US09954391B2

An emergency power source comprises a housing. A battery pack (4) is arranged in the housing for storing electric energy. The input end of the battery pack (4) is connected to a charging circuit (1) for charging the battery pack (4) and the output end of a solar energy panel input circuit (2), the output end of the battery pack (4) is connected to a heavy-current output circuit (7) for outputting a heavy current when an automobile starts, and an external battery intelligent detection system (6) is connected between the battery pack (4) and the heavy-current output circuit (7). The emergency power source is convenient for charging, can output a heavy current for starting an automobile, and can also accurately control heavy-current output.
US09954378B2

A power storage system comprises the following: a battery unit in which a plurality of battery cells are connected; an acquisition unit for continuously acquiring, while the battery unit is discharging, (V) which represents the extent of the discharge from the battery unit and the temperature (T) of the battery unit when the degree of discharge is (V); a balancing unit for executing cell balancing by which a difference in amount of charging between battery cells is reduced; and a balancing control unit for controlling the balancing unit so that when a reference state is detected based on (V) and (T), cell balancing is not executed, in accordance with a result of the detected reference state.
US09954368B2

Provided is a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) management device for managing a BESS for receiving and charging electrical energy and supplying the electrical energy to a DC/AC converter by discharging the charged electrical energy in a power supply system. The BESS management device includes a measurement unit configured to measure State of Charges (SOCs) of a plurality of series-connected modules or cells in the BESS and a DC power supply unit configured to supply DC power to one of the plurality of modules or one of the plurality of cells on the basis of the SOCs of the plurality of modules or cells.
US09954363B2

A load controller is connected with a residential electric load to regulate electric power drawn by the load from a residential a.c. electric power distribution system via power input terminals of the load. A voltmeter is connected to measure voltage at the power input terminals, and an ammeter is connected to measure electric current at the power input terminals. A microprocessor or microcontroller is programmed to compute a source impedance of the power distribution system as seen from the power input terminals using measured voltage and electric current at the power input terminals. The source impedance may be computed by determining an equivalent source voltage as equal to measured voltage at the power input terminals when the electric current at the power input terminals is zero, and computing the source impedance from measured non-zero electric current at the power input terminals in combination with at least the equivalent source voltage.
US09954360B2

An energy store for a photovoltaic system has: a first capacity range which is provided for feeding into the power grid; a second capacity range which is provided for internal consumption and feeding into the power grid; and a third capacity range which is provided for feeding into the power grid.
US09954356B2

Apparatus and methods for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection of radio frequency circuits are provided. In certain configurations, an ESD protection circuit includes two or more pairs of field effect transistors (FETs) electrically connected in series between a radio frequency signal pin and a radio frequency ground pin. Each of the two or more pairs of FETs includes a negative ESD protection FET for providing protection from negative polarity ESD events and a positive ESD protection FET for providing protection from positive polarity ESD events. The source and gate of the negative ESD protection FET are electrically connected to one another, and the source and gate of the positive ESD protection FET are electrically connected to one another. Additionally, the drains of the negative and positive ESD protection FETs are electrically connected to one another. The ESD protection circuit exhibits a relatively low capacitance and flat capacitance versus voltage characteristic.
US09954353B2

A pre-charge circuit is disclosed for a vehicle including a battery and a load. The pre-charge circuit includes a time delay circuit configured to, in response to receiving power from the battery, generate a first voltage. The first voltage increases from a first value toward a second value. The pre-charge circuit includes a switch control circuit configured to, in response to the first voltage, provide a second voltage that follows the first voltage. The pre-charge circuit includes a switching circuit configured to selectively connect the battery to the load based on the second voltage and disconnect the load from the battery in response to the second voltage reaching a predetermined threshold value. The pre-charge circuit includes an output circuit configured to restrict an amount of power and inrush current that is provided from the battery to the load through the switching circuit.
US09954350B2

A supporting apparatus for a conductor, comprising a helical rod having a plurality of turns. The pitch between the turns varies along the length of the helical rod, from a region of longer pitch at an end of the helical rod to a region of shorter pitch along the rod.
US09954348B2

The invention described herein is a fire protection device in the form of an insert designed to be quickly installed in new or existing electrical boxes located in firewalls. This insert is comprised of a material designed to withstand high direct heat and serve as a barrier to the passage of direct heat or smoke and gases through firewalls rated under ASTM E-119. The insert features a flanged open end which overlaps any gaps between the existing electrical box and the wall. The back wall of the insert box may have either openings to permit wires to pass through to the electrical device or a plug-harness assembly which obviates the use of holes in the back of the insert box.
US09954346B2

A facility (1) processes multi-core cable (2) having a screening braid and/or foil sheathing, inner conductors (2a), and/or internal filler. The facility (1) includes stations (3, 5-10, 12) each for at least one respective processing step of cable stripping; the opening up, trimming, and folding back of any screening braid present; the removal of any foil present; and the removal of any internal filler present. A transport device transports cut-to-length cables to and from these stations (3, 5-10, 12). The transport system (13) connects stations (3, 5-10, 12). At least one control unit (17) may be provided, whereby all stations (3, 5-10, 12) may be automatically operated.
US09954337B2

Overmolded electrical plugs with integrated strain relief are disclosed. The strain relief may have multiple protrusions extending though the overmolded housing which are visible to users. The strain relief may employ a ratcheting mechanism which permanently secures the strain relief on the electrical power cord. The strain relief may be partially assembled in a pre-lock configuration on the electrical power cord where the strain relief may be positioned on the power cord, and then be further pressed to a locked configuration in which the is securely attached to the power cord. The strain relief is self-aligned on the electrical plug during an assembly process.
US09954335B2

A terminal connecting method including: removing a insulation film by a predetermined length from one end of a litz wire; inserting to a pressure fixing part a terminal part of the litz wire; compressing a first portion of the pressure fixing part with a first compression force to cause plastic deformation of an entirety of the pressure fixing part, and to temporarily fix the terminal part of the litz wire to the pressure fixing part; compressing a second portion of the pressure fixing part with a second compression force greater than the first compression force to locally cause plastic deformation of the pressure fixing part and the litz wire, the second portion being a part of the first portion; and pouring molten solder from a front end side of the pressure fixing part to firmly fix the litz wire to the terminal metal fitting.
US09954329B2

[Object] To provide a common plug for AC/DC which can easily prevent erroneous insertion into a plug receptacle.[Solution] Provided is a common plug for AC/DC including at least one pair of connection terminals. At least one connection terminal of the at least one pair of connection terminals is able to rotate around an axis of an insertion direction into a socket so as to have a first state in a case where the connection terminal is inserted into a socket for supplying AC power and a second state in a case where the connection terminal is inserted into a socket for supplying DC power, the second state being different from the first state.
US09954325B2

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes an earphone interface including a plug housing into which an earphone plug is inserted comprising contact points that contact electrode terminals of the earphone plug and protrusions connected to the contact points, and a substrate having signal lines coupled to the protrusions arranged in the plug housing to transmit signals to the electrode terminals of the earphone plug or receive signals from a specific electrode terminal. The substrate includes a ground line connected to a ground terminal of the earphone plug and a coupler that couples a wireless signal that flows through the ground line.
US09954322B2

A connection terminal having a terminal housing for securing a terminal block arrangement having a plurality of terminal blocks in a wall opening of a housing wall, and a construction unit having two connection terminals and a terminal block arrangement that are formed of a plurality of adjacently arranged terminal blocks. The connection terminal enables the terminal blocks and/or the terminal block arrangement to be mounted and/or dismounted from one side in a wall opening of a housing wall by displaceably arranging a securing element in the terminal housing, the securing element having a terminal bevel that protrudes through an opening in the terminal housing, and by movably disposing the securing element with the aid of an actuation element into a terminal position in which the terminal bevel acts against an inner edge of the wall opening in the mounted state of the connection terminal.
US09954320B1

A linked cable assembly includes: (1) a pair of stripped shielded cable assemblies, each including: (a) a stripped cable including: an inner conductive core, an inner insulator surrounding the core, an inner shield surrounding the inner insulator, a sheath surrounding the inner shield; (b) a ring compressed directly against the inner shield. (2) a connector assembly electrically linking the shielded cables and including: a conductive shield housing, an insulator disposed within the shield housing, a conductive busbar contacting the insulator, but not the shield housing.
US09954319B2

An electrical connector assembly includes: a plug connector including an insulative housing, plural conductive terminals arranged in two rows and affixed to the insulative housing, and a metal shell enclosing the insulative housing, the insulative housing comprising a top wall having plural first grooves, and each conductive terminal comprising a fixed portion affixed to a corresponding first groove and exposed to the metal shell; and a receptacle connector including an insulative body, plural mating terminals affixed to the insulative body, and a shielding shell enclosing the insulative body, the shielding shell having a tuber extending inwardly; wherein the tuber resists against a surface of the metal shell when the plug connector is mated with the receptacle connector.
US09954308B2

In a terminal-attached electric wire (1), a resin portion (4) which covers a conductor-exposed portion of a terminal (3) to which a conductor is connected is formed by molding resin in the conductor-exposed portion. In the terminal-attached electric wire (1), the resin portion (4) has a peeling preventive portion (14) which prevents the resin portion (4) from peeing off in a release direction of a die when the die is released.
US09954283B2

An antenna device and an electronic apparatus are provided that enable a smaller casing and more stable communication by effectively using a magnetic shielding effect of a metal plate, regardless of internal structure or relationship of other components in a mobile apparatus. Included therein is an antenna coil (12) bisected into one side section and another side section of a loop antenna (11) along an edge of a magnetic sheet (110) attached to an inner wall surface of a metal body (111) disposed at a distant position relative to an antenna (121) of an opposing external device. The one side section of the loop antenna (11) opposes the magnetic sheet (110) and the other side section of the loop antenna (11) opposes the metal body (111) disposed at the distant position.
US09954278B1

A synthesized-beam transceiver system steers a beam of a two-dimensional antenna array by activating a first subset of antenna elements to orient the beam in a first direction and subsequently activating a second subset of the antenna elements to orient the beam in a different direction. The system also electrically connects antenna elements that are inactive, not in the first subset, or not in the second subset to a reference potential of the array.
US09954267B2

A multiplexer structure includes a passive substrate. The multiplexer structure may also include a high band filter on the passive substrate. The high band filter may include a 2D planar spiral inductor(s) on the passive substrate. The multiplexer structure may further include a low band filter on the passive substrate. The low band filter may include a 3D through-substrate inductor and a first capacitor(s) on the passive substrate. The multiplexer structure may also include a through substrate via(s) coupling the high band filter and the low band filter.
US09954265B2

An antenna coupling device is disclosed. The device includes a first isolator that includes an input port and an output port and a first circulator that includes a first port, a second port, and a third port. The first port of the first circulator is coupled with the output port of the first isolator; and the second port of the first circulator is configured for coupling with a first antenna. The device also includes a second isolator that includes an input port and an output port. The input port of the second isolator is coupled with the third port of the first circulator.
US09954264B2

A cavity filter and a RF communication device including the cavity filter are disclosed. The cavity filter includes a cavity body, a cover plate, a resonance rod, a tuning screw, and a supporting member. The cover plate caps the cavity body to form a resonance cavity. The resonance rod is a tube with an opening at one end, where the opening end is combined with the cover plate or the cavity body. The supporting member is mounted to the cover plate or the cavity body to further secure the tuning screw to the resonance rod, and pushes the tuning screw along an axial direction of the resonance rod against the bottom end of the resonance rod, so as to make the resonance rod undergo an elastic deformation and thus adjust the RF parameters of the cavity filter.
US09954262B2

An air secondary battery has a cathode to which an oxygen-containing gas is supplied, an anode containing an active metal material, and an electrolyte interposed between the cathode and the anode. In a discharge process, metal ions are generated from the active metal material, transferred through the electrolyte, and then reacted and bonded with oxygen molecules in the oxygen-containing gas on the cathode. Thus, the oxygen is reduced to generate a metal oxide. The cathode has a trap portion for confining the metal oxide. For example, the cathode has a first cathode layer and a second cathode layer having different average pore diameters. The first cathode layer located adjacent to the electrolyte and having a smaller average pore diameter acts as the trap portion.
US09954261B2

According to one embodiment, an air battery includes a case, a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a first nonaqueous electrolyte, a second nonaqueous electrolyte, a solid electrolyte layer and a hole. The first nonaqueous electrolyte is permeated into the positive electrode and includes an ionic liquid. The second nonaqueous electrolyte is permeated into the negative electrode and includes an organic solvent. The solid electrolyte layer is provided between the positive electrode and the negative electrode and has lithium ion conductivity.
US09954253B2

Disclosed is an electrolyte comprising (a) a eutectic mixture of an amide compound represented by the following chemical formula 1 or 2 and an ionizable lithium salt; and (b) a nitrile compound. The eutectic mixture and the nitrile compound in the electrolyte contribute to excellent thermal and chemical stability and sufficiently low viscosity and high ion conductivity. The electrolyte can be usefully applied as an electrolyte of electrochemical devices.
US09954250B2

The present invention aims to a liquid electrolyte for a fluoride ion battery having high stability with respect to a fluoride ion. The present invention attains the object by providing a liquid electrolyte for a fluoride ion battery comprising: a fluoride salt; an alkali metal amide salt having an alkali metal cation and an amide anion; and a glyme represented by general formula: R1—O(CH2CH2O)n—R2 (in which R1 and R2 each independently represent an alkyl group with 4 or less carbon atoms or a fluoroalkyl group with 4 or less carbon atoms, and n is in the range of 2 to 10).
US09954245B2

A mandrel for use in a battery assembly may include a positive mandrel portion and a negative mandrel portion. Each of the mandrel portions may include a connector element coupling region and an electrode coupling region. The connector element coupling region may be configured to be coupled to a connector element and the electrode coupling region may be configured to be coupled to an electrode.
US09954244B2

An apparatus is provided to stack a fuel cell stack by pressurizing a separating plate component including a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) sheet component, in which gas diffusion layers are bonded to both surfaces of an MEA, respectively. The apparatus include a component aligning unit connected to a completion end of a component transfer route of a conveyor to align the separating plate component and the MEA sheet component transferred by the conveyor to predetermined positions. A component stacking unit is installed at the component aligning unit side, and is configured to grip the separating plate component and the MEA sheet component and stack the components on a stack guide. A component pressurizing unit is installed at an upper side of a transfer route, through which the stack guide is transferred, and is configured to pressurize the separating plate component and the MEA sheet component stacked on the stack guide.
US09954242B2

A membrane-electrode assembly for a fuel cell, the membrane-electrode assembly including an electrolyte membrane; an edge protective layer located at generally an edge of the electrolyte membrane; and a catalytic layer including a plate portion contacting the electrolyte membrane and a protruding portion protruding from the plate portion and contacting the edge protective layer.
US09954227B2

The present invention relates to lithium secondary batteries and more specifically to positive electrode materials operating at potentials greater than 2.8 V vs. Li+/Li in nonaqueous electrochemical cells. In particular, the invention relates to crystalline nanometric carbon-free olivine-type LiFePO4 powders with enhanced electrochemical properties. A direct precipitation process is described for preparing crystalline LiFePO4powder, comprising the steps of: —providing a water-based mixture having at a pH between 6 and 10, containing a water-miscible boiling point elevation additive, and Li(I), Fe(II) and P(V) as precursor components; —heating said water-based mixture to a temperature less than or equal to its boiling point at atmospheric pressure, thereby precipitating crystalline LiFePO4 powder. An extremely fine 50 to 200 nm particle size is obtained, with a narrow distribution. The fine particle size accounts for excellent high-drain properties without applying any carbon coating. This allows for a significant increase in the active material content of the electrode. The narrow distribution facilitates the electrode manufacturing process and ensures a homogeneous current distribution within the battery.
US09954222B2

Heterogeneous metal hydride (MH) compositions comprising a main region comprising a first metal hydride and a secondary region comprising one or more additional components selected from the group consisting of second metal hydrides, metals, metal alloys and further metal compounds are suitable as anode materials for lithium ion cells. The first metal hydride is for example MgH2. Methods for preparing the composition include coating, mechanical grinding, sintering, heat treatment and quenching techniques.
US09954215B2

The present disclosure relates battery with an integrated power management system and scalable cutoff component, the battery system including a battery housing with first and second voltage output terminals, a plurality of rechargeable battery cells within the battery housing and having first and second voltage terminals; a power management system for generating an external control signal and an internal control signal based upon monitored operating parameters of the plurality of rechargeable battery cells, said external control signal for controlling an external power source and/or an external load, said power management system forming an integral part of the battery system; and a cutoff switch circuit within the battery housing and for making and breaking a conductive path between the first voltage terminal of the plurality of battery cells and the first voltage output terminal of the battery housing in response the internal control signal from the battery management system.
US09954200B2

An organic light-emitting diode display is disclosed. In one aspect, the display includes a display unit located on the substrate and including a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area, and a thin film encapsulation layer sealing the display unit. The display also includes a voltage line formed in the non-display area and surrounding the display area, a metal layer formed of the same material as the voltage line, and a dam surrounding the display area and contacting the voltage line. The voltage line includes a first voltage line disposed in one side of the display area. The first voltage line includes a pair of first end portions and a pair of first connectors respectively connected to the pair of first end portions and extending away from the display area. The metal layer is disposed between the pair of first connectors. The dam contacts the metal layer.
US09954199B2

A display device includes a first substrate that is provided with a display element in a display region, a second substrate that faces the first substrate, and a sealant that bonds the first substrate and the second substrate to each other in a region surrounding the periphery of the display region in a plan view, in which each of the first substrate and the second substrate has a rectangular shape, in which at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate has a corner portion and a recess formed at a position which is close to the corner portion and overlaps at least a part of the region in which the sealant is disposed, and in which the sealant is provided to be in contact with at least a surface far from the display region among inner surfaces of the recess.
US09954198B2

A display device includes a circuit substrate that is formed of a plurality of layers including a light control element; a counter substrate that faces a surface of the circuit substrate on which the light control element is disposed, with a gap therebetween; a seal that is disposed between the circuit substrate and the counter substrate to surround the light control element; and a filler with which a sealed space surrounded by at least the circuit substrate, the counter substrate, and a sealing surface of the seal is filled. The sealing surface includes internal angle corner surfaces formed by an inner surface of the seal, and a convex surface formed adjacent to the corner surfaces from at least one of the circuit substrate, the counter substrate, and the seal.
US09954196B2

A high-quality light emitting device is provided which has a long-lasting light emitting element free from the problems of conventional ones because of a structure that allows less degradation, and a method of manufacturing the light emitting device is provided. After a bank is formed, an exposed anode surface is wiped using a PVA (polyvinyl alcohol)-based porous substance or the like to level the surface and remove dusts from the surface. An insulating film is formed between an interlayer insulating film on a TFT and the anode. Alternatively, plasma treatment is performed on the surface of the interlayer insulating film on the TFT for surface modification.
US09954194B2

An organic light emitting diode display includes a substrate, switching elements on the substrate, at least one barrier member on the substrate, a passivation layer covering the switching elements and including a protection opening exposing the barrier member, pixel electrodes on the passivation layer and connected to the switching elements, auxiliary electrodes separated from and formed from a same layer as the pixel electrodes, an organic emission layer including a pixel emission layer and a common emission layer sequentially formed on the pixel electrodes, and a common electrode including an auxiliary common electrode and a main common electrode sequentially formed on the common emission layer. The common emission layer and the auxiliary common electrode have a common contact hole at a position corresponding to a position of the barrier member. The main common electrode is connected with the auxiliary electrode through the common contact hole.
US09954189B2

Organic metal compounds and organic electroluminescence devices employing the same are provided. The organic metal compound has a chemical structure represented below: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 are independent and can be hydrogen, halogen, C1-8 alkyl or C1-8alkoxy; L can be acetylacetone ligand, picolinic acid ligand, N, N′-diisopropylbenzamidinate, or N, N′-diisopropyl-diisopropyl-guanidinate.
US09954188B2

A hybrid composite nanomaterial comprising a hydrotalcite like layered double hydroxide compound provided with one or more lanthanide elements inserted into the 2D layers and one or more organic-inorganic (DONOR/ACCEPTOR) compounds, or acids or salts thereof, intercalated between them as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 31. The innovative co-axial design for encapsulating the active layer(s) of a hybrid organic-inorganic solar cell, together with the insertion of the hydrotalcite like nanocomposite, for light energy down and up conversion, thereby not only providing the active material more convertible energy, but also providing the opportunity to incorporate in situ the co-axial geometry or envisage a standalone pair of a Photoelectrochemical (PEC) and Fuel cell (FC), to work in parallel to the organic inorganic solar cell, or as standalone respectively.
US09954182B2

The invention is directed to a use of a compound comprising at least one phosphepine ring as matrix material in semiconducting materials, the semiconducting material as well as electronic devices. The phosphepine ring matrix material may be doped by a lithium complex.
US09954170B2

The invention provides a recess structure for print deposition process and manufacturing method thereof. By disposing the dam (2) enclosing the recess (3) as comprising at least two stacked branch dam layers, and increasing the contact angle between the inclined inner circumferential surface of recess (3) enclosed by the branch dam layers and ink in a layer-by-layer manner, to limit height the ink able to climb on the inclined inner circumferential surface of the recess (3), the invention can improve the thickness uniformity of the organic functional layers printed in the recess and the photoelectric properties of organic functional layers. The recess (3) fabricated by the manufacturing method can limit height the ink able to climb on inclined inner circumferential surface of the recess (3) to improve the thickness uniformity of the organic functional layers printed in the recess and the photoelectric properties of organic functional layers.
US09954168B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of first interconnects extending in a first direction, a plurality of second interconnects extending in a second direction, a plurality of stacked films respectively provided between the first interconnects and the second interconnects, each of the plurality of stacked films including a variable resistance film, a first inter-layer insulating film provided in a first region between the stacked films, and a second inter-layer insulating film provided in a second region having a wider width than the first region. The second inter-layer insulating film includes a plurality of protrusions configured to support one portion of the plurality of second interconnects on the second region. A protruding length of the protrusions is less than a stacking height of the stacked films.
US09954162B2

A reactive ionic liquid to be used as an ionic component that is contained in an ion-containing layer in a transducer arranged in contact with a high-resistance layer as a dielectric layer of the transducer, and is restrained from migrating from the ion-containing layer to the high-resistance layer on application of a voltage is provided. The reactive ionic liquid comprises an ion pair that consists of an anion and a cation. (a) The cation (a1) is an imidazolium or quaternary ammonium cation, and (a2) comprises a reactive group that consists of an alkoxysilyl or phosphonate group. (b) The anion (b1) is a sulfonate, sulfonylimide, or nitrobenzoate anion.
US09954159B2

A dielectric elastomer transducer comprising a first and second ends and first and second electrical terminals connected to the respective first and second ends of the dielectric elastomer transducer is provided. A system also includes a substrate, a conductive flexure with one end attached to the substrate and another end configured to receive a load. A first electrical connector pin is attached to the flexure to receive the first electrical terminal and a second electrical connector pin is attached to the substrate to receive the second electrical terminal. Another system also includes a living hinge flexibly coupling two separate substrates, where at least one of the substrates is movable in response to energizing the dielectric elastomer transducer.
US09954155B2

A thermoelectric structure that may be included in a thermoelectric device may include a thin-film structure that may include a plurality of thin-film layers. The thin-film structure may include Tellurium. The thin-film structure may be on a substrate. The substrate may include an oxide, and a buffer layer may be between the substrate and the thin-film structure. The thermoelectric structure may be manufactured via depositing material ablated from a target onto the substrate. Some material may react with the substrate to form the buffer layer, and thin film layers may be formed on the buffer layer. The thin film layers may be removed from the substrate and provided on a separate substrate. Removing the thin-film layers from the substrate may include removing the thin-film layers from the buffer layer.
US09954153B2

A light-emitting device includes a substrate; a light-emitting element mounted on the substrate; a first light-transmissive member bonded to an upper surface of the light-emitting element via an adhesive; and a second light-transmissive member placed on an upper surface of the first light-transmissive member. In a plan view of the light-emitting device, a peripheral edge of a lower surface of the first light-transmissive member is positioned more inward than a peripheral edge of the upper surface of the light-emitting element. The adhesive extends from the upper surface of the light-emitting element to a lower surface of the second light-transmissive member, the adhesive covers a side surface of the first light-transmissive member, and the adhesive is separated from the substrate.
US09954152B2

A method for producing a semiconductor light-emitting device involves applying a silicone resin composition to a surface of a semiconductor light-emitting element and forming an encapsulating portion covering the surface of the light-emitting element by heat curing the applied resin composition. The silicone resin composition contains at least 60% by mass of a silicone resin in which the constituent silicon atoms are substantially only silicon atoms to which three oxygen atoms are bonded. The heat curing satisfies 5
US09954149B2

To provide an illumination method and a light-emitting device which are capable of achieving, under an indoor illumination environment where illuminance is around 5000 lx or lower when performing detailed work and generally around 1500 lx or lower, a color appearance or an object appearance as perceived by a person, will be as natural, vivid, highly visible, and comfortable as though perceived outdoors in a high-illuminance environment, regardless of scores of various color rendition metric. Light emitted from the light-emitting device illuminates an object such that light measured at a position of the object satisfies specific requirements. A feature of the light-emitting device is that light emitted by the light-emitting device in a main radiant direction satisfies specific requirements.
US09954148B2

A light-emitting apparatus that improves the use efficiency of emission light from light-emitting elements by an optical element for light collection and improves the light-emitting intensity in front of the apparatus without increasing the size of the apparatus, and its manufacturing method are provided. The light-emitting apparatus includes light-emitting elements, a substrate on which the light-emitting elements are mounted in a mounted region and a pair of electrodes for supplying power to the light-emitting elements is arranged around the mounted region, a sealing resin that contains a phosphor excited by emission light from the light-emitting elements and seals the light-emitting elements on the mounted region, and an optical element that is placed to cover the sealing resin with a lower end in contact with a flat region between the pair of electrodes and the sealing resin on the substrate and collects light emitted from the light-emitting elements through the sealing resin.
US09954146B2

The present invention provides a red-light emitting phosphor having high luminous efficacy and also a manufacturing method thereof. The phosphor is a red-light emitting phosphor mainly comprising potassium fluorosilicate and having a basic surface composition represented by the formula (A): KaSiFb. The disclosed phosphor is characterized by being activated by manganese and also characterized in that the amount of manganese on the surface is not more than 0.2 mol % based on the total amount of all the elements on the surface. This phosphor can be manufactured by washing with a weak acid a product obtained by placing a silicon source to react in contact with a reaction solution containing potassium permanganate.
US09954139B2

This disclosure is related to a manufacturing method for a plurality of photovoltaic cells comprising the steps of: obtaining a plurality of photovoltaic cells placed at a first distance from each other; attaching a stretching material to the plurality of photovoltaic cells; and stretching the stretching material such that the plurality of photovoltaic cells result at a second distance from each other, wherein the second distance is greater that the first distance.
US09954138B2

An LED element is provided with: a first semiconductor layer formed of an n-type nitride semiconductor; a second semiconductor layer formed on top of the first semiconductor layer and formed of quaternary mixed crystals of Alx1Gay1Inz1N (0
US09954137B2

Photodetector structures and methods of manufacture are provided. The method includes forming undercuts about detector material formed on a substrate. The method further includes encapsulating the detector to form airgaps from the undercuts. The method further includes annealing the detector material causing expansion of the detector material into the airgaps.
US09954132B2

A radiation detector is provided including a cathode, an anode, and a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer has opposed first and second surfaces. The cathode is mounted to the first surface, and the anode is mounted to the second surface. The semiconductor wafer is configured to be biased by a voltage between the cathode and the anode to generate an electrical field in the semiconductor wafer and to generate electrical signals responsive to absorbed radiation. The electrical field has an intensity having at least one local maximum disposed proximate to a corresponding at least one of the first surface or second surface.
US09954125B2

Various examples are provided for pillar array photo detectors. In one example, among others, a photo detection system includes an array of substantially aligned photo sensitive nanorods extending between first and second electrodes, and a plurality of resistance monitoring circuits coupled at different positions about the circumference of the electrodes. In another example, a photo detector includes first and second electrodes, and an array of substantially aligned photo sensitive nanorods extending between the substantially parallel electrodes. Light passing through an electrode excites electrons in the photo sensitive nanorods that are illuminated by the light. In another example, a method includes illuminating a portion of a photo detector including an array of substantially aligned photo sensitive nanorods with a light spot, obtaining resistance measurements at a plurality of locations around the array, and determining a position of the light spot on the photo detector based upon the resistance measurements.
US09954122B2

A solar cell apparatus according to the embodiment includes the steps of a support substrate; a back electrode layer on the support substrate; a light absorbing layer on the back electrode layer; a buffer layer on the light absorbing layer; and a front electrode layer on the buffer layer, wherein the back electrode layer comprises: a first electrode part having a first thickness; and a second electrode part adjacent to the first electrode part and having a second thickness less than the first thickness. A method for fabricating a solar cell apparatus according to the embodiment includes the steps of forming a back electrode layer on a substrate; etching the back electrode layer; forming a light absorbing layer on the back electrode layer; forming a buffer layer on the light absorbing layer; and forming a front electrode layer on the buffer layer.
US09954119B2

The present disclosure relates to a Zener diode including a Zener diode junction formed in a semiconductor substrate along a plane parallel to the surface of the substrate, and positioned between a an anode region having a first conductivity type and a cathode region having a second conductivity type, the cathode region extending from the surface of the substrate. A first conducting region is configured to generate a first electric field perpendicular to the plane of the Zener diode junction upon application of a first voltage to the first conducting region, and a second conducting region is configured to generate a second electric field along the plane of the Zener diode junction upon application of a second voltage to the second conducting region.
US09954115B2

A highly reliable semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device is manufactured with a high yield, so that high productivity is achieved. In a semiconductor device including a transistor in which a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer are provided over and in contact with an oxide semiconductor film, entry of impurities and formation of oxygen vacancies in an end face portion of the oxide semiconductor film are suppressed. This can prevent fluctuation in the electric characteristics of the transistor which is caused by formation of a parasitic channel in the end face portion of the oxide semiconductor film.
US09954112B2

A semiconductor device includes a first oxide insulating layer over a first insulating layer, an oxide semiconductor layer over the first oxide insulating layer, a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxide semiconductor layer, a second insulating layer over the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer, a second oxide insulating layer over the oxide semiconductor layer, a gate insulating layer over the second oxide insulating layer, a gate electrode layer over the gate insulating layer, and a third insulating layer over the second insulating layer, the second oxide insulating layer, the gate insulating layer, and the gate electrode layer. A side surface portion of the second insulating layer is in contact with the second oxide insulating layer. The gate electrode layer includes a first region and a second region. The first region has a width larger than that of the second region.
US09954110B2

Provided is an EL display device which is provided with a power supply line driver circuit including a transistor having capability in supplying a large amount of current over an insulating substrate where a pixel portion is formed. An active matrix EL display device includes a plurality of pixels, a plurality of signal lines, a plurality of scan lines, and a plurality of power supply lines over an insulating substrate; a transistor formed using an oxide semiconductor with a field-effect mobility of at least higher than or equal to 80 cm2/Vs, preferably higher than or equal to 120 cm2/Vs over the insulating substrate; and a power supply line driver circuit including the transistor as a component.
US09954109B2

A vertical transistor includes a gate structure interposed between a proximate spacer doped with a first dopant-type and a distal spacer doped with the first dopant-type. The proximate spacer is formed on an upper surface of a semiconductor substrate. At least one channel region extends vertically from the proximate doping source layer to the distal doping source layer. A proximate S/D extension region is adjacent the proximate spacer and a distal S/D extension region is adjacent the distal spacer. The proximate and distal S/D extension regions include dopants that match the first dopant-type of the proximate and distal doping sources.
US09954103B1

A bilayer of silicon dioxide and silicon nitride is formed on exposed surfaces of at least one semiconductor fin having a bottom source/drain region located at the footprint, and on each side, of the at least one semiconductor fin. An upper surface of each horizontal portion of the silicon nitride layer is then carbonized, and thereafter non-carbonized vertical portions of the silicon nitride layer are removed. Next, the carbonized portions of the silicon nitride layer are removed, and thereafter the vertical portions of the silicon dioxide layer are removed from sidewalls of the at least one semiconductor fin utilizing each remaining portion of the silicon nitride layer as an etch mask A bottom spacer structure is provided on each bottom source/drain region in which each bottom spacer structure includes a remaining portion of the silicon dioxide layer and the remaining portion of the silicon nitride layer.
US09954101B2

A semiconductor device is provided that includes a first of a source region and a drain region comprised of a first semiconductor material, wherein an etch stop layer of a second semiconductor material present within the first of the source region and the drain region. A channel semiconductor material is present atop the first of the source region and the drain region. A second of the source and the drain region is present atop the channel semiconductor material. The semiconductor device may be a vertically orientated fin field effect transistor or a vertically orientated tunnel field effect transistor.
US09954094B2

In order to improve the performance of a semiconductor device, a p type impurity is ion implanted into an area of an n type semiconductor film that is epitaxially grown over a p type semiconductor substrate, and the p type impurity is not ion implanted into an area of the n type semiconductor film, which is adjacent to the area in which the p type impurity is ion implanted. In this way, a p− type drift layer comprised of the area in which the p type impurity is introduced, as well as an n− type semiconductor region comprised of the area in which the p type impurity is not introduced are formed.
US09954092B2

A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes a nitride semiconductor layer and an insulating layer including an oxide film or an oxynitride film that contacts with the nitride semiconductor layer. The oxide film or the oxynitride film includes at least one impurity selected from the group consisting of boron (B), gallium (Ga), aluminum (Al), and indium (In) and carbon (C). A first peak of a concentration distribution of the at least one impurity in the insulating layer is present in the oxide film or the oxynitride film. A second peak of a concentration distribution of carbon in the insulating layer is present in the oxide film or the oxynitride film. A distance between the first peak and the nitride semiconductor layer is equal to or less than 5 nm, and a distance between the second peak and the nitride semiconductor layer is equal to or less than 5 nm.
US09954089B2

There are disclosed herein various implementations of a semiconductor component including a protrusion propagation body. The semiconductor component includes a substrate, a III-Nitride intermediate stack including the protrusion propagation body situated over the substrate, a III-Nitride buffer layer situated over the group III-V intermediate stack, and a III-Nitride device fabricated over the group III-V buffer layer. The protrusion propagation body includes at least a protrusion generating layer and two or more protrusion spreading multilayers.
US09954076B2

A semiconductor device includes first and second FETs including first and second channel regions, respectively. The first and second FETs include first and second gate structures, respectively. The first and second gate structures include first and second gate dielectric layers formed over the first and second channel regions and first and second gate electrode layers formed over the first and second gate dielectric layers. The first and second gate structures are aligned along a first direction. The first gate structure and the second gate structure are separated by a separation plug made of an insulating material. A width of the separation plug in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction is smaller than a width of the first gate structure in the second direction, when viewed in plan view.
US09954067B2

A semiconductor device includes a gate structure on a substrate; a protection layer on the gate structure; a source/drain region adjacent to the gate structure; and an interconnect plug on the source/drain region. The gate structure includes a gate electrode including a top surface; and a sidewall spacer interfacing a sidewall of the gate electrode. The protection layer covers at least a first portion of the top surface and the sidewall spacer. The protection layer is interposed between the interconnect plug and the gate electrode.
US09954063B2

A method of making a field-effect transistor device includes providing a substrate with a fin stack having: a first sacrificial material layer on the substrate, a first semiconductive material layer on the first sacrificial material layer, and a second sacrificial material layer on the first semiconductive material layer. The method includes inserting a dummy gate having a second thickness, a dummy void, and an outer end that is coplanar to the second face. The method includes inserting a first spacer having a first thickness and a first void, and having an outer end that is coplanar to the first face. The method includes etching the first sacrificial material layer in the second plane and the second sacrificial material layer in the fourth plane. The method includes removing, at least partially, the first spacer. The method also includes inserting a second spacer having the first thickness.
US09954060B2

The present invention provides a method for aligning nanowires which can be used to fabricate devices comprising nanowires that has well-defined and controlled orientation independently on what substrate they are arranged on. The method comprises the steps of providing nanowires and applying an electrical field over the population of nanowires, whereby an electrical dipole moment of the nanowires makes them align along the electrical field. Preferably the nanowires are dispersed in a fluid during the steps of providing and aligning. When aligned, the nanowires can be fixated, preferably be deposition on a substrate. The electrical field can be utilized in the deposition. Pn-junctions or any net charge introduced in the nanowires may assist in the aligning and deposition process. The method is suitable for continuous processing, e.g. in a roll-to-roll process, on practically any substrate materials and not limited to substrates suitable for particle assisted growth.
US09954052B2

A semiconductor device is provided as follows. A substrate includes an NMOS region and a PMOS region. A first trench and a second trench are disposed in the NMOS region. A first buffer layer is disposed in the first trench and the second trench. A stressor is disposed in the first trench and the second trench and disposed on the first buffer layer. A first channel region is disposed between the first trench and the second trench and disposed in the substrate. A first gate electrode is disposed on the first channel area. A third trench is disposed in the PMOS region. A second buffer layer is disposed in the third trench. A second channel area is disposed in the third trench, disposed on the second buffer layer, and has a different semiconductor layer from the substrate. A second gate electrode is disposed on the second channel area.
US09954043B2

The present disclosure relates to a flexible organic light emitting diode display having an edge bending structure. The organic light emitting diode display according to an embodiment includes a flexible plate including a display area, a non-display area surrounding the display area, and an edge bending area near the display area in the non-display area; a first line disposed in the non-display area on the flexible plate; a first buffer layer covering the first line; a second line on the first buffer layer in the non-display area; a second buffer layer covering the second line; gate elements disposed on the second buffer layer; an intermediate insulating layer covering the gate elements; data elements, and a connecting electrode connecting the first line to the second line on the intermediate insulating layer; and a plurality of trenches disposed at the edge bending area and penetrating the intermediate insulating layer, the second buffer layer and the first buffer layer.
US09954040B2

Provided are an organic light-emitting display apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same. The organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a display substrate; a thin film transistor (TFT) on the display substrate; an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) electrically connected to the TFT and including a first electrode on sub-pixels of the display substrate, an intermediate layer on the first electrode, and a second electrode on the intermediate layer; a pixel-defining layer which includes an opening exposing at least a portion of the first electrode and defines each sub-pixel; and a sealing substrate covering the OLED, the intermediate layer including a plurality of stacked layers, and a cross-sectional width of the intermediate layer gradually decreasing in a direction perpendicular to the display substrate.
US09954037B2

The present disclosure discloses a display device, a method of manufacturing the same, a display method, and a wearable device. The display includes a first base substrate; a low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) back plate formed on the first base substrate and provided with a switch control circuit; and a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) microlens array formed at a non-display region of the first base substrate, wherein the MEMS microlens array is configured to reflect light emitted by a light-emitting structure at the display region, and the switch control circuit is configured to control the MEMS microlens array to be turned on and off; and the light-emitting structure formed at the display region of the first base substrate.
US09954036B2

A display device includes plural unit areas each of which includes low definition pixels as sub-pixels larger than a specified standard and high definition pixels as sub-pixels smaller than the specified standard and which are regularly arranged. The low definition pixels include a blue pixel and a red pixel, and the high definition pixels include a white pixel and a green pixel.
US09954035B2

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) array substrate, a display device and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The array substrate includes: a substrate and pixel units disposed on the substrate. Each pixel unit includes a plurality of subpixel units; each subpixel unit includes a composite electrode, an organic material functional layer and a first electrode sequentially disposed on the substrate; thicknesses of the composite electrodes of different subpixel units are different; and the composite electrode, the organic material functional layer and the first electrode in a same subpixel unit constitute a microcavity structure.
US09954027B2

A semiconductor device having a stacked structure formed by stacking a thinned first silicon substrate and a second silicon substrate supporting the first silicon substrate, wherein the first silicon substrate includes a first surface with a crystal surface orientation of (100) or (110) and a second surface opposite to the first surface, the second silicon substrate includes a third surface and a fourth surface that is opposite to the third surface and from which a silicon surface with a crystal surface orientation (111) is exposed, and wherein the semiconductor device is formed by etching silicon with a predetermined thickness in a direction from the first surface toward the second surface to make the first silicon substrate to be thinned, after bonding the first silicon substrate and the second silicon substrate in a state where the second surface and the third surface facing the second surface are bonded with each other.
US09954026B2

An imaging apparatus includes a pixel configured to generate a signal in accordance with an incident light by a photoelectric conversion; a differential amplifier including a first input terminal to which a voltage based on the signal from the pixel is input, and a second input terminal to which a reference voltage is input; a current supply unit configured to supply a bias current to the differential amplifier; and a comparing unit configured to compare the voltage of the first input terminal of the differential amplifier with a threshold voltage, and configured to output a control signal based on a comparison result to the current supply unit, and the current supply unit changes a magnitude of the bias current supplied to the differential amplifier in accordance with the control signal input from the comparing unit.
US09954020B1

A high-dynamic-range color image sensor includes (a) a silicon substrate having a photosensitive pixel array with a plurality of first pixels and a plurality of second pixels, (b) a color filter layer disposed on the silicon substrate and including at least (i) a plurality of first color filters positioned above a first subset of each of the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels and configured to selectively transmit light of a first color and (ii) a plurality of second color filters positioned above a second subset of each of the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of second pixels and configured to selectively transmit light of a second color, and (c) a dynamic-range extending layer disposed on the color filter layer and including grey filters disposed above the second plurality of pixels to attenuate light propagating toward the second plurality of pixels.
US09954019B2

A complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor is provided. The CMOS image sensor may include an epitaxial layer having a first conductivity type and having first and second surfaces, a first device isolation layer extending from the first surface to the second surface to define first and second pixel regions, a well impurity layer of a second conductivity type formed adjacent to the first surface and formed in the epitaxial layer of each of the first and second pixel regions, and a second device isolation layer formed in the well impurity layer in each of the first and second pixel regions to define first and second active portions spaced apart from each other in each of the first and second pixel regions.
US09954010B2

To provide a circuit used for a shift register or the like. The basic configuration includes first to fourth transistors and four wirings. The power supply potential VDD is supplied to the first wiring and the power supply potential VSS is supplied to the second wiring. A binary digital signal is supplied to each of the third wiring and the fourth wiring. An H level of the digital signal is equal to the power supply potential VDD, and an L level of the digital signal is equal to the power supply potential VSS. There are four combinations of the potentials of the third wiring and the fourth wiring. Each of the first transistor to the fourth transistor can be turned off by any combination of the potentials. That is, since there is no transistor that is constantly on, deterioration of the characteristics of the transistors can be suppressed.
US09954004B2

The degree of integration of a semiconductor device is enhanced and the storage capacity per unit area is increased. The semiconductor device includes a first transistor provided in a semiconductor substrate and a second transistor provided over the first transistor. In addition, an upper portion of a semiconductor layer of the second transistor is in contact with a wiring, and a lower portion thereof is in contact with a gate electrode of the first transistor. With such a structure, the wiring and the gate electrode of the first transistor can serve as a source electrode and a drain electrode of the second transistor, respectively. Accordingly, the area occupied by the semiconductor device can be reduced.
US09954003B2

A semiconductor device with high design flexibility is provided. A first transistor and a second transistor having electrical characteristics different from those of the first transistor are provided over the same layer without significantly increasing the number of manufacturing steps. For example, semiconductor materials with different electron affinities are used for a semiconductor layer in which a channel of the first transistor is formed and a semiconductor layer in which a channel of the second transistor is formed. This allows the threshold voltages of the first transistor and the second transistor to differ from each other. Forming a gate electrode using a damascene process enables miniaturization and high density of the transistors. Furthermore, a highly-integrated semiconductor device is provided.
US09954001B2

A structure for extracting interconnect parasitic in a ring oscillator is disclosed. The ring oscillator comprises multiple logical units connected in head to tail series. The structure comprises parasitic resistance sub-structures and/or parasitic capacitance sub-structures each connected to a corresponding logical unit. The structure can be used to determine errors in extracting parasitic resistance of polysilicon interconnects and metal interconnects, and/or errors in extracting parasitic capacitance between the polysilicon interconnects and between the metal interconnects. Therefore, the parasitic extraction error can be calibrated accordingly to obtain more precise circuit simulation results and more accurate device model and BEOL model.
US09953999B2

In one embodiment, the semiconductor device includes a stack of alternating first interlayer insulating layers and gate electrode layers on a substrate. At least one of the gate electrode layers has a first portion and a second portion. The second portion forms an end portion of the at least one gate electrode layer, and a bottom surface of the second portion is at a lower level than a bottom surface of the first portion. A contact plug extends from the second portion.
US09953997B2

Disclosed is a semiconductor memory device including stacks on a substrate, a vertical channel portion connected to the substrate through each of the stacks, and a separation pattern disposed between the stacks. Each of the stacks may include a plurality of gate electrodes stacked on the substrate and insulating patterns interposed between the gate electrodes. Each of the gate electrodes may include a first metal pattern, which is disposed between the insulating patterns to define a recess region recessed toward the vertical channel portion, and a second metal pattern disposed in the recess region. The first and second metal patterns may contain the same metallic material and may have mean grain sizes different from each other.
US09953996B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a substrate, a stacked body, a semiconductor pillar, and a charge storage film. The stacked body is provided on the substrate. The stacked body includes a plurality of first insulating films and a plurality of electrode films alternately stacked one layer by one layer. The semiconductor pillar is provided inside the stacked body and extends in a stacking direction of the stacked body. The charge storage film is provided between the semiconductor pillar and each of the electrode films. The plurality of first insulating films include a first portion surrounding the semiconductor pillar and a second portion provided between the first portion and the semiconductor pillar, the second portion having a dielectric constant higher than a dielectric constant of the first portion.
US09953993B2

A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of word lines stacked in a first direction; a semiconductor pillar extending through the plurality of word lines in the first direction; a source line electrically connected to the semiconductor pillar; and a transistor arranged in the first direction with the plurality of word lines. The transistor includes a gate electrode, source and drain regions positioned on both sides of the gate electrode respectively. The source line is positioned between the transistor and the plurality of word lines, and is electrically connected to one of the source and drain regions.
US09953988B2

A static random-access memory (SRAM) cell array forming method includes the following steps. A plurality of fin structures are formed on a substrate, wherein the fin structures include a plurality of active fins and a plurality of dummy fins, each PG (pass-gate) FinFET shares at least one of the active fins with a PD (pull-down) FinFET, and at least one dummy fin is disposed between the two active fins having two adjacent pull-up FinFETs thereover in a static random-access memory cell. At least a part of the dummy fins are removed. The present invention also provides a static random-access memory (SRAM) cell array formed by said method.
US09953981B2

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: forming bit line structures spaced apart from each other by first groove disposed in first direction, extending in first direction, and spaced apart from each other in second direction perpendicular to first direction, on substrate in which word line is buried; forming multilayer spacer on both sidewalls of bit line structure; forming sacrificial layer to fill first groove; forming second grooves spaced apart from each other in first direction and second direction, by patterning sacrificial layer; etching outermost spacer of multilayer spacer located in second groove; forming first supplementary spacer in second groove; forming insulating layer to fill second groove; and forming third grooves spaced apart from each other in first direction and second direction, on both sides of first supplementary spacer, by removing sacrificial layer and insulating layer.
US09953979B2

A semiconductor device includes a gate stack. The semiconductor device also includes a wrap-around contact arranged around and contacting substantially all surface area of a regrown source/drain region of the semiconductor device proximate to the gate stack.
US09953967B2

An integrated circuit with DSL borders perpendicular to the transistor gates primarily inside the nwell and with DSL borders parallel to the transistor gates primarily outside the nwell. A method for forming an integrated circuit with DSL borders perpendicular to the transistor gates primarily inside the nwell and with DSL borders parallel to the transistor gates primarily outside the nwell.
US09953966B2

A semiconductor device having a semiconductor substrate is provided. The semiconductor substrate includes an integrated circuit, which includes multi-layer structured metallization and inter-metal dielectric. The integrated circuit is below a passivation, which is over a metal structure. The metal structure includes a metal pad and an under bumper metallurgy, which is over and aligned with the metal pad. The metal pad is electrically connected to the integrated circuit, and the under bumper metallurgy is configured to electrically connect to a conductive component of another semiconductor device. The integrated circuit further includes a conductive trace, which is below and aligned with the metal structure. The conductive trace is connected to a power source such that an electromagnetic field is generated at the conductive trace when an electric current from the power source passes through the conductive trace.
US09953959B1

A metal protected fan-out cavity enables assembly of a package-on-package (PoP) integrated circuit while reducing PoP solder spacing and overall z-height. A horizontal fan-out conductor provides a contact between a die contact and a lower package via. A metal protection layer may be used during manufacture to protect the fan-out conductor, such as providing a laser stop during laser skiving. The metal protection layer materials and an etching solution may be selected to allow for subsequent removal via etching while leaving the fan-out conductor intact. The metal protection layer and fan-out conductor materials may also be selected to reduce or eliminate formation of an intermetallic compound (IMC) between the metal protection layer and the fan-out conductor.
US09953953B2

Method for assembling includes: providing a system to transfer wire element from wire element supply device to wire element storage device; stretching wire element between supply and storage devices by tensioning; providing an individualized reservoir and separated chip elements, each including a connection terminal including a top with free access facing in which chip element is not present; transporting the chip element from reservoir to an assembly area between supply and storage devices in which wire element is tightly stretched in assembly area; fixing electrically conducting wire element to chip element connection terminal in assembly area; and adding electrically insulating material on chip element after latter has been fixed to wire element forming a cover, the addition of material being performed on surface of chip element including connection terminal fixed to wire element to cover at least the connection terminal and portion of wire element at fixing point of latter.
US09953944B2

A power module is disclosed, including a power module substrate in which a circuit layer is arranged on one surface of an insulating layer; and a semiconductor element that is bonded onto the circuit layer, in which a copper layer composed of copper or a copper alloy is provided on a surface of the circuit layer to be bonded to the semiconductor element, a solder layer formed by using a solder material between the circuit layer and the semiconductor element is provided, an alloy layer containing Sn as a main component, 0.5% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less of Ni, and 30% by mass or more and 40% by mass or less of Cu at an interface of the solder layer with the circuit layer is formed, and the coverage of the alloy layer at the interface is 85% or more.
US09953943B2

A semiconductor apparatus includes a plurality of dies. Any one of the dies may be set to a first rank and another of the dies may be set to a second rank. One or more of the first and second ranks may be configured to output any one of an even-numbered byte and an odd-numbered byte through an input/output stage at a timing earlier than the other one, according to a read command.
US09953940B2

A method of manufacturing a bond pad structure may include depositing an aluminum-copper (Al—Cu) layer over a dielectric layer; and depositing an aluminum-chromium (Al—Cr) layer directly over the Al—Cu layer.
US09953937B2

An electronic device includes a structure including a first resin layer, an electronic component buried in the first resin layer, a reflector element for antenna disposed on the first resin layer, and an insulating layer disposed on the reflector element; a semiconductor device; a second resin layer in which the structure and the semiconductor device are buried; and a radiating element of the antenna, the radiating element being disposed on the insulating layer and electrically coupled the semiconductor device.
US09953929B2

Discussed generally herein are methods and devices including or providing an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. A device can include a substrate including electrical connection circuitry therein, grounding circuitry on, or at least partially in the substrate, the grounding circuitry at least partially exposed from a surface of the substrate, a die electrically connected to the connection circuitry and the grounding circuitry, the die on the substrate, and a conductive foil or conductive film surrounding the die, the conductive foil or conductive film electrically connected to the grounding circuitry.
US09953922B2

A multilayer semiconductor device includes first wirings extending in a first direction adjacent to each other in a second direction. Dummy wirings are arranged between the first wirings and a second wiring at crossing points between first virtual linear lines extending in a third direction and second virtual linear lines extending in a fourth direction. The dummy wirings have a first dummy wiring, a second dummy wiring, a third dummy wiring, a fourth dummy wiring, and a fifth dummy wiring. When the dummy wirings are rotated around a center of the first dummy wiring through 90 degrees, centers of the second, third, fourth, and fifth dummy wirings are aligned with centers of the fourth, fifth, third, and second dummy wirings prior to being rotated.
US09953919B2

An eFuse structure of a semiconductor device may include a first metal formed at a first level on a substrate, a second metal formed at a second level between the first level and the substrate, a third metal formed at a third level between the second level and the substrate, a first via connecting the first metal to the second metal, and a second via connecting the second metal to the third metal. The first metal may include a first portion extending in a first direction, a second portion extending in the first direction and being adjacent to the first portion, and a third portion connecting the first portion to the second portion. A first distance between the first portion and the second portion may be greater than a width of the second portion in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
US09953918B2

A method includes depositing a first hard mask layer on a first substrate; lithographically patterning and etching the first substrate to form a semiconductor link connected to an anode semiconductor region and a cathode semiconductor region; removing the first hard mask layer from the first substrate; depositing a second hard mask layer on the first substrate; patterning a photoresist on the first substrate and etching to form an opening in the semiconductor link; etching to remove portions of the second hard mask layer to expose a portion of a sidewall of the semiconductor link; removing the photoresist from the first substrate and the semiconductor link; and recessing the sidewalls of the semiconductor link forming first anti-fuse tip and second anti-fuse tip to form an anti-fuse with an opening between the first and second anti-fuse tips.
US09953911B2

A method includes attaching a semiconductor structure on a carrier, depositing a molding compound layer over the carrier, wherein the semiconductor structure is embedded in the molding compound layer, exposing a first photo-sensitive material layer and a second photo-sensitive material layer to light, developing the first photo-sensitive material layer and the second photo-sensitive material layer to form an opening having a first portion in the first photo-sensitive material layer and a second portion in the second photo-sensitive material layer, wherein a width of the second portion is greater than a width of the first portion, filling the opening with a conductive material to form a via in the first photo-sensitive material layer and a redistribution layer in the second photo-sensitive material layer and forming a bump over the redistribution layer.
US09953908B2

A barrier layer is formed over electrically conductive contact pads on a substrate such as a wafer. A photoresist layer is applied over the barrier layer, and openings in the photoresist layer are filled with solder to form solder bumps. The barrier layer may be removed from within the openings prior to filling the openings with solder. The process is applicable to fine pitch architectures and chip size packaging substrates. The photoresist layer and portions of the barrier layer outside of the openings are removed following solder fill.
US09953900B2

Device structures involving a conductor-filled via or trench, methods of forming such device structures, and methods of operating such device structures. A doped region is formed in the substrate. An opening, such as a via or trench, is formed that extends through the doped region and into a portion of the substrate beneath the doped region. A conductive plug in formed in the opening to provide the conductor-filled via or trench. The opening is positioned and dimensioned relative to a position and dimensions of the doped region to divide the doped region into a first section and a second section that is disconnected from the first section by the opening.
US09953899B2

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to heat transfer arrays, cold plates including heat transfer arrays along with inlets and outlets, and thermal management systems including cold-plates, pumps and heat exchangers. These devices and systems may be used to provide cooling of semiconductor devices and particularly such devices that produce high heat concentrations. The heat transfer arrays may include microjets, microchannels, fins, and even integrated microjets and fins.
US09953895B2

A method of manufacturing a heat pipe, including the steps of: forming in a substrate a cylindrical opening provided with a plurality of ring-shaped recessed radially extending around a central axis of the opening; arranging in the recesses separate ring-shaped strips made of a material catalyzing the growth of carbon nanotubes; and growing carbon nanotubes in the opening from said ring-shaped strips.
US09953887B2

In situ wafer metrology is conducted to reliably obtain deposition thickness for each successive layer in a multi-layer deposition. A wafer to be processed is positioned in a processing station of a deposition process tool, the process tool having a reflectometer metrology apparatus for optically determining thickness of a deposited layer on the wafer. Prior to commencing a deposition, the wafer is aligned in the processing station such that an optical metrology spot generated by the reflectometer metrology apparatus will align with an unpatterned central region of a die on a wafer during a deposition conducted on the wafer in the tool. Thereafter, the thickness of a deposited layer on the wafer is reliably measured and monitored in situ.
US09953884B2

In one example, a device includes a p-type field effect transistor region and n-type field effect transistor region. The p-type field effect transistor region includes at least one fin including strained germanium. The n-type field effect transistor region also includes at least one fin including strained germanium.
US09953882B2

Methods for forming a NW with multiple devices having alternate channel materials and resulting devices are disclosed. Embodiments include forming a first stack of semiconductor layers including a first doped Si layer, a first channel layer, and a second doped Si layer, respectively, on a Si substrate; forming a second stack including a first doped SiGe layer, a second channel layer, and a second doped SiGe layer, respectively, on the first stack; forming a vertical nanowire structure by directional etching, along a three-dimensional plane, the second and first stacks, respectively, down to an upper surface of the Si substrate; forming lower S/D regions and a lower gate-stack surrounding the first stack; forming upper S/D regions and an upper gate-stack surrounding the second stack; and forming contacts to the lower S/D regions, a first gate electrode, an upper S/D region, an upper gate electrode, and the second doped SiGe layer.
US09953881B2

The present disclosure provides a method, which includes forming a first fin structure and a second fin structure over a substrate, which has a first trench positioned between the first and second fin structures. The method also includes forming a first dielectric layer within the first trench, recessing the first dielectric layer to expose a portion of the first fin structure, forming a first capping layer over the exposed portion of the first fin structure and the recessed first dielectric layer in the first trench, forming a second dielectric layer over the first capping layer in the first trench while the first capping layer covers the exposed portion of the first fin feature and removing the first capping layer from the first fin structure.
US09953874B2

An embodiment is a method including forming a multi-layer stack over a substrate, the multi-layer stack including alternating first layers and second layers, patterning the multi-layer stack to form a fin, forming an isolation region surrounding the fin, an upper portion of the fin extending above a top surface of the isolation region, forming a gate stack on sidewalls and a top surface of the upper portion of the fin, the gate stack defining a channel region of the fin, and removing the first layers from the fin outside of the gate stack, where after the removing the first layers, the channel region of the fin includes both the first layers and the second layers.
US09953868B2

A method of forming a conductive structure includes forming a first opening and a second opening in a dielectric layer on a substrate, wherein the first opening is narrower than the second opening. The method further includes depositing a diffusion barrier layer to line the first opening and the second opening. The method further includes forming a metal layer over the diffusion barrier layer to fill at least portions of the first opening and the second opening, wherein a maximum thickness of the metal layer in the first opening is greater than a maximum thickness of the metal layer in the second opening.
US09953851B2

Embodiments described herein relate to apparatus and methods of thermal processing. More specifically, apparatus and methods described herein relate to laser thermal treatment of semiconductor substrates by increasing the uniformity of energy distribution in an image at a surface of a substrate.
US09953847B2

A semiconductor structure includes a molding compound, a conductive plug, and a cover. The conductive plug is in the molding compound. The cover is over a top meeting joint between the conductive plug and the molding compound. The semiconductor structure further has a dielectric. The dielectric is on the cover and the molding compound.
US09953846B2

A method for fabricating a semiconductor chip is disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes providing a carrier, providing a plurality of semiconductor chips, the semiconductor chips each including a first main face and a second main face opposite to the first main face and side faces connecting the first and second main faces, placing the semiconductor chips on the carrier with the second main faces facing the carrier, and applying an encapsulation material to the side faces of the semiconductor chips.
US09953836B2

A fin field device structure and method for forming the same are provided. The FinFET device structure includes a substrate and a fin structure extending from the substrate. The FinFET device structure also includes an anti-punch through implant (APT) region formed in the fin structure and a barrier layer formed on the APT region. The barrier layer has a middle portion and a peripheral portion, and the middle portion is higher than the peripheral portion. The FinFET device structure further includes an epitaxial layer formed on the barrier layer.
US09953828B2

A frame and a mask assembly having the same. The frame supports both ends of each unit mask, each unit mask applying a tensile force in a first direction. The frame includes a frame main body part forming an opening exposing the unit mask, and a first through hole formed by passing through the frame main body part.
US09953824B2

A lamp comprising an envelope (1) of quartz glass surrounding the light source of the lamp is described, wherein an electric conductor (8), for example, an electrode rod, is at least partly embedded in the quartz glass material of the envelope (1). At the conductor (8) is provided with protrusions (15) forming a brush-like structure at this surface. The protrusions (15) preferably have an average length of between 10 μm and 35 μm.
US09953815B2

A high-voltage waveform generator comprising a power source, a transformer unit comprising a magnetic core, attached to the power source, a plurality of power switch cards, each having an aperture that allows said magnetic core to pass therethrough, one or more control switches located on each power card, and a control means for actuating the control switches, a power output; wherein the power switch cards are connected in series, wherein each of the apertures in the power switch cards is surrounded by conductive windings, whereby when the power source is activated, the magnetic core induces a current in each of the conductive windings, and wherein the control means activates the control switches simultaneously in under 100 nanoseconds to generate a pulse.
US09953802B2

A method of manipulating an electron beam is disclosed. The method comprises transmitting the beam through a phase mask selected to spatially modulate a phase of the beam over a cross-section thereof.
US09953801B1

A resolving aperture assembly for an ion implantation system has a first plate and a second plate, where the first plate and second plate generally define a resolving aperture therebetween. A position of the first plate with respect to the second plate generally defines a width of the resolving aperture. One or more actuators are operably coupled to one or more of the first plate and second plate and are configured to selectively vary the position the first plate and second plate with respect to one another, thus selectively varying the width of the resolving aperture. A servo motor precisely varies the resolving aperture width and a pneumatic cylinder independently selectively closes the resolving aperture. A downstream position actuator varies a position of the resolving aperture along a path of the ion beam, and a controller controls the one or more actuators based on desired properties of the ion beam.
US09953798B2

The present invention pertains to an apparatus for generating a charged particle beam comprising a magnetic element for controlling the profile of the beam in a predetermined plane. A cathode can be provided for emitting charged particles and an anode for accelerating the charged particles along an axis of travel. The present invention also pertains to a method for generating a particle beam that has a uniform profile in a predetermined plane comprising inducing emission of charged particles from an emitter, accelerating those particles along and toward an axis of beam travel, generating a magnetic field with a component aligned with the axis of beam travel but different in the predetermined plane than at the emitter, and modifying the beam profile.
US09953793B2

A bypass avoiding only abnormal cells or abnormal electronic components in an electronic appliance having a plurality of battery cells or electronic components is formed to decrease resistance while keeping functionality. An insulating substrate 2; a heat-generating resistor 3 arranged on the insulating substrate 2; a first and a second electrodes 4, 5 arranged adjacently to each other on the insulating substrate 2; a third electrode 6 arranged adjacently to the first electrode 4 and electrically connected to the heat-generating resistor; and a first meltable conductor 8 arranged between the first and third electrodes 4, 6 to constitute a current path capable of being blown by a heat generated by the heat-generating resistor 3 are provided. The first meltable conductor 8 melted by heat from the heat-generating resistor 3 gathers on the first and second electrodes 4, 5 to short-circuit them.
US09953792B2

A bypass avoiding only abnormal cells or abnormal electronic components in an electronic appliance having a plurality of battery cells or electronic components is formed to decrease resistance while keeping functionality.
US09953791B1

A sealed fuse in accordance with the present disclosure may include a tubular fuse body, a trench formed in an exterior of the fuse body, and an electrically conductive endcap that fits over an end of the fuse body and is fastened to the fuse body by an electrically conductive material having a lip portion that extends into the trench to provide a barrier that extends between the fuse body and the endcap. In an embodiment, the trench may be formed in an end face of the fuse body and may extend entirely around an opening in the end of the fuse body. In another embodiment, the trench may be formed in an outwardly-facing surface of a sidewall of the fuse body and may extend entirely around the fuse body.
US09953789B2

A single-pole breaking unit which includes a rotary contact bridge, a stationary contact operating with the contact bridge and connected to a current input, a rotary bar having radially extending axial end surfaces, and radial side surfaces with a transverse hole for the contact bridge which is salient through opposite radial side surfaces of the bar, an arc extinguishing chamber opening onto an opening volume for the contact bridge, two parallel side panels parallel to the axial end surfaces of the bar, with the rotary bar located between two sealing flanges between the axial end surfaces of the rotary bar and the side panels and movable axially toward the side panels to ensure tightness between the inside and the outside of the breaking unit, the sealing flanges each comprising a radially extending portion, and a cylindrical portion, both co-axial with the rotary bar, which cylindrical portion has an inside radius slightly less than the radial extent of the rotary bar, providing a space between the inside surface of the cylindrical portion and the rotary bar, the space permitting quenching gases to flow directly to push a sealing flange axially against a side panel to achieve tightness.
US09953784B2

An information processing apparatus capable of communicating with an external apparatus includes: a network controller configured to communicate with the external apparatus; a mechanical switch configured to switch on or off according to a switch driving signal; a control unit configured to output the switch driving signal to the mechanical switch according to a signal from the network controller; and a power supplying unit configured to supply power to the network controller and the control unit in a case where the mechanical switch is off. In a case where the mechanical switch is off and the network controller receives an instruction to turn on power from the external apparatus, the control unit outputs the switch driving signal to turn on the mechanical switch.
US09953782B2

An electric pulse generator configured to power at least one load and including an electric discharge switch including at least one piston and a chamber in which the piston can move, a propellant gas-generating trigger for moving the piston, at least one punch rigidly connected to an end of the piston, and at least one stack of layers formed from at least one pair of electrodes separated by a layer of dielectric material. The electric pulse generator further includes an energy storage device associated with the or each pair of electrodes of the electric discharge switch in at least one series connection, the load or each load being configured to be connected in parallel with the or each series connection.
US09953777B2

A switching device has a housing-mounted contact and a movable contact. The movable contact is provided for making contact with the housing-mounted contact. The switching device has a switch lock with a latch and a latch support, wherein the latch support has a latching location for latching the latch to the latch support, wherein the switching device furthermore has a hand switching lever. A connecting rod is mounted movably on the latch support, the connecting rod bearing against a projection of the hand switching lever when the hand switching lever is arranged in the position in which the contacts are in contact. An actuation of the hand switching lever—for separating the movable contact from the housing-mounted contact—moves the connecting rod and thereby releases the latching of the latching support to the latch.
US09953769B2

A composite electronic component includes an insulation sheet, a tantalum capacitor including a body part containing a sintered tantalum powder and a tantalum wire, a portion of which is embedded in the body part, and disposed on the insulation sheet, a multilayer ceramic capacitor including a ceramic body including a plurality of dielectric layers, first and second internal electrodes, and first and second external electrodes, and disposed on the insulation sheet, and a molded portion enclosing the tantalum capacitor and the multilayer ceramic capacitor. The first internal electrode includes a first lead portion led out to upper and lower surfaces and a first end surface of the ceramic body in a length direction, and the second internal electrode includes a second lead portion led out to the upper and lower surfaces and a second end surface of the ceramic body in the length direction.
US09953766B2

A multilayer ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body including an electrode structure including internal electrodes stacked to face each other with respective dielectric layers interposed therebetween and alternately exposed to first and second end surfaces thereof and ceramic bands enclosing regions spaced apart from the first and second end surfaces of the electrode structure; and external electrodes covering the first and second end surfaces of the electrode structure and at least portions of surfaces of the electrode structure connected to the first and second end surfaces of the electrode structure, respectively.
US09953760B2

A transformer arrangement and transformer for mitigating transient voltage oscillations. The transformer included a transformer core enclosing at least one core leg. A winding is wound around one of the at least one core leg. The winding extends from a first winding terminal to a second winding terminal and includes a first winding section along a first conductor extending from the first winding terminal to a first intermediate end point, and a second winding section along a second conductor extending from a second intermediate end point to the second winding terminal. The transformer arrangement further includes an external passive electric component connected between the first intermediate end point and either the second intermediate end point or the second winding terminal arranged to decrease an effective difference between capacitive and inductive voltage distributions between the intermediate end points such that transient voltage oscillations in the winding are mitigated.
US09953751B2

A R-T-B based permanent magnet which not only has equivalent magnetic properties as the existing Nd—Fe—B based permanent magnet as well as light mass but also can be suitably used as a magnet for field system of a permanent magnet synchronous rotating machine. The magnet can be obtained in a case where the composition of the compound for forming the main phase is (R1-x(Y1-zLaz)x)2T14B (R is rare earth element(s) consisting of one or more elements of Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu, T is one or more transition metal elements with Fe or Fe and Co as essential elements, 0.0
US09953748B2

An electric wire protecting device is used in order to be capable of being installed in a narrow wiring area like one in a small aircraft, and to minimize a risk of an electric arc inside electric wire bundles at low costs. To this end, the electric wire protecting device includes: power wire groups each of which is an assembly of one or more power wires at the same potential; a tape for binding the power wire groups at different potentials from one another into one bundle at a constant pitch; and a spacer extending in a direction of extension of the power wire groups, and inserted in boundaries between the power wire groups.
US09953746B2

An insulated wire includes a conductor, and an insulation layer provided around the conductor. The insulation layer includes an inner layer located on a conductor side and an outer layer provided around the inner layer. The inner layer includes a halogen-free resin composition including a base polymer (A). The outer layer includes a cross-linked body obtained by cross-linking a halogen-free flame-retardant resin composition including a base polymer (B) and a halogen-free flame retardant. The base polymer (A) includes a thermoplastic resin (a1) having an aromatic ring in a backbone chain. The base polymer (B) includes a polyolefin component. A thickness of the inner layer is not less than 0.03 mm and not more than 70% of a thickness of the insulation layer.
US09953729B2

A radiation generating apparatus comprises a fuel storage unit 20 for storing a mixed liquid 61, a pressure application unit 10 for applying a pressure to the mixed liquid 61, a jet formation unit 30 for forming a jet 61a of the mixed liquid 61, a reaction unit 44 for forming the jet 61a of the mixed liquid 61 therein, a pressure adjustment unit 41 for setting a pressure in the reaction unit 44 lower than an internal pressure of the jet formation unit 30, and a light source unit 45 for irradiating a particle group 63a with laser light L1.
US09953726B1

An apparatus is provided for testing storage elements that include a variable impedance element switchable between a first impedance state and a second impedance state. The apparatus includes an interconnect circuit for coupling storage elements in a selected arrangement. The apparatus includes an impedance sensing circuit operable to measure at least a resistive component of an impedance of the coupled storage elements and a test controller operable to configure the interconnect circuit and initiate measurement of the combined impedance of the coupled storage elements by the impedance sensing circuit. The impedance sensing circuit compares the measured impedance with at least a resistive component of an expected impedance. The storage elements and apparatus may form part of an integrated circuit. A storage element may include a correlated electron switch, for example.
US09953725B2

A method of operating a semiconductor memory device is provided. In a method of operating a semiconductor memory device including a memory cell array which includes a plurality of bank arrays, memory cells in a first region of the memory cell array are tested to detect one or more failed cells in the first region, a fail address corresponding to the detected one or more failed cells is determined and the determined fail address is stored in a second region different from the first region, in the memory cell array.
US09953723B1

An input/output terminal characteristic calibration circuit may include a plurality of input/output terminals a subset of which is configured to partially and selectively receive a characteristic calibration signal according to an external input, such that characteristics of the input/output terminals corresponding to the characteristic calibration signal are calibrated. The input/output terminal characteristic calibration circuit may also include a characteristic calibration signal generation circuit coupled to the plurality of input/output terminals in common through a test signal line, and configured to provide the characteristic calibration signal to the plurality of input/output terminals in common through the test signal line.
US09953720B2

A method and circuit for implementing a hidden security key in Electronic Fuses (eFuses), and a design structure on which the subject circuit resides are provided. The circuit includes a race condition circuit coupled to a latching structure. The race condition circuit is characterized including respective driver strengths of each stage in the race as well as a sampling clock during chip testing. The data is used to store drive strengths for each stage in eFuses and is used to get a logical one or logical zero out of the final latching stage of the race condition circuit.
US09953718B2

First memory cells are programmed to an intermediate level from a lowest level, corresponding to a lowest data state, where the first memory cells are to be programmed from the intermediate level to levels other than the lowest level. The first memory cells are not read or verified at the intermediate level. Different first memory cells of the first memory cells that are programmed to the intermediate level are respectively programmed to different levels of the levels other than the lowest level from the intermediate level. A second memory cell is programmed to a lower level than the different levels of the levels other than the lowest level from the lowest level while the different first memory cells are respectively programmed to the different levels of the levels other than the lowest level from the intermediate level.
US09953710B2

Memory devices are shown that include a body region and a connecting region that is formed from a semiconductor with a lower band gap than the body region. Connecting region configurations can provide increased gate induced drain leakage during an erase operation. Configurations shown can provide a reliable bias to a body region for memory operations such as erasing, and containment of charge in the body region during a boost operation.
US09953701B1

An SRAM with a first bitcell array having a first density and a first access speed, and a second bitcell array having a second density larger than the first density and a second access speed less than the first access speed. The SRAM further includes a first set of wordline drivers coupled to the first bitcell array, a second set of wordline drivers coupled to the second bitcell array, and a row decoder coupled to both the first and second bitcell arrays.
US09953689B2

A memory device may include the following elements: a first memory cell; a first word line for transmitting a first control signal to control an electrical connection in the first memory cell; a first bit line connected to the first memory cell; a first transistor, wherein a first terminal of the first transistor is connected to the first bit line; a second memory cell; a second word line for transmitting a second control signal to control an electrical connection in the second memory cell; a second bit line connected to the second memory cell; a second transistor, wherein a first terminal of the second transistor is connected to the second bit line; and a sense amplifier having a first input terminal connected to a second terminal of the first transistor and having a second input terminal connected to a second terminal of the second transistor.
US09953685B2

A semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a memory device, and a select transistor. The memory device is located on the substrate. The select transistor is located on the substrate and electrically connected to the memory device. The select transistor includes a select gate, a first dielectric layer, and a second dielectric layer. The select gate is located on the substrate. The first dielectric layer is adjacent to the second dielectric layer, and located between the select gate and the substrate. The first dielectric layer is closer to the memory device than the second dielectric layer. The thickness of the first dielectric layer is greater than the thickness of the second dielectric layer.
US09953683B1

A method for manufacturing gaskets is described herein that includes cutting at least one hole in a first material, wherein the at least one hole corresponds to a first geometric shape. The method can also include wrapping the first material in a conductive material to produce a conductive material wrapped gasket. Additionally, the method can include producing a die-cut gasket by cutting a pattern from the conductive material wrapped gasket, the pattern to be cut from portions of the conductive material wrapped gasket corresponding to the at least one hole, wherein the pattern is to be based on a second geometric shape.
US09953681B2

Systems and procedures for transforming video into a condensed visual representation. An example procedure may include receiving video comprised of a plurality of frames. For each frame, the example procedure may create a first representation, reduced in one dimension, wherein a visual property of each pixel of the first representation is assigned by aggregating a visual property of the pixels of the frame having the same position in the unreduced dimension. The example procedure may further form a condensed visual representation including the first representations aligned along the reduced dimension according to an order of the frames in the video.
US09953679B1

Images may be extracted from a video. The images may be grouped into image groups. Numbers and types of classified visuals within the images may be detected. Individual types of classified visuals may correspond to individual classification weights. Image classification weights for the images may be determined based on the numbers and the types of classified visuals and the individual classification weights. Interest weights for the images may be determined based on the image classification weights and the sizes of the image groups to which the individual images belong. An interest curve may be generated based on the interest weights. A retime curve may be generated based on the interest curve. Time lapse images to be included in the time lapse video may be determined based on the images and the retime curve. The time lapse video may be generated based on the time lapse images.
US09953676B2

In one embodiment, an apparatus includes an accessor configured to transport data storage cartridges in a library environment, and a bracket configured to receive a wireless image capture device therein where the bracket is positioned to orient the wireless image capture device to capture images while the accessor is transporting data storage cartridges. In another embodiment, a method for mounting a wireless capture device to an accessor to capture images of an operation in a data storage library includes mounting a bracket to the accessor, where the accessor is configured to transport data storage cartridges in a library environment, where the bracket is configured to receive a wireless image capture device therein. The bracket is mounted in a position to orient the wireless image capture device to capture images while the accessor is transporting data storage cartridges.
US09953675B2

A system, according to one embodiment, includes: a main pole; and a trailing shield. A first distance D1 is defined in a track direction between the trailing shield and a pole tip region of the main pole; and a second distance D2 is defined in the track direction between the trailing shield and a second region of the main pole located behind the pole tip region, where D2 is greater than D1. Other systems, and methods are described in additional embodiments.
US09953670B1

A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write apparatus includes a laser for providing energy and resides in proximity to a media during use. The HAMR write apparatus includes a write pole that writes to a region of the media, coil(s) for energizing the write pole and a waveguide optically coupled with the laser. The waveguide includes at least one multi-mode interference (MMI) device. The MMI device has at least one input, a plurality of outputs, a propagation section and a multi-mode interference (MMI) section. Energy from the laser propagates through the propagation section before the MMI section. The propagation section expands the energy from the laser to a plurality of modes. A first portion of the outputs is output from the propagation section. The MMI section is between the propagation section and a second portion of the plurality of outputs.
US09953666B2

A method for assembling a head-gimbal assembly of a hard disk drive, the method including the steps of dispensing adhesive onto a top surface of a gimbal tongue, wherein the gimbal tongue is positioned adjacent to a load beam with a dimple extending from its top surface, and wherein the gimbal tongue is configured with at least one support feature that inhibits its deformation toward the dimple when subjected to downward pressure with respect to the dimple; positioning a slider on which a magnetic head is mounted adjacent to the top surface of the gimbal tongue; and pressing the slider onto the adhesive and toward the dimple of the load beam.
US09953662B2

A low-power sound wave reception method in a computer which includes a microphone, a memory which stores at least one reference pattern, and a computer processor is provided. The low-power sound wave reception method includes: when a sound wave signal having an intensity greater than or equal to a threshold value is detected by the microphone, comparing the sound wave signal and the at least one reference pattern stored in the memory; and when there is a reference pattern matching the sound wave signal, turning on the computer processor, and deactivating the reference pattern matching the sound wave signal (excluding the deactivated reference pattern from the comparing step).
US09953655B2

A method includes: receiving a first speech frame; identifying a first codec mode based at least in part on a Codec Mode Command (CMC) comprising the first speech frame; identifying a second codec mode based at least in part on a downlink (DL) Codec Mode Indication (DCMI) comprising the first speech frame; determining, based at least in part on a current uplink (UL) codec mode, to apply one of the first codec mode, the second codec mode, and a third codec mode having a higher bit rate than the first codec mode; and applying one of the first codec mode, the second codec mode, and the third codec mode. Apply the first codec mode when the RxLev and RXQual are determined not to exceed a predetermined threshold, and applying second or third codec modes otherwise.
US09953648B2

An electronic device and a method for controlling the same are provided. The electronic device includes a storage configured to store domain information that is categorized for dialog subjects, a speaker configured to output a system response based on a user utterance sound, and a processor configured to detect a domain, among the domain information, based on the user utterance sound, determine one among the detected domain and a previous domain as a domain to be used to process the user utterance sound, based on a confidence between the user utterance sound and the detected domain, and process the user utterance sound to generate the system response, based on the determined domain.
US09953645B2

A voice recognition device includes an extractor configured to extract at least one of a first utterance element indicating an execution command and a second utterance element indicating a subject, from a user's voice utterance, a domain determiner configured to determine a current domain to provide response information regarding the voice utterance based on the first and the second utterance elements, and a controller configured to determine a candidate conversation frame to provide the response information regarding the voice utterance on at least one of the current domain and a previous domain based on a conversation state of the current domain, wherein the previous domain is determined from a previous voice utterance of the user.
US09953643B2

Systems and methods that provide for voice command devices that receive sound but do not transfer the voice data beyond the system unless certain voice-filtering criteria have been met are described herein. In addition, embodiments provide devices that support voice command operation while external voice data transmission is in mute operation mode. As such, devices according to embodiments may process voice data locally responsive to the voice data matching voice-filtering criteria. Furthermore, systems and methods are described herein involving voice command devices that capture sound and analyze it in real-time on a word-by-word basis and decide whether to handle the voice data locally, transmit it externally, or both.
US09953642B2

A robot apparatus including an input unit to receive a voice command from a user, a determination unit to determine whether a voice command is repeated a predetermined number of times, and a control unit to register a shortcut command to shorten a voice command if it is determined a voice command is repeated a predetermined number of times. A shortcut command to shorten a voice command of a user is generated, and thus user convenience is enhanced.
US09953637B1

Features are disclosed for processing user utterances and applying user-supplied corrections to future user utterances. If a user utterance is determined to relate to a speech processing error that occurred when processing a previous utterance, information about the error or a correction thereto may be stored. Such information may be referred to as correction information. Illustratively, the correction information may be stored in a skip list. Subsequent utterances may be processed based at least partly on the correction information. For example, speech processing results generated from processing subsequent utterances that include a term associated with the error may be removed or re-scored in order to reduce or prevent the chance that an error will be repeated.
US09953631B1

Computer-implemented techniques can include obtaining languages for automatic speech recognition, the languages being associated with a plurality of users and receiving an input indicative of a request to provide speech input. In response to receiving the input, a first indication that automatic speech recognition (ASR) is being performed in each of the plurality of languages can be displayed. A speech input from one of the plurality of users can be received and ASR can identify one of the languages associated with the speech input to obtain a detected language. In response to obtaining the detected language, a second indication that ASR is being performed in the detected language can be displayed. The speech input can be transcribed and translated to another one of the plurality of languages to obtain a translated text that can be displayed.
US09953620B2

Techniques are described for determining a region to be updated in a frame based on positional changes of one layer from frame-to-frame. The positional changes may be displacement of a layer or removal of a layer from one frame to the next. In addition to the information of the positional changes, the techniques also utilize all areas for which the image content changed, but the position did not, for determining the region to be updated.
US09953616B2

An electronic device including a user interface having a display for displaying a standby screen when the device is in an idle state and a user input device, wherein the user interface provides a menu system, for re-configuring the standby screen, that is navigated using the user input device.
US09953613B2

Methods and devices employing circuitry for dynamically adjusting bandwidth control of a display interface are provided. The display interface or image content is dynamically adjusted to support both high-speed image data (e.g., 120 Hz image data) and lower-speed content (e.g., 60 Hz content). For example, in some embodiments, additional pixel pipelines and/or processing lanes may be activated during the rendering of high-speed image data, but not during the rendering of low-speed image data. Additionally or alternatively, high-speed image data, but not low-speed data, may be compressed to render high-speed content over an interface that supports only low-speed content.
US09953592B2

The application provides a display component and an electronic device using the display component. The display component comprises: a light source unit configured to emit source light; a polarization unit configured to at least partially convert the source light into a first polarized light with a first polarization direction; a first reflecting unit configured to at least partially convert the first polarized light into a first reflected light on a first reflective surface; and a display unit configured to receive the first reflected light and adjust the first reflected light to become initial light by adding information of an image to be displayed into the first reflected light.
US09953591B1

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for driving a split display with multiple display pipelines. Frames for driving a display are logically divided into portions, a first display pipeline drives a first portion of the display, and a second display pipeline drives a second portion of the display. Each display pipeline generates dither noise for each frame in its entirety but only utilizes dither noise for the portion of the frame which is being driven to its respective portion of the display. This approach prevents visual artifacts from appearing at the dividing line between the first and second portions of the display.
US09953587B2

An apparatus for controlling liquid crystal display brightness includes: a subarea image grayscale determining section configured to determine image grayscale values of subarea image data blocks corresponding to backlight subareas according to a received image signal; a subarea backlight value pre-obtaining section configured to pre-obtain subarea backlight values corresponding to the subarea image data blocks according to the image grayscale values of the subarea image data blocks; a subarea backlight value gain section configured to multiply the pre-obtained subarea backlight values with a preset backlight value gain coefficient to obtain gained backlight values of the backlight subareas, wherein the preset backlight value gain coefficient is more than 1; and a subarea backlight value outputting section configured to output the respective gained subarea backlight values to driver circuits of backlight sources in the corresponding backlight subareas to control the brightness of the backlight sources in the corresponding backlight subareas as a result of driving.
US09953584B2

Techniques are disclosed for lighting displays such as those associated with electrophoretic display (EPD) devices such as e-readers or any other display technologies or applications. In an embodiment, an EPD device is provided with a number of internal LEDs or other suitable light source generally disposed along at least a portion of the display perimeter. The light can be activated in situations where the available ambient light is inadequate for viewing the display. Light from the light source is distributed across the display, and in some embodiments can be adjusted to provide a desired degree of brightness. The light can be turned on or off via an existing single press-button or otherwise tactile, physical user interface that serves multiple functions. This user interface can be readily found and engaged by the user without the benefit of sight.
US09953583B2

An apparatus comprising a circuit configured to control anode voltages of one or more adjacent pixel rows, which are adjacent to an Nth pixel row, to achieve minimal voltage differences between said Nth pixel row and said adjacent pixel rows to suppress luminance drops in an OLED display by minimizing leakage currents being introduced from adjacent pixel rows.
US09953581B2

This application sets forth a circuit configuration for a light emitting diode (LED) or organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. The circuit configuration allows for the pulse-width modulation (PWM) of each emission signal sent to each line of the display. The PWM of each emission signal is accomplished using a gate-in-panel (GIP) controller of the display. The GIP controller uses an arrangement of shift register outputs and a programmable clock input to control an output of an inverter that provides the emission signal. The programmable clock input can be programmed according to a desired timing or duty cycle for the emission signal. In this way, by limiting the duty cycle of the emission signal, dimming and other display features can be exhibited by the LED or OLED display.
US09953574B2

Sub-pixel compensation is described. In at least some implementations, a computing device includes a plurality of sub-pixels within a pixel which may generate an alternating display to approximate the display of a single sub-pixel. In other implementations, a voltage is applied to sub-pixels of a color such that a voltage across a first sub-pixel is proportional to a voltage across one or more additional sub-pixels. In other implementations, a change in a voltage drop across a sub-pixel is detected, and the change is compensated for by altering a voltage of a second sub-pixel within the pixel.
US09953568B2

An organic light emitting diode display device is disclosed which includes: a scan switch controlled by a scan pulse on a gate line and connected between a data line and a first node; a driving switch which includes a gate electrode connected to the first node, a source electrode connected to a second node, and a drain electrode connected to a first driving voltage line; a sensing switch controlled by a sensing control signal and connected between the second node and a third node on a sensing line; and an organic light emitting diode connected between the second node and a second driving voltage line.
US09953562B2

Provided is a signal processing device including a signal synthesis unit that generates a first synthesis signal configured from an image signal to cause a first light emitting element used for displaying an image to emit light and a dummy pixel signal to cause a second light emitting element used for measuring brightness to emit light, a conversion unit that converts the generated first synthesis signal into a second synthesis signal to cause only the first light emitting element of the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element to emit light at identical brightness, regardless of a degradation degree of the first light emitting element, and a light emission control unit that causes the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element to emit light, on a basis of the second synthesis signal.
US09953557B2

According to an aspect, a display device includes a plurality of pixels arranged along a row direction and a column direction. One pixel includes a set of sub-pixels including two sub-pixels that correspond to two colors complementary to each other and are arranged adjacent to each other along one of the row direction and the column direction, and two or more combinations of sub-pixels for outputting white light by combining adjacent sub-pixels are present for one sub-pixel.
US09953552B2

The present invention provides a LED display unit board, a LED display screen control card and a LED display screen system. In the LED display screen control card, an output circuit transmits data and control signals to an input-output interface to drive and control a LED display unit board(s); a data return circuit transmits return data generated from the LED display unit board(s) which represents a test result of the LED display unit board(s) to a main control circuit. The present invention disposes the data return circuit on the control card which can be used together with the LED display unit board(s) each having a data return circuit. Therefore there is no need of an additional monitoring board for building a circuit loop to perform fault detection of the LED display unit board(s), simplified connection and lower cost can be achieved.
US09953551B2

A door handle display member including a first bracket assembly and a graphics panel. The first bracket assembly is configured to releasably engage a door handle and includes a first member, a second member, and a third member. The first member has a first leg and a second leg. The second member is configured to releasably engage the first leg and the second leg of the first member. The third member is configured to threadably engage the first leg and the second leg of the first member, and is configured to releasably engage the second member. The graphics panel is configured to releasably engage the first bracket assembly.
US09953546B1

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for generating a sequence of commands from interconnected code blocks. In one aspect, a system includes a sequencer block that connects to a sequence of coding blocks representative of a control flow and establish data communication with the sequence of coding blocks. The sequencer block includes coding circuitry that receives coding data from the sequence of coding blocks coding data, the coding data representative of instruction code to which the coding blocks corresponds, and generates from the received coding data command data that is representative of a sequence of commands that corresponds to a control flow of which the code blocks in data communication with the sequencer block are representative and a communication subsystem that provides the command data to a controlled system that is external to the code blocks.
US09953545B2

A musical-performance-information transmission method using a first instrument and a second instrument, wherein the first instrument produces sounds in accordance with a user's musical performance and generates musical-performance data in accordance with the produced sounds and the second instrument produces sounds by receiving the musical performance data via a communication means. In the musical-performance-information transmission method, a mixed-sound signal is generated in accordance with a mixture of sounds produced by the first instrument and sounds that are different from the sounds produced by the first instrument, a reference signal is generated in accordance with the sounds produced by the first instrument, and on the basis of the mixed-sound signal and the reference signal, the reference signal is removed from the mixed-sound signal, generating a separated signal, and sound is emitted on the basis of said separated signal.
US09953535B1

Recent location and control information received from “lead” vehicles that traveled over a segment of land, sea, or air is captured to inform, via aggregated data, subsequent “trailing” vehicles that travel over that same segment of land, sea, or air. The aggregated data may provide the trailing vehicles with annotated road information that identifies obstacles. In some embodiments, at least some sensor control data may be provided to the subsequent vehicles to assist those vehicles in identifying the obstacles and/or performing other tasks. Besides, obstacles, the location and control information may enable determining areas traveled by vehicles that are not included in conventional maps, as well as vehicle actions associated with particular locations, such as places where vehicles park or make other maneuvers.
US09953531B2

A computer-implemented method includes: receiving, by a computing device, images of adjacent vehicles parked directly adjacent to an open parking space; determining, by the computing device, visual factors and non-visual factors of the adjacent vehicles based on the images; determining, by the computing device, risk scores for each of the adjacent vehicles based on the visual factor and the non-visual factors; determining, by the computing device, a parking position within the open parking space based on the risk scores; and outputting, by the computing device, information regarding the parking position.
US09953521B2

The present disclosure relates to a communication system configured to independently introduce channel protection data into a plurality of different channels prior to transmission. In some embodiments, the system has a plurality of sensors configured to independently generate digital sensor signals, each sensor signal corresponding to a sensed quantity. A plurality of channel protection elements are respectively configured to receive one of the digital sensor signals output from an individual one of the sensors and to introduce channel protection data (CPD) into the received digital sensor signal to generate an individual channel protected sensor signal (CPS). A shared communication interface is configured to receive the individual CPS signals from the plurality of channel protection elements and to assemble selected ones of the individual CPS signals into a data frame.
US09953519B2

A universal controlling device is provided with one or more buttons which, when activated in a set up mode, serves to initiate a rapid configuration of the universal controlling device to adapt the universal controlling device to communicate with an intended target appliance.
US09953511B2

A security system may include a home security system that is connected to a remote monitoring service as well as a portable security device that can travel with an individual when they are away from home. The portable security device may communicate with the same monitoring service as the home security system, and may in fact be linked to the same user account as that used for their home security system. The home security system may thus be extended to cover a remote location. In some cases, occupants of an individual's home may be notified via the home security system of alert conditions detected by the portable security device at the remote location. Likewise, occupants of the remote location may be notified via the portable security device of alert conditions detected in the home by the home security system.
US09953510B2

Systems and methods for using state machines to manage alarming states and pre-alarming states of a hazard detection system are described herein. The state machines can include one or more sensor state machines that can control the alarming states and one or more system state machines that can control the pre-alarming states. Each state machine can transition among any one of its states based on raw sensor data values, filtered sensor data values, and transition conditions. Filters may be used to transform raw sensor values into filtered values that can be used by one or more state machines. Such filters may improve accuracy of data interpretation by filtering out readings that may distort data interpretation or cause false positives. For example, smoke sensor readings may be filtered by a smoke alarm filter to mitigate presence of steam.
US09953507B1

A device for determining whether a user is wearing a wearable monitoring device is disclosed. The wearable monitoring device includes an accelerometer and a processor. The accelerometer detects a three-dimensional motion of the monitoring device and generates accelerometer data for each axis corresponding to the three-dimensional motion. The wearable monitoring device accesses the accelerometer data, detects a presence of a rhythmic pulse in one or more axes of the accelerometer data, and determines that the user is wearing the monitoring device in response to detecting the presence of the rhythmic pulse in the one or more axes.
US09953483B2

An electronic method of gaming in a gaming system. The method comprises displaying, on a display, an evaluation area comprising a plurality of columns of symbol display positions divided between first and second gaming instances by a border such that symbol display positions on one side of the border are allocated to the first game instance and symbol display positions on the other side of the border are allocated to the second game instance; upon a border change condition being met, adjusting, using a game controller, the allocation of symbol positions between the first game instance and the second game instance so that the border between the first and second game instances changes; and determining, using the game controller, whether to make an award in respect of at least one of the first and second game instances based on symbols displayed at the symbol positions after the border changes.
US09953482B2

A method of gaming in a gaming system. The method includes selecting symbols for display at a plurality of subsets of symbol display positions by independently determining stopping positions of reels of symbols associated with the subsets of display positions, wherein at least one subset of symbol display positions is associated with two or more reels and upon two or more symbols being selected for the same symbol display position at least one symbol combination rule is applied to the two or more symbols to determine a resultant symbol for display, and evaluating the displayed symbols to determine whether to make an award.
US09953472B2

In one embodiment of the subject matter described herein, a system is provided that includes a vehicle that is operating in accordance with the operational settings of a trip plan. The operational settings dictate how the vehicle system is to travel at different locations along the route. A processor of the system may identify differences between the operational settings of the trip plan and the operational settings at which the vehicle actually travels. The processor may further identify whether the differences are caused by a grade error.
US09953471B2

An OBD module comprising a controller; a data bus interface configured to draw power from and electronically communicate with a vehicle OBD-II data port; and a digital interface connector is disclosed. A radio/infotainment interface configured to communicate with the OBD module is disclosed.
US09953470B1

This disclosure relates to a system and method for detecting execution of driving maneuvers based on pre-determined driving maneuver profiles. Some or all of the system may be installed in a vehicle and/or be otherwise coupled with a vehicle. In some implementations, the system may detect execution of driving maneuvers by the vehicle based on pre-determined driving maneuver profiles. The system may include one or more sensors configured to generate output signals conveying information related to the vehicle. In some implementations, the system may detect execution of the driving maneuvers by the vehicle based on a comparison of the information conveyed by the output signals from the sensors to criteria included in the pre-determined driving maneuver profiles.
US09953458B2

The invention provides a method for generating an n dimensional vector as a shape descriptor of a model, and corresponding apparatus and shape descriptor. The method comprises: determining a type element of the vector to describe the basic shape of the model; and calculating n−1 metric elements of the vector, each of which represents the percentage of all of a feature of the model falling into one of n−1 layers divided as a function of the type element.
US09953456B2

3-D rendering systems include a rasterization section that can fetch untransformed geometry, transform geometry and cache data for transformed geometry in a memory. As an example, the rasterization section can transform the geometry into screen space. The geometry can include one or more of static geometry and dynamic geometry. The rasterization section can query the cache for presence of data pertaining to a specific element or elements of geometry, and use that data from the cache, if present, and otherwise perform the transformation again, for actions such as hidden surface removal. The rasterization section can receive, from a geometry processing section, tiled geometry lists and perform the hidden surface removal for pixels within respective tiles to which those lists pertain.
US09953446B2

Various aspects of a method and system to present information via a user interface are disclosed herein. In accordance with an embodiment, the method includes detection of an orientation of an electronic device. The electronic device overlays one or more layers of information on the user interface displayed at the electronic device. Transparency of the overlaid one or more layers of information is dynamically adjusted based on the detected orientation of the electronic device.
US09953444B2

A graphics processing apparatus and method of performing graphics processing are provided. The graphics processing apparatus comprises a sequence of processing stages capable of performing graphics processing to generate a frame of display data. The graphics processing is performed on a tile-by-tile basis. The graphics processing apparatus is capable of determining if a current tile subject to the graphics processing is empty. At least one processing stage of the sequence of processing stages is omitted for graphics processing of the current tile in dependence on whether the current tile is empty.
US09953437B1

A method for constructing a table including information on a pooling type based on ranges of scale of at least one object in at least one image for constructing table is provided. The method includes steps of: generating a first pooled feature map by applying max pooling and a second pooled feature map by applying avg pooling; and acquiring a first candidate bounding box by using the first pooled feature map and acquiring a second candidate bounding box by using the second pooled feature map; and comparing a first degree of similarity between the first candidate bounding box and a GT bounding box with a second degree of similarity between the second candidate bounding box and the GT bounding box to thereby construct the table so as to include information on respective optimal pooling types by respective ranges of the scale of the object.
US09953430B1

Methods for detecting a number of luminary fixtures in an indoor environment using an electronic image capture device and electronic computing device are presented, the methods including: capturing a ceiling scan of the indoor environment with at least the electronic image capture device; analyzing a synthetic ceiling image corresponding with the ceiling scan using the electronic computing device to identify a number of luminary candidates; and converting the number of luminary candidates to define the number of luminary fixtures. In some embodiments, the capturing the ceiling scan further includes: moving the electronic image capture device through the indoor environment; capturing the indoor environment; generating a point cloud of the indoor environment; colorizing the point cloud; extracting the colored point cloud of a ceiling; dividing the extracted point cloud into a number of rooms; and generating the synthetic ceiling image for each of the number of rooms.
US09953415B2

A system and method for quantification of Escherichia Coli bacteria in water is disclosed. In an embodiment, a region of interest (ROI) is obtained from an image of the water. For example, the ROI includes a plurality of pixels in the image of water contaminated with Escherichia Coli bacteria. Further, a plurality of red pixels are identified from the ROI based on a value of the plurality of pixels in the ROI and a threshold value. Furthermore, total redness of the plurality of red pixels in the ROI is calculated based on intensity of plurality of red pixels. In addition, a redness factor indicative of a degree of redness of the ROI is computed based on the calculated total redness. Quantification of the Escherichia Coli bacteria is then estimated based on the computed redness factor.
US09953402B2

An imaging device is presented for use in an imaging system capable of improving the image quality. The imaging device has one or more optical systems defining an effective aperture of the imaging device. The imaging device comprises a lens system having an algebraic representation matrix of a diagonalized form defining a first Condition Number, and a phase encoder utility adapted to effect a second Condition Number of an algebraic representation matrix of the imaging device, smaller than said first Condition Number of the lens system.
US09953399B2

The present invention relates to a display method and a display device. The display method includes steps of: S1, obtaining an original image that needs to be displayed; S2, generating a plurality of first images each having the same boundary as the original image according to the information contained in the original image, wherein each first image includes at least partial information of the original image, and union of information contained in the plurality of first images includes all information contained in the original image; and S3, displaying, in the form of continuous multi-frame images, all first images in sequence within visual persistence time of human eyes. The above method can improve the display effect of the display device.
US09953392B2

A system including a large format display, a display computer storing a plurality of files to be displayed on the display, and a mobile device application loaded onto a mobile device, the mobile device application to load and store user information for more than one user, to generate a list of user information, and to share the list of user information with the display computer and other mobile devices having the mobile device application thereon.
US09953387B2

The invention provides various systems and methods for establishing an identity confidence scoring system. The method includes gathering identity information about the customers from physical locations and from remote locations. The method updates the identity profiles with the gathered identity information, and based on the gathered identity information, generates an identity confidence score associated with each identity profile.
US09953386B2

Transparent collection and profiling of personal data builds trust. A central database aggregates personal data reported by source devices. Users may view their individual personal data. Users may approve the personal data for sharing with approved entities, such as trusted retailers.
US09953382B2

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for providing travel itinerary filters. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a flight query including a plurality of parameters; determining a plurality of itineraries that satisfy the parameters of the flight query; clustering the plurality of itineraries into a plurality of clusters, wherein the clusters depend upon values of particular features of the plurality of itineraries that satisfy the flight query, and wherein each cluster is generated to have particular values for one or more features of a plurality of features; generating one or more filters corresponding to one or more of the clusters, wherein each filter has the particular values of the one or more features identified by the corresponding cluster; and providing the plurality of itineraries that satisfy the flight query and the one or more filters for filtering the plurality of itineraries.
US09953381B1

A system and method allows users to share watchlists with other users of a group such as that established on a social network server, and receives and displays other related information.
US09953380B2

A method for setting a relationship between users of a plurality of mobile terminals includes receiving, from a plurality of mobile terminals, information on gestures made on, and recognized at, the plurality of mobile terminals, respectively, with respect to a single user gesture; determining a gesture correlation between the recognized gestures and the single user gesture based on information on the recognized gestures; and determining whether to set a relationship between users of the plurality of mobile terminals based on the gesture correlation.
US09953368B2

A risk assessment system and method are provided that may be implemented as an embedded hardware based system and method that provide real-time pre-trade risk assessments for multiple parties, in addition to real-time market data and trading connectivity to a variety of liquidity venues. The liquidity venues may include regulated exchanges, ECNs and other financial institutions listing securities, options, futures, commodities, foreign exchange and other financial instruments.
US09953363B2

An interactive food and/or drink ordering system is provided comprising a computer controlled projector apparatus and a horizontal surface, wherein images from the computer controlled projector apparatus are projected onto some or all of the surface, the images including a menu of food and/or drink selection options, the selection options being selectable by a first user operating an interface device operable to provide input to the computer and also by a second user operating an interface device operable to provide input to the computer, wherein the menu of food and/or drink selection options is projected into a zone on the surface that is shared by the first and second users.
US09953361B1

A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a user at a client system and received by a server system. The client system can display information identifying the item and, for each of multiple procurement options having information related to ordering the identified item, can display an indication of the procurement option such that selection of the displayed indication represents an ordering of the identified item using the information of the procurement option. In response to selection of a displayed indication, the client system can send to a server computer a request to order the identified item using the information of the procurement option for the selected indication.
US09953357B2

In a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for sharing an ensemble of items, access to a plurality of retail items to a user is enabled, wherein an ensemble of items is created from the retail items by the user. The ensemble of items are accessed, and the ensemble of items are shared such that the ensemble of items is able to be viewed by others.
US09953356B2

An exemplary method includes a product marketing system receiving, from an access device, a product search request and image data representative of an image associated with a product, searching, in response to the product search request, a repository of product image data to identify at least one match to the image associated with the product, generating, based on the at least one match, search results data comprising product information for at least one product, and transmitting the search results data to the access device. Corresponding systems and methods are also described.
US09953354B2

A system and method of associating an NFC tag to a product and transmitting information about the product are described. An electronic device is used to scan a generic NFC tag affixed to a product to obtain a unique ID code as well as other indicia identifying the product itself, such as a bar code. The unique ID and bar code are then transmitted to a central server, where they are associated with one another and stored in a database. Once associated, a customer may use a separate electronic device, such as a mobile phone or tablet, to scan a product of interest, transmit the unique ID code to the central server, and retrieve from the central server information about the product.
US09953351B1

A computer system that provides clients access to pooled resources in order to provide computing or data storage services may receive service requests (which explicitly or implicitly include requests for pooled resources), may service at least some of those requests, and may determine pricing for the serviced requests. The pricing for each request may be dependent on whether it was serviced using a portion of a resource pool that was reserved for the use of the client on whose behalf it was received or using burst capacity (e.g., unreserved or otherwise idle capacity within the resource pool). Pricing for the use of reserved capacity may be fixed, regardless of the amount of reserved capacity used. Pricing for burst capacity may depend on actual use, and may be demand-based (e.g., using a spot-market-based dynamic pricing model). Clients with reserved capacity may optionally request access to burst capacity.
US09953345B1

Systems and methods for pre-loading and displaying intervening content, such as advertisements, on a mobile device during latency periods, such as when an advertiser landing page is requested by that device, are provided herein. Intervening content may be pre-loaded on to the device and associated with one or more particular advertisements such that selecting/interacting with the associated advertisement triggers intervening content display during known or detected periods of latency. In some cases, a latency threshold or thresholds may determine one or more types of content to present, and/or a content presentation sequence.
US09953333B1

The invention provides a system and method for using transaction data to provide information to a customer, the information being provided in response to a request from the customer so as to assist the customer in decisioning. The method may comprising inputting transaction data regarding a plurality of transactions effected at a plurality of merchants; inputting a request for information from a requesting customer, the request including parameters related to the request; performing processing based on both the transaction data and the request for information, the processing including generating a response to the request; and outputting the response to the requesting customer. The request and processing may relate to identifying activities of similarly situated persons vis-à-vis the requesting customer, based on the transaction data. The request may relate to identifying an optimum merchant to secure purchase of a target item. Further, the request may relate to determining an optimum sequence in which to perform a plurality of desired activities. Various other features are described.
US09953328B2

A method, system and software for establishing a secure communications channel between repositories using a repository transaction protocol, including generating a registration identifier and registration message including an identification certificate, and an identifier of a master repository that encrypted the identification certificate; receiving the registration message and verifying the identity by verifying the identification certificate; validating the authenticity, including, generating a message to test the authenticity, sending the generated message, and verifying if upon receiving the generated message whether the generated message is correctly processed; and exchanging messages including a session key used for communications and transactions including generating a request for a digital work, associating usage rights information with the request for digital work, and determining if the usage rights information associated with the request corresponds to usage rights associated with the digital work. The usage rights define a manner in which the digital work is used or distributed.
US09953327B2

Techniques are described for fulfilling a request for services in a federated peering environment. Embodiments receive an advertisement of offered services from each of a plurality of service providers. Such an advertisement may specify a list of offered services and pricing information for the services. A request for one or more services is received from a client at a first service provider. Embodiments determine a second service provider from the plurality of service providers to peer with to dynamically create a federation of peers for fulfilling the service request, based on the received advertisements of offered services and the requested services. Embodiments then peer with at least the determined second service provider to dynamically create a peered federation and fulfill the service request through the created federation of peers.
US09953326B2

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing alerts to one or more customers at an optimized time and communication channel based on at least customer preferences, transactions, activities, usage patterns, and other information; and for allowing customers to directly respond and communicate feedback to alerts that are provided to complete various account actions, including to “snooze” one or more alerts.
US09953325B2

A method, system and device for authenticating a user of a smartcard in an authentication process providing a secure environment including a smartcard and the device connected to a host computer for user identification.
US09953322B2

The present embodiment relates to a mobile payment method, system and device using home shopping, wherein OTP (One Time Password) information is verified through a telephone conversation with an agent, ARS or a webpage, depending on the method for purchasing the specific merchandise chosen by the user in the process of executing a mobile payment using home shopping, and electronic payment is executed more rapidly and securely thereby. The present embodiment also relates to a mobile payment method, system and device adapted for transmission using an applicable payment device, without need for direct user input of OTP (One Time Password) information based on payment-means information chosen by the user in the process of executing a mobile payment using a terminal, and adapted to allow the execution of more secure payments through verification in accordance with the selected payment means.
US09953320B2

A method for secure payment transactions over a network between a support help desk computing system and a customer computing system is provided. The method includes establishing a chat session between the help desk and the customer using a chat application program; receiving a purchase order from the customer; communicating a unique URL payment link to the customer, wherein the URL payment link is configured for allowing the customer to establish communication with an order processing system to provide sensitive payment information to the order processing system; receiving the sensitive payment information at the order processing system communicated from the customer; encrypting the sensitive payment information; providing the encrypted sensitive payment information to the help desk, wherein the encrypted sensitive payment information is displayed in a masked format on a display of the help desk; and completing the purchase order using the encrypted sensitive payment information.
US09953312B2

A wearable device including a touchscreen; a wireless communication unit configured to communicate with an external terminal including an electronic wallet (SE, Secure Element), the external terminal wirelessly linked with the wearable device; and a controller configured to receive a preset user gesture, receive information relating to an account of the electronic wallet (SE) from the external terminal in response to the preset user gesture, display the received information on the touchscreen, and process an NFC (Near Field Communication) payment using the information displayed on the touchscreen.
US09953304B2

A situational and global context aware calendar, communications, and/or relationship management method and system is disclosed. The system is configured to receive from at least one environmental data gathering device, data about at least one target participant at a gathering of a plurality of participants, analyze such data to determine at least one observed behavior of said target participant, compare said at least one observed behavior against a dataset of at least one behavior; determine when said at least one behavior exceeds a threshold similarity to at least behavior in said dataset; and communicate, to at least one notification device, said at least one observed behavior.
US09953302B2

A method, apparatus, and system are directed towards seeding a user's contacts for their online social network. The invention is arranged to automatically recommend to the user a set of seed contacts that the user may employ to invite to join their social network. The set of seed contacts may be harvested from the user's existing portal activities, as well as other sources. In one embodiment, the invention analyzes portal activity, such as email exchanges with the user, and the like, to determine a frequency of contact with the user. Other sources may include but not be limited to emails, names within an address book of the user, names within an address book of another person, a buddy list, an instant messaging list, an activity, a mailing list, an online discussion group, a membership in a category, chat group, and the like.
US09953283B2

Systems for controlling autonomous vehicles are disclosed. Using one or more location detection resources, the system can receive vehicle data from an autonomous vehicle as the autonomous vehicle progresses towards a pickup location of a requesting user and receive requester data from a mobile computing device of the requester. The system can determine when the autonomous vehicle and the requester are at or within a threshold distance of the pickup location. Subsequently, the system can instruct the autonomous vehicle to perform one or more non-driving operations to facilitate use of the autonomous vehicle by the requester.
US09953282B2

A system and method of managing and prioritizing tasks amongst resources and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing automatic task assignment and notification amongst globally dispersed human resources. The system includes a change of management application configured to store a list of tasks and a task notifier configured to retrieve a list of geographically-dispersed resources and notify selected ones of the geographically-dispersed resources of a priority of completion of one or more tasks retrieved from the change of management application. The system further includes a message application configured to be polled by the task notifier to determine which of the geographically dispersed resources is at least one of online and currently working.
US09953280B2

A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is provided that leverages industry-specific workflows to process business requests. The MES system can maintain activity sets representing industry-specific workflows that can be selected and executed in order to satisfy business-driven goals. The activity sets can comprise both business-level and control-level operations, and can be configured using an intuitive graphical interface that mitigates the need for low-level programming by the end user. Some features of the MES system are enabled or disabled based on data type compatibility with devices in communication with the MES system.
US09953279B1

In various implementations, improvement of a business intelligence ecosystem may include analyzing component(s) of a business intelligence ecosystem, identifying candidate improvements, applying at least a portion of candidate improvements, and/or verifying effects of the candidate improvements. Candidate improvements for business intelligence artifact(s), underlying data sources, BI environment configurations, metadata models, and/or computing resources may be analyzed and identified.
US09953278B2

An appliance having a processing device and at least one sensor in communication with the processing device gathers data indicative of usage of a consumable with the appliance. The gathered data is used to determine an amount of the consumable remaining and, when the amount of the consumable remaining is at a predetermined level, a notification is provided to indicate to a user that the consumable needs to be replaced.
US09953268B2

A technique relates to a microwave device. A pump resonator, at a first pump resonator end, is connected to both a dispersive nonlinear element and a first stub. The pump resonator, at a second pump resonator end, is capacitively coupled to a pump port, where the first stub is terminated in an open circuit. A quantum signal resonator, at a first quantum signal resonator end, is connected to both the dispersive nonlinear element and a second stub. The quantum signal resonator, at a second signal resonator end, is capacitively coupled to a signal port, where the second stub is connected to ground.
US09953255B1

Advanced loyalty applications are provided to improve the functionality of cards and devices. For example, a user interface may be placed on a card (e.g., a physical button) or a telephonic device (e.g., a virtual button on a capacitive touch screen). Manual input provided to this user interface may, for example, cause a non-merchant product (e.g., insurance) to be purchased with a merchant purchase. The product can be paid for with debit, credit, gift card balance, or points. A code indicative of a user's desire to purchase the product may be communicated to a payment card reader (e.g., to a magnetic stripe reader via a magnetic stripe communications device). A display may be provided next to a button to allow a user to scroll, or toggle by pressing the button repeatedly, through different products (which may be merchant or non-merchant products).
US09953249B2

A method and system for generating drawing orders are provided. The method involves receiving print data including data representing a plurality of drawing objects including at least a first drawing object and a second drawing object. The first drawing object and the second drawing object are each of one of predetermined object types and meet a predetermined condition. The method further involves (i) rendering the first drawing object to a first plurality of scanlines, (ii) rendering the second drawing object to a second plurality of scanlines, and (iii) generating, at the same time, a drawing order list for the first and second drawing objects based on the first and second plurality of scanlines.
US09953248B2

An electronic device comprising: a memory; a communication circuit; and at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory and the communication circuit, configured to: obtain a first image; extract a feature associated with an object depicted in the first image; and control the communication circuit to transmit an indication of the feature to a server; and receive analysis information associated with the object from the server through the communication circuit.
US09953224B1

Systems and method of generating video summaries are presented herein. Information defining a video may be obtained. The video may include a set of frame images. Parameter values for parameters of individual frame images of the video may be determined. Interest weights for the frame images may be determined. An interest curve for the video that characterizes the video by interest weights as a function of progress through the set of frame images may be generated. One or more curve attributes of the interest curve may be identified and one or more interest curve values of the interest curve that correspond to individual curve attributes may be determined. Interest curve values of the interest curve may be compared to threshold curve values. A subset of frame images of the video to include within a video summary of the video may be identified based on the comparison.
US09953221B2

The present disclosure is related to a photo album based music selection method, apparatus and device, and a storage medium. When a certain photo album is viewed on a device, the corresponding music can be automatically selected and played based on a character relationship determined according to the method between the viewer and a person being viewed in a picture of the photo album, which decreases the complexity of operations of the user, and thereby improves the user experience.
US09953216B2

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for performing actions in response to gestures made by a user in captured images. In accordance with one implementation, a computer-implemented system is provided that includes an image capture device that captures at least one image, a memory device that stores instructions, and at least one processor that executes the instructions stored in the memory device. In some implementations, the processor receives, from the image capture device, at least one image including a gesture made by a user and analyzes the at least one image to identify the gesture made by the user. In some implementations, the processor also determines, based on the identified gesture, one or more actions to perform on the at least one image.
US09953207B2

A biometric authentication device performing an authentication based on a similarity between a biometric image that is an object of comparing and an enrolled biometric image, includes: a storage configured to store a plurality of model images generated by changing a bending angle of a joint of a biometric model and correction information of each of the plurality of model images; a biometric sensor configured to capture a biometric image that is an object of comparing; and a processor configured to execute a process, the process including: determining similarities between the biometric image captured by the biometric sensor and the plurality of model images; selecting a model image based on the similarities; reading correction information corresponding to the model image that is selected, from the storage; and correcting one of the biometric image captured by the biometric sensor or the enrolled biometric image based on the correction information.
US09953205B1

An acoustic biometric touch scanner device and method is disclosed. In one aspect, an acoustic fingerprint sensing device includes an array of ultrasonic transducers configured to transmit an ultrasound signal having a frequency in a range from 50 megahertz (MHz) to 500 MHz. The acoustic fingerprint ultrasonic transducers include a piezoelectric film. The acoustic fingerprint sensing device further includes a receiving surface configured to receive a finger. The acoustic fingerprint sensing device further includes a processor configured to generate an image of at least a portion of a fingerprint of the finger based on a reflection of the ultrasound signal from the finger.
US09953201B2

A biometric recognition apparatus with deflection electrode includes a substrate, a multi-function electrode layer including a plurality of sensing electrodes, a plurality of deflection electrodes and at least one suppressing electrode. Each of the sensing electrodes is at least partially surrounded by a corresponding deflection electrode and each of the deflection electrodes is at least partially surrounded by the suppressing electrode. The biometric recognition apparatus further includes a switching circuit layer having a plurality of selection switches and conductive wires, at least a part of the selection switches and the conductive wires are electrically connected to the sensing electrodes. By above arrangement of the sensing electrodes, the deflection electrodes and the suppressing electrode, the sensing sensibility and signal to noise ratio can be enhanced, thus increasing the sensing distance between sensing electrode and user finger.
US09953200B2

On the basis of the physical principle that a capacitance value is inversely proportional to the distance between capacitive electrodes, the spatial structure of the surface of an object can be imaged by measuring a coupling capacitance between the surface of measured object and the electrode arrays on a surface of a sensor; for example, imaging may be performed to uneven spaces between ridge lines and valley lines of fingerprints. The present application provides a C-Q-T type capacitive fingerprint sensor. Firstly, coupling capacitance differences between the fingerprints and the electrodes of the sensor are converted into charge quantity differences, then the charge quantity differences are converted into time differences, and edge signals carrying the time differences are output. Fingerprint sensors are grouped into an array, reading and data combination may be performed to the edge signals, and imaging may be performed to fingerprints.
US09953197B2

A mobile RFID container, such as a case, cargo container, vehicle, etc., includes an RFID detector configured to conduct an RFID scan to generate scan data concerning the items carried in the mobile RFID container, and location determining circuitry for generating location data concerning the location of the mobile RFID container. A method for distributing RFID-tagged items using the mobile RFID container includes placing a plurality of RFID-tagged items in the mobile RFID container, conducting one or more RFID scans to generate scan data concerning the contents of the RFID container, and processing the scan data and location data to determine the location of the mobile RFID container at times when the contents of the RFID container have changed. The RFID scans may be performed, for example, in response to (a) sensing that the contents of the container have been accessed, (b) a request from a remote device, and/or (c) the location of the RFID container relative to geofence boundary corresponding to a particular geographical location.
US09953195B2

Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media are disclosed for providing variable blink rate ultra-wideband (UWB) communications. Some embodiments may provide for a radio frequency (RF) tag including a motion sensor, processing circuitry, and a UWB transmitter. The motion sensor may be configured to generate one or more motion data values indicating motion of the RF tag. The UWB transmitter may be configured to transmit blink data at variable blink rates. The processing circuitry may be configured to receive the one or more motion data values from the motion sensor, determine a blink rate for the UWB transmitter based on the one or more motion data values, and control the UWB transmitter to wirelessly transmit the blink data at the blink rate. In some embodiments, the RF tag may include a UWB receiver and the blink rate may be controlled remotely by a system.
US09953193B2

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for a wireless computing device, comprising an antenna; an analog block for receiving and transmitting an RF signal through the antenna, wherein the energy from the received RF signal provides power to the wireless computing device; and a data processing and controller block for data management, wherein the data processing and controller block comprises: (i) a first program memory adapted to store a first set of instructions comprising a system call adapted to perform at least one function, and (ii) a second program memory adapted to store a second set of instructions comprising an instruction to call the system call, wherein the data processing and controller block is adapted to execute the first set of instructions and the second set of instructions,wherein the antenna, analog block, and data processing and controller block are mounted on a single substrate.
US09953191B2

A display information protection system includes a management system that stores a plurality of display information protection policies and that may provide any of the display information protection policies through a network. An endpoint device is coupled to the management system through the network and stores a display information protection policy that may have been automatically populated or received from the management system. The endpoint device displays a plurality of information and may determine that a first subset of the plurality of information that has been provided for display is defined by the display information protection policy. In response to detecting the first display information protection event and determining that the first subset of a plurality of information is defined by the display information protection policy, the endpoint device obfuscates the display of the first subset of the plurality of information on the endpoint device.
US09953189B2

Disclosed is a system for configuring a terminal by intercepting requests, such as Input/Output (IO) requests or registry requests, evaluating rules based on the intercepted requests during runtime, and performing actions based on the rule evaluations, such as passing the request through, redirecting the request, modifying the request, hiding resources, or performing other actions. The system can be implemented in one or more of the terminal's file system filter drivers and registry filter drivers.
US09953187B2

A method and apparatus are provided that include a security camera of a security system within a residence capturing a sequence of images of a secured area of the residence, a programmed processor of the security system determining that an authorized person is present within the residence, a programmed processor detecting a detected person within the sequence of images, and a programmed processor blurring or reducing a picture quality of an area immediately around the detected person based upon a presence of the authorized person.
US09953186B2

A method enables prefix search of cloud stored encrypted files that are encrypted using an order preserving encryption (OPE) algorithm. The encrypted text prefix search method generates a minimum possible plaintext string and a maximum possible plaintext string of the same character length including the search term as the prefix. The minimum and maximum possible plaintext strings are encrypted using the same order preserving encryption algorithm for the encrypted text. The method determines from the minimum ciphertext and the maximum ciphertext a set of common leading digits. The set of common leading digits is used as an OPE encrypted prefix search term and provided to a cloud storage service to search in the cloud stored encrypted files for encrypted text matching the OPE encrypted prefix search term.
US09953179B2

Embodiments provided herein involve connected states between a mobile device and one or more zones in a network media system and different interactions between the mobile device and the network media system involving the connected states. The connected states may be established between the mobile device and the one or more zones such that further actions taken on media items identified in the playlist on the mobile device may also be taken on corresponding media items in a playback queue associated with the one or more zones. The interface on the mobile device may display various graphical representations to indicate the different interactions involving the connected states, including when a connected state is established, when a connected state is lost, and when a reconnected state is reestablished. The interface may further provide selectable icons to allow a user to navigate among the different media playback options involving the connected states.
US09953173B2

A security application manages security and reliability of networked applications executing collection of interacting computing elements within a distributed computing architecture. The security application monitors various classes of resources utilized by the collection of nodes within the distributed computing architecture and determine whether utilization of a class of resources is approaching a pre-determined maximum limit. The security application performs a vulnerability scan of a networked application to determine whether the networked application is prone to a risk of intentional or inadvertent breach by an external application. The security application scans a distributed computing architecture for the existence of access control lists (ACLs), and stores ACL configurations and configuration changes in a database. The security application scans a distributed computing architecture for the existence of security certificates, places newly discovered security certificates in a database, and deletes outdated security certificates. Advantageously, security and reliability are improved in a distributed computing architecture.
US09953163B2

A system configured to detect malware is described. The system configured to detect malware including a data collector configured to detect at least a first hypertext transfer object in a chain of a plurality of hypertext transfer objects. The data collector further configured to analyze at least the first hypertext transfer object for one or more events. And, the data collector configured to generate a list of events based on the analysis of at least the first hypertext transfer object.
US09953162B2

Disclosed are various embodiments for inspecting malware with little or no user interruption. A first computing device may compare a source code of an application to a fingerprint stored locally on the first computing device. The first computing device may transmit the source code to a second computing device to determine whether the source code resides in a database comprising approved applications. If the source code does not reside in the database, a thorough scan of the source code may be conducted.
US09953158B1

The disclosed computer-implemented method for enforcing secure software execution may include (1) providing at least one known benign input to an executable file that is susceptible to abnormal code execution, (2) observing a series of function calls made by the executable file as the executable file processes the known benign input, (3) storing the series of function calls as a control flow graph that represents known safe function call pathways for the executable file, and (4) forcing a subsequent execution of the executable file to follow the series of function calls stored in the control flow graph to protect the executable file against abnormal code execution. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09953156B2

This document describes techniques (300, 400) and apparatuses (100, 500, 600, 700) for in-band peripheral authentication. These techniques (300, 400) and apparatuses (100, 500, 600, 700) may communicate via a non-media channel allowing host device (102) to authenticate peripheral (106), enable an enhanced operational mode of the host device (102), and/or provide content configured for the peripheral (106) without the use of out-of-band signaling.
US09953147B2

A computer-implemented system and method for correlating activity within a user interface with special information is provided. A user interface with data entry fields is provided. One or more of the data entry fields is designated for special information. A first screen shot of the user interface is captured, and a second screen shot of the user interface is captured at a later time. The first and second screen shots are compared. A change comprising at least a portion of an entry within one of the data entry fields for special information in the second screen shot is identified between the first and second screen shots. The entry is rendered unintelligible.
US09953144B2

A method of binding a software to a device is disclosed. Accordingly, during a setup of the software in the device, a unique identifier is derived from contents stored in the device and the derived unique identifier is encrypted. The derived unique identifier is then stored in a configuration of the software. During a next invocation of the software in the device, a new unique identifier is derived from the contents stored in the device. The newly derived unique identifier is then matched with the stored unique identifier. The execution of the software is terminated if the matching fails.
US09953142B2

Digital rights management and behavioral trait techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a method is described of specifying and controlling access to content to be created. Data is received, by one or more computing devices. The data describes characteristics of the content to be created along with a digital rights management policy specifying traits of a behavior to be met by a user in order to access one or more portions of the content. The content is created, based at least in part on the received characteristics, as specified by a user interacting with the one or more computing devices. The digital rights management policy is embedded as part of the created content by the one or more computing devices as a digital rights management module to control access to the one or more portions of the content based on whether the traits are met by a user that requests the access.
US09953139B2

A method is provided that includes processing biological data using a biological simulation model, including calculating a set of measurements called indexes that measure interrelationships between hormones and/or blood test data; and analyzing from the indexes, the endocrine system by axis and in sequence along an adaptation process. The method includes running a selection algorithm from the indexes to identify biological dysfunctions across the endocrine system and the autonomous nervous system, and recommending corrective actions based on the identified biological dysfunctions. The method includes validating potential organism dysfunctions of the patient through the identified biological dysfunctions, consolidating diagnostic actions including the recommended corrective actions into a single diagnostic, and receiving selection of diagnostic actions therefrom. And the method includes assisting in selection of a therapeutic strategy applicable to each selected diagnostic action, and producing a final ready-to-use prescription with quantified dosage based thereon.
US09953134B2

A system, method and apparatus for executing a sequence analysis pipeline on genetic sequence data includes a structured ASIC formed of a set of hardwired digital logic circuits that are interconnected by physical electrical interconnects. One of the physical electrical interconnects forms an input to the structured ASIC connected with an electronic data source for receiving reads of genomic data. The hardwired digital logic circuits are arranged as a set of processing engines, each processing engine being formed of a subset of the hardwired digital logic circuits to perform one or more steps in the sequence analysis pipeline on the reads of genomic data. Each subset of the hardwired digital logic circuits is formed in a wired configuration to perform the one or more steps in the sequence analysis pipeline.
US09953125B2

Embodiments of the present invention may provide the capability to design SRAM cells may be designed that is compatible with the requirements of InGaAs integration by selective epitaxy in SiO2 cavities without sacrificing density and area scaling. In an embodiment of the present invention, a computer-implemented method for designing a hybrid integrated circuit may comprise receiving data representing a layout of a static random-access memory cell array, identifying areas between active channel regions that do not overlap with transistor gates of static random-access memory cells of the static random-access memory cell array, selecting from among the identified areas at least one area, expanding the selected areas to determine whether the expanded area intersects with a p-doped active Si semiconductor or p-channel semiconductor area, and marking as Si seed locations the identified expanded areas that do not intersect on both sides with a channel active transistor region.
US09953123B2

A layout file for an integrated circuit has drawn geometries. Variable fill geometries are added to local areas based on densities of the drawn geometries in windows associated with the local areas and on the global density of all the drawn geometries in the layout file. Each window has a separate local area associated with it. The densities of the variable fill geometries in the local areas are not all equal. Densities of the fill geometries are higher in local areas associated with windows having lower densities of the drawn geometries, and for lower values of the global density. The layout file is stored in a computer-readable medium.
US09953105B1

Domain name mappings are created using a system and method. A registration of a first domain name by a user associated with a user account is detected and a Domain Name System (DNS) server is accessed to identify a second domain name selected from a plurality of domain names associated with the user account. Without input from the user, a subdomain for the second domain name is created by modifying a DNS record of the second domain name or a directory at the second domain name is created. The subdomain or the directory correspond to a top-level domain (TLD) of the first domain name. A redirect from the subdomain or the directory of the second domain name is created to the first domain name or from the first domain name to the at least one of the subdomain and the directory of the second domain name.
US09953104B2

A method and system for controlling access to data. Each dataset of L datasets is stored, via storage access controller (SAC) software external to an operating system, on at least one physical storage device. Each dataset is independently accessible in accordance with an access permission type assigned to each dataset independently selected for each dataset from N unique access permission types. N≥2 and L≥N. Control of access to each dataset stored on the at least one physical storage device is configured to enforce, via the SAC, access to each dataset in accordance with the access permission type assigned to each dataset. The operating system is unable to provide the control of access to each dataset to which access is enforced by the SAC in accordance with the access permission type assigned to each dataset and which is stored on the at least one physical storage device.
US09953098B2

A system and method for maintaining a web site is disclosed that includes browsing to a web page to be edited, automatically downloading a source file for the web page including related files associated with display of the web page, editing the source file, and automatically publishing the edited source file to a file transfer server associated with the web site including the related files associated with the display of the web page.
US09953092B2

The invention relates to data searching and translation. In particular, the invention relates to searching documents from the Internet or databases. Even further, the invention also relates to translating words in documents, WebPages, images or speech from one language to the next. A computer implemented method comprising at least one computer in accordance with the invention is characterized by the following steps: receiving a search query including at least one search term, deriving at least one synonym for at least one search term, expanding the received search query with the at least one synonym, searching at least one document using the expanded search query, retrieving the search results obtained with the expanded query, ranking the said search results based on context of occurrence of at least one search term. The best mode of the invention is considered to be an Internet search engine that delivers better search results.
US09953081B2

A system creates an abstraction layer surrounding a diverse data system including multiple different databases. Data is received from data sources and ingested into the various databases according to a core model. New instances of the core model are created and added to a larger linked data model (LDM) when new data sources are added to the system. The LDM captures the linkages between different linked data objects and links across different databases. Accordingly, applications are able to access or explore the linked data stored in different databases without prior knowledge of the linking relationships.
US09953072B2

A method for copying first data stored at a primary data center to a secondary data center is provided. The method includes initiating a first replication task to copy the first data from the primary data center to the secondary data center. The method also includes receiving a first portion of the first data from the primary data center via a first access point, wherein a first bandwidth between the primary data center and the first access point is greater than a second bandwidth between the primary data center and the secondary data center. The method further includes storing the first portion of data in a first cache associated with the first access point. The method also includes transmitting the first portion of data from the first cache to the secondary data center. A system and non-transitory computer-readable medium are also provided.
US09953069B2

A business intelligence (BI) document preserves references to identities and formats of remote data sources and allows a local computing device to offload analytical operations to remote data sources. The BI document specifies a graph of entities connected by directed edges from the output of one entity to an input of another entity. An entity, for example, can represent without limitation a data structure, an external data source, a control element, an external event source, a visualization, or an update service. The entities of a BI document at a local computing device can reference data at an original data source—rather than extracting data from the original data source to a preferred local datastore. An entity of the BI document can direct a remote data source to execute transformations on the remote data before returning a solution to the local computing device.
US09953056B2

Jumbo query plans are generated by applying at least one sharing technique and combining at least two of the pattern queries. Costs of the jumbo query plans may then be estimated and used to search for an optimal query plan. The optimal query plan may then be executed on an input data stream to generate an output data stream.
US09953051B2

A multi-version concurrency control method in a database and a database system, where the database system sets a data page link of a page, where the data page link includes a page pointer, and a page pointer is used to point to another version page prior to a last operation on the version page. Hence, when a page in the database is read, and when a timestamp of a current version page is greater than a timestamp of a read transaction, page-level rollback may be directly performed according to a data page link of the page that is requested to read to roll back to a page that needs to be read, which facilitates queries for data on each version page in the database, and the database system may implement record rollback efficiently.
US09953049B1

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that produces a ranking for web pages. During operation, the system receives a set of pages to be ranked, wherein the set of pages are interconnected with links. The system also receives a set of seed pages which include outgoing links to the set of pages. The system then assigns lengths to the links based on properties of the links and properties of the pages attached to the links. The system next computes shortest distances from the set of seed pages to each page in the set of pages based on the lengths of the links between the pages. Next, the system determines a ranking score for each page in the set of pages based on the computed shortest distances. The system then produces a ranking for the set of pages based on the ranking scores for the set of pages.
US09953048B2

A method for determining prominent keyphrases in interactions, comprising, receiving keyphrases of numerous interactions received via a plurality of channels that comprise apparatuses for conveying the interactions according to the media thereof, quantitatively evaluating each keyphrase by a plurality of different metrics thereby yielding a corresponding plurality of values, and linearly combining the plurality of the values with a corresponding plurality of coefficients associated with a channel via which an interaction having said keyphrase is received, thereby providing a score of said keyphrase, and based on a condition related to the scores of the keyphrases, selecting at least one keyphrase as an at least one prominent keyphrase, wherein the method is at least partially performed by an at least one computerized apparatus configured for interfacing with the apparatuses of the plurality of the channels.
US09953041B2

Methods and apparatus for storing data about biological entities are provided. A computing device can receive a plurality of data items about a biological entity from a plurality of sources. The computing device can verify each data item of the plurality of data items using the computing device by at least: determining a source of the data item from among the plurality of sources, determining a provenance for the data item associated with the source of the data item, and verifying that the data item is associated with the biological entity based at least on the provenance for the data item associated with the source of the data item. After verifying that a particular data item is associated with the biological entity, the computing device can store the particular data item in a data log associated with the biological entity.
US09953037B1

Disclosed are various embodiments for accelerating the download of files via a browser. The browser is configured to determine a file to be downloaded from a server. The browser determines a quantity of concurrent connections for the browser. The browser requests a plurality of fragments of the file from the server based at least in part on the quantity of concurrent connections. The browser reconstitutes the file by combining the fragments received from the server.
US09953032B2

A method and system for characterization of multimedia content inputs using cores of a natural liquid architecture are provided. The method comprises receiving at least one multimedia content signal; generating at least a signature respective of the multimedia content signal; matching the generated at least a signature respective of the multimedia content signal to at least a signature from a Signature Database (SDB); identifying a cluster respective of the generated at least a signature; and identifying in a Concept Database (CDB) a concept respective of the cluster.
US09953025B2

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system may execute database queries and may comprise a computer system including at least one processor. The system may select a column of a first table as a candidate column for creating a dictionary, create tokens for a foreign key in a second table that corresponds to a primary key in the first table, generate the dictionary for the selected column using the created tokens as indexes in the dictionary and modify a query accessing the column of the first table to retrieve column values based on the dictionary. Embodiments of the present invention further include a method and computer program product executing database queries in substantially the same manner described above.
US09953020B2

Methods, systems and computer readable media for collaborative bookmarks are described. For example, a collaborative bookmark method can include generating a collaborative bookmark and associating the collaborative bookmark with a corresponding event. The method can also include detecting an occurrence of the event corresponding to the collaborative bookmark and causing the corresponding collaborative bookmark to be displayed in response to the detection of the event. The method can further include transmitting information from the collaborative bookmark.
US09953015B2

A document file is displayed on a display device. A first display unit, which is a unit in which the document file is displayed, is divided into a plurality of areas. From the plurality of areas obtained by dividing the first display unit, a first target area viewed by a viewer is identified. In response to the first target area being displayed on the display device shifting from the first display unit to a second display unit, a decision is made whether to use setting information from the display area when the first target area identified by the identification means is displayed, based on a structure of the first display unit and a structure of the second display unit.
US09953008B2

Determining relationships between graphical elements in a fixed format document is provided. Graphical element sizes and their relative positions may be analyzed to determine whether two or more graphical elements should be aggregated together or whether the graphical elements should belong to different graphical groups. Graphs and figures comprising objects that are absolutely positioned may be detected, as well as objects where inter-element positions need to be preserved from regular document flow. Additionally, background objects may be differentiated from regular text flow when the objects overlap with text.
US09952994B2

An integrated multimedia system and a control method are provided, in which, when a USB port is reset during a misrecognition and malfunction of a USB connected to a port of an integrated multimedia terminal integrally provided with an SD slot, an SD slot is prevented from being reset to improve the stability and quality of an AVN system. The system includes an integrated multimedia terminal including a USB port for electrical connection of a USB and an SD slot for electrical connection of an SD card. An audio video navigation (AVN) controller detects the SD card and the USB, obtains data of the SD card and the USB and is connected to the integrated multimedia terminal. A hub electrically connects the SD slot and the USB port to the AVN controller and an auxiliary controller operates the USB port in response to a control signal transmitted via the hub.
US09952987B2

An interrupt is identified from an input/output (I/O) device and an address of a particular cache line is identified associated with the interrupt. The cache line corresponds to a destination of the interrupt and represents one or more attributes of the interrupt. A request is sent to a coherency agent to acquire ownership of the particular cache line and a request is sent to perform a read-modify-write (RMW) operation on the cache line based on the interrupt.
US09952977B2

A method for managing a parallel cache hierarchy in a processing unit. The method including receiving an instruction that includes a cache operations modifier that identifies a level of the parallel cache hierarchy in which to cache data associated with the instruction; and implementing a cache replacement policy based on the cache operations modifier.
US09952974B2

A dual-server based storage system maintains a first cache and a first non-volatile storage (NVS) in a first server, and a second cache and a second NVS in a second server, where data in the first cache is also written in the second NVS and data in the second cache is also written in the first NVS. In response to a failure of the first server, a determination is made as to whether space exists in the second NVS to accommodate the data stored in the second cache. In response to determining that space exists in the second NVS to accommodate the data stored in the second cache, the data is transferred from the second cache to the second NVS.
US09952972B2

Loading data from a computer memory system is disclosed. A memory system is provided, wherein some or all data stored in the memory system is organized as one or more pointer-linked data structures. One or more iterator registers are provided. A first pointer chain is loaded, having two or more pointers leading to a first element of a selected pointer-linked data structure to a selected iterator register. A second pointer chain is loaded, having two or more pointers leading to a second element of the selected pointer-linked data structure to the selected iterator register. The loading of the second pointer chain reuses portions of the first pointer chain that are common with the second pointer chain.Modifying data stored in a computer memory system is disclosed. A memory system is provided. One or more iterator registers are provided, wherein the iterator registers each include two or more pointer fields for storing two or more pointers that form a pointer chain leading to a data element. A local state associated with a selected iterator register is generated by performing one or more register operations relating to the selected iterator register and involving pointers in the pointer fields of the selected iterator register. A pointer-linked data structure is updated in the memory system according to the local state.
US09952971B2

Systems and methods that aggregate memory capacity of multiple computers into a single unified cache, via a layering arrangement. Such layering arrangement is scalable to a plurality of machines and includes a data manager component, an object manager component and a distributed object manager component, which can be implemented in a modular fashion. Moreover, the layering arrangement can provide for an explicit cache tier (e.g., cache-aside architecture) that applications are aware about, wherein decision are made explicitly which objects to put/remove in such applications (as opposed to an implicit cache wherein application do not know the existence of the cache).
US09952968B2

Techniques for distributed cache management are provided. A server having backend resource includes a global cache and a global cache agent. Individual clients each have client cache agents and client caches. When data items associated with the backend resources are added, modified, or deleted in the client caches, the client cache agents report the changes to the global cache agent. The global cache agent records the changes and notifies the other client cache agents to update a status of the changes within their client caches. When the changes are committed to the backend resource each of the statuses in each of the caches are updated accordingly.
US09952967B2

According to one embodiment, a method for controlling a nonvolatile memory includes allocating a first system block to a physical block included in one of the first and second parallel operation elements. The first system block is used by a first CPU controlling the nonvolatile memory but is not used by a second CPU controlling the nonvolatile memory. The method includes allocating a second system block to a physical block included in the other of the first and second parallel operation elements. The second system block is used by the second CPU but is not used by the first CPU.
US09952958B2

Performance of a computer system is measured based, at least in part, on a performance metric. In response to determining that the computer system is experiencing a performance issue based on measuring the performance, the performance metric is matched with an anti-pattern to identify a performance issue, wherein the anti-pattern defines an incorrect solution to a defined problem occurring in the computer system. Also, a pattern repository is queried to identify a pattern that defines a correct solution to the defined problem based, at least in part, on the match between the performance metric and the anti-pattern. In response to identifying the pattern, implementing the pattern in the computer system to improve the performance.
US09952949B2

For a high availability cache, a cache module obtains permission to manage the cache in response to a failover event in a server cluster by communicating a cache coherency token. An update module rebuilds a cache directory from data stored in the cache and accesses the cache without reloading the data stored in the cache.
US09952946B2

According to some embodiments, a virtual machine manager is operable to manage a virtual machine (VM) that spans a plurality of hardware appliances. The virtual machine manager receives a request to provide a service to a device, selects an application instance to provide the service to the device, and forwards the request for the service to the selected application instance. The selected application instance is running in an instance of the virtual machine associated with a first hardware appliance. The virtual machine manager determines session data associated with the service and provides the session data associated with the service to a second hardware appliance of the VM in order to enable the VM to provide high availability of the service to the device.
US09952945B2

According to one embodiment, a storage device includes a nonvolatile memory, controller and interface. The nonvolatile memory stores data. The controller controls the operation of the nonvolatile memory. The interface includes first and second input/output units that transmit and receive a signal with respect to a host device. The first and second input/output units are set on the first hierarchy having the same communication function. The interface issues a connection request to the first input/output unit and when the connection request to the first input/output unit is rejected, the interface issues the connection request to the second input/output unit.
US09952940B2

Operating a shared nothing cluster system (SNCS) in order to perform a backup of a data element. The SNCS includes at least a first and a second storage node connected via a first network of the SNCS. The first and second storage nodes are configured to store a first set and a second set of blocks, respectively, in which the first and second set of blocks form a single data element. A backup server is connected to the first and second storage nodes, and the backup server includes a backup information table. The first and second storage nodes are configured to act as backup clients in a client-server configuration involving the backup server, upon receiving at the first and the second storage nodes a request to backup the data element. For each node of the first and second storage nodes, the node identifies one or more block sequences of consecutive blocks in a set of blocks of the data element stored in the node. The node sends the identified one or more block sequences to the backup server, and generates backup information.
US09952936B2

In a storage system for backing up data of an external apparatus, the external apparatus and a storage apparatus collaboratively perform efficient de-duplication. A storage system stores data from the external apparatus in a unit of content, and includes a backup apparatus configured to execute backup processing to create backup data of the data from the external apparatus in the unit of content; and a storage apparatus coupled to the backup apparatus in a communication-enabled manner and configured to store the backup data received from the backup apparatus. A first backup processing part of the backup apparatus determines whether or not a content is already stored in the storage apparatus by using first redundancy determination information that is information for determining whether or not each of contents of the backup data is already stored in the storage apparatus.
US09952935B2

Approaches presented herein enable automatically detecting and preventing backup of content from a client system to a remote backup system based on specified criteria. Specifically, content on a client system is analyzed to determine one or more of content items to be backed up from the client system to a remote backup system. A set of content items from among the content items that match one or more specified criteria is detected. The specified criteria may include classes of content (e.g., document, text message, e-mail message, photograph, etc.) and contact names associated with the classes of content (e.g., creator, recipient, sender, owner, etc.). Responsive to detecting the set of content items that match the one or more specified criteria, the set of content items is prevented from being backed up to the remote backup system.
US09952923B2

Systems and techniques are described for transferring data. A described technique includes receiving a request to transmit a data block from a first data storage device to a second data storage device. An attempt to read the data block from the first data storage device is made. A media error resulting from the attempt to read the data block from the first data storage device is detected. In response to detecting the media error, a new data block is generated and includes mismatched checksum data that causes a checksum mismatched error when the new data block is accessed. The new data block is transmitted for storage at the second data storage device in place of the data block.
US09952922B2

Apparatus suitable for detecting a fault in a processor comprises a monitor which receives input and output signals from the processor and generates a hash index key which is used to access entries in a hash table. The entries may include actions such as setting a timer so that the response of an output to a change of state of an input may be confirmed as valid within a specified time interval.
US09952920B2

An information processing device according to an embodiment includes a buffer, a memory, and a controller. The buffer is capable of storing target data for transfer. The memory is capable of storing a fact that predetermined abnormality detection data is written in the buffer and storing an abnormality detection result of the buffer, the abnormality detection result being written by an external controller which controls a first control target. The controller controls a second control target which is different than the first control target; writes, in the buffer, the abnormality detection data to be transferred to the external controller; makes the memory to hold the fact; and, when the abnormality detection result indicates detection of abnormality, prohibits writing of data in at least such memory areas, from among memory areas in the buffer, in which abnormality is detected.
US09952917B2

A computer system may generate a lineage graph for a data processing system. The lineage graph may contain one or more nodes, and it may identify the flow of data through the data processing system. The computer system may determine that a first node in the lineage graph defunct. The computer system may then generate a report for the data processing system and provide the report to a user. The report may include an explanation of why the first node is defunct. The computer system may insert an indication that the first node is defunct into metadata for the first node. The indication may also include the explanation of why the first node is defunct.
US09952914B2

Aspects of the present invention disclose a method for customizing a parameter value in a software program. The method includes one or more processors receiving one integrated input requesting a change to the original value of a parameter in a software program to a new value of the parameter and defining a persistence level of the new value of the parameter. The method further includes one or more processors changing the original value of the parameter to the new value of the parameter based on the one integrated input and setting the persistence level of the new value based on the one integrated input.
US09952913B2

Implementations are disclosed for a centralized peripheral access controller (PAC) that is configured to protect one or more peripheral components in a system. In some implementations, the PAC stores data that can be set or cleared by software. The data corresponds to an output signal of the PAC that is routed to a corresponding peripheral component. When the data indicates that the peripheral is “unlocked” the PAC will allow write transfers to registers in the peripheral component. When the data indicates that the peripheral component is “locked” the PAC will refuse write transfers to registers in the peripheral component and terminate with an error.
US09952909B2

In various exemplary embodiments, a system, article of manufacture, and method for providing, a cloud computing infrastructure on a system infrastructure comprising, a first virtual computing environment associated with a first class of service, the first class of service defining, in one embodiment, a first set of obligations, restrictions, and/or capabilities; providing, in the same cloud, a second virtual computing environment associated with a second class of service, the second class of service defining a second set of obligations, restrictions, and/or capabilities different from those of the first class of service; and executing the first virtual computing environment according to the first class of service and the second virtual computing environment according to the second class of service, the first virtual computing environment having a different access to the hardware platform than the second virtual environment based on the respective class of service.
US09952908B2

A first party, such as a residential subscriber to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), logically partitions its computing resources into an end user partition and a crowd sourced cloud partition. The first party installs a crowd sourced cloud application in each cloud partition. Together, a cloud provider computing system and each cloud application orchestrate cloud services over a communications network, such as the Internet. For each crowd sourced cloud application, orchestration involves registering cloud services with the cloud provider, provisioning each registered cloud service that is requested by the cloud provider, and operating each provisioned service. For the cloud provider, orchestration involves publishing each registered service as available to crowd sourced cloud users, receiving requests for cloud services from a crowd sourced cloud user, and requesting, from a crowd sourced cloud application, a registered service responsive to the request for cloud services.
US09952905B2

Methods and systems to identify computer system nodes to which a computer program thread is to be migrated. An example method disclosed herein includes storing data records containing node identifying information collected from a plurality of sampled memory operations executed by a plurality of computer program threads including a first computer program thread. Example methods further include identifying a currently executing computer program thread and, if the currently executing computer program thread is the first computer program thread, target remote nodes having a memory address accessed during execution of at least one of the plurality of sampled memory operations are identified. At least one of the target remote nodes is selected as a migration destination candidate for the first computer program thread.
US09952904B2

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for distributing tracks to add to cache to processor cache lists based on counts of processor access requests to the cache. There are a plurality of lists, wherein there is one list for each of the plurality of processors. A determination is made as to whether the counts of processor accesses of tracks are unbalanced. A first caching method is used to select one of the lists to indicate a track to add to the cache in response to determining that the counts are unbalanced. A second caching method is used to select one of the lists to indicate the track to add to the cache in response to determining that the counts are balanced. The first and second caching methods provide different techniques for selecting one of the lists.
US09952902B1

An application can be tested to determine whether declared resources for the application are deemed to be required for the application. Instructions can be sent to an operating system to launch the application, to simulate user interactions with the application, and to generate a log of resource requests by the application during launch of the application and during the simulated user interactions with the application. For each of the declared resources, a determination can be made whether a sufficient number of resource requests for the resource is in the log. If there are enough instances of resource requests for the resource in the log, the resource can be included in a list of actual resources for the application.
US09952894B1

Systems and methods are disclosed for distributing an in-memory data store over a plurality of independent data partitions. For example, the method includes associating each of the plurality of independent data partitions with at least one of a plurality of processing units such that one or more data sets in a corresponding each of the plurality of independent data partitions are processed by the at least one of the plurality of processing units. A query execution engine is provided for causing the plurality of processing units to execute, in parallel, a series of queries to the plurality of independent data partitions.
US09952893B2

A spreadsheet model is employed to facilitate distributed computations. Spreadsheets and cells are generalized to correspond to arbitrary data sources that can be remote from each other, among other things. Functions can be specified with respect to these arbitrary data sources to produce combinations of data or mashups, for example, wherein changes initiate re-computation with respect to dependent data sources.
US09952889B2

In one embodiment, a system for managing communication connections in a virtualization environment, comprises a plurality of host machines implementing a virtualization environment, wherein each of the host machines comprises a hypervisor, at least one user virtual machine (UVM), a connection agent, and an I/O controller; and a virtual disk comprising a plurality of storage devices, the virtual disk being accessible by all of the I/O controllers, wherein the I/O controllers conduct I/O transactions with the virtual disk based on I/O requests received from the UVMs, and wherein, for each of the host machines: each of the UVMs on the host machine sends its respective I/O requests to a selected one of the I/O controllers, and for each of the UVMs on the host machine, the connection agent on the host machine selected one of the I/O controllers for the UVM based on a list of the available I/O controllers.
US09952885B2

Some embodiments provide a method for an application operating on a host machine. The method receives a configuration of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service for implementation within a virtualized container on the host machine. The configuration includes several database table entries. The method converts the several database table entries into a configuration file for use by a process that operates in the virtualized container. the method initializes the process in the virtualized container. The process in the virtualized container reads the configuration file in order to perform DHCP services for machines connected to at least one logical forwarding element of a logical network.
US09952884B1

Embodiments relate to optimizing an indirect call function. More specifically, an indirect call function configuration comprises a first application module having a target function of the indirect function call, a second application module with a symbolic reference to the target function of the indirect function call, and a third application module to originate an indirect function call. A compiler identifies potential target functions and indicates the potential target functions in the program code. Additionally, the compiler determines and indicates in the program code that the function pointer value resulting from a non-call reference of a function symbol is solely used to perform indirect calls in the same module. A linker can read the indication the compiler made in the program code and optimize the indirect call function.
US09952883B2

According to the invention, a method for determining what hardware components are installed on a computing device is disclosed. The method may include identifying the computing device, and determining, based on the computing device, a hardware component of the computing device. The method may also include retrieving information about the hardware component, and setting, based at least in part on the information about the hardware component, a parameter for an algorithm of software on the computing device.
US09952882B2

Methods, systems, and machine-readable media include identifying a plurality of task items associated with a user. The plurality of task items includes a plurality of task types. They also include selecting a subset of the plurality of task items based on user activity information. The subset of task items includes at least two different task types. They also include providing a launcher user interface for display to the user on a computing device. The launcher user interface includes a plurality of elements corresponding to the selected subset of task items arranged on a single surface. The plurality of elements is selectable to launch respective applications associated with the corresponding task items.
US09952870B2

An apparatus and method for filtering biased conditional branches in a branch predictor in favor of non-biased conditional branches are disclosed. Biased conditional branches, which are consistently skewed toward one direction or outcome, are filtered such that an increased number of non-biased conditional branches which resolve in both directions may be considered. As a result, more useful branches may be captured over larger distances, thereby providing correlations deeper in a global history. In addition, by tracking only the latest occurrences of non-biased conditional branches using a recency stack structure, even more distant branch correlations may be made.
US09952864B2

An apparatus is described having decode circuitry to decode a first instruction, wherein the first instruction indicates that a copy of a plurality of condition codes bits is to be copied from a first register to a second register. The apparatus also has first execution circuitry to copy a plurality of condition code bits from a first register to a second register.
US09952860B2

Present invention embodiments enable the handling of various index-memory architectures for a virtual supercomputer that would allow for a heterogeneous storage of variable length index words with non-sequential addressing, and also dynamic changes to the index-memory architecture. A computer-implemented system, method, and apparatus allow for different types of node index memory (NIM) architectures for the virtual supercomputer. The first type allows for homogenous NIM segments, and implementing sequential node-number addressing. A second type of architecture allows for heterogeneous IW configurations (variable length and field structure), but sill uses sequential node-number addressing. A third type allows for non-sequential node-number addressing, but still uses homogeneous IW configurations. To implement this, a new virtual hardware element is required, an Index-Word Address Table. The fourth type of architecture is a fully variable random-access architecture, whereby index-words are not sequential, nor are they identically configured. This also requires the Index-Word Address Table.
US09952849B2

An apparatus includes an installing unit configured to acquire a program from an information processing apparatus coupled to a network and install the acquired program on the apparatus, an acquiring unit configured to acquire setup information applied to the apparatus at an installing destination, to which the program is installed, the acquiring unit acquiring first setup information sent to the information processing apparatus from the apparatus or another apparatus before installing the program, and an applying unit configured to apply the first setup information to the apparatus in response to installing of the program.
US09952847B1

A mobile device application process utilizing both proprietary and common Quick Response (QR)™ coding. Upon scanning with a common scanner, the user is offered to install a proprietary scanner from the application store applicable to their device. Upon scanning a proprietary QR™ code with the proprietary scanner, data is sent to the backend engine and customized feedback is prepared and sent to both the QR™ code owner and the end user. Many options are also offered such as the proprietary scanner's capability of scanning common QR™ codes and sending notification just to the user. These notifications can boast the QR™ code owner's business presence as well as advertisements and other functions.
US09952839B2

The present application discloses systems, computer-readable media, and methods for aligning widgets and groups of widgets, and defining relationships between the widgets and groups of widgets. In a first case, a most significant sub-component border determination may be made for each widget. Then, a grouping relationship determined between each of a plurality of the widgets. Finally, for each widget in each determined group, the widgets may be aligned based on the determined most significant sub-component border of each widget in the group. In a second case, connections between widgets, groups of widgets, and/or edges of a page are determined, and an algorithm applied to infer whether a relationship exists, and if it does, to determine whether the relationship is one of a fixed-distance relationship and a proportional-distance relationship.
US09952838B2

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for generating a visual overlay are disclosed. According to one exemplary method for generating a visual overlay, the method includes providing a graphical user interface (GUI) window including one or more user interface (UI) elements. The method also includes receiving user input via interaction with the UI elements. The method further includes in response to receiving the user input, generating and displaying a visual overlay in at least a portion of the GUI window, wherein the visual overlay includes at least one dynamic UI element that includes one or more characteristics determined using the user input.
US09952827B2

Methods, computing devices, and systems that apply equalization settings for particular audio devices based on a content audio profile. A computing device may detect at least one audio device connected to the computing device and request a device sound profile of the at least one audio device from a database remote from the computing device. Computing device may receive the device sound profile of the at least one audio device from the remote database. The computing device may receive content comprising an audio component and a video component and a content audio profile associated with the audio component. The computing device can determine whether to adjust equalizer settings for sound reproduction of the audio component based on the audio profile and the device sound profile of the at least one audio device.
US09952823B2

Embodiments of systems and methods of seamless displays are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a backpanel device comprising display drive circuitry can be removably coupled with a display device via an array of contact members. The display device can include image-producing elements or pixels that can be selectively driven by the backpanel device via corresponding portions of the array of contact members. Multiple display devices can be disposed adjacently on one or more backpanel devices such that an image displayed across the multiple display devices appears seamless.
US09952814B2

An information processing apparatus includes a non-contact antenna that communicates with a communication counterpart via a non-contact communication and circuitry that generates a location guide image indicating a location of the non-contact antenna in the information processing apparatus and the location guide image including an ellipse placed at a portion of a display screen corresponding to the location of the non-contact antenna.
US09952796B2

Methods and systems for storing data in memory arrays are described. In one implementation, input bits are encoded into an intermediate binary array having multiple sub-arrays iteratively appended row-wise to the intermediate binary array. First sub-array is generated based on the input bits such that each row of the first sub-array has a number of 1's equal to a fraction of number of columns in the first sub-array, and based on a column balance coding such that the columns of the first sub-array have an equal number of 1's. At least one subsequent sub-array is generated based on a set of bits obtained from balancing termination indices for a previous sub-array and from diagonal bits of the intermediate binary array that are a part of the previous appended sub-array. The intermediate binary array is transformed to an encoded bit pattern. The encoded bit pattern is stored in the memory array.
US09952785B2

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, computer program product and a system for enabling non-volatile random access to data where in response to receiving data from a client, causing the data to be written into a memory of a primary virtual machine and a memory of a mirror virtual machine; and in response to the primary virtual machine losing the data, recovering the data based on data in the memory of the mirror virtual machine.
US09952782B1

An architecture for accessing data between different virtual disk formats. A virtual machine may be migrated or cloned from a first server that uses a first virtual disk format to a second server using a second virtual disk format. In response to an I/O request from the virtual machine, a real-time mapper compares the virtual disk format used by the virtual machine with the virtual disk format of the virtual disk that the request is directed to. If the formats are different, a set of mapping metadata is used to map between data of the different virtual disk formats. Due to the mapping being performed in real time, the virtual machine is able to operate upon the virtual disk without the need to perform a potentially costly format conversion of the virtual disk or the underlying data.
US09952781B2

A storage controller identifies a storage location within a storage division that corresponds to a high error rate. In response, the storage controller may refresh data stored on the storage division by relocating data from the storage division and/or initializing (e.g., erasing) the storage division. In some embodiments, the storage division is selectively refreshed by relocating data from the storage location(s) having high error rates, while deferring a full relocation of other data from the storage division. The storage division may be selectively refreshed based on reliability characteristics of the storage division, such as the remaining data retention time calculated for the storage division.
US09952775B2

A memory device for generating a mapping between one or more unusable columns and one or more backup columns within a memory. The memory includes a plurality of memory cells for storing data. The memory also includes a plurality of columns including a first subset of the plurality of memory cells. Each of the plurality of columns belongs to one of a plurality of data chunks. The memory further includes one or more backup columns including a second subset of the plurality of memory cells. The memory device also includes a controller communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to perform operations including identifying unusable columns, detecting a condition associated with each data chunk, and generating a mapping between the backup columns and the unusable columns based on the condition such that each of the backup columns is mapped to a different unusable column.
US09952769B2

Operations of a variety of components of a storage system stack are redefined to make the system more efficient when the underlying media has a “multi-log” type interface such as the case with NAND flash SSD memory or shingled magnetic recording media. The responsibilities of components of the storage system stack are modified such that each responsibility is performed at the most efficient component (level of abstraction) of the storage stack.
US09952764B2

A method and apparatus, such as an electronic device (104), for displaying suggestion words in response to a touch input to a presence-sensitive display (106). The presence-sensitive display (106) displays a touchscreen keyboard (110) having a plurality of key areas (112) each associated with a character (114). The method and apparatus may determine (308) the character (114) of the touchscreen keyboard based on a touch location of the touch input on a key area (112) of the touchscreen keyboard (110), and may display (310) a plurality of suggestion words that include the determined character over at least a portion of the touchscreen keyboard during the touch input. When the touch input has ended, the method and apparatus may stop displaying the plurality of suggestion words. The method and apparatus may also display a plurality of suggestion words in a text view area separate from the touchscreen keyboard.
US09952763B1

A computing device is described that outputs a graphical keyboard comprising a plurality of keys. Responsive to receiving an indication of a gesture that traverses a first group of keys of the plurality of keys, the computing device determines a second group of keys of the plurality of keys. At least one key of the second group of keys is different from at least one key of the first group of keys. The computing device outputs, for display, a virtual path traversing a respective location of each respective key of the second group of keys.
US09952761B1

A system and method for processing touch actions are provided. A plurality of sequentially performed touch actions including a first touch action and a second touch action are determined on a touch interface of an electronic device. An initiation location and a completion location of each of the first and second touch actions are determined on the touch interface. A command is selected based on the determined completion location of the first touch action, the second touch action, and the determined initiation location of the second touch action. The selected command is executed on the electronic device.
US09952759B2

A computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a computing device with a touch screen display comprises: detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display, applying one or more heuristics to the one or more finger contacts to determine a command for the device, and processing the command. The one or more heuristics comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a respective item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items.
US09952754B2

There is provided an information processing device including an imaging section configured to image an object, a display section configured to display at least an icon for controlling the imaging section, an operation section configured to acquire a first operation and a second operation on the icon, and a controller configured to, when the operation section has acquired the first operation, set a timer in accordance with an operation amount of the first operation and change a display of the icon on the display section in accordance with a progress of the timer, and to, when the operation section has acquired the second operation or when the timer has expired, cause the imaging section to image the object.
US09952751B2

Systems, methods, and devices for combining user communications are described herein. In some embodiments, indicators corresponding to online participants accessing an online event are provided on a user interface. An input selecting one of the indicators may be detected from an online participant, and a merged display of the selected indicator and the indicator of the online participant who made the selection may be presented on the user interface. In response to the input, a communications link between the online participants of the merged display may be created. The communication link may allow transmission of reception of prioritized communication between the online participants of the merged display.
US09952742B2

A system may provide, via a user interface, information identifying two or more of trending search-related information, trending video-related information, trending image-related information, or trending news-related information. The two or more of the trending search-related information, the trending video-related information, the trending image-related information, or the trending news-related information are visually presented as graphical items. Each graphical item, of the graphical items, is visually identified as corresponding to the trending search-related information, the trending video-related information, the trending image-related information, or the trending news-related information. The user interface presents multiple graphical items simultaneously. The system may further receive information identifying a topic, and provide, based on receiving the information identifying the topic, a subsequent group of graphical items, on the user interface. The subsequent group of graphical items relates to the topic.
US09952737B2

Embodiments described herein provide capacitance sensing devices and methods for forming such devices. The capacitance sensing devices include a substrate having a central and an outer portion. A plurality of substantially co-planar electrodes are on the central portion substrate. A first plurality of conductors are on the substrate. Each of the first plurality of conductors has a first end portion electrically connected to one of the plurality of electrodes and a second end portion on the outer portion of the substrate. An insulating material is coupled to the second end portions of the first plurality of conductors. A second plurality of conductors are coupled to the insulating material. Each of the second plurality of conductors is electrically connected to the second end portion of at least some of the first plurality of conductors and is insulated from the second end portion of the others of the first plurality of conductors.
US09952735B2

A sensor-equipped display device is provided and includes a display panel and a detection electrode. The panel includes a display area in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix, each of unit pixels including subpixels. The electrode includes conductive line fragments arranged on a detection surface, and is configured to detect a contact of an object to the surface. The detection electrode has an electrode pattern formed of the line fragments on a grid defined by first and second lines. Extending directions of the first and second lines are tilted based on a first and second unit length of the unit pixel in the first and second direction.
US09952728B2

A driving signal is outputted to each of the first and second capacitors in a measurement period so that voltage changes occur at the first and second capacitors. First and second modulating voltage signals are provided for the first and the second capacitors in the measurement period. An output signal in a first state or a second state according to a voltage difference between the first and second capacitors is generated. One of the voltage values of the first and second modulating voltage is automatically adjusted according to the output signal. A characteristic value for indicating a capacitance difference between the first capacitor and the second capacitor, which correlates to a length of time from a start point of the measurement period to a specified point that a condition change of the output signal occurs or a slope of the first or second modulating voltage signal, is generated.
US09952723B2

A touch window includes a first electrode disposed on an electrode substrate, an intermediate layer on the electrode substrate, and a second electrode disposed on the intermediate layer. A material of the electrode substrate is different from a material of the intermediate layer.
US09952720B2

A processing system for a capacitive touch screen comprises sensor circuitry and control logic. The sensor circuitry is configured to communicatively couple with sensor electrodes of the capacitive touch screen. The control logic is configured to operate the capacitive touch screen in a first mode comprising interference sensing at a first level and input object sensing. The control logic is also configured to operate the capacitive touch screen in a second mode instead of the first mode in response to: interference measured in the first mode meeting an interference condition; and a determination that input is in a sensing region of the capacitive touch screen. Operating in the first mode, interference sensing is performed during a non-display update time. Operating in the second mode, interference sensing with the capacitive touch screen is either not performed or is performed at a second level, lower in fidelity than the first level.
US09952718B2

A method for rejecting an unintentional palm touch is disclosed. In at least some embodiments, a touch is detected by a touch-sensitive surface associated with a display. Characteristics of the touch may be used to generate a set of parameters related to the touch. In an embodiment, firmware is used to determine a reliability value for the touch. The reliability value and the location of the touch is provided to a software module. The software module uses the reliability value and an activity context to determine a confidence level of the touch. In an embodiment, the confidence level may include an evaluation of changes in the reliability value over time. If the confidence level for the touch is too low, it may be rejected.
US09952712B2

The present invention provides a method for communication between a touch control device and an external device, comprising the following steps: when an external device communicates with a touch screen, sending, by the external device, 1-bit data to the touch screen within each sending period, wherein the 1-bit data sent within each sending period is a combination of a valid signal and an invalid signal, or an invalid signal; scanning, by the touch screen, the bit data based on a predetermined scanning period to obtain N frames of scanned data, wherein the predetermined scanning period is 1/N of the sending period; obtaining a strength of an LCD interference signal according to one frame of data having a minimum signal strength among the N frames of scanned data; and reducing noise for the N frames of scanned data according to the strength of the LCD interference signal.
US09952709B2

A processing system for hybrid rejection includes a sensor module coupled to sensor electrodes, and configured to acquire sensing data using the sensor electrodes. The system further includes a determination module configured to obtain a capacitive image of a sensing region based on the sensing data, determine a input object set in the sensing region using the capacitive image, obtain a profile of the sensing region based on the sensing data, and determine a contiguous region width of a contiguous region in the profile. The contiguous region corresponds to a input object in the input object set. The determination module is further configured to filter the input object from the input object set based on the contiguous region width satisfying a size threshold to obtain a filtered input object set, and process the filtered input object set.
US09952705B2

An input apparatus capable of providing, through a touch sensor, a tactile sensation as it were a sensation obtained when operating a key and the like constituted of a mechanical switch, includes a touch sensor configured to detect a contact, a load detection unit configured to detect a pressure load on a touch face of the touch sensor, a tactile sensation providing unit configured to vibrate the touch face, and a control unit configured to control drive of the tactile sensation providing unit, when a position of the contact detected by the touch sensor moves into a predetermined region while the pressure load detected by the load detection unit satisfies a predetermined standard, such that a tactile sensation is provided to an object pressing the touch face.
US09952701B2

A sensor-equipped display device includes a display panel comprising a common electrode; a sensor comprising a plurality of detection electrodes extending in a first direction and arranged in a second direction crossing the first direction, each of the detection electrodes including a first electrode and a second electrode which are opposed to the common electrode, are divided and extend in the first direction, each of the first electrode and the second electrode including a gradient in width in the first direction in the detection electrode, the gradient in width of the first electrode and the gradient in width of the second electrode being inclined in opposite directions; and a controller configured to effect switching to either a first mode or a second mode, and to control driving of the common electrode and the detection electrodes, wherein the sensor further comprises a dummy electrode disposed between neighboring detection electrodes.
US09952699B2

A touch electrode structure, a touch panel and a display device are provided. The touch electrode structure includes at least one first touch electrode (101) and a plurality of second touch electrodes (102), the at least one first touch electrode is of annular shape; the plurality of second touch electrodes (102) are insulated from the at least one first touch electrode (101), the plurality of second touch electrodes (102) are arranged along a circumferential direction of the annular first touch electrode (101) and extend along a radial direction of the annular first touch electrode (101), so as to overlap the at least one first touch electrode (101). The touch electrode structure may be used in a non-rectangular touch panel, which can solve a problem that an edge of the touch panel or the touch electrode at the corner is not completely or evenly covered.
US09952696B2

An array substrate comprises a substrate, transistors arranged on the substrate, a first transparent electrode electrically connected with a drain of the transistor, and a second transparent electrode arranged between the first transparent electrode and the substrate. The first transparent electrode comprises strip-shaped electrodes electrically connected with each other. The second transparent electrode corresponds to the first transparent electrode and comprises electrode sets insulated from each other. Each of the plurality of electrode sets comprises two sub-electrodes arranged in the same layer, insulated from each, and arranged in a staggered and complementary manner. The sub-electrodes of the second transparent electrode act as a common electrode in a first preset time and a touch control electrode in a second preset time. A method for controlling the array substrate and a liquid crystal display device are also disclosed. The touch control function can be integrated in the array substrate, simplifying structure of the display device.
US09952695B2

A touch display device and an electronic apparatus are disclosed. The touch display device comprises a sensing layer, an insulation layer, and a common electrode layer arranged in sequence. The common electrode layer comprises driving areas, suspension areas, and driving wirings. The sensing layer comprises suspended connection lines. According to the present disclosure, the technical difficulty of hole-digging thereof can be reduced effectively, the structure of the product can be simplified, and the qualified rate of the product can be improved.
US09952686B2

In accordance with one embodiment, a desktop information processing apparatus comprises a display section, a touch panel, a device controller and a control section. The display section has a display surface on the top plate of the desktop information processing apparatus. The touch panel is positioned on the display surface of the display section. The device controller acquires operation information of a user from a device different from the touch panel. The control section controls the display section to display a list screen for the user to selectively validate or invalidate the operation on the touch panel and the operation on the device from which the operation information is acquired by the device controller. Further, the control section conducts a control to validate or invalidate the operation on the touch panel and the operation on the device according to the selection of the user.
US09952684B2

An input apparatus is provided. The input apparatus includes a communicator configured to receive a signal from a pointing apparatus, and a controller configured to control to display the pointer on a first position of the display when a start signal is received from the pointing apparatus, and when sensed position information of the pointing apparatus is received from the pointing apparatus, the controller controls to display the pointer on a second position of the display, which corresponds to the received position information of the pointing apparatus.
US09952678B2

An information processing device includes: an outline extraction unit extracting an outline of a subject from a picked-up image of the subject; a characteristic amount extraction unit extracting a characteristic amount, by extracting sample points from points making up the outline, for each of the sample points; an estimation unit estimating a posture of a high degree of matching as a posture of the subject by calculating a degree of the characteristic amount extracted in the characteristic amount extraction unit being matched with each of a plurality of characteristic amounts that are prepared in advance and represent predetermined postures different from each other; and a determination unit determining accuracy of estimation by the estimation unit using a matching cost when the estimation unit carries out the estimation.
US09952674B2

A communication system includes processing circuitry that responds to a recognition result by initiating an electronic communication session with a user-designated destination. The recognition result corresponds with a recognized gesture made by the user as detected by a sensor, and the user-designated destination corresponds with the recognized gesture. A method and non-transitory computer program product also respond to the recognition result in a similar manner.
US09952673B2

Embodiments described herein includes a system comprising a processor coupled to display devices, sensors, remote client devices, and computer applications. The computer applications orchestrate content of the remote client devices simultaneously across at least one of the display devices and the remote client devices, and allow simultaneous control of the display devices. The simultaneous control includes automatically detecting a gesture of at least one object from gesture data received via the sensors. The gesture data is absolute three-space location data of an instantaneous state of the at least one object at a point in time and space. The detecting comprises aggregating the gesture data, and identifying the gesture using only the gesture data. The computer applications translate the gesture to a gesture signal, and control at least one of the display devices and the remote client devices in response to the gesture signal.
US09952671B2

An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory that cause the apparatus to perform receiving a video indicating a motion, generating a set of scalar representations of movement based, at least in part, on at least part of the video, and identifying at least one predetermined motion that correlates to the set of scalar representations of movement is disclosed.
US09952670B2

An operation panel that is incorporated in an apparatus generating vibration during operation, and displays an operation screen of the apparatus to receive operation from a user includes: a touch panel that includes a display area of the operation screen, and detects contact between an external object and the display area; a vibration generation unit that applies vibration to the display area; a vibration storage unit that stores a spectrum of vibration generated by operation of the apparatus as a spectrum of background vibration; and a response control unit that checks whether the apparatus is in a standby state or an operating state, and causes the vibration generation unit to apply vibration indicating a first spectrum to the display area when the apparatus is in the standby state, and vibration indicating a second spectrum to the display area when the apparatus is in the operating state.
US09952664B2

Aspects of the present invention relate to methods and systems for imaging, recognizing, and tracking of a user's eye that is wearing a HWC. Aspects further relate to the processing of images reflected from the user's eye and controlling displayed content in accordance therewith. Aspects further relate to determining health conditions of the user based on eye imaging technologies.
US09952661B2

A method and an apparatus for providing screen magnification in an electronic device are provided. The method includes displaying a screen, detecting a screen magnification event, determining a target area on the screen based on the screen magnification event, and magnifying the target area on the screen.
US09952660B2

Particular embodiments described herein provide for an electronic device that can be configured to determine that an unobtrusive gesture has been received on a first electronic device and send a signal to a second electronic device in response to the unobtrusive gesture. The first electronic device can also be configured to receive a signal from the second electronic device, determine an unobtrusive output in response to the signal, and generate an unobtrusive notification in response to the received signal. In an example, the first electronic device is a part of jewelry worn by a user.
US09952655B1

In one embodiment, a system controls a duty cycle of a processor (e.g. a graphics processing unit (GPU)) to manage power. The GPU may include a snoop indicator that may control whether or not the GPU captures and/or responds to communications from another processor (e.g. a central processing unit (CPU) that executes a driver associate with the GPU). A snooze indicator may control whether or not the GPU is automatically repowered at the start of the next frame, or is repowered only if the communication indicating additional work has been received. In an embodiment, the GPU mode controls discussed above may permit the GPU firmware executed with the GPU itself to control duty cycle power down, independent of the driver executing on the CPU.
US09952649B2

A power system including power devices connected in parallel and a wake-up bus is provided. Each power devices includes a wake-up signal pin, a power unit and a control unit. The control unit controls a logic level of the wake-up signal pin based on an operation status of the power unit. The AND logic operation performed on the logic level of the wake-up signal pin of each of the power devices results in the logic level of the wake-up bus. The control unit of each of the power devices monitors the logic level of the wake-up bus. When the logic level of the wake-up bus is at a second logic level, at least one power device under a standby mode is switched to an operation mode.
US09952646B2

A vehicle information display apparatus that shortens an activation waiting time is obtained. The vehicle information display apparatus includes a display unit that displays vehicle information utilized in a vehicle and a control unit that controls contents displayed on the display unit; the control unit makes display control for the vehicle information operate in a power-saving mode where functions are limited, when the trigger signal is detected, and makes the display control for the vehicle information operate in a normal mode where functions are not limited, when the engine has been started completely.
US09952639B2

An information handling system includes a fan controller, and a controller. The fan controller controls a speed of a cooling fan. The controller detects a presence of a card within the information handling system, determines whether the card matches a first thermal control method of a plurality of thermal control methods, utilizes the first thermal control method to cool the card in response to the card matching the first thermal control method, otherwise determines whether the card matches a next in order thermal control method of the thermal control methods.
US09952636B2

Systems and methods are provided that may be implemented for facilitating user modification of cooling device speed response to sensed temperature in information handling systems. The disclosed systems and methods may be implemented to allow an information handling system user to modify how one or more individual cooling device/s respond to device speed control values specified by stored device speed control information without requiring the user to change the identity or pre-defined device speed values of the device speed control information with which the information system is currently operating.
US09952635B2

A system can include a base that includes a bracket; a board releasably coupled to the base where the board includes at least one processor; and a stop pivotably coupled to the bracket where the stop includes a pivoted orientation that forms a first clearance between the stop and the board that permits movement of the board with respect to the base by a release distance and a stop orientation that limits movement of the board with respect to the base to a distance less than the release distance. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed.
US09952634B2

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for interfacing with multiple components connected to a printed circuit board. An apparatus includes a plurality of hardware components that each include a first interface. An apparatus includes a printed circuit board that includes a plurality of interfaces that communicatively couple each of the hardware components to the printed circuit board via the first interface. The printed circuit board includes a second interface that communicatively couples the printed circuit board to an information handling device and manages communications between the information handling device and each of the hardware components coupled to the printed circuit board.
US09952633B2

Disclosed are optical connectors for electronic devices that are disposed at a hinge of the device. The electronic device has an optical connector comprising a base portion having a hinge with a hinge attachment structure and a base connector having one or more base optical channels, and a display. The display comprising a display attachment structure and a display connector having one or more display optical channels for mating with the base connector. The concepts disclosed allow an optical connection for electronic devices having a display that is separable from a base portion.
US09952619B2

The present disclosure provides devices and techniques to dynamically change the operating frequency of an interface where components on the interface have non-common clocks. An interface component may be provided with a frequency negotiation component to negotiate a shift in an operating frequency with other component on an interface where the different components have non-common clocks.
US09952616B2

A differential circuit includes a first constant current circuit, a second constant current circuit having the same constant current value as the first constant current circuit, a current mirror including a first transistor having a current sink terminal connected to the first constant current circuit, a current drain terminal to which a first input voltage is applied, and a gate short-circuited to the current sink terminal, and a second transistor having a gate connected to the current sink terminal of the first transistor and a current drain terminal to which a second input voltage is applied, and a current output terminal connected to a connection node between a part in which a current based on an output current of the current mirror flows and the second constant current circuit.
US09952608B2

A thermostat includes a plurality of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) wire connectors including a connection to at least one call relay wire. The thermostat may also include a powering circuit, including a rechargeable battery, which is configured to provide electrical power to the thermostat by power stealing from a selected call relay wire. The power stealing may comprise an active power stealing mode, in which power is taken from the same selected call relay wire that is used to call for an HVAC function, and an inactive power stealing mode in which, in which no active call is being made. The powering circuit may be configured to substantially suspend (or at least reduce the level of) power stealing for at least a first time period following each transition of the thermostat from between operating states.
US09952607B2

A pressure balanced thermal actuator includes a flow housing having an inlet and an outlet, with the flow housing being affixed at opposing ends to two bellows housings, each of which contains a bellows. An actuation rod is operably coupled to each bellows and contains a fluid passage therewithin. When the temperature of the area surrounding the actuator increases, the pressure inside the bellows housings increases, and exerts a force on the bellows therein, compressing it. As a result, the actuation rod moves from a first position to a second position to align the fluid passage with the inlet and the outlet, enabling the controlled passage of a first fluid from the inlet, and through the fluid passage, to the outlet, to reduce the temperature of the area surrounding the valve assembly. The actuator is unaffected by changes in the ambient pressure, by working equally on two opposing bellows areas.
US09952603B2

A control system for optimizing the flow of fluid from a plurality of pipelines in communication with a resource field includes a sensor array detecting characteristics of the resource field, the plurality of pipelines, and the flow of fluid through the plurality of pipelines. A first manifold assembly and a second manifold assembly each selectively receives the flow of fluid from any of the plurality of pipelines. A controller is provided to be in communication with the sensor array, the first manifold assembly and the second manifold assembly. The controller selectively diverts the flow of the fluid from a first group of the plurality of pipelines to one of the first and the second manifold assemblies, and diverts a second group of the plurality of pipelines to another of the first and the second manifold assemblies, in dependence upon the characteristics being communicated to the controller.
US09952602B2

A liquid material application device can alleviate programming work for drawing a line. The device includes a discharge head (50) for discharging a liquid material, a worktable (25) on which a workpiece is placed, a robot (20) for moving the discharge head and the worktable relative to each other in XYZ directions, and a control unit including an arithmetic device and a storage device for storing an application program, the liquid material application device applying the liquid material to be drawn in the form of a line on the workpiece while the workpiece and the discharge head are moved relative to each other, the control unit includes a first control unit (30) for moving the workpiece and the discharge head relative to each other in accordance with the application program, and a second control unit (40) for controlling a discharge amount of the discharge head.
US09952599B2

A driving control device uses a recognition reliability, and more specifically, uses an inter-vehicle distance, a radius of curvature of a road, and a gradient of the road, to determine detection precision with respect to a leading vehicle. Lane markings are set as restriction positions in cases in which the recognition reliability for the leading vehicle is greater than or equal to a reference. Positions closer to the vehicle than the lane markings are set as the restriction positions in cases in which the recognition reliability for the leading vehicle is lower than the reference.
US09952595B2

A method for maneuvering a marine vessel powered by a propulsion system includes accepting inputs to an electronic navigation device and generating a desired track based on the inputs. The desired track includes a series of waypoints, each waypoint in the series of waypoints being associated with a respective heading. The method also includes sending position and orientation information corresponding to each waypoint and its associated heading to a control module. Based on the position and orientation information, the control module generates steering and thrust commands that are required to maneuver the marine vessel from a current waypoint and heading in the series to a following waypoint and heading in the series. According to the steering and thrust commands, the propulsion system thereafter propels the marine vessel along the desired track to each waypoint and its associated heading in succession. A corresponding system is also disclosed.
US09952588B2

A production configuration is determined for controlling a product processing plant that comprises a collecting system having a conveyor and a plurality of feeders for preparing product collections from products supplied by the feeders. The production configuration defines a production of a plurality of production sequences for a plurality of delivery routes, wherein each delivery route is assigned one or more production sequences, each of which define a production of a plurality of production collections of a collection type comprising a plurality of products. For each feeder an occupancy with products, which are to be conveyed by the feeder to the conveyor for preparation for the product collections, is determined. A production optimization parameter determines whether a defined production order is to be maintained for the delivery routes or whether the production order of the delivery routes can be altered. If the production order can be altered, the production sequences of a plurality of delivery routes for the production of production collections of the same collection type are combined to a cohesive production sequence and the occupancy of the feeders is determined for the production order with combined production sequences.
US09952587B2

A system and method relating to an assembly process of a machine is disclosed. The machine may include a plurality of attachments categorized as core or optional. Each attachment may include a plurality of components each categorized the same as the attachment which the component is a part of. The system may comprise a user interface and a controller configured to display machine information. The machine information may include an image of a portion of the machine. Components categorized as core may be visually differentiated from components categorized as optional. The controller may be configured to modify the categorization of a first attachment, change a first process day on which the first attachment is deducted from inventory to a second process day as a result of modifying the categorization, and adjust a need date for the plurality of components of the first attachment based on the change.
US09952585B2

A polishing machine is described in which a surface treatment tool is moved across the surface of a workpiece in accordance with a predefined tool-path, in order to carry out the desired treatment process. The tool-path is non-periodic and preferably pseudo-random. Various techniques are described for generating data representing the tool-path to be followed. A technique is also described for determining optimum control parameters used to control the polishing machine for a given tool-path. The surface treatment may be a shaping technique in which material is removed from the surface, or a technique for adding material to the surface of the workpiece, or a technique for modifying the surface or a region under the surface of the workpiece.
US09952584B2

A system that can analyze and modify a point map file corresponding to a digital lens design is described. The digital lens design is optimized to meet a patient's ophthalmic prescription. However, a digital surfacing machine may not be physically capable of producing on a lens blank a lens curvature required by the prescription and defined by the point map file. The system takes into account limitations of physical characteristics of the digital surfacing machine, such as the diameter and speed of movement of the cutting tool, and modifies the point map file so that the digital surfacing machine can produce the lens curvature on the lens blank.
US09952583B2

A method of operating a power tool identifies motion of an implement in a power tool. The method includes obtaining a plurality of samples of an electrical signal that passes through the implement, identifying a parameter for the plurality of samples corresponding to a variation in values of predetermined groups of samples in the plurality of samples, updating a status for the implement with a first status indicating that the implement is not moving with reference to the identified parameter being less than a predetermined threshold, and updating a status for the implement with a second status indicating that the implement is moving with reference to the identified parameter being greater than the predetermined threshold.
US09952581B2

Systems and methods NC plasma cut a metal fabric based upon a two-dimensional cutting path. An NC cutting machine is controlled to make a first pass along the cutting path with the laser height measuring device to collect height data from the metal fabric positioned on a bed of the NC cutting machine. Positions for starting and stopping a plasma arc of a cutting torch of the NC cutting machine are determined based upon the height data. An enhanced NC program is generated based upon the cutting path, the height data, and the positions for starting and stopping the plasma arc, to control the NC cutting machine to cut metal of the metal fabric along the cutting path.
US09952580B2

A method and apparatus for machining a part for an assembly. First sensor data is acquired for a surface of a first part from a first sensor system. Second sensor data is acquired for a set of existing holes in a second part from a second sensor system. A surface model of the surface of the first part is generated using the first sensor data. First offset data is computed based on a nominal model of a third part that is nominally positioned relative to the surface model within a three-dimensional virtual environment. Second offset data is computed for the set of existing holes using the second sensor data. Overall offset data is generated using the first and second offset data, wherein the overall offset data is used to drill a set of holes in the third part for use in fastening the third part to the second part.
US09952577B2

A system, method, and computer-readable medium are disclosed for analysis and characterization of manufacturing information such as process trees or genealogies using graph theory. More specifically, using graph theory to analyze manufacturing information of a manufacturing operation allows for deep analysis of relationships between batches or units in a process tree and their closeness or distance, to identify clusters associated with specific quality characteristics or problems, to identify common antecedents of specifically labeled batches (e.g., problem batches), and/or to detect overall desirable or undesirable characteristics of the process tree (e.g., centrality, etc.).
US09952576B2

Systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to learn and share remote commands are disclosed. An example method to configure a playback device to be controlled by a remote control includes receiving by the playback device a first code for a first command from the remote control. The example method includes identifying by the playback device a second code for a second command based on the received first code. The example method includes receiving by the playback device the second code from the remote control. The example method includes executing the second command by the playback device.
US09952571B2

A method and a terminal device for controlling a smart home appliance are provided in the present disclosure. The method includes: obtaining a current operation instruction; determining whether there is a preset combination instruction corresponding to the current operation instruction; sending at least two operation instructions in the preset combination instruction to a corresponding smart home appliance if there is the preset combination instruction and the preset combination instruction is selected; sending the current operation instruction to the corresponding smart home appliance if there is no preset combination instruction.
US09952562B2

A timing signal generating device includes a GPS receiver and a processing unit. The GPS receiver functions as a positioning calculation unit, and receives satellite signals transmitted from GPS satellites and performs positioning calculation based on trajectory information and time information contained in the received satellite signals. Further, the processing unit functions as a position information generation unit, and generates position information of a receiving point based on a mode value or a median value in results of the positioning calculation at a plurality of times by the GPS receiver.
US09952556B2

A method for single-write holographic imaging involves determining a layout of a plurality of holographic images on a substrate, the plurality of holographic images including at least a first holographic image having a first parameter set and a second holographic image having a second parameter set, inputting the parameter sets into a database and controlling an imaging apparatus to image the first and second holographic images on the substrate in a single session to create an integrated holographic pattern.
US09952553B2

A developing cartridge includes: a casing; a developer carrier; and a receiving member. The casing includes a support portion. The receiving member receives a drive force from an external drive source to transmit the drive force to the developer carrier. The receiving member has a cylindrical configuration. The support portion rotatably supports the receiving member. The receiving member includes: a receiving portion; a transmission portion; and a fitting portion. The receiving portion has an outer edge in a radial direction of the receiving member. The transmission portion defines an outer circumferential edge of the receiving member. The fitting portion is positioned inward of the transmission portion in the radial direction and fitted with the support portion. The outer edge of the receiving portion is positioned inward of the transmission portion in the radial direction and outward of the fitting portion in the radial direction.
US09952550B2

A printing system includes a printing control apparatus and a printing apparatus. The printing apparatus includes a receiving unit that receives data transmitted from the printing control apparatus, and a power source control unit that causes the printing apparatus to enter a first power saving state or a second power saving state. The printing control apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires a power state of the printing apparatus, and a control unit that causes the printing control apparatus to enter an OFF state in a case where a acquired power state is the first power saving state, and causes the printing control apparatus to enter a power saving state where a wake-up packet for recovering the printing apparatus from the second power saving state can be transmitted in a case where the acquired power state is the second power saving state.
US09952548B2

An image forming apparatus comprises an image forming section; a fixing device; an input section; a storage section which stores a target temperature of the fixing device in a case of carrying out the fixing processing and a target temperature of the fixing device in a case of carrying out the erasing processing; and a control section which controls to read out lower one of the target temperature of the fixation and the target temperature of the erasure from the storage section to set the lower one to the target temperature of the fixing device in a case in which the processing information of the fixing processing and the erasing processing is input by the input section and the processing is continuously carried out, and drive the fixing device via the driving section at a driving speed corresponding to each of the fixing processing and the erasing processing.
US09952541B2

A fusing device and an image forming apparatus are provided. The fusing device includes a fusing belt provided to be rotatable, a pressing member disposed to face the fusing belt, wherein the pressing member and the fusing belt form a fusing nip, a heat source disposed inside the fusing belt, wherein the heat source is disposed at a side of the fusing nip, a guide member including a heat source seat, on which the heat source is mounted, and configured to guide rotation of the fusing belt, and a pressing support member provided at one side of the heat source seat and configured to press the heat source toward the other side opposite the one side of the heat source seat.
US09952540B2

A fixing device including fixing belt, a heat source to heat the fixing belt, a rotating member in engagement with an outer circumferential surface of the fixing belt, a nip forming member to pressurize the fixing belt, thereby forming a fixing nip between the fixing belt and the rotating member, and sliding members on both ends of the fixing belt and rotated together with the fixing belt. A rotation center of each of the sliding members is on an upstream side compared to a rotation center of the rotating member along a feeding direction of a printing medium, and a shortest distance between a tangential line of an outer circumferential surface of each of the sliding members and the rotation center of the rotating member is equal to or greater than a shortest distance between the fixing nip and the rotation center of the rotating member.
US09952529B2

A print head includes: a mounting board; a light source portion that includes a plurality of light emitting elements provided on one surface of the mounting board; a drive member that is provided on other surface of the mounting board so as to generate a lighting signal and drive the light source portion; and a first temperature detector that is provided on the mounting board, and at least one second temperature detector that is provided at a farther position on the mounting board from the drive member than the first temperature detector; and the drive member includes: a light emitting unit that generates the lighting signal based on a temperature detected by the first temperature detector and a temperature detected by the second temperature detector; and an optical unit that forms an image of light emitted from the light emitting unit.
US09952524B2

The present invention relates to a magnetic carrier for an electrophotographic developer comprising spherical composite core particles comprising at least ferromagnetic iron oxide fine particles and a cured phenol resin, and having an average particle diameter of 20 to 60 μm, the magnetic carrier for an electrophotographic developer satisfying the formula (1): σ1−σ0=−2 to 0 wherein σ0 represents a saturation magnetization (Am2/kg) of the carrier particles having a particle diameter in the vicinity of the average particle diameter of the magnetic carrier for an electrophotographic developer; and σ1 represents a saturation magnetization (Am2/kg) of the carrier particles having a particle diameter of less than 20 μm, and a two-component system developer using the magnetic carrier. The two-component system developer of the present invention includes a magnetic carrier used for an electrophotographic developer which can exhibit a good durability, is free from occurrence of carrier adhesion, and can maintain a high quality of images produced for a long period of time, and comprises the magnetic carrier for an electrophotographic developer and a toner.
US09952521B2

A naphthalenedicarboximide derivative is represented by general formula (1) or (2). In general formulas (1) and (2), R1, R2, and R3 each represent, independently of one another, an alkyl group which has a carbon number from 1 to 10 and which may have an aryl group having a carbon number from 6 to 14, an aryl group which has a carbon number from 6 to 14 and which may have an alkyl group having a carbon number from 1 to 10, a cycloalkyl group having a carbon number from 3 to 10, or an alkoxy group having a carbon number from 1 to 6, and m represents an integer from 0 to 4. When m represents an integer of 2 or more, chemical groups R2 may each be the same or may each be different.
US09952501B2

A photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate (1), an etching stop film (2), a light-shielding film (3), and an etching mask film (4) has on the substrate side a reflectance of up to 35% with respect to exposure light. The etching stop film (2) consists of a first layer (21) which is disposed contiguous to the substrate and functions as an antireflective layer and a second layer (22) functioning as a fluorine-base dry etching-resistant layer, one of the first and second layers is a layer having compressive stress and the other is a layer having tensile stress.
US09952498B2

This invention provides a mask blank in which a thin film for transfer pattern formation is provided on a main surface of a transparent substrate. The thin film is made of a material containing a transition metal and silicon and further containing at least one of oxygen and nitrogen. The thin film has as its surface layer an oxide layer with an oxygen content higher than that of a region, other than the surface layer, of the thin film. The thin film is formed so that the thickness of its central portion is greater than that of its outer peripheral portion on the main surface side. The oxide layer is formed so that the thickness of its central portion is greater than that of its outer peripheral portion on the main surface side.
US09952497B2

A mask blank suitable for fabricating a phase shift mask having a thin film pattern composed of a material enabling dry etching with a fluorine-based gas and a substrate-engraved pattern. The mask blank 100 is used to fabricate a phase shift mask having a thin film pattern and a substrate-engraved pattern. The mask blank 100 has a structure in which an etching stopper film 2, a thin film for pattern formation 3 and an etching mask film 4 are laminated in this order on a transparent substrate 1. The etching stopper film 2 is made of a material that contains chromium and oxygen and the oxygen content thereof is more than 50 at %. The thin film 3 is made of a material that can be dry-etched by a fluorine-based gas. The etching mask film 4 is made of a material that contains chromium, the chromium content thereof is not less than 45 at %, and the oxygen content thereof is not more than 30 at %.
US09952496B2

A panoramic photography head for easily photographing a plurality of images having different orientations without any vignetting in order to generate a panoramic image and to provide a photography system using the panoramic photography head are provided. A panoramic photography system includes: a digital camera body with a lens having a predetermined field of view at a front end thereof and can photograph a digital image; a panoramic photography head connected to a lower surface of the digital camera body; and a legged platform connected to a lower surface of the panoramic photography head. The panoramic photography head includes: an approximately horizontal upper plate having a second connector for realizing non-rotatably connection to the first connector; a vignetting preventing extension that is bent downward from the upper plate to secure a predetermined gap so as to prevent the panoramic photography head and the legged platform from being photographed in an image; and a lower plate that extends approximately horizontally and toward a front side from a lower end of the vignetting preventing extension and has a legged platform connector for connection to the legged platform. The legged platform connector is positioned vertically under a nodal point of the lens.
US09952494B2

A video projecting structure includes a substrate having a visible light transmittance greater than or equal to 5% and less than or equal to 90%, a reflectivity greater than or equal to 5% and less than or equal to 90%, and a front haze less than or equal to 30.
US09952491B2

A phosphor includes a sintered body of a ceramic material. The sintered body contains Ce:Y3Al5O12 as a main phase and a ceramic material as a subphase. The ceramic material has a refractive index different from that of the main phase. The sintered body has a crystal grain boundary and a void at the crystal grain boundary.
US09952479B2

The present invention relates to a display substrate and a method for fabricating the same, a display panel and a display device. The display substrate comprises a plurality of pixels, each of which has a display region, a non-display region being between the plurality of pixels, and the display substrate further comprises a protection metal layer covering the non-display region. In the display substrate, the protection metal layer covers the non-display region of the display substrate so as to shield the structures of the thin-film transistors, signal lines and the like on the display substrate, and thus the stability of structure of the display panel as well as the high resolution of the display panel and excellent display effect thereof can be ensured, and, in the meantime, the procedure of fabrication process is simplified, the manufacture efficiency is improved, and the cost for manufacturing is reduced.
US09952477B2

A liquid crystal display panel is disclosed. Said liquid crystal display panel comprises a plurality of sub pixels that are configured in a pixel array, said pixel array being formed by a plurality of data lines and a plurality of scanning lines that are configured orthogonally to each other, and said plurality of scanning lines comprising: a first scanning line, which is turned on during a first time period after a polarity of a voltage of a driving signal of a data line is reversed, wherein the first sub pixel is charged through said data line; and at least one second scanning line, which are turned on during a second time period, wherein the second sub pixel is charged through said data line. A value of an equivalent capacitor of the first sub pixel is larger than that of the second sub pixel, so that the sustaining voltage of the first sub pixel is equal to that of the second sub pixel.
US09952467B2

A liquid crystal display is provided. A photo-alignment layer thereof includes a polyimide and a crosslinker including an alkylene group (—CnH2n—, where n is a natural number) and a plurality of crosslinking end groups, wherein the plurality of crosslinking end groups include at least two types of end groups or end group derivatives, each type having a different available functional group.
US09952465B2

A liquid crystal panel and a liquid crystal display device are provided. The liquid crystal panel includes a color filter substrate and an array substrate disposed opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal layer (170) located between the color filter substrate and the array substrate, and liquid crystals in the liquid crystal layer are vertically aligned. A protrusive structure (150, 55) is provided on the color filter substrate and/or the array substrate, and a recess (160, 65) is provided around the protrusive structure (150, 55).
US09952464B2

Related to is the technical field of liquid crystal displays, and in particular to a liquid crystal display panel and a frame curing method. The liquid crystal display panel comprises an array substrate, a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed therebetween, the liquid crystal layer being provided with a frame for package in a periphery thereof, wherein the color filter substrate is provided, on a side thereof away from the liquid crystal layer, with a first polarizer, and a second polarizer is arranged between the color filter substrate and the frame, with no black matrix therebetween.
US09952460B2

Provided is a display device. The display device includes a lower display element where a substrate, a first lower electrode, a liquid crystal part, and a second lower electrode are sequentially stacked, an upper display element stacked vertical to the lower display element, where a first upper electrode, a light emitting part, a second upper electrode, and a protective part are sequentially stacked, and a middle part configured to deliver a driving signal to the lower and upper display elements, between the lower and upper display elements.
US09952456B2

Integrated optical intensity or phase modulators capable of very low modulation voltage, broad modulation bandwidth, low optical power loss for device insertion, and very small device size are of interest. Such modulators can be of electro-optic or electro-absorption type made of an appropriate electro-optic or electro-absorption material in particular or referred to as an active material in general. An efficient optical waveguide structure for achieving high overlapping between the optical beam mode and the active electro-active region leads to reduced modulation voltage. In an embodiment, ultra-low modulation voltage, high-frequency response, and very compact device size are enabled by a semiconductor modulator device structure, together with an active semiconductor material that is an electro-optic or electro-absorption material, that are appropriately doped with carriers to substantially lower the modulator voltage and still maintain the high frequency response. In another embodiment, an efficient optical coupling structure further enables low optical loss. Various embodiments combined enable the modulator to reach lower voltage, higher frequency, low optical loss, and more compact size than previously possible in the prior arts.
US09952454B2

Optical devices that include one or more structures fabricated from polar-dielectric materials that exhibit surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs), where the SPhPs alter the optical properties of the structure. The optical properties lent to these structures by the SPhPs are altered by introducing charge carriers directly into the structures. The carriers can be introduced into these structures, and the carrier concentration thereby controlled, through optical pumping or the application of an appropriate electrical bias.
US09952441B2

The filter transmits a light beam of a second wavelength emitted from each of a plurality of second light sources, reflects other light beams incident from a direction intersecting a traveling direction of the light beam of the second wavelength, and outputs a combined light of the light beam of the second wavelength and the other light beams. The first optical element transmits part of the light beam of the first wavelength emitted from the first light source or part of the light beam of the second wavelength included in the combined light output from the filter, and reflects the other light beams excluding the part thereof in the direction intersecting the traveling direction. The first light receiving element receives the part of the light beam of the first wavelength transmitted by the first optical element or the part of the light beam of the second wavelength.
US09952440B2

An imprint apparatus includes: a heating unit configured to heat an imprint region where an imprint process on a substrate is performed and change a shape of the imprint region. The heating unit includes a first optical system configured to emit a light beam extending in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to an optical axis, a changing unit configured to change a ratio of widths of the light beam emitted from the first optical system in the first direction and the second direction, and an intensity distribution adjusting unit configured to adjust an intensity distribution of the light beam the ratio of which has been changed, and the heating unit heats the imprint region by irradiating the imprint region with the light beam from the intensity distribution adjusting unit.
US09952432B2

An apparatus for electro-optically reading targets is mounted in an orientation on a head of a human operator having eyes for directly viewing a calibration target along a sightline. A light source directs a visible light beam away from the apparatus. A calibration assembly adjustably moves the light source, no matter the orientation of the apparatus, to visually position the light beam on the calibration target that is simultaneously being directly viewed along the sightline in a calibration mode of operation. A data capture assembly is operative, subsequent to the calibration mode, for electro-optically reading the targets on which the light beam is visually positioned in a reading mode of operation.
US09952431B2

The present invention relates to a head-up display device with driving video recorder, which includes a device body, a camera lens, an adjustment module, a display module and a reflective sheet, a virtual image reflected and enlarged by the reflective sheet is overlapped with images of the road ahead, such an integrated device combined with a head-up display device and a driving video recorder is provided for a to driver to see driving information and images of the road at the same time, and an angle of a front side camera lens is provided to be adjusted according to demands, to thereby improve driving safety.
US09952429B2

Collaborative scene sharing for overcoming visual obstructions is provided. Video feeds of a scene are obtained from multiple devices viewing the scene from different angle. An obstruction obstructs portion(s) of the scene from view by a device. An aggregation grid that partitions views of the scene into cells is established and used in providing an aggregated view of the scene to the device. This includes identifying cell(s) of the aggregation grid for which the view by the device is obstructed by the obstruction, and providing to the device video portion(s) obtained from video feed(s) from the multiple devices. The video portion(s) correspond to the cell(s) for which the view by the device is obstructed, and the video feeds from which the video portions are obtained are from other device(s), of the multiple devices, for which the view for the cell(s) is unobstructed.
US09952428B2

The general field of the invention is that of heads-up display systems comprising at least one display and one optical guide comprising a first image guide comprising a plurality of first internal semi-reflecting plates, inclined with respect to a first plane. The heads-up display system according to the invention comprises: an oculometer designed to detect the position of the pupil of the eye of an observer; at least one of the said first plates comprising a processing with programmable reflectivity, the said reflectivity depending on the position and/or of the orientation of the ocular pupil detected by the oculometer, in such a manner as to reflect the image of the display towards the said pupa and only towards the latter. The display system can comprise a second image guide perpendicular to the first.
US09952424B2

In a reflection-type image display for use in an image projection apparatus, when normal vectors of a pixel reflection surface in image display and non-display states are VA and VB, respectively, a Y axis is set in a normal direction of an image display surface with the pixel center as an origin, an X axis is set in a direction perpendicular to the Y axis and the normal vector VA, and a projection of the vector VB onto an XY plane is vb, the projection vb is at a predetermined angle not parallel to the Y axis, and among projections of illumination light incident on the pixel reflection surfaces onto the XY plane, a projection forming a maximum angle with respect to the Y axis exists only on a side with respect to the Y axis where a region in which the projection vb exists lies.
US09952423B2

Apparatus and a related method of controlling an electrowetting element of the apparatus. Display effect data is received which is indicative of a requested display effect for two electrowetting elements. Based on the display effect data, one of the electrowetting elements is switched to either: a state with a first fluid contacting substantially all of each of a first surface portion and a second surface portion of a support plate surface; or a state with the first fluid contacting part of the first surface portion and a second fluid contacting substantially all of the second surface portion and a second part of the first surface portion. The other electrowetting element is, based on the display effect data, switched to a state in which the first fluid contacts substantially all of a first surface portion and the second fluid contacts substantially all of a second surface portion. For each electrowetting element, the first surface portion lies in a different plane from the second surface portion.
US09952421B2

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus (100) and method for controlling a plurality of simultaneously active optical traps (OT1,OT2,OT3). In one method, trapping beams (TB1,TB2,TB3) are provided and redirected for individually controlling a respective position (X,Y) of optical traps (OT1,OT2,OT3) formed by focusing of the redirected trapping beams in a sample volume (SV). Light (L11,L20) from the sample volume (SV) corresponding to the optical traps is received. A path of a detector beam (AB) is overlapped with one of the trapping beams (TB3), wherein the detector beam has a distinct wavelength (λA) from that of the overlapping trapping beam (TB3). In one channel, the light from the sample volume is filtered according to wavelength, and only the filtered light having the wavelength (λA) of the detector beam (AB) is measured.
US09952416B2

An imaging optical system includes a first lens unit having a negative refractive power, a second lens unit having a positive refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, a fourth lens unit, and a fifth lens unit, and the first lens unit includes a first negative lens and a first cemented lens, the second lens unit includes a second cemented lens and one or more positive lens components, the third lens unit includes one or more positive lens components and a third cemented lens, and the first cemented lens includes a negative lens closest to the reduction side and has a concave surface facing the reduction side, the second cemented lens has a positive refractive power and has a concave surface facing the enlargement side, the third cemented lens has a positive refractive power and has a negative lens on the reduction side.
US09952412B2

An imaging lens system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element and a sixth lens element. The first lens element has negative refractive power. The third lens element and the fourth lens element both have positive refractive power. The fifth lens element with negative refractive power has an image-side surface being concave in a paraxial region thereof, wherein an object-side surface and the image-side surface thereof are aspheric. The sixth lens element has an image-side surface being concave in a paraxial region thereof, wherein the image-side surface of the sixth lens element has at least one inflection point in an off-axial region thereof, and an object-side surface and the image-side surface thereof are aspheric. The imaging lens system has a total of six lens elements.
US09952407B2

An optical imaging module used in portable devices is described. In order from an object side to an image side, the module comprises an aperture stop, a first lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface and a convex image-side surface; a second lens element with negative refractive power having a concave image-side surface and a object-side surface being convex in a peripheral region; a third lens element with refractive power; a fourth lens element with refractive power having a convex image-side surface; a fifth lens element with positive refractive power having an image-side surface being concave in a paraxial region and convex in a peripheral region; and wherein the optical imaging module used in the portable devices satisfies: 0.052 mm≤D≤0.082 mm, where D represents a maximum effective focus shifts range under all the defocus curves at 0.4 modulus of the OTF (optical transfer function).
US09952402B2

An adjusting mechanism is disclosed. The adjusting mechanism has a differential, first and second stepping motors engaging with the differential, a screw rod connected to the output shaft of the differential such that the screw rod rotates along with the rotation of the output shaft, and a moving block threadably connected to the screw rod to permit motion of the moving block along the longitudinal axis of the screw rod. The output shaft of the adjusting mechanism rotates according to the rotation of the first and second stepping motors, so as to drive the movement of the moving block along the screw rod.
US09952392B2

An optical module includes: at least one optical waveguide provided on a surface of a substrate; a plurality of grooves provided in the optical waveguide on the surface of the substrate and having both a surface orthogonal to the surface of the substrate and an inclined surface; multiple pairs of light-emitting and light-receiving elements aligned with the plurality of grooves in the optical waveguide and provided so as to correspond to light of different wavelengths on the optical waveguide; and a plurality of light-selecting filters each provided on an inclined surface of the plurality of grooves in the optical waveguide and reflecting light of the wavelength corresponding to the light-emitting element in the respective pair of light-emitting and light-receiving elements towards the optical waveguide, and selectively reflecting light of the corresponding wavelength from the light propagating through the optical waveguide towards the corresponding pair of light-emitting and light-receiving elements.
US09952383B2

Graphene may support electromagnetic radiation and be able to support a variety of optical devices. In general, graphene may exhibit changeability in properties such as the conductivity and the like of graphene. Graphene may comprise carbon and be of a thickness of a single atomic layer. In another embodiment, Graphene may be thicker than a single atomic layer, but may be able to exhibit changeability in the properties noted above. Disclosed herein is the guiding and manipulating of optical signals on layers of graphene to create waveguides, ribbon waveguides, beamsplitters, lenses, attenuators, mirrors, scatterers, Fourier optics, Luneburg lenses, metamaterials and other optical devices.
US09952378B2

A light guide plate for guiding of visible light for the backlighting of a liquid crystal display is provided. The light guide plate has two parallel lateral faces and at least one edge face, which serves preferably as a light input face. The light guide plate is a glass that contains B2O3 and SiO2 as components, wherein the total content of B2O3 and SiO2 is at least 70 weight percent and the B2O3 content is greater than 10%. The total content of metal oxide of divalent metals in the composition of the glass is less than 3 weight percent. Al2O3 is contained between 1 weight percent and 5 weight percent in the composition.
US09952372B2

A luminaire includes a housing, an optical waveguide disposed in the housing comprising a plurality of light coupling cavities, and a plurality of LEDs disposed in the housing adjacent the plurality of coupling cavities. A mounting apparatus is adapted to mount the luminaire on a roadway stanchion.
US09952371B2

A multilayer reflective polarizer substantially rotationally symmetric about an optical axis passing thorough an apex of the multilayer reflective polarizer and convex along orthogonal first and second axes orthogonal to the optical axis is described. The multilayer reflective polarizer has at least one first location having a radial distance r1 from the optical axis and a displacement s1 from a plane perpendicular to the optical axis at the apex, where s1/r1 is at least 0.1. The multilayer reflective polarizer may have at least one inner layer substantially optically uniaxial at at least one first location away from the apex. For an area of the reflective polarizer defined by s1 and r1, a maximum variation of a transmission axis of the reflective polarizer may be less than about 2 degrees.
US09952365B2

The present disclosure provides a conversion film configured on the electronic device. The conversion film includes a first regionalized polarizing film having at least two different polarization directions, a second regionalized polarizing film configured on the first regionalized polarizing film having at least one polarization direction, and an adhesive layer configured between the first regionalized polarizing film and the second regionalized polarizing film to bond the first regionalized polarizing film and the second regionalized polarizing film together. One of the polarization directions of the second regionalized polarizing film is same as one of the polarization directions of the first regionalized polarizing film.
US09952364B2

Disclosed therein are an optical film and a display device comprising the same, where the optical film comprises a first optically anisotropic layer including a liquid crystal compound and a second optically anisotropic layer including a photoreactive polymer, thereby securing improved photoreaction rate and excellent liquid crystal alignment.
US09952361B2

A solid-state imaging device comprises a CMOS sensor, a circuit board, a ceramic plate, an IR cut filter, a taking lens, a lens holder, and a support barrel. The CMOS sensor is mounted on the circuit board. The circuit board is fixed to the ceramic plate such that the CMOS sensor is placed inside an opening of the ceramic plate. The sides of the CMOS sensor are surrounded by the ceramic plate. The IR cut filter is fixed to the ceramic plate so as to cover the opening. The CMOS sensor is disposed behind the taking lens. The IR cut filter is disposed between the taking lens and the CMOS sensor. A light-shielding layer is formed over the entire periphery of edge portions of an incident surface of the IR cut filter. Harmful rays such as reflective light is blocked by the light-shielding layer.
US09952355B1

A method of coating an optical substrate includes depositing a semiconductor coating over a surface of an optical substrate, wherein the semiconductor coating has broadband optical transmittance. Portions of the semiconductor coating are doped to form a spatially varied pattern of doped semiconductor in the semiconductor coating. The method includes annealing the semiconductor coating to do at least one of: increase oxygen in undoped areas of the semiconductor coating; or reduce oxygen in doped areas of the semiconductor coating.
US09952350B1

Evaluating a fluid, including transmitting a light beam through the fluid to a detector while oscillating a path length traveled through the fluid by the light beam at a first frequency of oscillation; measuring a time-dependent intensity of incident light at the detector responsive to an interaction of the light beam with the fluid to produce a time-dependent intensity signal; filtering the time-dependent intensity signal to recover a path-dependent signal oscillating at the first frequency and indicative of an absorbance property of the fluid; and estimating a parameter of interest of the fluid using the path-dependent signal. The time-dependent intensity may be indicative of the true absorbance at multiple wavelengths of the fluid or fluids over the maximum path length difference so as to permit quantification of the percentages of each of these fluids. Filtering may include frequency filtering alone or using a phase-sensitive lock-in amplifier.
US09952344B2

A disclosed high-purity dipole transmitter has a longitudinal axis, an oscillation axis, and a side axis, each of the axes being mutually orthogonal. The transmitter includes an outer shell having external surfaces for displacing fluid along the oscillation axis. The transmitter also includes a reaction mass positioned inside the outer shell. The transmitter also includes an electromagnetic actuator that drives the outer shell relative to the reaction mass. The transmitter also includes a pair of matching springs separated along the longitudinal axis, where each spring is coupled between the outer shell and the reaction mass to enable compliant dipole motion of the outer shell along the oscillation axis while suppressing motion along other axes. Each spring includes a beam arrangement with each beam extending lengthwise in a direction parallel to the side axis and being thinnest in a direction parallel to the oscillation axis. The outer shell, the reaction mass, the electromagnetic actuator, and each spring, have mirror symmetry in a plane that includes the oscillation axis and the longitudinal axis, and have mirror symmetry in a plane that includes the side axis and the longitudinal axis.
US09952343B2

Apparatus, systems, and methods for investigating a subsurface volume of interest from a borehole. Apparatus comprise an enclosure configured for conveyance along the borehole; an acoustic source in the enclosure configured to generate acoustic signals; a lens assembly disposed in the enclosure and next to the acoustic source, the lens assembly being formed of a plurality of cells, each cell formed as a column oriented transverse to a direction of travel of the acoustical signals. Each cell comprises a plurality of cell segments with each cell segment of the plurality comprising at least one arcuate wall and at least one radial finger, and wherein the cell segments are oriented in alignment with a rhodonea conformal mapping geometry in a plane transverse to the column to cause acoustic waves to travel at a different speed in each of three orthogonal directions.
US09952340B2

A workflow is presented that facilitates defining geocontextual information as a set of rules for multiple seismic attributes. Modeling algorithms may be employed that facilitate analysis of multiple seismic attributes to find candidate regions that are most likely to satisfy the set of rules. These candidates may then be sorted based on how well they represent the geocontextual information.
US09952335B2

The present invention provides a radiation detector, a radiographic imaging device and a radiographic imaging system that may detect radiation with high precision. Namely, in the radiation detector, radiation detection pixels include detection TFTs, and light that has been converted from radiation is illuminated directly from a scintillator onto the detection TFTs. Accordingly, leak current occurs in semiconductor active layers of the detection TFTs corresponding to the amount (intensity) of the illuminated light, and the leak current flows in to signal lines. Accordingly, radiation may be detected by monitoring the leak current, and enables timings, such as the start of irradiation of radiation, to be detected.
US09952324B2

TOF distance sensor for capturing the distance to an object by receiving radiation reflected by the object, said radiation emanating from a radiation source modulated by a modulation frequency, comprising a pixel matrix for recording a pixel image. The pixel matrix consists of demodulation pixels which are designed for rear-side reception of the radiation. The demodulation pixels comprise a conversion region for generating charge carriers from the received radiation, and a separating device for separating the charge carriers in accordance with the modulation frequency, and also a stop for partitioning-off the conversion region from the separating device in relation to the charge carriers, and also an aperture for passing the charge carriers from the conversion region into the separating device. The TOF distance sensor is embodied in such a way that in each case at least two demodulation pixels form a common aperture.
US09952323B2

An apparatus and method for determining a distance to an object using a binary, event-based image sensor. In one aspect, the image sensor includes memory circuitry and address decode circuitry. In one aspect, activation of a photodiode of the image sensor array by receipt of one or more photons is able to be used directly as an input to logic circuitry. In one embodiment, the image sensor includes photodiodes operating in an avalanche photodiode mode or Geiger mode. In one embodiment, the imaging sensor includes photodiodes operating as thresholded integrating pixels. The imaging sensor can be fabricated from one or more substrates having at least a first and a second voltage portion.
US09952322B2

A method of operating an optoelectronic proximity sensor including a radiation-emitting component, a radiation-detecting component and a control unit includes: operating the radiation-emitting component with a pulsed current, wherein the pulsed current of the radiation-emitting component has an on time and an off time during a measurement period, and causing the control unit to evaluate a detector signal of the radiation-detecting component during the on time and ending the on time if the detector signal exceeds a threshold value, wherein the ratio of the on time to the measurement period is less than 1/10.
US09952320B2

The invention relates to a method for operating a radar sensor (5, 6) of a motor vehicle (1), in which for detecting a target object (12) in an environment of the motor vehicle (1), a transmit signal (S) is emitted by means of the radar sensor (5, 6) and an echo signal reflected on the target object (12) is received as a received signal, wherein a plurality of sequences (13) each including a plurality of frequency-modulated chirp signals (14) is emitted one after the other by means of the radar sensor (5, 6) as the transmit signal (S), and wherein a transmission pause (15) respectively follows each sequence (13), in which the radar sensor (5, 6) does not emit any chirp signals (14). The period of time of the transmission pauses (15) is respectively randomly adjusted in the operation of the radar sensor (5, 6).
US09952317B2

A vehicle sensor calibration system can detect an SDV on a turntable surrounded by a plurality of fiducial targets, and rotate the turntable using a control mechanism to provide the sensor system of the SDV with a sensor view of the plurality of fiducial targets. The vehicle sensor calibration system can receive, over a communication link with the SDV, a data log corresponding to the sensor view from the sensor system of the SDV recorded as the SDV rotates on the turntable. Thereafter, the vehicle sensor calibration system can analyze the sensor data to determine a set of calibration parameters to calibrate the sensor system of the SDV.
US09952315B2

A laser radar (LADAR) system includes a laser transmitter configured to emit laser pulses at a first wavelength, a non-linear converter configured to convert the laser pulses to a second wavelength prior to spectral filtering of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) that is emitted from the laser transmitter in a spectrum concentrated around the first wavelength, and a spectral filter configured to substantially filter the ASE and allow the laser pulses at the second wavelength to pass.
US09952310B2

In one example, this disclosure is directed to a system configured to receive weather data from one or more weather data sources. The system is further configured to receive, from a requesting weather radar system, a request for supplemental weather data covering an identified region, wherein the requesting weather radar system is associated with a specific weather radar data format. The system is further configured to identify a set of supplemental weather data for the identified region, based on the received weather data from the one or more weather data sources, wherein the supplemental weather data is in the specific weather radar data format associated with the requesting weather radar system and comprises weather forecast information for the identified region. The system is further configured to transmit the supplemental weather data for the identified region to the requesting weather radar system.
US09952301B2

A computer implemented method for processing MRI image data and displaying MRI images includes analyzing MRI image data to identify an image acquisition protocol used to acquire the MRI image data, and displaying a plurality of MRI images obtained from the MRI image data, wherein the MRI images are displayed in an order and/or arrangement based at least in part upon the identified image acquisition protocol.
US09952296B2

A magnetic resonance method comprises applying a radio frequency excitation in an examination region (14), measuring a magnetic resonance signal generated by the applied radio frequency excitation in a subject (16) in the examination region, monitoring a radio frequency parameter during the applying, and evaluating subject safety based on the monitoring. A magnetic resonance safety monitor (40) comprises an analyzer (42, 44, 46, 50) configured to (i) receive a radio frequency signal during magnetic resonance excitation, (ii) extract a radio frequency parameter from the received radio frequency signal, and (iii) evaluate subject safety based on the extracted radio frequency parameter, and a remediation module (54) configured to perform a remediation of the magnetic resonance excitation responsive to the evaluation (iii) indicating a potentially unsafe condition.
US09952291B2

A Hall sensor may include a Hall sensing element configured to produce a Hall voltage indicative of a magnetic field when traversed by an electric current, and a first pair of bias electrodes mutually opposed in a first direction across the Hall sensing element. The Hall sensor may include a second pair of bias electrodes mutually opposed in a second direction across the Hall sensing element. The Hall sensor may include a first pair of sensing electrodes mutually opposed in a third direction across the Hall sensing element, and a second pair of sensing electrodes mutually opposed in a fourth direction across the Hall sensing element. The fourth direction may be orthogonal to the third direction, each sensing electrode being between a bias electrode of the first pair and a bias electrode of the second pair.
US09952290B2

The present disclosures relates to an apparatus and a method for detecting power abnormality of an engine-type forklift truck, and the apparatus for detecting power abnormality of an engine-type forklift truck includes: a power supply unit including a pair of batteries so as to supply power to an electric device included in an engine-type forklift truck; an engine control unit (ECU) which receives power from the power supply unit; an equalizer which is provided between the power supply unit and the ECU so as to maintain a voltage balance between the pair of batteries and adjust a voltage of power supplied to the ECU; and an abnormality detecting unit which compares a voltage input from the pair of batteries with a voltage input from any one of the pair of batteries, and detects abnormality in the voltage balance.
US09952289B2

A storage battery evaluating apparatus according to an embodiment includes a determiner, a corrector, a QV curve generator, an evaluator, and a feedbacker. The determiner determines a charging/discharging tendency of a storage battery based on measurement data including voltage data. The corrector corrects the voltage data based on a correction parameter. The correction parameter corresponds to at least one of the charging/discharging tendency and a degraded state of the storage battery. The QV curve generator generates a QV curve of the storage battery based on the voltage data which has been corrected. The evaluator evaluates the degraded state based on the QV curve. The feedbacker feeds back, to the corrector, the corrected parameter corresponding to the degraded state.
US09952285B2

A system and method for sharing a communications link between multiple protocols is described. A system includes a communications interface configured to exchange information with other systems using at least one of a plurality of protocols; a protocol select register that stores a value that selects a protocol from among the plurality of protocols to become an active protocol; and a state machine accessible to the communications interface, the state machine used to control the exchange of information through the communications interface according to the active protocol. The active protocol is used by the communications interface to exchange information while the remaining protocols of the plurality of protocols remain inactive. The state machine sequences through a series of states that cause the communications interface to operate according to the active protocol, and that are designated as inert sequences under the remaining protocols.
US09952283B2

Electronic scan circuitry includes a decompressor (510), a plurality of scan chains (520.i) fed by the decompressor (510), a scan circuit (502, 504) coupled to the plurality of scan chains (520.i) to scan them in and out, a masking circuit (590) fed by the scan chains (520.i), and a scannable masking qualification circuit (550, 560, 580) coupled to the masking circuit (590), the masking qualification circuit (550, 560, 580) scannable by scan-in of bits by the decompressor (510) along with scan-in of the scan chains (520.i), and the scannable masking qualification circuit (550, 560, 580) operable to hold such scanned-in bits upon scan-out of the scan chains through the masking circuit (590). Other scan circuitry, processes, circuits, devices and systems are also disclosed.
US09952282B1

A programmable device comprises a plurality of programmable blocks, a debug interface coupled with the plurality of programmable blocks, and a power manager coupled with the plurality of programmable blocks. The power manager is configured to supply power to a subset of the plurality of programmable blocks during debugging of the subset while maintaining a different subset of the plurality of programmable blocks in a lower power mode.
US09952280B2

An electronic device with COF package is provided. The electronic device includes a flexible substrate, a core circuit unit, multiple output pads and multiple switching elements. First terminals of the switching elements are respectively and electrically connected to output pads of the core circuit unit, and second terminals of the switching elements are respectively and electrically connected to the output pads. In a test stage of the electronic device, the switching elements are sequentially turned on such that one of multiple output signals of the core circuit unit is transmitted to a common test pad outside of the electronic device through corresponding one of the output pads.
US09952275B2

A method for predicting remaining life of electromigration failure is disclosed. The methods includes: establishing an electromigration life model of a MOS device; acquiring a normal electromigration failure lifetime τ1, based on a current density and a first environment temperature under a preset normal operating condition and the electromigration life model; acquiring a current density stress, based on a target prognostic point τ2, a second environment temperature and the electromigration life model; inputting the current density stress into a MOS device electromigration failure warning circuit based on a prognostic cell; and if the prognostic circuit of EM failure for a MOS device outputs a high level after a time τ3, acquiring a remaining life of electromigration failure corresponding to τ2′ based on τ1, τ2 and τ3. A device for remaining life prediction for electromigration failure is also disclosed.
US09952274B2

A method of measuring semiconductor output characteristics is provided that includes connecting a pulse generator to the gate structure of a semiconductor device, and applying a plurality of voltage pulses at least some of which having a different pulse width to the gate structure of the semiconductor device. The average current is measured from the drain structure of the device for a duration of each pulse of the plurality of pulses. From the measured values for the average current, a self-heating curve of the average current divided by the pulse width is plotted as a function of the pulse width. The self-heating curve is then extrapolated to a pulse width substantially equal to zero to provide a value of drain current measurements without self-heating effects.
US09952272B2

Systems and fixtures for mounting, under mechanical constraint, wire-like or fiber-like samples of a high aspect ratio and down to 100 micrometers in diameter are disclosed. A region of interest along the length of the sample resides between and beyond a mechanical constraint on either side, allowing access to the region of interest for a wide number of characterization probes. The fixture may provide electrical isolation between two retaining blocks by means of a dielectric support member. The design may achieve minimal thermal expansion along the length of the sample by the material selection for the dielectric support member. Electrical contact may be introduced to the sample through conductive constraints in the retaining blocks. The fixture may have a minimal size perpendicular to the length axis of the sample to facilitate high probe fluxes when a diverging probe is used. The fixture may provide high x-ray transparency between the retaining blocks. The systems and fixtures as described therefore may provide a means for performing electrical and thermal testing on samples, including but not limited to solder butt-joints, across multimodal in situ characterization and imaging techniques to analyze dynamic electromigration.
US09952257B2

A coreless current probe has a body defining an opening in a plane and a central line through the opening which is normal to the plane. A conductor carrying a current to be measured can be accommodated in the opening. At least three coreless single point magnetic field sensors are distributed in the body around the opening. The linear spacings between adjacent sensors around the opening are not all the same. In another embodiment, the sensors are not all located on a common cylindrical surface. One embodiment has a U-shaped body enabling engagement with a current carrying conductor. The sensors are arranged so that the sum of the outputs each with appropriate weighting is zero in any homogenous field. The sensors outputs have differing weightings so as to maximize rejection by the probe of external magnetic fields.
US09952256B2

The invention relates to a matching circuit for matching impedance values comprising an impedance element with an impedance value, which corresponds to a required total impedance value of the matching circuit, a structurally determined parasitic unit with a parasitic impedance value and a compensation unit with at least one first compensation element. The first compensation element provides a compensation impedance value which is the dual impedance value of the parasitic impedance value. Furthermore, a system comprising a first circuit unit and a second circuit unit with a matching circuit serving for the matching is provided. Also, a method for the compensation of parasitic units for matching purposes is provided.
US09952253B2

In an aspect, in general, a system and method compensate for a misalignment characteristic of one or more acceleration sensors fixed to a sprung mass of a vehicle, each acceleration sensor having a location on the vehicle and a desired orientation relative to the vehicle.
US09952252B2

A system and method for reducing offset in a MEMS sensor are disclosed. In a first aspect, the system is a MEMS sensor that comprises a sensing reference plane, at least one anchor coupled to the sensing reference plane, at least one proof mass coupled to the at least one anchor, wherein one of the at least one proof mass moves under an external excitation, a pattern of sensing elements coupled between the sensing reference plane and the at least one proof mass to detect motion normal to the sensing reference plane, wherein the pattern of sensing elements shares at least three axes of polarity anti-symmetry, and a signal processing circuit to combine the pattern of sensing elements thereby providing an output proportional to the external excitation. In a second aspect, the sensing reference plane is divided by two axes forming four quadrants on the sensing reference plane.
US09952250B2

A resonant sensor includes a mover that is movable in a first direction, a supporter that extends in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the supporter being connected to the mover and a fixer, the supporter supporting the mover which is movable in the first direction, and a resonator that is vibratable, at least a part of the resonator being embedded in the supporter.
US09952245B2

A velocity deviation measuring device includes: a laser driver that causes a semiconductor laser to oscillate; a counting portion that counts run lengths of binary signals wherein interference waveforms included in the output of a photodiode that converts the output of the semiconductor laser into an electric signal have been binarized; and a calculating portion that calculates the deviation in the surface velocity of a web from the counting result by the counting portion. The counting portion binarizes the interference waveform synchronized to a sampling clock, measures the respective run lengths of the binary signal during a reference interval and a comparison interval, creates respective frequency distributions of the run lengths for the reference interval and the comparison interval, and calculates, respectively, for the reference interval and the comparison interval, the total numbers of run lengths that are at or above a threshold value Th, from the frequency distribution.
US09952243B2

A reagent vessel housing unit 7 is provided with a drive unit 121 for a base member 122. The base member supports a first opening/closing mechanism 135 for a first reagent vessel and a second opening/closing mechanism 136 for a second reagent vessel. The drive unit 121 positions the base member 122 at an initial position, at a position at which the cap of a first reagent vessel and the cap of a second reagent vessel are closed, at a first opening position at which the cap of the first reagent vessel is opened, and at a second opening position at which the cap of the second reagent vessel is opened.
US09952231B2

Embodiments of methods and compounds for isolating and detecting lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) are disclosed. Kits for performing the methods also are disclosed. LPAs are isolated from biological samples by liquid-liquid extraction followed by solid phase extraction. LPA species may be separated by HPLC, and the separated species may be identified and quantified. Also disclosed are embodiments of compounds capable of universally detecting a plurality of LPA species with substantially equivalent sensitivity. Embodiments of the disclosed compounds are useful for determination of total LPA concentration in a sample comprising a plurality of LPA species without separation of individual LPA species.
US09952224B2

A detection method for 305 fertility-associated sperm localization protein expressed in human testis and epididymis. The method includes qualitatively or quantitatively detecting for sperm localization proteins on a sperm or in seminal plasma via capture agents for the sperm localization proteins. The sperm localization proteins belong to an important protein group related to human sperm maturation and fertility. The method provides a diagnostic approach for male infertility.
US09952223B2

Described herein are methods and systems for the detection of anti-vinculin antibodies, for determining a presence or likely presence of a gastrointestinal motility disorder, bladder motility disorder, or fibromyalgia. Further provided are methods of selecting and/or administering a therapy based on the presence or absence of anti-vinculin antibodies.
US09952222B2

A method for analyzing a component using a fluidic device. The method includes the steps of providing a distribution of the component across contacting first and second fluid flows; diverting a part of the first fluid flow, a part of the second fluid flow, or parts of the first fluid flow and the second fluid flow, wherein the diverted part includes the component; and analyzing the component in the diverted part of the fluid flow. Optionally the component may be labelled prior to the analyzing step. A flow apparatus for use in the method is also provided.
US09952217B2

The present invention relates to a method for quantitative detection of anti-HBc and its use in monitoring disease progression of chronic hepatitis B patients and predicting therapeutic effects. By quantitative detection of antibodies against hepatitis B core protein (Anti-HBc), it is able to monitor disease progression of chronic hepatitis B patients, effectively predict therapeutic effects in chronic hepatitis B patients who accept a therapy against hepatitis B virus (especially, a therapy based on interferon and a therapy based on nucleoside/nucleotide analog anti-HBV drug), and thus guide the patients to reasonably choose drugs.
US09952212B2

This invention provides methods and compositions for capturing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as well as various divergent CTC phenotypes using seprase-specific affinity reagents. Methods of analyzing CTCs and assessing their metastatic potential in vivo and in vitro are also disclosed.
US09952206B2

The invention relates to the field of drug detection and describes antibody-based components methods and kits for the detection and quantification of alkaloids of the plant kratom. The invention is underpinned by novel antibodies which specifically bind to mitragynine alkaloids found in the kratom plant and their metabolites.
US09952204B2

A method for forming neuromuscular junctions includes forming functional neuromuscular junctions between motoneurons and muscle cells by co-culturing one or more human motoneurons and one or more rat muscle cells in a substantially serum-free medium. A synthetic mammalian neuromuscular junction includes a human motoneuron functionally linked to a rat muscle cell in a substantially serum-free medium. An artificial substrate may be used to support the one or more neuromuscular junctions.
US09952199B2

The present disclosure relates to a bio-sensor capable of measuring the total concentration of one or a plurality of ammonia or ammonium ions with the use of indophenol reagents in the presence of an ionomer. In some embodiments, the biosensor comprises a perflurinated membrane that comprises an ionomer in contact with an alkaline buffer in a vessel configured to receive a sample, such as whole blood. The disclosure also relates to a method of detecting or quantifying the ammonia or ammonium ion concentration in whole blood in a point of care biosensor without reliance on gas chromatography or any measurement that takes more than about twenty minutes.
US09952197B2

Provided is a method for measuring the concentration of a substance in a blood sample, comprising: supplying the blood sample to a biosensor comprising a hematocrit electrode for measuring a hematocrit value on the surface of which electrode an electrically conductive polymer is covalently immobilized; and calculating the concentration of the substance from the measured value of a first current resulting from application of a first voltage; and correcting the concentration of the substance with the value of a second current resulting from application of a second voltage or the hematocrit value calculated from the value of the second current.
US09952196B2

A method for detecting albumin based on a colorimetric assay and a system thereof are disclosed. Gold nanoparticles are added into the sample preparing device having a sample without spectroscopic tags, wherein the sample without spectroscopic tags is formed as the alkaline solution to avoid the interference substances adhering on the gold nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles are concentrated by using the microfluidic concentrator with the circular ion exchange membrane by applying an external electric field across two electrodes. The image of the concentrated gold nanoparticles is captured by the image capturing device for measuring the saturation intensities of the image, wherein there is a relation between the saturation intensities and the concentration of the albumin in the sample without spectroscopic tags. The concentration of the albumin of the sample without spectroscopic tags is obtained by the relation and the measured saturation intensities.
US09952188B2

In a measuring method for measuring an atmospheric concentration of a compound, such as a volatile organic compound (VOC), an adsorptive element is provided within a target atmosphere for a period of time to allow adsorption of a compound of interest, and then removed from the target atmosphere, and placed within a closed measuring space. The adsorptive element is heated within the measuring space to cause de-adsorption of the compound into the closed measuring space, and a concentration of the de-adsorbed compound is measured. A concentration of the compound in the target atmosphere is determined based on the concentration of the compound within the closed measuring space. The adsorptive element may be formed of an adsorptive material such as carbon fibers, cellulose or other adsorptive materials, and a binder. The adsorptive element may be optimized for adsorption of a specific compound.
US09952180B2

A composite component comprising a plurality of plies and a plurality of pins extending transversely to the plies, wherein the pins comprise a magnetic material. A magnetic field generator is configured to generate a magnetic field through a thickness direction of the component; and a sensor is provided for detecting a change in magnetic flux indicative of delamination of the plies.
US09952178B2

A closed and open contact method to predict a usable life of vacuum interrupters in the field can include using computer instructions in the data storage to instruct the processor to position a calculated amp or calculated pressure on an ionic or current versus pressure calibration curve for the installed vacuum interrupter and identify trend data from a library of trend data corresponding to the installed vacuum interrupter and to the calculated pressure or calculated amp of the installed vacuum interrupter; thereby determining the anticipated life expectancy.
US09952176B2

Apparatus and methods for size selecting nucleic acid molecules having wide range of applications including the production of DNA libraries for sequencing technologies. An automated high throughput system for size selection of multiple nucleic acid samples that uses imaging technique to detect the progress of a target fraction and feedback from the imaging to control electrophoresis. Predictive algorithms for timed nucleic acid extractions are generated to provide size selected nucleic acid molecules of required size ranges.
US09952171B2

A gas sensor package comprises a gas sensor chip with a layer sensitive to a gas, and with a heater for heating the sensitive layer. Contact pads are provided for electrically contacting the gas sensor package and a die pad is provided for mounting the gas sensor chip to. Electrical connections connect the gas sensor chip and the contact pads. A molding compound at least partially encloses the gas sensor chip. An opening in the molding compound provides access to the sensitive layer of the gas sensor chip. One of the contact pads serves as a pin for supplying electrical current to the heater of the gas sensor chip.
US09952169B2

A method of measuring biological sample properties and a biological sample property measuring apparatus is provided. A method of measuring biological sample properties includes disposing a biomaterial to contact a sensing unit, detecting a radio frequency (RF) signal flowing through the sensing unit, and obtaining an RF property indicator of the biomaterial based on the detected RF signal.
US09952150B2

The invention relates to a device for measuring the scattering of a sample. Said device includes at least one first and one second scattering receiver for capturing scattered rays from the sample; and at least one imaging element via which rays can reach the sample and from the sample to the scattering receiver. According to the invention, the first and second scattering receivers are arranged in a common flat or approximately spherically curved surface, which is oriented perpendicular to an optical axis of the imaging element. The first scattering receiver is designed and arranged to capture saturated scattered rays from the sample and the second scattering receiver is designed and arranged to capture linearly scattered rays from the sample.
US09952147B2

The invention is directed to a non-destructive method of detecting whether a coating or deposit (30, 34) of (a) SiOxCy or SiNxCy and/or (b) of SiOx is present on or near a surface of an article (12), such as a disposable thermoplastic medical article. The method includes impinging infrared light (216) having a wave number in at least a portion of a desired range onto at least a first surface being examined for the presence of the one or more coatings or deposits. At least a portion (224) of the infrared light impinged on the first surface is collected (at 222) and the response output, which may include for example the maximum intensity and/or peak area of the collected infrared light at an infrared spectroscopy peak, is used to indicate the presence of the one or more coatings or deposits.
US09952146B1

A method and system are provided for determining gas concentration at a region of a planetary surface. A gas filter correlation radiometry (GFCR) system, provided at a location above a planetary surface, includes a processor and a GFCR sensor having a first gas cell containing a target gas and a second gas cell that does not contain the target gas. Using the GFCR sensor, first images of a region of the planetary surface are generated via capture through the first gas cell and second images of the region are generated via capture through the second gas cell. Using the processor, ratio images are generated using the first images and the second images. Concentration of the target gas over known altitude variations of the region is determined where the concentration of the target gas is a function of the ratio images and the altitude variations of the region.
US09952143B2

A gas sensor is used for determining a concentration of a predetermined gas in a measurement volume. The gas sensor comprises a light source and a detector arranged to receive light that has passed through the measurement volume. During a first measurement period, the detector is used to make a first measurement of an amount of light received in at least one wavelength band which is absorbed by the gas. The first measurement is compared to a predetermined threshold value. If the threshold is crossed, during a second measurement period the detector is used to make a second measurement of an amount of light received in at least one wavelength band which is absorbed by the gas. The concentration of said gas in said measurement volume is calculated using the first and/or second measurement.
US09952126B2

Methods, systems, and devices are described for multiple single-cell capturing and processing utilizing microfluidics. Tools and techniques are provided for capturing, partitioning, and/or manipulating individual cells from a larger population of cells along with generating genetic information and/or reactions related to each individual cell. Different capture configurations may be utilized to capture individual cells and then processing each individual cell in a multi-chamber reaction configuration. Some embodiments may provide for specific target amplification, whole genome amplification, whole transcriptome amplification, real-time PCR preparation, copy number variation, preamplification, mRNA sequencing, and/or haplotyping of the multiple individual cells that have been partitioned from the larger population of cells. Some embodiments may provide for other applications. Some embodiments may be configured for imaging the individual cells or associated reaction products as part of the processing. Reaction products may be harvested and/or further analyzed in some cases.
US09952123B2

An air quality test unit for attachment to a vent of a HVAC system with air flow there through. The air quality test unit contains at least two substrate panels arranged in a v-shape form wherein at least one panel includes a sticky surface or a collection container. The air quality test unit is attachable to the vent by one or more clips. The sticky surfaces or collection container of the substrate panels capture airborne substances and contaminants emanating from the air flow of the HVAC system vent. A culture growth medium may be disposed in the collection container or on the sticky surface. The air quality test unit kit provides a user with an air quality test unit and process for shipping the unit to the laboratory for analysis.
US09952121B2

A pneumatic circuit of a tire testing apparatus includes: a piping configured to guiding air from an air supply source to a tire; a control part configured to output a target command pressure; a pressure proportional control valve part; and a constant-flow air discharge part. The pressure proportional control valve part supplies and discharges the air of a flow rate proportional to a differential pressure between the target command pressure and an internal pressure of the tire so that the internal pressure of the tire becomes the target command pressure, and has a dead band in which the air is not supplied and discharged within a predetermined range. The constant-flow air discharge part is formed between the tire and the pressure proportional control valve part, and is configured to discharge the air of an inside of the piping to an outside at a constant flow rate.
US09952115B2

A rollover prevention system for a machine is disclosed. The rollover prevention system may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured to detect a discharge event of a payload material from the machine and measure a body angle of the machine. The rollover prevention system may further include a controller in communication with the IMU. The controller may be configured to determine an angle of repose of the machine based on the detected discharge event and the measured body angle.
US09952112B2

According to an embodiment, a pressure sensor includes a support part, a flexible membrane part, and a magnetoresistive element. The flexible membrane part is supported by the support part, and includes a first region and a second region with rigidity lower than rigidity of the first region. The magnetoresistive element is provided on the membrane part, and includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, and a spacer layer provided between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer.
US09952111B2

According to an embodiment, a device includes a substrate, a transducer die disposed over the substrate, a cover disposed over the transducer die, and a support structure connecting the cover to the substrate. The support structure includes a port configured to allow transfer of fluidic signals between an ambient environment and the transducer die.
US09952109B2

A microbarometer includes a reference base, a bellows having a first edge fixed to a reference surface of the base and having an elongation direction perpendicular to the reference surface. A cover closes a second edge of the bellows and sealingly insulates an interior volume thereof. The bellows configured such that variations in elongation are directly proportional to pressure variations induced by infrasonic waves. A reflective element is integral the cover and an interferometric component receives a beam from a source is integral with the reference surface of the base. An input/output optical path faces the reflective element and is parallel to the elongation direction of the bellows, so as to emit a beam fraction towards the reflective element and to sense the reflected beam after reflection from reflective element. The interferometric component including integrated optical guide lines and optical separation and combination zones within a substrate.
US09952105B2

A temperature measurement apparatus includes a first temperature sensor disposed so as to be close to a contact surface with an object to be measured in a thickness direction of an apparatus main body, and a second temperature sensor disposed so as to be close to a display unit in the thickness direction of the apparatus main body. The display unit is switched between a first display state and a second display state by switching a mark between display and non-display. An internal temperature of the object to be measured is calculated by using a detected temperature in the first temperature sensor and a detected temperature in the second temperature sensor in the first display state, and a detected temperature in the first temperature sensor and a detected temperature in the second temperature sensor in the second display state.
US09952103B2

A computer-implemented method for evaluating cooling performance of equipment in a data center. In one aspect, the method comprises receiving data related to equipment in the data center, determining first parameters related to airflow and temperature in the data center at a first period in time, receiving a description of a transient event affecting one of airflow and temperature in the data center at a second time, breaking a second time period subsequent to the second time into a plurality of time intervals, determining second parameters related to airflow in the data center during one of the time intervals, determining the parameters related to temperature in the data center at each of the time intervals based on the second parameters related to airflow, and storing, on a storage device, a representation of the parameters related to temperature in the data center during the second time period.
US09952097B1

The infrared scene projector has a support structure having an airtight chamber; an image projector secured to the support structure; a conversion chip having a substrate secured to the support structure, and an array of conversion units received on a face of the substrate, the array of conversion units being enclosed inside the airtight chamber and being optically coupled to the image projector, each one of the conversion units having at least one supporting post secured to the face of the substrate and a suspended platform held spaced apart from the face of the substrate by the at least one supporting post, the conversion chip being adapted to convert at least one of visible and near-infrared light received from the image projector into infrared radiation; and an infrared beam path extending away from the array of conversion units.
US09952096B2

A spectral encoder includes a thin layer of lossy dielectric material whose thickness varies transversely from 0 to a thickness of about λ/4n (e.g., <100 nm), where λ is the wavelength of incident radiation and n is the dielectric material's refractive index. The dielectric layer reflects (and/or transmits) light at a wavelength that depends on the layer's thickness. Because the dielectric layer's thickness varies, different parts of the dielectric layer may reflect (transmit) light at different wavelengths. For instance, shining white light on a dielectric layer with a linearly varying thickness may produce a rainbow-like reflected (and/or transmitted) beam. Thus, the spectral encoder maps different wavelengths to different points in space. This mapping can be characterized by a transfer matrix which can be used to determine the spectrum of radiation incident on the spectral encoder from the spatial intensity distribution of the radiation reflected (and/or transmitted) by the spectral encoder.
US09952090B2

A detecting apparatus for detecting an object includes at least a screen, at least a detecting unit and at least a holding unit. The screen is partial light-permeable and has a first surface and an opposite second surface. The object is disposed adjacent to the first surface of the screen. The detecting unit is disposed corresponding to the object and located adjacent to the second surface of the screen. The holding unit holds the relative distances between the screen, the object and the detecting unit. The detecting unit captures the image of the second surface of the screen so as to calculate the optical field distribution of the object. The detecting apparatus can measure the optical field distribution of an object quickly and has the advantages of low cost and high accuracy.
US09952087B2

A conveyor system for transporting items from a receiving section to an outlet section, the conveyor system having plurality of first support members for transporting items and a weighing device. wherein a second support member is arranged at a first support member by way of a support assembly, allowing the second support member for being supported by the first support member in a first vertical position and for being moved relative to the first support member between the first vertical position and a second vertical position higher than the first vertical position. The conveyor system includes a lifting device for moving the second support member from the first vertical position towards the second vertical position. The weighing device is arranged for supporting the second support member when the second support member is in the second vertical position.
US09952084B2

A method and a system for evaluating a content of a bin, the method may include: transmitting by multiple acoustic transceiver arrays, a plurality of acoustics pulses in an at least partially overlapping manner towards an expected location of the content to generate an acoustic interference pattern that comprises multiple fringes; detecting by an acoustic transceiver array a first fringe of the acoustic interference pattern and providing a fringe detection signal; and processing the first fringe detection signal to assist in a provision of a first estimate related to the content. A distance between a pair of acoustic transceiver arrays is at least ten times a distance between transducers of a same acoustic transceiver array.
US09952080B2

When an exposed part of a semiconductor chip is reduced in size, a tendency of development of a crack on the semiconductor chip is suppressed. A pressure of injection of a resin MR into a second space creates a gap on a contact part SEL where an elastic film LAF and a semiconductor chip CHP1 are in contact, and a resin MR2 different in constituent from the resin MR infiltrates into the gap. As a result, in an area of semiconductor chip CHP1 that is exposed from the resin MR, the resin MR2 is formed in an area other than a flow detecting unit FDU and an area around it. Hence, an area of semiconductor chip CHP1 that is exposed from the resins MR and MR2 can be reduced in size.
US09952079B2

A flow sensor assembly includes a housing that defines an inlet port, an outlet port, a main channel and a bypass channel. An inlet flow channel fluidly connects the inlet port of the flow sensor assembly to the main channel and an outlet flow channel fluidly connects the main channel to the outlet port. A bypass feeder input channel fluidly connects the main channel to the bypass channel and a bypass feeder output channel fluidly connect the bypass channel to the main channel. In some instances, at least 40 percent of an input pressure differential applied between the inlet port and the outlet port of the flow sensor assembly drops across the inlet flow channel and the outlet flow channel collectively. A sensor is exposed to a fluid in the bypass channel and senses a measure related to a flow rate of the fluid flowing through the bypass channel.
US09952073B2

An integrated load cell and inclinometer includes an outer shell including a u-shaped structure configured to receive a polished rod; a load sensor configured output a load signal based on a load experienced by the load sensor; a position sensor configured to output a position signal based on a position experienced by the position sensor; a load and position signal processor configured to receive and process the load signal from the load sensor and to output load signal data representative of the load experienced by the load sensor, and receive and process the position signal from the position sensor and to output position signal data representative of the inclination of the walking beam or the position of the polished rod; a solar battery configured to provide power to the integrated load cell and inclinometer; and a transmitter configured to transmit the load signal data and position signal data.
US09952064B2

A transformer position sensor includes a primary coil, a secondary coil, and an electrically shorted coil. The primary coil is adapted to receive an excitation signal and is configured, upon receipt of the excitation signal, to generate a primary magnetic flux. The secondary coil is inductively coupled to the primary coil upon electrical excitation of the primary coil, and includes a plurality of differentially wound coils. The electrically shorted coil is inductively coupled to receive at least a portion of the primary magnetic flux generated by the primary coil. The electrically shorted coil is configured, upon receipt of at least a portion of the primary magnetic flux, to generate a magnetic flux that opposes the primary magnetic flux.