US09253933B2

An electric propulsion system of an electric vehicle according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a housing having an inside partitioned into a plurality of spaces, power conversion devices disposed in the partitioned spaces of the housing, respectively, a connection bar formed on one surface of the housing to electrically interconnect the power conversion devices and a battery, and adapters configured to connect the connection bar to the power conversion devices, wherein each of the adaptors comprises an inner side and an outer side, wherein the inner side of the adaptor is provided with conductor members formed to be electrically connected to electrodes of the power conversion devices when the electrodes are inserted therein, wherein the outer side of the adaptor is provided with shielding members covering the conductor members for shielding noise generated from the power conversion devices.
US09253927B1

Fan trays and components thereof are described herein. In some embodiments, a removable, compact fan tray is configured to be disposed within a slot of a chassis. The fan tray can be latchably coupled to the chassis, and/or can include a light source, such as an LED operable to depict the status of the fan tray. Leads of the light source can be disposed within an sleeve operable to contain and/or insulate the leads. The fan tray can, in some embodiments, be configured to be keyed to a particular type of chassis slot, for example, a slot associated with an air flow direction.
US09253920B2

Cooling device with liquid for electronic cards, in particular for high-performance processing units, comprising at least a hydraulic circuit in which a heat-carrying fluid flows in order to extract the heat produced by electronic components and/or hot spots present on an associated electronic card. The device comprises a cooling plate mechanically coupled to the electronic card so as to be inserted in a containing rack of the processing unit. The plate has a heat extraction surface facing and partly in contact, or at least in close proximity, with the electronic components and/or the hot spots. The hydraulic circuit is made in the thickness of the plate and has a geometric grid development, along which a plurality of hydraulic sub-circuits are disposed and switching means to define desired paths. The plate has sliding guide means able to cooperate with corresponding alignment means of the containing rack.
US09253912B2

An electronic device includes a blade having a faceplate and a handle out locked position ejector. The handle out locked position ejector is configured to secure the blade to a chassis. The handle out locked position ejector includes two ejectors and a handle binding the two ejectors together. The handle out locked position ejector extends perpendicularly from the faceplate when the blade is secured to the chassis thus locating the handle out of the way of ports of the blade.
US09253908B2

The invention provides a device module including a device, a connecting part, and a plastic part. The device is a sensor, an electronic component, or a circuit board. The connecting part is connected to the device and includes an external connecting portion. The device and the connecting part are embedded in the plastic part. The plastic part is provided with a first opening that exposes at least the external connecting portion of the connecting part to the outside.
US09253907B2

A panel having positioning function includes a body covering an opening on an extrusion casing, and a positioning mechanism having at least one position set. The position set includes a first rib disposed on a first side of the body, a first contact portion disposed on the first rib and contacting against an inner surface of the extrusion casing, a second rib disposed on a second side of the body, and a second contact portion disposed on the second rib and contacting against the other inner surface of the extrusion casing. A position of the second rib on the second side is symmetrized to a position of the first rib on the first side, so that the panel can align with the extrusion casing due to deformation of the position set.
US09253903B2

An electronic device 100 includes: a hinge mechanism 120 configured to rotate, on a portion in which a first casing 101 is connected to a second casing 102, the second casing 102 to allow the electronic device 100 to switch from a closed position through an opened position to an inverted position; and exterior components 123 and 124 each configured to rotate with the second casing 102 when switching between the opened position and the inverted position is performed, and to switch between a state where the exterior component projects from the back surface of the first casing 101 to be a leg for the electronic device 100 in the opened position, and a state where the exterior component projects from the top surface of the first casing 101 to be a leg for the electronic device 100 in the inverted position.
US09253897B2

A wiring substrate includes an insulating layer, a first pad, and a solder resist layer. The first pad is embedded in the insulating layer. The solder resist layer is provided on an upper surface of the insulating layer. The solder resist layer is formed with an opening portion through which the recess portion is exposed. An adjacent portion of the solder resist layer adjacent to a peripheral portion of the opening portion covers a peripheral portion of the upper surface of the first pad and protrudes from the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the first pad toward the center portion of the first pad so as to cover above the recess portion. Surfaces of the first pad being in contact with the insulating layer are smaller in roughness than the upper surface of the insulating layer and the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the first pad.
US09253883B2

This invention is directed to a polymer thick film conductor composition. The polymer thick film (PTF) conductor composition may be used in applications where significant stretching is required, particularly on highly permeable substrates. A particular type of substrate which is suitable is a woven polyester coated with polyamide. An electrical circuit containing a conductor formed from the composition and a process to make such a circuit are provided.
US09253881B2

A multilayer flexible substrate includes a first structural layer including at least one resin sheet including an insulating layer, a wiring conductor provided on a principal surface of the insulating layer, and filled vias disposed in the insulating layer; and a second structural layer provided on a principal surface of a portion of the first structural layer and including at least one resin sheet including an insulating layer, a wiring conductor provided on a principal surface of the insulating layer, and a filled via provided in the insulating layer. The multilayer flexible substrate includes rigid regions and a flexible region that is more flexible than the rigid regions. In the multilayer flexible substrate, the filled via disposed in the flexible region has a higher porosity than the filled via disposed in the second structural layer.
US09253877B2

A wiring substrate includes wiring layers and insulation layers alternately stacked. Via holes are formed in the insulation layers. First via wirings are formed in the via holes to electrically connect the wiring layers to one another. Through holes extend through a lowermost one of the insulation layers in a thickness direction. The lowermost insulation layer covers a lowermost one of the wiring layers. Second via wirings are formed in the through holes to define an identification mark that is identifiable as a specific shape including a character, a symbol, or a combination thereof. A lower surface of each of the second via wirings is exposed from a lower surface of the lowermost insulation layer and is flush with a lower surface of the lowermost wiring layer.
US09253875B2

An apparatus includes a first differential transmission line and a second differential transmission line. The second differential transmission line is parallel to the first differential transmission line through an overlap region. The first differential transmission line includes a first line and a second line. The first differential transmission line includes N crossovers along the first differential transmission line through the overlap region at which the first line and the second line switch lanes with each other. N is equal to 1+INT {L/(λ/C)}, where L is a length of the overlap region, λ is a wavelength of a differential signal carried by the first or second differential transmission line, C is a constant, and INT {L/(λ/C)} is {L/(λ/C)} rounded down to the nearest integer.
US09253874B2

A printed circuit board is disclosed. The printed circuit board includes a first signal transmission layer, a via and a second signal transmission layer. The via connects the first signal transmission layer to the second signal transmission layer. The via includes a first region made of a first dielectric material having a first dielectric constant, and a second region made of a second dielectric material having a second dielectric constant lower than the first dielectric constant. The via allows AC Component of an electromagnetic signal to be transmitted from the first signal transmission layer to the second signal transmission layer while blocking any DC component of the electromagnetic signal.
US09253869B2

A device for collecting electrically charged particles comprising a first shell and a second shell disposed concentrically around the first shell is provided. Each of the shells is divided respectively into a first half-shell and a second half-shell. A first switch is disposed between the first half-shell of the first shell and the second half-shell of the first shell. A second switch is disposed between the second half-shell of the first shell and the first half-shell of the second shell. The first half-shell of the second shell has a through opening.
US09253864B2

Apparatus and methods to control an electron beam of an x-ray tube are provided. One apparatus includes at least one of (i) a first switching unit having a voltage source and a pair of switches connected in series and configured to switch between open and closed positions to change an output voltage to engage or bypass the voltage source or (ii) a second switching unit connected to a voltage source and having a first pair of switches connected in series and a second pair of switches connected in series, wherein the first and second pair of switches are connected in parallel, and wherein the first and second pairs of switches are configured to switch between open and closed position to change an output voltage generated from the voltage source. The first and second switching units are connected in series and a third switching unit provided that is amplitude controllable.
US09253861B2

Various embodiments may relate to a circuit arrangement for operating at least one discharge lamp having a commutation device and a control device which is coupled to the commutation device. A first measuring device is used to determine in each case first measurement values, which represent a measure of the magnitude of electrode peaks of the discharge lamp, within a test operating phase in which the first electrode and the second electrode are supplied with energy in an asymmetrical manner. A second measuring device is used to determine a second measurement value which is correlated with the current through the discharge lamp at least during the test operating phase. The control device is designed to actuate the commutation device at least as a function of the determined first measurement values and second measurement values. Various embodiments further relate to a corresponding method for operating at least one discharge lamp.
US09253859B2

Disclosed is a lighting apparatus. The lighting apparatus includes: a control module supplying power; a heat sink receiving the control module; a light source mounted on the heat sink and connected to the control module; and a communication module including a connection terminal inserted into the heat sink and connected to the control module, and an antenna device protruding from the heat sink. Since the lighting apparatus can be controlled in a wireless scheme, a user of the lighting apparatus can easily control the lighting apparatus.
US09253826B2

A system for melting a substance may be provided. The system may comprise a microwave generator, at least one wave guide, a melter assembly, and at least one thermal insulator. The at least one wave guide may connect the microwave generator to at least one power transfer element. The at least one wave guide may be configured to transfer microwave energy from the microwave generator to a refractory assembly. The melter assembly may comprise the refractory assembly and the at least one power transfer element connected to the refractory assembly. The refractory assembly may comprise at least one absorption element configured to transfer microwave energy, received from the at least one power transition element, into heat energy. The at least one thermal insulator may be configured to allow the microwaves to penetrate to the at least one absorption element.
US09253822B2

A method of manufacturing a variable capacitor includes forming a capacitor conductor. The method also includes forming a phase change material adjacent the capacitor conductor. The method further includes forming a first contact on the capacitor conductor. The method additionally includes forming a second contact and a third contact on the phase change material.
US09253818B2

An apparatus and operating method of a Relay Station (RS) and a Base Station (BS) controller for a multi-hop relay communication in a broadband wireless communication system is provided. The method of the RS includes, when receiving at least one traffic Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) from a Mobile Station (MS) accessing the RS, extracting a Layer-3(L3) packet from the at least one traffic MAC PDU, generating a relay MAC PDU including the L3 packet, and transmitting the MAC PDU to the BS through an RS Service Flow (SF) which supports Quality of Service (QoS) required by an MS SF carrying the L3 packet.
US09253802B2

Methods and apparatus for random access in multicarrier wireless communications are disclosed. Methods and apparatus are provided for physical random access channel (PRACH) resource signaling, PRACH resource handling, preamble and PRACH resource selection, random access response (RAR) reception, preamble retransmission, and transmission and reception of subsequent messages. A method for maintaining an allowed multicarrier uplink (UL) random access channel (RACH) configuration set by adding an UL carrier to the allowed RACH configuration set provided that a triggering event occurs and performing a random access (RA) procedure using the allowed RACH configuration set. A method for sending data in multicarrier wireless communications by determining a set of available UL carriers and selecting an UL carrier from the set of available UL carriers.
US09253799B2

A method for performing communication by a cellular base station in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes performing channel contention for occupying a channel of an unlicensed band, if the channel of the unlicensed band is occupied, the cellular base station transmits a first message including information about a time period in which the channel of the unlicensed band is usable, to at least one first User Equipment (UE) that performs communication in the channel of the unlicensed band using a first communication scheme, and communicating with a second UE using a second communication scheme different from the first communication scheme in the channel of the unlicensed band during a time period corresponding to the time period information. The second communication scheme corresponds to a cellular communication scheme, and the first message is transmitted to the at least one first UE based on the first communication scheme.
US09253796B2

A base station subsystem (BSS) and a method are described herein for improving an Access Grant Channel (AGCH) capacity when mobile stations establish an uplink Temporary Block Flow (TBF) triggered by a small data transmission (SDT) or an instant message transmission (IMT). Plus, a mobile station (MS) and a method are described herein for improving the AGCH capacity when the mobile station establishes an uplink TBF triggered by a SDT or an IMT.
US09253787B2

A method for mitigating inter-cell interference by a base station in a cellular communication system. The base station determines cells to which same frequency resources are allocated, and which cause interference to each other, and determines a starting time slot, at which resource allocation to each cell starts, as a different time slot for each cell, taking into account a number of the cells and time slots constituting time resources. In response to receiving a call setup request from a terminal, the base station selects a time slot taking into account interference information of each of the time slots, and allocates a resource based on the selected time slot to the terminal.
US09253786B2

A method in a second network node (13,23) (eNodeB,BTS) for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a user equipment (10) in a cellular radio system. The second network node (2nd eNodeB, BTS) signals (sends, transmits) an indicator to a first network node, i.e. RNC or first EnodeB or BTS (12,22, 15) in the cellular radio system, which indicator indicates an impact of an intermodulation (passive intermodulation, PIM, product) caused by a transmission from a transmitter in the second network node (second eNodeB or BTS) (13,23) on a receiver in the second network node (second EnodeB or BTS) (13,23).
US09253780B2

A method for assessing the channel coefficients or the interference impact on a user equipment of a specific base station includes causing an interfering transmitter in the network to transmit data at substantially different power levels for each of at least two predefined frequency-resources each consisting of at least a part of a respective frequency channel, instructing the user equipment to measure and report to the serving base station at least one parameter associated with reception of the downlink signals that is indicative of channel coefficients or of an effect of the interfering signals and processing the results in order to assess the channel coefficients or the effect of the interfering signals.
US09253777B2

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus in a RBS and a UE for reference signal (RS) measurements in an OFDM system, that enable having a configurable RS transmission bandwidth which is smaller than the system bandwidth. This allows for better interference coordination of RS, which in turn improves the UE RS measurements used for different services such as positioning. The RBS retrieves the RS transmission bandwidth, determines a RS measurement bandwidth based on this RS transmission bandwidth, and transmits the determined bandwidth to the UE. The UE receives the RS measurement bandwidth and measures the RS in a bandwidth determined based on the received measurement bandwidth and the UE capability.
US09253772B2

A system and method for configuring a component carrier is presented. A component carrier assignment message is received. The component carrier assignment message may be configured to identify the component carrier and include at least one of, at least one of a downlink carrier frequency, a carrier frequency of a paired uplink carrier, a bandwidth of the component carrier, and a bandwidth of the paired uplink carrier, an indication of whether the component carrier is a control channel monitoring component carrier configured to signal data channel assignment information for the component carrier, and a logical index of the component carrier. The component carrier assignment message may then be used to configure the component carrier on a user equipment (UE).
US09253768B2

A method of wireless communication includes generating a first reference signal (e.g., DM-RS) based on a first scrambling identifier. The method also includes generating a second reference signal (e.g., DM-RS) based on a second scrambling identifier. The second scrambling identifier is different from the first scrambling identifier. The method further includes transmitting the first reference signal for a control channel (e.g., EPDCCH) and transmitting the second reference signal for a data channel (e.g., PDSCH).
US09253740B2

Methods are disclosed for scheduling resources in a wireless backhaul network comprising a plurality of N Hubs, each Hub serving a plurality of K Remote Backhaul Modules (RBMs), using a coordinated power zone assignment across the backhaul network. For each Hub, a one-to-one power zone assignment, of each of the K RBM to one of the K power zones, is computed by maximizing a selected network utility across the backhaul network. Coordinated power zone assignment according to preferred embodiments based on the auction approach offers a close-to-global-optimal solution. Coordinated scheduling based on first assigning RBMs to hubs heuristically, and then optimally scheduling RBMs within each hub also offers significant performance improvement as compared to non-coordinated systems. Preferred embodiments offer a significant performance improvement as compared to conventional systems. They are low in complexity, and compatible with the physical constraints of SFR-based wireless backhaul network, which make them amenable to practical implementation.
US09253736B2

A method for managing transmitting power of communications devices equipped with multiple antennas. The method enables a first antenna configuration of the plurality of antennas in accordance with a first pre-determined rule. The method transmits a first message to a peer communications device, wherein the first message comprises at least a power management profile of the communications device transmitting the first message. The method receives a second message comprising at least information pertinent to a power management profile of the peer communications device receiving the first message and signal integrity information determined by the peer communications device from the received first message. Finally, the method activates a second antenna configuration of the plurality of antennas by using the signal integrity information in accordance with a second pre-determined rule.
US09253735B2

A method of wireless communication includes determining spectral positions of intermodulation distortion products for a multi-cluster transmission. The method also includes mapping the spectral positions to corresponding spectral regions. The method further includes determining a maximum power reduction value of the multi-cluster transmission based on the corresponding spectral regions.
US09253733B1

Methods and systems are described for determining whether any one of three or more proximity test conditions is met using measurements from a plurality of proximity electrodes located relative to an antenna of a user device and reducing a transmit power level to be used by the antenna when any one of the three or more proximity test conditions is met. A user device obtains measurements from the proximity electrodes, checks the three or more proximity test conditions, and instructs a transmit power manager to reduce a transmit power level to transmit data when any one of the three or more proximity test conditions is met.
US09253725B2

According to some embodiments, there is provided a communication terminal, including: a communication device, a connection processing unit, a device power managing unit and a device power managing unit. The communication device communicates with a network. The connection processing unit establishes a connection with a first communication terminal on the network. The communication managing unit detects a start and an end of a session on the connection. The device power managing unit controls feeding of power to the communication device in accordance with a detected result by the communication managing unit.
US09253723B2

A communication device for a remote switch has a control device designed to supply a preparatory signal for preparing a transmission process and a transmission signal for starting the transmission process. A memory device is designed to save one structural information and a parameter for different transmission protocols. A processing device is designed to supply data to be sent, read the structural information and the parameters from the memory device in response to the preparatory signal and, based on the data to be sent and the structural information, create a send packet, and output the send packet and the parameter in response to the transmission signal. A transmission device is designed to wirelessly emit a transmission signal representing the send packet with a transmission characteristic defined by the parameter.
US09253721B2

A telecommunications method in a wireless communication network comprising a base station, a supplementary transmission unit and one or more user equipments, the supplementary transmission unit being initially in a dormant state in which it does not transmit; wherein based on the configuration from the base station the supplementary transmission unit measures a parameter of uplink transmission from the user equipment towards the base station; and a decision is made as to whether to activate the supplementary transmission unit in dependence upon the measured parameter.
US09253719B2

Technologies are generally described to provide a distributed scheme that enables a Green-energy Aware and the Latency Aware (GALA) user-base station (BS) associations in wireless networks, whose BSs are powered by both on-grid energy and green energy. According to some examples, the GALA approach may consider traffic delivery latency and green energy generation rate in BSs to determine the user-BS association. The GALA approach may converge to a particular solution, which may reduce the summation of the weighted latency ratios of BSs, while enabling a trade-off between the on-grid power consumption and the average traffic delivery latency.
US09253718B2

The disclosure is related to selecting an access point by a wireless terminal. Access points in an area associated with the wireless terminal may be scanned. From the scanned access points, candidate access points may be determined by filtering out improper access points from the scanned access points. A target access point may be selected from the candidate access points based on wireless link quality of each candidate access point.
US09253712B2

A method of automatically configuring a wireless device includes performing service discovery by the wireless device to identify a programming module and sending to the programming module a probe request including a first device public key. The method includes receiving from the programming module a probe response including an indication of a match between the first device public key and a second device public key.
US09253705B1

A method and system for resolving handover in the presence of coverage area identifier conflict is disclosed. In a market area in which an LTE RAN and CDMA RAN operate, a base station receives a PCI that indicates a particular one of the LTE coverage areas detected by a mobile terminal. The base station determines that at least two of the LTE coverage areas have the particular PCI. Thereafter, the base station determines which one of the LTE coverage areas is the particular LTE coverage area that was indicated by the particular PCI based at least in part on a particular PN offset that indicates a particular CDMA coverage area of the CDMA RAN. The base station then arranges for handover to the particular LTE coverage area.
US09253702B2

Presented is an apparatus and methods for determining if a determined systematic imbalance difference between a serving base station and one or more candidate base stations exceeds a threshold value and, if so, then using uplink information as part of a handover mechanism. The selective usage of uplink information in the handover mechanism can improve handover performance without unduly adding to complexity and signaling overhead.
US09253697B2

A method includes, in a mobile communication terminal that is camped on a serving cell, evaluating signals of one or more neighbor cells, and permitting the terminal to switch to a neighbor cell when a signal of the neighbor cell meets a reselection criterion for at least a predefined reselection interval. Acquisition of one or more configuration parameters of the neighbor cell is initiated at least partly in parallel with the reselection interval of the neighbor cell. Following the reselection interval, a switch is made to camp on the neighbor cell using the acquired configuration parameters.
US09253693B2

In an example embodiment, a neighbor radio/access point (AP) list is obtained. The neighbor AP list is optimized for a client that is associated with a current access point. The list may be optimized based on any one or combination of techniques, including but not limited to roaming patterns of previous clients that were associated with the current access point, radio frequency metrics, bandwidth requirements for the client, and/or any other suitable criteria. In particular embodiments, requests from the client to associate with an access point that is not on the optimized neighbor AP list may be denied.
US09253692B1

A system and method for reuse of identifiers for contention-free random access requests by wireless communication devices (WCDs) to a network are disclosed. A base station can configure two or more air-interface resources for concurrent, non-interfering transmissions by two or more different WCDs of identical random access requests to the base station. The base station may then assign an identical identifier for contention-free random access requests to two or more WCDs, while assigning the WCDs different ones of the two or more air-interface resources configured for the concurrent, non-interfering transmissions. The two or more WCDs can then concurrently transmit identical contention-free random access requests that do not interfere with one another. By way of example, the air-interface resources can be different instances of a physical random access channel, each instance corresponding to a different resource block of a common uplink subframe in a long-term evolution (LTE) system.
US09253679B2

A method for logging measurement results in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: receiving a logged measurement configuration from a network, the logged measurement configuration comprising information for performing logged Minimization Driving Test (MDT); measuring at least one cell based on the logged measurement configuration; determining whether the measurement result has importance for logging; if a storage space for logging is enough for additionally logging, setting an importance tag of the measurement result to a predetermined value in accordance with the determination; and logging the measurement result and the importance tag in the storage space.
US09253675B2

An apparatus, method and system to control the collection and reporting of measurement data in a communication system. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a processor (520) and memory (550) including computer program code. The memory (550) and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor (520), cause the apparatus to determine a mobility state of the apparatus, and collect and store measurement data in the memory (550) depending on the mobility state.
US09253674B2

Methods and apparatuses presented herein advantageously enable more accurate RSSI measurements by waking up a mobile device from a low-power mode in certain pre-designated situations. These situations include detecting certain trends in RSSI values, detecting changes in transmit power, or detecting motion. The trigger which causes the mobile device to enter the active mode from the low power mode may differ in varying examples.
US09253667B2

Methods and apparatus to audibly provide messages in a mobile device at described. An example method includes detecting a radio link failure condition, in response to detecting the radio link failure condition, sending a cell update message to a medium access control of the user equipment, detecting that a timer associated with a radio access bearer has expired before receiving confirmation from the medium access control of transmission of the cell update message to a network, and in response to detecting that the timer associated with the radio access bearer has expired and sending the cell update message to the medium access control, maintaining the radio access bearer associated with the timer.
US09253664B2

Methods and apparatus for reducing voice call drop rate are disclosed. Existing devices do not account for the added burden of background services on voice calls. Specifically, multi-RAB scenarios (e.g., a voice call and background services) can experience significant reduction in call quality. Accordingly, in one exemplary embodiment, background services that are not time-critical and/or application-critical can be suspended while a voice call is in progress. By suspending background traffic during a call, the device can avoid unnecessary multi-RAB voice call operation, which significantly improves overall network operation and user experience.
US09253658B2

An interference management scheme may detect a level of uncoordinated interference and compare a detected uncoordinated interference level against an intra-RAT (radio access technology) interference. Intra-RAT interference management algorithms or intra-RAT interference solutions are not triggered/applied if the uncoordinated interference is dominant. Alternatively, intra-RAT interference management algorithms may be triggered if co-channel intra-RAT interference is dominant.
US09253657B2

A wireless communication device includes first wireless communication unit 2 for performing wireless communication with information terminal 21 through wireless LAN, and for obtaining frequency channel of interference wave by detecting interference wave due to wireless communication through wireless LAN between information terminal 24 and portable information terminal 25; second wireless communication unit 3, third wireless communication unit 4, . . . , nth wireless communication unit 5 for performing wireless communication with mobile terminal 22 or wireless headphone 23 by Bluetooth or wireless audio; channel aggregation unit 10 for setting the frequency channel of first wireless communication unit 2 at the same frequency channel as the frequency channel of interference wave the first wireless communication unit 2 obtains; and assignment control unit 9 for allocating frequency channels of the second, third, . . . , nth wireless communication units 3, 4, 5 at frequency channels other than frequency channel the channel aggregation unit 10 sets.
US09253643B2

An apparatus and method for providing home evolved node-B (H(e)NB) integrity verification and validation using autonomous validation and semi-autonomous validation is disclosed herein.
US09253641B2

An apparatus and method for limiting sharing of reproduction information of a data authorized for only a specific user when a video and audio reproduced from a portable terminal are shared with a peripheral second terminal. The apparatus preferably includes an application analyzer, and a sharing information generator. Sharing information of the reproduced data is replaced with non-shared information when it is verified that the data which is not authorized to be shared is reproduced. A controller transmits the sharing information or the sharing information replaced with the non-shared information to the peripheral second terminal. The sharing information includes picture information and voice information of the reproduced data and wherein the non-shared information is replacement information for limiting viewing of the voice and audio information.
US09253640B2

A system and method for providing digital data content to a wireless device. Although a fee is typically charged for access to the digital data content, e.g., electronic books, the system and the method provides controlled access to this content for free while the wireless device is accessing the content in a specified location, e.g., a retail location. A content control server receives a request from the wireless device requesting access to the digital data content. The request is received over a secure connection, preferably a virtual private network (VPN). The content control server monitors how much of the digital data content has been provided to the wireless device, and/or an amount of time the wireless device has been accessing the digital data content. This content control server uses this monitored data to control, throttle, the provision of the digital data content to the wireless device.
US09253638B2

Provided are a single-card multi-mode multi-operator authentication method and device. An MAML in an AP receives an authentication request from a user, and authenticates hybrid networks found by a UE. Under the condition of determining that the authentication on each network in the hybrid networks is passed, the MAML receives terminal position information sent by the UE, and determines whether the terminal position information is the same as operator area information registered by the UE in advance, if so, the MAML acquires signal strength of each network and determines whether the signal strength of each network falls within a signal strength range covered by a base station under the network, if so, determines that all the networks in the hybrid networks are authenticated successfully, otherwise, determines that the authentication fails. The security in using an SIM card by a valid user and secure network service are ensured.
US09253637B2

The invention relates to a telecommunications network configured for providing access to a plurality of terminals is proposed and a method therefore. Each terminal comprises a unique identifier for accessing the telecommunications network. The telecommunications network comprises a register, an access request receiver and an access module. The register is configured for storing the unique identifier of at least one terminal in combination with at least one grant access time interval, or an equivalent thereof, during which access for the terminal is permitted. The access request receiver is configured for receiving the access request and the unique identifier for accessing the telecommunications network from the terminal. The access module is configured for denying access for the terminal if the access request is received outside the time interval, or the equivalent thereof.
US09253636B2

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a Wi-Fi authentication request from a mobile device at a wireless controller, the request including a network access identifier, transmitting the request from the wireless controller to an authentication proxy, wherein the authentication proxy is in communication with a plurality of mobile operator authentication devices and operable to forward the request to one of the mobile operator authentication devices based on the network access identifier, and receiving a response to the request at the wireless controller, wherein the mobile device is permitted Wi-Fi access to a network by the wireless controller if the request is authenticated by the mobile operator authentication device. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed herein.
US09253634B2

The present invention relates to communications technologies, and disclosed are a key updating method, device, and system. A local eNB monitors a user plane uplink and downlink PDCP COUNT value of each UE connected thereto, and transmits user plane uplink and downlink PDCP COUNT value information or transmits a key update request based on the PDCP COUNT value to a macro eNB, so that the macro eNB updates a key according to the key update request or the user plane uplink and downlink PDCP COUNT value information, thereby avoiding the problem of repeated use of security parameters, realizing prompt key update, and improving the security performance of the network.
US09253631B1

Various approaches provide for the delivery of information on a portable computing device in response to being at or near a particular geographic location. In addition, optional functionality associated with the information can also be provided. In various embodiments, one or more applications are available to a user for download. The applications could come prepackaged with the device. It can be beneficial to monitor the user of the portable computing device to learn a user's habits. Understanding a user's habits, along with their stated preferences, allows a service to provide a user with timely and relevant information that is not only relevant to the user, but also relevant to the user's current location.
US09253630B2

A method of managing identities for use in a mobile telecommunications device in a telecommunications network has the following features. The identity management process is triggered and one or more parameters of a currently available mobile telecommunications network detected. An identity database is searched—each record in the identity database comprises an identity and additional identity information for each identity. The additional identity information includes the one or more parameters. The identity management process involves selecting an identity when a first record comprising the one or more parameters detected is found in said searching and modifying an active identity of the mobile telecommunications device to be the selected identity when the active identity is not already the selected identity. This process can be carried out by a subscriber information module of a mobile telecommunications device.
US09253627B2

A method is described for transmitting channel status information by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system. A radio frequency (RF) signal is received from a plurality of downlink component carriers. Each downlink component carrier has a respective center frequency. A channel measurement result of at least one downlink component carrier from among the plurality of downlink component carriers is reported via an uplink. Downlink subframes available for measurement are contiguous on a downlink component carrier in an activated state. Downlink subframes available for measurement are non-contiguous on a downlink component carrier in a deactivated state.
US09253623B2

A method, system, mapping forwarding server and access router for mobile communication control are provided in the present invention. The method includes a flow of sending a data message from a source mobile terminal to a destination mobile terminal, including the following steps: A, a source access router receiving a first data message sent by the source mobile terminal, and executing step B; B, encapsulating a location identifier according to an identity identifier in the first data message, and acquiring a second data message; forwarding the second data message to a destination access router connected to the destination mobile terminal according to the location identifier in the second data message; and C, the destination access router stripping out the location identifier encapsulation in the second data message to return the second data message to the first data message, and forwarding the first data message to the destination mobile terminal.
US09253612B2

A system and method for sending text messages and, more particularly, a system and method for forcing SMS capable devices to communicate via SMS using, for example, SS7 protocol. A method includes providing a tag forcing a return text message to be sent via SS7 protocol. In use, the system and method is configured to force the use of SMS messages via the SS7 protocol. The system and method can be implemented over any network, for example, and any existing mobile device and related infrastructure can be modified to take advantage of the benefits and functionality of the system and method of the invention.
US09253609B2

Methods and systems and mobile device interfaces for creating, joining, organizing and managing via mobile devices affinity groups in a cloud computing environment for social and business purposes.
US09253603B1

Calibration of vehicle and smartphone coordinate systems includes receiving acceleration data from an accelerometer of the smartphone. The smartphone identifies a Y-axis, a Z-axis, and an X-axis of the coordinate system of the vehicle relative to a coordinate system of the smartphone from the raw acceleration data. The smartphone generates processed acceleration data by transforming the raw acceleration data into the coordinate system of the smartphone. The processed acceleration data is used to detect driving conditions of the vehicle.
US09253599B1

Systems, apparatus and methods for estimating a location of a mobile device are presented. Before computing a location estimate, the mobile device groups a plurality of access points into two or more categories (for example, a first list of access points having a first characteristic and a second list of access points having a second characteristic). Round-trip time (RTT) measurements are computed for access points in the first list. A Short Interframe Space (SIFS) value may be determined for each access point in the first list or generally SIFT representing the first list as a whole. The RTT measurements are compensated with the appropriate SIFS value. The mobile device then computes its location or position fix estimate using the compensated RTT values while excluding less accurate RTT values from other access points. As a result, the location estimate eliminates adverse influent from some access points.
US09253597B2

Provided is a distributed system and method for enabling new and useful location dependent features and functionality to mobile data processing systems. Mobile data processing systems (MSs) interact with each other as peers in communications and interoperability. Data is shared between mobile data processing systems to carry out novel Location Based eXchanges (LBX) of data for new mobile applications. Information which is transmitted inbound to, transmitted outbound from, or is in process at, a mobile data processing system, is used to trigger processing of actions in accordance with user configured permissions, charters, and other configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a user configurable platform is provided for quickly building well behaving LBX applications at MSs and across a plurality of interoperating MSs.
US09253596B2

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 detecting location changes and monitoring assistance data via scanning for use in or with a mobile device. Briefly, in accordance with at least one implementation, a method may include obtaining, at a mobile device, a rough estimate of a location of the mobile device; identifying a plurality of transmitters within a signal acquisition range of the roughly estimated location; transmitting probe requests addressed to at least some of the transmitters; and selectively initiating a passive scan at a receiver of the mobile device if a number of responses to the probe requests received from the transmitters is less than a threshold number.
US09253585B2

A speaker apparatus includes speaker units, a first inputting section to which one channel audio signal is supplied, a second inputting section to which at least L-channel and R-channel audio signals are supplied, an acoustic effect imparting section that performs a first signal processing on the audio signal supplied to the first inputting section to output L channel and R channel audio signals, an outputting section that outputs the audio signal supplied to the first inputting section to at least one of the speaker units, and a widening effect imparting section that performs a second signal processing for imparting a sound image widening effect on both the L-channel and R-channel audio signals and the at least L-channel and R-channel audio signals and supplies processed audio signals to speaker units for corresponding channels respectively.
US09253581B2

A hearing aid system has at least two hearing aid devices to be worn on both sides of a wearer's head. The hearing aid devices have a transducer for picking up an acoustic signal and converting same into a first audio signal in each case. A signal processing unit processes audio signals received from each hearing aid device through a signal connection. The signal processing unit evaluates a signal component from a preferred direction in relation to the head of the wearer in the first audio signals. By way of the first audio signals the signal processing unit generates a first binaural directional microphone signal and adjusts its directional characteristic as a function of the evaluation.
US09253579B2

A packaged MEMS device, wherein at least two support structures are stacked on each other and are formed both by a support layer and a wall layer coupled to each other and delimiting a respective chamber. The chamber of the first support structure is upwardly delimited by the support layer of the second support structure. A first and a second dice are accommodated in a respective chamber, carried by the respective support layer of the first support structure. The support layer of the second support structure has a through hole allowing wire connections to directly couple the first and the second dice. A lid substrate, coupled to the second support structure, closes the chamber of the second support structure.
US09253575B2

A power management system coupled to a speaker module includes a monitor module for measuring a current signal and a voltage signal of the speaker module to obtain a real-time impedance information of the speaker module; a reception module for receiving a time-domain audio analogy signal to be transformed into a frequency-domain audio digital signal; a prediction module for generating a power prediction information according to an initial audio information, the real-time impedance information and the audio digital signal; a control module for generating a control signal according to the audio digital signal and a human hearing model information; and a power adjustment module for outputting an adjustment audio signal to the speaker module according to the power prediction information, the audio digital signal and the control signal, so as to perform a broadcast operation of the speaker module.
US09253574B2

There is disclosed methods and apparatus for decomposing a signal having a plurality of channels into direct and diffuse components. The correlation coefficient between each pair of signals from the plurality of signals may be estimated. A linear system of equations relating the estimated correlation coefficients and direct energy fractions of each of the plurality of channels may be constructed. The linear system may be solved to estimate the direct energy fractions. A direct component output signal and a diffuse component output signal may be generated based in part on the direct energy fractions.
US09253571B2

A hearing apparatus for a binaural supply contains a first earhook to be worn on one ear, having a plurality of microphones, and a first signal processing device which is configured to generate a local earpiece signal for an earpiece of the first earhook from microphone signals of the microphones by use of multichannel signal processing of each of the microphone signals. A beam forming device and a transmission device are additionally provided in the first earhook. The beam forming device is configured to generate a directional output signal from the microphone signals by signal processing which has fewer channels than that of the first signal processing device, and wherein the transmission device is set up to transmit the directional output signal as an electrical or electromagnetic signal from the first earhook.
US09253570B2

A canalphone system may include a high audio driver carried by a canalphone housing, and a low audio driver carried by the canalphone housing adjacent to the high audio driver. The system may also include an amplifier that amplifies an audio signal and delivers that amplified audio signal to the high audio driver and/or the low audio driver. The system may further include a passive audio crossover carried by the canalphone housing, the passive audio crossover receives the amplified audio signal from the amplifier and then delivers the amplified audio signal in a suitable frequency range to the high audio driver and/or the low audio driver.
US09253569B2

In accordance with an embodiment, a cancelation circuit includes a current mirror and a low pass filter. The current mirror includes an input terminal configured to accept an input current comprising a first noise signal, a first mirrored output and a second mirrored output. The low pass filter includes an input coupled to the first mirrored output and an output coupled to the second mirrored output. A sum of a current from the second mirrored output and a current of from the output of the low pass filter includes a phase-inverted version of the first noise signal.
US09253567B2

Embodiments described in the present disclosure relate to an array microphone apparatus for generating a beam forming signal. The apparatus includes first, second, and third omni-directional microphones, each converting an audible signal into a corresponding electrical signal. The three microphones are arranged in a horizontal coplanar alignment, and the second microphone is disposed between the other two microphones. The apparatus includes a first directional microphone forming device to jointly output a first directional microphone signal with a first bi-directional pattern, and a magnitude and phase response handler device to output a second directional microphone signal with an omni-directional pattern shifted by a prefixed value with respect to first directional microphone signal. The apparatus further includes a combining device receiving the first and second directional microphone signals and outputting a combined directional microphone signal with a combined beam pattern correlated to the first bi-directional and second omni-directional patterns, the combined directional microphone signal being perpendicular to the horizontal coplanar alignment of the first, second, and third omn-directional microphones.
US09253566B1

Techniques are provided for vector noise cancellation. Different value combinations for a plurality of weighting factors may be established for a plurality of selection regions. Each value combination for the plurality of weighting factors may correspond to a different combination of a set of input signals. One or more characteristics of input signals may be used to select a particular selection region. A particular value combination of the set of weighting factors may be chosen to attenuate or amplify the input signals to generate one or more output signals.
US09253558B2

The utility model provides a headphone, comprising a headband, left and right two ear pads and a holder. Two ends of the headband are separately provided with a fixing component, the fixing component includes a conductor block; the holder is made of the conductive material, of which one end is respectively connected with the left and right two ear pads fixedly and the other end is respectively connected with the fixing components in a sliding way, and the conductor block is pressed against the holder; in the ear pads, the first group of signal wires is connected to the holder electrically; in the fixing components, the second group of signal wires is connected with the conductor block electrically. The headphone provided in the utility model replaces the exposed lead with the conductive holder which is used as the medium for the audio signal transfer between the left and right two ear pads, thus eliminating the exposed lead on the headphone, simplifying the structure and avoiding the risk of broken circuit due to the damage of the exposed lead in use previously.
US09253556B1

Through construction techniques, geometric design, and materials selection, audio entropy or randomness is introduced within an equipment structure or enclosure. This takes away the available sound energy by absorbing it or making it do work and dissipate before it can project audible sound outside the equipment structure or enclosure. “Damping” of the sound traveling through the equipment structure or enclosure is achieved by applying foam and/or fiberglass board/mat material to surfaces within the equipment structure or enclosure. By employing different material densities in the equipment structure or enclosure, sound levels at different frequencies can be diminished by not allowing them to pass through the structure or by greatly decreasing their amplitude. The semicircular sheathing within the equipment structure or enclosure that forms part of the airflow path refracts sound waves at different angles and does not make a good waveguide for transmitting the sound, which diminishes it.
US09253555B2

A portable electronic apparatus includes a structural member, a sound member, a circuit board, and a frame. The structural member has an opening and an accommodating recess. The sound member is accommodated in the accommodating recess, and has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sound outlet. The sound outlet is located at the top surface. The circuit board cover plates the opening and has a first through hole corresponding to the sound outlet. The circuit board is disposed between the frame and the structural member. The frame has a second through hole corresponding to the sound outlet. The sound member is electrically connected to the circuit board. The sound outlet is communicated with the first and second through holes.
US09253553B2

A transmission apparatus includes: an assigning unit to assign a number to a group of concatenation information of leading and dependent data which are multicast or broadcast; a retrieval unit to retrieve the concatenation information of the leading data corresponding to the dependent data, the leading and dependent data having the same number; a regeneration unit to regenerate concatenation information of the dependent data in accordance with the concatenation information of the leading data; a storage unit to store switch information of the leading data, the switch information representing a switch which switches output destinations of the leading and dependent data; an information retrieval unit to refer to the storage unit in accordance with leading data information included in the concatenation information of the dependent data so as to retrieve switch information of the dependent data; and a switching unit to switch the output destination of the dependent data.
US09253548B2

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, are described for establishing a grouping rule and a mapping protocol at a cache server system for caching fragments of a media stream that includes a timed-sequence of video frames. The fragments can be generated and identified at media source systems in accordance with a fragmenting format and an indexing protocol, respectively, which are common across the media source systems. Further, the established mapping protocol can be different from the indexing protocol. The methods include retrieving at least a portion of the fragments of the media stream by the cache server system from the media source systems. The methods also include allocating the retrieved fragments to local fragment groups at the cache server system based on the established grouping rule. The methods further include mapping the allocated fragments to the local fragment groups based on the established mapping protocol.
US09253545B2

Systems and methods of routing media content based on monetary cost are disclosed. A particular method includes receiving, at a network device coupled to a plurality of media delivery networks, media content to be provided to a destination device. The method also includes selecting a first media delivery network of the plurality of media delivery networks for routing the media content based at least in part on a determination that a first monetary cost associated with routing the media content through the first media delivery network is less than a second monetary cost associated with routing the media content through a second media delivery network of the plurality of media delivery networks. The method further includes routing the media content from the network device to the first media delivery network.
US09253542B2

Disclosed is a system and method for receiving satellite television signals. A centralized system component may be provided in association with the satellite antenna. The centralized system component includes at least one or more tuners and one or more demodulators. The centralized component may provide output through a network adaptor that provides output through a single output, which is a coaxial cable in one embodiment. The centralized component may send output in the form of packetized data directed to one or more set-top boxes by way of a network transaction. The set-top box or boxes may be operable to receive the network transaction and to process the data, as appropriate, for display on a TV/monitor.
US09253536B2

This document describes tools capable of updating data-consuming entities. These tools allow a developer of an application to use data binding to update data-consuming entities without the need to write custom code.
US09253530B2

A stream data management method includes: storing in a sequence header of the top original moving image information a terminal ID indicating a terminal which generated original moving image information and date-and-time information which is guaranteed by a third party, storing in a sequence header of the next original moving image information a characteristic value of the last partial information of the preceding original moving image information, generating signature-related information of the original moving image information, generating cutout moving image information to which a sequence header is added, generating signature-related information of the cutout moving image information, and verifying originality and actual time of cutout stream data based on the cutout moving image information, the signature-related information of the cutout moving image information, and the signature-related information of the original moving image information.
US09253529B2

A method of processing a digital television (DTV) signal in a DTV receiver, the method includes receiving a digital television signal including a plurality of extended text table (ETT) instances that appear in transport stream packets with common PID values, the ETT instances having common table ID values, each ETT instance comprising a section header and a message body, the section header containing a table identification (ID) extension field that serves to establish uniqueness of each ETT instance, the message body containing an extended text message (ETM) which provides detailed descriptions of a virtual channel or an event associated with each ETT instance, wherein the section header further contains a protocol version field indicating a protocol version and a section length field indicating a section length, demodulating the digital television signal and identifying at least one pertinent ETT instance from the plurality of ETT instances.
US09253527B2

A social multi-camera interactive live engagement (SMILE) system including video and audio processing arrays performs an audio-video processing method. The method includes receiving multiple video streams from distinct sources and preparing multiple distinct composited video streams from the multiple video streams. Each of the distinct composited video streams configures video images from a different selected one of the multiple video streams in a primary region and video images from remaining ones of the multiple video streams in respective secondary regions adjacent to the primary region. The method include streaming the multiple distinct composited video streams configured for presentation in a user interface to a client device, at different times determined in response to user selection input from the client device, and more detailed aspects, supporting a novel user interface design.
US09253512B2

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.
US09253511B2

Systems and methods are described that can provide users with personalized video content feeds. In several embodiments, a multi-modal segmentation process is utilized that relies upon cues derived from video, audio and/or text data present in a video data stream. In a number of embodiments, video streams from a variety of sources are segmented. Links are identified between video segments and between video segments and online articles containing additional information relevant to the video segments. The additional information obtained by linking a video segment to an additional source of data can be utilized in the generation of personalized playlists. In the context of news programming, the dynamic mixing and aggregation of news videos from multiple sources can greatly enrich the news watching experience. In several embodiments, processes for linking video segments to additional sources of data can be implemented as part of a video search engine service.
US09253505B2

A system and method for compressing digital image data. An image may be divided into sub-regions. A maximum number of template codes may be determined for representing each sub-region, each template code uniquely identifying a template pattern in a dictionary. Each of a plurality of the sub-regions may be associated with a plurality of template patterns, each of which individually does not match the sub-region, but which when combined together more closely match the sub-region. A compressed data set may be generated for the image, in which each sub-region is represented by up to the maximum number of template codes uniquely identifying the associated plurality of template patterns. The up to the maximum number of template codes may be transmitted for each sub-region from the compressed data set, wherein the maximum number of template codes is a dynamic parameter adjustable based on the bandwidth available for transmitting.
US09253501B2

A method and apparatus for encoding and decoding motion information. The encoding method includes determining whether motion information of spatial prediction units that are spatially collocated to a current prediction unit and motion information of temporal prediction units that are temporally collocated to the current prediction are available; when the number of the motion information of the spatial prediction units and the motion information of the temporal prediction units is less than a predetermined number, generating additional candidate motion information by using the available motion information of the spatial prediction units and the motion information of the temporal prediction units such that the total number of pieces of candidate motion information is the predetermined number; and decoding motion information of the current prediction unit by using the ‘n’ pieces of motion information.
US09253494B2

Disclosed are various embodiments for adjusting the encoding of a video signal into a video stream based on user attention. A video signal is encoded into a video stream. A temporary lapse of attention by a user of the interactive application is predicted. The encoding of the video signal into the video stream is adjusted from an initial state to a conservation state in response to predicting the temporary lapse of attention by the user. The conservation state is configured to conserve one or more resources used for the video stream relative to the initial state.
US09253493B2

An apparatus and corresponding method for fast motion estimation with multiple reference pictures are provided, where an exemplary video encoder for encoding video signal data for an image block relative to multiple reference pictures includes a fast motion estimator for providing motion vectors corresponding to one of the reference pictures, including a scene detection portion for performing fast motion estimation while excluding reference pictures that fall across a scene change; and where a corresponding method for encoding video signal data for an image block having multiple reference pictures includes receiving a substantially uncompressed image block, detecting a scene change, excluding reference pictures that fall across the scene change, and computing motion vectors corresponding to a difference between the image block and one of the plurality of reference pictures.
US09253487B2

An apparatus for coding video information according to certain aspects includes a memory unit and a processor in communication with the memory unit. The memory unit stores video information of a base, or reference, layer and an enhancement layer. The processor determines whether a base layer reference index is valid for the enhancement layer, and resolves mismatches between base layer and enhancement layer reference indices and reference frame picture order counts. Resolving mismatches may comprise deriving valid reference information from the base layer, using spatial motion information of video data associated with the reference information of the base and/or enhancement layers.
US09253486B2

Videos of a scene are processed for view synthesis. The videos are acquired by corresponding cameras arranged so that a view of each camera overlaps with the view of at least one other camera. For each current block, disparity vectors are obtained from neighboring blocks. A depth block is based on a corresponding reference depth image and the disparity vectors. A prediction block is generated based on the depth block using backward warping of a motion field. Then, predictive coding for the current block using the prediction block. Backward mapping can also be performed in the spatial domain.
US09253484B2

Systems and methods are provided for transcoding a set of key frame aligned output files from a source file. A statistics file is generated while transcoding a first output file of the set. Subsequent output files having the same frame size but different bitrates of the set may be created non-sequentially and in parallel using the statistics file.
US09253482B2

A method and apparatus for sample adaptive offset without sign coding. The method includes selecting an edge offset type for at least a portion of an image, classifying at least one pixel of at least the portion of the image into edge shape category, calculating an offset of the pixel, determining the offset is larger or smaller than a predetermined threshold, changing a sign of the offset based on the threshold determination; and performing entropy coding accounting for the sign of the offset and the value of the offset.
US09253466B2

A method for displaying a three-dimensional (3D) image in a display panel of a 3D display device is provided. The method includes generating M images corresponding to a maximum disparity in response to input two-dimensional (2D) images and disparity information of the respective 2D images. The 2D images include a left-side image and a right-side image. The method further includes selecting N images from among the M images, providing the selected N images to a display unit, and displaying the provided N images using the display panel.
US09253465B2

A method of displaying a recorded material and display device using the same facilitates user recognition of the content of selected recorded material prior to its reproduction. The display device includes a personal video recorder for storing content of at least one recording item of a recording item list; a PVR controller (104) for extracting a plurality of thumbnails corresponding to each stored recorded item, each thumbnails being extracted in correspondence to a prescribed time interval; and a display module (106) for displaying the recording item list in response to a recording item list request and for simultaneously displaying, in response to a user selection of a specific recording item, the extracted thumbnails corresponding to the selected recording item via a corresponding plurality of preview windows. A specific preview window is designated, and the selected recording item is reproduced from a recording position corresponding to the thumbnail of the designated window.
US09253446B2

A content list including contents processable by a designated processing device, among the contents to be processed including a specific content managed with respect to each user, is received by a portable terminal from an ECG server, and a content is selected by a user. Then, a processing request for the selected content is transmitted from the portable terminal to the designated device via the ECG server and a device control server, and unit information of the selected content is acquired by the portable terminal and displayed or reproduced. A user can thereby use the content and the unit information by selecting the content using the portable terminal without depending on the content and the processing device.
US09253440B2

A device configured for participation in a video conference. The device includes a display disposed on the device for displaying video captured at a second device. The device also includes a virtual object receiver for receiving a virtual object, wherein the virtual object is configured to augment the video conference. A virtual object incorporator for incorporating the virtual object into the video captured at the second device, and a transmitter for transmitting said video comprising the virtual object. The video comprising the virtual object is configured to be displayed at the second device.
US09253430B2

Systems and methods to allow a user to control viewed content. A particular method includes receiving at least one selected video stream of multiple video streams associated with a particular event. The method includes forming an output stream from the at least one selected video stream based on a user modifiable template. The method also includes sending the output stream to a display device for playback as indicated by the user modifiable template. The user modifiable template indicates a display region location where the at least one selected video stream is to be displayed.
US09253425B2

A photo-electric conversion device comprises a pixel array in which a plurality of pixels are arrayed, each pixel including a photo-electric converter, a floating diffusion portion, a transfer unit which transfers charges generated in the photo-electric converter to the floating diffusion portion, and an output unit which outputs a signal corresponding to a potential of the floating diffusion portion, a signal line which is connected to the plurality of pixels and transmits a signal output from each pixel, a load transistor including a drain connected to the signal line, and a source connected to a first reference potential, and a capacitance including a first electrode connected to a gate of the load transistor, and a second electrode connected to a second reference potential, wherein the signal line is arranged not to overlap the first electrode when viewed from a direction perpendicular to a light-receiving surface of the photo-electric converter.
US09253424B2

An image processing apparatus which processes a captured image including angle information of a light beam traveling from the object, comprises a generation unit configured to generate a reconstructed image by reconstructing the captured image, an extraction unit configured to extract an address of a defective photoelectric conversion element which is included in photoelectric conversion elements which captured the captured image based on a plurality of reconstructed images corresponding to different imaging distances.
US09253417B2

The present invention relates to a system for remote video and/or audio production, which system comprises a first part related to the control room for the video production and a second part on the site of an event to be recorded, and where the first and second part communicate with each other by means of a data stream. It is proposed that the data stream is adapted to be sent between the first and second part by means of a wide area network.
US09253416B2

A device and method of background substitution are disclosed. One or more cameras in a mobile device obtain a depth image. A processor in or external to the device segments the foreground from the background of the image. The original background is removed and a stored background image or video is substituted in place of the original background. The substituted background is altered dependent on the attitude and motion of the device, which is sensed by one or more sensors in the device. A portion of the stored background selected as the substitute background varies in correspondence with the device movement.
US09253411B2

An image processing apparatus includes a region clipping unit configured to clip an interest image of a region of interest from a captured image captured by an image capturing unit using a wide-angle lens, a distortion correcting unit configured to correct distortion, which is caused by image capture using the wide-angle lens, of the interest image by transforming coordinate data from captured image space to corrected image space, an image-capture control unit configured to control the image capturing unit so as to perform image capture at a zoom ratio, which makes number of coordinate data sets per unit area of the interest image equal to or larger than a predetermined value, of the wide-angle lens, and a distortion-correction control unit configured to control the distortion correcting unit so as to correct the distortion of the interest image captured at the zoom ratio.
US09253407B2

A user interface (UI) is provided which displays a process in which photographing setting values change correspondingly, so that a user can easily recognize the changes of the photographing setting values. A UI is also provided through which a user can adjust all photographing setting values.
US09253400B2

An image capture apparatus includes an image pickup device, a first image stabilization unit which optically corrects an image blur by driving part of the optical system, a second image stabilization unit which electronically corrects the image blur by controlling the image readout position of the image pickup device, a shake detection unit which detects a shake of the image capture apparatus, a correction amount calculation unit which calculates an image stabilization amount based on the detected shake signal, and a division unit which divides a first image stabilization amount of a predetermined frequency band into a second image stabilization amount for correcting the image blur by the first image stabilization unit and a third image stabilization amount for correcting the image blur by the second image stabilization unit.
US09253394B2

A control method of a digital photographing apparatus includes displaying an image that is being input through a photographing unit on a touch screen, recognizing touch inputs with respect to two points on the touch screen, detecting a focusing area by using coordinate values of the two touched points, and performing auto focusing based on the focusing area, and when a photographing command is input, capturing an image on which the auto focusing is performed. Therefore, a user may view an image while performing auto-focusing commands without covering a focusing area that the user wants to photograph.
US09253384B2

In an accessory shoe member placed on top of a base member, a pair of engagement portions is formed in a first direction perpendicular to an attachment direction of an external accessory device, and a plurality of fastening holes is formed side by side in the first direction. A plurality of fastening members is inserted into the plurality of fastening holes with the accessory shoe member placed on top of the base member, thereby fastening the base member and the accessory shoe member to an imaging apparatus. In the accessory shoe member, a joining portion joining the pair of engagement portions is formed. The accessory shoe member is formed by bending a plate metal material into a loop shape so that a joint is located between the plurality of fastening holes.
US09253376B2

This invention relates to the automatic pointing of a pointing device, such as a camera, without the assistance of a person who operates the camera. Systems and methods are disclosed wherein the system is substantially stationary during recording but is portable to the venue of recording. For the purpose of recording, the camera turns automatically to optically follow the person, animal, or object that is being recorded. The present invention provides for high quality video recording; the high quality video recording here refers to features of the inventive systems and methods that provide for smooth camera motion necessary to take enjoyable videos for personal or for commercial use. This invention provides a portable system that automatically records videos from the vantage point of a sports fan, of a spectator or of a competition judge.
US09253375B2

The present disclosure provides example methods operable by computing device. An example method can include receiving an image from a camera. The method can also include comparing one or more parameters of the image with one or more control parameters, where the one or more control parameters comprise information indicative of an image from a substantially unobstructed camera. Based on the comparison, the method can also include determining a score between the one or more parameters of the image and the one or more control parameters. The method can also include accumulating, by a computing device, a count of a number of times the determined score image exceeds a first threshold. Based on the count exceeding a second threshold, the method can also include determining that the camera is at least partially obstructed.
US09253369B2

A halftone dot addition device for adding halftone dots to halftone dot images includes an empty circle information acquiring unit and a halftone dot addition unit. The empty circle information acquiring unit obtains, in a Voronoi diagram having a generatrix corresponding to a halftone dot in a halftone dot image. The radius of an empty circle is a circle centering on a Voronoi vertex. The empty circle passes through the generatrix but not internally includes the generatrix. The halftone dot addition unit, if the radius of a target circle being the empty circle obtained, as a target, by the empty circle information acquiring unit is larger than a specific value, adds to the halftone dot image a halftone dot corresponding to a new generatrix, by adding the new generatrix to the inside of the target circle.
US09253357B2

An operation execution system including a relay server configured, upon reception of setting information transmitted from a service providing server, to store the setting information in its server memory, such that the stored setting information is associated with device specifying information. In case where the relay server is not communicable with a device specified by the device specifying information, the relay server transmits the setting information stored in the server memory, to the device, when the device has become communicable with the relay server. The relay server, which receives result information from the device, associates the setting information corresponding to the result information that has not yet been received, with setting-unattempted-status information, and associates the setting information corresponding to the result information that has been received, with setting-attempted-status information.
US09253355B2

A communication apparatus that reduces electric power consumption. A communication apparatus includes a storage section for storing an image received by fax. Power rate information indicative of a time period during which a power rate is high is acquired. A forced memory reception time period during which an image received by fax is not immediately printed but stored in the storage section is set based on the acquired power rate information. When an image is received by fax during the forced memory reception time period, the image received by fax is stored in the storage section. The image stored in the storage section is printed at a time other than the forced memory reception time period.
US09253348B2

A display control device includes a display unit that displays one or a plurality of instruction images to be pressed to input operating instructions, a key press detection unit that detects a press on the instruction image, a key press duration detection unit that detects a duration of the time the key press detection unit continuously detects that the instruction image is being pressed, and a vibration drive unit that starts applying vibration to the display unit in response to a press on the instruction image detected by the key press detection unit and adjusts the amplitude of the vibration based on the type of the instruction image detected as being pressed and the key press duration.
US09253346B2

An image processing apparatus includes an image reading portion, a storage apparatus, a transmitting portion, a receiving portion, and an image processing portion. The transmitting portion transmits an image read by the image reading portion to an external mobile terminal apparatus as a display destination of the image. The receiving portion receives a movement amount and rotation amount of the image which the mobile terminal apparatus decides based on a user operation. The image processing portion applies, to the image, a movement process in accordance with the movement amount received by the receiving portion and a rotation process in accordance with the rotation amount received by the receiving portion, and makes the storage apparatus store the image after the processing.
US09253338B2

A method for routing a facsimile includes: receiving a facsimile in a computer readable format; locating one or more keywords in the facsimile, wherein at least two of the keywords are not adjacent in the facsimile; analyzing the facsimile to determine at least one of a meaning of the facsimile and a context of the facsimile; attempting to initiate a business process based at least in part on analysis; and routing at least a portion of the facsimile comprising text to one or more destinations based at least in part on the analysis. Corresponding systems and computer program products are also disclosed.
US09253336B2

Provided is an image reading apparatus including an imaging unit that images light incident from a medium on which an image is formed, a measurement unit that measures a color value on an image, based on image data obtained by the imaging unit, in correspondence with a position on the image, a generation unit that generates error information indicating an error included in the color value according to the color value measured by the measurement unit and a relative position of the position on the image with respect to an optical axis of the imaging unit, and an output unit that outputs the error information generated by the generation unit and the measured color value.
US09253328B2

Call processing can include receiving a call directed to a first destination device associated with a called party, determining, using a processor, an attribute of the call, and determining a location of the called party. A call processing rule can be selected that matches the attribute of the call and the location of the called party. The call can be redirected to a second and different destination device according to the matched call processing rule.
US09253326B2

In a particular embodiment, a network device receives, from a first device, a first call request for a second device. The network device may then send the first call request to a redirect server, which can determine where to send the call. The network device receives a response from the redirect server indicating an address to redirect the call request to. The network device then determines a redirect ID for the redirect. The network device sends a message to the first device with the redirect ID where the message indicates that a redirection occurred to the third device. The network device then receives a second call request from the first device that includes the redirect ID. The network device determines if the call was part of a previous redirect. If so, the second call request is sent to the address associated with the redirect ID.
US09253312B2

The sound output setting system for information processing terminals is provided, capable of outputting a desired call progress tone from a terminal to be heard by the user easily with simple configuration. The system includes a SIP server and information processing terminals connected via a LAN using SIP. The SIP server has a tone management table for defining and recording types of sounds output by the information processing terminals in association with their identification codes, and an audio file storage region for recording audio files corresponding to the identification codes. The information processing terminal has a client application unit, which acquires a management table from the tone management table and an audio file from the audio file storage region at a predetermined time, and compares them with recorded data in its own tone management table region and audio file storage region to update the recorded data.
US09253308B2

A device and software utilizing Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technologies for monitoring and recovering portable computing devices and, a method and system for acquiring such devices, protecting data on such devices, and for compensating owners of devices. A GPS mechanism of the invention provides real time tracking of missing devices that may be coordinated with security agencies to intercept and recover missing computing devices. When a stolen device is unrecoverable, the invention may receive a signal to initiate data recovery where a wireless network is available to recover data for the owner. Alternatively, the GPS mechanism instructs the device to encrypt or destroy stored data files to prevent commercial espionage or privacy violations. The invention discloses a software system and method for computing a purchase price of the GPS mechanism, computing compensation for loss of the device and lost data.
US09253299B2

Disclosed, in general, are devices that provide a substantially sound-tight chamber over a sound source while absorbing fields of sounds from the sound source. In general, the devices feature: an anechoic chamber that is configured to receive a sound source in a substantially sound-tight manner; and an anechoic channel that is in fluid communication with the ambient atmosphere. The anechoic chamber is adapted to capture air containing sound energy generated by the sound source, and distribute the air about an internal surface area on the inside of the chamber, wherein the internal surface area is sufficiently large to dampen or otherwise absorb the sound energy. Specifically, the secondary anechoic chamber collects air from in-between the first and second anechoic chambers around the perimeter of the mouth, in the low decibel environment away from the voice blast high decibel areas in front of the mouth. Voice air from speaking fills up the primary anechoic cup chamber and once the primary anechoic cup chamber is full of air, then the air is channeled to the secondary anechoic chamber and into the suppressor channel where the voice air will exit the telephone with as low of decibel energy left as possible. Additionally, the apparatus may feature a circuit board with a telephone cord female jack connection and a plurality of switches, wherein the telephone female jack mounted on the circuit board receives a quick release levered male jack connected to a wire from the telephone base set.
US09253291B2

Systems, methods, and devices for wireless communication. In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes a receiver configured to receive a wireless signal comprising a packet. At least a portion of the wireless signal may be received over a channel with a channel bandwidth of at least approximately five hundred megahertz. The packet may be formed from at least one orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol comprising at least one hundred and twenty-eight tones. The apparatus further comprises a processor configured to evaluate the wireless signal. The processor may comprise a transform module configured to convert the at least one OFDM symbol into a frequency domain signal.
US09253286B2

A system and method of data programming involves a computer generating a tabular storage structure that includes data and code. The code is defined by a column of the tabular storage structure. The computer can then execute a program using the tabular storage structure. The code of the tabular storage structure governs an operation of the program.
US09253283B2

Disclosed are methods, apparatus, systems, and computer readable storage media for maintaining anonymity in an online social network. In some implementations, a user can be designated a ghost user with respect to an entity in the online social network. One or more invisibility levels can be determined for the ghost user. Data indicating content to display in accordance with one or more invisibility levels can be generated and provided to a display device configured to display a presentation of the social network feed associated with the entity in a user interface associated with a second user. Also disclosed are methods, apparatus, systems, and computer readable storage media for designating a proxy in an online social network. In some implementations, a first user can be designated as a proxy user of a second user in an online social network with respect to one or more entities within the online social network.
US09253279B2

A first computing device receives a first request from a client computing device, wherein the first request includes a markup language request. The first computing device transmits the first request to a second computing device, wherein the second computing device services the first request. The first computing device receives the serviced first request, wherein the serviced first request includes a manifest tag. The first computing device caches the serviced first request. The first computing device transmits the serviced first request to the client computing device.
US09253278B2

Disclosed is a program for validating a web cache independent of an origin server. A computer in between a client computer and the origin server computer receives a request for a resource and an entity tag (ETag) corresponding to the request. The computer forwards the request to the origin server and subsequently receives the resource. The computer generates an ETag for the received resource and compares the generated ETag to the ETag corresponding to the request. If the ETags match, the computer sends an indication toward the client computer that the resource has not been modified.
US09253273B2

The present invention relates to a method for providing a Law Enforcement Agency with user data related to a target subscriber. A Multiservice Proxy (30) is hereby acting as Intercepting Control Element (16). The method comprises the following steps: A request to intercept traffic data related to the target is received (40,41) to the Intercepting Control Element (16). User data related to the target subscriber for which traffic data has been requested is collected (44) in the Intercepting Control Element. The collected data is forwarded (45,46) to a Law Enforcement Management Function.
US09253271B2

An information request is received from a user of a social network. Data for other users in the social network is searched in order to provide an answer to the request. A question based on the information request is sent to one or more of the other users having prior activity on the social network that is related to the information request.
US09253270B2

A method and system to manage items associated with different entities is provided. The items can be content and contacts. The entities can be Social Networking Sites (SNS), device, and contact groups in the device, contact groups in the SNS, content hosting servers or the like. The method provides a grid structure to display items associated with different entities. Further, the method allows a user to share items by performing one or more actions. The actions can be a voice, a gesture or a gaze. The gesture can be an emotion, a tap, a scroll, a drag, a drop, a pinch, a swipe and a hover. The method facilitates re-location and re-grouping of the items. The method allows the user to create and edit an album and a relational view with the items associated with different entities.
US09253251B2

A system for determining the proximity of client devices to locations of interest is provided. The system includes a data server configured to receive data identifying a plurality of vehicles and associated vehicle locations and an input processor configured to process the received data to identify a plurality of locations of interest related to one or more assets. A database in operative communication with the data server is provided to store the locations of interest as information records. A notification server is provided to receive data identifying geographic locations of a plurality of client devices. An output processor is operatively coupled to the notification server and is configured to determine whether one or of more the client devices are within a predetermined proximity to one or more of the locations of interest. The output processor is further configured to generate a proximity alert when the one or more client devices are determined to be within the predetermined proximity to one or more of the locations of interest.
US09253246B2

A program when executed by a computer for controlling a registration server configured to be connected to a first network, causing the computer to execute: receiving user identification information; receiving device identification information from a communication terminal connected to a second network different from the first network, the device identification information being for identifying, on the second network, an information device connected to the second network; transmitting the received user identification information to a management server connected to the first network; receiving, from the management server, authentication information transmitted from the management server as a response to the transmitted user identification information; generating registration information which has a format in which the authentication information is allowed to be registered in the information device, the registration information including the authentication information and the device identification information; and transmitting the generated registration information to the communication terminal.
US09253243B2

Message publish/subscribe systems are required to process high message volumes with reduced latency and performance bottlenecks. The end-to-end middleware architecture proposed by the present invention is designed for high-volume, low-latency messaging by, among other things, reducing intermediary hops with neighbor-based routing, introducing efficient native-to-external and external-to-native protocol conversions, monitoring system performance, including latency, in real time, employing topic-based and channel-based message communications, and dynamically optimizing system interconnect configurations and message transmission protocols.
US09253241B2

A personal media broadcasting system enables video distribution over a computer network and allows a user to view and control media sources over a computer network from a remote location. A personal broadcaster receives an input from one or more types of media sources, digitizes and compresses the content, and streams the compressed media over a computer network to a media player running on any of a wide range of client devices for viewing the media. The system may allow the user to issue control commands (e.g., “channel up”) from the media player to the broadcaster, causing the source device to execute the commands. The broadcaster and the media player may employ several techniques for buffering, transmitting, and viewing the content to improve the user's experience.
US09253234B2

A system, apparatuses and methods are provided to download and process data and other content streamed over a wide area network using one or more dynamically fetched, material specific, data handlers (e.g., download assistants). A download assistant fetches a data stream from a remote location and processes the streamed data iteratively using buffers and multi-threaded processes through the decoder (e.g., codec), allowing source material-specific processing of the data as it is streamed from one or more download sources as well as content-indifferent and platform-indifferent decoding. To minimize versioning issues, payload construction for secure delivery is simplified to packing and encrypting a directory tree containing any number of files or other digital media into an archive and, when needed, dividing a payload into multiple files or archives with a descriptor that lists the archives.
US09253228B2

A cloud computing method and a computing apparatus and server using the same are provided. The cloud computing method includes a server generating a virtual disc for executing one or more applications when a computing apparatus is connected to the server, requesting execution of an application included in the virtual disc, and downloading and executing an execution file corresponding to the requested application. Therefore, it is possible for a user to remove time delay caused in a downloading and executing process when an application is initially executed.
US09253227B2

A method, computer program product, and computing system for determining an initial meeting location for a meeting previously-scheduled to be attended by a plurality of attendees at a defined meeting time. A current attendee location is determined for each of the plurality of attendees proximate the defined meeting time, thus defining a plurality of attendee locations. The initial meeting location and one or more of the plurality of attendee locations are compared to determine if the initial meeting location could be changed. If the initial meeting location could be changed, at least one alternative meeting location is suggested.
US09253226B2

Techniques for optimizing a guided edit process for editing a member profile page are described. According to various embodiments, profile edit task information associated with a member of an online social network service is accessed, the profile edit task information identifying one or more candidate profile edit tasks to be performed to update a member profile page of the member. Thereafter, if it is determined that the member recently completed a difficult profile edit task, a difficult candidate profile edit task is identified, and the member is prompted to perform the difficult candidate profile edit task. If it is determined that the member has not recently completed a difficult profile edit task, an easy candidate profile edit task is identified, and the member is prompted to perform the easy candidate profile edit task.
US09253218B2

Systems (100) and methods (500) for connecting network resources of a first network (116) to network resources of a second network (118). The second network is different from the first network. The methods involve receiving a first message (302, 402) from a first network resource (106) of the first network. The first message has a first protocol format. In response to the first message, a second message (308, 408) having a web service request format is dynamically generated. The second message is communicated to a third network resource (112) of the second network for conversion into a third message (314). The third message has a second protocol format different from the first protocol format. The first network can be an SIP network. The second network can be an SS7 network.
US09253217B2

A method and system for authenticating a user. A first server of at least two servers receive input authentication information from the user. The first server ascertains that the user is authorized to access a federated computing environment that comprises at least two servers, which includes the first server determining that the received input authentication information conforms to at least one rule of an authentication policy of a second server having a highest relative priority among servers of the at least two servers whose authentication policy's at least one rule, in an authentication policy table within the first server, is conformed to by the received input authentication information.
US09253207B2

Described herein are methods, network devices and machine-readable storage media for detecting whether a message is a phishing attack based on the collective responses from one or more individuals who have received that message. The individuals may flag the message as a possible phishing attack, and/or may provide a numerical ranking indicating the likelihood that the message is a possible phishing attack. As responses from different individuals may have a different degree of reliability, each response from an individual may be weighted with a corresponding trustworthiness level of that individual, in an overall determination as to whether a message is a phishing attack. A trustworthiness level of an individual may indicate a degree to which the response of that individual can be trusted and/or relied upon, and may be determined by how well that individual recognized simulated phishing attacks.
US09253188B2

An end-to-end client server system and related method for use in conjunction with mobile terminals. A client application on a mobile terminal is configured to remotely access a backend server via a gateway system. The mobile terminal includes a client application configured to generate a one time password using secret information and a password library, both known only to the client application and a verification component of the gateway system. The one time password provides an additional level of security, which is user dependent and not network dependent.
US09253180B2

In one embodiment of the present invention a computerized method includes receiving at a personal-mobile device a first communication, which includes information for requesting user verification for logging into an account of a user, via a computing device. The account is with a service provided by an application server. The method includes starting a personal-authentication application on the personal-mobile device in response to receiving the first communication, and receiving in the personal-authentication application a user verification for confirming logging into the account. The method includes logging into the account via the computing device based on receipt of the user verification. Embodiments of the present invention provide enhanced security for logging into an account that a user may have with a service by providing that a personal-mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, which is personal to a user, is configured as a security token for login to the account.
US09253178B2

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a communication device, the communication device being part of a group comprising two or more communication devices that share a subscription to a communication network. The method comprises receiving a group authentication challenge from the network, at least part of the group authentication challenge having been generated using group authentication information that is associated with the shared subscription. The device then generates a device specific response to the group authentication challenge using the group authentication information and device specific authentication information and sends the device specific response to the network. The device is for example a member of a machine-type communication device group.
US09253170B2

In some embodiments, a method includes obtaining an object code of an application executed on a mobile device. The application is created by an author different from an operator of a data source. The method includes loading dynamically at least one intercept point into the object code, wherein the intercept point is to detect a predetermined input gesture. The method further includes, responsive to an input gesture being received within a context of the application at the mobile device and the input gesture matching the predetermined input gesture: (1) overlaying a user interface within the context of the application, the user interface permitting selection of data items from the data source; (2) determining from a selection signal received at the mobile device, a selected data item; (3) responsive to the determining, loading the selected data item into the context of the application; and (4) removing the user interface overlay.
US09253169B2

According to one embodiment, a device includes a second data generator configured to generate a session key (SKey) by encrypting a random number (RN) with the second key (HKey) in AES operation; a one-way function processor configured to generate an authentication information (Oneway-ID) by processing the secret identification information (SecretID) with the session key (SKey) in one-way function operation; and a data output interface configured to output the encrypted secret identification information (E-SecretID) and the authentication information (Oneway-ID) to outside of the device.
US09253164B2

Techniques for obtaining and providing a portion of content include receiving a request for the portion of the content, requesting and receiving one or more data chunks, processing the one or more data chunks, and providing one or more data blocks as the requested portion of the content. The processing may include validating, decrypting, and/or decompressing the one or more data chunks to create the one or more data blocks. Techniques for providing metadata and one or more data chunks may include receiving content and dividing the content into data blocks. Processing may then be performed on the data blocks to create data chunks, and the metadata may be generated from the processing. The metadata and one or more of the data chunks may be provided to a device.
US09253162B2

The present invention relates to the field of information security. Disclosed is an intelligent card secure communication method, capable of preventing the communication data from being monitored or intercepted. The method of the present invention provides a card with a definitely secure communication mechanism, initiates a session for the two communication parties to authenticate each other, and to check the identification legitimacy of the other party and the integrity of communication data, and provides a security constraint for subsequent communication, thus improving communication security.
US09253159B2

The cloud bridge may comprise a tunnel between a datacenter network via a WAN to a cloud network. The cloud bridge makes cloud-hosted applications appear as though they are running on one contiguous enterprise network. With a cloud bridge in place, administrators, tools and the applications believe that the application resides on the enterprise network.
US09253155B2

A computerized system and method for processing network content in accordance with at least one content processing rule is provided. According to one embodiment, the network content is received at a first interface. A transmission protocol according to which the received network content is formatted is identified and used to intercept at least a portion of the received network content. The intercepted portion of the network content is redirected to a proxy, which buffers the redirected portion of network content. The buffered network content is scanned in accordance with a scanning criterion and processed in accordance with the at least one content processing rule based on the result of the scanning. The processed portion of network content may be forwarded using a second interface.
US09253150B2

An application gateway including application service programming logically positioned on a user premises side of a network demarcation forming an edge of the wide area network at a user premises can provide managed services to a user and one or more endpoint devices associated with the application gateway. The application gateway can be controlled remotely by the application service provider through a service management center and configured to execute an application service provided from the application service provider. The application gateway executes the application service at the user premises independent of application services executing on the application service provider's network. An application service logic manager can communicate with an application service enforcement manager to verify that the request conforms with policy and usage rules associated with the application service in order to authorize execution of the application service on the application gateway, either directly or through endpoint devices.
US09253149B2

A method for allowing a device in an external network to access a server in an internal network via a public IP address. A routing equipment receives a message carrying a destination IP address and a destination port number from the device, matches the destination IP address and the destination port number with external characteristics of the server in a mapping table established on the routing equipment. If a match exists, the routing equipment replaces the destination IP address and the destination port number with the internal IP address and the internal port number. The mapping table includes a correlation between external characteristics and internal characteristics of the server. The external characteristics include the external IP address and the external port number of the server. The internal characteristics include the internal IP address and the internal port number.
US09253144B2

Techniques are described for load balancing between DHCP servers at a DHCP client. Embodiments receive load information from each of two or more DHCP servers. Here, the load information describes a current workload of the respective DHCP server from which the load information is received. One of the two or more DHCP servers is then selected at the DHCP client based on the received load information. Additionally, embodiments accept an IP address offer from the selected DHCP server.
US09253140B2

A method for optimizing within subnet communication in a network environment is provided and includes receiving, at a Top-Of-Rack (ToR) switch, an advertisement from an attached host belonging to a subnet of a network environment, seeking a Media Access Control (MAC) address of a remote host in the subnet, looking up a host information database in a control plane of the ToR switch, and responding to the advertisement with the MAC address of the remote host. If the MAC address is not found, the ToR switch may not respond to the advertisement. The method can further include receiving, at the ToR switch from a remote ToR switch in the subnet, a host information of the remote host in the subnet, including an IP address and the MAC address of the remote host, the Layer 2 broadcast domain it belongs to, and storing the host information in the host information database.
US09253134B2

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for creating conversations related to a location. One method includes receiving a topic for a real-time conversation from a user, receiving location information related to a location of the user, and creating a real-time conversation object that includes the received topic. The method also includes tagging the created real-time conversation object with the received location information, indexing, based on the received topic and the received location information, the tagged real-time conversation object with respect to other real-time conversation objects, and providing the tagged real-time conversation object in response to a search for real-time conversation objects received from another user.
US09253130B2

Systems and methods provide a social productivity platform to create or modify documents and other data content objects using collaborative efforts, possibly where the efforts are received through a social networking service. The systems and methods can, for example, create, review and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations from any device, using any cloud storage provider. When teams of users collaboratively work on a document or other file, systems and methods connect each the team users to the document or file, and maintain a history buffer of comments, changes, or other events. The systems and methods enable a user to create, review, edit, or otherwise access content and capture information regarding changes implemented during individual or group-based editing to the content.
US09253119B2

The present invention discloses a method for AU-3 circuit emulation, including: converting frame data from an administrative unit AU-3 frame format into a tributary unit TU-3 frame format; mapping the frame data in the TU-3 frame format into a virtual container VC4 to obtain the frame data in a VC4 frame format; and emulating the frame data in the VC4 frame format. In embodiments of the present invention, frame data is converted from an AU-3 frame format into a TU-3 frame format, and the frame data in the TU-3 frame format is mapped into a virtual container VC4 to obtain frame data in the VC4 frame format. In this way, the frame data in the VC4 frame format is emulated, a requirement of transparently transmitting AU pointers in the present network is fulfilled, that is, the requirement of emulating and transparently transmitting the content of an entire AU is fulfilled.
US09253118B2

A matrix router and method of switching comprising a combined input stage and output stage (I/O stage) having m matrix switch(es), each matrix switch having n inputs and n outputs, each input of said n inputs switchable within said matrix switch to any output of said n outputs, k core outputs and k core inputs, each input of said n inputs switchable to any core output of said k core outputs and each core input of said k core inputs switchable to any output of said n outputs; and a core stage having a matrix switch at least with m times k core stage inputs and at least m times k core stage outputs, each core stage input connected to one core output of said I/O stage, and each core stage output connected to one core input of said I/O stage, where m, n and k are integers and m≧1, n≧2, k≧n.
US09253117B1

A network topology system for reducing the hardware links in a centrally-controlled network having a plurality of network switches and a plurality of centralized controllers controlling those switches. The global network of switches and controllers is broken up into domains, wherein a domain contains a subset of controllers and switches, and a switch in a domain is controlled by one or more controllers. In-band hardware links, which carry both data and control information, are used to connect the controllers and switches in a domain, and thereby reduce the number of hardware links from that used in networks which have separate hardware links for both data and control information.
US09253114B2

In general, embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for pre-provisioning cloud computing resources such as virtual machines (VMs) in order to achieve faster and more consistent provisioning times. Embodiments of the present invention describe an approach to generate a pre-provisioned pool of virtual machines that are utilized when one or more consumers start to initiate a large volume of requests (e.g., instantiate/populate multiple e-commerce ‘shopping carts’). In a typical embodiment, a selection of an operating system to be associated with a VM is received in a computer data structure. A provisioning of the VM will then be initiated based on the selection of the operating system. Thereafter, at least one selection of at least one software program to be associated with the VM will be received in the computer data structure. The provisioning of the VM can then be completed based on the at least one selection of the at least one software program in response to a provisioning request received in the computer data structure.
US09253108B2

Systems and methods for optimizing system performance of capacity and spectrum constrained, multiple-access communication systems by selectively discarding packets are provided. The systems and methods provided herein can drive changes in the communication system using control responses. One such control responses includes the optimal discard (also referred to herein as “intelligent discard”) of network packets under capacity constrained conditions. Some embodiments inspect a video stream to determine priorities for various elements of the video stream. The elements may be discarding using the priorities. In various embodiments, the elements include frames, slices, macroblocks, and data partitions.
US09253107B2

Data communications may be carried out in a distributed computing environment that includes computers coupled for data communications through communications adapters and an active messaging interface (‘AMI’). Such data communications may be carried out by: issuing, by a sender to a receiver, an eager SEND data communications instruction to transfer SEND data, the instruction including information describing data location at the sender and data size; transmitting, by the sender to the receiver, the SEND data as eager data packets; discarding, by the receiver in dependence upon data flow conditions, eager data packets as they are received from the sender; and transferring, in dependence upon the data flow conditions, by the receiver from the sender's data location to a receive buffer by remote direct memory access (“RDMA”), the SEND data.
US09253106B2

The present invention discloses a traffic control-based data transmission method, a traffic control-based switch, a node server and a traffic control-based communication system, thereby solving the problem that the quality of network transmission cannot be guaranteed in the present IP network. The method comprises: obtaining, by a switch, the traffic control information for each service request, wherein the traffic control information includes sending time interval and sending data size; receiving, by the switch, a data packet, and putting it into a packet buffer queue; and polling, by the switch, the packet buffer queue, and taking a packet from the packet buffer queue for sending according to the traffic control information. The present invention can realize accurate traffic control, it is applicable for multimedia transmission, and it can guarantee transmission quality.
US09253101B2

Methods are provided for metering the usage, on a group of lines subject to a group user agreement, of the data processing capacity of a network. Implementations include steps of receiving usage reports from respective lines of the group at least when usage quotas granted to the lines are exhausted; maintaining a total, over the group, of usage that has been reported by the lines and of outstanding usage quotas that have been granted to the lines; and maintaining a comparison between the total outstanding group quota and a limit that depends on the total reported group usage, so as to detect violation events when said quota violates the limit. Upon occurrence of violation events, instructions for the processors serving respective lines to reallocate quota are sent selectively.
US09253100B2

Provided is a method and devices for asynchronous virtual machine replication. The method includes determining a class corresponding to a data packet associated with the virtual machine and one of buffering the packet and transmitting the packet based on the determined class.
US09253099B2

A Call Server in a network is able to monitor an offered rate of incoming calls per Access Gateway (AGW). A calculated GlobalLeakRate can be distributed between the AGWs in proportion to the traffic rate they offer. A leak rate calculation method is used to calculate the GlobalLeakRate control parameter of the ETSI NR restrictor at an overloaded Control Server The leak rate calculation is based on the POTS call rejection rate. In one particular embodiment of the present invention, the calculation is based on bringing the call reject rate close to a configurable low target reject level. An MGC is able to identify the end of an overload event with a greater degree of confidence and an AGW is able respond appropriately if the AGW is prematurely instructed to stop the control.
US09253094B2

A method, a device, and a system for backup are disclosed. The method includes: receiving a backup packet; analyzing the backup packet to obtain a serial number of an active data packet, where the serial number is carried in the backup packet; calculating a sum of the serial number of the active data packet and a specific increment value to obtain a serial number of a standby data packet; and backing up the serial number of the standby data packet. Therefore, after the service is switched over from the active device to the standby device, the active device still regards the data packet sent by the former standby device as a new data packet and receives the data packet, which prevents service interruption caused by the switchover and improves continuity of service processing in the process of two-node cluster hot backup.
US09253092B2

Systems and methods for predictive QoS resource allocation in a wireless communication system are disclosed. An access network can detect a communication directed to an access terminal requiring QoS resources, send a page to an access terminal and allocate the QoS resources prior to receipt of the connection request from the access terminal.
US09253084B2

Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) extensions are described that enable distribution of neighbor-label mappings for directly connected neighbor routers. A router capable of supporting the LDP extensions distributes neighbor-labels to be used by the router to label switch traffic destined for the directly connected neighbor router irrespective of a hop-by-hop Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) path determined based on link metrics. In some examples, the neighbor-labels may increase backup coverage, e.g., link protection and/or node protection, in a network that, due to link metrics, does not have a viable loop-free alternate (LFA) path between an ingress router and an egress router of a label switched path (LSP). In other examples, the neighbor-labels may improve load balancing by enabling an ingress router in a first autonomous system (AS) to select a particular remote link on which to send traffic destined for remote routers in a second AS.
US09253082B2

In one aspect, the invention includes, in a root node along a secondary label switching path, a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions stored on a non-transitory medium that when executed by a processor cause the root node to perform the following: establish a first data plane based failure detection session having an inactive status along a first label switching path (LSP) with at least one leaf node, receive a predetermined number of notification messages from the leaf node, wherein the predetermined number of notification messages indicate the failure of a second data plane based failure detection session along a second LSP from a second processor to the leaf node, and change the status of the first data plane based failure detection session to active along the first LSP upon receipt of the predetermined number of notification messages.
US09253080B2

A relay device comprises: a routing controller configured to perform learning of routing information, which includes area information used to identify a relay area of communication packets and a network address of one or more other relay devices, and to determine a relay route of the communication packets, based on the learnt routing information; and a relay module configured to send the communication packets received by the relay device to a destination address of the received communication packets, based on the determined relay route. When the relay device receives a disaster notification packet notifying of a disaster area and when the determined relay route includes the disaster area, the routing controller changes the relay route to an alternative relay route that does not include the disaster area.
US09253076B2

A network element within a data center comprises a master switch, a slave switch, and a plurality of servers in communication with the master and slave switches. The master switch may be configured to send synchronization requests to the slave switch. The slave switch may update a slave switch hash table to correspond to a master switch hash table.
US09253063B2

A method, a system and a computer device for initiating bi-directional compression of a video stream in a packet switched network, based on delay tolerance of a service or application. A video frame recompression (VFR) utility determines an end-to-end (E2E) delay tolerance retrieved from a Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) report. The VFR utility then determines the actual expected delay based on a deep inspection of packet headers. The VFR utility utilizes a processing opportunity delay (which determines whether the E2E delay tolerance is greater than the actual expected delay) to reprocess video content comprising Intra-coded (I) pictures/frames and Predicted (P) frames to improve compression efficiency. The VFR utility may also utilize a complexity ratio which is a ratio of the I-Frame rate and the P-Frame rate to select frames for compression. The VFR utility recompresses video content by replacing P-Frames with B-Frames.
US09253056B2

In for enhancing performance of applications, a cloud application programming interface (API) abstraction layer receives a request from an application of a given entity for core services shared among a plurality of entities. A requestor of the request is determined, and the performance level information for the requestor is determined based on entity specific performance rules defined by the given entity. The entity specific performance rules defined by the given entity are applied to requests from the application of the given entity and are not applied to requests from the other entities of the plurality of entities. The performance level information is included in the request. The request is routed for servicing by one or more of the core services using the performance level information in the request without affecting servicing of requests from other entities of the plurality of entities.
US09253042B2

A method implemented in a network apparatus used in a network is disclosed. The method includes sensing network topology and network utilization, receiving a request from an application, deciding path setup requirement using network state information obtained from the network topology and the network utilization, and translating the path setup requirement into a rule to be installed. Other methods, apparatuses, and systems also are disclosed.
US09253040B2

A method determines the relative locations of wirelessly controllable service device nodes and switching control nodes within a building. At least some of the service device nodes are located in different rooms of the building and should be allocated to switching control nodes on a room-specific basis. Wireless communication is established between the nodes to determine relative spatial positions of selected nodes using received signal strength indication (RSSI) values indicative of a distance of separation between two communicating nodes. The service device nodes are then grouped into two or more groups, a first group corresponding to service device nodes in one room and a second group corresponding to service device nodes in a second room, based on spatial distribution of the service device nodes as indicated by the RSSI values. The service device nodes of each group are then allocated to at least one associated switching control node.
US09253038B2

Instances of router models and filter models respectively are populated with configuration data from routers and filters in a network. A route advertising graph is derived from the router model instances. The route advertising graph indicates propagation of routes between the ones of the real-world devices serving as routers according to routing protocols implemented by the ones of the real-world devices serving as routers. Consolidated routing data is determined for the ones of the real-world devices serving as routers. In this process, the propagation of routes indicated by the route advertising graph is iterated to stability. For a destination node in the network, a respective route graph indicating available paths to the destination node from each source node in the network is constructed from the consolidated routing data. Services between each source node and the destination node are classified based on a full traversal of the route advertising graph.
US09253016B2

An integrated hybrid system is provided. The hybrid system includes compute components of different types and architectures that are integrated and managed by a single point of control to provide federation and the presentation of the compute components as a single logical computing platform.
US09253010B1

A computer-implemented method to determine a reputation of at least one telephone number associated with an unclassified source. A first device is monitored for an incoming contact originating from at least one unclassified source. When an incoming contact is detected, at least one attribute of the incoming contact is computed at the first device. The at least one attribute of the incoming contact is transmitted to a second device. A representation of the telephone number associated with the at least one unclassified source of the incoming contact is transmitted to the second device. The reputation of the telephone number is computed at the second device using the at least one attribute.
US09252979B2

A method, system, and computer program product for transparent configuration of virtual hosts to support timestamping of documents that are processed in multiple time zones within an enterprise platform. Embodiments use network address translation and virtual host initialization techniques to configure a port listener such that the port listener receives IP packets from the network interface and uses the subnet's network address IP address to map to a time zone correspondence. When the identified time zone corresponds to a first time zone, then the port listener forwards the IP packet to a first virtual host process that has been initialized with a first time zone virtual time clock used for timestamping. When the identified time zone corresponds to a second time zone, the port listener forwards the IP packet to a second virtual host process that has been initialized with a second time zone virtual time clock used for timestamping.
US09252977B2

A system for sending data from at least one computing device, which may be an email server, located at a user location, to a plurality of handsets. The system includes an internal system monitor associated with the at least one computing device, and the monitor provides application connectors deployed at the user location. The system also includes at least one wireless gateway router and a mobile client, which provides a client infrastructure installed on the plurality of handsets, such that the at least one computing device acts uni-directionally and thereby provides secure delivery of the data.
US09252967B2

A control circuit operably couples to a plurality of home-automation edge-component interfaces. This control circuit is configured to compatibly interact with a plurality of home-automation edge components where at least some of the plurality of home-automation edge components are operationally incompatible with one another.
US09252966B2

A method and system for managing an instrumentation device include accessing an image of the instrumentation device. Based on the image, an identity for the instrumentation device is determined. The identity is used to register the instrumentation device by configuring a gateway at a multimedia content distribution network client location to access and communicate with the instrumentation device. The identity of the instrumentation device and the gateway may be stored for future configuration of the gateway.
US09252956B2

A method and system for detecting manipulation when control data are transmitted from a first control unit to a second control unit via a network, which includes generating integrity check information data for the control data transmitted by the first control unit via an integrity check generating unit on the transmitter side, calculating a cryptographic checksum for the integrity check information data generated on the transmitter side via the integrity check generating unit, transmitting the integrity check information data and the cryptographic checksum to an integrity check verifying unit that verifies the cryptographic checksum on the receiver side, generating integrity check information data on the receiver side for the control data received by the second control unit using the integrity check verifying unit, and comparing the integrity check information data and the integrity check information data with the cryptographic checksum to detect the manipulation of the transmitted control data.
US09252951B1

A method of provisioning a mobile communication device with key functionality is disclosed. The method comprises a web portal receiving a request to add key functionality to a mobile communication device and a vehicle. The method comprises registering the mobile communication device via a vehicle key server as a precondition to add a key and a salt to the mobile communication device and a vehicle, wherein the key and the salt are codes. The method comprises accessing a vehicle key data store via the vehicle key server, wherein the data store comprises keys and salts. The method comprises transmitting the key and the salt to a trusted service manager (TSM) server via the vehicle key server; transmitting the salt to the vehicle, and transmitting the salt and the key to the mobile communication device, whereby the mobile communication device is enable to command the vehicle to unlock, lock, or start.
US09252948B2

Provided are techniques for verifying, by a first device, that a management key block of a second device is valid. A management key block that includes a plurality of verification data, each of the plurality associated with a plurality of security classes ranked from a high to low, is generated. The first device, which is associated with a security class that is higher than a security class associated with the second device, verifies a management key block of the second device by calculating a management key precursor associated with the higher security class and verifying verification data associated with the higher security class. In this manner, the second device is unable to pass an unauthorized, or “spoofed,” management key block.
US09252930B2

A communications system and a method for performing communications are provided. User Equipments (UEs) are provided with UE-specific configuration information, such as CSI-RS (Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal) patterns, antenna port groupings, reference signal configurations, subframe configurations, and/or scrambling codes. The UEs process the received reference signals in accordance with the received configuration information and feedback measurement information for, e.g., PMI/CQI/RI (Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator of the precoding matrix) and/or the RLM/RRM (Radio Link Monitor/Radio Resource Management).
US09252929B2

A method for achieving rendezvous in a multiple access network having two or more access channels includes the steps of generating channel access sequences in rounds for each user of the multiple access network, wherein each round includes at least one jump-pattern and at least one stay-pattern, performing the at least one jump-pattern alternated by the at least one stay-pattern in each round, and whereupon the at least one jump-pattern alternated by the stay-pattern in each round are performed, continuously generate at least one channel access sequence rounds and perform the jump-pattern of the channel access sequence rounds until a user in the network achieves rendezvous with its intended neighbor user or users.
US09252925B2

A communication apparatus including a short-distance communication module, wherein the short-distance communication module selectively performs one-to-one communication or one-to-many communication in short-distance communication, and sets a sampling rate for sampling transmission data of the communication apparatus to be greater than the inverse of an arrival time difference of the transmission data determined according to a maximum communication distance between communication apparatuses.
US09252920B2

A receiver system and method for recovering information from a symbol data sequence Y. The symbol data sequence Y corresponds to a symbol data sequence X that is transmitted onto the channel by a transmitter. The symbol data sequence X is generated by the transmitter based on associated information bits. At the receiver, a set of two or more processors operate in parallel on two or more overlapping subsequences of the symbol data sequence Y, where each of the two or more overlapping subsequences of the symbol data sequence Y corresponds to a respective portion of a trellis. The trellis describes redundancy in the symbol data sequence Y. The action of operating in parallel generates soft estimates for the associated information bits. The soft estimates are useable to form a receive message corresponding to the associated information bits.
US09252908B1

A non-line of sight backhaul system and method are described that provides self-alignment of the antennas beams of the wireless radios of the system, that provides robust operation in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, that facilitates the use of a reduced number of frequency channels from M to 1 and that enables operation in a non-line of sight (NLOS) propagation environment.
US09252907B2

Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for providing multi-antenna enhancements using multiple processing units. A UE (User Equipment) may receive data via three or more antennas. The UE may determine a number of independent processing units to be employed to process the data, wherein the determined number of independent processing units includes at least two processing units and at least one processing unit jointly processes at least two streams of data. The data may be processed by the determined number of independent processing units and the results of the processing units may be combined.
US09252902B2

An accurate non-Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (non-DOCSIS) clock signal is generated at the downstream output of a DOCSIS network. In one example method, a downstream DOCSIS Timing Protocol (DTP) client in the DOCSIS network is frequency synchronized to an upstream DTP server in the DOCSIS network. DOCSIS timing information, along with one or more timing correction factors received at the DTP client, is used to time synchronize the DTP client to the DTP server. Based on the time and frequency synchronization between the DTP server and the DTP client, the clock signal is generated at the output of the DTP client in accordance with the non-DOCSIS timing protocol.
US09252898B2

Music is blanket transmitted to each customer's computer-based user station. Customers preselect from a list of available music in advance using an interactive screen selector, and pay only for music that they choose to have recorded for unlimited playback. An antipiracy “ID tag” is woven into the recorded music so that any illegal copies therefrom may be traced to the purchase transaction. Music is transmitted on a fixed schedule or through an active scheduling process that monitors music requests from all or a subset of satellite receivers and adjust scheduling according to demand for various CD's. In those instances where transmission interruptions result in data loss, the system downloads the next transmission of the requested CD and uses both transmissions to produce a “good copy”. In conjunction to the blanket transmission, an automated CD manufacturing facility may be provided to manufacture CD's and distribute them by ground transportation.
US09252896B2

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus may receive broadcast information related to a second UE from a third UE, relay the broadcast information and identifier information to a set of UEs, determine whether each UE in the set of UEs has received the broadcast information based on whether the identifier information is received from each UE in the set of UEs, and refrain from relaying the broadcast information upon determining that each UE in the set of UEs has received the broadcast information. In another aspect, the apparatus may receive broadcast information related to a second UE and a tag associated with the broadcast information from a third UE, relay the tag without the broadcast information to a set of UEs, receive a request for broadcast information from a third UE in the set of UEs, and relay the broadcast information to the third UE. In an aspect, the first, second and third UEs may be the same UE. In another aspect, the second and third UEs but not the first UE may be the same UE.
US09252895B1

A system for measuring a full spectrum of a modulated output signal provided by a device under test (DUT) includes a signal generating device that provides a radio frequency (RF) stimulus signal to the DUT, and generates a trigger signal, where the DUT outputs the modulated output signal in response. A receiver, having an intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth less than a total bandwidth of the modulated output signal, includes mixers, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) triggered by the trigger signal, and a local oscillator (LO) that consecutively generates multiple LO signals having different LO frequencies. A harmonic phase reference (HPR) generator generates a repetitive HPR signal having an HPR bandwidth wider than the total bandwidth of the modulated output signal and a modulation repetition rate the same as that of the RF stimulus signal. The mixers consecutively mix the LO signals with the HPR signal and the modulated output signal to provide IF signals input to channels of the ADC to form ADC data records, respectively, that capture the full spectrum of the modulated output signal.
US09252893B2

The invention relates to a method 10 performed in a user equipment 3, 4 of a communication system 1 for determining a beam-forming gain parameter, the communication system 1 comprising a base station 2 serving the user equipment 3, 4. The method 10 comprises: receiving 1 a cell-specific reference signal and a dedicated reference signal from the base station 2; measuring 12 a received power, PRSRP, of the cell-specific reference signal and a received power, PDRSRP, of the dedicated reference signal; and determining 13 a beam-forming gain parameter, GBF, based on the measured received power, PRSRP, of the cell-specific reference signal and on the measured received power, PDRSRP, of the dedicated reference signal. The invention also relates to user equipment, methods in base station, base station, computer programs and computer program products.
US09252889B2

A method for optical transmission of high speed data and an optical receiver for receiving such high speed data is provided. The method includes transmitting an optical signal having a first logic-high and first logic-low defining a first modulation amplitude that is sub-band modulated with a toggling signal having a first toggling amplitude with a first modulation index, receiving the optical signal with an optical receiver circuit and converting the optical signal to an intermediate electrical signal, IES, having: a second logic-high and a second logic-low defining a second modulation amplitude, and a second toggling amplitude having a second modulation index, providing a decision threshold relative to the IES as a function of the second modulation amplitude, and adjusting the threshold by determining the second toggling amplitude and adjusting the threshold relative to the IES based on proportionality between the second toggling amplitude and the second modulation amplitude.z.
US09252884B2

Described herein is an apparatus for improving bandwidth of a transceiver system e.g., a Universal Serial Bus (USB) micro-B connector. The apparatus comprises a first pair of lens units, each lens unit of the pair positioned on either side of an input-output (I/O) bus interface, the pair of lens units to send and receive optical signals respectively; a first housing to shield the first pair of lens units and for physically coupling the I/O bus interface and the first pair of lens units to a receptacle; and a key to grasp the first housing and to lock the first housing with the receptacle.
US09252882B2

An optical fiber module includes: a casing; a first optical fiber having a portion in the casing; a first optical transmitter in the casing, wherein the first optical transmitter is configured to emit a first optical signal to the first optical fiber; a second optical fiber having a portion in the casing, wherein optical signals transmitted through the second optical fiber are independent from those transmitted through the first optical fiber; and a first optical receiver in the casing, wherein the first optical receiver is configured to receive a second optical signal from the second optical fiber.
US09252858B2

Embodiments of a communication circuit are described. This communication circuit includes an input node to receive a set of data symbols and a partitioner coupled to the input node. This partitioner is to divide the set of data symbols into M irregular subgroups of data symbols, a given one of which includes non-consecutive data symbols in the set of data symbols. Moreover, this given irregular subgroup of data symbols includes at least two pairs of adjacent data symbols having different inter-data-symbol spacings in the set of data symbols. This communication circuit also includes M modulators coupled to the partitioner, where the given irregular subgroup of data symbols is coupled to a given modulator in the M modulators. Furthermore, the communication circuit includes M output nodes, where a given output node in the M output nodes is coupled to the given modulator and is to couple to an antenna element in M antenna elements.
US09252844B2

Disclosed is a resonate power generator and a resonate power receiver. The resonate power generator may include a modulator to control modulation of transmission data transmitted to a target resonator, and to control transmission of the modulated transmission data to a power carrier signal of a source resonator, a demodulator to demodulate received data received from the target resonator, and a coupling unit to couple the modulator, the demodulator, and the source resonator.
US09252826B2

A method of correlating a digital communications signal is described. In an example, a window is defined equal to a portion of an epoch of the digital communication signal. The digital communication signal is then correlated across the window. A determination is made as to whether a correlation peak results from the correlating. Timing parameters are then established for receiving additional digital communication signals in response to presence of the correlation peak.
US09252825B2

A processor, comprising a first data input configured to receive a stream of samples of a first signal having a spectral space, the stream having a data rate of at least 4 GHz; a second data input configured to receive a stream of samples of a second signal; a multitap correlator, configured to receive the first stream of samples and the second stream of samples, and producing at least one correlation output for each respective sequential sample of the first signal received; and a programmable control configured to alter a relationship of the stream of samples of the first signal and the stream of samples of the second signal, to thereby select, under program control, an alterable correlation output.
US09252823B2

A wireless communication system is disclosed. The system includes a transmitter which includes a data source configured to provide data to be transmitted, a modulator configured to modulate the data, a pre-filter configured to apply a filter to the modulated data generating pre-filtered data, and a transmitter antenna configured to receive the pre-filtered data and to transmit the pre-filtered data, the pre-filter based on a phase compensation topology that is based on channel characteristics between the transmitter and a receiver, the frequency response of the pre-filter based on spectral phase information of the channel such that the frequency response at the receiver is proportional to the magnitude of the channel frequency response.
US09252821B2

A method and apparatus are used to predistort input signal samples according to Volterra Series Approximation Model using one or more digital predistortion blocks (300) having a plurality of predistorter cells (301-303), each including an input multiplication stage (366-367) for combining absolute sample values received from an absolute sample delay line (362) into a first stage output, a lookup table (368) connected to be addressed by the first stage output for generating an LUT output, and a plurality of output multiplication stages (371-372, 373-374) for combining the LUT output with samples received from the amplitude sample delay line (362) and signal sample delay line (363) to generate an output signal sample yQ from said predistorter cell, where the output signal samples yQ from the predistorter cells are combined at an output adder circuit (375) to generate one or more Volterra terms of a combined signal (yOUT[n]).
US09252818B2

An RF transceiver apparatus has transmitter circuitry receiving transmission signals at a transmitter baseband frequency and converting the signals to a transmission frequency, and receiver circuitry receiving signals at a reception frequency and converting to a receiver baseband frequency. A first digital local oscillator and a first mixer convert between the transmitter baseband frequency and a transmitter intermediate frequency. A second digital local oscillator and a second mixer convert between a receiver intermediate frequency and the receiver baseband frequency. A third mixer frequency receives a local oscillator signal for frequency conversion between the transmitter intermediate frequency and the transmission frequency. A fourth mixer frequency receives a local oscillator signal for frequency conversion between the reception frequency and the receiver intermediate frequency. A third local oscillator produces an RF oscillator signal to the third mixer and the fourth mixer to provide the local oscillator signal.
US09252817B2

Apparatuses, systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for error correction. A soft read module is configured to obtain soft read information for a cell of a non-volatile memory medium. The soft read information may indicate a likelihood that a data value for the cell is correct. A reliability module is configured to associate the cell with a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) mapping from a plurality of LLR mappings based on one or more reliability characteristics for a set of cells that includes the cell. An LLR map module is configured to determine an LLR value based on the soft read information by using the LLR mapping.
US09252816B1

A method of decoding an array of multi-dimensional code components, the method may include searching in a group of multi-dimensional code components a suspected multi-dimensional code component, wherein the suspected multi-dimensional code component belongs to the array multi-dimensional code components and is associated with a false correction probability that exceeds a false correction threshold; wherein the searching comprises dummy decoding, by a decoder, the group of multi-dimensional code components; and performing at least one non-dummy decoding of multi-dimensional code components of the array without performing non-dummy decoding of the suspected multi-dimensional code component.
US09252813B2

A method includes accepting modulated symbols, which carry bits of a code word of a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code, and computing respective soft input metrics for the bits. The code word is decoded using an iterative LDPC decoding process that includes selecting, based on a predefined criterion, a number of internal iterations to be performed by an LDPC decoder (84) in the process, performing the selected number of the internal iterations using the LDPC decoder so as to estimate decoded bits and soft output metrics indicative of the input bits based on the soft input metrics, performing an external iteration that updates one or more of the soft input metrics based on one or more of the soft output metrics produced by the LDPC decoder, and repeating at least one of the internal iterations using the updated soft input metrics.
US09252810B2

According to one embodiment, a controller writes first write data transferred from a first buffer and code data for second write data different from the first write data, the code data being transferred from a second buffer, in parallel to a plurality of physical pages corresponding to a first logical page. The controller writes code data for the first write data to a physical page corresponding to a second logical page, the second logical page being next to the first logical page, at a time of write to the nonvolatile memory following the write of the first write data and the code data for the second write data.
US09252807B2

Exemplary method, system, and computer program product embodiments for efficient one-pass cache-aware compression are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, an output of a fast compressor to Huffman encoding for achieving the one-pass cache-aware compression by using a predetermined Huffman-tree upon determining by the fast compressor a final representation of each data byte.
US09252803B2

A signal processor for providing a processed version of an input signal in dependence on the input signal has a windower configured to window a portion of the input signal, or of a pre-processed version thereof, in dependence on a signal processing window described by signal processing window values for a plurality of window value index values, in order to obtain the processed version of the input signal. The signal processor also has a window provider for providing the signal processing window values for a plurality of window value index values in dependence on one or more window shape parameters.
US09252792B2

A tunable DCO (digitally controlled oscillator), for example, includes a clock generator that is arranged to provide a converter clock signal for driving a frequency-to-voltage (F2V) converter. The F2V converter, for example, includes a frequency target control input for selecting an operational frequency and in response generates a frequency control signal using a DAC (digital-to-analog converter). The example F2V converter is arranged using a split capacitor DAC to provide a linear voltage response over a range of trim codes. The clock generator is arranged to generate the converter clock signal in response to the frequency control signal.
US09252790B2

Locking multiple VCOs to generate a plurality of LO frequencies, including: receiving a plurality of divided VCO feedback signals from a plurality of VCOs; receiving a reference signal multiplied by a predetermined number of the plurality of VCOs; generating and processing the predetermined number of phase differences between the multiplied reference signal and the plurality of divided VCO feedback signals in a single PLL circuit including a digital loop filter to receive and process the phase differences and generate (produce) a filter output, wherein the digital loop filter includes a plurality of delay cells equal to the predetermined number; and generating and outputting (delayed) control voltages for the plurality of VCOs based on the filter output.
US09252788B1

A device includes a lock detect circuit that is structured and arranged to: convert a reference clock to a reference triangle wave; convert a feedback clock to a feedback triangle wave; determine whether the feedback triangle wave is within a tolerance margin that is defined relative to the reference triangle wave; and generate a determiner output that is a first value when the feedback triangle wave is not within the tolerance margin, and a second value when the feedback triangle wave is within the tolerance margin.
US09252786B2

An analog phase-locked loop, PLL, (100, 200) is disclosed, comprising a voltage controlled oscillator (102, 202); a frequency divider (104, 204) having its input connected to an output of the VCO; a first phase detector (106, 206) arranged to detect a phase difference between an output signal of the frequency divider and a reference frequency signal and provide an output signal based on the phase difference, wherein the detectable phase difference is within one cycle of the reference frequency; a first charge pump (108, 208) connected to an output of the first phase detector and arranged to output a charge per detected phase error based on the output of the first phase detector; and an analog loop filter (110, 210) connected to the first charge pump and arranged to provide a voltage, based on the output of the first charge pump, to the VCO. The PLL further comprises a second phase detector (112, 212, 300, 400, 500) arranged to detect a number of cycles in phase difference between the output signal of the frequency divider and the reference frequency signal and provide an output signal based on the number of cycles in phase difference; and a second charge pump (114, 214, 600, 700) connected to an output of the second phase detector and arranged to provide a charge per detected phase error, based on the output of the second phase detector, to the loop filter. A radio circuit, a communication device and a communication node are also disclosed.
US09252771B2

The invention relates to a layer structure comprising at least one switch (4) illuminated by an ACPEL arrangement (2), to the method for producing and shaping said layer structure, and the use thereof for forming display and control elements and for forming housing elements for mobile or stationary electronic equipment or small or large household appliances or for forming keyboard systems without movable components.
US09252770B2

A touch sensor including a plurality of first electrode films and a plurality of second electrode films which are formed on a surface of a substrate and are arranged in different directions from each other; and a manufacturing method for the same. The manufacturing method includes: a first transfer step, which uses a transfer ribbon made by at least an insulating layer and an electrode-imparting layer which are entirely sequentially stacked as a transfer layer upon an elongated release film, attaches to a substrate only a portion of the transfer layer to which heat and pressure have been applied, and by stripping the release film, transfers the transfer layer in at least the shape of a first electrode film; and a second transfer step including attaching only the portion of the transfer layer to which the heat and the pressure had been applied and stripping the release film.
US09252763B2

A semiconductor integrated circuit including: a circuit block having an internal voltage line; an annular rail line forming a closed annular line around the circuit block and supplied with one of a power supply voltage and a reference voltage; and a plurality of switch blocks arranged around the circuit block along the annular rail line, the plurality of switch blocks each including a voltage line segment forming a part of the annular rail line and a switch for controlling connection and disconnection between the voltage line segment and the internal voltage line.
US09252758B2

A multi-phase phase interpolator receives two input clocks to generate several equally spaced output clocks using several phase interpolators. A phase interpolator may include a first circuit branch and a second circuit branch with output nodes that are connected together to provide an output clock. The output clock may be generated at least based on resistor values of the phase interpolator.
US09252744B2

An electronic circuit simulating the behavior of an inductance between a respective input node and a reference potential. The electronic circuit comprises a compensation network electrically connected between ground and a source potential and an inverting amplification stage electrically connected to the output of the compensation network. The inverting amplification stage comprises a transistor having a control terminal connected to the input of the inverting amplification stage, a first bias terminal operatively connected to the output of the inverting amplification stage, and a second bias terminal operatively connected to ground. The inverting amplification stage further comprises a feedback capacitance interposed between the first bias terminal and the control terminal of the transistor, and a feedback inductance interposed between the second bias terminal of the transistor and ground.
US09252735B2

A network signal coupling and EMI protection circuit assembly includes a processing circuit installed in a circuit board and coupled between a voltage-mode network-on-chip at the circuit board and a network connector and drivable by a driving voltage outputted by the voltage-mode network-on-chip to process network signals. The processing circuit includes opposing first connection end and second connection end, two-wire channels electrically connected between the first connection end and the second connection end, a coupling module and an EMI protection module installed in each two-wire channel for coupling network signals and removing noises. Each EMI protection module includes two inductors respectively installed in the two wires of the respective two-wire channel and two capacitors connected in series between the two wires of the respective two-wire channel and grounded for filtering resonant waves in low frequency as well as high frequency to prevent electromagnetic interference and to enhance signal transmission stability.
US09252734B2

In one embodiment, a high frequency module may include a substrate. The substrate may include a first surface and a second surface substantially opposite of the first surface. The high frequency module may include a component coupled to the second surface. A direct current may be provided to the component using the substrate. The high frequency module may include a core coupled to the second surface of the substrate. In some embodiments, the core may include at least one opening extending through the core. The component may be positioned in at least one of the openings. In some embodiments, the high frequency module may include a cover coupled to the core. The component may be positioned in at least one of the openings between the substrate and the cover.
US09252732B2

An acoustic wave device includes: a piezoelectric substrate; a dielectric layer formed on the piezoelectric substrate; and first and second comb-tooth electrodes formed on the dielectric layer, the dielectric layer having a first thickness between the first comb-tooth electrodes and the piezoelectric substrate and a second thickness between the second comb-tooth electrodes and the piezoelectric substrate, the first and second thicknesses being different from each other.
US09252715B2

A variable-bias power amplifier is provided, comprising: a first variable voltage source generating first bias voltages based on bias control signals; a first amplifier circuit amplifying an output RF signal to generate a first amplified signal based on the first bias voltages; a second variable voltage source generating second bias voltages based on the bias control signals; a second amplifier circuit amplifying the output RF signal to generate a second amplified signal based on the second bias voltages; and a DC isolation circuit between the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit, electrically isolating DC currents at the first amplifier from DC currents at the second amplifier, wherein the first variable voltage source can be controlled independently from the second variable voltage source, and the first amplifier circuit, the second amplifier circuit, and the DC isolation circuit are all formed on a single die.
US09252710B2

Synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) and synthetic ferrimagnetic (SyF) free layer structures are disclosed that reduce Ho (for a SAF free layer), increase perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), and provide higher thermal stability up to at least 400° C. The SAF and SyF structures have a FL1/DL1/spacer/DL2/FL2 configuration wherein FL1 and FL2 are free layers with PMA, the coupling layer induces antiferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic coupling between FL1 and FL2 depending on thickness, and DL1 and DL2 are dusting layers that enhance the coupling between FL1 and FL2. The SAF free layer may be used with a SAF reference layer in STT-MRAM memory elements or in spintronic devices including a spin transfer oscillator. Furthermore, a dual SAF structure is described that may provide further advantages in terms of Ho, PMA, and thermal stability.
US09252704B2

A voltage controlled oscillator comprising a substrate and a bilayer graphene transistor formed on the substrate. The transistor has two signal terminals and a gate terminal positioned in between the signal terminals. A voltage controlled PZT or MEMS capacitor is also formed on the substrate. The capacitor is electrically connected to the transistor gate terminal. At least one component is connected to the transistor and capacitor to form a resonant circuit.
US09252700B2

A motor controller that controls energization of a motor in which a plurality of coils U1 to W2 that applies torque to a rotor is arranged in a circular pattern includes: a rotation speed detection sensor that detects a rotation speed of the motor; and an energization control unit that controls energization of the plurality of coils U1 to W2 using the detected rotation speed. The energization control unit sequentially energizes the plurality of coils U1 to W2 in all energization patterns if the detected rotation speed is outside of predetermined conditions and sequentially energizes the plurality of coils U1 to W2 in remaining energization patterns (for example, U→V phase, V→W phase, V→U phase, W→U phase, and W→V phase) excluding a partial energization pattern (for example, U→W phase) of all energization patterns if the detected rotation speed is within the predetermined conditions.
US09252694B2

A detection circuit for an alternator regulator, and method therefor. The detection circuit comprises an input circuit arranged to receive a phase signal from an alternator regulator and to output an attenuated sense signal representative of the received phase signal, a detection component operably coupled to the input circuit and arranged to receive the attenuated sense signal output by the input circuit, and a blocking capacitance operably coupled between the input circuit and the detection component and arranged to block a DC component of the attenuated sense signal. The detection component is arranged to compare the received attenuated sense signal to at least one reference voltage signal, and to output a signal representative of a frequency of the phase signal from the alternator regulator based at least partly on the comparison of the received attenuated sense signal to the at least one reference voltage signal.
US09252681B2

A power converter includes at least one leg including a first string that includes controllable semiconductor switches, a first connecting node, and a second connecting node and that is operatively coupled across a first bus and a second bus. A second string is operatively coupled to the first string via the first connecting node and the second connecting node. The second string includes a plurality of switching modules wherein each of the plurality of switching modules includes a plurality of fully controllable semiconductor switches and at least one energy storage device. The power converter includes a system controller to control activation of the controllable semiconductor switches and switching modules such that a controlled electrical variable is maintained at a first predetermined reference voltage value and the average internal stored energy of the energy storage devices is maintained at a second predetermined reference value.
US09252680B2

A solar power system includes at least one alternating-current module and a communication apparatus. Each alternating-current module includes a solar panel and an alternating-current inverter. The communication apparatus connects to the alternating-current module and controls stand-alone power-generating operations on the alternating-current module. The communication includes a module connector and a control circuit. The module connector is configured for connecting with the alternating-current module. The alternating-current module can be parallel-connected on a household power grid selectively. The communication apparatus can transmit a stand-alone power-generating command to the alternating-current module. The alternating-current inverter may cancel an anti-islanding protection procedure thereon according to the stand-alone power-generating command.
US09252678B2

A power conversion apparatus is provided which includes a first DC/DC converter and a second DC/DC converter which are connected to each other in parallel, and a controller which changes a state of the second DC/DC converter between operation and stop, based on an input current or an output current of the power conversion apparatus, and at least one current threshold determined based on a first characteristic curve showing a relation between current and conversion efficiency in a state where the second DC/DC converter is stopped while the first DC/DC converter is operated and a second characteristic curve showing a relation between current and conversion efficiency in a state where the first DC/DC converter and the second DC/DC converter are operated.
US09252677B2

The invention relates to a quasi-resonant push-pull converter and the method for controlling the same, said push-pull converter comprising: a direct current (DC) input power supply configured to supply DC input for the converter; a first power input unit and a second power input unit, connected to said DC input power supply, respectively and configured to supply input for the converter in different periods, comprising a first power switching tube and a second power switching tube, a first primary winding and a second primary winding; a power output circuit, configured to supply output of the converter, comprising secondary windings and full-bridge rectification circuits; a first output capacitor and a second output capacitor connected to said power output circuit and configured to store DC electric energy output by the power output circuit in which a resonant element is arranged to achieve a quasi-resonant switching circuit through voltage feedback; and a switching circuit being controlled through voltage feedback, whereby turns ratio of the primary windings and the secondary windings of the push-pull converter is controlled.
US09252675B2

The PD device comprises a primary-side controller configured to control an input current of a DC/DC converter disposed between an input and an output, and a secondary-side controller connected with AC coupling to the output, and configured to feed back electric power information of the output to the primary-side controller. The primary-side controller varies an output voltage value and an available output current capacity of the DC/DC converter by controlling the input current on the basis of the electric power information fed back from the secondary-side controller. The primary-side controller can change an overpower detecting set value in accordance with the target equipments connected to the output, thereby executing the power change of the DC/DC converter.
US09252673B2

A controller (606) for a switched mode power supply (100), comprising: a first terminal (620) for receiving a controller input voltage (Vcc); a second terminal for coupling to ground (654); a selectably engagable load (656); a load selector (658) configured to: engage the selectably engagable load between the first and second terminals in order to draw a selectably engagable load current (lextra), and disengage the selectably engagable load from the first and second terminals in accordance with a comparison between a disengagement threshold and the controller input voltage or an input current at the first terminal.
US09252671B2

A method for a power adapter to selectively provide a first and a second output voltage may comprise coupling a rectified and filtered transformer input signal to a primary winding of a transformer. The secondary winding thereof may comprise a first tap associated with the first output voltage and a second tap associated with the second output voltage, the first and second taps being configured to be selectively coupled to and uncoupled from an output of the power adapter. The output current drawn at the output of the power adapter may then be sensed. When the sensed output current is determined to have exceeded a predetermined threshold, the output of the power adapter may be switched from the first to the second tap by uncoupling the first tap from the output of the power adapter and coupling the second tap to the output of the power adapter.
US09252655B2

A phase shift circuit may include a ramp generation unit charging or discharging a capacitor connected to a switch device to generate a ramp signal, a reference signal generation unit generating a predetermined reference signal from the ramp signal, and a comparison unit comparing the ramp signal with the reference signal to generate a clock signal, wherein at least one of the reference signal generation unit and the comparison unit changes a negative or positive value of offset components included in the reference signal or the ramp signal within every operating period of the switch device.
US09252654B1

A bridgeless power factor improvement converter is configured with input terminals for an AC voltage, output terminals from for a DC output voltage, diodes, first through fourth switches, and coils. A control circuit selectively switches the first through fourth switches according to the AC voltage, a first dead time period (the third switch OFF/the fourth switch ON) in which the first and second switches are in a dead time including a zero-cross point from a positive period to a negative period, and a second dead time period (the third switch ON/the fourth switch OFF) in which the first and second switches are in the dead time including the zero-cross point from the negative period to the positive period. The control circuit maintains the third and fourth switches in the OFF state during a period other than the first and second dead periods.
US09252650B2

A transverse flux electrical motor to produce motion from an input electric current, the electrical motor comprising: a static element having a plurality of magnets arranged in at least two rows and defining a path of movement; a magnetizable movable element having at least two openings, each opening being sized and shaped to receive a magnet from one of the rows of magnets, the movable element being movable along the path of movement such that the magnets of each row pass through one of the openings; and a plurality of windings positioned adjacent to the movable element, to receive the electric current and produce a magnetic flux circuit in the movable element and a force on the movable element in the direction of the path of movement; wherein the magnetic flux circuit in the movable element is transverse to the direction of force on the movable element.
US09252647B2

A connection device includes a body having a first and a second end, a first connector set at the first end, and a pin type connector set at the second end. The first connector set includes a first strip element and a second strip element, which form an electrical interface of the connection device. The pin type connector set includes a first element and a second element, and thus forms another electrical interface of the connection device, different from the electrical interface formed by the first connector set. The pin type connector may be projecting pins or hollows that receive pins. The first connector set is electrically connected to the pin type connector set. Thus, the connection device is adapted for electrically connecting a generator with an exciter having incompatible electrical interfaces.
US09252645B2

A dc electrical machine with a large number of phases. The machine includes a rotor and a stator assembly. The rotor has Np rotating field poles. The stator has Ns winding slots, where Ns/Np is a non-integer ratio. A stator winding includes a plurality of coils received in the winding slots and defines a plurality of stator phases. A power electronic switching assembly includes first and second dc load terminals that can be connected to external equipment and a plurality of switching modules. Each switching module includes power electronic devices and is connected to a respective stator coil. A first proportion of the switching modules are connected together in series between the first and second dc load terminals and a second proportion of the switching modules are connected together in series between the first and second dc load terminals to define two parallel dc circuits.
US09252644B2

This disclosure discloses a servomotor production method of a servomotor including a motor and an encoder. The encoder includes a rotating disk and an optical module. The rotating disk is mounted on a shaft of the motor and includes at least one concentric slit formed around a disk center. The optical module is provided with a light receiving element configured to receive light emitted from a light source and subjected to an action of the concentric slit on a substrate. The servomotor production method includes adjusting a position of the optical module with respect to the rotating disk by using the concentric slit by means of an output of the light receiving element when the optical module is fixed and arranged facing the rotating disk.
US09252632B2

An emergency lighting system is configured to activate a plurality of emergency lights in response to a determination of an emergency condition, wherein the determination of the emergency condition includes determining if the system is not receiving power from a power source and/or determining if an amount of ambient light proximate the system is below a predetermined threshold. Moreover, the emergency lighting system is configured to reduce an amount of power provided from a battery to the one or more emergency lights when an emergency condition is determined in order to maximize a battery life of the system.
US09252630B2

A battery charge control apparatus for a vehicle, where the vehicle is provided with a prime mover driven by using fuel stored in the vehicle, power generation means for converting energy generated by the prime mover using the fuel into electrical energy, and a secondary battery that stores the electrical energy generated by the power generation means. The apparatus includes temperature detection means for detecting a temperature of the battery, and battery-charge limiting means for limiting storing of the electrical energy generated by the power generation means into the battery when the temperature of the battery detected by the temperature detection means is low. This leads to enhancement of fuel usage efficiency of the engine.
US09252617B2

An aspect provides a method, including: setting a battery pack, in an information handling device having two or more battery packs, as a priority battery pack; discharging the priority battery pack and maintaining one or more other battery packs in an idle state; ascertaining if the priority battery pack satisfies one or more conditions; and in response to the priority battery pack satisfying the one or more conditions, setting one of the one or more other battery packs to be the priority battery pack and maintaining the remaining battery packs in an idle state; wherein the priority battery pack is prioritized in terms of charging. Other aspects are described and claimed.
US09252606B1

The present invention discloses devices, for adaptive fast-charging of mobile devices, including: a charge-delivering device for providing electrical power to a charge-receiving device; and at least one electrical-contact pin for enabling electrical current to be transmitted at an amperage greater than about 5 A to the charge-receiving device. Preferably, the charge-receiving device is selected from the group consisting of: an integral power-source component of a mobile device and a slave battery. Preferably, at least one electrical-contact pin is further configured to transmit the electrical current at an amperage selected from the group consisting of: greater than about 10 A, greater than about 20 A, greater than about 30 A, and greater than about 60 A. Preferably, at least one electrical-contact pin is spring-loaded. Preferably, at least one electrical-contact pin includes protection circuitry for protecting against thermal overloads and short circuits. Preferably, the device charger further includes: a receiving-area holder for properly engaging the charge-receiving device.
US09252591B2

The present invention relates to a vehicle power controlling apparatus, and more particularly, to a vehicle power controlling apparatus for interrupting a dark current from an ECU power front stage of a motor driven power steering (MDPS) system.The vehicle power controlling apparatus includes: a power control signal receiving block configured to receive a power control signal (for example, a vehicle ignition signal IGN_ENA); a dark current preventing block configured to prevent a power voltage Vbat from flowing before the power control signal from a next stage of the power control signal receiving block; a relay block that is relayed on or off when the power voltage is turned on or off to supply a current to the motor from the power voltage; a relay shortening block configured to shorten the relay-on time by rapidly increasing the voltage before the relay is turned on of the relay block, between the dark current preventing block and the relay block; and a relay recognizing block configured to recognize the relay on or the relay off by reducing the voltage after a relay on signal or relay off signal which is applied to the relay block.
US09252579B2

An electrical box cover assembly includes a base having a central opening and a collar encircling the central opening. A sleeve slides through the collar and is adjusted to a selected position by manually moving the sleeve and then locking the sleeve in place by a locking device. An expandable locking device contacts an inner surface of the sleeve to lock the position of the sleeve with respect to the base. In one embodiment, the inner surface of the sleeve has at least one channel that extends in an axial direction with respect to an axial passage in the sleeve. The locking device expands outwardly to engage the opposing surfaces of the channel to prevent axial movement of the sleeve. A divider plate can be coupled to the sleeve to move with the sleeve and divide the electrical box into separate compartments. The divider can have fixed plate attached to the electrical box and movable plate coupled to the movable sleeve that slide on the fixed plate.
US09252575B2

A high-voltage conduction path includes one conductor of a positive electrode conductor and a negative electrode conductor, a first insulator on the outside of the one conductor, the other conductor of the positive electrode conductor and the negative electrode conductor, the other conductor on the outside of the first insulator, and a second insulator on the outside of the other conductor. The other conductor is made of a metal wire material and formed into a cylindrical shape by spirally winding the metal wire material, and portions of the metal wire material positioned to be adjacent to each other contact with each other at side end faces opposed to each other.
US09252571B2

A terminal box that can be reliably fixed to a solar cell module is provided. The terminal box includes a bottom wall facing a back surface of the solar cell module, a top wall facing the bottom wall, side walls, and a housing space defined by the bottom wall, the top wall and the side walls to accommodate a component to be mounted. The bottom wall includes a limiting wall formed in a periphery of the bottom wall to project toward the solar cell module, and a communication opening for allowing a charging space defined by the limiting wall and the bottom wall to communicate with the housing space. The limiting wall defines a gap for allowing the charging space to communicate with external space of the limiting wall.
US09252570B2

A connection system includes a feature module that supplies various functionalities, a portable countertop stand having an upright section that selectively receives the feature module and an umbilical connecting the portable stand to an external appliance to deliver utilities to the portable countertop stand. A utility port selectively delivers at least one utility to the feature module when engaged with the upright section. A utility receiver removably engages the utility port by hand without the use of tools and selectively receives a predetermined set of utilities when the feature module engages the upright surface. A connection interface detects when the feature module is engaged with the upright section and the predetermined utility set required by the engaged feature module. After the feature module is engaged, the connection interface prompts the utility port to release the predetermined utility set to the feature module.
US09252569B2

A spark plug includes an insulator; a center electrode; a metallic shell; a ground electrode disposed at a forward end portion of the metallic shell and forming a gap in cooperation with a forward end portion of the center electrode; and a tip at least a portion of which is joined to at least the one of two side surfaces of the ground electrode which is disposed downstream with respect to fuel gas flow. In a first imaginary plane which contains a forward end surface of the center electrode and on which a discharge surface of the tip is projected, at least a portion of a projected image of the discharge surface is located within a range of 2.5G from the outer circumference of the forward end surface of the center electrode, where G (mm) is the size of the gap.
US09252564B2

A tunable laser has a first mirror, a second mirror, a gain medium, and a directional coupler. The first mirror and the second mirror form an optical resonator. The gain medium and the directional coupler are, at least partially, in an optical path of the optical resonator. The first mirror and the second mirror comprise binary super gratings. Both the first mirror and the second mirror have high reflectivity. The directional coupler provides an output coupler for the tunable laser.
US09252559B2

An optical-fiber filter system to narrow a linewidth and to reduce noise fluctuations of an optical beam is provided. The optical-fiber filter system includes an optical fiber having a first end-face and an opposing second end-face, the first end-face and the second end-face setting a fiber length; a fiber Bragg grating having a first reflectivity positioned at the first end-face; and a reflector having a second reflectivity positioned at the second end-face. When the optical beam at a first frequency is coupled from a laser into one of the first end-face or the second end-face, a resonant cavity is established at the first frequency between the fiber Bragg grating and the reflector while Brillouin scattered light shifted from the first frequency within the optical fiber is transmitted through the fiber Bragg grating.
US09252555B2

A method and apparatus for producing single mode random fiber ring laser by inducing random distributed feedback in a short section of the fiber ring to thereby enable single mode lasing while reducing frequency jitter and relative intensity noise. The random distributed feedback maybe achieved through deep refractive index modulation at a series of randomly distributed laser-irradiated points inscribed along the length of the induced random distributed feedback fiber. The laser-processed random distributed feedback fiber maybe incorporated into the fiber ring in conjunction with a variable optical attenuator and band pass optical filter for enhancing the single mode operation.
US09252552B2

A gas laser oscillator includes an output command part for outputting a power supply output command; a power supply unit for applying a discharge tube voltage corresponding to the power supply output command to the discharge tube to start discharge; a voltage detection part for detecting the discharge tube voltage; a discharge start determination part for determining whether or not the discharge has been started on the basis of a value detected by the voltage detection part when the power supply output command is gradually increased; and a sealability determination part for determining that sealability of the gas container has been reduced when a discharge start time from the application of the discharge tube voltage until when it is determined by the discharge start determination part that the discharge is started exceeds a predetermined first threshold value.
US09252549B2

The invention provides systems and methods for power connection, which may be a sealed power connection. The sealed power connection may be used with an electric machine or any device that may require electrical and/or mechanical connection for power. The sealed power connection may provide an effective electrical connection while providing a robust mechanical connection. The electric machine or device may be fluid-sealed and/or fluid-cooled. The sealed power connection may provide for electrical insulation of the connection from the machine or device enclosure, and may also be sealed to provide for fluid sealing and/or internal fluid cooling of the electric machine or device, as well as fluid cooling of the connection.
US09252548B1

Systems and apparatuses are disclosed having a 3×8 stacked RJ45 connector with an integrated LEDs option for a 1U product form factor to provide increased density of an RJ45 connector which utilizes open source and non-proprietary modular connectors in conformity with published standards. For example, in one embodiment such systems and apparatuses include a networking component having therein a connector which includes a plurality of RJ45 jacks arranged into exactly three horizontal rows and a plurality of vertical columns; a printed circuit board to electrically interface with each of the plurality of RJ45 jacks; and a 1× Rack Unit (1U) chassis having the connector and printed circuit board therein, in which at least a portion of the connector extends into a horizontal plane occupied by the printed circuit board. Rack systems and methods are further described for employing such a networking component.
US09252545B2

Electrical connector including a contact array of electrical contacts. Each of the electrical contacts has an elongated body that extends along a central axis and an exterior surface that includes a wipe track. The wipe track extends along the central axis and is configured to engage a flexible contact finger of the mating connector. Each of the elongated bodies includes a forward segment, a mating segment, and a ramp portion that extends between and joins the forward and mating segments. An elevation of the wipe track along the mating segment is greater than an elevation of the wipe track along the forward segment. An elevation of the wipe track along the ramp portion increases as the wipe track extends from the forward segment to the mating segment such that the ramp portion deflects the contact finger from a first deflected condition to a greater second deflected condition.
US09252537B2

A rotating retention fixture for preventing the undesired removal of an electrical cable from a power strip includes a pronged clip, a first bracket, a second bracket each rotatable about a central axis and a fastener that restricts rotation between the first rotatable bracket and the second rotatable bracket. In order to prevent the undesired removal of the electrical cable from the power strip, the electrical cable may be inserted into the pronged clip, the rotating retention fixture may be positioned such that a bottom surface of the pronged clip is adjacent to the electrical cable, a first bracket and a second bracket of the rotating retention fixture may be rotated about the central axis to contact opposing sides of the power strip, respectively, and the fastener may be engaged to prevent rotation between the first bracket and the second bracket to retain the electrical cable to the power strip.
US09252534B2

A swing mount 110 for a terminal block includes a hinge 122 mounted on a wall 105 of an electrical enclosure 100, located near an opening 115 in the wall, for passing a movable plug connector 112 from inside the enclosure to connect to a terminal block 114 outside the enclosure. A lever 124 is carried by the hinge, for moving the moveable connector. A guide 130 for directing movement of the movable connector is mounted on the wall near the opening. A connector support 126 is mounted on the lever, supporting the movable connector, the support including a pin 138 that slideably engages a longitudinal slot 140 in the lever to move the support toward or away from the terminal block when the lever is actuated. The support includes a guide rail 134 that slides through slot 136 in the guide to align the movable connector with the opening.
US09252529B2

A connector for a flat cable is provided that prevents damage to a conductor when a terminal is forcedly pressed to a flat cable. The connector for a flat cable includes a retainer that is coupled to flat cable while a portion of the flat cable covers an upper side of a plate-shaped body of the retainer. In addition, a housing is coupled to enclose the body of the retainer and the portion of the flat cable coupled to the body and has a plurality of exposure depressions for exposing exposed conductors at a portion of the flat cable coupled to opposite surfaces of the body to the exterior to connect the conductors to terminals. A position fixing unit is configured to fix a position of the flat cable coupled between the housing and the retainer.
US09252524B2

A terminal includes an elastic contact piece. The elastic contact piece comes into elastic contact with a counterpart terminal in a terminal container. The elastic contact piece includes a bent portion bent and extending from a portion of a side wall of the terminal container in the terminal container, and a clamping portion extending from a front end of the bent portion in the terminal container along an extending direction of the side wall. A dimension of the clamping portion is longer than a dimension of the bent portion in the extending direction, so as to prevent a foreign substance from entering between an inner wall of the terminal container and the clamping portion.
US09252513B2

A socket includes a plurality of coupling members that each include a first end portion and a second end portion, the coupling members being made of electrically conductive material, wherein a terminal of an electronic component and a terminal of a board are electrically coupled with the first end portion and the second end portion, respectively, so to electrically connect the terminal of the electronic component and the terminal of the board, a holding member that holds the plurality of coupling members in such a manner that the plurality of coupling members are not in contact with each other, the holding member being made form an electrical insulating material, and a sheet member that is in contact with the electronic component and the board in parts between the plurality of coupling members, the sheet member being made from a material which is electrical insulating and thermal diffusive.
US09252512B2

A power connector assembly is disclosed that includes a connector shell formed from a heat conducting material, a plurality of connector pins arranged in the connector shell, and a heat conduction element arranged in the connector shell in thermal contact with the plurality of connector pins for conducting heat dissipated by the connector pins to the connector shell.
US09252506B2

An electrical connector includes an insulative column housing (100) having a wire connection base (110) with a receiving slot (111) formed at a rear thereof; a plurality of terminals (200) embedded inside the insulative column housing (100) and having a piercing cutter (210) on one end thereof respectively to penetrate into the receiving slot (111) along an axial direction of the insulative column housing (100); and a wire organization base 300 penetrating into the receiving slot (111) along the axial direction of the insulative column housing (100) and having a plurality of wire plug-in slots (310) corresponding to the piercing cutters (210) such that the wire plug-in slots (310) arranged perpendicular to the piercing cutters (210) corresponding. Accordingly, the wire organization base (300) clamps and secures the wires (11) therein in advance to allow the wires (11) to electrically connect to the corresponding terminals (200).
US09252500B2

An antenna for transmitting and/or receiving-electromagnetic waves has a flat ground plane, and an array of radiating and/or receiving elements. The radiating and/or receiving element comprises a planar conductor which is arranged in parallel to the ground plane. An L-shaped slot is arranged in the planar conductor.
US09252499B2

An antenna unit is provided. The antenna unit includes a first substrate, a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, a first planar conductive ring and a feed conductor. The first substrate includes a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface is opposite to the second surface. The first conductive layer is disposed on the first surface. The second conductive layer is disposed on the second surface, wherein a main opening surrounded by a plurality of first conductive vias electrically connecting the first and the second conductive surface is formed on the second conductive layer, and the main opening defines a radiation cavity and center frequency. The first planar conductive ring surrounds the radiation cavity. The feed conductor feeds a wireless signal to the antenna unit. Both the first planar conductive ring and the feed conductor are placed between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer.
US09252485B2

A phased array antenna system with electrical tilt control incorporates a tilt controller (62) for splitting an input signal into three intermediate signals, two of which are delayed by variable delays T1 and T2 relative to the third. A corporate feed (64) contains splitters S3 to S10 and hybrids H1 to H6 for processing the intermediate signals to produce drive signals for elements of an antenna array (66); the drive signals are fractions and vector combinations of the intermediate signals. The tilt controller (62) and the corporate feed (64) in combination impose relative phasing on the drive signals as appropriate for phased array beam steering in response to variable delay of two intermediate signals relative to the third intermediate signal.
US09252479B2

A cellular communications antenna mast assembly (300) comprising a first component (332) having a longitudinal axis and a first profile oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, a second component (330) arranged to engage the first profile so as to engage the first mast component and second mast component to constrain relative rotation thereof about the longitudinal axis, and to provide a datum transfer between the mast components, having only one orientation in which they can be engaged.
US09252475B2

An adaptor for connecting a microstrip line and a waveguide is disclosed that includes a microstrip line part and a waveguide part. The microstrip line part includes a microstrip port pattern and a patch pattern on an upper portion of a substrate, where the patch pattern is joined to an end portion of the microstrip port pattern. The waveguide part includes a waveguide hole, for transferring a signal provided from the patch pattern; a channel hole, which is formed in an area for joining with the microstrip line part, is formed along a first direction orthogonal to a direction of the waveguide hole in correspondence to the microstrip port pattern, and is connected with the waveguide hole; and a stub hole, which is connected with the waveguide hole and is formed in an area for joining with the microstrip line part along a second direction opposite to the first direction.
US09252471B1

A continuously manually or remotely adjustable microwave attenuator and linear phase shifter is made using a two section slabline structure in which a “U” formed center conductor forms a line-stretcher to adjust the transmission phase and slivers of ferromagnetic material are inserted into the magnetic field of the slabline, or thin layers of dielectric material are inserted into the electric field serving either way to reducing the amplitude of the transmission factor, or increase the attenuation. The unit is manually or remotely controlled, in which case its transmission behavior can be calibrated on a VNA and used in test software for automated differential load pull operations.
US09252470B2

A hybrid diplexer combining planar transmission line(s) and a waveguide is disclosed. In one embodiment, a diplexer includes first, second, and third ports. The diplexer also includes a first signal path and a second signal path. The first signal path may be used to convey lower frequencies, and may be implemented using planar transmission lines. The second signal path may be used to convey higher frequencies, and may be implemented, at least in part, using a waveguide. The first signal path may be coupled between the first port and the second port, while the second signal path may be coupled between the first port and the third port. In one embodiment, the first signal path may implement a low-pass filter, while the second signal path may implement a high-pass filter.
US09252467B2

A fluid regulating microvalve assembly for use to control fluid flow to a fluid consuming electrode, such as an oxygen reduction electrode, in an electrochemical cell is proposed. The microvalve assembly includes a stationary valve body having an aperture and microactuators movable from a first closed aperture position to at least a second position where fluid is able to pass through the microvalve body aperture. These microactuators control the movement of spring-like shape-retaining interior aperture covers, which covers can be belleville springs or flat springs. The fluid regulating microvalve assembly can utilize cell potential or a separate source. The latter assembly can be located outside or inside the cell housing, for example between a fluid inlet aperture and the fluid consuming electrode. Using a printing process to deposit at least one of the layers is proposed for making the multilayer microvalve assembly for a fluid depolarized battery.
US09252459B2

A nonaqueous electrolyte of the present invention includes an ionic liquid including a first alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation having one or more substituents, a second alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation having an alicyclic skeleton that is the same as an alicyclic skeleton of the first alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation, and a counter anion to the first alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation and the second alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation and an alkali metal salt. In the second alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation, one of substituents bonded to a nitrogen atom in the alicyclic skeleton is a substituent including a halogen element. In the ionic liquid, the amount of a salt including the second alicyclic quaternary ammonium cation is less than or equal to 1 wt % per unit weight of the ionic liquid, or is less than or equal to 0.8 wt % per unit weight of the nonaqueous electrolyte.
US09252458B2

An electrochemical device is provided having a carboranyl magnesium electrolyte. Specifically the disclosure relates to an electrochemical device having a magnesium anode, a cathode, and a current collector made of non-noble metal, and a carboranyl magnesium electrolyte. In contact with the electrolyte, the non-noble metal cathode current collector has unusually high oxidative stability>3.0V vs. a magnesium reference. Processes for making the electrochemical device are additionally provided.
US09252455B1

This invention provides lithium-based batteries that include one or more inorganic barrier layers disposed between the anode and the cathode. The inorganic barrier layer is a lithium-ion conductor and is non-permeable to lithium-containing compounds, such as lithium polysulfides or lithium dendrites. The inorganic barrier layer may be in direct contact with the anode or cathode, or electrically isolated from the anode and cathode. The principles disclosed herein solve the problem of maintaining electrical isolation of the anode and cathode, while providing efficient lithium-ion conduction without crossover of other lithium species that would otherwise limit the power performance of the battery.
US09252451B2

A flexible battery a first electrode layer, a first current collector layer disposed on the first electrode layer, where a plurality of through-holes is defined in the first current collector layer, a separator disposed on the first current collector layer, a second current collector layer disposed on the separator, where a plurality of through-holes is defined in the second current collector layer, and a second electrode layer disposed on the second current collector layer.
US09252450B2

A fuel cell stack includes a first separator. The first separator includes a sandwiching section for sandwiching an electrolyte electrode assembly, a fuel gas supply section in which a fuel gas supply passage is formed, and a first load absorbing mechanism. The first load absorbing mechanism includes coupling members and seal members. The coupling members couple fuel gas supply sections of a pair of the first separators together, and have spring property. The seal members seal the fuel gas supply section.
US09252446B2

The invention relates to a monomer (6, 14) carrying an imidazole-type heterocycle (3). According to the invention, the chemical structure of said monomer (6, 14) comprises at least one unit of formula (I) wherein R1 comprises an alkenyl grouping and R2 comprises a grouping for protecting one of the nitrogen atoms of the heterocycle. The invention also relates to a monomer carrying a benzimidazole-type heterocycle, and to protected polymers obtained from said monomers, deprotected polymers produced by the protected polymers, a proton exchange membrane based on deprotected polymers, and a fuel cell provided with said membrane. Furthermore, the invention relates to methods for producing the above-mentioned monomers and polymers.
US09252439B2

A system for activating a fuel cell includes a flow meter for measuring the amount of water discharged from an outlet of the air electrode and an outlet of the fuel electrode; a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure at the respective outlets; and a back pressure regulator receiving flow values measured by the flow meters and pressure values measured by the pressure sensors, which are fed back from a controller, and regulating a pressure difference (ΔP=PCathode−PAnode) to be a value greater than 0. With the system, the activation time of a fuel cell and the amount of hydrogen used for the activation can be reduced, thus improving the productivity and manufacturing cost.
US09252437B2

An apparatus preventing over-cooling of a fuel cell is provided that includes a cooling fluid manifold which is mounted to a stack of the fuel cell and through which cooling fluid flows therethrough. End plates are arranged on both ends of the stack of a fuel cell, and at least one protrusion is provided on one surface of each of the end plates. The at least one protrusion is disposed inside a cooling fluid manifold to reduce the flow amount of the cooling fluid which flows in and out between the separating plates through the cooling fluid manifold.
US09252430B2

The present disclosure relates generally to an alkaline electrochemical cell, such as a battery, and in particular to an improved gelled anode suitable for use therein. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a gelled anode that improves anode discharge efficiency by adjusting physical properties such as apparent density.
US09252429B2

Provided are an electrode additive coated with a coating material made of electrically conductive materials such as metal hydroxides, metal oxides or metal carbonates, and an electrode and a lithium secondary battery comprising the same. The electrode additive in accordance with the present invention can improve high temperature storage characteristics of the battery, without deterioration of performance thereof.
US09252426B2

An electrode and electrode assembly, for example for use as an anode in a lithium-ion rechargeable cell that uses silicon or silicon-based elements of specific dimensions and geometry as its active material, is provided, as well as methods for manufacturing the same. The active silicon or silicon-based material may include fibers, sheets, flakes, tubes or ribbons, for example.
US09252416B2

A safety apparatus of a battery module for a vehicle is provided. The apparatus includes cell terminals disposed in battery cells disposed in a row. A safety bus bar electrically connects two cell terminals disposed diagonally in two battery cells adjacent to each other among the battery cells. In addition, the safety bus bar maintains the electrical connection when the battery cells are not expanded and opens a circuit to prevent electricity from flowing when at least one battery cell is expanded.
US09252413B2

The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery. More specifically, according to embodiments of the present invention the lithium battery, which includes a cathode, an anode, and a separate membrane inserted between the cathode and the anode, is characterized in that the separator membrane is a polyolefin porous membrane which has an aramid coating layer; and the cathode includes a lithium metal oxide cathode active material which has an olivine-type iron phosphate lithium coating layer, or the anode includes a carbon anode active material which has a spinel-type lithium titanium oxide coating layer. The lithium secondary battery in accordance with embodiments of the present invention has excellent basic electric performance and improved stability.
US09252411B2

Use of a flexible, nonconductive, porous, and thermally tolerant ceramic material as a separator in a lithium-ion battery or lithium-sulfur battery is described. The separator can be made of aluminum oxide and provides excellent mechanical and thermal properties that prevent wear and puncture of the separator caused by particles removed from the electrodes during the charging and discharging process. The separator is designed to mitigate effects of melt shrinkage and facilitate the lithium ion transport, in contrast to separators that include a polymeric material, thus preventing short-circuiting between the positive and the negative electrode. Improved wetting and filling of the separator with electrolyte solution are provided, for improved rate capability of the battery (fast charging and discharging). The separator further reduces the potential for thermal runaway in Li batteries.
US09252404B2

A rechargeable battery pack includes a rechargeable battery cell, and a pair of cell holders receiving respective sides of the rechargeable battery cell in a length direction, the pair of cell holders being combinable with each other. Each of the cell holders includes a base that supports the rechargeable battery cell, a combination protrusion and a combination groove symmetrically disposed on an outer side of the base, a protrusion protruding from the base in the length direction so as to be combinable in the length direction, and a recess portion being concave in the base in the length direction such that the recess portion of one of the pair of cell holders is combinable with the protrusion of the other of the pair of cell holders.
US09252402B2

A battery system includes a battery having a battery case and a resistor provided on at least one of surfaces of the battery case, and the resistor is made of a material having specific resistance not more than 10×10−8 [Ω·m, 0° C.].
US09252400B2

A battery cell design is disclosed that provides a predictable pathway through a portion of the cell (e.g., the cell cap assembly) for the efficient release of the thermal energy that occurs during thermal runaway, thereby reducing the chances of a rupture in an undesirable location. Furthermore the disclosed design maintains the functionality of the cell cap as the positive terminal of the cell, thereby having minimal impact on the manufacturability of the cell as well as its use in a variety of applications.
US09252398B2

A method of fabricating an organic light emitting diode display device, which include forming a thin film transistor in a display region of a substrate, forming a metal pattern on the substrate in the display region, forming a first electrode on the substrate connected to the thin film transistor, forming a bank on the substrate to expose a portion of the first electrode and a portion of the metal pattern, forming a hole common layer, an organic light emitting layer, and an electron common layer sequentially over the entire surface of the substrate provided with the first electrode, the bank and the metal pattern, forming a photoresist pattern covering the electrode common layer and removing the hole common layer, the organic light emitting layer and the electron common layer using the photoresist pattern as a mask, removing the photoresist pattern, and forming a second electrode on the electron common layer connected to the metal pattern.
US09252395B2

An organic light-emitting device (OLED) display is disclosed. In one aspect, the display includes a substrate, a plurality of first electrodes separated from each other over the substrate and a second electrode facing and formed across the first electrodes. The display also includes an intermediate layer interposed between the first electrodes and the second electrode, wherein the intermediate layer comprises an emission layer. The display further includes a plurality of encapsulation layer portions patterned to be separated from each other in an island form over the second electrode.
US09252393B2

A flexible display apparatus includes: a flexible substrate; a display unit on the flexible substrate; and a thin-film encapsulating layer on the display unit. The thin-film encapsulating layer includes at least one organic layer and at least one inorganic layer. The inorganic layer comprises carbon having a concentration gradient distributed at an interface between the at least one organic layer and the at least one inorganic layer. A manufacturing method of the flexible display apparatus is also disclosed.
US09252380B2

To improve power efficiency of a light-emitting element for white emission even when light in a wavelength range of low luminosity is utilized. As a light-emitting element for white emission, three light-emitting layers are stacked. In such a light-emitting element, the three light-emitting layers are included between a light-transmitting electrode and a light-reflecting electrode, and light emitted from each light-emitting layer is reflected on the light-reflecting electrode and is transmitted through the light-transmitting electrode. In addition, the light-emitting layer closer to the light-reflecting electrode has a shorter optical path length. Thus, the position of each light-emitting layer is limited depending on the distance from the light-reflective electrode, and the optical path length of each light-emitting layer is adjusted; therefore the light-emitting element with high power efficiency can be provided.
US09252374B2

Provided is a method for manufacturing a solar cell including: a) forming an electron transport layer on a first electrode; b) forming a light absorber by applying a light absorber solution as a solution for forming a light absorber containing an organic-metal halide having a perovskite structure, the light absorber solution containing an organic halide and a metal halide dissolved therein so as to have a non-stoichiometric ratio based on the organic-metal halide; c) forming a hole conduction layer by applying and drying a hole transport solution in which an organic hole transport material is dissolved; and d) forming a second electrode, which is a counter electrode of the first electrode, on the hole conduction layer.
US09252373B2

In accordance with certain embodiments, a semiconductor die is adhered directly to a yielding substrate with a pressure-activated adhesive notwithstanding any nonplanarity of the surface of the semiconductor die or non-coplanarity of the semiconductor die contacts.
US09252366B2

A crosslinkable compound comprising trifluorovinyl has a structure of Formula (I). A method for preparing the crosslinkable compound and a light emitting device prepared from the compound are also disclosed.
US09252364B2

The disclosure relates to a method of making organic light emitting diode array. A base defining a plurality of convexities is provided. A number of first electrodes are applied on the plurality of convexities. A number of red light electroluminescent layers are transfer printed on a first group of the first electrodes. A number of green light electroluminescent layers are transfer printed on a second group of the first electrodes. A number of blue light electroluminescent layers are transfer printed on a third group of the first electrodes. A patterned second insulative layer is made to cover the number of first electrodes and expose the electroluminescent layers. A second electrode is electrically connected to the electroluminescent layers.
US09252363B2

A liquid composition (e.g., inkjet fluid) for forming an organic layer of an organic electronic device (e.g., an OLED). The liquid composition comprises a small molecule organic semiconductor material mixed in a solvent in which the solvent compound has the following formula: wherein R1 is C1-6 alkyl; R2 is C1-6 alkyl; and R3 is one or more optional substitutions independently selected from C1-6 alkyl and lower aryl.
US09252356B2

A magnetization reversal device includes a ferromagnetic 12 body which is provided in an interconnection of a non-ferromagnetic dot 11 so that a part or a whole of the ferromagnetic dot is three-dimensionally buried in the interconnection of said non-ferromagnetic dot, and a spin injection source 13 which generates a spin-polarized pure spin current without a flow of charges, and which is provided in the interconnection of the non-ferromagnetic dot 11 to be in contact therewith so that the interconnection of the non-ferromagnetic dot serves as a common electrode, and the pure spin current flows into the ferromagnetic dot 2 through the interconnection of the non-magnetic body by the spin injection source 13 due to a diffusion current, to thereby reverse magnetization of the ferromagnetic dot 12. By injecting the pure spin current, using this planar structure, it is possible to easily carry out the magnetization reversal of the ferromagnetic dot 12 even if it is a thick film ferromagnetic dot without being subjected to limitation of a spin diffusion length.
US09252355B2

A vertical Hall Effect sensor is provided having a high degree of symmetry between its bias modes, can be adapted to exhibit a small pre-spinning systematic offset, and complies with the minimal spacing requirements allowed by the manufacturing technology (e.g., CMOS) between the inner contacts. These characteristics enable the vertical Hall Effect sensor to have optimal performance with regard to offset and sensitivity.
US09252351B2

The invention relates to an actuator having a sensor layer by which a temperature can be detected, and to a method for producing the same.
US09252348B2

Disclosed is a light emitting lamp including a light source module including at least one light source and a light guide layer disposed on a substrate burying the at least one light source, and a housing accommodating the light source module, and the at least one light source includes a body having a cavity, a first lead frame including one end exposed to the cavity and the other end passing through the body and exposed to one surface of the body, a second lead frame including one end exposed to one portion of the surface of the body, the other end exposed to the another portion of the surface of the body, and an intermediate part exposed to the cavity, and at least one light emitting chip including a first semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second semiconductor layer, and disposed on the first lead frame.
US09252338B2

Disclosed is an approach to implement a light emitting device with remote wavelength conversion. Lighting arrangements are disclosed which provides consistent color despite inconsistent light path lengths for phosphor light conversions.
US09252330B2

A semiconductor light-emitting element according to the present invention includes: an n-type nitride semiconductor layer 21; a p-type nitride semiconductor layer 23; an active layer region 22 which includes an m plane nitride semiconductor layer and which is interposed between the n-type nitride semiconductor layer and the p-type nitride semiconductor layer; an n-type electrode 30 which is electrically connected to the n-type nitride semiconductor layer; a p-type electrode 40 which is electrically connected to the p-type nitride semiconductor layer; a light-emitting face, through which polarized light that has been produced in the active layer region is extracted out of this element; and a striped structure 50 which is provided for the light-emitting face and which has a plurality of projections that run substantially parallel to the a-axis direction of the m plane nitride semiconductor layer.
US09252328B2

A method is provided for fabricating a light emitting diode (LED) using three-dimensional gallium nitride (GaN) pillar structures with planar surfaces. The method forms a plurality of GaN pillar structures, each with an n-doped GaN (n-GaN) pillar and planar sidewalls perpendicular to the c-plane, formed in either an m-plane or a-plane family. A multiple quantum well (MQW) layer is formed overlying the n-GaN pillar sidewalls, and a layer of p-doped GaN (p-GaN) is formed overlying the MQW layer. The plurality of GaN pillar structures are deposited on a first substrate, with the n-doped GaN pillar sidewalls aligned parallel to a top surface of the first substrate. A first end of each GaN pillar structure is connected to a first metal layer. The second end of each GaN pillar structure is etched to expose the n-GaN pillar second end and connected to a second metal layer.
US09252324B2

A method for forming a light emitting device includes forming a monocrystalline III-V emissive layer on a monocrystalline substrate and forming a first doped layer on the emissive layer. A first contact is deposited on the first doped layer. The monocrystalline substrate is removed from the emissive layer by a mechanical process. A second doped layer is formed on the emissive layer on a side from which the substrate has been removed. The second doped layer has a dopant conductivity opposite that of the first doped layer. A second contact is deposited on the second doped layer.
US09252322B2

The present invention provides: an epitaxial film forming method capable of fabricating a +c-polarity epitaxial film made of a Group III nitride semiconductor by sputtering; and a vacuum processing apparatus suitable for this epitaxial film forming method. In one embodiment of the present invention, a Group III nitride semiconductor thin film is epitaxially grown by sputtering on an α-Al2O3 substrate heated to a desired temperature by using a heater. First, the α-Al2O3 substrate is disposed on a substrate holder including the heater in such a way that the α-Al2O3 substrate is disposed away from the heater by a predetermined distance. Then, an epitaxial film of a Group III nitride semiconductor thin film is formed on the α-Al2O3 substrate in the state where the α-Al2O3 substrate is disposed away from the heater by the predetermined distance.
US09252315B2

An alloy composition for a subcell of a solar cell is provided that has a bandgap of at least 0.9 eV, namely, Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y-zSbz with a low antimony (Sb) content and with enhanced indium (In) content and enhanced nitrogen (N) content, achieving substantial lattice matching to GaAs and Ge substrates and providing both high short circuit currents and high open circuit voltages in GaInNAsSb subcells for multijunction solar cells. The composition ranges for Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y-zSbz are 0.07≦x≦0.18, 0.025≦y≦0.04 and 0.001≦z≦0.03.
US09252311B2

A solar panel system comprises a monocoque forming an enlarged solar-facing generally-convex outer support surface when in an installed position and that supports solar cells at optimal angles for capturing solar energy. The monocoque provides a stressed-skin support reducing weight while maintaining strength, optimal support surface, and minimizing cost. A post engages and supports adjacent edges of a pair of adjacent monocoques. An electrical circuit connects the solar cells for electrical flow and power management, and preferably includes a controller for controlling power from the solar cells, including combining them in series or parallel as optimal for a given systems configuration. The illustrated monocoque includes a roll formed sheet or a number of sheets, stacked vertically together and anchored to spaced posts using connectors in a “fence-like” pattern.
US09252308B2

Selective removal of specified layers of thin film structures and devices, such as solar cells, electrochromics, and thin film batteries, by laser direct patterning is achieved by including heat and light blocking layers in the device/structure stack immediately adjacent to the specified layers which are to be removed by laser ablation. The light blocking layer is a layer of metal that absorbs or reflects a portion of the laser energy penetrating through the dielectric/semiconductor layers and the heat blocking layer is a conductive layer with thermal diffusivity low enough to reduce heat flow into underlying metal layer(s), such that the temperature of the underlying metal layer(s) does not reach the melting temperature, Tm, or in some embodiments does not reach (Tm)/3, of the underlying metal layer(s) during laser direct patterning.
US09252305B2

A photovoltaic device includes a silicon substrate of a first conduction type that includes an impurity diffusion layer on one surface side; a light-receiving-surface side electrode that includes a plurality of grid electrodes electrically connected to the impurity diffusion layer; and a back-surface side electrode formed on the other surface side of the silicon substrate wherein the impurity diffusion layer includes a first impurity diffusion layer and a second impurity diffusion layer, and wherein the first impurity diffusion layer is formed so that a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the grid electrodes is a longitudinal direction thereof, and so that an area ratio of the first impurity diffusion layer to a band region is equal to or lower than 50%.
US09252287B2

A display device with low manufacturing cost, with low power consumption, capable of being formed over a large substrate, with a high aperture ratio of a pixel, and with high reliability is provided. The display device includes a transistor electrically connected to a light-transmitting pixel electrode and a capacitor. The transistor includes a gate electrode, a gate insulating film over the gate electrode, and a first multilayer film including an oxide semiconductor over the gate insulating film. The capacitor includes the pixel electrode and a conductive electrode formed of a second multilayer film which overlaps with the pixel electrode with a predetermined distance therebetween, and has the same layer structure as the first multilayer film. A channel formation region of the transistor is at least one layer, which is not in contact with the gate insulating film, of the first multilayer film.
US09252286B2

A first conductive film overlapping with an oxide semiconductor film is formed over a gate insulating film, a gate electrode is formed by selectively etching the first conductive film using a resist subjected to electron beam exposure, a first insulating film is formed over the gate insulating film and the gate electrode, removing a part of the first insulating film while the gate electrode is not exposed, an anti-reflective film is formed over the first insulating film, the anti-reflective film, the first insulating film and the gate insulating film are selectively etched using a resist subjected to electron beam exposure, and a source electrode in contact with one end of the oxide semiconductor film and one end of the first insulating film and a drain electrode in contact with the other end of the oxide semiconductor film and the other end of the first insulating film are formed.
US09252285B2

A method of manufacturing a display substrate includes forming a gate electrode on a base substrate, forming an active pattern which includes an oxide semiconductor and overlaps with the gate electrode, forming an etch stopper which partially covers the active pattern, and performing a plasma treatment process to promote a reduction reaction to portions of the active pattern exposed by the etch stopper, thereby forming a source electrode and a drain electrode.
US09252278B2

A manufacturing method of an arrayed substrate is disclosed, in which ion-doping is performed by using photoresist as a barrier layer instead of using a gate electrode, which process can reduces the short channel effect that is caused by diffusion of doped ions toward a channel region, and meanwhile decrease the coupling capacitance between the gate electrode and the source-drain electrodes, thereby improving the performance of the prepared TFT.
US09252276B2

A semiconductor device includes a fin-shaped silicon layer and a pillar-shaped silicon layer on the fin-shaped silicon layer, where a width of the pillar-shaped silicon layer is equal to a width of the fin-shaped silicon layer. Diffusion layers reside in upper portions of the pillar-shaped silicon layer and fin-shaped silicon layer and in a lower portion of the pillar-shaped silicon layer to form. A gate insulating film and a metal gate electrode are around the pillar-shaped silicon layer and a metal gate line extends in a direction perpendicular to the fin-shaped silicon layer and is connected to the metal gate electrode. A contact resides on the metal gate line and a nitride film is on an entire top surface of the metal gate electrode and the metal gate line, except for the bottom of the contact.
US09252273B2

A process for fabrication of semiconductor devices, particularly fin-shaped Field Effect Transistors (FinFETs), having a low contact horizontal resistance and a resulting device are provided. Embodiments include: providing a substrate having source and drain regions separated by a gate region; forming a gate electrode having a first length on the gate region; forming an epitaxy layer on the source and drain regions; forming a contact layer having a second length, longer than the first length, at least partially on the epitaxy layer; and forming an oxide layer on top and side surfaces of the contact layer for at least the first length.
US09252264B2

Aspects of the present disclosure describe a high density trench-based power MOSFETs with self-aligned source contacts and methods for making such devices. The source contacts are self-aligned with spacers and the active devices may have a two-step gate oxide. A lower portion may have a thickness that is larger than the thickness of an upper portion of the gate oxide. The MOSFETS also may include a depletable shield in a lower portion of the substrate. The depletable shield may be configured such that during a high drain bias the shield substantially depletes. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
US09252256B2

A conductive field plate is formed between the drain electrode and gate of each cell of a III-Nitride semiconductor and is connected to the source electrode to reduce the electric field between the gate and the drain. The electrodes may be supported on N+ III-Nitride pad layers and the gate may be a Schottky gate or an insulated gate.
US09252255B2

Provided are a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and a method of manufacturing the HEMT. The HEMT includes: a channel layer comprising a first semiconductor material; a channel supply layer comprising a second semiconductor material and generating two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the channel layer; a source electrode and a drain electrode separated from each other in the channel supply layer; at least one depletion forming unit that is formed on the channel supply layer and forms a depletion region in the 2DEG; at least one gate electrode that is formed on the at least one depletion forming unit; at least one bridge that connects the at least one depletion forming unit and the source electrode; and a contact portion that extends from the at least one bridge under the source electrode.
US09252246B2

A method of making a semiconductor structure includes forming a select gate and a charge storage layer in an NVM region. A control gate is formed by depositing a conformal layer followed by an etch back. A patterned etch results in leaving a portion of the charge storage layer over the select gate and under the control gate and to remove the charge storage layer from the logic region. A logic gate structure formed in a logic region has a metal work function surrounded by an insulating layer.
US09252242B2

Diodes and resistors for integrated circuits are provided. Deep trenches (DTs) are integrated into the diodes and resistors for the purposes of thermal conduction. The deep trenches facilitate conduction of heat from a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate to a bulk substrate. Semiconductor fins may be formed to align with the deep trenches.
US09252235B2

According to embodiments of the inventive concept, a gate electrode is formed on a substrate, and a first spacer, a second spacer, and a third spacer are sequentially formed on a sidewall of the gate electrode. The substrate is etched to form a recess region. A compressive stress pattern is formed in the recess region. A protective spacer is formed on a sidewall of the third spacer. When the recess region is formed, a lower portion of the second spacer is removed to form a gap region between the first and third spacers. The protective spacer fills the gap region.
US09252228B2

A fully depleted silicon-on-insulator MOSFET transistor with reduced variation in threshold voltage. The substrate of the transistor is doped to form a ground plane below a buried oxide layer. A lightly doped channel is formed over the buried oxide layer. A gate dielectric of Silicon Oxynitride is formed over the channel, and a polysilicon gate is formed over the gate dielectric. The polysilicon gate is doped to have a work function not greater 4.2 electron volts for a p-type doped channel (for an n-channel MOSFET), and not less than 5.0 electron volts for an n-type doped channel (for a p-channel MOSFET). The thickness of the buried oxide layer and the channel need not be greater than 20 nanometers and 10 nanometers, respectively.
US09252227B2

It is an object of the present invention to connect a wiring, an electrode, or the like formed with two incompatible films (an ITO film and an aluminum film) without increasing the cross-sectional area of the wiring and to achieve lower power consumption even when the screen size becomes larger. The present invention provides a two-layer structure including an upper layer and a lower layer having a larger width than the upper layer. A first conductive layer is formed with Ti or Mo, and a second conductive layer is formed with aluminum (pure aluminum) having low electric resistance over the first conductive layer. A part of the lower layer projected from the end section of the upper layer is bonded with ITO.
US09252218B2

An Ni2Si layer and a TiC layer formed by sintering after deposition of a thin layer including Ni and a thin layer including Ti on a silicon carbide substrate have a structure in which the TiC layer is precipitated on a surface of the Ni2Si layer. A multilayer thin film including a Ti layer as a first thin film and an Ni layer as a second thin film is formed on the TiC layer surface in the structure. A TiC-derived C composition ratio is set to 15% or more at an interface between the TiC layer and the Ti layer of the multilayer thin film. As a result, a silicon carbide semiconductor element can be provided without occurrence of peeling after wafer dicing and subsequent picking up by a dicing tape.
US09252217B2

A semiconductor arrangement and method of formation are provided. The semiconductor arrangement includes a semiconductor column having a first portion comprising a first material, a second portion comprising a second material, and a third portion comprising a third material, where the second material is different than the first material and the third material. The first portion, the second portion, and the third portion have substantially equal widths. A first abrupt interface exists between a top surface of the first portion and a bottom surface of the second portion, and a second abrupt interface exists between a top surface of the second portion and a bottom surface of the third portion, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, the column forms part of a transistor where the first portions functions as a source or drain, the second portion functions as a channel, and the third portion functions as a drain or source.
US09252203B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide improved metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors. In embodiments, series resistance is reduced by forming a via underneath the bottom plate of a MIM capacitor, leading to a metallization layer or intermediate metal sublayer. In embodiments, the MIM capacitor is formed with a corrugated shape to increase the plate surface area, allowing a thicker dielectric to be used, thereby mitigating leakage issues.
US09252199B2

The present invention provides an integrated inductor and an integrated inductor fabricating method. The integrated inductor comprises: a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of deep trenches, and an inductor. The deep trenches are formed in the semiconductor substrate and arranged in a specific pattern, and the deep trenches are filled with a metal material to form a patterned ground shield (PGS). The inductor is formed above the semiconductor substrate. The integrated inductor fabricating method comprises: forming a semiconductor substrate; forming a plurality of deep trenches in the semiconductor substrate and arranging the deep trenches in a specific pattern; filling the deep trenches with a metal material to form a patterned ground shield (PGS); and forming an inductor above the semiconductor substrate.
US09252198B2

An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes: a substrate; a first and a second thin film transistor (TFT) both disposed on the substrate and both having an active layer, a gate, a source and a drain electrode. A gate line is connected to the gate electrode of the first TFT, and a data line is connected to the source electrode of the first TFT. A common power source line is connected to the source electrode of the second TFT, intersects the gate line, and is parallel to the data line. A pixel electrode is connected to the drain electrode of the second TFT. An organic emission layer is disposed on the first electrode. A common electrode line is disposed on the organic emission layer. A secondary common power source line is formed with the same material as and is parallel to the common electrode line.
US09252196B2

An organic light-emitting diode, an organic light-emitting display device including the same, and a method of controlling dual emission of the organic light-emitting diode. The organic light-emitting diode includes: a first electrode and a second electrode facing each other; a common electrode interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; a first organic layer interposed between the first electrode and the common electrode; and a second organic layer that is interposed between the second electrode and the common electrode and is reverse-symmetric to the first organic layer with respect to the common electrode.
US09252193B2

An OLED device includes a substrate including first through fourth sub-pixel regions arranged in a quad type, a first electrode disposed on each of the first through fourth sub-pixel regions, a first functional layer disposed on all the first through fourth sub-pixel regions and configured to emit first color light, a second functional layer formed in a stripe shape, which progresses along the second and fourth sub-pixel regions arranged in a row direction, and configured to emit second color light, a third functional layer formed in another stripe shape, which progresses along the third and fourth sub-pixel regions arranged in a column direction, and configured to emit third color light, and a second electrode disposed on the entire surface of the substrate including the first through third functional layers.
US09252182B2

Photo-conducting infrared sensors are provided including a substrate (e.g., silicon) with one or more trenches formed on a first surface. An infrared-reflective film can be deposited directly or indirectly onto and conforming in shape with the first surface of the substrate. A lead chalcogenide film can be deposited directly or indirectly over the top of the infrared-reflective film and conforming in shape with the first surface of the substrate. Accordingly, the infrared-reflective film is directly or indirectly sandwiched between the substrate and the lead chalcogenide film.
US09252180B2

A bonding pad structure for an image sensor device and a method of fabrication thereof. The image sensor device has a radiation-sensor region including a substrate and a radiation detection device, and a bonding pad region including the bonding pad structure. The bonding pad structure includes: an interconnect layer; an interlayer dielectric layer (IDL), both layers extending from under the substrate into the bonding pad region; an isolation layer formed on IDL; a conductive pad having a planar portion and one or more bridging portions extending perpendicularly from the planar portion, through the IDL and isolation layers, and to the interconnect layer; and a plurality of non-conducting stress-releasing structures disposed between the isolation layer and the conductive pad in such a way to adjoin its planar and the bridging portions together for releasing potential pulling stress applied thereon and preventing a conductive pad peeling.
US09252175B2

Spectroscopic filter arrays and methods for making spectroscopic filter arrays are provided. The arrays are formed using a dispersion of filter particles having selected moieties attached to the surface of the particles and a microarray having complementary moieties formed in an array on a substrate, such that each filter particle is attached to a selected region of the microarray. The moiety on the substrate may be RNA or DNA or other molecule. The substrate may be a surface of a photodetector array, a transparent plate that may be placed in registration with the photodetector or a stamp used to transfer the filter array to a photodetector array.
US09252174B2

There is provided a solid-state imaging apparatus including a plurality of photoelectric conversion regions which photoelectrically convert light incident from a rear surface side of a semiconductor substrate, element isolation regions formed between the plurality of photoelectric conversion regions arranged in a matrix shape, and shielding members formed on upper surfaces of the element isolation regions. The element isolation regions have high impurity concentration regions of a high impurity concentration connected to at least a part of the shielding members.
US09252172B2

A semiconductor device has a substrate containing a transparent or translucent material. A spacer is mounted to the substrate. A first semiconductor die has an active region and first conductive vias electrically connected to the active region. The active region can include a sensor responsive to light received through the substrate. The first die is mounted to the spacer with the active region positioned over an opening in the spacer and oriented toward the substrate. An encapsulant is deposited over the first die and substrate. An interconnect structure is formed over the encapsulant and first die. The interconnect structure is electrically connected through the first conductive vias to the active region. A second semiconductor die having second conductive vias can be mounted to the first die with the first conductive vias electrically connected to the second conductive vias.
US09252171B2

An object is to provide a pixel structure of a display device including a photosensor which prevents changes in an output of the photosensor and a decrease in imaging quality. The display device has a pixel layout structure in which a shielding wire is disposed between an FD and an imaging signal line (a PR line, a TX line, or an SE line) or between the FD and an image-display signal line in order to reduce or eliminate parasitic capacitance between the FD and a signal line for the purpose of suppressing changes in the potential of the FD. An imaging power supply line, image-display power supply line, a GND line, a common line, or the like whose potential is fixed, such as a common potential line, is used as a shielding wire.
US09252164B2

Discussed is a display device. The display device includes a thin film transistor, a first protective layer, a second protective layer, a pixel electrode, a connection line, a third protective layer, and a common electrode.
US09252157B2

A method includes providing a structure having a substrate, a first electrically insulating layer overlying the substrate, a first semiconductor layer comprised of a first semiconductor material overlying the first electrically insulating layer, a second electrically insulating layer overlying the first semiconductor layer in a first portion of the structure and a second semiconductor layer comprised of a second, different semiconductor material overlying the second electrically insulating layer in the first portion. The method further includes growing additional first semiconductor material on the first semiconductor layer in a second portion of the structure to form a regrown semiconductor layer; forming fins; forming gate structures orthogonal to the fins and removing at least a portion of the first semiconductor layer in the first portion of the structure to form a void and filling the void with insulating material. Structures formed by the method are also disclosed.
US09252155B2

A semiconductor structure and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor structure includes a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer and a dielectric layer between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. A width of the second electrode layer becomes larger in a direction away from the dielectric layer.
US09252154B2

An approach to use silicided bit line contacts that do not short to the underlying substrate in memory devices. The approach provides for silicide formation in the bit line contact area, using a process that benefits from being self-aligned to the oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) nitride edges. A further benefit of the approach is that the bit line contact implant and rapid temperature anneal process can be eliminated. This approach is applicable to embedded flash, integrating high density devices and advanced logic processes.
US09252153B1

A semi-damascene method is described for fabricating wordlines without stringers while maintaining critical cell dimensions when wordline pitch is less than 40 nm. A thin conducting layer protects a storage layer during manufacture, the thin conducting layer then making contact with filled-in conducting material.
US09252151B2

A method of making a monolithic three dimensional NAND string including forming a stack of alternating layers of a first material and a second material over a substrate. The first material comprises an electrically insulating material and the second material comprises a semiconductor or conductor material. The method also includes etching the stack to form a front side opening in the stack, forming a blocking dielectric layer over the stack of alternating layers of a first material and a second material exposed in the front side opening, forming a semiconductor or metal charge storage layer over the blocking dielectric, forming a tunnel dielectric layer over the charge storage layer, forming a semiconductor channel layer over the tunnel dielectric layer, etching the stack to form a back side opening in the stack, removing at least a portion of the first material layers and portions of the blocking dielectric layer.
US09252148B2

Apparatuses and methods have been disclosed. One such apparatus includes strings of memory cells formed on a topside of a substrate. Support circuitry is formed on the backside of the substrate and coupled to the strings of memory cells through vertical interconnects in the substrate. The vertical interconnects can be transistors, such as surround substrate transistors and/or surround gate transistors.
US09252142B2

Integrated circuits with a resistance element and gate-last techniques for forming the integrated circuits are provided. An exemplary technique includes providing a semiconductor substrate that includes a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure disposed therein. A dummy gate electrode structure is patterned overlying semiconductor material of the semiconductor substrate, and a resistor structure is patterned overlying the STI structure. The dummy gate electrode structure and the resistor structure include a dummy layer overlying a metal capping layer. A gate dielectric layer underlies the metal capping layer. An interlayer dielectric layer is formed overlying the semiconductor substrate and the STI structure. End terminal recesses for the resistance element are concurrently patterned through the dummy layer of the resistor structure along with removing the dummy layer of the dummy gate electrode structure to form a gate electrode recess. Metal gate material is deposited in the end terminal recesses and a gate electrode recess.
US09252136B2

A package stacked device may include a first packaging body layer having a first chip embedded therein, and a second packaging body layer positioned under the first packaging body layer and having a second chip embedded therein. The package stacked device may also include a first connection unit protruding from a first bottom surface of the first packaging body layer, a second connection unit protruding from a second top surface of the second packaging body layer, a first covering layer providing a first opening to expose the top surface of the second connection unit and substantially covering the second top surface of the second packaging body layer, and a first adhesive layer substantially covering the exposed top surface of the second connection unit within the first opening. The first connection unit may be inserted into the first opening and connected to the first adhesive layer.
US09252135B2

Packaged semiconductor devices and methods of packaging semiconductor devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, a packaged semiconductor device includes an integrated circuit die, a molding compound disposed around the integrated circuit die, and an interconnect structure disposed over the integrated circuit die and the molding compound. The molding compound is thicker than the integrated circuit die.
US09252131B2

By arranging dies in a stack such that failed cores are aligned with adjacent good cores, fast connections between good cores and cache of failed cores can be implemented. Cache can be allocated according to a priority assigned to each good core, by latency between a requesting core and available cache, and/or by load on a core.
US09252126B2

A semiconductor device includes a wiring board, a first semiconductor chip mounted on the wiring board via a first adhesive member, and second semiconductor chip stacked on the first semiconductor chip via a second adhesive member. The first adhesive member is a die attach film having an adhesive layer formed on both surfaces of an insulating base, and the second adhesive member is an adhesive paste.
US09252123B2

A multi-chip package may include a first semiconductor chip, a second semiconductor chip, a first stud bump, a first nail head bonding bump, a second stud bump, and a first conductive wire. The first semiconductor chip may have a first bonding pad. The second semiconductor chip may be stacked on the first semiconductor chip so the first bonding pad remains exposed. The second semiconductor chip may have a second bonding pad. The first stud bump may be formed on the first bonding pad. The first nail head bonding bump may be formed on the first stud bump, with one end of a first conductive wire formed between the two. The second stud bump may be formed on the second bonding pad, with another end of the first conductive wire formed between the two. An electrical connection test may be performed on each of the wire bonding processes.
US09252117B2

A semiconductor device connected by an anisotropic conductive film, the film having a storage modulus of 100 MPa to 300 MPa at 40° C. after curing of the film, and a peak point of 80° C. to 90° C. in a DSC (Differential Scanning calorimeter) profile of the film.
US09252106B2

Provided is a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes preparing a substrate in which a scribe lane region and a chip region are defined, forming a trench in the scribe lane region of the substrate, forming a stopper layer in a part in the trench, and forming an alignment mark material on the stopper layer.
US09252099B2

Disclosed is a semiconductor device 1 comprising: a semiconductor chip 10; a multilayer wiring structure 30 stacked on the semiconductor chip 10; and an electronic component 60,80 embedded in the multilayer wiring structure 30.
US09252096B2

A wiring substrate includes a core substrate including a first wiring layer, an interlayer insulating layer formed by a resin layer containing fiber reinforcement material formed on the core substrate and a primer layer formed on the resin layer containing fiber reinforcement material, and the interlayer insulating layer having a via hole reaching the first wiring layer, and a second wiring layer formed on the primer layer, and connected to the first wiring layer through the via hole.
US09252083B2

A semiconductor chip includes a substrate having a frontside and a backside coupled to a ground. The chip includes a circuit in the substrate at the frontside. A through silicon via (TSV) having a front-end, a back-end, and a lateral surface is included. The back-end and lateral surface of the TSV are in the substrate, and the front-end of the TSV is substantially parallel to the frontside of the substrate. The chip also includes an antifuse material deposited between the back-end and lateral surface of the TSV and the substrate. The antifuse material insulates the TSV from the substrate. The chip includes a ground layer insulated from the substrate and coupled with the TSV and the circuit. The ground layer conducts a program voltage to the TSV to cause a portion of the antifuse material to migrate away from the TSV, thereby connecting the circuit to the ground.
US09252074B2

A heat dissipating device includes a semiconductor packaging structure having a stator set and a semiconductor element provided therein, a fan wheel set pivotally connected to the semiconductor packaging structure, and a guiding structure having a guiding channel. The guiding structure receives the semiconductor packaging structure and the fan wheel set. The fan wheel set includes a plurality of blades located above the surface of the semiconductor packaging structure. The stator set and the semiconductor element controls the first blades. The blades extend beyond side surfaces the semiconductor packaging structure and have their sizes increased, such that the airflow volume can be increased without changing the size of the semiconductor packaging structure.
US09252073B2

Each fin of a heat sink includes a main fin connected to a core and extending radially outwards, and a pair of branch fins extending radially outwards from a branch point at a radially outer end of the main fin. Among a plurality of fins, in each of three fins which are adjacent in the circumferential direction, a width of an end portion of the main fin viewed along the center axis expands radially outwards at an angle which is larger than an expanding angle of the pair of branch fins. A difference between a distance from the center axis to the branch point in the center one of the fins and a distance from the center axis to the branch point in each of the other two fins is equal to or larger than a width of a root of the main fin in the center radiating fin.
US09252072B2

An assembly includes a chip including an integrated circuit, a casing including an integrated circuit including plural active elements and having an upper portion formed on a side of the chip and lower portion formed on another side of the chip, plural through-wafer vias (TWVs) for electrically connecting the integrated circuit of the chip and the integrated circuit of the casing, and a card connected to the casing for electrically connecting the casing to a system board.
US09252067B1

An integrated microwave transistor amplifier includes a AlGaN/GaN active transistor arrangement on a thinned Si 1-mil heat spreader. Elongated, plated-through vias extend from the source portions of the transistor arrangement through the spreader to a thick gold supporting layer. A matching circuit is defined on a four-mil GaAs substrate, also with a thick gold support layer. A stepped heat sink supports the matching circuit and the active transistor with surfaces coplanar. Bond wires interconnect the matching circuit with the gate or drain connections of the transistor.
US09252065B2

In accordance with some embodiments, a package structure and a method for forming a package structure are provided. The package structure includes a semiconductor die and a molding compound partially or completely encapsulating the semiconductor die. The package structure also includes a through package via in the molding compound. The package structure further includes an interfacial layer between the through package via and the molding compound. The interfacial layer includes an insulating material and is in direct contact with the molding compound.
US09252049B2

A method for forming an interconnect structure includes forming a dielectric material layer on a semiconductor substrate. The dielectric material layer is patterned to form a plurality of vias therein. A first metal layer is formed on the dielectric material layer, wherein the first metal layer fills the plurality of vias. The first metal layer is planarized so that the top thereof is co-planar with the top of the dielectric material layer to form a plurality of first metal features. A stop layer is formed on top of each of the plurality of first metal features, wherein the stop layer stops a subsequent etch from etching into the plurality of the first metal features.
US09252047B2

Embodiments of a semiconductor device structure and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a substrate and a first layer formed over the substrate. The semiconductor device structure further includes a stress-reducing structure formed in the first layer, and a portion of the first layer is surrounded by the stress-reducing structure. The semiconductor device structure further includes a conductive feature formed in the portion of the first layer surrounded by the stress-reducing structure.
US09252046B2

A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The semiconductor device includes adjacent storage node contact plugs having different heights, and lower-electrode bowing profiles having different heights, such that a spatial margin between the lower electrodes is assured and a bridge fail is prevented, resulting in improved device operation characteristics. The semiconductor device includes a first storage node contact plug and a second storage node contact plug formed over a semiconductor substrate, wherein the second storage node contact plug is arranged at a height different from that of the first storage node contact plug, and a lower electrode formed over the first storage node contact plug and the second storage node contact plug.
US09252040B2

To provide an electrostatic chuck, including: a ceramic dielectric substrate having a first major surface on which an object to be processed is mounted, and a second major surface on a side opposite the first major surface, the ceramic dielectric substrate being a polycrystalline ceramic sintered body; and an electrode layer interposed between the first major surface and the second major surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate, the electrode layer being integrally sintered with the ceramic dielectric substrate, the ceramic dielectric substrate including a first dielectric layer between the electrode layer and the first major surface, and a second dielectric layer between the electrode layer and the second major surface, and at least the first dielectric layer of the ceramic dielectric substrate having an infrared spectral transmittance in terms of a thickness of 1 millimeter (mm) of not less than 20%.
US09252035B2

A substrate transfer system includes a substrate transfer robot disposed in a robot installment area defined between a first apparatus and a second apparatus. The first apparatus includes cassettes. The cassettes are each configured to accommodate at least one substrate. The second apparatus includes a second wall opposite to a first wall. The substrate transfer robot transfers the at least one substrate from each of the cassettes to the second apparatus. The substrate transfer robot includes a base stationary, a hand, and arms. A first arm includes a first end and a second end. The first end is rotatably coupled to the base. A second arm includes a third end and a fourth end. The third end is rotatably coupled to the second end. The second end of the first arm moves beyond the second wall when the substrate transfer robot takes out the substrate from the first apparatus.
US09252027B1

In accordance with an embodiment, a method of forming a pattern includes forming a first layer on a fabrication target film, making a mold and the first layer push each other to form a protrusion on the fabrication target film, and forming first and second regions, forming a block copolymer layer including first and second blocks in the first and second regions, phase-separating the block copolymer layer, forming second and third layers in the first region, and forming fourth and fifth layers in the second region; and removing the third and fifth layers. The first region is surrounded by the first layer and the protrusion. The second region is surrounded by the first layer and contacts the first region via the protrusion. The third layer is surrounded by the second layer. The fifth layer is surrounded by the fourth layer.
US09252026B2

A system and method for providing electrical isolation between closely spaced devices in a high density integrated circuit (IC) are disclosed herein. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising a substrate, a first device, a second device, and a buried trench in the substrate and a method of fabricating the same are also discussed. The buried trench is positioned between first and second devices and may be filled with dielectric material. Alternatively, the buried trench contains air. A method of using Hydrogen annealing to create the buried trench is disclosed.
US09252022B1

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a masking layer on an upper surface of a semiconductor substrate. The masking layer is patterned to form at least one masking element that designates an active region of the semiconductor substrate and at least one patterning assist feature adjacent the at least one masking element. An etching process is performed to form a plurality of semiconductor fins on the semiconductor substrate. The plurality of semiconductor fins include at least one isolated fin formed on the active region according to the at least one masking element and at least one sacrificial fin formed according to the patterning assist feature that reduces a loading effect that occurs during the etching process.
US09252021B2

Methods for patterning fins for fin-like field-effect transistor (FinFET) devices are disclosed. An exemplary method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a plurality of elongated protrusions on the semiconductor substrate, the elongated protrusions extending in a first direction, and forming a mask covering a first portion of the elongated protrusions, the mask being formed of a first material having a first etch rate. The method also includes forming a spacer surrounding the mask, the spacer being formed of a second material with an etch rate lower than the etch rate of the first material, the mask and the spacer together covering a second portion of the elongated protrusions larger than the first portion of the elongated protrusions. Further, the method includes removing a remaining portion of the plurality of elongated protrusions not covered by the mask and spacer.
US09252018B2

A transistor is provided that includes a silicon layer with a source region and a drain region, a gate stack disposed on the silicon layer between the source region and the drain region, an L shaped gate encapsulation layer disposed on sidewalls of the gate stack, and a spacer disposed above the horizontal portion of the gate encapsulation layer and adjacent to the vertical portion of the gate encapsulation layer. The gate stack has a first layer of high dielectric constant material, a second layer comprising a metal or metal alloy, and a third layer comprising silicon or polysilicon. The gate encapsulation layer has a vertical portion covering the sidewalls of the first, second, and third layers of the gate stack and a horizontal portion covering a portion of the silicon layer that is adjacent to the gate stack.
US09252008B2

The embodiments of mechanisms for monitoring thermal budget of an etch process of a cyclic deposition/etch (CDE) process to form an epitaxially grown silicon-containing material are descried to enable and to improve process control of the material formation. The monitoring is achieved by measuring the temperature of each processed wafer as a function of process time to calculate the accumulated thermal budget (ATB) of the wafer and to compare the ATB with a reference ATB (or optimal accumulated thermal budget, OATB) to see if the processed wafer is within an acceptable range (or tolerance). The results are used to determine whether to pass the processed wafer or to reject the processed wafer.
US09252007B2

A filament using a high melting point metal compound such as tantalum carbide is provided. As the filament, a filament comprising a tungsten base material, a tantalum layer coating the tungsten base material, and a tantalum carbide layer coating the tantalum layer is used. The tantalum layer and the tantalum carbide layer may be replaced with a hafnium layer and a hafnium carbide layer, respectively, or may be formed of a combination of tantalum and hafnium.
US09252006B2

An object of the present invention is to provide a filament showing improved conversion efficiency with a simple configuration. According to the present invention, surface of a filament material processed into a predetermined shape is processed into a mirror surface by mechanical polishing, and surface roughness (center line average roughness Ra) thereof is thereby made to be 1 μm or smaller. Reflectance of the filament can be thereby improved, and emissivity of the filament for lights of the infrared wavelength region can be suppressed.
US09251995B2

A radiation generating tube 1 includes: an electron emitting source 3; a target 9 spaced from the electron emitting source 3, for generating radiation 11 responsive to irradiation with an electron beam from the electron emitting source 3; and a tubular shielding member 10 having an electron passing hole 8, wherein the electron passing hole 8 has an electron incident aperture at one end thereof and has a target supporting surface 9b supporting the target 9 at the other end thereof, wherein the target supporting surface 9b is connected through a brazing filler 14 to a periphery of a surface of the target at a side on which the electron is incident, and an opening size of the other end of the electron passing hole 8 is larger than an opening size of the electron incident aperture at the one end thereof.
US09251990B2

A method for producing a thermoelectron emission source for an electron gun used in an electron beam writing apparatus, the thermoelectron emission source producing method comprising, preparing a first material that emits a thermoelectron, coating the first material with a second material having a work function larger than that of the first material, exposing the first material from part of the second material by machine processing, and decreasing a diameter of the exposed portion of the first material by heating treatment when the diameter of the exposed portion is larger than a predetermined diameter value.
US09251985B2

A fuse lock-out assembly for a battery pack is provided. The assembly includes a first housing having an interior region holding a manual service disconnect lower housing and a manual service disconnect upper housing therein. The assembly further includes a fuse holding housing coupled to the first housing that has a first fuse compartment holding a first fuse therein. The assembly further includes a slidable door that slides from a first operational position to a second operational position. The slidable door covers an open end of the first fuse compartment at the first operational position, and extends over a portion of the manual service disconnect lower housing at the second operational position only if the manual service disconnect upper housing is previously de-coupled from the lower housing.
US09251981B2

A circuit breaker unit has first and second arcing contact pieces. A breaker gap is formed between the two arcing contact pieces. A switching gas channel leads to the breaker gap and guides the switching gas to a switching gas outlet opening of the circuit breaker unit. The switching gas channel is formed with first and second pipe sections that overlap each other at least in sections and have discharge openings in their cover surfaces. Continuous discharge openings in the first and in the second pipe sections are axially offset in relation to each other.
US09251980B2

In one aspect, an apparatus, such as an electrical system, is provided. The electrical system can include a pair of conductors across which an arc is sporadically supported, the arc including load current from a load circuit. The electrical system can also include an energy source that is separate from the load circuit and configured to selectively charge an electrode assembly. The conductors and electrode assembly can be configured such that the arc, when present, will be lengthened or constricted due to the charge on the electrode assembly.
US09251962B2

Disclosed are a dye-sensitized solar cell module and a method of manufacturing the same. The dye-sensitized solar cell module includes a working electrode formed by stacking a collector and a photo-electrode to which a dye is adsorbed on a transparent conductive substrate; a counter electrode formed by stacking a collector and a catalytic electrode on a transparent conductive substrate; and an electrolyte filled in a space between the working electrode and the counter electrode sealed by a sealant. A glass substrate for the working electrode of glass substrates forming the transparent conductive substrates for the electrodes is a thin glass plate substrate thinner than the glass substrate for the working electrode.
US09251944B2

A variable coupled inductor includes a first core, two conducting wires, a second core and a magnetic structure. The first core includes two first protruding portions, a second protruding portion and two grooves, wherein the second protruding portion is located between the two first protruding portions and each of the grooves is located between one of the first protruding portions and the second protruding portion. Each of the conducting wires is disposed in one of the grooves. The second core is disposed on the first core. A first gap is formed between each of the first protruding portions and the second core and a second gap is formed between the second protruding portion and the second core. The magnetic structure is disposed between the second protruding portion and the second core and distributed symmetrically with respect to a centerline of the second protruding portion.
US09251943B2

There is provided a multilayer type inductor, including: an inductor main body; a coil part having conductive circuits and conductive vias formed in the inductor main body; and external electrodes formed on both ends of the inductor main body, wherein in the inductor main body, at least parts around the conductive circuits and the conductive vias are formed of a ferrite material or a non-magnetic material.
US09251942B2

An electronic substrate including: a base substrate having an active face and a rear face; and a plurality of inductor elements formed on or above the active face, or formed on or above the rear face.
US09251939B1

An iron core is configured as a winding iron core block group that is obtained in such a manner that winding iron core blocks having rectangular cross-sections each of which is obtained by laminating magnetic metal ribbons with a predetermined width and which have plural widths and laminated thicknesses are arranged in the width direction of the magnetic metal ribbons. The laminated thickness of the winding iron core block located in the middle of the width direction of the magnetic metal ribbons is larger, and the cross-section of each iron core leg is configured substantially in a circular shape by centering the winding iron core blocks in the laminated direction of the magnetic metal ribbons. Upper and lower yokes are arranged in such a manner that the bottom faces of the winding iron core blocks are aligned, and an in-window support member supports the upper yoke on a plane.
US09251931B2

A superconducting wire (1; 31), contains NbTi superconducting material and Cu, with one enclosing tube (2), in particular, a copper enclosing tube. At least three Al blocks (3a-3c) are disposed peripherally distributed in the enclosing tube (2) and at least three sections containing NbTi (4a-4c) are also disposed peripherally distributed in the enclosing tube (2) and separate the Al blocks (3a-3c) from one another in the peripheral direction. The Al blocks (3a-3c) each make large-surface contact with their adjacent sections containing NbTi (4a-4c). A stabilized NbTi superconducting wire is thereby provided, which has low weight and which can be manufactured at low cost. The superconducting wire has a reduced risk of crack formation, in particular, during wire drawing.
US09251929B2

A non-halogen flame-retardant insulated wire includes a conductor and an insulating coating layer including an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer includes a composition in which 50 to 95 parts by weight of a polyethylene with a density of 0.930 g/cm3 or more and 5 to 50 parts by weight of an ethylene copolymer are mixed. The outer layer has a composition including a base polymer in which 60 to 95 parts by weight of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer containing 60% by weight or more of vinyl acetate and 5 to 40 parts by weight of a maleic acid-modified ethylene-α-olefin copolymer are mixed, and including 80 to 200 parts by weight of a metal hydroxide. The outer layer resin composition is crosslinked.
US09251921B2

An inspection system for inspecting the interior of a steam generator includes, in one aspect, a first boom and a second, telescoping boom having a proximal end pivotally attached to the first boom and a distal end bearing a delivery capsule, the delivery capsule defining a storage bay. The inspection system includes a first robotic inspection vehicle dimensioned to fit in the delivery capsule storage bay and itself defines a storage bay. The first robotic inspection vehicle includes at least one inspection camera and at least one lighting system. The first robotic inspection vehicle further includes cabling connecting the first robotic inspection vehicle to the delivery capsule. The inspection system also includes a second robotic inspection vehicle dimensioned to fit in the first robotic inspection vehicle storage bay. The second robotic inspection vehicle includes at least one inspection camera and at least one lighting system and further includes cabling connecting the second robotic inspection vehicle to the first robotic inspection vehicle.
US09251902B2

The semiconductor storage device of the embodiment includes memory cells. Word lines are connected to the memory cells. Bit lines are connected to the memory cells. A sense amplifier unit is connected to the bit lines. A data write operation includes a first write loop and a second write loop. The first write loop includes a first program operation and a first verify operation. The second write loop includes a second program operation and a second verify operation. A maximum value of a consumed current in the first verify operation is substantially equal to a maximum value of the consumed current in the second verify operation. The consumed current in the first verify operation is substantially same as the consumed current in the second verify operation if data input in the data write operation is all equal to first data corresponding to an erasure state.
US09251898B2

A method for programming a nonvolatile memory element includes: decreasing a resistance value of a variable resistance element in an initial state, by applying an initialization voltage pulse to a series circuit in which a load resistor having a first resistance value is connected in series with the variable resistance element and a MSM diode; applying, after the decreasing, a write voltage pulse to the series circuit after the resistance value of the variable resistance element is changed to a second resistance value lower than the first resistance value; and applying, after the decreasing, an erase voltage pulse to the series circuit after the resistance value of the variable resistance element is changed to a third resistance value lower than the first resistance value.
US09251895B2

Disturb from the reset to the set state may be reduced by creating an amorphous phase that is substantially free of crystal nuclei when programming the reset state in a phase change memory. In some embodiments, this can be achieved by using a current or a voltage to program that exceeds the threshold voltage of the phase change memory element, but does not exceed a safe current voltage which would cause a disturb.
US09251881B2

A system and method to trim reference levels in a resistive memory is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a resistive memory includes multiple sets of reference cells. The resistive memory also includes a reference resistance measurement circuit. A first set of reference cells is accessible by the reference resistance measurement circuit to measure a first effective reference resistance corresponding to the first set of reference cells. A second set of reference cells is accessible by the reference resistance measurement circuit to measure a second effective reference resistance corresponding to the second set of reference cells. The resistive memory also includes a trimming circuit configured to set a reference resistance based on the measured first effective resistance and the measured second effective resistance.
US09251878B2

A nonvolatile memory device comprises multiple memory blocks each comprising multiple memory cells arranged at intersections of wordlines and bitlines, an address decoder configured to electrically connect first lines to wordlines of one of the memory blocks in response to an address, a line selection switch circuit configured to electrically connect the first lines to second lines in different configurations according to the address, a first line decoder configured to provide the second lines with wordline voltages needed for driving, and a voltage generator configured to generate the wordline voltages.
US09251874B2

In some embodiments a controller includes a memory activate pin, one or more combined memory command/address signal pins, and a selection circuit adapted to select in response to the memory activate pin as each of the one or more combined memory command/address signal pins either a memory command signal or a memory address signal. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09251864B2

The invention relates to an electronic memory system, and more specifically, to a system for providing voltage supply protection in a memory device, and a method for providing voltage supply protection in a memory device. According to an embodiment, a system for providing voltage supply protection in a memory device is provided, the system including a memory array including a plurality of memory cells arranged in a plurality of groups of memory cells, and a plurality of current limiting elements, wherein each group of memory cells is associated with at least one current limiting element.
US09251862B2

A semiconductor device with a memory unit of which the variations in the operation timing are reduced is provided. For example, the semiconductor device is provided with dummy bit lines which are arranged collaterally with a proper bit line, and column direction load circuits which are sequentially coupled to the dummy bit lines. Each column direction load circuit is provided with plural NMOS transistors fixed to an off state, predetermined ones of which have the source and the drain suitably coupled to any of the dummy bit lines. Load capacitance accompanying diffusion layer capacitance of the predetermined NMOS transistors is added to the dummy bit lines, and corresponding to the load capacitance, the delay time from a decode activation signal to a dummy bit line signal is set up. The dummy bit line signal is employed when setting the start-up timing of a sense amplifier.
US09251857B2

There is provided a method of predicting a noise component associated with a readback signal in a channel from a dedicated servo medium including a data recording layer and a dedicated servo layer. The method including: providing at least one noise prediction module for each of a plurality of types of servo patterns of the servo layer, and predicting the noise component by, for each of a plurality of segments of the readback signal of the data recording layer, using a selected one of the noise prediction modules. In particular, the selected one of the noise prediction module for a segment of the readback signal is selected based on the type of the servo pattern associated with the segment of the readback signal. There is also provided a corresponding noise predictor, a method of detecting data bits from the readback signal, and a hard disk drive system.
US09251854B2

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for facial bookmarking in videos. In one aspect, methods include receiving a digital video comprising video data, processing the video data to detect features indicative of a human face in the digital video, determining, from the video data, a first frame, in which the features indicative of the human face are detected in the digital video, determining first timestamp data corresponding to the first frame, determining, from the video data, a second frame, in which the features indicative of the human face are detected in the digital video, determining second timestamp data corresponding to the second frame, generating an identifier corresponding to the human face, generating a data set including the identifier, the first timestamp data and the second timestamp data, and appending the data set to the video data to provide annotated video data.
US09251843B2

According to one embodiment, a computer program product for dropout detection in a read channel includes a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the embedded program code being readable and/or executable by a processor to execute dropout detection on a block of signal samples to detect one or more dropout events employing a set of decisions provided by a detector executing a detection algorithm, determine an approximate location for each of the one or more detected dropout events, statistically characterize the one or more detected dropout events to calculate one or more dropout profiles, and selectively filter the block of signal samples during a duration of each of the detected dropout events. Other computer program products, systems, and methods for detecting dropouts are presented in more embodiments.
US09251842B1

Technology is provided for digital optical disc magazines. The disc magazine includes a cabinet, at least one disc drive positioned within the cabinet, and a plurality of drawers disposed in the cabinet. A plurality of disc trays are disposed in the plurality of drawers and each disc tray includes a plurality of disc locations. A bi-directional disc pusher is supported on a gantry between adjacent drawers and is positionable along the adjacent drawers proximate a selected target disc location corresponding to one of the plurality of disc locations. A robotic gripper is positionable adjacent the target disc location and operative to grip a disc pushed at least partially from the target disc location by the disc pusher and to transport the disc to the disc drive.
US09251837B2

An apparatus that includes a near field transducer, the near field transducer including silver (Ag) and at least one other element or compound, wherein the at least one other element or compound is selected from: copper (Cu), palladium (Pd), gold (Au), zirconium (Zr), zirconium oxide (ZrO), platinum (Pt), geranium (Ge), nickel (Ni), tungsten (W), cobalt (Co), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), vanadium (V), iridium (Ir), titanium (Ti), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), silicon (Si), or combinations thereof oxides of V, Zr, Mg, calcium (Ca), Al, Ti, Si, cesium (Ce), yttrium (Y), Ta, W or thorium (Th), Co, or combinations thereof; or nitrides of Ta, Al, Ti, Si, indium (In), Fe, Zr, Cu, W, boron (B), halfnium (Hf), or combinations thereof.
US09251828B2

In a method for operating a tape storage system, while a tape is being moved in a tape drive across a tape head for one or more of reading and writing user data from/to a data track of the tape, a read element of the tape head, which read element is assigned to the data track, is moved transverse to a moving direction of the tape for a distance of more than a width of the data track. A transverse position of one or more of the following elements is subject to a signal supplied by the read element during its transverse move: The read element; another read element assigned to the data track; and a write element assigned to the data track.
US09251827B2

A tape storage medium comprises at least one servo band along a longitudinal extension of the tape storage medium for comprising positional information. The servo band comprises a first servo subband and a second servo subband extending along the longitudinal extension of the tape storage medium. The first servo subband comprises a frame servo pattern containing a first set of servo frames, wherein each servo frame of the set comprises a first burst and a second burst. Each burst comprises at least two servo stripes inclined at an angle with respect to a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal extension of the tape medium. The second servo subband contains a set of servo tracks extending along the longitudinal extension of the tape storage medium and arranged next to each other, wherein each servo track of the set contains a servo pattern of magnetic transitions.
US09251819B2

A waveguide is configured to couple light from a light source at a fundamental transverse electric (TE) mode. A mode converter outputs the light to an output region of the waveguide at a higher-order TE mode. A plasmonic transducer receives the light at the higher order TE mode and generates surface plasmons that heat a recording medium. The plasmonic transducer includes: an input end proximate the output region of the waveguide and comprising a first convex curved edge; an output end proximate a surface that faces the recording medium, the output end comprising a second convex curved edge and a peg; and linear edges between the first and second convex curved edges.
US09251813B1

A magnetic recording head comprises a write pole including a throat region with a leading edge, a trailing edge opposite the leading edge, and first and second side edges opposite one another. The magnetic recording head further comprises a first side wall gap layer disposed alongside the first side edge of the throat region, and a second side wall gap layer disposed alongside the second side edge of the throat region. Each of the first and second side wall gap layers has a first width at the leading edge of the throat region smaller than a second width at the trailing edge of the throat region.
US09251800B2

An audio decoder configured to generate a high band extension of an audio signal from an envelope and an excitation. The audio decoder includes a control arrangement configured to jointly control envelope shape and excitation noisiness with a common control parameter (f).
US09251797B2

A method and apparatus for preserving matrix-surround information in encoded audio/video includes a receiver operative to receive matrix-surround encoded audio signals via a modem, separate the audio signals into a frequency spectrum having discrete audio frequencies, and determine a cutoff threshold used to encode the matrix-surround encoded audio signals. The method and apparatus further includes a decoder operative to decode a first set of the audio frequencies below the determined cutoff threshold using a first matrix-surround preserving audio encoding method and to decode a second set of audio frequencies above the cutoff threshold using a second non matrix-surround preserving audio encoding method.
US09251795B2

A method for adaptive audio codec selection during a communication session is disclosed. The method can include negotiating a set of audio codecs for use during the communication session. The method can further include defining multiple audio tiers. Each audio tier can be associated with a network condition and can define an audio codec from the set of audio codecs for use in the associated network condition. The method can also include using a first audio codec during the wireless communication session. The method can additionally include determining a changed network condition selecting a second audio codec by determining the audio tier corresponding to the changed network condition. The method can further include, in response to the changed network condition, switching from the first audio codec to a second audio codec that is defined by an audio tier having an associated network condition corresponding to the changed network condition.
US09251794B2

Provided is a signal processing apparatus including a first periodicity detecting section detecting periodicity information of an acoustic signal included in a first content, as first periodicity information, a second periodicity detecting section detecting the periodicity information of an acoustic signal included in a second content, as second periodicity information, a similarity calculating section calculating a similarity between the first periodicity information detected by the first periodicity detecting section and the second periodicity information detected by the second periodicity detecting section, and a synchronization information generating section generating synchronization information used at a time of synchronizing the first content and the second content, based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculating section.
US09251791B2

A computer-implemented input-method editor process includes receiving a request from a user for an application-independent input method editor having written and spoken input capabilities, identifying that the user is about to provide spoken input to the application-independent input method editor, and receiving a spoken input from the user. The spoken input corresponds to input to an application and is converted to text that represents the spoken input. The text is provided as input to the application.
US09251786B2

Provided are a method and apparatus for providing a mobile voice web service in a mobile terminal. The method includes analyzing a web history of a user from web search logs of the user and generating a voice access list based on the analysis results, and performing voice recognition by dynamically generating a voice recognition syntax according to the generated voice access list. Accordingly, by limiting syntax required for voice recognition by generating a syntax suitable for a web context of the user, efficient voice recognition, which can be performed in a terminal not a server, can be implemented.
US09251785B2

A system and method for providing an easy-to-use interface for verifying semantic tags in a steering application in order to generate a natural language grammar. The method includes obtaining user responses to open-ended steering questions, automatically grouping the user responses into groups based on their semantic meaning, and automatically assigning preliminary semantic tags to each of the groups. The user interface enables the user to validate the content of the groups to ensure that all responses within a group have the same semantic meaning and to add or edit semantic tags associated with the groups. The system and method may be applied to interactive voice response (IVR) systems, as well as customer service systems that can communicate with a user via a text or written interface.
US09251782B2

A method for identifying an optimal crossing point for concatenation of speech samples within an overlap area is provided. The method includes retrieving a first speech sample and a second speech sample, the second speech sample is concatenated immediately after the first speech sample is concatenated; determining a first region within the ending of the first speech sample and a second region within the beginning of the second speech sample, the first region and the second region are determined respective of relatively high spectral similarity over time between the first speech sample and the second speech sample; identifying an overlap region between the first region and the second region; determining an optimal crossing point between the first speech sample and the second speech sample, the optimal crossing point has a maximum correlation over time; and concatenating the first speech sample and the second speech sample at the optimal crossing point.
US09251777B2

A complex speaker system includes a conical speaker including a recessed section at a surface thereof and configured to receive a sound-playback signal and reproduce sound and a distributed mode speaker installed in the recessed section of the conical speaker and configured to share the sound-playback signal input into the conical speaker.
US09251775B2

An electronic signal processor for processing signals includes a complex first filter, one or more gain stages and a second filter. The first filter is characterized by a frequency response curve that includes multiple corner frequencies, with some corner frequencies being user selectable. The first filter also has at least two user-preset gain levels which may be alternately selected by a switch. Lower frequency signals are processed by the first filter with at least 12 db/octave slope, and preferably with 18 db/octave slope to minimize intermodulation distortion products by subsequent amplification in the gain stages. A second filter provides further filtering and amplitude control. The signal processor is particularly suited for processing audio frequency signals.
US09251772B2

Methods, systems, and apparatus for the protection and transportation of musical instruments can include cases constructed of a semi-rigid and lightweight material to enable convenient transportation of the instrument and instrumental accessories, such as in internal and compartmentalized storage areas. Extendable/collapsible legs can enable the case to be placed in a standing position and to enable instruments to be retrieved and/or inserted while the case is in the standing position. The lid may be foldable over the front of the case or removed entirely from the case.
US09251763B2

A system and method for a system and method for implementing an image collage editing software tool implemented in a networked computing environment. Collage is a feature area within an online image editing service that allows users to create a composite image from multiple images. This composite image, generally known as a ‘collage’, can be created with a variety of predefined designs/patterns, as well as user specified number of columns and/or user specified number of rows. Users are allowed a wide array of flexibility on the design of their collage, as a result of the unique user-interface design of the collage feature. The collage area is an in-browser, web-based solution for creating any composite image from multiple images.
US09251762B2

An application that generates a user interface includes multiple assets, such as icons, that are overlaid onto other user interface elements, such as tool bars, menus, windows, etc. The assets may be configured at runtime to match a user interface theme that utilizes specific colors, fonts, and styles. The application, at runtime, configures an asset to match the user interface theme by adjusting the luminosity of the pixels in the asset. A subset of pixels in the asset is matched to the color of a target background color by altering the luminosity of the subset of pixels in the asset to match the luminosity of the target background color. The luminosity of the remaining pixels is adjusted to match the theme.
US09251760B2

Embodiments provide techniques for providing copy protection from capturing a displayed image using one or more camera devices. Embodiments generate a plurality of frames, based on the received image, such that when the plurality of frames are displayed using at least a threshold refresh rate, the displayed plurality of frames appears as the received image when viewed by a user, and the displayed plurality of frames appears as one of a plurality of other images when captured by an image capture device. The plurality of frames are then output for display on one or more display devices configured to use at least the threshold refresh rate.
US09251751B2

A display device includes gate lines, data lines, pixels, a gate driver, a data driver, and a timing controller. The gate lines extend in a first direction. The data lines extend in a second direction crossing the first direction. Each of the pixels is connected to a corresponding gate line of the gate lines and a corresponding data line of the data lines. The gate driver is configured to drive the gate lines. The data driver is configured to drive each data line of the data lines in response to a corresponding data signal. The timing controller is configured to, in response to an image signal and a control signal, apply the corresponding data signals to the data driver and control the gate driver. Each corresponding data signal reflects a kickback compensation value corresponding to a distance between the gate driver and the corresponding data line in the first direction.
US09251749B2

In the case where the gray-scale value of the pixel X is the minimum gray-scale value, the data line driving circuit (4) outputs a video signal having a voltage obtained by correcting the positive polarity minimum gray-scale voltage corresponding to the minimum gray-scale value only when outputting a positive polarity video signal. In the above, the data line driving circuit (4) outputs the video signal having the voltage obtained by correcting the positive polarity minimum gray-scale voltage, using a voltage correction amount larger than that which is used in outputting the video signal having the voltage obtained by correcting the positive polarity gray-scale voltage corresponding to the intermediate gray-scale value.
US09251742B2

An electrophoretic display apparatus and an image-updating method thereof are provided. The electrophoretic display apparatus comprises a display panel and a source driver. The display panel comprises a plurality of pixels and a plurality of source lines, and each pixel electrode is electrically coupled to an AC common voltage through a corresponding capacitor. The capacitor comprises a plurality of charged particles. The source driver comprises a first data-latching circuit and a second data-latching circuit. Each of the data-latching circuits comprises a transistor, a capacitor and an inverter. The first data-latching circuit receives image data and a data shift-register output pulse. The second data-latching circuit is electrically coupled between an output terminal of the first data-latching circuit and a source line and is used for receiving a data output pulse.
US09251741B2

A display device comprising a display area in which a plurality of pixels, a plurality of gate signal lines, and a plurality of source signal lines are arranged in a matrix; a scan line driver circuit having a function of controlling a timing of selecting any one of the plurality of gate signal lines; and a signal line driver circuit having a function of controlling, in a period during which the scan line driver circuit selects any one of the plurality of gate signal lines, a timing of outputting a first signal to all the plurality of source signal lines and then outputting a second signal to any one of the plurality of source signal lines. Each of the plurality of pixels includes a transistor and a display element being sandwiched between a pixel electrode and a common electrode and having memory properties.
US09251738B2

A display device compresses light-emitting display of modifiable display luminance; a light sensor for detecting the surrounding brightness; and a control for adjusting the display brightness of the light-emitting display in response to a brightness value based on detected results of the brightness sensor. If absolute value of the difference between current and previously determined brightness values is less than a prescribed threshold value, the control determines that there is no change in brightness otherwise the central determines that there has been a change in brightness. Upon a determination of a predetermined number of times that a brightness change has occurred, the display luminance is adjusted in response to the current brightness value.
US09251729B2

A method of displaying images includes detecting frequency of ambient light, updating frequency of a display device according to the frequency of the ambient light, and adjusting shutter frequencies of a pair of shutter glasses according to the frequency of the ambient light when the display device is in a 3D display mode. In this way, flickers caused by inconsistency between the frequency of the ambient light and the frequencies of the display device and the shutters of the shutter glasses can be avoided.
US09251727B2

A product display apparatus is provided. The display has a forward face with at least one display element disposed thereon. The display element is activated in some way upon receiving power. An inductive receiving coil is located on a flap that is below the forward face. This inductive receiving coil receives power from an inductive transmission coil located in proximity to the display apparatus. The receiving coil provides power to the display element when the coil is in proximity to the transmission coil. This power is used to activate the display element, such as by, for example, illuminating it.
US09251720B2

A trunk skeleton of a human body dummy includes a spine portion, the spine portion including a plurality of vertebra portions made of metal-based materials or synthetic resin-based materials, a plurality of intervertebral buffer portions disposed between the vertebra portions, the intervertebral buffer portions being made of synthetic resin-based materials, and a bone-coupling portion coupling the vertebra portions in a displaceable manner, the bone-coupling portion including a metal-based rod-shaped member; and a thorax portion, the thorax portion including a plurality of costa portions having first ends coupled to the respective vertebra portions of the spine portion, thus forming respective pairs for the vertebra portions, the costa portions being made of synthetic resin-based materials, and a sternum body coupled to second ends of the costa portions, the sternum body being made of a synthetic resin-based material.
US09251716B2

The disclosed embodiments include a system and method for improving corporate employee work performance. The disclosed embodiments provide an innovative approach to optimizing the talent and resources within an organization including, but not limited to, an individual employee, teams of employees, and to executives within the organization. Through the application of a multivariate model based on physiological, affective, and behavioral systems, the disclosed embodiments attempt to improve an employee's vitality, vibrancy, wellness, and overall work performance.
US09251712B2

These teachings are applicable for use with an individual who faces problems with respect to forming new long term memories. Generally speaking, pursuant to these various embodiments, one automatically captures (101) a record of experiential content to which the individual is exposed during a given episode and then automatically associates (102) that record of experiential content with metadata that characterizes the given episode. This record of experiential content is then automatically used (103) to re-expose the individual to at least portions of the given episode to thereby encourage development of a long term recollection of at least a portion of the given episode. These teachings will accommodate a variety of experiential content modalities including both audio content and visual content.
US09251699B2

In some embodiments an apparatus includes a wireless sensor configured to be operatively coupled to a network gateway device that is configured to receive one of a first data packet or a second packet from the wireless sensor. The wireless sensor is configured to send the first data packet at a first time on a first frequency, the first data packet including a payload associated with a value of a measurement that was measured by the wireless sensor. The wireless sensor is configured to send the second data packet at a second time on a second frequency, the second data packet includes a payload associated with the value.
US09251694B2

A method of vehicle monitoring includes monitoring one or more vehicle safety systems while a vehicle is in operation to detect an unsafe condition. The method also includes sending an alert to a handheld device if an unsafe condition is detected.
US09251685B2

In at least one embodiment, a method and system for accumulating geospatial location data and biomedical data for an individual during his/her travels is provided. In at least one embodiment, a device uses at least one location signal to determine geospatial data and receives a plurality of biomedical signals with both data types being stored for possible later retrieval for providing a diagnosis for the individual if a medical condition arises. An embodiment of the invention provides a method of operation of a device having at least a memory and a communications module where the method includes receiving at least one location signal with the communications module; storing geospatial data obtained at least from the at least one location signal with a time stamp in memory; receiving a plurality of biomedical signals over time from at least one sensor with the communications module; storing biomedical data from the received biomedical signal with a time stamp in memory; and repeating the receiving at least one location signal and storing geospatial data from the at least one location signal in different geographic locations.
US09251684B2

Generally, smart sensors, logic to process messages from smart sensors, and smart sensor systems are described herein. Embodiments may comprise logic such as hardware and/or code to communicate events as messages via a messaging system to post the messages to a messaging account. The messaging system may be a texting service like Twitter™ that captures the messages and then re-broadcasts the messages, e.g., immediately as a tweet or a cellular text message. In some embodiments, the smart sensor comprises a communications module with a Twitter™ application program interface (API) on a communications platform with a software/hardware framework to interconnect with one or more pluggable monitors with sensors.In other embodiments, the communications module may be integrated with one or more monitors. Further embodiments comprise a smart-device, which can provide status updates and event notifications to a user.
US09251678B1

A security system includes a structure having a structural surface. The structure is sized to contain an asset therein and configured to provide a forceful breaching delay. The structure has an opening formed therein to permit predetermined access to the asset contained within the structure. The structure includes intrusion detection features within or associated with the structure that are activated in response to at least a partial breach of the structure.
US09251672B2

Apparatus and methods for a stacking purge-bin (“SPB”) are provided. The SPB may be configured to rotate. The SPB may include a plurality of receiving sections. One or more tangible items retracted by the SSK may be stored in each receiving section. Rotating the SPB between each retraction may prevent tangible items from two consecutive retractions from being stored in a single receiving section. Preventing tangible items from two consecutive retractions from being stored in a single receiving section may allow each tangible item to be associated with transaction information corresponding to a retraction. The SPB may store separators. A separator may be inserted between tangible items received from two consecutive retractions. Separating between tangible items received from two consecutive retractions may allow each tangible item to be associated with transaction information corresponding to a retraction. Transaction information associated with a retraction may be marked on the separator.
US09251671B2

Embodiments of this concept are directed to gaming devices that are configured to initiate multiple gaming events in response to a player input. The gaming device may include game initiating inputs that initiate a predetermined number of gaming events in response to the player input, or the gaming device may include configurable game initiating inputs that initiate a number of gaming events specified by the player, specified the gaming device, or specified by a gaming server. The gaming device or gaming server may set the number of initiated game events in response to the occurrence of a triggering event.
US09251665B2

A video poker game including a wild card feature is provided. For a play of the video poker game, a predetermined number of cards are randomly dealt from a players standard deck of 52 cards to form an initial player hand. If the player made a side bet, at least one up to the predetermined number of cards are simultaneously dealt from a separate deck to form a house hand. Any cards in the initial player hand that match any cards in the house hand are automatically changed into a wild card. The player chooses which cards to hold and which cards to discard from the initial player hand. Replacement cards for the discarded cards are dealt from the remainder of cards in the players deck to form a final player hand. The final player hand is evaluated according to a predetermined paytable and any awards are provided.
US09251656B2

A gaming system including a central server linked to a plurality of gaming machines is provided. The gaming system includes a plurality of progressive awards arranged in a hierarchy. Upon the occurrence of a triggering event or qualifying condition, a bonus game is started. A player can win a next higher progressive award by accumulating award values. If the player's total award value is greater than or equal to a trigger value for a progressive award, the player wins the progressive award. Unless a termination condition occurs, the bonus game continues. The total award value is set to the progressive award value. Alternatively, the progressive award value is added to the player's total award value. The trigger value for a progressive award can be the startup value for that progressive award.
US09251654B2

A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage, for wagering on a game of chance which includes (a) offering, before a game of chance progression commences, an initial wager on any of a plurality of pieces to first complete the progression, an initial payout for the initial wager based on the pieces having equal chances of winning; and (b) offering, during the progression, a real time wager on any of a plurality of pieces to first complete the progression, a real time payout for the real time wager based on computed chances of a selected piece first completing the progression based on current positions of the plurality of pieces.
US09251647B2

A gaming terminal data repository (GTDR) for storing game software components and transaction information for gaming machine and gaming terminals is disclosed. A system database is partitioned according to different gaming entities allowing game software component configurations of particular gaming terminals to be easily analyzed and modified. Game software components for gaming terminals connected to the GTDR may be automatically updated using various triggers. System gaming machines may utilize a combination of game software components residing on the gaming machine and those received from the GTDR. A library of preset gaming terminal configurations can be stored at the system database, where each such preset configuration includes specific settings for each of a plurality of gaming terminal setting categories. Gaming terminals can be configured remotely using the GTDR, and possibly one or more of the stored preset gaming terminal configurations.
US09251645B2

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include connecting a wagering game to a chat session and receiving a textual game command for the wagering game from a chat message sent via the chat session. The operations can further include activating a wagering game function for the wagering game in response to receiving the textual game command via the chat message.
US09251641B2

Provided is a drug dispensing box and cartridge having a mutually coupled structure. The cartridge disposed on each of floors of a drug dispensing apparatus and connected to each of a plurality of drug dispensing boxes includes a cartridge housing comprising a lower housing supporting the drug dispensing box and a rear housing restricting entry of the drug dispensing box by a predetermined distance, a rail disposed along an entry path of the drug dispensing box on the lower housing; and a first data transmitting/receiving terminal connected to the drug dispensing box to transmit/receive data. A rail for guiding the drug dispensing box when the drug dispensing box and the cartridge are connected to each other may be provided to connect the drug dispensing box to the cartridge at a regular position.
US09251635B2

A document rack is provided to comprises a front wall 4 formed with at least one opening 7, a back wall 5 formed with at least one notch 5a, and a bottom wall 6 for connecting lower ends of front and back walls 4, 5 to structurally constitute a housing 3. A front portion 2 of a document validator 1 may be arranged in inner chamber 10 through notch 5a of back wall 5 so that users can easily take out documents in a lump from a pocket 13 of the document rack for reuse of documents because pocket 13 may receive and retain documents dispensed from document validator 1 to prevent scatter and contamination of the discharged documents.
US09251627B2

An instrument system for a vehicle in which information regarding the operation of the vehicle is displayed on the display of a portable communication device. Information regarding the operation of the vehicle may be sensed by at least one sensor. The sensed information may be communicated to a vehicle controller and/or transmitted to the portable communication device. The sensed information may be used by the vehicle controller and/or the portable communication device to derive information regarding the performance or operation of the vehicle and displayed on the display. The portable communication device may also retrieve or derive other information relating to the operation of the vehicle, such as information obtained from a remote server, and display the additional information for the user of the vehicle. The vehicle may be configured to receive the secure placement of the portable communication device in the vehicle, such as on a dashboard.
US09251626B2

An augmented reality system includes a plurality of mobile devices. Each mobile device includes: an image capturing unit capturing a real image of a target marker to generate a captured image; a storage unit storing a reference image of the target marker, an individual virtual object and a plurality of interactive composite virtual objects; a wireless communication unit capable of short-distance wireless communication with another mobile device located within a predetermined range; a processing unit determining whether the captured image matches the reference image; and a display unit controlled by the processing unit to display one of the individual virtual object, the interactive composite virtual objects and the captured image.
US09251613B2

Disclosed are systems and methods for automatically applying special effects based on media content characteristics. A digital image is obtained and depth information in the digital image is determined. A foreground region and a background region in the digital image are identified based on the depth information. First and second effects are selected from a grouping of effects, where the first effect is applied to at least a portion of the foreground region and the second effect is applied to at least a portion of the background region.
US09251611B2

A cardiac ultrasound image display to analyze a heart wall motion, and a method and apparatus for displaying a cardiac ultrasound image. A method of displaying a medical image includes obtaining a characteristic value for each of one or more segments included in an object, generating an image of the object indicating the segment of which the characteristic value is a predetermined value, and displaying the image.
US09251610B2

A computerized visualization method for illustrating multi-dimensional data, comprising: receiving a plurality of location data points, each location data point having a plurality of measured features; choosing at least one location dimension from received said plurality of dimensions; grouping said plurality of location data points into a plurality of location groups according to chosen said at least one location dimension; plotting, by a processor, said plurality of location groups as a plurality of flower charts, each said plurality of flower charts, having a plurality of pie sectors, illustrates remaining said plurality of measured features subsequent to said choosing at least one location dimension; and positioning each said plurality of flower charts, in a visual representation, according to chosen said plurality of location dimensions.
US09251607B1

Mechanisms for more efficiently and accurately performing anti-aliasing techniques. A bounding box for a line can be generated that includes both a central region of the line and one or more boundary regions that have various levels of opacity. Vertices for the bounding box can be provided to any of a variety of appropriate entities to interpolate pixel locations within the bounding box and to determine various levels of opacity for pixels, such as vertex shaders and/or pixel shaders. Various techniques can be used to determine a pixel's membership value within one or more of the boundary regions of a bounding box, such as using a distance from an edge of a central region to a center of the pixel and/or an area of the pixel that is located inside the boundary region.
US09251603B1

A panoramic video of a real world event can be received. The video can include perspective data linked with a video timeline. A perspective view associated with a graphics of a video game linked with a game timeline at a first time index can be determined. The perspective data of the panoramic video can be processed to obtain a video sequence matching the perspective view associated with the graphics at a second time index. The video timeline and the game timeline can be synchronized based on a common time index of each of the timelines. The graphics and the video sequence can be integrated into an interactive content, responsive to the synchronizing.
US09251602B2

An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a signal processing unit, and a pixel interpolation processing unit. The apparatus calculates a correlation degree for pairs in two orthogonal directions for an image signal obtained by the imaging unit including a single-chip image sensor having a four-color filter, such as a WRGB color filter, using pixel data in an area around a target pixel, using the correlation degree as a determination criterion in the interpolation. When a color component pixel with an identical color of a color component pixel subjected to pixel interpolation is not located in the direction having the high correlation, the pixel interpolation apparatus changes ratio in a direction orthogonal to the direction having the high correlation by using a pixel value resulting from color space conversion in the direction orthogonal to the direction having the high correlation, and performs pixel interpolation based on the change ratio.
US09251601B2

One or more digital representations of single- (101) and/or few-layer (102) thin-film material are automatically identified robustly and reliably in a digital image (100), the digital image (100) having a predetermined number of color components, by—determining (304) a background color component of the digital image (100) for each color component, and—determining or estimating (306) a color component of thin-film material to be identified in the digital image (100) for each color component by obtaining a pre-determined contrast value (CR; CG; CB) for each color component and multiplying the respective background color component with a numerical difference between the pre-determined contrast value (CR; CG; CB) for a given color component and about 1,—identifying points or parts of the image with all color components being within a predetermined range of the determined or estimated color component.
US09251597B2

A method for detecting a pupil in an image of an eye, comprises analyzing the image, exploiting an expected shape of the pupil, to identify portions of the image that are candidate portions of the pupil. A first region of the image, which corresponds to a lower part of the pupil, is analyzed in preference to a second region of the image, which corresponds to an upper part of the pupil, so as to reduce or avoid errors arising from artifacts that tend to be present in said second region of the image. A computer or processor program and an apparatus for performing the method are also disclosed.
US09251593B2

The invention concerns a medical imaging system comprising means (4) of segmenting a region of interest around an object of interest within a volume of 3D data (3DV). The system according to the invention comprises means (5) of calculating a sub-regions map (CSR) within the segmented region (RS) and correction means (6) intended to exclude sub-regions of the segmented region by means of said sub-regions map (CSR). The correction can be made automatically or manually by means of control means (7) enabling a user to select the sub-regions to be excluded. Display means (3) make it possible to display a 2D representation (2DR) of the volume of 3D data (3DV) and the segmented region (RS, RS′) at various stages of the processing.
US09251588B2

An apparatus for determining a pose(s) of an object(s) may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including receiving a detected image of at least one face and analyzing the image of the at least one face based on data of at least one model identifying one or more poses. The poses may be related in part to at least one of a position or an orientation of respective faces. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to determine that the face corresponds to one of the poses based in part on one or more items of data of the image passing criteria identified by the model as corresponding to the pose. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.
US09251586B2

A method (20) is described for optically measuring the three-dimensional location of one or more wires W, in a group of wires W1-Wn, such a overhead power cables in an electric rail system. A first step (22) comprises obtaining stereoscopic image data for each of the wires W from the first and second spaced apart stereoscopic camera pairs 10a and 10b which lie in the common plane P1. At step (24), image data from the first and second stereoscopic camera pairs 10a and 10b is processed to identify each of the wires W in the region of interest (12). At step (26), a determination is made of the location in 3D space of selected identified wires W using image data from one of the cameras C1 or C2; and, C3 or C4 in each of the first and second camera pairs 10a and 10b.
US09251585B2

A method for coregistration of multi-modal images obtained in different geometries includes acquiring multi-modal image data, wherein the multi-model image data includes image data of a first modality and image data of a second modality, wherein the image data of the respective modalities have different geometries, defining a volume of interest in the multi-modal image data, segmenting the image data of the first modality and incorporating segmentation data of the first modality into a reconstruction of the second modality, and applying a registration of the second modality image data to the first modality image data according to a similarity measure through the volume of interest, wherein an output of the registration comprises superimposed multi-modal image data.
US09251583B2

Systems and methods are provided the autocentering, autofocusing, acquiring, decoding, aligning, analyzing and exchanging among various parties, images, where the images are of arrays of signals associated with ligand-receptor interactions, and more particularly, ligand-receptor interactions where a multitude of receptors are associated with microparticles or microbeads. The beads are encoded to indicate the identity of the receptor attached, and therefore, an assay image and a decoding image are aligned to effect the decoding. The images or data extracted from such images can be exchanged between de-centralized assay locations and a centralized location where the data are analyzed to indicate assay results. Access to data can be restricted to authorized parties in possession of certain coding information, so as to preserve confidentiality.
US09251582B2

A computer-implemented system for enhanced automated visual inspection of a physical asset includes a visual inspection device capable of generating images of the physical asset and a computing device including a processor and a memory device coupled to the processor. The computing device includes a storage device coupled to the memory device and coupled to the processor. The storage device includes at least one historic image of the physical asset and at least one engineering model substantially representing the physical asset. The computing device is configured to receive, from a present image source, at least one present image of the physical asset captured by the visual inspection device. The computing device is configured to identify at least one matching historic image corresponding to the at least one present image. The computing device is configured to identify at least one matching engineering model corresponding to the at least one present image.
US09251580B2

Automated systems, methods and tools that automatically extract and select portions of an image to automatically generate a premium finish mask specific to the image which require little or no human intervention are presented. Graphical user interface tools allowing a user to provide an image and to indicate regions of the image for application of premium finish are also presented.
US09251574B2

Image compensation value computation techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an image key value is calculated, by a computing device, for image data based on values of pixels of the image data. A tuning value is computed by the computing device using the image key value. The tuning value is configured to adjust how the image data is to be measured to compute an image compensation value. The image compensation value is then computed by the computing device such that a statistic computed in accordance with the tuning value approaches a target value. The image compensation value is applied by the computing device to adjust the image data.
US09251571B2

An auto-focus image system includes a focus signal generator and a pixel array coupled thereto that captures an image that includes a plurality of edges. The generator computes a focus signal from a plurality of edge-sharpness measures, each measured from and contributed by a different edge as a quantity with a unit that is a power of a unit of length, such as a distance in the edge, an area, or an even-order central moment. A relative weight of the contribution by an edge is reduced depending on at least a pair of shape measures, each being computed from a plurality of sample-pair differences of the edge. One may be the edge-sharpness measure. The weight may be zero if the pair of shape measures falls outside a predetermined region. At least one symmetrical sequence of gradients exists such that an edge with it has reduced relative weight.
US09251570B1

Smart image enhancements are disclosed, including: obtaining a representation of a user's face associated with a set of images associated with the user's face; obtaining a set of extrinsic information corresponding to an image of the set of images; determining a modified smoothing map by modifying a model smoothing map to correspond to the representation of the user's face; and determining an enhanced image based at least in part on the set of extrinsic information corresponding to the image, the modified model smoothing map, and the image.
US09251566B1

A method and system for high-resolution and parallelizable data processing, reconstruction, and deconstruction, uses arbitrary frequency-space (FS) or inverse frequency-space (IFS, such as image, audio, or video space) sample points in N dimensions. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a subset of optionally pre-processed and/or pre-conditioned N-dimensional FS data (or IFS data) is acquired (102) by a processing device (360), the data is optionally transformed (115) by “region scaling factors”, and the data is optionally reduced (116) in numerical significant digits. A “horizontal key” of data elements is calculated (120) on a processor (361), preferably in parallel, for each of an arbitrary set of x-coordinates in IFS (or FS). IFS “color” data (or FS data) are calculated (130) on a processor (361), preferably in parallel, at the x-coordinates corresponding to the horizontal keys. The IFS coordinates (or the FS coordinates) are arbitrary, and the reconstruction's calculated IFS data (or the deconstruction's calculated FS data) are optionally rotated or transposed (141) (such as for display purposes), and are thus formed (150) in a memory (363) or on an output device (365). The method can be applied to other subsets, such as in the N-dimensional case.
US09251557B2

A system, method, and computer program product for recovering from a memory underflow condition associated with generating video signals are disclosed. The method includes the steps of determining that a first counter is greater than a second counter, incrementing an address corresponding to a memory fetch request by an offset, and issuing the memory fetch request to a memory. The first counter represents a number of pixels that have been read by a display pipeline for a current frame and the second counter represents a number of pixels requested from a memory for the current frame.
US09251550B2

A security document or device is provided which includes at least one area formed from a transparent plastics material which is exposed on at least one side to form a window or half-window, and a first color shifting ink composition and a second color shifting ink composition which both include different color pigments and interference pigments but which both, at a first viewing angle, exhibit substantially the same color when the interference pigments are viewable, and at other angles exhibit different colors when viewing the color pigments.
US09251549B2

Methods, devices, systems and computer program products improve the detection of watermarks that are embedded in a host content by providing information indicative of a ranking of watermark payloads to watermark extractors. A watermark extractor device obtains information indicative of a ranking of a plurality of watermark payload values, where such information designates each watermark payload value within a first subset of the plurality of watermark payload values as having an associated rank value. Based at least in-part on the information indicative of the ranking, the watermark extractor device is configured to prioritize resource allocation for extraction of payload values that are designated as belonging to the first subset over payload values that are not designated as belonging to the first subset. The watermark extractor then extracts a payload value, designated as belonging to the first subset, from one or more watermarks embedded in the host content.
US09251540B1

An apparatus that operates to cause financial transfers responsive to data read from data bearing records, includes at least one processor that is in operative connection with a card reader, a check acceptor, a cash dispenser and a display. The at least one processor causes the machine to operate to read card data from a user card, and to cause a determination to be made that the read card data corresponds to an authorized financial account. The at least one processor is operative to cause data to be read from a check and/or cash to be dispensed, and a financial transfer to or from the account corresponding to the value thereof. Machine instructions are output and user transaction inputs can be received through either a primary or an auxiliary touch screen display.
US09251539B2

An automated system and method for the online settling of a transaction is provided. The system comprises a server comprising a rules based engine including rules established on behalf of a party to the transaction and genetic programming logic configured to employ the rules and determine a plurality of transaction settlement offer sets, each transaction settlement offer set based on a set of circumstances and comprising multiple simultaneously presentable and individually selectable offers, each offer configured to provide an appearance of settling the transaction. The genetic programming logic creates a description of a current transaction settlement offer set, analyzes behavior and characteristics of the current transaction settlement offer set, establishes a fitness of the current transaction settlement offer set, and modifies the current transaction settlement offer set to produce a new transaction settlement offer set. The new transaction settlement offer set is provided to the user.
US09251536B2

Methods and systems for generating location-aware group recommendations are discussed. For example, a method can include operations for receiving a group recommendation request, accessing user profile data associated with members of the group, and generating a group recommendation. The group recommendation request can be received at a network-based system and include identification of a first and second user as well as information identifying a current location associated with the first and second users. Accessing the user profile information can include accessing user profile information for both the first and second users. The group recommendation can be generated based on the current location data and a combination of at least a portion of the user profile data from the first and second users.
US09251531B2

In various embodiments, a computer-implemented method for generating and verifying officially verifiable electronic representations may be disclosed. The method may comprise receiving, by a credential database, a request for a credential action. The credential database may be configured to store one or more credentials comprising a status indicator. The method may further comprise determining, by the credential database, a response to the credential action based on the one or more user credentials stored in the credential database and transmitting, by the credential database, the response to a client device.
US09251523B2

A system for autocompleting a general recommended word and an advertising recommended word, the system including: a first database configured to maintain an autocomplete general recommend word; a second database configured to maintain an autocomplete advertising recommended word; an autocomplete indexer component configured to index the autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word; an autocomplete index database configured to classify and store the indexed autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word; a web server configured to 1) receive an input query, and 2) transmit the input query to a predetermined query autocompletion server, and 3) receive the autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word, and 4) display the autocomplete general recommended word and the autocomplete advertising recommended word; and the query autocompletion server is provided.
US09251509B2

Disclosed are a cyber or real community scheduler system and a scheduling method in a cyber or real community which can automatically implement meeting scheduling in a cyber or real community. A cyber or real community scheduler system includes a member information management server for distinguishing a plurality of cyber or real communities established in an SNS site from one another and managing and storing information on members of the cyber or real communities and an SNS server for providing SNS to the members of each of the cyber or real communities based on the information on the members of the cyber or real communities.
US09251485B2

A data transformation system receives data from one or more external source systems and stores and transforms the data for providing to reporting systems. The data transformation system maintains multiple versions of data received from an external source system. The data transformation system can combine data from different versions of data and provide to the reporting system. As a result, external source systems that do not maintain data in a format appropriate for reporting systems and/or do not maintain sufficient historical data to generate different types of reports are able to generate these reports. The data transformation system can also enhance older versions of data stored in the system or exclude portions of data from reports. The data transformation system can purge older versions of data so that older data that is less frequently requested is maintained at a lower frequency than recent data.
US09251481B2

The distributed metering and monitoring service (DMMS) system provides a way to gather and maintain metrics data which remains distributed, until requested. The DMMS system uses messaging queues to scale the number of servers that may be monitored and metered to a hyperscale of greater than 10,000 servers. The DMMS system determines how many servers (nodes) to assign to a cluster, and uses a metric aggregator to collect and store metrics data for the nodes. The DMMS system creates message queues for the instances, injects instance identifiers into the cluster state data and metrics data, listens for request messages for metering information for instances, retrieves the metrics data for users identified by the instance identifiers stored locally at the nodes, and calculates the metering information for the instance.
US09251465B2

This disclosure provides a computer-program product, system, method and apparatus for accessing a representation of a category or item and accessing a set of multiple transactions. The transactions are processed to identify items found amongst the transactions, and the items are ordered based on an information-gain heuristic. A depth-first search for a group of best association rules is then conducted using a best-first heuristic and constraints that make the search efficient. The best rules found during the search can then be displayed to a user, along with accompanying statistics. The user can then select rules that appear to be most relevant, and further analytics can be applied to the selected rules to obtain further information about the information provided by these rules.
US09251461B2

There is provided a method, a system and a computer program product for supporting a decision making process. The system receives a decision model from a decision maker, the decision model used for determining a solution to a decision problem based on attributes and uncertainties of the decision problem. The decision problem includes information about a plurality of outcome vectors that represent all possible outcomes and the uncertainties associated with the decision problem. The system determines whether the received decision model can be solved without receiving any preference information from the decision maker. The system receives partially specified preference information from the decision maker if the received decision model cannot be solved without any preference information. The system solves the decision model with the partially specified preference information. The system recommends, based on the solution, one or more decisions to the decision maker.
US09251459B2

An apparatus has a surface that includes a two dimensional barcode and a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) antenna printed on the two dimensional barcode. The RFID antenna and the two dimensional barcode are formed from a conductive ink.
US09251453B1

An electronic transaction card communicates with an add-on slot of an intelligent electronic device. The add-on slot may be a memory card slot. The intelligent electronic device may be a mobile phone or other device with or without network connectivity. The electronic transaction card may have magnetic field producing circuitry compatible with magnetic card readers, smartcard circuitry, other point-of-sale interfaces, or any combination thereof.
US09251448B2

An image processing apparatus includes: an interpreter processing part for creating intermediate data by analyzing a page description language; a rasterize processing part for creating RIP image data for each band for dividing each page into a plurality of parts, on the basis of the intermediate data; a characteristic value calculating part for calculating a characteristic value of RIP image data and associating the calculated characteristic value with the corresponding RIP image data; and an expansion processing part for, when the RIP image data whose characteristic value agrees with that of RIP image data that is a target for expansion are stored in a cache, reading out the RIP image data whose characteristic value agrees, the RIP image data being stored in the cache, and storing the RIP image data in an expansion memory.
US09251443B2

In a printing apparatus including two types of sheet storage unit, one capable of detecting a size of a sheet and the other not capable of detecting a size of a sheet, a possibility of outputting a print product which is not intended by a user is reduced. A method for controlling a printing apparatus includes feeding a sheet from a first sheet storage unit, feeding a sheet from a second sheet storage unit, and performing control to feed a sheet in such a way that a sheet is fed preferentially from a second sheet storage unit which is provided with a sensor for detecting a size of a sheet rather than from a first sheet storage unit which is not provided with a sensor for detecting a size of a sheet based on whether each sheet storage unit is provided with a sensor.
US09251442B2

The invention relates to a print media loading system for a printer, wherein the printer includes a print media input, a print media output, and a print media path located between the print media input and the print media output. The print media loading system comprises a print media drive mechanism associated with the print media input, and print media output device associated with the print media output. The print media output device is operatively coupled to the print media drive mechanism so as to control feeding of the print media through the print media path by actuation of the print media output device. The invention also provides a corresponding printing system and a method of loading print media into a printer.
US09251432B2

The present invention concerns a method for deriving from an arbitrary local image descriptor a descriptor that is invariant under arbitrary mirror symmetries. For a point of interest, pi, for which the descriptor is to be determined a direction, ODi is determined. The local patch from which the descriptor is to be extracted is mirrored along ODi if a “smaller than” relation does not hold a feature extracted from the left half of the local image patch, in regard of ODi, compared to the right half of the local image patch. Thereby, the local patch is brought into a normalized intrinsic orientation. Thereafter, the descriptor is extracted. Examples include a mirror symmetry invariant version of Lowe's SIFT.
US09251430B2

A character recognition apparatus may include an imaging element configured to read a character string placed on an information recording medium; an image memory configured to store image data of the character string; and a character segmenting unit configured to segment a character constituting the character string. The character segmenting unit may include a minimum intensity curve creating unit configured to detect a minimum intensity value among light intensity values, and create a minimum intensity curve of the image data according to the minimum intensity value of each pixel row; a character segmenting position detecting unit configured to calculate a space between the characters neighboring in the created minimum intensity curve, in order to detect a character segmenting position between the characters; and a character segmenting process unit configured to segment each character according to the detected character segmenting position between the characters.
US09251428B2

An improved method for entering text or objects into fields is provided. Instead of a keyboard, a viewfinder provides text segmenting, text selecting and text recognizing (optical character recognition—OCR) functionalities. Text at a marker (e.g., a cursor or crosshairs) associated with the viewfinder is recognized and insertion of the recognized text is performed. The current frame is generally not captured by a user. As the user moves the camera to position a new word at the marker, the view finder is updated to provide results of recognition associated with the new word. A user is able to identify an area of interest, select text or other object of interest, and insert the same into one or more fields. The viewfinder may operate in conjunction with a camera of the electronic device on which the viewfinder is operating. Other mechanisms and variations are described.
US09251427B1

Systems and methods for identifying a false representation of a human face are provided. In one example, a method for identifying a false representation of a human face includes receiving a plurality of different data streams captured by a respective plurality of sensors of differing sensor types sensing a candidate face. In a cascading plurality of stages, one or more of the different data streams are analyzed, wherein each of the stages comprises a different analysis. In one of the cascading plurality of stages, the method determines that one or more of the different data streams corresponds to a false representation of the human face. Based on determining that one or more of the different data streams corresponds to a false representation of a human face, an indication of the false representation is outputted.
US09251426B2

A three-dimensional object detection device is provided with an image capturing device, a three-dimensional object detection unit, a rainfall state detection unit, a three-dimensional object assessment unit and a controller. The image capturing device captures an area rearward of a vehicle. The three-dimensional object detection unit detects a three-dimensional object rearward of the vehicle and calculating a traveling speed of the three-dimensional object, based on images obtained by the image capturing device. The rainfall state detection unit detects a state of rainfall including cases of rainfall or formation of a water film on a road surface due to rainfall. The three-dimensional object assessment unit accesses the three-dimensional object to be another vehicle when the traveling speed of the detected three-dimensional object lies within a preset setting range. The controller changes the traveling speed setting range to be narrower when the rainfall state detection unit has detected a rainfall state.
US09251423B2

An event aware video system (EAVS) is to capture video frames during a first time period and process events in the video frames before transferring the processed data to a central computing system. The EAVS may establish a no-event frame by marking a last frame as the no-event frame if the difference between adjacent pair of video frames is less than a threshold value. The EVAS may mark a present frame captured after establishing the no-event frame as the event frame if the difference between the present and a previous frame is greater than the threshold value. The EAVS may provide event information to the central computing system by performing temporal blending, which includes linearly combining the movement of objects within the moving object in adjacent event frames to generate blurred images. The difference between the blurred images may represent displacement of objects moving within the moving object.
US09251421B2

In accordance with one aspect of the present technique, a method is disclosed. The method includes receiving a new video from one or more sensors and generating a new content graph (CG) based on the new video. The method also includes comparing the new CG with a plurality of prior CGs. The method further includes identifying a first portion of the new CG matching a portion of a first prior CG and a second portion of the new CG matching a portion of the second prior CG. The method further includes analyzing a first set of semantic annotations (SAs) associated with the portion of the first prior CG and a second set of SAs associated with the portion of the second prior CG. The method further includes generating a sequence of SAs for the new video based on the analysis of the first and the second set of SAs.
US09251416B2

A method and system for efficient non-persistent object motion detection comprises evaluating a video segment to identify at least two first pixel classes corresponding to a plurality of stationary pixels and a plurality of pixels in apparent motion, and evaluating the video segment to identify at least two second pixel classes corresponding to a background and a foreground indicative of the presence of a non-persistent object. The first pixel classes and the second pixel classes can be combined to define a final motion mask in the selected video segment indicative of the presence of a non-persistent object. An output can provide an indication that the object is in motion.
US09251413B2

Methods to select and extract tabular data among the optical character recognition returned strings to automatically process documents, including documents containing academic transcripts.
US09251410B1

A people counting system includes: a top-view, a first and a second side-view image-capturing device, capturing a top-view, a first and a second side-view image respectively; an image stitching module, stitching the top-view, the first and the second side-view image into an ultra wide-angle image; a ROI selecting module, selecting at least one recognition zone and a counting zone; a face recognition module, monitoring the recognition zone to determine a face location corresponding to a face through analyzing the recognition zone; a head recognition module, monitoring the counting zone to determine a head location corresponding to a head through analyzing the counting zone; an object tracking module, the head recognition module, generating a face track and a head track; and a people counting module, counting a first number of face tracks and a second number of head tracks passing through the counting zone and generating a counting result.
US09251407B2

Systems and methods are provided for restricting access to an item of interest. A normalization component resamples an input trajectory to produce a resampled trajectory having a standard size. A reference point generator reduces the resampled trajectory to respective values for a set of reference points, each having at least two associated coordinates. The system further includes at least one authentication region. Each of the at least one authentication region represents at least one of the set of reference points. A verification component is configured to determine if the values for the set of reference points from a given input falls within the at least one authentication region. An access restriction mechanism restricts access to the item of interest unless a threshold number of values for the set of reference points from the input falls within their associated authentication regions.