US09232682B2
This disclosure provides a base station in a wireless communication system. The base station comprises a field programmable gate array (FPGA) with an upper side and a bottom side, a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) with a hot side and a cold side, a thermal pad, and an anti-radiation cover. The cold side of TEC is thermally coupled with the upper side of the FPGA, the thermal pad is thermally coupled with the hot side of TEC, and the anti-radiation cover is thermally coupled with the thermal pad.
US09232679B1
A drawing structure for use in a storage device of server is disclosed, which is combined with at least a storage device and includes: a housing, a carrier, an operation unit and an elastic member. The housing is formed with a bottom plate and a stop piece, and one end of the bottom plate is formed with a positioning hole allowing the carrier served to accommodate the storage device to be disposed thereon. The operation unit is disposed on the carrier and includes a positioning rod protruded from the carrier and inserted in the positioning hole. The elastic member is disposed between the carrier and the stop piece. When the positioning rod is released from the positioning hole, the carrier is pushed by the elastic member for being moved away from the housing thereby allowing the storage device to be conveniently taken out.
US09232678B2
A modular, scalable and expandable (MSE) rack-based information handling system (RIHS) includes: a rack assembly having a frame that defines: a front bay chassis with height, depth and width dimensions that enable insertion of a plurality of different sizes of IT gear; and a rear bay that accommodates power and cooling components to support operation of the different sizes of IT gear. The power and cooling for the IT gear are provided from the rear bay and are separate from and independent of the IT gear installed within the front bay chassis. The rack assembly further includes a power and management chassis in which is inserted a power and management module having power and management components located thereon to provide rack-level power and management. A modular configuration of fan modules are inserted within fan receptacles within the rear bay to provide block level cooling of adjacent blocks of IT gear.
US09232666B2
A cable backplane system includes a backplane having board areas surrounding a connector opening with holes in the board areas along the connector opening. Stiffeners are coupled to corresponding board areas along a front of the backplane. The stiffeners have bores aligned with corresponding holes in the backplane. A cable rack is coupled to the rear of the backplane. The cable rack has a tray with a frame surrounding a raceway and spacers coupled to the tray that hold corresponding cable connectors. The spacers have guide pins extending therefrom that pass through the holes in the backplane into corresponding bores in the stiffeners to position the spacers relative to the stiffeners and the backplane. The cable connectors are received in the connector opening in the backplane and held in position relative to the backplane by the spacers and stiffeners.
US09232659B2
A housing for an electronic device includes a ceramic base comprising ceramic material, at least one electronic element embedded in the ceramic base, and a buffer layer made of resin. The ceramic base includes an inner surface. The buffer layer is formed on the inner surface. A method for making the housing is also provided.
US09232651B2
The embodiments described herein describe technologies for memory systems. One implementation of a motherboard substrate includes first and second sets of data lines, the first set of data lines arranged into a first set of nibbles and the second set of data lines are arranged into a second set of nibbles with each of the first and the second sets of nibbles including a respective timing line for a respective timing signal. The motherboard substrate also includes a processor socket connected to the first set of data lines, a first slot connected to the processor socket via a first subset of the first set of nibbles, and a second slot connected to the processor socket via a second subset of the first set of nibbles and connected to the first slot via the second set of nibbles.
US09232649B2
Adhesiveless copper clad laminates obtained by metallizing excellent in wiring microfabrication ability in processing by semi-additive method, and a printed circuit board using the adhesiveless copper clad laminates excellent in wiring microfabrication ability as a base material are provided. The adhesiveless copper clad laminates include a base metal layer made of an alloy containing nickel and formed on at least one surface of an insulating film without using an adhesive in between, a thin copper layer formed on a front surface of the base metal layer by dry plating, and a copper plating film formed on a front surface of the thin copper layer by electroplating. The copper plating film contains 10 mass ppm to 150 mass ppm of sulfur in a depth range of at least 0.4 μm from the front surface of the copper plating film in a direction toward the insulating film.
US09232648B2
The present invention provides a novel surface-treated molybdenum compound powder and provides a prepreg, a laminate, a metal foil laminate, a printed wiring board, and the like that have a low thermal expansion coefficient in the planar direction, and excellent drillability, heat resistance, and flame retardancy. The surface-treated molybdenum compound powder of the present invention has at least part of the surface thereof coated with an inorganic oxide, and this is used as a filler.
US09232646B2
The embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the fabrication of integrated circuits, and more particularly to a structure and method for fabricating differential wiring patterns in multilayer glass-ceramic (MLC) modules. A structure and method of forming a MLC having layers with staggered, or offset, pairs of lines formed directly on one another are disclosed. In addition, a structure and method of forming a MLC having layers with staggered, or offset, pairs of lines that periodically reverse polarity are disclosed.
US09232645B2
The embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the fabrication of integrated circuits, and more particularly to a structure and method for fabricating differential wiring patterns in multilayer glass-ceramic (MLC) modules. A structure and method of forming a MLC having layers with staggered, or offset, pairs of lines formed directly on one another are disclosed. In addition, a structure and method of forming a MLC having layers with staggered, or offset, pairs of lines that periodically reverse polarity are disclosed.
US09232640B2
A printed circuit board assembly for reducing the impact of heat generated from circuitry within a handheld or non-handheld device is provided. The printed circuit board assembly may include a printed circuit board comprising a plurality of conductive layers and a plurality of dielectric layers where each dielectric layer is disposed between a pair of conductive layers. Each conductive layer may include a first portion and a second portion separated by a gap where the gaps in the alternating conductive layers are misaligned. The first portion of each conductive layer may be substantially thermally isolated from the second portion of each conductive layer.
US09232638B2
A printed wiring board includes a core substrate including resin and inorganic fiber, a first buildup layer formed on a first surface of the substrate and including resin insulating layers and first conductive layers, and a second buildup layer formed on a second surface of the substrate on the opposite side of the core substrate with respect to the first surface and including resin insulating layers and second conductive layers. The first conductive layers in the first buildup have sum V1 of volumes which is greater than sum V2 of volumes of the second conductive layers in the second buildup, and the substrate has a first-surface side portion which has resin amount greater than resin amount of a second-surface side portion of the substrate where boundary between the first-surface and second-surface side portions is set with respect to the center line in the thickness direction of the substrate.
US09232622B2
A laser-sustained plasma illuminator system includes at least one laser light source to provide light. At least one reflector focuses the light from the laser light source at a focal point of the reflector. An enclosure substantially filled with a gas is positioned at or near the focal point of the reflector. The light from the laser light source at least partially sustains a plasma contained in the enclosure. The enclosure has at least one wall with at least one property that is varied to compensate for optical aberrations in the system.
US09232621B2
A light source device irradiates a material with a first beam, and directs a second beam toward a first position on the material, which is irradiated with the first beam. An alignment mechanism includes an optical unit to allow the first beam to pass therethrough, and to reflect the second beam and direct the second beam in a same direction as the first beam. The alignment mechanism also includes a mirror to reflect the second beam, a beam detecting unit, and a branching unit to receive the first beam which has passed the optical unit and the second beam which is reflected by the optical unit. The mirror adjusts an incident position of the second beam on the optical unit. The branching unit adjusts the first position of the first beam on the material and a second position of the second beam on the material.
US09232609B2
A portable lamp comprising: Communication means for exchanging identification data, configuration settings or control instructions with another portable lamp. More specifically, the communication means are used for avoiding exposition to glare.
US09232607B2
An amount of filament voltage supplied by a reconfigurable ballast may be adjusted based on a lamp type with which the ballast is operating. The filament voltage may be reconfigured dynamically and/or may be reconfigured via a user-provided value. An electronic dimming ballast may include a control circuit configured to control generation of the AC filament voltage in accordance with a reconfigurable AC filament voltage value. Reconfiguring an electronic dimming ballast may include reconfiguring an AC filament voltage applied by the electronic dimming ballast to a filament of a lamp installed with the electronic dimming ballast. Reconfiguring the AC filament voltage may include computing a hot-to-cold cathode resistance ratio associated with the filament. Reconfiguring the AC filament voltage may include determining whether the computed hot-to-cold cathode resistance ratio is within a range specified for the electronic dimming ballast.
US09232606B2
A switch-mode power supply and associated control circuit for a light-emitting device are disclosed. The switch-mode power supply having a first switch which is turned ON or OFF by a control signal. The control circuit having an error amplifier, a minimum-off time control circuit and a logic circuit, wherein the error amplifier is configured to provide a compensation signal based on a dimming signal and a feedback signal. The minimum-off time control circuit is configured to provide a minimum-off time control signal to adjust a minimum-off time period of the first switch based on the compensation signal. The logic circuit is configured to provide the control signal based on the minimum-off time control signal.
US09232605B2
A load driving circuit comprises a converting circuit, a converting controller, a load driving modulator, and a charge spike protection circuit. The converting circuit is adapted to be coupled to an output power source and supplies a driving power source to drive a load. The converting circuit has an output capacitance coupled to an output end thereof. The converting controller controls an amount of the driving power source responsive to a current or a voltage of the load. The load driving modulator and the load, connected in series, are coupled to the output end and so the load driving modulator adjusts an electronic state of the load. The charge spike protection circuit is coupled to the output capacitance and at least one connecting node of the load and the load driving modulator to provide a unidirectional charge release path to the output capacitance.
US09232603B2
A system for controlling solid state lighting including a source to supply any one of a range of AC or DC voltages to a plurality of light strings. The source includes a power factor correction circuit 14 for controlling the power factor to the system and a separate transformer for each light string. The current can pass through each LED string is independently limited by each corresponding LED driver circuit. The current through each LED string can be modified according to a feedback monitor system that measures parameters such as LED characteristics, forward current, temperature, and LED output intensity/color. Each LED string has an independent sensor that monitors the voltage across each switching device in the corresponding LED driver circuits and utilizes a control unit to control the voltages supplied by each corresponding transformer through control signals in response to the monitored switching device voltages.
US09232598B2
An operating circuit applied to a backlight includes at least one current control circuit, where the current control circuit includes a transistor, an operational amplifier and a switch module. The transistor has a gate, a first electrode and a second electrode, where the first electrode is coupled to a lighting element, and the second electrode is coupled to a resistor. The operational amplifier has positive and negative input terminals, and positive and negative output terminals. The switch module switches a connection relationship between the positive input terminal, the negative input terminal, the reference voltage and the second electrode of the transistor, and switches a connection relationship between the positive output terminal, the negative output terminal and the gate of the transistor to make the close loop form a negative feedback, and the current of the lighting element not influenced by an offset voltage of the operational amplifier.
US09232593B2
A low voltage LED bulb having a base that fits a standard light socket designed to receive a bulb operated at line voltage is installed in a conventional lamp, which is connected by a lamp cord to a rechargeable battery, the charge in which is maintained by a charging circuit. The rechargeable battery can be provided in a module equipped with a receptacle capable of receiving a standard plug designed for line voltage, and in this case, the lamp requires no modification other than the replacement of the standard bulb by the low voltage LED bulb. In another embodiment, the battery and charger are incorporated into the lamp.
US09232591B2
A dimming controller can operate in a first mode or a second mode to control dimming of a light-emitting diode (LED) light source. The dimming controller can include a voltage control terminal and a current control terminal. The voltage control terminal provides a pulse signal when the dimming controller operates in the first mode to operate a control switch in either a first state or a second state. A first current flowing through the LED light source increases when the control switch is in the first state and decreases when the control switch is in the second state. The voltage control terminal provides a control signal to the control switch to cut off the first current when the dimming controller operates in the second mode. The current control terminal conducts a second current through the LED light source when the dimming controller operates in the second mode.
US09232590B2
Conditioning circuits are provided for driving two or more LED groups using a rectified AC input voltage. The conditioning circuits uses analog circuitry to gradually and selectively activate the LED groups based on an instantaneous value of the rectified input voltage. The circuit includes a first series interconnection of a first LED group, a first transistor, and a first resistor, and a second series interconnection of a second LED group, a second transistor, and a second resistor. In one example, the second series interconnection is connected between a drain terminal and a source terminal of the first transistor, while in another example, the second series interconnection is connected between an anode of the first LED group and a source terminal of the first transistor. The first and second LED groups are selectively activated by the rectified voltage applied across the first series interconnection.
US09232586B2
A light-emitting device is capable of receiving a first voltage signal, a second voltage signal, and a third voltage signal in sequence. The light-emitting device includes a first light-emitting unit, a second light-emitting unit, and a switching. The first voltage signal, the second voltage signal, and the third voltage signal is configured to introduce a first current signal, a second current signal, and a third current signal, respectively. The light-emitting device is configured to emit a first light when introducing the first current signal, the second current signal, and the third current signal. The light-emitting device is configured to emit a second light when introducing the second current signal and the third current signal. The light-emitting device is configured to emit a third light when introducing the second current signal.
US09232577B2
A method of controlling a power driver for LED illumination may include receiving, by a power correction unit, an AC voltage from the outside, rectifying the received AC voltage into a DC voltage, and correcting a power factor of the rectified DC voltage; and receiving, by a DC/DC converter unit, the DC voltage from the power factor correction unit and converting the received DC voltage into a DC voltage which has a magnitude different from the received DC voltage and is supplied to an LED module. A skip control unit, which is disposed in the DC/DC converter unit, may be fed back with a current flowing in the LED module driven by receiving the output from the DC/DC converter unit to detect a magnitude of the current and output a signal for a skip mode control depending on the detected magnitude of the current.
US09232574B2
A load control device for controlling the amount of power delivered to an electrical load (e.g., an LED light source) comprises an isolated forward converter comprising a transformer, a controller, and a current sense circuit operable to receive a sense voltage representative of a primary current conducting through to a primary winding of the transformer. The primary winding is coupled in series with a semiconductor switch, while a secondary winding is adapted to be operatively coupled to the load. The forward converter comprises a sense resistor coupled in series with the primary winding for producing the sense voltage that is representative of the primary current. The current sense circuit receives the sense voltage and averages the sense voltage when the semiconductor switch is conductive, so as to generate a load current control signal that is representative of a real component of a load current conducted through the load.
US09232568B2
The present invention is provided with a waterless detection method and a waterless detection device of a boiler iron and an iron applied with the device thereof. The present invention is applied with a normal close thermostat of the constant temperature boiler and a control device, a signal line between the thermostat of the traditional boiler iron and the control device to send the off and on information of the thermostat to the control device. The control device can judge the presence of the water in the water tank according to the empiric value of the actual heating system, preventing the pump from damage due to empty pumped. Compared to the traditional iron with other hardware detection device, the present invention costs lower with simple manufactory. And It saves more space for other component of the iron as well.
US09232559B2
A technique to automatically select a bearer from among a plurality of bearers available on a wireless device bases the selection of the bearer on which a data transfer takes place on a cost function that is used both by the server and the wireless device. A method for communicating data with a mobile device capable of communicating using a plurality of communication bearers comprises selecting a communication bearer to opportunistically initiate a data transfer between a server and the mobile device using a cost function and a policy table to select the communication bearer, from among the plurality of communication bearers, and when the selected communication bearer is or becomes available, initiating the transfer between the server and the mobile device using the selected communication bearer.
US09232556B2
Operating a user equipment (UE) which comprises a first radio that is configured to operate according to a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT. The UE may receive a request to perform a tune away operation for the second RAT while performing measurement for the first RAT (e.g., intra-cell measurement, inter-cell measurement, and/or inter-RAT measurement). Instead of waiting to complete the measurement of the first RAT, the UE may tune the radio to a frequency of the second RAT to perform the tune away operation (e.g., page decoding) for the second RAT. After completing the tune away operation of the second RAT, the UE may tune the radio back to a frequency corresponding to the first RAT in order to continue the measurement operations of the first RAT.
US09232552B2
A method and system for establishing a wireless connection between a portable computer system and a wireless network, particularly when the portable computer system goes out of coverage and a wireless connection needs to be re-established. The portable computer system has a main processor and a digital signal processor (DSP). The main processor is placed in a low power mode, conserving battery power. When the portable computer system goes out of coverage, broadcast channels used by the wireless network are scanned by the DSP instead of the main processor to identify channels that have sufficient signal strength for the wireless connection. Thus, the main processor remains in the low power mode. When the DSP identifies acceptable channels, it wakes up the main processor and identifies the channels having sufficient signal strength. The main processor then establishes a wireless connection using one of the channels identified by the DSP.
US09232550B2
A method is provided for facilitating device-to-device communication. The method may include causing a message to be sent to a first device to trigger the first device to transmit a reference signal. The method may further include causing a request for a channel quality indication to be sent to a second device. The request may indicate that the channel quality indication is to be based on measurement of the reference signal. The method may additionally include receiving the channel quality indication in response to the request. The channel quality indication being indicative of a link quality between the first device and the second device. The method made also include determining based on the received channel quality indication whether to cause establishment of a device-to-device link between the first device. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.
US09232546B2
Embodiments are provided for registering an electronic device of a subscriber for cellular-based communications. According to certain aspects, the cellular-based communications may be facilitated by a data center while the electronic device is not easily within range of a cellular network, such as when the electronic device is traveling on an aircraft. A first, ground-based part of the registration includes creating an account for the electronic device that indicates an identification of the electronic device retrieved from a home network of the subscriber. A second, air-based part of the registration includes connecting to the electronic device via an on-board communications system and communicating with the home network to indicate that the location of the electronic device is known.
US09232545B2
Femtocell coverage can be extended across a coverage area by providing a cluster of femtocell access points (FAPs). Each FAP is independently registered with a core network and provisioned with a location area code common to each FAP. At hand-in from the macrocell network, an association is made between the mobile station and the hand-in FAP, which becomes an anchor FAP for the duration of the mobile station's presence within the cluster. Calls between the mobile station and the core network are routed via a servicing FAP of the cluster and the anchor FAP.
US09232542B2
A mobile station includes communication control circuitry that selects a preamble contained in a first Random Access Preamble group when a message size based on data available for transmission does not meet a first condition or when a value calculated based on a reference signal received power of downlink does not meet a second condition, a preamble contained in a second Random Access Preamble group when the message size based on data available for transmission meets the first condition and the value calculated based on the reference signal received power of downlink meets the second condition, and a preamble contained in the third Random Access Preamble group for a handover, independent of the message size based on data available for transmission and the value calculated based on the reference signal received power of downlink. The communication control circuitry also generates and transmits a selected preamble.
US09232538B2
The present description relates to a method in which a multi-radio access technology (RAT) terminal transceives data to/from a first base station that supports a first RAT and to/from a second base station that supports a second RAT, in a radio access system which supports multi-radio access technologies (RATs). The multi-RAT terminal transmits, to the first base station, a multi-RAT capability negotiation request message containing control information indicating the second base station which is preferred for communication, thereby simplifying a scanning process for the second base station and thus reducing the power consumption of the multi-RAT terminal.
US09232535B2
It is possible to perform effective communication based on an A-SRS transmitted from a mobile station apparatus. A base station apparatus: notifies the mobile station apparatus of control information for setting, to the mobile station apparatus, whether to transmit a first sounding reference signal assigned in a physical uplink shared channel resource or to transmit a second sounding reference signal assigned in a resource different from the physical uplink shared channel resource; and notifies the mobile station apparatus of an uplink grant including an indication of transmission of a sounding reference signal. When receiving the indication of transmission of the sounding reference signal included in the uplink grant, the mobile station apparatus transmits the first sounding reference signal to the base station apparatus when the transmission of the first sounding reference signal is set by transmission control information, and transmits the second sounding reference signal to the base station apparatus when the transmission of the second sounding reference signal is set by the transmission control information.
US09232527B2
Systems (100) and methods (700) for dynamically managing Secondary User Node (“SUN”) access to a segment of a wireless spectrum licensed for use by Primary User Nodes (“PUNs”). The methods comprise: detecting physical data transfers by PUNs (110-122) at first licensed frequencies (f1, f2, f3, f4) during slot sample times of a first epoch (t1-t15); generating a report comprising sensed spectral data indicating (a) during which of the slot sample times each physical data transfer was detected by a respective SUN (102-108) and (b) at which of the first licensed frequencies each physical data transfer occurred; receiving a report broadcasted from a remote SUN at a non-licensed frequency during a respective slot report times (t16-t19) of the first epoch; and analyzing the sensed spectral data of the reports to determine a time for using a first licensed frequency without interfering with or only minimally interfering with use thereof by PUNs.
US09232521B2
A method of enabling configuration of a link between a circuit-switched Private Branch Exchange (CS PBX), and an access gateway node that connects at least one CS PBX to an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The method is performed at an IMS application server, AS. The AS is configured with timeslot configuration information for each link between the access gateway node and the at least one CS PBX. The AS receives, from the access gateway node, a request for timeslot configuration information for one or more of the links, and identifies the one or more links to which the request relates. The AS then retrieves the timeslot configuration information for the identified link, and sends a response indicating this information to the access gateway node.
US09232520B2
Provided are a machine type communication (MTC) support method and apparatus capable of providing efficient MTC service. First, when a base station transmits a subframe to which an MTC-physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) is allocated using an MTC-PCFICH code that is cyclic-shifted on the basis of a control format indicator (CFI) to MTC user equipment (UE), the MTC UE detects the MTC- PCFICH from the received subframe by performing blind decoding of a cyclic shift, and detects a region occupied by a legacy physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on the basis of the detected MTC-PCFICH. Accordingly, it is possible to support efficient MTC service in a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based mobile communication system while maintaining compatibility with a legacy LTE station.
US09232504B2
A first base station apparatus that forms a first cell, the first base station apparatus includes an assigning unit that assigns a radio resource for a control channel between a mobile station apparatus and the first base station apparatus, and a first transmitting unit that transmits radio resource information indicating the radio resource assigned for the control channel to the second base station apparatus forming a second cell that is different from the first cell.
US09232495B2
A device locating method includes broadcasting by a first mobile device a signal comprising an identifier associated with the first mobile device. A second mobile device receives and measures the signal broadcast by the first mobile device to produce one or more signal measurements. The second mobile device transmits the identifier associated with the first mobile device and the one or more signal measurements to a computing system. The computing system receives the identifier associated with the first mobile device and the one or more signal measurements from the second mobile device. The computing system estimates a location of the first mobile device based on the one or more signal measurements, and the location is transmitted to a user associated with the first mobile device. A traffic flow determination method, product ordering method and associated systems are also provided.
US09232494B1
The present invention relates to a virtual radio map constructing method for Radio-positioning and a device using the same. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a virtual radio map constructing method, including: converting first and second RSS values obtained from two access points adjacent to each of a plurality of access points into first and second RSS values of a linear unit; respectively dividing first and second distances between the access point and the two access points adjacent thereto in an exponential interval, and respectively dividing the first and second RSS values in the exponential interval; generating a plurality of virtual training points by using a plurality of points divided in the exponential interval, and respectively obtaining RSS values of the plurality of virtual training points; and respectively obtaining RSS values of reference points by using RSS values of at least one virtual training points.
US09232486B2
A method and apparatus are provided for transmitting a synchronization signal for cell search in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communications system. The method includes identifying a primary synchronization sequence; identifying a secondary synchronization sequence associated with a cell identifier; mapping the primary synchronization sequence based on center subcarriers in a first OFDM symbol; mapping the secondary synchronization sequence based on the center subcarriers in a second OFDM symbol; transmitting the mapped primary synchronization sequence in the first OFDM symbol; and transmitting the mapped secondary synchronization sequence in the second OFDM symbol. The second OFDM symbol is adjacent to the first OFDM symbol, and the center subcarriers are part of a system bandwidth and a part of the center subcarriers is not used for mapping the secondary synchronization sequence.
US09232481B1
Radio broadcasting equipment along with a system design that provides specified booster transmitter locations, control and adjustment of transmitter power levels, analysis and provisioning of optimized antenna heights and antenna azimuths is provided that enables filling a dead zone in a radio broadcast area with a radio signal synchronized with the main transmitter(s) signal, wherein the radio broadcasting equipment includes a plurality of booster transmitters transmitting at a cumulative power level much higher than that of the main transmitter in the dead zone to which the plurality of booster transmitters are dedicated.
US09232479B2
Power savings and interference reduction for multimode devices (e.g., base stations and relay nodes) is disclosed. In some embodiments, power savings and interference reduction for multimode devices includes selecting a power state of the multimode device selected from a plurality of power states, in which the multimode device is in a first power state (e.g., an active or serving power state), and in which the selected power state is a second power state (e.g., a reduced power state), and transitioning the multimode device from the first power state to the second power state.
US09232460B2
A method of discovering neighboring wireless devices may include assigning a discovery channel resource to a transmitting wireless device. The transmitting wireless device may accordingly be configured to transmit a neighbor discovery signal based on the discovery channel resource. The method may further include receiving neighbor discovery signal information associated with the neighbor discovery signal as received by a receiving wireless device that may be configured to receive the neighbor discovery signal. Additionally, the method may include directing the transmitting wireless device and the receiving wireless device to participate in device-to-device communication with each other based on the neighbor discovery signal information.
US09232453B2
Method and device for processing an AT command when a mobile phone loses coverage or is performing mode switching. If the mobile phone camps on a first mode after being powered on, a protocol stack sets current and backup modes as the first mode; after the mobile phone loses coverage, if there is an AT command to be issued, an ATI module acquires the backup mode and issues the AT command to NAS of the backup mode for processing; and when the mobile phone switches from the first mode to a second mode, after modifying the current and backup modes to the second mode, an general control module notifies the NAS of the first mode to perform a switching operation, when there is an AT command to be issued, the ATI module delivers the AT command to an NAS of the second mode for caching and processing after the switching.
US09232437B2
Apparatuses and methods for supporting operation of narrow bandwidth devices within a broadband network are described herein. A user equipment (UE) may retrieve control channels within a narrow bandwidth device region of a downlink subframe. The control channels may be received in a subcarrier of a new carrier type (NCT) implemented in accordance with a standard of the 3GPP family of standards. Cell-specific reference signals may be excluded on the NCT subcarrier.
US09232433B2
In one embodiment, a method comprises determining access network conditions by a network device in an access network, the access network providing communications between a client device and a destination reachable via a data network; selecting, by the network device based on the access network conditions, one of a plurality of coding methods for network traffic between the client device and the destination, including selecting coding parameters for the one coding method; and causing, by the network device, coding to be executed on the network traffic, on behalf of the client device, according to the one coding method and the selected coding parameters.
US09232427B2
A method is provided for controlling a wireless network interface controller (WNIC) to analyze one or more network conditions with little or no interruption to network connectivity or data communication. The WNIC may collect information regarding wireless channels, networks, and/or users. The method uses ideal network time slots and selective data collection to monitor wireless networks with minimal interruptions to normal operation. A system is provided for operating and controlling the WNIC in accordance with the method.
US09232425B2
Access terminals are adapted to receive and transmit data during one or more frames in a multiframe. Power measurements for a neighboring cell can be scheduled during one or more frames not intended for power measurements. In some examples, the one or more frames not intended for power measurements can include an Idle frame and/or a Packet Timing Advance Control Channel (PTCCH) frame in a 52-frame multiframe structure, as well as an Idle frame and/or a Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) frame in a 26-frame multiframe structure. Some access terminals may be adapted for facilitating multiple subscriptions, and may operate at least substantially simultaneously in a Connected mode subscription and an Idle mode subscription. In such instances, a neighboring cell for which power measurements are performed may be associated with the Connected mode subscription and/or the Idle mode subscription. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.
US09232421B2
A method of operating a mobile radio communication terminal, in which execution of at least one step of the method is controlled according to a device parameter which is assigned to the mobile radio communication terminal and which has exactly one of two possible device parameter values which indicate whether the mobile radio communication terminal is permanently stationary or not permanently stationary.
US09232415B2
Provided is a method of analyzing performance according to inter-cell interference control based on coordinated multipoint (CoMP) communication in a heterogeneous network (HetNet) to check that performance is enhanced by applying a variety of scheduling and pre-coding based on the CoMP communication in a HetNet environment of a Long Term Evolution-Advanced system to analyze the performance. The method applies a variety of scheduling and pre-coding based on coordinated beamforming scheme of CoMP communication technology, where the scheduling includes coordinated scheduling technique and the precoding includes QR decomposition, Tomlinson-Harashima precoding, polar decomposition, and singular value decomposition techniques, and compares and analyzes performances when there are only macrocells or when there are picocells at the boundaries of the macrocells, thereby checking that the gain is enhanced.
US09232414B2
A method for operating a terminal in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes determining a candidate group of serving distributed small base stations and determining feedback bits for maximizing an expected average rate when a service is provided from a distributed small base station that belongs to the candidate group of serving distributed small base stations.
US09232408B2
A method and devices for providing measurements of WiFi network channels to a cellular radio network are disclosed. According to one aspect, the invention provides a method that includes preparing, at a node of the cellular radio network, a request for measurement of at least one WiFi channel. The measurement is to be provided by at least one user equipment having a WiFi transceiver and a cellular radio transceiver. The method includes transmitting, from the node of the cellular radio network, the request to the at least one user equipment. The node of the cellular radio network receives, from the at least one user equipment, at least one measurement of the at least one WiFi channel.
US09232403B2
A mobile end-user device contains a device messaging agent that securely communicates with a network message server over a wireless network. The network message server delivers messages to the device messaging agent on behalf of a plurality of network application servers. Each network application server supplies the network message server with application data and an indication of a device and an application on the device to which the application data should be delivered. The network message server securely passes the data and an application identifier to the device messaging agent on the appropriate mobile end-user device. The device messaging agent maps the application identifier to a software process corresponding to the application, and a secure interprocess communication service delivers the application data to that software process.
US09232400B2
A network access system, e.g. a network hotspot, requires a mobile network access device, e.g. a smart phone or WiFi only device, to provide a network access standard designation and/or a device identification datum to gain access to network services. The network access standard designation may be provided by the mobile network access device to an online signup server via a EKU_key_purpose field of a PKCS10 certificate signing request. The device identification datum may be provided to the OSU via a subject field of the signing request. The OSU may require that the device identification datum be the same as a device identification datum provided by the mobile network access device prior to the mobile network access device requesting a signed network access certificate.
US09232395B2
Computer-readable instructions, when executed by a processor of a server, cause the server to receive a request from a terminal device, using a protocol configured to be used by a browser of the terminal device. The computer-readable instructions cause the server to generate, in response to receiving the request, specific data. The specific data comprises first location information for location of a web data configured to display a message screen for transmitting target data from the terminal device to a communication device using a short-range wireless communication, and the target data is stored in a memory of the server associated with authentication information configured to authenticate the communication device to a service providing server. The specific data configured to be in a format for transmission using the protocol.
US09232387B2
Multiple access wireless communication networks/infrastructures are virtualized in telecommunications environments. A system replicates a cell identifier associated with a macro base station device to create a virtual base station device presence for a set of network devices included in the multiple access wireless communication network and thereafter facilitates communication with the multiple access wireless communication network, the set of network devices, and a mobile device through the created virtual base station presence.
US09232386B2
A system and method to assist in establishing a communication session to a mobile device having a registered IMS session in a visited network, or having both a registered IMS session and a circuit-switched session in a visited network. When a mobile device establishes an IMS session with an application service in a visited network, the address of the application service and the identity of the mobile device is transmitted to the Home Location Register (HLR) and/or Home Subscriber Server (HSS) associated with the mobile device. The HLR or HSS stores the address of the application service in conjunction with the identity of the mobile device. When requests to establish a communication session with the mobile device are made, the HLR or HSS provides the address of the application service that is associated with the mobile device in the visited network to allow a communication session to be established.
US09232383B1
Example apparatus facilitate couriering (e.g., physically carrying) targeted electronic data between a provider in a first physical location and a recipient in a second physical location. An apparatus may store targeted electronic data or may store metadata concerning the targeted electronic data. The apparatus may also store requests for targeted electronic data or information from which targeted electronic data can be identified. An example apparatus may identify targeted electronic data to be provided and may then acquire the targeted electronic data from a provider. The provider may be another courier, another recipient, a source provider (e.g., database), or other source. The apparatus may provide the targeted electronic data to the recipient using a close-range communication channel that does not use the Internet. The targeted electronic data may be identified based on a state of an operating system, an application, or content at the recipient.
US09232382B2
A method is disclosed for determining a connectivity status of radios in a coverage group. Each coverage group includes radios configured to transmit and receive range messages on a channel and a timeslot. Each radio in the coverage group is configured to generate a range message and to transmit the range message to each other radio in the coverage group. Each radio in the coverage group is also configured to receive, from each other radio in the coverage group, a range message generated by each other radio. Based on the range message received from each other radio, each radio is configured to determine bi-directional connectivity between the receiving radio and the radios that sent the D-ARTS messages. The determined bi-directional connectivity status is between each radio and each of at least two other radios in the coverage group.
US09232380B2
A system and method to determine a type of wireless network that is to be used for an emergency communication session that is initiated at a mobile device. A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) header is modified to introduce an emergency call mode preference (ECMP) field into the header. When a mobile device registers a session with an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), the ECMP field is populated by the service provider with information that conveys the preferred network to use when an emergency communication session is initiated by a user of the mobile device. In the event of a subsequent request to start an emergency communication session using the mobile device, the mobile device utilizes the preferred network to establish communication.
US09232379B2
The present invention provides a technique for notifying a call center of an alert and providing access to a notification server which contains precompiled database information of a desired action to take in response to the alert. The alert is provided through a radius start record from a pendant with the user. The pendant remains turned off, until activated by the user. After activated, a modem of the pendant registers the pendant with a cellular network and in parallel, the cellular network provides a duplicate radius start record to a group of servers, which means there must be an alert from the user, such as an emergency.
US09232378B2
Example methods, apparatuses, or articles of manufacture are disclosed herein that may be utilized, in whole or in part, to facilitate or support one or more operations or techniques for locating a victim via a first responder's device for use in or with a mobile communication device.
US09232377B1
After receiving an alert for distribution in a target geographic area, a wireless carrier network may identify a first set of one or more coverage areas that are entirely encompassed within the target geographic area and a second set of one or more coverage areas that are only partially encompassed within the target geographic area. In the first coverage-area set, the wireless carrier network may then broadcast the alert in a manner that directs a recipient device to output the alert regardless of the device's location. And in the second coverage-area set, the wireless carrier network may broadcast the alert in a manner that directs a recipient device to output the alert only if the device's location is encompassed within the target geographic area.
US09232374B2
A method of connecting a computing device to a conference. One method comprises finding one or more potential dial-in numbers and looking up the one or more potential dial-in numbers in at least one database. One method further comprises one of, accessing a conference reception zone with one of the potential dial-in numbers when the one of the potential dial-in numbers is found in the at least one database and attempting to access the conference reception zone with the one or more potential dial-in numbers when the one or more potential dial-in numbers are not found in the at least one database. One or more potential conference pin numbers are obtained and it is determined whether one or more additional conference pin numbers are associated with the one or more potential dial-in numbers. A selected conference pin number is assigned a confidence level and the conference pin number is entered in the conference reception zone prior to accessing the conference.
US09232368B2
A business object model, which reflects data that is used during a given business transaction, is utilized to generate interfaces. This business object model facilitates commercial transactions by providing consistent interfaces that are suitable for use across industries, across businesses, and across different departments within a business during a business transaction. In some operations, software creates, updates, or otherwise processes information related to a user feed administrator, a user feed event link and/or a user feed settings business object.
US09232367B1
A system for providing multimedia messages to a mobile device and a method thereof. The system includes a portal server, such as an integrated web portal server, structured to receive and direct processing of a multimedia message. The system may also include a Short Message System (SMS) server acting as an interface between the portal server and the mobile device. The SMS server may forward an SMS message to the mobile device indicating that the multimedia message has been received for the mobile device. Other features of the system may include an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) server for converting the multimedia message to a text message, a media server to store the multimedia message for retrieval by the mobile device, and a billing server structured to determine an amount to bill for processing of the multimedia message.
US09232366B1
Disclosed herein are embodiments of a dual-watch collar-wearable communication device. One embodiment takes the form of a system that includes left-side and right-side audio speakers, a microphone, left-side and right-side push-to-talk (PTT) buttons and a controller programmed to carry out a set of functions. The set of functions include routing audio received via a first channel to the left-side audio speaker, routing audio received via a second channel to the right-side audio speaker, routing audio received via the microphone via the first channel when the left-side PTT button is actuated, and routing audio received via the microphone via the second channel when the right-side PTT button is actuated.
US09232365B1
Push-to-talk messages are sent via a wireless multicast channel to multiple push-to-talk groups of devices regardless of group membership. Thus, all of the devices using the multicast channel receive all of the push-to-talk messages. To separate messages bound for one push-to-talk group from those bound for another, a push-to-talk group specific orthogonal code is applied to each message. The devices in a specific group use the group specific orthogonal code to decode the received multicast messages. If a device decodes the multicast message with the correct group specific orthogonal code, then the message is decoded and the device can play the message. If a device decodes the multicast message with a different group specific code (i.e., because it is not a member of the group the message was intended for), the message is will not be properly decoded and thus will be unplayable or scrambled.
US09232358B2
A method and apparatus for reusing a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe are disclosed. The method comprises configuring a policy of using unicast on a reused MBSFN subframe; and implementing the configured policy to reuse the MBSFN subframe. By using the above technical solution, it is enabled to implement transmitting unicast services on an MBSFN subframe while achieving a balance between power saving and implementation complexity, without affecting the existing protocol.
US09232354B2
Methods, devices and systems for generating enhanced location information on or about a mobile device may include hybrid lateration and/or trilateration solutions in which the mobile device performs location determination calculations with or without the aid or support of network components or global positioning systems (GPS). Mobile devices may automatically form groups based on proximity and/or may be grouped together via a network server. Mobile devices in a group may share computed location information and/or information collected from internal sensors with other grouped mobile devices. Information shared between grouped mobile devices may be used to enhance the location information computed on each mobile device. For example, each mobile device may supplement and/or augment previously computed location information based on the received location information and/or relative positions of other mobile devices in the same group. Each mobile device may also utilize local sensors to further enhance their location information.
US09232350B2
The present invention relates to a method and system for facilitating dedicated communication between specific users relating to a travel transaction, the system including a travel resource mobile application. The mobile application may be installed on a mobile device, wherein the user of the mobile application and other users are included in a group which participates in the travel transaction, and each such user is assigned a role. The mobile application may also provide travel information and secure communication to each user of the group of users, wherein the group of users may be restricted based on the travel transaction. The mobile application may retrieve user contact information from the mobile device to facilitate communication between the group of users while masking the contact information of each user. The mobile application may also determine a location of at least one user from a group of users.
US09232349B2
A wireless mobile telecommunications network tags an image or other multimedia message that it receives from wireless user equipment (UE) with geographical information indicating the location of the UE. The network can determine the UE location using a conventional method such as those used in Location-Based Services.
US09232343B2
A wireless communication device of a first device detects a pattern of taps made with a wireless communication device of a second device. A processor of the first device automatically interprets the pattern of taps as a command from a plurality of tap pattern-based commands. Functional elements of the first device automatically perform an operation corresponding to the command to fully execute the command based only on the pattern of taps. Each of the taps comprises the distance between the first device and the second device changing from a first distance to a second distance and returning to at least the first distance within a predetermined period of time, and the first distance is at least twice as large as the second distance. Also, different patterns of taps represent different commands of the tap pattern-based commands.
US09232336B2
A head related transfer function generation apparatus includes a first input unit that inputs a first head related transfer function generated in a first measurement environment, a second input unit that inputs a second head related transfer function generated in a second measurement environment, and a transform normalization processing unit that normalizes a first gain of the first head related transfer function represented in frequency-axis data with a second gain of the second head related transfer function represented in frequency-axis data and also calculates a square root thereof.
US09232334B2
An apparatus for and a method of processing a multi-channel audio signal using space information. The apparatus includes: a main coding unit down mixing a multi-channel audio signal by applying space information to surround components included in the multi-channel audio signal, generating side information using the multi-channel audio signal or a stereo signal of a down-mixed result, coding the stereo signal and the side information, and transmitting the coded result as a coding signal; and a main decoding unit receiving the coding signal, decoding the stereo signal and the side information using the received coding signal, up mixing the decoded stereo signal using the decoded side information, and restoring the multi-channel audio signal.
US09232329B2
A public address system is set forth, comprising at least one wireless mobile communication device; a sound system; and a back-end system for selectively receiving a wireless signal from the wireless mobile communication device and transmitting the signal to the sound system for broadcast.
US09232324B2
A hearing instrument includes a housing, a printed circuit board, a signal processor on the printed circuit board, wherein the signal processor is configured for generating an audio signal, and a receiver that is connected to an output of the signal processor for converting the audio signal into a sound signal, wherein the housing is configured to accommodate the receiver and the printed circuit board with the signal processor, and the housing has a trunk part that is coupled with a tip part, and wherein the printed circuit board forms a wall within the housing extending transversely relative to a longitudinal extension of the trunk part.
US09232323B2
A hearing aid comprising a time domain codec. The codec comprises a decoder adapted to generate a decoded output signal based on an input quantization index and an encoder for generating an output quantization index based on an input signal, said encoder comprising said decoder and a predictor receiving an excitation signal derived from said decoder output signal and outputting a prediction signal. The output quantization index is determined by repeated decoding of the quantization indices in order to minimize the error between the input signal and the prediction signal, and the predictor uses a recursive autocorrelation estimate for the error minimization. The invention further provides a method of encoding an audio signal.
US09232312B2
A method for processing audio signals can include receiving left and right front audio signals and left and right rear audio signals, where the left and right rear audio signals. In addition, the method can include applying at least one front perspective filter to each of the left and right front audio signals to yield filtered left and right front output signals, where the left and right front output signals each drive a front speaker. Moreover, the method can include applying at least one rear perspective filter to each of the left and right rear audio signals to yield left and right rear output signals, where the left and right rear output signals each drive a rear speaker to simulate a rear surround sound effect when positioned in front of a listener.
US09232308B2
Provided is a headphone device including an outside microphone attached to a position at which an extraneous sound is picked up without passing through a shield in a state in which a user is wearing the headphone device, an inside microphone attached to a position at which the extraneous sound is picked up via the shield in the state in which the user is wearing the headphone device, a driver unit which performs an acoustic output, and a wearing state detection unit which detects a wearing or non-wearing state using a signal comparison result between sound signals obtained by the outside and inside microphones, respectively, a pre-stored non-wearing state reference value which is a signal comparison result when the extraneous sound arrives in the non-wearing state, and a pre-stored wearing state reference value which is a signal comparison result when the extraneous sound arrives in the wearing state.
US09232302B2
Microphone assemblies may be provided that have microelectromechanical systems microphones and associated application-specific integrated circuits mounted to printed circuit boards. The application-specific integrated circuits may contain amplifier circuitry for amplifying microphone signals from the microphone. One or more though-silicon vias may be formed in the application-specific integrated circuit that serve as an acoustic port through which sound may pass. The application-specific integrated circuit may be embedded in the printed circuit board and the microphone may be mounted to the upper surface of the printed circuit board, the application-specific integrated circuit and microphone may be stacked on the upper surface of the printed circuit board, or the microphone and application-specific integrated circuit may be mounted to the printed circuit board so that the microphone is received within an opening in the printed circuit board.
US09232292B2
Certain embodiments provide an in-the-ear device. The in-the-ear device includes a housing including a microphone inlet. The in-the-ear device also includes a microphone and a windscreen. The microphone is disposed within the housing adjacent to the microphone inlet. The windscreen includes a porous screen and an attachment mechanism coupled to the porous screen. The attachment mechanism is configured to detachably couple to the housing surrounding a perimeter of the microphone inlet such that an acoustic seal is formed between the windscreen and the housing.
US09232285B2
Advertisements included in a stored digital video program are identified and indexed. A user can time shift the advertisements to play out at a different time position in the program or not play the advertisement at all. A user may incur an advertisement debt for skipping or fast forwarding an advertisement. The advertisement debt can be offset by viewing ads, trading the debt with other users or by paying for the debt in another form.
US09232278B2
A method for providing DLNA compatible content directory service (CDS) on a media content server device includes: entering content item metadata properties into a virtual properties database, where each of the content item metadata properties is associated with a content item stored in a content database; adding the associated content item to CDS sharing as a virtual content item defined by the entered content item metadata properties; in response to a user's request, displaying on a display device the virtual content item in a listing of content information based at least on the content item metadata properties, without accessing the content database; enabling the user to select the virtual content item from the listing; and playing the associated content item from the content database.
US09232276B2
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, system having a controller to receive from a set-top box (STB) a request for assistance, identify a subscriber account associated with the STB, identify from the subscriber account a subscription grade, select one of a plurality of subscriber support services according to the subscriber grade, and establish communications between the STB and the selected subscriber support service. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09232260B2
Credential data are obtained by a remote control from a credential-bearing device through a near-field communication (NFC) data exchange. The credential data are transmitted by the remote control and are received by an extended connectivity device through its wireless communication interface. A transaction is conducted with a network-connected service through the wireless communication interface of the extended connectivity device using the received credential data.
US09232250B2
A system including but not limited to a computer program comprising instructions that when executed by a server computer, determines a plurality of geographic restriction zones and instructions to determine a plurality of different duration time delays for each of a plurality of geographic restriction zones.
US09232244B2
Techniques are provided to improve user experience at endpoint devices that are participating in a multipoint screen content sharing session. A server in a multipoint communication system receives video frames from a sending endpoint device in the communication session that involves one or more other endpoint devices that are to receive video frames from the sending endpoint device. The video frames include key reference frames that use either intra-frame prediction or inter-frame prediction based only on other key reference frames. The server stores the key reference frames. When a new receiving endpoint device joins the communication session, the server sends all the stored key reference frames to the new receiving endpoint device. All video frames received from the sending endpoint device are forwarded to existing ordinary receiving endpoint devices. Key reference frames and some, but not all, non-key reference video frames are forwarded to existing low-capacity receiving endpoint devices.
US09232242B2
Techniques to automatically switch among video signals in a television broadcast are disclosed. A trigger decoder may receive a network video signal for a network program. The network video signal may be comprised of a video signal and a trigger control signal. The trigger control signal may comprise a time period indicative of how long until a station break is to occur within the network program. The trigger decoder may separate the video signal from the trigger control signal. A latency adjuster may determine a delay between the transmission of the network video signal and the reception of the network video signal. A master control switcher clock may be reset based on the delay. The master control switcher may receive the video signal for the network program, and one or more video signals from one or more video servers containing video content. The master control switcher may select one of the video signals to output, wherein the time for switching from the video signal for the network program to another video signal is controlled by the trigger control signal and the reset clock.
US09232241B2
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for monitoring audio-video (AV) streams transported over a network. The system may include an AV probe deployed between an AV tuner and AV destination customer premise equipment. The AV probe may receive an incoming AV stream. The AV probe may generate a thumbnail stream by capturing thumbnails of the incoming AV stream. The AV probe may transmit, substantially in real-time, the thumbnail stream to a monitoring engine and the incoming AV stream to the AV destination customer premise equipment.
US09232232B2
Coding techniques for a video image compression system involve improving an image quality of a sequence of two or more bi-directionally predicted intermediate frames, where each of the frames includes multiple pixels. One method involves determining a brightness value of at least one pixel of each bi-directionally predicted intermediate frame in the sequence as an equal average of brightness values of pixels in non-bidirectionally predicted frames bracketing the sequence of bi-directionally predicted intermediate frames. The brightness values of the pixels in at least one of the non-bidirectionally predicted frames is converted from a non-linear representation.
US09232224B2
Provided is a moving picture coding apparatus for increasing a compression ratio of a moving picture signal while maintaining high image quality. To minimize the number of bits required for a residual block, quantized transform coefficients are adaptively divided into a plurality of subsets according to a size of a transform block, and non-zero quantized transform coefficients of each subset are scanned and encoded. Also, an intra prediction mode of the current block is determined using reference pixels obtained by filtering reference pixels of the current block. Accordingly, it is possible to minimize the amount of data required for the residual block of the current block.
US09232220B2
An image decoding method is provided which includes a time information determination step of determining time information of a current picture, a first reference picture referred to by the current picture and a second reference picture referred to by the current picture; a scaling parameter calculation step of calculating a scaling parameter based on a time distance between the first reference picture and a second reference picture; a weighting coefficient determination step of determining two weighting coefficients based on the scaling parameter; a predictive pixel value generation step of generating a predictive pixel value of the current picture by scaling a pixel value of the first reference picture and a pixel value of the second reference picture using the two weighting coefficients determined in the weighting coefficient determination step; and a decoding step of decoding the current picture using the predictive pixel value.
US09232214B2
An optical monitoring device for an optical imaging system having a focal plane, an optical axis and an entry pupil, forming an image of a scene substantially at infinity on an image detector disposed substantially in the focal plane, comprises: a virtually point-like emission source at the periphery of the detector and substantially in the focal plane; a reflecting element with a plane surface upstream of the imaging system relative to the direction of light rays coming from the scene, and according to a position and inclination where a monitoring image of the source produced by the optical system and reflected by the reflecting element is substantially in the focal plane on a detection element connected to a monitoring image analyzer allowing potential optical defects to be identified; the reflecting element having an annular shape allowing passage of light rays coming from the scene and passing through the entry pupil.
US09232208B2
An image property detection apparatus for processing a pair of images representing different respective views of a scene to generate a color property difference amount, comprises a difference detector configured to derive a difference amount dependent upon an average of the differences in color properties between the pair of images at each of a set of possible image colors, each weighted by the image content of at least one of the pair of images at that respective image color.
US09232205B2
An information processing device, method and a program adds an annotation to content and provides an application which utilizes the annotation. A learning module extracts an image feature amount of each frame of an image of learning content and extracts word frequency information regarding a frequency of appearance of each word in a description text, and learns an annotation models which is a multi-stream Hidden Markov Model (HMM) by using a multi-stream including the image feature amount and the text feature amount. A browsing controller extracts a scene which is a group of one or more temporally continuous frames from target content by using the annotation model and displays representative images of the scenes so as to be arranged in chronological order.
US09232200B2
An external projection system for an automobile includes a mounting framework coupled to an exterior portion of an automobile. The projection system includes first and second projectors mounted to the mounting framework and each configured to project an image forwardly away from the automobile. A driver input member is mounted in the passenger area of the automobile and is electrically connected to the projectors, the input member configured to control movement and operation of the projectors. The system includes a processor in data communication with the input member and the projectors, the system including programming by which the processor selectively controls the projectors. The projectors may project indicia such as directional arrows so as to simulate driving toward and overtaking a distant arrow. The system may also include a video player for projecting movies in front of the automobile.
US09232188B2
Computing devices may implement dynamic transitions from video messages to video communications. Video communication data for a video message may be received at a recipient device. The video communication data may be displayed as it is received, and recorded for subsequent playback. An indication of a selection to establish a video communication with the sender of the video message may be received, or an indication that display of the video communication is to be ceased may be received. If a video communication is to be established, then a video communication connection with the sender of the video message may be created so that subsequent video communication data may be sent via the established connection.
US09232187B2
Computing devices may implement dynamic detection of pause and resume for video communications. Video communication data may be capture at a participant device in a video communication. The video communication data may be evaluated to detect a pause or resume event for the transmission of the video communication data. Various types of video, audio, and other sensor analysis may be used to detect when a pause event or a resume event may be triggered. For triggered pause events, at least some of the video communication data may no longer be transmitted as part of the video communication. For triggered resume events, a pause state may cease and all of the video communication data may be transmitted.
US09232185B2
A conferencing system may comprise an electronic display configured to display remote video generated within a remote conference room, a speaker configured to reproduce remote audio generated within the remote conference room, and a processor configured to receive local audio generated within a local conference room and picked up by a microphone assembly that is part of a separate device from the electronic display. A related method may include displaying remote video on an electronic display of an all-in-one display, reproducing remote audio through at least one speaker of the all-in-one display; and performing echo cancellation of local audio using the remote audio as an echo cancellation reference. Another method may include receiving, at an all-in-one display, a plurality of local audio signals from a plurality of microphone assemblies that are separate from the all-in-one display, and controlling, within the all-in-one display, gating of the plurality of microphone assemblies.
US09232184B2
When terminals perform communication through a reservation, a management unit manages terminal identification information identifying each terminal and reservation identification information identifying the reservation. When a first terminal performs communication through a predetermined reservation, a receiving unit receives, from the first terminal, a request to acquire state of a second transmission terminal. A reservation extracting unit extracts the reservation identification information associated with terminal identification information identifying the second terminal from the management unit. A determining unit determines whether the reservation identified by the extracted reservation identification information matches the predetermined reservation. A transmitting unit transmits first state information indicating first state of the second terminal to the first terminal when the determining unit determines that the reservation matches the predetermined reservation, but transmits second state information indicating second state of the second terminal when the determining unit determines that the reservation does not match the predetermined reservation.
US09232183B2
A system that incorporates the subject disclosure performs, for example, displaying a video image of a remote scene at a display surface, wherein the remote scene is remote from the display surface. Overlapping video images are obtained from different vantage points of a local scene observable from the display surface. A composite video image is generated of the local scene from the video images and forwarded to the remote location. A first audio signal is generated representing first sounds associated with a first region of the local scene without representing other sounds associated with a second region of the local scene. The first audio signal is forwarded to audio processing equipment at the remote location to present the first sounds at a first region of the remote scene at the remote location without presenting the first sounds at a second region of the remote scene. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US09232179B2
The subject of the application is a portable communication device having possibility of wired and wireless transmission of audio/video data, characterized in that it is composed of a camera (2) and at least one microphone (3), for the synchronous image capturing, and a speaker (4). These elements (2, 3, 4) are connected to the central unit (5) equipped with cache memory and a microprocessor directly or through the first communication interface (6) to connect to external devices. Moreover, the central unit is connected to a second communication interface (7) for transmission and receiving data through the telecommunication network; all of these items are powered by power source (8). The patent application concerns the method of data transmission which is done by using the device (1) and applications of the device (1), as well as the method.
US09232169B2
A display apparatus and a display method are provided. The display apparatus includes: a receiver configured to receive a broadcasting signal; a display unit configured to display a content included in the received broadcasting signal on a full screen; a control signal receiver configured to receive a control signal from a remote controller; and a controller configured to, if it is determined that a screen dividing signal has been input through the remote controller, divide the full screen into a plurality of divided screens to add a new screen. The controller sets the new screen of the plurality of divided screens to be controlled according to the control signal and displays the new screen so as to distinguish the new screen to be controlled from the other divided screens.
US09232168B2
An intelligent television can provide various interfaces for navigating processes associated with providing content. The user interfaces include unique visual representations and organizations that allow the user to utilize the intelligent television more easily and more effectively. Particularly, the user interfaces pertain to the display of media content, electronic programming guide information, television content, and other content. Further, the user interfaces provide unique process of transitioning between the content.
US09232167B2
Disclosed herein is a method of operating a remote control system having a touch interface. The method comprises receiving a user input through the touch interface, generating a control communication corresponding to the user input and transferring the control communication from a communication transceiver to remotely control a display of content on a video display system, receiving into the communication transceiver supplemental content for display on the touch interface, and displaying the supplemental content on the touch interface while the video display system displays the content.
US09232163B2
A depth pixel includes a photo detection unit, an ambient light removal current source, a driving transistor and a select transistor. The photo detection unit is configured to generate a light current based on a received light reflected from a subject, the received light including an ambient light component. The ambient light removal current source configured to generate a compensation current indicating the ambient light component in response to a power supply and at least one compensation control signal. The driving transistor is configured to amplify an effective voltage corresponding to the light current and the compensation current. The select transistor configured to output the amplified effective voltage in response to a selection signal, the amplified effective voltage indicating a depth of the subject.
US09232158B2
A digital camera includes a plurality of channels and a processing component operatively coupled to the plurality of channels. Each channel of the plurality of channels includes an optics component and a sensor that includes an array of photo-detectors. The processing component is configured to separately control an integration time of each channel, where a first integration time of a first channel is less than a second integration time of a second channel. The processing component is also configured to combine data from the plurality of channels to generate an image.
US09232155B1
A computer-implemented method for a multiple imager imaging system is disclosed. The method comprises detecting misalignment between a left portion of an object in a left image and a right portion of said object in a right image; wherein said misalignment is detected using factory alignment parameters to align said left and right portions; and selectively performing a recalibration operation to determine optimal alignment parameters to align said left and right portions during an image stitching operation; dynamically overriding the factory alignment parameters with the optimal alignment parameters; and performing the stitching operation based on the optimal alignment parameters.
US09232146B2
The disclosure herein aims to provide an electronic device that makes a sound recording, which gives a realistic sensation. An electronic device disclosed herein includes an imaging unit that captures an image of a subject; an acquiring unit that acquires a parameter having a constant relation with a subject distance that is a distance from the subject to the device; a sound collecting unit that collects sound and generates sound data; a zooming unit that adjusts a magnification of an image of the subject; and a sound processing unit that changes a degree of changing a volume indicated by the sound data with respect to the change in the magnification, according to the parameter.
US09232144B2
An imaging device of the present invention comprises a storage section for holding an initial white point of a display panel, a calculation section for calculating target white point of the display panel based on light source information for the shooting environment, a determination section for making a white point range corresponding to an adaptive light source range, and determining whether or not the initial white point or the target white point are outside the adaptive tracking range, and a display control section for carrying out controls so as to change white point of the display panel over time from the initial white point to the target white point, wherein, in the event that the initial white point or the target white point is outside the adaptive tracking range, a new initial white point or a new target white point is calculated so as to be within the adaptive range.
US09232143B2
The disclosure relates generally to photography techniques, and more specifically to a method and system for assistive photography. In one embodiment, an assistive photography method is disclosed, which comprises: capturing one or more image frames of a subject using a photographic device, selecting dynamically, using one or more processors, an assistive stencil based on the one or more image frames and at least one predefined subject photograph requirement; and providing the dynamically selected assistive stencil in a preview display of the photographic device; wherein the assistive stencil assists in at least partially satisfying the at least one predefined subject photograph requirement.
US09232138B1
Approaches to enable a computing device, such as a phone or tablet computer, to apply electronic image stabilization (EIS) and optical image stabilization (OIS) across their respective ranges of effectiveness. The computing device may include a gyroscope that produces data about the orientation or movement of the device and a filter that filters the orientation data and conveys the filtered data to either the OIS system or the EIS system, depending on the amplitude of the excursion. The filter conveys excursions of a first range of amplitude to be corrected by the OIS system and conveys excursions of a second range of amplitude (the portion that is uncorrected by the OIS) to be corrected by the EIS system.
US09232128B2
An image capture position and direction estimation device includes a region determination unit that determines a plurality of regions to be associated between a query image and an image with position and direction, a depth estimation unit that estimates a depth of each region, and an image capture position and direction estimation unit that estimates a direction in the region with a large depth estimated by the depth estimation unit and estimates a position in the region with a small depth estimated by the depth estimation unit.
US09232124B2
A digital photographing apparatus includes: an imaging device that generates an image signal by capturing image light; a storage unit that stores a template including a background area and a composite area that indicates at least a part of an image according to the image signal; an image changing unit that changes orientations of the template and the image; an image composing unit that composes the image and the template of which orientations are changed; and a display unit that displays the composed image, wherein the image changing unit determines orientations to be changed of the template and the image according to a rotation amount of the imaging device with respect to an optical axis of the image light and an orientation in which an imaging surface of the imaging device faces. Accordingly, a user may naturally perform a self-photography function using a template.
US09232123B2
This disclosure is directed to camera systems including a camera array, data buses shared by the cameras, and one or more processors that process images captured by the camera array. In one aspect, a camera system (450) includes a camera array (452), a controller (454), a number of camera buses (458-465), and a computing device (456) connected to the controller. Each camera is connected to one or more adjacent cameras and includes one or more processors. Each camera bus connects a subset of cameras of the camera array to the controller. And each camera can be operated to send to the controller only the image data used by the computing device to generate virtual images and receive instructions from the controller over a camera bus.
US09232117B2
A Schlieren imaging system can comprise a digital display configured to provide a background for Schlieren imaging, a cutoff filter onto which the background is focused, and a camera configured to image the cutoff filter and the background to facilitate Schlieren imaging. A calibration method for the Schlieren imaging system can comprise forming a pixel image on a digital display, focusing the pixel image on the cutoff filter, imaging the cutoff filter and the pixel image with a camera; and moving the pixel image with respect to the cutoff filter to align the pixel image with respect to the cutoff filter to facilitate Schlieren imaging. Thus, alignment of the Schlieren imaging system can be substantially simplified.
US09232111B2
According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes a display section, an input section, a control section, and an image forming section. The display section displays a printing target image as a preview. The input section receives designation of an area from a user on a preview image displayed by the display section. The control section distinguishes a region of the printing target image such that a part of a region in the designated area is one of color and monochrome and the other part of the region is the other of the color and the monochrome. The image forming section forms the printing target image on a sheet according to the distinction of the color and the monochrome by the control section.
US09232109B2
Because the spectral characteristics of an original of a printing sheet and those of an original of a photographic image are different, in the case where the same color conversion table is applied at the time of color conversion processing, a deviation occurs in color reproducibility. By determining the sheet type with accuracy based on the feature of fiber that occurs in manufacture of paper and by applying color conversion processing in accordance with the determination result, a highly accurate color reproduction method of an image is implemented.
US09232105B2
An image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of devices driven by power and configured to be operated in: 1) a standby mode in which the image forming apparatus stands by a start of an image formation; or 2) a power saving mode in which power supply to a part of the plurality of devices is stopped so that the power consumption of the image forming apparatus in the power saving mode is reduced compared with that of the image forming apparatus in the standby mode. The image forming apparatus further including a door which is opened when consumable material is supplied, and a door opened/closed sensor configured to detect the door opening or door closing.
US09232103B2
Aspects of the disclosure provide a terminal apparatus communicable with a plurality of external devices, which includes an input device and an output device, via a network. The terminal device includes a controller configured to execute a main function including an input function to be executed by the input device and an output function to be executed by the output device. When a cancel command is received, the controller may cancel execution of the input function or cancel execution of the output function.
US09232102B2
A contact-type image sensor is designed to prevent, in an effective manner, dust from entering into a space between a rod lens array and a light receiving sensor. A rod lens array includes a large number of rod lenses between two flat substrates and between spacers located at left and right ends; one row of the rod lenses is arranged in such a way that central axes of the rod lenses become parallel to each other. At an emission side of a rod lens in an axis line direction, each substrate includes an extension portion, whose length is determined based on an operating distance of the rod lens. A lower end of the extension portion of each substrate is in contact with an upper surface of a sensor substrate. In this manner, the rod lens array is positioned with high accuracy with respect to the light receiving sensor.
US09232098B2
An image reading apparatus includes a conveyor configured to convey a sheet along a predetermined conveyance path; a platen a sheet pressing member made of a resin member; spacers provided on both end portions of the sheet pressing member in a width direction, wherein each of the spacers protrudes toward a platen side, a tip end of the spacer in the protrusion direction contacting the platen at positions out of a reading range of a reading unit in the width direction to secure a gap between the sheet pressing member and a platen; and a protruding portion provided on a central portion of the sheet pressing member in the width direction.
US09232094B2
A data processing apparatus includes a position detection portion for detecting a position designated on a display, a data select portion for selecting data identified by a first image displayed on the display as target data, a clone image display portion for arranging a clone image corresponding to the first image at the detected position, a clone image moving portion for moving the clone image, a second image display portion for arranging one or more second images for identifying one or more kinds of processes executable on the target data at positions based on the position of the first image, a candidate process decision portion for deciding a process identified by the second image having a predetermined relative positional relation to the clone image as a candidate process, and an execution process decision portion for deciding the candidate process as an execution process when the position is no longer detected.
US09232091B2
An image reader is provided that includes an image reading unit, a display unit configured to display selection buttons for selecting an intended destination of image data, and a controller configured to, before a selection button corresponding to the intended destination is selected, control the display unit to display selectable selection buttons corresponding to accessible devices in a first display manner, the controller configured to, after the selection button corresponding to the intended destination is selected, control the display unit to display the selected selection button corresponding to the intended destination in a second display manner, control the display unit to display selectable selection buttons, other than the selected selection button, in the first display manner, and control the image reading unit to start an image reading operation.
US09232085B2
A portable terminal apparatus includes: a scan job generator that generates a scan job; a file format selecting portion that allows users to select a first file format; a display portion that displays scanned data; a first judgment portion that judges whether or not the first file format is enabled; a second judgment portion that judges whether or not a second file format is enabled; a file format setting portion that sets the first or second file format; a transmitter that transmits the scan job to the image processing apparatus; a data obtaining portion that obtains the scanned data from the image processing apparatus; a display controller that allows the display portion to display the scanned data in an enabled file format; a file converter that converts the scanned data into the first file format; and a storage that stores the scanned data in the first file format.
US09232084B2
Methods and devices receive a print job, evaluate the print job to identify job parameter settings and associated sources of the job parameter settings, transmit the job parameter settings and the associated sources to a database, and transmit the print job to a marking device to cause the marking device to print the print job. These methods and devices also provide access to the database to view the job parameter settings and the associated sources, and/or change the job parameter settings. The access to the database is provided before and/or after the marking device prints the print job. When evaluating the print job, these methods and devices identify “potential” and “final” job parameter settings and associated sources. The final settings and sources are used to perform marking and finishing operations, while the potential setting and sources comprise a pre-printing, job preparation history in the database.
US09232069B2
An example embodiment disclosed herein includes a vehicle teleconferencing system. The vehicle teleconferencing system includes an abstraction and communication device (hereinafter “device”) and a mobile device. The device includes an adaptor configured to interface with a Controller Area Network bus of a vehicle and to abstract vehicle data from the vehicle. The mobile device includes an operation determination module, a clock, and a teleconferencing module. The operation determination module is configured to determine that an operator is operating the vehicle based on a subset of the data. The clock is configured to track actual time. The teleconferencing module is configured to access a teleconference calendar event that includes a scheduled time and teleconference contact information, and when the actual time is within a predetermined threshold of the scheduled time and the operator is operating the vehicle, to prompt the operator to join a teleconference.
US09232068B2
A system comprises a plurality of user devices and a conference call bridge connected to the plurality of end user devices via one or more networks. The conference call bridge is configured to connect to a given one of the plurality of user devices, receive a passcode from the given user device, and authenticate the given user device using the passcode. The passcode is personal to the given user.
US09232063B2
The disclosed solution uses machine learning-based methods to improve the knowledge extraction process in a specific domain or business environment. By formulizing a specific company's internal knowledge and terminology, the ontology programming accounts for linguistic meaning to surface relevant and important content for analysis. Based on the self-training mechanism developed by the inventors, the ontology programming automatically trains itself to understand the business environment by processing and analyzing a defined corpus of communication data. For example, the disclosed ontology programming adapts to the language used in a specific domain, including linguistic patterns and properties, such as word order, relationships between terms, and syntactical variations. The disclosed system and method further relates to leveraging the ontology to assess a dataset and conduct a funnel analysis to identify patterns, or sequences of events, in the dataset.
US09232062B2
Automatic Location Indication (ALI) data is digitally transferred from a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to a first responder via a web site accessed by the first responder. The web site lists each live E911 call within their jurisdiction, and appends the caller's ALI and/or other location data relative to each call. Preferably the first responders (e.g., police car, paramedic, ambulance, fire truck, etc.) can view not only the emergency caller's information for those E911 calls that they are responding to, but also information about other emergency callers that other first responders are responding to. This facilitates the actual response to individual emergency calls as well as the overall management of multiple responders to multiple emergency calls.
US09232053B2
The present application provides “hot desking” features for multi-device users. A number of automatic hot desking registrations are provided in which users are assigned multiple devices on a permanent basis. A private branch exchange or central switch can be provided with a list of these devices and can relieve the user of the requirement of registration by detecting use of these devices and assigning user features and other pertinent system properties e.g. as an indication of location for find me/follow me services. The extension allows for automatically hot desking using a listed device, hot desking based on a location associated with a listed device, and hot desking using declared associations of listed devices.
US09232047B2
A method and apparatus for providing a repeat calling service feature in a communication network are disclosed. For example, the method captures call session information between a calling endpoint and a called endpoint of a failed call due to an unavailability of required network resource. The method then receives a repeat calling service request from the calling endpoint, and processes the repeat calling service request to reestablish a call between the calling endpoint and the called endpoint.
US09232040B2
A computer-implemented method for communicating information to medical responders includes registering a plurality of individuals as potential responders for medical problems, receiving at a central service an indication that a person is having a medical problem and receiving information that identifies a current location of the person, and identifying, from among the registered plurality of individuals, one or more registered individuals who are currently in close proximity to the person having a medical problem. The method also includes transmitting, to the one or more registered individuals, information that identifies the location of the person having a medical problem. The one or more individuals comprise lay responders who are not assigned responsibility to provide lifesaving services in an area around the current location of the person.
US09232030B2
An amplifying cover for an audio device that enhances the audio output of the device, such as voice or music, louder and clearer, without adding to the bulk of the device. The cover redirects the audio output of the device to a different location that enhances the ergonomics of the device. The amplifying cover can redirect the sound (while also amplifying it) to the top of the device, closer to the user's ear, or to the side of the device. The amplifying cover can redirect the sound to a plurality of different directions, making it easier to make conference calls. The cover is a protective case for an electronic device that also amplifies the sound produced by the electronic device. The cover provides a portable and compact acoustic amplifier for an electronic device that can be permanently or semi-permanently attached to the electronic device.
US09232014B2
Methods and apparatus are disclosed to identify session users with cookie information. An example method includes locating, with a processor, a first storage location associated with a first browser and a second storage location associated with a second browser, identifying, with the processor, a first cookie in the first storage location having a most recent timestamp, when the first storage location includes the first cookie of a first type, establishing a first user associated with the first cookie as a current user of the computing device. The example method includes searching, with the processor, the second storage location for a second cookie having the same type as the first cookie, when the second storage location includes the second cookie, comparing, with the processor, the timestamp of the first cookie and a timestamp of the second cookie to determine a most recent cookie, when the first cookie is the most recent, confirming the first user as the current user of the computing device, and when the second cookie is the most recent, replacing the first user with a user associated with the second cookie as the current user of the computing device.
US09232007B2
A universal document transport facility is described where, in various embodiments, the facility recognizes document requests based on a received document, interacts with document routing rules and workflow requirements with respect to the received document, and manages content flows between network nodes or devices. In various embodiments, the facility includes a document transport module for transporting documents between network devices, such as printers, fax boards, and content servers and across local and wide-area networks; functionality for routing optimization with other communications networks, such as messaging services, telephony, and IP networks; and flexible document transport capabilities to workflow applications and multifunction devices (such as all-in-one print/scan/copy/fax/telephone/answering machine devices) and multifunction devices enhanced with video & video capture, messaging, email, network router & gateway capabilities.
US09232006B2
A method may be performed in a data storage device while the data storage device is operatively coupled to a host device that is registered at a network server as a designated recipient of access requests directed to the data storage device. The data storage device includes a controller and a memory storing one or more files. The method includes receiving an access request originating from a second device that is distinct from the host device. The host device is accessible to the second device via the network server. The method also includes, when the second device is authorized to access the data storage device, sending a response with access information to the second device via the network server.
US09232004B2
In a network synchronization system including plural information processing devices, a first information processing device includes a synchronization-use common storage unit configured to copy and store first information for each user authorized to use the first information processing device, so that the first information can be shared with another information processing device; and a second information processing device includes a setting information unit configured to store second information for each user authorized to use the second information processing device, and a synchronization control unit configured to compare the second information with the first information, and to update the second information to latest information based on a result of the comparison. The synchronization control unit acquires common update information common to the information processing devices, which is stored in the synchronization-use common storage unit.
US09232003B2
A system and method are provided that enable a registrar or other server or proxy device to be used to provide a path between a pair of endpoint devices for exchanging addressing information, in order to establish a direct P2P connection. Once that connection is established, the connection may be used for any P2P data communications, e.g. SIP establishment of a VoIP call, instant messaging, online gaming, file transfer, multimedia streaming, etc. In this way, each endpoint device possesses a list of candidate addresses to establish a direct P2P connection, which may then be used for any type of communication. By relying on a registrar or other server to enable the candidate lists to be exchanged, control can still be maintained if necessary, since the candidate lists can be modified, e.g. to enable a transparent interception, to impose or remove security restrictions, etc.
US09231999B2
The multi-level load balancing system receives requests for resources provided by any of a plurality of resource nodes. The multi-level load balancing system receives a first result from a first load balancing module that orders each of the plurality of nodes that are available to service the request based on a first algorithm. The multi-level load balancing system then receives a second result from a second load balancing module that orders each of the plurality of nodes that are available to service the request based on a second algorithm. The multi-level load balancing system combines the first result and the second result to form a third result that is uses to select one of the plurality of resources nodes to service the request.
US09231994B2
A method for providing a session invitation protocol (SIP) session between a first and a second entity. An SIP session is established between the first and second entity. At least one media stream is transmitted from the first entity to the second entity. At least one of transmission, storage and play back of the at least one media stream is controlled in the SIP session at the first and/or second entity.
US09231984B1
A system for hair pinning-time division multiplexing (TDM) calls has a gateway positioned between a non-TDM network and communication equipment coupled to the gateway via a plurality of TDM lines. The gateway has a plurality of signal processing elements configured to encapsulate the TDM call data into a plurality of packets utilizing a protocol suitable for transmission through the network, and each signal processing element has its own time domain such that the signal processing elements operate asynchronously. The gateway also has a central processing element configured to forward the packets to the network via the network protocol. The central processing element is further configured to identify packets which are mapped to channels of TDM lines coupled to the gateway and to forward the packets to the appropriate signal processing element for transmission through the appropriate TDM channel. Accordingly, hair pinning across asynchronous time domains is achieved within the gateway.
US09231980B2
A local content server system (LCS) for creating a secure environment for digital content is disclosed, which system comprises: a communications port in communication for connecting the LCS via a network to at least one Secure Electronic Content Distributor (SECD), which SECD is capable of storing a plurality of data sets, is capable of receiving a request to transfer at least one content data set, and is capable of transmitting the at least one content data set in a secured transmission; a rewritable storage medium whereby content received from outside the LCS may be stored and retrieved; a domain processor that imposes rules and procedures for content being transferred between the LCS and devices outside the LCS; and a programmable address module which can be programmed with an identification code uniquely associated with the LCS. The LCS is provided with rules and procedures for accepting and transmitting content data.
US09231978B2
A process where everyone can interact by broadcasting encrypted conditional commitment segments, and at the end, everyone must undisputedly agree on quantifiable collective outcome, and no-one should know which way anyone else intentions was.
US09231974B2
A machine-implemented method for evaluating a context-based (e.g., XACML) policy having a set of attributes formulates a search against one or more existing external repositories using a query that is dynamically-generated based on the security policy being evaluated. The approach shifts the building of a candidate set of potentially-allowable resources to the authorization engine (e.g., a Policy Decision Point (PDP)). In operation, an application calls the PDP using an entitlement request and, in response, the PDP builds the candidate set of values based on the defined security policy by generating a query to an external data repository and receiving the results of that query. This approach enables a policy-driven entitlement query at runtime.
US09231971B2
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of protecting a user from a compromised web resource. The method may include monitoring a user's requests for trusted web resources to determine one or more web resources to be checked. The method may include querying a network database based on the determined one or more web resources to obtain historical data relating to whether any of the one or more web resources has been compromised at any time during a preceding time period. The method may include providing a predetermined response to protect the user if any of the one or more web resources has been compromised.
US09231964B2
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are disclosed for detecting vulnerabilities based on aggregated primitives. A particular method includes receiving a plurality of data transmissions. At least one of the data transmissions includes a protocol anomaly that is not indicative of a security threat. The method includes identifying a plurality of primitives associated with the data transmissions. The primitives are aggregated, and an attack condition is identified based on the aggregated primitives. A security alert is generated based on the identified attack condition.
US09231961B2
An internet service provider (ISP) is configured to provide notification messages such as service updates to subscribers via redirected web pages. In order for the web pages to be treated as originating from the ISP, the ISP provides a shared secret in the browser message. The shared secret may be a secret not derivable by viruses or trojans in the subscriber computer, such as a MAC address of the subscriber modem.
US09231960B2
A system for providing a service comprising: —a service provisioning control means adapted for identifying a user, and for providing services to said user; the system further comprising: —a location information retrieval means adapted for receiving location information of user; and for identifying a local service delivery system; —an available service pack information retrieval means adapted for retrieving available service pack information corresponding to local service delivery system, the available service pack information comprising information about the set of possible services which can be delivered to user by local service delivery system; and wherein service provisioning control means is adapted for —selecting a subset of services of available service pack information corresponding, based on at least a set of priority rules; and for —providing at least one of subset of services to the user; and associated methods and devices.
US09231957B2
Data identifying server storage devices and logical storage entities is received. A storage object model based on the received data is generated. A first user type is associated with the server storage devices and logical storage entities. A second user type is associated with the logical storage entities. A first user is allowed to access data associated with the sever storage devices and the logical storage entities in response to determining that the first user is identified as the first user type. A second user is allowed to access data associated with the logical storage entities and not allowed to access data associated with the server storage devices in response to determining that the second user is identified as the second user type.
US09231956B1
A method comprises the following steps. Entity-generic user records are created for a plurality of users associated with a plurality of entities by analyzing entity-specific user records for the plurality of users, wherein the entity-generic user records comprise respective sets of entitlements for the plurality of users. Entity-generic asset records for assets associated with the plurality of entities are created by analyzing entity-specific asset records for the plurality of assets, wherein the entity-generic asset records comprise respective sets of permissions for accessing the plurality of assets. An entity-generic user record for a given user is utilized to determine whether the given user has access to a given asset by comparing the set of entitlements in the given entity-generic user record with the set of permissions in an entity-generic asset record for the given asset.
US09231954B2
A system and a method are provided for two-way communications, automated request handling, and push notifications, via SMS, MMS, IM, email, and other electronic messaging systems, between (1) residents confined to a secure facility, such as a jail or a prison, and (2) persons located outside the secure facility who have friendly or family relationships with the confined residents.
US09231949B1
Features are disclosed for enabling servers to initiate the opening of connections with clients, initiate transfers of data to clients, and provide clients with hints regarding which content retrieval, connection establishment, and other network operations will likely improve user-perceived performance on the client. A token may be transmitted from a client to a server, and the server may utilize the token to initiate a network connection with the client and send data to the client. The token may also be passed to a third party for similar use. Hints may be provided to the client, indicating actions that the client may perform in order to improve content processing efficiency and enhance a user experience with the content. The disclosed features may, for example, be incorporated into web browser and server software.
US09231940B2
A first server device may receive, from a user device, a request to authenticate the user device for a first service using authentication credentials for a second service that is different than the first service; provide the authentication credentials to a second server device that provides the second service; receive from the second server device, and when the authentication credentials are valid for the second service, user information relating to a user of the user device; and provide, to the user device, an authentication response, associated with the user information, that provides authentication of the user device for the first service.
US09231935B1
A method and system for automatically submitting login credentials as a background process for a user of a web service are provided. Login information corresponding to a login form of the web service is stored, where the login information comprises a login endpoint of the web service and the login credentials are used to authenticate the user for a session of the web service. A login token, generated by the web service, and its expiration date are tracked. The login credentials are then automatically submitted, without user intervention, to the web service based on the login endpoint and the expiration date of the login token.
US09231934B2
A control server may receive first location information indicating a location of specific web page data via a data processing device, in a case where a terminal device comprising a web browser receives the specific web page data from a specific service providing server by using a first type of wireless communication and sends the first location information to the data processing device by using a second type of wireless communication. The control server may cause a display unit of the data processing device to display at least N items of account information among M items of account information currently stored in the data processing device, in a case where the first location information is received. Each of the N items of account information may be available for receiving a data providing service from the specific service providing server.
US09231933B1
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for providing access to secured resources. A token providing system stores a primary authentication token that is used to obtain temporary authentication tokens. The token providing system provides, to application programs that are unable to access the primary authentication token, the temporary authentication tokens. The token providing system receives, from a first application program of the application programs, a first request to obtain a first temporary authentication token. The first request does not include the primary authentication token. The token providing system transmits a second request to obtain the first temporary authentication token. The second request includes the primary authentication token. The token providing system receives the first temporary authentication token. The token providing system provides the first temporary authentication token for use by the first application program.
US09231931B2
Provided are a method and device for building a security-based environment that uses an eUICC. A method of building a trust relationship in an eUICC environment includes transmitting, by a trust requesting object, a trust relationship requesting message including identification information and signature information of the trust requesting object to a trust verifying object, delivering, by the trust verifying object, the trust relationship requesting message to a trust relationship relay object and receiving trust information of the trust requesting object corresponding to the trust relationship requesting message from the trust relationship relay object, and verifying, by the trust verifying object, the signature information of the trust requesting object using the trust information of the trust requesting object.
US09231926B2
A new system and method for communicating between a host device and one or more slave devices are presented. The system provides data error checking and correcting, data encryption, and robust slave address sequencing using a portion of a session key. The data encryption uses a second portion of the session key, which changes for each power cycle.
US09231921B2
The present invention relates to a system and architecture for securing otherwise unsecured computer subsystems. According to one aspect, the invention provides an independent hardware platform for running software in a secure manner. According to another aspect, the invention provides the means to control and secure all disk, network and other I/O transactions. According to still further aspects, the invention provides a means to monitor and prevent unauthorized user and malicious software activity Additional aspects include providing a secure platform for device and user authentication as well as encryption key management, providing a means to perform background backup snapshots, and providing the means for enabling full management over computer operations.
US09231919B2
The invention relates to a method for anonymizing the communication of mobile terminals which permit speech communication, using an anonymizing network which comprises a series of routers and which has at least one access node, wherein each mobile terminal establishes a connection with at least one access node, comprising the following steps: signing the mobile terminal onto the network via an access node; preparation of an identity in the network; communication via the anonymized network, wherein the network selects different random routes through the network for communication, so that back-tracing is prevented and wherein communication is encrypted.
US09231916B1
Technologies are described herein to manage the replacement of routing rules. Some example technologies may receive a request to replace one or more active rules in a routing device with one or more stored rules. Each of the active rules and the stored rules may specify a routing rule that specifies how to route packets within a network. The active rules may be routing rules that are actively being used by the routing device. The stored rules may be routing rules that are not currently in use by the routing device. A determination may be made as to whether a number of active rule replacements for the routing device exceeds a threshold. In response to determining that the number of the active rule replacements exceeds the threshold, the request to replace the one or more active rules in the routing device may be denied.
US09231912B2
Systems and methods for handling packets from a trusted network are provided. In some aspects, a system includes a communication module configured to receive a packet at a gateway from a server in a trusted network. The gateway is between the trusted network and a network external to the trusted network. The system also includes a verification module configured to determine whether the received packet is valid. The communication module is configured to route the received packet to a client in the external network if the received packet is determined to be valid. The communication module is configured to apply a corrective action to the received packet if the received packet is determined to be invalid.
US09231907B2
A first connection between a first communication apparatus and a server apparatus and a second connection between a second communication apparatus and the server apparatus are established. The first and second communication apparatuses exchange information on their features via the first and second connections, and then, disconnects the first and second connections. The first communication apparatus acquires information on settings of its communication environment, and then, establishes a third connection with the server apparatus. The second communication apparatus acquires information on settings of its communication environment, and then, establishes a fourth connection with the server apparatus. The first and second communication apparatuses exchange the information on the settings of their communication environments via the third and fourth connections. The first and second communication apparatuses establishes a fifth connection between them not through the server apparatus, based on the information on the settings of their communication environments.
US09231903B2
A system and method for resolving a DNS request using metadata. An intelligent name server receives a request to resolve a domain name via a network. The intelligent name server acquires at least one metadata element about the source of the request. The domain name request is transformed into a CNAME request that includes the at least one metadata element and the domain name to be resolved. The CNAME request is sent to a metadata aware DNS server for resolution. The metadata aware DNS server maps the domain name to one or more network addresses stored in a look-up table. The included metadata is used to select a “best” host address to include in a response.
US09231899B2
A method according to one embodiment is for transmitting a message. In one embodiment, one or more processor of a messaging system identifies a certain message of the messaging system, the certain message being a blocked message intended for transmission to a certain user of the messaging system. In one embodiment, the one or more processor further determines one or more of a popularity of content of the certain message and a relevance of content of the certain message to the certain user, the certain user being a prospective recipient of a message. In one embodiment, the one or more processor transmits a message to the certain user responsively to a result of the determining of the one or more of a popularity of content of the certain message and a relevance of content of the certain message to the certain user of the messaging system.
US09231898B2
Various embodiments described herein facilitate multi-lingual communications. The systems and methods of some embodiments enable multi-lingual communications through different modes of communication including, for example, Internet-based chat, e-mail, text-based mobile phone communications, postings to online forums, postings to online social media services, and the like. Certain embodiments implement communication systems and methods that translate text between two or more languages. Users of the systems and methods may be incentivized to submit corrections for inaccurate or erroneous translations, and may receive a reward for these submissions. Systems and methods for assessing the accuracy of translations are described.
US09231897B1
Estimated value ratings for electronic messages such as email may be generated by scraping the content of the email and comparing the scraped content to characteristics of a prospective recipient. The recipient may also provide an actual value rating which may be compared to the estimated value rating. The recipient may also provide a desired value rating which may be compared with the estimated value rating. More effective electronic message marketing may thereby be provided for both senders and recipients.
US09231896B2
A computer system for use in load testing a service-oriented architecture (SOA) service has a processor and a memory storage device in communication with the processor. The processor is adapted to receive an XML message, an address for a service to be tested, an action compliant with a protocol for exchanging structured information in a decentralized, distributed environment and associated with the service; create and store in memory a template message package compliant with the protocol; create a populated message package compliant with the protocol by incorporating in the template message package the XML message, the address and the action; establish a connection to the service and furnish one or more documents and attachments to the service; and receive a response from the service.
US09231895B2
Alert messages are generated containing a text description of an interruption of service of a component in a networked computer system infrastructure; a service provider identity tag that identifies a type of service provider personnel required to engage the computer system infrastructure and abate or diagnose the service interruption; and one or more component tags that identify a component associated with the service interruption. A message board system posts the generated alert message on a support message board that is accessible by support team service provider professionals, each identified by the service provider identity tag and the component tags. Support team members post different reply messages that each comprise different service provider identity tags, and the message board system broadcasts different simple syndication outputs to different recipients based on their associations with the different respective service provider identity tags.
US09231890B2
One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch system. The switch includes one or more ports on the switch configured to transmit packets encapsulated based on a first protocol. The switch further includes a traffic management mechanism and a control mechanism. During operation, the control mechanism forms a logical switch based on a second protocol, receives an automatically assigned identifier for the logical switch without requiring manual configuration of the identifier, and joins a virtual cluster switch.
US09231886B2
Disclosed are a system and method of integrating an on-demand compute environment into a local compute environment. The method includes receiving a request from an administrator to integrate an on-demand compute environment into a local compute environment and, in response to the request, automatically integrating local compute environment information with on-demand compute environment information to make available resources from the on-demand compute environment to requestors of resources in the local compute environment.
US09231872B2
Embodiments of the invention provide the ability to use policy defined by the operator to control the interfaces on which data is sent and received by a device. The policy can be dynamically updated by the operator, by pushing new policy to the device for implementation. The policy can define that the device should switch certain data between two or more available interfaces at certain times, or may define when certain data may be sent or received over a particular interface. Advantageously, the device may receive new policy from the operator in order to help with the operator's own operational objectives. For example, the operator may be engaging in traffic shaping or other traffic limitation, for example to ease congestion or enforce service agreements.
US09231871B2
In general, techniques for implementing a flow distribution service using a plurality of traffic nodes that may operate as processing nodes of a distributed computing system are described. In some examples, the traffic nodes in the aggregate form a virtual appliance configured to apply a network service to packet flows.
US09231868B2
In a network device to be used for a packet handling, the network device includes a first unit to communicate with a controller according to a first protocol, and to receive a packet handling rule from the controller which is capable of sending the packet handling rule to a plurality of the network devices via a network between the controller and the network device. A second unit classifies, based on a classification rule for classifying a received packet, whether to handle the packet according to the packet handling rule sent from the controller or to handle the packet according to a table entry that the network device autonomously set based on a second protocol. A third unit requests the packet handling rule to the controller when the packet handling rule for forwarding the received packet is not set in the network device.
US09231866B2
An information handling system is provided. The information handling system includes a plurality of forwarding processors, the plurality of forwarding processors each including a memory having a forwarding host table and a forwarding route table. The information handling system also includes at least one switching device coupled to the plurality of forwarding processors, the at least one switching device including a memory having a destination module and port table, a switching device host table and a switching device route table, wherein the at least one switching device is configured to perform an extended lookup in at least one of the switching device host table and switching device route table based on values included in a fabric header of information routed to the switching device to determine a destination of the information. A method for extending lookup tables is also provided that adds lookup tables in a switching device.
US09231863B2
An information handling system is provided. The information handling system includes a plurality of core devices coupled to each other and to a plurality of distribution devices and a plurality of top-of-rack devices coupled to a plurality of servers and to the distribution devices. The plurality of servers are running hypervisors thereon that each manage a virtual switch and a plurality of virtual machines (VMs). The information handling system further includes a plurality of local network address resolution mediators, with each local network address resolution mediator running on one of the plurality of servers and receiving packets from VMs running thereon, and a global network address resolution mediator running on one of the plurality of core devices. The global network address resolution mediator is in communication with each of the plurality of local network address resolution mediators to collect and distribute packets from the plurality of VMs.
US09231860B2
Systems and methods for hierarchical link aggregation are disclosed. A system for hierarchical link aggregation may include a network interface having a plurality of physical ports. A first plurality of the physical ports may be configured as member ports of a first link aggregation group (LAG). A second plurality of the physical ports may be configured as member ports of a second LAG. The first LAG and second LAG may be configured as member logical ports of a third LAG.
US09231859B2
A system and method for ingress port identification in aggregate switches includes a network switching device including a controller, a first port coupling the network switching device to another network device, and one or more forwarding information tables being maintained by the controller. The network switching device is configured to receive a first packet at the first port, replicate the first packet, insert a first reserved ingress ID associated with the first port into the replicated first packet, and forward the replicated first packet to a first peer switch. The network switching device is part of an aggregate switch.
US09231848B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a novel solution that enables traditional network management services to be automated without requiring the standard user oversight often required by conventional networking systems. Embodiments of the present invention are operable to utilize in-band communications used by network devices within an existing Layer 2 network to automatically generate a virtualized Layer 2 management network. By using MAC address learning procedures and/or generating a logical convergence state for an existing physical Layer 2 network, embodiments of the present invention can generate a virtual layer 2 network interface that facilitates automatic network connectivity for new and/or existing network devices. As such, embodiments of the present invention can enable communication between various network layers (e.g., Layer 3/Layer 4 networks) that allows network devices to be bootstrapped to an existing network infrastructure in a manner that requires no configuration.
US09231847B2
Disclosed are an apparatus and method for processing a packet for routing and verifying a path in a domain. The apparatus for processing the packet includes an authentication processing unit configured to authenticate a transmission path of a packet in a corresponding node inside a domain; and a transmission processing unit configured to verify whether or not authentication has been performed such that a reception packet passes through the corresponding node and whether or not the packet has passed through an immediately previous node that is passed through along the transmission path and transmit the packet.
US09231845B1
A system is provided that identifies a device associated with a person who does not satisfy a threshold age. The system scans the digital media content of a content data store associated with the device and estimates an age threshold value of the files of the digital media content. Based on the estimated age threshold value of the files, the system determines that the device is used by a person who does not satisfy a threshold age and applies one or more content rules to a presentation of the digital media content. The content rules cause an alteration of the presentation of the digital media content.
US09231842B2
The present invention relates to a method for dynamic network pattern analysis of a mobile application, a system thereof, and a recording medium thereof. The system for dynamic network pattern analysis of a mobile application, comprising: a manage unit for managing a detecting application included in a wireless terminal device, the detecting application detecting network usage information of one or more analysis target applications; a reception unit for receiving the network usage information of the analysis target application included in the wireless terminal device through the detection application; a storage unit for accumulatively storing the network usage information received by the reception unit, in connection with information of the analysis target application, in a storage medium; and an analysis unit for obtaining network usage pattern information of the analysis target application by analyzing the network usage information accumulatively stored in the storage medium.
US09231829B2
A communication device that controls a transmission bandwidth of TCP communication includes a means for linearly increasing the transmission bandwidth of the TCP communication during a certain period of time after a data segment whose reception has been acknowledged enters an update state without detection of congestion in the TCP communication, a means for non-linearly increasing the transmission bandwidth after the certain period of time, a means for detecting congestion using a change rate of a discarding rate or a retransmission rate in the TCP communication, a means for estimating a retransmission rate and a change rate thereof using a previous history of the transmission bandwidth and a retransmission bandwidth, and a means for estimating a discarding rate and a change rate thereof using a previous history of the transmission bandwidth and an ACK reception number.
US09231812B2
The present invention relates to a method and a network coding node for resource allocation applicable to multi-directional network coding in an exchanging system. By estimating the number of bits per resource element (steps 402, 404) on uplink channels to a network coding node (200, 304, 504, 604), the number of resource elements for the sending on said uplinks is determined (step 410) to fully utilize the resources, i.e. such that link underutilization is avoided as well as incorporation of delays are avoided. The number of resource elements is decided such that the data transmitted to the network coding node is provided to end-nodes (302, 306, 502, 506, 602, 606) by sending one and the same representation of the data from a first and a second end-node, to said first and second end-nodes enabling extracting data originated from the differing end-node.
US09231803B2
A data receiver is disclosed, including an equalization process part, a multi-value oversampling part, and an equalization controller. The equalization process part equalizes serial received data before binarization and outputs the serial received data being equalized. The multi-value oversampling part binarizes the serial received data being equalized by multiple threshold values, conducts oversampling, and generates the multi-value sampling data. The equalization controller detects an eye pattern of the serial received data being equalized based on the multi-value oversampling data, and controls an equalization characteristic of the equalization process part based on a detection result.
US09231799B2
There is provided a Very Low Frequency (VLF) transmit antenna system, method, and apparatus for creating a magnetic field at low frequencies suitable for communications through the earth or other thick, solid barriers. At least two loop antennas are arranged such that a magnetic field of each one of the at least two loop antennas passes through each remaining one of the at least two loop antennas, thereby closely coupling the at least two loop antennas. A full bridge Pulse Width Modulated transmitter is directly connected to each loop antenna for driving the latter. When a loop of a given loop antenna is broken and its magnetic field collapses, the transmitters connected to the remaining loop antennas increase the current in the remaining loops to maintain a constant magnetic field.
US09231798B2
Embodiments of the present invention analyze a plurality of parallel channels and identify specific channel(s) that have skew outside of an acceptable skew error margin. In certain embodiments, this skew is identified by determining the timing misalignment between a channel under test and a deskew channel. Other channels within the plurality of channels are masked by transmitting a repeating masked bit pattern. This timing misalignment may be measured by comparing a segment within the channel under test to a corresponding segment within the deskew channel and identifying a time differential between the two segments.
US09231787B1
The present disclosure provides a method and system for fine estimation of a local oscillator frequency offset of a received signal at a coherent receiver, by evaluating the probability mass function (PMF) of the signal phase of output symbols at different frequencies. At frequencies other than the actual frequency offset, the signal phase is uniformly distributed in [−π,π] such that the summation of square of PMF (PMF sum-square) values is minimized. However at the actual frequency offset, the signal phase is no longer uniformly distributed over [−π,π]; in other words the signal phase will take some specific values in [−π,π], therefore a peak PMF sum-square value will result. This peak PMF value provides an indication of the actual offset frequency of the received signal.
US09231786B2
A method, system and apparatus are provided for performing peer-to-peer (P2P) data sharing operations between user equipment (UE) devices in a wireless-enabled communications environment. A first client node comprises content data and operates in a server peer mode to provide content data. A second client node submits a request to a P2P application server (P2P AS) for the content data. In response, the P2P AS provides the address of the first client node to the second client node. The second client node then uses the provided address to submit a request to the first client node to provide the content data. The first client node accepts the request and then provides the content data to the second client node.
US09231781B2
Link aggregation is a practice that uses multiple Ethernet links between two end points in order to obtain higher bandwidth and resiliency than possible with a single link. A flow distribution technique is provided to distribute traffic between the two end points equally across all links in the group and achieve greater efficiency. The flow distribution technique generates and sub-divides a hash value based on received packet flow. The divided portions of the hash value are used in a hierarchical fashion to select a link to use for this packet.
US09231774B2
Systems and methods are disclosed for controlling congestion in a Radio Access Network (RAN). One embodiment comprises a charging system of a network. The charging system receives a traffic report for a RAN indicating a congestion condition in an area of the RAN. The charging system then identifies a subscriber in the area of the RAN, identifies a service plan for the subscriber, and generates modified rules that deviate from predefined rules in the service plan of the subscriber in response to the congestion condition. The charging system then provides the modified rules to a network entity, such as a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), that performs policy and charging control for a service requested by the subscriber.
US09231766B2
An information processing device has a long-term registration system and a long-term signature system. The long-term registration system receives original data, sets attribute information with respect to the acquired original data, and associates the acquired original data with the set attribute information. The long-term signature system acquires long-term signature data obtained by performing a long-term signature on the associated original data and attribute information.
US09231762B2
A controlled device generates an authentication random number. A control device accepts input of a random number from an input device. The controlled device verifies if the displayed authentication random number and the random number transferred from the control device are identical to transfer a public key of the controlled device to the control device. The controlled device generates a token. The control device encrypts the token with the public key of the controlled device. The controlled device decrypts the token and verifies if the token transferred from the control device and the generated token are identical to generate a session key. The control device stores the session key into the storage device. The control device controlling the controlled device by encrypted communication using the session key.
US09231760B2
Embodiments of a wireless device and methods for rekeying with reduced packet loss in a wireless network are generally described herein. In some embodiments, during rekeying operations a new key for reception may be installed early (i.e., prior to receipt of a rekeying confirmation message). The use of the new key for transmission may be delayed until after receipt of the rekeying confirmation message. The early installation of the new key for reception may allow both the new key and old key to be active at the same time for use decrypting received packets to reduce packet loss during rekeying operations. The rekeying confirmation message may be the fourth message of a four-way handshake for rekeying. In some embodiments, two key identifiers may be alternated between four-way handshakes to prevent deletion of the old key.
US09231758B2
System, device, and method of provisioning cryptographic assets to electronic devices. A delegation message is generated at a first provisioning server. The delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning server to a second provisioning server with regard to subsequent provisioning of cryptographic assets to an electronic device. The delegation message includes an association key unknown to the first provisioning server, encrypted using a public key of the electronic device. The delegation message further includes a public key of the second provisioning server. The electronic device locally generates the association key, which is unknown to the first provisioning server. The delegation message is delivered to the electronic device. Based on the delegation message, cryptographic assets are provisioned by the second provisioning server to the electronic device, using the association key.
US09231749B2
Methods and systems are described for determining a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) and coding rate for an intercell signal in an LTE network. In one aspect, a plurality of potential RNTIs (that is a subset of all available RNTIs) associated with a received intercell signal is determined. A first signal based on a first potential combination of a one of the plurality of RNTIs and a coding rate is processed by a first decoder. Whether the first potential combination includes a correct RNTI and coding rate combination for the received intercell signal is determined based on at least one metric for the processed first signal. A second signal based on a second potential combination of a one of the plurality of RNTIs and a coding rate is processed by a second decoder if the first potential combination does not include the correct RNTI and coding rate combination.
US09231736B2
A response interframe space (RIFS) time period may be adapted in a communication system. The RIFS time period may be determined based, at least in part, on a processing time used by a receiving device to process a received physical layer transmission from a transmitting device. The RIFS may be optimized in consideration of channel conditions for a particular communications channel, capabilities of a receiving device, and/or characteristics of a particular physical layer transmission. For example, the RIFS may be dependent on characteristics of a final transmission symbol used to transmit a physical layer transmission. The RIFS may depend on a processing time associated with decoding forward error correction (FEC) encoded blocks that end in the final transmission symbol. The RIFS may depend on a quantity of decoding iterations in a communication system that uses iterative decoding of FEC encoded blocks.
US09231728B2
An optical module includes a waveguide substrate having an optical waveguide and electrodes that apply electronic signals to the optical waveguide; a relay substrate disposed adjacently to the waveguide substrate; and a termination substrate disposed sandwiching the waveguide substrate with the relay substrate. The electrodes respectively have a first wiring portion connected from the relay substrate through the waveguide substrate to the termination substrate and a second wiring portion extending from the first wiring portion and branching on the termination substrate. In the second wiring portion, one branched wiring portion has a capacitor and a termination resistor, and another branched wiring portion extends through a bias resistor to a DC electrode on the relay substrate. The second wiring portion is divided into a first group extending in a first direction along the optical waveguide and a second group extending in a direction opposite to the first direction.
US09231718B2
Various arrangements are directed to locating a television receiver. Multiple tuners of the television receiver may be simultaneously tuned to different television distribution satellites to receive timing signals. Using these timing signals, the location of the television receiver may be determined Based on a comparison between a stored, expected location of the television receiver and the determined location, the functionality of the television receiver may be adjusted.
US09231712B2
Signals propagating from an aggressor communication channel can cause detrimental interference in a victim communication channel. One or more noise cancellers can generate an interference compensation signal to suppress or cancel the interference based on one or more settings. A controller can execute algorithms to find preferred settings for the noise canceller(s). The controller can use a feedback signal (e.g., receive signal quality indicator) received from a victim receiver during the execution of the algorithm(s) to find the preferred settings. One exemplary algorithm includes sequentially evaluating the feedback resulting from a predetermined list of settings. Another algorithm includes determining whether to move from one setting to the next based on the feedback values for both settings. Yet another algorithm includes evaluating a number of sample settings to determine which of the sample settings result in a better feedback value and searching around that sample setting for a preferred setting.
US09231711B2
Method for mitigating interference is established by means of a local wireless communication (204, 206) between a first portable communication device (PCD) (102, 301) and a second PCD (104, 302). The first and second PCD (301, 302) respectively communicate with first wireless network (110, 306, 310) and second wireless network (112, 308, 312) having different wireless air interface protocols. The local wireless communication link (107) is used to share (208) information (109, 111) concerning one or both of the first and second PCD. The information is then used to determine a communication priority (210) as between the first and second PCD with respect to at least one communication mode. The information is also used to selectively establish (212) an interference mitigation policy (304) to provide assured communications for the PCD with priority. The interference mitigation policy is executed (214) in the first and second PCD to cooperatively provide assured communication for the PCD with priority.
US09231710B2
A method of reducing an on-chip memory associated with storing frame buffer in WCDMA receiver includes obtaining, at a WCDMA front end receiver, an signal, transmitting, by an analog to digital convertor, input samples to a digital to digital sigma-delta converter, converting, by a sample rate convertor, a sampling rate associated with the input samples to a desired sampling rate for a rake receiver, quantizing, by the digital to digital sigma-delta converter, the input samples with a first number of bits to a converted data samples of a reduced number of bits, storing, at a memory unit, the converted data samples of the reduced number of bits, filtering the noise from the converted data samples to obtain a noise filtered converted data samples of the reduced number of bits, and decoding, at a WCDMA receiver processing unit, the noise filtered converted data samples over an entire radio frame.
US09231706B2
A drive circuit includes a duty cycle adjusting circuit that changes the duty cycle of a first signal; and a calculating circuit that with respect to signals that include the first signal for which the duty cycle has been adjusted and a second signal having a phase and amplitude that differ from that of the first signal, performs any one of subtracting one of the signals from the other signal and adding the signals.
US09231697B2
A free-space optical (FSO) transceiver can include a transmission protocol configured to encapsulate outgoing network packets in by employing a reliable ordered protocol that relies on retransmission of lost data to form outgoing encapsulated packets. The transmission protocol controller can be configured to employ a congestion algorithm that optimizes throughput over a lossy link. The FSO transceiver can also include a transmitter configured to provide an output optical signal corresponding to the outgoing encapsulated packets over an FSO link.
US09231672B2
A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) capable system is contemplated. The communication system may include a signal processor configured to separate an input stream into multiple signal paths to facilitate simultaneous transport through a communication medium. The capability to simultaneously transmit multiples signal paths may be beneficial in order to maximize throughput and/or minimize expense.
US09231662B2
A system, method, and apparatus for negotiating a communication link between first and second near field communication (NFC) devices is disclosed. A third NFC device is placed in close proximity with a first host device operatively containing the first NFC device to determine communication information including at least one of a communication mechanism and a data transfer protocol usable by the first host device. The communication information usable by the first host device is stored in a portable device operatively containing the third NFC device. The third NFC device is momentarily placed in close proximity with the second NFC device. The stored communication information of the first host device is transferred from the portable device to a second host device operatively containing the second NFC device. A communication link is established between the first and second host devices to enable the first and second host devices to transfer data between them as a function of the determined communication information.
US09231659B2
The present invention is to provide a PLC device having noise detecting and filtering functions, which includes a power receiving port having one end connected to a power supply unit for receiving a power signal and a network signal; a noise filtering circuit having one end connected to the other end of the power receiving port for filtering noise of the power signal passing therethrough; a power output port connected between the other end of the noise filtering circuit and a load; a noise detecting circuit having two ends connected to a line between the first filtering unit and power receiving port and a line between the first filtering unit and power output port, respectively; and a processing unit connected to a line between the first filtering unit and power receiving port for receiving the network signal from the noise detecting circuit and transmitting the same to a network apparatus.
US09231655B2
A system and method for power control in a physical layer device. Energy savings during an active state can be produced through the monitoring of a received signal level by a receiver in a physical layer device. In one embodiment, based on an indication of the received signal level or other communication characteristic of the transmission medium, a control module can adjust the signal level or amplitude and/or adjust the voltage supply.
US09231648B2
Methods and apparatus for frequency offset estimation and correction prior to preamble detection of DSSS signals. An integrated circuit is disclosed including a receiver circuit having an input coupled to receive a DSSS signal, the receiver circuit configured to sample the DSSS signal and to output a sequence of digital samples; carrier frequency offset estimation logic configured to perform a carrier frequency offset estimation on the digital samples; carrier frequency correction logic configured to correct the carrier frequency of the sequence of digital samples using the carrier frequency offset estimation and to output a sequence of corrected digital samples; offset quadrature phase shift keying (O-QPSK) demodulation logic configured to perform demodulation on the corrected digital samples and further configured to output symbols corresponding to the corrected digital samples; and preamble identification configured to identify and detect a preamble sequence in the symbols. Additional methods and apparatus are disclosed.
US09231638B2
A high-speed communication control system is provided to resolve the problem of transmission delay, while a communication capacity is ensured.A communication system includes a transmission station 13 and a reception station 15. A communication system 17 includes an optical fiber line 19 and a wireless path 21 that connect the transmission station 13 to the reception station 15 so that information is transmitted and received. The transmission station 13 includes a communication control unit 11 that controls a communication path. The reception station 15 is able to communicate with the transmission station 13. The communication control unit 11 controls whether the information is transmitted to the reception station 15 via one of the optical fiber line 19 and the wireless path 21.
US09231635B2
A circuit having a component for signal recovery, such as an adaptive equalizer, may be tested in order to ensure that the component operates properly. Unfortunately, external test equipment may be expensive and prone to being damaged. According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a circuit including BIST (Built-in Self-Test) circuitry for testing a component for signal recovery with a stress signal that simulates an imperfect signal received over a communication channel. The circuit also has a detector for determining whether the component is operating properly with the stress signal. Thus, no external test equipment is needed for testing the component. In some implementations, the BIST circuitry includes a low-pass filter for filtering a transmit signal into the stress signal. Thus, the amount of circuitry involved in generating the stress signal can be reduced.
US09231634B2
A compensation apparatus is provided which performs a compensation process of removing an image component in a quadrature-demodulated signal. The compensation apparatus includes a quadrature demodulation compensation section that compensates for the quadrature-demodulated signal including an I signal and a Q signal. The quadrature demodulation compensation section is configured to perform a compensation process of compensating for a characteristic difference between the frequency characteristic of a first filter that performs filtering of the I signal and the frequency characteristic of a second filter that performs filtering of the Q signal.
US09231631B1
A driver circuit includes unit slice circuits that generate an output data signal based on an input data signal. The driver circuit reduces a voltage swing of the output data signal without changing a termination resistance of the driver circuit in response to decreasing a number of the unit slice circuits that generate the output data signal based on the input data signal.
US09231622B2
A data encoding circuit and a corresponding method is provided. The data encoding circuit includes a first data formatter in communication with an encoder section. The first data formatter is configured to receive blocks of source data in serial and output parallel two dimensional source data. The encoder receives the parallel two dimensional source data and that computes a plurality of serial row parity bits and a plurality of parallel column parity bits of an error correcting code from the parallel two dimensional source data. A second data formatter communicates with the encoder section and receives the parallel column parity bits and outputs serial column parity bits.
US09231620B2
An iterative decoding device includes a decoder, a dual mode determination unit and a dual mode scaling unit. The decoder is utilized for receiving a set of soft information (SI) and iteratively decoding the set of SI and updating the set of SI accordingly to generate a set of updated SI. The dual mode determination unit is coupled to the decoder for generating a determination result according to the set of updated SI. The dual mode scaling unit is coupled to the dual mode determination unit and the decoder for scaling the set of updated SI according to the determination result to generate a set of scaled SI acting as an input of the decoder for next iteration.
US09231616B2
Unified binarization for CABAC/CAVLC entropy coding. Scalable entropy coding is implemented in accordance with any desired degree of complexity (e.g., entropy encoding and/or decoding). For example, appropriately implemented context-adaptive variable-length coding (CAVLC) and context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) allow for selective entropy coding in accordance with a number of different degrees of complexity. A given device may operate in accordance with a first level complexity a first time, a second level complexity of the second time, and so on. Appropriate coordination and signaling between an encoder/transmitter device and a decoder/receiver device allows for appropriate coordination along a desired degree of complexity. For example, a variable length binarization module and an arithmetic encoding module may be implemented within an encoder/transmitter device and a corresponding arithmetic decoding module and a variable length bin decoding module may be implemented within a decoder/receiver device allowing for entropy coding along various degrees of complexity.
US09231615B2
An apparatus having a circuit is disclosed. The circuit may be configured to (i) generate a sequence of hash values in a table from a stream of data values with repetitive values, (ii) find two consecutive ones of the hash values in the sequence that have a common value and (iii) create a shortened hash chain by generating a pointer in the table at an intermediate location that corresponds to a second of the two consecutive hash values. The pointer generally points forward in the table to an end location that corresponds to a last of the data values in a run of the data values.
US09231614B2
The present disclosure describes a mechanism to digitally correct for the static mismatch of the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in at least the first-stage of a multi-stage noise shaping (MASH) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The correction is applicable to continuous-time implementations, and is especially attractive for high-speed applications.
US09231612B2
Embodiments of a digital-to-analog conversion system that utilizes a specialized clock signal to reshape an analog impulse response of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) are disclosed. Preferably, a shape of the specialized clock signal is such that Nyquist images resulting from digital-to-analog conversion are controlled in a desired manner. In one embodiment, the digital-to-analog conversion system includes a DAC that converts a digital input signal into an analog output signal. A specialized clock signal is applied to the analog output signal of the DAC such that an analog impulse response of the DAC is reshaped according to a shape of the specialized clock signal, thereby providing a modified analog output signal. The specialized clock signal reshapes the analog impulse response of the DAC such that Nyquist images resulting from digital-to-analog conversion are controlled in a desired manner.
US09231611B2
An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) system and method. The ADC system in accord with one embodiment includes a sampling digital-to-analog converter configured to sample a combination of an analog signal value and an analog dither value, and a control circuit comprising a mismatch-shaping encoder. The control circuit is configured to sequentially apply a plurality of digital codes to the sampling digital-to-analog converter during an analog-to-digital conversion operation to derive a digital code representing the combination of the analog signal value and the analog dither value. Several embodiments are presented.
US09231606B2
A fractional-N divider of a frequency synthesizer is driven by a dither-less error feedback modulator to alleviate fractional spurious tones introduced by the cyclic train of division ratios from delta-sigma modulators. A first feedback loop generates the feedback signal. A second feedback loop disrupts fractional spurious tones and a third feedback loop provides approximately zero static error.
US09231605B2
Methods and devices for phase adjustment include a phase detector that is configured to compare a reference clock and a feedback clock and to generate two output signals. A difference in time between pulse widths of the two output signals corresponds to a phase difference between the reference clock and the feedback clock. A programmable delay line is configured to delay an earlier output signal in accordance with a predicted deterministic phase error. An oscillator is configured to generate a feedback signal in accordance with the delayed output signal. A divider is configured to divide a frequency of the oscillator output by an integer N. The integer N is varied to achieve an average fractional divide ratio and the predicted deterministic phase error is based on the average divide ratio and an instantaneous divide ratio.
US09231600B1
A number of methods and clock generator units are disclosed to produce low Phase Noise clocks for use in Radio Frequency systems. The methods and clock generator units all use two reference clocks: a frequency-accurate reference that has comparatively high Phase Noise, and a frequency-inaccurate reference such as that from a BAW or MEMS clock source that has comparatively low Phase Noise. By combining multiple Phase-Locked Loops and a mixer, it is possible to produce flexible output frequencies whose frequency accuracy is derived from the first reference clock but whose Phase Noise level is derived from the second reference clock, all in a readily-integrated and relatively low-cost system.
US09231596B2
A method and an apparatus for a duty-cycled injection locked oscillator is provided for frequency shift keyed (FSK) signal transmissions. The oscillator includes a resonance LC tank and a first switching device. The first switching device is coupled to the resonance LC tank and injects an initial current pulse with a predetermined pulse magnitude into the resonance LC tank. The initial current pulse also fixes an initial phase of the duty-cycled injection locked free-running oscillator in response to the predetermined magnitude of the initial current pulse to enable fast settling of injection locking and high data rate operation of the duty-cycled injection locked oscillator. The oscillator also includes a second switching device, such as a differential pair of switching devices. The second switching device is coupled to the LC resonance tank for injecting a gated periodic reference signal having a duty cycle modified to reduce power of the reference signal by approximately seventy-five per cent.
US09231589B2
A reference output device includes a low side selector configured to select a first voltage level as an output signal. The output signal is a reference voltage. The reference output device also includes a high side selector configured to select a second voltage level as the output signal. The reference output device also includes a slew rate control configured to switch the output signal between the first voltage level and the second voltage level at a constant slew rate.
US09231586B2
The invention relates, in particular, to an inductive proximity or distance sensor. The invention proposes that a core 9 of an inductive sensor unit 5 of the proximity sensor 1, which projects into a coil carrier 7, have a rectangular cross-sectional profile.
US09231582B1
Methods, systems, circuits, and devices for power-packet-switching power converters using bidirectional bipolar transistors (BTRANs) for switching. Four-terminal three-layer BTRANs provide substantially identical operation in either direction with forward voltages of less than a diode drop. BTRANs are fully symmetric merged double-base bidirectional bipolar opposite-faced devices which operate under conditions of high non-equilibrium carrier concentration, and which can have surprising synergies when used as bidirectional switches for power-packet-switching power converters. BTRANs are driven into a state of high carrier concentration, making the on-state voltage drop very low.
US09231581B2
According to an embodiment of a method, a semiconductor device is operated in a reverse biased unipolar mode before operating the semiconductor device in an off-state in a forward biased mode. The semiconductor device includes at least one floating parasitic region disposed outside a cell region of the device.
US09231578B2
An auxiliary voltage generating unit for a radio frequency switch includes a first input and a second input respectively configured to receive a first control signal and a second control signal, wherein the first control signal and the second control signal are configured to control which one of a plurality of paths in the radio frequency switch is enabled, and at least one output, configured to output an auxiliary voltage, derived from at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal, that is used to operate the radio frequency switch. The auxiliary voltage may be a bias voltage and/or a voltage used to power an inverter used to enable a selected branch as an isolation branch or shunt branch.
US09231575B2
A circuit is configured to generate periodic control signals including at least two mutually phase-shifted control signals. The circuit includes a plurality of generator circuits, where a separate generator circuit is provided for each control signal output by the circuit. Each generator circuit includes a phase value memory configured to store a phase value, where the phase value defines a phase shift. Each generator circuit includes an activation input and, in response to application of an activation level to the activation input, is configured to initiate a generation of a control signal which is phase-shifted by an amount defined by the phase value. The activation inputs of the generator circuits are connected together to an activation circuit for outputting an activation level to the generator circuits simultaneously.
US09231571B2
A programmable frequency receiver includes a slicer for receiving data at a first frequency, a de-multiplexer for de-multiplexing the data at a second frequency, a programmable clock generator for generating a clock at the first frequency, and first and second resonant clock amplifiers for amplifying clock signals at the first and second frequencies. The resonant clock amplifiers include an inductor having a low Q value, allowing them to amplify clock signals over the programmable frequency range of the receiver. The second resonant clock amplifier includes digitally tunable delay elements to delay and center the amplified clock signal of the second frequency in the data window at the interface between the slicer and the de-multiplexer. The delay elements can be capacitors. A calibration circuit adjusts capacitive elements within a master clock generator to generate a master clock at the first frequency.
US09231568B2
A circuit reducing phase noise of an oscillator includes a transistor, an impedance element coupled to the transistor, a inverting circuit coupled to one end of the impedance element, and an add circuit coupled to the inverting circuit and the other end of the impedance element, wherein the signals from the two ends of the impedance element is superimposed and sent out to reduce phase noise of an oscillator.
US09231567B2
A random number generator and method for testing the same are described. In one embodiment, the random number generator comprises one or more ring oscillator structures, each of the one or more ring oscillator structures having a ring oscillator for use in generating random numbers and having a test structure to reconfigure the ring oscillator into a testable structure.
US09231559B1
A vector sum circuit for producing a radio frequency (RF) output at a selectable phase offset includes an RF input configured to receive a differential pair RF input. A quadrature network produces an additional pair of RF inputs whose phase is advanced 90 degrees (90°) with reference to the first differential pair RF input, thereby producing four RF input signals offset at 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°. For each RF input signal, a set of three cascodes, having a plurality of NPN transistors and each emitter being commonly connected to an RF input. The first cascode steers current to a first output node, the second cascode steers current to a second output node and the third cascode shunts current to the voltage rail. By selectively steering current from the quadrature RF inputs to a selected output, an output signal having a desired phase shift is achieved.
US09231556B2
An acoustic wave filter having reduced non-linearities as well as a production method are disclosed. A filter comprises a first electroacoustic transducer having a first metallization ratio and a second electroacoustic transducer having a second metallization ratio. The metallization ratios range from 0.2 to 0.8, and the metallization ratio of the first transducer is no more than 0.8 times the metallization ratio of the second transducer.
US09231554B2
A tuning fork type vibrator element, as a vibrator element, includes a base formed on a plane including a first axis and a second axis orthogonal to the first axis, a connection portion extending in a first axis direction from the base, with a thickness thereof being smaller than that of the base and a vibrating arm extending in the first axis direction from one end portion of the connection portion, with a thickness thereof being the same as that of the connection portion, in which the vibrating arm performs flexural vibration along a vertical direction with respect to the plane, and in which the connection portion is provided such that a relationship between a length L2 in the first axis direction of the connection portion and a length L1 in the first axis direction of the vibrating arm falls within a range of L1/15≦L2≦L1.
US09231553B2
A configuration that reduces a parasitic capacitance between wires is achieved at a low cost. Disclosed is an acoustic wave filter provided with a piezoelectric substrate, resonators that include a comb-shaped electrode formed on the piezoelectric substrate, a wiring portion that is connected to the comb-shaped electrode, and a dielectric layer formed to cover the comb-shaped electrode. The wiring portion is provided with a lower layer wiring portion that is disposed in the same layer as the comb-shaped electrode and an upper layer wiring portion that is disposed on the lower layer wiring portion. The upper layer wiring portion includes a region that has a wider electrode width than the electrode width of the lower layer wiring portion.
US09231540B2
A class AB operational amplifier includes an input stage, an output stage and a level shifter stage to control the quiescent current of the output stage and to transfer the signal from the input stage to the output stage, and a control circuit of the level shifter stage. The control circuit includes a transistor differential pair having a differential input terminals and the differential voltage at the differential terminals of the differential pair controls the level shifter stage.
US09231539B2
An amplifier, comprising: an input node; an output node; a gain stage having a gain stage inverting input, a gain stage non-inverting input and a gain stage output; a feedback capacitor connected in a signal path between the gain stage output and the gain stage inverting input; a sampling capacitor connected between the input node and the gain stage inverting input, and a controllable impedance in parallel with the feedback capacitor, wherein the controllable impedance is operable to switch between a first impedance state in which it does not affect current flow through the feedback capacitor, and a second impedance state in which it cooperates with the feedback capacitor form a bandwidth limiting circuit.
US09231538B1
An energy efficient, low distortion amplification apparatus includes: a differential amplifier having a pair of differential inputs, a pair of outputs, and a bias current control input; a digital delay having an n-bit word input and an m-bit word output; a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) having an input coupled to the output of the digital delay and a pair of differential outputs coupled to the pair of differential inputs of the differential amplifier; and a bias current controller having an input coupled to the digital delay and having an output coupled to the bias current control input of the differential amplifier.
US09231529B2
A low-noise amplifier is provided that includes an input amplifier stage coupled to a plurality of independently switchable output amplifier stages. The input amplifier stage is operative to amplify an input communications signal, and it provides both an amplified communications signal and a feedforward signal. The amplified communications signal and the feedforward signal both include a distortion component. Each of the switchable output stages is operative to provide an output that combines the feedforward signal with the amplified communications signal in such a way that the distortion components of the signals at least partially cancel one another. In some embodiments, the switching of the output amplifier stages is performed by circuitry that also serves to improve reverse isolation of the separate output amplifier stages.
US09231524B2
Examples of a digital transceiver, a switched-capacitor sampling mixer, and an N-stage switched-capacitor amplifier are generally described herein. The digital transceiver may include a plurality of switched-capacitor sampling mixers and a plurality of N-stage switched-capacitor amplifiers. Each mixer samples a received differential RF signal. The pair of N-stage switched-capacitor amplifiers operates as charge redistribution amplifiers. Each N-stage switched-capacitor amplifier provides a near-constant capacitive load for one of the mixers.
US09231523B2
A modulating device including: a first convertor configured to generate a converted analog signal by analog conversion on a input digital signal, a modulator configured to generate a modulated signal by quadrature modulation, a phase shifter configured to generate a phase shift signal by phase rotation, a demodulator configured to generate a demodulated signal by quadrature demodulation, a second convertor to generate a converted digital signal by digital conversion, a calculating circuit configured to estimate a the first direct current offset based on the input digital signal and the converted digital signal, the first direct current offset being a noise of digital current component generated between the input digital signal inputted to the first convertor and the output signal inputted to the demodulator, and a correcting circuit configured to correct at least one among from the input digital signal to the output signal based on the first direct current offset.
US09231507B2
A motor driving circuit includes a magnetic-pole-position detecting unit that detects a rotating position of a rotor of a permanent magnet synchronous motor, a voltage output unit that converts a direct-current voltage and generates a driving voltage for the permanent magnet synchronous motor, a voltage control unit that controls the voltage output unit on the basis of a comparison result of a modulation wave and a carrier wave, a voltage-phase adjusting unit that determines, using a differential amplifier circuit that receives a rotating speed control signal and an offset signal, a phase of the modulation wave generated by the voltage control unit and causes the voltage control unit to generate the modulation wave in the determined phase, and an offset generating unit that generates the offset signal.
US09231504B2
An electrical control system having a direct current to direct current regulator receiving a direct current supply input, wherein the regulator outputs a controlled voltage direct current inverter power feed. Included is an inverter in electrical communication with the regulator and receives the controlled voltage direct current inverter power feed, the inverter outputs an alternating current motor power feed to a permanent magnet brushless direct current motor that outputs a shaft rotational speed and a back electromotive force. Also, a control is provided for regulating the controlled voltage direct current inverter power feed based upon criteria utilizing the back electromotive force or an auxiliary motor stator wire loop signal in conjunction with an optional voltage look-up table to substantially make the controlled voltage result in a reduction of a pulse width modulation switching frequency to further smooth and reduce harmonic of the alternating current waveform to increase motor efficiency.
US09231502B2
A motor control system includes a voltage regulating module, an auxiliary activating module, and a drive module. The voltage regulating module is operable to receive a voltage and generate an electrical level regulated voltage by regulating the voltage. The auxiliary activating module is operable to generate a constant duty cycle signal and output the constant duty cycle signal for a period. The drive module is operable to receive the electrical level regulated voltage and the constant duty cycle signal, and control a motor based on the electrical level regulated voltage and the constant duty signal. Also, the present invention also discloses a fan which is applied to the above-mentioned motor control system.
US09231501B2
An energy retrieving device includes a first rectifier circuit, a direct current (DC) link circuit, a second rectifier circuit, an energy retrieving unit, a motor controller, and a micro control unit (MCU). The MCU includes an energy retrieving control module, to control the energy retrieving unit to work according to control of a processing module. The processing module detects whether a motor deceleration signal is generated by the motor, and controls the energy retrieving control module to make the energy retrieving unit retrieve power when the motor deceleration signal is generated by the motor.
US09231491B2
In an embodiment, a compact factory assembled and tested cabinet-based Direct Current (DC) power system includes at least one Alternating Current (AC) to DC converter disposed in a cabinet as at least one interchangeable module. An AC input section is also disposed in the cabinet and supplies AC power to the converter(s). At least one other electrical component is disposed in the cabinet, possibly as a module and it receives DC power from the converter(s). Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US09231488B2
A power converter includes a full-bridge converter circuit and a regulation circuit. The full-bridge converter circuit includes a full-bridge circuit having a first and a second input terminals and a first and a second output terminals. The regulation circuit is bridged across the first and the second input terminals of the full-bridge circuit and connected to the first output terminal of the full-bridge circuit. The regulation circuit is configured for operatively regulating an output voltage across the first and the second output terminals of the full-bridge circuit by cooperating with the full-bridge converter circuit, such that the output voltage across the first and the second output terminals of the full-bridge circuit has more than three voltage levels. A method for controlling a power converter is also disclosed herein.
US09231484B2
A switching power supply apparatus includes a voltage step-up converter that increases input voltage in response to turning on and off of a switching element, a transformer including a primary winding and a secondary winding and the primary winding of which is connected to the output of the voltage step-up converter, a microcontroller that controls the turning on and off of the switching element, an input voltage detection circuit that detects input voltage of the microcontroller, and an intermediate bus voltage detection circuit that detects intermediate bus voltage from the microcontroller. The input voltage detection circuit and the intermediate bus voltage detection circuit are circuits including elements having the same specifications. The microcontroller controls the turning on and off of the switching element based on a result of calculation from voltage values detected by the input voltage detection circuit and the intermediate bus voltage detection circuit.
US09231480B2
A power supply device includes a main unit and a power switching module. The main unit includes a primary circuit board, a transformer including a primary and a secondary coil, a primary-side circuit and a secondary-side circuit. The power switching module includes a separate PCB formed with at least two connection pads and two conductive tracks, and at least one power switching element disposed on the PCB and having two terminals respectively connected to the two connection pads through the two conductive tracks. The power switching module is in the form of a separate PCB that is electrically connected to the primary- or secondary-side circuits through the two connection pads.
US09231477B2
A system and method are provided for controlling a soft-switched modified buck regulator circuit. A voltage (Vx) across or a current through a pull-down switching mechanism within the modified buck regulator circuit is sensed when the pull-down switching mechanism is enabled, where the pull-down switching mechanism is coupled to an upstream end of an inductor and is coupled in parallel with a capacitor. A target time when the pull-down switching mechanism will be disabled (tlf) is computed and the pull-down transistor is disabled at the computed target time.
US09231471B2
The present invention employs a resonant inductor, a resonant capacitor and a hybrid transformer using a Hybrid-switching method with three switches which results in two distinct switched-networks: one for ON-time interval and another for OFF-time interval. Resonant inductor is placed in series with the hybrid transformer primary to insure the continuity of primary and secondary currents at the switching transitions and thus eliminating completely the potential switching losses at the switching transitions. In the best use of the invention the resonant inductor is replaced by use of the inherent leakage inductance of the transformer and for the first time eliminate the switching losses always associated with the transformer leakage inductance of all other switching converters. The output voltage is controlled by the standard Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) duty ratio control.
US09231470B2
A control circuit, a time calculating unit, and operating method for control circuit are disclosed. The control circuit is operated in a power converter and coupled to a load. The control circuit includes an output stage and a time calculating unit. The time calculating unit receives a control signal and a reference voltage and provides a switch conducting signal to the output stage. The generation of the control signal is related to an output voltage of the power converter. When the difference between the control signal and the reference voltage becomes larger due to the change of the load, the time calculating unit dynamically increases an on-time of the switch conducting signal.
US09231467B2
A method of managing recovery from an event in an electrical circuit leading to a loss of control of an inverter in the electrical circuit is disclosed, the method comprising sampling a parameter of operation before the event, monitoring for occurrence of the event, calculating an estimated value of the parameter at a time after the event based on an extrapolation of the monitored parameter and controlling the inverter using the estimated value of the parameter.
US09231464B2
A method is disclosed for reducing the common mode current flowing between the internal ground of an electrical circuit in an automotive vehicle, and the earth, when electric power is exchanged between an electric power storage unit of the electrical circuit and an electric power source external to the circuit. An electronic component is used to apply an electrical quantity as a function of the common mode current to an injection point in the circuit in order to reduce the common mode current. The value of the common mode current is obtained using a measuring device having a magnetic torus configured to be traversed by an electric line by which the electric power is exchanged, the electric line forming a primary winding, a secondary winding, wound about said torus for generating a magnetic flux on the basis of a reference current, and an oscillator for generating the reference current through the secondary winding.
US09231463B2
A converter for supplying a regulated voltage from an input to a load is disclosed. The converter supplies a regulated DC voltage from an input to a load using a power switch driven by a gate driver. It also includes a control loop for carrying a load condition signal and a control signal. The converter also includes a controller located on the control loop that generates the control signal based on the load signal. The controller is located on a first integrated circuit. The gate driver is located on a second integrated circuit. The load condition signal is encoded on the first integrated circuit and is decoded on the second integrated circuit.
US09231461B2
This specification describes technologies relating to converting vibration energy to electrical energy through electromagnetic transduction. According to an aspect, an apparatus to convert kinetic energy to electricity through electromagnetic transduction can include: an array of magnets arranged in a first plane; and an array of coils arranged in a second plane with respect to the first plane to form a gap between the array of magnets and the array of coils. According to another aspect, an energy harvester can include: a two dimensional array of magnets; a two dimensional array of coils; a housing configured and arranged to limit a direction of motion of either the two dimensional array of magnets or the two dimensional array of coils; and additional magnets configured and arranged to form a suspension system for either the two dimensional array of magnets or the two dimensional array of coils in the direction of motion.
US09231457B2
A switched reluctance apparatus and method of operating the same. The apparatus has an inner stator having a plurality of poles, a rotor disposed radially outward of the inner stator and having a plurality of segments serving as poles, and an outer stator disposed radially outward of the rotor and having a plurality of poles. A respective winding is disposed between every pair of adjacent poles of either stator. The apparatus operates with a plurality of separately excitable phases, a given phase being excited by energizing the windings corresponding to the given phase. Excitation of a given phase causes induction of magnetic fluxes traversing a region substantially confined to the region of the stators and rotor segments corresponding to the given phase, and causes a substantial amount of flux to enter rotor segments not in the radial direction but perpendicular to the radial direction.
US09231454B2
A motor includes a stationary unit, a rotary unit, and a bearing unit. The stationary unit includes a stator, a PCB and a base member. The stator includes a stator core and coils. The stator is arranged radially outward of the bearing unit. The PCB includes through-hole portions, land portions and PCB fixing portions. The base member includes a stator holding portion arranged to hold the stator and a bearing holding portion arranged to hold the bearing unit. The rotary unit includes a shaft positioned radially inward of the bearing unit and a magnet opposed to a circumferential surface of the stator core. The through-hole portions are arranged along a circumferential direction of the PCB. At least a portion of the PCB axially overlaps with the bearing unit. The PCB fixing portions are arranged radially outward of the through-hole portions.
US09231450B2
A stator core is sandwiched between a first frame and a second frame. A fastening member fastens the first frame and the second frame. The first frame includes a ring flange that is in contact with an attachment surface of the motor attachment portion. The flange includes a fixing portion fixed to the attachment surface and a fastening portion, which receives fastening force by the fastening member. The first frame includes a deform suppression portion for suppressing deformation of the fixing member when the fastening member is fastened.
US09231442B2
A power supply circuit comprising: a load; a resistor coupled the load; a first secondary battery; a second secondary battery; a switch configured to switch between a first state in which the first secondary battery and the second secondary battery are charged and a second state in which load current is supplied from the first secondary battery and the second secondary battery to the load based on current flowing through the resistor; and a shunt regulator configured to control the switch.
US09231439B2
A method for estimating an efficiency of a power device includes identifying a state of operation of the power device, measuring power-related information produced by the power device, and determining an estimated efficiency of the power device based in part on the state of operation of the power device and power loss parameters associated with the power device by using the measured power-related information. Other methods and devices for measuring efficiency are further disclosed.
US09231426B2
A charge control device includes a control circuit configured to monitor a charge voltage and a charge current of a battery and perform output feedback control upon the charge voltage and the charge current to thereby achieve constant voltage charge or constant current charge of the battery; and an adjusting circuit configured to adjust the output feedback control of the control circuit based on charge state information of the battery obtained by a gas gauge device.
US09231415B2
A stored electric power discharging circuit for an inverter device includes a group of series resistors configured to be connected in parallel to a plurality of main circuit capacitors in a normal operation, a voltage stabilization circuit configured to stabilize interterminal voltages of the respective main circuit capacitor according to a divided voltage of the series resistors during the normal operation, and a control switch having a control input and configured to cut the direct connection between the series resistors at a time of power-off, thereby breaking a voltage stability state of the main circuit capacitors by the voltage stabilization circuit.
US09231414B2
A discharge device and method actively discharge a main capacitor in an electric-power system of an electric-drive vehicle. The discharge device comprises a discharge branch of a circuit that is connected in parallel to the main capacitor and includes a discharge transistor that is biased to “conduction” mode when the main capacitor is required to be discharged. A control device is connected to a “gate/base” terminal of the discharge transistor and commands the discharge transistor, biasing the discharge resistor to “conduction” mode when the main capacitor is required to be discharged. The control device includes a safety capacitor that is interposed between the “gate/base” terminal and a power supply and charges when the discharge transistor is in the “conduction” mode, causing a progressive decrease of current at the “gate/base” terminal, until the discharge transistor is biased to the “non-conductive” state.
US09231411B2
An inductive wireless power system using an array of coils with the ability to dynamically select which coils are energized. The coil array can determine the position of and provide power to one or more portable electronic devices positioned on the charging surface. The coils in the array may be connected with series resonant capacitors so that regardless of the number of coils selected, the resonance point is generally maintained. The coil array can provide spatial freedom, decrease power delivered to parasitic loads, and increase power transfer efficiency to the portable electronic devices.
US09231410B2
A case for an electronic device is provided. The case includes a battery, an interface to receive electrical current from an external power source, and a computer processor. The computer processor is configured to execute computer-readable instructions to receive a communication from the electronic device, limit the received electrical current to a current limit, and allocate the electrical current among the battery and the electronic device based on the received communication.
US09231406B2
A mid-voltage variable-frequency driving system and a total harmonic distortion compensation control method are provided in this invention. The mid-voltage variable-frequency driving system includes a total harmonic distortion compensation unit. The total harmonic distortion compensation unit is used to perform an optimal adjustment on a reactive component reference value of a grid-side phase current, such that a harmonic component of the grid-side phase current may be reduced and a power factor of a three-phase switch-mode rectifier module within the mid-voltage variable-frequency driving system may be maintained.
US09231403B2
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit (FIG. 3C) is disclosed. The circuit includes a bipolar transistor (304) having a base, collector, and emitter. Each of a plurality of diodes (308-316) has a first terminal coupled to the base and a second terminal coupled to the collector. The collector is connected to a first terminal (V+). The emitter is connected to a first power supply terminal (V−).
US09231400B2
Disclosed are advances in the arts with novel and useful voltage transient protection circuitry in configurations which include a bridge circuit in combination with one or more voltage reference, load to ground circuit, and/or snub circuit such that the output node is held at a selected voltage level, preferably mid-rail, and potentially damaging transient voltages are avoided.
US09231397B2
A cable gland assembly includes a mounting member mounted in a predetermined object, one or multiple connection members, an outer cap, and one first packing device and one or multiple second packing devices mounted in the mounting member between the connection members and the outer cap and compressible by the outer cap and the connection members to wrap about the periphery of an inserted cable and to provide multiple packing effects. Thus, the cable gland assembly has high IP rating, and is practical for dynamic mechanical application, or application in a deep-water environment or high explosive atmosphere.
US09231392B2
An electrical assembly having a support, a mounting member and an electrical device attached to the mounting member and the support. The mounting member is a one piece integrally formed unit having an interior cavity for receiving electrical wires from the power source and supplying the electrical wires to the electrical device. The mounting member has a coupling at a first end of the mounting member with internal threads having an annular recess receiving a seal member for forming a weatherproof seal with the support while allowing limited rotational adjustment of the mounting member with the support and maintaining the weatherproof seal. The mounting member has a second end with a coupling having external threads complementing the internal threads of the first coupling to enable a plurality of the mounting members to be coupled together and forming a weatherproof connection between the adjacent mounting members.
US09231383B2
The present invention discloses a corona discharge assembly, including: an ionization discharge chamber, wherein the ionization discharge chamber includes a metal corona cylinder, and the metal corona cylinder is provided with an inlet of a gas to be analyzed and an annular piece-shaped port which forms a non-uniform electric field with corona pins and is provided with a circular hole at the middle; a rotating shaft is installed on the cylinder wall of the metal corona cylinder in an insulating manner, the rotating shaft is vertical to the axial line of the metal corona cylinder, and a turntable provided with multiple corona pins at the outer edge is installed at the end part of the rotating shaft the axial line of the metal corona cylinder passes in parallel through the rotation plane of the turntable. The present invention further discloses an ion mobility spectrometer using the above-mentioned corona discharge assembly.
US09231371B2
A wavelength-tunable optical transmission apparatus including an optical array unit comprising a plurality of light sources whose wavelengths are changed, an optical driving unit configured to receive an electrical signal transmitted from an external circuit, generate the current and input the generated current to the optical array unit, and a control unit configured to control the magnitude of current input to the optical array unit by controlling the optical driving unit.
US09231363B1
An optical amplifier includes a solid state gain-element. The gain-element is pumped by pump-radiation from a diode-laser bar. The diode-laser radiation is delivered from the diode-laser bar to the gain-element entirely via a tapered light-guide which guides the radiation only in a fast-axis direction of the diode laser bar. The tapering of the light-guide reduces fast-axis divergence of the pump-radiation by about a factor of ten. The pump-radiation is delivered to the gain-element as a line of radiation homogenized in the fast-axis direction.
US09231359B1
A manual disconnect for an electric circuit includes a base with primary terminals and an interlock connector. A plug assembly includes fuse terminals and an interlock resistor assembly. The plug assembly is movable relative to the base between a disconnected position, wherein the fuse terminals are not engaged with respective primary terminals, and a primary circuit engaged position, wherein the fuse terminals are engaged with respective primary terminals. The plug assembly is also movable to an interlock position, wherein the interlock connector is engaged with the interlock resistor assembly. The plug assembly is moved in an insertion to move the plug assembly from the disconnected position to the primary circuit engaged position, and is rotated about an axis to move from the primary circuit engaged position to the interlock position.
US09231357B1
A mid-plane assembly for use in an IT device includes a circuit board having a first surface and a second surface. At least one drive connector is positioned on the first surface of the circuit board. At least one board connector is positioned on the second surface of the circuit board and at least partially behind the at least one drive connector positioned on the first surface.
US09231352B2
The invention provides a module being connectable to a mating connector having a tube and including a case and a connector. The case has a through hole that is larger than the tube so as to receive the tube. The connector fits into the tube along a first direction and includes a tuboid shell that includes a lip, first to fourth corners, and guides. The first and second corners are provided where the distal face of the lip meets outer faces on one and the other sides, respectively, of a second direction of the lip. The third and fourth corners are provided where the distal face of the lip meets outer faces on one and the other sides, respectively, of a third direction of the lip. The guides, each at least one of a chamfer, a rounded face, and a curved portion curved inward of the connector, are provided at the respective first to fourth corners.
US09231337B2
A connector (10) to be mounted on ends of wires (W1) to be installed in a vehicle includes female terminals (20) that are to be connected to the ends of the wires, a housing (30) in which the female terminals (20) are accommodated and from which the wires (W1) are drawn out, and a shield bracket (40) that fixes the housing (30) to a case of a device installed in the vehicle. The shield bracket (40) includes a wire fixing portion (54) between a wire draw-out part (P1) where the wires (W1) are drawn out from the housing (30) and a vibrating part (P2). The wire fixing portion (54) fixes the wires (W1) extending in a direction intersecting an extending direction of the wires (W1) in the vibrating part (P2) where the wires (W1) vibrate as the vehicle vibrates.
US09231336B2
The invention relates to a device for fixing a cable to a cable outlet connector (30), consisting of a clamping sleeve (2), a locking collar (20), and a locking slide (10), wherein the locking collar (20) encloses at least a part of the cable outlet connector (30) and at the same time encloses at least a part of the clamping sleeve (2), whereby the clamping sleeve (2) is held on the cable outlet connector (30), and wherein the locking slide (10) can be introduced into a guide (21) of the locking collar (20) provided for this purpose, and wherein the locking slide (10) comprises detent openings (12) which engage via detents (31) of the cable outlet connector (30) provided for this purpose such that the clamping sleeve (2), the locking collar (20) and the cable outlet connector (30) are captively connected to each other.
US09231331B2
A computing device is disclosed herein. The computing device includes a connector port and a near field communication (NFC) transceiver/receiver to identify a connector approaching the connector port. The computing device also includes an indicator to indicate compatibility of the connector with the connector port.
US09231329B2
Configuration of a hinge for avoiding likely collection of water provides a connector to prevent difficulty of opening or closing a cover by freezing of the hinge. A connector mounted in an electric vehicle and connected with a connector of a charging cable is provided with a housing, a cover rotatively pivoted about the housing so as to open or close the cover, and a shaft. The cover is provided with a pair of cover side mounting plates including a shaft hole passing the shaft therethrough, and the housing is provided with a pair of housing side mounting plates including a shaft hole passing a shaft therethrough, and positioning the pair of cover side mounting plates therebetween. The pair of cover side mounting plates is provided with a boss cylindrically upstanding from each of faces opposite to the pair of housing side mounting plates, and passing the shaft therethrough.
US09231325B2
An electrical contact including a male termination end configured to be removably inserted into a female termination end of a mating contact. The male termination end having a slot between two beam sections. The slot is formed by a section of the male termination end having had material removed between the two beam sections. The two beam sections are outwardly deformed in opposite directions. The two beam sections are substantially parallel to each other along a majority of length of the male termination end.
US09231322B2
The operation of a lock member and the check thereof are easily and reliably enabled with a simple configuration while achieving downsizing. When a movable lock engagement part is moved along a lock guide part in a state in which a fixed lock latch part provided on either one of first and second electrical connectors is in an arrangement relation that the fixed lock latch part is overlapped with the lock guide part provided on the other one in a mating direction, the movable lock engagement part is engaged with or released from the fixed lock latch part. An operation of engaging or releasing the movable lock engagement part with/from the fixed lock latch part is carried out in a state in which the operation can be visually checked through a housing-operation opening and facing the electrical connectors.
US09231318B2
A holding member and system including a first holding member and a second holding member, wherein each of the first holding member and the second holding member are coupled to opposite sides of a load plate of a socket. A holding member includes a body including a pair of arms extending from a first side of the body and spaced to accommodate a portion of an integrated circuit chip package therebetween and at least one clip extending from a second side opposite the first side. Also, a method including coupling an integrated circuit chip package to a first holding member and a second holding member, wherein the first holding member is coupled to a first side of a load plate of a socket and the second holding member is coupled to a second side of the load plate; and inserting the package into a socket of a printed circuit board.
US09231317B2
The invention relates to a device for removably fixing a conductor (10) to a current transformer housing (12), comprising a fixing element (18) which runs through a retaining element (16) lying on the current transformer housing (12) and which sits at least partly against the surface of the conductor (10) when the conductor (10) is fixed on the current transformer housing (12). The invention is characterized in that the fixing element (18) runs around the circumferential surface of the conductor (10) in a looped manner when fixed.
US09231316B2
A terminal, including an insertion groove to be pressed into by a conductor disposed between a pair of conductive arm parts, where a notched part larger than a width of the insertion groove is disposed at the end of the insertion groove.
US09231310B2
An antenna for a radar sensor includes an emitter element, a receiver element, and an anti-reflection element. The emitter element is configured to direct the emitted signal along a boresight that intersects a fascia. The receiver element is configured to detect a reflected signal reflected by an object located beyond the fascia. The anti-reflection element is configured to reduce reflection by the antenna of an early-reflection portion reflected by the fascia.
US09231309B2
A magnetic field manipulation apparatus comprises a metamaterial structure, the metamaterial structure including a multilayer stack of metamaterial layers, each metamaterial layer including a substrate supporting one or more conductive loops. The metamaterial structure may be configured to redirect the magnetic flux around the metamaterial structure, and in some examples concentrated into a gap between two adjacent metamaterial structures. An apparatus may further include a magnetic field source such as an electromagnet.
US09231300B1
The present invention is a grounded mast clamp current probe apparatus. The apparatus can have a current probe substantially enclosed by at least one housing. The housing forms an electrostatic shield that prevents passage of electricity to or from the current probe. A plurality of grounding elements are connected to the outer surface of the housing and radiate outwardly from the outer circumference of the housing. Each of the grounding elements radiates at a frequency angle θ, the angle formed between a longitudinal axis of the housing and a longitudinal axis of the grounding elements. The bandwidth and resonant frequency of the current probe is dependent on the frequency angle θ.
US09231298B2
An antenna device of a mobile communication terminal is provided, the device including at least one radiation pattern and at least one magneto dielectric module or dielectric module installed in a selected position on the radiation pattern to tune one or more resonance frequencies of the radiation pattern according to resonance frequencies required for the terminal. The radiation pattern is selected from among one or more radiation patterns fabricated according to a usable frequency band. The one or more radiation patterns each include one or more resonance frequencies. The magneto dielectric module is selected from among one or more magneto dielectric modules fabricated for controlling the one or more resonance frequencies of the one or more radiation patterns. The dielectric module is selected from among one or more dielectric modules fabricated for controlling the one or more resonance frequencies of the one or more radiation patterns.
US09231297B2
There is disclosed a broadband HF antenna, which is fully integrated on a naval ship. This antenna enables to transmit and/or receive radio-frequency waves from a naval ship. The antenna comprises a radiating element and an exciting element. The exciting element excites the radiating element when fed with current. The radiating element is a structural element of the ship itself.
US09231291B2
An electromagnetic bandgap structure is provided, which includes a ground layer; a first power layer facing an upper portion of the ground layer with a dielectric interposed and comprising at least one first patch and at least one first branch; and a second power layer facing an upper portion of the first power layer with a dielectric interposed and comprising at least one second patch and at least one second branch.
US09231285B2
A battery device has at least two interconnected battery modules and at least one cooling plate arranged between two battery modules for cooling the battery modules. A housing encases the battery device and is provided with a frame structure. The at least one cooling plate is traversed by a flow of fluid and is formed from two metal layers that are connected to one another. Additionally, the at least one cooling plate is connected fixedly at least by its ends to the frame structure and stiffens the frame structure. Thus, the battery device exhibits high power and is robust.
US09231280B2
A power storage apparatus, electric device, electric vehicle, and power system are disclosed. In an example embodiment, a power storage apparatus includes a battery block comprising a plurality of battery cells and an isolating unit that enables wireless information transfer regarding battery information of the battery block.
US09231277B2
A nonaqueous electrolyte containing a monofluorophosphate and/or a difluorophosphate and a compound having a specific chemical structure or specific properties. The nonaqueous electrolyte can contain at least one of a saturated chain hydrocarbon, a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon, an aromatic compound having a halogen atom and an ether having a fluorine atom.
US09231273B2
Provided is a positive electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery including a positive electrode active material particle and an electrolyte-containing metal oxide coating layer having a porous structure and a method of manufacturing the same. A lithium secondary battery to which the positive electrode active material including the electrolyte-containing metal oxide coating layer is applied can have improved charge/discharge efficiency and lifespan characteristics at the same time.
US09231262B2
A fuel cell voltage monitor (12a, 12b, 40, 140, 440) detects and may respond to, a problematic operating condition at or near a fuel cell (10) or within a subset (n) of fuel cells, as in a fuel cell stack assembly (110). Two or more co-planar, spaced voltage leads or contacts in a fuel cell plane, as at a separator plate, detect the presence of a voltage difference within the plate/plane as an indication of an operating problem at or near the fuel cell. Placement of such arrangements of at least two spaced voltage leads at various subset intervals (n), of fuel cells in a stack assembly allow monitoring for such problems throughout the stack assembly, either by analysis of voltage difference between co-planar leads at respective individual fuel cells or by comparison of voltage differences between aligned pairs of voltage leads at opposite ends of a subset.
US09231247B2
An electrode active material layer for a lithium-ion secondary battery is formed from an electrode active material of layered crystal. The electrode active material having layered crystal is oriented in a layer direction of the electrode active material layer, and a plurality of through holes are formed from the surface of the electrode active material layer. The diameter of the through holes is preferably 10 μm to 5000 μm inclusive.
US09231239B2
An electricity supply element and the ceramic separator thereof are provided. The ceramic separator is adapted to separate two electrode layers of the electricity supply element for permitting ion migration and electrical separation. The ceramic separator is made of ceramic particulates and the adhesive. The adhesive employs dual binder system, which includes linear polymer and cross-linking polymer. The adhesion and heat tolerance are enhanced by the characteristic of the two type of polymers. The respective position of the two electrode layers are maintained during high operation temperature to improve the stability, and battery performance. Also, the ceramic separator enhances the ion conductivity and reduces the possibility of the micro-short to increase practical utilization.
US09231237B2
Batteries 100 are accommodated in a case 20, wherein the batteries 100 each include an opening portion 8a for releasing gas produced in an associated one of the batteries to outside the battery, the case 20 is partitioned into an accommodation section 50 configured to accommodate the batteries 100 and an exhaust passage 60 configured to expel the gas released from at least one of the opening portions 8a of the batteries 100 to outside the case 20, the opening portions 8a of the batteries 100 are allowed to communicate with the exhaust passage 60 through sealed connection passages 40, and a one-way open valve 70 which is configured to open only along a direction from the opening portion 8a of the battery 100 to the exhaust passage 60 is provided in an intermediate portion or at an end of each of the connection passages 40.
US09231236B2
A battery pack including an external case having improved strength to protect a bare cell is provided. The battery pack includes a bare cell, a cover plate attached to one of long side surfaces that are widest planes of the bare cell, and an external case including a resin portion and a reinforcement plate and accommodating both the bare cell and the cover plate, wherein the resin portion surrounds sides of the reinforcement plate.
US09231233B2
A battery control device having a battery system having a plurality of cells, a first electronic unit, a second electronic unit having a ground potential operatively connected to a potential of the battery system, a communication link including an electric isolation and a communication line having an electromagnetic shielding at least in sections, the communication link being configured to operatively connect and enable communication between the first electronic unit and the second electronic unit. The electromagnetic shielding is operatively connected to the ground potential of the second electronic unit.
US09231228B2
An anode for an organic light emitting device which introduces a metal oxide to improve flows of charges, and an organic light emitting device using the anode. The anode for the organic light emitting device has excellent charge injection characteristics, thereby improving power consumption of the organic light emitting device.
US09231226B2
The present invention relates to a terahertz wave modulator. The terahertz wave modulator includes: a semiconductor substrate; a terahertz modulation layer including an organic-material layer disposed on the semiconductor substrate; and a first incident wave radiation unit for vertically radiating a first incident wave having a terahertz wave region onto the terahertz modulation layer. The transmitted terahertz wave may be variously modified according to the degree of crystallization of an organic material deposited on the semiconductor substrate and according to the intensity of incident light so as to maximize modulation efficiency using the modified terahertz wave. Thus, a device for modulating wavelength width, amplitude, and phase through waveform deformation in a time region may be provided. Furthermore, by bonding together a plasmons or metamaterials having similar surfaces, a highly functional terahertz wave modulation device may be provided, wherein said device may be widely used for optical purposes.
US09231222B2
A thin film transistor (“TFT”) includes a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode and a semiconductor layer. The gate insulating layer is disposed on the gate electrode. The source electrode is disposed on the gate insulating layer. The drain electrode is disposed on the gate insulating layer. The drain electrode is spaced apart from the source electrode. The semiconductor layer is disposed on the gate insulating layer. The semiconductor layer makes contact with a side surface of the source electrode and a side surface of the drain electrode.
US09231215B2
Phenacene compounds of formula (I) are disclosed. All the variables in the formula are the same as defined in the description. A thin film semiconductor comprising the above compounds, and a field effect transistor device, a photovoltaic device, an organic light emitting diode device and a unipolar or complementary circuit device comprising the thin film are also disclosed.
US09231213B2
An apparatus, system, and/or method are described to enable optically transparent reconfigurable integrated electrical components, such as antennas and RF circuits to be integrated into an optically transparent host platform, such as glass. In one embodiment, an Ag NW film may be configured as a transparent conductor for antennas and/or as interconnects for passive circuit components, such as capacitors or resistors. Ag NW may also be used as transmission lines and/or interconnect overlays for devices. A graphene film may also be configured as active channel material for making active RF devices, such as amplifiers and switches.
US09231211B2
A method is provided for forming a multi-color OLED device that includes providing a substrate, coating the substrate with a fluorinated photoresist solution to form a first photo-patternable layer and exposing it to produce a first pattern of exposed fluorinated photoresist material and a second pattern of unexposed fluorinated photoresist material, developing the photo-patternable layer with a fluorinated solvent to remove the second pattern of unexposed fluorinated photoresist material without removing the first pattern of exposed fluorinated photoresist material, depositing a first organic light-emitting material over the substrate to form a first organic light-emitting layer for emitting a first color of light and applying the first pattern of exposed fluorinated photoresist material to control the removal of a portion of the first organic light-emitting layer. A second fluorinated photoresist solution is then coated over the first patterned organic light-emitting layer and exposed to form a third pattern of exposed fluorinated photoresist material having a pattern different from the first pattern and a fourth pattern of unexposed fluorinated photoresist material, and developing the photo-patternable layer in a fluorinated solvent to remove the fourth pattern of unexposed fluorinated photoresist material without removing the third pattern of exposed fluorinated photoresist material, depositing at least a second light-emitting material to form a second light-emitting layer for emitting a second color of light that is different than the first color of light and applying the third pattern of exposed fluorinated photoresist material to control the removal of a portion of the second organic light-emitting layer.
US09231210B2
A vapor deposition source (60), a plurality of limiting plates (81) and a vapor deposition mask (70) are disposed in this order. A substrate spaced apart from the vapor deposition mask at a fixed interval is moved relative to the vapor deposition mask. Vapor deposition particles (91) discharged from vapor deposition source openings (61) of the vapor deposition source pass through between neighboring limiting plates, pass through mask openings (71) formed in the vapor deposition mask, and adhere to the substrate, whereby coating films (90) are formed. The limiting plates limit the incidence angle of the vapor deposition particles that enter the mask openings, as viewed in the relative movement direction of the substrate. In this way, an organic EL element can be formed on a large-sized substrate without increasing the pixel pitch or reducing the aperture ratio.
US09231206B2
A method of forming a ferroelectric memory cell. The method comprises forming an electrode material exhibiting a desired dominant crystallographic orientation. A hafnium-based material is formed over the electrode material and the hafnium-based material is crystallized to induce formation of a ferroelectric material having a desired crystallographic orientation. Additional methods are also described, as are semiconductor device structures including the ferroelectric material.
US09231191B2
A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device includes a reference layer having a surface, a tunnel insulating layer formed over the surface of the reference layer, a free layer formed over the tunnel insulating layer, and a magnetic field providing layer formed over the free layer. A magnetization direction in each of the reference layer and the free layer is substantially perpendicular to the surface. The magnetic field providing layer is configured to provide a lateral magnetic field in the free layer, the lateral magnetic field being substantially parallel to the surface.
US09231187B2
Electrical contactor with touch control using a piezoelectric pellet incorporated in one face (2b) of a card (2) which is made of an insulating material and the other face (2a) of which comprises an electronic circuit, characterised in that said contactor comprises a metal casing (1), of which the bottom (5), which is thinned-down, constitutes a protective partition against which the first face (2b) is applied by the interposition of a tubular member (3), of which one end, which is elastically deformable, is applied against the periphery of the said card, the said casing and the said card comprising means which, together, bring about the holding of the said member (3) in position.
US09231185B2
A method for manufacturing a piezoelectric film wafer includes a first processing step for carrying out an ion etching on a KNN piezoelectric film formed on a substrate by using a gas containing Ar, and a second processing step for carrying out a reactive ion etching by using a mixed etching gas containing a fluorine-based reactive gas and Ar after the first processing step.
US09231180B2
The present invention provides a method of preparing a nanocomposite thermoelectric material. The method includes heating a reaction mixture of a semiconductor material and a metal complex to a temperature greater than the decomposition temperature of the metal complex. The heating forms metallic inclusions having a size less than about 100 nm that are substantially evenly distributed throughout the semiconductor material forming the nanocomposite thermoelectric material. The present invention also provides a nanocomposite thermoelectric material prepared by this method.
US09231175B2
A light emitting device includes a base substrate, a light emitting element, and a sealing member. The light emitting element is provided on the base substrate. The sealing member seals the light emitting element. The sealing member contains a parent material and filler particles unevenly distributed in a surface side of the sealing member and has a surface which has an irregular geometry formed associated with the filler particles.
US09231173B2
Phosphor sheet, light-emitting device having the phosphor sheet and method of manufacturing the same
Disclosed herein is a light emitting device including: a substrate; a light emitting diode (LED) chip disposed on the substrate; and a phosphor sheet disposed on an upper portion of the LED chip and including alignment members formed on a lower surface thereof. The alignment members contact the LED chip, such that the phosphor sheet is aligned with the LED chip.
US09231171B2
LED assemblies and related LED light bulbs. An LED assembly has a flexible, transparent substrate, an LED chip on the first surface and electrically connected to two adjacent conductive sections, a first wavelength conversion layer, formed on the first surface to substantially cover the LED chip, and a second wavelength conversion layer formed on the second surface. The flexible, transparent substrate has first and second surfaces opposite to each other, and several conductive sections, which are separately formed on the first surface.
US09231159B2
A method of manufacturing a flip-chip nitride semiconductor light emitting element includes steps of providing a nitride semiconductor light emitting element structure; forming an insulating protective layer on the nitride semiconductor light emitting element structure; forming a resist pattern having openings above an n-side electrode connecting surface and a p-side electrode connecting surface; etching the protective layer to expose the n-side electrode connecting surface and the p-side electrode connecting surface using the resist pattern as a mask; forming a first metal layer that becomes an n-side electrode and a p-side electrode, the first metal layer being formed as a continuous layer disposed on the n-side electrode connecting surface, the p-side electrode connecting surface and the resist pattern; forming a second metal layer that becomes metal bumps by electrolytic plating using the first metal layer as an electrode for the electrolytic plating; and removing the resist pattern.
US09231155B2
A composite substrate 10 includes a sapphire body 1A, a seed crystal film 4 composed of gallium nitride crystal and provided on a surface of the sapphire body, and a gallium nitride crystal layer 7 grown on the seed crystal film 4 and having a thickness of 200 μm or smaller. Voids 5 are provided along an interface between the sapphire body 1A and the seed crystal film 4 in a void ratio of 4.5 to 12.5 percent.
US09231154B2
The emission efficiency of a light-emitting device including a microcavity structure is improved. The light-emitting device includes a plurality of light-emitting elements. The plurality of light-emitting elements each include a reflective electrode, a transparent electrode, a plurality of light-emitting layers, and a semi-transmissive and semi-reflective electrode stacked in that order. The plurality of light-emitting layers emit light of different colors. A surface roughness of the transparent electrode in the light-emitting element which is among the plurality of light-emitting elements and in which light emitted from the light-emitting layer closest to the reflective electrode is amplified and emitted outside is greater than surface roughnesses of the transparent electrodes in the other light-emitting elements.
US09231153B2
A micro-light-emitting diode (micro-LED) includes a first type semiconductor layer, a second type semiconductor, a first current controlling layer, a first electrode, and a second electrode. The second type semiconductor layer and the first current controlling layer are joined with the first type semiconductor layer. The first current controlling layer has at least one opening therein. The first electrode is electrically coupled with the first type semiconductor layer through the opening. The second electrode is electrically coupled with the second type semiconductor layer. At least one of the first electrode and the second electrode has a light-permeable part. A vertical projection of the first current controlling layer on said one of the first electrode and the second electrode overlaps with the light-permeable part. The light-permeable part is transparent or semi-transparent.
US09231150B2
A phosphor for light emitting device of an embodiment includes: a phosphor particle composed of at least one selected from an alkaline earth silicate phosphor, a lanthanum oxysulfide phosphor, and a zinc sulfide phosphor; and a surface treatment agent, provided to cover a surface of the phosphor particle, of at least one selected from a silane coupling agent and an acrylic emulsion. A luminance maintenance ratio of the phosphor represented by a formula: luminance B/luminance A×100(%), is 98% or more, wherein the luminance A is a luminance of the phosphor made to emit under a condition of temperature: 23° C., humidity: 40%, and the luminance B is a luminance of the phosphor made to emit under a condition of temperature: 23° C., humidity: 40% after leaving the phosphor under a condition of temperature: 60° C., humidity: 90% for 12 hours.
US09231143B2
A solar conversion system with a solar collector that is shaped to focus reflected sunlight along an area with a substantially constant flux density. The area shape can be resemble a rectangular, square, circular, or other shape. Included with the system is a solar conversion module having a photovoltaic cell that is alignable with the area. The cell converts the focused reflected sunlight into electrical energy when aligned with the area.
US09231131B2
An encapsulated integrated photodetector waveguide structures with alignment tolerance and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The method includes forming a waveguide structure bounded by one or more shallow trench isolation (STI) structure(s). The method further includes forming a photodetector fully landed on the waveguide structure.
US09231127B2
A light receiving and emitting element includes a substrate; a light emitting element formed on an upper face of the substrate; a light receiving element formed on an upper face side of the substrate; a light emitting element-side first electrode pad; and a metal lump joined to the light emitting element-side first electrode pad. The light emitting element-side electrode pad is disposed the upper face of the substrate through an insulating layer so that the metal lump blocks light emitted from the light emitting element and propagating toward the light receiving element.
US09231125B2
A solar cell includes a semiconductor wafer, at least one dielectric layer arranged on the semiconductor wafer, a metal layer arranged on the dielectric layer, and a contact structure arranged in the dielectric layer such that the contact structure provides an electrical connection between the metal layer and the semiconductor wafer. The contact structure has at least one first structure having a minimum dimension and at least one second structure having a maximum dimension, wherein the minimum dimension and the maximum dimension are defined along a surface of the semiconductor wafer and the minimum dimension of the first structure is greater than the maximum dimension of the second structure.
US09231120B2
A Schottky diode includes a device structure having a central portion and a plurality of fingers. Distal portions of the fingers overlie leakage current control (LCC) regions. An LCC region is relatively narrow and deep, terminating in proximity to a buried layer of like polarity. Under reverse bias, depletion regions forming in an active region lying between the buried layer and the LCC regions occupy the entire extent of the active region and thereby provide a carrier depleted wall. An analogous depletion region occurs in the active region residing between any pair of adjacent fingers. If the fingers include latitudinal oriented fingers and longitudinal oriented fingers, depletion region blockades in three different orthogonal orientations may occur. The formation of the LCC regions may include the use of a high dose, low energy phosphorous implant using an LCC implant mask and the isolation structures as an additional hard mask.
US09231117B2
Methods of forming multi-tiered semiconductor devices are described, along with apparatus and systems that include them. In one such method, an opening is formed in a tier of semiconductor material and a tier of dielectric. A portion of the tier of semiconductor material exposed by the opening is processed so that the portion is doped differently than the remaining semiconductor material in the tier. At least substantially all of the remaining semiconductor material of the tier is removed, leaving the differently doped portion of the tier of semiconductor material as a charge storage structure. A tunneling dielectric is formed on a first surface of the charge storage structure and an intergate dielectric is formed on a second surface of the charge storage structure. Additional embodiments are also described.
US09231113B2
Methods for manufacturing non-volatile memory devices including peripheral transistors with reduced and less variable gate resistance are described. In some embodiments, a NAND-type flash memory may include floating-gate transistors and peripheral transistors (or non-floating-gate transistors). The peripheral transistors may include select gate transistors (e.g., drain-side select gates and/or source-side select gates) and/or logic transistors that reside outside of a memory array region. A floating-gate transistor may include a floating gate of a first conductivity type (e.g., n-type) and a control gate including a lower portion of a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type (e.g., p-type). A peripheral transistor may include a gate including a first layer of the first conductivity type, a second layer of the second conductivity type, and a cutout region including one or more sidewall diffusion barriers that extends through the second layer and a portion of the first layer.
US09231112B2
The present invention provides a semiconductor device that has a shorter distance between the bit lines and easily achieves higher storage capacity and density. The semiconductor device includes: first bit lines formed on a substrate; an insulating layer that is provided between the first bit lines and in a groove in the substrate, and has a higher upper face than the first bit lines; channel layers that are provided on both side faces of the insulating layer, and are coupled to the respective first bit lines; and charge storage layers that are provided on the opposite side faces of the channel layers from the side faces on which the insulating layers are formed.
US09231108B2
Carbon-doped semiconductor material portions are formed on a subset of surfaces of underlying semiconductor surfaces contiguously connected to a channel of a field effect transistor. Carbon-doped semiconductor material portions can be formed by selective epitaxy of a carbon-containing semiconductor material layer or by shallow implantation of carbon atoms into surface portions of the underlying semiconductor surfaces. The carbon-doped semiconductor material portions can be deposited as layers and subsequently patterned by etching, or can be formed after formation of disposable masking spacers. Raised source and drain regions are formed on the carbon-doped semiconductor material portions and on physically exposed surfaces of the underlying semiconductor surfaces. The carbon-doped semiconductor material portions locally retard dopant diffusion from the raised source and drain regions into the underlying semiconductor material regions, thereby enabling local tailoring of the dopant profile, and alteration of device parameters for the field effect transistor.
US09231107B2
A thin film transistor, a method of manufacturing the thin film transistor, and a display device including the thin film transistor are provided. The thin film transistor comprises an oxide semiconductor layer, a gate electrode, a source electrode and a drain electrode formed on a substrate in a coplanar configuration. A first conductive member is in direct contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and in direct contact with the source electrode. A second conductive member is in direct contact with the oxide semiconductor layer and in direct contact with the drain electrode. The first conductive member and the second conductive member are arranged to decrease resistance between a channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer and the source and drain electrodes.
US09231106B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure are a semiconductor device, a FinFET device, and a method of forming a FinFET device. An embodiment is a semiconductor device comprising a first semiconductor fin extending above a substrate, a first source region on the first semiconductor fin, and a first drain region on the first semiconductor fin. The first source region has a first width and the first drain region has a second width with the second width being different than the first width.
US09231102B2
A semiconductor device includes a first type region including a first conductivity type. The semiconductor device includes a second type region including a second conductivity type. The semiconductor device includes a third type region including a third conductivity type that is opposite the first conductivity type, the third type region covering the first type region. The semiconductor device includes a fourth type region including a fourth conductivity type that is opposite the second conductivity type, the fourth type region covering the second type region. The semiconductor device includes a channel region extending between the third type region and the fourth type region.
US09231101B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a body region, a body contact region and a cancelling region each of the first conductivity type, and a buried layer, an epitaxial layer and a source region each of the second conductivity type. A trench is provided in the epitaxial layer from a surface thereof. A gate insulating film is provided on an inner wall of the trench, and a gate electrode made of polycrystalline silicon is in contact with the gate insulating film and fills the trench. The cancelling region, which is provided below a bottom surface of the trench for cancelling a conductivity type of the buried layer, has a distribution center located below a boundary surface between the buried layer and the epitaxial layer. A trench bottom surface lower region of the first conductivity type is provided from the bottom surface of the trench continuously to the cancelling region.
US09231093B2
A high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) according to example embodiments includes a channel layer, a channel supply layer on the channel layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode on at least one of the channel layer and the channel supply layer, a gate electrode between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and a Schottky electrode forming a Schottky contact with the channel supply layer. An upper surface of the channel supply layer may define a Schottky electrode accommodation unit. At least part of the Schottky electrode may be in the Schottky electrode accommodation unit. The Schottky electrode is electrically connected to the source electrode.
US09231090B2
In a trench-gate-type insulated gate bipolar transistor, a current will not flow down to a lower portion of a trench, a high electrical field at the lower portion of the trench is suppressed even if a high voltage is applied, such as at a time of turning off, an increase in on-state resistance and a decrease in breakdown resistance and withstand voltage are suppressed. In the semiconductor device, a plurality of trenches is disposed to reach a rear surface of a drift layer, and a collector layer is disposed at a tip end side in an extended direction of the trenches in a surface layer portion of the drift layer. When a gate electrode is applied with a predetermined voltage, a channel region is formed in a portion of the base layer contacting the trenches, and an electric current flows in the predetermined direction along the trenches.
US09231088B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure describe apparatuses, methods, and systems of an integrated circuit (IC) device. The IC device includes a diffusion control layer as part of an emitter epitaxial structure. The IC device may utilize a common metallization scheme to simultaneously form an emitter contact and a base contact. Other embodiments may also be described and/or claimed.
US09231086B2
Memory arrays that include a first memory cell having a channel; a first insulator; a floating gate; a second insulator; and a control gate, wherein the first insulator is positioned between the channel and the floating gate, the second insulator is positioned between the floating gate and the control gate; and a second memory cell having a channel; a first insulator; a floating gate; a second insulator; and a control gate, wherein the first insulator is positioned between the channel and the floating gate, the second insulator is positioned between the floating gate and the control gate, wherein the first memory cell and the second memory cell are positioned parallel to each other.
US09231084B2
A method of forming a semiconductor device comprises forming a gate over a substrate. The method also comprises forming a source and a drain on opposite sides of the gate. The source and the drain are formed such that the source and the drain are separated by a channel region beneath the gate. The source and the drain are positioned such that the channel region has a channel width with respect to a surface of the substrate greater than a width of the gate with respect to the surface of the substrate. The method further comprises forming a first silicide over a portion of the source. The method additionally comprises forming a second silicide over a portion of the drain such that the drain has an unsilicided region adjacent to the gate configured to provide a resistive region configured to sustain a voltage load in a high voltage laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) application.
US09231080B2
A replacement metal gate process which includes forming a fin on a semiconductor substrate; forming a dummy gate structure on the fin; removing the dummy gate structure to leave an opening that is to be filled with a permanent gate structure; depositing a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric material in the opening and over the fin; depositing a work function metal in the opening and over the fin so as to be in contact with the high-k dielectric material, the high k dielectric material and the work function metal only partially filling the opening; filling a remainder of the opening with an organic material; etching the organic material until it is partially removed from the opening; etching the work function metal until it is at a same level as the organic material; removing the organic material; and filling the opening with a metal until the opening is completely filled.
US09231079B1
One illustrative method disclosed herein includes, among other things, performing a source/drain extension ion implantation to form a doped extension implant region in the source/drain regions of the device, performing an ion implantation process on the source/drain regions with a Group VII material (e.g., fluorine), after performing the Group VII material ion implantation process, forming a capping material layer above the source/drain regions, and, with the capping material layer in position, performing an anneal process so as to form stacking faults in the source/drain regions.
US09231072B2
A first gate structure and a second gate structure are formed over a semiconductor material layer. The first gate structure includes a planar silicon-based gate dielectric, a planar high-k gate dielectric, a metallic nitride portion, and a first semiconductor material portion, and the second gate structure includes a silicon-based dielectric material portion and a second semiconductor material portion. After formation of gate spacers and a planarization dielectric layer, the second gate structure is replaced with a transient gate structure including a chemical oxide portion and a second high-k gate dielectric. A work-function metal layer and a conductive material portion can be formed in each gate electrode by replacement of semiconductor material portions. A gate electrode includes the planar silicon-based gate dielectric, the planar high-k gate dielectric, and a U-shaped high-k gate dielectric, and another gate electrode includes the chemical oxide portion and another U-shaped high-k gate dielectric.
US09231071B2
A semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The semiconductor structure includes an isolation layer, a gate dielectric layer, a first work function metal, a first bottom barrier layer, a second work function metal, and a first top barrier layer. The isolation layer is formed on a substrate and has a first gate trench. The gate dielectric layer is formed in the first gate trench. The first work function metal is formed on the gate dielectric layer in the first gate trench. The first bottom barrier layer is formed on the first work function metal. The second work function metal is formed on the first bottom barrier layer. The first top barrier layer is formed on the second work function metal.
US09231067B2
A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a gate structure over the substrate, a source/drain regions adjacent to the pair of spacers in the substrate, an etch stop layer next to the gate structure and overlying the substrate, a contact plug extending into the source/drain region and partially overlapping the gate structure, a protective layer over the etch stop layer overlying the substrate and covering the etch stop layer next to the gate structure without the contact plug, and an interlayer dielectric layer over the protective layer. The contact plug has no contact-to-gate short issue to the gate structure.
US09231066B2
A vertical-channel semiconductor device includes an active pillar including a channel region, a gate located at a sidewall of the active pillar, a buried bit-line formed below the active pillar, and an insulation film formed below the buried bit-line. Some parts of the buried bit-line are replaced with an insulation film, such that a bit-line junction leakage is prevented.
US09231060B2
An epitaxial structure includes a substrate having an epitaxial growth surface, a first epitaxial layer, a graphene layer and a second epitaxial layer. The first epitaxial layer is stacked on the epitaxial growth surface. The graphene layer is coated on the first epitaxial layer. The second epitaxial layer is located on the first epitaxial layer and covers the graphene layer.
US09231056B2
A semiconductor device includes a drift layer having a structure wherein a plurality of quantum dot layers each including a quantum dot containing InxGa1-xN (0≦x≦1) and a burying layer burying the quantum dot and containing n-type Inx(GayAl1-y)1-xN (0≦x≦1, 0≦y≦1) are stacked.
US09231052B2
A transistor using a single crystal silicon nanowire and a method for fabricating the transistor is disclosed. The transistor using a single crystal silicon nanowire comprises a substrate and a single crystal silicon nanowire formed on the substrate. Here, the single crystal silicon nanowire comprises a source region and a drain region formed longitudinally with the single crystal silicon nanowire and separate from each other, and a channel region located between the source region and the drain region, wherein the perpendicular thickness of the channel region to the longitudinal direction is thinner than the thickness of the source region and the drain region.
US09231050B1
This invention discloses a semiconductor power device disposed in a semiconductor substrate and having an active cell area and an edge termination area the edge termination area wherein the edge termination area comprises a superjunction structure having doped semiconductor columns of alternating conductivity types with a charge imbalance between the doped semiconductor columns to generate a saddle junction electric field in the edge termination.
US09231045B2
Integrated circuits and methods for fabricating integrated circuits are provided. In an embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a first transistor structure that includes an etch-stop material layer, a first workfunction material layer disposed over the etch-stop material layer, a second workfunction material layer disposed over the first workfunction material layer, and a metal fill material disposed over the second workfunction material layer. The integrated circuit further includes a second transistor structure that includes a layer of the etch-stop material, a layer of the second workfunction material disposed over the etch-stop material layer, and a layer of the metal fill material disposed over the second workfunction material layer. Still further, the integrated circuit includes a resistor structure that includes a layer of the etch-stop material, a layer of the metal fill material disposed over the etch-stop material layer, and a silicon material layer disposed over the metal fill material layer.
US09231043B2
An insulating layer is disposed in areas between pixel electrodes adjacent to each other so as to rest on peripheries of the pixel electrodes. An organic layer is disposed to include a common layer that continuously covers the pixel electrodes and the insulating layer. A common electrode is disposed on the organic layer. A sealing layer conducts sealing to cover the organic layer and the common electrode. The pixel electrodes have depressed portions whose upper surfaces are recessed on ends including the peripheries of the pixel electrodes. The common layer has depressed portions whose upper surfaces are recessed in correspondence with the depressed portions of the pixel electrodes. The common electrode has depressed portions whose upper surfaces are recessed in correspondence with the depressed portions of the common layer. The sealing layer is curved in correspondence with the depressed portions of the common electrode.
US09231038B2
EL display has a luminescence unit having a luminescence layer being disposed between a pair of electrodes and a thin film transistor array unit controlling luminescence of the luminescence unit. An interlayer insulation film is disposed between the luminescence unit and the transistor array unit. An anode of the luminescence unit is connected electrically to the thin film transistor array via a contact hole of the interlayer insulation film. The thin film transistor array further has a current supplying relaying electrode that is connected to the anode of the luminescence unit via the contact hole of the interlayer insulation film. A diffusion prevention film is formed on the boundary face of the anode of the luminescence unit and the relaying electrode.
US09231037B2
A display unit includes a first substrate and a second substrate opposed to each other, a display element having a first electrode and a second electrode on the first substrate, an auxiliary electrode provided on a surface facing the first substrate of the second substrate, and including a plurality of films stacked in a direction from the second substrate to the first substrate, and a plurality of pillars configured to electrically connect the auxiliary electrode to the second electrode.
US09231030B2
An organic light-emitting display device includes a thin film transistor, a first insulating layer, a first electrode a second insulating layer, an organic emission layer, a second electrode, a first auxiliary layer in a first region on the second electrode and having a first edge, a third electrode in a second region, on the second electrode and having a second edge contacting the first edge of the first auxiliary layer, and a second auxiliary layer on at least the first region and having a refractive index higher than the first auxiliary layer.
US09231025B2
An integrated circuit containing CMOS transistors and an embedded thermoelectric device may be formed by forming field oxide in isolation trenches to isolate the CMOS transistors and thermoelectric elements of the embedded thermoelectric device. N-type dopants are implanted into the substrate to provide at least 1×1018 cm−3 n-type dopants in n-type thermoelectric elements and the substrate under the field oxide between the n-type thermoelectric elements. P-type dopants are implanted into the substrate to provide at least 1×1018 cm−3 p-type dopants in p-type thermoelectric elements and the substrate under the field oxide between the p-type thermoelectric elements. The n-type dopants and p-type dopants may be implanted before the field oxide are formed, after the isolation trenches for the field oxide are formed and before dielectric material is formed in the isolation trenches, and/or after the field oxide is formed.
US09231004B2
According to one embodiment, there is provided a solid-state imaging apparatus having an imaging region. In the imaging region, a plurality of pixels are two-dimensionally arranged. The plurality of pixels include a first pixel and a second pixel. The first pixel is arranged near a center of the imaging region. The second pixel is arranged at a position farther away from the center of the imaging region than the first pixel. The first pixel includes a first micro lens having a substantially circular shape as viewed in a plan view. The second pixel includes a second micro lens having a substantially elliptical shape as viewed in a plan view and having an area larger than an area of the first micro lens.
US09231003B2
A solid-state imaging device includes a first electrode, a second electrode disposed opposing to the first electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer, which is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode and in which narrow gap semiconductor quantum dots are dispersed in a conductive layer, wherein one electrode of the first electrode and the second electrode is formed from a transparent electrode and the other electrode is formed from a metal electrode or a transparent electrode.
US09231002B2
To provide a display device including a capacitor whose charge capacity is increased while improving the aperture ratio, provide a display device including a capacitor whose charge capacity can be increased while improving the transmittance of a pixel portion, and provide a display device which consumes low power, the display device includes a transistor including a first oxide semiconductor film in a channel formation region, a second oxide semiconductor film formed over a surface over which the first oxide semiconductor film is formed, a pixel electrode electrically connected to the transistor, and a light-transmitting capacitor in which a dielectric film is provided between two electrodes of a pair. One electrode corresponds to the second oxide semiconductor film, and the other electrode corresponds to the pixel electrode. The second oxide semiconductor film has a smaller thickness than the first oxide semiconductor film.
US09230993B2
Provided are a display apparatus and a manufacturing method of the same. The display apparatus includes: a counter substrate, and an active matrix substrate including a pixel area. The active matrix substrate includes, in a non-transmissive region of each pixel, a transparent substrate, a polycrystalline silicon film, a gate insulating film, a gate electrode, an interlayer insulating film, and a drain layer including patterned conductive films, and includes, in a transparent region of each pixel, the transparent substrate, the gate insulating film and the interlayer insulating film. The interlayer insulating film includes zones where the interlayer insulating film is thinner than a part of the interlayer insulating film at the middle of each transmissive region. The zones are each located so as to extend between the neighboring patterned conductive films and are further located so as not to overlap with the transmissive regions and regions laid over LDD portions of the polycrystalline silicon film.
US09230985B1
A vertically oriented thin film transistor (TFT) having a tunnel barrier is disclosed. The tunnel barrier may be formed from a dielectric such as silicon oxide or hafnium oxide. The vertically oriented TFT selection device with tunnel barrier may serve as a selection device in a 3D memory array. The vertically oriented TFT may be used to connect/disconnect a global bit line to/from a vertical bit line in a 3D memory array. The vertically oriented TFT may be used to connect/disconnect a source line to/from a channel of a vertical NAND string in a 3D memory array. A vertical TFT with tunnel barrier has a high breakdown voltage, low leakage current, and high on current. The tunnel barrier can be at the top junction or bottom junction of the TFT.
US09230982B1
In a three-dimensional stacked non-volatile memory device, a short circuit is prevented in a select gate layer by providing a protective material such as a diode, capacitor, linear resistor or varistor between select gate lines and a remaining portion of the select gate layer. Charges which are accumulated in the select gate lines due to plasma etching are therefore prevented from discharging through the remaining portion in a short circuit path when the select gate lines are driven. The protective material can comprise a p-n diode, an n-i-n or p-i-p resistor, a thin oxide layer between doped polysilicon layers in a capacitor, or a variable-resistance material such as ZnO2 between oxide layers in a varistor.
US09230981B2
Provided are a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a memory block including a drain select line, word lines, and a source select line, which are spaced apart from one another and stacked in a direction perpendicular to a semiconductor substrate; and a peripheral circuit including a switching device connected to a bit line, which is disposed under a vertical channel layer vertically passing through the drain select line, the word lines, and the source select line.
US09230965B2
Methods of operating semiconductor memory devices with floating body transistors, using a silicon controlled rectifier principle are provided, as are semiconductor memory devices for performing such operations. A method of maintaining the data state of a semiconductor dynamic random access memory cell is provided, wherein the memory cell comprises a substrate being made of a material having a first conductivity type selected from p-type conductivity type and n-type conductivity type; a first region having a second conductivity type selected from the p-type and n-type conductivity types, the second conductivity type being different from the first conductivity type; a second region having the second conductivity type, the second region being spaced apart from the first region; a buried layer in the substrate below the first and second regions, spaced apart from the first and second regions and having the second conductivity type; a body region formed between the first and second regions and the buried layer, the body region having the first conductivity type; and a gate positioned between the first and second regions and adjacent the body region. The memory cell is configured to store a first data state which corresponds to a first charge in the body region in a first configuration, and a second data state which corresponds to a second charge in the body region in a second configuration. The method includes: providing the memory cell storing one of the first and second data states; and applying a positive voltage to a substrate terminal connected to the substrate beneath the buried layer, wherein when the body region is in the first state, the body region turns on a silicon controlled rectifier device of the cell and current flows through the device to maintain configuration of the memory cell in the first memory state, and wherein when the memory cell is in the second state, the body region does not turn on the silicon controlled rectifier device, current does not flow, and a blocking operation results, causing the body to maintain the second memory state.
US09230962B2
A semiconductor device includes a non-conductive gate feature over a substrate and a spacer adjoining each sidewall of the non-conductive gate feature.
US09230954B1
The present invention provides a LDNMOS device for an ESD protection structure, by means of disposing a metal portion above the isolation portion and overlapping thereof, so as to protect the internal device from ESD more completely, comprising: a substrate; an ILD; a deep N-well region; a P-body region; a doped region, the doped region defines a diffusion area on the top thereof; a Poly gate electrode; an isolation structure disposed between the Poly gate electrode and the doped region; a contact portion connecting to the diffusion area of the doped region; and a metal portion disposed above the doped region, connecting to the contact portion. Wherein there is an overlap between the isolation structure and the metal portion, the direction of the overlap is parallel to the direction of channel length.
US09230953B2
A semiconductor ESD protection device comprising a vertical arrangement of alternating conductivity type layers, wherein the layers are arranged as silicon controlled rectifier and wherein the silicon controlled rectifier is arranged as vertical device and having top and bottom opposing contacts.
US09230950B2
At least three electrically conducting blocks are disposed within an isolating region; and at least two of them are mutually separated and capacitively coupled by a part of the isolating region. At least two of them, being semiconductor, have opposite types of conductivity or identical types of conductivity, but with different concentrations of dopants, and these are in mutual contact by one of their sides. The mutual arrangement of these blocks within the isolating region, their type of conductivity and their concentration of dopants form at least one electronic module. Some of the blocks define input and output blocks.
US09230946B2
The present invention provides a multichip package in which a first semiconductor chip having an RF analog circuit area and a digital circuit area, and a second semiconductor chip having a digital circuit area are plane-arranged over an organic multilayer wiring board and coupled to each other by bonding wires. In the multichip package, the first semiconductor chip is made thinner than the second semiconductor chip.
US09230934B2
An embodiment method of forming and a bump structure are disclosed. The bump structure includes a passivation layer formed over a metal pad, the passivation layer having a recess exposing a portion of the metal pad, and a metal bump formed over the metal pad, the metal bump having a lip extending beneath the passivation layer, the lip anchoring the metal bump to the passivation layer.
US09230932B2
A system and method for preventing cracks is provided. An embodiment comprises placing crack stoppers into a connection between a semiconductor die and a substrate. The crack stoppers may be in the shape of hollow or solid cylinders and may be placed so as to prevent any cracks from propagating through the crack stoppers.
US09230925B2
A fuse structure and a method of blowing the same are provided. The fuse structure includes a conductive line on a substrate, first and second vias on the conductive line that are spaced apart from each other, a cathode electrode line that is electrically connected to the first via, an anode electrode line that is electrically connected to the second via, and a dummy pattern that is adjacent at least one of the cathode and anode electrode lines and electrically isolated from the conductive line.
US09230923B2
An electronic chip is provided, including an electronic circuit located at a front face of a substrate; a capacitive element placed at a back face of the substrate and facing the electronic circuit, and electrically connected to the electronic circuit by a first electrical connection and a second electrical connection, the first electrical connection including at least a first electrically conducting via passing through the substrate, the electronic circuit being configured to measure a value of electrical capacitance of the capacitive element between the first and the second electrical connections; and a plurality of second vias or trenches passing through the back face of the substrate and a part of the thickness of the substrate, and extending toward the electronic circuit such that bottom walls of the plurality of second vias or trenches are separated from the electronic circuit by at least one non-zero distance.
US09230920B2
To improve reliability of a semiconductor device obtained through a dicing step. In a ring region, a first outer ring is provided outside a seal ring, and a second outer ring is provided outside the first outer ring. This can prevent a crack from reaching even the seal ring that exists in the ring region, for example, when a scribe region located outside the ring region is cut off by a dicing blade.
US09230918B1
A semiconductor package structure includes a first wafer and a second wafer. The first wafer has a concave portion. The concave portion has a bottom surface and at least one sidewall adjacent to the bottom surface. An obtuse angle is formed between the bottom surface and the sidewall. The second wafer is disposed on the first wafer and has a protruding portion. When the protruding portion enters an opening of the concave portion, the protruding portion slides along the sidewall to the bottom surface, such that the protruding portion is coupled to the concave portion.
US09230912B2
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device and a device manufactured using the same are provided. According to the embodiment, substrate with a dielectric layer formed thereon is provided. Plural trenches are defined in the dielectric layer, and the trenches are isolated by the dielectric layer. A first barrier layer is formed in the trenches as barrier liners of the trenches, followed by filling the trenches with a conductor. Then, the conductor in the trenches is partially removed to form a plurality of recesses, wherein remained conductor has a flat surface. Next, a second barrier layer is formed in the recesses as barrier caps of the trenches.
US09230911B2
An interconnect structure and a method of forming an interconnect structure are disclosed. The interconnect structure includes a low-k (LK) dielectric layer over a substrate; a first conductive feature and a second conductive feature in the LK dielectric layer; a first spacer along a first sidewall of the first conductive feature; a second spacer along a second sidewall of the second conductive feature, wherein the second sidewall of the second conductive feature faces the first sidewall of the first conductive feature; an air gap between the first spacer and the second spacer; and a third conductive feature over the first conductive feature, wherein the third conductive feature is connected to the first conductive feature.
US09230910B2
A rectangular-shaped interlevel connection layout structure is defined to electrically connect a first layout structure in a first chip level with a second layout structure in a second chip level. The rectangular-shaped interlevel connection layout structure is defined by an as-drawn cross-section having at least one dimension larger than a corresponding dimension of either the first layout structure, the second layout structure, or both the first and second layout structures. A dimension of the rectangular-shaped interlevel connection layout structure can exceed a normal maximum size in one direction in exchange for a reduced size in another direction. The rectangular-shaped interlevel connection layout structure can be placed in accordance with a gridpoint of a virtual grid defined by two perpendicular sets of virtual lines. Also, the first and/or second layout structures can be spatially oriented and/or placed in accordance with one or both of the two perpendicular sets of virtual lines.
US09230898B2
A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: providing a substrate; mounting a component over a side of the substrate; forming an interface module having a module via in any location for connectivity to the substrate; and mounting the entirety of the interface module over a portion of the side of the substrate next to the component.
US09230885B2
One or more embodiments relate to a method for forming a semiconductor structure, comprising: providing a workpiece; forming a dielectric barrier layer over the workpiece; forming an opening through the dielectric barrier layer; forming a seed layer over the dielectric barrier layer and within the dielectric barrier layer opening; and electroplating a first fill layer on the seed layer.
US09230880B2
An electronic device includes a semiconductor chip including an electrode, a substrate element and a contact element connecting the electrode to the substrate element. The electronic device further includes an encapsulant configured to leave the contact element at least partially exposed such that a heatsink may be connected to the contact element.
US09230857B2
A method of forming a semiconductor device is disclosed. The method including providing a substrate with at least one insulating layer disposed thereon, the at least one insulating layer including a trench; forming at least one liner layer on the at least one insulating layer; forming a nucleation layer on the at least one liner layer; forming a first metal film on a surface of the nucleation layer; etching the first metal film; and depositing a second metal film on the etched surface of the first metal film, the second metal film substantially forming an overburden above the trench.
US09230856B2
A method for manufacturing a structure having an air gap includes following steps. A plurality of patterns is formed in a pattern region of a substrate. A sacrificial layer is formed on the substrate, and a top surface of the sacrificial layer is lower than a top surface of the patterns to expose a plurality of upper portions of the patterns. A hard mask layer is formed to cover the sacrificial layer and the upper portions of the patterns. An etching-back process is performed to the hard mask layer to expose the sacrificial layer outside the pattern region, and the hard mask layer remaining inside the pattern region seals the opening between the upper portions of the patterns. The sacrificial layer is removed to form an air gap between the two adjacent patterns.
US09230855B2
An interconnect structure and a forming method thereof are provided. The method includes: providing a semiconductor substrate which has semiconductor devices formed therein; forming a conductive layer on the semiconductor substrate; forming a mask layer on the conductive layer; forming a groove in the mask layer and the conductive layer, the groove having a depth-to-width ratio greater than 0.8; and depositing an intermetallic dielectric layer to cover the mask layer and fill the groove, wherein an air gap is formed in a portion of the intermetallic dielectric layer in the groove. The mask layer is formed on the conductive layer, so that the depth-to-width ratio of the groove between adjacent interconnects is increased. Besides, the air gap with a relatively large size is formed between two adjacent interconnects. Therefore, a dielectric constant and parasitic capacitance between adjacent interconnects are reduced evidently, and the performance of the semiconductor devices is improved.
US09230839B2
The present invention relates to a reticle pod having gas guiding apparatus. The gas guiding apparatus communicates with at least an inlet of the reticle pod and comprises a first outlet corresponding to a first gas flowing space of the reticle pod and a second outlet corresponding to a second gas flowing space. When the inlet supplies a high-purity gas to the gas guiding apparatus, the high-purity gas will flows through the gas guiding apparatus, and flow to the first and second gas flowing spaces via the first and second outlets, respectively to distribute uniformly in the first and second gas flowing spaces. In addition, the cleaning efficiency on the reticle is improved; the contact between the reticle and air can be avoided for protecting the reticle. Thereby, the usage of the high-purity gas is reduced, and the filling efficiency of the high-purity gas is enhanced.
US09230835B2
Embodiments of an integrated platform for fabricating n-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) devices are provided herein. In some embodiments, an integrated platform for fabricating n-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) devices may include a first deposition chamber configured to deposit a first layer atop the substrate, the first layer comprising titanium oxide (TiO2) or selenium (Se); a second deposition chamber configured to deposit a second layer atop the first layer, the second layer comprising titanium; a third deposition chamber configured to deposit a third layer atop the second layer, the third layer comprising one of titanium nitride (TiN) or tungsten nitride (WN).
US09230832B2
A method for manufacturing a filled cavity between a first surface and a second surface. The steps of the method include: providing a first surface and a second surface; applying on the first surface and/or the second surface a filling material that has a carrier fluid and necking particles; providing spacer elements for defining a width of a cavity between the first and second surfaces; bringing the first and second surfaces together to deform the filling material such that at least one spacer element is held between the first and second surfaces; and removing the carrier fluid such that necking particles attach in a contact region of at least one spacer element with the first surface or the second surface to form necks.
US09230830B2
A bridging arrangement for coupling a first terminal to a second terminal includes a plurality of particles of a first type forming at least one path between the first terminal and the second terminal, wherein the particles of the first type are attached to each other; a plurality of particles of a second type arranged in a vicinity of a contact region between a first particle of the first type and a second particle of the first type, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of particles of the second type is attached to the first particle of the first type and the second particle of the first type.
US09230827B2
The present invention provides a method for forming a resist under layer film used in a lithography process, comprising: a process for applying a composition for forming a resist under layer film containing an organic compound having an aromatic unit on a substrate; and a process for heat-treating the resist under layer film applied in an atmosphere whose oxygen concentration is 10% or more at 150° C. to 600° C. for 10 to 600 seconds after heat-treating the same in an atmosphere whose oxygen concentration is less than 10% at 50 to 350° C. There can be provided a method for forming a resist under layer film having excellent filling/flattening properties so that unevenness on a substrate can be flattened even in complex processes such as multi-layer resist method and double patterning.
US09230826B2
A method for etching is provided in which the etching selectivity of an amorphous semiconductor film to a crystalline semiconductor film is high. Part of a stacked semiconductor film in which an amorphous semiconductor film is provided on a crystalline semiconductor film is etched using a mixed gas of a Br-based gas, a F-based gas, and an oxygen gas, so that part of the crystalline semiconductor film provided in the stacked semiconductor film is exposed. Reduction in the film thickness of the exposed portion can be suppressed by performing the etching in such a manner. Moreover, when etching for forming a back channel portion of a thin film transistor is performed with the method for etching, favorable electric characteristics of the thin film transistor can be obtained. An insulating layer is preferably provided over the thin film transistor.
US09230816B1
A method for fabricating semiconductor device is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: providing a substrate having a gate structure thereon and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer around the gate structure; forming a dielectric layer on the gate structure and the ILD layer; forming a patterned hard mask on the dielectric layer; forming an opening in the dielectric layer and the ILD layer; performing a silicide process for forming a silicide layer in the opening; removing the patterned hard mask and un-reacted metal after the silicide process; and forming a contact plug in the opening.
US09230813B2
A one time programmable nonvolatile memory formed from metal-insulator-semiconductor cells. The cells are at the crosspoints of conductive gate lines and intersecting doped semiconductor lines formed in a semiconductor substrate.
US09230807B2
A silicon carbide device is presented that includes a gate electrode disposed over a portion of a silicon carbide substrate as well as a dielectric film disposed over the gate electrode. The device has a contact region disposed near the gate electrode and has a layer disposed over the dielectric film and over the contact region. The layer includes nickel in portions disposed over the dielectric film and includes nickel silicide in portions disposed over the contact region. The nickel silicide layer is configured to provide an ohmic contact to the contact region of the silicon carbide device.
US09230786B1
The present invention relates to electrospray ionization (ESI) at atmospheric pressure coupled with a mass spectrometer, in particular to a special kind of micro-electrospray with liquid flows in the range of 0.1 to 100 microliters per minute. The invention describes the use of an off-axis pre-entrance channel in an ESI ion source to prevent particulate matter with higher inertia than the (charged) gas molecules, such as droplets, from entering the mass spectrometer. The elimination of the particulate matter improves the quantitative precision of an LC/MS bioassay, minimizes the contamination of the mass spectrometer and improves the robustness for high throughput assays.
US09230784B2
There are provided a mass spectrometer and a mass spectrometry method which can realize shortening of the measurement time and reduction of the consumption of a sample. Ions, in which the intensity distribution forms a peak waveform at both of each retention time and each mass-to-charge ratio (peaks P11, P21, P22 and P32) are detected as MS/MS precursor ions based on three-dimensional information of a retention time, a mass-to-charge ratio and an intensity. Whether or not MS3 analysis is performed for each ion is determined beforehand based on whether or not the isotopic distributions of a plurality of ions are superimposed at each retention time rt1 to rt3. Ions (peaks P21 and P22) for which MS3 analysis is performed and ions (peaks P11 and P32) for which MS3 analysis is not performed can be hereby determined at the time the MS spectrum is measured to detect MS/MS precursor ions.
US09230778B2
The invention relates to a method for removing carbon layers, in particular ta-C layers, from substrate surfaces of tools and components. The substrate to be de-coated is accordingly arranged on a substrate support in a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber is charged with at least one reactive gas assisting the evacuation of carbon in gaseous form and a low-voltage plasma discharge is created in the vacuum chamber to activate the reactive gas and hence assist the required chemical reaction or reactions to de-coat the coated substrate. The low-voltage plasma discharge is a dc low-volt arc discharge, the substrate surfaces to be de-coated are bombarded substantially exclusively with electrons and oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are used as reactive gas.
US09230758B2
The invention relates to a mechanical assembly for a wire-fuse circuit-breaker (1) provided with a fuseholder (2) and a drive lever (3) adapted to be actuated by an operator and to actuate a lever for breaking the fuse wire.According to the invention, the direction of pivoting of the drive lever is the opposite of the direction of pivoting of the fuseholder tube and the mounting of the parts leaves sufficiently clear the area in the vicinity of the open lower end of the fuse-holder tube to allow gases produced by breaking the fuse wire to exhaust without disturbing the flow thereof. This makes a wire-fuse circuit-breaker safe to drive and safe in operation. The invention also relates to a method of renovating an existing wire-fuse circuit-breaker.
US09230748B1
The present disclosure is directed to an energy storage system using a combination of battery and ultra-capacitor storage components and having passive voltage control. An inductor is placed inline between the batteries and ultra-capacitors of the hybrid module. In another embodiment, the inductor/ultra-capacitor module is configured to be connected to a battery. The disclosed device is suitable for use in high-power applications where high-currents can have adverse effects on impedance-matching components.
US09230747B2
A dye-sensitized solar cell includes: a collective electrode having a light-transmitting function, a photoelectrode to be electrically connected to the collective electrode and being a semiconductor layer having a dye adsorbed thereon, and a counter electrode apart from the photoelectrode arranged in the interior of a tube-shaped vessel formed of a transparent glass; glass sealed portions formed at both ends of the tube-shaped vessel; external leads penetrating through the glass sealed portions and drawn out of the tube-shaped vessel; and an electrolytic solution filled in the tube-shaped vessel and hermetically sealed wherein the counter electrode includes an electric double-layer capacitor, the electric double-layer capacitor includes the counter electrode which also serves as a positive polarized electrode, a negative polarized electrode arranged apart therefrom inside of the counter electrode, and a separator arranged between the counter electrode and the negative polarized electrode, and the electrolytic solution filled therein.
US09230745B2
A variable capacitance element includes a piezoelectric substrate, a buffer layer located on the piezoelectric substrate with an orientation, a dielectric layer located on the buffer layer and having a relative dielectric constant that varies in accordance with an applied voltage, and a first electrode and a second electrode arranged to apply an electric field to the dielectric layer.
US09230744B2
According to one embodiment, a MEMS element comprises a first electrode fixed on a substrate, a second electrode formed above the first electrode to face it, and vertically movable, a first anchor portion formed on the substrate and configured to support the second electrode, and a first spring portion configured to connect the second electrode and the first anchor portion. The first spring portion includes a liner layer includes a brittle material in contact with the second electrode and the first anchor portion, and a base layer formed on the liner layer, includes a brittle material having a composition different from that of the liner layer, and having a film thickness larger than that of the liner layer.
US09230742B2
A capacitor includes a dielectric layer having a first plane, a second plane opposite to the first plane, and first and second through-holes communicated with the first plane and the second plane; a first external conductor layer disposed on the first plane; a second external conductor layer disposed on the second plane; a first internal electrode formed in the first through-hole, connected to the first external electrode layer, disposed in the second hole diameter part at a tip and separated from the second external electrode layer; and a second internal electrode formed in the second through-hole, connected to the second external electrode layer, and separated from the first external electrode layer.
US09230739B2
A lead-lanthanum-zirconium-titanate (PLZT) capacitor on a substrate formed of glass. The first metallization layer is deposited on a top side of the substrate to form a first electrode. The dielectric layer of PLZT is deposited over the first metallization layer. The second metallization layer deposited over the dielectric layer to form a second electrode. The glass substrate is advantageous as glass is compatible with an annealing process used to form the capacitor.
US09230738B2
There is provided a multilayer ceramic electronic component including: a ceramic body; a plurality of first internal electrodes formed within the ceramic body; a plurality of second internal electrodes alternately laminated together with the first internal electrodes with the dielectric layer interposed therebetween, insulated from the first internal electrodes, wherein a distance between the plurality of first internal electrodes 121 and the second lateral surface 2 and a distance between the plurality of second internal electrodes 122 and the second lateral surface 2 are different, and when the longest distance between the uppermost internal electrode and the lowermost electrode, among the plurality of first and second internal electrodes 121 and 122, is T1 and the shortest distance therebetween is T2, 0.76≦T2/T1≦0.97 is satisfied.
US09230735B2
A coil forming apparatus for forming an electrical coil from an electrical wire. The apparatus includes a frame and a spindle assembly coupled to the frame. The spindle assembly includes: a first arm coupled to the frame, wherein the first arm includes a first moveable bracket and a plurality of first moveable spindles coupled to the first moveable bracket and to the electrical wire in a first position. The spindle assembly further includes a second arm coupled to the frame, wherein the second arm has a second moveable bracket that includes a plurality of second moveable spindles coupled to the second moveable bracket and coupled to the electrical wire in the first position. The coil forming apparatus includes a drive system coupled to the first moveable bracket and the second moveable bracket. The drive system is configured to move the first moveable bracket and the second moveable bracket.
US09230734B2
A U-shaped iron core transporting/assembling tank is divided into a first leg iron core tank for housing a first leg iron core, a second leg iron core tank for housing a second leg iron core, and a lower-yoke iron core assembling tank. The first and second leg iron core tanks are integrated to constitute an erection tank. The lower-yoke iron core assembling tank has an opening portion for opening or closing which is formed in one longitudinal side surface of the lower-yoke iron core and through which the lower-yoke iron core can be carried in or out. The lower-yoke iron core assembling tank is connected at the opening portion which is opened when the lower-yoke iron core is housed in the lower-yoke iron core assembling tank.
US09230729B2
A transformer wherein the upper portions of cores are supported by a first supporting member disposed on first end surfaces of the upper portions of the cores, and a second supporting member disposed on second end surfaces of the upper portions of the cores, the first and second supporting members extend in the direction perpendicular to the faces of a magnetic material, and the cores are interposed between the first upper core supporting member and the second upper core supporting member; the first and second upper core supporting members are provided with hooks, the hooks of the first supporting member extending toward the second supporting member and the hooks of the second supporting member extending toward the first supporting member; bridging members are disposed on the opposing pairs of the hooks of the first and second upper core supporting members; and the cores are supported by the bridging members.
US09230726B1
Systems and methods that allow for weight and size reduction of electronics components, such as transformer rectifier units (TRUs) or autotransformer rectifier units (ATRUs), by providing a fluid cooling system is utilized to provide high heat dissipation for a transformer assembly of TRUs or ATRUs by providing a thermal interface at the windings of the transformer assembly, which are the hottest spots in such assemblies. The cooling system may include a fluid-cooled winding heat sink element or “finger,” which may be a thermally conductive bar (e.g., aluminum, copper) having microchannels therein positioned between the core and windings of a transformer or between turns of the windings of a transformer. Fluid passes through the microchannels of the heat sink element to provide direct cooling to the heat generating windings of the transformers. The heat sink element may be produced by an additive manufacturing technology.
US09230724B2
A cooling system and a superconducting magnet apparatus employing the same. The cooling system includes: a thermal shield unit for thermally shielding a superconducting coil; a recondensing unit for recondensing an extremely low temperature refrigerant that cools down the superconducting coil. A cryocooler includes a body and an end portion extending from the body and inserted into the recondensing unit in order to directly contact the extremely low temperature refrigerant. A refrigerator chamber penetrates through the thermal shield unit and to which the cryocooler is attachably and detachably provided. A sealing member is disposed between the cryocooler and the refrigerator chamber to seal the recondensing unit.
US09230722B2
This disclosure provides a ferrite ceramic composition, a ceramic electronic component including the ceramic composition, and a process of producing a ceramic electronic component including the ferrite ceramic composition, of which the insulation performance can be secured even when fired simultaneously with a metal wire material containing Cu as the main component, and which can have good electric properties. The ferrite ceramic composition includes an Ni—Mn—Zn-based ferrite having a molar content of CuO of 5 mol % or less and in which, when the molar content (x) of Fe2O3 and the molar content (y) of Mn2O3 are expressed by a coordinate point (x,y), the coordinate point (x,y) is located in an area bounded by coordinate points A (25,1), B (47,1), C (47,7.5), D (45,7.5), E (45,10), F (35,10), G (35,7.5) and H (25,7.5).
US09230719B2
A method for producing an electrical component, comprises providing a ceramic semiconducting base body (10) having a surface (O10) and a first side area (S10a) lying opposite the surface (O10), wherein a metallic layer (40) is contained within the base body. After at least two further metallic layers (210) have been arranged separately from one another on the side area (S10a) of the base body, the arrangement is sintered. An electrically insulating layer (30) is arranged between the at least two further metallic layers (210). A respective contact layer (220) is arranged on the metallic layers (210) by means of a chemical process. In this case, the material of the base body (10) is removed proceeding from the surface (O10) of the base body (10) at most as far as the metallic layer (40) arranged within the base body.
US09230709B2
A paste composition for an electrode of a solar cell according to the present invention comprises a conductive powder, an organic vehicle, and a glass frit, and the glass frit includes a first glass frit having a first glass transition temperature and a second glass frit having a second glass frit temperature lower than the first glass transition temperature.
US09230704B2
A hard coat film includes: a transparent base material; and a hard coat layer formed on the transparent base material, wherein the hard coat layer includes a cured product obtained by curing a composition including: an ultraviolet curable acrylate resin including one or more types of multifunctional acrylate; first microparticles having an average particle diameter of 5 nm or more and 100 nm or less; and a thermoplastic polyester resin.
US09230702B2
An imaging system includes a detector configured to detect X-rays from an X-ray source. The detector includes multiple photodetector elements. The imaging system also includes an anti-scatter grid disposed over the detector, wherein the anti-scatter grid includes multiple radiation absorbing elements. At least a portion of one or more of the radiation absorbing elements of the multiple radiation absorbing elements is disposed on each photodetector element, and a total area of each respective portion of the one or more radiation absorbing elements disposed on each photodetector element is substantially equal.
US09230699B2
A circulation pipe of a chemical decontamination apparatus including a malonic acid injection apparatus and an oxalic acid injection apparatus is connected to a purification system pipe, which is made of carbon steel, of a boiling water nuclear power plant. A malonic acid aqueous solution is injected from the malonic acid injection apparatus into the circulation pipe. An oxalic acid aqueous solution is injected from the oxalic acid injection apparatus into the circulation pipe. A reduction decontaminating solution including a malonic acid of 5200 ppm and an oxalic acid within a range of 50 to 400 ppm is supplied into the purification system pipe through the circulation pipe. Reduction decontamination for an inner surface of the purification system pipe is executed. After the reduction decontamination for the purification system pipe finishes, the malonic acid and oxalic acid included in the solution are decomposed and furthermore, the solution is purified.
US09230692B2
Apparatuses and methods related to redundant memory and mapping memory addresses to redundant memory are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a plurality of memory sections and a plurality of redundant memory sections. A programmable element block includes a plurality of programmable element sets. A programmable element set is configured to be programmed with location information for a redundant memory section of the plurality of redundant memory sections and further programmed with a respective memory address to be mapped to a redundant memory element of the redundant memory section located by the location information. A programmable element block logic is configured to associate a memory address programmed in a programmable element set with a redundant memory element of the redundant memory section located by the respective location information programmed in the programmable element set.
US09230691B1
A cross-bar switch is provided that enables each master from a plurality of masters to read from and write to selected memories from an array of memories. A logic circuit controls the cross-bar switch so that redundancy for the memories is provided by a shared redundancy storage element.
US09230688B2
The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for determining an age of data stored in memory. A number of embodiments include determining a sensing voltage that results in a particular error rate being associated with a sense operation performed on a memory using the sensing voltage, determining a difference between the determined sensing voltage and a program verify voltage associated with the memory, and determining an age of data stored in the memory based on the determined difference.
US09230685B2
Memory programming methods and memory systems are described. One example memory programming method includes first applying a first signal to a memory cell to attempt to program the memory cell to a desired state, wherein the first signal corresponds to the desired state, after the first applying, determining that the memory cell failed to place in the desired state, after the determining, second applying a second signal to the memory cell, wherein the second signal corresponds to another state which is different than the desired state, and after the second applying, third applying a third signal to the memory cell to program the memory cell to the desired state, wherein the third signal corresponds to the desired state. Additional method and apparatus are described.
US09230679B2
Apparatuses and methods for sensing fuse states are disclosed herein. An apparatus may include an array having a plurality of sense lines. A plurality of cells may be coupled to a sense line of the plurality of sense lines. A fuse sense circuit may coupled to the sense line of the plurality of sense lines and configured to receive a sense voltage from a cell of the plurality of cells. The sense voltage may be based, at least in part, on a state of a fuse corresponding to the cell of the plurality of cells. The fuse sense circuit may further be configured to compare the sense voltage to a reference voltage to provide a fuse state control signal indicative of the state of the fuse.
US09230673B2
A method for reading data stored in a flash memory includes at least the following steps: controlling the flash memory to perform a plurality of read operations upon a plurality of memory cells included in the flash memory; obtaining a plurality of bit sequences read from the memory cells, respectively, wherein the read operations read bits of a predetermined bit order from the memory cells by utilizing different control gate voltage settings; and determining readout information of the memory cells according to binary digit distribution characteristics of the bit sequences.
US09230668B2
A semiconductor memory apparatus including a latch unit configured to be driven in response to activation of a reset selection signal and resetting a first node and a second node; and an auxiliary driving unit configured to support a driving force of the latch unit in response to the reset selection signal and a voltage logic level of the first node or the second node, wherein the first node and the second node have substantially opposite voltage logic levels.
US09230660B2
Methods, devices, and systems for data modulation for groups of memory cells. Data modulation for groups of memory cells can include modulating N units of data to a combination of programmed states. Each memory cell of a group of G number of memory cells can be programmed to one of M number of programmed states, where M is greater than a minimum number of programmed states needed to store N/G units of data in one memory cell, and where the programmed state of each memory cell of the group is one of the combination of programmed states.
US09230653B2
According to an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes an IO terminal unit, an first IO line, and a second IO line. The IO terminal unit includes first and second IO terminals. The first IO line is electrically connected to one of both the first IO terminal and the second IO terminal. The second IO line is electrically connected to the other of both the first IO terminal and the second IO terminal. When the semiconductor device receives a first signal, the first IO terminal is electrically connected to the first IO line and the second IO terminal is electrically connected to the second IO line. When the semiconductor device receives a second signal, the first IO terminal is electrically connected to the second IO line and the second IO terminal is electrically connected to the first IO line. The second signal is different from the first signal.
US09230639B2
A method includes programming a group of analog memory cells by writing respective analog values into the memory cells in the group. After programming the group, the analog values are read from the memory cells in the group using a set of read thresholds so as to produce readout results. Respective optimal positions for the read thresholds in the set are identified based on the readout results. A noise level in the readout results is estimated based on the identified optimal positions of the read thresholds.
US09230638B1
A method includes performing a pre-reading on memory cells selected from a plurality of memory cells according to a pre-read voltage and determining whether the selected memory cells each are read as a first logical value or a second logical value, comparing a number of memory cells read as the first logical value among the selected memory cells with a predetermined number, and when the number of selected memory cells read as the first logical value is smaller than the predetermined number, performing a first main reading of the selected memory cells, the first main reading adapted to read a memory cell that stores multiple bits.
US09230628B2
A magnetic memory according to an embodiment includes at least one MTJ element, the MTJ element including: a magnetic multilayer structure including a first magnetic layer in which a direction of magnetization is fixed, a second magnetic layer in which a direction of magnetization is changeable, and a tunnel barrier layer located between the first and second magnetic layers; a first electrode provided on a first surface of the magnetic multilayer structure; a second electrode provided on a second surface of the magnetic multilayer structure; an insulating film provided on a side surface of the magnetic multilayer structure; and a control electrode provided on the side surface of the magnetic multilayer structure with the insulating film located therebetween, a voltage being applied to the control electrode in a read operation, which increases an energy barrier for changing the magnetization of the second magnetic layer.
US09230621B2
A semiconductor memory device and a method of operating the same are provided. The semiconductor memory device includes a buffer that inputs a first signal and outputs a first delay signal, a command decoder that outputs a second signal, a mask pulse signal generator that inputs the first delay signal and the second signal and generates a mask pulse signal, and a signal reshaper that inputs the first delay signal, the second signal and the mask pulse signal and reshapes the first delay signal or the second signal.
US09230620B1
A memory interface for a plurality of DRAM devices comprising an input DRAM address matching module includes a local memory comprising a plurality of data entries, wherein the plurality of data entries comprising a plurality of DRAM addresses and a plurality of associated pointers, and wherein the plurality of associated pointers comprise output DRAM addresses, and a matching mechanism coupled to the local memory, wherein the matching mechanism is configured to receive the input DRAM address, wherein the matching mechanism is configured to determine whether the input DRAM address is specified in the plurality of data entries, and when the input DRAM address is specified in the plurality of data entries, the matching mechanism is configured to output an associated pointer associated with the input DRAM address.
US09230612B2
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of word lines; a plurality of bit lines; and a plurality of bit line node contacts. The plurality of word lines extend in a first direction in or on a substrate. The plurality of bit lines crosses over the plurality of word lines. Each of the plurality of bit line node contacts connects a corresponding bit line to the substrate, and each of the plurality of bit line node contacts has a width substantially equal to a width of the corresponding bit line.
US09230599B2
Video and sensor data from multiple locations in a venue, in which multiple individuals are engaged in athletic performances, is stored and edited to create individualized video programs of athletic performances of individuals. Each camera provides a video feed that is continuously stored. Each video feed is stored in a sequence of data files in computer storage, which data files are created in regular time intervals. Each file is accessible using an identifier of the camera and a time interval. Similarly, data from sensors is continuously received and stored in a database. The database stores, for each sensor, an identifier of each individual detected in the proximity of the sensor and the time at which the individual was detected. Each sensor is associated with one or more cameras.
US09230592B1
An apparatus includes: a disk; a spindle motor configured to rotate the disk; and control circuitry with a spindle motor control loop, coupled to the spindle motor, the control circuitry configured to: inject a bandwidth test frequency into the spindle motor control loop, measure an open loop gain of the spindle motor control loop, calculate, using coordinate transformations, an estimated loop bandwidth of the spindle motor control loop based at least on one iteration of the bandwidth test frequency injection and the open loop gain measurement, and generate optimum loop parameters of the spindle motor control loop.
US09230588B2
A magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, a magnetic layer including an alloy having an L10 type crystal structure as a main component thereof, a plurality of underlayers arranged between the substrate and the magnetic layer, and a barrier layer made of a material having an NaCl structure. The plurality of underlayers include at least one crystalline underlayer including Mo as a main component thereof, and at least one of Si and C in a range of 1 mol % to 20 mol % and an oxide in a range of 1 vol % to 50 vol %. The barrier layer is provided between the magnetic layer and the at least one crystalline underlayer including Mo.
US09230585B1
A disk drive is disclosed including a disk having a plurality of tracks, wherein each track comprises a plurality of data sectors and a plurality of servo sectors. The disk drive further comprises a spindle motor for rotating the disk, and a head actuated radially over the disk, wherein the head comprises a dynamic fly height (DFH) heater. Control circuitry within the disk drive is operable to position the head over one of the tracks; determine a number of servo sectors to pass under the head before a target location over the track is reached, apply an initial amount of power to the DFH heater that is dependent at least in part on the determined number of servo sectors, and decrease the initially-applied amount of power applied to the DFH heater until a predetermined target power is reached.
US09230582B2
An apparatus includes a transducer including a plasmonic funnel having first and second ends with the first end having a smaller cross-sectional area than the second end, and a first section positioned adjacent to the first end of the plasmonic funnel, and a first waveguide having a core, positioned to cause light in the core to excite surface plasmons on the transducer.
US09230580B1
Disclosed is a suspension assembly for a disk drive that includes: a mounting plate having a through-hole; a microactuator mounted on the mounting plate; a flexure attached to the mounting plate, the flexure including a trace layer that includes a ground trace; and a conductive epoxy bonded to the microactuator extending through the through-hole to bond to the flexure, wherein the epoxy extends to the ground trace of the flexure such that the microactuator is grounded to the flexure.
US09230579B1
A comb gripper is disclosed for use in the assembly of a disk drive. The comb gripper may be used to push a comb tower of a shipping comb such that a head stack assembly (HSA) of the disk drive is rotated and a head gimbal assembly (HGA) of the disk drive is coupled to a ramp of the disk drive. The comb gripper may comprise: a first gripper finger that includes a protruding portion; a second gripper finger; and an actuator. The actuator may be configured to move the first and second gripper fingers, wherein the actuator is configured to move the protruding portion of the first gripper finger to contact the comb tower and to push the comb tower and the shipping comb such that the HSA is rotated and the HGA is coupled to the ramp.
US09230577B2
A composite side shield structure is disclosed for providing biasing to a free layer in a sensor structure. The sensor is formed between a bottom shield and top shield each having a magnetization in a first direction that is parallel to an ABS. The side shield is stabilized by an antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling scheme wherein a bottom (first) magnetic layer is AFM coupled to a second magnetic layer which in turn is AFM coupled to an uppermost (third) magnetic layer. First and third magnetic layers each have a magnetization aligned in the first direction and are coupled to bottom and top shields, respectively, for additional stabilization. The top shield may be modified to include an AFM scheme for providing additional stabilization and guidance to magnetic moments within AFM coupled magnetic layers in the top shield, and to the third magnetic layer in the side shield.
US09230571B1
A design for a microwave assisted magnetic recording device is disclosed wherein a spin torque oscillator (STO) between a main pole and write shield has a spin polarization (SP) layer less than 30 Angstroms thick and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) induced by an interface with one or two metal oxide layers. Back scattered spin polarized current from an oscillation layer is used to stabilize SP layer magnetization. One or both of the metal oxide layers may be replaced by a confining current pathway (CCP) structure. In one embodiment, the SP layer is omitted and spin polarized current is generated by a main pole/metal oxide interface. A direct current or pulsed current bias is applied across the STO. Rf current may also be injected into the STO to reduce critical current density. A write gap of 25 nm or less is achieved while maintaining good STO performance.
US09230564B2
In one general embodiment, a method is provided for fabricating magnetic structures using post-deposition tilting. A thin film magnetic transducer structure is formed on a substantially planar portion of a substrate such that a plane of deposition of the thin film transducer structure is substantially parallel to a plane of the substrate. Additionally, the thin film transducer structure is caused to tilt at an angle relative to the plane of the substrate. The thin film transducer is fixed at the angle after being tilted.
US09230560B2
A smart home interaction system is presented. It is built on a multi-modal, multithreaded conversational dialog engine. The system provides a natural language user interface for the control of household devices, appliances or household functionality. The smart home automation agent can receive input from users through sensing devices such as a smart phone, a tablet computer or a laptop computer. Users interact with the system from within the household or from remote locations. The smart home system can receive input from sensors or any other machines with which it is interfaced. The system employs interaction guide rules for processing reaction to both user and sensor input and driving the conversational interactions that result from such input. The system adaptively learns based on both user and sensor input and can learn the preferences and practices of its users.
US09230554B2
In encoding, the number of bits to be assigned to codes corresponding to noise or a pulse sequence obtained according to prediction analysis applied to time series signals included in a predetermined time interval is switched according to whether an index that indicates a level of periodicity and/or stationarity of input time series signals satisfies a condition that indicates high periodicity and/or high stationarity or a condition that indicates low periodicity and/or low stationarity, to acquire the codes corresponding to the noise and the pulse sequence. In decoding, a decoding mode for codes corresponding to noise or a pulse sequence included in codes corresponding to a predetermined time interval is switched according to the same criterion as that described above to decode the codes corresponding to the noise or the pulse sequence to acquire noise or a pulse sequence corresponding to the predetermined time interval.
US09230553B2
A pulse location search device (400) is equipped with: a first search unit (401) that obtains a first location where a first pulse is located by conducting a first preliminary selection with respect to a first candidate group, and conducting a first search; a second search unit (402) that obtains a second location where a second pulse is located by using the first location and conducting a second search with respect to all of the location candidates of a second candidate group of locations where the second pulse is located; and a third search unit (403) that obtains a third location where the first pulse is located by using the second location and conducting a second preliminary selection with respect to the first candidate group, and conducting a third search with respect to the result of the second preliminary selection.
US09230551B2
An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: determining from an audio signal at least a first part and a second part; encoding the first part of the audio signal with a first encoder for generating a first encoded audio signal; encoding the second part of the audio signal with a second encoder configured to generate a second encoded audio signal comprising for a first section of the second part an indicator to at least part of the first part of the audio signal; and determining the first section of the second part of the audio signal such that the first encoded audio signal and second encoded audio signal is within a defined encoding efficiency parameter.
US09230549B1
A multi-modal communications system integrates multiple different communications channels and modalities into a single user interface that enables operators to monitor and respond to multiple audio and text communications.
US09230543B2
Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for providing contents about conversation, which collect voice information from conversation between a user and another person, search contents on the basis of the collected voice information, and provide contents about the conversation between the user and the person. The method of providing contents about conversation includes: a voice information collecting step of collecting voice information from conversation between a user and another person; a keyword creating control step of creating search keywords by using the collected voice information; and a contents providing control step of searching contents by using the created search keywords, and providing the searched contents.
US09230540B2
In some embodiments, the recognition results produced by a speech processing system (which may include two or more recognition results, including a top recognition result and one or more alternative recognition results) based on an analysis of a speech input, are evaluated for indications of potential significant errors. In some embodiments, the recognition results may be evaluated using one or more sets of words and/or phrases, such as pairs of words/phrases that may include words/phrases that are acoustically similar to one another and/or that, when included in a result, would change a meaning of the result in a manner that would be significant for a domain. The recognition results may be evaluated using the set(s) of words/phrases to determine, when the top result includes a word/phrase from a set of words/phrases, whether any of the alternative recognition results includes any of the other, corresponding words/phrases from the set.
US09230537B2
A voice signal is synthesized using a plurality of phonetic piece data each indicating a phonetic piece containing at least two phoneme sections corresponding to different phonemes. In the apparatus, a phonetic piece adjustor forms a target section from first and second phonetic pieces so as to connect the first and second phonetic pieces to each other such that the target section includes a rear phoneme section of the first piece and a front phoneme section of the second piece, and expands the target section by a target time length to form an adjustment section such that a central part is expanded at an expansion rate higher than that of front and rear parts of the target section, to thereby create synthesized phonetic piece data having the target time length. A voice synthesizer creates a voice signal from the synthesized phonetic piece data.
US09230536B2
A candidate voice segment sequence generator 1 generates candidate voice segment sequences 102 for an input language information sequence 101 by using DB voice segments 105 in a voice segment database 4. An output voice segment sequence determinator 2 calculates a degree of match between the input language information sequence 101 and each of the candidate voice segment sequences 102 by using a parameter 107 showing a value according to a cooccurrence criterion 106 for cooccurrence between the input language information sequence 101 and a sound parameter showing the attribute of each of a plurality of candidate voice segments in each of the candidate voice segment sequences 102, and determines an output voice segment sequence 103 on the basis of the degree of match.
US09230535B2
An active vibration noise control apparatus with which vibration noise can be reduced stably and effectively by preventing divergence of a filter coefficient or a delay in convergence due to an effect of a transfer characteristic on a secondary path. The active vibration noise control apparatus calculates an update step size in accordance with a magnitude of a gain in the transfer characteristic corresponding to a frequency of vibration noise, where the transfer characteristic is on the secondary path for propagation of a secondary vibration noise for reducing the vibration noise, and updates the filter coefficient on the basis of the calculated update step size.
US09230533B2
Sound-absorbing material is provided which is more effective for the same volume. A sound-absorbing body is formed characteristically by hot-compression molding of a raw material (C) comprises a flexible polyurethane foam to a volume ratio ranging from 1/1.5 to 1/12. In the molding, metal molds (A·B) are heated in an electric furnace up to a set temperature of 180° C.; the flexible polyurethane foam of the cell number of 50 is held between the metal molds (A·B), and compressed and heated in the electric furnace in this state at 180° C. for 60 minutes; the fixing clamp is removed; and the hot-compressed urethane foam is taken out to obtain the intended sound-absorbing body.
US09230528B2
A system for automatic rearrangement of a musical composition includes a process of assigning metadata to an existing piece of music to divide it into sections and identify sections of the same type, and logic to remove and rearrange sections to produced a customized playback with a desired duration and additional options for including or removing specific sections or instruments under the control of a user.
US09230524B2
A stand for securely and gently cradling a stringed instrument such as a guitar. The stand includes a pair of cradling arms and at least one support member both mounted for movement relative to a base member. A user places the guitar on the generally horizontally oriented support member depressing it downward which causes movement of the cradling arms from an outward open position to an inward closed position latterly supporting the body of the stringed instrument. Movement of the two cradling arms is coordinated by providing a single support member or by attaching to support members to a common yoke mounted for vertical movement on the base member. Each stand can be mounted on a separate stabilizing platform, or a plurality of stands can be mounted to adapters along a storage rack.
US09230521B2
A low E-flat bass clarinet with low E tone hole not on the bell is provided. The clarinet includes a mouthpiece coupled to a neck. The clarinet further includes an upper joint coupled to the neck on one end and coupled to a lower joint on an opposing end, the upper and lower joints comprising tone holes and associated key mechanisms mounted thereon, and further having thereon a finger spatula terminating in a cam end positioned adjacent to the lower end of the lower joint. The clarinet also includes an low E joint coupled to a lower end of the lower joint, the low E joint having a low E tone hole. Further, the clarinet includes a bell coupled to the lower end of the low E joint, the bell having no low E tone hole and no low E key mechanism located thereon.
US09230520B2
A piccolo having a flute body (25) with tone holes; a head piece (10) having a mouth hole (12) and a head piece body; at least one tube piece formed, respectively, on the flute body (25) and head piece (10). The flute body (25) and the head piece (10) are connectable to one another via said at least one tube piece, wherein said at least one tube piece slidingly engage in one another. The flute body (25) and head piece (10) are displaceable relative to one another based on said slidingly arranged at least one tube piece. An axial pin tube (14) is formed on an end of the head piece (10) to be connected with the flute body (25) and projects from the head piece body. An annular adapter socket (16) is slidingly and interchangeably positioned onto the pin tube (14) and secured to the pin tube (14).
US09230511B2
A display apparatus includes a plurality of pixels connected to a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines and a timing controller, in which each pixel includes a first sub-pixel and a second sub-pixel. In such a display apparatus, the timing controller provides the first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel with a first data signal and a second data signal corresponding to one of a high gray scale curve and a low gray scale curve, alternately every frame, when the image signal is a first type of image signal, and the timing controller provides the first sub-pixel with a first data signal corresponding to the high gray scale curve and the second sub-pixel with a second data signal corresponding to the low gray scale curve when the image signal is a first type of image signal.
US09230508B2
Techniques are disclosed for rendering graphics objects in a scene file. A first pixel is selected from a plurality of pixels that are associated with an image frame. A set of graphics objects that intersect with the first pixel is identified. For each graphics objects in the first set of graphics objects. a set of light sources that illuminates the respective graphics object at the first pixel is identified, and, for each light source in the set of light sources, an entry is stored in a first table that includes references to the first pixel, the respective graphics object, and the respective light source.
US09230505B2
Techniques and mechanisms for exchanging communications which each represent a respective combination of data and clock signaling. In an embodiment, encoder logic generates a first signal pair, including encoding a first differential data signal pair with a first clock signal of a differential clock signal pair. The encoder logic further generates a second signal pair, including encoding a second differential data signal pair with a second clock signal of the same differential clock signal pair. In another embodiment, decoder logic receives and decodes the first signal pair and the second signal pair, wherein the decoding generates the first differential data signal pair, the second differential data signal pair and a clock signal.
US09230503B2
A driver apparatus configurable for receiving and processing at least one input signal. The driver apparatus can be coupled to ground potential. The driver apparatus can include a processing portion, a ground potential coupler and a control portion. The processing portion can be configured for receiving and processing the at least one input signal in a manner so as to produce drive signals. The ground potential coupler can couple at least a portion of the processing portion to the ground potential such that the processing portion can be configured to produce the drive signals based on an effective reference potential. The control portion can be coupled to the processing portion and the ground potential coupler. Additionally, the control portion can be configured to receive and process at least a portion of the drive signals in a manner so as to control variance of the effective reference potential.
US09230486B2
An electronic device utilizes a method for displaying content on a display of the device during different device operating modes. According to one embodiment, the device (e.g., through its processing subsystem) determines whether it is in an active mode or a sleep mode. If the device is in an active mode, the device illuminates a first portion of the display to display content. On the other hand, if the device is in a sleep mode, the device illuminates a second, substantially lesser portion of the display to display content. In one embodiment, the device display includes a display panel and two disparate backlights positioned behind the display panel. The first backlight is operable to illuminate the first portion of the display panel and the second backlight is operable to illuminate the second portion of the display panel when each backlight is respectively activated by the device's processing subsystem.
US09230484B2
A transform function represented by at least n points that define n−1 regions is determined based at least in part on a first set of values associated with a display frame and a maximum average contrast function. The n points can be determined in response to a change in an average contrast of the display frame compared to an average contrast of a previous display frame exceeding a predetermined threshold. The first set of values is converted to a corresponding second set of values based on the transform function. A backlight control signal is generated based on an average contrast of the second set of values, whereby the backlight control signal is configured to control an intensity of a backlight of a display. Further, a video signal is generated based on the second set of values, whereby the video signal configured to drive the display.
US09230481B2
A pixel circuit includes an OLED, a driving transistor, first and second transistors, a storage capacitor and a coupling capacitor. The OLED includes an anode and a cathode connected to a first voltage source. The driving transistor includes a first node connected to a second voltage source, a second node, and a third node connected to the anode. The first transistor includes first, second and third terminals connected to a data driving line, a first control signal source, and the second node, respectively. The second transistor includes a first terminal, a second terminal connected to a second control signal source, and a third terminal connected to the anode and the third node. The storage capacitor includes first and second terminals connected to a third voltage source and the second transistor, respectively. The coupling capacitor includes first and second terminals connected to the second transistor and the second node, respectively.
US09230478B2
Disclosed is an organic light emitting display device that displays images with uniform luminance by compensating degradation of organic light emitting diode, and a method for driving the same. The device comprises a display panel with sub-pixels, each sub-pixel having an organic light emitting diode for emitting light; a memory which stores accumulated data of each sub-pixel; and a panel driver which calculates an individual compensation gain value for each sub-pixel and a global compensation gain value for all the sub-pixels in common based on the accumulated data of sub-pixel, modulates input data for each sub-pixel through the individual compensation gain value and global compensation gain value, converts the modulated data into a data voltage, and accumulates the modulated data on the accumulated data of the corresponding sub-pixel and stores the obtained data in the memory.
US09230476B2
A method for reducing power consumption of an electronic device. The method includes setting a luminance of a display to a minimum, and reducing a data amount sent to the display.
US09230471B2
An information handling system includes a display panel, a panel connector, and a source device. The display panel displays images at different resolutions. The enables display data signals to be sent to the display panel. The source device determines whether an auxiliary channel is present between the source device and the panel connector, operates in a first embedded display operation mode if the auxiliary channel is present, otherwise determines if an enable signal has been received, and operates in a second embedded display operation mode when the enable signal has been received. The source device also communicates the display data signals to the display panel through the panel connector via a same set of pins of the source device during both the first embedded display operation mode and the second embedded display operation mode.
US09230463B2
Embodiments of the invention relate to a container with one or more secondary objects housed in the container and configured with indicia to communicate a message. One or more secondary objects in communication with a weight are housed in the container. A combination of the weight and buoyancy characteristics of the secondary object(s) supports floating of the secondary object in the fluid.
US09230461B2
A displaying device comprises a movable storage device adjustable between at least a closed position and an open position, an elastic image-building body adjustable between at least an inactive position and an active position. The image-building body, in its inactive position, is arranged to be accommodated by the storage device in the closed position thereof. The image-building body includes a substantially gas-tight cavity. The displaying device includes a valve arranged to be connected to a gas source, the valve being arranged to provide gas communication between the gas source and the cavity, so that the cavity may be filled with gas, and the image-building body may be raised into its active position when the storage device is in its open position. A method is for using a displaying device. A compressor is for putting up an image-building wall.
US09230460B2
A low profile illuminated ATM surround is provided. The surround is used with ATMs which are mounted through a wall. The surround is attached to the wall, providing a broad illuminated advertising area around the ATM while maintaining a very low profile, allowing the surround to be used in locations where minimal space is available.
US09230457B2
The present invention relates to an adjustable large-sized advertisement curtain wind-resistant module, which includes a base, the slidable board, a coupler, a transmission device, and a transmission rod. The base has a screw rod. The slidable board has a surface slidably mounted to the base and coupled with the screw rod and an opposite surface to which the coupler is mounted for coupling with the frame. The transmission device is arranged in the base and coupled to the screw rod. The transmission rod drives the transmission device and the transmission device in turn drives the screw rod, so that the screw rod may drive the slidable board to do linear displacement on the base. The linear displacement of the slidable board in opposite directions carries the frame to be moved in unison therewith to achieve adjustment of distance between two frames for stretching flat an advertisement curtain between the frames.
US09230456B2
An identification system includes a clamshell device that grasps a wire, and a clip that secures the clamshell device in a locked and closed position. The clamshell and/or clip are preferably color-coded to differentiate one wire from another, hereby allowing a technician to easily discern which wire is plugged into which port, and which wire is connected to which patient. The invention is particularly well suited for incorporation with healthcare devices and machines which have long lead wires that reach from the patient to the machine, such as electrical stimulation machines.
US09230452B2
This invention relates to a method for generating a virtual anatomic environment for use in minimally invasive surgery simulation, comprising the steps of: incorporating a main virtual anatomic environment (1); selecting a local anatomic environment (2) from a predefined library (3) comprising a set of two or more simulated local anatomic environments (2); including the selected local anatomic environment (2) in said main anatomic environment (1) to form a total virtual anatomic environment (4). The invention also relates to a device for generating a virtual anatomic environment for use in minimally invasive surgery simulation, as well as a computer-based minimal-invasive surgery simulation system comprising such a device.
US09230444B2
A method and system for determining local information which is dependent on a local runway state when the aircraft is in movement on the runway in order to update, in real-time, or practically in real-time, data used by a braking assistance system, according to whether the local runway state associated with the determined local information indicates a runway deterioration relative to a reference runway state used initially.
US09230441B2
An apparatus for gathering information about surroundings of a vehicle includes: a vehicle sensor data gathering block configured to gather first information about surroundings of the vehicle from one or more sensors mounted on the vehicle; a roadside equipment data gathering block configured to gather second information about surroundings of the vehicle from a roadside communication device installed on a driving infrastructure; and a data integration block configured to classify the first information about surroundings and the second information about surroundings for predefined data types and integrate and manage the classified information about surroundings based on a preset reliability criterion.
US09230435B2
Traffic at an intersection, or other portion of a road, is detected, and the stop/go traffic signal apparatus at the intersection, or other portion is controlled based on vehicle types in the detected traffic. A vehicle type may be determined based on information collected by that vehicle's onboard telematics unit, or with a user's device in communication therewith. An input may be received from a user device, onboard the vehicle, to request changing the current stop/go configuration of the traffic signal. The request may be processed based on the determined vehicle type to determine whether or not to change the traffic signal in response to the request. The request may be accompanied by an offer of money, and if the request is not granted, the user device may forward another request associated with a different offer.
US09230433B2
A method authenticates a group driving service of a moving object. The method includes authenticating the moving object when an authentication request for the registration of the group driving service is received from the moving object, generating a certain group having group driving service registration information based on group driving registration information when a registration request for the group driving service is received from the moving object, the registration request including the group driving registration information, and transmitting the group driving service registration information of the certain group to the moving object.
US09230432B2
Systems and methods for calculating the health of an intersection, including lane-level impacts, using traffic data obtained from the intersection.
US09230429B2
Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) tend to be specialized and expensive—relegated to only key points in power distribution networks, and are generally reliant on GPS technology. The present disclosure details how any smart meter—using wireless communication—can perform sub-microsecond-grade synchrophasor measurements. Other aspects concern smart meter-based determination of A, B or C phase of the tri-phase power network. This can involve count-stamp enabling message packets sent to and/or from a smart meter, and then associating such count-stamps to local measurements of power phase by a metrology unit. Once a network of such enabled smart meters and other devices is formed, sub-microsecond metropolitan-wide and entire region-wide synchronizing time standard can calibrate local measurements of power phase, where simple A, B and C phase determination is one low hanging fruit application of such. Low cost aggregate monitoring of metropolitan-wide synchrophasors promises a next chapter of importance for that relatively recent art.
US09230414B2
In accordance with an example embodiment, there is disclosed herein an externally accessible headphone jack that is suitable for use with an automated banking machine such as an ATM. The headphone jack is configured to be releasably, electrically connectable to portable audio output devices. The headphone jack includes an opening external of the machine that is configured to receive electrical connector plugs therein. A jack housing is located within the automated banking machine, wherein the jack housing extends below the opening and bounds an interior area, wherein the interior area houses at least one electrical contact configured for releasable electrical connection with electrical connector plugs. The jack housing includes a drain opening therein below the at least one electrical contact that is configured to drain water from the interior area of the jack housing.
US09230411B2
A gaming machine having an enhanced game play scheme is provided where, in response to receipt of a second wager to select an option, a player is provided with enhanced game play. Enhanced game play may include (1) providing more frequent bonus game play, (2) providing a larger bonus game value payout, (3) providing more frequent bonus game play and providing a larger bonus game value payout, (4) providing a larger or multiplied game value payout, (5) providing a guaranteed value payout for a non-winning outcome, (6) providing game features (7) providing a larger game value payout based on a partial game outcome, (8) providing an extra wild symbol capable of repositioning, and (9) providing a possibility of an additional reel movement to reposition an extra reel symbol or (10) providing a possibility of an extra pay line to include an extra reel symbol to increase a value payout.
US09230401B2
A slot machine includes an option in which the probability of an outcome is influenced by changing the probability of one or more symbols occurring on one or more reels (reel 1, reel 2, . . . ) by randomly or pseudo-randomly selecting reels from a set of two or more reels. The probability can be adjusted by changing, adding or subtracting symbols on a reel strip.
US09230398B2
An electronic gaming table adapted to host table games involving wagers includes a physical surface adapted for the play of live table games that include live players and the use of a live dealer and physical game components, multiple player terminals having separate processors, a master table controller in communication with each of the player terminal processors and adapted to control a plurality of electronic gaming table functions, and at least one interface in communication with the master table controller and one or more additional electronic gaming tables remotely located from the electronic gaming table. Each player terminal allows for a live player stationed thereat to participate in a first live table game directly at the electronic gaming table and also a second live table game remotely at a remotely located table. The first and second live table games can be different games, and can be played simultaneously.
US09230394B2
A gaming system which is operable to receive an input associated with at least one betting option specified by a roulette betting layout. A plurality of roulette reels are rotatable about a common axis, and each one of the roulette reels has a side display surface or side wall. Each one of the side display surfaces or side walls displays a plurality of numerals which are spaced apart along the side display surface or side wall. The numerals are associated with the roulette betting layout. An outcome occurs based upon one or more indicated numerals.
US09230392B2
A gaming machine comprising, a main circuit comprising a main processor and a main memory, the main memory storing program code that allows a player of the gaming machine to play the at least one game when executed by the main processor, the program code including authentication code that, when executed, causes the main processor to output challenge data and modify game play if valid response data is not received, and an auxiliary circuit in data communication with the main processor and comprising an auxiliary processor configured to process challenge data received from the main processor in order to output valid response data to the main processor.
US09230385B1
A method and apparatus for preventing the fraudulent receipt of credit for the goods or services provided by a coin-operated device is disclosed. A coin acceptor with an anti-fraud feature comprises a coin-accept channel comprising a lip to block the introduction of a non-coin object to a coin sensor and a coin-guiding surface to guide a coin downstream the lip to the coin sensor. The coin-accept channel may further comprise a blocking area, a deflection surface, and a protrusion to prevent the upstream movement of a tethered coin-like object, thereby preventing a single tethered coin-like object from receiving multiple credits for the goods or services provided by a coin-operated device.
US09230377B2
Systems and methods for providing mobile device security are disclosed. In some implementations, a request for access to a security mechanism is received at a user terminal. A short-range radio connection of the user terminal at a time of receiving the request for access is identified responsive to the request. A memory of the user terminal is accessed to determine whether the identified short-range radio connection corresponds to a user-identified secure radio connection. Upon determining that the radio connection corresponds to the user-identified secure radio connection, the user is granted access to the security mechanism without soliciting the user of the user terminal for a predetermined security input. Upon determining that the radio connection does not correspond to the user-identified secure radio connection, the user is solicited for the predetermined security input.
US09230376B2
An image forming apparatus includes: an acquisition unit that acquires visitor information regarding a visitor and notification destination information indicating a destination of notification to a visitor-receiving person who is to receive the visitor; an issuance unit that, based on the visitor information acquired by the acquisition unit, issues a permit indicating that the visitor is allowed to enter; and a notification unit that notifies the destination of notification indicated by the notification destination information acquired by the acquisition unit that the visitor has arrived.
US09230363B2
A system, method, and computer program product enable compression with programmable sample locations, where the compression is a function of the programmable sample locations. The method includes the steps of storing a first value specifying a programmed sample location within a pixel in a first sample pattern table that is associated with a first display surface and storing, in a memory, geometric surface parameters corresponding to a first attribute at the programmed sample location within a first pixel of the first display surface. A second value specifying the programmed sample location within the pixel in a second sample pattern table that is associated with a second display surface is also stored and the first attribute is reconstructed based on the geometric surface parameters and the first value.
US09230360B2
Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for visualizing/rendering a computer model, the computer model comprising a plurality of components wherein the method comprises: storing a plurality of parts of at least one of the plurality of components, each part including geometry information for visualizing/rendering the part, storing information indicative of the position and orientation of a plurality of components in a coordinate system, determining a spatial relationship between individual components, determining for the at least one component a number of stored parts to use for visualizing/rendering the component, based on the determined spatial relationship between the individual components. By using the spatial relationship between the components to determine the number of parts to use for visualizing/rendering a component, knowledge about the geometry of individual components and the connections of the components with other components can be used to find hidden parts that can be removed.
US09230352B2
An information processing apparatus, method and computer program product cooperate to provide graphical trends of posts regarding a posting subject and additional information. The apparatus includes a collector that collects posts regarding a posting subject that proceeds over time. A counting unit is included that counts a number of collected posts for each of different classes of posts. A display controller causes graphs to be displayed along a time-axis illustrating time-wise trends in the posts for each class together with additional information. The additional information is information that includes at least one of posts at respective times and information regarding the posting subject.
US09230346B2
A programmable gamma circuit for gamma correction is disclosed. The programmable gamma circuit includes a string digital-to-analog converter, a first operational amplifier, and an output resistor string. The string digital-to-analog converter selects an analog voltage from a plurality of candidate voltages according to a digital reference code. An output terminal of the first operational amplifier outputs a first output voltage. A positive input terminal of the first operational amplifier is electrically connected to the string digital-to-analog converter for receiving the analog voltage. The output resistor string is divided into a first resistor part and a second resistor part by a connection terminal which is electrically connected to a negative input terminal of the first operational amplifier, and a resistance of the first resistor part is a multiple of a resistance of the second resistor part.
US09230335B2
A method for locating features in a field of view of an imaging sensor that includes receiving image data from the field of view of an imaging sensor, wherein the image data includes a plurality of image frames. The method also includes receiving three-dimensional position measurements, in an absolute coordinate system, for the imaging sensor at the point in time each image frame is acquired and identifying one or more features in each of the image frames. The method also includes determining position and velocity of the one or more features in the image frames based on changes to the one or more features between the image frames and determining three-dimensional positions of the one or more features in the image frames based on the received three-dimensional position measurements for the imaging sensor and position and velocity of the one or more features in the image frames.
US09230333B2
In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, a system, a method, and computer readable medium having instructions for processing images is disclosed. For example, the method includes receiving, at an image processor, a set of images corresponding to a scene changing with time, decomposing, at the image processor, the set of images to detect static objects, leaner objects, and mover objects in the scene, the mover objects being objects that change spatial orientation in the scene with time, and compressing, using the image processor, the mover objects in the scene separately at a rate different from that of the static objects and the leaner objects for storage and/or transmission.
US09230325B2
3-D model acquisition of an object is performed using two planar mirrors and a camera. According to some embodiments, 3-D reconstruction is achieved by recovering the scene geometry, including the equations of the mirrors, the camera parameters and the position of the markers, which give the location and orientation of the subjects. After establishing the geometry, a volume intersection algorithm is applied to build a 3-D model of the subject. Camera parameters and spatial constraints of the mirrors may be initially unknown. Camera parameters may be solved with reference to the object and references in the object. Further, distance from the camera to at least one point on the object may be determined once camera parameters are solved. Markers having fixed relative positions may be provided on the object for reference.
