US08201839B2
The present invention is applied to pedal vehicles, or mixture of electric and pedal vehicles, or combination of electric and pedal vehicles, especially to a bicycle capable of being pedaled bidirectionally and driven to move in unidirectional.
US08201835B2
A replaceable chuck for a percussion hand-held power tool (3) for applying axial blows to a working tool receivable in the chuck, includes a release sleeve (4) axially displaceable relative to the base body (6) against a spring-biasing force and including an inwardly located locking element (11) for formlockingly securing the chuck on a power tool spindle (15) with locking elements (12) extending through respective openings (13) formed in a base body (6) and engageable in associated recesses (14) of the power tool spindle (15), and a formlocking displacement guide (5) that provides for displacement of the release sleeve (4) relative to the base body (6) and includes, along its axial extension, a tangential section.
US08201831B2
A sliding element comprises at least one surface for sliding contact with a running face, wherein a wear layer and a run-in layer made from carbon are applied to the surface, and is characterized in that the run-in layer comprises hydrogen and nanocrystalline carbide phases. In a method for manufacturing a sliding element, the run-in layer is applied by means of a PVD process. A sliding system has an above-described sliding element and a body having a running face. A coating for a sliding element comprises a wear layer which can be applied to the upper side of the sliding element, and a run-in layer which is configured as a carbon layer, and is characterized in that the run-in layer comprises hydrogen and nanocrystalline carbide phases.
US08201830B2
The airtight magnetic seal, in a compact single body, made of two concentric sections, an inner section (1a) and an outer section (1b), unitized, which are able to rotate independently. These sections are engaged and squared to create a permanent contact-seal inside in combination with two labyrinth-seals type and associated drains at each end, and a pressure relief safety means, when the seal is embedded into an annulus in a rotary operational assembly.
US08201822B2
Apparatus for feeding a planar medium from a host tray with a media cavity, including a feed edge adjacent to which the medium is extracted, a sidewall perpendicular to the feed edge, and a spring plate for lifting the medium towards a feeder; a media carrier nested in the cavity, including an edge guide to prevent the medium from moving toward the sidewall, the edge guide having an alignment face for orienting the medium with respect to the feed edge; and an alignment guide in the cavity and having a media guide and a baseplate wider than the medium and disposed over the spring plate, so that the baseplate is lifted when the spring plate lifts. The alignment face and alignment guide together prevent the medium from skewing with respect to the feed edge while the medium is extracted by the feeder.
US08201820B2
A document feeding mechanism includes a driving shaft, a document blocking unit, a tray, an elastic unit and an actuating unit. The tray is pushed up to connect the document blocking unit by the elastic unit. The actuating unit is coupled to the driving shaft and abutted against the tray for pushing down the tray to separate from the document blocking unit. The actuating unit will be driven to allow the tray to be pushed to swing up by the elastic unit for blocking documents. The actuating unit will be driven to abut against the tray for pushing the tray to swing down for separating the tray from the document blocking unit for conveying the documents. Therefore, the document feeding mechanism has high reliability for blocking the documents.
US08201811B2
A micro bubble generating system includes a shell having a well for retaining a first liquid to immerse an object. A micro bubble apparatus is provide to the shell for providing a pressurized mixture of a second liquid and a dissolved gas into the well so as to create a plurality of micro bubbles within the first liquid for engaging the object. One method of using micro bubbles includes providing a fluid mixture, including a saturated gas, to a fluid chamber connected a fitting; and producing a plurality of micro bubbles into a fluid. Another method of using micro bubbles includes providing a fluid mixture, including a saturated gas, into an air entrapment chamber; and producing a plurality of micro bubbles into a fluid.
US08201803B2
An actuator device comprising an actuator housing with a fitting for connecting the actuator to an object, a motor, which via transmission elements, drives an output actuator shaft of the actuator, where the actuator shaft is rotationally disconnectable from the motor, the actuator shaft being rotatable between two angular positions where the one angular position may correspond to the object being in a first condition and the other angular position may correspond to the object being in a second condition, and where the actuator is provided with an element for storage of mechanical energy, the element by energy cut-off to the actuator being releasably arranged to be able to displace a nut being prevented from rotating around its longitudinal axis, along a screw thread complementary fitting to the nut, and connected to the actuator shaft, whereby the actuator shaft is rotated between the two angular positions.
US08201790B2
A window blind includes a rod and a support unit. The support unit is disposed on an end portion of the rod, and includes an end cover, a fixing pillar, a support pillar, an inserting tube, and a metallic brace member. The end cover has an outer surface and an inner surface. The fixing pillar includes a rectangular pillar body having a pair of opposing wide faces and a pair of opposing narrow faces. The support pillar extends from the inner surface of the end cover and into the rod. The inserting tube is sleeved rotatably on the support pillar and inserted fixedly into the rod. The metallic brace member includes a ring portion, two wing portions, and two engaging portions.
US08201789B1
A blind support for installation of a blind rail. The blind support includes a main support body and an engagement member. The main support body has two horizontal support boards and a vertical support board connected between the horizontal support boards to form a support body with an open side. The blind rail can be placed into the main support body through the open side thereof and supported by the main support body. The engagement member has horizontally extending abutment sections that can be slidably received slide channels of the main support body. Each abutment section has a key body projecting therefrom. The key bodies are engageable in engagement holes formed on the main support body to block the open side thereof and enclose and support the blind rail.
US08201787B2
There is disclosed a clamp, a self-advancing climbing device including two such clamps, and a method of coupling such a clamp to a tubular. In one embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a clamp (1) for a tubular, in particular a thin-walled tubular such as the tower (3) of a wind-turbine. The clamp (1) comprises at least one clamp member in the form of a friction pad (9) adapted to grip the tower (3), and at least one flexible elongate energising element in the form of a tendon (16) adapted to exert a force on the friction pad (9) to urge the pad (9) to grip the tower (3), whereby the pad (9) and the tendon (16) are adapted to exert a substantially uniform radial clamp load on the tower (3).
US08201786B2
An electronic device includes a main body including a housing. The housing includes a side plate and a bottom plate connected to the side plate. An opening is defined in the side plate. A perforation is defined in the bottom plate. The opening is in alignment with the perforation. A support mechanism is mounted on the inside of the housing and includes a guide pole fixed to the bottom plate, a first threaded pole screwed onto the guide pole, and penetrating the perforation, a second threaded pole screwed onto the guide pole; and an adjusting wheel fixed to the second threaded pole, and located on the opening of the side plate. A portion of the adjusting wheel is exposed from the housing. A support base is fixed to the portion of the first threaded pole exposed from the housing.
US08201784B2
An exemplary display device includes a display panel and a height-adjustment assembly. The height-adjustment assembly includes a rail unit defining a rail, a sliding unit, and a spring member. The sliding unit is configured to slide along the rail. The display panel is fixed to the sliding unit. The spring member is fixed to the rail unit, and is configured to provide an elastic force applied to the sliding unit to the sliding unit when the sliding unit slides along the rail.
US08201779B2
A hose strap for a railway car brake line having a flexible strap having a plurality of through holes and two clips attached to the strap. Each clip has a first leg and a second leg, which are offset from each other and curled at the ends. As a result of these innovations, the hose strap according to the invention has an improved reaction force, load support and lifespan.
US08201776B1
An airfoil comprising: a foam housing having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a first end, and a second end; a front spar at least generally extending proximal to and along the leading edge; a rear spar at least generally extending proximal to and along the trailing edge; and a center spar assembly located between the front spar and the rear spar, the center spar assembly including: at least one supporting member extending from the first end toward the second end; a sleeve extending from the first end toward the second end, the sleeve configured to receive a joining member; and an anchor positioned adjacent to the first end, the anchor configured for securing an end of the sleeve and an end of each one of the at least one supporting member at the first end.
US08201770B2
Several embodiments of an apparatus for increasing the roll diameter capacity of a toilet paper roll holder are disclosed. One of the embodiments uses elongate extenders which are adhesively attached to the inside surfaces of a conventional roll holder. Another embodiment uses simple links which are attached by pins to the existing spindle receptacles in the roll holder. The links may be substantially permanently attached to the ends of a telescopic spindle.
US08201769B2
The invention relates to a device for unwinding a flexible support wire for vines, comprising a dispenser having a rack (12) provided with means for fastening to a carrier cable, a winding reel (14) for said support wire, mounted on the rack (12) rotatably about an axis of rotation, and rotational retention means for the winding reel (14), which are capable of assuming a retention state in which the rotation of the winding reel (14) is blocked and a release state in which the winding reel (14) is able to rotate freely. The device includes remote control means for guiding the changeover of the retaining means from the retention state to the release state and conversely.
US08201766B2
The present invention relates to a pins or staples removable structure of automatic shredders which comprises a shredder core, a paper press board assembly and a paper support board assembly fixed to the shredder core and arranged cooperatedly, and a clamping device, the paper support board assembly comprises a paper support board and a pick-up mechanism mounted to the paper support board, the clamping device is fixed to the paper press board assembly and the shredder core/the paper support board respectively, for clamping the paper to be shredded to the paper support board during the process of shredding paper, the paper support board has a paper inlet above the blade assembly of the shredder core, the distance between the outer end of the paper support board and the outer end of the pick-up mechanism for clamping the paper to be shredded is less than the length of the whole paper to be shredded, the pins or staples removable structure of automatic shredders further comprises a magnet positioned in the outer end of the paper support board, then the present invention, cooperated with the shredding structure of automatic shredders, can remove automatically pins or staples of paper having pins or staples mixed in a stack of paper, to achieve shredding paper in batches, has a high degree of automation, can be used conveniently, is designed dexterously, and has a concise structure and an economical cost.
US08201764B2
A device for comminuting scrappable feedstock by way of cutting or shear-cutting is provided that includes at least one rotor situated within a housing. The rotor has a plurality of rotary disks which are situated at an axial distance from each other, forming spaces, and which are fitted on their circumferences with comminuting tools which interact with additional comminuting tools to perform the comminution work. Stationary scraping elements extend into the spaces in the radial direction. To achieve a largely unhindered flow of stock through the device, it is proposed according to the invention to situate the stationary scraping elements in the dead zone of the at least one rotor with regard to the direction of stock flow.
US08201761B2
A shredder includes a housing having a throat for receiving at least one article to be shredded, a shredder mechanism received in the housing and including an electrically powered motor and cutter elements, a detector configured to detect a thickness of the at least one article being received by the throat; and a controller coupled to the motor and the detector. The shredder mechanism enabling the at least one article to be shredded to be fed into the cutter elements and the motor is operable to drive the cutter elements so that the cutter elements shred the articles fed therein. The controller is configured to vary running operation of the motor responsive to the detector detecting the thickness of the at least one article being received by the throat.
US08201742B2
According to one embodiment, a barcode processing apparatus comprises a reading unit configured to read an image of a barcode configured by a plurality of bars laid out at a predetermined interval, each bar being formed by a plurality of ink dots, and a barcode recognition unit configured to filter the read image using a mask which has a width smaller than the predetermined interval and larger than a width of one bar, and corresponds to a length of one bar so as to extract a group of a plurality of ink dots, to couple the plurality of ink dots in the extracted group, to detect one bar based on the coupling result, and to recognize a barcode configured by a plurality of detected bars.
US08201741B2
A sighting system for visually acquiring a target includes an optic device having a transmissive LED array affixed thereon. The transmissive LED array includes two or more LED elements that are separately addressable to provide an aiming point. In embodiments, the sighting system receives information from an input system, such as ammunition information or environmental information, executes a ballistics program to determine ballistics information using the received information, and determines a range to the target. A controller calculates an aiming point using the ballistics information and the target range. The controller then addresses or energizes one of the LED elements to provide the aiming point.
US08201729B1
A banking facility terminal operates to read identification data provided by a bank customer. The terminal further operates to receive from the customer, a request for a financial transaction which the customer desires to conduct at the bank. The terminal is operable to then display output which both addresses the customer by name and directs the customer to a specific location in the banking facility where the financial transaction can be earliest completed. The terminal further operates to cause transaction data corresponding to the customer's identification and request to be sent to the specific location. The transaction data is usable by banking facility personnel at the specific location to begin the desired financial transaction before the customer arrives at the specific location. The transaction data also allows the banking facility personnel to greet the customer by name upon arrival at the specific location.
US08201728B2
A self-service terminal (SST), such as an ATM, comprises a processor, and two functionally similar devices, for example cash dispense units, and an input/output (IO) port. The processor receives status data from each of the similar devices and determines which set of status data to communicate to a remote host via the IO port dependent upon device status and health parameters contained within the status data.
US08201725B2
Mailer forms having return mail pieces are described herein. An example form to be folded as an outgoing mailer includes a sheet having substantially parallel top and bottom edges, and substantially parallel first and second side edges, where the first and second side edges are substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom edges. The form includes a first fold line substantially parallel to a second fold line to allow the sheet to fold as an outgoing mailer. A perforation divides the sheet into a removable portion and a reply portion. The form 102 also includes a third fold line different from the first and second fold lines to form a reply mail piece when the removable portion is detached from the sheet and the reply portion is folded along the third fold line. The perforation and the third fold line are substantially parallel to the first and second fold lines.
US08201722B2
A resonator for joining metal members utilizing ultrasonic vibration includes an ultrasonic horn having a length of at least half wavelength of a resonance frequency of ultrasonic vibration transmitted from a vibrator, and a joining tool provided on the ultrasonic horn so as to project in a direction normal to a vibration transmission direction of the ultrasonic horn at a position of a point of a maximum vibration amplitude of the ultrasonic horn. The joining tool is formed into a linear bar made of a material excellent in acoustic property and is provided on a distal end thereof with a tool head projecting laterally.
US08201719B2
A bicycle carrier includes a main body, at least one supporting frame, at least one side frame and at least one restrainer. The main body includes a supporting plane and a plurality of slide bases. The slide bases are located on at least one side of the main body. The supporting frame connects the main body and the bicycle. The side frame includes at least one slide rod that slides and couples to the slide bases and at least one fence connected to the slide rod to define a container space. The restrainer restrains the side frame from moving relative to the main body.
US08201717B2
An apparatus for melting and dispensing thermoplastic material is provided that includes an un-heated hopper having an inlet for receiving particles of a thermoplastic material and an outlet for discharging the particles and a heated manifold including at least one cavity formed therein and having an inlet and an outlet the inlet communicating with the outlet of the hopper for receipt of the particles from the hopper. The hopper is disposed external of the heated manifold. The heated manifold is effective for melting the particles into molten thermoplastic material therein. The apparatus further includes a pump having an inlet in fluid communication with the cavity. An outlet of the pump is in fluid communication with an inlet of a dispenser and an outlet of the dispenser is effective for dispensing the molten thermoplastic material therethrough.
US08201713B2
A pressure compensation member suitable to be placed in a fluid dispensing channel, a valve unit comprising this pressure drop compensation member and a container comprising this pressure compensation member or this valve unit are disclosed. The pressure compensation member is adapted to maintain a substantially constant flow of fluid through the fluid dispensing channel.
US08201708B2
A silo has more than one discharge passage, and each passage has the ability to increase or decrease its respective flow rates. The silo and each portion of the silo that feeds into each individual discharge passage can measure a feature of the solid being dispensed, such as its moisture content or its temperature. A computer controller is then used to take this feedback and adjust the rate of flow from each discharge passage so that the flows from each passage are kept the same despite the variation in moisture, temperature or any other characteristic of the flowing solid. A method to utilize this device is also taught.
US08201701B2
A lock member L composed of one operation portion La biased by an inclined spring member 12 and paired lock bars Lb is attached to each of side walls 3 to be brought down firstly. A driven pin 15 formed on an operation portion is inserted through an inclined cam groove 21a of each of the lock bars. The lock member is attached to the side wall to be brought down firstly by fitting a pivotal shaft 11b formed on the operation portion into a fitting recess portion 3j1 of a pivotal shaft support block 3j formed on the side wall to be brought down firstly. Thus, at whichever position on the operation portion the operator' finger are laid, the lateral paired lock bars disposed opposite each other across the operation portion are moved in the horizontal direction by the same amount. Consequently, the lock state established between the short side wall and the long side wall via the lock member can be reliably cancelled.
US08201698B2
A bottle rack with opposing panels connected by rods or other connection structures to compactly support bottles is provided. Each panel includes a plurality of structures that are geometrically arranged to form a combination of large openings and small openings. Each large opening is positioned adjacent to a small opening. For adjacent pairs of large-small openings, the plurality of segments include (A) a first tangent structure that is (i) tangential to both the large and small opening, (ii) positioned on a same side of the two openings, and (B) a second tangent structure that is (i) tangential to both the large and small opening, and (ii) positioned in between the large and small opening.
US08201695B2
A lift type pore-controllable fiber filter includes a filter tank, a strainer coaxially formed as a porous tub in the filter tank, extending to an outside of the filter tank at a bottom thereof to communicate with a treated water drain pipe, and having a piston guide recessed in an axial direction at an upper portion thereof, a lifting driver including a cylinder and a piston, an upper filter material fixing plate having fixing means, fixed to the piston above the strainer, and working in collaboration with reciprocation of the piston, a lower filter material fixing plate having fixing means and fixed below the strainer, and at least one fiber filter material fixed to the fixing means of the upper and lower filter material fixing plates at upper and lower ends thereof respectively, and forming filtering pore layers on an outer circumference of the strainer.
US08201694B2
An eddy current separator (“ECS”) separates electroconductive and non-electroconductive materials. The materials can include “fines” having diameters less than about 10 millimeters. The ECS includes first and second hubs coupled to opposite ends of a magnet support tube. Magnets are coupled to the magnet support tube, substantially between the hubs. A motor coupled to one or both of the hubs rotates the magnet support tube and magnets to generate an eddy current in electroconductive material conveyed proximate the separator. The material in which the eddy current is created is repelled and projected away from the ECS along a predictable trajectory. An eddy current is not generated in nonconductive material conveyed proximate the separator. Therefore, that material is not projected away. A jacket tube may house the magnets and contain centrifugal forces of the magnets during rotation thereof. That tube may comprise a Ti60 titanium alloy or other material.
US08201687B2
A cover for a tablet PC provides protection to the body while allowing free access to a touch screen and other controls. The cover has an integrally connected keyboard or other input device which can be simply deployed for use, allowing conventional keyboard- or other-based input to the PC. When not in use the input device can be stowed at the rear of the cover, complementing device protection thereto. The cover further provides support elements allowing the PC to be situated for use on a horizontal surface, with the actual angle of situation adjustable to meet individual needs. When not needed or for transport, the support elements collapse and are received within the cover. In addition, the cover allows the PC to be situated, with the input device deployed or otherwise, in either a landscape or portrait orientation.
US08201685B1
A hanger packaging system that includes a plurality of hangers having at least one projection extending from their main bodies The hangers are grouped together such that their respective projections are aligned with one another. A shrink-wrap sleeve is applied over the group of hangers. The projections are covered by the shrink-wrap and they act as a catch for trapping the same This prevents the shrink-wrap from retreating and slipping off the hanger. The hangers also have engagement means for temporarily connecting to one another. This allows for hangers to be handled as unitary groups during production.
US08201680B1
A cash recycler or other currency handling device includes a system and method for distributing currency to one or more cash drawers for use in a cash register or other point of sale device. A user may pre-configure an amount of currency to be distributed to one or more cash drawers or tills. The cash recycler may include one or more slots into which the one or more cash drawers or tills may be inserted. The preconfigured amount of currency will then be distributed to each of the tills inserted into the cash recycler. In some arrangements, multiple cash drawers may be inserted into the cash recycler and currency will be distributed to each of the cash drawers simultaneously.
US08201676B2
A clutch cover assembly (1) is a clutch cover assembly for pressing and releasing a friction member of a clutch disk assembly against and from the flywheel of an engine, and includes a clutch cover (2), a pressure plate (3), a diaphragm spring (4), a cone spring (14), and a limiting mechanism (10). The limitation mechanism (10) limits movement of the pressure plate (3) to the flywheel (51) side when the amount of wear of the friction member (53) has reached a maximum allowable wear amount.
US08201675B2
A torque converter including a clutch assembly and a channel. The clutch assembly includes: a reverse clutch with a piston plate, the reverse clutch controllably connecting a reverse stator and a drive hub; a forward clutch including the piston plate, the forward clutch controllably connecting a turbine and the drive hub; and a cavity partially formed by the piston plate. The channel supplies fluid to the cavity and to vent fluid from the cavity and the piston plate is displaceable in response to fluid pressure in the cavity to control operation of the reverse and forward clutches. In a preferred embodiment, forces associated with operation of the reverse and forward clutches are balanced within the clutch assembly. The torque converter also includes a clutch rotationally connected to a turbine and a ground and a one-way clutch rotationally connected to a forward stator and the ground.
US08201674B2
A torque converter including: a turbine; a first stator; a first interlocking clutch; and a second interlocking clutch. In a first operating mode, to enable rotation of the turbine in a first direction, the first clutch is for engaging with the turbine and is engageable with an input shaft of a transmission and the second clutch is for engaging with the first stator and is engageable with a fixed shaft of the transmission. In a second operating mode, to enable rotation of the first stator in a second direction, opposite the first direction, the first clutch is for engaging with the first stator and is engageable with the input shaft and the second clutch is for engaging with the turbine and is engageable with the fixed shaft.
US08201663B2
A lubrication scavenge system is disclosed herein. The lubrication scavenge system includes a sump housing substantially encircling a structure disposed for rotation about an axis. The sump housing has an inwardly-facing surface extending at least partially about the axis in a spiral path. The spiral path increases in radial distance from the axis in the direction of rotation of the structure, in a plane perpendicular to the axis. The spiral path extends 360°.
US08201661B1
A platform for an extension ladder comprises a plate member adapted to engage a pair of rails on each of a first stage and a second stage of the extension ladder and become wedged therebetween and to remain parallel to the ground when the plate member rests on a rung of the extension ladder. The plate member has at least six sides, a bottom cutout, a middle cutout and a top cutout; each cutout oppositely disposed on at least six sides; and each cutout relating to various positions along a length of the extension ladder.
US08201654B2
A saddle-riding type vehicle includes an air intake path disposed between a front bank and a rear bank and an air cleaner connected to an outer side of the air intake path. The air cleaner includes an air cleaner case and an air cleaner element housed in the air cleaner case. The air cleaner case includes air intake ducts disposed on either side of the air cleaner element in a vehicle longitudinal direction across the air cleaner element.
US08201650B2
A casing for integrally accommodating a motor generator and an inverter includes an accommodating portion forming an inverter accommodating space, and an accommodating portion forming a motor accommodating space. The casing has a structure wherein the accommodating portions are integrally formed. Thereby, a drive device for a hybrid vehicle having the inverter and the motor generator accommodated in an integrated fashion prevents external leakage of electromagnetic noises of the inverter from the drive device.
US08201648B2
An earth-boring rotary drill bit includes a bit body configured to carry one or more cutters for engaging a subterranean earth formation, the bit body comprising a particle-matrix composite material having a plurality of hard particles dispersed throughout a matrix material, the matrix material comprising a shape memory alloy. The matrix material comprises a metal alloy configured to undergo a reversible phase transformation between an austenitic phase and a martensitic phase. The matrix material may include an Ni-based alloy, Cu-based alloy, Co-based alloy, Fe-based alloy or Ti-based alloy. The drill bit may be made by a method that includes: providing a plurality of hard particles in a mold to define a particle precursor of the bit body; infiltrating the particle precursor of the bit body with a molten matrix material comprising a shape memory alloy forming a particle-matrix mixture; and cooling the molten particle-matrix mixture to solidify the matrix material and forming a bit body having a particle-matrix composite material comprising a shape memory alloy.
US08201647B2
An earth drilling reamer has an elongated body having an outer surface and a plurality of blade mounting supports extending radially outwardly from the outer surface of the body. Each blade mounting support has a primary blade engagement positioned parallel to the outer surface and a leading blade angled from the outer surface to the primary blade engagement. A removable primary blade is detachably secured to the primary blade engagement.
US08201642B2
Drilling assemblies include a drill bit and a reamer apparatus in which the drill bit is configured to rotate in rotational direction about a longitudinal axis of a drill string and the reamer apparatus is configured to rotate in an opposite rotational direction about the longitudinal axis. Methods of forming a drilling assembly include configuring a drill bit to drill a subterranean formation when rotating in a counter-clockwise direction and configuring a reamer apparatus to ream a wellbore within the subterranean formation when rotating in a clockwise direction. Methods of drilling wellbores in subterranean formations include rotating a drill bit in a first rotational direction about a longitudinal axis of a drill string to drill a wellbore and rotating a reamer apparatus in an opposite rotational direction about the longitudinal axis of the drill string to ream the wellbore.
US08201629B2
A staging tool arrangement for gas well production assistance, comprising an elongated staging tool having an elongated upper portion and an elongated lower portion. The upper portion has a sliding relationship with the lower portion thereof. A displaceable annular seal is arranged about the lower portion. A displaceable enclosure is arranged on the elongated lower portion so as to slidably expose and to slidably enclose the annular seal.
US08201621B2
A hollow passage in a machine element for enhancing the heat exchanging properties between the machine element and a fluid flowing through the hollow passage; the hollow passage including a helicoidal groove. In some embodiments, the machine element comprises a heated machine element and the fluid comprises a coolant. In some embodiments, the machine element comprises a stator blade or a rotor blade of a gas turbine engine and the coolant comprises compressed air. In some embodiments, the helicoidal groove comprises a depression in an outer wall of the hollow passage that extends axially along the hollow passage to form a helicoidal or swirling path.
US08201618B2
A heat dissipation module includes a heat column and a plurality of heat dissipation fins disposed outside of the heat column and connected with the heat column. The heat column has a column body and a base, and the column body has a top portion and a sidewall ringed with the top portion. The sidewall and the top portion are integrally formed. The base is disposed opposite to the top portion, and the base has an indentation for allowing an end of the sidewall of the column body to insert so as to form a closed space between the base and the column body. The base further has an annular protrusion close to the indentation, and after the end of the sidewall of the column body is inserted into the indentation of the base, the annular protrusion is processed to be filled between the indentation and the sidewall so as to tightly assemble the base and the column body.
US08201614B2
A method of controlling composition of a molten copper or a molten copper alloy during continuous cast, comprising the steps of determining continuously specific resistance of the molten copper or the molten copper alloy; calculating the composition of the molten copper or the molten copper alloy based on relationships between specific resistance of the molten copper or the molten copper alloy and each constituent which are preliminarily comprehended; and controlling the composition of the molten copper or the molten copper alloy based on the calculated composition. It is possible to consider temperature or content of dissolved oxygen to calculate the composition.
US08201604B2
An apparatus for applying labels to products includes a label application station at which the labels are applied to a product and an application head movably mounted relative to a base for movement between a first operative loading position spaced from the label application station and a second operative application position at which the application head applies at least one label to a product positioned at the label application station. An electrically actuated solenoid is operatively connected to the application head to move the application head between the first and second operative positions.
US08201591B2
An apparatus for batching powder and/or granular products, comprising: a hopper; at least a passage, delimited at one side thereof by a gas-permeable element which alternatively communicates with a first depressed source and with a first pressurized source, and at opposite side thereof communicating with a discharge region; an obturator acting in the passage between an occluding position, in which a batching chamber is defined, and an enabling position. The obturator element is conformed such as to place the hopper in communication with the batching chamber when it is in the occluding position; the first depression source, the first pressurized source and the obturator element being activated in phase relation with one another for loading a batched quantity of powder and/or granular products internally of the batching chamber and for projecting the batched quantity internally of a container element.
US08201589B2
A vacuum device for a material handling system includes a vacuum device body and a sealing element. The vacuum device body has a vacuum passageway in which a vacuum is generated in response to activation of a pressurized air supply that forces pressurized air through a venturi device. The sealing element moves to a sealing position to substantially seal the vacuum passageway when the air supply is activated, and is urged toward the sealing position via pressurized air that is diverted from an inlet of the vacuum device to the sealing element. The sealing element moves to substantially vent the vacuum passageway when the air supply is deactivated. The vacuum passageway may be in fluid communication with a vacuum cup, which seals against the object when the sealing element is at the sealing position and the vacuum generating device generates at least a partial vacuum in the vacuum passageway.
US08201588B2
A portable fluid exchange system comprises a source container, a liquid and vapor pump for pumping liquid from the source container to the destination container and for pumping vapor from the destination container to the source container. The liquid inlet and vapor outlets of the liquid and vapor pump are connected in fluid communication with the source container. A liquid delivery hose delivers liquid from the pump to the destination container. A vapor delivery hose delivers vapor from the destination container to the pump. A selectively controllable actuation mechanism actuates the liquid and vapor pump to thereby concurrently pump liquid from the liquid and vapor pump through the liquid outlet and vapor into the liquid and vapor pump through the vapor inlet, and concurrently pump vapor from the liquid and vapor pump through the vapor outlet and liquid into the liquid and vapor pump through the liquid inlet.
US08201584B2
An object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust pipe that can lower the temperature of exhaust gases when the exhaust gases having a high temperature pass through the exhaust pipe. The exhaust pipe of the present invention, which allows exhaust gases to flow through the exhaust pipe, comprises a base that contains metal and has a cylindrical shape; and a surface-coating layer that contains a plurality of crystalline inorganic materials and an amorphous binder and is formed on the outer peripheral face of the base, wherein the plurality of crystalline inorganic materials are distributed in the surface-coating layer, in an accumulative manner in a thickness direction, and the amorphous binder has an average thickness of 20 μm or less at a location nearer the outer peripheral face of the exhaust pipe than a location of the crystalline inorganic materials.
US08201575B2
A combination air regulator and sensor assembly includes a head including a first chamber having an inlet and an outlet. A regulator dome including a second chamber is linked with the first chamber through a bore. The second chamber includes at least one outlet. A valve assembly is housed within the bore and moveable between closed and open positions sealing and allowing flow in the bore. A first diaphragm is positioned in the second chamber and linked with the valve assembly. The valve assembly moves in response to a pressure applied to the first diaphragm. A spring contacts the first diaphragm and applies a biasing force to the first diaphragm. A sensor dome including a third chamber is linked with the outlet of the second chamber. The sensor chamber includes a discharge outlet. A second diaphragm is positioned in the sensor chamber. The second diaphragm includes a rubber disk having a conductive contact ring attached on one side of the rubber disk and a non-conductive cup washer attached on the same side of the disk. The cup washer includes a hole formed there through allowing passage of air between opposing sides of the second diaphragm. A sensor spring contacts the second diaphragm and applies a biasing force to the second diaphragm. Electrical contacts are attached to the sensor chamber. The electrical contacts selectively engage the contact ring and are responsive to a differential pressure of the second diaphragm to define an electrical switch.
US08201574B2
Embodiments and methods are disclosed herein that relate to a valve assembly. The valve assembly includes a housing having a passage formed therethrough, and a valve ball having a through hole and disposed in the housing, in which the valve ball is rotatable between an open position that has the through hole aligned with the passage and a closed position that has the through hole misaligned with the passage. The valve assembly further includes a seat having a first tapered surface and disposed in the housing adjacent to the valve ball, wherein the seat is biased towards the valve ball, and a seat holder having a second tapered surface and disposed in the housing adjacent to the seat such that the first tapered surface of the seat is disposed adjacent to the second tapered surface of the seat holder.
US08201566B2
The cosmetic brush, which is in particular a mascara brush, includes a bristle portion with a base body and a plurality of bristles that stick out from the base body in a radial direction and serve for the application of a cosmetic product. The bristles have a high bristle density of at least 6 bristles per square millimeter and consist of a plastic material that has a Shore hardness D of more than 40.
US08201562B2
A multi-piece punctal plug has one or more superficial plugs connected to an anchor plug deeper in the naso-lacrimal canaliculus. The anchor is fixed to the wall of the lacrimal duct while the superficial plugs are axially and detachably secured to the anchor plug so that the multi-plug complex may be inserted or removed together as one, or the superficial plugs may be detached separately and replaced securely without disturbing the anchor. Removal and insertion is accomplished by a specific tool having an end for engaging the plugs.
US08201560B2
A flexible dental appliance a left posterior occlusal pad having a base and an outer wall including a plurality of loops; a right posterior occlusal pad having a base and an outer wall including a plurality of loops; and a support bridge between the left posterior occlusal pad and the a right posterior occlusal pad. The plurality of loops create gaps in the outer wall and extend over a buccal aspect of the teeth of an upper jaw for enhancing retention of the dental appliance. The plurality of loops engage the teeth at interproximal spaces and cementoenamel junctions.
US08201558B2
A method for operating an anesthesia/ventilation apparatus (11) avoids cardiogenic triggering of a triggered ventilation stroke. An apparatus (11) for carrying out the method of the invention is also disclosed.
US08201554B2
A device for the pulmonary delivery of a compound comprising a reservoir for storing a compound, a system for generating particles of a desired size, and a housing comprising an inlet and an outlet between which is formed a substantially unobstructed airflow path.
US08201538B2
An oil communication passage (39b) is formed so as to run through a wall portion (39) separating an oil collector (41) and an oil drop hole (38) formed in an engine cylinder head (14), and oil that has collected in the oil collector (41) can therefore be guided to the oil drop hole (38) via the oil communication passage (39b). An oil supply passage (39c) and a retaining hole (39a) for retaining a hydraulic tappet (22), which is operated by oil supplied from the oil supply passage (39c), are formed in the wall portion (39) of the cylinder head (14), and the oil supply passage (39c) and the oil communication passage (39b) communicate with each other via the retaining hole (39a); therefore, even if part of the oil supplied from the oil supply passage (39c) to the hydraulic tappet (22) leaks into the retaining hole (39a), the oil can be discharged by utilizing the oil communication passage (39b).
US08201531B2
A mechanical desmodromic fully variable valve actuation system capable for racing revs. Valve lift and valve duration continuously variable from a maximum to zero. Independently variable valve duration and valve lift.
US08201530B2
A valve drive of an internal combustion engine with a camshaft including cams for actuating gas-exchange valves, wherein at least one cam, comprising several cam faces, is guided nonrotatably but with freedom of axial movement on the camshaft, wherein a stroke profile, which cooperates with an actuating pin for the axial displacement of the cam, is assigned to the associated axially displaceable cam, and wherein the stroke profile of the axially displaceable cam in question comprises several stroke curves. A first stroke curve and a second stroke curve of the stroke profile are contoured both in the axial direction and in the radial direction such that the contour in the axial direction of the stroke profile of the camshaft is responsible for a defined axial displacement of the associated cam, and the contour in the radial direction of the stroke profile of the camshaft prevents the stroke curves from colliding.
US08201528B2
The present invention provides a cam shaft adjuster, which is designed for controlling a double cam shaft, which has a layered construction. The cam shaft adjuster is equipped with a first rotor-type output body and a second rotor-type output body which are arranged parallel to each other with their rotary vane body parts.
US08201526B2
Disclosed is a two-stroke internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder (2) and a cylinder head (4) releasably secured thereto, the cylinder (2) featuring a main exhaust port (12) and at least one auxiliary exhaust port (13) which can be covered at least in part by means of control slide members actuatable by a slide stem (16) arranged at an angle to a cylinder axis and axially actuated by an actuator (19), and the control slide members are configured integrally with a common control slide (14) coupled to the slide stem (16) and the slide stem (16) penetrating the cylinder head (4).
US08201525B2
A cooling device for an engine including a radiator circulation flow channel, a heater circulation flow channel, a bypass circulation flow channel, a valve, and a pump. The channels merge in the thermostat and form a common flow channel between the thermostat and the engine. The pump is provided in the common flow channel. At a start of a warm-up period and during the warm-up operation, circulation is substantially stopped by the thermostat, cooling water circulation is actuated in the bypass circulation flow channel, and an opening degree of the electronically controlled valve is gradually increased from a minimum as the cooling water temperature rises. The electronically controlled valve is not completely closed even when closed, and is open to a certain degree from an initial stage of the warm-up period, thereby causing part of the cooling water to flow in the bypass circulation flow channel.
US08201522B2
A phone for pets and pet owners is taught which allows the owner to call the house and “talk” to the pet. The owner can then see a video image of the pet in front of the pet phone to verify presence and happiness. The device can also present the owner's scent to the pet and deliver treats on remote command. In some embodiments, the pet can initiate the phone call.
US08201519B2
A nutrient dispensing apparatus for birds having a hanger and two interchangeable dispensers supported by the hanger. Each dispenser includes a bottle for holding liquid or solid nutrients, and at least one basin into which the liquid or solid nutrients, water and bird feed, for example, are made available to the birds. The user can change the configuration of the dispensers as desired to provide just liquid nutrients, just solid nutrients or both. The flow rates for dispensing of the nutrients are different for each nutrient alternative.
US08201516B2
A removable boat windshield is provided that includes a transparent pane with a top end and a bottom end. At least one male portion is attached to the pane. At least one female portion is attachable to a deck of a boat. The at least one female portion defines a receiving opening for receiving at least a portion of the at least one male portion therein. The removable boat windshield also includes a securement device, operable with the at least one female portion, to releasably connect the male portion to the female portion.
US08201506B1
A portable anti-theft device for attachment to a piece of portable outdoor furniture comprises a base attachable to the outdoor furniture and a hollow security shell attachable to the base. The base comprises a segmented tubular body comprising at least two semitubular segments and having an inner peripheral surface; longitudinally opposed stops extending outwardly from the base, and a closure for attaching, the base to the portable outdoor furniture. The hollow security shell comprises a first shell segment and a second shell segment (the first and second shell segments defining an enclosed internal space with a pair of vertically-opposed apertures), and a hinge joining said first and second half shells, the security shell being configured to enclose the closure.
US08201496B1
A biomass harvester compressor system for efficiently harvesting and compacting biomass. The biomass harvester compressor system generally includes a harvester for harvesting a biomass crop and a compressor following behind the harvester for being fed the harvested biomass crop. The compressor includes at least one compacting device for compacting the biomass, at least one freezing assembly for freezing the biomass and at least one cutting mechanism for cutting the biomass after the freezing.
US08201482B2
A device for punching blanks out of a flat sheet, in particular packaging blanks consisting of cardboard or corrugated cardboard, using a punching tool that is mounted in a carrier plate and projects beyond the plate in the form of a blade or cutting line, in addition to profiled strips, consisting of a material of limited flexibility, which flank the tool. A rail-type profiled channel consisting of a rigid material is located on the carrier plate, running parallel to the punching tool on each side of the longitudinal faces of the latter and one cross-sectional area of the profiled strip is inserted into the profiled channel in a positive fit. In addition, at least one lateral face of the cross-section of the profiled strip has a protuberant base.
US08201474B2
A motor arrangement on the steering wheel of a vehicle has a motor, a friction wheel drivable by the motor and engagable against the steering wheel, and a motor mount having a main support that is securely connectable to the vehicle and a motor support that is mounted on the main support for pivotal movement about an axle and is securely connectable to the motor, and a spring bearing against the main support and the motor support and attempting to turn the motor support relative to the main support in a direction of engagement. The motor arrangement includes a locking device which limits the pivoting movement of the motor support relative to the main support, adopts a locked position upon reaching a first pivot angle as the result of a pivoting movement of the motor support in the direction of disengagement, and is unlockable by a pivoting movement in the direction of disengagement which exceeds the first pivot angle by a second pivot angle.
US08201466B2
A device for use in a multi-channel pipetting system is provided. The device includes a body, a plurality of modules mounted to the body, a plurality of pistons mounted to a piston holder for simultaneous movement of the plurality of pistons in a first direction, and a guidance assembly. Each module includes an orifice connecting to an intake chamber. A piston extends into the intake chamber for movement in the first direction. The guidance assembly includes a first rotating element, a second rotating element, a shaft connecting the first rotating element to the second rotating element, and a first track and a second track extending parallel to the first direction. The shaft extends in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The first rotating element is mounted to roll along the first track, and the second rotating element is mounted to roll along the second track simultaneously with the plurality of pistons.
US08201455B2
A diaphragm section has a mesh-like beam section which partitions the diaphragm section into a plurality of rectangular regions, and a thin film section formed in the region partitioned by the beam section, and the thickness of the thin film section is less than that of the beam section.
US08201448B2
A quadrupole responder for an OQR-type gravity gradiometer comprises a housing, and a mass quadrupole positioned within the housing. The mass quadrupole has a pair of sides, and also has a center of mass between the sides. At least a pair of torsion spring flexures are provided by pins connecting said side of said mass quadrupole to the housing. The torsion spring flexures provide an axis of rotation which passes through the center of mass of the mass quadrupole and through both spring flexures. The pins are integral with the mass quadrupole.
US08201441B2
An apparatus and a method allows a determination of the degree of hardness of semisolid materials with a higher accuracy and a simultaneously lower sensitivity with respect to electronic and mechanical disruptions.An adjusted force value (FBer) is determined prior or during a downward movement of a force/path sensor (20) and the force difference (ΔF32−ΔF51) is determined between the adjusted force value (FBer) and respective measured force value (ΔF32−ΔF51) and a zero time (t41) is determined, wherein the position (21, s41) of the measuring body (5, 8) at the zero time (t41) is used as the exact starting position (21, s41) of the surface of the material to be measured (22).
US08201440B2
An apparatus for testing the hardness of a metal work piece having a bore, the apparatus having a horizontal support beam with an axis. A hardness tester is connected to a medial portion of the horizontal support beam. A pair of vertical guide beams are positioned on opposite sides of the hardness tester and are adapted to capture a work piece therebetween. Each vertical guide beam is connected on an upper end to the horizontal support beam at a transverse angle to the axis. At least one of the vertical guide beams being is capable of movement along the axis. A horizontal support rod is releasably connected to and extends between the lower ends of the vertical guide beams and is adapted to extend through the bore of the work piece to enable to the work piece to be lifted by the apparatus.
US08201437B2
An alcohol detection system for a vehicle has an alcohol sensor, for which alcohol measurement preparation processing such as heating the alcohol sensor to a predetermined temperature is performed, so that the alcohol sensor operates under the stable operation state. The alcohol measurement preparation processing is started, before a driver actually gets in the vehicle. For example, the preparation processing is started, when a predetermined manipulation of a driver on the vehicle before entering the vehicle is detected. The manipulation may be unlocking or opening of a vehicle door.
US08201430B1
A hydraulically rebar bender for skid-steer loader includes a structural case with quick-attach flanges for attachment to skid-steer loaders. The case has an adjustable work tray mounted on the face for supporting the rebar when bending. One end of a hydraulic cylinder is connected to the case and a distal end is connected to a rack gear. The rack gear mates with a pinion gear that is mounted on an axle. The pinion gear is connected to a bending disc that rotates with the pinion gear. A force shaft is mounted on the bending disk. The force shaft travels in a circular cutout of the case and accepts various size mandrels. The axle protrudes out of the case and has a bend mandrel mounted thereon. Hydraulic power is supplied by the skid-steer loaders hydraulic system via hydraulic supply hoses.
US08201428B2
A novel multipart punch and system allows apertures to be formed in hydroformed members with the slug which would otherwise result being divided into two or more smaller slugs. These smaller slugs can be folded back into the hydroformed member and held captive therein or removed if desired. The multipart punch and system provides a flush surface in the hydroforming mold when the punch is in its initial position to allow easy loading and unloading of the mold and to allow additional blank to be fed into the mold during the hydroforming operation, if desired. Also, the hydraulic ram used with the multipart punch need develop less force than an equivalent prior art stepped punch.
US08201411B2
A deep chilled air washer for a gas turbine compressor. The deep chilled air washer may include one or more spray arrays for chilling an inlet air stream and one or more drift eliminators positioned downstream of the spray arrays. The drift eliminators may include a heating element therein so as to reheat the inlet air stream.
US08201402B2
A compressed-air energy storage system according to embodiments of the present invention comprises a reversible mechanism to compress and expand air, one or more compressed air storage tanks, a control system, one or more heat exchangers, and, in certain embodiments of the invention, a motor-generator. The reversible air compressor-expander uses mechanical power to compress air (when it is acting as a compressor) and converts the energy stored in compressed air to mechanical power (when it is acting as an expander). In certain embodiments, the compressor-expander comprises one or more stages, each stage consisting of pressure vessel (the “pressure cell”) partially filled with water or other liquid. In some embodiments, the pressure vessel communicates with one or more cylinder devices to exchange air and liquid with the cylinder chamber(s) thereof. Suitable valving allows air to enter and leave the pressure cell and cylinder device, if present, under electronic control.
US08201399B2
Apparatus for reducing emissions of PCDD and PCDF in exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine includes a transition metal-containing catalyzer for the selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxides, and a molecular sieve upstream of the catalyzer, either as a layer on the catalyzer or on a separate structure. The molecular sieve blocks hydrocarbons from reaching the transition metal-containing catalyzer.
US08201398B2
A diesel exhaust treatment system comprises a housing provided with a drive shaft passageway. The driveshaft of a land vehicle passes through the drive shaft passageway when the drive shaft and diesel exhaust treatment apparatus are incorporated into a vehicle. The housing can be coupled to frame rails of the vehicle with at least a portion of the housing being positioned between vertical planes containing the outer surface of the frame rails. In one specific embodiment at least a portion of the housing is positioned between the frame rails. The housing can comprise a plurality of housing sections, such as upper and lower housing sections which each define a portion of the drive shaft passageway. In addition, the upper housing section can be shorter than the lower housing section.
US08201380B2
A reinforcing shape member for a concrete block wall, and system of construction using same, including a wall engagement portion having an integral top end engaging wall portion and an integral bottom end engaging wall portion where the top end engaging wall portion and the bottom end engage and embed into the concrete wall at various depths.
US08201379B2
The present invention is directed to a block building system for building a wall structure that includes a plurality of pre-formed blocks configured to be stacked vertically upon one another to form the wall structure. Each block has at least one frustum-shaped protrusion on a top surface of the block, a horizontal channel formed in a bottom surface of the block, and at least one aperture extending vertically through an interior of the block. The system also has at least one base track, a plurality of T-shaped reinforcement members configured to engage with and extend upwardly from the track, a plurality of extension members that interlock with and extend T-shaped reinforcement members, and securing members. One or more courses of blocks can be vertically stacked over the base track by passing the T-shaped reinforcement members and/or extension members through the apertures formed in the blocks, thereby forming the wall structure.
US08201376B2
A masonry block and hardware set for constructing dry stack walls and columns, including a wall unit, a corner unit, and an end unit, wherein each of the wall, corner, and end units have a top surface with a depression that is brought into substantial alignment when an adjoining block at the same level or in the same course is abutted with the respective unit, and further wherein when any two of the units are adjoined, the units create a vertically oriented space for accommodated clamping hardware, and further wherein each of the end and corner units include an alignment slot to align the end units and the corner units in relation to adjoining wall units. Clamping hardware is employed to bolt the wall while construction proceeds, the hardware being disposed in the masonry unit depressions and in the vertically oriented space created by stacked units. The clamping provides a downwardly directed compressive force and lateral rigidity.
US08201374B2
High-wind load wall anchors and high-wind load wall anchoring systems for cavity walls are described which utilize double-walled anchor constructs with interengaging wire formative veneer ties. The high wind load anchors are mounted upon an interior cavity wall and the veneer ties are embedded within joints of an exterior cavity wall. The anchors have an aperture, for threading the veneer ties therethrough and restricting undesired movement, coupled with a double-walled wing structure to resist anchor deformation by high-wind forces. For resistance against seismic forces, the high-wind load wall anchoring system has a reinforcement wire which snaps into contoured veneer ties.
US08201370B1
A building block assembly includes a block that has a top side, a bottom side, a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a front side and a back side. The block has a plurality of apertures therein extending into the top side and outwardly from the bottom side. Each of the apertures is defined by a perimeter wall. The perimeter walls of each of the apertures is cylindrically shaped and has threading grooves therein. The apertures are aligned with each other along a line orientated perpendicular to the front side and are equally spaced from the first and second lateral sides.
US08201368B2
A blind frame for a window or door, the blind frame including a channel defined by the blind frame, the channel extending at least partially around the periphery of the blind frame and defining a space between the frame and an adjacent wall, the space being adapted and configured to receive an amount of concrete so as to affix the frame to the wall. The blind frame may include an accessory compartment including a housing defining an external surface adapted and configured to support an amount of concrete and embed said housing in said wall opening.
US08201367B2
A window frame assembly for installation within a garage door having front and rear exposed surfaces and one or more window openings. The assembly includes front and rear window frame members which are installed within the door opening on the front and rear exposed surfaces. The front and rear members are brought toward each other to sandwich the borders of the door panel defining the window opening and while also capturing an associated transparent pane. The rear frame member has a rib formed about an inner peripheral edge which is received in locking engagement within a cooperating peripheral groove provided on an inner side of the transparent panel. The rib and groove locking arrangement transfers impact forces on the pane to deformation forces on the front and rear frame members. A series of fastening members are used to hold the front and rear frame members securely against each other.
US08201357B2
In various embodiments, a fishing pole includes a rod having a proximal end and a distal end, where the proximal end receives a grip and the distal end includes at least one line guide for receiving a fishing line. The grip of certain embodiments includes a flexible mounting tube that engages the proximal end of the rod and a sheet including a polymer outside layer and a fibrous inside layer. In some embodiments, the sheet has a configuration corresponding to the exterior shape of the flexible mounting tube, being wrapped about and adhered to the mounting tube, with the side edges of the sheet abutting one another to define a substantially longitudinal seam extending from the interior surface of the sheet to the exterior surface of the polymer layer. In some embodiments, the grip includes a tube and a strip that is spirally wrapped around the tube to form a substantially helical seam.
US08201355B2
A rail mounting mechanism for coupling an auxiliary device to a weapon has an eccentric hub and a blade with a lever arm that can be used to overcome tolerances in mounting rails to provide a consistent grasp of the rail.
US08201354B2
A firearm having a receiver having a front end and a rear end, an elongated gun barrel having a front end and a rear end, the rear end of the gun barrel being connected to the front end of the receiver; an elongated long gun stock having a butt portion, a middle portion and a front portion; the receiver and the gun barrel being supported in the long gun stock; and recoil reduction means attached to the front portion of the long gun stock.
US08201352B2
An ironing board cover assembly has a cover sized and shaped to fit an ironing board. The cover folds into a compact arrangement for storage and unfolds into a expanded arrangement to secure to the ironing board. A pouch attached to the cover, receives the cover when the cover in the compact arrangement. When installed on the ironing board, the pouch receives ironing accessories.
US08201349B2
The invention relates to a piste grooming vehicle with a point of application for cable forces that is associated with a cable winch, the point being at a distance from a yaw axis of the piste grooming machine, at least one control device being provided and being operatively connected to at least one control for automatically compensating at least one cable torque that can be applied by a cable traction force of the cable winch in relation to the yaw axis.
US08201343B2
A safety stud setter includes a spacer bar along with a stud flange disposed at one end of the spacer bar for abutting a first stud disposed at a right angle to a transverse stud. A stud gripper is disposed at another end of a spacer bar for positioning a second stud disposed at a right angle to the transverse stud at a preselected distance from the stud and a lever mechanism is provided for forcing the second stud against the stud base to enable nailing of the second stud to the transverse stud through the stud base without movement of the second stud from the transverse stud. Safety guides are provided for positioning a nail gun head against the stud base and preventing escape of fired nails.
US08201329B2
The manufacturing apparatus of a semiconductor device includes a jig having a plurality of holders arranged in a row, a controller for controlling the pitch of the plurality of holders arranged in a row, a support means provided with a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuits, and a support means provided with a substrate having a plurality of elements. By mounting the semiconductor integrated circuits on the respective elements by using the jig having the plurality of holders arranged in a row, semiconductor devices are manufactured.
US08201328B2
In one implementation, a method is provided for constructing an interface module which includes constructing a board having a signal via through the board, and having at least one ground via extending through the board. The method further includes back drilling the signal via to create a center conductor hole above a remaining portion of the signal via and back drilling a shield opening in the board and at least part way into the at least one ground via such that a height of the center conductor hole is reduced. The method further includes plating the shield opening and the center conductor hole, and back drilling to remove a portion of the plating to electrically isolate the plated shield opening and the plated center conductor hole.
US08201325B2
A method for producing an integrated device. A source substrate is provided, the source substrate carrying one or more components to be attached to a receiver surface having a uneven topography. The source substrate includes a deformable layer on a surface on which the one or more components are carried. The source substrate is aligned such that said one or more components carried thereon are associated with contact areas of the receiver surface. The source substrate and the receiver surface are moved towards each other such that the one or more components are brought into contact with the contact areas wherein the deformable layer is at least partially deformed. The source substrate is removed such that the one or more of the components remain located on the contact areas of the receiver surface.
US08201322B2
A system and method for creating fiber optic terminations includes a fiber optic connector tooling device and an improved hot plate termination plate or oven. The device cooperates with the oven to produce a fiber optic termination end with optimal light diffusion qualities. The device properly aligns a plastic fiber optic cable and connector with each other and perpendicularly aligns both with the oven. The device provides gradual forward pressure to seat the plastic cable in the connector to melt the second end of the cable and form an optical lens with optimal light diffusion qualities. A method of creating optically clear lens at a termination end of the plastic fiber optic cable uses the fiber optic connector tooling device to assist in holding and guiding the fiber optical cable to the improved oven in proper axial alignment to create a defect free lens.
US08201315B2
In a method for controlling tensile stress of a clamping rod, such as a screw or pin, by the axial extension of the rod and the positioning of at least one retaining member, before the rod is released, such that the latter is blocked at the two ends of the useful clamping length with a residual clamping tensile force, measurements are made which represent the elongation of the rod in the stretched state under a measured extension force and of the rod after release in relation to the rod before extension, by comparing values supplied by at least one sensor during extension and after release with a reference value supplied by this sensor before extension, and, on the basis of these data, a residual clamping force in the useful clamping length of the released rod after extension is calculated.
US08201312B2
A working equipment comprising an external working head and an internal working head both arranged for applying a thrust on a structure having a wall. The wall comprises an external side and an internal side opposite to said external side. The thrust is opposite to the thrust applied to a same part by the other of the internal and external working head. The external working head is provided with a pressure device comprising a slide which holds a piston head comprising a supporting plate, an intermediate plate and a fixed base. The supporting plate is attached to the intermediate plate and the intermediate plate is attached to the fixed base. The supporting plate has a tool passage opening. The suction chamber is arranged inside the intermediate plate and inside the fixed base.
US08201301B2
Disclosed herein is a wiper having a tilting multi-blade to wipe a windshield of a transportation means. The wiper includes a wiper arm, a reciprocating tilting device, a blade holder, a multi-blade and a blade compressing plate. The wiper arm has a tilting control stopper. The reciprocating tilting device has a tilting angle control hole into which the tilting control stopper is inserted such that the reciprocating tilting device is rotatable within a limited angular range. The blade holder is coupled to the reciprocating tilting device and has holder compressing plate springs. The blade holder has an elastic notch to provide uniform elastic repulsive force. The multi-blade includes a coupling part which is inserted into the blade holder, and multiple blade lips which are symmetrically provided on left and right sides. The blade compressing plate is inserted into the blade holder and has plate springs to evenly compress the multi-blade.
US08201298B2
A toothbrush includes a handle, and a head at an end of the handle having a thickness, a first surface, and an opposed second surface. Tooth cleaning elements extend outwardly from the first surface and have a length. A tissue cleanser is positioned on the second surface and has a plurality of tissue engaging elements and a height. A head height includes the thickness of the head, the length of the tooth cleaning elements, and the height of the tissue cleanser, and is less than 17.7 mm.
US08201294B1
A triple-helix horizontal spanning structure comprised of three helical beams in compression and cables in tension which integrate with the helical compression members and together form a structure that is stable. Anchored at each end, the structure is a single-span structure without any intermediate vertical members such as columns or pylons. This super structure provides a longitudinal space for the sub structure to be hung within the helical beams and cables that can serve as platform for such things as roads or passageways.
US08201290B1
A sofa is convertible to a bed. An air mattress normally stored in deflated condition in the sofa, is automatically deployed upon opening a folded framework into a bed. An electric pump inflates or deflates the mattress. A bag enclosing the bottom and sides of the mattress, is zipped onto the mattress, and has hook-and-loop fasteners securing it to strategic locations on the framework. The conversion from sofa to bed, and back to sofa, is done without removing any cushions and without moving the sofa away from anything behind it.
US08201286B1
A shower curtain holding assembly is provided for preventing a shower curtain from billowing into contact with a person taking a shower. The shower curtain holding assembly includes a pole member having a first end and a second end. A first hook member is coupled to the first end of the pole member. Similarly, a second hook member is coupled to the second end of the pole member. The first hook member and the second hook member are designed for coupling to a support structure such that the pole member is supported adjacent to a shower curtain to restrict movement of the shower curtain inwardly towards a person showering. In an embodiment, one end of the pole member is pivotally coupled to a wall adjacent to the shower curtain for semi-permanent installation.
US08201283B2
A toilet tank valve structure comprises a knob unit, a rotatable shaft unit, a pole unit, a whole discharge pull wire, a partial discharge pull wire, a whole discharge assembly, a partial discharge assembly, and a water seal; the knob unit comprising a partial discharge knob and a whole discharge knob; the rotatable shaft unit comprising a shaft core and a shaft sleeve; the pole unit comprising a partial discharge pole and a whole discharge pole; the whole discharge knob being secured to an outer end of the shaft sleeve, an inner end of the shaft sleeve being secured to a first end of the whole discharge pole, a second end of the whole discharge pole being connected to the whole discharge pull wire to link the whole discharge assembly and the water seal; the partial discharge knob being secured to an outer end of the shaft core, the shaft core being inserted into the shaft sleeve, an inner end of the shaft core being secured to a first end of the partial discharge pole, a second end of the partial discharge pole being connected to the partial discharge pull wire to link the partial discharge assembly and the water seal. This structure is convenient for installation and operation.
US08201278B2
A pair of swimming goggles includes two rigid lenses each having an extension. A stub is formed on a front side of each extension, and a button is formed on a distal end of the stub. A frame includes two ring portions receiving the lenses. Each ring portion includes a receptacle extending into an outer side of the ring portion. The outer side of each ring portion includes front and rear walls delimiting the receptacle, and a through-hole extends through the front wall. The extensions of the lens are received in the receptacles. The stub of each lens extends through the through-hole of the outer side of one of the ring portions. The button of each lens is located outside of the frame. A coupling plate is mounted to each lens and has a through-hole through which the stub of one of the lenses extends.
US08201277B2
In one embodiment, a posture aid apparatus includes a protective helmet having a shell including a face opening and a crown, a strap bracket coupled to the shell intermediate the face opening and the crown, and at least one strap coupled to the strap bracket. The at least one strap has a first connector adapted to be coupled to a first shoulder pad of a pair of shoulder pads and a second connector adapted to be coupled to a second shoulder pad of the pair of shoulder pads, such that proper posture for contact is promoted.
US08205259B2
Systems and methods for analyzing historical network traffic and determining which traffic does not belong in a network are disclosed. Intrusion detection is performed over a period of time, looking for behavioral patterns within networks or information systems and generating alerts when these patterns change. The intrusion detection system intelligently forms correlations between disparate sources to find traffic anomalies. Over time, behaviors are predictive, and the intrusion detection system attempts to predict outcomes, becoming proactive instead of just reactive. Intrusions occur throughout whole information systems, including both network infrastructure and application servers. By treating the information system as a whole and performing intrusion detection across it, the chances of detection are increased significantly.
US08205258B1
Uniform resource locator (URL) patterns are found in browsing histories of client computers. The URL patterns are employed to find URL browsing chains for particular client computers. A URL browsing chain includes URL requests that match URL patterns arranged in sequential order by time stamp. The URL browsing chains may be normalized and then evaluated for web threat infection chains. URL browsing chains that are deemed to be web threat infection chains are built into a model. The model may be deployed locally in a client computer or in a remotely located server computer to detect web threat infection chains.
US08205253B2
Described is a system and method for receiving a data packet including a destination address and a source address, the data packet corresponding to a port number, assigning an address risk value for the data packet based on the source address and a port risk value for the data packet based on the port number. The data packet is categorized into a community based on the source address, wherein the community is predefined by a user corresponding to the destination address, the community includes a utility value. The address risk value and the port risk value are compared to the utility value to yield a benefit coefficient and the data packet is treated based on the benefit coefficient.
US08205249B2
A method for effecting a secure electronic transaction on a terminal using a portable data carrier is proposed. According to the method a user (30) first authenticates himself vis-à-vis the portable data carrier (20). The portable data carrier (20) at the same time produces quality information about how authentication was done. The authentication is confirmed to the terminal (14). Then the portable data carrier (20) performs a security-establishing operation within the transaction, for example the creation of a digital signature. It attaches the quality information to the result of the security-establishing operation.
US08205239B1
Determining a security policy to apply to access requests to network sites that have not been classified for security risks is accomplished according to user behavior. Past behavior of users and requests to access network sites that are known security risks is recorded. When a user requests access to a site that is not classified for security purposes, a security policy is selected based on one or more users' past behavior. When a user has a history of not accessing sites that pose security risks, a more permissive security policy is set, and when a user has a history of requesting access to sites that do pose security risks a more restrictive security policy is set. Access requests are tracked, and security policy may be set at a name server that is remote from a user or user's computing system.
US08205232B2
The present invention provides systems and methods for providing television schedule and/or listing information to a viewer, and for allowing the viewer to link, search, select and interact with information in a remote database, e.g., a database on the internet. The television schedule and/or listing information can be displayed on a variety of viewer interfaces, such as televisions screens, computer monitors, PCTV screens and the like. The television schedule and/or listing information may be stored on the viewer's computer, television, PCTV, or a remote server (e.g., a website), or the television schedule and/or listing information may be downloaded from a remote database to the viewer's computer, television or PCTV.
US08205225B2
A TV transmitter, a TV transmitting method, a TV receiver and a TV receiving method allowing users to find and choose desired programs through the use of a program guide displayed by graphical user interface (GUI). The TV transmitter comprises a signal generation unit for generating text data signals associated with TV broadcast programs and hyper text data signals corresponding to the text data signals, a multiplexer for multiplexing the text data signals and the hyper text data signals onto video signals of the TV broadcast programs to provide a multiplexed TV broadcast signal, and an output unit for outputting the multiplexed TV broadcast signal provided by the multiplexer. The TV receiver comprises a display unit for receiving and displaying text data signals extracted from a multiplexed TV broadcast signal interleaving the text data signals associated with TV broadcast programs and hyper text data signals corresponding to the text data signals a designation unit for designating any one of the text data signals displayed by the display unit a detection unit for detecting the hyper text data signal corresponding to the text data signal designated by the designation unit and a processing unit for processing the TV broadcast program corresponding to the hyper text data signal detected by the detection unit.
US08205217B2
Systems and methods for configuring a specific-use computing system are disclosed. A computing system may comprise a first set of predetermined application programs and a processor limited to executing the first set of predetermined application programs and pre-approved application programs received from a pre-approved computing device. The computing system may also include a communication interface configured to enable communication between the first computing system and the pre-approved computing device. Exemplary methods and computer-readable media are also enclosed.
US08205216B2
A method and system for sharing data between a calling application and a callee application. A callee application receives a request for processing data owned and stored by the calling application in a data table. The callee application receives a document to which containers that include data elements from the data table are attached in a predefined order. The callee application identifies element types corresponding to the containers based on a mapping interface table. The callee application unloads data elements from the containers into a data store via the predefined order and associates the data elements with the corresponding element types. The callee application processes the data according to the request. The processing includes applying a business rule to a data element based on the business rule being associated with an element type of the data element. Only the callee application has knowledge of the applied business rule.
US08205213B2
The present invention dynamically brokers object messages between object models. An mediating component provides a bridge between object models such that messages can be transmitted in either direction between object models. The mediating component can be resident on a client machine, a server machine, or both. The mediating component can be used as a bridge between two instances of the same object model running on different machines. Thus, network communication is made possible for objects of an object model that otherwise lacks a networking capability. The mediating component maps a client object to a server object through proxy objects and stub objects. The proxy object always responds affirmatively when queried by a client object whether a server object can execute a particular method. A client object's message is forwarded to a server object. The mediating component performs any necessary translation of arguments or format of the message. In addition, the mediating component translates a server object's response.
US08205211B2
An electronic apparatus includes program memory means, application program execution means, and attitude detection means. The program memory means stores a plurality of application programs. The application program execution means executes an application program read out from the program memory means. The attitude detection means detects the attitude of the electronic apparatus. The application program execution means performs an application switching process to execute a second application program when detection data obtained by attitude detection performed by the attitude detection means during execution of a first application program or data obtained by computing the detection data changes across a predetermined threshold.
US08205206B2
A data processing apparatus and method are provided for managing multiple program threads executed by processing circuitry. The multiple program threads include at least one high priority program thread and at least one lower priority program thread. At least one storage unit is shared between the multiple program threads and has multiple entries for storing information for reference by the processing circuitry when executing the program threads. Thread control circuitry is used to detect a condition indicating an adverse effect caused by a lower priority program thread being executed by the processing circuitry and resulting from sharing of the at least one storage unit between the multiple program threads. On detection of such a condition, the thread control circuitry issues an alert signal, and a scheduler is then responsive to the alert signal to cause execution of the lower priority program thread causing the adverse effect to be temporarily halted, for example by causing that lower priority program thread to be de-allocated and an alternative lower priority program thread allocated in its place. This has been found to provide a particularly efficient mechanism for allowing any high priority program thread to progress as much as possible, while at the same time improving the overall processor throughput by seeking to find co-operative lower priority program threads.
US08205203B2
Techniques are disclosed for schedule management. By way of example, a method for managing performance of tasks in threads associated with at least one processor comprises the following steps. One or more units of a first task type are executed. A count of the one or more units of the first task type executed is maintained. The count represents one or more credits accumulated by the processor for executing the one or more units of a first task type. One or more units of a second task type are executed. During execution of the one or more units of a second task type, a request to execute at least one further unit of the first task type is received. The amount of credits in the count is checked. When it is determined that there is sufficient credit in the count, the request to execute the at least one further unit of the first task type is forgone, and execution of the one or more units of the second task type continues. When it is determined that there is insufficient credit in the count, the at least one further unit of the first task type is executed. The first task type may be an overhead task type such as a garbage collection task type, and the second task type may be an application task type.
US08205201B2
A process for maintaining synchronization of processors that are executing a same plurality of applications in parallel includes interrupting a current task between processing two successive instructions of an application being processed when an interrupt request occurs to process another application. An intermediate state reached by the current task is saved when the interrupt request occurs, and a counter for each of the processors indicating a number of instructions processed by each of the processors is maintained. A processor is caused to issue a synchronization confirmation in response to a comparison result that the numbers of instructions processed are identical. The processor is caused to enter a wait state when its number of processed-instructions is the largest among the processors or to execute a procedure for processing the instructions until its processed-instruction counter reaches the largest number.
US08205199B2
A queue is configured for accumulating a request to process a program component in an application server even when a naming service is used so as to enable priority control, flow control, or load distribution for component processing. A scheduler is provided between client terminals and a container server. The physical position information of the queue is associated with the logical name of the component, for registration in the naming service. The naming service is referenced for name resolution of the logical name of the component on which the processing request has been made from a client terminal, and stores the processing request on the component in the queue corresponding to the obtained physical position information of the queue. By using the queue, the scheduler can perform priority control, flow control, load distribution control, or the like for processing of the component.
US08205195B2
A tool for classifying and installing patches on terminals. Specifically, when a patch is designed, it may be automatically installed on a terminal if it does not have a direct impact on the terminal and is not in an area which relevant to the terminal user.
US08205193B2
The invention relates to a computer-implemented method of updating a virtual machine class file, including the steps of identifying a class file for execution by a virtual machine, accessing the class file in a class file repository, and downloading the class file to a file system associated with the virtual machine.
US08205191B1
A method and system for assessing effect of a change in a computer software including a plurality of requirements and a plurality of test cases. The method and system include: changing a requirement from the plurality of requirements; correlating the computer software with the changed requirement to identify a portion of the computer software that is affected by the changed requirement; and correlating one or more of the test cases with the portion of the computer software that is affected to identify one or more of the test cases that is affected by the changed requirement.Additionally, the computer software may be changed and the effect of that change on the requirements and the test cases may then be determined.
US08205185B2
Method and apparatus for approximating the average critical area of a layout or layout region, involving summing, over all the object segments of interest, respective critical area contribution values that are dependent upon particular layout parameters of the objects, each of the contribution values being representative of a plurality of defect sizes, and being defined such that for each defect size in the plurality of defect sizes, and for a particular defect type, the contribution values collectively count all critical areas arising due to the object segments of interest only once.
US08205184B2
A method for laying out a power wiring of a semiconductor device including an analog circuit and a digital circuit includes: modeling the power wiring as an analysis model including a plurality of nodes and a plurality of element resistors provided between the plurality of nodes neighboring each other; obtaining voltage values of the plurality of nodes by a circuit simulation; searching a maximum current node from nodes of the digital circuit when a substrate noise violation exists in a voltage value of a node of the analog circuit, the maximum current node having a maximum amount of current flowing into the node of the analog circuit; searching a path of a current flowing into the maximum current node in the digital circuit; selecting a bottleneck element resistor from among the plurality of element resistors included in the path; and changing a resistance value of the bottleneck element resistor.
US08205173B2
A method includes providing a plurality of failure dies, and performing a chip probing on the plurality of failure dies to generate a data log comprising electrical characteristics of the plurality of failure dies. An automatic net tracing is performed to trace failure candidate nodes in the failure dies. A failure layer analysis is performed on results obtained from the automatic net tracing. Physical failure analysis (PFA) samples are selected from the plurality of failure dies using results obtained in the step of performing the failure layer analysis.
US08205171B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for displaying hierarchy information. In one embodiment, a graphical user interface (“GUI”) is provided that displays hierarchy information, the displayed information comprising multiple nodes and hierarchical relationships between the nodes. Different sets of information may be associated with one or more of the displayed nodes. Techniques are provided to enable a user to individually change the set of information displayed in one or more of the displayed nodes. In this manner, a user is able to change the set and/or category of information displayed for one or more selected nodes. More specifically, different sets and/or categories of information contained in the nodes are displayed based on the view selected by the user. In an embodiment, a user is able to choose which nodes need to change the view levels. There are other features in the graphical interface as well.
US08205163B2
In one embodiment, a method includes scanning, by an automated tool, a set of application programs and/or systems associated with a user, the set including one or more action items calendared in a relevant time period that includes one or more days when the user intends to be out of the office. The one or more action items are then presented to the user via a user interface. Responsive to input received, each of one or more delegates correspondingly assigned to the one or more action items is automatically notified of the assignment. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure.
US08205161B2
A system and method for enabling a graphical program to receive and respond to programmatic events, such as user interface events. The graphical program may include a graphical user interface having various user interface elements and a block diagram having a plurality of nodes indicating functionality of the graphical program. The graphical program may be configured to receive and respond to one or more user interface events. For each event, a portion of graphical source code (such as a plurality of interconnected nodes) may be included in the block diagram, wherein the portion of graphical source code is operable to receive and respond to the respective user interface event. The portion of graphical source code may be executable to perform a desired process or action in response to the respective event. In one embodiment, a sub-program node may be associated with each event. In another embodiment, an event structure node may be included in the block diagram, wherein the event structure node includes one or more sub-diagrams, each sub-diagram including graphical source code for responding to one or more events.
US08205157B2
In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display includes: an application interface of an application that includes an application interface region with an edge; and a search input area for entering a search query for the application. In response to detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, the application interface region is translated on the touch screen display in a first direction. In response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, the edge of the application interface region is displayed, and the search input area is displayed in an area beyond the application interface region.
US08205147B2
A structured interleaving/de-interleaving scheme enables efficient implementation of encoding/decoding based on two-dimensional product codes (2D PC). An encoder has an integrated architecture that performs structured interleaving and PC coding in an integrated manner in which locations in the interleaved data stream are related to row and column indices for the 2D PC coding based on closed-form expressions. In one embodiment, a corresponding decoder implements two-stage low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoding based on the same relationships between locations in the interleaved data stream and row and column indices for the LDPC decoding.
US08205145B2
A high speed add-compare-select (ACS) circuit for a Viterbi decoder or a turbo decoder has a lower critical path delay than that achievable using a traditional ACS circuit. According to one embodiment of the invention, the path and branch metrics are split into most-significant and least-significant portions, such portions separately added in order to reduce the propagation delay.
US08205144B1
Circuitry and methods can be provided to correct errors in decision bits. A plurality of error event syndromes can be computed for a first plurality of error events. For each of a plurality of error event syndromes, two best error events can be selected. A cross-syndrome second best error event can be selected from among the first plurality of error events. A global second best error event can be selected from among the cross-syndrome second best error event and the second best per-syndrome error events. A second plurality of error events can be selected from among the global second best error event and the best per-syndrome error events. The second plurality of error events can be used for data post-processing.
US08205143B2
A communication device is disclosed. The device is configured to generate a first block of first cyclic redundancy check (CRC) parity bits on a transport block wherein the first block of CRC parity bits is based on a first generator polynomial, to attach the first block of CRC parity bits to the transport block and to segment the transport block into multiple code blocks. The processor is also configured to generate a second block of CRC parity bits on each code block wherein each of the second blocks of CRC parity bits is based on a second generator polynomial that is different than the first generator polynomial. The first and second generator polynomials have a common degree. A second block of CRC parity bits is attached to each code block, and the code blocks are concatenated after channel encoding.
US08205138B2
In a method of initializing a computer memory that receives data from a plurality of redrive buffers, a predetermined data pattern of a selected set of data patterns is stored in selected redrive buffers of the plurality of redrive buffers. Each of the selected set of data patterns includes a first initialization data pattern and an error correcting code pattern that is a product of a logical function that operates on the first initialization data pattern and an address in the computer memory. The selected set of data patterns includes each possible value of error correcting code pattern. A redrive buffer of the plurality of redrive buffers that has stored therein an error correcting code pattern that corresponds to the selected address is selected when sending a first initialization data pattern to a selected address. The selected redrive buffer is instructed to write to the selected address the first initialization data pattern and the error correcting code pattern that corresponds to the selected address.
US08205134B2
To identify errored bits in a binary data set, an ordered plurality of modulo-2 summations of respective selections of the data-set bits are compared with a target syndrome. The selections of data-set bits are defined by the connection of sum nodes to variable nodes in a logical network of nodes and edges where each variable node is associated with a respective data-set bit and each sum node corresponds to a respective modulo-2 summation. Any sum node for which the corresponding summation of selected data-set bits is found to be inconsistent with the target syndrome is identified as errored. Predetermined patterns of errored sum nodes are then looked for to identify one or more associated errored data-set bits. The identified errored data-set bits can then be flipped to correct them.
US08205132B2
Cooperative concatenated coding techniques are provided for wireless communications between at least two users and a base station. A network system employing cooperative concatenated coding includes cooperating user devices each configured to encode and transmit at least a portion of a joint message. The joint message includes at least a portion of a first message from a first cooperating user device and at least a portion of a second message from a second cooperating user device. An embodiment includes encoding a first message from a first cooperating user, receiving a second message from a second cooperating user and decoding the second message. The methodology also includes re-encoding at least a portion of the decoded message with at least a portion of the first message to form a combined message, and then transmitting at least a portion of the combined message.
US08205130B2
In the present application, there is provided a decoding apparatus for decoding low density parity check codes, including: a plurality of storage sections configured to store logarithmic likelihood ratios or logarithmic posteriori probability ratios for one codeword into addresses thereof which are independent of each other thereamong; and a readout section configured to simultaneously read out, from among the logarithmic likelihood ratios or logarithmic posteriori probability ratios for the one codeword stored in the storage sections, a plurality of ones of the logarithmic likelihood ratios or logarithmic posteriori probability ratios which correspond to non-zero value elements in a predetermined one row of the check matrix used in a coding process of the low density parity check codes.
US08205125B2
A test controller implemented in an integrated circuit (IC) with partitioned scan chains provides enhanced control in performing scan tests. According to an aspect, a test controller can selectively control scan-in, scan-out and capture phases of scan tests for different scan chains of the IC to be independent. The number of pins required to interface the test controller with an external tester is less than the number of partitions that the test controller can support. According to another aspect, an IC includes a register corresponding to each partition to support transition fault (or LOS) testing. According to another aspect, an IC with partitioned scan chains includes serial to parallel and parallel to serial converters, thereby minimizing the external pins required to support scan tests.
US08205123B2
In exemplary embodiments, a skewed interleaving function for iterative code systems is described. The skewed interleaving function provides a skewed row and column memory partition and a layered structure for re-arranging data samples read from, for example, a first channel detector. An iterative decoder, such as an iterative decoder based on a low-density parity-check code (LDPC), might employ an element to de-skew the data from the interleaved memory partition before performing iterative decoding of the data, and then re-skew the information before passing decoded samples to the de-interleaver. The de-interleaver re-arranges the iterative decoded data samples in accordance with an inverse of the interleaver function before passing the decoded data samples to, for example, a second channel detector.
US08205122B1
A computer operations center that has a number of computing systems, where each computing system issues system messages regarding such computing system. Each issued system message from each computing system is stored in a message logging database. The system messages stored in the message logging database are monitored for predetermined patterns, and upon detecting a particular pattern in the system messages, a predetermined action corresponding to the detected pattern is taken. The detected pattern anticipates an occurrence of an unwanted system event, and the corresponding action is intended to prevent or at least minimize the unwanted system event.
US08205121B2
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for reducing overpolled data in a data processing system is provided. A controller identifies a set of redundant measurements in a cycle. The controller then identifies a number of measurements repeated in the set of redundant measurements. The controller the computes a percentage of redundant polls based on the number of measurements repeated in the set of redundant measurements. The controller then computes a new polling period by reducing an original polling period by the percentage of redundant polls.
US08205120B2
A system and method for testing an application or component is disclosed. A debugging agent connects to the application or component to monitor one or more test processes on the application or component according to a template-based configuration. A test framework defines the template-based configuration for the debugging agent, creates test input data for the application or component for use by the one or more test processes, and starts the execution of the one or more test processes. The test framework is further adapted to record test output data from the one or more test processes.
US08205108B2
A power detection method applied to a peripheral apparatus is provided. The method includes the following steps. First, a power signal is received from a data communication interface. Next, it is determined that whether the power signal is able to drive a main function device of the peripheral apparatus. Then, according to the determination result, the power signal is selectively provided to the main function device to drive the main function device.
US08205106B2
A modification method and system. The method includes detecting and monitoring by a computing system, a frequency signal associated with an input voltage signal used for powering a plurality of power consumption devices at a specified location. The computing system compares the frequency signal to a predetermined frequency value. The computing system determines that the frequency signal comprises a first value that is not equal to the predetermined frequency value. The computing system calculates a difference value between the first value and the predetermined frequency value. The computing system compares the difference value to a second value. The computing system enables a load adjustment modification process associated with the plurality of power consumption devices. The computing system generates and stores a report associated with the load adjustment modification process.
US08205098B2
A tool which facilitates a balancing of security with usability enabling secure user access to multiple secure sites and locations from several computing devices utilizing a roamable credential store (RCS) which is highly resistant to offline attack. The RCS facilitates a protected Unified Credential Vault (UCV) via a multi-stage encryption process such that user credentials are protected by making offline dictionary attacks prohibitively expensive to an attacker without causing usability to deteriorate commensurately.
US08205094B2
A mobile wireless device operable to install code on a removable medium, in which the device is programmed to calculate and store a digest of this code into a persistent non-removable store inside the device. When the removable medium is plugged back, and when the code is invoked, the device recalculates a digest from the code it wants to load from the removable medium and compares it with the one stored inside the persistent non-removable store. If they do not match, the code has been tampered with and therefore cannot be trusted by the device. The digest is accessible only by components in the Trusted Computing Base so is itself secure. The digest may be a hash or other unique and representative value.
US08205086B2
The present invention is relate to watermark information embedding apparatus and method for the same, watermark information detecting apparatus and method for the same, and method of containing watermark document. A document image generator (101) generates a document image according to document data (105). A watermark image generator (102) generates a watermark image. The watermark information (106) is denoted with dot pattern, and the dot pattern within the outline of the watermark information are of special value. A synthesizer (103) overlaps document image generated from the document image generator (101) and the watermark image generated from the watermark image generator (102) so as to generate a containing watermark document image.
US08205084B2
A system and method are provided for pre-processing encrypted and/or signed messages at a host system before the message is transmitted to a wireless mobile communication device. The message is received at the host system from a message sender. There is a determination as to whether any of the message receivers has a corresponding wireless mobile communication device. For each message receiver that has a corresponding wireless mobile communication device, the message is processed so as to modify the message with respect to one or more encryption and/or authentication aspects. The processed message is transmitted to a wireless mobile communication device that corresponds to the first message receiver. The system and method may include post-processing messages sent from a wireless mobile communications device to a host system. Authentication and/or encryption message processing is performed upon the message. The processed message may then be sent through the host system to one or more receivers.
US08205078B2
A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing files in a data processing system. An attribute for a file is specified as having a special designation. The file with the attribute having the special designation is processed, by the operating system, in a different manner from other files when performing operations, such as, for example, copying the file to a removable media, printing the file, or sending the file over a network.
US08205074B2
In a data communication method and a data communication system, a session control message designating a destination server with identification information unique to application is transferred to the destination via a session management server. When an application program or encrypted communication software on a client issues a connection request designating a destination with identification information unique to application, the client or the session management server automatically converts the identification information into a desired resource identifier identifiable a domain to thereby determine a domain as the destination of the received connection request message.
US08205073B2
An object of the present invention is to enable the configuration tasks needed to form a wireless LAN to be performed using a simple method while increasing security during such configuration. In a wireless network configuration system GH1 including an encryption key setting system LH1, where an access point 20 determines after the power thereto is turned ON that configuration for connection to a wireless LAN has not yet be carried out, the access point 20 activates a restricted receiving mode in which only an initial configuration packet is accepted. A terminal 50 that has sent an initial configuration packet and the access point 20 that has received such initial configuration packet while the restricted receiving mode is active each create an identical WEP key with reference to the data on a CD-ROM 51 or the data in a ROM 12, respectively, and set and register the created WEP key in itself.
US08205051B2
A data processing system has a plurality of storage systems. In this system, data replication is performed at high speed and efficiency while maintaining data integrity. In addition, when failure has occurred in a configuration element, the time necessary to resume the data replication is reduced. In accordance with an instruction from first host computer, updating of replication-target data and creation of a journal are performed in a storage system A, and updating of replication data and creation of a journal are performed in a storage system B. A storage system C retrieves a journal from the storage system B in asynchronization with the updating, and performs updating of replication data. When failure has occurred in the storage system B, a journal-retrieving end is altered to the storage system, and the replication data is updated in accordance with the retrieved journal.
US08205050B2
Methods and apparatus involve computing backup for virtual representations on a physical hardware platform. The platform has a processor, memory and available storage upon which a plurality of virtual machines are configured. Also, each virtual machine has a type of operating system that may be the same or different as another virtual machine. A plurality of virtual machine proxies exists as complements to the virtual machines in order to actually conduct the backup. Upon indication of a present need for conducting a backup operation, the proxy with an operating system most closely approximating or matching the operating system of the virtual machine needing backup is selected for undertaking the operation. In this manner, backup is no longer conducted with ill-fitting physical backup proxies with incompatible operating systems. In other embodiments, nuances of conducting backup are described as are templates and cloning. Computer program products are further described.
US08205047B2
The disclosure provides a method for reducing an amount of simultaneous switching outputs (SSO) of a device. The method of reducing the amount of simultaneous switching outputs can include driving outputs of the device to a first set of values, scrambling a second set of values to reduce an amount of simultaneous switching outputs resulting from the switching of the first to the second set of values, and driving the outputs of the device to the scrambled second set of values. Further, the method can include descrambling the scrambled second set of values back to the second set of values.
US08205037B2
A data storage device may include a first memory board including multiple memory chips and a controller board that is arranged and configured to operably connect to the first memory board. The controller board may include an interface to a host and a controller that includes a power module and that is arranged and configured to control command processing for multiple memory chips having different voltages, automatically recognize a voltage of the memory chips on the first memory board, configure the power module to operate at the recognized voltage of the memory chips, receive commands from the host using the interface and execute the commands using the memory chips.
US08205036B2
A non-volatile memory of present invention includes a number of memory blocks and a static wear leveling device. The static wear leveling device includes a memory unit for storing the erase counts of the memory blocks and a controlling unit for getting the erase counts from the memory unit, and calculating the standard deviation based on the EC, and deciding the way of the static wear leveling cycle according to the standard deviation. The controlling unit deciding the way of the static wear leveling cycle include the steps of setting at least one predetermined threshold point and judging whether the standard deviation of the erase counts is smaller than the predetermined threshold point. If the standard deviation of the erase counts is smaller than the predetermined threshold point, the static wear leveling cycle starts for a first amount of cycles and moves the static data stored a first number of memory blocks. If the standard deviation of the erase counts is bigger than the predetermined threshold point, starts for a second amount of cycles and moves the static data stored a second number of memory blocks.
US08205033B2
A memory device includes a non-volatile memory which allows data to be written, read, and erased electrically and in which writing and reading are done in units of a page and erasing is done in units of a block including a plurality of pages, and a control section that manages access to the non-volatile memory. The control section performs management of access to the non-volatile memory by performing logical address-physical address translation (logical-physical translation) in translation units (TUs) each being an integer fraction of a size of the block and an integer multiple of a page size.
US08205026B2
A system, method and apparatus for prioritizing transactions is disclosed. I/O devices may generate transactions with a stream identifier. A transaction classifier may assign a priority to a transaction based upon a stream identifier of the transaction. An arbiter may select a transaction for processing based upon priorities assigned to the transaction.
US08205017B2
This is generally directed to systems and methods for control of two or more devices through a shared control bus. For example, the devices can be coupled to a host system through the control bus. In some embodiments, the devices can be configured by the host system through address select pins of the devices. For example, the host system can sequentially program each device to change its default address to a unique address. In some embodiments, an event can be propagated through each device, thus resulting in each device receiving the event at a different time. In some embodiments, configuration by the host system can include programming each device with a value representing its own position in the chain. In this case, a device can use this value to delay its response to the event, thereby allowing all the devices in the chain to respond to the event simultaneously.
US08205009B2
A system for efficiently transmitting data from a first site to a remote site over a communication medium. The data includes a storage for storing data in sub-segment boundaries, such that few sub-segments are accommodated in each block. The system further includes a storage for storing data including signature data. Each one of the sub-segments is associated with a signature of considerably smaller size than its respective sub-segment. The system includes a processor configured to perform the following, as many times as required: receiving a block and partitioning it into sub-segments. For each sub-segment in the block the processor calculating a signature. It then determines whether the calculated signature matches a corresponding signature, if any, stored in the signature storage, and in case of no match (indicating that the sub-segment is new or has been modified), transmitting the sub-segment to the remote site and store the calculated signature in the signature storage.
US08204997B2
A method, system and computer program product for (1) collecting information from a remote application unit and/or (2) diagnosing or controlling the remote application unit. By utilizing a shareable computer code device (e.g., a dynamic linked library), a new application can utilize tested, proven code without having to reproduce existing functionality. Moreover, by supporting multiple data formats and/or multiple communication protocols, a computer code device increases the likelihood that a supported format and/or protocol will be either receivable or understandable by a receiver.
US08204996B2
A system and method of managing log information of a user, includes: a service server receiving a login/logout request from the user; the service server selecting a location server group to transmit a log message to, corresponding to the login/logout request, based on the user's user identifier; transmitting the log message as an anycast message from the service server to a location server of the selected location server group; the location server, which receives the log message, generating a status update message corresponding to the log message; and the location server multicasting the generated status update message to remaining location servers of the selected location server group.
US08204993B2
A computer system of this invention includes: plural servers; a L7 switch that assigns a processing request from a client terminal to one of the servers; and a session management server that holds and manages handover data that includes handover identification information, which is at least either client terminal identification information or user identification information, and that is data necessary for continuously carrying out the business processing the server carried out. Then, the server to which the processing request is assigned by the L7 switch obtains the pertinent handover data by the handover data identification information included in the processing request to carry out a business processing by using the pertinent handover data and data included in the processing request, and generates handover data for the business processing to transmit the generated handover data to the session management server, and further generates and transmits response data for the client terminal as a processing requesting source.
US08204973B2
Apparatus and method are provided for enabling establishment of cross-domain services, including exchange of reachability information between domains, routing of services across domains, and differential labeling. The network element control and management planes are supplemented by additional components that enable the control and management planes of each domain to inter-communicate in a peer-to-peer manner. Adjacencies are established between domains, and service reachability information is exchanged between domains. Network Service Applications within the management planes can then establish services across the domains by inter-communicating.
US08204970B2
Obtained is a remote update system for an elevator control program, which is capable of sequentially realizing update of control programs of a plurality of elevators with reduced communication time and costs without stopping the plurality of elevators at the same time. A server 10 delivers to a representative elevator 30(1) update data including differential information between the control program of a version before update and the control program of the latest version to be updated to through a communication line 20, and the representative elevator 30(1) and other elevators 30(2) to 30(N) sequentially transfer the update data according to a predetermined transfer order, and update their own control programs based on the update data including the differential data.
US08204968B2
System(s) and method(s) are provided for notification of registration of a mobile device with femto coverage for firmware content management. An attachment component that administers location of mobile devices or a femto access point (AP) conveys a notification to a network platform that manages firmware content updates when a mobile device for which firmware update is available hands off from wireless macro coverage onto femto coverage through the femto AP. The notification is triggered in response to firmware update notification received by the attachment component, or an update flag received by the femto AP. Upon reception of the notification, to exploit wireline bandwidth, the network platform delivers firmware content(s) update through backhaul link to the femto AP to which the mobile device is registered. Femto APs not provisioned to serve a mobile device can be incentivized to authorize the mobile device for coverage and thus facilitate firmware updates.
US08204948B2
Facilitating email transmission by extracting email parameters, requesting data in the form of a dns query, and receiving a sender reputation as an IP address. Querying a database by sending a plurality of arguments concatenated to a dns request and receiving an IP address in reply. Operating a remote database as a dns server, receiving queries as domains and transmitting replies in the format of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. Filtering email by querying a database with email parameters comprising an IP address and a domain of an email sender which may be extracted from an email header in the HELO, EHLO, MAIL FROM, or RETURN PATH. The smtp session is continued, modified or interrupted according to the result of the query submitted to a database operating as a dns server.
US08204936B2
A computer voting system arranged to receive votes from one or more mobile communications devices through a wireless personal area network in order to select content stored on the system, each mobile device comprising a mobile device name that can be edited by a user to include a user-entered vote, the system comprising: inputs arranged to receive one or more mobile device names; a processor arranged to analyse the or each device name to determine the presence of user-entered votes; storage apparatus arranged to store content; and an output arrangement arranged to output content; wherein the processor is further arranged to determine the content to be output by the output arrangement based on the or each user-entered vote.
US08204932B2
A method and apparatus for stored message delivery are taught. The method and apparatus can be configured to accomplish the steps of receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message, as a received SIP message, encapsulating the received SIP message in a Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) message, as an encapsulated SIP message; and transmitting the encapsulated SIP message to an intended recipient.
US08204924B1
A method and apparatus are presented for performing wavelet transforms, post transform processing and inverse wavelet transforms whereby hardware complexity is reduced and processor performance is enhanced by performing the forward and inverse wavelet transformations and post transform processing in variable precision arithmetic. Optimal decreases in the operational arithmetic precision of different wavelet scale coefficients, multiplication and weighting operations, and other operations, results in reduced computational complexity, increased speed, and in some cases better signal to noise ratios.
US08204923B1
The disclosed technology provides a system and a method for scaling parameters in a real-time computation system. A real-time computation system can receive a plurality of input data. The real-time computation system can determine a scaling factor based on an input data, and the scaling factor can be used in connection with a subsequent input data. When a new input data arrives, the real-time computation system can, in parallel, determine a new scaling factor based on the new input data and compute output values based on the existing scaling factor and the new input data. In one aspect of the invention, the real-time computation system can be a statistical signal processing system, which can compute output values, at least in part, using look-up tables.
US08204916B2
Methods, and computer-readable media for presenting search results in a folder hierarchy are provided. Embodiments of the present invention include providing a navigation portion in which data sources to be searched are selected, and an input portion into which search criteria may be submitted. Items within the selected data sources that match the search criteria are identified and presented as a folder hierarchy. The folder hierarchy may only include items that satisfy the search criteria, but otherwise is consistent with the native folder hierarchy in which the items normally reside. In one embodiment, the initial presentation of the search results includes only top-level folders that contain, at some level, items that satisfy the search criteria. The items can be located by drilling down from the top-level folders.
US08204913B2
A method, an apparatus and a computer program product for converting an XML encoded dataset into a minimal set of SQL tables and provided. In the method, a hierarchical structure in the XML encoded dataset is identified. A node element set for the XML encoded dataset is determined, wherein each node element in the node element set is a discrete level of the hierarchical structure of the dataset. One or more nodes of the XML encoded dataset are determined, each node being an instance of a node element. A unique node identifier is allocated to each node. Then, an SQL node table containing one or more records is generated, each record corresponding to a respective one of the allocated node identifiers. An SQL ancestry table is optionally generated to define the inter-relationships among nodes of the identified hierarchical structure of the XML encoded dataset.
US08204908B2
Implementations of the present disclosure provide computer-implemented methods including generating a changelist corresponding to at least one computer code object that is digitally stored in a repository database, assigning a team to the changelist, the team comprising a plurality of members, initiating access to the computer code object using a computer that is in communication with the repository database, enabling access to the computer code object when a user of the computer is a member of the team, and prohibiting access to the computer code object when the user of the computer is not a member of the team.
US08204902B1
A method for ranking experts in a knowledge management system. A plurality of data elements are stored in a database, the data elements having substantive technical data and bibliographic information encoded therein. A result set is produced from the database in response to a user query, the result set including data elements having technical data encoded therein that corresponds to the query. An expert list is produced based on the bibliographic information for the data elements contained in the result set. Each expert in the expert list is ranked based on criteria associated with the result set to produce a ranked expert list.
US08204901B2
Systems, methods and articles of manufacture are disclosed for generating a relational database query from an online analytical processing (OLAP) query against a cube. The cube may have dimensions, each dimension having a hierarchy of members. A level of the hierarchy of a dimension of the cube may be identified from which the OLAP query accesses a number of members exceeding a predefined threshold count of members. A relational database query may be generated that includes a predicate for at least one member from at least one level above the identified level in the hierarchy, instead of a plurality of predicates for members from the identified level. The relational database query may be generated from the OLAP query, from a definition for the hierarchy, and from the accessed members from the identified level. As a result, the relational database query may include fewer predicates and may be executed more efficiently.
US08204886B2
An approach is provided for determining the similarity between two points-of-interest. Data about a plurality of features of each of a plurality of points-of-interest are received. A feature vector is created based on the respective features for each of the points-of-interest. A geospatial index comprising the feature vectors and associated location data for each of the points-of-interest is generated.
US08204885B2
A database management system stores data form a plurality of logical tables as independent copies in different format. In one specific example the system organizes tables into table groups and de-normalizes the table in each table group. It also organizes data in a second format including vertical column containers that store all the data for one attribute, there being one column container for each table and each attribute within that table. The receipt of a query causes the system to develop a query plan that can interact with either or both of the container sets.
US08204883B1
Systems and methods of determining genre information are provided. A particular method includes receiving a first data set including a plurality of genre descriptors and associated strength values related to particular content. Each strength value indicates a degree to which the associated genre descriptor describes the particular content. The method also includes storing a data record associating the first data set with the particular content.
US08204862B1
A method for restoring deduplicated data may include receiving a request to restore a set of deduplicated data segments to a client system, where each data segment in the set of deduplicated data segments is referred to by one or more deduplication references. The method may also include procuring reference data that indicates, for each data segment in the set of deduplicated data segments, the number of deduplication references that point to the data segment. The method may further include using the reference data to select one or more data segments from the set of deduplicated data segments for client-side caching, caching the one or more data segments in a cache on the client system, and restoring the one or more data segments from the cache on the client system. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US08204851B2
A browser based workflow monitor uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to display workflow status information and to create log information. The monitor presents the log information to a user in a format that is easily understood. Workflow information is accessed from a user workstation via a data network and displayed within a browser application.
US08204843B2
An events analysis method comprises: optimizing respective to a set of training data a set of branching transition likelihood parameters associating parent events of type k with child events of type k′ in branching processes; inferring a most probable branching process for a set of input data comprising events based on the optimized set of branching transition likelihood parameters; and identifying rare or unusual events of the set of input data based on the inferred most probable branching process. An events analysis apparatus includes a probabilistic branching process learning engine configured to optimize the set of branching transition likelihood parameters, and a probabilistic branching process inference engine configured to infer the most probable branching process.
US08204842B1
Systems and Methods for multi-modal or multimedia image retrieval are provided. Automatic image annotation is achieved based on a probabilistic semantic model in which visual features and textual words are connected via a hidden layer comprising the semantic concepts to be discovered, to explicitly exploit the synergy between the two modalities. The association of visual features and textual words is determined in a Bayesian framework to provide confidence of the association. A hidden concept layer which connects the visual feature(s) and the words is discovered by fitting a generative model to the training image and annotation words. An Expectation-Maximization (EM) based iterative learning procedure determines the conditional probabilities of the visual features and the textual words given a hidden concept class. Based on the discovered hidden concept layer and the corresponding conditional probabilities, the image annotation and the text-to-image retrieval are performed using the Bayesian framework.
US08204840B2
In one embodiment, a system and method is illustrated as including generating a model using at least one of a global conduct score and attribute data. A range of numeric values may be retrieved, based upon which, a better term is granted in a transaction than would otherwise be granted in the transaction. A comparison may be made between the model and the range of numeric values. Further, a better term may be granted in the transaction where the model falls within the range of numeric values. The global conduct score is computed using an approach including at least one of a feed score approach, and a composite score approach. The attribute data includes page view data, click through data, account usage data, and good purchased data. The model includes a global conduct score model, a weighting model, an AI based model, and an associated network based model.
US08204835B1
A system and method for applying postage indicia to mail pieces using a controller for monitoring the mail pieces as they are processed by the system. The controller has information about each of the mail pieces. A postage evidencing system prints postage indicia on labels to create postage indicia to be applied to the mail pieces, wherein each of the postage indicia is associated with a particular mail piece and corresponds to a postage amount that is calculated using the information for the particular mail piece. An applicator applies the postage indicia to mail pieces.
US08204830B2
A global customer activated terminal (CAT) primarily serves traveling customers who require access to their accounts when they are away from their home financial institution and beyond their local regional financial area. The system provides applications that permit users to access their accounts and utilize account profiles and transaction journals within a generic global system approach, and each transaction set provides access to the user's full account profile. The traveling customer is also provided with access to all their accounts linked (as they would locally) to a specific card. The hardware employed in the system supports encryption key downloading, unscrambling and PIN encryption, so that security is instituted at the hardware level. To provide the maximum flexibility at each regional level for product and services offered, regional front end processors and Hosts are the arbitrators of each transaction acceptance and fulfillment, rather than the CAT.
US08204828B1
Electronic implementation of a benefits program for distribution of mass transit system vouchers utilizes a smart card. The system and method eliminates the need for manual delivery and provides a paperless, automated system of distributing the benefits. The system further reduces the administrative costs associated with periodic manual distribution. The system may be implemented in an Intranet or Internet environment.
US08204824B2
A transaction process system (10) provides for data transactions between parties. In a credit card transaction, the parties are the merchant (20), acquiring bank (24), card association (34), issuing bank (14), and cardholder (12). A transaction processing center (30) is positioned between the acquiring bank and the card association. The transaction processing center provides data processing channels for message-based processing (72) and filed-based processing (76). The file-based processing uses an incoming queue (80) and outgoing queue (84) to simplify the interface. The transaction processing center also provides for currency conversions and account reconciliation on a per transaction basis. The transaction processing center uses a scheduler (160) to efficiently manage the data processing resources and an account reconciliation processor (200) to identify discrepancies and initiate corrective action.
US08204822B2
Trading software may receive trading information from an exchange. The trading software may use the trading information to compute an estimate of last traded total sweep quantity. The trading software may also display the last traded total sweep quantity on a trading screen.
US08204821B2
The invention provides a method and system to estimate demand, pricing, allocation and aftermarket demand for public offerings via a simulation auction using collaborative forecasting. The simulation auction incorporates features to enhance participant knowledge about a particular company and its proposed auction. The simulation auction may be used to collect information regarding likely or equilibrium pricing of actual offerings, as well as to generate demand curve provides for different types of participants (e.g. retail and institutional investors).
US08204811B2
An example graphical interface and method for displaying risk related data are described. One example graphical interface includes a data structure comprising a plurality of data nodes and at least one risk data point associated with each node, and further comprises a display grid. The display grid includes one or more cells that are used for displaying selected data nodes and risk data points. Each cell may be associated with a single data node, and may include one or more identifiers corresponding to risk data points of the data node. In one example embodiment, the identifiers are aligned along a single axis, and risk related data corresponding to each identifier is aligned with respect to each corresponding identifier.
US08204791B2
A mechanism is provided for file fragment pricing in a segmented file sharing system. The mechanism allows peers to set a price for distributing a file through the file sharing system. A peer then becomes a file distributor on behalf of an original file provider. The original file provider may compensate the file distributor based on a compensation agreement. The peer's client may be configured to download file fragments from file distributors, or the original file provider, based on preferences, such as price, peer rating, upload speed, or similarity. As a result, a peer may download a file for a price that is less than the original price from the original file provider. Thus, the mechanism provides an incentive for peers to participate in file sharing, which results in larger swarms.
US08204789B2
To compensate a failure in downloading of music piece data. For example, when a viewer instructs purchase of a music pieceC to an IRD at a timing t0 during the sixth transmission of music piece data, the music piece data to be transmitted for the seventh time immediately after the instruction is usually downloaded. When the downloading of the music piece data transmitted for the seventh time fails for some reason, downloading is re-executed on music piece data to be transmitted for the eighth time. The music piece data for the final transmission time in each of musical pieces is used for re-execution. Timing at which downloading of the music piece data transmitted for the time immediately preceding the final time can be instructed is set as purchase limit time by using elapsed time since program start time.
US08204787B2
An electronic registration system which facilitates authorized product returns and reduces the incidence of improper returns. A retailer sales associate is prompted to enter individual product identification information such as an individual serial number. This individual product identification information is then stored in a data base along with the date on which the product was sold and an appropriate UPC code, SKU number or manufacturer code. A check digit algorithm may be used to verify the serial number prior to storage. A sales receipt may be imprinted with at least the date of the transaction and the serial number. When a product is returned, the retailer may cross-reference the serial number on the product with that on the receipt to verify the sales receipt. Otherwise, the database may be searched for pertinent sales information.
US08204778B2
A method of selecting potential hires for progression through a hiring process is provided. The method comprises selecting at least one performance indicator for a position, obtaining the at least one performance indicator for a plurality of incumbents in the position, and placing each incumbent in the plurality of incumbents along a performance continuum according to their performance indicator. The method also comprises surveying incumbents from at least both halves of the performance continuum, generating an ideal profile for the position based upon the incumbent survey and the at least one performance indicator of the incumbents, using a survey to generate a candidate profile of a potential hire, comparing the candidate profile of the potential hire with the ideal profile for the position to determine a result for the potential hire, and determining whether to progress the potential hire to a next stage in the hiring process based upon the result.
US08204775B2
A systems, methods and computer program products are provided for modeling a monetary measure of a good, such as a cost or revenue associated with the good. A method begins by selecting at least one qualitative measure of maturity for at least one technology associated with the good, where each qualitative measure of maturity is associated with a distribution such that each technology is correspondingly associated with a distribution. Next, a monetary point is associated with each technology, and thereafter a monetary distribution is determined for each technology based upon a respective monetary point and a respective distribution. A plurality of monetary values are selected by randomly selecting the plurality of monetary values for each technology based upon a respective monetary distribution. Finally, the monetary measure for the good are modeled based upon the selected monetary values for each technology.
US08204773B2
A method and system for forecasting demand for order configurations are provided. The method and system, in one aspect, expresses attach rates within a family of n options as a set of n positive numbers that sum to 1. By applying suitable transformations to the attach rates, they are modeled as a random vector in (n−1)-dimensional Euclidean space. The distribution of the transformed attach rates are modeled as a distribution family specified by a location vector and a dispersion matrix. The dispersion matrix is simplified, for example, using historical data or expert judgment or both to identify option families that have dependent demand. Simplifying may also include expressing dependence between options by a simple model that involves few parameters. Location vector is estimated by computing point forecasts of transformed attach rates. The parameters of the dispersion matrix are estimated by calibration on historical data, using the dispersion of the errors in historical point forecasts.
US08204771B1
Methods and systems for updating a task list from an action item documentation view are provided. In one embodiment, a method of the present invention may include receiving an indication that a task view indicator has been selected from the action item documentation view and displaying the task list with a focus on one or more tasks that correspond with the task view indicator selected. The task list displayed may include all tasks due for a particular patient, whether or not information regarding the task may be input in the action item documentation view.
US08204769B1
A pension insurance plan method involves administering claims made against a pension debt coverage policy provided in the plan. The policy protects an outstanding balance of a defined contribution plan loan secured by participant's plan assets, eliminating adverse tax consequences to the plan beneficiary in the event of the death or disability of the participant and ensuring that the full plan account balance passes intact to beneficiary in such event.
US08204763B2
Novel methods for delivering a drug to a patient while preventing the exposure of a foetus or other contraindicated individual to the drug. Embodiments are provided in which the involved prescribers, pharmacies and patients are registered in one or more computer databases. Embodiments are also provided in which registered patients receive counseling information concerning the risks attendant to foetal exposure to the drug. Male patients and female patients who are not pregnant may, in certain circumstances, receive the drug.
US08204759B2
A method, system and computer program product are provided for social analysis in multi-party meetings. The method includes receiving a data stream of a multi-participant meeting and identifying participants' contributions in the data stream. The method also includes detecting a sub-activity within the data stream in which two or more participants are active and calculating a connection weight between two participants based on contributions in a sub-activity. Calculating a connection weight between two participants includes increasing a weighting of two participants that interact in the same sub-activity. The method also includes integrating the connection weight between two participants into a weighted social network.
US08204758B2
A network advisory system that provides advisory information to a field service provider is disclosed. The network advisory system receives collected data from one or more destination facilities and analyzes the information to generate advisory information. The advisory information is used by the field service provider to provide a service at the destination facility. The field service provider may receive the advisory information while in transit to the destination facility or while located at a destination facility. The field service provider receives the advisory information through a network connection. The network connection may be either a wireless connection or a land-based connection.
US08204751B1
Disclosed are systems, methods and computer-readable media for controlling a computing device to provide contextual responses to user inputs. The method comprises receiving a user input, generating a set of features characterizing an association between the user input and a conversation context based on at least a semantic and syntactic analysis of user inputs and system responses, determining with a data-driven machine learning approach whether the user input begins a new topic or is associated with a previous conversation context and if the received question is associated with the existing topic, then generating a response to the user input using information associated with the user input and any previous user input associated with the existing topic.
US08204748B2
A textual representation of a voice message is provided to a communication device, such as a mobile phone, for example, when the mobile phone is operating in a silent mode. The voice message is input by a caller and the voice message converted to phonemes. A text representation of the voice message is transmitted to the mobile phone. The representation includes characters based on the phonemes with well known words being represented in an easily understood shorthand format.
US08204746B2
A system and method for providing an automated call center inline architecture is provided. A plurality of grammar references and prompts are maintained on a script engine. A call is received through a telephony interface. Audio data is collected using the prompts from the script engine, which are transmitted to the telephony interface via a message server. Distributed speech recognition is performed on a speech server. The grammar references are received from the script engine via the message server. Speech results are determined by applying the grammar references to the audio data. A new grammar is formed from the speech results. Speech recognition results are identified by applying the new grammar to the audio data. The speech recognition results are received as a display on an agent console.
US08204738B2
A method of removing bias from an action classifier within a natural language understanding system can include identifying a sentence having a target embedded grammar that overlaps with at least one other embedded grammar and selecting a group of overlapping embedded grammars including the target embedded grammar and at least one additional embedded grammar. A sentence expansion can be created that includes the sentence including the target embedded grammar and a copy of the sentence for each additional embedded grammar of the group. Each copy of the sentence can include a different additional embedded grammar from the group in place of the target embedded grammar. The sentence expansion can be included within action classifier training data.
US08204737B2
A system is disclosed for generating text responsive to both voice and handwriting input, including a microphone, stylus, and a tablet having an flat-panel display integrated into its surface. The system performs speech and handwriting recognition using a shared language model, which in one embodiment is trainable responsive to user correction of errors in either speech or handwriting recognition. Various other systems and methods are also disclosed.
US08204725B1
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for efficiently simulating breaking waves in real-time. A two-dimensional shallow water height field simulation generates height and velocity information used to generate a wave line for each wave within the height field that satisfies criteria for overturning. For each overturning wave, a wave sheet is created from particles generated relative to points on the respective wave line. Each wave sheet may move separately from an underlying wave that gave rise to the wave sheet, allowing the wave sheet to fall and break, creating a realistic appearance. As a falling wave sheet collides with the underlying wave or water surface, free particles may be generated to simulation spray visible on a real breaking wave.
US08204723B2
Tools and methods allow an enterprise to define a set of processes and create scenarios which link and integrate combinations of processes. In addition, both processes and scenarios can be categorized, enabling re-use of existing definitions and easing subsequent scenario building. Processes and scenarios both allow variations which are stipulated to have a certain applicability in terms of organizations within the enterprise and time-frame. The variations can be evolved and improved over time via versions. Subsequently designed process scenarios can be tested and released for use in an organization and used to drive work planning, initiation and status reporting.
US08204721B2
Predictive Split Lot Emulator, and methods simulating integrated circuit performance variations, before IC fabrication. The emulator receives a split lot parameter, maps the split lot parameter onto an IC element model, and transforms the IC element into a predictive IC element model. The emulator uses the predictive model to determine simulated performance characteristic of the IC element model. Also, a predictive split lot analyzer, a CAD simulation system, and a PDK including the emulator. IC simulating methods include choosing a Split Condition from a Split Table; a Predictive Split Lot Emulator receiving the Condition, determining a Split Parameter Condition Perturbation, mapping the Perturbation into a Model Parameter Perturbation for an IC element, and storing the Model Perturbation for an IC element into a Model Parameter Perturbation Library. The Perturbation Library emulates IC element performance characteristic in a Split Condition. Determining, mapping, and emulating are executed prior to integrated circuit fabrication.
US08204716B2
A system for characterizing vibration of a rack structure having at least one hard disk drive disposed therein and a vibration exciter operatively associated with the rack structure includes one or more computers. The one or more computers are configured to command the vibration exciter to provide vibration input to the rack structure and to command a plurality of reads from the at least one hard disk drive such that, for each of the plurality of reads, data stored on the at least one hard disk drive is retrieved from the at least one hard disk drive. The one or more computers are also configured to obtain read rate information related to the plurality of reads and to identify at least one resonant frequency of the rack structure based on the read rate information.
US08204691B2
A method and apparatus for providing a downhole measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool with diagnostic capability by including one or more printed circuit boards to the tool with firmware processors that internally record significant system diagnostic events that can be time correlated with known tool operational problems. The concept includes firmware protocol to enable transfer all of the recorded data to an external software analysis program after the MWD tool is removed from a drilling run.
US08204686B2
A scheduling method using a portable terminal and a navigation terminal is disclosed, each of which has a short-range wireless communication module. The portable terminal creates schedule information including location data and alarm time data, and registers the schedule information as navigation schedule information. The portable terminal displays the schedule information when the alarm time occurs and transmits the location data to the navigation terminal through the short-range wireless communication module. The navigation terminal displays a route according to the received location data.
US08204685B2
Provided is a road lane recognition method in a navigation device, which can differentiate a road lane occupied by a vehicle running on bidirectional lanes, including estimating a vehicle location based on satellite signal received from a carrier-based navigation satellite system and correction information received from a master station; determining a drive direction of the vehicle using vehicle location information and road lane information stored in a digital map; for each road lane in the road lane information, calculating a distance between a center line of the respective road lane and the vehicle location using the vehicle location information and the road lane information; and determining the road lane having a minimum value among the calculated distances as a drive lane.
US08204684B2
Adaptive mobile device navigation system, methods, and apparatus provide location information for a mobile device performing location estimation using dead reckoning. Multiple estimation modes can be selected including a mode for restricting measured movements to surrounding streets. Updated location fixes can be obtained through turn comparison with surrounding map information and user feedback. User feedback prompts can include photographs having geographic tag information corresponding to locations near an estimated location of the device.
US08204678B2
A control unit sets a front-end collision risk of a subject vehicle against a front vehicle in accordance with a time headway of the subject vehicle and a margin time to front-end collision of the subject vehicle, and a rear-end collision risk of the subject vehicle by a rear vehicle in accordance with a time headway of the rear vehicle and a margin time to rear-end collision of the subject vehicle, the margin time to rear-end collision having a larger weight than that of the margin time to front-end collision in the front-end collision risk against the front vehicle. Brake control and alarm control are performed in accordance with the front-end collision risk against the front vehicle and the rear-end collision risk by the rear vehicle.
US08204673B2
A method for closed loop controlling the air system in an internal combustion engine, in particular a diesel internal combustion engine with a first actuating element for recirculated exhaust gas in the exhaust gas recirculation tract and a second actuating element for air in the inlet tract, the two actuating elements being adjusted as a function of each other. In order to increase the quality of closed loop control, provision is made for each actuating element to be controlled separately by its own respective controller, each controller being optimally configured for the respective controlled system, and a target value being provided for each controller.
US08204669B2
The present device relates to a method for regulating the driving dynamics of a vehicle, in which at least one wheel of the vehicle is acted upon by a torque on the basis of control of a clutch transmitting a torque to the wheel and/or on the basis of control of a differential distributing torque to the wheel and at least to one other wheel. The method is characterized in that a value of the torque is determined as a function of a first and a second value of a yaw moment. The first value of the yaw moment is in the form of a value of the yaw moment generating a setpoint value of a yaw rate on the basis of a vehicle reference model is determined on the basis of a vehicle reference model and the second value of the yaw moment is determined as a function of a system deviation between the setpoint value of the yaw rate and a detected actual value of the yaw rate and as a function of a system deviation between a setpoint value and an actual value of another driving state variable that is different from the yaw rate.
US08204661B2
An electric brake system for an aircraft as described herein is capable of operating in a normal full power mode, a low power mode, and a sleep mode. The full power mode is supported by the active power supply of the aircraft, while the low power and sleep modes are supported by the backup power supply (e.g., a battery) of the aircraft. The low power mode is activated in response to the detection of certain conditions or operating states where full braking performance is not required. For example, the low power mode can be utilized in connection with towing operations and parking brake adjustment operations. The sleep mode is activated in response to the absence of braking commands for an extended period of time. Various parameters and/or settings of the electric brake system are adjusted, controlled, or regulated during the low power and sleep modes to achieve reduced power consumption relative to the full power mode.
US08204649B2
A system and method for controlling use of a mobile computing device in a vehicle are disclosed. The method comprises monitoring a vehicle-key system comprising a vehicle and a vehicle key having a particular code to determine when the vehicle has been activated using the vehicle key. An operational state of the vehicle is identified based on information received from an OBD port in the vehicle. The operational state of the vehicle is communicated to the mobile computing device. Use of selected device features on the mobile computing device are controlled based on the particular code of the vehicle key when the operational state of the vehicle indicates that the vehicle is outside of selected parameters.
US08204648B2
An apparatus and a method for controlling a wiper position are provided. The apparatus to control a wiper position includes a controller to receive a wiper operation control signal output from a user input unit to control a wiper to be stopped at a desired position, a wiper motor to drive the wiper, a wiper relay switched to drive the wiper motor under a control of the controller, and a wipe sensor to sense a position of the wiper motor to transfer a position signal to the controller.
US08204647B2
In an electric power steering system, an electric motor generates output power for power-assisting steering operation of a steering wheel, a torque sensor generates a plurality of electric output signals corresponding to a torque applied to the steering wheel, and a control unit controls the steering operation of the electric motor in accordance with at least one of the electric output signals of the torque sensor. The control unit detects a difference between rotation speeds of left and right steered wheels, checks whether any one of the plurality of output generating parts is in failure, and specify a failing-device based on the rotation speed difference and the plurality of output signals.
US08204643B2
Enabled is to estimate a self-position even when no landmark is seen or when an article confusing the landmark is brought in. An omnidirectional camera recognizes a vertical land-mark near a wall to determine a candidate for the self-position. On the basis of the candidate determined, a break in a map between a floor and a wall is projected on the camera image thereby to perform the matching.
US08204630B2
A modular sprinkler controller is disclosed. The modular sprinkler controller includes a base unit and one or more add-on modules. The base unit and each add-on module include valve terminals for communicating with coupled sprinkler valves. The base unit includes one or more communication connection points for communicating with adjacent add-on modules. Each add-on module may include two connection points for communication with an adjacent base unit or add-on module. In one embodiment, the base unit and add-on modules are arranged in a piggyback configuration. An add-on module for use with a base unit is also disclosed.
US08204628B2
An HVAC controller with setpoint recovery with utility time of day pricing. In one illustrative embodiment, the HVAC controller may include a nominal programmable schedule and a utility pricing schedule. The utility pricing schedule may correspond to scheduled price changes of a utility, including one or more enhanced pricing time periods each having corresponding one or more enhanced pricing time period setpoints. The HVAC controller may establish or modify an enhanced pricing setpoint recovery schedule based at least in part upon the nominal schedule and the utility pricing schedule, and may control one or more HVAC units in accordance with the setpoint recovery schedule. In some instances, the HVAC controller may identify recovery opportunities based at least in part upon the nominal schedule and the utility pricing schedule.
US08204627B2
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, including a discharge driving unit for discharging an air-conditioned air, a sensor module for rotating and scanning predetermined areas and outputting data for radiation heats of heat sources, and a control unit for calculating observed change-amount signals based on the data and stored old data, acquiring human body information by converting each of the observed change-amount signals into energy levels, and controlling the discharge driving unit.
US08204606B2
A pacing lead having a lead body configured into a pre-formed J-shape. The lead includes a pacing electrode coupled to an intermediate portion of the lead body and located distally from a bottom of the pre-formed J-shape. The lead is adapted to be placed within a heart in a J-shaped configuration with the electrode positioned proximate a ventricular septum or a right ventricular outflow tract such that at least a portion of the distal end of the lead body is located within a pulmonary artery. In one embodiment, the distal end of the lead is configured to be passively fixated within the pulmonary artery. Another aspect includes a lead body wherein a section of the intermediate portion of the lead body is less stiff than adjacent sections of the lead body. The lead includes a pacing electrode coupled to the intermediate portion of the lead body and located distally from the less stiff section. The lead is adapted to be placed within a heart in a J-shaped configuration with the less stiff section near a bottom of the J-shape such that the electrode is positioned proximate a ventricular septum or a right ventricular outflow tract and at least a portion of the distal end of the lead body is fixated within a pulmonary artery.
US08204603B2
An implantable medical device (IMD) to treat a medical condition in a patient comprises an electrical signal generator; a cathode and an anode operatively coupled to the electrical signal generator and a cranial nerve of the patient; and a third electrode operatively coupled to the electrical signal generator and implanted within the patient's body; wherein the electrical signal generator is capable of generating and delivering at least one electrical signal effective at the anode to block at least a sufficient portion of action potentials induced by the at least one electrical signal in the cranial nerve proximate the cathode to reduce a side effect of said induced action potentials.
US08204588B2
A cardiac pacemaker, defibrillator, or other programmable medical device (25) includes a source unit (15) and a collection unit (20). The source unit (15) has a check data unit (40) generating at least one check datum for control data for the medical device (25), and a transmitting unit (45) transmitting the control data and the check datum to the collection unit (20). The collection unit (20) has a storage unit (65) storing the control data, a check unit (70) checking the integrity of the control data using the check datum, and a transmitting unit (75) transmitting the control data to a programmable control unit (80) of the medical device (25) only if the integrity of the control data is established by the check unit (70). The control unit (80) of the medical device (25) controls the functions of the medical device (20) on the basis of the transmitted control data.
US08204586B2
Methods for evaluating tissue motion of a tissue location, e.g., a cardiac location, via external continuous field tomography are provided. Aspects of the methods include generating at least one substantially linear continuous field gradient across the tissue location of interest, and using a resultant signal from a sensing element stably associated with the tissue location to evaluate motion of the tissue location. Also provided are systems, devices and related compositions for practicing the subject methods. The subject methods and devices find use in a variety of different applications, including cardiac resynchronization therapy.
US08204581B2
Techniques for discrimination of heart rhythms in cardiac rhythm management devices include determining a current covariance matrix of multiple electrograms measuring each current heart beat, determining a distance measure between the current covariance matrix and a predetermined covariance matrix of the multiple electrograms measuring at least one different heart beat; and determining whether the heart beat represents ventricular tachycardia based on the distance measure.
US08204572B1
The invention relates to a medical electrode comprising a carrier having a first conductor surface and an outer conductor surface surrounding the first conductor surface wherein the outer conductor surface is free from radial tabs for connection to circuitry so as to remain electrically uncontacted on the carrier.
US08204568B2
A blood inspection device using laser as puncture means. The blood inspection device has an electric power source control circuit for controlling electric power supply of an electric power source section including an electric power source for driving an electric circuit for measurement and also including an electric power source for driving a laser emission device. When a battery is used as the electric power source, the circuit measures the remaining level and voltage of the battery to control the power source so that electric power shortage does not disenable measurement.
US08204566B2
In accordance with the invention, a low coherence interferometer is used to non-invasively monitor the concentration of glucose in blood by shining a light over a surface area of human or animal tissue, continuously scanning the light over a two dimensional area of the surface, collecting the reflected light from within the tissue and constructively interfering this reflected light with light reflected along a reference path to scan the tissue in depth. Since the reflection spectrum is sensitive to glucose concentration at particular wavelengths, measurement and analysis of the reflected light provides a measure of the level of glucose in the blood. The measurement of glucose is taken from multiple depths within blood-profused tissue, and sensitivity is preferably enhanced by the use of multiple wavelengths. Noise or speckle associated with this technique is minimized by continuously scanning the illuminated tissue in area and depth.
US08204565B2
Disclosed is an implantable microspectrometer for the reagentless optical detection of an analyte in a sample fluid. The microspectrometer comprises an optical sampling cell having a cell housing defining a fluid inlet port and a fluid outlet port, the fluid inlet port configured to receive an optical sampling fluid from a test subject; an electromagnetic radiation source in communication with a first portion of the optical sampling cell housing and configured to irradiate at least a portion of the optical sampling fluid with electromagnetic radiation; and an electromagnetic radiation detector in communication with a second portion of the optical sampling cell housing and configured to detect electromagnetic radiation emanating from the optical sampling cell. In use, the implantable microspectrometer can optically detect at least one parameter of an analyte contained within the optical sampling fluid in the absence of an added reagent.
US08204558B2
The present invention is a compact personal digital assistant (PDA) and cellular telephone with foldable dual-sided display. By utilizing flexible display technology, both a PDA and a cellular telephone are incorporated into one device. In a closed state, in one embodiment, the present invention corresponds to the form used for typical cellular telephone use (e.g., candy bar size). In an open state, in one embodiment, the present invention corresponds to the form used for typical PDA use by providing an enlarged viewing area. The present invention provides the benefit of two distinct devices in one device by allowing for common operations and functionality without compromising the respective form factor of either device.
US08204548B1
A mobile device is provided. The mobile device comprises a wireless transceiver, a first application, a second application, and an interface. The wireless transceiver provides a wireless communication link to a communication network. The second application provides communication based on the wireless communication link. The interface presents, when the first application is active on the mobile device, an indication of a communication directed to the second application being received via the wireless communication link for less than 2 seconds before the second application pre-empts the first application.
US08204542B2
A communication apparatus is provided. A first subscriber identity card camps on a first cell belonging to a first wireless network via at least one radio transceiver module. A second subscriber identity card camps on a second cell belonging to a second wireless network via the radio transceiver module. A memory device stores information indicating at least one discount period of the first wireless network and at least one discount period of the second wireless network. A processor receives an apparatus originated communication request with a destination address, determines whether a current time falls within the discount period of the first wireless network or the discount period of the second wireless network, and establishes a wireless communication with a peer device of the received destination address through one of the first cell or the second cell in response to the fallen discount period.
US08204538B2
A configurable conversion module includes a down conversion module and an up conversion module. The down conversion module is operable to convert, when in a first mode, a first amplified inbound RF signal into a first inbound symbol stream in accordance with a first protocol and convert, when in a second mode, a second amplified inbound RF signal into a second inbound symbol stream in accordance with a second protocol. The up conversion module is operable to convert, when in the first mode, a first outbound symbol stream into a first outbound RF signal in accordance with the first protocol and convert, when in the second mode, a second outbound symbol stream into a second outbound RF signal in accordance with the second protocol.
US08204536B2
A communication device and/or applications capable of facilitating communication through different networks are automatically provisioned based on recognition of network environment including network connectivity and characteristics. A user's multiple identities for different networks with varying capabilities and features are accommodated by detecting and prioritizing available network(s), then provisioning the device to enable the user to communicate through one or more of those networks. Communication types and media may vary depending on network type such as cellular, VOIP, and so on. The device may be configured to scan for new networks automatically periodically or based on location change, time change, etc.
US08204533B2
A host device may be enabled to support a plurality of wireless interfaces, wherein some of these interfaces may be utilized to support human interface device (HID) based communication. The host device may be enabled to monitor activity of HID devices based on communications via HID capable wireless interfaces, may predict future use of the HID devices based on the monitoring, and may manage sniff communication that is utilized to track and/or detect activities in the HID devices. The management of the sniff communication may comprise adjusting characteristics of the sniff communication to enable improving throughput of other wireless interfaces available via the host device that may be affected by the sniff communication. The adjustment of the characteristics of sniff communication may comprise adjusting, statically and/or dynamically, length of sniff intervals and/or designating of sniff packets as high priority requests.
US08204530B2
Techniques for controlling transmit power of a terminal are described. The terminal may send a first transmission (e.g., for pilot or signaling) on the reverse link, receive feedback (e.g., a power control command or an erasure indicator) for the first transmission, and adjust a reference power level based on the feedback. The terminal may also receive interference information and possibly other parameters such as a pilot quality indicator (PQI), an offset factor, and a boost factor from a sector. The terminal may determine transmit power for a second transmission to the sector based on the interference information, the reference power level, and/or the other parameters. The terminal may receive the feedback from one sector and may send the second transmission with CDMA or OFDMA to the same sector or a different sector.
US08204516B2
A communication apparatus is provided. A first subscriber identity card camps on a first cell. A second subscriber identity card camps on a second cell. A processor obtains information regarding first paging occasions distributed within a predetermined time interval for the first subscriber identity card, obtains information regarding second paging occasions distributed within the predetermined time interval for the second subscriber identity card, detects a forthcoming time slot of the predetermined time interval in which one of the first paging occasions collides with one of the second paging occasions, determines listening to one of the first cell and the second cell in the detected time slot, and notifies of the determination to the radio transceiver module so as to direct the radio transceiver module to listen to the determined cell to receive a corresponding paging message from the determined cell in the detected time slot.
US08204515B2
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, the location of a mobile device within a floor plan of a building or the like environment may be determined using a single transmission link between transceiver and the mobile device. A bit error rate value and a receiver signal strength indication value are measured for the present location of the mobile device in the floor plan. The coordinates where the mobile device is located may be determined by looking up the measured bit error rate value and the received signal strength indication value in a lookup table. Due to environmental factors of the floor plan, the combination of the bit error rate value and the received signal strength indication value corresponds to a unique coordinate location in the floor plan from which the location of the mobile device may be determined.
US08204503B1
A base station identification system comprises a processing system and a memory device. The processing system is configured to initiate a modulo count to indicate mobility of the wireless communication device, determine a last base station identifier for a last base station serving the wireless communication device, compare the last base station identifier to a set of previous base station identifiers for previous base stations serving the wireless communication device, if the last base station identifier is in the set of previous base station identifiers, assign a previous modulo number in the modulo count to the last base station identifier, and if the last base station identifier is not in the set of previous base station identifiers, assign a next modulo number in the modulo count to the last base station identifier, and add the last base station identifier to the set of previous base station identifiers.
US08204501B2
A method and apparatus for reducing the number of cells that must be broadcast and the number of cells that a mobile terminal must measure when different frequencies and technologies must be listed as neighboring cells.
US08204484B2
A method and system for reporting missed calls and unread messages include setting a report function in a predetermined communication device, determining if the predetermined communication device receives a short message, which is substantially the same as a preset short message service (SMS) command. The method and the system further include invoking the report function to send unread short message and a list of missed calls of the predetermined communication device if the predetermined communication device receives a short message being substantially the same as the preset SMS command.
US08204481B2
A method for wireless communication in a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-equivalent environment which allows a mobile device to manage autonomous search functions (ASF) is disclosed. In an LTE-equivalent environment, a mobile device may function in several modes, including idle and connected. In either mode, the mobile device may need to use an autonomous search function (ASF) to find or exchange information with base stations. The mobile device first determines the mode the current operation pertains to. When modifying the availability of an ASF, the mobile device distinguishes between the modes that will execute the ASF. When calling an ASF, the mobile device determines the availability of that function based on the device's current mode. In idle mode, the mobile device uses the idle mode ASF. Conversely, in connected mode the mobile device uses the connected mode ASF. The two functions are distinctly managed and operated by the mobile device.
US08204470B2
This invention is a method of predecoding for joint processing coordinated multi-point transmission. The invention identifies for a particular transmission the cooperating point and the transmit antenna. The invention selects a code by reference to a selected one of a super-cell codebook for each combination of cooperating point and transmit antenna and a multi-cell codebook for each transmit antenna regardless of the cooperating point.
US08204468B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide DC biasing circuits. Embodiments employ an open loop scheme, instead of a closed loop scheme as used in conventional circuits. In addition, embodiments generate a DC bias voltage that is independent of temperature, process, and power supply variations. Further, embodiments require low amounts of power and silicon.
US08204462B2
A digital radio receiver for receiving information on a piece of music that is identification information for specifying content of digital acoustic information, the identification information being broadcast together with the digital acoustic information, is provided. The digital radio receiver includes an internal memory configured to store the information on the piece of music; an operation unit configured to set a timing at which a flag is attached to the information on the piece of music recorded in the internal memory; and a controller configured to perform a process for storing the information on the piece of music in the internal memory.
US08204456B2
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include digitally pre-distorting a digital baseband signal with an opposite phase of a C-IM3 distortion term such that the pre-distortion and C-IM3 distortion cancel each other out in a transmitter. The method may also include digitally conditioning the pre-distorted digital signal in order to provide a flat amplitude response of a composite filter comprising a baseband filter and a digital half-band filter of the transmitter, and to provide a linear phase response for the composite filter.
US08204454B2
This distortion compensator apparatus is a distortion compensator apparatus compensating nonlinearity of an amplifier and includes: a memory storing a compensation parameter used for correcting an input signal of the amplifier; a compensator correcting the input signal of the amplifier based on the compensation parameter; and an update controller updating the compensation parameter according to an operation state of the amplifier.
US08204453B2
A method, an apparatus and a communication unit for generating preceding feedback information in a multiple frequency radio transmission system are disclosed. A rank for preceding matrices, wherein the rank is constant over the multiple frequencies, is selected and a plurality of preceding matrices having the selected rank are selected. A different preceding matrix is selected for each frequency subset of the multiple frequencies.
US08204452B2
A signal transmission method includes: converting an input signal to generate a first converted signal having a first bandwidth, and a second converted signal having a second bandwidth; mixing the first converted signal with an oscillation signal to generate a first mixed signal, and mixing the second converted signal with the oscillation signal to generate a second mixed signal; and transmitting the first and second mixed signals by different antennas; wherein the input signal has a predetermined bandwidth, the first bandwidth is smaller than the predetermined bandwidth; and the second bandwidth is smaller than the predetermined bandwidth.
US08204443B2
An adjustable filter is responsive to a control signal to change a frequency response of the adjustable filter based on at least one of a geographic location, frequency spectrum information, and a status of a secondary internal radio. The control signal may shift a center of the pass band from a first center frequency to a second center frequency and/or change a pass band bandwidth from a first bandwidth to a second bandwidth. A receiver includes an adjustable filter responsive to a control signal and controller configured to select a frequency response of the adjustable filter by generating the control signal based on a geographical location. In one aspect the geographical location indicates a region of operation of the receiver and the frequency response is selected in accordance with the region.
US08204441B2
A transmitting apparatus includes a receiving unit that receives an external specifying signal for specifying a center frequency of data to be transmitted; a control unit that outputs a specifying signal corresponding to the center frequency; and a frequency switching circuit. The frequency switching circuit includes a center frequency adjuster that adjusts a center frequency of a carrier wave that carries the data to be transmitted; a frequency modulator that modulates a frequency of the carrier wave according to the center frequency and the data to be transmitted; and a frequency switching unit that switches the center frequency of the carrier wave on the basis of the specifying signal.
US08204432B2
A vehicle information system for passenger vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, and methods for manufacturing and using same. The vehicle information system includes a multi-regional antenna subsystem and a multi-regional receiver system for receiving viewing content provided by diverse content sources during travel, including international travel. The multi-regional antenna and receiver system provide selected viewing content for distribution throughout the vehicle information system and presentation via one or more passenger interfaces. As the vehicle approaches the coverage region of a selected content source, the vehicle information system automatically reconfigures the multi-regional antenna and receiver system to receive viewing content from the content source without requiring manual adjustment to, or replacement of, the multi-regional antenna subsystem and/or receiver system. Passengers traveling aboard the vehicle thereby can continuously enjoy the viewing content during travel with limited interruption in service and without unwanted travel delays.
US08204425B2
This is a novel xerographic marking system having a novel toner waste dispensing assembly. The assembly comprises a hermetically sealed outer box that houses a disposable waste toner container. The container is a biodegradable carton or bag that can be removed from the outer box when filled with waste toner. A feature of this invention is that the dispensing assembly can easily be retrofitted into existing marking systems. Also because the containers are inexpensive and biodegradable, the expensive prior art non-degradable waste containers and their adverse effect on the landfills can be avoided.
US08204418B2
A separation mechanism of a fixing device includes a first separation member arranged opposite the first region in a state apart from the first region by a first gap, a second separation member arranged opposite the second region in a state apart from the second region by a second gap and at a position different from that of the first separation member in a direction orthogonal to the convey direction of the paper, a first gap adjustment member capable of moving the first separation member relative to the first region of the fixing member to adjust the first gap, and a second gap adjustment member capable of moving the second separation member relative to the second region of the fixing member to adjust the second gap.
US08204412B2
A duty ratio Du (%), denoted by (T2/(T1+T2))×100, is in the range of 60≦Du≦80; a magnetic carrier has a resistivity ρ which decreases in accordance with an increasing electric field strength, and a relative dielectric constant ∈ which increases in accordance with an increasing electric field strength; a product of a time constant ∈0∈ρ(s) of electric charge decay in an electric field strength E2D decided by a second peak voltage V2 and a dark potential VD, and an electric field strength E2D satisfies a relation of 20≦∈0∈ρ E2D (s·V/cm); and a time constant ∈0∈ρ(s) and a relative dielectric constant ∈ in an electric field strength E1L, which is decided by a first peak voltage V1 and a bright potential VL, satisfy the following relations: ∈0∈ρ(s)≦6.0×10−4, and 30≦∈.
US08204411B2
An electrostatic printing method in which the toning shell and the magnetic core each rotate in a co-current direction with the imaging member such that the portion of the toning shell adjacent to the image development area moves in a process direction, and the magnetic core rotates in the same direction as the toning shell such that a the average developer bulk velocity (ADBV) of the developer on the toning shell is in the same direction and proportional to the photoconductor velocity.
US08204407B2
Exemplary embodiments provide methods, materials and devices for a corona charging. Specifically, carbon nanotube yarns can be used as corona wires (or coronode) in a corotron-type or scorotron-type charging device. The carbon nanotube yarns can provide small diameters, and desired electrical, mechanical and thermal properties. The carbon nanotube yarns can have a diameter of about 100 microns or less for a low operating voltage of the charging device.
US08204404B2
An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material includes a main assembly; a movable member movable, while supporting a cartridge including at least one of an image bearing member on which a latent image is to be formed and developing means for developing with a developer the latent image formed on the image bearing member, between an outside position in which the cartridge is located outside the main assembly and an inside position in which the cartridge is located inside the main assembly; and a cartridge displacing member for displacing the cartridge with respect to the movable member in a demounting direction in which the cartridge is demountable from the movable member in a state in which the movable member is located at the outside position.
US08204396B2
An apparatus (100) and method (300) that adjusts a printer fuser nip is disclosed. The apparatus can include a media transport (110) configured to transport a media sheet (112) in a media sheet travel direction. The apparatus can include a fuser assembly (120) configured to fuse an image on the media sheet. The fuser assembly can include a fuser nip (126) that can have a fuser nip width (128) parallel to the media sheet travel direction. The apparatus can include a controller (130) coupled to the fuser assembly, where the controller can be configured to control operations of the apparatus. The apparatus can include a nip width profile generation module (140) coupled to the controller, where the nip width profile generation module can be configured to determine fuser nip width parameters based on media sheet properties and based on fuser assembly properties. The fuser assembly can be adjusted according to the fuser nip width parameters.
US08204395B2
The invention provides a wet development device, wet development method and image forming apparatus having the device by which appropriate cleaning can be performed, the wear of the blade or developing roller can be reduced, and good images can be obtained without toner contamination even when the amount of toner for development or that of electric charge of the toner is changed for changing the density or gradation of image or type of paper. The toner in the developer is electrically charged to an arbitral charging amount by a discharging section and provided for the development and the charge of the toner is eliminated after development by that a discharging section is provided before cleaning the developer remaining on the developing roller and the output of the discharging section is appropriately controlled corresponding to the output of the discharging section.
US08204394B2
In an image forming apparatus, image adjustment is performed by detecting a toner image constituting an image adjustment pattern 22 transferred to an intermediate transfer member. On the intermediate transfer member 2, a leading pattern 21 longer than a circumference of a secondary transfer roller 13 is formed at a leading position in a travelling direction of the intermediate-transfer-member ahead of the image adjustment pattern 22 by using a toner that is highest in brightness among toners used for the image adjustment pattern 22 or a toner that is higher in brightness than any toner used for the image adjustment pattern 22. Staining of the rear face of the recording medium due to toner adhering to the secondary transfer roller is prevented without increasing the apparatus scale.
US08204390B2
An image forming apparatus includes a waste-toner container, a light sensor having a light-emitting portion and a light-receiving portion, a light-blocking member for covering the light sensor to detect the attachment of the waste-toner container, and a control unit. When the waste-toner container is determined to be full based on the output voltage of the light sensor, a printing operation is stopped or is not started until it is determined that the waste-toner container is removed and then attached, and that the waste-toner container is not full. A method for detecting the fullness of a waste-toner container includes the steps of detecting the fullness of the waste-toner container, prohibiting printing, detecting whether or not the waste-toner container is attached, and permitting printing.
US08204378B1
Coherent optical signal processing is performed in a coherent receiver (or diagnostic/testing apparatus) that converts an amplitude and/or angle-modulated optical signal into two electrical signals. A simple receiver can only detect one phase of the signal and only the polarization that is aligned with a local oscillator laser polarization. To detect both phases and both polarizations, two sets of two interferometers, one each with a π/2 phase shift are required. Coherent optical signal processing methods, apparatus, techniques, etc. are disclosed that include individual components comprising a polarization combiner, a Savart device and photodetection apparatus with substantially reduced temperature and alignment sensitivity operating in optical communication systems and/or subsystems. The various embodiments can be used alone or in such combinations to provide improved coherent optical signal processing in a receiver.
US08204367B2
A method for transitioning a video system is disclosed. The method generally includes a first step for (A) executing in a processing circuit a standby code stored in a nonvolatile memory while the video system is in an off state, the off state defining a low power configuration for the processing circuit and a power off condition for the video system, the standby code being responsive to a plurality of wake up conditions to wake up the video system. In a second step, the method may (B) store an application code in a volatile memory while in the off state, the application code configured to operate the video system while in an on state of the video system. The method generally includes a third step for (C) transitioning from the off state to the on state upon detection of at least one of the wake up conditions. A step for (D) executing in the processing circuit the application code while in the on state to decode video may also exist in the method.
US08204356B2
The present invention relates to a control apparatus and a method, a recording medium and a program, which enable to control devices more efficiently and quickly. As information of the devices that can be controlled by a remote controller 1 by way of a personal computer 351, the address information of a television receiver 21 and a personal computer 31, which are connected via a wireless LAN to the personal computer 351, are provided from the personal computer 351 to the remote controller 1. Between the remote controller 1 and the television receiver 21, and between the remote controller 1 and the personal computer 31, a variety of information are sent/received by way of the personal computer 351, and these devices are controlled by the remote controller 1. The present invention is applicable to an information processing apparatus, which can control by wireless communication a variety of AV equipment, appliances, and the like.
US08204353B2
Methods and apparatus for tracking a sequence of events associated with a digital recording device are disclosed. Example methods and apparatus read first information transmitted on a data bus in communication with a mass storage device associated with the digital recording device and identify a set of digital information to be stored on the mass storage device based at least in part on the first information. The example methods and apparatus read second information transmitted on the data bus to derive storage location information associated with the set of digital information. Additionally, the example methods and apparatus store time information together with the storage location information to generate a sequence of events record corresponding to the sequence of events associated with the digital recording device.
US08204347B2
In a conventional optical signal processing device, a confocal optical system is configured in which a focusing lens is positioned at a substantially-intermediate point of a free space optical path. Thus, the free space optical system had a long length. It has been difficult to reduce the size of the entire device. The optical signal processing device of the present invention uses a lens layout configuration different from the confocal optical system to thereby significantly reduce the length of the system. The optical signal processing device consists of the first focusing lens positioned in the close vicinity of a signal processing device, and the second focusing lens positioned in the vicinity of a dispersing element. A distance between the dispersing element and the signal processing device is approximately a focal length of the first focusing lens. Compared with the conventional technique, the length of the optical path can be halved.
US08204343B2
Embodiments of the present invention enable fault detection in a printed dot-pattern image. Certain applications of the present invention are its use in various embodiments of a system for inspection of a printed circuit board (“PCB”) substrate. In embodiments, a generated distortion map is based on a comparison of a reconstructed dot-pattern image, a simulated reference bitmap, and an error map representing differences between the reconstructed dot-pattern image and the reference bitmap. In embodiments, the pixels of the distortion map are color coded to identify the locations and types of aberrations that were discovered as a result of the comparison.
US08204337B2
To provide an image processing apparatus which reduces, using a temporal noise removal scheme, image block distortion or noise and temporal flickering and fluctuation phenomena. The image processing apparatus (1) removing noise in an input image by adding a reference image to the input image includes a motion estimation unit (20) which generates motion information indicating a motion estimated for the input image; a motion compensation unit (30) which generates a after motion compensation second image corresponding to a before motion compensation first image by performing motion compensation using the generated motion information; a flatness degree calculation unit (40) which calculates a flatness degree of the input image; a blending rate calculation unit (53) which calculates addition rates for the input image, first image, and second image, using the calculated flatness degree; and a pixel addition unit (60) which adds the respective images according to the addition rates.
US08204329B2
A low cost image quality enhancement method to be utilized in an ordinary consumer camera and for post processing of an existing image database is described herein. The quality enhancement is transferred into an adaptive intensity stretching process in the YUV domain. A different enhancement process is designed for a luminance (Y) channel and chrominance (UV) channel. The parameters in the enhancement process are estimated based on the contents of the image. After the stretching-based enhancement, an adaptive unsharp masking process is applied to the luminance data. The quality is significantly improved for the images shot under unfavorable conditions.
US08204328B2
A method for simultaneously optimizing a digital image taken in or through a scattering medium and obtaining information regarding optical properties of the scattering medium is provided. Data of the digital image is received by a computer. The digital image is evaluated according to an objective image quality metric and a resulting image quality value is compared to a previously stored image quality value for the image. A revised optical transfer function is derived by modeling the optical properties of the medium to be used to generate a restored digital image, which is derived from the original image and the revised optical transfer function. The restored digital image is evaluated according to the objective image quality metric and an optimized restored image is identified. The optical properties associated with the optical transfer function producing the optimized restored image are retrieved and represent a close approximation of the true optical properties of the medium.
US08204327B2
A coding method for an ordered series of quantized transform coefficients of a block of image data, including a context adaptive position coding process to encode the position of clusters of non-zero-valued coefficients, e.g., a multidimensional position coder that uses one of a plurality of code mappings selected according to at least one criterion including at least one context-based criterion, and an amplitude encoding process to encode any amplitudes remaining to be coded, the amplitude coding using one or a plurality of amplitude code mappings selected according to at least one criterion, including a context-based criterion. A context-based selection criterion is meant a criterion that during encoding is known or derivable from one or more previously encoded items of information. Also a coding apparatus, a decoding apparatus, a computer readable medium configured with instructions that when executed implement a coding method, and another medium for a decoding method.
US08204325B2
A method for texture synthesis for video coding with side information may be implemented by a decoder device. The method may include receiving seed texture at high fidelity. The method may also include receiving remaining portions of synthesized regions at low fidelity. The method may also include receiving marking of regions to synthesize. The method may further include synthesizing the marked regions based on the high-fidelity seed texture and the low-fidelity portions of the synthesized regions.
US08204318B2
A method of image compressing is provided. During compressing, color intensity of the image is considered. When the color intensity of the image is relatively high, lower bits used for representing the image are dropped. When the color intensity of the image is relatively low, upper bits used for representing the image are dropped. By this, the image is compressed according to color intensity of the image. Therefore, the images with different color intensities are compressed dynamically. Correspondingly, a method of image decompressing is provided. Moreover, a compressing apparatus and a decompressing apparatus are also provided.
US08204317B2
Method and device for providing a summary of a plurality of images, e.g. a video sequence. The method includes dividing the video sequence into a plurality of segments. The segments are analyzed with respect to content and a set of content descriptors are associated to the segments. Preferably, additional textual information about the segments, screenplay etc., is used to determine the content descriptors. A graph representing relations between the segments is constructed indicating relations between segments. Weights are associated to the relations so as to represent a measure of relation, e.g. a logical correlation, between segments. The weights are based on the calculated content descriptors. A relevance measure for a segment is determined based on all weights associated with relations to said segment. Finally, a summary is generated by selecting the most relevant segments. The method can create an automatic summary of a film that preserves all the logical plot of the original but is shorter in duration (e.g. 70% of the original film) while the original playback rate is preserved.
US08204311B2
A gesture spotting detection method and apparatus employ a shoulder-line algorithm. The shoulder-line detecting method recognizes a GSD calling gesture that occurs in a shoulder-line, head or higher part in a remote distance or a short distance, although a user does not have a fixed posture. In the method, an image of people is received, and skin information of a person in the image is detected to detect a face area. Then, the cloth color information of the person is modeled from the inputted image to detect a cloth area. An external space is defined from the image based on the body space area, and an edge is extracted from the image based on the body space and the external space. Then, shoulder-line information is acquired based on an energy function obtained based on the body space, the external space, and the edge.
US08204309B2
After pre-printed cards are manufactured at least a corner of each card is imaged. It is then determined whether the position and orientation of markings in the image with respect to the corner are within tolerance. If not, the card is rejected. If the markings are, or include, indicia, these indicia may be identified to allow identification of the card. This allows a determination of whether the card is in an intended order, or it allows selection of the batch into which the card is placed. It also means that cards in a given set of cards arranged in a first order can be randomized by first buffering cards in buffers and then outputting the cards to an output conveyor.
US08204302B2
An image containing one or more types of objects to be located is analyzed to locate linear features within the image. The objects have edges having known spatial relationships. The linear features and identified virtual lines are analyzed to find groups of linear features and/or virtual lines that have one of the known spatial relationships. These relationships can include parallel edges, edges that meet at certain angles or angle ranges, the number of lines meeting a vertex and the like. The identified group is compared with projected 2-dimensional representation(s) of the object(s) to determine whether any additional lines appear in the image that are part of the located object. In various exemplary embodiments, two or more hypotheses for how the identified group of linear features maps to the 3-dimensional representation of the object can be generated. The best fitting hypothesis becomes the recognized 3-dimensional shape and orientation for that object.
US08204290B2
In a method and device for planning a medical imaging, a number of quality parameters that associate a desired image quality with the image exposure are imported into an image acquisition of an examination region that can be executed by means of an image acquisition apparatus. A number of image acquisition parameters are determined and, using the image acquisition parameters, an achievable image quality of the image exposure is concluded under consideration of an apparatus variable. The achievable image quality is compared per image region with the desired image quality and, if the achievable image quality falls short of the desired image quality, a shortfall indicator is output relative to the image region.
US08204289B2
A system identifies a particular image associated with a particular cardiac characteristic from within a sequence of cardiac images including image noise artifacts and obtained over a heart beat cycle. The system comprises at least one repository including, first data comprising heart cycle information derived from ECG data, second data comprising data representing multiple images acquired over at least one heart cycle and third data comprising data associated with timing of contrast agent flow. An image data processor identifies a particular image exhibiting a particular cardiac characteristic from within a sequence of cardiac images by processing the first, second and third data to identify an image having a substantially maximum likelihood of exhibiting the particular cardiac characteristic. A storage processor retrieves data representing the particular image from storage.
US08204284B2
A fingerprint identifying system includes a light source, a light-transmissive finger press plate, and an image-capturing unit. The light-transmissive finger press plate is disposed to receive light from the light source, and has a top face adapted to contact a finger, a bottom face, and at least one first microstructure layer formed on at least one of the top and bottom faces of the light-transmissive finger press plate for guiding the light received from the light source to uniformly scatter. The image-capturing unit is disposed below the light-transmissive finger press plate.
US08204276B2
An in-vehicle running-environment recognition apparatus including an input unit for inputting an image signal from in-vehicle imaging devices for photographing external environment of a vehicle, an image processing unit for detecting a first image area by processing the image signal, the first image area having a factor which prevents recognition of the external environment, an image determination unit for determining a second image area based on at least any one of size of the first image area, position thereof, and set-up positions of the in-vehicle imaging devices having the first image area, an environment recognition processing being performed in the second image area, the first image area being detected by the image processing unit, and an environment recognition unit for recognizing the external environment of the vehicle based on the second image area.
US08204274B2
A method for tracking positions of human extremities is disclosed. A left image of a first extremity portion is retrieved using a first picturing device and an outline candidate position of the first extremity portion is obtained according to feature information of the left image. A right image of the first extremity portion is retrieved using a second picturing device and a depth candidate position of the first extremity portion is obtained according to depth information of the right image. Geometry relations between the outline candidate position and the depth candidate position and a second extremity portion of a second extremity position are calculated to determine whether a current extremity position of the first extremity portion is required to be updated.
US08204273B2
A method for remote event notification over a data network is disclosed. The method includes receiving video data from any source, analyzing the video data with reference to a profile to select a segment of interest associated with an event of significance, encoding the segment of interest, and sending to a user a representation of the segment of interest for display at a user display device. A further method for sharing video data based on content according to a user-defined profile over a data network is disclosed. The method includes receiving the video data, analyzing the video data for relevant content according to the profile, consulting a profile to determine a treatment of the relevant content, and sending data representative of the relevant content according to the treatment.
US08204270B2
Face images are extracted from still image content and linked to communication address information. When a person is selected from the still image content the communication address information is acquired, and a communication section is controlled to prompt a telephone call or e-mail according to the communication address information. In the still image content, the image of the person determined to be linked to the communication address information is displayed in a display mode that is different from a display mode for a person not linked to communication address information.
US08204264B2
A faceplate of a hearing device housing with a component fitted in an opening of the faceplate and an associated method are provided. The faceplate is formed from a first material. When a predefinable distance between the support surface of the components in the opening and the surface facing away from the exterior of the faceplate is not reached, a second material is applied below the support surface to the surface of the faceplate such that the predefinable distance is produced. As a result, even with fitted components, for instance the volume controller or program selection switch, the mechanical stability of the faceplate is ensured.
US08204262B2
There are provided: a means (101a) for storing standard head related transfer functions for reference positions from a virtual listener; a means (101) for, when given information (DIR, DIST) about a virtual sound source position, forming head related transfer functions (hL(k), hR(k)) as left ear and right ear head related transfer functions by selecting one of the stored standard head related transfer functions or by selecting two or more of them and interpolating; means (102, 103) for imprinting a sense of direction and distance on the audio listening signal by using the head related transfer functions thus obtained; and means (104, 105) for correcting a distance related to the obtained head related transfer functions and the sense of distance to the virtual sound source position, in the audio listening signals (sL(n), sR(n)) given the sense of direction and distance or the source audio listening signal (s(n)). A highly precise sense of distance can be provided in a small structure.
US08204260B2
The present invention provides a sound producing apparatus which suppresses an increase in electric power consumption and cost, and an increase in a number of wiring when a plurality of speaker apparatuses is configured. A speaker driving apparatus supplies electric power to a speaker apparatus, acquires information about an electroacoustic characteristic and maximum input electric power of each speaker apparatus from the speaker apparatus, and executes characteristic correction and output electric power restriction according to the information.
US08204253B1
An audio device performs self calibration with respect to an audio source location when processing an audio signal frame determined likely to be dominated by the audio source. One or more conditions for sub-bands within the audio frame are evaluated to help identify whether the frame is dominated by the audio source. If the conditions meet a threshold value for a number of sub-bands within the frame, the audio signal may be identified as one dominated by the desired audio source and an audio source location coefficient may be adapted. Additionally, when the audio source location coefficient falls below a threshold value, (e.g., suggesting that one of two or more microphones is blocked), noise suppression is reduced or eliminated for the frame or frame sub-bands to prevent suppression of a desired audio source component along with the noise component.
US08204251B2
An amplifier start-up apparatus for reducing transient signals in a circuit, for example an audio circuit, comprising a reference voltage generator circuit for generating a reference voltage. The reference voltage generator circuit comprises a capacitor for maintaining the reference voltage at a desired level. The amplifier start-up apparatus comprises a control circuit for controlling the operation of the reference voltage generator circuit during power-up. The control circuit comprises an amplifier with a positive feedback path for controlling a current flow to the capacitor.
US08204236B2
Protection method and system for use with speaker systems. The method and system being suitable for use in any number of environments to protect speakers from overload and other undesirable operating conditions. The method and system optionally being suitable for use in maintaining system sound integrity while protecting the speakers from overload and/or other undesirable operating conditions.
US08204235B2
A center channel positioning apparatus is provided, which does not cause strange feeling in sound quality even at a position apart from an original listener position.A sound signal processing unit (40) changes a phase of at least one of a left sound signal for center channel positioning (CL) and a right sound signal for center channel positioning (CR), based on a processing coefficient, and causes a left speaker (46) and a right speaker (52) to output sound based on a center channel sound signal (C).The processing coefficient is calculated based on the difference in level between both ears in the case where the left sound signal for center channel positioning (CL) for the left speaker (46), and the right sound signal for center channel positioning (CR) for the right speaker (52) are reproduced simultaneously.
US08204233B2
Encrypting data on an originating computer and prevent access to this data if the computer is stolen or otherwise unauthorized for use. Access to the encrypted data is granted based on the originating computer's ability to successfully send the data encryption keys, via an electronic connection, to a remote computer and have the remote computer decrypt the encryption keys and transmit them back to the he originating computer. When originating computer receives the decrypt encryption keys, it can then successfully decrypt the encrypted hard drive using the encryption key provided by the remote computer.
US08204230B2
A communication device including a communication connection establishing circuit configured to establish an ad hoc network communication connection between the communication device, a second communication device and a third communication device, a generating circuit configured to generate encryption parameters to be used by the second communication device and the third communication device for encrypting and decrypting data transmitted between the second communication device and the third communication device via the communication connection when the first communication device has left the communication connection, a signaling circuit configured to signal the encryption parameters to the second communication device and the third communication device, and a disconnection circuit configured to remove the communication device from the communication connection.
US08204228B2
In an embodiment, a fast group key management re-registration is described. One computer-implemented method comprises, at a key server: receiving a registration request from a network element to join a group of network elements managed by the key server; generating and storing a group member registration state comprising information identifying the network element within the group of network elements; generating a token using information from the group member registration state, wherein the token identifies the network element within the group; deleting the group member registration state for the network element at the key server; generating an encrypted token by encrypting the token using a secret key that is local to the key server; sending the encrypted token to the network element; receiving the encrypted token along with a re-registration request from the network element to re-join the group of network elements; and re-registering the network element using the encrypted token.
US08204226B2
The present invention relates to an encoding and recording apparatus, a playback apparatus, and a program which solve the possibility of a capacity shortage of a protected area accompanying an increase in an information amount and the number of content keys. It is configured such that an encoded user identifier is recorded in a protected area of a key storage medium. The encoded user identifier is fixed information, and has the characteristic in which a data amount is not increased in connection with a utilization form. Therefore, a capacity shortage of the protected area is not brought about.
US08204221B1
A method for transmitting encrypted packets, the method includes: receiving a program that comprises an encrypted video stream, an encrypted audio stream and an encryption information stream; rescheduling a transmission of a certain encrypted video packet of the encrypted video stream to provide an altered encrypted video stream; rescheduling, in response to the rescheduling of the transmission of the certain encrypted video packet and in response to at least one encryption timing constraint, a first transmission of a certain encryption information item that is used to encrypt the certain encrypted video packet to provide an altered encryption information stream; and transmitting an amended program that comprises the altered encrypted video stream, the encrypted audio stream and the altered encryption information stream.
US08204214B2
A method for generating a data transaction ID for an interaction between first and second units, the method comprising: the first data unit generating a first data item as a function of a first time data element, the first time data element being representative of a first time value, and transmitting the first data item to the second data unit; the second data unit generating a second data item as a function of the received first data item and transmitting the second data item to the first data unit; and the first data unit generating a third data item as a function of the second data item and a second time data element, the second time data element being representative of a second time value, wherein the third data item comprises a transaction ID unique to the interaction between the first and second data units.
US08204201B2
A ringtone system is provided to a called party that wishes to have a particular ringtone annunciated for each of several types of calls from calling parties. In the ringtone system, for a call from a calling party, the calling party is prompted to identify the type of the call. The type of the call is received from the calling party, and if no type is received, the call is typed in a particular manner. A list of types of calls with respect to and as specified by the called party is maintained, where each type of call on the list has a corresponding ringtone specified therefor. The typed call is processed by determining from the list of types of calls for the called party the corresponding ringtone specified for the typed call, and by putting the call through to the called party with the determined ringtone.
US08204200B2
Overriding a ring back signal involves receiving a ring back signal at a communications apparatus from a communication network in response to a user-initiated connection request. The ring back signal is rendered to a user of the communications apparatus, and a user input is received at the communications device to override the ring back signal. An alternate output is rendered to the user in place of the ring back signal.
US08204196B2
A method includes receiving an indication of an elapsed time since a scheduled teleconference meeting start and attendance of the teleconference meeting, determining from the indication whether to issue a notification to an absent invitee of the teleconference meeting, and selectively issuing the notification to the absent invitee.
US08204183B2
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product thereof for enabling an Internet extension to ring a conventional extension are disclosed. The apparatus comprises an SIP proxy and an RTP relay. The SIP proxy receives a calling request from the Internet extension, substitutes an exchange number for a conventional extension number comprised in the calling request, and transmits the substituted calling request to a gateway, so that the substituted calling request can be transmitted to a voice automatic machine via a telephone exchange. The RTP relay transmits the conventional extension number in DTMF format to the gateway. Thus, this invention enables the Internet extension to ring the conventional extension with lower hardware costs.
US08204176B2
A method in one example has: applying, for a telephone having a plurality of number buttons having at least a nine button and a one button, a first predetermined color to the nine button and a second predetermined color to the one button, the remaining number buttons having a third predetermined color, the first, second, and third predetermined colors being three different colors; and pushing the number buttons in a sequence first predetermined color—second predetermined color—second predetermined color to dial an emergency telephone number. In one embodiment the first predetermined color may be red, and the second predetermined color may be yellow. Therefore, a 911 emergency telephone number may be dialed by pushing the number buttons in the order red-yellow-yellow.
US08204175B2
A variety of methods and systems can be used to achieve electronic surveillance when a call is directed to a destination as a result of service processing. For example, in a system involving a redirecting switch and a service platform switch, correlation between calling party identities for outgoing and incoming call legs can be done to identify a hairpin loop scenario. Upon detection of such a scenario, an appropriate electronic surveillance message can be sent to a monitoring device indicating the call's destination. Correlation information can be collected from available call setup signaling parameters. The methods and systems can be applied, for example, to systems involving directory assistance call completion, voice-activated dialing, voicemail callback, and prepaid services.
US08204172B1
A tomographic system includes a gantry having an opening for receiving an object to be scanned, a radiation source, a detector positioned to receive radiation from the source that passes through the object, and a computer programmed to acquire a short scan angular range of data of the object, and define a temporal subset of the acquired short scan angular range of data for image reconstruction, the defined temporal subset of the acquired short scan angular range of data comprising approximately half of the angular range of the short scan angular range of data. The computer is programmed to reconstruct a prior image using the acquired short scan angular range of data, and input an estimated image of the object and the prior image into an objective function and minimize the objective function to reconstruct a refined image using the defined temporal subset of scan data and the prior image.
US08204170B2
A shift register circuit includes plural shift register stages for providing plural gate signals. Each shift register stage includes a pull-up unit, a pull-up control unit, an input unit, a first pull-down unit, a second pull-down unit, and a pull-down control unit. The pull-up control unit generates a first control signal according to a driving control voltage and a first clock. The pull-up unit pulls up a corresponding gate signal according to the first control signal. The input unit is utilized for inputting the gate signal of a preceding shift register stage to become the driving control voltage according to a second clock having a phase opposite to the first clock. The pull-down control unit generates a second control signal according to the driving control voltage. The first and second pull-down units pull down the corresponding gate signal and the first control signal respectively according to the second control signal.
US08204162B2
The present invention aims to provide a reception frequency control circuit that is small in mounting area and unaffected by disturbance where an FSK-modulated signal is demodulated. In the reception frequency control circuit, a reception signal processing unit converts an FSK-modulated digital signal to an intermediate frequency when the FSK-modulated digital signal is received. Thereafter, a frequency voltage converting unit converts the intermediate signal to a voltage signal and outputs an output signal. At the same time, an analog frequency controlling unit detects a frequency deviation from the output signal by analog processing. A digital frequency controlling unit generates a reception frequency control signal for correcting the frequency and feeds back the same to the reception signal processing unit. Stable frequency control can be realized by performing reception frequency control by a combination of an analog circuit-digital circuit in this way.
US08204150B2
An apparatus is provided for reducing a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) in a wireless communication system having multiple transmit antennas. A symbol generator generates symbols to be transmitted via the multiple transmit antennas, and a PAPR calculator calculates a PAPR value for each symbol. A detector detects a maximum PAPR value among the PAPR values of the symbols. A controller outputs a control signal to reduce a PAPR value of a corresponding symbol when the detected maximum PAPR value exceeds a reference PAPR value. A PAPR reducer reduces the PAPR value of the corresponding symbol upon receipt of the control signal.
US08204148B2
Described is a space-time digital power amplifier that can be used to generate an arbitrary waveform for a carrier signal. The space-time digital power amplifier employs temporal modulation of transmit signals generated by an array of transmitter modules. The RF signals transmitted from the array are spatially combined through free space propagation to generate the desired waveform. Advantageously, no digital-to-analog conversion is required and upconversion is unnecessary. The digital power amplifiers for the transmitter modules can be combined in a single chip package. The space-time digital power amplifier enables high power efficiency to be realized using pulse-shaped waveforms thus eliminating any need for the power amplifiers to operate over a wider bandwidth with a spectrally unconfined waveform.
US08204146B2
An impulse waveform generating apparatus includes a multistage delay pulse signal generating part for generating a plurality of delay pulse signals by a timing signal; a signal source signal generating part for generating a signal source signal indicating the frequency component of an impulse waveform signal by the delay pulse signals; an envelope formation signal generating part for generating an envelope formation signal indicating the amplitude component of the impulse waveform signal by the delay pulse signals; and a mixer part for multiplying the signal source signal by the envelope formation signal to generate a prescribed impulse waveform signal. The impulse waveform generating apparatus generates the impulse waveform signal from the timing signal. Therefore, the circuit arrangement requires no digital-to-analog converter, the operational frequency of each element can be reduced, and the power consumption can be reduced.
US08204143B2
A communication terminal includes first and second transmitters, which are coupled to produce respective first and second Radio Frequency (RF) signals that are phase-shifted with respect to one another by a beamforming phase offset, and to transmit the RF signals toward a remote communication terminal. The terminal includes a reception subsystem including first and second receivers and a phase correction unit. The first and second receivers are respectively coupled to receive third and fourth RF signals from the remote communication terminal. The phase correction unit is coupled to produce, responsively to the third and fourth RF signals, a phase correction for correcting an error component in the beamforming phase offset.
US08204142B2
A precoder and a precoding method in a multiuser multi-antenna system are provided. The precoder includes a channel checker for determining a DownLink (DL) channel condition of terminals in a service coverage area, a pre-compensator for pre-compensating, for channel distortion, signals to be sent to the terminals when a nonlinear algorithm is selected based on the channel condition of the terminals, and an interference remover for canceling interference in a channel by multiplying the pre-compensated signals by inverse channels of the terminals, and for canceling interference between the terminals. Accordingly, the pre-equalization can be carried out without global channel state information, and an increase of the transmit power can be prevented in the permutation.
US08204140B2
The present invention provides for making code rate adjustments and modulation type adjustments in a pseudonoise (PN) encoded CDMA system. Coding rate adjustments may be made by changing the number of information bits per symbol, or Forward Error Code (FEC) coding rate. A forward error correction (FEC) block size is maintained at a constant amount. Therefore, as the number of information bits per symbol are increased, an integer multiple of bits per epoch is always maintained. The scheme permits for a greater flexibility and selection of effective data rates providing information bit rates ranging from, for example, approximately 50 kilobits per second to over 5 mega bits per second (Mbps) in one preferred embodiment.
US08204138B2
The present invention provides an apparatus for transferring data through an electromagnetic coupler. The apparatus comprises a transmitter to encode a first plurality of bits into a symbol, a receiver to decode a transferred symbol into a second plurality of bits; and a coupling element having a geometry that provides robust electromagnetic transfer of the symbol and the transferred symbol. For one embodiment of the apparatus, the coupling element has a zig-zag geometry.
US08204137B2
A channel equalizer includes a first transformer, an estimator, an average calculator, a second transformer, a coefficient calculator, a compensator, and a third transformer. The first transformer converts normal data into frequency domain data, where a known data sequence is periodically repeated in the normal data. The estimator estimates channel impulse responses (CIR) during known data intervals adjacent to each normal data block. The average calculator calculates an average value of the CIRs. The second transformer converts the average value into frequency domain data. The coefficient calculator calculates equalization coefficients using the average value, and the compensator compensates channel distortion of each normal data block using the coefficients. The third transformer converts the compensated data block into time domain data.
US08204136B2
This invention provides a technique of efficiently executing prediction error calculation processing while preventing any increase in the circuit scale. An encoding apparatus of this invention includes a determination unit determining the size of an encoding target pixel block, a plurality of predicted value calculation units, a first error calculation unit calculating, based on a predicted value from a predicted value calculation unit in a prediction mode using one reference pixel value, the prediction error in the determined pixel block size, a second error calculation unit calculating, based on a predicted value from a predicted value calculation unit in a prediction mode for calculating a predicted value based on a plurality of reference pixel values, the prediction error in the determined pixel block size, and a unit determining, based on the sum of the prediction errors from the first and second error calculation units, a prediction mode.
US08204131B2
A system and method for rapid selection and viewing of video programs in digital video broadcasting are disclosed. In one example of the invention, a parser sorts the data stream from different video programs and the sorted data are then stored in a fast cache memory. There are at least two intra-coded frames per video program available for decoding in the cache memory, constituting at least one group of pictures. Upon selecting a video program, a decoder decodes data starting from the oldest intra-coded frame in the cache memory. Full motion video and accompanying audio of the new video program are therefore available immediately resulting in a seamless and aesthetically pleasing transition between video programs. Multiple decoders are used in other aspects of the invention to provide thumbnail videos of a group of video programs for visual program selection.
US08204128B2
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for reducing blocking artifacts in block-wise coding of still and video images. A learning filter generator is provided at the image encoder for generating a set of filters and associated filtering rules for filtering cross-boundary image patterns based on representative original and decoded training images using a supervised machine learning algorithm. An adaptive filter at the image decoder receives the generated filters and associated filtering rules and performs locally adaptive filtering in accordance with the received filtering rules.
US08204126B2
An optimal interpolation frame is achieved by estimating optimal motion vectors both for a coding process and an interpolation frame generating process. A video codec apparatus coding and decoding a video and generating an interpolation frame in the decoding includes a motion vector estimation unit calculating an evaluation value to evaluate a correlation between images using a calculating formula and estimates a motion vector using the evaluation value, a motion vector coding unit coding video data using the motion vector and outputs a coded stream, video decoding unit decoding the coded stream and outputs video frames generated by the decoding, a frame interpolation unit generating interpolation frame using the motion vector, a cost calculating formula selecting unit selecting the calculation method depending upon whether the coding by the motion vector coding unit or the generating an interpolation frame by the frame interpolation unit is being executed.
US08204123B2
A motion vector searching apparatus to which a reference image, an object image and weight parameters for the reference image are inputted and searches a motion vector based thereon is provides. The motion vector searching apparatus includes an inverse weighting section that generates an inverse weighted object image by performing, on the object image using the weight parameter, a weighting inverse from a weighting performed on the reference image using the weight parameter; an image comparing section that compares the generated inverse weighted object image with the reference image to obtain a comparison value indicating a degree of approximation between the two images; and a determination section that determines an optimum motion vector from the comparison value.
US08204121B2
A memory optimization method for a MP3 decoder. In a pipeline structure for speeding matrix calculation in Mp3 decoding, an output sequence of IMDCT calculation is altered so that matrix calculation is activated before completing the IMDCT calculation. A decoding control method allows pipeline processing in MP3 decoding, with decoding procedures for subsequent granules activated while the current granule is still being processing in the matrix calculation.
US08204118B2
A video encoding apparatus used in encoding of a multi-viewpoint image. The apparatus generates a synthetic image for a camera used for obtaining an encoding target image, by using an already-encoded reference camera image having a viewpoint different from the viewpoint of the camera used for obtaining the encoding target image, and disparity information between the reference camera image and the encoding target image, thereby encoding the encoding target image. A predicted image for a differential image between an input image of an encoding target area to be encoded and the synthetic image generated therefor is generated, and a predicted image for the encoding target area, which is represented by the sum of the predicted differential image and the synthetic image for the encoding target area, is generated. A prediction residual represented by a difference between the predicted image for the encoding target area and the encoding target image of the encoding target area is encoded.
US08204113B2
A signal separation unit (101) separates an input picture made up of component pictures of RGB, each of which has an equal number of pixels as the input picture, into three component pictures, and outputs the three component pictures. Each of coding units (102 to 104) codes one of the component pictures into an intra-picture prediction coded picture or an inter-picture prediction coded picture, and outputs a bit stream corresponding to the component picture. A bit stream multiplexing unit (105) multiplexes three bit streams outputted from the three coding units into one bit stream, and outputs the bit stream. Each of the coding units (102), (103) and (104) determines a prediction method for the component picture at the time of coding.
US08204108B2
In a device and a method for detecting a letter box for an MPEG decoder, the method includes performing processing area filtering for selecting a processing area of an image used to detect the letter box; performing intra-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of pixels in macroblocks in one line of the image from the processing area; performing impulse data filtering for excluding the line being detected a high frequency component from the determined letter box area; performing inter-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of lines between macroblocks of the image; performing inter-line filtering for determining a boundary of the letter box based on an average of the pixel values of the lines; and performing inter-picture filtering for outputting a boundary value of the letter box that has the highest frequency number as the boundary of the letter box in successive images.
US08204105B2
A quantization step determination part inputs an evaluation value (ACT_MB) indicating the dispersion in a macroblock and its average value (ACT_PIC). A subtracter obtains the difference between these values, and a multiplier multiplies the difference by raq (<1) to obtain a weighting value. Next, an adder adds the weighting value to an average quantization step value of source data, and finally a multiplier multiplies the sum by a step value adjustment factor α (>1) to obtain a converted quantization step value (Qstep_AVC). This optimizes a bit allocation in accordance with an Activity value of the macroblock, to thereby improve the quality of image.
US08204100B2
According to an embodiment of a communication device, the communication device includes communication circuitry configured to communicate via a plurality of transmission channels. The communication circuitry includes crosstalk reduction circuitry to reduce crosstalk for a part of the plurality of transmission channels by joint processing of data of the part of the transmission channels. This part is selected from the plurality of transmission channels depending on a grouping of the transmission channels into at least two groups. Each of the at least two groups is assigned a target bit rate. The target bit rate differs for different groups.
US08204091B2
Particular embodiments of the present invention relate generally to semiconductor lasers and laser projections systems and, more particularly, to schemes for controlling semiconductor lasers. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a laser having a gain section, a phase section and a wavelength selective section is configured for optical emission of encoded data. The optical emission is shifted across a plurality of laser cavity modes by applying a quasi-periodic phase shifting signal I/VΦ to the phase section of the semiconductor laser. The amplitude of the quasi-periodic signal transitions periodically between a maximum drive level and a minimum drive level at a frequency that varies randomly over time.
US08204090B2
Modular electrical, mechanical and optical components allow for the building of a laser combiner system that can be used, for example, for biological research that allows different lasers to be easily added to or removed from a laser system. Each individual laser can be packaged into a module which can be added to or taken away from the laser system with relative ease. Each of the modules can be controlled via a control module that allows one or more of varying of power levels, switching on/off, shutter control and diagnostic/status information monitoring.
US08204089B2
There is provided a mode locked laser device including: a cavity, the cavity having a semiconductor saturable absorbing mirror and a negative dispersion mirror that controls group velocity dispersion within the cavity, disposed in a straight line; a solid-state laser medium, disposed in the cavity and outputting oscillating light due to excitation light being incident thereon; an excitation unit that causes the excitation light to be incident on the solid-state laser medium; and a cavity holder, the light incident face of the semiconductor saturable absorbing mirror attached to one end of the cavity holder, the negative dispersion mirror attached to the other end of the cavity holder, and the cavity holder integrally supporting the semiconductor saturable absorbing mirror and the negative dispersion mirror.
US08204079B2
A system and method for partitioning a bandwidth of a single channel among plural multimedia streams in a time varying manner. The partitioning is undertaken by dynamically establishing first and second bit rates respectively associated with first and second multimedia streams.
US08204078B2
A wireless marshalling panel includes a field device protocol communication link. The wireless marshalling panel is capable of receiving a message from a wireless device and transmitting a corresponding message to a process controller via the communication link. The panel is also capable of receiving a message from the process controller via the communication link and transmitting a corresponding message to the wireless device. The messages transmitted and received via the communication link may be an analog current signal or a frequency shift keying signal. The wireless marshalling panel may include a second field device protocol communication link and also be capable of receiving a message via the second communication link and transmitting a corresponding message to a second wireless device. The wireless marshalling panel may also be capable of receiving a message from the second wireless device and transmitting a corresponding message via the second communication link.
US08204077B2
A method for automatically adapting to statically varying packet sizes at a transmission convergence layer is provided. The method includes determining if an output of calculation logic in boundary detection circuitry is equal to a next value in a data stream being received, providing output indicative of an identified packet boundary to a synchronization circuit and a packet size calculator when the output equals the next value, determining a size of a packet at the packet size calculator based on two consecutive packet boundaries identified by the boundary detection circuitry, receiving output from the boundary detection circuitry and the packet size calculator at the synchronization circuit; and one of entering, remaining, or exiting a synchronous state. The entering the synchronous state is based on a counting of consecutive good packet boundaries. The exiting the synchronous state is based on a counting of consecutive missed boundaries.
US08204073B1
A method, system, and medium providing personalized media content to a display device. The method includes receiving television programming at a media-receiving device from a content provider (where the media-receiving device includes a wireless-communications component that transmits to and receives data from a mobile communications device in a protocol via a wireless personal area network (PAN) that is effective within a distance range from the wireless-communications component), incident to a mobile communications device entering the distance range, receiving identifying indicia associated with the mobile communications device, communicating the identifying indicia to at least one database to retrieve profile data from at least one profile associated with the mobile communications device; and communicating personalized media content to the display device, the personalized media content based on at least a portion of the profile data associated with at least one profile associated with the mobile communications device.
US08204061B1
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes one or more ports for connection to one or more links in communication with a network device, a multi-chassis trunk (MCT) port for connection to an MCT in communication with a switch, and an MCEC manager for creating an MCEC comprising the one or more links in communication with the network device and one or more links connecting the switch to the network device, and transmitting messages to the switch to synchronize state for the MCEC. The apparatus further includes a control plane and a data plane configured for operation independent from a control plane and a data plane at the switch. A method is also disclosed.
US08204059B2
A method for formatting a signal in a mobile communication system by appending a plurality of medium access control headers to a plurality of medium access control-service data units for data transfer between a mobile station and network in the mobile communication system. If the service data units have the same characteristics, a medium access control-protocol data unit is formed by successively coupling the service data units to any one of the medium access control headers. If the service data units have different characteristics, the protocol data unit is formed by sequentially coupling each of the service data units and each of the medium access control headers. The formed protocol data unit is then transformed into a transport block with a predetermined size. A medium access control sublayer formats medium access control-protocol data units according to transport channel characteristics in peer-to-peer communication in such a manner that the protocol data units can have different formats with respect to different transport channels. This makes it possible to provide more efficient functions.
US08204055B2
A method is described for receiving a multicast in user devices in a network issuing a request to join a multicast group, identifying multicast data packets associated with the multicast group, monitoring transmissions of the multicast data packets to determine whether the identified multicast data packets are being transmitted in an already established unicast session and establishing a unicast session and processing multicast data packets if an already established unicast session does not exist A method is described for receiving a multicast transmission in user devices in a network establishing a unicast session with a dedicated terminal, identifying multicast data packets associated with a multicast group, monitoring transmissions of the multicast data packets and processing the multicast data packets by the dedicated terminal. Additonally, an apparatus is described for accepting a request to join a multicast group, for identifying multicast data packets associated with the multicast group, establishing a unicast session, for encapsulating said multicast data packets in a unicast frame and for forwarding the unicast frame via the unicast session.
US08204054B2
A system has a plurality of nodes connected in a multi-dimensional matrix and having node addresses, respectively, each of the nodes having a processor, and a router for transmitting a request packet to a node adjacent to its own node located in n+1th dimension when the address of nth dimension of its own node is matched to the address of nth dimension of the target node, transmitting a response packet to a node adjacent to its own node located in nth dimension when the address of n+1th dimension of its own node is matched to the address of n+1th dimension of the response packet, wherein the router terminates a request packet when the address of the request packet is fully matched to the node address of its own node in all the dimensions, transfers the data conveyed by the request packet to the processor of its own node for processing.
US08204040B2
The present invention relates to a wireless communications method, a wireless control station, and a wireless base station. One of the objects of the present invention is to make it possible to allocate the wireless resources to more than one road side device without interference thereamong. Therefore, the allocation information in the communications regions, used by the wireless base stations in their communications with the wireless terminal from the wireless control station, is sent to each of the wireless base stations, and each of the signal base stations performs communications with the wireless terminal by using the communications region in the wireless frame corresponding to the allocation information received from the wide-area control station.
US08204034B2
A method for transmitting a packet from a transmitting node to a destination node in a communication network can enable improved network efficiency. The method includes receiving and storing identification information concerning at least one foreign node that is directly reachable in the communication network (block 505). It is then determined, using the identification information, whether the destination node is directly reachable in the communication network (block 510). Based on whether the destination node is directly reachable in the communication network, it is then determined whether to transmit the packet to the destination node using a tunneling protocol or without using a tunneling protocol (block 515). The packet is then transmitted from the transmitting node to the destination node (block 520).
US08204032B2
The invention provides an information polling method, apparatus and system thereof, wherein a message gateway receives an information polling request from an application in an application client, and according to the received information polling request, the message gateway acquires at least one message requested by the application and calculates a reference polling cycle of the application, and sends the acquired message requested by the application and the reference polling cycle to the application. The application determines a polling cycle of a next poll according to a load condition of the application client and the received reference polling cycle. According to the invention, efficiency and quality of the information polling is improved, while the system is ensured to run normally, reducing the cases of message blocking and system breakdown which may occur in the existing situations.
US08204026B2
An element-based method to automatically configure mobile handsets by the base station using a protocol that combines contention-free and contention-based MAC protocols for use in wireless VoIP systems with multiple base stations is disclosed.
US08204023B2
A CQI reporting method for a Dual-Cell HSDPA service of a mobile communication system is provided for reducing CQI reporting overhead. A user terminal transmits channel quality indicators for downlink channels in a mobile communication system, measures channel qualities of a first downlink channel and a second downlink channel, compares the channel qualities of the first and second downlink channels with each other, selects at least one channel quality of the first and second downlink channels, and transmits at least one channel quality indicator indicating the at least one channel quality.
US08204008B2
A technique of operating a wireless communication device includes creating a resource block map by associating respective subscriber station identifications, corresponding to respective subscriber stations, with one or more resource blocks. The respective subscriber station identifications and the resource block map are transmitted, from a serving base station, in one or more control channel symbols.
US08204007B2
A method and apparatus for controlling enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) transmissions are disclosed. An enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e/es) entity processes a received scheduling grant to calculate a serving grant. The MAC-e/es entity determines whether both a hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process for scheduled data and scheduled data are available. If an H-ARQ process for scheduled data and scheduled data are available, the MAC-e/es entity determines whether a serving grant exists. The MAC-e/es entity calculates a remaining power based on maximum allowed power and restricts an E-DCH transport format combination (E-TFC) based on the remaining power. The MAC-e/es entity selects an E-TFC using the serving grant and generates a MAC-e protocol data unit. The MAC-e/es entity may process the received scheduled grant is at each transmission time interval or may store the received scheduled grant in a grant list until there is E-DCH data to transmit.
US08204005B2
Embodiments of a wireless communication device and method for dynamic bidirectional aggregation of media-access control (MAC) layer frames in a wireless network are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. In some embodiments, the time between consecutive bursts is dynamically varied based on a MAC channel access delay.
US08203999B2
There is disclosed a method of operating a communications network having a plurality of selfish users. Each selfish user may send messages to a destination node with the messages being forwarded through intermediate nodes of a mesh network. Each selfish user may accumulate a debt equal to the power saved by having messages forwarded through other nodes in the mesh network less the power consumed forwarding messages for other nodes in the mesh network. Each selfish user having greater than zero accumulated debt may be required to forward messages for other nodes.
US08203997B2
A system is provided that includes a component configured to promote detachment of a user equipment (UE) from a plurality of packet data network (PDN) gateways by sending a message to the plurality of PDN gateways to detach multiple PDN connections associated with the UE.
US08203987B2
A user apparatus which wirelessly communicates with a base station apparatus within a mobile communications system is disclosed. The user apparatus includes a receive unit which receives control information in downlink; and a transmit unit which transmits a first channel in uplink, wherein the transmit unit, based on the control information, makes a value of a maximum transmit power of the first channel smaller than that of a nominal power specified for the mobile communications system.
US08203984B2
Embodiments provide techniques for device power management in wireless networks. For instance, an apparatus may include a power management module, and a transceiver module. The power management module determines a beacon interval and a wakeup interval. The transceiver module to send a transmission to one or more remote devices that includes the beacon interval and the wakeup interval. The beacon interval indicates a time interval between consecutive beacon transmissions of the apparatus, and the wakeup interval indicates a time interval between when the apparatus receives two consecutive beacons from a peer device.
US08203980B2
Communications adapters and methods are provided for interfacing communications for an EtherNet/Ip or other general purpose industrial network, a Fieldbus or other open protocol device network, and a PointBus or other proprietary network. The adapter may be integrated in a module of a backplane system with connections to the general purpose, proprietary, and open protocol device networks, and provides a bridging for communications across the networks to make devices on the proprietary and open protocol networks accessible as if they were on a single device network and with sequential addressing capabilities.
US08203978B2
A user terminal supports multiple spatial multiplexing (SM) modes such as a steered mode and a non-steered mode. For data transmission, multiple data streams are coded and modulated in accordance with their selected rates to obtain multiple data symbol streams. These streams are then spatially processed in accordance with a selected SM mode (e.g., with a matrix of steering vectors for the steered mode and with the identity matrix for the non-steered mode) to obtain multiple transmit symbol streams for transmission from multiple antennas. For data reception, multiple received symbol streams are spatially processed in accordance with the selected SM mode (e.g., with a matrix of eigenvectors for the steered mode and with a spatial filter matrix for the non-steered mode) to obtain multiple recovered data symbol streams. These streams are demodulated and decoded in accordance with their selected rates to obtain multiple decoded data streams.
US08203969B2
The invention is directed to providing a method and system for monitoring and managing from a network management entity, timing-over-packet synchronization performance in a packet switching network having multiple network nodes. The network management entity determines a physical topology and a synchronization topology of the network and monitors synchronization performance by collecting virtual path information.
US08203967B2
A method, system, and computer program product for implementing a standardized interpretive engine is provided. The method includes externalizing at least one of a business and a user requirement into a component class of a data control structure. The method also includes defining a solution to the business and user requirement and entering the solution into metadata within the component class. The method further includes pulling data from a data warehouse into the component class based upon the business and user requirement. The method also includes performing a calculation on the data in accordance with the business and a user requirement.
US08203963B1
Disclosed herein are methods and systems for scheduling pages to mobile stations in a radio access network. An exemplary method involves (a) at a radio access network, determining whether or not a first load that is scheduled for transmission during a first paging period, is greater than a threshold load, (b) if the first load is greater than the threshold load, then (i) determining whether or not a second load that is scheduled for transmission during a second paging period, is less than the threshold load and (ii) if the second load is less than the threshold load, then rescheduling at least a portion of the first load for transmission during the second paging period, and (iii) otherwise, refraining from rescheduling the portion of the first load for transmission during the second paging period.
US08203948B2
There is provided a en edge node and a method of controlling session admission in a communications network. The method comprises measuring a Quality of Service parameter between an edge node and a corresponding edge node and, on the basis of the measured Quality of Service parameter, calculating a target window size. The target window size relates to the maximum rate of data that can be sent from the edge node to the corresponding edge node while retaining a predetermined Quality of Service. A current window size is determined on the basis of existing established sessions between the two edge nodes. When a request for session admission is received, the current window size is compared with the target window size and, on the basis of the comparison, a determination is made whether to admit the request for session admission.
US08203933B2
For automatically identifying a failure in a logical circuit in a data network without manual intervention, the logical circuit includes one or more logical connections for communicating data in the data network. A network management module periodically requests trap data indicating the status of the logical connections in the logical circuit. After the trap data has been received by the network management module, the trap data is analyzed to determine whether any of the logical connections has failed. If it is determined that a logical connection has failed, the network management module may wait a predetermined time period to determine whether the failed logical connection has been restored. If after the predetermined time period the logical connection has not been restored, then the logical circuit is identified as having failed.
US08203924B2
There is provided an optical information recording/reproducing apparatus having an optical disc drive unit for driving an optical disc mounted, a hologram disc drive unit for driving a hologram disc mounted, a disc discrimination device for discriminating which of an optical disc and a hologram disc was mounted, a selection device of the disc drive unit for selecting an optical disc drive unit, when discriminated to be an optical disc, by the disc discrimination device, while selecting a hologram disc drive unit, when discriminated to be a hologram disc, by the disc discrimination device, and a drive device of the disc drive unit for driving the disc drive unit selected by the selection device of the disc drive unit.
US08203921B2
An optical disc apparatus capable of deriving optimum laser beam power even when OPC areas overlap with one another and a method for the apparatus. OPC result is recorded to an optical disc and OPC (area-saving OPC) that reduces an area use quantity by using the OPC result is executed and optimum laser power is determined.
US08203917B2
An optical pickup apparatus is provided with an optical system for guiding a laser light emitted from a laser light source to an objective lens and also for guiding the laser light reflected by a recording medium to a photodetecting section as a convergent light. The photodetecting section is provided with first and second photodetectors disposed at positions at which a first part of the target laser light and a second part different from the first part are respectively received, the positions being separated further from the optical system than a convergence position of a target laser light reflected by an irradiation-target recording layer, out of the laser light reflected by the recording medium, and a third photodetector disposed at a position closer to the optical system than the convergence position of the target laser light, the position being bridging more over the second part than the first part.
US08203914B2
A disc storage apparatus includes a disc changer mechanism including a disc slot through which a disc is insertable, a storage section having storage locations that are capable of storing discs inserted through the disc slot, and a transport mechanism that transports the disc, inserted through the disc slot, to any of the storage locations in the storage section. The apparatus further includes an operation section having operations keys; a display section; and a controller that associates, when the disc is inserted and any of the operations keys is operated, the operated operation key with the storage location in which the disc is stored. In accordance with a predetermined operation on the operation section, the controller extracts all discs stored in the storage locations associated with the operated operation key and causes information regarding all the extracted discs to be displayed on the display section.
US08203910B2
An autonomous ultrasonic indoor location system includes a location beacon transmitting apparatus and a location beacon receiving apparatus. The location beacon transmitting apparatus is configured to sequentially transmit US signals at a predetermined time interval upon transmission of a signal containing synchronization information. The location beacon receiving apparatus is configured to synchronize with the location transmitting apparatus when synchronization information is detected, determine transmission order of the received US signals based on the obtained synchronization timing, infer transmission timings of the respective US signals based on the determined transmission order, calculate TOA information corresponding to each of the received US signal from the transmission timings and reception timings of the respective US signals, and determine location of the location beacon receiving apparatus on basis of the positions of the US transmitters in the transmitting apparatus and the calculated TOA information sequence.
US08203898B2
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a logic circuit and a memory circuit that includes multiple bit lines and bit line precharge circuits. The memory circuit may include level shifters for control signals generated from logic circuit inputs, and particularly there may be one or more level shifters that generate precharge enable signals to control the bit line precharge circuits. The level shifters for the bit line precharge circuits may also be controlled, during periods of time that the memory circuit is idle, by an input control signal (FloatBL herein). If the FloatBL signal is asserted, the bit line precharge circuits may be disabled to float the bit lines. In some embodiments, the FloatBL signal may also disable bit line bit line hold circuits on the bit lines. In some embodiments, when the memory circuit is exiting an idle state, the bit line precharge circuits may be enabled in a staggered fashion.
US08203895B2
Various embodiments of a semiconductor memory apparatus and a related driving method are disclosed. According to one exemplary embodiment, a semiconductor memory apparatus may include a switching unit and a switching control unit. The switching unit couples or decouples a cell plate voltage line to or from a cell plate electrode in response to a control signal. The switching control unit is configured to enable the control signal at a first timing and disable the control signal at a second timing.
US08203894B2
A method and apparatus for reading data from a non-volatile memory cell. In some embodiments, a cross-point array of non-volatile memory cells is arranged into rows and columns that are each controlled by a line driver. A read circuit is provided that is capable of reading a logical state of a predetermined memory cell by differentiating a non-integrated first reference value from a non-integrated second reference value. Further, each reference value is measured immediately after configuring the column corresponding to the predetermined memory cell to produce a first and second amount of current.
US08203883B2
In an embodiment, a semiconductor memory device including a cell array with NAND strings arranged therein, wherein the device has such a program mode that bit lines and cell's channels of the NAND strings coupled thereto are initially charged in accordance with program data, and then program voltage is applied to memory cells selected in the cell array. In the program mode, a certain bit line and a program-inhibited cell's channel coupled thereto, which are initially charged to Vdd, are boosted to be higher than Vdd by capacitive coupling from the cell source line prior to the program voltage application.
US08203868B2
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique of reducing the power consumption of an entire low power consumption SRAM LSI circuit employing scaled-down transistors and of increasing the stability of read and write operations on the memory cells by reducing the subthreshold leakage current and the leakage current flowing from the drain electrode to the substrate electrode.Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique of preventing an increase in the number of transistors in a memory cell and thereby preventing an increase in the cell area.Still another object of the present invention is to provide a technique of ensuring stable operation of an SRAM memory cell made up of SOI or FD-SOI transistors having a BOX layer by controlling the potentials of the wells under the BOX layers of the drive transistors.
US08203866B2
A capacitor-less memory cell, memory device, system and process of forming the capacitor-less memory cell includes forming the memory cell in an active area of a substantially physically isolated portion of the bulk semiconductor substrate. A pass transistor is formed on the active area for coupling with a word line. The capacitor-less memory cell further includes a read/write enable transistor vertically configured along at least one vertical side of the active area and operable during a reading of a logic state with the logic state being stored as charge in a floating body area of the active area, causing different determinable threshold voltages for the pass transistor.
US08203860B2
A semiconductor memory device that includes a supply voltage pad, a ground voltage pad, and at least two data input/output pads arranged between the supply voltage pad and the ground voltage pad. The semiconductor memory device has a first pull-up driver that is connected to the second data input/output pad located at a first distance from the supply voltage pad, and a first pull-down driver that is connected to the first data input/output pad located at a second distance from the ground voltage pad.
US08203856B2
A direct current power transmission system includes a first and a second converter station that are coupled to each other via a direct current link. Each converter station includes a first or second line commutated converter, respectively. Before power reversal the first converter is operated as a rectifier and the direct current is controlled in the first station, while the second converter is operated as an inverter and in the second station the extinction angle of the second converter or the direct voltage is controlled. After power reversal, the first converter is operated as an inverter and the second converter as a rectifier. During power reversal a change is carried out in the first station from control of the direct current to control of the extinction angle of the first converter or to control of the direct voltage, which is performed in synchronization with a change in the second station from control of the extinction angle of the second converter or from control of the direct voltage to control of the direct current.
US08203854B2
A display suspending frame device includes a suspending seat and at least one suspending frame. The suspending seat includes an upright mounting plate, a rear slide rail set disposed forwardly of the mounting plate and connected to the mounting plate, and a front slide rail set disposed forwardly of the rear slide rail set and connected to the rear slide rail set. The at least one suspending frame is for mounting to a rear face of a display and is mounted slidably on the front slide rail set. By arranging the rear slide rail set between the mounting plate of the suspending seat and the front slide rail set, a space is provided for accommodating an electronic device.
US08203852B2
A retention assembly for an expansion card in an enclosure, the expansion card having an expansion card cover plate. The retention assembly includes an expansion card mounting frame, a limiting member, a resisting member, and an elastic member. The expansion card mounting frame is disposed on the enclosure to fix the expansion card cover plate. The limiting member is disposed on the enclosure adjacent to the expansion card mounting frame, and the limiting member and the enclosure cooperatively define a guide groove. The resisting member includes a resisting portion and a limiting portion connected to the resisting portion and slidably received in the guide groove. The elastic member interconnects the expansion card mounting frame and the resisting member. The resisting portion resists the expansion card cover plate by a resilient force applied by the elastic member.
US08203844B2
The disclosure provides an electronic device having back-up power during battery replacement. The electronic device includes a body, a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted in the body, and an electrode assembly connected to the PCB. The body defines an accommodating space. The electrode assembly may rotate relative to the body and further comprises at least two groups of contacts aligned in different rotation orientations. The accommodating space is configured to accommodate a first battery. A first group of the at least two groups of contacts is engaged with the first battery, the at least two groups of contacts are connected in parallel to the PCB, when the first battery is being replaced by a second battery, the first group of contacts is kept engaged with the first battery, and a second group of the at least two groups of contacts is engaged with the second battery.
US08203843B2
The invention discloses an electronic device and an engaging structure thereof. The electronic device comprises a first casing and a second casing. The first casing comprises a plate portion and a plurality of hooks. Each hook is located on the plate portion. The second casing comprises a first side portion, a second side portion, an engaging portion, a first rib and a second rib. The engaging portion is between the first and the second side portions and comprises a plurality of recesses. Each recess is engaged with one of the hooks and has a front edge. A gap is between one end of the hook and the front edge of the recess. The first and second ribs are respectively located on the first and the second side portions. The plate portion is disposed on the first and second ribs. The hook can be detached from the recess by the gap.
US08203841B2
A data center includes a housing and a number of server module assemblies received in the housing. Airflow interspaces are formed between neighboring server module assemblies, and between the two outmost server module assemblies and corresponding sidewalls of the housing. The airflow interspaces are alternately used for cold aisles and hot aisles. An inside of each server module is communicated with one of the hot aisles and one of the cold aisles at opposite sides of the server module. A number of cooling units are installed in the housing over the server module assemblies. A number of fans are installed in the housing to draw hot air from the hot aisles to flow through the corresponding cooling units to be cooled, and the cooled air flow into the corresponding cold aisles, thereby creating air differences in air pressure between the cold aisles and the hot aisles.
US08203831B2
A slide mechanism used in a mobile device includes a main plate, a slide plate, at least one undeformable slider, and at least one guide. The slide plate is installed on the main plate and slidable relative to the main plate. The slider is securely attached to the slide plate, and the guide is securely attached to the main plate, deformably moving the slider along. When the slide plate slides along the main plate, the slider compresses the guide, thereby generating deformation of the guide and sliding the slide plate along the main plate.
US08203828B2
A power supply assembly which can drive a number of different devices at different voltages. A rack holds a number of breaker modules, and each breaker module can connect to one or many breakout boxes. The breakout boxes are keyed to the breaker modules, so that the breaker boxes will not be energized with power unless they are the proper voltage and/or configuration to receive that power. The coil of a contactor in the breaker module is powered by a key wire that is connected through specified pins in the breakout box. Therefore, no power is ever provided to the breakout box unless it is of the proper voltage configuration. In addition, feeder power to the power supply assembly is provided over bolted connections, without any wire connections between the power feed and the circuit breaker.
US08203826B2
A lithium ion capacitor includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a non-protonic organic solvent electrolytic solution of a lithium salt. A positive electrode active material is a material capable of reversibly doping a lithium ion and/or an anion. A negative electrode active material is a material capable of reversibly doping a lithium ion. The lithium ion is doped in advance to either one or both of the negative electrode and the positive electrode so that a positive electrode potential after the positive electrode and the negative electrode are short-circuited is 2.0 V (relative to Li/Li+) or less when capacitance per unit weight of the positive electrode is C+(F/g), weight of the positive electrode active material is W+(g), capacitance per unit weight of negative electrode is C−(F/g), and weight of the negative electrode active material is W−(g), a value of (C−×W−)/(C+×W+) is 5 or more.
US08203814B2
An electrical switching apparatus includes a plurality of poles each having a Rogowski coil and a conductor passing through an opening thereof, and a processor circuit including a sensor circuit including a plurality of inputs each electrically interconnected with an output of the Rogowski coil of a corresponding pole. The sensor circuit further includes a number of outputs having values each corresponding to current flowing through the conductor, a memory including for each corresponding pole an offset value and a gain correction factor for the sensor circuit, and a gain correction factor for the Rogowski coil, a number of routines, and a processor cooperating with the sensor circuit and the routines to provide for each pole a corrected current value as a function of a corresponding one of the values, the sensor circuit offset value and gain correction factor, and the Rogowski coil gain correction factor.
US08203807B2
The present invention provides a magnetic head suspension, wherein a supporting portion such as an arm or base plate includes a pair of supporting pieces extending from its opposite sides in the widthwise direction to a tip-end side of the suspension, and a concave portion which is defined by the pair of supporting pieces and is opened toward the tip-end side of the suspension, there is provided an elastically-deformable elastic plate which is connected to the pair of supporting pieces at a first end and a second end in the widthwise direction of the magnetic head suspension, the member forming the load beam portion is connected to the elastic plate, and the elastic plate forms the load bending portion.
US08203803B2
Embodiments of the invention are directed to narrowing a read/write gap of a perpendicular magnetic head by applying a wrap around shield, data erasing from return pole edges by returning recording field, and reducing TPR of a magnetic material. In one embodiment, the wrap around shields are formed by partitioning and making Gd, which is the height of the shield at the main pole side in the sensor height direction, smaller than the height of the shield connected to the return pole in the sensor height direction.
US08203801B2
According to one embodiment, a disk device rotates a disk information storage medium to record and reproduce information on the information storage medium by use of a head that slides in contact with a lubricant coated on the information storage medium, wherein a sliding speed U, area A and normal force N are set to cause U×A/N to fall within a monotonously increasing region in which a coefficient of friction associated with a frictional force occurring in a contact area of the head that faces the information storage medium monotonously increases as U×A/N increases, where the sliding speed U represents a sliding speed at a sliding time of the head, the area A represents the contact area of the head, and the normal force N represents a normal force applied to the contact area of the head.
US08203800B2
A data storage medium comprises a plurality of data regions, and a plurality of servo regions configured to provide positioning information to a reading device. Each of the plurality of data regions corresponds to more than one of the plurality of servo regions. The more than one of the plurality of servo regions are configured to provide positioning information to the reading device at discrete times corresponding to a data operation of a corresponding data region.
US08203798B2
The invention provides a high-performance objective lens that is capable of implementing focusing relative to an object point distance change with no or little angle-of-view change, and is well compatible with a high-pixel type imaging device. The objective optical system comprises, in order from an object side thereof, a first group of negative power, a second group of positive power, an aperture stop, and a third group of positive power. Only the second group moves thereby implementing focusing relative to an object point distance change, with satisfaction of the following conditions (1)-1, (1)-2 and (8): ωf>60 (1)-1 ωn>60 (1)-2 −1.2
US08203783B2
A microscope includes a condenser lens that is provided in an illumination light path and in which at least one optical device is insertable into and removable from an illumination light axis for switching observation method. The microscope also includes a first polarizing plate that is provided in the same light axis as the optical device and is insertable into and removable from the illumination light axis integrally with the optical device; and a second polarizing plate that is provided in the illumination light axis independently from insertion and removal of the optical device into and from the illumination light axis.
US08203778B2
A method of manufacturing is disclosed for an electrophoretic display apparatus that includes an array substrate and an electrophoretic film laminated to the array substrate. A thermally activated adhesive is used to adhesively attach the electrophoretic film to the array substrate. The electrophoretic film is first aligned to and flattened against the array substrate and then a substantially stronger than original adhesion property of the adhesive is activated by annealing at a high temperature that is substantially greater than room temperature. Rework prior to annealing is therefore possible when alignment errors occur between the electrophoretic film and the array substrate.
US08203777B2
A bias controller and a method for controlling the bias of an electro-optic modulator are provided. In the method, for a received indication of modulator temperature, steps are provided for accessing a look-up table to determine a corresponding value of bias voltage, for a required bias point, to apply to the modulator. If no such value is stored, additional steps are provided to generate a pilot tone for input to the modulator and to recognize, from the signal content of a modulated optical signal output by the modulator, operation of the modulator at the required bias point, adjusting the value of bias voltage being applied to the modulator as required. When operation at the required bias point is recognized, the respective value of bias voltage for that modulator temperature is stored in the look-up table. The same method is provided to configure a bias controller in respect of a given modulator, if necessary ab initio.
US08203775B1
An optical switch including a bistable component, a reflective component, the reflective component being operatively connected to the bistable component, a first electrothermal bent beam actuator, a first contacting component operatively connected to the first electrothermal bent beam actuator component, the first electrothermal bent beam actuator component and the first contacting component disposed such as to enable advancing the bistable component the reflective component from a first stable configuration to a second stable configuration, a second electrothermal bent beam actuator component and a second contacting component operatively connected to the second electrothermal bent beam actuator component, the second electrothermal bent beam actuator component and the second contacting component disposed such as to enable advancing the bistable component and the reflective component from the second stable configuration to the first stable configuration.
US08203774B2
An optical scanning device having: a light source for emitting a light beam; a deflector having a plurality of flat reflecting surfaces; a first optical system disposed between the light source and the deflector; and a second optical system disposed between the deflector and a photoreceptor surface, and configured such that the reflecting surfaces of the deflector and the photoreceptor surface are conjugated in a sub-scanning direction at every deflection angle in a main-scanning range. In the optical scanning device, the light beam traveling from the first optical system to the deflector has a width greater than a dimension in a main-scanning direction of each reflecting surface of the deflector, and the light beam passes through different portions of the first optical system depending on whether the light beam is to be deflected by the deflector to be directed to an edge portion of the main-scanning range or to be directed to a center portion of the main-scanning range such that the light beam traveling to the deflector has a smaller average wavefront curvature in a sub-scanning direction when the light beam is to be deflected by the deflector to be directed to an edge portion of the main-scanning range than when the light beam is to be deflected by the deflector to be directed to the center portion of the main-scanning range.
US08203772B2
When a processed image obtained by performing image processing on an original image is presented, an option desired by a user is presented. A plurality of object regions is detected from an original image to detect the imaged state of each of the object regions when the original image was obtained. Then, an attention level for each object region is calculated based on the imaged state of the object region, and an output condition and an image processing condition are set based on the calculated attention level. Thereafter, a processed image is generated by performing image processing according to the image processing condition, and the processed image is outputted according to the output condition.
US08203770B2
A data divider divides N-dimensional digital image signals into higher-order bit signals and lower-order bit signals. Reference values corresponding to all combinations of the divided higher-order bit signals are divisionally stored in 2N−1 sub-memories without overlaps. The (N+1) reference values necessary for interpolation processing are read by a reference value reader at the same time.
US08203767B2
An auto document feeding device causes an original document passing through an OUT path and an original document passing through an IN path to flow together with overlap a trailing edge of a preceding original document and a leading edge of a following original document. Before the original documents reach to a READ document glass, the auto document feeding device comprises a separating unit configured to separate an overlapping portion of the original documents. The auto document feeding device reduces a distance between the preceding original document and the following original document passing on the READ document glass to nearly 0 mm.
US08203765B2
Expense information is obtained from receipts having various formats. Electronic image information of a receipt is processed to obtain expense information contained on the receipt. The expense information contained on the receipt can be categorized into one or more predetermined categories to obtain categorized information for the receipt. The categorized information for the receipt can be combined with categorized information of other receipts to produce reports for one or more of the predetermined categories.
US08203760B2
This disclosure provides methods, apparatus and systems to generate vector halftone data for rendering an image on an image output device. According to one aspect, a method generates vector halftone data as a function of contone pixel data for a given colorant at its nominal resolution and contone pixel data for the other colorants at a relatively lower resolution.
US08203751B2
The color signal converting apparatus is provided with: a color signal receiving unit that receives input of first color signals; and a converting unit that performs a conversion of the first color signals received by the color signal receiving unit, into second color signals. The converting unit performs the conversion to make a total sum of color component values of each of the second color signals equal to or smaller than an upper limit value set for each of the second color signals.
US08203749B2
The invention relates to a color printing device, whereby the color printing device comprises a reciprocating color measurement device and a reciprocating optical density sensor, to a mobile carriage comprising a color printhead, a color measurement device and an optical density sensor and to a color measurement method comprising the following steps: identify the position of a pattern on a two-dimensional media using a mobile optical density sensor; derive the position of a color patch on the media from the position of the pattern; measure the color of the color patch using a color measurement device.
US08203746B2
An image forming system includes an image forming portion for forming a transparent image on a sheet by using transparent toner; an obtaining portion for obtaining a size of the sheet on which an image is to be formed; a storing portion for storing image data, for forming the transparent image on an entire image formable area of the sheet with the transparent toner, for each of a plurality of predetermined sheets different in size from each other; and a control portion for controlling the image forming portion so that the transparent image is formed on the sheet on the basis of the image data corresponding to the size of the sheet obtained by the obtaining portion.
US08203745B2
Versions of user-selected content images are automatically created, sized, and positioned within a template such that all versions are simultaneously displayed without overlapping in a defined acceptable image area of the template. Creating the content image versions may include creating a frame image for the content image. A predefined anchor point associated with the acceptable image area is used to control the location of the image versions within the image area.
US08203740B2
A process-flow calling unit calls existing flow definition data defining a process flow of image data from a distribution management apparatus connected via a network. A list display unit displays thereon a list of existing flow definition data called by the process-flow calling unit. A process-flow generating unit generates new flow definition data, when desired flow definition data does not exist in the list displayed on the list display unit.
US08203731B2
Hard imaging devices, hard imaging systems, articles of manufacture, hard imaging device file system accessing methods, hard imaging device file system sharing methods are described. According to one aspect, a hard imaging device comprises a communications interface configured to communicate with a communications medium external of the hard imaging device, an image engine configured to form hard images using media, a file system configured to store a plurality of electronic files, processing circuitry having a server system configured to communicate with the file system and at least an external management device or a computer device, and wherein communication with at least the external management device or the computer device is performed using a web sharing protocol.
US08203713B2
A method and device to determine quantitatively the surface optical characteristics of an object of reference made up of a plurality of optically differentiable layers. The device includes lighting and image capture means, connected to analysing means which execute the method to obtain the parameters of the repair material components best fitting the optical characteristics of the dental environment of the subject under treatment. The result of the analysis through the method in the invention consists mainly in the identification of each one of the various materials which should constitute the different layers, as well as their respective thicknesses, and which are to lead to a dental repair with optimum optical characteristics. It is thus achieved that the repair be visually imperceptible, both under natural light and under ultraviolet light.
US08203709B2
Emitting illumination light and auxiliary light having a wavelength range different from that of the illumination light onto an observation target simultaneously, obtaining an image formed of reflection light of the illumination light and reflection light of the auxiliary light reflected from the observation target, calculating, with respect to each pixel of the obtained image signal, estimated spectroscopic data in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light using a value of the image signal and estimated matrix data in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light stored in advance, obtaining quasi reflectivity information reflecting a reflectivity of the observation target in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light based on the estimated spectroscopic data in the wavelength range of the auxiliary light, and generating a special image based on the quasi reflectivity information.
US08203701B2
An optoelectronic system for checking the relative attitude of component parts of an HSA (32) including a base (2); a reference system (40) connected to the base and having a stationary support (3) adapted to cooperate with positioning surfaces (34) of the HSA, and a floating device (10) which floats with respect to the stationary support and is adapted to cooperate with working surfaces (33) of the HSA; an optoelectronic detection device; and a processing unit for receiving and processing signals of the optoelectronic detection device. The floating device includes a floating element (11) adapted to cooperate with the optoelectronic detection device. A method for checking the relative attitude of component parts of a mechanical piece by means of an optoelectronic system includes the steps of referring a first component part of the HSA to the reference system; locking the HSA at a checking position; bringing the floating device with the floating element (11) to contact a second component part of the HSA; and carrying out dimensional and positional checkings of component parts of the floating element (11) by means of the optoelectronic system.
US08203690B2
A liquid crystal display device 10 of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel 11 and a lighting device 12. The liquid crystal panel 11 has a liquid crystal layer 50 between a pair of glass substrates 31 and 41. The lighting device 12 provides illumination light to the liquid crystal panel 11. A concave lens 60 is formed on the glass substrate 41 among the pair of glass substrates 31 and 41, which is arranged on a side opposite from the lighting device 12. The concave lens 60 has a recess on a surface of glass substrate 41 on an opposite side from the liquid crystal layer 50 in an area overlapping a black dot failure occurrence area when viewed in plan. A light transmissive material 70 having a refraction index equal to or higher than the glass substrate 41 is applied to at least a part of the concave lens 60.
US08203685B2
A liquid crystal display panel and the method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. Because an overlap portion of the seal pattern that encompasses in a closed form the outer edge of the image display part is minimized, excessive distribution of sealant at the overlap portion may be prevented. The liquid crystal display panel includes a first and a second substrates having at least one image display part; a main pattern on one of the first and second substrates and encompassing the outer edge of the image display part; a start pattern connected to the main pattern and formed from a point spaced apart from the image display part to a point adjacent to an outer edge of the image display part; an end pattern connected to the main pattern and formed from the point adjacent to the outer edge of the image display part to a point spaced apart from the image display part, wherein the start pattern and end pattern extend in a direction substantially parallel to a facing side of the main pattern; and liquid crystal dispensed in the image display part.
US08203674B2
A thin film transistor array panel for a flat panel display includes a substrate, a first signal line formed on the substrate, a second signal line intersecting and insulated from the first signal line, a switching element having a first terminal connected to the first signal line, a second terminal connected to the second signal line, and a third terminal, a pixel electrode connected to the third terminal of the switching element, and first and second light blocking members extending parallel to the second signal line, each being disposed on an opposite side of and partially overlapping an respective edge of the second signal line, an interval between the first and second light blocking members being in a range of from more than 1.5 μm to less than 4 μm. The array panel prevents light leakage from the display and improves its transmittance, aperture ratio and color reproducibility.
US08203671B2
A display device, capable of changing view angle range and suitable for reducing thickness and weight, is provided. One compensating panel has such a structure that two polymer films, having birefringence, adhere to each other. The birefringence directions of the polymer films are parallel or orthogonal to the liquid crystal orientation direction. Similarly, another compensating panel has such a structure that two polymer films, having birefringence, adhere to each other. The birefringence directions of the polymer films are parallel or orthogonal to the liquid crystal orientation direction. Since the compensating panel does not include glass substrates but includes polymer films, the display device can be thin and light.
US08203667B2
A light guide plate includes an incident face, a bottom surface, a main reflective structure and an auxiliary reflective structure. The bottom surface is connected to the incident face. The main reflective structure is disposed on the bottom surface and has a first and a second inclined surface. The auxiliary reflective structure is disposed on the bottom surface and has a third and a fourth inclined surface. The auxiliary reflective structure and the main reflective structure have an interval therebetween, in which the interval ranges between 0.2 micrometer and 0.5 micrometer, and a bottom width of the auxiliary reflective structure on the bottom surface is smaller than a bottom width of the main reflective structure on the bottom surface. A liquid crystal display is also disclosed herein.
US08203665B2
A backlight unit as embodied includes a plurality of unit groups, each unit group having a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs); and a light mixing layer formed over the unit groups, for mixing lights emitted from the LEDs to provide substantially white light.
US08203659B2
A combination of an LCD display and a gaming machine includes an LCD comprising a touchscreen, a liquid crystal panel, a backlight module, printed circuit boards, and a rear cover having an opening wherein the backlight module comprises, from front to rear, four optical films each having three openings, three barrier films, a light guide having three openings, two light sources on top and bottom edges of the light guide respectively, a reflecting film having three openings, and a frame plate having three openings, the barrier films functions as a visual barrier or a transparent member by adjusting voltage applied thereto, and the openings are aligned one another; a plurality of revolving wheels disposed behind the LCD, each wheel comprising a plurality of symbols arranged annually thereon. One pattern including the symbols of the wheels behind the openings is illuminated by the light source.
US08203658B2
A screen protecting assembly for an electronic device includes a pivot shaft, a cushion, and two connecting subassemblies positioned on the electronic device. Each connecting subassembly has a base and a rotating member rotatably received in the base. The rotating member engages with the pivot shaft. The cushion coils on the pivot shaft. When the rotating member is rotated in a first direction, the cushion unfolds to cover a screen of the electronic device. When the rotating member is rotated in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the cushion coils on the pivot shaft so that the screen of the electronic device is exposed.
US08203652B2
A method for detecting SECAM-L signals is disclosed. First, a SECAM-L signal is received and demodulated into a demodulation signal. Then high frequency components of the demodulation signal are filtered out and a low frequency signal, including many sync pulses and many data pulses, is obtained. Next, the low frequency signal is inversion into an inversion signal, having many inversion sync pulses and many inversion data pulses. Afterwards a voltage level of the inversion signal is detected continuously whether it is a lowest level. After that, the lowest level is determined whether belonging to the inversion sync pulses when the voltage level of the inversion signal is the lowest level, and a detection signal is outputted. When the lowest level belongs to the inversion sync pulses, a voltage level of the detection signal is high, and the demodulation signal is an inversion SECAM-L demodulation signal.
US08203649B2
An apparatus includes a memory which successively stores frame data of video data, an interpolating unit which generates interpolation frame data which is inserted between the frame data and stores the interpolation frame data in the memory, and a readout unit which successively reads out the frame data and the interpolation frame data from the memory at a frame rate higher than a frame rate of the video data. The apparatus further includes a generating unit which generates image data which is composited with the frame data and stores the image data in the memory, and a control unit which, based on display-related characteristics of the image data, controls the interpolating unit to halt the generation of the interpolation frame data, and also controls the readout unit to read out the frame data in duplicate instead of the interpolation frame data.
US08203640B2
Disclosed is a portable terminal having a touch sensing based image capture function and image capture method therefore, the method including: displaying a preview image of an object to be captured on a touch screen; recognizing (sensing) a touch input for the preview image; setting an image capture function based on the recognized touch input; and automatically performing an image capture operation according to the set capture function. The image capture function includes setting and change for a focus area, exposure, illumination, lightness, zoom-in/zoom-out and color change. Therefore, the present invention can enable the user to freely set the focus area and to perform a single or continuous image capture operation with a simple touch, thereby being utilized in all portable devices employing the touch screen.
US08203638B2
An image sensor includes an electronic shutter layer that is used to drain charge away from the photosensitive regions during an electronic shutter operation. A current sensing component and a selector component are electrically connected to a contact to the electronic shutter layer in the image sensor. The current sensing component senses a current level in the electronic shutter layer and changes a state of an alert signal when the current level equals or exceeds a threshold current level. The selector component receives the alert signal from the current sensing component and a shutter signal from an electronic shutter pulse driver component. Depending on the state of the alert signal, the selector component either transmits, or does not transmit, the shutter signal to the electronic shutter layer. An electronic shutter operation is performed when the electronic shutter layer receives the shutter signal.
US08203636B2
To provide a semiconductor device and a driving method of the same that is capable of enlarging a signal amplitude value as well as increasing a range in which a linear input/output relationship operates while preventing a signal writing-in time from becoming long. The semiconductor device having an amplifying transistor and a biasing transistor and the driving method thereof, wherein an electric discharging transistor is provided and pre-discharge is performed.
US08203626B2
An image processing apparatus is arranged so that when a special effect to be applied to an input image is selected, an image showing the behavior of the special effect is displayed during the selection, comprising an image input unit for inputting an image; a selecting unit for selecting a special effect to be applied to the input unit; an effect applying unit for applying the selected special effect to the input unit; a special effect image display unit for displaying an image showing behavior of the selected special effect during the selection by the selecting unit; and a display unit for displaying the image to which the effect applying unit has applied the special effect.
US08203625B2
An image capture device according to the present invention includes: an optical system for producing a subject's image; an imager with multiple photodiodes, which reads an electrical signal representing the intensity of light that has been incident on each photodiode from the photodiode, thereby generating an image signal representing the subject's image; a controller, which acquires sensitivity information by photometry in order to adjust the sensitivity of the imager to light and which selects one of multiple methods for reading the electrical signal from each photodiode according to the sensitivity information acquired; and a driver for driving the imager by the reading method selected. The multiple reading methods include a mixing reading method, by which the electrical signals supplied from the photodiodes are added together and then output.
US08203624B2
An image-data processing apparatus includes an operation unit; a correcting unit multiplying image data generated by an image pickup device by a correction gain; a totalizing unit sequentially calculating a total pixel level for every frame from the image data; a history holding unit holding the total pixel levels of a certain number; an in-phase averaging unit detecting the total pixel levels in phase with a flicker phase corresponding to the image data that is being supplied to the correcting unit from the held total pixel levels to calculate a first average of the detected total pixel levels; an average calculating unit calculating a second average of the held total pixel levels; and a correction gain calculating unit calculating the correction gain by dividing the first average by the second average to set the correction gain in the correcting unit.
US08203622B2
Techniques for modifying data of an image that can be implemented in a digital camera, video image capturing device and other optical systems are provided to correct for non-uniform illumination and/or effects of saturation appearing in data obtained using one or more artificial illumination sources. In an implementation, correction factors are derived using data from at least two images that have been captured with different illumination levels of the object scene and close in time to the capture of the image of interest. Typically, the image of interest is of higher resolution than at least one of the at least two images.
US08203619B2
A method of deciding a target bit rate for wavelet-based image encoding based on the wavelet coefficients is described. The target bit rate is used for maintaining a high quality image. A minimum target bit rate and a maximum target bit rate are determined. A pseudo code length corresponding to the minimum target bit rate is calculated. The pseudo code length is calculated as a function of the wavelet coefficients. The corresponding pseudo code length is calculated for the maximum target bit rate. A curve between the pseudo code length and target bit rate is derived. Slope of the curve depends on buffer fullness. Using the curve, for a given pseudo code length, an appropriate target bit rate is derived. The derived target bit rate depends on the image content, and computing resources are able to be optimally used to attain similar quality for each image block of an image.
US08203618B2
An image processing device including a camera, a discrete signal processor (DSP) and an output device is disclosed. The camera provides image data for the DSP to process. The DSP samples sub-image data to generate a first image processing signal, discrete cosine transforms the first image processing signal to generate a second image processing signal, uses a quantization table to quantize the second image processing signal to generate a third image processing signal, zig-zag scans the third image processing signal to generate a fourth image processing signal, and Huffman codes the fourth image processing signal to generate an output image signal. The DSP adjusts a cut point of a next fourth image processing signal according to the size of the fourth image processing signal so as to control the size of a next output image signal. The output device outputs the output image signal.
US08203604B2
A calibration plate is configured for revising an image capture apparatus of a vision measuring system. The vision measuring system includes a worktable which is configured for supporting the calibration plate. The calibration plate includes a quadrate portion. A calibration area and a zero marker are formed on the quadrate portion. The calibration area includes a plurality of regions having the same shape.
US08203598B2
A method for capturing a three-dimensional image. The method comprises capturing a combined beam of light having first polarized beam of light and a second polarized beam of light, sampling the combined beam of light using an imager, and providing the first polarized image to a first output and the second polarized image to a second output. The first polarized beam of light and the second polarized beam of light are orthogonally polarized. The imager includes a set of first polarized pixels for sampling the first polarized beam of light to produce a first polarized image, and a set of second polarized pixels for sampling the second polarized beam of light to produce a second polarized image.
US08203595B2
A method and apparatus for displaying images for use during a video teleconference provides improved eye contact between the participants. A video camera mounted on a display (e.g., a monitor or laptop) is co-located with a first participant in the video teleconference. An image of a second participant in the video teleconference is received, and a location of one or more facial features (e.g., the eyes) contained in the image of the second participant is determined. Then, the image of the second participant is displayed on the screen such that the eyes of the second participant are displayed in close proximity to (e.g., directly below) the video camera. In this manner, improved eye contact between the participants is advantageously provided. Alternatively, metadata representing the location of such facial features (e.g., the eyes) contained in the image of the second participant is received along with the image of the second participant.
US08203593B2
A method, apparatus, and electronic device for audio-video conferencing are disclosed. A memory may store an initial historical configuration parameter representation of an initial historical configuration parameter for a set of historical video data. A processor may determine a primary initial configuration parameter based on the initial historical configuration parameter representation. An audio-video capture mechanism may capture a current set of video data using the primary initial configuration parameter. An audio input may receive an audio trigger. A configuration control mechanism may switch automatically between the primary initial configuration parameter and a primary subsequent configuration parameter based on the audio trigger.
US08203591B2
A method for assigning video signals includes receiving a plurality of video signals from a plurality of cameras located at one or more remote sites, the plurality of video signals for display on a plurality of monitors at a local site. The method also includes determining an optimal monitor for displaying a first video signal associated with a first camera based on the location and alignment of the first camera in relation to one or more of the plurality of cameras. In addition, the method includes calculating a respective difference between a number of video signals assigned to the optimal monitor and a respective number of video signals assigned to each respective monitor of the plurality of monitors. The method further includes assigning the first video signal to the optimal monitor if the respective difference is not greater than a threshold value with respect to each of the plurality of monitors.
US08203583B2
A system for imaging erasable media includes a thermal print head on a first side of an erasable medium and a UV illumination source opposing the thermal print head and on a second side of the erasable medium. The thermal print head locally heats the erasable medium at a pixel level and the UV illumination source images the erasable medium only at the locally heated regions thereof. Thus the normal roles of uniformly heating the media and imaging with the UV source are reversed.
US08203580B2
Determining video content type of a video displayed on a LCD and triggering adjustment in drive power of the LCD based on the video content type. The video content type indicates relative content motion of the video. A video content type detection module is one or combination of a software and a hardware and directs the LCD to be driven relative slower or faster based upon video content. The module independently or in conjunction with another module identifies an active window from a plurality of windows corresponding to a plurality of applications running on the host device and sets the drive power of the LCD based on speed of a video displayed on the active window. The module may also adapt LCD drive power based upon user input and/or remaining battery life.
US08203579B2
Elements of the present invention relate to systems and methods for selecting a display source light illumination level. Aspects of some embodiments also comprise methods and systems for temporal filtering of a display source light illumination level.
US08203568B2
A centralised server in a bank (50) of servers runs a program for use by a user at a remote terminal (52, 56, 58). In the server, a plurality of programs share a GPU and instructions are used to cause the GPU to store the frames representing graphics of different programs at different memory locations. The frames are compressed and transmitted to remote terminals. Optionally the invention also allows for GPU time slice allocation, such that the GPU completes rendering the frame of one program before it renders the frame of another program. Optionally the invention also allows delivering false information about the capabilities of the GPU to the programs.
US08203565B2
A data processing device connected with a data supply device for performing predetermined data processing includes: a communication control unit for controlling communication with the data supply device; a data processing unit for performing the data processing based on input data received from the data supply device; and a device control unit for performing predetermined processing in correspondence with command data received from the data supply device based on the command data. The communication control unit receives the input data and the command data each of which is contained in a packet having a common fixed length from the data supply device. When an identification part at a predetermined position in the reception packet received from the data supply device is set at a predetermined command identification value indicating the command data, the communication control unit supplies data contained in the reception packet to the device control unit. When the identification part is set at a value different from the command identification value, the communication control unit supplies data contained in the reception packet to the data processing unit. The device control unit uses the remaining part in the reception packet other than the identification part as the command data. The data processing unit uses the remaining part as the input data.
US08203552B2
A geospatial data system may include at least one geospatial data storage device containing three-dimensional (3D) geospatial structure data, and also containing geospatial texture data associated with the geospatial 3D structure data and being retrievable in successive additive layers of resolution. The system may further include at least one geospatial data access device comprising a display and a processor cooperating therewith for communicating remotely with the at least one geospatial data storage device to retrieve and display a scene on the display based upon the 3D structure data and the geospatial texture data associated therewith. The geospatial texture data may advantageously be retrieved and displayed in successive additive layers of resolution.
US08203550B2
A disclosed plasma display includes a plasma display panel including cells and display electrodes including a group of X electrodes and a group of Y electrodes; an X electrode driving circuit configured to apply a sustaining pulse to the group of X electrodes; and a Y electrode driving circuit configured to apply a sustaining pulse to the group of Y electrodes. One of the X electrode driving circuit and the Y electrode driving circuit applies a low-voltage sustaining pulse that can cause the sustaining discharge by itself to a corresponding one of the group of X electrodes and the group of Y electrodes. The other one of the X electrode driving circuit and the Y electrode driving circuit applies a high-voltage sustaining pulse that can cause the sustaining discharge by itself to the other one of the group of X electrodes and the group of Y electrodes.
US08203549B2
A plasma display panel driving method and a plasma display apparatus are disclosed in which a suitable address discharge can be performed at a next scanning timing by reducing voltage changes in a sustain electrode and a scan electrode caused by a change of an address pulse when the address pulse is applied to an address electrode at a scanning timing. The plasma display panel driving method drives a plasma display panel which includes plural scan electrodes extending in a first direction and plural address electrodes extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. In the method, a negative polarity scan pulse is applied to a scan electrode, a positive polarity address pulse is applied to an address electrode from an address electrode driving circuit, and an address discharge is generated. The positive polarity address pulse is generated by using a charge sharing system, in which before clamping a predetermined high voltage or a predetermined low voltage to the address electrode, an averaged voltage generated from electric charges remaining in the plural address electrodes is applied to the address electrode. A falling time of the address pulse is longer than a rising time of the address pulse.
US08203542B2
The invention relates to a pointing device including a touch plane for an object moving thereon to generate a sound, a microphone for converting the sound into a sound wave signal, and a control unit. The control unit receives the sound wave signal and determines a moving direction of the object, so as to generate a direction signal. Accordingly, the moving direction of the object can be determined according to the sound wave signal received by the microphone, such that the volume and the cost of the pointing device of the invention can be reduced.
US08203532B2
A portable mouse includes a base, a casing, an attractable element and a control module. The control module includes a keycap, a triggering element, a positioning element and a retractable mechanism. The keycap is exposed outside a surface of the casing. By depressing the keycap, the attractable element is protruded out of the base, so that the attractable element could be attached on a surface of the object.
US08203530B2
The present invention provides a method of controlling a virtual object or instruction for a computing device comprising: detecting a user activity by a detecting device; generating a control signal in responsive to the user activity detection; controlling an object displayed on a display in responsive to the control signal to execute the instruction. The user activity is detected by CMOS or CCD. The user activity includes facial motion, eye motion, or finger motion.
US08203518B2
Provided is a display device including a level shift circuit, which includes a thin film transistor having a polycrystalline semiconductor layer, and which realizes a reliable operation even when a threshold of the thin film transistor varies. The display device includes: a board; and the level shift circuit which includes the thin film transistor having the polycrystalline semiconductor layer, and is formed on the board, in which the level shift circuit includes: a plurality of source-input level shift circuits including a plurality of unit level shift circuits having drain resistors different in value from one another; and a selection circuit, which selects one of outputs from the plurality of unit level shift circuits as an output from a normally operated unit level shift circuit.
US08203513B2
A low color shift liquid crystal display and a driving method thereof are provided. The liquid crystal display comprises a plurality of data lines; a plurality of scanning lines arranged across the plurality of data lines, two adjacent scanning lines and two adjacent data lines arranged across the two adjacent scanning lines together defining a pixel region; and a plurality of pixels each comprising a first and a second sub-pixels. The first sub-pixel is connected to a first scanning line of the two adjacent scanning lines, the second sub-pixel includes a compensation capacitor, which is coupled to a second scanning line of the two adjacent scanning lines. Thereby a voltage difference can be maintained between the two sub-pixels under the same driving condition, and the voltage difference can be easily adjusted by suitably changing the waveforms of scanning drive signals on the scanning lines.
US08203512B2
A display and techniques for displaying information involve the use of pixel-generating elements that include a light conduit and multiple adjustable light absorbing filters. The light conduit allows light from a light source to pass from a first side to a second side of the pixel-generating element. A first adjustable light absorbing filter adjustably absorbs a first set of visible light wavelengths from light passing through the light conduit to produce a first filtered light. A second adjustable light absorbing filter adjustably absorbs a second, different set of visible light wavelengths from the first filtered light. Each adjustable light absorbing filter is adjustable to a substantially transparent state, and the pixel-generating element generates a viewable pixel having a color adjustable between substantially a color of the light source and a color of the light source as modified by one or both of the adjustable light absorbing filters.
US08203510B2
A display apparatus, including: a pixel array section; and a driving section; the pixel array section including a plurality of scanning lines disposed along the direction of a row, a plurality of signal lines disposed along the direction of a column, a plurality of pixels disposed in rows and columns at places at which the scanning lines and the signal lines intersect with each other, and a plurality of feed lines disposed in parallel to the scanning lines; the driving section including a scanner for successively supplying a control signal to the scanning lines with a phase difference of a horizontal period, a selector for supplying an image signal having a signal potential, which changes over between a reference potential and a signal potential within each horizontal period, to the signal lines, and a power supply for supplying a power supply voltage, which changes over between a high potential and a low potential within each horizontal period, to the feed lines.
US08203508B2
A plasma display device includes a plasma display panel having a scan driver including a falling reset signal/scan low signal generating circuit that includes: a first switch coupled to a scan electrode, a second switch coupled in series with the first switch and coupled to a scan low voltage source having a scan low voltage, a first driving circuit having an output terminal coupled to a control terminal of the first switch and a ground terminal coupled to the first and second switches, a second driving circuit having an output terminal coupled to a control terminal of the second switch and a ground terminal coupled to the second switch and the scan low voltage source, a control Zener diode between the control terminals of the first and second switches, and a control resistor between the control terminal of the second switch and the scan low voltage source.
US08203507B2
A drive method of a plasma display panel that can increase the dark contrast, without causing a discharge failure. When a discharge cell that assumes a black display state in a first field from among first and a second fields that are adjacent in time and switches to a display state representing a brightness other than black in the second field is detected as a lighting transition cell, at least one drive of the below-described first and second forced lighting drives is executed. In the first forced lighting drive, the lighting transition cell is forcibly set into the lighting mode only in the address process of a predetermined subfield within the field in the first field. In the second forced lighting drive, an adjacent discharge cell that is adjacent to the lighting transition cell is forcibly set into the lighting mode only in the address process of the predetermined subfield in the second field.
US08203496B2
A mounting apparatus for a top mount mast antenna includes a secondary mounting bracket positioned below the fender panel to stabilize the antenna attachment screws extending through the antenna base into the fender panel of the automotive vehicle on which the antenna is mounted. The secondary mounting bracket is formed with a generally circular reinforcement collar that projects upwardly through the opening in the fender panel. The reinforcement collar has opposing retention tabs that pass through recesses formed in the opening. A rotation of the secondary mounting bracket within the opening rotates the retention tabs to a position overlying the fender panel, and moves deformable bosses into alignment with the screw holes in the fender panel. The rotation of the secondary mounting bracket is halted by the engagement of a closed side of the bosses with a flange of material created by the piercing of the screw holes.
US08203488B2
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package comprising at least one substrate, each substrate including at least one layer, at least one semiconductor die, at least one terminal, and an antenna located in the integrated circuit package, but not on said at least one semiconductor die. The conducting pattern comprises a curve having at least five sections or segments, at least three of the sections or segments being shorter than one-tenth of the longest free-space operating wavelength of the antenna, each of the five sections or segments forming a pair of angles with each adjacent segment or section, wherein the smaller angle of each of the four pairs of angles between sections or segments is less than 180° (i.e., no pair of sections or segments define a longer straight segment), wherein at least two of the angles are less than 115°, wherein at least two of the angles are not equal, and wherein the curve fits inside a rectangular area the longest edge of which is shorter than one-fifth of the longest free-space operating wavelength of the antenna.
US08203486B1
Methods to improve the performance of passive coherent location by non-reliance on a direct view of the signal source are described. Passive Coherent Location, or PCL, has become a promising technology as more computer-processing power has become generally available. Basically, most PCL techniques rely on comparing signal sources with their reflections from an object in order to determine the location of the object. However, this requires line of sight access from the receiver system to the signal source which may not always be practical and may limit the performance of the system overall. The techniques described herein do not require line of sight to the transmitter sources.
US08203482B2
The present invention relates to a method for computing autonomous horizontal and vertical Protection Levels for least squares-based GNSS positioning, based on navigation residuals and an isotropic confidence ratio.
US08203480B1
A method of detecting weather on an aircraft uses a weather radar system. The method adapts the weather radar system in accordance with a time-of-year parameter, a time-of-day parameter, and/or a location parameter to remove ground clutter reflectivity. The method includes determining the particular parameter and automatically adjusting the weather radar system to display the weather in response to the parameter. The system can be implemented in hardware and/or software and can advantageously predict and identify weather and/or weather hazards more precisely.
US08203478B1
A distributed and coordinated electronic warfare system is disclosed, which comprises a plurality of autonomous, geographically-distributed, mobile units (e.g., soldiers, vehicles, etc.), each of which carries an electronic warfare module. Each electronic warfare module comprises: a telecommunications transceiver for enabling the electronic warfare modules and their users to communicate with each other, and a threat-detection receiver for detecting potentially hostile radio signals, such as those that are used to detonate IEDs; and a jamming transmitter for transmitting sequences of electromagnetic pulses to interfere with potentially hostile radio signals, and an electronic warfare controller for coordinating the efforts of the electronic warfare modules.
US08203477B2
In one embodiment, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) includes a comparator and a supply circuit. The comparator is configured to compare an input signal to a reference signal. The supply circuit is configured to supply the reference signal. The supply circuit is configured to provide different circuit configurations for supplying the reference signal during different stages of analog-to-digital conversion such that the reference signal is scaled in substantially a same manner during at least two of the stages.
US08203474B2
In each stage, a digital signal corresponding to a portion of bits is generated from an input analog signal, an analog reference signal is generated by a DA conversion portion (7, 8) based on the digital signal, and a remainder operation on the input analog signal is performed by a remainder operation portion (9). A test can be performed by supplying a test signal in place of the input analog signal. A control portion (14a) performs control, in a test mode, to stop supply of the input analog signal to the remainder operation portion and stop the reference voltage selection of the DA conversion portion based on the digital signal, while performing reference voltage selection based on a DA conversion control signal for use in testing, thereby supplying the remainder operation portion with the test signal composed of predetermined one of the reference voltages, in place of the input analog signal, and the analog reference signal. A test signal can be input with a small-scale configuration, without providing a test signal line separately from a line used for normal operation.
US08203472B2
Processes and systems for use in reducing clock jitter-induced error, obtain a first sample during each cycle of a periodic analog reference signal. The sample includes an error resulting at least in part from jitter-induced timing error of the clock signal. For each respective cycle, a second sample of a discrete-time analog representation of the periodic analog reference signal is also obtained. The second sample is substantially unsusceptible to jitter-induced timing error of the clock signal. Each of the first and second samples corresponds to the same respective cycle of the clock signal. For each cycle, a respective difference between each of the first and second samples is determined. The difference is indicative of timing error of the respective cycle of the clock signal. The difference is converted to a digital representation that can be used to compensate for jitter-induced error.
US08203469B2
A signal encoding apparatus and method of a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader capable of removing a high frequency component without using a digital filter, and performing Manchester encoding by using two symbols. The signal encoding apparatus of the RFID reader including an encoding unit that stores a first symbol and a second symbol; transmits the first symbol if data received after an initial state is zero (0), and returns to the initial state; delays for a given time period if the data received after the initial state is one (1); transmits the second symbol if data received after the delayed given time period is zero (0), and returns to the initial state; and transmits the first symbol if the data received after the delayed given time period is one (1), and stands by.
US08203467B2
Provided are an apparatus, method, and medium for expanding the number of input channels, more particularly, an apparatus and method for expanding the number of input channels, which can expand the number of input channels using a limited number of input code values. The apparatus includes a first input unit, a second input unit, and a control unit. The first input unit has a plurality of buttons arranged therein, the buttons each being assigned a predetermined input code value. The second input unit is formed on one side of the first input unit and has a plurality of buttons arranged therein, the buttons each being assigned a predetermined input code value and each being formed to be adjacent to neighboring buttons of the first input unit. The control unit performs predetermined functions depending on a combination of buttons manipulated in the first input unit and the second input unit.
US08203465B2
A method for filtering and presenting relevant aircraft traffic to a pilot may include determining a location and altitude of aircraft within a predetermined airspace relative to the pilot's own aircraft. The method may also include presenting a representation of the pilot's own aircraft and a representation of the location of each of the aircraft within the predetermined airspace in relation to the pilot's own aircraft on a display to the pilot. The method may additionally include filtering relevant aircraft within a selected filtering airspace relative to the pilot's own aircraft. The method may further include presenting the representation of the relevant aircraft within the selected filtering airspace in a selected format to distinguish the relevant aircraft within the selected filtering airspace from any other aircraft that may be presented in the display.
US08203453B2
A dual communication fob assembly provided with an attachment area for a ring or a chain and including in combination: an insert including a first contactless communication device; and a base with a pocket in the base for holding at least a part of the insert when inserted therein, and being provided with a second contactless communication device which is electrically separate from the first contactless communication device.
US08203443B2
A vision system for a vehicle includes a first imaging sensor having a first forward field of view and a second imaging sensor spaced from the first imaging sensor and having a second forward field of view, which at least partially overlaps with the first forward field of view. A control processes image data captured by at least one of the first and second imaging sensors to determine an object present in the first and/or second forward fields of view. The control is operable to modulate a headlamp of the vehicle responsive to the processing of image data captured by the at least one of the first and second imaging sensors. The control may process image data captured by both of the imaging sensors to determine a distance between the equipped vehicle and an object present in the overlap of the first and second forward fields of view.
US08203439B1
A patient and room status display device used to provide effective communication in healthcare environments. The display device uses a RGB (Red, Green and Blue) LED (Light Emitting Diode) to illuminate a dome light with any color, thus providing signals to healthcare workers representing different patient or room statuses. The display device can be operated through an external web-based interface, a nurse call master station or at least one user controlled actuator located on the display device. Each display device is mounted outside of every patient's room to provide multiple status signals for every patient in the hospital wing.
US08203432B2
A method of inventorying data carriers (2) by means of a communication station, whereby the communication station and each data carrier (2) are brought into communicative connection, and each data carrier (2) brought into communicative connection with the communication station is capable of generating a response signal (IDS) that renders possible an inventorying of the data carrier and is capable of delivering a generated response signal (IDS) with the use of a transmission start moment that can be selected from a plurality of transmission start moments (t5, t6), each data carrier tests whether another data carrier (2) is already giving its response signal (IDS). Each data carrier (2) subsequently discontinues the generation or delivery of its response signal (IDS) if another data carrier (2) is already providing its response signal (IDS).
US08203430B2
An RFID communication system comprises an NFC device (11) and a smart card (2) with contactless card functionality, wherein the NFC device (11) and the smart card (2) are couplable to each other via a protocol converter (7), wherein the NFC device (11) is coupled to an antenna (3) to receive electromagnetic signals (ES) from an RFID reader/writer and to transmit response signals (RS) to the RFID reader/writer by modulating received electromagnetic signals (ES). The electromagnetic signals (ES) contain first and second characteristic components (FE, RE) which define the begin and the end of a predefined signal pattern (PA), wherein the second characteristic component triggers a predefined response delay time (FDT) at the expiration of which the RFID communication system has to respond to the RFID reader/writer. A device (12) for compensating signal delays is provided that comprises signal pattern shortening means (13).
US08203423B2
Portable devices, methods, and systems for controlling access to computers and other secure systems such as systems protecting secure premises, by processing data supplied by the individual seeking access to the system and data supplied by the system to which the prospective user seeks access, to determine whether access by the individual is to be authorized or enabled. In one embodiment the invention provides a device for providing a code that may be used to access a system such as a computer or security system. The device comprises an output device and at least one processor. The processor processes data representing a biometric characteristic of a prospective user of the system and a signal provided by the system, and, depending upon a result of the processing, provides to the output device a code that may be used to access the system.
US08203415B2
A bobbin structure is disclosed. The bobbin structure comprises plural modular bobbin members each connected with each other. Each modular bobbin member comprises a perforation channel, a first baffle disposed on one end of the perforation channel and placed perpendicularly to the perforation channel, and a second baffle disposed on the other end of the perforation channel and placed oppositely to the first baffle. The first baffle has a first connecting member, and the second baffle has a second connecting member. A first winding slot is disposed between the first baffle and the second baffle. The bobbin structure is formed by the engagement between the first connecting member of one modular bobbin member and the second connecting member of another connected one, wherein a second winding slot is formed between two connected modular bobbin members.
US08203411B2
The invention comprises a potted inductor, where a solid potting material substantially contacting the inductor enhances cooling of the inductor. The inductor comprises an annular core composed of a distributed gap material, where the distributed gap material includes sub-millimeter particles of alternating magnetic and non-magnetic layers separated by gaps. The potting material includes a urethane, resin, epoxy, or the like combined with a lower thermal impedance additive, such as a silica sand or an aluminum oxide. Optionally, one or more cooling lines direct a circulating coolant flow through the potting material, around the inductor, and/or through the inductor.
US08203409B2
An iron core reactor includes reactor active parts. The reactor active parts include two or more separate reactor active parts. The coils in the respective active parts are connected in series or in parallel. The respective active parts are placed in a same reactor oil tank.
US08203404B2
A vehicle power system includes an electrical power source, an electrical bus, and a contactor electrically connected with the electrical power source and electrical bus. The contactor includes first and second poles, dual plungers each operatively associated with one of the first and second poles, and an electromagnetic coil configured to cause at least one of the dual plungers to move if the coil is energized.
US08203401B2
A strip line filter includes a substantially rectangular plate-like shaped dielectric substrate. A ground electrode is arranged on a bottom surface of the substrate. A first resonant line and a second resonant line face the ground electrode through the substrate. Input/output electrodes are connected to the corresponding resonant lines. The first resonant line includes a first top-surface line, a connection line, and a second top-surface line. The first top-surface line is arranged on the top surface of the substrate and extends so as to pass a portion adjacent to a portion, on the left side, of a third top-surface line. The connection line and the second top-surface line are branched from the first top-surface line and pass a portion adjacent to a portion, on the right side, of the third top-surface line.
US08203384B1
An amplifier has first and second differential outputs connected to first and second ends of one side of a balun. A second side of the balun, inductively coupled to the first side of the balun, has a center tap that is electrically coupled to a conductive path to a power supply reference node for the amplifier.
US08203381B2
A voltage output device which is capable of preventing an increase in circuit scale and includes an offset compensation function that is suitably applicable in particular to a drive circuit for display devices such as liquid crystal display panels. The voltage output device includes an operational amplifier which has an inverting input terminal and a non-inverting input terminal. Resistance values of a load resistor on the inverting input side and a load resistor on the non-inverting input side are maintained when the output voltage of the amplifier has changed while sequentially varying either one or both of the resistance values of the load resistor on the inverting input side and the load resistor on the non-inverting input side in a state that the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal are connected. The voltage output device is configured to output the output voltage of the amplifier with the inverting input terminal not connected to the non-inverting input terminal.
US08203378B2
Provided is a boosting circuit which avoids a malfunction of a peripheral circuit to be connected to the boosting circuit. The boosting circuit includes: a first discharge circuit for discharging a voltage of a first output terminal when a boosting unit stops a boosting operation; and a second discharge circuit for discharging a voltage of a second output terminal. The second discharge circuit discharges the voltage of the second output terminal to a potential of the first output terminal when a difference voltage between the voltage of the second output terminal and the voltage of the first output terminal is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage.
US08203377B2
A DC-coupled two-stage gate driver circuit for driving a junction field effect transistor (JFET) is provided. The JFET can be a wide bandgap junction field effect transistor (JFET) such as a SiC JFET. The driver includes a first turn-on circuit, a second turn-on circuit and a pull-down circuit. The driver is configured to accept an input pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal and generate an output driver signal for driving the gate of the JFET.
US08203371B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a first node through which an input signal passes and an adjustment block including at least one delay unit electrically connected to the first node. The semiconductor integrated circuit also includes a correction block configured to generate a control signal which controls whether to activate a delay unit.
US08203363B2
A frequency detection apparatus and method are provided. The frequency detection apparatus includes a frequency conversion circuit and an analog conversion circuit. The frequency conversion circuit receives an input clock, and generates an analog signal corresponding to a frequency of the input clock based on the frequency of the input clock. The analog conversion circuit is coupled to the frequency conversion circuit, receives the analog signal, and generates a discriminating signal corresponding to the frequency of the input clock based on the analog signal, where the discriminating signal represents a frequency interval of the input clock.
US08203360B2
A semiconductor integrated circuit capable of reducing unnecessary current consumption includes a plurality of bus drive circuits for receiving data input, a common bus coupled to the bus drive circuits, and a bus holder coupled to the common bus. One of the bus drive circuits is selected as the selected bus drive circuit. When a logical value corresponding to the data input to be output is the same as a logical value that has been held by the bus holder and output to the common bus, the selected bus drive circuit stops outputting the logical value corresponding to the data input to the common bus. With this configuration, it is possible to eliminate the unnecessary output of the selected bus drive circuit, and to reduce unnecessary current consumption compared to the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit.
US08203340B2
In a magnetic resonance method and apparatus for generating perfusion images, a perfusion series of magnetic resonance perfusion images is acquired that includes tag images and at least one control image, that are grouped in pairs. From each pair an initially processed perfusion image is obtained, such as by subtraction. Each initially processed image is subjected to a quality control review by analysis with respect to at least one image quality criterion. Any initially processed image that does not satisfy the quality criterion is rejected. Only initially processed images that satisfy the quality criterion are combined to form a resultant magnetic resonance perfusion image. Artifacts in the resultant perfusion image are thereby reduced or avoided.
US08203334B2
A magnetically spirally encoded shaft and magnetic field detecting system includes first, second, third and fourth magnetically encoded bands spirally encircling a circumference of the shaft. Each band includes first magnetically encoded regions having a first magnetic polarity alternating with second magnetically encoded regions having a second magnetic polarity. Dead zones are defined in each band between successive first and second magnetically encoded regions. The shaft is for use with a first fixed magnetic field sensor for detecting magnetic fields in the force-sensitive regions, wherein one or more of rotational speed, shaft rotational position, bending forces, torque forces, stress forces and strain forces can be determined responsive to detected magnetic fields.
US08203331B2
A non-contact sensor system is provided that comprises a first sensor element disposed on a stationary member, and a second sensor element disposed on a rotational member. The second sensor element is proximate the first sensor element without physically contacting the first sensor element. The rotational member is configured to facilitate selection of at least a first position and a second position, and the first sensor element and the second sensor element are operatively coupled to facilitate sensing of the selected position.
US08203325B2
Activation systems and methods initiate High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) communication between an HDMI source and an HDMI sink through an HDMI receptacle of the source. These systems and methods are especially suited for use with mobile sources that generally operate from a battery that cannot provide the +5V signal which the HDMI protocol requires sources to place on the +5V pin of their HDMI receptacles. These systems and methods automatically detect the insertion of an HDMI cable into the source's HDMI receptacle and subsequently generate and apply the required +5V signal to the +5V pin of the source's HDMI receptacle to initiate HDMI communication. Because they are directed to use in mobile sources, the embodiments are configured to minimize current drain.
US08203322B2
A small and efficient DC-DC converter is provided. In this DC-DC converter, passive elements such as an inductor and a capacitor can be reduced in size by reducing switching loss by a soft switching technology and increasing the drive frequency of a switching element. The DC-DC converter has a main switching element, a main diode and an auxiliary circuit that discharges the electric charges of the capacitance between the ends of the main switching element. The DC-DC converter includes an auxiliary inductor magnetically coupled with the main inductor, an auxiliary switching element that stores energy in the auxiliary inductor, and an auxiliary diode that discharges energy stored in the auxiliary inductor to the direct-current power source or the output side. The auxiliary inductor is coupled with the main inductor in the direction in which backward voltage is applied to the auxiliary diode when the main inductor discharges energy.
US08203321B2
A DrMOS combines a high side power MOSFET, a low side power MOSFET and a driver circuit for driving the power MOSFETs with current balance and thermal balance mechanism and variable phase control circuit on a single chip.
US08203320B2
A switch mode converter converts an input DC voltage applied at one level at the converter input to an output DC voltage at a second level at the converter output. A switch is arranged to switch the input DC voltage on and off during each cycle of a plurality of cycles. An energy storage unit temporarily stores energy from the input source voltage when the switch is on, and releases energy when the switch is off during each cycle. Input energy stored is equal to the energy released with each cycle and achieves equilibrium when the converter is operating into normal loads. A reset mechanism provides additional reset voltage during each cycle to achieve equilibrium when the converter is operating in a fault condition.
US08203317B2
A method for controlling an output voltage of generator arrangement includes generating a controlled field current for a field winding dependent on the output voltage and dependent on at least one control parameter that depends on a rotational speed of the generator. The method also includes decreasing a rate of change of the controlled field current with respect to an output voltage change if the rotational speed decrease.
US08203310B2
An energy storage module for use in an electric vehicle, such as a lift truck, is disclosed. The energy storage module includes a bank of super capacitors or ultra-capacitors which are connected between the battery and the load. In operation, the energy storage module charges the capacitors, and uses the charged capacitors to level the load on the battery, limiting spikes in current draw, and assuring a substantially smooth discharge profile, wherein the battery discharge is substantially steady state. The energy storage module further includes sensors for determining when the battery and load are connected.
US08203305B1
Enhanced voltage-based fuel gauges and methods that increase the accuracy of voltage-based fuel gauges and allow the use of voltage-based fuel gauges to detect current, and particularly excessive current from a battery without the use of a sense resistor. When used with a coulomb counter, the outputs of a voltage-based fuel gauge and a coulomb counter may be combined in a manner that allows the combination to provide better performance that either alone may provide. Various embodiments and methods of operation are disclosed.
