US09247685B2
A pick-and-place machine and method includes use of a passive component feeder cartridge including a feeder gear. Rotation of the feeder gear causes a component-bearing tape to be fed through the feeder cartridge. A pickup head includes a vacuum nozzle to pick up the components from the tape and a rack gear to engage and drive the feeder gear of the feeder cartridge via translational motion of the pickup head when operatively disposed with respect to a selected feeder cartridge.
US09247679B2
Jet impingement assemblies and power electronics devices incorporating jet impingement assemblies are described. The jet impingement assemblies include a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a manifold, and a heat distribution member. The manifold includes a distribution side in fluid communication with the fluid inlet, a collection side in fluid communication with the fluid outlet, a plurality of orifices extending from the distribution side to the collection side, and a return channel extending from the collection side to the distribution side. The heat distribution member is positioned proximate to the collection side of the manifold.
US09247675B2
A power converter includes an inverter in an inverter case, and a DC/DC converter in a converter case detachably fixed to the inverter case. The inverter includes power semiconductor modules, and the DC/DC converter includes a down-converter circuit and/or a boost converter circuit. The inverter case includes first and second path-forming members thermally contacting the converter case. In the first path-forming member, the power semiconductor module is inserted into a first coolant path. In the second path-forming member, the power semiconductor module inserted into the second coolant path, which is parallel to the first coolant path. The DC/DC converter includes an inductance device, and a switching device board on which a switching device con rolling electric current in the inductance device is mounted. The inductance and switching devices are in an area of the converter case thermally contacting first and second path forming members.
US09247671B2
A method and arrangement are provided for reducing the amount of condensed moisture inside an enclosure which encloses at least one piece of electrical equipment which is configured to receive electric power from outside the enclosure in a first electrical magnitude range (0 . . . maxinput) and to feed electric power to outside the enclosure in a second electrical magnitude range (minoutput . . . maxoutput). Electric power received on at least one portion (a, b, c) of the first electrical magnitude range (0 . . . maxinput) being outside the second electrical magnitude range (minoutput . . . maxoutput) is utilized for heating the condensed moisture for exhaustion thereof.
US09247658B2
A latchable enclosure in the form of a box having a base, four sidewalls, and an open top face which may be closed by a cover plate or lid over its open top for covering components stored in the enclosure. The enclosure may be stiffened by providing a removable or permanent stiffening ring around the inside surface of the open top. This stiffening ring may also provide locations for attachment of components or mounting tracks. The enclosure may also include vertical mounting stiffeners that act to further increase the stiffness of the enclosure while also acting as mounting tracks for direct or indirect (through separate mounting brackets) attachment of components. The vertical mounting stiffeners may include a plurality of holes for said attachment.
US09247652B2
There are provided are an adhesive composition that keeps storage stability and further gives a cured product wherein metallic bonds are formed in the state that the cured product wets its components and is satisfactorily spread between the components (or parts), thereby turning excellent in adhesive property, electroconductivity, and reliability for mounting such as TCT resistance or high-temperature standing resistance; an electronic-component-mounted substrate using the same; and a semiconductor device. The adhesive composition comprises electroconductive particles (A) and a binder component (B), wherein the electroconductive particles (A) include a metal (a1) having a melting point equal to or higher than the reflow temperature and containing no lead, and a metal (a2) having a melting point lower than the reflow temperature and containing no lead, and the binder component (B) includes a thermosetting resin composition (b1) and an aliphatic dihydroxycarboxylic acid (b2).
US09247650B2
A method for making conductive wires is provided. Firstly, an ink having carbon nanotubes is provided. Secondly, a baseline is formed using the ink on a substrate. Thirdly, the baseline is electroless plated.
US09247645B2
Provided is a dielectric material having a non-halogenated diaminodiphenylsulfone curing agent.
US09247644B2
A wiring substrate includes an insulating layer, a pad, and a solder resist layer. The insulating layer has a first surface formed with a first recess portion. The pad is embedded in the first recess portion. The pad includes a second surface and a third surface. The third surface that is located at a lower position than the first surface so as to expose an inner wall surface of the first recess portion. The pad is formed with a second recess portion in a center portion of the third surface. The solder resist layer is provided on the first surface. An adjacent portion of the first surface to a peripheral portion of the first recess portion is smaller in roughness than a region of the first surface peripheral to the adjacent portion of the first surface.
US09247643B2
The smart card (98A) comprises an external connector (90), which is formed of an insulating support (6) and a plurality of external metal contact pads (4) arranged on the external face of said insulating support. The card body has a housing in which the external connector is arranged and includes an electronic unit and/or an antenna electrically connected to a plurality of internal metal contact pads (20), which are arranged underneath the external connector and respectively aligned with the plurality of external metal contact pads. The plurality of external metal contact pads are respectively electrically connected to the plurality of internal metal contact pads by a plurality of metal parts (100), which are each at least partially formed by a solder material and which traverse said insulating support through respective apertures (92). This plurality of metal parts is respectively covered by the plurality of external metal contact pads, which close the apertures on the external face of the insulating support, and respectively form connecting bridges between the rear surfaces of the plurality of external metal contact pads and the plurality of internal metal contact pads.
US09247641B2
A substrate with a transparent conductive layer (1) of the present invention includes a substrate (11) and a transparent conductive layer (12) disposed on the substrate (11). The transparent conductive layer (12) has a conductive region (13) and a non-conductive region (14). The conductive region (13) contains conductive fine particles (121) and a resin matrix (122). The non-conductive region (14) contains conductive fine particles (123) and the resin matrix (122). A haze value in the non-conductive region (14) is larger than a haze value in the conductive region (13).
US09247633B2
A drive circuit is laminated via a high exothermic element disposed on a power circuit, and it is configured so that the average thermal expansion coefficient of the side of the power circuit of the drive circuit board may be larger than the average thermal expansion coefficient of the side opposite to the power circuit. Thereby, the drive circuit board will be curved in the same direction as the power circuit board when the power circuit board is curved due to heat generation from the high exothermic element accompanying the operation of the module. Thereby, in a high-capacity module, while attaining reduction in size and weight, reduction in surge, and reduction in a loss, poor junction between the high exothermic element of the power circuit and the drive circuit board can be suppressed and heat generating from the high exothermic element can be more effectively released.
US09247629B2
An apparatus includes an electromagnetic waveguide; an iris structure providing an iris in the waveguide. The iris structure may define an iris hole, a first iris slot at a first side of the iris hole, and a second iris slot at a second side of the iris hole. A plasma torch is disposed within the iris hole. An electric field in the waveguide changes direction from the first iris slot to the second iris slot. The plasma torch generates a plasma which is substantially symmetrical around a longitudinal axis of the plasma torch, such that the plasma may have a substantially toroidal shape. In some embodiments, a dielectric material is disposed in the iris hole, outside of the plasma torch. In some embodiments, the height of at least one of the iris slots is greater at the ends thereof than in the middle.
US09247626B2
A light emitting module testing apparatus includes a sensing unit and a controller. The sensing unit includes a photodiode array sensing light emitted from a light emitting module serving as a test object. The controller generates luminance information based on light sensed by the sensing unit, and sets an operating condition of the light emitting module serving as the test object by comparing the generated luminance information with a pre-set reference range. The light emitting module testing apparatus thereby senses luminance of light emitted from the light emitting module serving as a test object, and sets the operating condition of the light emitting module to have an appropriate luminance.
US09247617B2
The invention proposes a method for operating an actively clocked PFC circuit (2) having a directly or indirectly connected load circuit (5) at the output of the PFC circuit (2), wherein the load circuit (5) has at least one luminous means, in particular one or more LEDs (4), wherein the PFC circuit (2) is controlled by a PFC controller (30) in such a manner that the PFC controller (30) determines a control parameter, in particular a switched-on time period (ton), for the clocking of the PFC circuit (2) on the basis of at least one first controller setting (RE_fast) and one second controller setting (RE_slow), wherein the time of a change from the first controller setting (RE_fast) to the second controller setting (RE_slow) is dependent on the directly or indirectly determined average value of the control parameter, in particular the switched-on time period (ton).
US09247615B2
A display panel includes a substrate, a plurality of first signal lines, a plurality of second signal lines, a plurality of pixel units, a plurality of transmitting lines, and a driving chip. The transmitting lines are disposed on the substrate and electrically connected to the second signal lines. The driving chip includes a plurality of first pins, a plurality of second pins, and a driving circuit. The first pins are electrically connected to the first signal lines, and the second pins are electrically connected to the transmitting lines. The first pins and the second pins are disposed alternately and evenly, such that the first signal lines and the transmitting lines do not intersect each other. The transmitting lines are disposed on the substrate evenly.
US09247614B2
An organic light-emitting display device including a first organic light-emitting device including a first pixel electrode, a first organic emission layer (EML) for emitting white light, and an opposite electrode; a first color filter between an insulating layer and the first pixel electrode, and transmitting blue light; a second organic light-emitting device including a second pixel electrode, the first organic EML for emitting white light, and the opposite electrode; a second color filter between the insulating layer and the second pixel electrode, and transmitting green light; a third organic light-emitting device including a third pixel electrode, a second organic EML for emitting a mixture light including a red color and a blue color, and the opposite electrode; and a third color filter between the insulating layer and the third pixel electrode, and including a first region for transmitting red light and a second region for transmitting the mixture light.
US09247609B2
A method and an apparatus for control a flash in a mobile terminal. In the method, a current use state of the mobile terminal is detected. A use amount of a current of the flash is controlled depending on the current use state. The flash is allowed to emit light depending on the controlled amount of the current.
US09247603B2
A light emitting diode lighting assembly that receives an electrical excitation signal that is varied from a dimming device. Driving circuitry receives the varying input and has first and second paths that each have a plurality of light emitting diodes. Each plurality of light emitting diodes has a threshold voltage with the threshold voltage of the first plurality of diodes being less than the threshold voltage of the second plurality of lighting emitting diodes. The current within the first path is controlled by a current limiting device that is controlled by a resistor that receives input from the second path to gradually turn off the first plurality of light emitting diodes as the second plurality of lighting emitting diodes increase in intensity. A shunt voltage regulator within the circuit having a threshold voltage that is above threshold voltages of components in the assembly to minimize voltage increases in the assembly.
US09247602B2
An LED lamp is used being connected to an external switch for performing an ON-OFF operation. The LED lamp, when causing a light emitting module to emit light in a first lighting mode, controls a power supply circuit to cause the light emitting module to emit light at a first brightness for a predetermined time period from when a timer circuit is activated, and to cause the light emitting module to emit light at a second brightness lower than the first brightness, after passage of the predetermined time period. The LED lamp, when causing the light emitting module to emit light in a second lighting mode, controls the power supply circuit to cause the light emitting module to continue to emit light at the first brightness irrespective of a state of the timer circuit.
US09247594B2
A LAM/ICM assembly comprises an integrated control module (ICM) and an LED array member (LAM). In a first aspect, active circuitry is embedded in the ICM. The circuitry monitors LED operation, controls and supplies power to the LEDs, and communicates information into and out of the assembly. A thermal insulator is disposed between the ICM and a heat sink outside the lateral boundary of the LAM. In a second aspect, a lighting system comprises an AC-to-DC converter and a LAM/ICM assembly. The AC-to-DC converter outputs a substantially constant current or voltage. The magnitude of the current or voltage is adjusted by a signal output from the LAM/ICM. In a third aspect, the ICM includes a built-in switching DC-to-DC converter. An AC-to-DC power supply supplies a roughly regulated supply voltage. The switching converter within the LAM/ICM receives the roughly regulated voltage and supplies a regulated LED drive current to its LEDs.
US09247587B2
The present invention relates to a heating element including a transparent substrate, a bus bar, a power supply connected to the bus bar, a heat emitting pattern line provided on the transparent substrate and electrically connected to the bus bar, and a non-heat emitting pattern line provided on the transparent substrate and not electrically connected to the bus bar, and a method for manufacturing the same.
US09247586B2
A melting and/or refining unit for conductively heatable melts, in particular glass melts, is provided. The melting and/or refining unit has a tank and at least one electrode. The electrode passes through an opening in a wall of the tank so as to be immersed in the conductively heatable melt. The melting and/or refining unit has an apparatus for reducing the local introduction of heating power into at least one region adjacent to the electrode.
US09247580B2
The invention provides a set of mechanisms by which a wireless mobile mesh node equipped with a directional antenna may self form and self adapt its steady-state communications schedule. A link establishment handshake is carried out over an ongoing subtemplate-based discovery scan. During time not reserved for steady-state communications with previously discovered neighbors, nodes continue to search for an establish links with new neighbors. Initial and subsequent bandwidth allocation protocols may be utilized to allow peer nodes to coordinate communication opportunities between the peer nodes without impacting or having knowledge about reservations for communications with other peers. The link establishment and initial bandwidth allocation protocols may be piggy-backed for readily establishing an initial steady-state schedule with a peer upon link establishment without impact on previous steady state reservations by other nodes or on ongoing link establishment attempts elsewhere.
US09247579B1
In generating a data unit for transmission via a communication channel, a preamble of the data unit is generated, including i) generating a set of training fields, and ii) mapping each training field in the set of training fields to a plurality of space-time streams. When the set of training fields consist of four training fields, each training field in the set of training fields is mapped to four space-time streams according to a first space-time stream mapping matrix. When the set of training fields consists of six training fields, each training field in the set of training fields is mapped to six space-time streams according to a second space-time stream mapping matrix, wherein the first space-time stream mapping matrix is not a submatrix of the second space-time stream mapping matrix. A data portion of the data unit is generated so that a receiver device can receive the data portion via a corresponding number of space-time streams using channel information derived from the set of training fields.
US09247577B2
In the present invention, a method for a user equipment transmitting/receiving a message with a network in a wireless communication system is disclosed. More particularly, the method comprises the following steps: transmitting to the network a connection request message including a first indicator; receiving from the network a connection setting message including a second indicator, as a reply to the connection request message; receiving the connection setting message and then transmitting to the network a broadcast-related message; and transmitting the broadcast-related message and then disconnecting with the network based on the second indicator.
US09247574B2
A method for implementing communication includes: determining an operating system corresponding to a current time slice, the determined operating system supporting a communication network standard; determining a memory partition; running the determined operating system based on the determined memory partition and driving a Digital Signal Processor, a signal processing module supporting the communication network standard and a Radio Frequency signal transceiver based on a hardware driving program included in a system program of the determined operating system; controlling the signal processing module to read authentication information of the terminal and controlling the Digital Signal Processor to encapsulate, based on a communication protocol, the authentication information of the terminal to generate a communication network signal; and controlling the Radio Frequency signal transceiver to convert the communication network signal into a Radio Frequency signal and send the Radio Frequency signal to a communication network.
US09247572B2
In one example a base station for an electronic device comprises a charging station, an audio interface, logic, at least partially including hardware logic, configured to detect a first electronic device within a geographic region proximate the charging device, and in response to detecting the first electronic device 100, to establish a communication link with the first electronic device via a wireless communication channel, activate the audio interface to receive audio input. Other examples may be described.
US09247569B2
A method of managing peer-to-peer communications between electronic devices is described. The method may include establishing an address for a plurality of network media types that a protocol stack is able to access, the address being configured as an endpoint on a first electronic device to which a second electronic device may connect to and connecting through the established address of the second electronic device supporting the same network medium. The method may further include determining which endpoint to use to establish a connection between two devices.
US09247566B2
A method for guaranteeing a data frame transmit opportunity in a wireless LAN system having three different transmission modes includes: setting a first transmission protection interval based on a lowest transmission mode, when a node of a mode having a lowest transmission rate among the three transmission modes exists in the wireless LAN system, aggregating a data frame to be transmitted within time of the set transmission protection interval, and transmitting the data frame; and setting a second transmission protection interval based on a mode having a highest transmission rate, when only nodes of a mode having a highest transmission rate among the three transmission modes exist, aggregating a data frame to be transmitted within time of the set transmission protection interval, and transmitting the data frame.
US09247558B2
A network device including a first communication module and a second communication module. The first communication module is configured to, in accordance with a first wireless protocol, receive first data during a first time period and transmit second data during a second time period. The second communication module configured to, in accordance with a second wireless protocol, receive a plurality of packets during the first time period; not transmit an acknowledgement during the first time period for each packet of the plurality of packets in response to receiving each packet of the plurality of packets; and subsequent to receiving all of the plurality of packets, transmit a single acknowledgement during the second time period to indicate receipt of all of the plurality of packets.
US09247550B2
A method and an apparatus perform radio resource allocation. The radio resource allocation method includes receiving channel quality information from a UE, and allocating radio resources on the basis of the received channel quality information and a characteristic of at least one service to be provided to the UE. Accordingly, the radio resource allocation method can assure QoS, and enhance resource-use efficiency.
US09247549B2
Provided is an apparatus for super high frequency (SHF)/extremely high frequency (EHF) band wireless transmission on a multi-level configuration. The apparatus may include a list managing unit to receive and manage a first list associated with an SHF/EHF band signal from a terminal connected to a wireless network, a path finding unit to select a path having a communication quality value greater than or equal to a first threshold value by referring to the first list, and a scheduling unit to schedule available SHF/EHF band radio resources for the selected path.
US09247531B2
To effectively and efficiently provide control information, a broadcast pointer channel (BPCH) may be used to identify the type and perhaps relative location of control information that is being provided in a given frame structure, such as a sub-frame, frame, or superframe. A sub-frame (or like framing entity, such a frame or superframe) may have a BPCH and a corresponding system control information segment in which control information may reside. The system control information segment may have any number of control information blocks, wherein each control information block that is present may correspond to a particular type of control information. The BPCH is used to identify the type of control information that is present in a corresponding system control information segment, and if needed or desired, the relative locations of the various control information.
US09247529B2
Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses and methods of managing signaling radio bearer (SRB) transmissions. In one aspect, the apparatuses and methods are configured to generate a SRB packet comprising signaling information, wherein the SRB packet is configured to be transmitted on a channel according to a scheduling serving grant, determine whether the SRB packet is unable to be transmitted based on resources allocated by the received scheduling serving grant, override the received scheduling serving grant in response to determining that the SRB packet is unable to be transmitted, and transmit at least a part of the SRB packet on the channel. In another aspect, a scheduling information message to indicate whether an additional scheduling severing grant is needed is transmitted on the channel along with at least the part of the SRB packet.
US09247527B2
Disclosed is a method including communicating, by a mobile device, with a base station via first and second component carriers having different frequency bands and time division duplexing (TDD) configurations. The method may include receiving one or more downlink transmissions via the second component carrier. The method may include selecting a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) timing sequence based on the TDD configurations of the first and second component carriers. The method may include transmitting one or more positive acknowledgment and/or negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) signals, associated with the one or more downlink transmissions, according to the selected HARQ timing sequence. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US09247522B1
A computer-implemented method and computing system for identifying, using one or more computing devices, an appointment scheduled for at least one user. Some embodiments may include determining, using the one or more computing devices, a present location for the at least one user and generating, using the one or more computing devices, a reminder for the appointment based upon, at least in part, the present location.
US09247521B2
A system that uses historical position information accumulated in an apparatus to determine whether locations and/or routes may be classified as significant. A classification of a location or route as significant may be utilized in configuring localization in the apparatus. Localization configuration may include, for example, setting a type technology utilized in determining apparatus position.
US09247520B2
Amenity service point data is stored, where the amenity service point data specifies, for a plurality of amenities in a venue, a respective plurality of different geographic points at which the amenities are located within the venue. Locations of a plurality of mobile computing devices that are within the venue are determined. For each particular amenity among the plurality of amenities, a crowdedness level of the particular amenity is determined based in part on the locations of the plurality of mobile computing devices relative to the geographic point corresponding to the particular amenity. A request to view information relating to a certain amenity is received. Particular information relating to the certain amenity, where the information includes an indication of the crowdedness level of the certain amenity is caused to display. The crowdedness level of the certain amenity is periodically re-determined during duration of an event at the venue.
US09247512B2
Systems and methods are presented that offer significant improvements in the performance of time division duplex (TDD) systems by utilizing an adaptive synchronous protocol. Conventional TDD systems are limited because data is transmitted during discreet and limited intervals of time, and because TDD transceivers may not simultaneously transmit and receive for reasons of insufficiently separated frequencies and limited receiver selectivity. Typically, TDD systems have significant latency due to the time to change from transmission to reception and the propagation delay time. By synchronizing the master nodes and the one or more remotes and by scheduling the traffic loads between these nodes, remote nodes may begin transmitting before the master node is finished with its transmission, and vice versa. This method reduces latency and improves the frame efficiency. Further, the frame efficiency may improve as the distance from the master node to the remote node increases.
US09247511B2
In a wireless network, a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal are sent at a predetermined bandwidth in a transmission. The predetermined bandwidth is a lowest operating bandwidth of the wireless network. Data is also sent in the transmission using an operating bandwidth greater than the lowest operating bandwidth.
US09247500B2
A power control apparatus for controlling power consumption in customer premises equipment (CPE) for use in a content and data distribution network includes a detector, operative to determine an operational status of a connection between the CPE and a headend in the content and data distribution network, and a controller coupled with the detector. The controller is operative to place the CPE in a first mode of operation when the operational status is indicative of a loss of connectivity between the CPE and the headend. The apparatus further includes switching circuitry coupled with the controller. The switching circuitry is operative in the first mode to disable power to at least a portion of a first subset of functional modules in the CPE, to thereby reduce power consumption in the CPE.
US09247488B2
A wireless access point search device improved in a manner of storing search results. A wireless LAN interface searches for a wireless access point. A result receiving section stores an access point information item on the wireless access point found by the wireless LAN interface. When the sum of the number of access point information items stored in the result receiving section and the number of new wireless access point items on respective new wireless access points found by the wireless LAN interface is larger than a predetermined value, a panel controller determines, whether or not to store a new access point information item on each new wireless access point in the result receiving section, based on radio field intensity of the new wireless access point.
US09247487B2
A wireless network system and a method of transmitting or receiving data over a wireless network capable of limiting transmission or reception of request packets by stations existing on the wireless network, where directional communication is performed in a high-frequency bandwidth, while a wireless network coordinator is being changed or while the wireless network coordinator is in a busy state. The wireless network coordinator includes a frame generation unit which generates a beacon frame for forming a superframe; a management unit which determines a state of a network and a wireless network station on the network, and inserts a result of the determination in the beacon frame; and a communication unit which transmits the beacon frame.
US09247485B2
A mobile communication system includes a control device and a base station device. Data communication between the control device and the base station device is conducted using a fixed-length data size and a variable-length data size. The control device transmits information indicating whether a data size of the data communication has a fixed length or a variable length. The base station device receives the information from the control device.
US09247484B2
Packet data network (PDN) connection requests from a mobile device may be limited by the mobile device. In one implementation, the mobile device may track an amount of successful PDN connection requests issued by the mobile device over a cellular network and maintain a timer value relating to an amount of time over which the successful PDN connection requests have been tracked. The mobile device may determine an allowable number of PDN connection requests and compare the amount of successful PDN connection requests to the allowable number of PDN connection requests. The mobile device may determine, based on the comparison, whether to block a PDN connection request from being issued to the cellular network.
US09247483B2
A method and a system for data traffic offload are provided. The method includes the following steps. Create a local tunnel between a first base station and a second base station according to a first record and/or a second record. The first base station and the second base station are located on a front-end network. The first record corresponds to a first user equipment and the first base station. The second record corresponds to a second user equipment and the second base station. Route network packets transmitted between the first user equipment and the second user equipment via the local tunnel.
US09247481B2
Disclosed herein are provided a routing device and method for configuring a Low Power Wireless Mesh Network (LPWMN) including a channel hopping time multiplexing wireless link. The routing device includes a control unit and a communication unit. The control unit sets up a virtual link, a shared link, or a dedicated link to an external device or router. The communication unit forwards a data frame to the device or router based on the set-up link.
US09247472B2
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided that continue to obtain the power saving advantages provided by discontinuous reception, while obtaining the measurement samples that are desired during a sampling time period, such as during a time to trigger period, to determine of handover is appropriate. In the context of a method, a measurement sample is caused to be obtained during a discontinuous reception monitoring period. The method may determine that a sampling time period has been commenced based upon a measurement sample. During the sampling time period, one or more additional measurement samples are to be obtained. The method may also determine that the additional measurement samples will not be obtained prior to commencement of the sleep period between monitoring periods and, as a result, cause one or more additional measurement samples to be obtained at respective times that would otherwise have been in the sleep period.
US09247462B2
Described herein is multi-mode communications system that comprises at (east one internet network {540, 545), a mobile network (560), a platform (505) and a multi-mode terminal (575). Both the platform (505) and the terminal (575) are connectable to one of the internet networks (540, 545) and to the mobile network (560). A voice quality control module (525) is provided for determining if the voice call quality of a call to or from the terminal (575) via an internet network (540, 545) meets a predetermined minimum voice quality level. Handover between the internet network (540, 545) and mobile network (560) is initiated when the voice call quality falls below the predetermined minimum voice quality level.
US09247460B2
A method for performing link adaptation in association with scheduling a data channel for a cell in a base station of a cellular communication system, and an arrangement, suitable for performing such a method. The link adaptation method has link adaptation optimization purpose which is achieved by updating a link adaptation parameter on the basis of the load on the data channel and on the basis of the load of a control channel controlling the data channel in the cell. The method obtains a better trade-off between the spectral efficiency and the delay, due to re-transmissions.
US09247459B2
Method for adding a new quality of service traffic stream in a multiple wireless network environment
Described herein are a method and apparatus including calculating an aggregate peak total traffic demand for all overlapping access points in an interference range, comparing the aggregate peak total traffic demand to a threshold, rejecting a requested new quality of service traffic stream responsive to results of the comparison, calculating a peak total traffic demand for each overlapping access point in the interference range if the requested new quality of service traffic stream is admissible responsive to results of the comparison, comparing the peak total traffic demand for each overlapping access point in the interference range, if the requested new quality of service traffic stream is admissible, to the threshold and one of accepting the requested new quality of service traffic stream and rejecting the requested new quality of service traffic stream responsive to results of the second comparison.
US09247458B2
The disclosure discloses a method for transmitting a pilot, which includes the step of: selectively transmitting or not transmitting a demodulation pilot in a subframe according to a setting, in a control signaling, of triggering or not triggering a demodulation pilot transmission in the subframe. A system for transmitting the pilot is further disclosed, which includes a pilot selectively transmitting unit configured to selectively transmit or not transmit a demodulation pilot in a subframe according to a setting, in a control signaling, of triggering or not triggering a demodulation pilot transmission in the subframe. The method and system of the disclosure are capable of reducing the pilot overhead and improving the capacity of the LTE/LTE-Advanced system.
US09247454B2
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a mechanism disclosed herein groups transmissions to machine-to-machine (M2M) devices in the downlink which can significantly reduce the overhead of transmission. One or more bursts to be transmitted in the downlink to one or more respective devices are aggregated and concatenated into a concatenated burst comprising one or more sub-bursts corresponding to the one or more bursts. The concatenated burst is encoded as a single payload to be transmitted, and the payload is transmitted to the one or more devices such that the devices are capable of decoding their respective sub-bursts in the concatenated burst.
US09247449B2
The disclosed embodiments provide a system that facilitates use of a network link. During operation, the system continuously monitors an interarrival delay of packets received from a sender over the network link. Next, the system adjusts a receive window for the sender based on the interarrival delay to facilitate receipt of subsequent packets from the sender and other senders over the network link.
US09247444B2
There is provided a method, an apparatus and a computer program product, wherein the method includes applying at least one procedure for inter-frequency measurements of at least one carrier, wherein a first procedure is applied when a carrier having at least one cell deployed for providing non-continuous coverage radio access is to be measured and a second procedure is applied when a carrier having at least one cell deployed for providing continuous coverage radio access is to be measured, and performing the inter-frequency measurements according to the applied procedure, when the procedure for the inter-frequency measurements is on.
US09247442B2
A call monitoring method for detecting an error in a Bearer-Independent Call Control (BICC) environment using an Internet Protocol (IP) as a bearer is provided, in which an MSC receives connection information about a called exchange from another MSC, requests IP resource allocation for configuring a termination to a Media GateWay (MGW) controlled by the MSC based on the received connection information about the called exchange, determines, upon receipt of a resource allocation failure message from the MGW, whether a cause of a resource allocation failure is an IP allocation error, and transmits the resource allocation failure message to a resource manager, if the cause of the resource allocation failure is an IP allocation error.
US09247436B2
Methods, apparatus, and program products are disclosed. Network information is accessed that corresponds to network elements in one or more wireless networks. Each of the one or more networks has an ability to serve multiple user equipment. Customer data is accessed that corresponds to the multiple user equipment in the networks. One or more optimization insights are generated using the network information and the customer data. The one or more generated optimization insights are utilized as one or more inputs to one or more pre-defined business policy-based workflows for a purpose of determining one or set of optimization functions. Execution of one or more selected optimization functions is orchestrated and the optimization function(s) are supplied with one or more of the generated optimization insights. The execution of the selected optimization function(s) cause triggering of action(s) defined to influence a selected one of the networks to provide an intended result.
US09247432B2
Disclosed are various embodiments for systems and methods for controlling access of networks. In one embodiment, an access control service receives requests to access network beacons from client devices. In response, the access control service determines whether the client devices satisfy authorization rules associated with the network beacons. If the access control service determines that the client devices satisfy the authorization rules associated with the network beacons, the access control service authorizes the client devices to access the network beacons. Subsequently, if the client devices cease to satisfy the authorization rules associated with the network beacons, the access control service terminates the authorization of the client devices to access the network beacons.
US09247431B2
If automatic setting of communication parameters is performed in an ad hoc network when a communication apparatus is connected to an infrastructure network, there is a possibility that infrastructure network information is leaked to the infrastructure network. When an instruction to start the automatic setting of communication parameters is issued, a network participation state of the communication apparatus is determined and the automatic setting of communication parameters is not performed during enterprise connection.
US09247429B2
To facilitate a change in network authentication key (Ki) for use by a smart card (SIM) during authentication on a cellular telecommunications network, there is provided a smart card management scheme that combines key derivation with over the air (OTA) provisioning. This scheme ensures both that the Ki is never transmitted OTA and that the Ki is stored in two locations only: on the SIM and at an authentication center (AuC).
US09247427B2
A method and apparatus for authenticating directory information is described. The method includes: receiving a request to initiate a voice communication session over a signaling network that includes a data network, the request including directory information specifying origination of the voice communication session; determining verification information associated with the directory information; authenticating the directory information using the determined verification information; and selectively providing notification of the authentication for handling of the voice communication session.
US09247426B2
The invention relates to a telecommunications network configured for providing access to a plurality of terminals is proposed and a method therefore. Each terminal comprises a unique identifier for accessing the telecommunications network. The telecommunications network comprises a register, an access request receiver and an access module. The register is configured for storing the unique identifier of at least one terminal in combination with at least one grant access time interval, or an equivalent thereof, during which access for the terminal is permitted. The access request receiver is configured for receiving the access request and the unique identifier for accessing the telecommunications network from the terminal. The access module is configured for denying access for the terminal if the access request is received outside the time interval, or the equivalent thereof.
US09247422B2
In a method of communicating content over a wireless communication link between a base station set-top (BSS) and one or more hosts, where each of the one or more hosts have an interface protocol substantially complying with at least a subset of a copy protection standard, an encrypted signal is at least one of received and stored in the BSS, and the encrypted signal is turned into an encrypted data packet stream. The BSS wirelessly transmits the data packet stream to one or more wireless interface apparatuses (WIAs) which are interfaced with at least one host through the interface protocol. In addition, the WIA forwards the encrypted data packet stream to the one or more hosts through implementation of the interface protocol.
US09247414B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus are presented for enabling unlimited roaming service on a roaming partner switch. In one aspect, a method includes configuring a billing system corresponding to a home wireless service provider to authorize a subscriber device to receive unlimited roaming service on a roaming partner switch; receiving, by the home wireless service provider, a registration request from the roaming partner switch identifying the subscriber device; registering the subscriber device in the billing system as an unlimited roaming service subscriber device; and providing unlimited roaming service to the subscriber device. Further, a call request associated with the subscriber device can be received from the roaming partner switch and billing associated with the call request can be suspended.
US09247409B2
A system mobile computing device is at a first geographic location different from a second geographic location of a customer premises. The mobile computing device is configured to receive from the customer premises information including data indicating a status of the customer premises and an identifier for the customer premises. The device is further configured to receive user input to place an emergency call concerning the customer premises, to provide the identifier for the customer premises to a data store as part of a query for a location of the customer premises; to receive a response to the query including the second location, and send a request for a public safety answering point (PSAP) to request emergency services at the second location.
US09247406B2
Embodiments provide methods and systems for transmitting an emergency (SOS) message from a user (UE) to a cellular network in a highly robust and energy efficient manner. Specifically, embodiments enable the SOS message to be sent in a synchronous manner despite the asynchronous nature of the network, which significantly enhances the probability of successful reception of the SOS message by at least one base station (eNodeB) of the network. Embodiments further provide highly robust SOS message transmission and reception schemes configured to enhance the successful detection and decoding of the SOS message by at least one base station of the cellular network. In addition, embodiments enable the synchronous transmission of the SOS message to the network without requiring network attachment by the UE. This makes embodiments highly suited for emergency situations in which network coverage is affected and can enable significant and precious power savings at the UE.
US09247404B2
A system and method to deliver a voice advertisement to a cellular device over a cellular telecommunication network prior to connection of a voice call. The system, within a cellular telecommunications network, includes two units, a first unit that determines whether a call is subscribed to receive an advertisement and makes a request for delivery of the advertisement before connecting the call, and a second unit that delivers the advertisement to the cellular device. First, the first unit identifies if the call is subscribed for delivery of an advertisement. Second, the first unit routes a request to the second unit for delivery of the advertisement. Third, the second unit delivers the advertisement to the cellular device. Fourth, the first unit connects the call to the network.
US09247402B2
A monitoring system for detecting earth faults in an electrical power supply grid providing a power signal includes a plurality of monitoring devices, each of the monitoring devices including a detector for detecting the level of harmonics in the power signal, wherein the level of harmonics is detected in a specific frequency range. Each of the monitoring devices further includes a memory for storing a harmonics reference value, a processor for comparing the detected level of harmonics with the reference level, and a communication device for transmitting an alarm if the detected level of harmonics is above the reference level for a specific period of time. Each of the detectors includes an optical sensor for detecting the harmonics by use of the Faraday effect.
US09247401B2
A social messaging hub provides communication services for a data enabled device having Internet network access capabilities. A user is given a registered phone number and unique IP addressable identification which serve as a source and destination identifier of the associated data enabled device. User signatures can be appended onto SMS messages and using resources on the social messaging hub a user can control when the signatures are appended.
US09247399B2
An alert peripheral device that provides sensory notification to a user of the device includes: a power subsystem; a communication mechanism by which notification signals is received from a first user equipment (UE) that generates and transmits the notification signals in response to detection of specific events at the first UE; and a response notification mechanism that provides a sensory response of the peripheral device following receipt of a notification of a detected event (NDE) signal. The device further includes an embedded controller coupled to each of the other components and which includes firmware that when executed on the embedded controller configures the embedded controller to: establish a communication link between the communication mechanism and the first UE; and in response to detecting a receipt of the NDE signal from the first UE, trigger the response notification mechanism to exhibit the sensory response.
US09247395B2
A method for broadcast assistance in a direct communication system and an apparatus using the same are disclosed. The proposed method includes the following steps. A coordinator receives a broadcast assistance request message from a plurality of broadcast devices. The coordinator transmits a broadcast assistance confirmation signal to the broadcast devices and broadcasts a resource indication signal including a resource allocation. The broadcast devices respectively broadcasts an information message to at least one listening device according to the resource allocation acquired from listening to the resource indication signal, and the at least one listening device listens to one of the information messages having a category of interest according to the resource allocation acquired from listening to the resource indication signal.
US09247393B2
Disabling wireless access point notifications is described. In some implementations, wireless access point notifications on a mobile device can be disabled when movement of the mobile device is detected. In some implementations, wireless access point notifications on a mobile device can be re-enabled when the mobile device detects that the mobile device has been stationary for a specified period of time following movement of the mobile device. In some implementations, wireless access point notifications can be disabled on a per access point basis.
US09247390B2
In an IP multimedia gateway, locations corresponding to communicatively coupled communication devices are determined and transmitted to a service provider device (SPD) that provides services to the communication devices. Communication devices receive location based service profiles from the (SPD) based on the determined locations. Services content from the (SPD) is communicated with the communication devices and/or with the (SPD), based on the profiles. The determined locations are received from communication devices which may be local or remote. A device location map is generated to be displayed by communication devices. The gateway may be integrated in an STB/DTV that displays the determined locations. Content is communicated to communication devices based on their location. The (SPD) may provide content and/or control information for communication device services. Locations are associated with client devices for detecting cloned client devices where determined locations are different than associated locations and/or for restricting services based on location.
US09247389B2
A variety of methods, systems, devices and arrangements are implemented for emergency call centers. According to one such method, a location database is populated from a plurality of endpoint devices. The location database determines locations for nodes in a data transmission route from information received from the endpoint devices. Emergency calls using these nodes are located using the populated database.
US09247381B2
Disclosed are systems, methods and devices for providing positioning assistance data to a mobile device. In a particular implementation, a mobile device may receive parameters representing an inference model. The mobile device may then apply observations to the inference model to classify the location of the mobile device as being in a particular region. The mobile device may then request positioning assistance data based, at least in part, on the particular region.
US09247379B2
A method for processing assistance data associated with positioning of a mobile device as described herein includes estimating an initial location of the mobile device within an area; designating the initial location of the mobile device as a focal point; retrieving a subset of hierarchical assistance data as a function of the focal point; and generating a multi-level assistance data structure for the area centered at the focal point.
US09247365B1
Speakers (e.g. “loudspeakers”) from different manufactures may have differing characteristics. In order to improve audio performance, an audio system may customize audio settings based on characteristics of an attached speaker. Described is a technique for determining speaker characteristics by sending a signal through a filter of the attached speaker. The signal may be a probing signal that produces no audible effect from the speaker. The signal may progress through one or more frequency ranges and an impedance signature may be measured. When the signal progresses through a frequency range, the impedance may be measured and a speaker model type and/or characteristics or condition of the speaker may be determined based on the measured impedance.
US09247358B2
A hearing aid includes: a housing having an exterior surface and an opening at the exterior surface; a battery door moveably coupled to the housing; and a spring element located in the housing, wherein the spring element is aligned with the opening of the housing to allow actuation of the spring element by a tool that is inserted through the opening of the housing; wherein when the spring element is actuated by the tool, the battery door is allowed to be fully opened, and when the spring element is un-actuated, the battery door is prevented from being fully opened.
US09247357B2
A compensation system for an implantable actuator is disclosed where the implantable actuator includes a sealed housing containing a driving arrangement for the actuator. The compensation system includes an external pressure sensor for measuring an external pressure outside of the sealed housing and a compensation module for determining a compensation factor for the implantable actuator based on the external pressure. In one embodiment, the compensation is directed to a direct acoustic cochlear stimulation (DACS) implantable actuator.
US09247356B2
Described herein are devices and methods for enabling a hearing aid user to control the operation of the hearing aid and also select an audio source for streaming audio information such as music directly to the hearing aid. In one embodiment, these functionalities are combined into a single wrist-worn remote device that may also function as a watch.
US09247339B2
Improved speakers are better able to accurately reproduce sound through the use of low-mass transducers.
US09247328B2
A system for scaling vectored DSLAM deployments has a DSLAM interfaced with a cross-connect apparatus. The DSLAM receives POTS signals from at least one bridge connection assembly. When a DSLAM is added at the cross-connect facility, at least one connector of the bridge connection assembly is disconnected from an existing DSLAM and is interfaced with the newly-added DSLAM. By moving the connector to the newly-added DSLAM, a batch of downstream distribution pairs (which are preferably bound by a single distribution cable) are effectively moved from the existing DSLAM to the new DSLAM without having to reconfigure the jumpers of the cross-connect apparatus. Accordingly, it is possible to scale the cross-connect facility to any number of vectored DSLAMs while limiting vector group sizes, thereby reducing the complexity of vectoring operations, without having to perform complex reconfigurations of the cross-connect apparatus.
US09247324B2
A wavelength selection switch system includes a wavelength selection switch including an input port and an output port, a nonvolatile memory in which configuration information for controlling an operation of the wavelength selection switch is stored, a high-speed memory in which reading and writing can be performed at a higher speed than in the nonvolatile memory and that stores a copy of the configuration information stored in the nonvolatile memory, and a control unit that controls an operation of the wavelength selection switch based on the configuration information read from the high-speed memory, wherein the control unit periodically reads the configuration information stored in the nonvolatile memory and writes a copy of the read configuration information to the high-speed memory.
US09247322B1
Embodiments of an environmental monitoring system that mitigates complexities in installation and maintenance while complying with strict regulations on operations of the system. The environmental monitoring system may communicate wirelessly between components such as sensor units and display devices, enabling these components to be separately and easily installed in an environment without needing to install wires in the environment to connect them. In addition, in embodiments at least some of the components (e.g., sensor units and display devices) of the environmental monitoring system may be adapted to wirelessly and reliably communicate using specific wireless communication protocols, described in detail herein, that exchange few communications between the components and thereby decrease power consumption of these components. Further, in some embodiments, a display device may include hardware and/or execute software that drive and/or update a display only when a condition is met.
US09247319B2
In one example embodiment, a panel assembly is provided that includes a first panel element having a first side edge to be attached to a communications rack, where the first panel element includes a first plurality of apertures proximate to the first side edge. The panel assembly also includes a second panel element having a second side edge to be attached to the communications rack, where the second panel element includes a second plurality of apertures proximate to the second side edge. The panel assembly also includes a third patch panel element provided between the first panel element and the second panel element.
US09247317B2
An apparatus downloads files of encoded video including interspersed key frames over a communication network. The apparatus plays back video from the downloaded files and creates a trick play index based on the downloaded files. The trick play index indicates network locations of the key frames in the encoded video files. When the apparatus receives a trick play request, such as rewind or fast forward, the client device downloads the key frames from the indicated network locations, and plays back video from the downloaded key frames.
US09247315B2
In one embodiment, a method determines first information from a component of a computing device to determine when receiving of one or more advertisements will affect an available bandwidth reading that is based on receiving of a media program. Then, the method dynamically disables a multiple bitrate algorithm based upon the first information such that a new bitrate version of the media program cannot be requested by the multiple bitrate algorithm for the media player. Second information is determined from the component of the computing device to determine when the available bandwidth reading will not be affected by receiving of the one or more advertisements. The method then dynamically enables the multiple bitrate algorithm based on the second information. The multiple bitrate algorithm is then allowed to request the different bitrate version of the media program based on the available bandwidth reading.
US09247312B2
Systems and methods for encoding source media in Matroska container files for adaptive bitrate streaming utilizing Hypertext Transfer Potocol (HTTP) in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention includes a processor configured via a source encoding application to ingest at least one multimedia file containing a source video. In addition, the source encoding application further configures the processor to select a portion of the source video, transcode the selected portion of the source video into a plurality of alternative portions of encoded video, where each alternative portion is encoded using a different set of encoding parameters and commences with an intra frame starting a closed Group of Pictures (GOP), write each of the alternative portions of encoded video to an element of a different EBML container file, where each element is located within an EBML container file that also includes another element that indicates the encoding parameters used to encode the alternative portion of encoded video, and add an entry to at least one index that identifies the location of the element containing one of the alternative portions of encoded video within each of the EBML container files.
US09247308B2
Items of video content offered for viewing on a video-on-demand (VOD) platform of a digital TV service provider are each assigned a respective title and hierarchical address corresponding to hierarchically-arranged categories and subcategories within which the title for the video content is to be categorized. The title is listed in a location of an electronic program guide (EPG) using the same categories and subcategories as its hierarchical address. Any TV subscriber can access the EPG and navigate through its categories and subcategories to find a title for viewing on the TV. The EPG dynamically adjust its display listings of each level of categories, subcategories, and titles in order to minimize the number of remote control keypresses needed for a viewer to navigate to a title of interest. In one basic form, the EPG display is reordered by listing more frequently visited categories or subcategories first, and other less frequently visited categories or subcategories lower on the listing or out-of-sight on another page of the display.
US09247297B2
Systems and devices are disclosed for monitoring and controlling usage of media content by blocking usage of media segments. In one embodiment, usage data defining usage, or consumption, of the media content is obtained. A pattern in media segments in the media content based on the usage data is detected when the media segments satisfy at least one defined criterion and are consumed at least a predefined threshold amount. Usage of at least one of the media segments is blocked. In one embodiment, one or more additional media segments accessible to the one or more media devices that are similar to the at least one of the one or more media segments for which usage is blocked at the one or more media devices is identified. Usage of at least one of the one or more additional media segments at the one or more media devices is blocked.
US09247293B2
The present invention provides a method of rendering a thin client application in a network device, for parsing the internet data so as convert the internet data into a common data format which can be rendered in set-top box using any type of middleware. The invention would be equipped to handle any type of application and also would be cost-efficient to be developed in a middleware layer of a network device like set-top box.
US09247290B2
Transitioning between display applications, including: retrieving a device identifier when a first device is selected using a first display application running on a second device; enabling the first display application to launch a second display application using the device identifier of the first device, launching the second display application customized to automatically select the first device, wherein the automatic selection of the first device using the device identifier allows to bypass a device selection process. Keywords include seamless transition and direct device selection.
US09247289B2
A transport signal transmitted from a television receiver apparatus through a signal line is subjected to a separation operation by a transport-signal processor and decoded by a video-signal decoding unit and an audio-signal decoding unit. A decoded video signal is supplied through a signal line to the television receiver apparatus. Video processing time of the television receiver apparatus is obtained by a delay-information obtaining unit through a signal line. An audio-signal delaying unit delays an audio signal decoded by the audio-signal decoding unit in accordance with the video processing time obtained by the delay-information obtaining unit and outputs the audio signal to a speaker.
US09247286B2
Systems and methods are provided that relate to frame formatting supporting mixed two and three dimensional video data communication. For example, frames in frame sequence(s) may be formatted to indicate that a first screen configuration is to be used for displaying first video content, that a second screen configuration is to be used for displaying second video content, and so on. The screen configurations may be different or the same. In another example, the frames in the frame sequence(s) may be formatted to indicate that the first video content is to be displayed at a first region of a screen, that the second video content is to be displayed at a second region of the screen, and so on. The regions of the screen may partially overlap, fully overlap, not overlap, be configured such that one or more regions are within one or more other regions, etc.
US09247282B1
The present disclosure relates generally to electronic systems, apparatuses, and methods, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and various other disclosures related to interactive accessing of multimedia content (videos, games, scores) wherein users may access content remotely that is being broadcasted from, or authorized to be broadcasted from a media device located at a venue, e.g. home, university, etc., to a mobile networked enabled device. System and method also includes a custom graphical user interface that user may access the multimedia content using embedded icons that become visible upon activation of the custom graphical user interface wherein the activated icons may be used to control the viewing of the multimedia content.
US09247281B2
A handheld electronic device having a universal remote control mechanism is provided. The electronic device comprises a touch display unit, a storage unit, a wireless transmission unit and a processing unit. The touch display unit receives device information and displays a user interface having virtual function keys. The storage unit stores a device code discrimination table. The processing unit retrieves the device code discrimination table and initiates a test procedure according to an order of the hit rate of the instruction codes of plural rows of device codes in the device code discrimination table. The processing unit further terminates the test procedure and controls the electronic device to be controlled by using a specific device code when the processing unit can control the electronic device to be controlled by using all the instruction codes of the specific device code through the wireless transmission unit.
US09247278B2
A content hosting system allows content providers to create channels of video content and make them available to users in a marketplace. Users can search or browse for channels of interest, and selectively subscribe to channels. Users can also pay for the right to view premium videos in each channel. The system ranks channels according to the value provided. Generally, users will seek out and subscribe to the highest ranked channels that provide the greatest value. The ranking function allows different providers to compete for the subscriptions of users. Providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics to adjust channels to maximize channel performance. The system operator can also create bundled channels containing videos from multiple providers, and the resulting subscription revenue can be distributed to the various providers of the videos in the channel.
US09247277B2
Media content, based on a predetermined set of constraints, from a content provider is delivered to a local cache of a user device before viewing the media. A client asset manager process resides in the user device, an asset list at the content provider site, and the media assets are located at a remote site.
US09247270B2
A method of decoding a video through symbol decoding includes parsing symbols of image blocks from a received bitstream; classifying a current symbol into a prefix bit string and a suffix bit string based on a threshold value determined according to a size of a current block; performing arithmetic decoding of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string by using respective arithmetic decoding methods determined for each of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string; performing inverse binarization of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string by using respective binarization methods determined for each of the prefix bit string and the suffix bit string; and restoring the image blocks by performing an inverse transformation operation and a prediction operation on the current block by using the current symbol restored through the arithmetic decoding and the inverse binarization.
US09247263B2
The present invention provides a buffer architecture and latency reduction mechanism for buffering uncompressed/compressed information. This combination provides for a proficient division of the encoding task and quicker through-put time. The invention teaches a single chip digital signal processing device for real time video/audio compression comprising a plurality of processors, including a video input processor, a motion estimation processor, a digital signal processor, and a bitstream processor, wherein processing and transfer of the signals within the device is done in a macroblock-by-macroblock manner. The device can include a multiplexing processor that is comprised of a storage unit which buffers a compressed video bitstream and a processor which retrieves the compressed video bitstream from the storage unit and produces a multiplexed data stream whereby the compressed video bitstream is processed in a pipeline manner.
US09247258B2
A video coder can control in-picture prediction across slice boundaries within a picture. In one example, a first syntax element can control if in-picture prediction across slice boundaries for slices of a picture. If in-picture prediction across slice boundaries is enabled for the picture, then a second syntax element can control, for an individual slices, if in-picture prediction across slice boundaries is enabled for the slice.
US09247255B2
Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for image encoding/decoding. The method for image decoding includes comparing whether a size of a current transform block and a size of a smallest transform block (smallest transform unit (STU)) are the same as each other, and decoding information indicating whether transformation is performed on the current transform block and determining whether to perform inverse transformation on the current transform block based on the decoded information indicating whether the transformation is performed when the size of the current transform block and the size of a smallest transform block are the same as each other.
US09247252B2
In expansion and reduction of the size of a macroblock in a moving image encoding, a compression ratio falls because an information amount for describing size information of the macroblock increases. An image decoding device includes a CU dividing unit and a CU-size storing unit. The CU-size storing unit has stored therein size information of an encoded CU in an encoding target picture to be stored and size information of all CUs in preceding and following pictures used for prediction. The CU dividing unit predicts a CU size in an encoding target position using the CU size information stored in the CU-size storing unit and determines a CU size of a final encoding target CU.
US09247239B2
Novel tools and techniques for defining a search range for conjugate points in a set of images. In one technique, an intra-overlap area in two images can be used to define a search range in which a conjugate point can be found; in an aspect, this search range might be expressed as a distance range from a station at which one or both of the two images were captured. That distance range can be used to narrow the search range in an image captured from another station, substantially reducing both the computation time to identify a conjugate match and the likelihood of identifying an incorrect match.
US09247234B2
An imager may include depth sensing pixels that provide an asymmetrical angular response to incident light. The depth sensing pixels may each include a substrate region formed from a photosensitive portion and a non-photosensitive portion. The depth sensing pixels may include mechanisms that prevent regions of the substrate from receiving incident light. Depth sensing pixel pairs may be formed from depth sensing pixels that have different asymmetrical angular responses. Each of the depth sensing pixel pairs may effectively divide the corresponding imaging lens into separate portions. Depth information for each depth sensing pixel pair may be determined based on the difference between output signals of the depth sensing pixels of that depth sensing pixel pair. The imager may be formed from various combinations of depth sensing pixel pairs and color sensing pixel pairs arranged in a Bayer pattern or other desired patterns.
US09247233B2
The device comprises an aperture stop disc divided into a plurality of mutually exclusive filtering segments comprising a first, a second and a third filtering segment ; the third filtering segment is adapted to pass a third portion of the spectrum which is included in the portion of the spectrum passing the first and second filtering segments. Due to third filtering segment, the aperture assigned to the color component corresponding to the third portion of the spectrum—preferably blue—is larger than the aperture assigned to the color component corresponding to the portion of the spectrum passing the first and second filtering segments.
US09247227B2
An image processing method includes: acquiring a first image and second image with a parallax, calculating a parallax indicating a shift amount of a corresponding pixel of the second image with respect to each pixel of the first image, deciding an image processing coefficient to perform edge emphasis or edge correction based on the parallax with respect to every image processing target pixel of the first image and the second image, and performing image processing on the first image and the second image using the image processing coefficient.
US09247224B2
An image processing device includes an acquisition section, first conversion section, determination section, filtering section, and second conversion section. The acquisition section acquires first image data defined by a plurality of color components. The first conversion section converts, for each pixel data, the plurality of color components into converted pixel data defined by a luminance and a color difference. The determination section determines whether or not each converted pixel data is target pixel data having a black character attribute. The filtering section performs a filtering process on a luminance of each target pixel data using a filter coefficient to obtain processed pixel data defined by the luminance and the color difference. The filter coefficient enhances a difference in the luminance between the each target pixel data and neighboring pixel data. The second conversion section converts each processed pixel data into updated pixel data defined by the plurality of color components.
US09247217B2
From a plurality of imaging units (110) which capture images of a vehicle periphery and from an image taken by any one of the plurality of imaging units (any one of 111, 121, 131, 141), a value corresponding to brightness of the image is calculated. Based on the calculated value, brightness of images obtained by the plurality of imaging units (110) is corrected by a brightness correction unit (120). After a predetermined coordinate transformation is performed on the brightness corrected images, the images are combined into a single image, and the single image is displayed together with the image taken by the one imaging unit (any one of 111, 121, 131, 141).
US09247214B2
Image processing apparatus and image processing method with projective transform of multiple cameras
An image processing apparatus includes an image obtaining section for obtaining images from cameras on a moving object; a correspondence processing section for generating a correspondence between characteristic points extracted from a pair of images before and after the moving object moves straight; a height/orientation estimating section for estimating orientations and heights of the cameras, by estimating a homography matrix from the corresponded characteristic points, then decomposing the homography matrix, and using the decomposition result, a movement direction vector, a road surface normal vector, and a moved amount of the moving object; a projective transform section for applying projective transform to common view parts between the cameras; and a relative position estimating section for estimating a relative position of one of the cameras relative to another one of the cameras using translation for overlapping the common view parts after projective transform.
US09247212B2
Intelligent motion capture element that includes sensor personalities that optimize the sensor for specific movements and/or pieces of equipment and/or clothing and may be retrofitted onto existing equipment or interchanged therebetween and automatically detected for example to switch personalities. May be used for low power applications and accurate data capture for use in healthcare compliance, sporting, gaming, military, virtual reality, industrial, retail loss tracking, security, baby and elderly monitoring and other applications for example obtained from a motion capture element and relayed to a database via a mobile phone. System obtains data from motion capture elements, analyzes data and stores data in database for use in these applications and/or data mining. Enables unique displays associated with the user, such as 3D overlays onto images of the user to visually depict the captured motion data. Enables performance related equipment fitting and purchase. Includes active and passive identifier capabilities.
US09247207B2
A content on demand system includes logic to compose information about multiple audio and/or video streams into an audio and/or video stream format, and logic to communicate the information about multiple audio and/or video streams to a plurality of set top boxes.
US09247201B2
Method and system for realizing an interaction between a video input and a virtual network scene. The method includes receiving input video data for a first user at a first terminal, sending information associated with the input video data through a network to at least a second terminal, processing information associated with the input video data, and displaying a video on or embedded with a virtual network scene at least the first terminal and the second terminal. The process for displaying includes generating the video based on at least information associated with the input video data.
US09247198B2
A method of processing disparity data for closed captions for three dimensional video involves receiving closed caption data including closed caption text within a first Standard service block having a service number in the range of 1-6; receiving closed caption disparity data within a Standard service block having a service number equal to n, where n is between 1 and 6; receiving a linkage field which associates each instance of said disparity data to a corresponding Standard service; parsing the disparity data from the closed caption data appearing in service number n; and processing the caption text and disparity data to produce an output suitable for defining a rendering of a three dimensional image on a display of the caption text at a z-axis position defined by the disparity data. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US09247189B2
An optical module including a plurality of laser diodes and outputting optical beams emitted from the laser diodes includes a radiator unit for radiating heat and a case enclosing the optical module. The case has a first attachment surface to which a red laser diode is attached, a second attachment surface to which a green laser diode is attached, and a corner part where the first and second attachment surfaces intersect with each other. The optical module has a first attachment part, for connecting the case to the radiator unit, in the vicinity of the corner part.
US09247176B2
Provided is a remote control comprising a housing, a keyboard (20) mounted on the housing, a processor (106) electrically connected to the keyboard (20), an analog-digital converter (103) and a high-frequency wireless transmission unit (108) electrically connected to the processor (106), a sampling circuit (102) electrically connected to the analog-digital converter (103) and a microphone interface (30) electrically connected to the sampling circuit (102). Also disclosed is a television system. The remote control and television system in the present solution are simple to operate and can satisfy user's multi-function requirements.
US09247164B1
An image pixel includes light nodes and a dark node. The dark node includes: a first charge storage unit for storing first power supply information during a first time period; a second charge storage unit for storing second power supply information related to the power supply during a second time period; and an information output unit for outputting a first sample signal related to the first power supply information or a second sample signal related to the second power supply information. The first power supply information remains in the first charge storage unit during the second time period and during when the second sample signal is outputted by the information output unit.
US09247160B2
A multi-step exposure method using an electronic shutter and a photography apparatus using the same are provided. The photography apparatus includes an image sensor, and a control unit which divides an area of the image into a first area and a second area using brightness information of the acquired image, and controls so that a first row group and a second row group of the second area have different exposure times. As a result, an image with a wider dynamic range is provided.
US09247157B2
Embodiments of the invention describe a multimedia stream switch capable of multiplexing the audio and the video data of a multimedia stream separately. The multiplexing features of embodiments of the invention enable a multimedia stream switch to control each multimedia data type separately instead of multiplexing the whole streams (i.e., multiplexing sets of audio/video data together). Furthermore, prior art multimedia stream switches need to regenerate audio clocks by using phase locked loop (PLL) circuitry which incurs manufacturing and development costs. Embodiments of the invention provide the mixing of audio and video data from different sources without the need for PLL circuitry.
US09247153B2
An image processing apparatus includes a histogram computation section that for a plurality of images with different light exposure amounts captured, computes for each of the images a histogram of the number of pixels a light exposure amount ratio computation section that, based on a degree of similarity between a profile of a first histogram computed from a first image out of the plurality of images and a profile of a second histogram computed from a second image out of the plurality of images, computes as a light exposure amount ratio a ratio between a light exposure amount for the first image and a light exposure amount for the second image, and a pixel value adjustment section that adjusts the pixel values of pixels contained in one image out of the first image and the second image based on the light exposure amount ratio.
US09247144B2
A mobile terminal including a memory; a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly connect with at least one other terminal; a camera configured to capture an image; a display unit; an audio output module configured to output an audio file; a microphone configured to obtain sound information; and a controller. The controller is configured to capture an image using the camera, search for an audio file corresponding to sound information obtained through the microphone when capturing the image using the camera, set information related to the searched audio file as an audio file corresponding to the captured image, and output the searched audio file to the audio output module when displaying the captured image on the display unit.
US09247135B2
The electronic device has a power supply input unit which inputs power from an external power supply, an information processing unit which is capable of performing a first function and a second function which consumes more power than the first function does, a display unit which responds to power input to the power supply input unit by displaying whether or not to allow the performance of the first function and the performance of the second function, and an operation unit which receives an operation to be performed in response to the display on the display unit. The information processing unit switches between allowing only the performance of the first function and allowing both of operation in the first function and the performance of the second function according to the operation received by the operation unit.
US09247132B2
An image synthesis unit receives respective pixel values for a single horizontal row of a ¼ demosaiced image, a 1/16 demosaiced image, and a 1/64 demosaiced image from a pyramid filter for reducing, in a plurality of stages, a frame of a moving image that is captured. The image synthesis unit then connects the pixel values in a predetermined rule so as to generate a virtual synthesized image and outputs the synthesized image in the form of streams. A control unit of an image transmission unit notifies a data selection unit of a request from a host terminal. The data selection unit selects and extracts necessary data from respective streams of pieces of data of the synthesized image, a RAW image, and a 1/1 demosaiced image, and generates a stream of data to be transmitted. A packetizing unit packetizes the stream and transmits the packetized stream to the host terminal.
US09247129B1
Systems and approaches are provided for optimizing self-portraiture. The background of the self-portrait can be enhanced by image registration or stitching techniques of images captured using one or more conventional cameras. Multiple standard resolution images can be stitched together to generate a panoramic or a composite image of a higher resolution. Foreground elements, such as one or more representations of users, can also be enhanced in various ways. The representations of the users can be composited to exclude undesirable elements, such as image data of one of the users extending her arm to capture the self-portrait. An ideal pose of the users can automatically be selected and other image enhancements, such as histogram optimization, brightness and contrast optimization, color-cast correction, or reduction or removal of noise, can automatically be performed to minimize user effort in capturing self-portraits.
US09247124B2
An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging device; a lens optical system including a focus lens for condensing light toward the imaging device; a driving section configured to driving one of the imaging device and the focus lens to change a position to which a focus is adjusted on an object side; a shutter provided at at least one of the imaging device and a position between the lens optical system and the imaging device; and a control unit configured to control the shutter and the driving section, wherein the control unit drives the imaging device or the focus lens such that a focus is adjusted to each of first to third focusing positions of different object distances and controls the shutter and the driving section such that image signals of first to third object images at the first to third focusing positions are obtained by the imaging device.
US09247121B2
An image sensor, an electric device using the same and a focusing method of the electric device are provided. The image sensor comprises a plurality of image capturing units and a detecting unit. Each image capturing unit includes an image capturing pixel and a first micro lens. The first micro lens is disposed in front of the image capturing pixel. The detecting unit has a focus detecting pixel and a second micro lens. The second micro lens is disposed in front of the image detecting pixel. A length of the second micro lens is different from a length of the first micro lenses.
US09247116B2
An image sensor device and a manufacturing method for forming an image sensor device are provided. The image sensor device includes a semiconductor substrate having an array region and a periphery region. The image sensor device also includes a light sensing region in the array region of the semiconductor substrate. The image sensor device further includes a dielectric structure over the array region and the periphery region, and the dielectric structure has a substantially planar top surface. In addition, the image sensor device includes a recess in the dielectric structure and substantially aligned with the light sensing region. The image sensor device also includes a filter in the recess and a light blocking grid in the dielectric structure and surrounding a portion of the filter.
US09247112B2
An imaging device comprising: a first optical system formed by combining an optical system from an imaging lens to an image pickup element where a subject image is formed and an optical system from a display device where an electronic image of a subject representing an image formed at the image pickup element is displayed to an ocular unit of a finder; a second optical system which guides an optical image of the subject to the ocular unit; and a correcting device which performs, based on distortion aberration information about the first optical system and distortion aberration about the second optical system, distortion aberration correction so that distortion aberration equal to distortion aberration of the second optical system occurs in an electronic image of the subject and causes the electronic image to be displayed on the display device.
US09247109B2
An imaging device has an array with pixels that can image an aspect of an object. In addition, pixels in the array can be used to perform motion detection or edge detection. A first and a second pixel can integrate light non-concurrently, and then their outputs may be compared. A difference in their outputs may indicate an edge in an imaging operation, and motion in a motion detection operation. The motion detection operation may be performed without needing the imaging device to have an additional modulated LED light source, and to spend the power to drive that source.
US09247108B2
An active shutter device for use in securely displaying content from a display to a user. The secure content is encoded as a sequence of video frames interspersed within a set of video frames, at least some of the other frames within the set including obfuscating data. The device comprises a receiver for receiving a synchronization signal, at least one shutter mechanism, and a processor. The processor, in response to the synchronization signal, controls the shutter mechanism so as to synchronize the shutter mechanism with, for example, the refresh rate or the video frame display rate of the display. The processor is configured to receive a frame sequence corresponding to the sequence of video frames used of the secure content, and control the shutter mechanism, in response to the received frame sequence, to allow only the video frames in the secure sequence to pass through the shutter.
US09247101B2
An image forming apparatus reads an image, generates a file from the read image, and sets a confidentiality attribute of the file for identifying a storage destination of the file. The file is stored either in the image forming apparatus or in a remote apparatus based on the confidentiality attribute.
US09247091B2
An image forming apparatus includes a first processing unit configured to execute a first type function, a second processing unit configured to execute a second type function different from the first type function, and a power supply unit configured to supply power to the first processing unit and the second processing unit, wherein a storage unit stores a first guaranteed time during which a power supply to the first processing unit is maintained and a second guaranteed time during which a power supply to the second processing unit is maintained, and a control unit configured to stop the power supply to the first processing unit when the stored first guaranteed time elapses and to stop the power supply to the second processing unit when the stored second guaranteed time elapses.
US09247086B2
A document reader is provided that includes a document table at least part of which is configured to swing around a first axis, between a first position to function as the document table and a second position to be more slanted with respect to a first guide than when in the first position, a swing portion configured to form a part of a feeding surface forming a second guide and configured to swing around a second axis, between a third position to function as the second guide and a fourth position to expose a part of a feeding path that is formed by the second guide to the outside of the document reader, and a switching mechanism for swinging the swing portion from the third position to the fourth position with the swing motion of the at least part of the document table.
US09247083B2
A memory card is described, the memory card having a wireless transceiver module, a central processor, and a storage module. The memory card when physically and operably engaged in and with a digital camera, is configured to wirelessly transmit digital data to an external device through the wireless transceiver module substantially in real time, and wirelessly receive digital data from the external device through the wireless transceiver module substantially in real time.
US09247075B2
Cellular data access capabilities can be shared between mobile devices. Users of the mobile devices can be presented with options for selecting a set of polices for sharing cellular data access capabilities between the mobile devices and as a function of cellular data plan capacities. The set of policies can be stored in a memory of the mobile devices. Using a first application operating on a first one of the mobile devices and based upon the stored set of polices, a request can be transmitted to request cellular data access capabilities of a second one of the mobile devices. Using a second application operating on the second mobile device and based upon the stored set of polices, the first mobile device can be provided access to cellular data access capabilities of a second mobile devices.
US09247071B2
A smart card is used with a network based system to providing portable telecommunication and computing services. In an exemplary embodiment the smart card holds a user authentication code and user telephony account information. The smart card transfers the user authentication code and the account information to one of a plurality of geographically dispersed card readers which are each connected to a local telephony device. When the smart card is plugged into a first card reader, telephone calls directed to the smart card user's follow-me telephone number are received at a first local telephony device. When the smart card is plugged into a second smart card reader, telephone calls directed to the follow-me telephone number are received at a second telephony local device. Hence the user is enabled to receive and place calls using any of the geographically dispersed telephony devices as though they were his/her own personal landline or cellular telephone supplied by his/her telephony services provider.
US09247065B2
According to an example, connections may be routed in a contact center by determining if a current connection from a customer terminal to the contact center is a repeat connection or a first connection. In response to determining that the connection is a repeat connection, the repeat connection is routed to an originating agent terminal when an originating agent is verified as employed, logged-in, and available. In response to determining that the connection is a first connection, the first connection is routed to a best available agent terminal.
US09247049B2
A communication system, method, and components are described. Specifically, a communication system having the ability to accommodate communication preferences for multiple users sharing a common line appearance is described. An application sequence can be determined and invoked based on communication preferences of the multiple users sharing a common line appearance.
US09247037B2
Methods and systems to enable touch-free call origination using a communication device equipped with a microphone. The method comprises processing a first microphone signal at the device in an attempt to detect a spoken activation command potentially contained therein. Responsive to detection of a spoken activation command in the first microphone signal, the method continues by establishing a communication path between the device and a network entity to convey to the network entity a second microphone signal. Finally, the method comprises processing the second microphone signal at the network entity in an attempt to detect a call origination command potentially contained therein; and, responsive to detection of a call origination command in the second microphone signal, attempting establishment of a call in accordance with the detected call origination command. Thus, a call can be established without tactile interaction with the device and, moreover, with minimal computational load on the device.
US09247027B1
A content item is updated in response to advancing capabilities of a client. A local content item received from a server is stored. The local content item has characteristics customized based on prior capabilities of the client. A determination is made regarding whether current capabilities of the client exceed characteristics of the local content item customized based on the prior capabilities of the client. Responsive to determining that the current capabilities of the client exceed the characteristics of the local content item, an updated content item having characteristics customized based on the current capabilities of the client is requested from the server. The updated content item is stored as an updated local content item.
US09247023B2
The method and system relate to prioritizing access and shaping traffic to the SIM such that the requests to the SIM that pertain to registering the wireless mobile device on a network are given a higher priority than other requests to the SIM. The higher priority requests that relate to registering the mobile device on a network may be processed by the SIM prior to at least one other request that is not related to registering the mobile device on the network.
US09247022B2
Methods and apparatus to optimize workflow execution by making intelligent decisions regarding service requests to perform workflow processes on one or more servers are provided. For some embodiments, a workflow controller may analyze a workflow definition specifying a set of tasks to be performed in order to determine if multiple tasks may be performed locally, on a common server. If so, the controller may generate a remote service to perform the multiple tasks on the common server, without requiring intermediate transfer of data between a local server on which the controller is running and the common remote server.
US09247019B2
A system with distributed proxy for reducing traffic in a wireless network to satisfy data requests made by a mobile application the system is provided. The system includes a mobile device having a local proxy for intercepting a data request made by the mobile application where the local proxy simulating application server responses for the mobile application on the mobile device for data requests where responses are available in the local cache. A proxy server is coupled to the mobile device and an application server to which the data request is made. The proxy server is able to communicate with the local proxy where the local proxy forwards the data request to the proxy server for transmission to the application server for a response to the data request. The proxy server queries the application server independent of activities of the mobile application for any changes to the data request that the mobile application has previously made and notifies the local proxy of such changes.
US09247016B2
Methods and apparatuses that collect tracking data items into a plurality of data stores for one or more domain in response to resources received from the domains are described. Each tracking data item may be accessible for one of the domains. Relationships of the domains may be identified among the tracking data items across multiple data stores according to the resources received. One or more of the domains may be selected according to the identified relationships to control accessibility of the tracking data items for the domains. The data stores may be updated to prohibit accessing at least a portion of the tracking data items for the selected domains.
US09247012B2
Systems, methods and articles of manufacture allow adjusting the relative weighting associated with evaluation criteria associated with a unified view of dissimilar data. The operation generally includes collecting data regarding attributes of a user interacting with an application, where the collected data has associated evaluation criteria. The data is collectively represented according to the evaluation criteria. The systems, methods and articles of manufacture then allow dynamically modifying the evaluation criteria before evaluating and collectively representing the data according to the adjusted criteria.
US09247010B2
A personal networking/communication device (PND) enables real-time social and business interactions/networking within a real environment. A first PND associated with a first person/user in the real environment is within communication range of a second PND. The first PND receives (via electronic communication) and displays a social interaction information signature (SIS) of the second PND. The signature includes a physical mapping/location of the second PND relative to the first PND and provides some information about the second PND's user. Following a selection of the SIS on the first PND, the first PND electronically transmits one or more “request for interaction or information exchange” (RIIE) to the second PND. When the first PND receives a response to the RIIE from the second PND, the user of the first PND receives real-time unequivocal confirmation of whether the second person is interested in interacting/socializing with the user.
US09247007B2
There is provided a system and method for extending media device functions using a peripheral control interface. There is provided a media device for controlling a peripheral device where the media device provides a plurality of native functions. The media device comprises a network interface and a processor configured to establish a connection with a network using the network interface, execute a media application to discover a route to a server through the connection, obtain via the route a peripheral control interface for providing a mediation service associated with the peripheral device, and send a command to the server using the route for controlling the peripheral device using the peripheral control interface, which causes the peripheral device to execute a function outside of the plurality of native functions provided by the media device.
US09246998B2
Bypassing a load balancer that initially appeared in a multi-message flow from a source machine served by a source intermediary and a target machine served on a target intermediary. One or more original network messages (and perhaps just the first) of the flow arrive from the source intermediary at the load balancer, which selects which machine is to be a destination machine, and it turns out selects the destination machine serviced by the destination intermediary. In response to receiving this message, the destination intermediary instructs the source intermediary to transmit subsequent messages in the flow in a manner that bypasses the load balancer. To facilitate this, the source intermediary may modify addressing of subsequent flow messages from the source machine such that they are rerouted to the destination machine without addressing the load balancer.
US09246997B2
A method is described for reducing a load placed on an endpoint server acting as an endpoint of a tunnel from a client device across a network. The method, implemented at the client device, comprises the following steps. A request to establish a new network connection is received. A risk of establishing the new network connection outside of the tunnel is determined based on a plurality of predefined criteria. The determined risk is compared with a predefined risk threshold and, if the determined risk is less than or equal to the predefined risk threshold, the new network connection is established directly via the network. If the new network connection fails before it is completed it is re-established via the tunnel. If the determined risk is greater than the predefined risk threshold, the new network connection is established via the tunnel. A client device and computer-readable medium configured to implement the method is also described.
US09246962B2
A conference mixer includes a unit configured to receive a plurality of input streams, a spectral voice activity detection (VAD) unit configured to, for each of the input streams, generate and output a spectral VAD decision indicating whether a frame including data packets is voice, a turbo VAD unit configured to generate and output a turbo VAD decision that indicates for a frame including data packets which input stream is active, the turbo VAD decision being based on the spectral VAD decisions and a power-based decision indicating whether an estimated instantaneous power level of a frame including data packets is greater than a power threshold, and a finite state machine (FSM) unit configured to select which of the input streams to output as an active stream based on a plurality of the turbo VAD decisions, the turbo VAD decision being based in part on feedback provided by the FSM.
US09246960B2
An auditory theme represents at least one participant in a networked group interaction, and reflects an attribute of that participant. Systems for presenting auditory themes may perform one or more operations. Such operations may include, but are not limited to: determining at least one participant in a networked group interaction; and presenting an auditory theme representing the at least one participant.
US09246956B2
A method including: generating a random identification token on a computer, said identification token identifying the computer; modulating the identification token to an audio signal on the computer; causing, with the computer, a speaker to emit the audio signal; receiving, at video conference device, the audio signal with a microphone associated with the video conference device; demodulating the audio signal to the identification token in the video conference device; sending at least the identification token and a unique identifier of the video conference device to the computer; and establishing a communication session through a communication network, that both the computer and video conference device are communicatively connected to, from the computer to the video conference device enabling control of, and data transfer to, the video conference device from the computer.
US09246955B2
A method and apparatus for handling a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) OPTIONS capability query message in a communication network. A SIP proxy node receives a SIP OPTIONS message from a querying node. It sends the message to a plurality of devices, and receives a response from at least two of the plurality of devices. Each response includes an identity of the responding device and an indication of the capabilities of the responding device. Each received response is stored in a memory, and a reply message is generated. The reply message includes the identities and capabilities of all of the responding devices. This reply message is then sent to the querying node. This allows the querying node to receive capability information relating to all of the callee's devices rather than just the one that responds first.
US09246954B2
Location information is tagged in a packet based network. SIP signaling messages are used to initiate a communication session between at least two end user devices in a packet based telecommunications network. The communication session is routed through various intermediate network elements of the packet based network. The intermediate network elements tag the signaling messages with information indicating their geographic location or otherwise provide such location information. In response to the signaling messages and preferably before the communication session is established, the location information indicating the location of the intermediate network elements in the routing of the communication session between the end user devices is made available. An end user device or apparatus may receive the location information and provide a user display indicating the routing and status of the communication session being initiated.
US09246949B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for establishing an authenticated session between a client computing device and a remote computing device. In certain embodiments, a connection is established between the client computing device and the remote computing device. Once the connection is established, the client computing device sends a number of requests to the client computing device including a negotiate request, a setup request, and a validation request. In response to the requests, the client computing device receives a number of responses from the remote computing device including a negotiate response, setup response and a validation response. Once the responses have been received, a determination is made as to whether information contained in the validation response matches information contained in the negotiate response. If the information matches, an authenticated session is established between the remote computing device and the client computing device.
US09246948B2
A computer-implemented method for providing targeted data loss prevention on unmanaged computing devices may include (1) identifying a data loss prevention policy that defines permissible data handling within set bounds to prevent unauthorized data exfiltration from the set bounds, (2) identifying an application to install on at least one unmanaged endpoint device, where (i) the unmanaged endpoint device lacks a data loss prevention agent configured to apply the data loss prevention policy to the entire unmanaged endpoint device and (ii) the application is to be provided to the unmanaged endpoint device to operate on sensitive data from within the set bounds, and (3) wrapping the application in an application wrapper that intercepts system calls from the application and applies the data loss prevention policy to sensitive data implicated in the system calls. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09246932B2
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for selective website vulnerability and infection testing and intelligently paced rigorous direct website testing. By providing robust website content integrity checking while only lightly loading the website hosting server, visitor bandwidth availability is maintained through selective testing and intelligently paced external website exercising. A modular pod-based computing architecture of interconnected severs configured with a sharded database facilitates selective website testing and intelligent direct website test pacing while providing scalability to support large numbers of website testing subscribers.
US09246925B2
A third-party service platform login method is provided for a public platform containing information of a plurality of third-party service platforms. The method includes accepting a user logging onto the public platform from a client terminal, obtaining a third-party service platform selected by the user on the public platform, and obtaining a user identification number (UIN) of the user and a UIN of the selected third-party service platform. The user's UIN corresponds to a user account of the user on the public platform and the selected third-party service platform's UIN corresponds to a public account of the third-party service platform on the public platform. Further, the method includes combining the UIN of the user and the UIN of the selected third-party service platform to generate a new combined user account for the user to log onto the selected third-party service platform, and logging onto the selected third-party service platform.
US09246918B2
Secure application leveraging of a filter proxy service may be provided. In response to receiving a request to access a resource, a filter proxy service may be used to determine whether the request to access the resource is approved. If the request to access the resource is approved, the access to the resource may be allowed to continue.
US09246910B2
A method including determining a public identifier for identifying a configuration of an apparatus, determining a common configuration certificate comprising a common configuration certificate identifier for verifying programming data, and determining a hardware certificate comprising the public identifier and the common configuration certificate identifier for associating a permitted combination of the apparatus configuration and the programming data. Furthermore, the method includes generating a dedicated package of the hardware certificates corresponding to the apparatus configurations allowed to be provided, encrypting the dedicated package of the hardware certificates using a public key, and storing the encrypted dedicated package of the hardware certificates with an identifier to a passive memory of the apparatus.
US09246898B2
This invention provides a system and method to search for and securely download Digital MultiMedia Evidence (DME) data from a central DME repository to portable USB, smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or other data storage devices, with a clear chain of custody and access control audit trail reporting, so the DME can be used to prepare for and conduct legal proceedings.
US09246891B1
A system and method for managing licensing of virtual environment applications. A licensing module of a first installed virtual environment application detects installation of affiliated applications and gives them a group licensing key for passing it to the licensing server. The licensing server derives licensing parameters of the affiliated applications from the group key and gives the licenses to the affiliated applications, in case of successful validation. The licensing system provides protection from un-authorized copying of the applications. If an affiliated virtual environment application is copied (or moved) to another hardware node without its virtual environment, the licensing server will not give the license activation key to this virtual environment application.
US09246889B2
A method is provided for securely delivering identity data units over a communications network to a client device. The method includes receiving a selection from a customer identifying a final zipped package to be unpacked. The final zipped package is unpacked to obtain a common package and a digital signature file signed by an entity generating identity data requested by the customer. The digital signature in the digital signature file is verified and the common package is unpacked to obtain a plurality of outer packages and an encrypted symmetric key. The symmetric key is decrypted with a private key associated with the customer and each of the outer packages is decrypted with the symmetric key to obtain a plurality of identity data units.
US09246887B1
Method and apparatus for securing confidential data related to a user in a computer is described. In one example, rules are obtained that provide a representation of the confidential data. A storage system in the computer is searched using the rules to detect a file having at least a portion of the confidential data. The file is encrypted the in-place within the storage system using symmetric encryption based on a secret associated with the user.
US09246885B2
A method, system, apparatus and computer programs are disclosed to process content for an enterprise. The method includes reviewing, using at least one enterprise policy, content that is to be sent through a data communications network to a public service to determine if the content comprises secure data and, in response to identifying secure data, modifying the content to be sent to the public service such that a presence of secure data will be visually imperceptible when the content is rendered at the public service. The step of modifying can include steganographically embedding the secure data or a link to the secure data in a container such as image data.
US09246871B2
A method of discovering and assigning an IP address to a device to be discovered in a communication network having multiple interconnected nodes includes continuously monitoring, by the device to be discovered, the network for address resolution protocol (ARP) requests. The discoverer node transmits a number of ARP request to the network. The device to be discovered receives the number of ARP requests. The device to be discovered determines whether the number of ARP requests are unanswered by other devices in the network. The device to be discovered answers to the number of ARP requests with an ARP reply to claim an IP address associated with the number of ARP requests. The discoverer node and the device to be discovered exchange a pair of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets to complete the detection process.
US09246869B2
A business object model, which reflects data that is used during a given business transaction, is utilized to generate interfaces. This business object model facilitates commercial transactions by providing consistent interfaces that are suitable for use across industries, across businesses, and across different departments within a business during a business transaction. In some operations, software creates, updates, or otherwise processes information related to an opportunity business object.
US09246865B2
Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for prioritized alert delivery in a distributed processing system are provided. Embodiments include receiving a plurality of events from a plurality of tiered event producing components in a distributed computing system; identifying a plurality of potential alerts in dependence upon the events; wherein each potential alert includes a priority and one or more condition events describing the event producing component creating the event; comparing the potential alerts and their condition events and priorities; identifying the highest priority potential alert having condition events whose event producing component is in a tier that is higher than the tier of condition events of one or more lower priority potential alerts; and creating an alert in dependence upon the identified highest priority potential alert and the condition events corresponding to the identified highest priority potential alert.
US09246862B2
In one embodiment, a method includes recording a first location of a mobile device; determining, by one or more processors of a geographic-positioning component of the mobile device, on a periodic basis, a current location of the mobile device; determining, by the processors of the geographic-positioning component, whether the current location is outside a geographic region defined at least in part by the first location; and if the current location is outside the geographic region, then transmitting, by the processors of the geographic-positioning component, a message to one or more other processors of the mobile device, the message causing one or more of the other processors to transition from a sleep state to an active state.
US09246858B2
A facility for coordinating an online discussion is described. The facility receives an indication that a user has captured a machine-readable symbol encoding an identifier that identifies a particular online discussion. In response, the facility incorporates into an online forum that hosts this online discussion an indication that this user captured a symbol encoding an identifier that identifies this online discussion.
US09246854B2
A client device including a first message receiver that receives a first message from an external device; a second message receiver that receives a second message from the external device; a display unit that displays one of the first message received by the first message receiver and the second message received by the second message receiver; and a controller that determines whether or not a specific address or a specific keyword is stated in the body of the second message received by the second message receiver, and discards the received second message on the basis of the determination result.
US09246851B2
Memory management for WiFi Media Access Control (MAC) frames includes dividing a memory into equally-sized smaller chunks; writing a MAC frame that is larger in size than one-chunk size into several chunks; appending special information to each chunk to specify whether the chunk is a starting chunk or an intermediate chunk of the MAC frame or whether the chuck is currently unoccupied at all; linking the chunks carrying the MAC frame; and specifying a task waiting to be performed for the MAC frame. The several chunks may be noncontiguous or contiguous. The memory management technique may further comprise searching the memory for chunks comprising frames waiting for a certain task. The memory management technique may further comprise marking the chunks as empty after the certain task is completed.
US09246849B2
A technique is provided for facilitating fabric membership login for an N_Port of a storage area network. A communication from a network node is received. The communication may include a portion of criteria associated with the N_Port. Using at least a portion of the portion of criteria, a virtual fabric identifier corresponding to a virtual fabric which is associated with the N_Port may be automatically identified. Fabric configuration information, which includes the virtual fabric identifier, may be automatically provided to the network node. A fabric login request from the N_Port to login to the virtual fabric may then be received. According to a specific embodiment, the communication may be transmitted from a network node to an F_Port on a Fibre Channel switch. When the N_Port received the fabric configuration information from the F_Port, the generating, using at least a portion of the received fabric configuration information, a fabric login request message may be generated by the N_Port which includes a fabric login request for the N_Port to login to the virtual fabric corresponding to the virtual fabric identifier. In at least one implementation, the N_Port and/or F_Port may be configured or designed to support trunking functionality.
US09246847B2
A method is executed by a controller in a software defined network to conserve bandwidth over the software defined networking (SDN) network by compressing Internet protocol (IP) headers of data packets traversing the SDN network. The IP headers of the data packets remain compressed as the data packets traverse the SDN network. The ingress switch is an entry point for the data packets as the data packets traverse the SDN network. The egress switch is an exit point for the data packets as the data packets traverse the SDN network. The method includes configuring a flow table of the ingress switch to forward the data packets to a header compressor module in the ingress switch, configuring the ingress switch to instantiate the header compressor module, and configuring a group table of the ingress switch to manage forwarding of the data packets toward the egress switch.
US09246842B2
Technology for adapting a video stream using a quality of experience (QoE) report is disclosed. One method can include a QoE-aware system in a node of a radio access network (RAN) receiving a QoE report with at least one QoE metric from a wireless device. The QoE-aware system can extract the at least one QoE metric in a function layer from a QoE reporting layer. The function layer can be a layer other than the QoE reporting layer. The QoE-aware system can modify a layer function in the function layer to improve the QoE metric.
US09246840B2
An approach is provided for an information handling system to scale a workload being executed in a cloud computing environment. In the approach, performance of the workload is analyzed by using more than one resource configuration. The resource configurations use different resources that are available in the cloud computing environment. The analysis of the workload results in test results. At least one of the resource configurations is directed to a scaling up of resources that alters resources assigned to a first virtual machine (VM) running the workload. Another resource configuration is directed to a scaling out of resources that adds one or more VMs to a second VM creating a number of VMs running the workload. The test results are compared and an optimal test result is selected. A workload scaling profile is optimized according to the selected optimal test result.
US09246832B2
The present invention concerns a method for optimizing ROHC RTP (Robust Header Compression Real Time Protocol) compression applied to IP header of data packets stream so as to use more compact formats enable to remain in a steady state, to never discard received packet, and to serve radio resources without requiring to modify ROHC specification. In the method, when handover or mobility procedure is started, new reference values are normally added to a sliding compression window, but no reference value is removed from the window as long as the handover or mobility procedure is on going. After the handover or mobility procedure is complete, when the number of values transmitted on the new radio link are appropriate to cope against the error properties on the new link, all older values can be removed at once from the compression window, thereby reverting to normal window operation.
US09246827B1
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with controlling the flow of packets in a network are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a transceiver and a flow logic. The flow logic is configured to control the transceiver to transmit a frame to a downstream device by determining whether the frame matches a predetermined pattern. The predetermined pattern identifies a source of frames. The predetermined pattern specifies an action to perform for frames received from the source that are to be transmitted to the downstream device. The flow logic is also configured to control the transceiver to transmit a frame to a downstream device by, in response to determining that the frame matches the predetermined pattern, controlling transmission of the frame to the downstream device according to the action specified by the predetermined pattern.
US09246826B2
The present invention discloses an integrated circuit arrangement (100) comprising a data communication network comprising a plurality of connections (300), a plurality of modules (110) coupled to the data communication network via at least one network interface (120), the network interface comprising a plurality of buffers; a remote service module (150) being coupled to the data communication network via a further network interface (140), wherein each of said modules (1 10) is arranged to provide its network interface (120) with a service request (200) for the remote service module (150), said network interface being arranged to extend said service request with a first identifier (204) for establishing a network connection (300) with a remote service module (150); and a circuit portion (350) comprising a plurality of buffers (142) between the at least one network interface (120) and the remote service module (150) for storing service requests (200) from the plurality of modules (110), said circuit portion comprising decoding logic (144) for selecting one of said buffers (142) by decoding a further identifier (210) embedded in the service request (200).
US09246810B2
Methods and apparatus for improving hash-based load balancing with per-hop seeding are disclosed. The methods and apparatus described herein provide a set of techniques that enable nodes to perform differing mathematical transformations when selecting a destination link. The techniques include manipulation of seeds, hash configuration mode randomization at a per node basis, per node/microflow basis or per microflow basis, seed index generation, and member selection. A node can utilize any, or all, of the techniques presented in this disclosure simultaneously to improve traffic distribution and avoid path starvation with a degree of determinism.
US09246804B1
An example of network routing comprising a host route injection that can include injecting a host route and a next hop of the host route into a routing table. The host route can be injected into a top of rack network device and transferred to an Aggregation network device routing table. The routing entry can be updated by sharing routing updates from the compute host through the top of rack network device.
US09246803B2
Various disclosed embodiments include methods, systems, and computer-readable media for named data network (NDN) inter/intra-domain mobility. A complete de-coupling of identity and addressing space is established. This provides separation of control and forwarding allowing rich policy based routing, using SDN principles, as well as policy based global resolution. In one embodiment, the de-coupling of identity from location is achieved by a changeable forwarding label field in a header that can have nodal/domain/global scope. This disclosure provides content routing/mobility to be handled with a high degree of flexibility. This disclosure also provides mobility as a service for a component of a name space.
US09246796B2
A network comprises a communication device having network communication interfaces and a data processing node having network communication ports. The communication device includes a first and a second interface communicatively coupled to a first and a second port of the data processing node respectively. The first interface is selected as a primary interface for the transmission of network traffic to destinations across the network. The second interface is selected as a backup interface which is to be selected for the transmission of the network traffic in the case of a need to failover to the backup interface. Network traffic from the communication device is transmitted via the first interface while the first interface is selected as the primary interface. At least one data message is transmitted from the communication device via the second interface, while the first interface is selected as the primary interface.
US09246787B2
A method implemented in a device is disclosed for networking through signals transmitted across a shared medium network. The method starts with monitoring for a first signal on a shared medium of the shared medium network. The first signal is processed after it is received and while the first signal is being processed, a set of one or more signals is received on the shared medium. Then a set of one or more amplitude increases is determined, where each amplitude increase is from an earlier received signal to a later received signal. The set of one or more amplitude increases is compared to a threshold value and at least partially in response to the comparison, the device discards one or more signals from the first signal and the set of one or more signals.
US09246779B2
A method and system for processing network data and displaying the results using a customizable user interface are disclosed.
US09246777B2
To analyze the cause if an event occurred to a plurality of monitoring targets. A monitoring computer 101 includes a general rule storing part 136 configured to store a general rule, wherein the general rule previously associates a first event which can occur in any of the plurality of monitoring targets and a second event which can cause the first event, an correlation rule generating part 129 configured to generate an correlation rule, wherein the correlation rule is created based on the general rule and configuration information, and in the case where a predetermined number or more of events corresponding to the second events are detected, the correlation rule indicates that an event corresponding to the first event will occur, and an analyzing part 125 configured to analyze a cause of an event indicated by the event information based on received event information and the correlation rule.
US09246770B1
Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to selecting and identifying a primary controller server among a group of servers on a network. In order to do so, a first computer may set a first number to zero when a storage system associated with the first computer is initialized. The first computer may conduct an election protocol to select a primary controller computer from a plurality of computers. After selecting the primary computer, increase the first number by a given value and send it to the selected primary computer. The selected primary computer may set a second number corresponding to an absolute time when the storage system associated with the first computer is initialized. The selected primary computer may receive the first number from the first computer. The selected primary computer may send the numbers to a client device. After sending, the primary computer may establish a connection with the client.
US09246762B1
Techniques and solutions for performing automatic client-side configuration of network services is described. For example, a host can determine a location where the host is located. The host can obtain a list of locations containing providers of the network service. The host can obtain network service providers based on the list. For example, the host can first obtain providers from the same location and then from other locations as needed. In some implementations, the domain name system (DNS) is used to lookup available providers of the network service. For example, the DNS system can be used to provide information about available providers that is specific to the location of the host running the network service client and/or based on other criteria (e.g., based on a type of network, such as a network fabric, associated with the host).
US09246761B2
A method and apparatus for managing a cloud virtual base station system are disclosed. The present invention comprises configuring an initial resource and reconfiguring the resource to add or remove a resource of an execution file of the cloud virtual base station system, monitoring an error of the cloud virtual base station system, a wireless resource, a status of the execution file, or a configuration status of the reconfigured resource, managing configuration information of a list of software added or removed during an operation, controlling the cloud virtual base station system in a predetermined specific mode, managing hardware information, file information, or control information of each module of the cloud virtual base station system, and managing the execution file for each module of the cloud virtual base station system by adding or removing the predetermined specific mode initially or during an operation.
US09246760B1
Systems and methods for reassigning and implementing communication links in a network are described herein. The systems and methods described herein, reduce the amount of throughput loss that results when a network is expanded. The systems and methods generate distributions for the communication links that, when implemented, reduce the number of broken paths that occur in the expanding network. More practically, the systems and methods provide a heuristic for remapping communication links from a first link distribution to a second link distribution.
US09246759B2
A femto cell service framework is utilized for purchase and service of femtocell equipment and customer support thereof. A point of sale (POS) platform enables purchase of femtocell equipment based on a set of eligibility criteria. POS also allows purchase of add-on services. Direct fulfillment and post-sale transactions such as returns and equipment replacement are also provided. An account management service enables femtocell equipment and service self-care or through customer representatives. Configuration of service account and monitoring of account status is provided. Customer care architecture also enables remote troubleshooting of purchased equipment. Remote troubleshooting includes diagnosis and related manipulation of purchased equipment.
US09246758B2
Methods of deploying a new server that will receive a set of services include receiving a request to deploy the new server, automatically selecting a location for the server based on a set of rules, and automatically determining the hardware and configuration changes that are necessary to deploy the server at the selected location and to provide the set of services to the server.
US09246755B2
Embodiments relate to software-defined networking (SDN) disaster recovery. An aspect is a computer-implemented method that includes establishing a plurality of flows, by an SDN controller, between a plurality of switches and pairs of servers in a network, including at least two different pairs of server types. Each server type runs a different operating system and a different disaster recovery manager in an active/active configuration. Data migration is controlled, by the SDN controller, between the pairs of servers in the network. The SDN controller dynamically reallocates the flows between the switches and the pairs of servers in the network based on detecting a fault in the network.
US09246749B1
A lost communications link recovery method for a remotely-operated robot comprising the following steps: monitoring command and control (C2) signals transmitted over a wireless network from an operator control unit (OCU) to the robot; storing the C2 signals in a sliding window buffer; monitoring the wireless network for communication link breaks between the OCU and the robot; and creating, and issuing to the robot, reverse C2 commands based on the stored C2 signals upon detecting a communication link break.
US09246746B2
The present disclosure provides reliable systems and methods for network notifications, i.e. Simple Network Management Protocol version 2 Protocol Data Unit (SNMPv2-Trap-PDU) messages, asynchronous notifications, InformRequest-PDU messages, and the like, between network elements, element managers, and other element managers. In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes a network management system and method with a plurality of network elements operating a management agent communicatively coupled to an element manager which in turn is communicatively coupled to another element manager, a network management system (NMS), an operations support system (OSS), or the like. The present invention may utilize SNMPv2 and/or v3, and includes various techniques and processes ensuring reliable notifications between any of the network elements, element managers, or the like in the network management system.
US09246740B2
Methods, systems, and products notify of alarms in security systems. An alarm message is received from a security system associated with a network address. The network address is associated to a notification address. A Voice-over Internet Protocol call to the notification address is initiated over a data network to alert of an alarm from a security system.
US09246735B2
An optical system may include an optical transmitter or an optical receiver. The optical transmitter may include a laser to provide an input signal, a first digital signal processor (DSP) to receive a data signal, provide non-rotated and rotated symbols corresponding to the data signal, and provide digital signals corresponding to the non-rotated and the rotated symbols to cause one or more digital to analog converts to convert the digital signals to analog signals. The optical transmitter may further provide a modified 5 quadrature amplitude modulation (5QAM) signal based on the analog signals and the input signal. A constellation map of the modified 5QAM signal may include all constellation points of a 16QAM signal. The optical receiver may include a second DSP to receive components associated with the 5QAM signal, filter the components, reduce phase noise of the 5QAM signal, and provide data associated with the 5QAM signal.
US09246730B2
A method and an apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals thereof are disclosed. The method for transmitting broadcast signals includes encoding DP data according to a code rate, wherein the encoding further includes LDPC encoding the DP data according to the code rate, bit interleaving the LDPC encoded DP data, mapping the bit interleaved DP data onto constellations, MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) encoding the mapped DP data, and time interleaving the MIMO encoded DP data; building at least one signal frame by arranging the encoded DP data; and modulating data in the built signal frame by OFDM method and transmitting the broadcast signals having the modulated data, wherein the step of modulating includes inserting CPs in the built signal frame based on a CP set which includes information about locations of CPs, wherein the CP set is defined based on FFT size.
US09246725B2
A method of generating a packet for low energy critical infrastructure monitoring (LECIM) wireless communication is provided. The method includes steps of generating a first bit string by multiplexing a physical layer header (PHR) bit and a physical layer service data unit (PSDU) bit; convolution encoding the first bit string; interleaving the convolution-encoded first bit string; generating a second bit string by multiplexing the interleaved first bit string with a synchronization header (SHR) bit; and modulating the second bit string with a frequency shift keying (FSK) method and a position-based FSK method.
US09246708B2
A social networking website system with automatic registration based on a current location information. Individuals are automatically enrolled into social network services based on a current location determined from their mobile devices. In particular, farmers in rural places can be enrolled into social networks in their local districts, and they can interact with others using audio and video messages employing their local languages. Such interaction can be adhoc in nature, employing audio messages, or audio and video messages. In general, automatic memberships to social networks, social groups and to discussion lists are provided to users, based on user's current location.
US09246706B2
In a service level interworking unit, a service center (SC) address or a set of SC addresses dedicated for the service level interworking is used whenever an instant message (IM) is interworked to a short message (SM). In other words, if a message is initially sent as an instant message (IM) by user equipment (UE) and is interworked to a short message (SM) by the interworking function, the interworked short message (SM) is sent to a dedicated service center (SC) address. For originating messages that are not interworked, different service center address or addresses are used. A terminating short message (SM) received at the interworking unit is interworked to an instant message (IM) and the interworked instant message (IM) is delivered to the user equipment (UE), if a service center address in the terminating short message (SM) is one of the dedicated service center addresses. If the a service center address in the terminating short message (SM) is not one of the dedicated service center addresses, the terminating short message (SM) is delivered to the user equipment (UE) without a service level interworking.
US09246702B1
An example method is provided and includes configuring a service appliance to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to a switch; establishing a communication channel between the service appliance and the switch; and communicating control messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel. In more particular embodiment, the method can include communicating data messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel.
US09246697B2
A communication device, a multicast control method, and a scheduling control method are disclosed. The communication device includes: a decoding buffer that stores a first multicast packet received from a first node and a second multicast packet received from a second node; an encoder that performs network coding of the first and second multicast packets; and a transmitter that transmits the network-coded packets output from the encoder to the first node and the second node.
US09246690B1
Techniques for managing secure execution environments provided as a service to computing resource service provider customers are described herein. A request to launch a secure execution environment is received from a customer and fulfilled by launching a secure execution environment on a selected computer system. The secure execution environment is then validated and upon a successful validation, one or more applications are provided to the secure execution environment to be executed within the secure execution environment. As additional requests relating to managing the secure execution environment are received, operations are performed based on the requests.
US09246689B2
Technologies are generally described for establishing secure communications to manage components of a control system. In some examples, upon receiving a request from a component to join a cluster of components, a class and instance of the component may be verified to authorize the component. A command to be transmitted from the component to another component of the cluster may be marked with a signature, where restrictions may be placed on a type of command that a particular class of component may transmit to one or more other classes of components. Based on the signature, a secure communication path between the components may be established by creating an encrypted virtual private network (VPN). The command may then be transmitted from the component to the other component through the secure communication path.
US09246679B2
A system and method for negotiating a pairwise master key (“PMK”) in wireless mesh networks. The system includes a plurality of mesh points that are configured to perform an abbreviated handshake protocol in negotiating a PMK and establishing a secure connection. The method for establishing a negotiated PMK is based on selecting a PMK before transmitting any data, and arranging available PMKs in a predetermined list so that a PMK can be negotiated in a limited number of exchanges.
US09246676B2
Embodiments generally provide techniques for managing data security. One embodiment includes providing, at a client system, an encrypted private key that can be decrypted using a locker key. Encrypted data is received from a remote system, and embodiment determine that the received encrypted data can be decrypted using a private key recovered by decrypting the encrypted private key. A request is transmitted to the remote system for the locker key corresponding to the encrypted private key, and the requested locker key is received from the remote system. Embodiments decrypt the encrypted private key using the received locker key to recover the private key, and decrypt the encrypted data, using the private key.
US09246673B2
Examples are disclosed for transforming a multi-dimensional attribute value for a taste related to an area of interest for a user of a computing device and encrypting or decrypting a ciphertext using the transformed multi-dimensional attribute value in order to securely share data with another computing device.
US09246672B2
A master key may be used by each participant in a secure communication. Indeed, each participant may select and encryption key from a distinct end of the master key. To eliminate a necessity for the end points in the secure communication to maintain a master key corresponding to every possible correspondent, the participants may communicate through an encryption server.
US09246671B2
In a method for operating a motor vehicle, encrypted data is exchanged between a sensor and a control device via a bus. An item of information required for decrypting the exchanged data is provided by a user of the motor vehicle by way of a portable device. The encrypted data includes measurement values of the sensor which relate to an operating state of a component of the motor vehicle.
US09246665B2
A transmitting apparatus is capable of transmitting data at a first frequency and second frequency to a receiving apparatus. A transmitter of the transmitting apparatus transmits a predetermined wideband signal, in a first time period in a frequency band which does not include the first frequency and in a second time period in a frequency band which does not include the second frequency. A quality measuring unit of the receiving apparatus measures the quality of communication with the transmitting apparatus based on the wideband signal received in the first and second time periods.
US09246655B2
A wireless terminal (30) communicates across a wireless interface with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology network (22-1) and a circuit switched network (22-2). The wireless terminal (30) establishes a circuit switched call with the circuit switched network (22-2); maintains a packet switched session with the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology network (22-1) during establishment of the circuit switched call; and, multiplexes transmissions of the packet switched session with transmissions of the circuit switched call.
US09246648B2
Methods and apparatuses are provided for transmitting and receiving information. A User Equipment (UE) receives information for a cyclic shift value and information for an orthogonal sequence transmitted from a Node B. The cyclic shift value is defined per Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol and the orthogonal sequence is defined per slot. The UE obtains a reference sequence based on the cyclic shift value and the orthogonal sequence. The UE transmits the reference sequence in a SC-FDMA symbol to the Node B. The SC-FDMA symbol is predefined among a plurality of SC-FDMA symbols in a slot of a subframe.
US09246643B2
The invention relates to a method and to a test device (12) which is used to determine an error rate during the transfer of data (1) in a mobile radio system. Said mobile radio system comprises at least one transfer channel, wherein several data partial flows (2.1, 2.2, 2.6) are transferred. The several data partial flows (2.1, 2.2 . . . 2.6) are produced in a signal generator unit (8). A transport format is determined, in an individual manner, for each data partial flow (2.1, 2.2 . . . 2.6). The data partial flows (2.1, 2.2 . . . 2.6) are sent, respectively, to a number of transfer blocks which belong together (5.1, . . . 7.1). A device which is to be tested captures the transfer blocks (5.1, . . . 7.1) of the data partial flows (2.1, 2.2 . . . 2.6) and evaluates them. According to the accuracy of the evaluation, a positive or negative actuation signal (ACK, NACK) is sent back by the device which is to be tested. An error rate of each data partial flow (2.1, 2.2 . . . 2.6) is determined by the test device (12) from the actuation signals (ACK, NACK) which are captured by the test device (12).
US09246641B2
The present invention relates to a transmission of information in a wireless communication network between a radio access node and a relay node, wherein, according to a new ground rule, for each allocated downlink subframe for a down link transmission from the access node to the relay node, an uplink transmission subframe for an uplink transmission is allocated four transmission time intervals later. A downlink subframe is only allocated when a further subframe of the same transmission time interval for a transmission from the relay node to the user equipment is a subframe of a type that indicates to a user equipment that no data are received beyond a control region of the subframe.
US09246639B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for ensuring quality of service of an Internet Protocol television live broadcast service, and the method includes: detecting a live broadcast packet received from an original multicast group (100); if detecting that the live broadcast packet has an error or a loss, joining a multicast group corresponding to a delay multicast stream sent by a retransmission server, and receiving a delay retransmission packet from the delay multicast stream (102); and recovering the live broadcast packet according to the received delay retransmission packet (104). Correspondingly, a terminal and a retransmission server are provided. Once the terminal detects that the original packet has a loss or an error, the terminal directly receives a packet from a delay packet stream sent by the retransmission server for recovering, thereby avoiding a NACK storm, simplifying the processing of the retransmission server, and improving the retransmission efficiency.
US09246636B2
A computer-implemented method for detecting TCP packet losses and expediting packet retransmission is disclosed. The method includes assigning to each packet transmitted or retransmitted a sequential order number, determining from an ACK packet or SACK segment thereof the sequential order number of a received packet, recording the determined sequential order number as a highest received order number in case the determined sequential order number is greater than a current highest received order number, and retransmitting all unacknowledged packets having sequential order numbers less than the highest received order number.
US09246635B2
A method and an apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals thereof are disclosed. The apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals comprises an encoder for encoding service data, a mapper for mapping the encoded service data into a plurality of OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex) symbols to build at least one signal frame, a frequency interleaver for frequency interleaving data in the at least one signal frame by using a different interleaving-seed which is used for every OFDM symbol pair comprised of two sequential OFDM symbols, a modulator for modulating the frequency interleaved data by an OFDM scheme and a transmitter for transmitting the broadcast signals having the modulated data, wherein the different interleaving-seed is generated based on a cyclic shifting value and wherein an interleaving seed is variable based on an FFT size of the modulating.
US09246630B2
A method for forward error correction (FEC) includes obtaining information on a type of a current frame, where the current frame includes a key frame and a non-key frame; determining a coding redundancy of the current frame according to the type of the current frame and a redundancy coding strategy, where the coding redundancy of the key frame is greater than that of the non-key frame; and using the determined coding redundancy to generate an FEC code for the current frame. The method is applicable to circumstances where FEC is performed for media data of various coding formats.
US09246622B2
A semiconductor optical element and an optical module in which extinction ratio variation among integrated optical modulation elements is reduced. An optical module has a wavelength multiplexer that multiplexes light respectively emerging from electric-field-absorption modulator (EAM) portions of integrated optical modulation elements, and that outputs the multiplexed light. The integrated optical modulation element has a signal input terminal, a laser element portion, and an EAM portion. Each of the integrated optical modulation elements has a difference between an oscillation wavelength and a barrier layer bandgap wavelength, represented as an LDBG wavelength difference. Variation of the LDBG wavelength differences is limited within a range of ±1 nm.
US09246619B2
A method for communicating with a network is presented. The method includes receiving an assignment of first timeslots for uplink communications, and receiving an instruction to reduce monitoring to a set of timeslots. The set of timeslots has a number of timeslots less than a number of timeslots to be monitored in accordance with the assignment. The method includes receiving a negative acknowledgement of a data block previously transmitted to the network, and, after receiving the instruction to reduce monitoring and the negative acknowledgement, transmitting a new data block to the network before retransmitting the data block previously transmitted to the network.
US09246614B2
Improved diagnostics of transmission line noise are enabled by adapting DSL equipment to make measurements of quiet line noise also in the transmit bands, so that noise can be measured at both ends for the same frequency or frequency bands.An estimate of the point where noise enters the line, as well as an estimate of the noise power at that point can be made from the relationship between the so measured noise levels at both ends of the line.
US09246611B2
Systems, devices, and methods for live event augmentation are provided. A central server computer system detects intelligent beverage containers at an event. The beverage containers include an integrated electronic display. Extrinsic data is received during the course of the event that is used to generate a message. The message is transmitted to the beverage containers at the event to update the electronic display. The extrinsic data may be related to the event or to an activity occurring separate from the event. The electronic display of the beverage containers may be changed periodically during the event. The beverage containers may be divided into one or more groups based on information stored in a user account associated with each beverage container. Different messages can be sent to the different groups to display different information on the beverage containers of each group.
US09246600B2
In order to reduce influence of noise due to a phase deviation, and to estimate an amount of phase compensation with superior accuracy in a polarization multiplexing/demultiplexing optical communication system, a signal processing circuit includes: optical frequency deviation estimating unit for estimating a frequency deviation which is a difference between a frequency of local light and a frequency of the optical carrier wave which is included in a signal data which corresponds to the polarizations and are generated by mixing a plurality of the optical carrier waves with the local light, which optical carrier wave is phase-modulated and have polarizations able to be demultiplexed and for outputting the estimated frequency deviation as an estimated value; for outputting the estimated frequency deviation as an estimated value; optical frequency deviation compensation amount analyzing unit for calculating an amount of frequency compensation which is an amount of compensation to make a phase of the signal data rotated so as to reduce the frequency deviation, on the basis of a plurality of the estimated values estimated per the signal data; optical frequency deviation compensating unit for making the phase of the signal data rotated correspondingly to the amount of the frequency compensation; optical phase deviation estimating unit for estimating a phase deviation included in each of input signal data and is a difference between a phase of the optical carrier wave and a phase of the local light; and optical phase deviation compensating unit for making the phase of the signal data rotated correspondingly to the phase deviation.
US09246599B2
In a coherent optical receiver, sufficient demodulation becomes impossible and consequently receiving performance deteriorates if an interchannel skew arises, therefore, a coherent optical receiver according to an exemplary aspect of the invention includes a local light source; a 90-degree hybrid circuit; an optoelectronic converter; an analog-to-digital converter; and a digital signal processing unit, wherein the 90-degree hybrid circuit makes multiplexed signal light interfere with local light from the local light source, and outputs a plurality of optical signals separated into a plurality of signal components; the optoelectronic converter detects the optical signals and outputs detected electrical signals; the analog-to-digital converter quantizes the detected electrical signals and outputs quantized signals; and the digital signal processing unit includes a skew compensation unit for compensating a difference in propagation delay between the plurality of signal components, and a demodulation unit for demodulating the quantized signals.
US09246598B2
A transmitter is disclosed as being configured to encode optical signals in accordance with a multi-level coding scheme. The transmitter includes an Integrated Circuit architecture and partition that relaxes the bandwidth and linearity constraints of a gearbox-to-laser driver interface. In the proposed architecture, the gearbox Integrated Circuit aligns two or more digital data streams and transmits the aligned two or more data streams to the laser driver via separate signals.
US09246597B2
The present disclosure allows for optical link capacity to be optimized based on transmission parameters, such as amplifier gain, link loss, optical signal-to-noise ratio. For example, optical signals at wavelengths that are susceptible to impairments, such as non-linear effects, or that are not adequately amplified by an optical amplifier, may be modulated in accordance with lower rate/less spectrally efficient modulation formats (“low rate formats”) that are more noise tolerant. On the other hand, those optical signals at wavelengths that are less susceptible to or do not incur such impairments may be modulated in accordance with highly spectrally efficient/higher rate modulation formats (“high rate formats”) that are more noise sensitive. Accordingly, a maximum or optimized capacity may be realized through appropriately choosing, for each channel, a particular modulation format and channel spacing. Such optimized capacity can be readily obtained with adaptive driver circuits.
US09246591B2
An optical connector for directly transferring data is disclosed. The optical connector includes a first input device connected to a first data source and to which a first input signal is applied, a first light emitting device connected to the first input device and generating a first optical signal corresponding to the first input signal, a first light receiving device positioned close to the first light emitting device in such a configuration that the first optical signal directly reaches the first light receiving device from the first light emitting device, the first light receiving device generating a first output signal corresponding to the first optical signal, and a first output device connected to the first light receiving device and to a second data source to which the first output signal is transferred. Large-sized data may be transferred at high speed and high reliability without light transfer units.
US09246587B2
Systems and methods for optical multi-path interference (MPI) compensation are provided. In an embodiment, a mean MPI signal representing a mean amplitude of the MPI in an input signal is generated and subtracted from a first estimate of transmitted amplitude of the input signal to generate a mean MPI compensated estimate of transmitted amplitude. The mean MPI compensated estimate of transmitted amplitude is sliced to generate a decision of transmitted amplitude of the input signal. The mean MPI signal can be generated using a mean MPI feedback loop or using an iterative feed-forward process. In another embodiment, mean MPI levels corresponding to respective transmitted intensity levels are generated and used to control slice levels of a slicer in order to compensate for MPI.
US09246584B2
A method and apparatus for establishing a terahertz link using a multi-element lens array that comprises a liquid lens are disclosed. For example, the method receives detected terahertz signals from one or more detectors, where a liquid lens is deployed with each of the one or more detectors. The method determines, for each of the detected signals, if the detected signal is out of focus, and applies a corrective voltage to each liquid lens that corresponds to a detected terahertz signal that is out of focus, wherein the corrective voltage adjusts a focus of the detected signal. The method measures a signal-to-noise ratio of the detected signals, and establishing a terahertz link via at least one of the detected terahertz signals with a highest signal-to-noise ratio.
US09246580B2
An OADM device is provided with a variable optical attenuator 73 for attenuating a light signal into which a received light signal is demultiplexed by an optical demultiplexing functional unit 71, a modulating circuit 7 for piggybacking an ID number of a corresponding transmitting port onto the light signal by using the variable optical attenuator, an optical reception detector 84 for detecting the light level of a light signal received via a receiving port, a demodulating circuit 85 for extracting the ID number from the light level detected by the optical reception detector, an ID number management unit 91 for determining whether the ID number extracted by the demodulating circuit matches an ID number set thereby, and a notifying unit 9 for notifying a connection failure occurring in an optical patch cable 14 when the ID number management unit determines that there is a mismatch between the ID numbers.
US09246575B2
The method for detecting AIS messages involves providing digital data representing signals received by a satellite on at least one AIS channel, and identifying a candidate message in the digital data by correlating the digital data with a hypothetical fragmentary message, the hypothetical fragmentary message includes at least one AIS message fragment which is dependent on transmission time and/or transmitter position and which is determined with the assistance of a database of AIS transmitters.
US09246573B1
To increase the range of a remote controlled robot, one or more repeater devices can be used. A repeater device and method of use are described herein that can extend the range of wireless robots and/or improve the connectivity of wireless robots. A repeater device can include a transceiver, which includes both a receiver and a transmitter, and one or more antennas and can be powered by a power supply. Repeater devices can have orienting shapes and/or orienting bases and can be deployed using a repeater device dispenser.
US09246570B2
A mobile communications method, device, and system for adjusting a phase parameter in a diversity signal, based at least in part on phase feedback from a base station. While in uplink communication with a base station, a mobile device may receive a phase feedback signal from the base station. The mobile device may calculate a modified value of a phase parameter based on the phase feedback signal in order to transmit diversity signals with a gradual change in phase difference. The modified value may be between a phase parameter value indicated by the base station's phase feedback signal and a phase parameter value initially transmitted by the mobile device.
US09246566B2
A transmission method, apparatus, and system based on uplink transmit diversity, relating to the field of communications are provided. To timely and efficiently determine to activate or deactivate uplink transmit diversity and improve uplink transmission quality, a base station sends an activation request instruction to a radio network controller when determining, according to relevant reference measurement value(s) of a user equipment, to activate uplink transmit diversity of the user equipment; and the radio network controller notifies, according to the activation request instruction, the user equipment of activating the uplink transmit diversity; or a base station sends a deactivation request instruction to a radio network controller when determining, according to relevant reference measurement value(s) of a user equipment, to deactivate uplink transmit diversity of the user equipment; and the radio network controller notifies, according to the deactivation request instruction, the user equipment of deactivating the uplink transmit diversity.
US09246564B2
This method of generating precoders is used in optimising transmission capacity between an eNodeB and UEs in a DL MU-MIMO communication system. The method includes the steps of computing correlation values between pairs of precoding matrices (PMs) of the reported precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) (step 40), selecting a PM pair having a minimum correlation value (step 42). If the minimum correlation value is less than a lower threshold Tmin, the method uses a PM corresponding to the received PMI (step 44). If the minimum correlation value is greater than Tmin and less than an upper threshold Tmax, the method includes the steps of computing correlation values of the reported PMI and Channel Matrices (CMs) from a fixed codebook of representative CMs (step 48), selecting a CM pair having a maximum correlation value (step 52), and computing precoders from the selected CM pair (step 54).
US09246563B2
The present invention particularly relates to a method and an apparatus for improving the efficiency of data transmission in a multi-user wireless transmission system. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method, which is a transmission method of data in a multi-user wireless communication system, comprises the steps of: estimating channel states of each terminal through sounding or feedback information received from the terminals, and selecting terminals to which individual data are to be transmitted at the same time; determining a signal to noise ratio of the selected terminals, and calculating a precoding matrix; calculating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of each terminal and the number of symbols of data fields in accordance with the MCS of each terminal; dividing an area according to the number of terminals to which the data fields are to be simultaneously transmitted, if there are two or more selected terminals; and recalculating a reception signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) for each area of each terminal, configuring a packet by resetting the MCS according to the recalculated SINR, and transmitting the configured packet.
US09246560B2
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed that determine a type of channel information based upon whether a wireless device is scheduled to receive symbols. In addition, a determination may be as to a number of hop periods to determine the type of channel information. Further, a distance between hop regions may be utilized to determine a type of channel information.
US09246553B2
A power reception device and a power transmission device which are capable of suppressing an adverse effect of an electric field. A power reception device includes a capacitive coupling electrode comprising a high voltage side conductor and a low voltage side conductor extending around the high voltage side conductor. The high voltage side conductor is disposed on a surface of a housing. The low voltage side conductor is disposed inside a circuit board. A plurality of module parts are mounted on a surface of the circuit board which is located on an opposite side away from the high voltage side conductor with respect to the low voltage side conductor.
US09246551B2
A data processing system is proposed which comprises two electronic devices, each of them having an electro-magnetic coupler embedded on the exterior casing, at least one of the electronic device having one or more sliding surfaces for directing relative movement between the two devices, such that they automatically come into correct alignment during the sliding.
US09246539B2
A sequence allocating method and apparatus wherein in a system where a plurality of different Zadoff-Chu sequences or GCL sequences are allocated to a single cell, the arithmetic amount and circuit scale of a correlating circuit at a receiving end can be reduced. In ST201, a counter (a) and a number (p) of current sequence allocations are initialized, and in ST202, it is determined whether the number (p) of current sequence allocations is coincident with a number (K) of allocations to one cell. In ST203, it is determined whether the number (K) of allocations to the one cell is odd or even. If K is even, in ST204-ST206, sequence numbers (r=a and r=N−a), which are not currently allocated, are combined and then allocated. If K is odd, in ST207-ST212, for sequences that cannot be paired, one of sequence numbers (r=a and r=N−a), which are not currently allocated, is allocated.
US09246538B2
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for allowing a terminal to decode a signal in a wireless communication system, and the method for decoding the signal comprises the steps of determining a spreading factor for a physical resource block pair included in a subframe; and decoding a decoding reference signal on said physical resource block pair by using an orthogonal sequence corresponding to said spreading factor.
US09246527B2
In a system including analog circuits of multichannel, channels which have a short distance therebetween are grouped so as to be included in the same group. During a reception period, a common correction signal is supplied to master channels allocated to the respective groups, and received signals are supplied to slave channels other than the master channels. A correction coefficient which tracks a characteristic fluctuation of each group is continuously searched for through continuous comparison between outputs of the respective master channels, and an output of each slave channel is corrected by using the correction coefficient of a group including the slave channel.
US09246522B1
An arbiter circuit receives a plurality of media access request signals from multiple protocol processing devices, and generates a plurality of media access grant indicators using i) the plurality of media access request signals, and ii) coexistence arbitration rules. A selector circuit receives the plurality of media access grant indicators from the arbiter circuit, and when the plurality of media access grant indicators indicate more than one protocol processing device is authorized to access an antenna, determines a compatibility of the more than one protocol processing device simultaneously accessing the antenna. The selector circuit, based on i) the plurality of media access grant indicators, and ii) the determined compatibility of the more than one protocol processing device simultaneously accessing the antenna, controls one or more switches to selectively enable antenna paths in a plurality of antenna paths coupled to the antenna.
US09246519B2
A method for producing a LDPC encoded test pattern for media in a LDPC based drive system includes adding error detection code data to a predominantly zero bit test pattern and adding additional zero bits to produce a test pattern of a desirable length. The test pattern may then be scrambled to produce a desirable flaw detection test pattern. The flaw detection test pattern may then be encoding with an LDPC code, or other error correction code with minimal disturbance to the run length constraints of the data pattern, and written to a storage medium.
US09246504B2
Circuits and methods for implementing a residue amplifier are provided. In some embodiments, circuits for implementing a residue amplifier are provided, the circuits comprising: a first capacitor configured to be charged to an input voltage level and that discharges from the input voltage level to a reference voltage level; a comparator having a first input coupled to the first capacitor, a second input coupled to a reference voltage source, and an output that indicates when the charge on the first capacitor is above the reference voltage level; and a second capacitor configured to be charged to an output voltage based on the output of the comparator.
US09246503B1
A method for testing a DAC including controlling the DAC digitally to cause it to produce a known desired analog output, for example a fixed amplitude sine wave; determining the duration of fixed voltage segments of the actual output of the DAC and using the duration of the fixed voltage segments to assess or determine performance of the DAC.
US09246485B2
A single ITO layer design for a touchscreen panel incorporates a matrix of sensor cells formed from a single ITO layer of capacitive sensor pads, sensor bars, force lines and sense lines. Columns of multiplexed force lines are connected to rows of sensor pads to form force trees such that the force line of the end pair of sensor pads has a wide track, with the force lines of each subsequent pair of sensor pads having a reduced track width. Disposed between the columns of force trees, the matrix of sensor cells also includes columns of sensor bars connected to control circuitry via sense lines. The control circuitry applies a signal to the force trees to generate capacitance between rows of sensor pads and adjacent sensor bars. The control circuitry senses changes in the capacitance and resolves the location of a user touch in the matrix of sensor cells.
US09246478B2
The present application suggests an electronic device and method for generating clock signals with and without frequency jitter for one source clock signal generated by a single narrow-band source clock signal. The device comprises a random number generator to generate a random number signal varying in time which represents a divisor fraction signal; a signal mixer to mix the timely varying random number signal and a clock divisor signal and to output a mixed divisor signal; and a fractional clock divider to generate an output clock signal from a source clock signal, wherein the output clock signal has a frequency fout(t), which is substantially equal to the frequency fsource of the source clock signal being a narrow-band clock signal divided by a divisor D(t) represented by the mixed divisor signal.
US09246451B2
A differential power amplifier including a push-pull pair of transistors, a capacitance, a first inductance, and a second inductance. The push-pull pair of transistors includes first and second transistors. The first transistor includes control and output terminals. The second transistor includes input and control terminals. The control terminals of the first and second transistors collectively receive a differential input signal. The output and input terminals collectively provide a differential output signal. The capacitance is connected to the output and input terminals. The first capacitance cancels first harmonics at the output terminal of the first transistor with second harmonics at the input terminal of the second transistor. The first transistor and the first inductance are connected in series between a voltage source and a reference terminal. The second transistor and the second inductance are connected in series between the voltage source and the reference terminal.
US09246449B2
A stereo class-D audio system includes a first die including four monolithically integrated NMOS high-side devices and a second a second die including, four monolithically integrated PMOS low-side devices. The audio system also includes a set of electrical contacts for connecting the high and low-side devices to components within the a stereo class-D audio system, the set of electrical contacts including at least one supply contact for connecting the drains of the high-side devices to a supply voltage (Vcc) and at least one ground contact for connecting the drains of the low-side devices to ground, the electrical contacts also including respective contacts for each source of the high and low-side devices allowing the source of each high-side device to be connected to the source of a respective low-side device to form two H-bridge circuits.
US09246444B2
When a power amplifier mounted in mobile communications equipment, such as a mobile-phone, is composed of a balanced amplifier, technology with which the loss of the electric power composition in a power combiner can be reduced is provided. According to the technical idea of the present embodiment, by dividing an isolation capacitor element into two capacitor elements with high symmetry and coupled in parallel, it is possible to make almost equal parasitic capacitance arising from these capacitor elements, even when the capacitor elements are formed as interlayer capacitor elements of the wiring substrate.
US09246443B2
A power amplifier module that includes a power amplifier and a controller is presented herein. The power amplifier module may include a set of transistor stages and a plurality of bias circuits. At least one transistor stage from the set of transistor stages may be in electrical communication with a first bias circuit and a second bias circuit from the plurality of bias circuits. The first bias circuit can be configured to apply a first bias voltage to the at least one transistor stage and the second bias circuit can be configured to apply a second bias voltage to the at least one transistor stage. The controller may be configured to activate one of the first bias circuit and the second bias circuit.
US09246441B1
An electronic amplifier delivers to a load an output signal related to an input, typically with increased power. As the power output, volume, or gain of the amplifier is changed, so may the spectral characteristics of the signal. In order to maintain the desired spectral or tonal character of the output signal over the dynamic range of output power, biasing of the amplifier must be adjusted. Particular ratios of drive and bias currents and/or voltages for different implementations of amplifier technologies should be relatively constant to produce substantially invariant input-output spectral relationships from low power output through high power output settings. Several techniques are presented which provide these relationship in amplifiers.
US09246438B2
A circuit for a receiver with reconfigurable low-power or wideband operation may comprise one or more main signal paths each coupled to a first port and including a low-noise amplifier (LNA) configured to provide a radio frequency (RF) signal to a main mixer circuit. An auxiliary signal path may be coupled to a second port. The auxiliary signal path may include an auxiliary mixer configured to provide an on-chip matching input impedance that may match an impedance of the antenna. The first port may be coupled to an RF antenna through an off-chip matching circuit, when a low-power operation is desired. The first port may be coupled to the second port and to the RF antenna, when a wideband operation is desired.
US09246433B2
An airborne photovoltaic solar system, comprising a parabolic reflector-concentrator (110, 1210), spread by wind, a solar panel (102, 1202) raised to high altitude using at least one lighter than air balloon (103, 1201), tracking the sun using aerodynamic surfaces and/or changes in buoyancy, relying on wind and/or cold air to cool the solar panel in one embodiment, as well as related methods and variations and alternatives.
US09246428B2
A vector control device includes a vector control unit computing an output voltage output from the electric power converter according to vector control based on torque command and flux command and generating a PWM signal for controlling the electric power converter based on the output voltage, a first flux-command generation unit generating a flux command for asynchronous PWM mode, and a second flux-command generation unit generating a flux command for synchronous PWM mode. When an output frequency of the electric power converter is lower than a predetermined value, a flux command generated by the first flux-command generation unit is input to the vector control unit, and when the output frequency of the electric power converter is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, a flux command generated by the second flux-command generation unit is input to the vector control unit.
US09246423B2
An exemplary system has circuitry that receives a first signal, the first signal being generated responsive to a user control for a play speed of a film. The system also includes circuitry that receives a second signal, the second signal being synchronized with a video camera that generates television signals. Circuitry processes the first signal with the second signal, to generate a third signal. Responsive to the third signal, the exemplary system moves a relative position of the film with respect to the video camera, to generate a video signal.
US09246403B2
Solid state lighting systems are disclosed for providing uniform brightness of LEDs serially connected in a string. In some embodiments, the LEDs can be powered directly from the mains such that no switch-mode power supply or the output storage elements associated therewith are needed. In some such cases, a linear regulator and switches can be used to control the current through the LEDs to provide uniform brightness. Other embodiments can be used with a switch-mode based driver topology and/or storage elements coupled in parallel with clusters of the LEDs. In any such cases, control logic (e.g., microcontroller or other suitable controller) can be used to control the switches accordingly to provide uniform brightness, and in some cases, to mitigate the implications of having no SMPS output storage element. In some embodiments, the switching pattern provided by the control logic is random, although other switching patterns can be used.
US09246402B2
A converter includes: a bridge diode; an X capacitor provided upstream of the bridge diode; a smoothing capacitor provided downstream of the bridge diode; an AC shutoff detection circuit which outputs an AC shutoff detection signal when input AC voltage is shut off; and a discharging circuit which is connected to a connection point at which the cathode of the bridge diode and the smoothing capacitor are connected, and allows residual charges in the smoothing capacitor and the X capacitor to be discharged when the AC shutoff detection signal is output, and the discharging circuit includes a JFET which has a drain terminal connected to the above connection point and lowers discharge voltage; and a first discharging switch element connected to the source terminal of the JFET.
US09246394B2
In one embodiment, a synchronous rectification control circuit in a flyback converter, can include: a first control circuit that receives a drain-source voltage signal of a synchronous rectifier switch and a flyback converter output voltage, and generates a first control signal based on a conduction time of a primary-side power switch; a second control circuit configured to receive the drain-source voltage signal, and to generate a second control signal; when the primary-side power switch is turned off, and the first control signal is greater than a threshold value, the second control signal controls a switching operation of the synchronous rectifier switch; and when the primary-side power switch is turned off, and the first control signal is less than the threshold value, the synchronous rectifier switch is configured to stop operation, before the primary-side power switch is turned on again.
US09246393B2
A direct-current converter that includes: a first series circuit, which is connected in parallel with a smoothing capacitor and in which a first switching element and a second switching element are connected in series; a second series circuit, which is connected in parallel between main electrodes of the first switching element and in which a resonance capacitor, a resonance reactor and a primary winding of a transformer are connected in series; a half wave rectification smoothing circuit, which rectifies and smoothes a voltage of a secondary winding of the transformer; a control circuit configured to alternately turn on and off the first switching element and second switching element, based on an output voltage of the rectification smoothing circuit; and a third series circuit, which is connected in parallel with the second switching element and in which a boost reactor and a direct-current power supply are connected in series.
US09246390B2
A power converter and method of controlling the same for selected modes of operation. In one embodiment, the power converter includes a first power switch coupled to a source of electrical power and a second power switch coupled to the first power switch and to an output terminal of the power converter. The power converter also includes a controller configured to control an operation of the first and second power switches during selected modes of operation.
US09246384B2
In one embodiment, a current feedback circuit can include: (i) a first current mirror circuit having an input terminal coupled to a source of a main power transistor of a switching power supply, and a control terminal configured to receive a PWM control signal, the first current mirror circuit being configured to generate a first mirror current; (ii) the first current mirror circuit and the main power transistor being on such that an output sampling current flows through the first current mirror circuit and the main power transistor when the PWM control signal is active; and (iii) a second current mirror circuit configured to generate an output feedback current that is in a predetermined direct proportion with the output sampling current, and is generated in accordance with the first mirror current.
US09246379B1
Aspects of the disclosure provide a circuit that can include a depletion mode transistor coupled to a power source and a current path coupled with the depletion mode transistor in series to provide a current to charge a capacitor. Further, a gate terminal of the depletion mode transistor is coupled to a clamping path that includes a diode and a switch that connected in series. The clamping path clamps the voltage at the gate terminal of the depletion mode transistor to the capacitor. The clamping and the current paths respectively have a first resistance during a first stage, such as when the circuit initially receives power, and have a second resistance during a second stage when the capacitor is charged to have a predetermined voltage level.
US09246373B2
An assembly for cooling an electrical coil winding having a first coil, a second coil, a first end turn and a second end turn is provided. The assembly includes a supply header; a return header; and a plurality of flow members coupled in flow communication to the supply header and the return header. The flow members are configured to channel a flow agent from supply header to the return header. Each the flow member of the plurality of flow members includes a first portion coupled to the first coil; a second portion coupled to the second coil; a first end portion coupled to the first end turn and coupled in flow communication to the first portion and the second portion; and a second end portion coupled to the second end turn and coupled in flow communication to the second portion.
US09246370B2
A cooling system of an electric machine includes a stator core, a housing, and a thermal interfacial material interposed between complementary mating surfaces of the stator core and the housing for substantially eliminating air gaps therebetween. A method of cooling an electric machine having a housing and a stator includes placing a thermal interfacial material onto a heat transfer interface between the stator and the housing, whereby the thermal interfacial material reduces contact resistance at the heat transfer interface. A method of cooling a stator of an electric machine includes heating a housing having a radially inner surface, coating a radially outer surface of the stator and/or the radially inner surface of the housing with a thermal interfacial material, and inserting the stator into the heated housing, whereby the thermal interfacial material is interposed between the inner surface of the housing and the outer surface of the stator.
US09246366B2
A winding assembly includes: slot-housed portions housed inside each of the slots of the stator core so as to form pairs that line up in an inner layer and an outer layer relative to a slot depth direction; first return portions at a first axial end of the stator core that link end portions of the slot-housed portions housed in the inner layer inside each of the slots and end portions of the slot-housed portions housed in the outer layer inside the slots that are (N−M) slots away; and second return portions at a second axial end of the stator core that link end portions of the slot-housed portions housed in the outer layer inside each of the slots and end portions of the slot-housed portions housed in the inner layer inside the slots that are (N+M) slots away.
US09246360B2
A core is formed by laminating a plurality of core plates. Each of the core plates includes a joint portion for joining the core plates together in the laminated state. Each of the joint portions includes a fixing piece, a passage hole, a receiving portion, and an opening. Each of the fixing pieces is raised in the direction in which the core plates are laminated. Each of the passage holes receives the fixing piece of the corresponding adjacent one of the core plates. The fixing piece in the passage hole is bent to join the receiving portion to the adjacent core plate. Each of the openings receives the corresponding one of the fixing pieces to avoid interference with the fixing piece bent onto the receiving portion of another core plate.
US09246358B2
Disclosed herein are a signal detecting apparatus and a wireless power transmitting apparatus having the same. In the signal detecting apparatus, a resonance tank circuit is resonated by a magnetic field change of a power transmitting coil generated according to a signal transmitted to the wireless power transmitting apparatus by a power receiving apparatus to generate a resonance signal, and a signal extracting unit extracts the signal transmitted by the power receiving apparatus in the generated resonance signal. The resonance tank circuit includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder detecting the magnetic field change signal of the power transmitting coil, and a capacitor connected in parallel with the RFID transponder to be resonated by the magnetic field change of the power transmitting coil. The signal transmitted to the wireless power transmitting apparatus by the power receiving apparatus may be accurately detected by a simple circuit configuration.
US09246351B2
Exemplary embodiments include an antenna for receiving electromagnetic radiation in a broadcast radiation band and a near-field radiation band to generate a Radio Frequency (RF) signal. A coupling element couples the RF signal to a first port and at least one additional port, which may be a second port and a third port. A wireless power receiver on the first port includes a rectifier for converting the RF signal to a DC signal when the antenna couples to radiation in the near-field radiation band in a coupling-mode region of the antenna. A near-field communication transceiver includes circuitry for communicating information on the antenna in the near-field radiation band when the coupling element couples the second port to the RF signal. A broadcast receiver on the third port includes circuitry for receiving and tuning the broadcast radiation band when the coupling element couples the third port to the RF signal.
US09246350B2
A mobile terminal and a method for wirelessly charging the mobile terminal are provided. The method includes searching for a wirelessly rechargeable mobile terminal; receiving, upon finding a wirelessly rechargeable mobile terminal, power state information from the found rechargeable mobile terminal; setting the mobile terminal as one of a power supplying terminal and a power receiving terminal based on the received power state information; and performing a power charging operation with the found rechargeable mobile terminals according to the setting.
US09246334B2
Technologies are generally described for alleviating solar power congestion in a distribution grid via smart metering communications. According to some examples, a power network system supervised by utility operators may monitor and control grid-tied power generation modules associated with consumers to ensure the distribution grid is stable in terms of network capacity limit. A communications infrastructure including home area networks (HANs) and neighborhood area networks (NANs) between smart meters and utility control centers may facilitate power congestion management. Utility control centers (UCCs) in cooperation with smart meters or energy management units (EMUs) may selectively disconnect consumer power generation units to maintain the system reliability.
US09246329B2
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit and a display device comprising the protection circuit are provided. The protection circuit comprises a first depletion mode thin-film transistor, a second depletion mode thin-film transistor, a third depletion mode thin-film transistor, and a voltage dividing unit. This, when in normal operation, effectively prevents a signal line from releasing a large amounts of current, ensures that an internal array of the display device operates normally, and when an ESD occurs, allows for rapid discharge of an electrostatic charge accumulated on the signal line and ensures that the internal array of the display device is free from the electrostatic damage. Hence, application of the ESD protection circuit allows for utilization of low-cost depletion mode thin-film transistors to implement of electrostatic discharge and for reduced the manufacturing cost of the ESD protection circuit, thus reducing the manufacturing costs of the display device comprising the protection circuit.
US09246323B2
A current controller for generating a control signal which controls supply current flowing from a power source to a load includes an interface circuit which sets a threshold based on an instruction from an outside of the current controller, a threshold setting circuit which stores and outputs the threshold, a sensing circuit which determines a current or a temperature of a sensing element, and outputs a signal indicating that the supply current should be interrupted as the control signal if a determined current or a determined temperature exceeds the threshold, and a sensing control circuit which generates a clock signal including pulses with a predetermined period. The sensing circuit determines the current or the temperature of the sensing element during an active period of the clock signal.
US09246316B2
A wiring harness includes a first power transmission path; a second power transmission path; a connecting part; and a connector. The first power transmission path has stiffness ensuring autonomously retention of its shape, the shape coinciding with an arrangement path. The second power transmission paths have stiffness smaller than that of the first power transmission path and also have flexibility. The connecting part includes a connection structure configured to connect conductive ends of the first power transmission path and the second power transmission paths to each other with the conductive ends being electrically insulated from outside.
US09246308B2
A quantum cascade laser includes a semiconductor substrate including a principal surface; a mesa waveguide disposed on the principal surface of the semiconductor substrate, the mesa waveguide including a light emitting region and an upper cladding layer disposed on the light emitting region, the mesa waveguide extending in a direction orthogonal to a reference direction; and a current blocking layer formed on a side surface of the mesa waveguide. The light emitting region includes a plurality of core regions and a plurality of buried regions. The core regions and the buried regions are alternately arranged in the reference direction. The core region at a central portion of the mesa waveguide has a width smaller than a width of the core region at a peripheral portion of the mesa waveguide in the reference direction.
US09246306B2
A semiconductor laser element includes a substrate; a semiconductor layer formed on a front surface of the substrate; a first electrode formed on a back surface of the substrate; a second electrode formed on a front surface of the semiconductor layer; and at least one mark configured to allow reading of predetermined information, the at least one mark being formed in at least one of (i) a position on the surface on which the first electrode is formed, spaced apart from the first electrode and (ii) a position on the surface on which the second electrode is formed, spaced apart from the second electrode. The at least one mark is made of a metal material and has a thickness smaller than a thickness of the electrode that is formed on the surface on which the at least one mark is formed.
US09246303B1
A method includes accumulating optical pump power in a first laser gain medium during a first period of time, where the first laser gain medium is optically located within a resonator. The method also includes providing at least some of the accumulated optical pump power as a first laser output with a feedback-controlled waveform from the first laser gain medium to a second laser gain medium during a second period of time, where the second period of time is substantially shorter than the first period of time. The method further includes generating a second laser output having a burst of laser pulses using the second laser gain medium as a power amplifier. The first and second laser outputs have higher power levels during the second period of time compared to a power level of the optical pump power during the first period of time.
US09246300B2
A spherical laser includes a transparent or semi-transparent outer spherical vessel having an internal cavity, an amplifying medium in the cavity, and means to excite the amplifying medium. The sphere is provided with a partially reflective coating to act as a spherical optical resonator. The spherical resonator includes a plurality of optically different regions containing alternative optical media from the cavity medium differing in bulk optical parameters utilized for mode tailoring. The optically different regions work collectively to exclude the whispering gallery modes from those supported by the spherical cavity. Excitation of the amplifying medium produces an optical gain. When the gain exceeds cavity losses and threshold conditions are met, lasing is supported. This creates a three-dimensional, spherically radiating emission, emulating a point source. The sphere is enclosed within a mirrored ellipse to image the output to a point, or within a mirrored parabola to columinate the emission.
US09246287B2
A connecting piece for affixing to a cable. The connecting piece comprises a base and a screw connection arranged on the base. The screw connection includes a screw shaped portion, and includes a screw projecting from the base or a hollow with an interior thread.
US09246286B2
A hermaphroditic high speed data contact set having an insert shroud and a termination subassembly. A plurality of protective arms extend from its front to protect contact beams of the termination subassembly and provide multi-stage pre-alignment of contacts during engagement. A plurality of raised bosses engaged with a plurality of hollows in the bottom of an adjacent insert shroud to allow stacking of contact sets. A pair of latches lock the insert shroud into a module after insertion. A pair of keying members on the sides of contact set prevent incorrect insertion of a contact set into a module.
US09246285B2
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication jacks, and more specifically, to network jacks adapted for operating with more than one type of a plug. In an embodiment, the present invention is a communication connector that includes a housing configured to receive a communication plug, a printed circuit board connected to the housing, and a rocker switch pivotally connected to the housing, the rocker switch configured for actuating the printed circuit board. In a variation of this embodiment, the communication connector could be used in a communication system having communication equipment therein.
US09246279B2
Provided is an electric connector, including: a housing placed on a circuit board and including a receiving concave portion formed by a substantially square-cylindrical-shaped inner wall surface and receiving a mating connector, and a center convex portion disposed between a pair of opposed walls forming the receiving concave portion; a plurality of terminals accommodated in a plurality of terminal grooves formed in each of the pair of the opposed walls; and a ground metal fitting connecting with a plate-shaped ground plate included in the mating connector, wherein the housing includes a space accommodating the ground metal fitting, where the space is disposed in the central area between the pair of the opposed walls and extends in the arrangement direction of the terminals, the upper part of the space communicates with an opening formed in the center convex portion, and receives the mating ground plate.
US09246278B1
A connector module includes a housing, a cable, and a gasket. The housing is defined by a first shell and a second shell that mate at a seam. The housing includes a cable exit region defining a passage from a cable opening to an interior chamber of the housing. The cable is coupled to and extends from the cable exit region of the housing. A passage segment of the cable is disposed within the housing along the passage. A distal end of the cable is disposed within the interior chamber. The gasket is helically wrapped around the passage segment of the cable and positioned within the cable exit region of the housing. As the first and second shells are mated, the gasket seals the passage between an outer perimeter of the passage segment of the cable and an inner surface of the cable exit region.
US09246277B2
Electrical connector includes an insulative body, first and second terminals, shielding housing, and adhesive. The insulative body has a tongue piece and a base having first and second positioning grooves. Each of the first terminals has a first positioning part received in the insulative body, a first electrical contact part exposed from the tongue piece, and a first bonding part accommodated in a corresponding one of the first positioning grooves and protruding from the base. Each of the second terminals has a second positioning part received in the base, a second electrical contact part exposed from the tongue piece, and a second bonding part accommodated in a corresponding one of the second positioning grooves and protruding from the base. Adhesive is injected into the first and second positioning grooves to encapsulate the first bonding parts in the first positioning grooves and the second bonding parts in the second positioning grooves.
US09246273B2
A removable fixing device includes a first elongated mating member, a second elongated mating member designed to be inserted in the first elongated mating member, and an elastic member adapted to lock the two elongated mating members axially relative to each other and retractable radially on insertion of the second elongated mating member into the first elongated mating member. One elongated mating member includes an actuator mobile axially relative to the elongated mating member between a first position in which the elastic member locks the two elongated mating members axially and a second position in which the actuator unlocks the elongated mating members by radial retraction of the elastic member.
US09246271B2
A connector mechanism is utilized to connect with a portable electronic device which includes a receptacle connector and a guide hole structure. The guide hole structure includes a first area and a second area. The connector mechanism includes a base, a plug connector and a guide pin structure. The plug connector and the guide pin structure are disposed on the base. A length of the guide pin structure is greater than a length of the plug connector. The guide pin structure includes a first portion and a second portion. A width of the first portion is smaller than a width of the second portion. Width difference between the plug connector and the receptacle connector is smaller than width difference between the second portion and the first area and between the first portion and the second area, and is greater than width difference between the second portion and the second area.
US09246253B1
An embodiment is directed to a method and a connector for mounting on a substrate. Terminal receiving recesses extend through a bottom wall of the connector. Contacts are positioned in the terminal receiving recesses. The contacts have securing sections for securing the contacts in the terminal receiving recesses and substrate mating sections which extend from the bottom wall of the housing in a direction away from the top wall. At least one stabilization member extends from the bottom wall of the housing in a direction away from the top wall. The at least one stabilization member is movable between a first position and a second position. The at least one stabilization member engages the substrate when the at least one stabilization member is in the first position to maintain the connector in a stable position relative to the substrate.
US09246252B2
A connector system includes a plurality of housing mounted on a circuit board and a plurality of cages are provided, each cage enclosing one of the housings, each of the cages including a front face that defines a first port, the cages being spaced apart a predetermined distance. A thermal washer is positioned around the cages, the thermal washer including a front portion and a main portion with air apertures that allow air to flow through the thermal washer and along a gap between the cages.
US09246249B2
A card connector includes an insulating housing, signal terminals disposed in the insulating housing, a shell worn around the insulating housing, a tray with a platform being protruded on a top face thereof, and an ejector pivoted on a top plate of the shell and rotatably paralleling to the top plate. The tray is slidably disposed between the insulating housing and the top plate of the shell along a front-to-rear direction and defines two card slots arranged side-by-side at two sides thereof. One end of the ejector has a pushing portion projecting sideward beyond one side plate of the shell, and the other end of the ejector protrudes forward to form an ejecting portion which resists against the back of the platform for pushing the tray to slide frontward out of the card connector by pushing the pushing portion rearward to drive the ejector to clockwise rotate.
US09246246B2
A number of variations may include a casting having a raised integrated cast grounding block with tunable surfaces for routing an electrical grounding wire/strap via an eyelet and an anti-rotational tab attachment.
US09246242B2
An electrical connector includes a housing and a conductive contact member disposed in the housing. A first contact portion of the conductive contact member receives a blade contact of an electrical device and a second contact portion electrically engages an inserted electrical wire. A spring member is disposed in the housing and is connected to the contact member. A rotatable member is movable between first and second positions. When the rotatable member is in the second position the spring member secures an inserted wire in electrical engagement with the conductive contact member and prevents removal of the inserted wire. When the rotatable member is in the first position the spring member allows for removal of an inserted wire and allows for insertion of a wire in the housing.
US09246239B2
A crimped terminal for automobiles includes an aluminum electric wire, a connecting terminal made from a copper-based material, and a resin-coated portion. The connecting terminal is crimped onto an end of the wire and includes a crimped member, a crimped portion where the terminal is crimped onto the wire, and the resin-coated portion disposed on the crimped portion, wherein the resin-coated portion is disposed on the crimped portion while an entire periphery of the crimped portion is coated with the resin-coated portion.
US09246238B2
The present system relates to radiation pattern control. More particularly, the present system is adapted for controlling a radiation pattern of a directional antenna. The system comprises a sample collection unit, a power angular spectrum estimation unit and a control unit. The sample collection unit is adapted for collecting a plurality of samples of a signal with a current radiation pattern and a plurality of samples of the signal with different radiation patterns. The power angular spectrum estimation unit is adapted for estimating a preliminary spectrum of the signal based on the collected plurality of samples with the current radiation pattern and for estimating an optimized spectrum of the signal based on the collected plurality of samples with different radiation patterns. Then, the control unit sets the radiation pattern of the directional antenna to the estimated optimized spectrum.
US09246236B2
A dual-polarization radiating element for a multiband antenna comprises a support with a high dielectric constant whose shape is roughly cylindrical, having an axis of revolution, at least a first and a second pair of dipoles printed on a first surface of the support, the dipoles of the first pair being roughly orthogonal to the dipoles of the second pair, and conductive lines, to feed each dipole, printed onto a second surface of the support. The support is placed on a flat reflector, with the cylindrical support's axis of revolution being perpendicular to the plane of the reflector.
US09246234B2
An exemplary embodiment of an antenna in accordance with the present invention utilizes a sub-reflector and a main reflector with each of them having its own focal-ring type geometry. The antenna cooperates with a signal transmission feed disposed at the center of the antenna axis between the first and main reflectors to emit radio signals towards the sub-reflector. The sub-reflector reflects radio waves towards a main reflector which in turn reflects the radio waves to form the beam pattern emitted by the antenna. The reflecting surface of the sub-reflector is formed by a portion of an axially-displaced ellipse rotated about the antenna axis. The reflecting surface of the main reflector is defined by a section of a parabola rotated about the antenna axis to form a reflecting surface that concavely slopes away from the antenna axis. An embodiment of the antenna provides a wide coverage conical beam with selectable beam peaks that operate over a 2.25:1 frequency band range and provides substantially iso-flux beam density.
US09246230B2
A leaky dielectric travelling wave surface waveguide antenna provides a multiband, low-profile antenna for satellite and other wideband (Ku/K/Ka/Q) communications applications. The antenna structure can be arranged into various types of arrays to yield a cost-effective, wideband/multiband operation with high power. In one implementation, the antenna includes a waveguide having a multi-layer substrate, a top surface, a feed (excitation) end, and a load end. One or more scattering features are disposed on the top surface of the waveguide or within the waveguide, and achieve operation in a leaky propagation mode. A wavelength correction element adds linear delay to incident energy received or transmitted by the antenna. The resulting structure permits a resulting beam direction of the antenna to be independent of the wavelength.
US09246228B2
An antenna device includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface. A first conductive layer is formed on the first surface of the substrate, the first conductive layer having a perimeter defined by one or more shapes having straight or curved edges. The first conductive layer defines a slot and a coupling gap, and also includes a top ground. The coupling gap separates the top ground from a metal plate region. A second conductive layer is formed on the second surface of the substrate, the second conductive layer including a bottom ground. The slot, coupling gap, first conductive layer, and substrate form a composite right and left handed (CRLH) structure.
US09246214B2
Electronic devices may be provided that have antenna traces. The antenna traces may be configured to form an inductive loop that serves as a near field communications antenna. A layer of ferrite may be provided to reduce interference between the antenna and internal device components. The layer of ferrite and the antenna traces may be deposited on a common substrate such as a layer of polymer or a dielectric electronic device housing. A protective layer of polymer may be used to form a coating on the layer of ferrite. Ferrite may be formed on the same side of a substrate as the antenna traces or may be formed on an opposing side of the substrate.
US09246213B2
An electronic device includes: an antenna; and a touch panel having an electrode sheet formed with an operation detecting pattern, which has conductive, wherein an antenna pattern configuring the antenna is formed on the periphery of the touch panel.
US09246210B2
A monopole antenna applicable especially to small mobile stations. In one embodiment, the radiator of the antenna is trough-like in shape so that it covers the head surface, front and rear surfaces and both side surfaces of the dielectric cover of the radio device at an end of the device. On the side of the side surfaces slots are formed in the radiator, starting from its edge, for increasing the electric size. The radiator is fed electromagnetically by a separate element which is shaped so that the antenna has at least two operating bands. The ground plane of the antenna is in one embodiment disposed apart from the radiator, thus not extending inside the ‘trough’.
US09246208B2
A system for reading transponders may include a printed circuit board and an electrotextile antenna. The printed circuit board may include an RFID reading circuit, and the electrotextile antenna may be electrically connected to the printed circuit board via a connection. The electrotextile antenna may be composed of a material made by blending or coating textiles with a metal, and the electrotextile antenna may be configured to transmit and receive signals between the RFID reading circuit and RFID tags.
US09246207B2
A system and method are provided for automatically aiming an antenna to communicate with a remote broadband wireless communication device.
US09246197B2
A battery system capable of cooling overheated battery packs among a plurality battery packs each mounted in a battery case by measuring temperatures of the battery packs is disclosed, and a driving method thereof is provided. In one embodiment, the battery system includes a plurality of battery packs, an air compressor for supplying a compressed cooling air to the plurality of battery packs, a gas dividing unit coupled between the plurality of battery packs and the air compressor and including a plurality of valves, and a controller for controlling opening and closing of each of the plurality of valves according to temperatures of the plurality of battery packs.
US09246189B2
Disclosed is a secondary battery including a cathode, an anode, and an electrolyte including a lithium salt and a non-aqueous organic solvent, wherein the electrolyte includes an electrolyte additive to be decomposed at 4.5 V or higher to less than 5.5 V vs. reduction voltage of Li+.
US09246187B2
A substantially non-aqueous electrolyte solution includes an alkali metal salt, a polar aprotic solvent, and an organophosphorus compound of Formula IA, IB, or IC: where R1, R2, R3 and R4 are each independently hydrogen, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, heteroaryl, alkoxy, alkenoxy, alkynoxy, cycloalkoxy, aryloxy, heterocyclyloxy, heteroaryloxy, siloxyl, silyl, or organophosphatyl; R5 and R6 are each independently alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, or heteroaryl; R7 is and R8, R9 and R10 are each independently alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, heterocyclyl, or heteroaryl; provided that if the organophosphorus compound is of Formula IB, then at least one of R5, and R6 are other than hydrogen, alkyl, or alkenyl; and if the organophosphorus compound is of Formula IC, then the electrolyte solution does not include 4-methylene-1,3-dioxolan-2-one or 4,5-dimethylene-1,3-dioxolan-2-one.
US09246181B2
A fuel cell module includes a first area where an exhaust gas combustor and a start-up combustor are provided, an annular second area disposed around the first area where a heat exchanger is provided, an annular third area disposed around the second area where a reformer is provided, and an annular fourth area disposed around the third area where an evaporator is provided. A stress absorber for absorbing heat stress is provided in at least one of the first area, the second area, the third area, and the fourth area.
US09246180B2
A fuel cell module includes a fuel cell stack, a reformer for reforming a mixed gas of a raw fuel and water vapor, an evaporator for supplying water vapor to the reformer, and a heat exchanger for raising the temperature of the oxygen-containing gas by heat exchange with a combustion gas, and an exhaust gas combustor and a start-up combustor for producing the combustion gas. The fuel cell module includes a first thermoelectric converter and a second thermoelectric converter for performing thermoelectric conversion based on a temperature difference between the combustion gas and the oxygen-containing gas.
US09246170B2
A cathode active material for a battery includes a material of the formula MgxMn2O4 wherein 0≦x≦1 and the material has a crystal structure having an open channel formed in a single dimension or along a single dimensional axis. The crystal structure may be an analogue to CaFe2O4, CaMn2O4 or CaTi2O4.
US09246168B2
The present invention provides a positive electrode active material for lithium secondary batteries, comprising domain-oriented agglomerated particles, wherein each of the domain-oriented agglomerated particles comprises a plurality of individually oriented secondary particles such that adjacent secondary particles thereof have mutually different orientation directions, and wherein each of the individually oriented secondary particles is composed of a plurality of primary particles which are composed of a lithium complex oxide with a layered rock-salt structure and are oriented such that the (003) planes of the primary particles do not intersect each other at least in one axial direction. According to the present invention, a positive electrode active material can be provided that is capable of achieving not only high initial output performance but also a high output performance retention rate when charging and discharging are performed repeatedly.
US09246160B2
An anode, an anode current collector, an anode active material and a battery using the anode are provided. The anode includes the anode current collector and the anode active material. The anode current collector has a projection. The anode active material layer is formed via at least one of a vapor deposition method, a liquid-phase deposition method, a sintering method and the like.
US09246148B2
A battery assembly according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an enclosure assembly defining an interior and a service panel integrally formed in the enclosure assembly. The service panel includes a ductile portion that is removable to access the interior.
US09246146B2
A battery pack including a plurality of battery cells; a housing accommodating the plurality of battery cells; a connector coupled to the housing, at least a portion of the connector being exposed outside of the housing; and a sealing member coupled to the connector, the sealing member surrounding the exposed portion of the connector.
US09246145B2
A combined battery (100) comprising a plurality of flat-type cells (10A to 10F) by laminating thereof so that polarity of electrode tabs (11A to 11F and 12A to 12F) is alternately set, wherein welding parts to connect in series the flat cells themselves, to compose a set when all the flat-type cells (10A to 10F) are laminated, are separated at a plurality of positions of the combined battery, and the flat-type cells having such a structure that all the flat-type cells are electrically connected in series by welding each of the welding parts.
US09246141B2
A secondary battery including an electrode assembly; a case accommodating the electrode assembly; a cap plate covering the case; and an electrode terminal electrically connected to the electrode assembly, wherein the cap plate includes at least one bending induction groove at a periphery of a central portion of the cap plate in a region between an edge and the central portion of the cap plate.
US09246136B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for manufacturing an array substrate comprising: forming patterns of a thin film transistor structure and a passivation layer on a base substrate to define a plurality of pixel units on the base substrate; forming subsequently patterns of a transflective layer and a color filter in a pixel region of the pixel unit, the color filter being disposed above the transflective layer; forming an organic light-emitting diode in the pixel region of the pixel unit so that the transflective layer and the color filter are disposed between the organic light-emitting diode and the thin film transistor structure. Embodiments of the present invention also provide an array substrate.
US09246134B2
Transfer films, articles made therewith, and methods of making and using transfer films to form bridged nanostructures are disclosed.
US09246128B2
An organic light emitting diode display device and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The organic light emitting diode display device includes a first flexible substrate, a second flexible substrate, a first barrier layer, a second barrier layer, an organic light emitting diode element, and a metal enclosing wall. The first barrier layer is disposed on the first flexible substrate, and the second barrier layer is disposed on the second flexible substrate. The organic light emitting diode element is disposed between the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer. The metal enclosing wall connects the first flexible substrate to the second flexible substrate and surrounds the organic light emitting diode element.
US09246108B2
The invention provides a composition comprising at least one compound selected from the following Formulas A, B1, B2, B3, B4 or C: or a combination thereof (C). For each formula, the R groups are described herein.
US09246105B2
Fluorinated aromatic materials, their synthesis and their use in optoelectronics. In some cases, the fluorinated aromatic materials are perfluoroalkylated aromatic materials that may include perfluoropolyether substituents.
US09246104B2
A fullerene derivative represented by the following formula (1): wherein “FLN” represents a fullerene core, R1 represents an optionally substituted C1-C24 alkyl group or an optionally substituted C7-C24 aralkyl group, R2 and R3 independently represent a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted C1-C24 hydrocarbon group but excluding a case where both of R2 and R3 are hydrogen atoms, and R2 and R3 may combine together to form a ring.
US09246100B2
The present disclosure includes memory cell array structures and methods of forming the same. One such array includes a stack structure comprising a memory cell between a first conductive material and a second conductive material. The memory cell can include a select element and a memory element. The array can also include an electrically inactive stack structure located at an edge of the stack structure.
US09246097B2
Provided are resistive random access memory (ReRAM) cells having diffusion barrier layers formed from various materials, such as beryllium oxide or titanium silicon nitrides. Resistive switching layers used in ReRAM cells often need to have at least one inert interface such that substantially no materials pass through this interface. The other (reactive) interface may be used to introduce and remove defects from the resistive switching layers causing the switching. While some electrode materials, such as platinum and doped polysilicon, may form inert interfaces, these materials are often difficult to integrate. To expand electrode material options, a diffusion barrier layer is disposed between an electrode and a resistive switching layer and forms the inert interface with the resistive switching layer. In some embodiments, tantalum nitride and titanium nitride may be used for electrodes separated by such diffusion barrier layers.
US09246093B2
A low resistivity interface material is provided between a self-aligned vertical heater element and a contact region of a selection device. A phase change chalcogenide material is deposited directly on the vertical heater element. In an embodiment, the vertical heater element in L-shaped, having a curved vertical wall along the wordline direction and a horizontal base. In an embodiment, the low resistivity interface material is deposited into a trench with a negative profile using a PVD technique. An upper surface of the low resistivity interface material may have a tapered bird-beak extension.
US09246086B2
A conductive bridge memory system and method of manufacture thereof including: providing a dielectric layer having a hole on a bottom electrode, the hole over the bottom electrode; forming an ionic source layer in the hole and over the bottom electrode including: depositing a reactivation layer over the bottom electrode, depositing a first ion source layer on the reactivation layer, depositing another of the reactivation layer on the first ion source layer, depositing a second ion source layer on the another of the reactivation layer; and forming an upper electrode on the ionic source layer.
US09246075B2
The present invention provides a tubular thermoelectric generation device, comprising: a plurality of plate-like p-type thermoelectric members each having an external periphery, a through hole, and an internal periphery formed around the through hole; a plurality of plate-like n-type thermoelectric members each having an external periphery, a through hole, and an internal periphery formed around the through hole; a plurality of external electrodes; and a plurality of internal electrodes. Each of the plurality of the external electrodes comprises an internal flange expanded in a direction from the external periphery of the p-type thermoelectric member toward the internal periphery of the p-type thermoelectric member. Each of the plurality of the internal electrodes comprises an external flange expanded in a direction from the internal periphery of the p-type thermoelectric member toward the external periphery of the p-type thermoelectric member.
US09246074B2
A light emitting device includes a plurality of light emitting elements, a plurality of lead frames, and a package. The light emitting elements are mounted on the lead frames. The package is made of resin. The package has an opening. A part of the lead frames is embedded in an inner portion of the package and another part of the lead frames is exposed on a bottom surface of the opening. A resin bottom surface on which the resin is exposed is provided on the bottom surface of the opening of the package. The package includes a wall portion projecting from the bottom surface of the opening between the light emitting elements in the opening. The light emitting elements are connected by wire that straddles the wall portion.
US09246064B2
There is provided a method of manufacturing a light emitting device including preparing a light source including a wavelength conversion unit and an optical member applied to the light source. Light is irradiated to the wavelength conversion unit to excite the wavelength conversion unit and positional information regarding the light source is obtained from light emitted from the wavelength conversion unit. A mounting position of the optical member is determined based on the obtained positional information regarding the light source. The method of manufacturing a light emitting device having excellent light characteristics can be obtained.
US09246063B2
A phosphor encapsulating sheet, for encapsulating a light emitting diode element, includes a phosphor layer, an encapsulating layer formed at one side in a thickness direction of the phosphor layer, and an adhesive layer formed at the other side in the thickness direction of the phosphor layer for being adhered to a cover layer.
US09246052B2
The present disclosure relates to a light emitting diode packaging structure and the method of manufacturing the same. The light emitting diode packaging structure has an insulating substrate with through holes formed on each side of the upper surface thereof, the through hole being filled with conductive metal. Additionally, a n-type layer, an active layer, a p-type layer, an insulating layer and a p-type electrode are formed on the insulating substrate. The structure further may include a n-type electrode provided on a side of the upper surface of the n-type layer; a first back electrode provided at one side of the back surface of the insulating substrate; a second back electrode provided at the other side of back surface of the insulating substrate; and an optical element packaged on the base substrate.
US09246050B2
Provided is a method of manufacturing a substrate for a light emitting diode including a convex section forming step and a crystallization/crystallizing step. According to the method and the substrate for the light emitting diode, light extraction is significantly improved and nano to micron sized pattern, economically formed.
US09246046B1
A method of fabricating a solar cell can include forming a first dopant region over a silicon substrate and an oxide region over the first dopant region. In an embodiment, the oxide region can protect the first dopant region from a first etching process. In an embodiment, a second dopant region can be formed over the silicon substrate, where a mask can be formed to protect a first portion of the second dopant region from the first etching process. In an embodiment, the first etching process can be performed to expose portions of the silicon substrate and/or a silicon region. A second etching process can be performed to form a trench region to separate a first and second doped region of the solar cell. A third etching process can be performed to remove contaminants from the solar cell and remove any remaining portions of the oxide region.
US09246041B1
An apparatus and method for allowing avalanche photodiode based single-photon detectors to be driven by the same electrical circuit in gated and in free-running modes is proposed. The high-performance working of all the running modes relies on the capability of tuning the rise-time value of the electrical pulse driver which activates the avalanche photodiode in Geiger mode.
US09246026B2
Disclosed is a solar cell having a collecting electrode on one main surface of a photoelectric conversion section. The collecting electrode includes a first electroconductive layer and a second electroconductive layer in this order from the photoelectric conversion section side, and further includes an insulating layer between the first electroconductive layer and the second electroconductive layer. The first electroconductive layer includes a low-melting-point material, and a part of the second electroconductive layer is conductively connected with the first electroconductive layer through, for example, an opening in the insulating layer. The second electrode layer is preferably formed by a plating method. In addition, it is preferable that before forming the second electroconductive layer, annealing by heating is carried out to generate the opening section in the insulating layer.
US09246019B2
A method for forming a rectifier device is provided. The method forms a first layer on a substrate, a second layer is formed on the first layer and a photoresist layer is deposited on the second layer in which a plurality of trench patterns are formed. A plurality of trenches are formed in the first layer and the second layer by etching based on the trench patterns in the photoresist. The method then laterally etches the second layer to expose a corner portion of the first layer at mesas formed in between the two trenches. A portion of the second layer is preserved at an edge of the rectifier device.
US09246018B2
This document discusses, among other things, a cap wafer and a via wafer configured to encapsulate a single proof-mass 3-axis gyroscope formed in an x-y plane of a device layer. The single proof-mass 3-axis gyroscope can include a main proof-mass section suspended about a single, central anchor, the main proof-mass section including a radial portion extending outward towards an edge of the 3-axis gyroscope sensor, a central suspension system configured to suspend the 3-axis gyroscope from the single, central anchor, and a drive electrode including a moving portion and a stationary portion, the moving portion coupled to the radial portion, wherein the drive electrode and the central suspension system are configured to oscillate the 3-axis gyroscope about a z-axis normal to the x-y plane at a drive frequency.
US09246010B2
In an oxide semiconductor layer, a degree of oxidation S1 of a portion located on the side of the gate insulating film, and a degree of oxidation S2 of surface layer portions located in connection regions with source and drain electrodes have a relation of S2
US09245997B2
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device capable of increasing a breakdown voltage without an additional epitaxial layer or buried layer with respect to a high-voltage horizontal MOSFET.
US09245985B2
There are disclosed herein various implementations of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with buried emitter electrodes. Such an IGBT may include a collector at a bottom surface of a semiconductor substrate, a drift region having a first conductivity type situated over the collector, and a base layer having a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type situated over the drift region. In addition, such an IGBT may include deep insulated trenches extending from a semiconductor surface above the base layer, into the drift region, each of the deep insulated trenches having a buried emitter electrode disposed therein. The IGBT may further include an active cell including an emitter, a gate trench with a gate electrode disposed therein, and an implant zone situated, between adjacent deep insulated trenches. The implant zone is formed below the base layer and has the first conductivity type.
US09245982B2
One embodiment of the instant disclosure provides a method for fabrication of fin devices for an integrated circuit, which comprises: forming a plurality of semiconductor fin structures, the fin structures including sidewalls and tops exposed from conformal masking; performing channel implantation at a tilt angle to form a doped region along the sidewalls and the tops of the fin structures, the fin structures being maintained at an elevated temperature during the channel implantation to prevent amorphization thereof during channel implantation; and forming at least one field effect transistor from the fin structures, the field effect transistor having a threshold voltage that is based on the channel implantation.
US09245981B2
An array of stacks containing a semiconductor fins and an oxygen-impermeable cap is formed on a semiconductor substrate with a substantially uniform areal density. Oxygen-impermeable spacers are formed around each stack, and the semiconductor substrate is etched to vertically extend trenches. Semiconductor sidewalls are physically exposed from underneath the oxygen-impermeable spacers. The oxygen-impermeable spacers are removed in regions in which semiconductor fins are not needed. A dielectric oxide material is deposited to fill the trenches. Oxidation is performed to convert a top portion of the semiconductor substrate and semiconductor fins not protected by oxygen-impermeable spacers into dielectric material portions. Upon removal of the oxygen-impermeable caps and remaining oxygen-impermeable spacers, an array including semiconductor fins and dielectric fins is provided. The dielectric fins alleviate variations in the local density of protruding structures, thereby reducing topographical variations in the height of gate level structures to be subsequently formed.
US09245977B2
In one embodiment, a method of making a VDMOS transistor can include: (i) etching an oxide layer formed on a surface of an epitaxial structure to define an active region of the VDMOS; (ii) injecting and diffusing a first dopant into the active region to form a doping region; (iii) forming a gate oxide layer on the active region; (iv) depositing polysilicon on the gate oxide layer, and etching the polysilicon to form a gate; (v) injecting a second dopant at an end of the gate to form a source, where the first and second dopants have opposite types; (vi) forming a contact hole adjacent to the gate, and injecting a third dopant into the contact hole, where the first and third dopants have a same type; (vii) depositing and etching aluminum on a chip surface; and (viii) coating the aluminum and chip surface with a passivation layer.
US09245974B2
The present disclosure relates to a method of generating a transistor device having an epitaxial layer disposed over a recessed active region. The epitaxial layer improves transistor device performance. In some embodiments, the method is performed by providing a semiconductor substrate. An epitaxial growth is performed to form an epitaxial layer onto the semiconductor substrate. An electrically insulating layer is then formed onto the epitaxial layer, and a gate structure is formed onto the electrically insulating layer. By forming the epitaxial layer over the semiconductor substrate the surface roughness of the semiconductor substrate is improved, thereby improving transistor device performance.
US09245965B2
A structure including a first plurality of fins and a second plurality of fins etched from a semiconductor substrate, and a fill material located above the semiconductor substrate and between the first plurality of fins and the second plurality of fins, the fill material does not contact either the first plurality of fins or the second plurality of fins.
US09245963B2
In one embodiment, a vertical insulated-gate field effect transistor includes a shield electrode formed in trench structure within a semiconductor material. A gate electrode is isolated from the semiconductor material using gate insulating layers. Before the shield electrode is formed, spacer layers can be used form shield insulating layers along portions of the trench structure. The shield insulating layers are thicker than the gate insulating layers. In another embodiment, the shield insulating layers have variable thickness.
US09245961B1
Methods and structures for transistors having reduced source contact to gate spacings in semiconductor devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of forming a transistor can include: forming a gate over an active area of the transistor; forming source and drain regions aligned to the gate in the active area; forming source and drain contacts over the source and drain regions, where a spacing from the gate to the source contact of the transistor is less than a spacing from the gate to the drain contact of the transistor; and using one or more modified masks for forming doping profiles for the source region and the drain region.
US09245959B2
One object is to have stable electrical characteristics and high reliability and to manufacture a semiconductor device including a semi-conductive oxide film. Film formation is performed by a sputtering method using a target in which gallium oxide is added to a material that is easy to volatilize compared to gallium when the material is heated at 400° C. to 700° C. like zinc, and a formed film is heated at 400° C. to 700° C., whereby the added material is segregated in the vicinity of a surface of the film and the oxide is crystallized. Further, a semi-conductive oxide film is deposited thereover, whereby a semi-conductive oxide having a crystal which succeeds a crystal structure of the oxide that is crystallized by heat treatment is formed.
US09245956B2
An electronic circuit includes a bipolar device, a unipolar device connected in parallel to the bipolar device, and an output line connected to the bipolar device and to the unipolar device. An inductance between the unipolar device and the output line is smaller than an inductance between the bipolar device and the output line.
US09245953B2
Methods and structures for forming strained-channel finFETs are described. Fin structures for finFETs may be formed in two epitaxial layers that are grown over a bulk substrate. A first thin epitaxial layer may be cut and used to impart strain to an adjacent channel region of the finFET via elastic relaxation. The structures exhibit a preferred design range for increasing induced strain and uniformity of the strain over the fin height.
US09245941B2
A YBCO-based conductive material can be used as an electrode, which can contact a dielectric such as a high k dielectric. Alternatively, a material with a narrow conduction band can be used as an electrode, which can contact a dielectric such as a high k dielectric. By aligning the dielectric with the band gap of the YBCO-based electrode or with the band gap of the narrow-band conductive material electrode, e.g., the conduction band minimum of the dielectric falls into one of the band gaps of the YBCO-based or narrow-band conductive material, thermionic leakage through the dielectric can be reduced, since the excited electrons or holes in the electrode would need higher thermal excitation energy to overcome the band gap before passing through the dielectric layer.
US09245938B2
The present invention is a method of manufacturing an organic EL display device including a display part arranged with a plurality of pixels including an organic EL light emitting layer, and a terminal part arranged with a plurality of terminals each connected to the organic EL light emitting layer respectively, the method comprising forming a TFT drive circuit layer controlling the organic EL light emitting layer and forming the plurality of terminals connected to the TFT drive circuit layer on a first substrate; forming the organic EL light emitting layer connected to the TFT drive circuit layer over the TFT drive circuit layer; forming a sealing film over the organic EL light emitting layer; adhering a second substrate covering the display part in a position corresponding to the first substrate; forming a touch panel sensor substrate and an electrode layer over the second substrate; and exposing the plurality of terminals by etching a part of the sealing film.
US09245936B2
Provided is a multi-display apparatus. The multi-display apparatus includes a first display including a region configured to allow external light to pass therethrough, a first module electrically coupled to the first display unit, a second display coupled to the first display, the second display overlapping the first module and being configured to not allow external light to pass therethrough, and a second module electrically coupled to the second display.
US09245924B2
A phase-change memory element with an electrically isolated conductor is provided. The phase-change memory element includes: a first electrode and a second electrode; a phase-change material layer electrically connected to the first electrode and the second electrode; and at least two electrically isolated conductors, disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, directly contacting the phase-change material layers.
US09245923B2
Semiconductor devices include a transistor having a gate structure located close to a channel region that comprises a colossal magnetocapacitive material. The gate structure is configured to affect electrical current flow through the channel region between a source and a drain. The colossal magnetocapacitive material optionally may be disposed between two structures, one or both of which may be electrically conductive, magnetic, or both electrically conductive and magnetic. Methods of fabricating semiconductor devices include forming a colossal magnetocapacitive material close to a channel region between a source and a drain of a transistor, and configuring the colossal magnetocapacitive material to exhibit colossal magnetocapacitance for generating an electrical field in the channel region. Methods of affecting current flow through a transistor include causing a colossal magnetocapacitive material to exhibit colossal magnetocapacitance and generate an electrical field in a channel region of a transistor.
US09245922B2
The present invention provides a display device and a manufacturing method thereof that can simplify manufacturing steps and enhance efficiency in the use of materials, and further, a manufacturing method that can enhance adhesiveness of a pattern. One feature of the invention is that at least one or more patterns needed for manufacturing a display panel, such as a conductive layer forming a wiring or an electrode or a mask for forming a desired pattern is/are formed by a method capable of selectively forming a pattern, thereby manufacturing a display panel.
US09245916B2
A sensor is disclosed that can include a light component in support of a first light source operable to direct a first beam of light, and a second light source operable to direct a second beam of light. The sensor can also include an imaging device positioned proximate the light component and operable to directly receive the first beam of light and the second beam of light and convert these into electric signals. The imaging device and the light component can be movable relative to one another. The sensor can further include a light location module configured to receive the electric signals and determine locations of the first beam of light and the second beam of light on the imaging device. In addition, the sensor can include a position module configured to determine a relative position of the imaging device and the light component based on the locations of the first beam of light and the second beam of light on the imaging device.
US09245912B2
A method and apparatus for a low resistance image sensor contact, the apparatus comprising a photosensor disposed in a substrate, a first ground well disposed in a first region of the substrate, the first ground well having a resistance lower than the substrate, and a ground line disposed in a region adjacent to the first ground well. The first ground well is configured to provide a low resistance path to the ground line from the substrate for excess free carriers in the first region of the substrate. The apparatus may optionally comprise a second ground well having a lower resistance than the first ground well and disposed between the first ground well and the ground line, and may further optionally comprise a third ground well having a lower resistance than the second ground well and disposed between the second ground well and the ground line.
US09245906B2
A thin film transistor array panel includes: a gate line disposed on a substrate and including a gate electrode, a semiconductor layer including an oxide semiconductor disposed on the substrate, and a data wire layer disposed on the substrate and including a data line intersecting the gate line, a source electrode connected to the data line, and a drain electrode facing the source electrode. In addition, at least one of the data line, the source electrode or the drain electrode of the data wire layer includes a barrier layer and a main wiring layer disposed on the barrier layer. The main wiring layer includes copper or a copper alloy. Also, the barrier layer includes a metal oxide, and the metal oxide includes zinc.
US09245905B2
A method of manufacturing a flat panel display device includes forming a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode on a substrate. The method includes forming a gate insulating layer on the substrate covering the gate electrodes. The method includes forming a first active layer and a second active layer on the gate insulating layer. The method includes forming an active insulation layer on the gate insulating layer to cover the first active layer. The active insulation layer includes a first hole and a second hole exposing portions of the first active layer. The method includes forming a first source electrode and a first drain electrode on the active insulation layer respectively filling the first hole and the second hole. The method includes forming a second source electrode and a second drain electrode to contact portions of the second active layer.
US09245902B2
A three-dimensional semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, the device including a lower insulating layer on a top surface of a substrate; an electrode structure sequentially stacked on the lower insulating layer, the electrode structure including conductive patterns; a semiconductor pattern penetrating the electrode structure and the lower insulating layer and being connected to the substrate; and a vertical insulating layer interposed between the semiconductor pattern and the electrode structure, the vertical insulating layer crossing the conductive patterns in a vertical direction and being in contact with a top surface of the lower insulating layer.
US09245898B2
A NAND flash memory integrated circuit chip includes a cell area and a peripheral area with structures of different heights, with higher structures in the peripheral area to provide low resistance and lower structures in the memory array so that the risk of word line collapse is maintained at acceptable levels.
US09245883B1
A method of fabricating a fin-like field-effect transistor (FinFET) device is disclosed. The method includes forming a first gate stack and a second gate stack over different portions of a fin feature formed on a substrate, forming a first dielectric layer in a space between the first and second gat stacks, removing the first gate stack to form a first gate trench, therefore the first gate trench exposes a portion of the fin feature. The method also includes removing the exposed portion of the fin feature and forming an isolation feature in the first gate trench.
US09245882B2
A method includes forming a semiconductor fin, forming a dummy gate on a top surface and sidewalls of the semiconductor fin, and removing the dummy gate to form a recess. The semiconductor fin is exposed to the recess. After the dummy gate is removed, an oxidation is performed on the semiconductor fin to form a condensed germanium-containing fin in the recess, and a silicon oxide layer on a top surface and sidewalls of the condensed germanium-containing fin. The method further includes forming a gate dielectric over the condensed germanium-containing fin, and forming a gate electrode over the gate dielectric.
US09245879B2
A semiconductor circuit includes a three-terminal high voltage semiconductor device, a charge distribution structure and a static discharge system. The charge distribution structure has a plurality of conductors with a floating potential. The charge distribution structure is capacitively coupled to a first terminal of the semiconductor device. The static discharge system removes charge that accumulates on at least a subset of the conductors. The static discharge system removes the charge that accumulates on the subset of conductors when the semiconductor device is in a first state while allowing charge to accumulate on the subset of conductors when the semiconductor device is in a second state.
US09245878B2
An ESD protection circuit includes at least a first and a second silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) circuits. The first SCR circuit is coupled between the pad and the positive power supply terminal. The second SCR circuit is coupled between the pad and the ground terminal. At least one of the SCR circuits is configured to selectively provide a short or relatively conductive electrical path between the pad and one of the positive power supply terminal and the ground terminal.
US09245872B2
Disclosed are flip-chip package structures and methods for an integrated switching power supply. In one embodiment, a flip-chip package structure can include: (i) a die with an integrated switching power supply, where a first surface of the die includes first bumps with different polarities; (ii) a redistribution layer including redistribution layer units, each having a first surface to connect bumps with a same polarity from the first bumps, the redistribution layer having a second surface including second bumps to redistribute polarities; (iii) a lead frame having pins, where a first surface of the lead frame can connect bumps with a same polarity from the second bumps; and (iv) a flip-chip package configured to package the die, the redistribution layer, the first and second bumps, and the lead frame, where a second surface of the lead frame provides electrical connectivity between the integrated switching power supply and a PCB.
US09245870B1
A circuit includes a first die having a first array of exposed data nodes, and a second die having a second array of exposed data nodes, wherein a given data node of the first array corresponds to a respective data node on the second array, further wherein the first array and the second array share a spatial arrangement of the data nodes, wherein the first die has data inputs and sequential logic circuits for each of the data nodes of the first array on a first side of the first array, and wherein the second die has data outputs and sequential logic circuits for each of the data nodes of the second array on a second side of the second array, the first and second sides being different.
US09245869B2
A method for tacking of chips onto a substrate at chip positions which are distributed on a surface of the substrate. The method includes the following steps: formation or application of a function layer onto the substrate, removing the function layer from the substrate at the chip positions at least in the region of contacts to uncover the contacts, tacking chips onto one chip contact side of the function layer at the chip positions and contacting the chips with the contacts via contact elements.
US09245868B2
A method for manufacturing a chip package is provided, the method including: forming a layer arrangement over a carrier; arranging a chip including one or more contact pads over the layer arrangement wherein the chip covers at least part of the layer arrangement; and selectively removing one or more portions of the layer arrangement and using the chip as a mask such that at least part of the layer arrangement covered by the chip is not removed.
US09245867B2
A package-on-package (POP) electronic device may include first and second packaging substrates, a solder interconnection providing electrical and mechanical coupling between the first and second packaging substrates, and first and second sealing layers between the first and second packaging substrates. The first and second sealing layers may be respective first and second epoxy sealing layers. Moreover, the second epoxy sealing layer may include a solder flux agent, and the first epoxy sealing layer may have a lower concentration of the solder flux agent than the second epoxy sealing layer.
US09245866B2
According to one embodiment, an antenna device includes a feeding portion, first and second wire-like metal portions, third and fourth plate-like metal portions and a fifth metal portion. One ends of the first and second wire-like metal portions are connected to the feeding portion. The third and fourth plate-like metal portions are respectively connected to the other ends of the first and second metal portions and disposed separately from each other with a predetermined distance therebetween. The fifth metal portion is configured to connect the third metal portion to the fourth metal portion. A total electrical length of the first to fifth metal portions is 3/2 wavelength at operating frequency band.
US09245865B1
In an example, an integrated circuit (IC) package includes a package substrate, an IC die, solder bumps, a first plurality of trenches, and underfill material. The IC die includes a front surface and a back surface, the front surface facing the package substrate and including a conductive interface. The solder bumps couple the conductive interface to the package substrate. The first plurality of trenches includes at least one trench proximate each corner of the IC die formed in the front surface of the IC die in an area between the conductive interface and a perimeter of the IC die. The underfill material is disposed between the front surface of the IC die and the package substrate, the underfill material being in contact with the first plurality of trenches.
US09245854B2
Apparatus and methods for an electronic package incorporating shielding against emissions of electromagnetic interference (EMI). According to an integrated circuit structure, a substrate is on a printed circuit board. An integrated circuit chip is on the substrate. The integrated circuit chip is electrically connected to the substrate. An EMI shielding unit is on the integrated circuit chip and the substrate. The EMI shielding unit comprises a lid covering the integrated circuit chip and portions of the substrate outside the integrated circuit chip. A fill material can be deposited within a cavity formed between the lid and the substrate. The fill material comprises an EMI absorbing material. A periphery of the lid comprises a side skirt, the side skirt circumscribing the integrated circuit chip and the substrate. EMI absorbing material is on the printed circuit board, and a portion of the side skirt is embedded in the EMI absorbing material.
US09245846B2
A method includes forming a first interconnect structure and a second interconnect structure each located within an interlevel dielectric (ILD). A first top metal layer and a second top metal layer are formed disposed on and in direct electrical connection with the first interconnect. Similarly, a third top metal layer and a fourth top metal layer are formed disposed on and in direct electrical connection with the second interconnect. A silicon layer is deposited above the first, second, third and fourth top metal layers in direct contact with the first and fourth top metal layers and separated from each of the second and third top metal layers by a barrier layer. The silicon layer is exposed to an oxygen-containing environment to form a silicon dioxide layer.
US09245841B2
A semiconductor device and a fabricating process for the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a base layer having a part of a reactive material; and a self-assembled protecting layer of a self-assembled molecule reacting with the reactive material formed over the part.
US09245839B2
A three-dimensional nonvolatile memory device and a method for fabricating the same include a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of active pillars, a plurality of gate electrodes, and a plurality of supporters. The semiconductor substrate includes a memory cell region and a contact region. The active pillars extend in the memory cell region perpendicularly to the semiconductor substrate. The gate electrodes intersect the active pillars, extend from the memory cell region to the contact region and are stacked on the semiconductor substrate. The supporters extend in the contact region perpendicularly to the semiconductor substrate to penetrate at least one or more of the gate electrodes.
US09245838B2
A multilayer device has a resin layer, a semiconductor device positioned in the resin layer and including an electronic component and a passivation layer having an opening exposing an electrode of the electronic component, an intermediate layer including metal layers and formed in the opening of the passivation layer such that the intermediate layer is connected to the electrode of the electronic component, and a buildup layer formed on the resin layer and including an insulating layer and a via conductor formed in the insulating layer such that the via conductor is connected to the intermediate layer. The resin layer includes one or more resin material selected from the group consisting of a thermosetting resin material and a thermoplastic resin material.
US09245833B2
A device includes a metal pad, and a passivation layer including portions overlapping edge portions of the metal pad. A Post-Passivation-Interconnect (PPI) includes a trace portion overlying the passivation layer, and a pad portion connected to the trace portion. A polymer layer includes an upper portion over the PPI, and a plug portion extending into, and encircled by, the pad portion of the PPI.
US09245828B2
A package and integrated circuit assembly is configured to perform signal conditioning on a signal. The assembly includes a line card having line card contacts that correspond to conductors in the line card connector. Two or more integrated circuits are configured to perform signal conditioning on the signal and the two or more integrated circuits are configured within a package into at least a first row and a second row on the package. The package includes a grid array of bonding pads to electrically connect to the two or more integrated circuits through bond wires or down bonds such that the structure of the grid array corresponds in physical arrangement or bond pad pitch to the line card contacts. This assembly also includes an electrical connection from the two or more integrated circuits to the line card through the package.
US09245823B2
There is provided an imaging device including a semiconductor having a light-receiving portion that performs photoelectric conversion of incident light, electrically conductive wirings, and a contact group including contacts that have different sizes and connect the semiconductor and the electrically conductive wirings.
US09245815B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward underfill material including block copolymer. In one embodiment, an underfill material includes epoxy material and a copolymer including an epoxy-philic block and an epoxy-phobic block, wherein the epoxy-philic block is miscible in the epoxy material, the epoxy-phobic block is covalently bonded with the epoxy-philic block, the epoxy-phobic block is separated in a microphase domain within the epoxy material and the epoxy-philic block is configured to restrict thermal expansion or contraction of the epoxy material.
US09245813B2
The chip stack of semiconductor chips with enhanced cooling apparatus includes a first chip with circuitry on a first side and a second chip electrically and mechanically coupled to the first chip by a grid of connectors. The apparatus further includes a thermal interface material pad between the first chip and the second chip, wherein the thermal interface material pad includes nanofibers aligned parallel to mating surfaces of the first chip and the second chip, and a heat removal device thermally connected to the thermal interface material pad.
US09245810B2
The present invention relates to an electrical and/or opto-electrical characterisation method for testing large-area semiconductor devices in production, the method comprising the steps of providing a first electrode and placing it into electrical contact with a contact area of a conducting layer of a semiconductor device; providing a movable electrode assembly, comprising a container holding an electrolyte solution and at least a second electrode; immersing the second electrode into the electrolyte solution; positioning the electrode assembly such that the electrolyte solution places the second electrode into electrical contact with a top surface of the semiconductor device; and scanning the movable electrode assembly relative to the top surface of the semiconductor device while performing electrical measurements. It also relates to a corresponding electrical and/or opto-electrical characterisation device comprising a first electrode, a movable electrode assembly with a container holding an electrolyte solution and a second electrode immersed into it and scanning means.
US09245800B2
To provide a technique adopting a TSV technique, capable of improving manufacturing yield and reliability of semiconductor devices. By partitioning a connection pad-forming region into a plurality of regions and by forming, respectively, connection pads 17 having a relatively small planar area, spaced apart from an adjacent connection pad 17 in each of partitioned regions, dishing generated in the connection pad 17 is lightened. In addition, by not forming a through hole 23 for forming a through electrode 27 in an interlayer insulating film 9 covering a semiconductor element, intrusion of H2O, a metal ion such as Na+ or K+, etc. into an element-forming region from the through hole, via the interlayer insulating film is prevented.
US09245791B2
A contact structure includes a permanent antireflection coating formed on a substrate having contact pads. A patterned dielectric layer is formed on the antireflective coating. The patterned dielectric layer and the permanent antireflective coating form openings. The openings correspond with locations of the contact pads. Contact structures are formed in the openings to make electrical contact with the contacts pads such that the patterned dielectric layer and the permanent antireflective coating each have a conductively filled region forming the contact structures.
US09245790B2
Integrated circuits, methods of forming integrated circuits, and methods of sensing voiding between a through-semiconductor via and a subsequent layer that overlies the through-semiconductor via in integrated circuits are provided. An exemplary method of forming an integrated circuit includes forming a plurality of semiconductor devices on a semiconductor substrate. A through-semiconductor via is formed in the semiconductor substrate, and an interlayer dielectric layer is formed that overlies the through-semiconductor via and the plurality of semiconductor devices. A first interconnect via is embedded within the interlayer dielectric layer, and a second interconnect via is embedded within the interlayer dielectric layer. The first interconnect via and the second interconnect via are in electrical communication with the through-semiconductor via at spaced locations from each other on the through-semiconductor via.
US09245788B2
A first photoresist layer is patterned with a first pattern that includes an opening in a region between areas of two adjacent via holes to be formed. The opening in the first photoresist is transferred into a template layer to form a line trench therein. The lateral dimension of the trench is reduced by depositing a contiguous spacer layer that does not fill the trench completely. An etch-resistant material layer is conformally deposited and fills the trench, and is subsequently recessed to form an etch-resistant material portion filling the trench. A second photoresist layer is applied and patterned with a second pattern, which includes an opening that includes areas of two via holes and an area therebetween. A composite pattern of an intersection of the second pattern and the complement of the pattern of the etch-resistant material portion is transferred through the template layer.
US09245787B2
Apparatuses of manufacturing semiconductor packages are provided. An apparatus includes a chuck having a body, a porous plate disposed on the body, and a buffer pad disposed on the plate to provide a place on which a plurality of chips are loaded. The buffer pad has elasticity greater than the plate. The apparatus also includes a vacuum part supplying vacuum to the chuck so that the plurality of chips are sucked onto the buffer pad. Methods of manufacturing semiconductor packages using the apparatus are also provided.
US09245781B2
An article storage facility includes a transport device for transporting containers to a plurality of storage sections, an inactive gas feed section which supplies inactive gas to the interior of the container stored in the storage section, and a controller for controlling operation of the device and operation of the flow rate adjusting device of the inactive gas feed section. The controller is configured to cause a state of the inactive gas feed section associated with the storage section to be both a storage feed state and an unfeeding state depending on if the carrier is stored or not stored be. The controller is also configured to store the transporting container in the storage section after changing the state of the inactive gas feed section associated with the storage section in which the container is to be stored to a pre-storage feed state from the unfeeding state.
US09245773B2
Semiconductor device packaging methods and structures thereof are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of packaging semiconductor devices includes coupling a plurality of second dies to a top surface of a first die, and determining a distance between each of the plurality of second dies and the first die. The method also includes determining an amount of underfill material to dispose between the first die and each of the plurality of second dies based on the determined distance, and disposing the determined amount of the underfill material under each of the plurality of second dies.
US09245761B2
The embodiments disclosed herein pertain to improved methods and apparatus for etching a semiconductor substrate. A plasma grid assembly is positioned in a reaction chamber to divide the chamber into upper and lower sub-chambers. The plasma grid assembly may include one or more plasma grids having slots of a particular aspect ratio, which allow certain species to pass through from the upper sub-chamber to the lower sub-chamber. Where multiple plasma grids are used, one or more of the grids may be movable, allowing for tenability of the plasma conditions in at least the lower sub-chamber. In some cases, an electron-ion plasma is generated in the upper sub-chamber. Electrons that make it through the grid to the lower sub-chamber are cooled as they pass through. In some cases, this results in an ion-ion plasma in the lower sub-chamber.
US09245759B2
A method of manufacturing a dual work function semiconductor device is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes providing a substrate having first and second areas for forming first and second transistor types. The method additionally includes forming a dielectric layer on the substrate, which extends to cover at least parts of the first and second areas. The method additionally includes forming a first metal layer/stack on the dielectric layer in the first area, where the first metal layer/stack comprises a first work function-shifting element. The method additionally includes forming a second metal layer/stack on the first metal layer in the first area and on the dielectric layer in the second area, where the second metal layer/stack comprises a second work function-shifting element. The method additionally includes annealing to diffuse the first work function-shifting element and the second work function-shifting element into the dielectric layer, and subsequently removing the first metal layer/stack and the second metal layer/stack. The method further includes forming a third metal layer/stack in the first and second predetermined areas.
US09245758B2
A method for fabricating a silicon-doped or boron-doped aluminum electrode is revealed. Aluminum target or aluminum paste prepared by selectively doped with silicon and/or boron is arranged at a silicon wafer with a passivation layer by physical deposition or screen printing. Then the doped aluminum layer is melted in linear or dot pattern to pass through the passivation layer and contact with the silicon wafer. Thus contact resistance between an aluminum back electrode and the silicon wafer of crystalline silicon solar cells is reduced and acceptor concentration on a surface layer of the silicon wafer is increased. Therefore the process speed is faster and the energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell is improved.
US09245754B2
A method of forming a charge balance region in an active semiconductor device includes: forming an epitaxial region including material of a first conductivity type on an upper surface of a substrate of the semiconductor device; forming multiple recessed features at least partially through the epitaxial region; depositing a film comprising material of a second conductivity type on a bottom and/or sidewalls of the recessed features using atomic layer deposition; and performing thermal processing such that at least a portion of the film deposited on the bottom and/or sidewalls of each of the recessed features forms a region of the second conductivity type in the epitaxial layer which follows a contour of the recessed features, the region of the second conductivity type, in conjunction with the epitaxial layer proximate the region of the second conductivity type, forming the charge balance region.
US09245739B2
Methods for depositing flowable dielectric films using halogen-free precursors and catalysts on a substrate are provided herein. Halogen-free precursors and catalysts include self-catalyzing aminosilane compounds and halogen-free organic acids. Flowable films may be used to fill pores in existing dielectric films on substrates having exposed metallization layers. The methods involve hydrolysis and condensation reactions.
US09245730B2
An apparatus for generating electromagnetic radiation includes an envelope, a vortex generator configured to generate a vortexing flow of liquid along an inside surface of the envelope, first and second electrodes within the envelope configured to generate a plasma arc therebetween, and an insulative housing associated surrounding at least a portion of an electrical connection to one of the electrodes. The apparatus further includes a shielding system configured to block electromagnetic radiation emitted by the arc to prevent the electromagnetic radiation from striking all inner surfaces of the insulative housing. The apparatus further includes a cooling system configured to cool the shielding system.
US09245717B2
A gas delivery system for a ceramic showerhead includes gas connection blocks and a gas ring, the gas connection blocks mounted on the gas ring such that gas outlets in the blocks deliver process gas to gas inlets in an outer periphery of the showerhead. The gas ring includes a bottom ring with channels therein and a welded cover plate enclosing the channels. The gas ring can include a first channel extending ½ the length of the gas ring, two second channels connected at midpoints thereof to downstream ends of the first channel, and four third channels connected at midpoints thereof to downstream ends of the second channels. the cover plate can include a first section enclosing the first channel, two second sections connected at midpoints thereof to ends of the first section, and third sections connected at midpoints thereof to ends of the second sections. The channels are arranged such that the process gas travels equal distances for a single gas inlet in the gas ring to eight outlets in the cover ring allowing equal gas flow.
US09245711B2
In observation of a sample having a structure in its depth direction, a charged particle beam apparatus that can form an SEM image reflecting a sample shape at a desired depth by a single image acquisition while avoiding enlargement of the apparatus is provided. The apparatus has: an irradiation optical system for irradiating and scanning a charged particle beam generated from a charged particle source on the sample; a detection optical system having a detector that detects charged particles generated from the sample by the irradiation of the charged particle beam, and converts them into an electric signal at a predetermined sampling period; and an image processing unit for forming an image based on the electric signal from the detector, in which the image processing unit detects a peak of wave height values for each pixel from the electric signal at each sampling time, and forms the image based on the peak of the detected wave height values.
US09245707B2
An X-ray window includes a primary and a secondary window element. In order to evaporate debris by ohmic heating, current flows through the secondary (upstream) window element. Meanwhile, electric charge originating from electron irradiation and/or depositing charged particles is to be drained off the secondary window element via a charge-drain layer. To prevent large debris particles from short-circuiting the secondary window element, the current for heating the window element flows through heating circuitry which is electrically insulated from the charge-drain layer.
US09245704B2
A piezoelectric multiplexer includes an actuator and multiple piezo-morph beams. The actuator includes an actuator conducting head and an actuator stem, and each piezo-morph beam includes a conducting beam contact head and a beam stem manufactured out of piezo-morph material. A control voltage is selectively applied to electrical contacts coupled to the beam stems to create a piezoelectric effect that bends the selected piezo-morph beam and creates an electrical connection between its contact head and the conducting head of the actuator. A control circuit with a controller signals which piezo-morph beam to connect to the actuator. This multi-piezo-morph-beam piezoelectric multiplexer can be affixed to the electrical terminals of different electrical components (e.g., a transistor) to create an electrical cell that can be manufactured on a semiconductor chip or in a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device.
US09245680B2
There is provided a common mode choke coil in which a non-magnetic layer and a second magnetic layer stacked on a first magnetic layer and two facing conductive coils are included in the non-magnetic layer, the non-magnetic layer is formed of sintered glass ceramics, the conductive coils and are formed of a conductor containing copper, and at least one of the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer is formed of a sintered ferrite material containing Fe2O3, Mn2O3, NiO, ZnO and CuO. The sintered ferrite material has an Fe2O3-reduced content of 25 to 47 mol % and a Mn2O3-reduced content of 1 to 7.5 mol %, or Fe2O3-reduced content of 35 to 45 mol % and a Mn2O3-reduced content of 7.5 to 10 mol %, and a CuO reduced content of 5 mol %.
US09245668B1
A physiological measurement system can include a low noise patient cable that connects a monitor and a noninvasive optical sensor. The cable has a plurality of emitter wires configured to communicate a drive signal between the monitor and at least one emitter. The cable also has a plurality of detector wires configured to communicate a physiological signal between at least one detector responsive to the emitter and the monitor. The emitter and detector wires are orthogonally disposed so that crosstalk between the two functionally different wires is mitigated.
US09245661B2
A conductive film, a method for producing the same and an array substrate comprising the same are provided, so that copper atoms can be efficiently prevented from diffusing into an adjacent semiconductor layer or interlaminated insulation film. The conductive film comprises a base film made of copper or copper alloy, in which hydrogen and/or carbon atoms are distributed.
US09245651B2
A memory device includes a memory array, a plurality of input/output pins, a mask signal generator, an input/output block. The memory array is configured to output read data including a plurality of data bits. The mask signal generator is configured to generate at least one data mask signal. The input/output block is configured to mask bits having a logic level among the plurality of data bits in the read data to output the masked read data to the plurality of input/output pins.
US09245646B2
Methods for program verifying a memory cell include generating an access line voltage in response to a count and applying the access line voltage to a control gate of the memory cell, and generating a pass signal in response to the access line voltage activating the memory cell. Methods further include comparing at least a portion of the count to an indication of a desired threshold voltage of the memory cell, and when the at least a portion of the count matches the indication of the desired threshold voltage of the memory cell, determining if the pass signal is present. Methods further include generating a signal indicative of a desire to inhibit further programming of the memory cell if the pass signal is present when the match is indicated.
US09245642B1
Techniques are provided for reducing program disturb in a 3D memory device. The techniques include compensating for a temperature dependence of program disturb. The techniques may include compensating for how program disturb depends on the location of the word line that is selected for programming. In one aspect, the voltage that is applied to the control gates drain side select transistors of unselected NAND strings is adjusted during programming based on temperature. Greater temperature compensation may be applied when the selected word line is closer to the drain side select transistors.
US09245634B2
A digital system including flash memory, coupled to a system-on-a-chip within which a flash memory subsystem controller is embedded, is disclosed. The system-on-a-chip includes support for a standard external interface, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or IEEE 1394 interface, to which a host system such as flash memory test equipment can connect. Initialization of the flash memory is effected by opening a communications channel between the host system and the embedded flash memory subsystem controller. The host system can then effect initialization of the flash memory subsystem, including formatting of the flash memory arrays, loading application programs, and the like, over the communications channel.
US09245632B1
A system including an interference module and a programming module. The interference module is configured to generate interference values based on (i) a state to which a memory cell is to be programmed and (ii) states of one or more memory cells located near the memory cell. The interference values indicate effects of the states of the one or more memory cells on the state to which the memory cell is to be programmed. The programming module is configured to determine a programming value to program the memory cell to the state based on one or more of the interference values. The one or more of the interference values are selected based on (i) the state to which the memory cell is to be programmed, and (ii) the states of the one or more memory cells.
US09245630B2
A memory system includes a nonvolatile memory device, and a memory controller configured to control the nonvolatile memory device such that memory cells connected with a selected row of the nonvolatile memory device are programmed by one of a first program mode and a second program mode. At the first program mode, a plurality of logical pages corresponding in number to a maximum page number is stored at the memory cells, and at the second program mode, one or more logical pages the number of which is less than the maximum page number are stored at the memory cells using a bias condition that is different from that used in the first program mode.
US09245625B2
Methods, systems and computer readable storage medium embodiments for communicating over a data bus include, determining a number of changes in bit value in respective bit positions between a previous bit string and a current bit string, transmitting either the current bit string in an inverted form over the data bus if the determined number of changes in bit value exceeds a threshold or the current bit string in non-inverted form if the determined number of changes in bit value does not exceed a threshold, and transmitting an additional at least one bit along with the current bit string having a logic value that indicates whether the current bit string is in an inverted form or non-inverted form. Methods, systems, and computer readable storage medium embodiments for receiving bit strings over a bus are also disclosed.
US09245621B2
A semiconductor memory device comprises a memory cell array including plural memory cells provided at the intersections of plural first lines and plural second lines; and a write circuit. The write circuit, on execution of a write operation, executes a first step of applying a voltage across the first and second lines connected to a data-write-targeted, selected memory cell, and a different voltage across the first and second lines connected to a data-write-untargeted, unselected memory cell of the plural memory cells and, after execution of the first step, executes a second step of applying a voltage, required for data write, across the first and second lines connected to the selected memory cell, and bringing at least one of the first and second lines connected to the unselected memory cell into the floating state.
US09245609B2
A semiconductor storage device includes: a memory cell array in which a plurality of pairs of bit lines and source lines, a plurality of word lines, and a plurality of resistance change memory cells are arranged; a write driver, a sense amplifier, a global bit line and a global source line provided on a first end side; a plurality of bit line switches provided between the plurality of bit lines and the global bit line; a plurality of source line switches provided between the plurality of source lines and the global source line; a column decoder; a row decoder; a plurality of bit line ground switches provided between the plurality of bit lines and a ground line on a second end side; and a plurality of source line ground switches provided between the plurality of source lines and a ground line on the second end side.
US09245604B2
A method and apparatus for refreshing a row of a memory device prior to a scheduled refresh. A memory array may include a plurality of memory cells. The memory array may be configured to be refreshed at a first refresh time interval. The memory device may also include an intermediate refresh circuit. The intermediate refresh circuit may be configured to detect a triggering event and request a refresh for a row of the memory array in response to detecting a triggering event.
US09245603B2
An integrated circuit and an operating method for the same are provided. The integrated circuit comprises a stacked structure and a conductive structure. The stacked structure comprises a conductive strip. The conductive structure is disposed above the stacked structure and electrically connected to the conductive strip. The conductive structure and the conductive strip have various gap distances between corresponding points of different pairs according to a basic axis.
US09245597B2
Described examples include sensing circuits and reference voltage generators for providing a reference voltage to a sensing circuit. The sensing circuits may sense a state of a memory cell, which may be a PCM memory cell. The sensing circuits may include a cascode transistor. Examples of reference voltage generators may include a global reference voltage generator coupled to multiple bank reference voltage generators which may reduce an output resistance of the voltage generator routing.
US09245594B2
A first transistor is turned on based on a first control signal provided to a first terminal of the first transistor. A second control signal is generated by a logic device based on a first input signal and a second input signal. The first input signal is controlled by a logical value stored by a keeper circuit and based on the first control signal, and the second input signal is generated by inverting the first control signal. A second transistor is turned on based on the second control signal provided to a first terminal of the second transistor. A second terminal of the first transistor is coupled with a second terminal of the second transistor.
US09245592B2
Integrated circuits are provided that have volatile memory elements. The memory elements produce output signals. The integrated circuits may be programmable logic device integrated circuits containing programmable core logic including transistors with gates. The core logic is powered using a core logic power supply level defined by a core logic positive power supply voltage and a core logic ground voltage. When loaded with configuration data, the memory elements produce output signals that are applied to the gates of the transistors in the core logic to customize the programmable logic device. The memory elements are powered with a memory element power supply level defined by a memory element positive power supply voltage and a memory element ground power supply voltage. The memory element power supply level is elevated with respect to the core logic power supply level.
US09245565B2
In one embodiment, a magnetic recording medium includes a magnetic recording layer adapted to store magnetic information, a protective film positioned above the recording layer, the protective film being adapted to reduce wear to the magnetic recording layer, and a lubricant positioned above the protective film, the lubricant being adapted to provide a stable head-to-disk interface, wherein the lubricant includes a first lubricant, the first lubricant including a material having the following chemical formula: wherein Rf represents: and wherein Y is a repeating chain including carbon and fluorine.
US09245556B2
A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk comprising a plurality of tracks, and a head comprising at least three read elements including a first read element, a second read element, and a third read element. When the head is within a first radial band of the disk, data recorded on the disk is detected using the first read element and the second read element. When the head is within a second radial band of the disk different from the first radial band, data recorded on the disk is detected using the first read element and the third read element. The first read element is substantially aligned down-track with the third read element when the head is over a first radial location of the disk.
US09245548B2
Embodiments of the present invention help to reduce mag-noise in a magnetoresistive head without deterioration in reproduced output and improve the signal/noise ratio (SNR) of the magnetoresistive head. According to one embodiment, the magnetoresistive head uses a synthetic ferri free layer and it is arranged such that the magnetic field which is applied to an end of a free layer with smaller film thickness and saturation magnetization in the track width direction by a coupling field is larger than the magnetic field which is applied to it by a bias layer.
US09245542B1
A method of cleaning a recording medium, such as a disc. The method includes contacting a surface of the recording medium with a cleaning tape comprising a flexible backing and a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coating. The cleaning tape may include an abrasive coating, with the SAM on the abrasive coating.
US09245537B2
In a speech enhancement apparatus, a generator part generates a value representing likelihood of a consonant from an input audio signal, and a calculator part generates a consonant/vowel discriminating signal for discriminating a consonant portion and a vowel portion based on the generated value, detects a first signal level of the vowel portion and a second signal level of the consonant portion based on the audio signal and the consonant/vowel discriminating signal, and outputs a level-related signal. A determining part determines a gain coefficient that exceeds one when the second signal level is smaller than the first signal level based on the level-related signal so that the gain coefficient increases as the second signal level becomes smaller than the first signal level. A multiplier part multiplies the audio signal by the gain coefficient to output an audio signal having an emphasized consonant portion.
US09245535B2
A communications network is used to transfer user attribute information about participants in a communication session to their respective communication terminals for storage and use thereon to configure a speech codec to operate in a speaker-dependent manner, thereby improving speech coding efficiency. In a network-assisted model, the user attribute information is stored on the communications network and selectively transmitted to the communication terminals while in a peer-assisted model, the user attribute information is derived by and transferred between communication terminals.
US09245532B2
A device and a method for quantizing a LPC filter in the form of an input vector in a quantization domain, comprises a calculator of a first-stage approximation of the input vector, a subtractor of the first-stage approximation from the input vector to produce a residual vector, a calculator of a weighting function from the first-stage approximation, a warper of the residual vector with the weighting function, and a quantizer of the weighted residual vector to supply a quantized weighted residual vector. A device and a method for inverse quantizing of a LPC filter, comprises means for receiving coded indices representative of a first-stage approximation of a vector representative of the LPC filter in a quantization domain and of a quantized weighted residual version of the vector, a calculator of an inverse weighting function from the first-stage approximation, an inverse quantizer of the quantized weighted residual version of the vector to produce a weighted residual vector, a multiplier of the weighted residual vector by the inverse weighting function to produce a residual vector, and an adder of the first-stage approximation with the residual vector to produce the vector representative of the LPC filter in the quantization domain.
US09245527B2
A system and method for parallel speech recognition processing of multiple audio signals produced by multiple microphones in a handheld portable electronic device. In one embodiment, a primary processor transitions to a power-saving mode while an auxiliary processor remains active. The auxiliary processor then monitors the speech of a user of the device to detect a wake-up command by speech recognition processing the audio signals in parallel. When the auxiliary processor detects the command it then signals the primary processor to transition to active mode. The auxiliary processor may also identify to the primary processor which microphone resulted in the command being recognized with the highest confidence. Other embodiments are also described.
US09245526B2
A speech recognition method includes receiving a nametag utterance, decoding the nametag utterance to recognize constituent subwords of the nametag utterance, determining the number of subwords in the nametag utterance, and associating the nametag utterance with one or more of a plurality of different nametag clusters based on the number of subwords in the nametag utterance. According to preferred aspects of the method, a confusability check is performed on the nametag utterance within the cluster(s) associated with the nametag utterance, stored nametags are received from memory by decoding the nametag utterance within the cluster(s) associated with the nametag utterance, and the stored nametags are played back by cluster.
US09245522B2
Methods and systems for correcting transcribed text. One method includes receiving audio data from one or more audio data sources and transcribing the audio data based on a voice model to generate text data. The method also includes making the text data available to a plurality of users over at least one computer network and receiving corrected text data over the at least one computer network from the plurality of users. In addition, the method can include modifying the voice model based on the corrected text data.
US09245518B2
An active vibration noise control apparatus uses an adaptive control process, which predicts rear road wheel noise canceling sounds by correcting a front road wheel reference signal or a rear road wheel reference signal with a corrective filter, based on different characteristics of front road wheel suspensions and rear road wheel suspensions.
US09245515B2
An earphone has a housing, with a speaker mounted within the housing. A cable inlet contains a cable that includes a wire connected to the speaker. The cable and the cable inlet have different cross-sectional shapes, such that the cable is in contact with the inner surface of the cable inlet over a substantial portion of their length, while a rear volume of the speaker is vented through the cable inlet. This ensures that the cross-sectional area through which the rear volume is vented through the cable inlet remains relatively constant. The earphone may further comprise a microphone, positioned to detect ambient noise approaching the ear of a wearer of the earphone, and the cable may then further include a wire connected to the microphone.
US09245510B2
According to some aspects, a cymbal system is provided comprising a metal plate, a transducer coupled to the metal plate and configured to detect an acoustic signal generated by a strike of the metal plate, and processing circuitry, electrically connected to the transducer, configured to determine a cymbal articulation for the strike of the metal plate based on the detected acoustic signal. According to some aspects, a method is provided comprising the steps of detecting an acoustic signal generated by a strike of a metal plate, and determining a cymbal articulation for the strike of the metal plate based on the detected acoustic signal.
US09245507B2
An apparatus for combining input signals produced by a plurality of electric musical devices includes a plurality of audio buses and a plurality of segments. Each segment includes input circuitry configured to receive at least one input signal from at least one electric musical device and to deliver the at least one input signal to one of the plurality of audio buses; a plurality of variable adjustment devices each associated with a corresponding one of the audio buses and each configured to change at least one property of an input signal received by another of the plurality of segments and carried on the corresponding one of the audio buses independent from input signals carried on other of the plurality of audio buses; and a mixer configured to combine the input signals carried on each of the plurality of audio buses into an output signal.
US09245503B2
In some aspects, a musical percussion support stand includes a stand tube, legs that are configured to be deployed perpendicular to the stand tube in supporting arrangement and a set of two or more height adjustable foot elements. The height adjustable foot elements include a body with at least one rest surface and a first recess. The first recess is configured to receive a leg, with a central axis of the first recess substantially parallel to a horizontal central axis of the body. The body has a first position and a second position relative to a central axis of the leg. In the first position, the rest surface may be disposed on a supporting surface for supporting the stand, with the leg relatively more spaced above the supporting surface than in the second position.
US09245502B2
A hoop for a drum is presented. The hoop having a ring having an inward face, an outward linear plane face, a top edge, and a bottom edge, wherein the inward face is stepped such that the bottom edge has a width less than the width of the top edge and a shoulder is formed therebetween.
US09245490B1
A touch display device includes a timing controller to generate a sync signal for controlling timing of a touch sensor driving period and a display driving period, where the display driving period comprises a first phase to drive odd signal lines according to a first polarity and to drive even signal lines according to a second polarity, a second phase to drive the odd signal lines according to the second polarity and to drive the even signal lines according to the first polarity, and a charge share period between the first phase and the second phase. A set of charge sharing switches couple the odd and even signal lines together during the charge share period and couple the odd and even signal lines together during the touch sensor driving period.
US09245484B2
An e-book reader including a display panel having a thin film transistor with stable electrical characteristics is provided. Alternatively, an e-book reader capable of holding images for a long time is provided. Alternatively, a high-resolution e-book reader is provided. Alternatively, an e-book reader with low power consumption is provided. Display on the display panel of the e-book reader is controlled by a thin film transistor whose channel formation region is formed using an oxide semiconductor which is an intrinsic or substantially intrinsic semiconductor by removal of an impurity that might be an electron donor in the oxide semiconductor and has a larger energy gap than a silicon semiconductor.
US09245474B2
A display driving device and a method for driving a display are provided. The display driving device includes a host and a driving chip. The host transmits an image data and a synchronization signal. The driving chip receives the image data and the synchronization signal and drives a display panel to display frames. The driving chip includes a storage unit, a driving module, and a control circuit. The storage unit stores the image data. The driving module drives the display panel to display the frames according to the image data from the host and a timing generator frequency of the driving module. The control circuit detects a target frequency of the synchronization signal and the timing generator frequency of the driving module, compares the target frequency and the timing generator frequency, outputs an adjustment value according to the comparison result, and adjusts the timing generator frequency of driving module.
US09245473B2
A display device includes a clock oscillator, a register, and a data driver. The clock oscillator generates a clock signal. The register stores a clock signal parameter for the clock signal. The data driver determines a number of clock signals in 1 horizontal period based on the clock signal parameter, and applies data signals to data lines connected to a plurality of pixels based on the 1 horizontal period.
US09245467B2
A stereoscopic display device includes a display unit. The display unit includes a plurality of pixels. A scan driving unit sequentially applies scan signals through a plurality of scan lines to the plurality of pixels. A data driving unit applies gray voltages through a plurality of data lines to the plurality of pixels in response to the scan signals. A signal controlling unit transfers a data control signal and an image data signal to the data driving unit. The signal controlling unit classifies, in accordance with a disparity of objects respectively included in a left-eye image and a right-eye image, an object depth in which an object is recognized by a user. The signal controlling unit resets a luminance of at least one of the left-eye image or the right-eye image corresponding to the object depth.
US09245464B2
A hook-type display module includes a base assembly, a display hook receiving plate and at least one display hook. The base assembly includes a pair of spaced-apart side frame members having distal ends and proximal ends and a front frame member connecting the distal ends of the side frame members. The display hook receiving plate is positioned so as to extend between the spaced-apart side frame members and is located proximate to the proximal ends of the spaced-apart side frame members. The at least one display hook includes a base coupled to the display hook receiving plate and a hook extending from the base to a distal end. The distal end of the hook terminates at a location between the display hook receiving plate and the front frame member.
US09245463B2
A display apparatus includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a pixel layer and an adhesive part. The first substrate includes an adhesive area, fiber bundles and a base material which is impregnated between the fiber bundles. The second substrate includes an adhesive area, fiber bundles and a base material which is impregnated between the fiber bundles. The pixel layer is between the first and second substrates and includes a display area. The adhesive part is between the first substrate and the second substrate, is in each of the adhesive areas of the first and second substrates, and seals the pixel layer between the first and second substrates. The adhesive area of the first or second substrate includes an exposure area through which the fiber bundles are exposed, and the adhesive part contacts the exposure area.
US09245462B2
The support comprises a frame (1) with the general shape of a U with two uprights (11,12) and a crossmember (13), plus a printed sheet (2) secured to the frame; the frame comprises a solid core (14) and a tubular sleeve (15) covering the core, which comprises at least a natural or synthetic rubber. The support is prevented from being bent over by the wind or in the event of high temperatures, or from being deformed; damage is also avoided in the event of an impact against the support. The production method comprises providing a perforated fabric or mesh (2), roller-printing thereof, curing thereof in an oven at a temperature of at least 100° C. to obtain a highly flexible, high strength material, and printing or painting the required advertising motifs thereon.
US09245456B2
A literacy system provides teaching for reading and writing skills particularly adapted to students with autistic spectrum disorders (ADS). In one embodiment, the literacy system may include exercises for teaching visual sequencing, motor skills, phonology, semantics, syntax, and text. The literacy system may have a pre-reading section, which includes exercises for developing visual sequencing skills and motor skills prior to teaching the skills of reading and writing words.
US09245454B2
A rotary actuator and a method of providing kinesthesia using a magnetorheological fluid are provided. The method includes generating a solenoid which generates a magnetic field, thereby forming flux lines, in response to a current being applied thereto. A cylindrical rotor surrounds inner, outer and top surfaces of the solenoid, is freely rotatable about a rotary shaft disposed in an opened central portion thereof. A cylindrical housing surrounds inner, outer and bottom surfaces of the solenoid, and engages with the rotor. The magnetorheological fluid is disposed inside gaps among the solenoid, the rotor and the housing, and generates magnetic chains along the flux lines in response to the magnetic field. The thickness of walls of the rotor which surround the inner and outer surfaces of the solenoid decreases in the top-to-bottom direction. A space having a predetermined width is defined around the rotary shaft.
US09245452B2
Systems and methods to accurately display lateral deviation symbology in offset approaches to runways is provided. A system for on-aircraft display of lateral deviation symbology for use in offset approaches comprises means for generating a conformal video display representation of an aircraft's current position, means for notifying a flight crew of the existence of an offset approach, means for displaying an extended runway center line, and means for displaying an approach line.
US09245451B2
An air traffic control system, for use by a controller controlling multiple aircraft, comprising a processor, an input device and a display device, further comprising: trajectory prediction means for calculating a trajectory for each aircraft, for inputting aircraft detected position data, and for recalculating the trajectories based on said position data, and conflict detection means for detecting, based on the trajectories, future circumstances under which pairs of aircraft violate predetermined proximity tests, and for causing a display on the display device indicating said circumstances, further comprising means for inputting instruction data corresponding to instructions issued by the controller to an aircraft, and in which the proximity indication means is arranged to use a first proximity test and a second, more restrictive, proximity test; and in which the system is arranged to display a symbol representing pairs of aircraft which violate the second test in a first display mode, and those which violate the first set but not the second set in a second display mode, and in which the system is arranged, on input of a said instruction by a controller in relation to a pair of aircraft, to change the display mode of the symbol for said pair from the second mode to a third mode indicating that no further action is necessary.
US09245436B1
H2S (hydrogen sulfide) alarm methods include automated systems for creating reports, initiating different safety drills and/or recording certain calibration and bump tests. The methods being automated reduces the chance of human error and falsified records. The H2S alarm methods are particularly useful for ensuring the safety of workers at remote worksites.
US09245432B2
An EAS tag comprises a microprocessor, motion sensor, magnetometer, communication elements, and audible alarm generator. Various means of attaching the tag to an object to be protected can be used. The magnetometer can measure the magnetic fields around it and digitally transmit the information to the microprocessor for storage. After a certain period of inactivity as measured by the motion sensor, the tag enters a state of reduced activity to conserve energy. When the motion sensor determines that the tag is being moved, the magnetometer takes a current snapshot which is compared to a previous snapshot. If the two images differ over certain percentage, the tag alarms. The tag can also monitor the ambient magnetic fields in real time and, when the fields change abruptly, the tag alarms. This prevents defeating the tag by placing it in a metallic foil bag.
US09245413B2
Systems and methods for poker gameplay funding are disclosed through the crediting gaming accounts and the debiting of a stored value account. The stored value account can be linked to a stored value payment vehicle issued to a player. Funds held by the stored value account can be used for tournament poker play and cash game buy-in in virtual poker rooms and brick-and-mortar poker rooms. At the conclusion of gameplay, the gaming account can be debited and the stored value account credit to reflect poker winnings.
US09245411B2
A gaming system includes an input device, at least one display, and at least one controller. The input device receives a wager input for playing a wagering game. The at least one display displays a basic wagering game and a community bonus game. The at least one controller is operative to provide a player with a bonus-game asset that is usable in at least a first play of the community bonus game. The bonus-game asset is capable of having at least a first level and a second level that provides a higher bonus-game enhancement than the first level. The at least one controller is further operative to determine if that the bonus-game asset is available to the player for use in a second play of the community bonus game and to alter the level of the bonus-game asset from the first level to the second level for use in the second play.
US09245409B1
A system and method for communicating gaming machine information to a player is disclosed herein. The system includes a mobile communication device for the player, a server and a gaming machine at a venue. The gaming machine comprises a transceiver for receiving and transmitting short-range communication transmissions, and a maximum payoff event. The communication informs the player that the maximum payoff event for the gaming machine has not occurred and invites the player to visit the venue during the interval between visits.
US09245406B2
A dispenser having an interior portion that is dimensioned for receiving a wheeled cart that is configured for storing items to be dispensed from the dispenser. The cart may, for example, be supported by at least two non-swiveled wheels disposed adjacent a first end of the cart and at least one swiveled wheel disposed adjacent a second end of the cart. In particular embodiments, the dispenser includes a pivotable wheel support that is adapted for: (A) supporting the cart's non-swiveled wheels; and (B) while supporting these non-swiveled wheels in respective, substantially fixed positions relative to the pivotable wheel support, pivoting from: (1) a first position in which the cart is positioned outside the dispenser; to (2) a second position in which the cart is positioned within the dispenser's interior. This may assist in loading the cart into the dispenser.
US09245393B2
In a vehicle diagnostic system and a vehicle diagnostic method, malfunction codes recorded in each ECU in a vehicle include idle stop malfunction codes that disallow idle stop, and a non-idle stop malfunction code that does not disallow idle stop. The idle stop malfunction codes include: a first idle stop malfunction code that operates a warning light provided corresponding to a specific ECU; and a second idle stop malfunction code that does not operate the relevant warning light. An external diagnostic device extracts, from the plurality of ECUs, only the second idle stop malfunction codes, among the first idle stop malfunction codes and the second idle stop malfunction codes, when performing malfunction diagnosis for non-execution of idle stop.
US09245386B2
A system, method, and computer program product for automatically combining computer-generated imagery with real-world imagery in a portable electronic device by retrieving, manipulating, and sharing relevant stored videos, preferably in real time. A video is captured with a hand-held device and stored. Metadata including the camera's physical location and orientation is appended to a data stream, along with user input. The server analyzes the data stream and further annotates the metadata, producing a searchable library of videos and metadata. Later, when a camera user generates a new data stream, the linked server analyzes it, identifies relevant material from the library, retrieves the material and tagged information, adjusts it for proper orientation, then renders and superimposes it onto the current camera view so the user views an augmented reality.
US09245383B2
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to building volumetric data structures for intersection testing. For example, 3D data may be represented by points associated with triangles. The triangles may be rasterized to a 3D grid. Each cell of the grid may contain a set of triangles. The grid may be used to generate a new grid of larger grid cells, where each larger grid cell represents some portion of cells of the original grid. The triangle data from each new cell may then be encoded as a list of integers including the triangle data. The list of values may be run-length-encoded. The result is a single octree cube. This process may be repeated in order to generate additional octree cubes for the volumetric structure. The volumetric structure may then be used to identify triangles that intersect with a given ray.
US09245360B2
The present disclosure is related to geographic maps including a plurality of map tiles having various geometric shapes. A determination is made for each map tile as to whether road segment geometry for a road corresponding to the geometric shape is available. The geometric shape is positioned using an actual road width when it is determined that the road segment geometry is available. The geometric shape is positioned using a default road width when it is determined that the road segment geometry is unavailable.
US09245358B2
Systems, methods and program storage devices are disclosed, which comprise instructions to cause one or more processing units to dynamically generate refined normal maps for 2D texture maps, e.g., supplied by a programmer or artist. Generally speaking, there are two pertinent properties to keep in balance when generating normal vectors comprising a normal map: “smoothness” and “bumpiness.” The smoothness of the normal vectors is influenced by how many neighboring pixels are involved in the “smoothening” calculation. Incorporating the influence of a greater number of neighboring pixels' values reduces the overall bumpiness of the normal map, as each pixel's value takes weight from those neighboring pixels. Thus, the techniques described herein iteratively: downsample height maps; generate normal maps; scale the normal maps to maintain bumpiness; and blend the generated scaled normal maps with generated normal maps from previous iterations—until the smoothness of the resultant normal map has reached desired levels.
US09245352B1
Systems and methods for iterative near lossless image compression are provided. An exemplary computer-implemented method of compressing image data can include performing a plurality of compression iterations. Each compression iteration can include at least one decision regarding a loss of image data. The method can also include updating an entropy model following each compression iteration. The entropy model can describe an entropy associated with selected of a plurality of data blocks. The at least one decision regarding the loss of image data can be decided, for each compression iteration, based on the entropy model as updated following the previous compression iteration. Further, a total loss of image data from each data block can remain within an acceptable loss bound associated with the pixel described by such data block. An exemplary system can include a loss determination module, an entropy modeling module, a compression module, and an entropy coding module.
US09245350B1
Systems and methods are provided for generating an image-based color palette based on a color image. A color palette can be a collection of representative colors each associated with a weight or other metadata. A color palette may be generated based on palette generation criteria, which may facilitate or control a palette generation process. Illustratively, the palette generation process may include image pre-processing, color distribution generation, representative color identification, palette candidate generation and palette determination. Representative colors with associated weight can be identified from a distribution of colors depicted by the color image, multiple palette candidates corresponding to the same color image can be generated based on various palette generation criteria, and a color palette can be identified therefrom.
US09245345B2
A stereo disparity calculating unit calculates the predicted value of the stereo disparity. A line extracting unit performs line extraction in an image. A line classification unit classifies the extracted lines into different line types. A meaningless line eliminating unit eliminates lines not existing in the real world away from the following processing. A stereo disparity correcting unit corrects the predicted value of the disparity based on the line pairs determined by the line pair determining unit. A line pair clustering unit clusters all the line pairs belonging to the same feature as one cluster. A plane combining unit finds out the location relationship in the three-dimensional space among all the planes of each feature extracted by a plane extracting unit, and generates a three-dimensional model describing the overall structure for each feature.
US09245343B1
A geo-registration system with a camera receives an image of a scene, identifies features in the image, and computes vectors for each feature based on the known location and orientation of the camera. The system then compares the computed vectors to vectors associated with the same features identified in prior images. The geo-registration system then uses stochastic kriging techniques to create a geo-registration model based on the vectors.
US09245342B2
An obstacle detection device is provided, which includes a storage unit, a quasi-vertical edge detection module, an intersection determination module, a position determination module, and an obstacle detection module. The quasi-vertical edge detection module receives an input image and performs a quasi-vertical edge detection procedure on the input image to obtain a plurality of quasi-vertical edges. The intersection determination module determines whether the quasi-vertical edges intersect a predetermined virtual horizontal. If one of the quasi-vertical edges intersects the predetermined virtual horizontal, the position determination module determines whether an end of one of the quasi-vertical edges intersecting the predetermined virtual horizontal is located in a detection zone. If one end of one of the quasi-vertical edges intersecting the predetermined virtual horizontal is located in the detection zone, the obstacle detection module determines that an obstacle exists and issues a warning.
US09245341B2
During an information-extraction technique, visual suitability indicators may be displayed to a user of the electronic device to assist the user in acquiring an image of a document that is suitable for subsequent extraction of textual information. For example, an imaging application executed by the electronic device may display, in a window associated with the imaging application, a visual suitability indicator of a tilt orientation of the electronic device relative to a plane of the document. When the tilt orientation falls within a predefined range, the electronic device may modify the visual suitability indicators to provide visual feedback to the user. Then, the electronic device may acquire the image of the document using an imaging device, which is integrated into the electronic device. Next, the electronic device may extract the textual information from the image of the document using optical character recognition.
US09245335B2
A method, a device, a system and a computer program are for controlling limited-area computer tomography imaging. The method includes determining location data of a first imaging object when the first imaging object is positioned in an imaging area, determining reference location data related to the first imaging object and adjusting the imaging area based on the location data of the first imaging object and said reference location data for imaging a second imaging object. The first and the second imaging object can be located at a distance determined by the reference location data from each other or symmetrically in relation to the reference location data.
US09245330B2
An image processing device for performing image processing on a facial image including a mouth of a person is provided, comprising a first organ likelihood identification unit configured to identify, based on a difference between a color of a location and a first representative color which is a representative color of an organ to be processed, a likelihood of the location being the organ as a first organ likelihood for each location of a first region including at least a part of the mouth; a first weight determination unit configured to determine a first weight which becomes smaller the greater a distance from a first location of the first region for each location; a correction degree determination unit configured to determine a correction degree of the location which becomes greater the greater the first organ likelihood and the first weight; and an image correction unit configured to correct an image.
US09245324B2
Techniques related to graphics rendering including lossy color merge for multi-sampling anti-aliasing compression.
US09245323B2
A medical diagnostic device is characterized in that an image processing unit (22) includes an image noise removal part (211, 211′) which removes the noise in the generated image of a person to be examined, a signal component enhancement processing part (212, 212′) which generates an enhanced-signal component image by performing signal component enhancement processing of the image from which the noise is removed by the image noise removal part, and an image combining part (213, 213′) which generates a combined image by combining the image of the person to be examined, the image from which the noise is removed by the image noise removal part, and an enhanced-signal component image subjected to signal component enhancement processing by the signal component enhancement processing part.
US09245322B2
The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for suppressing noise in digital signal sequences, and to a corresponding computer program and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which can be used in particular to smooth and/or improve the signal-to-noise ratio in digital signal processing and in digital image processing. To this end, there is proposed a method for suppressing noise in digital signal sequences, wherein data values W0 of the signal sequence are transformed by evaluating data values Wi from an area around data values W0 to be transformed, characterized in that the number of data values Wi to be evaluated for the transformation of a data value W0 is determined individually for at least some of the data values W0 to be transformed.
US09245316B2
There is provided an image processing device including: a motion vector acquirer, a position generator, a weight calculator and an image generator. The acquirer acquires motion vectors with respect to a reference frame for pixels of an input frame. The position generator generates first position information indicating a position on a first frame on a basis of position information in the input frame and the motion vector of the pixel, for each pixel of the input frame. The calculator calculates a weight depending a distance from the position indicated by first position information to a pixel of the first frame, for each pixel of the first frame. The generator calculates an output pixel value, for each pixel of the first frame, on a basis of the weight and a pixel value of the pixel in the input frame, to generate an output frame.
US09245314B2
Embodiments provide a video camera configured to capture, compress, and store video image data in a memory of the video camera at a rate of at least about twenty three frames per second. The video image data can be mosaiced image data, and the compressed, mosaiced image data may remain substantially visually lossless upon decompression and demosaicing.
US09245312B2
In one embodiment, when an image is displayed on an electronic device, the image may be panned from one portion to another portion based on information associated with the image or a user viewing the image. In some embodiments, the image may pan starting from a leftmost user in the image and moving to the rightmost user in the image. In some embodiments, the image may pan starting from a specific user near the center of the image and zooming outward until the entire image is displayed. In some embodiments, the image may pan starting from a first user in the image having a highest affinity with the user viewing the image, and ending with a second user in the image having a lowest affinity with the user viewing the image.
US09245305B2
A system. A system includes a computing system. The computing system includes a processor, a first module, a second module, and a third module. The first module is communicably connected to the processor and is configured for receiving chain of custody information associated with an item. The second module is communicably connected to the processor and is configured for determining a status of the item based on the received chain of custody information. The third module is communicably connected to the processor and is configured for arranging data into a specified format. The data includes the status of the item and the chain of custody information. The third module is also configured for transmitting the data.
US09245302B2
An accompaniment determination apparatus includes a past sensor information memory configured to store past sensor information, the past sensor information acquired by sensors respectively worn by two or more users, a sensor information receiver configured to receive sensor information from the sensor worn by each of two or more users, an accompanying user determiner configured to determine at a determination time point whether two or more users are accompanying each other, using the past sensor information and the received sensor information, and an output unit configured to output information indicating a result of the determining. The accompaniment determination apparatus thus determines on a real-time basis whether the two or more users are accompanying each other using the sensor information without collecting position information.
US09245300B2
Methods and systems are disclosed that may retrieve and filter a call history log or related data, select users based on the results of filtering, and provide proposed contacts to a communication service. The filtering may comprise a variety of criteria and the criteria may be assigned different weights.
US09245291B1
In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method operating at a server system is disclosed. The server hosts and electronic procurement system. One or more user instructions for importing a purchase requisition are received. In response to the one or more instructions, a purchase requisition is received, where the purchase requisition originates from outside the electronic procurement system. The purchase requisition is converted from a first format to a second format, wherein the second format is native to the electronic procurement system. The converted purchase requisition verified to be consistent with business rules associated with the electronic procurement system, including at least a rule to verify that the purchase requisition originates from a recognized user of the electronic procurement system. Then, the purchaser requisition is routed for approval. Related methods and systems are also disclosed.
US09245286B2
A utility computing portal supports public and private modules for application development in a cloud computing environment. The public modules support downloads, customer support and access to a development community. The private modules are accessible to users with valid login credentials or those authenticated via a related entity, such as a Live ID. The private modules may include modules for testing, analysis, and billing. The utility computing portal also supports access to application configuration, for example, allowing a manager to change the number of front end and backend physical/virtual machines available to various application roles.
US09245283B2
A method of providing incentives to customers which involves providing customers with cards having changeable display areas. During a transaction, the cards are received from the customers and an incentive image is displayed on the display areas of the cards when they are returned to the customers. The incentive images can be coupons, discount certificates, or other marketing or promotional offerings, prize notifications, loyalty rewards, etc. The cards can be credit cards, including gift cards, debit cards, ATM cards, shoppers' cards, merchants' cards, phone cards, casino cards, or any other similar cards. A transaction card that displays updated value balances on the card and a system for performing the value updates is also disclosed.
US09245282B2
A first mobile computing device of a first user receives a request to participate in a location-based virtual social network. A radio component of the first mobile computing device detects venues within proximity of the first mobile computing device. Each venue includes a host of a respective virtual social network. One of the venues is selected by the user for participation in the virtual social network. A wireless connection with the virtual social network is established at the selected venue. Electronic communications with second users are conducted at the selected venue. The second users are also participants of the virtual social network. A departure of the first user from the selected venue is detected. In response to the detected departure, electronic records pertaining to the conducted electronic communications with the one or more second users are erased from the first mobile computing device.
US09245280B2
Effectiveness of video content is predicted using an automated or semi-automated analysis process operating on a computer. Video content is analyzed using image and audio data processing to assign a collection of attributes to a video ad. The collection of attributes is correlated to a historical effectiveness (e.g., click-thru rate) of past video ads in the same or similar attribute space to obtain predicted ad effectiveness. Differences between the collection of attributes and historical attribute spaces of greater effectiveness may also be determined and reported in the form of suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the ad.
US09245273B2
A control system and method of advertisement exposure are provided, in which the control system for advertisement exposure includes: a communication unit for communicating via a network with a multiplicity of client terminals, each including a web browser having a main area where a predetermined webpage is output and a sub area different from the main area; a storage unit for storing advertisement information and information about an incentive created to correspond to the advertisement information and offered to a user; and a control unit for outputting the advertisement information to at least one of the main are and sub area, and accumulating a corresponding incentive depending on an amount of viewing by plural users for the advertisement information to output information about the accumulated incentive to the sub area of the web browser. Accordingly, the advertisement information can be exposed more effectively through the web browser.
US09245268B1
A card validation system receives a request to validate a card and receives one or more received cell values corresponding to one or more cell identifiers of a card validation matrix. The system determines one or more stored cell values corresponding to the one or more cell identifiers of the card validation matrix. The system compares the received cell values to the one or more stored cell values. Based at least in part upon the comparison, the system determines whether the card is validated.
US09245263B2
The present subject matter relates generally to systems and methods for adding interactive functionality to a website, other digital media objects, and computer processor applications. Systems and methods for adding functionality to a web page served by a first web-server, may include receiving, at a second web-server, a request from a client-computer for code to add purchase functionality to the web-page. The code may be sent to the client-computer based on the request. A further request may be received from the client-computer containing information about objects identified in the web-page as relating to the purchase functionality and a request for information about the objects. Information about the objects may be sent to the client-computer based on the further request. An instruction to complete the purchase may be received from the client-computer, and a confirmation of the completion of the purchase may be sent to the client-computer. The web-page may be an HTML document and the objects may be objects according to the HTML Document Object Model.
US09245262B1
The invention provides a method and system that performs transaction processing using a payment bookmark that is associated with a user bookmarked link. The system includes a computer processor constituted by a communication portion; a database; and a bookmark processing portion. The communication portion interfaces with the user to input selection of a payment bookmark, and upon selection of the payment bookmark, the computer processor invoking the bookmark processing portion, and the payment bookmark being mapped to the user bookmarked link (UB link) stored in the database. The UB link is constituted by UB link data, and the UB link data including core link data. The bookmark processing portion performs processing to retrieve available transaction data to append to the core link data of the UB link. The bookmark processing portion outputs the UB link including the UB link data to a server over a network.
US09245260B2
Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, devices, and/or systems for data copyright management are described. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, data copyright management may include displaying, storing, copying, editing, and/or transferring digital data. According to an embodiment, data copyright management may include protecting digital data copyrights. Various embodiments of this disclosure may use cryptographic keys to implement portions of the data copyright management disclosed.
US09245250B2
The present disclosure identifies and/or delivers tailored content based upon a service dialog. For example, the systems may receive a request for tailored content, facilitate a service dialog to obtain information related to the request, and communicate a plurality of tailored content based upon the information related to the request. Further, the systems may identify tailored content based upon a consumer profile, communicate the tailored content to a web client, and/or receive a selection of the tailored content. Further still, the systems may modify a magazine (e.g., content that is presented electronically) based upon tailored content.
US09245246B2
Systems and methods for managing capacity over-commitment in a resource provisioning environment. The method comprising collecting historical data about capacity usage in a resource provisioning environment and failure statistics from an operational database, in addition to prior service commitments due to previously contracted service level agreements (SLAs) stored in a SLA repository; calculating equivalent capacity for the resource provisioning environment based on a defined residual benefit goal, and other business goals instrumented by way of a policy engine; and determining whether placing requested virtual resources on one or more hosts is feasible taking into account anti-collocation constraints that prohibit placement of two or more virtual resources on same host.
US09245242B2
An apparatus, and an associated method, provides a visualization of an aircraft status relative to a scheduled airline timeline for the aircraft. Input information associated with the aircraft and operations associated therewith, are provided and detected. The input information is used to generate a timeline having one or more milestones and an aircraft icon. The timeline and the aircraft icon are together displayed by a displayer. The visualization is viewable by airline personnel, permitting their viewing of the visualization.
US09245241B2
In a computer-based method of planning resources, a plurality of Location Relief Strategy (LRS) plan data sets are imported into a resource planning application. The LRS plan data sets are associated with a resource need. One of the LRS plan data sets is defined as a primary LRS plan and at least one other one of the LRS plan data sets is defined as an alternate LRS plan. A resource plan is generated within the resource planning application based on the primary LRS plan and the alternate LRS plan. The primary LRS plan and the alternate LRS plan may each correspond to a plan for at least one of installing and retiring resources in a geographic area. The resources may, for example, be resources for carrying telecommunications in a geographic area.
US09245222B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a neural network comprising multiple functional neural core circuits, and a dynamically reconfigurable switch interconnect between the functional neural core circuits. The interconnect comprises multiple connectivity neural core circuits. Each functional neural core circuit comprises a first and a second core module. Each core module comprises a plurality of electronic neurons, a plurality of incoming electronic axons, and multiple electronic synapses interconnecting the incoming axons to the neurons. Each neuron has a corresponding outgoing electronic axon. In one embodiment, zero or more sets of connectivity neural core circuits interconnect outgoing axons in a functional neural core circuit to incoming axons in the same functional neural core circuit. In another embodiment, zero or more sets of connectivity neural core circuits interconnect outgoing and incoming axons in a functional neural core circuit to incoming and outgoing axons in a different functional neural core circuit, respectively.
US09245219B2
Disclosed is a method of and apparatus for managing and redeeming bar-coded coupons that are displayed from a light emitting display surface of an information storage and display device, such as a cell-phone, a smart-phone, or a data communication device. The linear (1D) bar code symbols, associated with bar-coded store coupons, are displayed on the light emitting display surface using in a pulse code modulation (PCM) format, wherein a substantial portion of the pixels on the light emitting display surface are energized and de-energized to emit red-wavelengths of light energy, at a rate which temporally corresponds to the spatial frequency of the bars and spaces of the linear bar code symbol, so that a laser scanning bar code symbol reading device is capable of reading the PCM formatted bar code symbol displayed from the light emitting display surface.
US09245214B2
A method is described that includes defining a window of one or more consecutive pixel values in a linear array of pixel values of an image. The defining includes adding a pixel value in the linear array to the window so long as the pixel value does not deviate from the pixel values that exist within the window to a degree that causes a threshold value to be exceeded, and, wherein the threshold value decreases as the size of the window increases. The method also includes encoding the window of pixel values with a value determined from pixel values within the window and the number of pixel values within the window.
US09245207B2
Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for classifying a detected region of change of a video frame as indicating an abandoned object or a removed object, the detected region of change is classified as an removed object if the temporal change of the edge consistency is from a more consistent state to a less consistent state, and the detected region of change is classified as an abandoned object if the temporal change of the edge consistency if from a less consistent to a more consistent state.
US09245198B2
An information processing apparatus comprises: a registration unit adapted to register information required to determine at least one specific pattern in an image; an input unit adapted to input image data; a first generation unit adapted to extract a predetermined feature distribution from the input image data, and to generate a first feature distribution map indicating the feature distribution; a second generation unit adapted to generate a second feature distribution map by applying a conversion required to relax localities of the first feature distribution map to the first feature distribution map; and a determination unit adapted to determine, using sampling data on the second feature distribution map and the registered information, which of the specific patterns the image data matches.
US09245192B2
A method including transmitting an image from a camera of an apparatus, where the image includes one or more Ad collateral; and automatically detecting by the apparatus at least one of the Ad collateral in the image. An apparatus including at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to automatically discern at least one Ad collateral in a camera image.
US09245184B2
Important information about an object is detected using less arithmetic processing. An object detection unit generates an edge image from a color image. The object detection unit evaluates symmetry of an image included in the edge image by performing processing in accordance with the position of a target pixel. The object detection unit identifies a symmetry center pixel forming an object having symmetry. The object detection unit detects an object width for each symmetry center pixel. The object detection unit identifies the width of the object in the vertical direction based on the width of the symmetry center pixels in the vertical direction, and identifies the width of the object in the horizontal direction based on the object width identified for each symmetry center pixel.
US09245177B2
Technology determines whether a gesture of an avatar depicts one of a set of prohibited gestures. An example of a prohibited gesture is a lewd gesture. If the gesture is determined to be a prohibited gesture, the image data for display of the gesture is altered. Some examples of alteration are substitution of image data for the prohibited gesture, or performing a filtering technique to the image data depicting the gesture to visually obscure the prohibited gesture.
US09245162B2
A device is provided for reading/writing at least one RFID tag carried by at least one object, including: at least one depositing cavity, for receiving the at least one object, said depositing cavity including: at least one bottom wall and at least one side wall; at least one RFID reading/writing means; and at least one insertion aperture, for depositing objects in the depositing cavity, formed substantially in a top part of the depositing cavity; at least one protective wall, arranged around the insertion aperture, extending upwards from the insertion aperture and attenuating waves between the depositing cavity and the outside; and at least one access opening, for accessing the insertion aperture through the at least one protective wall. A collection terminal using such device is also provided.
US09245158B2
A method, system and tag for low power radio frequency communication are described. In one embodiment, the RF tag comprises: a radio, an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC), a storage unit to store recovered DC power, one or more sensors for sensing and logging data, and a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors and the radio, the microcontroller operable to wake up from a sleep state and cause the radio to communicate, sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit.
US09245156B2
A process is disclosed for capturing screenshots on an electronic device of a user, and for transmitting representations of the captured screenshots to a monitoring system for storage. The captured screenshot data may, for example, be used to recover a device that is lost or stolen.
