections for a user.
US09053480B1
Disclosed is secure decryption and business rule validation of encrypted confidential data within a hardware security module (HSM). The validation may include the use of a Bloom filter stored and executing within the HSM. The return order of encrypted data within the HSM as well as requests for external data relating to validation may be randomized to further harden against correlation attacks.
US09053468B2
A condition assessment system for use in monitoring the operation of at least one of a plurality of units included within a fleet of substantially similar units is described. The system includes an input device configured to receive a selection of at least one source of data related to the operation of at least one of the plurality of units. The system also includes at least one sensor associated with the at least one source of data and configured to sense data related to the operation of at least one of the plurality of units. The system also includes a condition assessment device configured to receive data from the at least one sensor, sample data associated with at least one data parameter from the received data, and generate a baseline parametric curve from the data associated with the at least one sampled data parameter.
US09053462B2
The system and method of the present invention provides a user interface for providing peripheral awareness of information to a user. The information to be provided is either determined automatically, or specified by the user. Once the information to be provided is determined or specified, it is automatically tracked or watched via at least one conventional communications interface. Current information is then automatically dynamically provided in an interactive peripheral display which minimizes any potential distraction to the user. Determining or specifying, tracking or watching, and providing the information is accomplished using at least one customizable dynamic encapsulated object, a “ticket,” that when paired with a “viewer,” provides peripheral awareness of information to the user. Further, in one embodiment, the tickets are sharable among users, and may be copied, cut, pasted, saved, transmitted, dragged and dropped from web pages, etc., like any other electronic file using conventional techniques.
US09053460B2
A Configuration Management DataBase (CMDB) is utilized when determining if resources, which are modeled in and managed by the CMDB, are in compliance with a new resource rule that affect how the resource operates. In one embodiment, the computer-implementable method includes the step of, in response to detecting a rule change, transmitting a new rule to a rule control logic in a resource management database, wherein the rule change changes a rule for an attribute of a resource in a data processing system, and wherein the resource management database describes attributes of resources in the data processing system. The method may include the further step of transmitting the new rule from the rule control logic to a resource manager, wherein the resource manager is a person who has the capacity to implement the new rule in a resource in the data processing system
US09053442B2
Provided are a computer implemented method, computer program product, and system for partitioning a development environment. A development environment is divided into multiple project areas. Each of the multiple project areas is assigned to a different physical test environment. A solution is assigned to a project area among the multiple project areas. The solution is tested in the assigned physical test environment to modify the physical test environment. The physical test environment associated with the project area is re-initialized without re-initializing other physical test environments.
US09053440B2
In one example, a method includes receiving information on a user role of a user account associated with a business intelligence system. The method further includes gathering information on interactions of the user account with the business intelligence system. The method further includes generating an initial business intelligence output based on data from one or more data sources. The method further includes generating a customized business intelligence output for the user account based on the initial business intelligence output, the user role, and the interactions of the user account with the business intelligence system. The method further includes providing the customized business intelligence output to the user account.
US09053439B2
Systems and automated methods for predicting photovoltaic (PV) generation are provided. Weather forecast data and present-day and historical PV generation data are provided to respective predictors. The predictors derive weighted predictions that are used to calculate a Bayesian model average. Near-future generation by the PV system is predicted using the Bayesian model average. Production rates, worker scheduling, hours of operation and other planning decisions can be made in accordance with the predicted near-future generation.
US09053433B2
A method and system for assisting with guiding a vehicle over terrain is provided. The method includes training at least one first classifier technique using a first set of terrain classifier training data, such that the at least one first classifier technique is trained to output at least one probability value usable to classify terrain. The first trained classifier technique is then used to generate a second set of terrain classifier training data. A second classifier technique is trained using the output of the at least one first classifier technique, and additional data to output a probability value useable to classify terrain.
US09053430B2
Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatus for inferring causal relationship between random processes using a temporal learning algorithm. The temporal learning algorithm determines structure of a causal graph with a set of nodes. Input to the nodes may be binary time series (e.g., random processes). The output of the temporal learning algorithm may be a labeled directed graph in which the direction of the connection between each two node indicates causal direction and the strength of connectivity between the nodes indicates intensity of the causal influence. The temporal learning algorithm may iteratively update strength of connections between nodes to track variations in real time.
US09053420B2
A system, method and computer program product for identifying strong links and discovering hidden relationships among entities, including identifying strong links and discovering hidden relationships among entities, wherein the entities include places, time slots, people, groups, and organizations; and identifying the strong links and discovering the hidden relationships based on low-level data streams, and incomplete and noisy evidence data streams.
US09053416B1
This disclosure relates to screening potentially inappropriate online content. A flag is received that indicates online content is potentially inappropriate. The flag is generated by a source, such as a user, or a content classifier. The potential accuracy of the flag is determined or inferred based on a variety of factors, including a reputation of the source, and the flag is categorized as requiring higher priority administrative action or requiring lower priority administrative action based in part on the potential accuracy of the flag. In addition, administrative action is taken based in part on the categorization of the flag.
US09053410B2
A system and method of calibration, screening, and compensation is presented for multiple gray-level digital presses. Unequal quantization of the input range is employed with compensated overlapping of sub-ranges. Multiple instances of bi-level screening algorithms, tone modification functions, and a recombination algorithm are employed to produce calibrated screening on individual tone ranges. The method works with any bi-level screening algorithm and devices with any number of gray-levels. Quality imaging results from high detail, high tonal accuracy, low screening noise, and lack of printed artifacts. Dynamic re-calibration is facilitated. The elimination of the constraint of evenly spaced gray-levels also has advantages of cost and yield for both print head fabricators as well as digital press manufacturers. Multiple implementations of the system and method are given for both hardware and software embodiments of the invention.
US09053403B2
A device for identifying a metal substrate present in a strongly metallic environment that may also be dusty. The device includes a passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) label, a label carrier suitable for being attached to the metal substrate and to position the label at a distance therefrom, and a RFID reader having an antenna that includes, as an induction loop, two sections of a coaxial cable having a substantially identical length and each including a metal core and a metal pleat surrounding the core, the two sections being linked together, on the one hand, at one end thereof by connecting the core of one to the pleat of the other and conversely and, on the other hand, at the other end thereof by connecting only the pleats together, the cores thereof being separated at said other end.
US09053402B2
A wireless IC tag which has an electrically insulative substrate, an antenna circuit provided on the surface of the substrate and an IC chip connected to the antenna circuit, wherein the antenna circuit is formed of solder and the IC chip is connected to the antenna circuit via the solder, andA wireless IC tag comprising an electrically insulative substrate, an antenna circuit provided on the surface of the substrate, an IC chip connected to the antenna circuit, and a jumper wire connected to the antenna circuit, wherein the antenna circuit is formed of a solder, the jumper wire is insulatively coated with a resin composition that evaporates, decomposes, or melts at a temperature not higher than a soldering temperature, and the jumper wire is located on the same side of the substrate where the antenna circuit is provided.
US09053393B2
A method for information processing includes a learning process to generate a tree structured dictionary based on a plurality of patterns including a target object to be recognized. The method includes selecting a plurality of points from an input pattern based on a distribution of a probability that the target object to be recognized is present in the input pattern at each node of a tree structure generated in the learning process, and classifying the input pattern into a branch based on a value of a predetermined function that corresponds to values of the input pattern at selected plurality of points.
US09053392B2
A hierarchy machine may be configured as a clustering machine that utilizes local feature embedding to organize visual patterns into nodes that each represent one or more visual patterns. These nodes may be arranged as a hierarchy in which a node may have a parent-child relationship with one or more other nodes. The hierarchy machine may implement a node splitting and tree-learning algorithm that includes hard-splitting of nodes and soft-assignment of nodes to perform error-bounded splitting of nodes into clusters. This may enable the hierarchy machine, which may form all or part of a visual pattern recognition system, to perform large-scale visual pattern recognition, such as font recognition or facial recognition, based on a learned error-bounded tree of visual patterns.
US09053376B2
A payment device is provided, which is to be paired with a communication device in order to form an electronic payment terminal. The payment device includes an upper half-shell and a lower half-shell, which includes a surface for attaching a modular interface for pairing the communication device and which includes a longitudinally extending slot. The lower half-shell further includes, within the slot, an opening which enables a magnetic reading head to pass therethrough. Beneath the attachment surface, an electronic circuit card is arranged laterally relative to the magnetic reading head such that the electronic circuit card prevents the insertion of a fraudulent device into the payment device.
US09053367B2
Aspects of the present invention comprise generating and using Multi-Order Contextual co-Occurrence (MOCO) descriptors to implicitly model the high level context using detection responses from a baseline object detector. In embodiments, a 1st-order context feature is computed as a set of randomized binary comparisons on a response map of the baseline object detector. The statistics of the 1st-order binary context features are further calculated to construct a higher-order co-occurrence descriptor, which, in embodiments, may be combined with other features such as the 0th-order context features and/or the 1st-order features to form the MOCO. In embodiments, combining the MOCO feature with the original image feature, the baseline object detector may be evolved to a stronger context aware detector.
US09053364B2
The present disclosure provides methods, reagents, and apparatus for authenticating and identifying products. Methods of the disclosure are easy to implement but difficult to replicate, simulate, alter, transpose, or tamper with. In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a method of authenticating products using a product authentication code defined by a frequency array of a population of entities, and an item identifier defined by the specific manifestation of the product authentication code.
US09053351B2
A finger sensing device may include an integrated circuit (IC) substrate, an array of finger sensing elements on the IC substrate, and image watermark circuitry on the IC substrate and cooperating with the array of finger sensing elements for generating finger image data with an image watermark embedded therein. The finger sensing apparatus may also include match circuitry on the IC substrate for performing finger matching based at least upon the image watermark. The array of finger sensing elements may include an array of finger sensing pixels. The image watermark circuitry may distort values from the array of finger sensing pixels to generate the finger image data with the image watermark embedded therein. The watermark circuitry may distort position values from the array of finger sensing pixels.
US09053349B1
A digital correlator including an input, a plurality of serially connected delay elements, wherein a first delay element of the plurality of serially connected delay elements is coupled to the input, a plurality of current elements, wherein each respective current element of the plurality of current elements is coupled to a respective delay element, and each current element has a current, and a summer for summing the currents of the plurality of current elements, the summer having an output for the digital correlator.
US09053342B2
Techniques for controlling access to shared data files such as stored in a collaborative file sharing service. Organizations want to have access to data originated by their employees and want that access to continue even when the employees leave the company. Also, organizations do not want former employees to have access to the company's files. A file storage service uses an Organization's recovery key while creating a recovery record for a file (which may be stored in a folder), and protected using a Work identity. The individual person who originally creates a file and/or shares a folder securely with others is considered the folder's owner as long as he is part of the same Organization. User's identities are validated upon access. The keys are also purged from a local key store as soon as identity changes are detected. In this way, the folder owner will not be able to decrypt files stored in a folder shared using a Work identity if the identity is canceled by the Organization.
US09053341B2
Techniques for controlling access to shared data files such as stored in a collaborative file sharing service. Organizations want to have access to data originated by their employees and want that access to continue even when the employees leave the company. Also, organizations do not want former employees to have access to the company's files. A file storage service uses an Organization's recovery key while creating a recovery record for a file (which may be stored in a folder), and protected using a Work identity. The individual person who originally creates a file and/or shares a folder securely with others is considered the folder's owner as long as he is part of the same Organization. User's identities are validated upon access. The keys are also purged from a local key store as soon as identity changes are detected. In this way, the folder owner will not be able to decrypt files stored in a folder shared using a Work identity if the identity is canceled by the Organization.
US09053337B2
Methods and devices for controlling access to a computing resource by applications executable on a computing device are described herein. In one example embodiment, method comprises: identifying an application category with which one or more applications executable on the computing device is associated; providing one or more rules that specify whether the one or more applications associated with the application category are permitted to access the computing resource on the computing device; and transmitting the security policy to the computing device; wherein when the security policy is enforced at the computing device, access to the computing resource by the one or more applications executable on the computing device that are associated with the application category is controlled by the one or more rules.
US09053330B2
A method and devices for providing secure data backup from a mobile communication device to an external computing device is described. In one embodiment, there is provided a method of backing up data from a mobile communication device to an external computing device, the mobile communication device being in communication with the external computing device, the method includes: receiving a request to backup one or more data items stored on the mobile communication device; encrypting a data item using an encryption key stored in a protected memory of the mobile communication device; and transferring the encrypted data item to the external computing device for storage by the external computing device. A method of restoring backup data to a mobile communication device from an external computing device is also provided, as are mobile communication devices and computing devices configured for implementing the backup and restore operations.
US09053329B2
Methods, systems, and techniques for securing access to stored data are provided. Example embodiments provide a Storage Management System (“SMS”) that is configured to facilitate protected information sharing. The SMS may restrict access to shared information based on one or more criteria that validate an entity's right to access the information. For example, the SMS may restrict access to entities that are located in a particular geographic region, that are using a particular type of hardware or software, that hold particular credentials, or the like. In some cases, the SMS may require that an entity's claim to meet on or more required criteria be validated by a trusted third party.
US09053325B2
A decryption key management system includes a memory, a memory controller, a decryption engine, and an on-chip crypto-accelerator. A key blob and an encrypted code are stored in the memory. The memory controller fetches the key blob and stores it in a memory buffer. The decryption engine fetches the key blob and decrypts it using an OTP key to generate a decryption key. The decryption key is used to decrypt the encrypted code and generate a decrypted code.
US09053323B2
A trusted component update system comprises verify logic configured to validate integrity of an update to a trusted component of a computing device, and logic disposed in the trusted component and configured to validate integrity of the verify logic.
US09053320B2
Methods and systems provide tracking or logging requests to resolve non-existent textual identifiers and classifying the textual identifier into a predefined set of taxonomical categories to support the detection of requestors of machine generated requests to resolve textual identifiers. Detection includes calculating a measure of probability based on the analysis and classification of prior textual identifier requests from a requestor.
US09053317B2
A memory device package encloses two separate die, one being a standard nonvolatile memory integrated circuit (“IC”) die, and the other being any suitable authentication IC die. Either die may be stacked upon the other, or the die may be placed side-by-side. The external contacts may correspond to the power and signal requirements of the standard nonvolatile memory IC die so that the pin-out of the memory device package may present a standard pinout. The power and signal requirements of the authentication IC die may be satisfied with some or all of the pins for the nonvolatile memory integrated circuit die, or with other unused pins of the device package. One or more additional external contacts may be added exclusively for the authentication integrated circuit die. One or more signals may be dedicated as between the standard nonvolatile memory IC die and the authentication IC die.
US09053316B2
Several embodiments of computer security systems are described and which are adapted to grant an authorized individual access to a secured domain, such as a computer or data stream. In one embodiment, the security system comprises: an analyzing means for receiving first and second passwords, each of said passwords being transmitted over a first communication channel, analyzing said first password, transmitting a first signal output only if said first password is authorized, and granting access to said secured domain only if said second password is substantially identical to a code; and a random code generating means for generating said code, transmitting said code over a second communication channel upon receipt of first signal output, and transmitting said code to said analyzing means; and a notification means for receiving said code and for notifying said authorized individual of the identity of said code.
US09053305B2
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include generating a random number to be associated with an information handling resource. The method may also include generating a challenge string based at least on the random number. The method may additionally include encrypting the challenge string using a first shared secret. The method may further include receiving a one-time password generated by a vendor associated with the information handling resource, the one-time password generated by decrypting the challenge string using the first shared secret, parsing the random number from the decrypted challenge string, and digitally signing the decrypted challenge string with a digital signature using a second shared secret. The method may also include granting user access to the information handling resource in response to verifying, using the second shared secret, that the digital signature matches the random number.
US09053297B1
Authenticated requests can be sent without requiring the requests to include or potentially expose secret information used for the authentication process. A client device use a security credential such as a key to sign a request to be sent to a recipient. When the request is received, the recipient determines whether the request was signed using the correct key for the sender. In some embodiments a client token is included with the request that statelessly encodes the key, enabling a recipient capable of decoding the client token to determine the key and compare that key to the signature of the request. The sender can store the secret information in a secure location, such as a browser security module, such that the secret information is not exposed to the browser or script executing on the client device.
US09053296B2
This invention converts markup language files such as HTML files into pseudocode that is structured like programming language source code in order to use source code copy detection tools to find pairs of markup language files that have been copied in full or in part.
US09053295B1
A method, system, and medium are provided for facilitating development of an application by a user for a mobile communications device. A portion of programmatic code provided by the user is retrieved and a classification corresponding to the code is determined. A set of rules comprising a use restriction associated with a protected application component is referenced to determine whether the code classification corresponds to a use restriction. Incident to identifying an associated use restriction, feedback is presented to the user that indicates that the portion of code corresponds to a use restriction.
US09053277B2
Disclosed is a method and system for clock tree construction across clock domains, an integrated circuit and fabrication method thereof. A method for clock tree construction includes acquiring a netlist describing an integrated circuit (IC), comprising data for describing physical locations and logic connections of clock sinks belonging to multiple clock domains on the pattern of the IC, and constructing the clock tree across clock domains based on the netlist, such that clock cells belonging to different clock domains can share more physical locations. Accordingly, clock trees can be constructed across clock domains to improve IC performance.
US09053274B1
An electronic automation system performs register retiming on a logic design, which may be a logic design for a programmable logic integrated circuit. Register retiming is a moving or rearranging of registers across combinatorial logic in a design in order to improve a maximum operating frequency or fmax. In one implementation, the system includes machine-readable code, which may be stored on a computer-readable medium such as a disk, executing on a computer. The system balances timing in order to trade off delays between critical and noncritical paths. Register retiming may make changes to a design at a gate level.
US09053265B2
This invention (900) described a method that generates and uses a test bench for verifying an electrical design module in a semiconductor manufacturing against an electrical reference model containing a sub-circuit that matches the electrical design module. The invention includes providing (902) a description of an electrical design module that includes a plurality of ports. In addition, the invention includes providing (904) a description of an electrical reference model. The invention further includes providing and or creating (92) one or more implicit defines for the reference modules that appear in hierarchy of the electrical reference model. And, the invention includes providing (906) a description file that includes one or more instance definitions. The invention parses (91) the hierarchy of the electrical design model and then processes (96) the description file. The invention then writes (97) the test bench.
US09053264B2
What-if simulation methods and systems are provided. A design coding in HDL (Hardware Description Language) and a simulation result corresponding to the design are provided. A what-if design scope and a what-if time window are received. A portion of the design is extracted from the design according to the what-if design scope, and primary input signals are determined during the extraction of the sub-design. Then, what-if simulation data is extracted from the simulation result according to the primary input signals and the what-if time window. A what-if test bench is generated according to the what-if simulation data, wherein the what-if simulation data is read, and the signal values are fed to a simulator according to the what-if test bench.
US09053262B2
A method of determining a reinforcement position of a circuit board includes: setting a numerical model of a circuit board in which an electronic component is mounted in a front surface by bumps, and a reinforcing member is attached to a position corresponding to a bump located in a corner part of the electrical component in a back surface; incorporating information about a stud that is located in a periphery of the electronic component and fixes the circuit board to a chassis of the electronic device; performing a simulation for obtaining values of stresses generated in bumps of corner parts when a force is applied to the electronic component from a back side of the circuit board; and determining an arrangement of the reinforcing member in accordance with a position of the stud based on the values of stresses obtained by the simulation.
US09053247B2
By connecting, to a bus bridge according to a configuration of a bus system, a monitor circuit including an activation control circuit generating a counter activation signal from an input monitor activation signal, a counter circuit, activated by the counter activation signal, counting the transfer number using a signal of bridge transfer completion indicating an issuance of one transfer from a bus bridge, and outputting a count completion signal when the transfers of the same number as that stuck in the bus bridge indicated by the signal of the transfer number stuck in the bridge is issued when being activated, and a completion control circuit outputting a monitor completion signal upon receiving the count completion signal from the counter circuit, consistency of data may be guaranteed in any bus system without changing the configuration of the bus bridge based on the number of masters accessing the bus bridge.
US09053242B2
Embodiments are directed towards testing a responsiveness of a graphical user interface (GUI) for an application executing on a computer. During execution of each portion of a test, stimuli may be provided to the application. The stimuli may be provided to the application thread that is associated with rendering graphics for the GUI. Responses from the application to the stimuli may be monitored to determine a responsiveness of the application for at least one portion of the test. The responsiveness may be determined based on a wait time between providing a request and receiving a reply to the request, which may indicate that the application is in a state to accept input through the GUI. Responsiveness may be determined separately for each portion of the test. A displayable report may be generated to include the responsiveness of the application for each portion of the test.
US09053238B2
A method, computer program product, and system for testing software applications. An API configured to allow composition of a test script in a format not associated with a specific tool for automated testing is provided, the test script including one or more actions for testing a software application. The one or more actions are mapped to one or more methods included in a code repository, the one or more methods being configured to utilize a first native API associated with the specific tool for automated testing. The one or more methods and the first native API are utilized to test the application using the specific tool for automated testing.
US09053230B2
Tacit knowledge associated with software development problems may be shared by providing a framework configured to pre-process raw service data of a software product for identification of data elements. Pre-processing operations may be applied to the raw service data to extract data elements. An identified operating problem in the service data may be efficiently analyzed by referring to a repository of stored records that include previously performed user actions when facing the identified operating problem.
US09053224B2
Provided herein are methods and systems of molecular profiling of diseases, such as cancer. In some embodiments, the molecular profiling can be used to identify treatments for a disease, such as treatments that were not initially identified as a treatment for the disease or not expected to be a treatment for a particular disease.
US09053211B2
Methods and systems related to keyword searching processes. A list of keywords may be first represented by a set of short substrings. The substrings are selected such that an occurrence of a substring indicates a possible occurrence of one or more of the keywords. Input data may be initially pre-processed, so as to identify locations in the input data in which the substrings occur. Then, the identified locations are searched for occurrences of the actual keywords. The pre-processing scheme enables the keyword search process to search only in the identified locations of the substrings instead of over the entire input data.
US09053210B2
Graph queries are processed using a plurality of independent query execution engines. A graph query submitted to a graph database which is modeled by an attributed graph is received. The graph query is decomposed into a plurality of query components. For each of the query components, a one of the query execution engines that is available to process the query component is identified, a sub-query representing the query component is generated, the sub-query is sent to the identified query execution engine for processing, and results for the sub-query are received from the identified query execution engine. The results received are then combined to generate a response to the graph query.
US09053200B2
Systems and methods for sorting, grouping, and rendering subsets of large datasets over a network are described. Records may be sorted according to a user input, and the system may identify the subset of records that would be displayed on a client. The system may render for display only the identified records. Additionally, the system may render and cache records proximate to the identified records. Further, the system may perform searches upon the records and use the search results to further find results for a refined search.
US09053187B2
A search server searches web sites based upon a search string. Maxima categories are provided that sort search results based upon popularity and/or context similarity. A web browser displays the search result pages. A maxima determination module within the search server responds to the delivery of the initial search string by first categorizing search results applicability to the search string on the basis of maxima or by generating maxima categories with search results that correlated to the search string. Search results within each applicable maximum are then sorting on the basis of popularity within each of the maxima categories to effectuate popularity ranks for each search result or web page. User interaction with search results are monitored to better select search maxima and popularity ranks for subsequent search result requests for this search string, whereby the desirability of search results provided to the user improves over time.
US09053171B2
Systems and methods for clustering a group of data points based on a measure of similarity between each pair of data points in the group are provided. A pairwise similarity function can be estimated for each pair of data points in the group. A clustering algorithm can be executed to create clusters and associate data points with the clusters using the pairwise similarity function. The algorithm can be iterated multiple times until a stopping condition is reached in order to reduce variance in the output of the algorithm. The pairwise similarity function for each pair of data points can be updated between iterations of the algorithm and the results of each iteration can be aggregated. The data in each data point associated with a cluster can be consolidated into a consolidated data point.
US09053159B2
According to an embodiment, a non-conformance analysis system may include at least one information storage tool that stores previously generated non-conformance information; a data mining tool that retrieves specific attributes of the previously generated non-conformance information stored in the at least one information storage tool; an associative memory subsystem that is populated with information involving a plurality of entity types, with each entity type including at least one entity, to form an associative memory; and a user input device that enables a user to input a non-conformance query into the associative memory subsystem, that causes the associative memory subsystem to generate all of the entity types and entities that include information useful for investigating the non-conformance query.
US09053158B1
A search engine may perform a search for a user search query. A rankings of result items may be returned as a result of the search. The user may enter new suggested rankings for some of the items. The new suggested rankings may change the rankings of result items when other users search for the same search query or a similar search query at a later time.
US09053144B2
A system and method for automatically configuring a component, such as an MCC cell), of the system includes the component, which further includes a module having storage, and a data concentrator device that is in communication with the component. The data concentrator device is in communication with a database, which may be a local ID database or a master ID database. The module stores a unique configuration code that is provided to the data concentrator device. The data concentrator device determines whether the database stores configuration information for the module that corresponds to the unique configuration code. The data concentrator device accesses the configuration information and uses it to automatically configure the component.
US09053130B2
A method for storing binary data, preferably in the form of Binary Large Objects (BLOBs), in more than one location. The method includes the steps of producing a processing thread corresponding to each location where the data is to be stored and verifying whether each thread has completed successfully after a predetermined time period. Information relating to the storage of the binary data is stored in an access token.
US09053121B2
Identification of data candidates for data processing is performed in real time by a processor device in a computing environment. Data candidates are sampled for performing a classification-based compression upon the data candidates. A heuristic is computed on a randomly selected data sample from the data candidate for determining if the data candidate may benefit from the classification-based compression. A decision is provided for approving the classification-based compression on the data candidates according to the heuristic.
US09053119B2
A processor implemented method, system and computer program product presents and retrieves data directories. A facet tree is initialized to present facet-converted stored tabular data and dynamically entered user-input data on multiple facet nodes. The facet nodes represent directories for the facet-converted stored tabular data and user-input data. In response to a single facet node from the multiple facet nodes being selected by a user, the single facet node is expanded by presenting, on the facet tree, all other facet nodes from the multiple facet nodes as children of the single facet node that was selected by the user. In response to a child of the single facet node being selected, value directories for the child are retrieved and presented according to a definition of the single facet node that was expanded.
US09053117B2
A method, system, and apparatus for storing data in a cloud environment that enables a multi-user interface, automatic data backup, and has a schema-less data storage. A data storage database may be provided in the cloud to store one or more data objects. A data management module may be configured to assign each data object a unique ID, wherein each unique ID comprises a timestamp with a granularity between about 0.1 millionths of second and 50 millionths of a second with each ID guaranteed to be unique without regard to the number of servers assigning IDs. A data backup module may be configured to create a new data object with a unique ID in response to a request to modify an original data object, wherein the original data object remains stored with its unique ID.
US09053116B2
Integrating removable storage devices is disclosed. A described method includes retrieving an identifier of a removable storage device connected to a computer system and matching the identifier with a device identification stored in a file of the computer system. The file includes an application identifier corresponding to the device identification. The method also includes executing an application corresponding to the application identifier associated with the device identification matched to the identifier.
US09053112B2
According to some embodiments, logic executing on a processor receives a request to compare a first file and a second file. Each file comprises records, attributes, and attribute values. An attribute value is a value that a record associates with a corresponding attribute. The logic receives a mapping file indicating a key and one or more selected attributes for comparison. The logic compares each record in the first file to its corresponding record in the second file, the corresponding record determined according to the key. For records that fail to match, the logic determines which of the selected attributes are unmatched. The logic communicates a report indicating a result of comparing the first file and the second file.
US09053104B2
The overall architecture and details of a scalable video fingerprinting and identification system that is robust with respect to many classes of video distortions is described. In this system, a fingerprint for a piece of multimedia content is composed of a number of compact signatures, along with traversal hash signatures and associated metadata. Numerical descriptors are generated for features found in a multimedia clip, signatures are generated from these descriptors, and a reference signature database is constructed from these signatures. Query signatures are also generated for a query multimedia clip. These query signatures are searched against the reference database using a fast similarity search procedure, to produce a candidate list of matching signatures. This candidate list is further analyzed to find the most likely reference matches. Signature correlation is performed between the likely reference matches and the query clip to improve detection accuracy.
US09053101B2
A technique for converting a first version of a database to a second version is disclosed. The technique includes determining available translation steps, selecting a translation path from the first version of the database to the second version, and executing the selected translation steps in the translation path. The translation path includes selected translation steps from among the available translation steps.
US09053086B2
The data store for a natural-language computing system may include information that originates from a plurality of different data sources—e.g., journals, websites, magazines, reference books, and the like. In one embodiment, the information or text from the data sources are converted into a single, shared format and stored as objects in a data store. In order to ingest the different documents with their respective formats, a natural language processing system may perform preprocessing to change the different formats into a normalized format. When a new text document is received, the text may be correlated to a particular properties file which includes instructions specifying how the preprocessor should interpret the received text. Based on these instructions, a preprocessor identifies relevant portions of the text document and assigns these portions to formatting elements in the normalized format. The text may then be stored in the objects based on this assignment.
US09053078B1
A publisher web page is rendered at a client device from a publisher and the client device issues a request for traffic statistics data related to traffic content in the web page. The client device receives the traffic statistics data and overlays the traffic statistics data on the web page, e.g., proximate to the related traffic content in the web page.
US09053077B2
HTML data that contains at least a set of reference data (URL) of a visualized image containing characters, reference data (URL) of an un-visualized background image containing no characters whose display position is set to an area superimposed on the image, and un-visualized text data whose display position is set to an area superimposed on the background image is stored in a web DB, and the un-visualized background image data and the text data are visualized and the visualized image data is un-visualized in a translation process.
