US09492435B2
The invention provides derivatives of cyclopamine having the following formula:
US09492424B2
An extract of Citrus depressa, preferably an organic solvent extract of a fruit and/or leaf of Citrus depressa, a supercritical extract of a fruit and/or leaf of Citrus depressa, or a subcritical extract of a fruit and/or leaf of Citrus depressa, containing 0.3 mass % or more of a polymethoxyflavonoid in terms of solid matter, for example, 0.2 mass % or more of nobiletin and/or 0.1 mass % or more of tangeretin in terms of solid matter, or a polymethoxyflavonoid, such as nobiletin and tangeretin, is used as an active ingredient of a muscle atrophy inhibitor.
US09492417B2
The present disclosure relates to the discovery that compounds of the invention, particularly 3-bromopyruvate and related compounds, can be safely administered at concentrations effective for the treatment of cancer when formulated with an acidity of greater than or equal to pH of 2 and less than or equal to a pH of 6. Disclosed herein are novel and improved methods and compositions for the treatment of cancer using 3-halopyruvate and related compounds.
US09492412B2
The invention relates to an alcohol-free cosmetic or pharmaceutical foam composition comprising water, a hydrophobic solvent, a surface-active agent, a gelling agent, an active component selected from the group of urea, hydroxy acid and a therapeutic enhancer and a propellant. The foam further comprises active agents and excipients with therapeutic properties having enhanced skin penetration.
US09492411B2
Personal care compositions, such as oral medication compositions containing a flavor system comprising one or more coolants. The pleasant cool sensation provided by a coolant is enhanced in terms of quicker onset, greater intensity, impact or longer duration, which improves appeal and acceptability of the compositions to consumers.
US09492404B2
Provided are electrokinetically-altered fluids (e.g., electrokinetically-altered gas-enriched fluids and solutions) comprising an ionic aqueous solution of charge-stabilized oxygen-containing nanostructures in an amount sufficient for treating an inflammatory neurodegenerative condition or disease (e.g., a taupathy) or at least one symptom thereof. The electrokinetically-altered fluids or therapeutic compositions and methods include electrokinetically-altered ionic aqueous fluids optionally in combination with other therapeutic agents. Particular aspects provide for modulating phosphorylation of tau protein. Particular aspects provide for regulating or modulating intracellular signal transduction associated with said inflammatory responses by modulation of at least one of cellular membrane potential and/or conductance, membrane proteins such as membrane receptors, including but not limited to G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCR), and intercellular junctions (e.g., tight junctions, gap junctions, zona adherins and desmasomes). Other embodiments include particular routes of administration or formulations for the electrokinetically-altered fluids and therapeutic compositions.
US09492399B2
A method of treating a condition related to iron deficiency. The method includes steps of identifying a patient having a condition related to iron deficiency and administering an effective amount of biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticles to the patient. The biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticles each contains an iron oxide core that is covered by one or more biocompatible polymers, each of which has a polyethylene glycol group, a silane group, and a linker linking, via a covalent bond, the polyethylene glycol group and the silane group.
US09492396B2
An ingestible pill includes a coating configured to dissolve in a small intestine; a core, which includes a medication-delivery element, which (a) has a compressed shape when disposed within the coating, and (b) is configured to assume, after the coating dissolves, an expanded shape; a medication; and a mucoadhesive. When unconstrained in the expanded shape, the medication-delivery element (a) is shaped so as to define first and second surfaces on opposite sides of the medication-delivery element, which have respective outer perimeters, which surround respective spaces of the respective surfaces, which spaces have respective greatest dimensions equal to between 2 and 10 cm, and each of which spaces has an area equal to at least 50% of the square of the greatest dimension; and (b) has an average thickness between the first and the second surfaces of less than 6 mm. Each of the medication and the mucoadhesive at least partially coats the first surface.
US09492383B2
The present application provides rapid-gelling, sprayable hyaluronic-acid based compositions, kits, related methods, precursor formulations, and uses thereof.
US09492373B2
A cosmetic composition is described that includes particles of a polymeric composition that includes a polymer matrix and one or a plurality of mineral filler(s), uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix, having properties of absorption and/or emission in the far infrared region ranging from 2 μm to 20 μm. The particles of the polymeric composition can be dispersed in a carrier fluid including water and/or one or a plurality of organic fluids. The composition is, for example, intended to prevent or reduce the signs of skin aging.
US09492372B2
The present invention relates to a process for preparing a sapucainha oil butter which enables obtaining an improved product for use in cosmetic compositions instead of silicone and fatty esters compounds.
US09492371B2
A cosmetic composition, comprising the following components (A), (B), (C), and (D): (A) from 0.01 to 48 % by mass of a fluorine-modified silicone having a polysiloxane unit represented by the following formulae (1) and (2): wherein, Rf represents a linear or branched perfluoroalkyl group having 6 carbon atoms; R1, R2, and R3 are the same or different and each represent a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms; m represents a number of 2 to 6; n represents a number of 1 to 6; p represents a number of 3 to 50; s represents a number of 1 to 5; and a ratio between p and s satisfies 0.66≦p/(p+s)≦0.9, (B) from 0.01 to 40 % by mass of a powder having been subjected to a surface treatment with tridecafluoro octyltriethoxysilane, (C) from 0.01 to 20% by mass of a fine zinc oxide particle having a specific surface area of 10 to 100 m2/g, with the proviso that the component (B) is excluded from the component (C), and (D) octyl para-methoxycinnamate, wherein, a mass ratio of the component (A) to the component (D), (A)/(D) is from 0.5 to 10.
US09492369B2
An emulsion contains a saccharide siloxane copolymer as an emulsifier. The emulsion is useful in formulating personal care products.
US09492368B2
The present invention has an object to provide an external dermal agent with a sustainable anti-wrinkle action, which has both the action of enhancing the proliferation and differentiation of keratinocytes in the skin and the action of enhancing the collagen production in the skin, and which assists the maintenance and the improvement of tissue structures and physiological functions of the epidermis and the dermis, whereby providing a remarkable skin improvement effect. The present invention solves the above object by providing an external dermal agent containing α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3′)-adenosine and/or α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→5′)-adenosine as an effective ingredient(s).
US09492364B2
The present invention relates to the use of at least one cyclohexanol derivative of the formula (I) and/or (II) as antimicrobial active compound or as anti-acne, antidandruff, antiperspirant or deodorant active compound, to preparations comprising these compounds, and to specific cyclohexanol derivatives and to a process for the preparation thereof.
US09492359B2
A medical article resembling a soother has a teat portion for insertion into a baby's mouth and a mouth shield portion adapted to fit over the baby's face around the mouth and serving in use to limit the extent of insertion of the teat portion into the baby's mouth. The teat portion is of sufficient length and extends from the mouth shield at an angle towards the hard palate in the roof of the mouth when the shield is so fitted whereby a distal end portion of the teat portion is adapted in use to bear against the hard palate in the roof of the mouth. The teat portion is formed without voids with a relatively soft surface layer and a relatively harder inner core.
US09492348B2
An integrated columnar structure is connected to hot and cold water supplies. On the structure is separately mounted on eyewash and faucet. In an alternative embodiment a water bubbler can be substituted for the eyewash. Water passageways within the columnar structure separately supply the appropriate temperature water to the faucet and eyewash/bubbler. Valving mounted on the columnar structure, preferably with an angle oriented at an acute angle to the axis of the column, controls the temperature of water supplied to the faucet. Cold, or slightly tempered, water is supplied to the eyewash.
US09492343B1
Wireless sensor network motes and radar & sensor-based systems receive sensed data, compare it to a predetermined standard and generate a signal to deploy a corresponding response.
US09492333B2
The present invention addresses the problem of, in an absorbent article, maintaining at a certain level or lower the difference between the dry flexural rigidity and wet flexural rigidity [(dry flexural rigidity)−(wet flexural rigidity)] at a bonding part. To solve this problem, provided is a sanitary napkin which comprises a top sheet, a back sheet, an absorbent body that is interposed between the top sheet and the back sheet and a compressed part that unites the top sheet and the absorbent body in the thickness direction, wherein: the absorbent body contains a cellulose-based water absorbing fiber and a thermoplastic resin fiber, said thermoplastic resin fiber containing as a monomer component an unsaturated carboxylic acid, an unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydride or a mixture thereof; and the difference between the dry Gurley stiffness and wet Gurley stiffness of the compressed part is maintained at 2.5 mN/12.5 mm or lower.
US09492329B2
Devices, kits and methods described herein may be for wound healing, including the treatment, amelioration, or prevention of scars and/or keloids by applying and/or maintaining a predetermined strain in an elastic skin treatment device that is then affixed to the skin surface using skin adhesives to transfer a generally planar force from the bandage to the skin surface. Applicators are used to apply and/or maintain the strains, and some of the applicators are further configured to provide at least some mechanical advantage to the user when exerting loads onto the skin treatment device.
US09492316B2
Prostamide-containing intraocular implants that biodegrade in the eye and that are effective for reducing intraocular pressure in an eye for a sustained period. The implants generally contain a prostamide, such as bimatoprost, and at least three distinct biodegradable polymers selected from polylactide and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) polymers and are optimized for placement in and compatibility with the anterior chamber of the eye, particularly the anterior chamber angle. Methods for making and using the implants to reduce ocular hypertension and intraocular pressure in a patient are described.
US09492313B2
A method and device for treating neurological disorders involving the application of noninvasive, regional brain thermal stimulation to a region of a patient's head associated with a subject neurological disorder. The brain thermal stimulation method and device alters the brain function in the region of the brain underlying the region of the patient's head to which the brain cooling is applied. The method can also include the steps of adjusting the temperature and timing of the thermal stimulation process to optimize the impact on the subject disorder. The brain thermal stimulation device is comprised of a localized means for cooling or warming a desired region of a patient's brain.
US09492312B2
In some embodiments, an implant delivery device can include a housing defining a housing passageway. A distal end of the housing can flexibly couple to a head that can define a head passageway. Collectively, the housing passageway and the head passageway can define an insertion passageway such that, at least a portion of the insertion passageway is nonlinear. The implant delivery device can include at least one insertion member having a distal end configured to be removably coupled to an implant. The insertion member can be disposed within the housing such that, at least a portion of a proximal end of the insertion member is housed within the housing. The insertion member can be configured to bend, pivot, and/or rotate and move within a portion of the insertion passageway to convey the implant to a target tissue.
US09492301B2
An orthopedic device in the form of a circumferential walker includes a first member (posterior shell) and a second member (dorsal shell) corresponding to the first member. An outsole or plantar shell portion is attached to, or formed on or with the posterior shell. A hinge mechanism is provided between the posterior and dorsal shells to allow the dorsal shell to be swung away from the posterior shell in order to accommodate an anatomical limb therein. Inflatable bladders having perspiration wicking channels and/or openings are provided within a liner for insertion between the posterior and dorsal shells. Quick-connecting buckle and retaining assemblies can be provided to allow a user to quickly don and doff the orthopedic device.
US09492293B2
A method and an apparatus to create a more favorable flow regime in a lumen. An artificial shape in the lumen is created to at least one of eliminate flow disturbances and enhance aspects of fluid flow through a treatment site.
US09492284B2
Configurations are described for conducting minimally invasive medical interventions utilizing elongate instruments and assemblies thereof to stabilize and/or fixate a sacro-iliac joint. In one embodiment, a tool assembly may be advanced from a posterior approach into the SI junction and configured to create a defect defined at least in part by portions of both the sacrum and the ilium, the defect having a three dimensional shape defined in part by at least one noncircular cross sectional shape in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tool assembly. After a defect is created, the tool assembly may be retracted and a prosthesis deployed into the defect.
US09492282B2
An electronically assisted artificial vertebral disc having an upper disc plate and a lower disc plate is disclosed. An actuator imparts movement to at least one of the upper and lower disc plates. A control device controls the actuator and the amount of movement between the disc plates. The actuator includes a plurality of either linear actuators or rotary actuators that are driven by electric motors in response to the control device. The control device includes at least a first sensor for detecting the position of the actuator and at least a second sensor for detecting the spatial orientation of at least one of the upper and lower disc plates. The control device also preferably includes a microprocessor that calculates the desired positions of the upper and lower disc plates and provides a control signal to the actuator to drive the upper and lower disc plates to their desired positions.
US09492278B2
A covering for delivering a substance or material to a surgical site is provided. The covering, with substance provided therein, may be referred to as a delivery system. Generally, the covering may be a single or multi-compartment structure capable of at least partially retaining a substance provided therein until the covering is placed at a surgical site. Upon placement, the covering may facilitate transfer of the substance or surrounding materials. For example, the substance may be released (actively or passively) to the surgical site. The covering may participate in, control, or otherwise adjust, the release of the substance.
US09492273B2
Prosthetic mitral valves and their methods of manufacture and use.
US09492263B2
An apparatus for capturing material within a body lumen includes a shaft carrying an expandable basket device on a distal end thereof. The basket device includes a distal basket carried and a proximal basket carried on the shaft such that the proximal basket is proximal to and spaced apart from the distal basket. Each basket includes an open end communicating with an interior of the respective basket and oriented towards one another. In one embodiment, a tubular middle portion extends between the baskets. In another embodiment, the distal basket includes an actuator coupled to the distal basket open end such that movement of the baskets towards one another causes the actuator to direct the distal basket open end inwardly to allow the open end to be received within the proximal basket to facilitate removal of the apparatus after capturing material within the baskets.
US09492253B2
In a dental furnace that comprises a firing chamber (12) having a base and at least one receiving portion for dental restoration parts (40) it is provided that the receiving portion comprises a plurality of support elements (26) that are arranged adjacent to one another and in particular have the same thickness, wherein said support elements (26) support the dental restoration part (40) during the firing process.
US09492241B2
A novel image-guided system for precise automatic targeting in minimally invasive keyhole neurosurgery. The system consists of a miniature robot fitted with a mechanical guide for needle, probe, or catheter insertion. Intraoperative, the robot is directly affixed to a head clamp or to the patient skull. It automatically positions itself with respect to predefined entry points and targets in a preoperative CT/MRI image following an anatomical registration with an intraoperative 3D surface scan of the patient facial features and a registration jig. The registration procedure is a novel three-way scheme, in which the intraoperative surface scan including the registration jig is matched to a model generated from the preoperative CT/MRI image, the robot position is known in relation to the registration jig, and the entry and target points are known from the preoperative CT/MRI image, such that the robot position can be related to the entry and target points.
US09492238B2
A system and method is disclosed herein for measuring alignment of the muscular-skeletal system. The system comprises a sensored module that can be placed within a prosthetic component to measure load, position of load, and joint alignment. The system further includes a remote system for receiving, processing, and displaying quantitative measurements from the sensors. Alignment relative to a mechanical axis is measured. In a two bone system with a joint therebetween the total alignment measured comprises offsets measured for each bone. The joint is placed in a predetermined flexion that supports measurement of the joint as it is moved. The joint pivots on a point that is along the mechanical axis. Points along the arc made by the joint rotating between a first and second point are measured. An arc maximum is determined. The arc maximum is then converted to varus or valgus offset relative to the mechanical axis.
US09492235B2
Devices, systems, and methods for avoiding collisions between a manipulator arm and an outer patient surface by moving the manipulator within a null-space. In response to a determination that distance between an avoidance geometry and obstacle surface, corresponding to a manipulator-to-patient distance is less than desired, the system calculates movement of one or more joints or links of the manipulator within a null-space of the Jacobian to increase this distance. The joints are driven according to the reconfiguration command and calculated movement so as to maintain a desired state of the end effector. In one aspect, the joints are also driven according to a calculated end effector displacing movement within a null-perpendicular-space of the Jacobian to effect a desired movement of the end effector or remote center while concurrently avoiding arm-to-patient collisions by moving the joints within the null-space.
US09492229B2
A calibration method and apparatus for surgical antennas arranged to deliver microwave radiation into biological tissue. An emitting region of the antenna is exposed to a plurality of calibration standards having different complex impedances at the treatment frequency. Calibration standards are created in a short-circuit-terminated waveguide cavity of variable length. In another variation, each calibration standard is a different mixture of liquids. Measurement of the magnitude and phase of signals reflected from the emitting region when exposed to the calibration standard permits calibration of the antenna; Also disclosed is a tissue treatment apparatus having an ablation channel for conveying microwave radiation to a surgical antenna at a high power level, with a separate measurement channel for conveying radiation at a low power level. A surgical antenna having an impedance transformer for matching a coaxial feed structure that terminates in radiating elements with tissue to be treated is also disclosed.
US09492228B2
Systems, methods, and devices allow intravascular or percutaneous mapping, orientation and/or ablation, in bodily cavities or lumens. A device includes elongate members, moveable between an unexpanded configuration and an expanded or fanned configuration. The elongate members form a stack in the unexpanded configuration to fit through a catheter sheath. The elongate members follow respective arcuate or curvilinear paths as advanced from the sheath into the bent or coiled stack configuration, adopting volute, scroll or rho shapes, and may be nested. The elongated members are fanned or radially spaced circumferentially with respect to one another into the expanded or fanned configuration. Transducer elements carried by elongate members sense various physiological characteristics of or proximate tissue, and/or may apply energy to or proximate tissue. The elongate members are rotatable in groups or as a group in the expanded configuration. The device is retractable.
US09492220B2
Pieces of tissue are fused together by compressing the pieces together at an interface, delivering an impulse of electrical power which is converted into sufficient thermal energy to fuse the pieces together at the interface. The impulse and the fusion occur within a preferable time of 0.5-2.0 seconds but no greater than 4.0 seconds. The temperature of the thermal energy is regulated between 150° C.-200° C. The tissue pieces are compressed to a thickness of 0.05-0.10 mm. Jaws which compress the tissue and transfer the energy have smooth working surfaces with an Ra of 0.15 or less microns to 0.40 microns.
US09492219B2
Systems and methods for discriminating between various gases, e.g., argon and helium, for enhanced safety of medical devices are provided. The present disclosure may take the form of a dedicated-use embodiment where a specific gas, helium for example, is expected, and an enabling or “Go” signal is issued when that gas is detected, or an inhibitory or “No-Go” signal when a gas is present that is not identified as helium. Alternately, a control line or input command can be used to select between helium and argon as the expected gas and then issue the appropriate “Go/No-Go” signal, depending on which gas is identified.
US09492218B2
Methods and apparatus for the treatment of a body cavity or lumen are described where a heated fluid and/or gas may be introduced through a catheter and into treatment area within the body contained between one or more inflatable/expandable members. The catheter may also have optional pressure and temperature sensing elements which may allow for control of the pressure and temperature within the treatment zone and also prevent the pressure from exceeding a pressure of the inflatable/expandable members to thereby contain the treatment area between these inflatable/expandable members. Optionally, a chilled, room temperature, or warmed fluid such as water may then be used to rapidly terminate the treatment session.
US09492215B2
In one embodiment, the present invention is a method of arthrodeses or osteosyntheses of a first bone part and a second bone part, including the steps of positioning a first fixation zone of an implant in the first bone part and a second fixation zone of the implant in the second bone part, both the first and second zones made of shape-memory material and, prior to positioning the bone parts, are in an inner position; and while the first fixation zone is within the first bone part and the second fixation zone is within the second bone part, fixating the respective first and second fixation zones within the respective bone parts through shape-memory action at body temperature.
US09492212B2
The invention proposes a bone plate comprising a bottom side that is to rest against the bone and an upper side opposite to the bone as well as a plurality of holes located along the longitudinal axis of the plate, through which bone screws can be inserted to be anchored to a bone. At least one of these holes is a continuous oblong hole comprising a longitudinal axis running in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the plate. A retaining structure, is provided in a partial area of the lateral side of the oblong hole for engaging the threads of said bone screw to archive an angle-stable fixation of said bone screw in said oblong hole.
US09492208B1
Systems and methods for a guide assembly for introducing a bone anchor to an operative target site. The guide includes an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve. The outer sleeve has a distal anchor engaging end, a proximal end, and a central passage extending from the distal end to the proximal end. The inner sleeve may be situated in the central passage of the outer sleeve. The inner sleeve is movable being between a first position and a second position. The first position permits insertion of the bone anchor in the central passage. The second position releasably fixes the bone anchor to the guide assembly.
US09492197B2
A vaginal dilation device is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the vaginal dilation device is that it is configured to dilate vaginal tissue during labor to prevent tissue damage. Another feature of the vaginal dilation device is that it can be manually controlled to dilate vaginal tissue, or can be automatically controlled to dilate vaginal tissue. In some embodiments, the vaginal dilation device is configured to measure a force applied by the device to tissue. In other embodiments, the vaginal dilation device is configured to apply a constant force to tissue. In other embodiments, the vaginal dilation device is configured to expand at a constant rate. Methods associated with use of the vaginal dilation device are also provided.
US09492192B2
The devices and methods generally relate to treatment of occluded body lumens. In particular, the present devices and method relate to removal of the occluding material from the blood vessels as well as other body lumens.
US09492188B2
Endoscopic instrument having a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal direction along which the endoscopic instrument extends from the proximal end to the distal end, an end effector on the distal end, which end effector has a first end effector part and a second end effector part, a connecting element on the distal end, on which connecting element the first and second end effector parts are mounted and which connecting element extends along a transverse direction, a first pushing element, a second pushing element, a third pushing element, and a fourth pushing element, wherein the pushing elements each extend along the longitudinal direction and are displaceable relative to one another along the longitudinal direction, and wherein the first pushing element is articulately arranged at the first end effector part, the second pushing element is articulately arranged at the second end effector part, the third pushing element is articulately arranged at the connecting element, and the fourth pushing element is articulately arranged at the connecting element.
US09492185B2
Methods and devices for performing knee arthroplasty including but not limited to bicruciate retaining knee arthroplasty are provided. Methods and devices for preparing a proximal tibia for a tibial implant are also provided. These methods and devices, in at least some embodiments and uses, facilitate decreasing the complexity of knee arthroplasty procedures such as bicruciate retaining procedures while maintaining, if not improving on, the safety, accuracy and/or effectiveness of such procedures.
US09492183B2
A patient-matched cutting block including a surface or point contact features adapted to at least partially conform to or reference a patient specific anatomy. The cutting block having guide slots configured for guiding the movement of cutting tools relative to the patient specific anatomy or features configured to mate to and guide standard cutting guides relative to patient specific anatomy in order to form plateau and eminence resections of the patient specific anatomy.
US09492182B2
A customized patient-specific orthopaedic instrument for facilitating implantation of an acetabular cup prosthesis in a coxal bone of a patient and method of use is disclosed. The customized patient-specific orthopaedic instrument includes a customized patient-specific acetabular reaming guide. The customized patient-specific acetabular reaming guide includes a longitudinal passageway for an acetabular reamer and a plurality of arms with attached feet. Each foot of the reaming guide is positioned relative to the body based on the contours of the coxal bone of the patient and a predetermined degree of version and inclination angles of the acetabular cup prosthesis when implanted in the patient's coxal bone.
US09492168B2
A surgical stapling device has a handle assembly, an elongated body portion, a shell assembly housing a plurality of staples and an anvil assembly movable relative to the shell assembly. An approximation mechanism is movable from a first position to a second position to move the anvil assembly relative to the shell assembly between a spaced position and an approximated position. A firing mechanism for advancing the staples is actuable when the approximation assembly is in the second position and the anvil assembly is in the approximated position. A lockout mechanism operatively associated with the approximation mechanism is movable from a non-blocking position to a blocking position, wherein in the non-blocking position the approximation mechanism is movable from the first position to the second position and in the blocking position movement of the approximation mechanism from the second position to the first position is prevented.
US09492167B2
Methods and devices are provided for controlling movement of a working end of a surgical device. In one embodiment, methods and devices are provided for moving an end effector on a distal end of a surgical fastening device. Movement can include rotational movement of the end effector about an axis of the shaft, articulation of the end effector relative to the shaft, and actuation of an end effector, e.g., closing, firing, and/or cutting. In other embodiments, a single cable actuator is provided and is movable between a first position, in which it is effective to rotate an end effector without actuating (i.e., closing and firing) the end effector, and a second position, in which it is effective to actuate the end effector without rotating the end effector. In other aspects, methods and devices are provided for moving a flexible neck formed on a distal end of an accessory channel for use with an endoscope. Movement of the flexible neck can be used to control positioning of a tool extending through the flexible neck.
US09492165B2
Methods and devices for treating spinal deformities are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a low-profile spinal anchoring device is provided for receiving a spinal fixation element, such as a tether, therethrough. The device generally includes a staple body that is adapted to seat a spinal fixation element, a fastening element for fixing the staple body to bone, and a locking assembly for coupling a spinal fixation element to the staple body. In one embodiment, the locking assembly includes a washer that is adapted to couple to the staple body such that the spinal fixation is disposed therebetween, and a locking nut that is adapted to engage the staple body to mate the washer to the staple body.
US09492164B2
A suturing instrument including multiple needle and suture assemblies that are at least partially disposed within the suturing instrument allows a surgeon to place multiple sutures intercorporally without having to remove the instrument from a surgical site and reload the instrument between placing each suture. The suturing instrument includes an elongate body member that includes a distal portion defining an opening. The suturing instrument further includes a first needle disposed within the opening, a second needle disposed within the opening, and a needle deployment mechanism disposed at least partially within the elongate body member and connectable sequentially to the first needle and the second needle.
US09492154B2
Devices and methods for retracting tissue, such as bowels and organs, within the body of a patient are generally disclosed. In particular, the present disclosure describes surgical retractors having a series of intersecting strands defining openings there between, wherein the openings are enlargeable by slidable passage of the strands relative to one another. The present disclosure also teaches surgical retractors having a frame that defines a central opening and a supporting structure extending across the central opening and defining a plurality of openings, wherein the frame extends through the openings. In some embodiments, a surgical retractor comprises a monolithic polymeric structure extending across the central opening defined by a frame. Other embodiments and methods are disclosed.
US09492151B2
A method of accessing target tissue adjacent to a spinal nerve of a patient includes the steps of accessing a spine location of the patient by entering the patient through the skin at an access location, inserting a flexible tissue modification device through the access location to the spine location, advancing a distal portion of the first flexible tissue modification device from the spine location to a first exit location, passing through the first exit location and out of the patient, advancing the first or a second flexible tissue modification device through the same access location to the spine location and to a second exit location, and passing through the second exit location and out of the patient.
US09492143B2
Disclosed is an ultrasonic diagnosis device which is provided with a shutter mechanism. The shutter mechanism conceals an opening portion (a passage for a rotation shaft member), which is uncovered behind an operation panel when the operation panel moves forward, so as to enhance the appearance and safety. The shutter mechanism has a pair of first shutter plates and a pair of second shutter plates, the pairs overlapping each other. Each shutter plate rotates about a predetermined rotational shaft which does not slide back and forth. Each shutter plate has a pin slot into which a slide pin is inserted. A pair of slide pins are provided on a member that slides back and forth. When the pair of slide pins move forward, the contact relationship between the pair of slide pins and a plurality of pin slots causes the pair of first shutter plates to start closing first, and subsequently the pair of second shutter plates start closing.
US09492136B2
A CT scanner and method of operating the CT scanner enables customized automated selection of tube current and peak tube voltage for a CT scan. The CT scanner receives data, each datum of which corresponds to a reference image quality (noise level at a certain tube voltage) for patient water equivalent diameter (“WED”) body size. The CT scanner then stores the noise level and patient WED, and a processor in the CT scanner generates a curve corresponding to acceptable noise levels as a function of water equivalent diameter. The CT scanner stores the curve in a memory associated with the scanner and the CT scanner is subsequently operated with reference to the curve stored in the memory. The tube voltage that can generate the reference CT scan quality (signal-to-noise ratio) with the lowest radiation dose to the patient is selected.
US09492133B2
An apparatus and method for acquiring an optimal MEX image may include an X-ray source to generate an X-ray and to irradiate the X-ray, an energy identification detector to acquire a MEX image that is generated when the irradiated X-ray penetrates an object, and an optimal MEX processor to generate an optimal MEX parameter based on a characteristic of the object and to control at least one of the X-ray source and the energy identification detector based on the generated optimal MEX parameter.
US09492131B2
A motor assisted movement assembly 2 is provided comprising a motor arrangement 3, which motor arrangement 3 may assist a manually controlled movement of a first structural element 5 relative to a second structural element 6. A motor element 3a of the motor arrangement 3 is adapted to detect a manual indication of a desired movement of the second structural element 6 relative to the first structural element 5 with the motor arrangement 3 being adapted to assist, e.g. support the movement by providing an additional force.
US09492129B2
Automatic triggering of an intraoral x-ray sensor used in a dental x-ray imaging system. The intraoral sensor has an array of pixels. The array of pixels has a plurality of lines of pixels, and each of the pixels generates an electrical signal correlated to x-ray radiation that impinges that pixel. An electronic control unit is connected to the intraoral sensor to receive electric signals from the array of pixels. The electronic control unit destructively reads pixel clusters in one or more of the plurality of lines of pixels. The electronic control unit is configured to generate a dose-correlated signal based on the signals from each of the pixel clusters in each of the one or more lines of pixels and initiate capture of an image generated with information from each of the pixels in the array of pixels, when the combined signal exceeds a predetermined threshold.
US09492125B2
The present invention provides medical imaging system comprising a guidance means for guiding a carriage along the longitudinal direction of a patient couch, and an imaging ring system with a carriage ring fixed to the carriage, a first rotatable ring carrying a first imaging unit, and a second rotatable ring carrying a second imaging unit, wherein the first and second rotatable rings are configured to be rotated independently from each other on the carriage ring. Preferably, the first imaging unit is a radiation source and the second imaging unit is a radiation detector. The invention further provides a preferably mounted patient positioning system for use in a medical intervention, comprising a robotic arm having six axes, and a patient couch wherein the couch is fixed to the robotic arm via a C-shaped bow.
US09492121B2
Image-guided therapy of a tissue can utilize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or another medical imaging device to guide an instrument within the tissue. A workstation can actuate movement of the instrument, and can actuate energy emission and/or cooling of the instrument to effect treatment to the tissue. The workstation and/or an user of the workstation can be located outside a vicinity of an MRI device or other medical imaging device, and drive means for positioning the instrument can be located within the vicinity of the MRI device or the other medical imaging device. The instrument can be an MRI compatible laser or high-intensity focused ultrasound probe that provides thermal therapy to, e.g., a tissue in a brain of a patient.
US09492114B2
Systems and methods for evaluating prospective treatments for progressive brain disorders like Alzheimer's disease and the progressive effects of aging involve the use of an imaging device communicatively coupled to a computing device. The imaging device may takes a plurality of brain imaging measurements from each of a plurality of human subjects who are divided into a treated group and an untreated group based on various subject data including whether the subjects carry certain alleles of genes known to increase the risk of developing the brain disorder at issue. The computing device receives the brain imaging measurements from the imaging device and applies an advanced processing method that permits enhanced computational efficiency when calculating rates of change for the two groups and determining whether any calculated difference between the rates is statistically significant.
US09492109B2
A medical sensor system (10, 10′) for detecting at least one characteristic (12) of an human and/or animal body has a sensor (14), a first characteristic carrier (16), and a characteristic carrier receptor (18). The first characteristic carrier (16) differs, in terms of at least one characteristic parameter, from a second characteristic carrier (20) which is present at least at the time of detection. The sensor (14) is preferably located in vivo at the time of detection of the at least one characteristic.
US09492107B2
Medical imaging apparatus with a movement detection unit and a method for detecting patient movement
A medical imaging apparatus includes a detector unit, a patient-receiving region enclosed by the detector unit in a cylindrical manner, and a movement detection unit. The movement detection unit has at least one acceleration sensor unit to detect movement of a patient. the at least one acceleration sensor unit has a fastening element to fasten the at least one acceleration sensor unit to a subregion of the patient relevant to a medical imaging examination.
US09492103B2
System for guiding a catheter through a lumen system of a body of a patient, to a predetermined location within the lumen system, the system including a medical positioning system, a moving mechanism coupled with the catheter, and a controller coupled with the medical positioning system and with the moving mechanism, the medical positioning system including at least one position detector, the position detector being firmly attached to a distal portion of the catheter, the medical positioning system determining the position of the position detector, the controller controlling the operation of the moving mechanism to move the catheter to the predetermined location, according to the position and according to a topological representation of at least a portion of the lumen system.
US09492099B2
A method for remotely sensing cardiac-related data of an animal subject includes transmitting a RF signal to impinge on tissue of the subject, receiving a reflected portion of the RF signal, generating baseband data, filtering baseband data (e.g., including high pass filtering), performing waveform phase position determination, performing at least one auto-correlation of the waveform phase position determined data, determining periodicity of the auto-correlated data, and (i) computing heart rate using a maximum periodicity of the periodicity, or (ii) identifying abnormalities in cardiac function, such as may be indicated by temporal variations in heart rate and/or signal amplitude corresponding to cardiac activity. Multiple bandpass filtering schemes may be employed.
US09492089B2
The disclosed subject matter includes optical tomographic systems for acquiring and displaying dynamic data representing changes in a target tissue sample to external provocation. For example, the disclosed devices, methods and systems may be used for quantifying dynamic vascular changes caused by imposed blood pressure changes for diagnosing peripheral artery disease.
US09492088B2
The invention concerns a medical device comprising a device for the measurement of a health parameter of a patient, a device for capturing a fingerprint identifying the patient, a device for communicating with a remote server and a control means, the control means being designed such that, when it is activated by a single action of the patient, it: activates the device for the measurement of a health parameter of the patient, and obtains a measured parameter in return, activates the fingerprint capture device and obtains a fingerprint in return, and then provides the measured parameter and the captured fingerprint to the communication device in order to transmit the measured parameter and the captured fingerprint to the remote server.
US09492084B2
The present invention provides systems and methods for monitoring in real time the physiological status of one or more subjects, especially subject engaged in potentially hazardous or dangerous activities. Systems include wearable items with one or more physiological sensors and a local data unit (LDU) operatively coupled to the sensors. The LDUs digitize and filter sensor data, extract physiological parameters, determine abnormal or not acceptable physiological conditions, and communicate to external monitoring facilities. The external facilities display status and data concerning monitored subjects. In preferred embodiments, communication between the LDUs and the external monitoring facilities dynamically adjusts to the condition of the subjects and to system changes such as subjects and external facilities entering and leaving and/or moving from place to place. The invention also provides program products for performing this invention's methods.
US09492083B2
Imaging various regions of the eye is important for both clinical diagnostic and treatment purposes as well as for scientific research. Diagnosis of a number of clinical conditions relies on imaging of the various tissues of the eye. The subject technology describes a method and apparatus for imaging of the back and/or front of the eye using multiple illumination modalities, which permits the collection of one or more of reflectance, spectroscopic, fluorescence, and laser speckle contrast images.
US09492082B2
An optical system splits light into signal light and reference light and detects interference light between scattered light of signal light from living body and reference light. A scanner performs first scan in which first cross section that intersects interested blood vessel is repeatedly scanned with signal light. An image forming part forms first cross sectional image expressing chronological variation of morphology of first cross section and phase image expressing chronological variation of phase difference based on detection results of interference light acquired during first scan. A blood vessel region specifying part specifies blood vessel region corresponding to interested blood vessel for first cross sectional image and phase image. A blood flow information generator generates blood flow information related to interested blood vessel based on blood vessel region of first cross sectional image and chronological variation of phase difference within blood vessel region of phase image.
US09492081B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a retinal densitometer, comprising an illumination unit for outputting bleaching illumination for photo-bleaching an eye and reflectance illumination at one or more wavelengths for determining reflectance of the eye at the one or more wavelengths, an imaging device arranged to output image data corresponding to an image of the eye at the one or more wavelengths of reflectance illumination, and a control unit arranged to control the illumination unit and the imaging device to output the bleaching illumination, the reflectance illumination at the one or more wavelengths and to output image data according to a predetermined sequence.
US09492055B2
A dishwasher includes a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber and a spraying system for supplying liquid to the treating chamber. The spraying system includes a sprayer having a body with an interior, a liquid passage provided in the interior, and an outlet extending through the body and in fluid communication with the liquid passage. A fluid coupling defines a duration of a fluid communication between an opening of a valve body and the outlet.
US09492052B2
The dishwasher (1) of the present invention comprises a washing tub (2) wherein items to be washed are placed, a receptacle (3) which is located at the lower portion of the washing tub (2) and wherein the water in the washing tub (2) is collected during the washing process, a hollow cylindrical microfilter (5) which is located in the middle of the receptacle (3) and which holds the residues carried by the water that passes from the receptacle (3) to the water circulation line, a pump (4) which returns the water accumulated in the receptacle (3) to the washing tub (2), an additional line (6), one end of which is connected to the pump (4) and the other end opening to the middle of the microfilter (5), and a sprayer (8) which is disposed into the microfilter (5) and which has more than one nozzle (7) that are located on the surface of the sprayer (8) and that provide the water supplied from the pump (4) by means of the additional line (6) to be sprayed towards the inner surface of the microfilter (5).
US09492050B2
A cosmetic brush cleaning device includes an enclosure for receiving the user's hand and incorporates washing and rinsing textures suited to cosmetic brushes. One version of the device features a primary section, and two thumb sections emanating from opposite sides of the primary section.
US09492028B2
A brewing module includes a support element, a first brewing module part and a second brewing module part that can be moved relative to the first brewing module part. The first brewing module part and the second brewing module part have a discharging device for discharging an extraction product from a capsule and an injector for introducing an extraction liquid into the capsule. In a supporting position with the brewing chamber open, the support element catches a capsule inserted via a defined insertion position, such that the capsule lies on the support element and on a support part of the first brewing module part after insertion. By closing the brewing chamber, the support element is moved away from the supporting position into a resting position, wherein the capsule is simultaneously held by a gripping element of the first brewing module part and/or of the second brewing module part.
US09492022B2
A cord with an outer fabric covering over a sheath and draw string is used to secure a sheet to a bed. The cord has a series of clips attached there-to by a second cord or by direct attachment. The clips are in turn removably attachable to edges of a sheet. One then tightens the draw string, reducing the length of the cord, and continues to do so until the sheet is pulled to a bottom side of the mattress. In this manner, the sheet ends are beneath the mattress and tightened thereto by the cord. The cord further snaps to itself, in embodiments of the disclosed technology, to form a closed loop around the bed.
US09492020B1
A display rack including a support, one or more bracket attached to the support and merchandise supports, such as shelves, supported by each bracket. The support may be a vertical support and a plurality of bracket mounting locations may be spaced vertically along the support. Each bracket may include adjoined first and second beams. The beams may be adjoined proximate the inner ends and extend to free outer ends. Each beam may include a leading side which faces in a common forward clockwise or counterclockwise direction about the support. Each shelf may be secured with respect to the leading side of each beam and may extend from the leading side in the forward direction. The brackets and shelves may be configured to present merchandise entirely around the rack for improved merchandise visibility and accessibility.
US09492018B2
A layered cushion that may be fully disassembled for easy cleaning is disclosed herein. The sleep system is durable and fire retardant. The layered cushion may include a foam layer, a layer of void cells, and a cover. The foam permits fluids to move freely there through and contours to a user's body to maximize comfort and reduce interface pressure. The reticulated foam layer resists compression set and thermosetting. The layer of void cells also permits fluids to move freely there through and provide additional support to the user's body. The individual void cells of the void cell layer are perforated to allow the transmission of fluids there through. The cover couples the other layers together to form the layered cushion and prevents the layers from deteriorating. The cover is removable to permit cleaning each of the layers independently.
US09492017B2
A collapsible mattress support for a box spring includes hinges on opposite sides of a middle cross bar. First and second side bars are pivotally attached to one hinge, and third and fourth side bars are pivotally attached to the other hinge. Each of the bars rotates about parallel axes that are orthogonal to the hinges. The four side bars each has a common width. A first distance between the axes about which the first and second bars rotate equals twice the common width of the bars plus a second distance between the axes about which the third and fourth bars rotate. In one embodiment, the cross bars are extendable. The components of the mattress support for Queen, California King and Eastern King sized mattresses fit in a packing box whose length is no greater than 45 inches and whose width and height are each no more than 7 inches.
US09492014B1
A folding mesh chair includes a seat and a backrest carried between opposite frame sides. The chair has an unfolded seating position in which the seat pivots to extend from the frame sides and bottoms of front and rear legs move apart, and a folded position in which the seat pivots toward the frame sides and the front and rear legs move together. One or both of the seat and the backrest have a continuous sheet of flexible and elastic mesh or patterned open texture plastic held across and substantially covering an opening in an all-plastic hoop fixed between the frame sides.
US09492013B2
A chair assembly includes seat support and structures each operably coupled to a base structure, wherein the back support structure is movable between upright and reclined positions, and a biasing assembly exerting a biasing force biasing the back support structure towards the upright position, wherein the biasing force is adjustable between first and second magnitudes, and wherein the second magnitude is greater than the first magnitude. The chair assembly further includes an adjustment assembly operably coupled to the biasing assembly allowing a user to adjust the biasing force between the first and second magnitudes, wherein the adjustment assembly adjusts the biasing assembly between a first configuration corresponding to the first magnitude and a second configuration corresponding to the second magnitude, and an assist feature exerting an assist force on the biasing assembly, thereby reducing an input force required to be applied by a user.
US09492012B2
A storage system comprising: a cartridge, said cartridge including an upright having mounted to one side a plurality of guide blocks; a plurality of first drawer information means for providing information on at least one of position and movement of respective drawers; and a plurality of latch mechanisms, said system further comprising a plurality of drawers, each said drawer including: guide block engaging means extending in a depth direction of the drawer and mounting a first side of the drawer adjacent a respective guide block; second drawer information means disposed adjacent the first drawer information means; and at least one stop on the first side of the drawer for engaging with a said latch mechanism, wherein the latch mechanisms are electronically controllable, whereby access to the drawers can be controlled.
US09492009B2
A rack for holding articles, components, parts and other such items and further being collapsible and stackable upon other similar racks whether any of the racks are in an upright or collapsed position. The rack includes a shelf and a plurality of leg assemblies distributed about the shelf perimeter, the leg assemblies each having a leg footer, a leg member, and a slider pivot bearing joining the proximal ends of the leg footer and leg member thereby constraining relative motion between the leg footer and leg member to two degrees of freedom. Embodiments of the rack further include retaining tabs on the leg member and corresponding notches on the leg footer to lock leg members in the upright position. Pairs of leg assemblies may be connected by primary connecting frame elements forming a portion of the perimeter, with the pairs being connected by secondary connecting frame elements forming another portion of the perimeter.
US09492004B1
The present disclosure relates to a lightweight harness system that may be used to secure binoculars, cameras, and similar devices. The harness comprising a single strand of elastic cordage and fit for the harness may be altered using a single adjuster clip.
US09491994B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure include a bag. The bag may include a first surface and an expandable portion coupled to the first surface. The expandable portion may include a compartment, wherein, in an extended position, a front surface of the expandable portion may be configured to extend away from the first surface, and, in a collapsed position, the front surface of the expandable portion may be configured to lay substantially flush with the first surface.
US09491983B2
An article of footwear includes an upper and a sole structure. The sole structure includes a gap extending longitudinally through the sole structure. A tensioning member extends through the sole structure and across the gap such that tensioning the tensioning member contracts the gap and pulls opposing sides of the sole structure together. As the sole structure contracts, the upper is pulled down on the foot, thereby tightening the upper around the foot.
US09491982B2
Several sole components and a method of manufacturing those sole components are disclosed. In general, each sole component includes a fluid-filled bladder and a reinforcing element extending around a portion of the bladder. The reinforcing element is bonded to the exterior of the bladder, and may be recessed into the bladder. In some configurations, the reinforcing element is die-cut from a sheet of polymer material, and the reinforcing element may exhibit a layered configuration. In manufacturing the sole component, the reinforcing element may be located within a mold, and the polymer material forming the bladder may be bonded to the reinforcing element during the molding process.
US09491979B2
A balaclava designed for covering a wearer's head and at least part of their neck has a face opening, and a removable, face conforming mask is releasably securable to the balaclava to cover part of the face opening corresponding to the part of a wearer's face below the eyes. The mask is designed to conform to the general contours of a wearer's lower face including the nose and mouth region, and has appropriate openings for breathing purposes.
US09491977B2
A cough catching apparatus includes a body for securing to a hand of an individual, the body having an outer surface, an area on the outer surface having a material thereon, and a disinfectant infused into the material. The body may be a glove body. The glove body may have an opening for inserting a hand into the glove body and a plurality of finger openings. The area may be a palm area, a top of hand area, or may include both a palm area and a top of hand area.
US09491970B2
A paper tube that can be used in a flavor-suctioning tool. The paper tube (1) of a single layer of a thick paper is formed into a hollow cylinder shape by rolling a rectangular thick paper (2) into a cylindrical shape thereby forming an overlapped part (2wr) where two edges overlap, and by adhering the two edges to one another at the overlapped part (2wr). The thick paper (2) has a basis weight of 100 to 300 g/m2, a thickness of 150 to 500 μm, and a density of 0.5 g/cm3 or greater. The diameter of the cylinder is 5 mm to 8 mm. A plurality of grooves (3) that are parallel to an axis (CL) of the cylinder are disposed in the outer circumferential surface or the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder.
US09491968B2
The present invention discloses genetically modified tobacco plants, and tobacco products derived from such plants, comprising a decrease in at least one amino acid such that upon heating and/or burning, the tobacco plant or a portion thereof generates reduced levels of a compound derived from the at least one amino acid as compared to an unmodified parent tobacco plant or a portion thereof. In an embodiment, the tobacco generates reduced levels of acrylamide and/or acrylonitrile upon heating and/or burning of the tobacco as compared to an unmodified parent tobacco line. These plants are useful for improving tobacco products.
US09491964B2
A method for the aseptic measured delivery of a liquid additive (Z) into a forced flow of a base product (P), wherein the additive (Z) is removed from a storage container (18) under aseptic conditions by means of a removal conduit (18a) and is fed via an end section (E) of the removal conduit (18a) to the base product (P), which flows through a product chamber (RP) and a metering device and valve.
US09491956B2
Moisture is retained in cooked or thawed food by adding to the food an aqueous suspension of animal muscle protein obtained from animal muscle tissue. The aqueous suspension is obtained by mixing comminuted animal muscle tissue with a food grade acid to form an aqueous acidic solution of animal muscle protein. The acidic solution is mixed with a food grade base to precipitate the protein in an aqueous composition. The precipitated protein then is comminuted to form an aqueous suspension of comminuted animal muscle protein.
US09491952B2
Disclosed is a method and a system for separating a viscera set eviscerated from slaughtered poultry and held by a viscera holder of a viscera conveyer in manner whereby at least the liver, the intestines and the gallbladder are suspended below the viscera holder. The method comprises the steps of: arranging the viscera set in an elongate opening of a guide member and separating the intestines and the gallbladder from the remaining viscera set. The intestines and the gallbladder are separated from the remaining viscera set while at least the liver rests on a separation support surface of the guide member, arranged with an angle relative to the horizontal plane. A guide assembly having two movable parts for use in such method/system is further disclosed.
US09491950B2
The present invention provides for the first time a biological system which provides the dual function of killing termites and other wood damaging insects while also producing a by-product substance having the capability of repairing damage by termites and other insects to wood and related cellulosic products.The present invention, a biological system, toxic to termites, is provided which produces a means by which damage caused by termites is repaired, said means comprising a by-product produced by a modification of the bacteria of the genus Gluconacetobacter. Preferably, the biological system is in the form of toxic bait.
US09491947B1
A method of synthesizing nanoparticles using a plant extract can include providing a first solution comprising a metal salt or a metal oxide, providing a second solution including extract from orange peel, and combining the first solution and the second solution to produce a nanoparticle solution including metal nanoparticles or metal oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticle solution can be used to produce a crystal nanoparticle powder, a non-crystal nanoparticle powder, and/or a metal-polymer nanocomposite wherein the polymer is polystyrene (PS) or poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA).
US09491938B2
The application is generally directed towards a drop nozzle for an agricultural sprayer. The drop nozzle can be used to reduce spray drift as liquids are deposited by the sprayer. The drop nozzle includes a valve assembly including a shutoff valve, a tube operably connected to the valve assembly, and an airfoil connected to the tube. The shutoff valve selectively prevents fluid flow from the valve assembly to the tube and the airfoil directs airflow around one or more portions of the drop nozzle.
US09491921B1
A wheat variety designated W050115K1, the plants and seeds of wheat variety W050115K1, methods for producing a wheat plant produced by crossing the variety W050115K1 with another wheat plant, and hybrid wheat seeds and plants produced by crossing the variety W050115K1 with another wheat line or plant, and the creation of variants by mutagenesis or transformation of variety W050115K1. This invention also relates to methods for producing other wheat varieties or breeding lines derived from wheat variety W050115K1 and to wheat varieties or breeding lines produced by those methods.
US09491920B1
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01050862. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01050862. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01050862 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01050862 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US09491919B1
The invention provides seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated 2453837. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of the variety 2453837, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety 2453837 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The invention further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety 2453837.
US09491911B2
A method for modifying environmental conditions is disclosed herein. The method includes the step of deploying a magnetic climate control material to a local area in one of the thermosphere and the exosphere. The magnetic climate control material deflects and absorbs rays of the sun. The magnetic climate control material affects temperature of a local area below the magnetic climate control material and also global temperatures. The method also includes the ability for moving, manipulating, or removal of this ring.
US09491900B2
A distribution box for a single-seeder including a disc including radial grooves that are regularly spaced apart and open on a periphery of the disc, the disc being rotatably mounted on a horizontal axis and separating a seed reservoir from a suction device such that seeds are picked up from the reservoir by the disc via air flow by negative pressure and are held over at least part of their angular travel until they are expelled from a discharge opening. Each groove includes a suction hole smaller than a size of the seeds to be distributed, the suction hole emerging on a channel with a width smaller than the diameter of the suction hole, the channel being open up to the periphery of the disc. A single-seeder can include at least one distribution box.
US09491897B2
A device for removing filling material from a stripe-shaped band material, in particular from an artificial turf, having a transport system for conveying the band material comprising at least one transport means, and having a diverting means for widening and folding of the band material, so that the filling material can fall off the band material, as well as an emptying means for the band material arranged in a region of the band material being folded, wherein the device has at least one of a pressure roller arranged when viewed three-dimensionally underneath the transport system.
US09497894B1
A low impedance radiofrequency shielded window and radiofrequency shielded enclosure that includes the low impedance radiofrequency shielded window is disclosed. Radiofrequency shielded window layers make up the overall window where the layers are configured in parallel such that each window layer has a direct path to ground. By configuring the ground path of the window layers in parallel, overall reactance and hence resistance is reduced, thus increasing shielding effectiveness of the window.
US09497893B2
Method and system are provided for controlling a scalable panel cooling system having multiple cooling panels for cooling multiple heat-generating components housed in a support structure. The method includes: dividing a support structure into areas, each area capable of housing one or more heat-generating component; providing a cooling panel adjacent an area of the support structure, a cooling panel being operable to cool the one or more heat-generating components housed in the area; determining whether an area of the support structure is housing one or more operational heat-generating components; and activating a cooling panel adjacent an area housing one or more operational heat-generating components; and de-activating a cooling panel adjacent an area housing no operational heat-generating components.
US09497873B2
Sealing force between a metal case and a power semiconductor module is improved. In a power semiconductor module 3, peripheral side surfaces of power semiconductor devices 31U and 31L and conductor plates 33 to 36 are integrated by being covered with a first sealing resin 6. An oxide layer (rough surface layer) 46 is formed on an inner surface of a metal case 40. A fluid resin material is injected into a space S between the oxide layer 46 provided to the metal case 40 and a power semiconductor module 30, and then a second sealing resin 52 is formed. The second sealing resin 52 fills dents of the oxide layer 46, and therefore sealing force improves.
US09497872B2
Forming a 3D topology by forming a monolayer of nano-particles on a stainless steel surface, masking the stainless steel surface forming at least one unmasked regions, the unmasked region having an average density of nano-particles less than a critical average density, and introducing a plurality of exogenous atoms into the stainless steel surface only in the unmasked regions, the exogenous atoms causing the associated metal lattice to expand and harden and have an increase corrosion resistance, thereby selectively forming a 3D topology on the stainless steel surface.
US09497871B2
Modular elements removable from enclosures and employing cams forming detent features with latches are disclosed. A modular element may include a chassis body supporting electronic components. The modular element is removable from or secured to an enclosure using a latch. The latch may engage the enclosure and may remain engaged with the enclosure by being secured by interfacing with a cam. By forming the cam with a predetermined shape, a detent feature may be established with the latch to secure the latch and maintain the modular element locked to the enclosure. The latch may be disengaged from the cam by applying a disengagement motion to the cam and allow the latch to move relative to the chassis body and disengage from the enclosure. In this manner, the modular element is efficiently secured and removed from the enclosure with minimum obstruction to airflow to the electronic components.
US09497868B2
An electronics housing assembly is provided. The assembly includes an electronics housing defining an internal cavity. The electronics housing defines an outer side, and the electronics housing having portions defining a vent hole therein. The vent hole extends through the outer side. A sealing element is disposed adjacent to the electronics housing and contacting the outer side. The sealing element covers the vent hole. A method for sealing an electronics housing assembly is also provided.
US09497860B2
Exemplary embodiments of methods and apparatuses to provide an electro-optical alignment are described. An electrical connector is formed on a printed circuit board substrate that extends onto a side surface of the substrate to form an electrical turn. An optoelectronic die is placed onto the printed circuit board substrate. The optoelectronic die on the printed circuit board substrate is erected over a mounting board to provide optical coupling substantially parallel to the mounting board.
US09497856B2
A laminated structure including a base material and resin insulating layers formed on the base material. The resin insulating layers include a resin insulating layer (A) containing a curing accelerator composed of an N atom-containing basic compound such that the resin insulating layer (A) is in contact with the base material. The laminated structure includes a resin insulating layer (B) which contains a P atom-containing curing accelerator in addition to the resin insulating layer (A).
US09497855B2
A method for high rate assembly of nanoelements into two-dimensional void patterns on a non-conductive substrate surface utilizes an applied electric field to stabilize against forces resulting from pulling the substrate through the surface of a nanoelement suspension. The electric field contours emanating from a conductive layer in the substrate, covered by an insulating layer, are modified by a patterned photoresist layer, resulting in an increased driving force for nanoelements to migrate from a liquid suspension to voids on a patterned substrate having a non-conductive surface. The method can be used for the production of microscale and nanoscale circuits, sensors, and other electronic devices.
US09497854B2
An apparatus having a power converter circuit having a first active layer having a first set of active devices disposed on a face thereof, a first passive layer having first set of passive devices disposed on a face thereof, and interconnection to enable the active devices disposed on the face of the first active layer to be interconnected with the non-active devices disposed on the face of the first passive layer, wherein the face on which the first set of active devices on the first active layer is disposed faces the face on which the first set of passive devices on the first passive layer is disposed.
US09497851B2
A lighting system includes a controller that is configured to provide thermal management for the lighting system by distributing excess energy in the lighting system through multiple power dissipation circuits. In at least one embodiment, the lighting system is a phase cut compatible, dimmable lighting system having one or more light sources selected from a group consisting of at least one light emitting diode and at least one compact fluorescent lamp. In at least one embodiment, the controller is configured to control the plurality of power dissipation circuits in accordance with a thermal management strategy to dissipate the excess energy in the phase cut compatible, dimmable lighting system. The particular thermal management strategy is a matter of design choice. The power distribution circuits include two of more of: a controlled switch path power dissipation circuit, a controlled link path power dissipation circuit, and a controlled flyback path power dissipation circuit.
US09497838B2
An energy storage device configured for a vehicle or a building is provided. The energy storage device includes a receiving element, a conduction element, a limiting current element, a voltage dividing element, and a storage element. The receiving element is configured for receiving a lightning's electrical power in an environment. The conduction element is coupled to the receiving element and is configured for conducting a first path or a second path in accordance with an electrical property of the lightning's electrical power. The voltage dividing element is coupled to the limiting current element and is configured for dividing a voltage of the lightning's electrical power. The storage element is coupled to the voltage dividing element and is configured for storing the lightning's electrical power.
US09497831B2
An illumination system includes a plurality of illumination apparatuses including a sleeping location illumination apparatus provided near a sleeping location. Each of the illumination apparatuses has a light source configured to irradiate an illumination light, a control unit configured to control lighting of the light source, and a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a control signal including a lighting signal for lighting the light source. A control unit of at least one of the illumination apparatuses turns on the light source before a preset wake-up time and controls the transceiver to transmit the control signal to another illumination apparatus.
US09497829B2
Methods for an outdoor lighting network (100) are disclosed. The methods can adaptively control lighting requirements based upon traffic in the outdoor lighting network (100). The adaptive control provides illumination over a certain response range based upon detection of an object (20) and in addition possibly a velocity of the object (20) by a lighting unit (LUs 1-8) equipped with a sensor (12) For the outdoor lighting network (100), the disclosed methods include deciding when a control message should be transmitted to other lighting units (LUs 1-8), selecting one or more control messaging protocols with modes adapted to achieve a response range depending on the velocity of the object (20) and controlling behavior of a light level output of the lighting unit (LU 1-8).
US09497819B2
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for lighting control. One or more properties of light output are controlled based on user manipulation of a mobile computing device (110, 510) such as a mobile phone. Data from a mobile computing device may be utilized to implement lighting property adjustments for one or more LEDs (132) based on the data. The data may be user gesture data that is based on physical movement of the mobile computing device in space by the user.
US09497811B2
An LED driver circuit includes at least one string (10) of LEDs (12) connected in series, and a power supply for converting a mains voltage (AC) into an output voltage (Uout) to be applied to the at least one string (10) of LEDs, in which the power supply includes a single-stage boost converter (14) adapted to directly convert the mains voltage (AC) into the output voltage (Uout).
US09497804B2
A graphite electrode exhibits oxidation resistance by modifying the outer radial surface characteristics. The outer radial surface may be modified by providing a textured portion which improves water flow while minimizing water absorbtion. Alternately, a layer of flexible graphite or plurality of particles of exfoliated graphite may be disposed on the outer radial surface of the electrode body.
US09497795B1
Disclosed herein are a method, system, and computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for notifying a user of available realty in proximity to the user's approximate current location. In an embodiment, a triggering location region is defined based on the user's approximate current location. The triggering location region includes a second location that is associated with another person's profile that correlates with the user's profile. An alert is automatically provided to the user if available realty is within the defined triggering location region. In another embodiment, if available realty within the triggering location region meets the user's preferred criteria, information about the available realty may be automatically provided to the user.
US09497791B2
A method and apparatus for establishing a session by a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) module in a Packet Switched (PS) network, in which the PCEF module transmits bearer information indicating whether the session supports a single bearer or multiple bearers, to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) module, receives a Policy & Charging Control (PCC) rule generated based on the bearer information, from the PCRF module, and establishes a session for a packet service by applying the received PCC rule.
US09497788B2
When a communication device detects another communication device operating as a providing device that provides a communication parameter and when a communication parameter has already been set between the communication device and a different communication device or when the communication device is participating in the same network as that in which the different communication device is present, the communication device transmits a session overlap notice to the detected communication device.
US09497787B2
Method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments enable a wireless docking center device to manage one or more wireless and/or wired peripheral devices on behalf multiple wireless dockee devices. An example embodiment of the invention includes receiving, by a wireless docking center device, at least two request messages for peripheral functions from at least two wireless dockee devices, including a first request message for a peripheral function from a first wireless dockee device, and a second request message for a peripheral function from a second wireless dockee device; and allocating, by the wireless docking center device, the requested peripheral function to the first wireless dockee device, based on determining at least a characteristic of the first request message indicates that the first wireless dockee device is entitled to the peripheral function.
US09497785B2
Examples are disclosed for exchanging beamforming information for a first wireless link utilized as a first connection of a dual connection for user equipment (UE) to access a network. The beamforming information exchanged between the UE and a small cell base station (BS) to configure the first wireless link as a beam-formed wireless link. Other examples are described and claimed.
US09497784B2
Disclosed is an apparatus and a method of establishing an interface between entities in a local network. A stand-alone local H(e)NB network has a structure in which one or more H(e)NBs are separated from one or more L-GWs in order to support mobility of a user equipment. The one or more H(e)NBs or the one or more L-GWs provide an information management device with information necessary for establishing an interface and receive information necessary for establishing the interface with a target entity as a response to the provision of the information. The one or more H(e)NBs or the one or more L-GWs establish the interface with the target entity based on the received information.
US09497778B2
Managing access to a time-slotted communications medium by masking interrogatory codes that are contained in signals demarcating time slots of the medium and comparing the masked interrogatory codes against masked response codes. Access to the medium is dependent on the outcome of these comparisons.
US09497775B2
A method and apparatus for carrier scheduling in a multi-carrier system is provided. A terminal receives information, which indicates whether or not to perform a cross carrier scheduling process, from a base station. If it is determined, by means of said information, that the cross carrier scheduling process is to be performed, the terminal receives scheduling information about a second downlink carrier via a first downlink carrier, and receives downlink data from the second downlink carrier.
US09497763B2
This invention relates to the proposal of component carrier (de)activation message that is allowing a activation or deactivation of one or more component carriers in the uplink or downlink. Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of the new component carrier (de)activation message in methods for (de)activation of downlink component carrier(s) configured for a mobile terminal, a base station and a mobile terminal. To enable efficient and robust (de)activation of component carriers, the invention proposes to use component carrier-specific or cell-RNTI(s) for the scrambling of the CRC of the component carrier (de)activation message, and to explicitly indicate the intended recipient of the component carrier (de)activation message in a corresponding field in the message. Furthermore, the invention further proposes different designs of the component carrier (de)activation message and further uses thereof, so as to trigger CQI reporting and/or SRS transmission by a mobile terminal.
US09497747B2
Techniques are provided for aggregating carriers with different carrier configurations. The carriers may include both time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) carriers which may be configured such that control information for both carrier types is conveyed by the TDD carrier. In one aspect, an association between a set of subframes, including both TDD and FDD subframes, is determined. The association may operate to distribute control information for the FDD carrier over uplink subframes of the TDD carrier to achieve a load balancing. Alternatively, the association may operate to minimize a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback delay. The TDD carrier may provide resource grants for the aggregated carriers and the association may be used to identify subframes from both carriers which may be scheduled in a given DL subframe.
US09497745B2
Systems and methods that provide a virtual macro cell in a heterogeneous cellular communications network are disclosed. In general, micro cells served by multiple micro base stations are aggregated to provide a virtual macro cell. Each micro base station provides service to one or more low mobility user equipments (LMUs) located within the micro cell of the micro base station using one or more first resources (e.g., a first carrier) that are allocated to LMUs. In addition, each micro base station cooperates with the other micro base station(s) in the virtual macro cell to provide service to one or more high mobility user equipments (HMUs) located within the virtual macro cell using one or more second resources (e.g., a second carrier) that are allocated to HMUs. By utilizing the virtual macro cell for HMUs, handover and paging overhead are reduced for the heterogeneous cellular communications network.
US09497742B2
A first type of UCI that needs to be transmitted in a current subframe is generated by a terminal device; a second type of UCI that needs to be transmitted in the current subframe is generated on the basis of a threshold number of bits simultaneously transmitted with the UCI in the current subframe and of the number of bits transmitting the first type of UCI; the first type of UCI and the second type of UCI generated are transmitted on corresponding channel resources in the current subframe.
US09497741B2
A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving uplink control information (UCI) in a radio access system supporting an enhanced physical downlink control channel (e-PDCCH) is disclosed. The method includes transmitting downlink control information (DCI) including offset information for determining resources for transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) via the e-PDCCH, and receiving the UCI using uplink resources according to a resource index value for transmitting the PUCCH. The resource index value is calculated using an index value of a control channel element (CCE) comprising the e-PDCCH and the offset information.
US09497735B2
A transmitter time-division-multiplexes, in time domain, to assign at least a part of a second signal stream of a second channel being relatively high error-resilient compared to a first signal stream of a first channel between a boundary of the blocks and the first signal stream of the first channel of a time-division-multiplexing signal.
US09497732B2
Techniques for supporting communication in a dominant interference scenario are described. A user equipment (UE) may communicate with a first base station and may observe high interference from and/or may cause high interference to a second base station. In one design, the first base station may use a first frequency band, which may overlap at least partially with a second frequency band for the second base station and may further extend beyond the second frequency band. The first base station may send at least one synchronization signal and a broadcast channel in a center portion of the first frequency band for use by UEs to detect the first base station. The second frequency band may be non-overlapping with the center portion of the first frequency band. The first base station may also communicate with at least one UE on the first frequency band.
US09497720B2
Some demonstrative embodiments include devices, systems and methods of synchronizing between wireless communication devices. For example, a wireless communication device may include a clock to count a local time; a controller to count a virtual master clock corresponding to a group of wireless communication devices according to master clock information defining the virtual master clock, the controller to determine a time drift between the local clock and the virtual master clock, and to determine the virtual master clock based on the local time and the time drift; and a radio to communicate with one or more devices of the group of wireless communication devices a synchronization frame including a master clock time stamp of the virtual master clock.
US09497719B2
The present invention relates to a new type of carrier wave having a different configuration from existing carrier waves. The new type of carrier wave is detected by using at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). When the new type of carrier wave is formed for detection by using only one of the PSS or the SSS, or by using both of the PSS and SSS, the new type of carrier wave includes PSS and SSS transmissions which are different from existing PSS and SSS transmissions.
US09497710B2
System, methods and apparatus are described that facilitate transmission of data, particularly between two devices within an electronic apparatus. Each device can contend for control of a communications link by driving a data signal to a first voltage level. If the data signal or a clock signal changes before an arbitration time period has elapsed, one or more devices yield control of the communications link to another contender. The arbitration time period for each contender is different and indicates a priority of the message to be transmitted. A shorter arbitration time period indicates higher priority. Arbitration may commence after clock and data signals of the communications link remain in an idle or other predefined state for a minimum idle time. The minimum idle time may be different for different nodes and may be shorter for high priority messages or nodes.
US09497704B2
A method for scheduling wake/sleep cycles by a central device in a wireless network is provided. The wireless network comprises at least one mobile device. The method comprises: attributing a wake/sleep cycle length to each mobile device, wherein the wake/sleep cycle length is an integer multiple of a system schedule cycle; assigning a sleep period and a wake period within the wake/sleep cycle of each mobile device; and arranging the wake/sleep cycle of each mobile device to avoid collision of the wake period with those of other mobile devices. The present invention can keep the maximum sleep cycle period of each MS to guarantee the QoS requirement and to efficiently utilize the system bandwidth.
US09497693B2
Two alternative embodiments are disclosed to enable a user equipment to efficiently discover small cells using a secondary carrier. The user equipment has a primary carrier link to a base station. In addition, the user equipment has a secondary carrier link to a network node in a small cell within a macro cell supported by the base station. The small cells are discovered through novel beacon signals or through modified PSS/SSS transmissions.
US09497689B2
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for determining ePDCCH-based downlink control information. Specifically, receiving a control signaling from an eNB, wherein the control signaling comprises at least one ePDCCH set and corresponding configuration information thereof; determining candidate resource index information based on the control signaling; performing DCI blind detection operation based on the candidate resource index information, so as to obtain downlink control information corresponding to the control signaling.
US09497687B2
A method and apparatus of establishing a connection in a wireless communication system is provided. A user equipment (UE) receives first barring information for member UEs and second barring information for non-member UEs, determines whether the UE is able to access to a cell or not based on one of the first barring information and the second barring information according to whether the UE is either a member UE or a non-member UE, and transmits an access request if it is determined that the UE is able to access to the cell.
US09497675B2
A method and apparatus for judging type of a handover failure. The method includes: judging type of a handover failure, by a base station of a serving cell where UE is present before a connection failure occurs, according to related information and a maximum measurement result of a downlink signal measured by the UE at the serving cell. The type of a handover failure in a heterogeneous network may be accurately judged by taking the maximum measurement result of the downlink signal of the serving cell into account, thereby enabling the network side to adjust a handover parameter based on the judgment result of the type of the handover failure, so as to ensure the performance of the network.
US09497673B2
A first radio connection is established between a first cell and a user equipment (UE). A network identity of a second cell is determined based on a first set of at least one network identity associated with the first cell, where the second cell is associated with a second set of at least one network identity. The determined network identity is useable for establishing a second radio connection between the second cell and the UE.
US09497670B2
A method and an apparatus for mobility management of a mobile station that can efficiently avoid interruption of services to the mobile station, without imposing loads on a network and the mobile station, are provided. Upon change of serving cell, a mobile station receives a neighbor list from a new serving cell and stores it in a neighbor list (NL-NW). Upon cell selection, the mobile station associates the new serving cell with the previous serving cell and stores information about this association in a neighbor list (NL-A). Upon detection of deterioration in the quality of the current serving cell, the mobile station measures the quality of each cell on the neighbor list (NL-NW) and the neighbor list (NL-A). Upon detection of a cell that is better than the current serving cell, the mobile station reselects this detected better cell as its new serving cell.
US09497651B2
Techniques for millimeter-wave (mmWave)-capable small cell detection are described. In one embodiment, for example, a mobile communication device may comprise at least one radio frequency (RF) transceiver, at least one RF antenna, and logic, at least a portion of which is in hardware, the logic to receive initiator sector sweep (ISS) monitoring instructions identifying one or more millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency channels to be monitored, perform an ISS monitoring procedure comprising monitoring the one or more mmWave frequency channels, and send an ISS monitoring report indicating whether any mmWave-capable boosters have been detected during the ISS monitoring procedure. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09497648B2
Various embodiments manage service issues in a wireless communication network. In one embodiment, a plurality of call detail records associated with a wireless communication network is received. The plurality of call detail records is analyzed. At least one pattern from the plurality of call detail records is identified based on analyzing the plurality of call detail records. The at least one pattern indicates at least one service issue occurred during a set of calls associated with each of the plurality of call detail records. A location associated with the at least one service issue that has occurred is identified based on identifying the at least one pattern.
US09497647B2
Methods and devices are provided for signal interaction with a radio network controller and a radio base station where a report signal comprising information indicating downlink performance associated with a data queue in the radio base station is generated and transmitted to the radio network controller. Hereby scheduling in the radio network controller can take into account the downlink performance associated with a data queue.
US09497637B2
Method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed for efficient radio spectrum use, for example in TV white spaces and radio coexistence, wherein link parameters are selected based on the available spectrum and radio device characteristics and capabilities. An example embodiment includes a method of receiving, in a first white space device, information relating to allowed emission levels (25) in a white space radio system; receiving by the first white space device, information relating to emission characteristics (10) of a second white space device or at least one slave white space device, received from the second white space device; computing by the first white space device, one or more allowed operating parameters (12) for the second white space device or the at least one slave white space device, based on the received information relating to allowed emission levels (25) and the received emission characteristics (10); and transmitting at least one of the allowed operating parameters (12) to the second white space device.
US09497631B1
This disclosure presents a modem for use at a terminal for accessing first and second communication networks that comprises a device interface for connecting to a subscriber identity device that stores first and second subscriber identity applications, and first and second pieces of user authentication data, separate from one another, for effecting independent first and second user authentication procedures for the first and second applications, respectively. A processing unit executes the first application to provide access to the first network when the first authentication procedure has been completed, and executes the second application to provide access to the second network when the second authentication procedure has been completed. An actuation component responds to an authentication command received via a host interface to identify at least one of the first and second pieces of user authentication data to perform an authentication task in relation to the identified user authentication data.
US09497623B2
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for configuring and controlling guest access sharing. In the context of a method, a method is provided that includes causing a network scan to be initiated and receiving the results of said network scan, the results comprising information regarding an access point and determining, based on the received results, whether the access point comprises two or more network interfaces. The method further includes causing a guest access sharing configuration procedure to be initiated if the access point comprises two or more network interfaces. The guest access sharing configuration procedure includes causing guest access information to be uploaded to a server. Another method is provided that includes receiving and storing guest access information, receiving a request to obtain the guest access information and causing the guest access information to be provided to a device if the device has permission to access it.
US09497620B2
A method and system for implementing a smart card remote operation based on a smart card web server is provided. As a mobile phone is prompted to activate update by a short message transmitted thereto, the problem of addressing the mobile phone is effectively solved. A remote network is accessed by using a TCP/IP protocol stack to conveniently and reliably update bulk data. The mobile phone is used as a gateway to connect a smart card and a remote management server, thereby realizing security identity authentication, data integrality verification, implementation of data encryption and customizable access policies, and increasing demand of an operator for enhancing value-added services of the smart card.
US09497617B2
A method for transmitting contact information during a call may include, in a call of a mobile terminal, extracting voice data of a subscriber. The method may also include determining if voice data is representative of a voice control command. If the voice data is representative of a voice control command, converting the voice control command to a corresponding Unicode code. The method may further include searching for contact information that the subscriber needs to transmit according to the Unicode code, and transmitting the found contact information to another party. The method may not affect the call of the subscriber during the information transmission process. The method may not require manual operations by the subscriber. As a result, associated operations may be very convenient.
US09497612B2
An efficient wireless connection protocol is described.
US09497608B2
An apparatus and a method for triggering an emergency call in a motor vehicle, wherein the apparatus has at least one module for setting up communication with a device outside the vehicle, wherein at least one evaluation device is assigned to the module, wherein the module automatically transmits an emergency call when at least one predefined state or event is detected, wherein the module is assigned a manual emergency call button which is connected to the module via at least one connecting line, wherein the module checks the at least one connecting line, wherein the module automatically transmits an emergency call when a defect in the at least one connecting line is detected.
US09497603B1
A system for providing multimedia messages to a mobile device and a method thereof that includes a server structured to receive and forward multimedia messages. In the system, the server may include a processor structured to receive a multimedia message. When the multimedia message is received, the processor may determine a multimedia standard operable with the mobile device, and direct the formatting of the multimedia message in accordance with the standard. The formatting may be done by the processor itself or another means for formatting the multimedia message. Further, the system may notify the mobile device that the multimedia message has been received and send the formatted multimedia message to the mobile device based on a response to the notification.
US09497599B2
In an embodiment, a communication device (e.g., a user equipment (UE), a server, etc.) determines one or more current parameters associated with an operating environment of the first UE, and then excludes at least one communication mode from one or more available communication modes to produce a set of communication modes by which a second UE is recommended to contact the first UE. In another embodiment, the communication device selectively recommends communication groups to users of UEs with current operational capabilities similar to characteristics of the recommended communication groups. In another embodiment, a server determines that a threshold number or a threshold percentage of group-members of an existing communication group are friends with a set of users that do not yet belong to the existing communication group, and then recommends that the set of users join the existing communication group.
US09497598B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a service information pushing and receiving method, and a related apparatus and system. The service information pushing method includes: obtaining, by a radio access point (AP), service information provided by a service provider, adding the service information to a beacon frame, and broadcasting the beacon frame. A method for receiving pushed service information includes: obtaining, by a terminal, a beacon frame that carries service information, and extracting and outputting the service information in the beacon frame. The technical solution provided by the present invention enables a terminal to receive service information in a Wi-Fi network without accessing the network.
US09497597B2
Methods and systems for determining the motion of an object by capturing motion data. The methods and systems may comprise the use of motion sensor tags adapted for disposal on an object, wherein motion data may be collected by said motion sensor tags and transmitted via radio frequency signal for processing of collected data comprising the motion data, direction of arrival data, amplitude data, and phase data. The same system may also be adapted to determine the position of a UAV or aircraft by intercepting radio frequency communications signals emanating from the object.
US09497593B2
Methods, program products, and systems of location estimation using a probability density function are disclosed. In general, in one aspect, a server can estimate an effective altitude of a wireless access gateway using harvested data. The server can harvest location data from multiple mobile devices. The harvested data can include a location of each mobile device and an identifier of a wireless access gateway that is located within a communication range of the mobile device. The server can calculate an effective altitude of the wireless access gateway using a probability density function of the harvested data. The probability density function can be a sufficient statistic of the received set of location coordinates for calculating an effective altitude of the wireless access gateway. The server can send the effective altitude of the wireless access gateway to other mobile devices for estimating altitudes of the other mobile devices.
US09497587B2
Methods and apparatuses are provided for providing an internet service by a server in a communication system. A user interface for selecting whether to provide a search service based on location information of a subscriber station, is provided to the subscriber station. If the subscriber station selects to be provided the search service based on the location information, the location information of the subscriber station is acquired using a location information server or a cell identifier (ID) according to an existence of the location information server in the communication system. Data is sought based on the location information. The data is provided to the subscriber station.
US09497586B2
An operation for reconnecting a mobile information terminal and a base unit, which is performed when a user returns home, is made easier, and a matter that has occurred in the base unit during his absence is displayed on the mobile information terminal. The mobile information terminal enters a sleep state when receiving no signal from the base unit. When the user performs a predetermined operation, the mobile information terminal returns from the sleep state, then searches for the base unit, and displays, on a display section, information relating to the matter that has occurred during his absence, the information being transmitted from the base unit when the terminal is reconnected to the base unit. Accordingly, the user can know, through a simple operation, the record of an incoming call received through a wired network, or an answering machine message that has occurred during his absence from the base unit.
US09497582B2
A home gateway/STB establishes communication with a smart phone, queries the smart phone for digital diary data, receives the digital diary data from the smart phone, communicates with a remote server to deliver at least some of the digital diary data, receives content from the remote server that is selected based upon to the digital diary data, and downloads the content to the smart phone upon determining proximity of the smart phone to the home gateway/STB. The digital diary data may be information about a transaction serviced by the smart phone, information regarding browsing activities of the smart phone, location data of the smart phone captured over time, or other data. The content may be a channel guide that is customized based upon the digital diary data, media selected based upon the digital diary data, content advertisements selected based upon the digital diary data, or a combination thereof.
US09497574B2
Disclosed are a Bluetooth-based data transmission system and method, and an apparatus applied thereto. That is, when an original data is encoded and transmitted based on Bluetooth between a User Equipment (UE) and a beacon device, the encoded data is divided into partial data in consideration of a transmission data size and thus, various data may be transmitted irrespective of a transmission data size.
US09497570B2
A space-efficient cellular modem device for machine-to-machine communications that includes: a multi-layer printed circuit board defining a top side and a bottom side and including a first circuit layer adjacent the top side, a second circuit layer adjacent the bottom side, a ground plane layer, and a power plane layer, the ground and power plane layers located between the first and second circuit layers; a cellular transceiver module configured to communicate over a cellular wireless cellular network; electrical power-management components attached to the multi-layer printed circuit board, the power-management components in electrical communication with the cellular transceiver module; first and second rows of pins in electrical communication with the cellular transceiver; and a communications port.
US09497568B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus, and a system for controlling network access of a machine terminal. In the embodiments of the present invention, an authorized period and/or a forbidden period of a time-controlled subscription is generated according to information such as network service load historical data of a network and application information of the time-controlled subscription. Network access of the machine terminal is controlled according to the authorized period and/or the forbidden period. Because the network access time of the machine terminal can be controlled flexibly, the communication of the machine terminal can be controlled flexibly, and impacts of machine terminal communication on ordinary terminal communication can be reduced.
US09497552B2
Provided is a capacitive transducer having broadband frequency characteristics. The capacitive transducer includes an element which has multiple kinds of cells, each cell including: a first electrode; a vibrating film including a second electrode, the second electrode being opposed to the first electrode with a gap; and a support portion that supports the vibrating film so as to form the gap. The multiple kinds of cells have different ratios of an area of one of the first electrode and the second electrode to an area of the gap when viewed from a normal direction of the vibrating film. The first electrodes or the second electrodes in the multiple kinds of cells are electrically connected together.
US09497547B2
A speaker structure includes a main body, a circuit board and a magnetic component. The main body has a receiving section and a recess formed on an outer circumference of the receiving section. A center of the main body is formed with a hole in communication with the receiving section. The circuit board has a board body and an outer frame body inlaid in the recess of the main body. The magnetic component is received in the hole. A voice coil collar is disposed around the magnetic component. Multiple windings are wound around a surface of the voice coil collar. Two ends of the windings are attached to the circuit board. According to the above arrangement, the volume of the speaker structure is greatly reduced and the manufacturing cost of the speaker structure is lowered.
US09497542B2
A signal processing system includes microphone units connected in series and a host device connected to one of the microphone units. Each of the microphone units has a microphone, a temporary storage memory, and a processing section for processing the sound picked up by the microphone. The host device has a non-volatile memory in which a sound signal processing program for the microphone units is stored. The host device transmits the sound signal processing program read from the non-volatile memory to each of the microphone units. Each of the microphone units temporarily stores the sound signal processing program in the temporary storage memory. The processing section performs a process corresponding to the sound signal processing program temporarily stored in the temporary storage memory and transmits the processed sound to the host device.
US09497537B2
Provided is a conference apparatus, which includes a capturing unit to capture an image, a use environment detection unit to detect a use environment in which the conference apparatus is used, and a sound collecting unit whose directivity are changed according to the use environment detected by the use environment detection unit.
US09497533B2
The present invention relates to the field of headphone technology and provides a fine tuning structure for headphones, configured for tuning an angle between a head band and an audible unit of the headphone, the fine tuning structure includes an upper assembly connected to an end of the head band and a lower assembly connected to the audible unit, the upper assembly and the lower assembly are hinged together, the upper assembly is provided with a limiting step, the lower assembly is movably connected to a limiting part, an end face of the limiting part is provided with a limiting curved surface abutted against the limiting step and configured for limiting an angle of the lower assembly relative to the upper assembly. In the fine tuning structure according to the present invention, the angle between the upper assembly and the lower assembly can be tuned via selecting a different place of the limiting curved surface to abut against the limiting step, so that the angle of the audible unit relative to the head band can be tuned, and the wearing comfort of the headphone can be improved.
US09497532B2
A headphone device with a controlling function is provided. The headphone device includes a headphone body and an optical finger navigation module. The optical finger navigation module is installed on the headphone body and exposed to an operating surface of the headphone body. When the optical finger navigation module is operated with the user's finger, an audio generator in communication with the headphone device is correspondingly controlled. Since the optical finger navigation module is slim and small, the optical finger navigation module can be applied to various types of headphone devices.
US09497531B2
An apparatus and a method for outputting an audio signal in a portable terminal are provided. The portable terminal for outputting an audio signal includes an ear jack, a modem, and an amplifier. The ear jack connects the portable terminal with one of an earphone and an external apparatus. The modem detects whether one of the earphone and the external apparatus is connected to the ear jack. When connection of the external apparatus is detected, the amplifier high power-amplifies the audio signal and outputs the same to the external apparatus according to a control of the modem.
US09497528B2
Speech from a driver and speech from a passenger in a vehicle is selected directionally using a plurality of directional microphones. Sounds detected as coming from a passenger from a plurality of directional microphones are suppressed from sounds detected as coming from a driver by a second plurality of directional microphones.
US09497521B2
A method, a controller, and a network include determining an opportunity cost metric for each of a plurality of links in a network including a plurality of nodes, wherein the opportunity cost metric comprises a future constraint reflecting expectations for growth on currently established connections on each link of the plurality of links; receiving a request for a new connection between two nodes of the plurality of nodes in the network; and utilizing a constraint-based routing algorithm to determine a path for the new connection between the two nodes, wherein the constraint-based routing algorithm determines the path through the plurality of nodes via the plurality of links based on a plurality of constraints including the opportunity cost metric.
US09497519B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for optical switching. An optical switch device includes a first multicast switch unit; and a second multicast switch unit, wherein each of the first and second multicast switch units respectively include: multiple optical input ports; multiple optical switches; multiple optical splitters/combiners; and multiple optical output ports.
US09497515B2
Methods and apparatus for providing a search interface for an electronic device including a tuner configured to tune the electronic device to receive scheduled programming content. A search query is received and one or more data sources including information about media content are searched based, at least in part, on the search query. The results of the search are presented on a user interface using a time-based axis and a time-independent axis.
US09497510B2
A system and method for use in a cable network to acquire electronic programming guide (EPG) content signals from one or more EPG vendors. The system includes a set-top box (STB) for receiving cable signals and EPG signals from a headend controller so that the STB can output the signals to a media output device for display. A conversion table is provided to each STB for use by the STB in determining source IDs associated with a given channel for each EPG vendor, the source IDs for use in acquiring the EPG content signals.
US09497500B1
An control interface and system is provided that allows users to use a handheld device to communicates with an electronic billboard through a host server. The interface allows users to display information, as well as interact with information that is displayed on the electronic billboard. In order to establish this communication, a user, through their handheld device, communicates with a host server, which provides them with one or more available services that they can invoke in order to communicate with the display.
US09497497B2
A method includes identifying a video service device that receives a video service. The video service includes video content provided by a video service provider, and the video service device is associated with a customer premises network. The method includes identifying a first video program displayed by the video service device. The method also includes identifying a personal device that accesses other content via another communication channel. The method includes identifying a user account associated with the personal device, identifying preferences associated with the user account, and determining cross channel content based on the video content, the first content and the preferences associated with the user account. The method includes integrating the cross channel content and the first content to form integrated content, and providing the integrated content at the personal device coordinated with the receipt of the first video program at the video service device.
US09497496B1
Techniques for inserting advertising content and other personalized information into media assets are described. The techniques involve inserting personalized ads and other content into media assets as a server at the content delivery network (CDN) point-of-presence (POP) is performing the individualized encoding of the file on-the-fly. The ads and other content can be personalized based on the user's purchasing habits, user's location (geographic, GPS, IP location, etc.), the content in the media file and the like. In addition, the ads can be inserted into specific parts of the video (i.e. key frames, key slices, etc.) because the CDN node is actually transcoding the content and thus can insert the ads into the content in its own native format. For example, ads can appear as part of the video itself, different language subtitles can be integrated into the video based on the location of the user, and the like.
US09497492B2
A distribution control system includes a generating unit configured to generate image data from content data; a converting unit configured to convert the image data into transmission data; a transmitting unit configured to transmit the transmission data to a plurality of communication terminals; and a creating/selecting unit configured to newly create the converting unit to be assigned to each of the communication terminals or select the converting unit out of converting units already created.
US09497490B1
Aspects of the present invention correspond to the collection, processing and publication of video imagery corresponding to local sporting events. In one aspect, one or more components establish a private wireless network between video input devices and a video imagery processing device. The one or more components may be embodied in a portable housing independent of any infrastructure provided by the sporting venue. In another aspect, a control component can associate meta-data with an assessment of collected video imagery data. The video imagery data can be associated into individual plays and the meta-data corresponds to an assessment of the plays. In still a further aspect, processed video imagery data and any associated meta-data can be published to one or more input devices based on an assessed role or other permissions or otherwise stored.
US09497489B2
Embodiments of the present invention: provide, from a first VOD server having a first cache, a first media presentation to a first group of user devices and a second media presentation to a second group of user devices; provide, from a second VOD server having a second cache, a third content to a third group of user devices; measure a first popularity corresponding to the first media presentation and a second popularity corresponding to the second media presentation; store a copy of the first media presentation on the second cache based on the first popularity and the second popularity; determine when the first VOD server fails to continue to provide the first media presentation; and provide, from the second VOD server, the first media presentation to the first group of user devices, wherein the first cache has the first media presentation stored therein, and wherein the second cache has the second media presentation stored therein.
US09497487B1
The techniques for encoding video content are disclosed. In an online game environment, the techniques include obtaining information for a first and second successive frames of video content and information for a position of a virtual camera associated with each frame, determining virtual camera translation information based on the positions of the virtual camera, determining a projected movement between the frames of an object included in each frame, determining the portion of the first frame to be excluded from the second frame and a new portion of the second frame, and providing the determined encoded information for a reconstruction of the second frame based on the provided information.
US09497480B2
An encoding target region in an image can be partitioned into a plurality of prediction regions. Based on prediction information of a neighboring region neighboring a target region, the number of previously-encoded prediction regions in the target region, and previously-encoded prediction information of the target region, a candidate for motion information to be used in generation of a predicted signal of the target prediction region as a next prediction region is selected from previously-encoded motion information of regions neighboring the target prediction region. According to the number of candidates for motion information selected, merging block information to indicate generation of the predicted signal of the target prediction region using the selected candidate for motion information and motion information detected by prediction information estimation means, or either one of the merging block information or the motion information is encoded.
US09497479B2
A method and apparatus wherein the method includes the steps of parsing a stream of compressed video, obtaining macroblock size information from the parsed stream, computing factors derived from the macroblock size, wherein the factors include a normalized bit size, a bit size ratio and a neighbor score, computing corresponding adaptive threshold values derived from the relative frame characteristics of the compressed video, comparing the factors derived from the macroblock size information with the corresponding adaptive threshold values and detecting motion based upon combinations of the comparisons when the factors exceed the threshold value.
US09497474B2
A method, medium, and apparatus encoding and/or decoding an image in order to increase encoding and decoding efficiency by performing binary-arithmetic coding/decoding on a binary value of a syntax element using a probability model having the same syntax element probability value for respective context index information of each of at least two image components.
US09497464B2
A GOP-independent dynamic bit-rate controller system includes a user interface to receive one or more input parameters, a bit-rate controller and an encoder. The bit-rate controller regulates a bit-rate of an output bit-stream. The bit-rate controller includes multiple bit-rate modules to determine a bit-estimate and a quantization parameter, and a control module to calculate a convergence period based on the received input parameters and a frame rate. The control module selects a bit rate module based on the convergence period and the encoder generates the output bit-stream using the quantization parameter determined by the bit rate module.
US09497455B2
An adaptive offset filter (60) adds an offset to the pixel value of each pixel forming an input image. The adaptive offset filter (60) refers to offset-type specifying information, sets offset attributes for a subject unit area of the input image, decodes an offset having a bit width corresponding to an offset value range included in the set offset attributes, and adds the offset to the pixel value of each pixel forming the input image.
US09497450B2
A method, an apparatus, a system locate an IPTV fault, where the method includes: performing synchronized evaluation on a monitored IPTV video stream according to a synchronization message, obtaining multiple corresponding local upstream evaluation results; receiving an evaluation result report message sent by a downstream monitoring point, where the evaluation result report message includes a downstream evaluation result, an evaluation result identifier, and synchronization packet information; finding, according to the synchronization packet information and the evaluation result identifier in the evaluation result report message sent by the downstream monitoring point, an upstream evaluation result corresponding to the downstream evaluation result; comparing the downstream evaluation result with the upstream evaluation result, and performing fault locating according to a result of the comparison. The present disclosure implements IPTV fault locating, saves costs of manpower and material resources, and improves efficiency in fault locating.
US09497442B2
An imaging device capable of capturing depth information or surface profiles of objects is disclosed herein. The imaging device uses an enclosed flashing unit to project a sequence of structured light patterns onto an object and captures the light patterns reflected from the surfaces of the object by using an image sensor that is enclosed in the imaging device. The imaging device is capable of capturing an image of an object such that the captured image is comprised of one or more color components of a two-dimensional image of the object and a depth component that specifies the depth information of the object.
US09497441B2
There is provided an image processing device including capturing portions that respectively capture a first image and a second image that form an image for a right eye and an image for a left eye which can be stereoscopically viewed in three dimensions, a comparison portion that compares the first image and the second image captured by the capturing portions, a determination portion that determines, based on a comparison result of the comparison portion, which of the first image and the second image is the image for the right eye and which is the image for the left eye, and an output portion that outputs each of the first image and the second image, as the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye, based on a determination result of the determination portion.
US09497434B2
A method of multi-playing videos in an apparatus having a first decoder for decoding a video and a controller for controlling the decoder includes determining, by the controller, whether the first decoder is in use, generating video clips by decoding a video by the controller as a second decoder if the first decoder is in use, storing video clips in a storage unit, and simultaneously playing video clips stored in the storage unit in response to detection of a preview request event.
US09497430B2
There is provided an optical wheel device including a motor, a wheel holding member which is fixed to a motor shaft of the motor and which has a recess portion on a surface which is normal to the motor shaft, an optical wheel which is fixed to a surface of the wheel holding member which is opposite to a surface facing the motor, and a collective lens which is disposed in the proximity to the optical wheel on a side of the optical wheel which is opposite to a side facing the motor, wherein a distal end face of a projecting portion on the wheel holding member which projects towards a side of the collective lens is positioned closer to a side of the motor than a plane of a surface of the collective lens which faces the motor.
US09497423B2
A telemedicine system (8) includes an audio-video switch (10) that receives at least two different signals and conveys at least one of the at least two different signals to an output device (18) that presents it to a user. A control device (162) monitors a position of the audio-video switch (10) and automatically controls the position to select which of the at least two different signals is passed through the audio-video switch (10) to the output device (18) in response to a signal from a remote source (34). Signals received from the remote source (34) include medically related audio video message signals, which are input to the audio-video switch (10), and a control signal that causes the audio-video switch (10) to select between passing the medically related audio-video message signals and other received signals to the output device (18).
US09497422B2
A perimeter monitoring device for a work vehicle is configured to monitor a surrounding of the work vehicle and display a monitored result on a display device. The perimeter monitoring device includes cameras, a bird's-eye image display unit, obstacle detecting sensors, a camera image specifying unit, and a camera image displaying unit. The camera image specifying unit is configured to specify one or more camera images in which one or more of obstacles are captured when the one or more of obstacles are detected by the obstacle detecting sensors. The camera image displaying unit is configured to display a relevant camera image in alignment with the bird's-eye image on the display device when a plurality of camera images are specified by the camera image specifying unit, the relevant camera image being ranked in a high priority ranking based on a priority order set in accordance with travelling states.
US09497420B2
A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to receive broadcast relevant data, a controller configured to acquire identification information identifying image data matching a broadcast content from the received broadcast relevant data if a broadcast content purchase mode is entered to purchase the broadcast content, and a display configured to display the image data identified by the identification information.
US09497415B2
In one embodiment, a method that includes providing, on a display, an object configured to be moved by a user along an axis, associating a plurality of predefined layouts with respective intervals along the axis, detecting a user action on the object indicating a position on the axis, and composing, in response to the detecting of the user action, a composite video signal using a layout, of the plurality of predefined layouts, associated with an interval among the intervals within which the position is lying.
US09497410B2
It is intended to provide an imaging apparatus and a focus control method that can prevent AF speed reduction even at the occurrence of a flicker. A system control unit 11 of a digital camera having a solid-state imaging device 5 that shoots a subject via an imaging lens 1 including a focus lens selectively performs one of a first focus control for controlling the focus lens so as to move it to a focus position by a phase difference AF method and a second focus control for controlling the focus lens so as to move it to a focus position by a contrast AF method. The system control unit 11 selects and performs the first focus control in a state that a flicker detection unit 12 has detected a flicker.
US09497409B2
One embodiment of the present invention provides a signal-recording system. During operation, the system receives a wideband multi-channel radio frequency (RF) signal, which includes a plurality of single-channel RF signals modulated at different carrier frequencies. The system down-converts the received wideband multi-channel RF signal to baseband, and records the down-converted signal.
US09497405B2
A display device includes a processing unit that determines whether a plurality of videos can be displayed side by side without overlapping each other in a display unit without changing resolutions of the plurality of videos. When the processing unit determines that the plurality of videos can be displayed, it causes the display unit to display the plurality of videos side by side without overlapping each other without changing the resolutions of the plurality of videos. When the processing unit determines that the plurality of videos cannot be displayed, it changes a resolution of at least one of the plurality of videos based on a resolution of the display unit, the resolutions of the plurality of videos, and a priority order, and causes the display unit to display the plurality of videos including the video for which the resolution has been changed side by side without overlapping each other.
US09497400B2
A CMOS image sensor including at least one pixel and one circuit arranged to receive, on a first node of the circuit, an analog signal representative of the luminosity level received by the pixel, the circuit being capable of successively acquiring 2n samples of said signal, n being an integer greater than or equal to 1, and of delivering, on a second node of the circuit, an analog signal having a value equal to the average of the values of said samples, without generating an intermediate signal having a value greater than the value of the largest acquired sample.
US09497395B2
A night-vision device is provided with a projection unit, an image pickup unit, a luminance ratio determining unit, and a projection control unit. The luminance ratio determining unit determines whether a determination luminance ratio in a set region is within a predetermined luminance range as a luminance ratio at which a subject to be detected forms an emphasized image, said set region having been set at least in a part of an image obtained by means of the image pickup unit. In the cases where the determination luminance ratio is out of the predetermined luminance range, the projection control unit controls the intensity of near-infrared light emitted from the projection unit such that the determination luminance ratio is within the predetermined luminance range.
US09497392B2
A method of transporting a plurality of similar objects is disclosed herein. The method includes the step of positioning a first one of a plurality of similar objects in the field of view of a camera. The method also includes the step of disposing the remainder of the plurality of similar objects in a container outside of the field of view of the camera. The method also includes the step of transporting all of the plurality of similar objects and the camera and the container to the upper atmosphere. The method also includes the step of generating a video recording and capturing still images of the first one of the plurality of similar objects during at least a portion of the transporting step. The method also includes the steps of selling the objects, videos and the images after the retrieval of container.
US09497383B2
A geodetic surveying device has a sighting unit pivotable about two axes. The sighting unit defines a target direction in a coordinate system and has a camera for capturing a camera image substantially in the target direction. The device can display object data that is stored in a database with a respective position reference indicating a position in the coordinate system. The device includes a graphical output unit that displays the camera image and the object data. The device has a filter functionality for the object data, with dynamic filtering based on the current range of view and static filtering based on a user selectable or specifiable selection criterion. The filtered object data is displayed on the output unit with markings representing the object data conjointly with the camera image. The markings are displayed at a respective point in the camera image referenced by the position reference.
US09497380B1
Dense field imagers are disclosed which are configured to provide combined, aggregated, fused, and/or stitched light field data for a scene. A dense field imager can include a plurality of imaging elements configured to be joined into image blocks or facets that each provides light field data about a scene. The dense field imager can include a plurality of facets in a fixed or modular fashion such that the dense field imager is configured to combine, aggregate, fuse and/or stitch light field data from the plurality of facets. The facets can be mounted such that one or more facets are non-coplanar with other facets. The facets can be configured to provide a representation of the light field with overlapping fields of view. Accordingly, the dense field imager can provide dense field data over a field of view covered by the plurality of facets.
US09497368B1
A method of assembling a vehicular camera includes providing (i) a lens accommodated in a lens barrel, (ii) a camera front housing, (iii) a printed circuit board with an imager. An uncured adhesive is dispensed (i) between the lens barrel and the front portion of the camera front housing or (ii) between the printed circuit board and the rear portion of the camera front housing. The lens is brought into focus with the imager, and the adhesive is initially cured in an initial radiation curing process. After the initial radiation curing process, the initially-cured adhesive is further cured in a secondary curing process. The further-cured adhesive limits movement of the lens relative to the imager to less than +/−18 microns after (i) exposure to 90 degrees C. for 400 hours and (ii) exposure to 85 degrees C. at 90% relative humidity for 240 hours.
US09497357B2
A subsampling unit (2) converts pixel values of plural pixels in a pixel block in the chroma plane to one pixel value associated with the pixel block on the basis of values in the pixel block in an attribute plane that indicates existency of an edge at the predetermined resolution. A compression processing unit (3) performs a compression process for a luma plane and the chroma planes for which the subsampling has been performed by the subsampling unit (2).
US09497355B2
An image processing apparatus includes: a dividing process section (122) configured to divide a captured image into a plurality of partial images; a histogram creating section (123) configured to create a histogram representing a distribution of the number of pixels for density values with respect to each color component of each of the partial images; an adjustment value calculating section (124) configured to determine, for each of the partial images, an adjustment value based on a peak in the histogram; an adjusting section (127) configured to generate, for each of the partial images, tone correction data by replacing a specific input value in reference data with the adjustment value; and a correction process section (128) configured to generate a corrected image by tone-correcting each of the partial images with use of the tone correction data.
US09497351B1
A server, image forming apparatus, image forming system, or monitoring method allows an administrator an intuitive, visual grasp of the status of an image forming apparatus and helps reduce the load on network communication. The server has a template code/character data acquirer that acquires, from an image forming apparatus having a display displaying a panel image, a template code corresponding to a template image included in the panel image and character data included in the panel image; and a panel image generator that reads, from a storage storing a template image, the template image corresponding to the template code and that generates the panel image by combining together the template image read and the character data acquired from the image forming apparatus.
US09497343B2
An apparatus is provided with a display and a touch panel mounted on a display surface of the display. The apparatus includes a storage portion that stores, thereinto, data showing operation made on the touch panel in a normal mode; a determination portion that determines, in the normal mode, processing of displaying an operating screen on the display based on the operation made on the touch panel, and to determine, in the reproduction mode, the processing based on the data; and a control portion that performs, in the normal mode, the determined processing in a manner to end at a first timing, and, in a reproduction mode, if the determined processing corresponds to predetermined processing, the determined processing in a manner to end at a second timing which is later than the first timing.
US09497335B2
A non-transitory storage medium stores control programs. The programs cause an information processing apparatus to: acquire an instruction for the information processing apparatus, based on a reception of the operation by the receiver; determine, based on the acquired instruction, whether a content to be transmitted to a web server is determined to be one of a first content which is created by an external reading apparatus and which is not stored at the acquisition of the instruction and a second content which is stored at the acquisition of the instruction; when the content to be transmitted to the web server is determined to be the first content, output a request for the first content and acquire the first content; and output first content location information indicating a location of the acquired first content.
US09497333B2
A system and method for obtaining photographic products and/or services comprises bundling image capture and printing technologies into products and/or services that are paid for by a consumer with monthly or yearly subscription fees. The system and method involves selecting a camera and selecting a photographic products/service plan which designates photographic products and/or services which are to be associated with the selected camera. The system and method gives the consumer the option of selecting a specific camera from a menu of cameras, and a specific photographic product/service plan which is to be associated with the selected camera from a product/service menu. As a further option, the consumer can customize his/her product/service plan in accordance with his/her preference. The plan can provide for products and/or services for images captured and/or film exposed by the camera for a predetermined amount of time at a predetermined fee. At the end of the plan, the consumer could have the option of returning the camera, exchanging the camera for a different camera, or keeping the camera at no cost or for a reduced price. The photographic products and/or services provided by the plan could be products and/or services such as film developing, printing, image products, scanning, photo CDs, image storage, etc.
US09497331B1
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simplifying and improving the reliability of communication between end users and access control systems such as those that include door and/or gate controllers, tenant access to buildings, and the like. In certain embodiments using an analog modem at the controller end of the system, the corresponding remote analog modem (which communicates with that analog modem at the controller end) is not within the direct control of the end user, and the end user's communicates instead via the user's standard hardware/software for communicating generally, such as via the Internet. Depending on the application, the control data can be maintained and/or synched at any selected combination or sub-combination of several locations: (1) the user's local system; (2) an intermediate server system; and/or (3) the controller end system. Preferred communication connections between the components provide improved ease of installation and use and reliability, as compared to prior art systems in which an end user's analog modem must be configured to directly communicate with a corresponding analog modem on a selected control device (such as a gate or door controller). Corresponding telephone/voice control preferably is also provided within the system, via POTS, a cellular telephone connection, VOIP, etc.
US09497327B2
A voicemail computer system transcribes a voicemail message into text that is presented to a calling party for approval. A calling party is able to approve, disapprove or edit a voicemail message prior to delivery to one or more called parties. The voicemail computer system may analyze a voicemail message to detect errors, omissions, or potentially offensive words. The voicemail computer may analyze a voicemail message to make suggestions as to tone, content or information contained within the voicemail message. The calling party can edit the voicemail message or approve it prior to providing a notification to one or more called parties that they have received the voicemail message.
US09497322B2
A system for remotely and interactively controlling visual and multimedia content displayed on and rendered by a web browser using a telephony device. In particular, the system relates to receiving a voice input (e.g., dual tone multi-frequency DTMF input, spoken input, etc.) from a telephony device (e.g., a landline, a cellular telephone, or other system with telephone functionality, etc.) via a wide-area network to an intermediary computer that is configured to control the rendering of one or more web pages (or other web data) by a standard web browser.
US09497316B2
A method and corresponding device for determining a data connection profile for a data connection (15) between one of a plurality of end-user devices (14, 16, 18) and an aggregation transceiver device (24, 34), the data connection belonging to one of a plurality of predetermined categories, each category being associated with one of a plurality of service providing entities (62, 64, 66), the method comprising receiving performance data indicative of the performance of a data connection; receiving an entity identifier indicative of one of said plurality of service providing entities, and determining in dependence thereon the category to which the data connection belongs; and determining a data connection profile for the data connection in dependence on the performance data and on the category so-determined, the data connection profile specifying a set of values for one or more parameters associated with the data connection.
US09497312B1
An access control application for mobile devices is provided. The access control application may be configured to generate a set of security tasks based at least in part on information corresponding to a user's interactions with the mobile device. An unlock screen of the mobile device may be triggered and a security tasks from the generated set of security tasks may be displayed through a user interface of the mobile device. The user's response to the security tasks may be obtained and a confidence score may be calculated, based at least in part on the response. The access control application may then determine, based at least in part on the score and one or more attributes of the environment, whether to unlock the mobile device or prompt the user to provide an additional response to another security task.
US09497311B2
A method and system for facilitating user access to services through a wireless device of a user, involves recommending to a user a subset of services from a plurality of services available to the user in which each recommended service of the subset has at least one voice short-cut associated therewith, and selecting a service to be accessed through the user's wireless device from the subset of services according to a voice command by the user corresponding to the voice short-cut of the service.
US09497306B2
The present disclosure describes a system, method, and computer-readable medium for providing audio announcement of communications to a called party in a communication network. The method includes receiving communication from a calling party and performing a lookup of information relating to the calling party in a database via an Internet Protocol connection based on an identifier of at least one of the calling party and the called party. The information comprises one or more audio files. The method then provides the audio announcement to a called party based on the audio files.
US09497305B2
A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to provide wireless communication, a display, and a controller configured to, activate a mode for voice recognition in response to a touch input to a soft button displayed on the display or to a hard button on the mobile terminal, receive a first voice input associated with a phone call relating operation of the mobile terminal, display an indicator on the display indicating the voice input is being recognized by the mobile terminal, analyze the context of a voice command in the voice input, execute the call relating operation only if there is a single contact in a phonebook that matches the voice command in the first voice input, if there is no single contact that matches the voice command of the received voice input, display a plurality of candidates that is analyzed based on the voice command, receive a second input according to a plurality of candidates, and execute the call relating operation based on the second input.
US09497301B2
An alarm circuit applied in an electronic device includes an audio interface, an audio processor, a speaker, and a control unit. A first terminal of the control unit is coupled to the audio interface, to receive a first control signal or a second control signal. A second terminal of the control unit receives an alarm on/off signal. A third terminal of the control unit is coupled to the audio processor. When the second terminal of the control unit receives the alarm on signal, and the first terminal of control unit receives the first control signal meanwhile, the alarm on signal is transmitted to the alarm processor through the third terminal of the control unit, and the audio processor outputs the alarm signal through the speaker unit, to warn the user the mobile phone is being stolen immediately.
US09497300B2
Input device attachment techniques are described. In one or more implementations, an input device includes an input portion configured to generate signals to be processed by a computing device and a mid-spine that is physically attached to the input portion and configured to form a removable physical coupling to be secured to a first side of the computing device that includes a display device. The input device also includes a connection portion that is physically attached the mid-spine and is configured to form a removable physical coupling to be secured to a second side of the computing device that is different than the first side and form a communicative coupling to the computing device to communicate the generated signals from the input portion.
US09497299B2
A first wireless access network node receives, from a second wireless access network node, delay information relating to a delay in buffering data at a protocol layer in the second wireless access network node. The first wireless access network node configures a discard timer based on the received delay information for a packet to be sent to a user equipment.
US09497293B2
A method for authenticating a user's secondary client device with a data center interacting with the user's primary client device includes capturing a quick response (QR) code displayed at the primary client device using the secondary client device, wherein the QR code is generated by the data center for the primary client device, analyzing the QR code at the secondary client device to extract information for initializing communication with the data center, providing information contained in the QR code to the data center by the secondary client device, wherein the information contained in the QR code is utilized by the data center to authenticate the secondary client device, and initializing interaction between the secondary client device and the data center when the data center authenticates the secondary client device.
US09497286B2
Method and system for providing targeted information based on a user profile in a mobile environment
A method for providing targeted content-messages on a wireless access terminal (W-AT) includes receiving metadata concerning a pool of content-messages from a remote apparatus, filtering the metadata based on a user profile on the W-AT to select at least one specific content-message, and receiving the at least one specific content-message from the pool of content-messages.
US09497284B2
A content delivery network (CDN) edge server is provisioned to provide last mile acceleration of content to requesting end users. The CDN edge server fetches, compresses and caches content obtained from a content provider origin server, and serves that content in compressed form in response to receipt of an end user request for that content. It also provides “on-the-fly” compression of otherwise uncompressed content as such content is retrieved from cache and is delivered in response to receipt of an end user request for such content. A preferred compression routine is gzip, as most end user browsers support the capability to decompress files that are received in this format. The compression functionality preferably is enabled on the edge server using customer-specific metadata tags.
US09497279B2
Systems and methods are provided for providing access controlled event subscription and notification and event access change alerts. In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present invention operate within a SIP infrastructure. As such, SIP SUBSCRIBE messages and SIP NOTIFY messages are used for subscribing to and receiving notifications related to access control. According to some embodiments, event access change alerts are used in conjunction with access controlled event subscription to provide an efficient method for providing access controlled event subscription using current access control information.
US09497278B2
A computerized method and system to generate individualized shortened URLs and track user activity is disclosed. A method includes generating an individualized shortened URLs for each of a plurality of recipients, sending communications to each of the plurality of recipients, wherein each of the communications includes the individualized shortened URL, receiving a request from at least one of the plurality of recipients for the individualized shortened URL, and referring the request to a destination URL.
US09497277B2
A method, which identifies information of interest within an organization, determines use data that characterizes relationships among information items within the organization, where the information items include user data and collections of information items. The method generates interest data indicating affinities among the information items based on the determined use data. After receiving a query for data regarding the information items, the method responds to the query by providing one or more results based on the generated interest data. More details are provided herein.
US09497276B2
The sharing of video content published online is tracked enabling the generation of a share tracking report. A first client shares video content using a first identifier that associates the first client to the video content and sharing statistics are updated. A second client accesses the video content via the first identifier and is associated with a second identifier that can used to share the video content by the second client. The second identifier is also associated with the first identifier to create a chain of discovery. A subsequent client accesses the video content via the second identifier and the sharing statistics associated with the second identifier are updated, thus continuing to add to the chain of discovery. A report is generated comprising sharing information, which includes one or more of a chain of discovery and at least one sharing statistic.
US09497262B2
A method for sampling management includes establishing, for a multi-core intermediary comprising a plurality of packet evaluation components executing on a corresponding plurality of cores, a frequency at which the multi-core intermediary intercepts a response transmitted from a server to a client and injects data into the intercepted response. For each of the plurality of packet evaluation components, an offset and a frequency based on a number of packet evaluation components in the plurality of packet evaluation components is established, a combination of the established frequencies substantially similar to the frequency established for the multi-core intermediary. One of the plurality of cores intercepts a response from the server to the client, at a time specified by the frequency and the offset. The packet evaluation component executing on the one of the plurality of cores injects data into the intercepted response.
US09497258B2
A computer-implemented method for content management across multiple server computers includes receiving a request to transfer a file between a central server computer and a client device. A list of two or more local server computers is received, wherein the two or more local server computers transfer the file between the central server computer and the client device. Operational information is received that is associated with each of the two or more local server computers and a duration of connectivity between each of the two or more local server computers and the client device. A strategy is determined for the file across the two or more local server computers based, at least in part, on the operational information associated with each of the two or more local server computers.
US09497257B1
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for accessing data. In some embodiments, this includes sending an I/O request from a client to a first server, determining, by the first server, if an object requested is in the first server, and redirecting the client to a second server if the object is not in the first server.
US09497249B2
An information processing apparatus that includes circuitry configured to search for related content from compared content, the related content being content related to reference content possessed by a user, the compared content being content other than the reference content, set, in response to a selection to perform meta tag assignment processing, meta tag information, which is a name of the reference content, according to the related content, and determine, in response to a selection to perform sharing processing, whether the related content is shareable between the user who is associated with the related content and another user, based on whether a relationship exists between the user and the another user.
US09497246B2
Examples are disclosed for hosting a communication session between a computer device and a destination communication device in an Internet Protocol (IP) based packet data network. A computer device receives multiple concurrent IP packet data streams each representative of the same content but received over corresponding multiple communication links. The original IP packet data stream comes from the communications server. At least one IP packet data stream representative of the original IP packet data stream traverses a communication link through a second communication device working in tandem with the communications server before arriving at the computer device. The computer device determines a highest quality packet for each corresponding packet in the multiple concurrent IP packet data streams. The computer device then creates a bonded IP packet data stream by selecting the highest quality packet for each time slot from among corresponding time slots of the multiple concurrent IP packet data streams.
US09497244B1
Tuple communication and decision determination is provided in a streaming environment. A processor: generates mission tuples wrapped in a computing object or that wrap the computing object, places the mission tuples in a computing stream of a stream application, accesses computing time upon, communicates the computing time to the mission tuples one of incrementally or periodically, determines: a current position in the computing stream for the mission tuples and a class and one or more sub-classes that each of the mission tuples belongs to, and communicates information: between the mission tuples and between the mission tuples and one or more runtime processes associated with the computing stream or one or more external processes associated with the computing stream. The mission tuples are configured to modify operations of the computing operators in the computing stream.
US09497242B2
The present disclosure provides an adaptation, shunt transmission and stream switching method and system for a coordinated service, and the method includes: a request message for service transmission is received from a terminal group; user context information, terminal context information and service context information are acquired according to the request message, and a service adaptation strategy and a service shunt strategy are established; the service adaptation strategy and the service shunt strategy are implemented, adaptation of the coordinated service is completed, and a shunt transmission of the coordinated service is performed; and during the shunt transmission, when a stream switching triggering condition is determined according to acquired network context information and terminal context information, the service shunt strategy and/or the service adaption strategy are updated according to a corresponding stream switching type, and a transmission path of a service stream is redirected. The present disclosure supports the implementation of stream switching, and provides a high-efficient service transmission and presentation service for individualized user service needs.
US09497239B2
A device may generate a media stream to be shared with other users by building a media graph, comprising a series of interconnected processing units that perform various processing tasks. However, the time involved in generating the media graph may delay the initialization of the media stream, and adjusting properties of the media stream (such as resolution or codec) may result in an interruption of the media stream while a new media graph is built. Instead, a media graph cache may be provided to cache a set of media graphs, which may be interchangeably selected for rapid initialization and adjusting of media stream properties. The media component (e.g., a videocamera) may also be configured to promote rapid adjustments to some media stream properties, while maintaining other properties (e.g., field of view and white balance) for a smooth transition between media stream property sets.
US09497237B2
A digital signage playback system, a monitoring system, and a monitoring method thereof are disclosed. The digital signage playback system is used for providing a digital signage to display at a user side, wherein the digital signage includes a dynamic video file and a static image file. The digital signage playback system includes an image converter, a transport, and a video streaming converter. The image converter is used for analyzing the digital signage to convert the static image file into a compressed image file and transmit to a monitoring side via the transport. The video streaming converter is used for converting the dynamic video file into a streaming video file to the monitoring side so as to displaying the compressed image file and the streaming video file at the monitoring side.
US09497235B2
A method for determining a capacity of a virtual machine configured as a telephony device in a VoIP system includes determining a resource configuration of the virtual machine including a number of CPU cores, a CPU clock rate, or a memory size. The virtual machine may be configured as a trunk, conference bridge, phone switch, session border controller, router, or another device in the VoIP system. The method also includes sending the resource configuration from the virtual machine to a VoIP system configuration application. The VoIP system configuration application may be an application running on the virtual machine or an application running on a server separate from the virtual machine. At the VoIP system configuration application, a capacity of the virtual machine is determined based on the resource configuration. The capacity determines a number and type of telephony features supported by the telephony device in the VoIP system.
US09497230B2
A method is presented comprising transmitting, from an application computer communicably connected to a call controller which is connected to a data network, packetized messages indicative of telephone calls in progress at an endpoint of the data network, or indicative of such endpoint, and transmitting, from the call controller to the application computer, packetized messages indicative of a variety of information contained in, or relevant to, the telephone calls so as to process such information for a variety of applications. Apparatus to implement the method is also presented.
US09497228B2
A telecommunication system including a class 4 long distance softswitch network with one or more a core routing engines and one or more class 5 application servers. The class 4 long distance softswitch network further includes at least one edge device, which may be in the form of a session border controller or media gateway, with at least one connection, including PRI, SS7 and TDM connections, to at least one customer premise equipment of at least one retail customer, which may be an enterprise customer. The class 5 application server is configured to provide the customer with class 5 services within the class 4 network.
US09497225B2
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for consolidating applications or services across networks to allow the applications or services to be available on networks of different types. According to one embodiment, a method for consolidating applications across a plurality of networks of different types can comprise receiving at a service layer component a communication in a communication session from a first communication network of the plurality of networks. The communication can be in a first protocol. The communication can be translated from the first protocol to a second protocol with the service layer component of based on a state of the communication session. The first protocol can be different from the second protocol. The translated communication can be provided to a component of a second network of the plurality of networks.
US09497219B2
A method and apparatus for controlling document access and application usage using centrally managed rules. The rules are stored and manipulated in a central rule database via a rule server. Policy enforcers are installed on client systems and/or on servers and perform document access and application usage control for both direct user document accesses and application usage, and application program document accesses by evaluating the rules sent to the policy enforcer. The rule server decides which rules are required by each policy enforcer. A policy enforcer can also perform obligation and remediation operations as a part of rule evaluation. Policy enforcers on client systems and servers can operate autonomously, evaluating policies that have been received, when communications have been discontinued with the rule server.
US09497217B2
According to one exemplary embodiment, a method for detecting malware in a network stream to at least one host computer is provided. The method may include initializing a browser profile corresponding with a first website having a first website source and a first plurality of content features. The method may include recording the first plurality of content features and a trusted source based on the first website source. The method may include scanning the network stream for a second content feature within a second plurality of content features associated with a second website. The method may include determining if the second content feature matches a first content feature. The method may include determining if the second plurality of content features is consistent with the first plurality of content features. The method may include determining if a second website source matches the trusted source. The method may include generating an alert.
US09497215B2
In one embodiment, attack traffic corresponding to a detected DoS attack from one or more attacker nodes is received at a denial of service (DoS) attack management node in a network. The DoS attack management node determines attack information relating to the attack traffic, including a type of the DoS attack and an intended target of the DoS attack. Then, the DoS attack management node triggers an attack mimicking action based on the attack information, where the attack mimicking action mimics a behavior of the intended target of the DoS attack that would be expected by the one or more attacker nodes if the DoS attack were successful.
US09497214B1
A computer implemented method may allow for the upload and verification of a document. In one aspect, the method may receive a file associated with an insurance company event, determine if the file contains a computer security threat and transmit the file to a temporary data server. The method may also determine if the file is supported and convert the file wherein the converted file is supported. The method may further flag the converted file for association with an insurance company event and transmit the converted file to a permanent storage server.
US09497207B2
Methods and arrangements for securing a software defined network. One or more control messages are intercepted. Information is extracted from the one or more control messages to create a global network state model, and there is determined, from the extracted information, presence of at least one prospective modification to the global network state model. Thereupon, a determination is made as to whether the at least one prospective modification presents a threat to security of the software defined network. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.
US09497205B1
Data is divided into blocks, a signature is derived for a block, and the signature is stored in a storage device without retaining the block. The signature may be derived with a hash function. A second signature may be derived for a second block, and compared to the first signature. If there is a match, network data for the second block may be associated to the first signature. If there is not a match, the second signature may be stored, and the second block may be discarded. Policies may be applied, including flagging the data for review, preventing transmission of the data, and storing the data. Network data may be stored with the signatures. Data may be analyzed by dividing it into blocks, deriving a signature for a block, and comparing the signature to stored signatures. If there is a match, network data associated with the matched signature may be retrieved. A plurality of blocks may be compared to the stored signatures to determine degree of commonality.
US09497201B2
Applying a security policy to an application session, includes: recognizing the application session between a network and an application via a security gateway; determining by the security gateway a user identity of the application session using information about the application session; obtaining by the security gateway the security policy comprising network parameters mapped to the user identity; and applying the security policy to the application session by the security gateway. The user identity may be a network user identity or an application user identity recognized from packets of the application session. The security policy may comprise a network traffic policy mapped and/or a document access policy mapped to the user identity, where the network traffic policy is applied to the application session. The security gateway may further generate a security report concerning the application of the security policy to the application session.
US09497185B2
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for application validation. A first request is transmitted to a ticket generation application. A first ticket is received, including a first unencrypted portion and a first encrypted portion. A second request is transmitted to the ticket generation application. A second ticket is received, including a second unencrypted portion and a second encrypted portion. The first and second unencrypted portions are concatenated to form an unencrypted shared encryption key. The first and second encrypted portions are concatenated to form an encrypted shared encryption key. The unencrypted shared encryption key is stored in a memory, and the encrypted shared encryption key is transmitted to a server.
US09497181B2
An improved system and method are disclosed for peer-to-peer communications. In one example, the method provides for concurrent sessions to be maintained by multiple endpoints.
US09497179B2
A method may include obtaining a layer two identification of an endpoint that is seeking access to a network, the endpoint omitting an agent to communicate a layer three address of the endpoint to a policy node, applying one or more authentication rules based on the layer two identification of the endpoint, assigning the layer three address to the endpoint, learning, by the policy node, the layer three address of the endpoint, and provisioning layer three access for the endpoint to the network based on the learned layer three address.
US09497175B2
Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for iterative data secret-sharing transformation and reconversion. In one aspect, data secret-sharing transformation and reconversion is provided in which each bit of an input stream of bits of data is split, on a bit by bit basis, into a pair of secret-sharing bits, and the secret-sharing bits of each pair of secret-sharing bits are separated into separate streams of secret-sharing bits. In this manner, one secret-sharing bit of each pair of secret-sharing bits may be placed in one stream of secret-sharing bits and the other secret-sharing bit of each pair may be placed in another stream of secret-sharing bits different from the one stream of secret-sharing bits. Confidentiality of the original input stream may be protected in the event one but not both streams of secret-sharing bits is obtained by unauthorized personnel. In another aspect, for an input stream of N bits, each received bit of the N bits of the input stream of data, may be interatively split, on a bit by bit basis, into a pair of secret-sharing bits, to generate as few as N+1 secret-sharing bits from the input stream of bits N bits. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.
US09497168B2
A network communication bridge establishes communication between a computing system within a protected network and an external computing system. A registrar is positioned outside the protected network and registers authorized users. The registrar determines if the computing device associated with the user is publicly addressable, and for those computing devices that are not publicly addressable, the computing device maintains a persistent communication session with a bridge proxy server. The bridge proxy server employs a reversal or relaying technique to enable communication between two systems that cannot ordinarily establish communication with each other, based on characteristics of the two systems. If at least one party to a communication is publicly addressable, then a reversal technique is employed. If neither party to the communication is publicly addressable, then both parties have a persistent session with their respective bridge proxy server, and the bridge proxy server acts as a “relay service” for communications between the initiator and the recipient. The invention can be implemented as a separate application or as an enhancement to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).
US09497162B2
Systems and methods for designating interfaces of a network security appliance as source/destination interfaces in connection with defining a security rule are provided. According to one embodiment, a security rule configuration interface is displayed through which a network administrator can specify parameters of security rules to be applied to traffic attempting to traverse the network security appliance. Information defining a traffic flow to be controlled by a security rule is received via the security rule configuration interface. The information defining the traffic flow includes: (i) a set of source interfaces; and (ii) a set of destination interfaces. At least one of which includes multiple interfaces such that the security rule permits the traffic flow to be defined in terms of multiple source interfaces and/or multiple destination interfaces.
US09497161B2
A cyber-security device provides secure communications bi-directionally between an external network and an internal network including a supervisor control and data acquisition (SCADA) device. The device includes a processor in data communication with the external and internal networks, the processor being programmed with a rule-set establishing validation criteria configured to validate data received from the external and internal networks. The processor is operable in an operational mode to pass between the external and internal networks only data that are compliant with the validation criteria. The processor is re-programmable with a new rule-set only in a programming mode. The device includes a switch that is manually operable to switch the processor from the operational mode to the programming mode.
US09497160B1
Systems, apparatuses and methods are described for facilitating connection between two or more clients across a network that includes network address translators (NATs). In a particular implementation, the techniques include peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic processing and network address translator (NAT) traversal. Low cost data traffic processing techniques with minimal server intervention are disclosed. The techniques can establish direct connections between clients located in private networks behind NATs. In the case where the clients are each behind a symmetric NAT, the connection can be established indirectly via a non-symmetric NAT (used as a relay) which establishes connection with both symmetric NATs using the disclosed direct connection techniques.
US09497141B2
A network having a plurality of switch points, each switch point having both a main multi-stage pipeline and a look-ahead pipeline between input ports and output ports of the plurality of switch points is described. The look-ahead pipeline has fewer pipeline stages than the main multi-stage pipeline. Look-ahead information and corresponding packet are received at an input port. A first stage look-ahead request is generated from the look-ahead information. A second stage look-ahead request is generated in response to the first stage look-ahead request being not granted. And in response to the second stage look-ahead request being granted, transmitting a packet through the switch point using the look-ahead pipeline.
US09497135B2
Method and system for reduction of time variance of packets received from bonded communication links
Method and system for reduction of time variance of packets received from bonded communication links. Embodiments of present inventions can be applied to bonded communication links, including wireless connection, Ethernet connection, Internet Protocol connection, asynchronous transfer mode, virtual private network, WiFi, high-speed downlink packet access, GPRS, LTE, X.25 and etc. The present invention presents methods comprising the steps of determining latency difference among bonded communication links, receiving one or more packets from the bonded communication links, and delivering the one or more packets according to the latency difference. The present invention also present systems comprising one or more network interfaces for receiving one or more packets from the bonded communication links communication network and one or more control modules configured for determining latency difference among a bonded communication links communication network, and for delivering the one or more packets according to the latency difference.
US09497134B1
A Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) multi-mode switching system and method and method provides concurrent switching in various switching modes including, but not limited to, an electronic packet switching (EPS) mode, optical circuit switching (OCS) mode, and optical burst switching (OBS) mode. Edge routers in the WDM multi-mode switching systems may provide a traffic management module that processes incoming data and routes the data for transmission in an electronic packet switching (EPS), optical burst switching (OBS), or optical circuit switching (OCS) modes via a WDM link.
US09497133B2
The disclosed embodiments provide a system that operates a switch fabric. During operation, the system creates a set of virtual links for a first set of physical ports in the switch fabric. Next, the system uses a set of virtual port numbers to create a set of mappings between the set of virtual links and a second set of physical ports in the switch fabric, wherein the second set of physical ports is connected to the first set of physical ports using a single physical link. The system then uses the mappings to provide non-blocking behavior in traffic from the first set of physical ports to the second set of physical ports.
US09497129B2
An example method for providing a self-stretching policer in a Quality of Service (QoS) community including a root node and one or more agent nodes can include maintaining and enforcing a policer policy in the root node. The policer policy can include at least one packet classification rule and corresponding police action, and the policer policy can be enforced by taking the corresponding police action if a traffic flow violates the packet classification rule. The method can include collecting policer statistics and determining if the traffic flow violates the packet classification rule by greater than a predetermined threshold using the policer statistics. If the traffic flow violates the packet classification rule by greater than the predetermined threshold, the method can include transmitting the policer policy to one or more of the agent nodes.
US09497121B1
A system, method and non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when read by a processor perform receiving a telephony connection request, determining a purported sender telephony number from the telephony connection request, determining additional request information from the telephony connection request, accessing an information source using the purported sender telephony number to determine source information regarding the sender, comparing the source information with the additional request information, based on the comparison, and determining whether the purported sender telephony number is incorrect.
US09497116B2
A scheme for providing access to 6LoWPAN data in a wireless access network. In one embodiment, a Digital Unit (DU) of the wireless access network is provided with IP bridging functionality for packaging 6LO data as a control channel message. When the DU element receives 6LO data from an external router, the data is packaged in a format specified for a control channel associated with a CPRI link coupling to a Radio Unit (RU). The bridging functionality is operative to transmit the control channel message (including the packaged 6LO data packets) to the RU element based on an address mapping between the destination IP address of the 6LO data packets and an address of the 6LO endpoint coupled to the RU element.
US09497093B2
Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method for determining peer status in a pseudowire (PW) node, the method including: sending a first PW status request message to a peer node including a PW node local message ID, PW node remote message ID, and request flag; starting a first retry timer; starting a second retry timer when the first retry timer expires and no response to the first PW status request message is received; starting a first request timer when the second retry timer expires and no response to the first PW status request message is received; and starting a third retry timer when the first request timer expires and no response to the first PW status request message is received.
US09497092B2
A network for remotely managing a plurality of remote devices that are each individually configurable to have selected operating characteristics includes a server connected to the network and to the plurality of remote devices, and a display coupled to a computer which is connected to the network. Also included are means for assigning a common icon to each remote device of the same type and displaying the icons on the server display, and means for coloring each icon to indicate a current configuration status of each remote device and for displaying the color on the icon on the display.
US09497084B2
Apparatuses, systems and methods are provided for monitoring a plurality of information technology devices. A filter control window displays user-selectable filter criteria items. The filter is applied to display a device list that includes only devices that match the selected ones of the filter criteria items.
US09497074B2
A method supporting distributed resilient network interconnect (DRNI) in a link aggregation group at a network device is disclosed. The method starts with encapsulating a distributed relay control protocol data unit (DRCPDU) in a frame, wherein the DRCPDU includes a protocol data unit (PDU) structure. The PDU structure includes a type field indicating that the DRCPDU is for DRCP, a version field indicating a version number of the DRCP, and a set of type/length/values (TLVs) including: a terminator TLV indicating an end of the PDU structure, a portal information TLV indicating characteristics of the first portal, a portal configuration information TLV indicating configuration information of the first portal, a DRCP state TLV indicating variables associated with an intra-portal link (IPP), a home ports information TLV and a neighbor ports information TLV. The method continues with transmitting the frame encapsulating the DRCPDU from the network device to a neighbor network device.
US09497072B2
Methods for monitoring a networked computing environment and for consolidating multiple alarms under a single root cause are described. In some embodiments, in response to detecting an alert corresponding with a performance issue in a networked computing environment, a root cause identification tool may aggregate a plurality of alarms from a plurality of performance management tools monitoring the networked computing environment. The root cause identification tool may then generate a failure graph associated with the performance issue based on the plurality of alarms, determine a first set of leaf nodes of the failure graph, determine a first chain of failures based on the first set of leaf nodes, suppress (or hide) alarms that are not associated with the first chain of failures, and output a consolidated alarm associated with the first chain of failures.
US09497070B2
A machine-to-machine communication platform provides a flexible system for device control and solution hosting. In particular, the communication platform hosts and manages third party vertical solutions that interact with external devices. A third party gateway provides the third parties with access to the communication platform so that the third parties may define, configure, and monitor custom vertical solutions that are locally hosted in the communication platform. The communication platform provides a communication manager that implements a device independent communication facility for communicating with the external devices. As a result, the communication platform connects to, communicates with, and controls virtually any external device.
US09497066B2
A communication apparatus receives a network ID from an access point, connects to a network formed by the access point, establishes communication with an external device via the connected network, allows data communication, receives a device ID from the external device, compares the network ID of the connected network with the received device ID, and determines whether the external device is operating as the access point based on a result of the comparison.
US09497063B2
Data including a set of one or more resources and one or more associated IP addresses is updated based on data from a DNS server. A request is received from a client device for a resource identified by an IP address. The IP address is matched to one of the IP addresses in the set of one or more IP addresses. A particular resource associated with the matched IP address is identified. A particular network policy that applies is identified. The identified particular network policy is applied to the received request.
US09497061B2
Systems and methods for characterizing an undersampled receiver generally comprise, in one embodiment, providing one or more probe signals to an input of an undersampled receiver. Each of the one or more probe signals has selective frequency components that ensure that aliases in a corresponding output signal of the undersampled receiver are unique. The undersampled receiver is then characterized based on the output signal(s) of the undersampled receiver. The selective frequency components of the one or more probe signals enable un-aliasing of the one or more output signals of the undersampled receiver and, as such, the undersampled receiver can be characterized.
US09497044B2
A system for and method of call transfer management may include receiving a phone call over a landline, receiving, using a device connected to the landline, a wireless signal from a mobile device indicating a call transfer request, wherein the call transfer request contains a mobile device indicator, determining, using the device connected to the landline, that the phone call over the landline will be transferred to the mobile device, wherein the determination is made at least in part on the receipt of the call transfer request, sending, from the device connected to the landline, a call transfer request over the landline, wherein the call transfer request contains a mobile device indicator of the mobile device, and transferring the phone call from the landline to the mobile device.
US09497038B2
A self-healing communications network including a network bus that connects a plurality of field controllers. Each field controller is configured to operate an element of a system installed in a building or similarly large structure, and each is connected to the network bus. An end-of-line resistor can be automatically enabled in any field controller to designate that field controller as a terminal device on the network bus. In an embodiment, a parent controller detects each field controller on the network bus, and monitors and controls operation of the plurality of field controllers via commands transmitted over the network bus. The parent controller has first and second receiver/transmitter ports, both connected to the network bus. The parent controller is configured to automatically repair a break in the network bus by enabling at least one end-of-line resistor in one of the plurality of field controllers in order to properly terminate the network.
US09497032B2
For controlling charging in an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem, it is detected whether a session initiated in the Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem is associated with a service requiring special charging control, and charging information is added to messages signalling establishment or modification of the session in the Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem in accordance with the detection result.
US09497027B2
Described are a hardware encryption engine, and secret key registration and authentication system recoverable binary bit using knowing an initial secret key stored in the master system. The secret key is overwritten in each authentication, updating it to the master and encryption engine independently. The secret key over write command can be preferably given to the chip as a CHG, and the non recoverable binary bit from the sense amplifier is used for response.
US09497026B2
For authorizing removable medium access, a reassembly module retrieves a medium portion of an encryption key from a removable medium. The encryption key encrypts encrypted data stored on the removable medium and includes a plurality of portions. The reassembly module further retrieves the user portion of the encryption key assigned to a user requesting the removable medium. The reassembly module reassembles the encryption key using at least the medium portion and the user portion of the plurality of portions. The decryption module decrypts the encrypted data with the reassembled encryption key.
US09497022B2
Certain aspects of a method and system for improved fault tolerance in distributed customization controls using non-volatile memory are disclosed. Aspects of one method may include mapping an input control signal to a plurality of input logic circuits within a security processor. A plurality of independent processing paths may be defined between each of the plurality of input logic circuits and an output logic circuit. Each of the plurality of independent processing paths may comprise one or more logic circuits. The input control signal may be routed via at least a portion of the plurality of independent processing paths. The portion of the plurality of independent processing paths may be combined in the output logic circuit to generate the input control signal.
US09497006B2
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for transmitting uplink signals in a wireless communication system for supporting multiple antenna transmissions. The method for transmitting the uplink signals in the wireless communication system for supporting the multiple antenna transmissions according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving a PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) including uplink grant information for indicating a first rank value; precoding uplink data on the basis of the first rank value; precoding uplink control information on the basis of a second rank value; multiplexing the precoded uplink data and the uplink control information on a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) resource; and transmitting the multiplexed uplink data and the uplink control information. The uplink control information can include channel state information and the second rank value can be less than or equal to the first rank value.
US09497001B2
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. A method for receiving data by a user equipment (UE) in a cooperative multi-point (CoMP) wireless communication system includes receiving information indicating a transmission base station (BS) that actually transmits data among a plurality of BSs that participate in CoMP, receiving information about zero-power channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) of each of the plural BSs, and assuming that data is not mapped to a resource element of zero-power CSI-RS corresponding to the transmission BS and receiving the data through a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH).
US09496992B2
An apparatus and method are provided for a mobile communication system. The method includes generating a symbol group to which an orthogonal sequence is applied; determining one of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and a second OFDM symbol for mapping the generated symbol group based on a symbol group index and a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel (PHICH) group index; mapping the generated symbol group to the determined symbol; and transmitting the mapped symbol group.
US09496986B2
A method for indicating a combination between a codeword and a layer in a MIMO communication, system, a layer mapping method, and a data transmission method using the same are disclosed. A minimum number of codeword-layer mapping combinations from among all available combinations based on the’ numbers of all codewords and all layers are pre-defined in consideration of a ratio of a codeword to a layer, a reception performance of a receiver, and reduction of combinations, so that a data transmission method using the predefined combinations is implemented. If a.specific one codeword is mapped to at least two layers, a diversity gain can be acquired.
US09496985B2
A decoding system includes: a modulator which modulates user data by using a modulation rule which converts the user data into a modulation pattern; a regenerator which generates a regenerative signal from a signal obtained by transmitting the user data after modulation through a transmission path; a transmission path decoder which generates signals as generation signals corresponding to the modulation pattern, and calculates k (k is a positive integer) distances between the regenerative signal and the k generation signals in an interval having a length fixedly or dynamically determined; and a demodulator which calculates reliability information for each bit of the user data, and estimates each bit of the user data based on the calculated reliability information. The demodulator calculates likelihood that each bit of the user data is 1 and each bit of the user data is 0 by Formula (A), and calculates the reliability information by Formula (B).
US09496982B2
Systems, methods and apparatus for improving resiliency to interference as well as improved bandwidth utilization in data transmission systems by using spectral fragments to convey respective portions of a data stream or file to be transmitted and independently adapting spectral fragment channel forward error correction (FEC) rate or other parameters in response to interference/impairment conditions.
US09496979B2
Disclosed is a spatial switching apparatus having a plurality of input terminals, an input optical signal of a single wavelength being input to each of the plurality of the input terminals, and a plurality of output terminals an output optical signal of a single wavelength being output from each of the plurality of the output terminals. The apparatus includes a signal wavelength converting portion having an electric signal converting element converting the input optical signal into an electric signal and a variable wavelength laser, the signal wavelength converting portion using the variable wavelength laser to convert an electric signal converted by the electric signal converting element into an optical signal of an arbitrary wavelength; and a spatial switching portion having a plurality of first cyclic AWGs performing output from a plurality of output ports corresponding to wavelengths of a plurality of input signals input from the variable wavelength laser.
US09496977B2
The present disclosure discloses a method and an apparatus for resource mapping and code division multiplexing. In the present disclosure, each cell selects a mapping scheme among at least two mapping schemes to implement resource mapping, which effectively reduces interference imposed on reference signal symbols of users at the edge of a cell; vector switching is performed for an orthogonal matrix to obtain multiple different codeword sequences and implement codeword design, so that a problem that the output power of reference signal symbols is unbalanced can be effectively alleviated.
US09496975B2
Methods, systems, and devices are described for dynamic directional synchronization signal signals in a millimeter wave communication system. A base station may determine a narrowband signal component and a wideband signal component of a synchronization signal for millimeter wave communications. The base station may identify network characteristic(s) of the millimeter wave communication network and adjust parameter(s) of the narrowband signal and/or the wideband signal components of the synchronization signal. The parameters may include a transmission power split or ratio, a bandwidth, a tone selection, or any combination of these parameters.
US09496973B2
Embodiments of user equipment (UE) and method for handover enhancement using reference signal received quality (RSRQ) in a wireless network are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a UE adaptively selects handover initiation parameters based, at least in part, on a velocity of the UE. The UE may determine an RSRQ of a serving cell and an RSRQ of a target cell and may transmit a measurement report to a serving eNB for handover from the serving cell to the target cell when the target cell RSRQ exceeds the serving cell RSRQ in accordance with the selected handover initiation parameters. In some of these embodiments, the handover initiation parameters may include an offset value, such as an A3offset value, and a time-to-trigger (TTT) that comprise an A3offset-TTT pair.
US09496968B2
A processor of a mobile device initiates a listening session including listening for a message from a remote service and receiving the message from the remote service. The message indicates that a first device is within a predetermined range of the mobile device. In response to receiving the message from the remote service, a network session is automatically initiated. The network session includes obtaining a signature via the network, the signature being uniquely associated with the first device. In response to obtaining the signature via the network, the mobile device initiates an access session with the first device, including utilizing the signature to present a user interface on the mobile device that includes access to the first device. The access session is automatically terminated in response to detecting a change in the listening session.
US09496964B2
We disclose an optoelectronic circuit that is configurable to operate as an FIR filter, in which the tapping and the weighting of the signal that is being equalized are performed in the optical domain, whereas the summation of the weighted signals is performed in the electrical domain after the corresponding optical signals are converted into electrical form using an array of photodetectors. Photodetectors in the array are arranged such that some of them contribute to the equalized electrical signal with a positive polarity and the others contribute to the equalized electrical signal with a negative polarity. As a result, at least some of the tap weights used in the FIR filter can be made variable between a positive value and a negative value.
US09496963B2
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a current-mode driver with built-in CTLE provides signal correction for a transmitter. The current-mode driver includes a digital current source operable to use a data signal to produce a main current signal. The current-mode driver also includes a filtering circuit comprising a resistor and a capacitor. The filtering circuit is operable to receive a negative data signal and produce a filtered data signal. The filtering circuit may be tuned to produce a zero at a pole frequency in the filtered data signal that compensates for signal degradation caused by the optical transmitter. The current-mode driver also includes an analog current source coupled in parallel to the digital current source, wherein the analog current source is operable to generate a subtraction current signal proportional to the filtered data signal. The subtraction current signal combined with the main current signal are operable to drive the transmitter.
US09496959B1
The apparatus includes a case having a base member, two partial side members, and a lid member to provide a spatial volume with an opening at a back end of the base member. Additionally, the apparatus includes a PCB installed inside the spatial volume over the base member with a pluggable connector at the back end. The apparatus includes one or more optical transmitting devices in transmit-optical-sub-assembly package, each being mounted upside-down on the PCB and including a built-in TEC module in contact with the lid member and a laser output port aiming toward the back end. Furthermore, the apparatus includes a silicon photonics chip including a fiber-to-silicon attachment module, mounted on the PCB and coupled to a modulation driver module and a trans-impedance-amplifier module. Moreover, the apparatus includes an optical input port and output port being back connected to the fiber-to-silicon attachment module.
US09496951B2
A method and apparatus for performing path protection for rate-adaptive optics is provided. As part of the method, an aggregate input bit stream is received. The aggregate input bit stream is then transmitted using a rate-adaptive optical transceiver when transmitting on a first optical path. When the first optical path has a fault, the aggregate input bit stream is then transmitted on a second optical path using the rate-adaptive optical transceiver and a fixed-rate optical transceiver.
US09496945B2
A radio repeater includes a first analyzer (22B) adapted to determine a time slot schedule. It also includes means (A1) for receiving control messages including uplink/downlink amplification requests for time slots in the determined schedule. A second analyzer (22A) is adapted to extract the uplink/downlink amplification requests from the received control messages. A control unit (24) is adapted to turn the uplink and downlink amplification on/off during the time slots depending on the extracted amplification requests.
US09496943B2
The present disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods for relaying data. An exemplary device includes a mast having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface defining a cavity; an antenna disposed within the cavity; and a radio housing engageable with a utility structure by a mounting bracket fastened to the radio housing.
US09496941B2
A codebook feedback method and apparatus for a multiple-antenna channel in a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system are provided. In an embodiment, a method (20) includes: detecting (21) a downlink multiple-antenna channel; determining (22) a first codeword in a first level codebook corresponding to the rank of R, where any codeword in the first level codebook is four diagonal matrices, two same 2×C block matrices exist on a diagonal line, and C column vectors of the 2×C block matrix are selected from Q1 discrete Fourier transform (DFT) beam vectors; feeding back (23) an index of the first codeword; determining (24) a second codeword in a second level codebook corresponding to the rank of R, where any codeword in the second level codebook is a 2C×R matrix, each column of the 2C×R matrix is formed of one C×1 beam selection vector and one C×1 beam selection vector including phase offset information; and feeding back (25) an index of the second codeword. The foregoing solution introduces an orthogonal DFT beam selection in two-level codebook index feedback, and therefore becomes more suitable for an MIMO application of a cross-polarized configuration of four downlink transmit antennas.
US09496940B2
The invention relates to methods for determining the interference variability of a precoding matrix set, and the use of same for purposes of scheduling and precoding matrix set selection. The precoding matrix set used by an interferer base station is evaluated by the mobile terminal which experiences the intercell interference from the interferer base station. The mobile terminal is informed about the precoding matrices of the precoding matrix set used by the base station. The mobile terminal measures the radio channel to the interferer cell, and then estimates based on the measured radio channel and with the knowledge on the particular precoding matrices of the precoding matrix set, the interference variability of the precoding matrix set. The interference variability may be reported to the serving base station of the mobile terminal, and thus considered for scheduling decisions by the serving base station referring the mobile terminal.
US09496934B2
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. A method by which a base station transmits a downlink signal in a wireless communication system, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises the steps of: receiving first and second precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) from a terminal; determining a first matrix (W1) from a first codebook on the basis of the first PMI, determining a second matrix (W2) from a second codebook on the basis of the second PMI, and determining a precoding matrix (W) on the basis of the first matrix (W1) and the second matrix (W2); performing precoding by using the determined precoding matrix (W) at two or more layers to which a downlink signal is mapped; and transmitting a precoded signal to the terminal, wherein all precoding vectors included in the precoding matrix (W) have linear phase increment properties and can be orthonormal to one another.
US09496933B2
As wireless networks evolve, network providers may utilize legacy LTE devices as well as devices that support massive multi-input, multiple output (M-MIMO). Systems and methods for simultaneously servicing legacy LTE devices and M-MIMO devices are provided. In embodiments, a transmission zone for M-MIMO communications is defined within a legacy, non M-MIMO radio frame. The location of the M-MIMO transmission zone is transmitted to user devices. For example, an identification of the location of the M-MIMO transmission zone is transmitted in a system information message. In a further example, the location of the M-MIMO transmission zone is transmitted in the downlink control information. The location of the M-MIMO transmission zone may be defined dynamically based on a variety of criteria. In addition or alternatively, a set of pre-defined transmission zones may be utilized.
US09496931B2
A method is provided comprising: providing access to a single wireless cell configured to operate in a packet-switched cellular network, the single wireless cell including: a first transmission point with a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) capability; and a second transmission point with a MIMO capability; cooperating with a MIMO-capable portable wireless device; receiving first information from the first MIMO-capable portable wireless device that is based on the measurement of the first interference; receiving second information from the first MIMO-capable portable wireless device that is based on the measurement of the second interference; altering at least one aspect of a first transmission; and transmitting data during the first transmission to the first MIMO-capable portable wireless device, utilizing at least one of: the multiple first directional antennas of the first transmission point with the MIMO capability, or the multiple second directional antennas of the second transmission point with the MIMO capability.
US09496927B1
A method and system for interrupt based NFC pairing is provided. In a passive NFC tag comprising a primary coil and a secondary coil, an electrical signal may be generated in the secondary coil when an NFC reader energizes one or both of the primary and/or secondary coils. The generated electrical signal may be filtered to remove any undesirable signal components such as noise. An interrupt signal, which may initiate pairing, may be generated based on the generated electrical signal. An NFC tag identifier, which comprises an address of the remote control, may be communicated from the NFC tag to the NFC reader and this may initiate the pairing on the NFC reader. The communicated NFC tag identifier may be utilized by the NFC reader for the pairing. The NFC tag identifier may be over-written with a new NFC tag identifier and the new NFC tag identifier may be locked.
US09496924B2
A mobile wireless power system capable of transmitting power through the skin to energize an implanted medical device without percutaneous wires and without precise positioning includes an external mobile wireless power source and an implantable receiving assembly. The mobile wireless power source is wearable by the patient and includes an excitation coil and transmitting resonant coil which are inductively coupled to each other and are housed in a durable housing. The implantable receiving assembly includes a receiving resonant coil and a power pick-up coil which are also inductively coupled to each other. The transmitting and receiving resonant coils are constructed as to have closely matched or identical resonant frequencies so that the magnetic field produced by the transmitting resonant coil is able to cause the receiving resonant coil to resonate strongly.
US09496923B2
An external device identification method in a device including a touch spot, an apparatus, and a recording medium are provided. The external device identification method includes generating a first micro-current signal that is induced when the touch spot is touched by a human being and includes device information about the device including the touch spot, propagating the first micro-current signal to an external device via a human being, receiving a second micro-current signal including device information about the external device from the external device via the human being, detecting the device information about the external device from the second micro-current signal, identifying the external device by using the device information about the external device, and connecting the device including the touch spot to the external device through a communication channel.
US09496922B2
In one aspect, a first device includes a display, at least one computer readable storage medium bearing instructions executable by a processor, and at least one processor configured for accessing the computer readable storage medium to execute the instructions. The instructions configure the processor to acquire data pertaining to first content presented on a second device, determine information pertaining to the first content based on the data, identify second content related to but different from the first content at least in part based on the information, and present a user interface (UI) on the display manipulable to issue a command to at least one of the first and second devices to present the second content responsive to the identification of the second content.
US09496911B2
A protective cover and retractable lanyard device comprises a retraction device, removably integratable within the protective cover for an electronic device. A pair of tethers retractably extend from an outlet of the retraction device forming a lanyard when joined together by a coupling. The protective cover may protect an electronic device, such as a cellular phone by fitting securely over the electronic device, during use of the electronic device, without interfering with use of the electronic device. A void in the cover provides a cut-out engaging the retraction device, such that the retraction device may be securely retained in the cut-out by a portion of the cover.
US09496906B2
A receiver comprises a passive gain stage having an input to receive an in-going radio frequency (RF) signal and a gain control signal to produce an adjusted in-going RF signal, a sliced LNA stage comprising a plurality of LNAs coupled to receive the in-going RF signal. Each LNA includes an adjustable source degeneration circuit for receiving a plurality of gain selection and control signals and an output port to produce an amplified in-going RF signal. A mixer is coupled to receive at least one of the amplified in-going RF signals produced by the sliced LNA stage and is configured to produce a converted signal at another frequency. A PGA is coupled to receive the down-converted signal and produces an amplified in-going signal.
US09496904B2
There is provided systems and methods for mitigating foreign interference by complementing a receiver of a wireless network, comprising: using antennas for reception of desired signals and interference signals; determining the presence of an interference signal originating from at least one foreign transmitting source in the received signals, and for determining a termination of the interference signal; determining the presence of a desired signal originating from the wireless communication network in the received signals; calculating a suitable combination of the received signals, wherein the effect induced by the interference signal is reduced and the impact of an interference cancellation on the desired signals is reduced; and providing the suitable combination to a receiver of a wireless communication network; wherein the method is performed complementary to the receiver of the wireless network and the antennas.
US09496899B2
Provided are a bandpass sampling receiver and a filter design and reconfiguration method thereof. The bandpass sampling receiver includes: an analog-digital converter converting an analog wireless signal into a digital baseband signal; and a complex baseband signal extraction unit generating a first path signal and a second path signal from the digital baseband signal and extracting a complex baseband signal using a relative sample delay difference between the first and second path signals, wherein the first path signal is a down sampled signal after the digital baseband signal is sample-delayed and the second path signal is a down sampled signal without sample-delaying the digital baseband signal.
US09496886B2
A system for processing data streams or signals includes a wave-front multiplexer configured to process first and second input signals into first and second output signals each carrying information associated with the first and second input signals, a first processing unit configured to process a third input signal carrying information associated with the first output signal into a third output signal, a second processing unit configured to process a fourth input signal carrying information associated with the second output signal into a fourth output signal, and a wave-front demultiplexer configured to process fifth and sixth input signals into fifth and sixth output signals each carrying information associated with the fifth and sixth input signals. The fifth input signal carries information associated with the third output signal, and the sixth input signal carries information associated with the fourth output signal.
US09496872B1
A method for manufacturing a digital circuit is described including forming a plurality of field effect transistor pairs, connecting the field effect transistors of the field effect transistor pairs such that in response to a first transition from a first state of two nodes of the digital circuit and in response to a second transition from a second state of the nodes of the digital circuit the nodes each have an undefined logic state when, for each field effect transistor pair, the threshold voltages of the field effect transistors of the field effect transistor pair are equal and setting the threshold voltages of the field effect transistors of the field effect transistor pairs such that the nodes each have a predetermined defined logic state in response to the first transition and in response to the second transition.
US09496871B1
An integrated circuit includes: a voltage rail; voltage control circuitry coupled to the voltage rail; and a circuit block coupled to the voltage control circuitry; wherein the voltage control circuitry is selectively configurable to operate the circuit block in at least a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation; wherein in the first mode of operation, the circuit block receives a voltage that is substantially the same as a voltage of the voltage rail; and wherein in the second mode of operation, the circuit block receives a voltage that is less than the voltage of the voltage rail by a threshold voltage.
US09496870B2
A semiconductor device is disclosed, which relates to a technology for reducing current consumption of a semiconductor chip configured to operate a transmitter (Tx) at a high speed. The semiconductor device includes a data driving unit configured to output a pull-up drive signal and a pull-down drive signal by level-shifting an input signal according to a clock signal; and a data output unit configured to adjust slew rates of the pull-up drive signal and the pull-down drive signal according to a code signal, and output impedance-adjusted signals to an output terminal.
US09496865B1
An active isolation switch according to this invention includes a field effect transistor (FET), a first bi-polar transistor and a second bi-polar transistor, and an emitter bias resistor. The FET is formed with a source, a gate, and a drain. The first bi-polar transistor is formed with a first emitter, a first base, and a first collector; the first emitter is connected to the source and the first collector is connected to the gate. The second bi-polar transistor is formed with a second emitter, a second base, and a second collector, the second base is connected to the first base, and the second collector is connected to the drain. The emitter bias resistor is formed with a first terminal and a second terminal; the first terminal is connected to the emitter of the second bi-polar transistor and the second terminal is connected to the emitter of the first bi-polar transistor.The first resistor is connected between a bias voltage and the first collector; the second resistor is connected between the bias voltage and the base of the second bi-polar transistor.
US09496864B2
A gate drive circuit for applying a voltage to a gate of a semiconductor switching device is disclosed. The gate drive circuit includes a gate drive controller that provides voltage commands for operating the semiconductor switching device, a plurality of primary gate resistors coupled between the gate drive controller and the semiconductor switching device, one or more secondary gate resistors connected in parallel with the primary gate resistors, a primary transistor connected in series with each of the primary gate resistors, and a secondary transistor connected in series with each of the secondary gate resistors. Further, one of the primary or secondary transistors receives the one or more voltage commands from the gate drive controller and provides one or more corresponding voltage levels to the semiconductor switching device via one of the primary or secondary gate resistors so as to control the on-off behavior of the semiconductor switching device.
US09496863B2
A power gating circuit in an integrated circuit, including a circuit block coupled to a virtual power supply line, includes a first transistor and a buffer. The first transistor is coupled between a first power supply line and the virtual power supply line, and has a body coupled to the first power supply line. The buffer buffers a control signal to apply the buffered control signal to the first transistor, and includes a second transistor having a source coupled to a second power supply line and a body coupled to the first power supply line.
US09496856B2
Provided is a ramp signal generating apparatus. The ramp signal generating apparatus includes N (N is a natural number) ramp signal generating cells that are connected in series to each other. Each of the ramp signal generating cells includes a power voltage unit for supplying current source, a latch unit for latching an output voltage of the power voltage unit, and a switch unit for outputting the voltage latched by the latch unit as an output voltage in response to an input signal.
US09496855B2
A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) may be used in a power stage DC-to-DC converter, such as for LED-based light bulbs. The BJT may be switched on and off from a controller coupled to two terminals of the BJT. Through the two terminals, the control IC may dynamically adjust a reverse recovery time period of the BJT. The reverse recovery time period may be adjusted by changing an amount of base charge that accumulates on the BJT. Additional, the reverse recovery may be controlled through the use of a reverse base current source applied to the BJT after beginning switching off the BJT.
US09496852B2
Some embodiments include apparatus and methods having a node to provide a signal, and a control unit arranged to control a value of an output voltage at an output node on an output path based on a duty cycle of the signal and a value of an input voltage. The control unit can also be arranged to cause a change in a resistance on the output path in order to determine a value of a current on the output path based at least on the change in the resistance.
US09496851B2
Circuits and methods for reducing leakage are provided. In one example, a system includes circuitry to reset a particular logic circuit to a state of reduced leakage. The state of reduced leakage would be known beforehand for the logic circuit. In this example, the logic circuit includes the combinational logic as well as flip flops that output a state to the combinational logic. Some of the flip flops are “SET” flip flops (assuming a 1 output value when a reset input is asserted) and some of the flip flops are “RESET” flip flops (assuming a 0 value when a reset input is asserted). The flip flops are chosen as inputs to the combinational logic so that the particular combination of zeros and ones output to the combinational logic puts the logic circuit in a state that is correlated with a desired level of leakage.
US09496847B2
A piezoelectric and ferroelectric bulk wave transducer operating at a predetermined frequency includes a block of substrate, having a first thickness and in a first material, and a piezoelectric and ferroelectric transduction plate, having a length, a width and a second thickness, and in a second piezoelectric material, first and second metal electrodes covering the plate in the direction of the length thereof. The plate has first and second ferroelectric domains with alternating polarizations, distributed along the length of the plate according to a periodic pattern of pitch. The plate is attached perpendicularly to the block so that the width of the plate and the first thickness of the block are the same direction. The first and second material, the first thickness of the block, the length, the width, the second thickness, the pitch of the plate are configured for generating and trapping bulk waves at the operating frequency of the transducer, guided between both electrodes.
US09496846B2
An acoustic wave device includes a piezoelectric substrate, an IDT electrode including plural electrode fingers disposed above an upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate, a first dielectric film made of oxide disposed above the upper surface of the substrate for covering the electrode fingers, and a second dielectric film made of non-oxide disposed on upper surfaces of the electrode fingers and between the first dielectric film and each of the electrode fingers. The first dielectric film contacts the upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate at a position between electrode fingers out of the plural electrode fingers adjacent to each other. The acoustic wave device prevents the electrode fingers of the IDT electrode from corrosion.
US09496844B1
In accordance with systems and methods of the present disclosure, an apparatus may include a variable bandwidth filter having an input for receiving an input signal and an output for receiving an output signal, wherein the output signal is generated by filtering the input signal in conformity with a variable bandwidth of the variable bandwidth filter and the variable bandwidth is set based on an integrated error between the input signal and the output signal.
US09496843B1
Aspects of the present disclose involve a method, a device, and a system comprising a processor and a machine-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions for providing audio level safeguards for output audio signals. In example embodiments, the method includes accessing a most recent audio level of an audio output device and determining whether the most recent audio level transgresses a threshold value. Based on determining the most recent audio level transgresses the threshold value, a current audio level output by the audio output device is set to the threshold value. Thereafter, the current audio level is gradually increased, at repeated time intervals, until it reaches the most recent audio level.
US09496834B2
An operational amplifier circuit includes: a first differential amplifier section containing a P-type differential pair of P-type transistors; a second differential amplifier section containing an N-type differential pair of N-type transistors; an intermediate stage connected with outputs of the first and second differential amplifier sections and containing a first current mirror circuit of P-type transistors, and a second current mirror circuit of N-type transistors; and an output stage configured to amplify an output of the intermediate stage in power. The first differential amplifier section includes a first current source and a first capacitance between sources of the P-type transistors of the P-type differential pair and a positive side power supply voltage. The second differential amplifier section includes a second current source and a second capacitance between sources of the N-type transistors of the N-type differential pair and a negative side power supply voltage.
US09496816B2
An air conditioner equipped with a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger includes: an inverter circuit that drives a motor of the compressor; an inverter-power detecting unit that detects power of the inverter circuit; a PWM-signal generating unit that inverter-current detecting unit generates PWM signals for controlling the inverter circuit; a voltage-command-value generating unit that outputs voltage command values to the PWM-signal generating unit; and an accumulation detecting unit that detects accumulation of a liquid refrigerant within the compressor and outputs a detection result to the voltage-command-value generating unit, wherein when accumulation of a liquid refrigerant within the compressor is detected, the voltage-command-value generating unit outputs the voltage command value so that power of the inverter circuit has a predetermined power value.
US09496814B2
When a motor drive control device is integrated in a semiconductor integrated circuit having a small chip area, calibration for improving the accuracy of detection of a counter electromotive voltage, which is for detecting the speed of a motor, is enabled. A first multiplier performs multiplication between a drive current detection signal and first gain information in a first register. A subtractor performs subtraction between a drive voltage command signal and a first multiplication result in the first multiplier. A second multiplier performs multiplication between a subtraction result in the subtractor and second gain information in a second register to generate counter electromotive voltage information as information on a second multiplication result. The drive voltage command signal in a control unit is set to a predetermined value to generate a condition which maintains the speed of the motor and a counter electromotive voltage at substantially zero.
US09496810B2
The invention relates to a method for controlling an electrical machine (10) by means of an inverter (12), in particular for use in a motor vehicle, wherein the inverter (12) has a plurality of controllable circuit breakers (14) which are designed to convert a DC voltage from a voltage source (22), which is coupled to the circuit breakers (14), into an AC voltage for supplying electrical energy to the electrical machine (10), wherein the electrical machine (10) is then switched to a freewheeling mode (32) by opening all the circuit breakers (14) of the inverter (12), wherein a phase current of the electrical machine (10) is detected, wherein the electrical machine (10) is switched from the freewheeling mode (32) to a short-circuit mode (36) as a function of a comparison (34) of the phase current, or of a first variable which is derived from the phrase current, with a first reference value, wherein the circuit breakers (14) which are associated with a first potential of the voltage source (22) are closed in the short-circuit mode (32) and wherein the circuit breakers (14) which are associated with a second potential of the voltage source (22) are opened, and wherein the electrical machine (10) is switched from the short-circuit mode (36) to the freewheeling mode (32) as a function of a comparison (38) of the phrase current, or of a second variable which is derived from the phrase current, with a second reference value.
US09496808B2
A method and apparatus (2) for masking a portion (36) of a component (30), the apparatus (2) comprising: a sacrificial masking element (4) for masking the portion (36); and a locating jig (6) detachably connectable to the sacrificial masking element (4) and configured to position the sacrificial masking element (4) over the portion (36) of the component (30).
US09496806B2
A MEMS device is a MEMS device having a MEMS vibrator which includes a plurality of MEMS constituent elements laminated and formed above a first foundation portion which is laminated above a main surface of a wafer substrate, and the MEMS constituent elements are laminated above a first oxide film and a nitride film so as to cover an opening which is formed in the nitride film and exposes a second foundation portion above which the nitride film is laminated.
US09496803B2
We describe a photovoltaic (PV) power generation system comprising at least two PV panels and a power conditioning unit. The dc power outputs of the PV panels are connected in parallel to a dc power input of the power conditioning unit. The power conditioning unit comprises a dc-to-dc converter having an input coupled to the dc power input and an output coupled to a dc link of the unit, a dc-to-ac converter having an input coupled to the dc link and an ac mains power supply output, and an energy storage capacitor coupled to the dc link. The power conditioning unit is configured to perform maximum power point tracking (MPPT) responsive to a level of power flowing into the dc power input, and the level of power flowing into said dc power input is sensed at the dc link. In preferred implementations the energy storage capacitor is a non-electrolytic capacitor.
US09496779B2
A drive device includes a rotational drive device with a rotating stator and a rotating armature for displacing a shaft in a rotational movement and a linear drive device with a linear stator and a linear armature for displacing a shaft in a linear movement. The rotational drive device and the linear drive device are arranged axially one behind the other, with the rotating armature and the linear armature being connected to a respective shaft section. The shaft sections of the rotating armature and the linear armature are axially aligned and connected to each other in a rotationally fixed manner such that the shaft sections can move axially with respect to each other but they can only rotate together.
US09496773B2
A rotating electrical machine includes a stator and a rotor. The stator winding includes a plurality of conductor segments inserted through the slots from one end surface of the stator core with end portions of the conductor segments projecting out beyond another end surface of the stator core. The conductor segments include an undeformed portion, a plastically deformed portion formed at the end portions thereof and a tapered portion. The plastically deformed portion has a dimension of the plastically deformed portion along a circumferential direction that is greater than a dimension of the undeformed portion along the circumferential direction and so that a dimension of the plastically deformed portion along a radial direction is smaller than a dimension of the undeformed portion along the radial direction. The conductor segments are welded together at tops of the plastically deformed portions thereof.
US09496771B2
An electric motor includes a yoke having a plurality of magnetic poles, a rotary shaft, an armature core (8) attached to the rotary shaft, the armature core (8) having a plurality of teeth (12) and slots (13), an armature coil (9) wound on the teeth (12) through an intensive winding method, a commutator having a plurality of segments (15) installed at the rotary shaft and disposed in a circumferential direction, a low speed brush (21a) and a high speed brush (21b) configured to supply power to the armature coil (9) via the segments (15), and a common brush (21c) commonly used in these brushes, wherein, when n is a natural number of 3 or more, a ratio of the numbers of magnetic poles, slots (13), and segments (15) is set to 2:3:3n.
US09496768B2
Embodiments provide an electrical machine, comprising: first and second moveable elements arranged to interact in a magnetically geared manner via a magnetic field created, at least in part, by a first electrical winding arrangement associated with the first moveable element; and a second electrical winding arrangement which is arranged to interact magnetically with a fundamental harmonic of a magnetic field created by the first electric winding arrangement associated with the first moveable element.
US09496767B2
A motor includes an outer frame, a vibration-proof base, and a motor body. The outer frame includes a supporting base. The vibration-proof base is disposed at the supporting base of the outer frame and includes a base body and a vibration-proof ring. The base body includes an upper surface and a side surface. The vibration-proof ring is sleeved around the side surface of the base body. The vibration-proof ring is in contact with the supporting base. The motor body is disposed on the base body. The disclosure can greatly reduce vibration generated in the operation of the motor and reduce noises.
US09496763B2
A driving unit includes a stator, a housing including a tubular section to accommodate the stator, a cover coupled to the housing to block an upper opening of the tubular section, and a bent wire rod defined by a wire to press the stator against the tubular section, the bent wire rod being arranged between a top surface of the stator and a rear surface of the cover while being compressingly deformed along an axis of the stator. The bent wire rod has an annular or substantially annular shape with an opened portion when seen along the axis, and includes projections projecting upward along the axis and depressions projecting downward along the axis being arranged alternately and successively. An elastic force from the bent wire rod causes the stator to receive a downward force along the axis. The stator is pressed against the tubular section to hold the stator in the housing.
US09496758B2
A rotor for a rotating electric machine includes a rotor core, a plurality of permanent magnets, and a rotating shaft. The rotor core includes a through-hole, an inner circumference-side rotor core, an outer circumference-side rotor core, and a plurality of ribs. Each of the plurality of ribs includes a first curved rib and a second curved rib. The first curved rib extends to one side in a circumferential direction from an inner circumference side toward an outer circumference side. The first curved rib has a curved shape that bulges toward the outer circumference side and toward another side in the circumferential direction beyond a straight line that connects a first connecting portion between the first curved rib and the inner circumference-side rotor core and a second connecting portion between the first curved rib and the outer circumference-side rotor core.
US09496755B2
This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus for filtering of a rectifier in a wireless power receiver. In one aspect a wireless power receiver is provided. The wireless power receiver includes a rectifier circuit configured to provide direct-current (DC) based at least in part on a time-varying voltage generated via a wireless field provided from a wireless power transmitter. The wireless power receiver further includes a band-stop filter circuit configured to filter an output of the rectifier circuit and electrically isolate a capacitor from the rectifier circuit at an operating frequency.
US09496753B2
A control arrangement and to a method for supplying electrical power in an elevator system are disclosed. The control arrangement includes a sensor detecting movement of an elevator car and also a control of the lighting of the elevator car. The control of the lighting of the elevator car is configured to control the emergency lighting of the elevator car on the basis of movement data of the elevator car expressed by the sensor detecting movement of the elevator car.
US09496752B2
To provide a hybrid power source system in which either a solar cell or a fuel cell and a secondary cell are combined with each other, and the secondary cell is used as an electric power buffer and which can maintain a high energy efficiency even when there is a change in a charging state of the secondary cell, a change in an operating condition, or a secular change in a member, prevent overcharging of the secondary cell, and suppress thermal deterioration of the solar cell or the fuel cell due to generation of a surplus electric power unable to be taken out. A hybrid power source system is composed of a solar cell module 1 or a fuel cell module, a DC/DC converter (2) which supplies a suitable voltage to a load (3) and a secondary cell (4) after converting an electric power generated by the module into the suitable voltage, the secondary cell (4), and a shunt circuit (a constant voltage diode (6) or a shunt regulator IC) which is connected in parallel with the secondary cell (4), and which, when the secondary cell (4) is substantially in a full charging state, transforms substantially all of a surplus electric power which is not consumed in the load (3), of the generated electric power, into heat to abandon the resulting heat.
US09496750B2
A charging system detachably drawing from a power source comprising: (a) an electrical output configuration; (b) an electrical input configuration; and (c) an energy store configuration; and methods of provisioning the energy store, the charging system, and electric vehicle charger devices.
US09496748B2
Systems and methods for controlling a hybrid power architecture to provide fuel or energy savings. Recharge time of an energy storage device (ESD) is reduced through the application of a controlled potential and ESD recharge time management over the life of the hybrid system through manipulation of the ESD charge state window of operation. Fuel or energy savings is achieved by controlling the partial-state-of-charge (PSOC) window of the ESD based on a recharge resistance profile of the ESD and by controlling a charging potential applied to the ESD based on a recharge current and/or the estimated recharge resistance profile of the ESD.
US09496741B2
A method and apparatus for controlling wireless transmission to a wireless power receiver in a wireless power transmitter is provided. The method includes transmitting charging power to the wireless power receiver; detecting whether a predetermined power tracking triggering event for adjusting an applied transmission power according to power information of the wireless power receiver occurs; and adjusting, upon determining that the predetermined triggering event has occurred, the applied transmission power.
US09496737B2
A charge device is provided. The charge device includes a power storage, a transmission circuit, and a determination circuit. The power storage provides an output voltage signal. The transmission circuit is electrically connected to a first node and a detection node. The transmission circuit receives the output voltage signal. When a voltage of the detection node is at a predetermined level, the transmission circuit transmits the output voltage signal to the first node. The determination circuit is electrically connected to the first node. The determination circuit determines whether a voltage value of the output voltage signal is greater than a threshold. When the determination circuit determines that the voltage value of the output voltage signal is greater than the threshold, the charge device generates a charge voltage signal according to the output voltage signal.
US09496736B1
An accessory device or rechargeable energy pack includes a rechargeable battery or other energy storage that is rechargeable by way of an external source. Energy stored within the accessory device may be used recharge one or more other load devices, such as portable computers, smart phones, or other apparatus. The accessory device may be configured to estimate operating times for such various load devices based on their own respective, stored energy levels, and to communicate those estimates to the load devices or other entities. The accessory device may control an amount of energy delivered to a load device based on estimated energy consumption for a future period of time. Operating times for respective load devices may be increased or managed by way of operations and resources of the accessory device.
US09496732B2
Systems and methods for enabling efficient wireless power transfer, and charging of devices and batteries, in a manner that allows freedom of placement of the devices or batteries in one or multiple (e.g., one, two or three) dimensions. In accordance with various embodiments, applications include inductive or magnetic charging and power, and wireless powering or charging of, e.g., mobile, electronic, electric, lighting, batteries, power tools, kitchen, military, medical or dental, industrial applications, vehicles, trains, or other devices or products. In accordance with various embodiments, the systems and methods can also be generally applied, e.g., to power supplies or other power sources or charging systems, such as systems for transfer of wireless power to a mobile, electronic or electric device, vehicle, or other product.
US09496721B2
A storage apparatus comprises a plurality of storage cells connected in series. Each storage cell comprises a storage element that stores a charge, a container that houses the storage element, a reception antenna capable of receiving power transmitted from a transmission antenna of a feeding facility provided in a wireless power transfer system, and a charging control circuit that charges the storage element using the power received by the reception antenna. The plurality of storage cells are charged concurrently and wirelessly, and therefore charging can be performed on all of the storage cells without overcharging or undercharging.
US09496720B2
A method and apparatus is provided in which a radio frequency identification (RIFD) tag is associated with the storage battery and is used in conjunction with a battery test, battery charger, or other battery maintenance. A cable configured to be affixed to the storage battery. The cable is configured to store information and wirelessly communicate the information to a battery tester. A battery maintenance device configured to couple to the battery and to perform battery maintenance on the battery through the cable. The battery maintenance device includes wireless communication circuitry configured to communicate with a memory of the cable.
US09496715B2
A method for determining the contribution of a grid subsystem (12) to oscillations in grid frequency experienced by an external electrical grid (14) in an electrical power network (10). A measurement of grid frequency is taken in the grid sub-system (12) and/or the external electrical grid (14). The measurement(s) of grid frequency can be used to extract oscillations in grid frequency in the grid subsystem (12) and/or the external electrical grid (14). A measurement of active power is recorded on a transmission line (16c) between the grid subsystem (12) and the external electrical grid (14). The phase relationship between the oscillations in grid frequency and the oscillations in active power allows the contribution of the grid subsystem (2) to oscillations in grid frequency in the external electrical grid (14) to be determined.
US09496709B2
A protective circuit module for a secondary battery is provided including a circuit board. At least one protection control circuit element for preventing overcharge and over-discharge of the secondary battery is mounted on the circuit board. A first conductive pad is coupled to the circuit board. A positive temperature coefficient device is between the at least one protection control circuit and the first conductive pad such that when a secondary battery temperature reaches a threshold value, resistance of the positive temperature coefficient device is increased and battery current is reduced.
US09496705B2
A protection circuit of a communication interface includes: a first-level protection circuit, a second-level protection circuit and a third-level protection circuit that are sequentially connected, wherein the first-level protection circuit comprises a current discharge circuit comprising a first connection end, a second connection end and a third connection end, wherein the first connection end is connected with a first signal line of an RS-485 port, the second connection end is connected with a second signal line of the RS-485 port, and the third connection end is connected to the protection ground; the second-level protection circuit comprises a first current limiting resistor, a second current limiting resistor and a bidirectional transient suppression diode; and the third-level protection circuit comprises a voltage discharge circuit.
US09496704B2
A first protective device monitors a first section of a power supply network for a symmetrical short-circuit and a second protective device monitors a second section for a symmetrical short-circuit. The second protective device is a reserve protective device, which emits a shut-off command to a power switch after a time lag when a symmetrical short-circuit in the first section is recognized. An oscillation recognition unit emits an oscillating signal which blocks the shutoff command if an oscillation in the power supply network has been recognized. External symmetrical short-circuits can be disconnected independently of an occurring oscillation, when the second protective device has recognized a symmetrical short-circuit in the first section, before the oscillation recognition unit recognizes an oscillation in the power supply network, the shut-off command is emitted independently of the presence of an oscillating signal if the lag time has elapsed.
US09496685B2
There is provided a laser emitting apparatus including a semiconductor laser, a grating positioned relative to the semiconductor laser to form a resonator structure therebetween, and an optical system positioned between the semiconductor laser and the grating. The optical system is configured and arranged so that confocal points are formed on both a light emitting surface of the semiconductor laser and a reflection surface of the grating.
US09496682B2
According to the present invention there is provided a method of operating a laser comprising the steps of; defining an intensity value (KVIDEO red, KVIDEO green, KVIDEO blue) for a light beam which is to be output from the laser; determining if the defined intensity value is greater than, or less than, a threshold intensity (KTH red, KTH green, KTH blue) for the laser, wherein the threshold intensity is the intensity of the light which is output from the laser when the input current to the laser is equal to the threshold current (ITH red, ITH green, ITH blue) of the laser, wherein the threshold current (ITH red, ITH green, ITH blue) of the laser is an input current value below which the laser would operate in its light emitting region and equal to, or above which, the laser will operate in its laser region; operating the laser using current from at least a DAC current source if the defined intensity value (KVIDEO red, KVIDEO green, KVIDEO blue) is greater than the threshold intensity (KTH red, KTH green, KTH blue), wherein the DAC current source operates the laser by inputting to the laser a continuous current which has an amplitude which is greater than the threshold current (ITH red, ITH green, ITH blue) of the laser, and which has an amplitude such that the laser is operated to output a light beam which has an intensity equal to the defined intensity value (KVIDEO red, KVIDEO green, KVIDEO blue); and operating the laser using current from the PWM current source only, if the defined intensity value (KVIDEO red, KVIDEO green, KVIDEO blue) is less than the threshold intensity (KTH red, KTH green, KTH blue), wherein the PWM current source operates the laser by inputting to the laser a current which has an amplitude which is at least equal to the threshold current value (ITH red, ITH green, ITH blue) of the laser, and wherein the duration of time over which the PWM current source inputs its current to the laser is such that the laser is operated to output a light beam which has an intensity equal to the defined intensity value (KVIDEO red, KVIDEO green, KVIDEO blue). There is further provided a corresponding laser driver.
US09496676B2
[Problem] In an optical amplifier, the excitation light level of an excited laser diode decreases, or, when the output of an excitation light is stopped, a backup excited laser diode is operated, and therefore the current consumption increases. [Solution] This optical amplifier is provided with multiple excitation laser diodes, a first current control element, a second current control element, and control means. The excitation laser diodes oscillate excitation light, the excitation light being inputted to an optical fiber amplifier. The first current control element controls a current flowing in the excitation laser diodes. The second current control element controls a current flowing in at least one of the excitation laser diodes. The control means controls the first current control element and the second current control element.
US09496673B2
The present invention is a charged-particle gun (EG) in which a negative electrode (1) and a positive electrode (9) are integrated and assembled in advance, and which can be stored and transported in a state in which the negative electrode and the positive electrode are integrated, wherein the negative electrode and the positive electrode are connected by a conductor (11) during storage and transportation of the charged-particle gun. It is thereby possible to prevent an electrode tip of the charged-particle gun from being damaged by electrical discharge caused by static electricity during storage and transportation.
US09496669B2
A sliding contact arrangement (13) is used in an erosion arrangement (10) or an erosion machine. The sliding contact arrangement (13) establishes an electrical connection with a slip ring (14), whereby said slip ring can be driven about a rotational axis (D), and with a current source or voltage source (11). The sliding contact arrangement (13) has an electrical connecting line (12) that can be electrically connected to the current source or voltage source (11). The connecting line (12) is mechanically and electrically connected to an electrically conductive body (20). On an underside (21) associated with the slip ring (14), the body (20) includes a plurality of projecting contact wires (35) bundled into several strands. In not loaded, not bent state, the strands (37) extend parallel to each other away from the underside (21) toward their free ends (39), which contact a common generated surface of a cylinder.
US09496666B2
A electrical distribution unit comprising a housing, a securing unit connected to the housing and to a seat track in an aircraft, at least one outlet unit on the housing, an electronic connection unit in the housing that is connected to a power distribution system, and where the outlet unit is electronically connected to the electronic distribution unit to provide power to a device connected to the at least one outlet unit.
US09496661B2
A coaxial cable connector comprising a connector body; a post engageable with the connector body, wherein the post includes a flange; a nut, axially rotatable with respect to the post and the connector body, the nut having a first end and an opposing second end, wherein the nut includes an internal lip, and wherein a second end portion of the nut corresponds to the portion of the nut extending from the second end of the nut to the side of the lip of the nut facing the first end of the nut at a point nearest the second end of the nut, and a first end portion of the nut corresponds to the portion of the nut extending from the first end of the nut to the same point nearest the second end of the nut of the same side of the lip facing the first end of the nut; and a continuity member disposed within the second end portion of the nut and contacting the post and the nut, so that the continuity member extends electrical grounding continuity through the post and the nut is provided.
US09496653B2
A receptacle connector includes an insulative housing with a mating tongue, a plurality of contacts having front contacting sections exposed upon two opposite surfaces of the mating tongue and rear tail sections extending downwardly outside of the housing for mounting to a printed circuit board. A metallic shield encloses said housing and forms a capsular mating cavity with said mating tongue extending forwardly therein. A metallic shielding plate includes a front horizontal section embedded with the mating tongue to isolate the contacting sections of the contacts which are located on two different opposite surfaces, and a rear vertical section extending downwardly from a rear edge of the front horizontal section to isolate the tail sections of the contacts which are arranged in two rows with said rear vertical section therebewteen.
US09496644B2
A communication outlet for use with a communication plug. The outlet includes a shutter door biased by at least one biasing member toward a closed position in which the shutter door substantially obstructs the opening. Insertion of the communication plug into the opening transitions the shutter door from the closed position to an open position. Optionally, the outlet includes a shutter lock member adjacent the shutter door. The shutter lock member prevents the shutter door from transitioning from the closed position to the open position when the shutter lock member is in a locked position. The shutter lock member is transitionable from the locked position to an unlocked position by the insertion of the communication plug into the opening. Optionally, the outlet includes a wire manager configured to position a plurality of wires to engage a plurality of wire contacts inside the outlet.
US09496641B2
An electrical wire protective cover is assembled to a connector to cover an electrical wire pulled out of the connector. The electrical wire protective cover includes: a cover body configured to receive the electrical wire and having a wire receiving channel with an opening along a wire extending direction of the electrical wire; and a temporary wire retaining piece protruding from the cover body in a direction narrowing the opening of the wire receiving channel, and configured to allow the electrical wire to be inserted by a bending deformation of the temporary wire retaining piece into an inside of the wire receiving channel and prevent a movement of the electrical wire received in the wire receiving channel to an outside of the wire receiving channel.
US09496640B1
A socket protector includes a socket attachment portion and a fixture attachment portion disposed adjacent to the socket attachment portion. The socket attachment portion can include at least one pair of socket attachment features, where the at least one pair of socket attachment features is configured to detachably couple to a socket of a light fixture. The fixture attachment portion can include at least one fixture attachment feature, where the at least one fixture attachment feature detachably couples to at least one housing feature of a number of housing features of a housing of the light fixture.
US09496639B2
An electrical connection adapted for providing an electro-mechanical connection through a hole in a wall of a wheeled vehicle is disclosed. It includes an interior cable that meets SAE standard J560 and which includes an interior plug portion that has a 6-around-1 female electrical connector array. The electrical connection also includes a socket that meets SAE standard J560 and is adapted via a male interior 6-around-1 electrical connector array to provide an electrical connection to the interior cable. A gasket member is separately formed from the interior plug portion and includes a central opening sized and shaped to receive through it a connection of the interior cable plug and the socket. The gasket forms an uninterrupted water seal with the exterior side of the wall of the wheeled vehicle. One or more guide members are disclosed.
US09496633B1
Apparatuses and processes associated with a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) adaptor card. Specifically, the DIMM adaptor card may be configured to removeably couple with a slot of a printed circuit board (PCB). The DIMM adaptor card may further be configured to removeably couple with a first DIMM and a second DIMM. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09496630B2
A holding member and system including a first and a second holding member, wherein each of the first holding member and the second holding member are coupled to opposite sides of a load plate of a socket. A holding member includes a body including a pair of arms extending from a first side of the body and spaced to accommodate a portion of an integrated circuit chip package therebetween and at least one clip extending from a second side opposite the first side. Also, a method including coupling an integrated circuit chip package to a first holding member and a second holding member, wherein the first holding member is coupled to a first side of a load plate of a socket and the second holding member is coupled to a second side of the load plate; and inserting the package into a socket of a printed circuit board.
US09496628B2
A separating and contact assembly into which a sheathed or bundled wire cable may be inserted having separating fins to separate the component wires of the bundle guided through separate channels to terminal contact areas conductively coupled to relay contact areas.
US09496623B2
A wireless electronic device includes a printed circuit board (PCB) with first, second, and third conductive layers separated from one another by dielectric layers. A stripline is included in the first conductive layer. Two highband dipole antenna strips are included in the second conductive layer and/or two lowband dipole antenna strips are included in the third conductive layer. The wireless electronic device may be configured to resonate at a lowband resonant frequency corresponding to the two lowband dipole antenna strips and resonate at a highband resonant frequency corresponding to the two highband dipole antenna strips when excited by a signal transmitted and/or received though the stripline.
US09496620B2
Devices and systems, and methods of using them, for point-to-point transmission/communication of high bandwidth signals. Radio devices and systems may include a pair of reflectors (e.g., parabolic reflectors) that are adjacent to each other and configured so that one of the reflectors is dedicated for sending/transmitting information, and the adjacent reflector is dedicated for receiving information. Both reflectors may be in a fixed configuration relative to each other so that they are aligned to send/receive in parallel. In many variations the two reflectors are formed of a single housing, so that the parallel alignment is fixed, and reflectors cannot lose alignment. The device/systems may be configured to allow switching between duplexing modes. These devices/systems may be configured as wide bandwidth zero intermediate frequency radios including alignment modules for automatic alignment of in-phase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.
US09496612B2
A transmission system and method for use in a mobile communication network comprising an active antenna arrangement of multiple antennas. The active antenna arrangement comprising several pairs of radiofrequency sub-modules each radiofrequency sub-module including a first phase shifter module, a TRX module and a radiating antenna element and where an dynamic phase offset is applied to one of the sub-modules of each pair, and where the phase offset vector is selected according to the signal quality received by users of the mobile communication network using an algorithm which minimizes the duration of the selection process.
US09496606B2
A transmission line has a triplate line including a first outer conductor and a second outer conductor disposed in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval, and a central conductor disposed in a space between the first outer conductor and the second outer conductor; and a dielectric spacer interposed between the first and second outer conductors and the central conductor and configured to support the central conductor. The central conductor has a supported portion supported by the dielectric spacer, and first and second high-impedance portions having characteristic impedances higher than a characteristic impedance in the supported portion. The first and second high-impedance portions are disposed on input and output sides, respectively, of the supported portion.
US09496598B2
Provided is a wireless communication system which has excellent communication characteristics even between antenna modules having antenna coils between which there is a large difference in outside diameter. The wireless communication system includes: a first antenna module including a first antenna coil; and a second antenna module including a second antenna coil and capable of communication by receiving a magnetic field transmitted from the first antenna module, in which the first antenna coil and the second antenna coil have mutually different outside diameters, and, out of the first antenna coil and the second antenna coil, the antenna coil having a larger outside diameter is formed in such a way that the area of an opening portion inside the innermost perimeter of an antenna pattern is not more than 120% of the outside diameter area of the other antenna coil having a smaller outside diameter.
US09496593B2
Various embodiments of a millimeter-wave system operative to enhance propagation of millimeter-waves inside a laminate waveguide structure, in which electrical energy has leaked outside the laminated waveguide structure. The system comprises a laminate waveguide structure inside a printed circuit board, and an electrically conductive fence also inside the printed circuit board but outside the laminate waveguide structure. In various embodiments, the electrical energy of millimeter-waves leaks outside the laminate waveguide structure and is reflected by the electrically conducive fence back into the laminate waveguide structure.
US09496590B2
The invention provides a method for generating Li2O2 or composites of it, the method uses mixing lithium ions with oxygen ions in the presence of a catalyst. The catalyst comprises a plurality of metal clusters, their alloys and mixtures, each cluster consisting of between 3 and 18 metal atoms. The invention also describes a lithium-air battery which uses a lithium metal anode, and a cathode opposing the anode. The cathode supports metal clusters, each cluster consisting of size selected clusters, taken from a range of between approximately 3 and approximately 18 metal atoms, and an electrolyte positioned between the anode and the cathode.
US09496589B2
A system for packaging and thermal management of battery cells in a battery module is provided. The battery module comprises at last one extruded aluminum or aluminum alloy profile (40) provided with a plurality of thermal transfer fins (42) arranged at a space from each other. A plurality of battery cells (1) is mounted in the at least one profile (40) in thermal contact with the thermal transfer fins (42). Thermal transfer medium is arranged in thermal contact with the at least one profile (40) so that thermal energy is conducted through the aluminum or aluminum alloy profile (40) so that thermal energy is conducted through the aluminum or aluminum alloy profile (40) from/to the battery cells (1) to/from the thermal transfer medium.
US09496586B1
A power control apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a sensing unit configured to measure a temperature of a battery cell, an outside air temperature around the battery cell and a load current, an adjusting unit configured to adjust power supplied from the battery cell to a load, and a control unit configured to estimate a future temperature change of the battery cell based on the temperature of the battery cell, the outside air temperature around the cell and the load current measured by the sensing unit, analyze the estimated future temperature change of the cell, and control the adjusting unit to reduce the power supplied from the battery cell to the load when the temperature of the battery cell is estimated to increase above a limit temperature for a preset reference time.
US09496582B1
Various embodiments are directed to a flexible battery structure comprising patterned active layers. An example battery structure comprises a sheet of current collector material, first and second active layers, and a first electrolyte layer. The first active layer may be disposed on the sheet and may comprise a plurality of active material portions and a plurality of slots, where each of the plurality of slots separates a set of at least to adjacent active material portions.
US09496578B2
A membrane electrode assembly is provided for use in a fuel cell and utilizes an external manifold and seal structure which are molded directly to the gas diffusion layers. The integrated manifold and gas diffusion layers are formed as duplicate components which can be oriented 180 degrees offset to one another to create the MEA assembly with a catalyst coated membrane disposed therebetween. The integrated manifold and seal structures can be held together by heat pressing or other known connection techniques.
US09496566B2
Disclosed is a stack for simulating a cell voltage reversal behavior in a fuel cell. The stack is configured to have a structure in which a separator of a portion of a plurality of cells in the stack have an inlet of a hydrogen flow field partially blocked to induce hydrogen starvation only in the portion of the plurality of cells.
US09496557B2
A current collector for an electrochemical cell includes a member having an outer member and an inner member coupled to the outer member by a plurality of flexible arms configured to allow the inner member to move relative to the outer member.
US09496552B2
The subject matter of the invention are transition-metal-free nitrogen-containing hydride anodes of the general formula LioNH3-o, where o=1, 2 or 3, and wherein said transition-metal-free nitrogen-containing hydride anodes, in the charged state, are mixed with lithium hydride, and electrochemical elements, for example lithium batteries, which contain said transition-metal-free nitrogen-containing hydride anodes as the anode. The invention also describes methods for producing transition-metal-free nitrogen-containing hydride anode materials and electrochemical elements comprising transition-metal-free nitrogen-containing hydride anodes.
US09496550B2
Provided is a hydrogen storage alloy which is characterized in that two or more crystal phases having different crystal structures are layered in a c-axis direction of the crystal structures. The hydrogen storage alloy is further characterized in that a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of a lattice constant a in the crystal structures of the laminated two or more crystal phases is 0.03 Å or less.
US09496547B2
A composite electrode material of a lithium secondary battery and a lithium secondary battery are provided. The composite electrode material of the lithium secondary battery at least includes an electrode active powder and a nanoscale coating layer coated on the surface of the electrode active powder, wherein the nanoscale coating layer is composed of a metastable state polymer, a compound A, a compound B, or a combination thereof. The compound A is a monomer having a reactive terminal functional group, and the compound B is a heterocyclic amino aromatic derivative used as an initiator. The weight ratio of the nanoscale coating layer to the composite electrode material of the lithium secondary battery is 0.005% to 10%.
US09496540B2
Disclosed herein is a plate-shaped secondary battery used as a unit cell for middle- or large-sized battery pack, the secondary battery having an electrode assembly, which can be charged and discharged, mounted in a sheet-shaped battery case including a metal layer and a resin layer in a sealed state, the electrode assembly having electrode terminals protruding outside a sealing part of the battery case, wherein at least one of the electrode terminals is provided at a position spaced a predetermined distance from the sealing part with a self cutting part having a vertical sectional area less than that of the remaining part of the at least one electrode terminal such that the self cutting part can break first when overcurrent flows in the secondary battery.
US09496536B2
A backpack-type power supply includes: a plurality of cell units (52) each configured of a plurality of secondary battery cell (51); a case (12) configured to accommodate the cell units and having first and second contacts; and a harness (13) attached to the case, characterized by including; first connecting means (581, 571) for electrically connecting the first contact and a positive terminal of each cell unit to form a first electrical path therebetween; and second connecting means (572, 582) for electrically connecting the second contact and a negative terminal of each cell unit to form a second electrical path therebetween, each first electrical path and each second electrical path forming a total electrical path having a total resistance for each cell unit, the total resistance of each total electrical path being adjusted such that heat distribution is substantially uniform over the plurality of cell units in the case.
US09496530B2
An electrical power storage unit for motor vehicles, having a housing comprising an electrical battery cell pack in a first housing section and an electrical circuit therefor in a second housing section separated from the first housing section and separately openable, wherein the second housing section has at least one separated and independently openable maintenance region, which—with the exception of an optional contact-protected high-voltage fuse—does not comprise any electrical circuit components operating above a predetermined low-voltage limit, preferably 60 V DC.
US09496523B1
A device, includes a substrate, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) disposed over the substrate, a first layer optically coupled to the OLED and having a first surface including a first plurality of topographical surface features and an index of refraction n1, and an enhancement layer optically coupled to the OLED and vertically stacked with the first layer, having a thickness of not more than 100 nm, a second surface including a second plurality of topographical surface features, and an index of refraction n2, wherein n2 has at least a 0.1 difference from an index of refraction of at a top layer and a bottom layer adjacent to the enhancement layer.
US09496522B2
Devices and components are provided that include a curved outcoupling component and an OLED, where the outcoupling component provides up to 100% outcoupling of light emitted by the OLED into air. The outcoupling component has an outer radius R and includes a material with a refractive index n. The OLED is in optical communication with the outcoupling component and disposed such that each emissive element of the OLED is within a distance r measured from the center of curvature of the surface at the outer radius R, such that R−r>(n−1)r.
US09496503B2
An organic compound having a low HOMO level and a high hole-transport property is provided. The organic compound is represented by Formula (G1), where Ar1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted fluorenyl group, Ar2 represents a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 13 carbon atoms, and A1 represents any one of a substituted or unsubstituted dibenzofuranyl group and a substituted or unsubstituted dibenzothiophenyl group. The low HOMO level and the high hole-transport property of the organic compound allow the formation of an exciplex with another organic compound, which leads to a highly efficient light-emitting element in the presence of a phosphorescent compound due to the effective overlapping between the emission of the exciplex and the longest absorption band of the phosphorescent compound.
US09496492B2
A resistance switching device having a high resistance variation ratio, an excellent response characteristic, an excellent resistance memory characteristic (retention characteristics) and an excellent repeat resistance. The resistance switching device comprises an n-type oxide semiconductor and first and second electrodes which are disposed so as to interpose at least a part of the n-type oxide semiconductor therebetween wherein a Schottky junction which provides resistance variation/memory characteristics by the application of voltage having different polarities between the first and second electrodes is formed at an interface between the n-type oxide semiconductor and the first electrode; and the first electrode is positioned such that it is in contact with the n-type oxide semiconductor, and has a lower layer which is formed from Au oxide or a Pt oxide or Au or Pt containing oxygen having the thickness of 1-50 nm.
US09496485B2
A piezoelectric material is expressed as a mixed crystal including a complex oxide having a perovskite structure and a rhombohedral structure and a complex oxide having a perovskite structure and a tetragonal structure, and the molar ratio of the complex oxide having a rhombohedral structure to the complex oxide having a tetragonal structure (rhombohedral crystal/tetragonal crystal) is 0.54 to less than 1.20.
US09496476B2
A thermoelectric conversion module includes p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion elements arranged between two stacked substrates. The p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion elements include columnar p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion portions, insulators provided in side surfaces of the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion portions, and diffusion preventing films provided on top surface, the top surface different from the side surface of the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion portions. Each stacked substrate includes an interconnecting layer that electrically connects the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion portions through the diffusion preventing films, and a jointing material that joins the diffusion preventing films and the interconnecting layer. Top surfaces of the diffusion preventing films are projected from upper and lower top surfaces of each insulator in a direction connecting the upper and lower top surfaces of the p-type and n-type thermoelectric conversion portions, and gap is provided on each insulator in the direction.
US09496466B2
Light emitter devices with improved light extraction and related methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, the light emitter device can include a submount, at least one light emitting chip disposed over the submount, and a lens disposed over the light emitting chip. The lens can include a lens base that can have substantially the same geometry as a geometry of the submount.
US09496463B2
A phosphor as a divalent europium-activated oxynitride green light emitting phosphor which is a β-type SiAlON substantially represented by a general formula (A): EuaSibAlcOdNe (where a, b, c, d, and e are numbers satisfying 0.005≦a≦0.4, b+c=12, and d+e=16), and having an average particle size (d1) (determined by an air permeability method) of 9 to 16 μm, a median diameter (50% D) in particle size distribution of 12.5 to 35 μm, 50% D/d1 of 1.4 to 2.2, and an absorptance at 600 nm of not more than 8.0%, and a light emitting apparatus, a BL light source apparatus, and a liquid crystal display device using the same are provided, to provide a light emitting apparatus with a high efficiency and a stable characteristic and a liquid crystal display apparatus using the same by using the β-type SiAlON having controlled dispersibility and improved transparency.
US09496461B2
A LED package structure including a carrier substrate, a flip-chip LED and a molding compound is provided. The carrier substrate includes a main body and a patterned conductive layer embedded in the main body. The main body is composed of polymer material. The main body has a cavity, and a bottom surface of the cavity is aligned with an upper surface of the patterned conductive layer. A difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the main body in a rubbery state and the patterned conductive layer is smaller than 30 ppm/° C. The flip-chip LED is disposed inside the cavity and electrically connected to the patterned conductive layer. The molding compound is disposed inside the cavity and encapsulates the flip-chip LED. A vertical distance between a top surface of the molding compound and the bottom surface of the cavity is smaller than or equal to a depth of the cavity.
US09496458B2
A light emitting device includes an epitaxial region, an insulating layer on the epitaxial region, a bond pad on the insulating layer, and a crack reducing feature in the insulating layer. The crack reducing feature is configured to reduce the propagation of cracks in the insulating layer to an outside surface of the insulating layer. Related methods are also disclosed.
US09496453B2
There is provided a method for producing a Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device having a low driving voltage, which is realized by steeply increasing the concentration of Mg within a p-type semiconductor layer. This production method includes the steps of forming an n-type contact layer, forming an n-side high electrostatic breakdown voltage layer, forming an n-side superlattice layer, forming a light-emitting layer, forming a p-type cladding layer, forming a p-type intermediate layer, and forming a p-type contact layer. The step of forming the p-type cladding layer includes supplying a dopant gas without supplying a first raw material gas (TMG) containing a Group III element during a first period TA1 and supplying the first raw material gas (TMG) and the dopant gas during a second period TA2 after the first period TA1 so as to grow a semiconductor layer.
US09496452B2
Methods and systems for repairing oxidation of CIGS surfaces during manufacture of a CIGS solar cell are generally disclosed. Oxidation of an absorber reduces the photoluminescence intensity of the CIGS surface. The absorber is immersed in a reduction tank having a reducing reagent therein. The reducing reagent reverses the oxidation of the CIGS absorber, increasing the interface quality and corresponding photoluminescence intensity. After reversing the oxidation, a buffer layer is deposited on the CIGS absorber to prevent further surface oxidation.
US09496444B2
The invention is related to a method for forming dendritic silver with periodic structure as light-trapping layer, includes these steps: form a photoresist layer on a conductive substrate, and at least two coherent light beams is provided in using a laser interference lithography apparatus, to form a plurality of particular patterns respectively on the setting-exposure positions of the conductive substrate in sequence till the particular periods pattern formed. Thereafter, form the dendritic silver nanostructure with period pattern on the conductive substrate via electrochemical process, wherein operating voltage is 2V or higher, and electrochemical reaction time is 10 sec or higher.
US09496443B2
A solar cell module includes a light guide body that guides incident light to propagate therein, and a solar cell element that receives the light propagating within the light guide body, wherein the light guide body is made of a light-transmissive base material and has a curved surface in at least a part thereof.
US09496430B2
The disclosed technology generally relates to forming patterns of doped semiconductor regions, and more particularly to methods of forming such patterns in fabricating photovoltaic devices. In one aspect, a method of forming a pattern of different doped regions at the same side of a semiconductor substrate comprises providing a patterned doped layer on a surface of the semiconductor substrate at predetermined locations where at least one first doped region is to be formed. The method additionally includes selectively growing at least one second doped region epitaxially at the same side of the semiconductor substrate using the patterned doped layer as an epitaxial growth mask. Furthermore, selectively growing comprises driving dopants from the patterned doped layer into the semiconductor substrate to form the first doped region at the predetermined locations.
US09496426B2
A thin film photovoltaic device (100) with a tunable, minimally conductive buffer (128) layer is provided. The photovoltaic device (100) may include a back contact (150), a transparent front contact stack (120), and an absorber (140) positioned between the front contact stack (120) and the back contact (150). The front contact stack (120) may include a low resistivity transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer (124) and a buffer layer (128) that is proximate to the absorber layer (140). The photovoltaic device (100) may also include a window layer (130) between the buffer layer (128) and the absorber (140). In some cases, the buffer layer (128) is minimally conductive, with its resistivity being tunable, and the buffer layer (128) may be formed as an alloy from a host oxide and a high-permittivity oxide. The high-permittivity oxide may further be chosen to have a bandgap greater than the host oxide.
US09496419B2
A memory film and a semiconductor channel can be formed within each memory opening that extends through a stack including an alternating plurality of insulator layers and sacrificial material layers. After formation of backside recesses through removal of the sacrificial material layers selective to the insulator layers, a ruthenium portion can be formed in each backside recess, and a polycrystalline conductive material portion can be formed on each ruthenium portion. Each ruthenium portion can be employed in lieu of a tungsten seed layer to function as a lower resistivity seed layer that enables subsequent deposition of a polycrystalline conductive material. The resulting electrically conductive lines can have a lower resistivity than conductive lines of comparable dimensions that employ tungsten seed layers.
US09496416B2
An object is to manufacture a semiconductor device with high reliability by providing the semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor with stable electric characteristics. In a transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer, a gallium oxide film is used for a gate insulating layer and made in contact with an oxide semiconductor layer. Further, gallium oxide films are provided so as to sandwich the oxide semiconductor layer, whereby reliability is increased. Furthermore, the gate insulating layer may have a stacked structure of a gallium oxide film and a hafnium oxide film.
US09496411B2
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the steps of forming a first insulating film over a first gate electrode over a substrate while heated at a temperature higher than or equal to 450° C. and lower than the strain point of the substrate, forming a first oxide semiconductor film over the first insulating film, adding oxygen to the first oxide semiconductor film and then forming a second oxide semiconductor film over the first oxide semiconductor film, and performing heat treatment so that part of oxygen contained in the first oxide semiconductor film is transferred to the second oxide semiconductor film.
US09496408B2
A highly reliable semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor is provided by preventing a change in its electrical characteristics. A semiconductor device which includes a first oxide semiconductor layer which is in contact with a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer and a second oxide semiconductor layer which serves as a main current path (channel) of a transistor is provided. The first oxide semiconductor layer serves as a buffer layer for preventing a constituent element of the source and drain electrode layers from diffusing into the channel. By providing the first oxide semiconductor layer, it is possible to prevent diffusion of the constituent element into an interface between the first oxide semiconductor layer and the second oxide semiconductor layer and into the second oxide semiconductor layer.
US09496403B2
A circuit including an inverter is provided for a wiring layer. A semiconductor device is provided with a wiring layer circuit which is formed over an insulating film and includes at least one inverter element. The inverter is provided with a first transistor element and a resistance element which is connected to the first transistor via a connection node. The first transistor element is provided with a gate electrode which is embedded in an interlayer insulating film including the insulating film, a gate insulating film which is formed over the interlayer insulating film and the gate electrode, and a first semiconductor layer which is formed over the gate insulating film between a source electrode and a drain electrode. The resistance element is provided with a second semiconductor layer which functions as a resistance. The first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer are formed in the same layer.
US09496398B2
An embodiment is a structure including a substrate having a fin and an isolation region adjoining the fin, and a raised epitaxial source/drain region on the fin. A first lateral distance is between opposing exterior surfaces of the raised epitaxial source/drain region at an upper portion of the raised epitaxial source/drain region. A second lateral distance is between opposing exterior surfaces of the raised epitaxial source/drain region at a mid portion of the raised epitaxial source/drain region. A third lateral distance is between opposing exterior surfaces of the raised epitaxial source/drain region at a lower portion of the raised epitaxial source/drain region. The first lateral distance is greater than the second lateral distance, and the second lateral distance is less than the third lateral distance.
US09496393B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer made of first conductivity type semiconductor layer; a second conductivity type well region formed on the semiconductor layer and having a channel region; a first conductivity type source region formed on the well region and including a first region adjacent to the well region and a second region adjacent to the first region; a gate insulating film formed on the semiconductor layer and having a first portion that contacts the first region; a second portion that contacts the well region and that has a thickness that is the same as that of the first portion; and a third portion that contacts the second region and that has a thickness that is greater than that of the first portion; and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film and opposed to the channel region where a channel is formed through the gate insulating film.
US09496381B2
A semiconductor device may include a substrate including an active pattern delimited by a device isolation pattern, a gate electrode crossing the active pattern, a first impurity region and a second impurity region in the active pattern on both sides of the gate electrode, a bit line crossing the gate electrode, a first contact electrically connecting the first impurity region with the bit line, and a first nitride pattern on a lower side surface of the first contact. A width of the first contact measured perpendicular to an extending direction of the bit line may be substantially equal to that of the bit line.
US09496376B2
To provide a semiconductor device with improved reliability. To provide a semiconductor device with stable characteristics. To provide a transistor having a low off-state current. To provide a transistor having a high on-state current. To provide a novel semiconductor device, a novel electronic device, or the like. A method for manufacturing the semiconductor device includes the steps of forming a first semiconductor over a substrate; forming a second semiconductor over and in contact with the first semiconductor; forming a first layer over the second semiconductor; performing oxygen plasma treatment and then removing the first layer to expose at least part of a surface of the second semiconductor; forming a third semiconductor over and in contact with the second semiconductor; forming a first insulator over and in contact with the third semiconductor; and forming a first conductor over the first insulator.
US09496374B2
The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a thin-film transistor substrate, which has a simple process and achieves an excellent contact interface between an oxide semiconductor layer and source/drain terminals through successive film forming so as to prevent crowding effect resulting from excessive contact resistance. Further, by using a metallic material containing tantalum to make the source/drain terminals and applying an etchant solution containing hydrogen peroxide to carry out etching in an etching process of the source/drain terminals, damages of the oxide semiconductor layer caused by traditional etchant solution can be prevented and quality of the thin-film transistor substrate can be enhanced. Further, it is not necessary to additionally form an etch stopper layer to protect the oxide semiconductor layer in the back channel so as to achieve relatively high channel width/length ratio (W/L), and also simplify the structure of the thin-film transistor substrate, simplify the manufacturing process, reduce the manufacturing cost, and enhance yield rate.
US09496372B2
A method of fabricating a fin-like field-effect transistor (FinFET) device is disclosed. The method includes forming first and second gate stacks over first and second portions of a fin feature respectively; filling a space between the first and second gate stacks with a dielectric layer; removing the first and second gate stacks to form first and second trenches respectively; and removing the first portion of the fin feature through the first trench while keeping the second portion of the fin feature in the second trench. The method further includes, after the removing of the first portion, depositing a gate dielectric layer and a gate electrode layer in the first and second trenches.
US09496367B2
A method for forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, a metal gate stack, and an insulating layer formed over the semiconductor substrate. A source region and a drain region are formed in the semiconductor substrate. The metal gate stack is between the source region and the drain region. The insulating layer surrounds the metal gate stack. The method includes forming contact openings passing through the insulating layer to expose the source region and the drain region, respectively. The method includes performing a first pre-amorphized implantation process to form amorphous regions in the source region and the drain region exposed by the contact openings. The method includes after the first pre-amorphized implantation process, forming a dielectric spacer liner layer over sidewalls of the contact openings. The dielectric spacer liner layer has holes exposing portions of the amorphous regions, respectively.
US09496365B2
A semiconductor device of an embodiment includes: an SiC layer; a gate insulating film provided on a surface of the SiC layer, the gate insulating film including an oxide film or an oxynitride film in contact with the surface of the SiC layer, the oxide film or the oxynitride film containing at least one element selected from B, Al, Ga (gallium), In, Sc, Y, La, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba, a concentration peak of the element in the gate insulating film being on the SiC side of the gate insulating film, the concentration peak of the element being in the oxide film or the oxynitride film, the gate insulating film having a region with a concentration of the element being not higher than 1×1016 cm−3 on the opposite side to the SiC layer with the concentration peak; and a gate electrode on the gate insulating film.
US09496363B1
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor device and a semiconductor fin on the semiconductor substrate, in which the semiconductor fin has a fin isolation structure at a common boundary that is shared by the two cells. The fin isolation structure has an air gap extending from a top of the semiconductor fin to a portion of the semiconductor substrate. The air gap divides the semiconductor fin into two portions of the semiconductor fin. The fin isolation structure includes a dielectric cap layer capping a top of the air gap.
US09496361B1
A manufacturing method of a semiconductor structure includes the following steps. Gate trenches are formed in a first dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate. A sidewall spacer layer is formed on the semiconductor substrate and on at least two sides of each gate trench. A plurality of first metal gates is formed on the semiconductor substrate. Each of the first metal gates includes an upper part and a lower part connected to the upper part, the lower part is formed in one of the gate trenches, and the upper part covers at least a part of the sidewall spacer layer in a vertical direction. The upper part and the lower part of the first metal gate are formed by an identical process together.
US09496360B2
A semiconductor device includes a pillar-shaped semiconductor having an impurity concentration of 1017 cm−3 or less. A first insulator surrounds the pillar-shaped semiconductor and a first metal surrounds a portion of the first insulator at a first end of the pillar-shaped semiconductor. A second metal surrounds a portion of the first insulator at a second end of the pillar-shaped semiconductor, and a third metal surrounds a portion of the first insulator in a region between the first and second metals. A second insulator resides between the first metal and the third metal, and a third insulator resides between the second metal and the third metal. The first metal is electrically connected to the first end of the pillar-shaped semiconductor, and the second metal is electrically connected to the second end of the pillar-shaped semiconductor. The third metal has a work function of about 4.2 eV to about 5.0 eV.
US09496342B2
A MOSFET and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method comprises: a. providing a substrate (100), a dummy gate structure (200), a epitaxial protection layer (101) and a sacrificial spacer (205); b. covering the dummy gate structure (200) and the substrate (100) on one side thereof by a mask layer, and forming a vacancy (102) in the substrate; c. growing a semiconductor layer (300) on the semiconductor structure to fill in the vacancy (102); d. removing the epitaxial protection layer (101) and the sacrificial spacer (205), and sequentially forming source/drain extension regions, a spacer (201), source/drain regions, and an interlayer dielectric layer (500); and e. removing the dummy gate structure (200) to form a dummy gate vacancy, and forming a gate stack in the dummy gate vacancy. In the MOSFET structure of the present disclosure, negative effects of DIBL on device performance can be effectively reduced.
US09496337B2
A method for producing a semiconductor device includes forming a trench that defines a closed loop in a semiconductor body and extends from a first surface into the semiconductor body. The trench has at least one sidewall that is beveled relative to a vertical direction of the semiconductor body. The method further includes removing material of the semiconductor body at least between a bottom of the trench a second surface opposite the first surface of the semiconductor body.
US09496332B1
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device comprises a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type, a third semiconductor region of the second conductivity type, a fourth semiconductor region of the second conductivity type, and an insulating unit. The fourth semiconductor region is separated from the third semiconductor region. A carrier concentration of the second conductivity type of the fourth semiconductor region is higher than a carrier concentration of the second conductivity type of the second semiconductor region. The fourth semiconductor region protrudes below more than the third semiconductor region. The insulating unit is provided on a portion of the second semiconductor region positioned between the third semiconductor region and the fourth semiconductor region and on the fourth semiconductor region.
US09496329B2
A deep trench capacitor is provided. The deep trench capacitor may include: a deep trench in a substrate, the deep trench including an lower portion having a width that is wider than a width of the rest of the deep trench; a compressive stress layer against the substrate in the lower portion; a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) stack over the compressive stress layer, the MIM stack including a node dielectric between an inner electrode and an outer electrode; and a semiconductor core within the MIM stack.
US09496325B2
A semiconductor structure includes a resistor on a substrate formed substantially simultaneously with other device elements, such as one or more transistors. A diffusion barrier layer deposited on a substrate is patterned to form a resistor and barrier layers under a transistor gate. A filler material, a first connector, and a second connector are formed on the resistor in a substantially similar manner as that used to form the gate of the transistor. The filler material is removed.
US09496322B1
The present invention provides a COA WOLED structure and a manufacturing method thereof. The structure includes red/green/blue sub pixel zones and each sub pixel zone includes a substrate (1), a gate terminal (2), a gate insulation layer (3), an oxide semiconductor layer (4), an etch stop layer (5), source/drain terminals (6), a passivation protection layer (7), a red/green/blue photoresist layer (71/72/73), a planarization layer (8), a semi-reflection layer (9), an anode layer (10), a pixel definition layer (11), a photo spacer (12), a white light emission layer (13), a cathode layer (14), and a packaging lid (15). The present invention arranges a semi-transparent metal layer formed on a planarization layer to serve as a semi-reflection layer to use micro cavity resonance between an anode and a cathode and controls the thicknesses of the anode layers corresponding to the red/green/blue photoresist layers so as to obtain optimum micro cavity lengths for different colors of light thereby enhancing the light emission efficiency of the three primary colors of red/green/blue transmitting through a color filter and thus effectively improving the brightness of a COA WOLED device.
US09496319B2
A display apparatus including: a display unit including a plurality of pixels, each of the plurality of pixels including: a light-emitting circuit including a light-emitting device; and a heating circuit adjacent to the light-emitting circuit, the heating circuit including: a heating device; and a controller configured to generate and output an emission signal for controlling an operation of the light-emitting circuit; and generating and output a heating signal for controlling an operation of the heating circuit, wherein: a first end of the light-emitting circuit is connected to a first power supply voltage; a second end of the light-emitting circuit is connected to a second power supply voltage; a first end of the heating circuit is connected to a first heating power supply voltage; and a second end of the heating circuit is connected to a second heating power supply voltage.
US09496303B2
The present technique aims to provide a solid-state imaging device that reduces shading and color mixing between pixels. The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing the solid-state imaging device. The present technique further relates to a solid-state imaging device that enables provision of an electronic apparatus that uses the solid-state imaging device, a method of manufacturing the solid-state imaging device, and an electronic apparatus.The solid-state imaging device includes a substrate, pixels each including a photoelectric conversion unit formed in the substrate, and a color filter layer formed on the light incidence surface side of the substrate. The solid-state imaging device also includes a device isolating portion that is formed to divide the color filter layer and the substrate for the respective pixels, and has a lower refractive index than the refractive indexes of the color filter layer and the substrate.
US09496301B2
An imaging apparatus includes: a lens group formed of one or more lens elements; and an imaging device having a light receiving surface on which the lens group forms an image of an object, wherein the light receiving surface of the imaging device is a curved surface that is concave toward the lens group, and the light receiving surface of the imaging device has an aspheric shape so shaped that a tangential angle that is an angle between a tangential line circumscribing an edge of the light receiving surface and a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the lens group is smaller than the tangential angle provided when the light receiving surface has a spherical shape.
US09496286B2
A display substrate includes a display area corresponding to a plurality of pixels, a peripheral area surrounding the display area, a thin film transistor for driving a corresponding one of the pixels, a gate line electrically coupled to the thin film transistor, a data line crossing the gate line and electrically coupled to the thin film transistor, a pixel electrode electrically coupled to the thin film transistor, and a common electrode overlapping the pixel electrode and having a first opening overlapping a first pixel of the pixels, and a second opening overlapping a second pixel of the pixels adjacent the first pixel, wherein the first opening and the second opening extend in different directions, and wherein the common electrode is continuous and overlaps the first and second pixels.
US09496282B2
FinFET devices and methods of making the same. A structure includes: a substrate with a buried insulator, a plurality of fins over a recessed buried insulator, and a nitride material filing recessed spaces between the plurality of fins, wherein the plurality of fins remain uncovered by the nitride, and wherein the nitride material does not contact the bottom of the plurality of fins.
US09496279B2
Provided is a composite substrate having a semiconductor layer wherein diffusion of a metal is suppressed. This composite substrate has: a single crystal supporting substrate composed of an insulating oxide; a semiconductor layer, which has one main surface overlapping the supporting substrate, and which is composed of a single crystal; and a polycrystalline or amorphous intermediate layer, which is positioned between the supporting substrate and the semiconductor layer, and which has, as a main component, an element constituting the supporting substrate or an element constituting the semiconductor layer, and in which the ratio of accessory components other than the main component is less than 1 mass %.
US09496275B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, an ONO (oxide/nitride/oxide) film provided on the semiconductor substrate, a control gate provided on the ONO film, a first low-resistance layer, and a second low-resistance layer in contact with the first low-resistance layer, the second low-resistance layer having a sheet resistance lower than the first low-resistance layer. With this configuration, it is possible to downsize the memory cell and provide a fabrication method of the semiconductor device in which the peripheral circuit can be fabricated with simple fabrication processes.
US09496267B2
In one device, a first space partitioned by first and second line patters is filled with a multilayer film that is composed of a first silicon film having a high impurity concentration relative to a standard plug impurity concentration and a second silicon film having a low impurity concentration relative to the standard plug impurity concentration, and is divided by forming a groove using a mask film on the side wall of the second line pattern. As a result, expansion of a seam, which is formed only on the second silicon film having a low impurity concentration, is suppressed. After that, an isolation insulating film is embedded in the groove and impurity diffusion is carried out by a heat treatment, so that divided plugs as a whole are made to have the standard plug impurity concentration.
US09496265B2
A high density anti-fuse cell can be built at the cross points of two perpendicular interconnect lines, such as active region lines, active and polysilicon lines, active and metal lines, or polysilicon and metal lines. The cell size can be very small. At least one of the anti-fuse cells have a thin oxide fabricated before, after, or between a diode in at least one contact holes at the cross points of the interconnect lines. The thin oxide of the anti-fuse cells at the cross points can be selected for rupture by applying supply voltages in the two perpendicular lines. In some embodiments, a diode can be created after thin oxide is ruptured so that explicitly fabricating a diode or opening a contact hole at the cross-point may not be necessary.
US09496263B1
A method for forming nanowires includes forming a plurality of epitaxial layers on a substrate, the layers including alternating material layers with high and low Ge concentration and patterning the plurality of layers to form fins. The fins are etched to form recesses in low Ge concentration layers to form pillars between high Ge concentration layers. The pillars are converted to dielectric pillars. A conformal material is formed in the recesses and on the dielectric pillars. The high Ge concentration layers are condensed to form hexagonal Ge wires with (111) facets. The (111) facets are exposed to form nanowires.
US09496260B1
A silicon germanium alloy (SiGe) fin having a first germanium content is provided within first and second device regions. Each SiGe fin is located on a sacrificial material stack and an oxide material surrounds each SiGe fin. A germanium layer is formed atop each SiGe fin within one of the device regions, while a SiGe layer having a second germanium content less than the first germanium content is formed atop each SiGe fin within the other device region. An exposed surface of each of the germanium layer and the SiGe layer is then bonded to a base substrate. The sacrificial material stack is removed and thereafter the oxide material is recessed to expose a portion of each SiGe fin in the first and second device regions. Each SiGe fin contacting the germanium layer compressively strained, and each SiGe fin contacting the SiGe layer is tensely strained.
US09496256B2
A semiconductor device includes a first transistor and a second transistor. Each of the first and second transistors includes a channel. The channel of the first transistor extends in a substantially vertical direction. The channel of the second transistor extends in a substantially horizontal direction. A method for fabricating the semiconductor device is also disclosed.
US09496252B2
An integrated circuit includes an NMOS SCR in which a p-type body well of the NMOS transistor provides a base layer for a vertical NPN layer stack. The base layer is formed by implanting p-type dopants using an implant mask which has a cutout mask element over the base area, so as to block the p-type dopants from the base area. The base layer is implanted concurrently with p-type body wells under NMOS transistors in logic components in the integrated circuit. Subsequent anneals cause the p-type dopants to diffuse into the base area, forming a base with a lower doping density that adjacent regions of the body well of the NMOS transistor in the NMOS SCR. The NMOS SCR may have a symmetric transistor, a drain extended transistor, or may be a bidirectional NMOS SCR with a symmetric transistor integrated with a drain extended transistor.
US09496249B2
A package includes a first molding material, a first device die molded in the molding material, a Through Via (TV) penetrating through the first molding material, and a redistribution line over the first molding material. The redistribution line is electrically connected to the TV. A second device die is over and bonded to the first device die through flip-chip bonding. A second molding material molds the second device die therein.
US09496248B2
An interposer for an electronic circuit chip package may include a substrate, a recess, first conductive vias, and second conductive vias. The substrate may have a first surface, a second surface substantially parallel to and opposite the first surface, a third surface substantially parallel to the first surface and the second surface, and an orthogonal surface that is substantially orthogonal to and intersects the first surface and the third surface. The recess may be formed in the substrate and defined by the third surface and the orthogonal surface. The first conductive vias may pass from the second surface to the first surface. The second conductive vias may pass from the second surface to the third surface.
US09496240B2
A method of forming a wire loop in connection with a semiconductor package is provided. The method includes the steps of: (1) providing package data related to the semiconductor package to a wire bonding machine; (2) providing at least one looping control value related to a desired wire loop to the wire bonding machine, the at least one looping control value including at least a loop height value related to the desired wire loop; (3) deriving looping parameters, using an algorithm, for forming the desired wire loop; (4) forming a first wire loop on the wire bonding machine using the looping parameters derived in step (3); (5) measuring actual looping control values of the first wire loop formed in step (4) corresponding to the at least one looping control value; and (6) comparing the actual looping control values measured in step (5) to the at least one looping control value provided in step (2).
US09496238B2
A bonding structure includes a substrate having a top surface and including at least one bonding pad. Each bonding pad is disposed adjacent to the top surface of the substrate and has a sloped surface. A semiconductor element includes at least one pillar. Each pillar is bonded to a portion of the sloped surface of a corresponding bonding pad, and a gap is formed between a sidewall of the pillar and the sloped surface of the corresponding bonding pad.
US09496226B2
A semiconductor device, a semiconductor package, and an electronic device are provided. The electronic device includes a first semiconductor package disposed on a circuit substrate. A second semiconductor package is provided on the circuit substrate and spaced apart from the first semiconductor package. An insulating electromagnetic shielding structure is provided on the top and the lateral surfaces of the first semiconductor package. A conductive electromagnetic shielding structure is provided on the circuit substrate to cover the first and second semiconductor packages and the insulating electromagnetic shielding structure.
US09496217B2
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device that includes, a substrate; a first conductive line located over the substrate and extending along a first axis, the first conductive line having a first length and a first width, the first length being measured along the first axis; a second conductive line located over the first conductive line and extending along a second axis different from the first axis, the second conductive line having a second length and a second width, the second length being measured along the second axis; and a via coupling the first and second conductive lines, the via having an upper surface that contacts the second conductive line and a lower surface that contacts the first conductive line. The via has an approximately straight edge at the upper surface, the straight edge extending along the second axis and being substantially aligned with the second conductive line.
US09496210B1
A stackable package is placed within a mold during an encapsulation operation. A compliant surface, e.g., of a compliant film, of the mold is pressed down on upper interconnection balls of the stackable package to force upper portions of the upper interconnection balls into the mold. However, lower portions of the upper interconnection balls are exposed within a space between the compliant surface and a substrate of the stackable package. The space is filled with a dielectric material to form a package body. The package body is formed while at the same time exposing the upper portions of upper interconnection balls from the package body in a single encapsulation operation. By avoiding selective removal of the package body to expose the upper interconnection balls, the number of operations as well as cost to manufacture the stackable package is minimized.
US09496205B2
A semiconductor package that includes a substrate having a metallic back plate, an insulation body and a plurality of conductive pads on the insulation body, and a semiconductor die coupled to said conductive pads, the conductive pads including regions readied for direct connection to pads external to the package using a conductive adhesive.
US09496204B2
In a non-leaded type semiconductor device, a tab, tab suspension leads, and other leads are exposed to one surface of a seal member. A semiconductor element is positioned within the seal member and fixed to a surface of the tab with an adhesive. The tab is formed larger than the semiconductor element so that outer peripheral edges of the tab are positioned outside outer peripheral edges of the semiconductor element. A groove is formed in the tab surface portion positioned between the area to which the semiconductor element is fixed and wire connection areas to which the wires are connected, the groove being formed so as to surround the semiconductor element fixing area, thereby preventing peeling-off between the tab to which the semiconductor element is fixed and the resin which constitutes the package.
US09496183B1
A complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device and a method of fabricating a CMOS device are described. The method includes forming an interfacial layer in a trench on a substrate in both a p-channel field effect transistor (pFET) area of the CMOS device and an n-channel FET (nFET) area of the CMOS device, depositing a high-k dielectric on the interfacial layer in both the pFET area and the nFET area, selectively forming a first metal layer on the high-k dielectric in only the pFET area, and depositing a second metal layer on the first metal layer in the pFET area and on the high-k dielectric in the nFET area. The method also includes performing an anneal that increases a thickness of the interfacial layer in only the pFET area.
US09496180B2
A method of fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) and the corresponding device are disclosed. A high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) and a conductive feature are disposed over a substrate, separated by a first dielectric layer. A global hard mask (GHM) layer is formed over the HK/MG, the conductive feature and the first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is then formed over the GHM layer. The second dielectric layer is etched to form a first opening to expose a portion of the HK/MG and a second opening to expose a portion of the conductive feature, by using the GHM layer as an etch stop layer. The GHM layer in the first opening and the second opening is then removed.
US09496178B2
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device comprises: a semiconductor layer; a first fin being formed by patterning the semiconductor layer; and a second fin being formed by patterning the semiconductor layer, wherein: top sides of the first and second fins have the same height; bottom sides of the first and second fins adjoin the semiconductor layer; and the second fin is higher than the first fin. According to the present disclosure, a plurality of semiconductor devices with different dimensions can be integrated on the same wafer. As a result, manufacturing process can be shortened and manufacturing cost can be reduced. Furthermore, devices with different driving capabilities can be provided.
US09496171B2
A method forming a packaged semiconductor device includes providing a first semiconductor die (first die) having bond pads thereon mounted face-up on a package substrate or on a die pad of a lead frame (substrate), wherein the substrate includes terminals or contact pads (substrate pads). A first dielectric layer is formed including printing a first dielectric precursor layer including a first ink having a first liquid carrier solvent extending from the substrate pads to the bond pads. A first interconnect precursor layer is printed including a second ink having a second liquid carrier over the first dielectric layer extending from the substrate pads to the bond pads. Sintering or curing the first interconnect precursor layer removes at least the second liquid carrier to form an electrically conductive interconnect including an ink residue which connects respective substrate pads to respective bond pads.
US09496168B2
In one implementation, a semiconductor package includes a carrier including first and second conductive segments, and first and second transistors attached respectively to the first and second conductive segments. The semiconductor package also includes a dielectric material formed in exposed portions of the first and second conductive segments, a first via extending through the dielectric material to the first conductive segment, and a second via extending through the dielectric material to the second conductive segment. A solder material fills each of the vias, the solder material protruding beyond the dielectric material and configured to electrically, thermally, and mechanically connect the carrier to a mounting surface for the semiconductor package.
US09496160B2
A workpiece orientation is determined by camera during transfer to a load lock, and the orientation is corrected during load lock pump down.
US09496156B2
A semiconductor crystal body processing method includes providing a semiconductor crystal body, sandwiching the semiconductor crystal body between a pair of conductive pressurizing tools, applying a pulse-like current between the pair of pressurizing tools to heat the semiconductor crystal body to a target temperature equal to or higher than a temperature at which the semiconductor crystal body is plastically deformed by pressurization and lower than its melting point, and applying pressure and a pulse-like current between the pair of pressurizing tools to thereby maintain the temperature of the semiconductor crystal body at the target temperature and mold the semiconductor crystal body into a target shape by plastic deformation.
US09496153B2
Even when a stiffener is omitted, the semiconductor device which can prevent the generation of twist and distortion of a wiring substrate is obtained.As for a semiconductor device which has a wiring substrate, a semiconductor chip by which the flip chip bond was made to the wiring substrate, and a heat spreader adhered to the back surface of the semiconductor chip, and which omitted the stiffener for reinforcing a wiring substrate and maintaining the surface smoothness of a heat spreader, a wiring substrate has a plurality of insulating substrates in which a through hole whose diameter differs, respectively was formed, and each insulating substrate contains a glass cloth.
US09496152B2
A method of manufacture of a carrier system includes: providing a carrier base; forming a recess in the carrier base with the recess around a planar surface; forming a first barrier on the planar surface; forming a second barrier on the carrier base in the recess; forming a first post on the first barrier; and forming a second post on the second barrier.
US09496150B2
An etching processing method for etching a substrate formed with a target film and a mask film is performed in a substrate processing apparatus including a first and a second power supply for respectively supplying a higher and a lower high frequency power to a processing space and a mounting table, and a DC power supply for supplying a DC power to an electrode. The method includes a modification step for modifying a shape of a pattern formed on the mask film; and an etching step for etching the target film by using the mask film. The mask film is etched by the plasma in the modification step. Further, in the etching step, the DC power is applied to the electrode and the lower high frequency power is applied to the mounting table in a pulse wave form in which a higher and a lower power level are repeated.
US09496147B2
In a plasma processing apparatus comprising a processing chamber arranged in a vacuum chamber, a sample stage arranged under the processing chamber and having its top surface on which a wafer to be processed is mounted, a vacuum decompression unit for evacuating the interior of the processing chamber to reduce the pressure therein, and introduction holes arranged above said sample stage to admit process gas into the processing chamber, the wafer having its top surface mounted with a film structure and the film structure being etched by using plasma formed by using the process gas, the film structure is constituted by having a resist film or a mask film, a poly-silicon film and an insulation film laminated in this order from top to bottom on a substrate and before the wafer is mounted on the sample stage and the poly-silicon film underlying the mask film is etched, plasma is formed inside the processing chamber to cover the surface of members inside the processing chamber with a coating film containing a component of Si.
US09496144B2
A method of fabricating a memory device is described. Generally, the method includes: forming on a surface of a substrate a dielectric stack including a tunneling dielectric and a charge-trapping layer overlying the tunneling dielectric; depositing a first cap layer comprising an oxide over the dielectric stack; forming a second cap layer comprising a nitride over the first cap layer; patterning the first and second cap layers and the dielectric stack to form a gate stack of a memory device; removing the second cap layer; and performing an oxidation process to form a blocking oxide over the charge-trapping layer, wherein the oxidation process consumes the first cap layer. Other embodiments are also described.
US09496142B2
A method for increasing the performance of an integrated circuit by reducing the number of dummy gate geometries next to transistors in the speed path of an integrated circuit.
US09496139B2
The present invention provides a method of more efficiently producing a semiconductor epitaxial wafer, which can suppress metal contamination by achieving higher gettering capability.A method of producing a semiconductor epitaxial wafer 100 according to the present invention includes a first step of irradiating a semiconductor wafer 10 with cluster ions 16 to form a modifying layer 18 formed from a constituent element of the cluster ions 16 in a surface portion 10A of the semiconductor wafer; and a second step of forming an epitaxial layer 20 on the modifying layer 18 of the semiconductor wafer 10.
US09496138B2
In an oxide semiconductor film formed over an insulating surface, an amorphous region remains in the vicinity of the interface with the base, which is thought to cause a variation in the characteristics of a transistor and the like. A base surface or film touching the oxide semiconductor film is formed of a material having a melting point higher than that of a material used for the oxide semiconductor film. Accordingly, a crystalline region is allowed to exist in the vicinity of the interface with the base surface or film touching the oxide semiconductor film. An insulating metal oxide is used for the base surface or film touching the oxide semiconductor film. The metal oxide used here is an aluminum oxide, gallium oxide, or the like that is a material belonging to the same group as the material of the oxide semiconductor film.
US09496127B2
The present disclosure provides a new tandem mass spectrometer and methods of using the same for analyzing charged particles. The differentially pumped dual linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer of the present disclose includes a combination of two linear quadrupole (LQIT) mass spectrometers with differentially pumped vacuum chambers.
US09496122B1
An RF impedance matching network includes an RF input coupled to an RF source having a fixed impedance and an RF output coupled to a plasma chamber having a variable impedance. A series electronically variable capacitor (EVC) is coupled in series between the RF input and the RF output. A shunt EVC is coupled in parallel between a ground and one of the RF input and the RF output. A control circuit is operatively coupled to the series and shunt EVCs to control first and second variable capacitances, wherein the control circuit is configured to: determine the variable impedance; determine first and second capacitance values for the first and second variable capacitances; and alter at least one of the first and second variable capacitances, wherein an elapsed time between determining the variable impedance and when RF power reflected back to the RF source decreases is less than about 150 μsec.
US09496114B2
A device for generating microwaves with an oscillating virtual cathode includes a cathode, and a thin anode positioned at an inlet of a cylindrical waveguide (5). The waveguide includes at least one first open reflector and one last open reflector that are transparent to electrons and capable of reflecting a microwave created by at least one virtual cathode generated in the waveguide. A plurality of open reflectors are between the first and last open reflector, such that a designated reflector of the plurality of open reflectors has a radius R(i−1) less than or equal to a radius Ri of an immediately preceding reflector and the last open reflector has a radius RN less than a radius R1 of the first open reflector.
US09496109B2
An electromagnetic relay includes a housing; a fixed contact provided within the housing; a movable contact disposed within the housing so as to be contactable to and separable from the fixed contact; a driving unit configured to drive the movable contact, and including a shaft having one end connected to the movable contact and a compression spring for applying an elastic force to the movable contact so as to be in contact with the fixed contact; and an arc protector including an arc shielding portion for shielding an arc, and a compression spring support portion formed to protrude from the arc shielding portion to support the compression spring, the compression spring support portion comprising a shaft accommodating portion for accommodating the shaft therein. Under such configuration, the number of required components can be reduced and generation of a gap can be prevented.
US09496108B2
Provided is an electronic component that can reduce housing space in the fitting direction of terminals and terminal fittings. A relay has a relay main body of which the outer shape is a rectangular solid, and a plurality of plate-shaped terminals that protrudes from the relay main body and that is fitted in the terminal fittings. The relay main body has a top surface and a bottom surface opposite the top surface, opposite lateral surfaces, and opposite lateral surfaces. The terminals of the relay are four terminals, with two protruding from the lateral surface and two protruding from the opposite lateral surface. Specifically, the terminals protrude from the lateral surfaces parallel to the fitting direction of the terminal fittings and the terminals in the relay main body. These terminals protrude from the lateral surfaces and bend perpendicularly toward the bottom surface.
US09496106B2
Disclosed are an electrode assembly and a vacuum interrupter including the same. The electrode assembly is provided in an insulating vessel which is in a vacuum state, and switches a main circuit. The electrode assembly includes a first electrode plate, a second electrode, a coil conductor, a first conductor, and a second conductor. The coil conductor induces a flow of a current in a first direction and a second direction between the other side of the first conductor connecting pin and the one side of the second conductor connecting pin, and the first direction and the second direction are mutually opposite circumference directions. Accordingly, an arc gas is effectively spread by using mutually opposite flows of currents in a circumference direction, thereby enhancing break performance.
US09496095B2
A novel compound represented by general formula (1), a carrier system including a carrier having the novel compound fixed thereon, and a photoelectric conversion device having the carrier system. In formula (1), Z is a C1-C50 conjugated group; R1 is a C6-C20 aromatic hydrocarbon group, a C7-C20 aromatic hydrocarbon group substituted by an aliphatic hydrocarbon group, or a C1-C20 aliphatic hydrocarbon group, each substituted by carboxyl, cyano, amino, amide, or nitro, the aliphatic hydrocarbon group being optionally interrupted by —O—, etc.; R2 is hydrogen or an optionally substituted C1-C20 hydrocarbon group; R30, R31, R32, R33, R40, R41, R42, R43, and R44 are each hydrogen or optionally substituted hydrocarbon group, and adjacent two of them may be connected to form a ring; R5 is hydrogen or cyano; and R11 is represented by formula (11-1) or (11-2), wherein n, ring A, and the like are as defined in the description.
US09496094B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for electrodes, devices including electrodes, methods of making electrodes, and the like. In an embodiment, the electrode includes MoS2, in particular, MoS2 nanostructures (e.g., MoS2 nano-petals). Embodiments of the present disclosure can be used in lithium ion batteries, quantum dot sensitized solar cells, dye sensitized solar cells, thin film photovoltaics, and the like.
US09496083B2
A wireless power transmitter, a wireless power receiver, and methods of controlling the same are provided. A method of detecting a rogue device other than a wireless power receiver in the wireless power transmitter includes receiving power consumption information about the wireless power receiver from the wireless power receiver, calculating a power loss based on the received power consumption information about the wireless power receiver, determining whether the power loss exceeds a threshold, and controlling transmission power of the wireless power transmitter, determining that a rogue device exists on the wireless power transmitter, if the power loss exceeds the threshold.
US09496074B2
A laser etching method for a transparent conductive plate includes the steps as follows: providing a transparent conductive plate having a transparent conductive layer; continuingly emitting a plurality of laser beams to the transparent conductive layer, and controlling the center points of the laser beams to move in a front path and a rear path partially overlapping a beginning portion of the front path for forming an end connection groove connecting the beginning and the end thereof, or controlling the center points of the laser beams to move in a transverse path and a longitudinal path without overlapping the transverse path for forming a T-shaped groove, or controlling the center points of the laser beams to sequentially move in a first path, a curve path, and a second path substantially perpendicular to the first path for forming a curve groove.
US09496072B2
An arrangement is specified having a superconducting cable (SK) which comprises a superconducting conductor (1) and a superconducting screen (3) which concentrically surrounds the same with the interposition of a dielectric (2). The cable (SK) is surrounded by a cryostat (KR) enclosing a free space (FR) for a coolant to be passed through, which cryostat (KR) which cryostat comprises two metallic tubes (4, 5) which are arranged concentrically with respect to one another and between which vacuum insulation is arranged. The screen (3) is composed of a superconducting material whose electrical resistance value in the normally conductive state is greater by a factor of at least 50 than the electrical resistance value of the material used for the conductor (1) in the normally conductive state.
US09496069B2
Provided are silver nanoparticles having excellent dispersion stability and capable of forming on a substrate a silver element, such as a silver film or line, having excellent electrical conductivity and adhesivity through heating. A method for producing the silver nanoparticles, its dispersion liquid, and a substrate having a silver element formed thereon using the dispersion liquid are disclosed. The silver nanoparticles contain silver compound (A) of formula (1): amine compound (B) having a primary amino group; and polymer (C) obtained by polymerization of a monomer composition containing diol (meth)acrylate compound (c1) having a urethane bond of formula (2): (R1: hydrogen atom or methyl group; R2: —(CH2)n-; n: 1 to 4), and at least one monomer (c2) selected from (meth)acrylate monomers, acrylamide monomers, vinyl monomers, vinyl ether monomers, or monomers having an epoxy group.
US09496064B2
A copper alloy for electric and electronic devices comprises 23 mass % to 36.5 mass % of Zn; 0.1 mass % to 0.9 mass % of Sn; 0.15 mass % to less than 1.0 mass % of Ni; 0.001 mass % to less than 0.10 mass % of Fe; 0.005 mass % to 0.1 mass % of P; and a balance including Cu and unavoidable impurities, in which 0.002≦Fe/Ni<0.7, 3<(Ni+Fe)/P<15, and 0.3
US09496062B2
The present invention discloses transparent conductive electrodes comprising merged metal nanowires and the method of making the same. The merged nanowire junctions are formed not by pressing the metal nanowires using pressure.
US09496060B2
The invention refers to a nanodevice for generating electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz frequency range, the nanodevice comprising a substrate (3) made of a dielectric material, a first graphene layer (1) arranged on the substrate (3), having a first longitudinal end being electrically connected with a source contact (source 1) and having a second longitudinal end being connected with a drain contact (drain 1), an electrically conducting layer (2) having a periodic grating structure with grating stripes (6) extending substantially in transversal direction (y), and a dielectric layer (4) arranged between the first graphene layer (1) and the conducting layer (2).
US09496058B2
Systems passively eliminate noncondensable gasses from facilities susceptible to damage from combustion of built-up noncondensable gasses, such as H2 and O2 in nuclear power plants, without the need for external power and/or moving parts. Systems include catalyst plates installed in a lower header of the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) condenser, a catalyst packing member, and/or a catalyst coating on an interior surface of a condensation tube of the PCCS condenser or an annular outlet of the PCCS condenser. Structures may have surfaces or hydrophobic elements that inhibit water formation and promote contact with the noncondensable gas. Noncondensable gasses in a nuclear power plant are eliminated by installing and using the systems individually or in combination. An operating pressure of the PCCS condenser may be increased to facilitate recombination of noncondensable gasses therein.
US09496056B2
A joint structure between a top nozzle and a guide thimble of a nuclear fuel assembly and, more particularly, a structure for joining an inner-extension tube, the top nozzle and the guide thimble. When an inner-extension tube head, which is provided as a means for facilitating removal of the top nozzle of the nuclear fuel assembly from the guide thimble, is removed from an inner-extension tube body to separate the top nozzle from the nuclear fuel assembly, the inner-extension tube body is prevented from undesirably rotating, so that the guide thimble and the inner-extension tube body can maintain the joined state.
US09496046B1
A flash memory device implements a sequential read method using overlapping read cycles to initiate the bit-line precharge and equalization operation for a next memory cell address prior to the completion of the read cycle of the current memory cell address. More specifically, the sequential read method implements overlapping read cycle where the bit-line precharge and equalization operation is started for a memory cell of the next address while the memory cell of the current address is being read out. In this manner, the read speed for the sequential read operation of the flash memory device is improved. In some embodiments, the memory cell array for each input-output (I/O) of the flash memory device is partitioned into two sub-banks to further reduce the read cycle time by enabling early activation of the word-line for the next sub-bank.
US09496039B2
A storage device includes a flash memory and a buffer memory. A method of controlling interrupts includes: receiving data to be written to the storage device from an information processing device; writing the received data to be written to the storage device to the buffer memory; fetching the data in the buffer memory and writing the data to the flash memory; in which, after writing the received data to be written to the storage device to the buffer memory, if the amount of data in the buffer memory is less than the predetermined threshold, then sending a message indicating the completion of the write operation to the information processing device.
US09496037B2
A memory circuit includes: a bistable circuit (30) that writes data; nonvolatile elements (MTJ1, MTJ2) that store the data written in the bistable circuit into the nonvolataole element in a nonvolatile manner, and restore the data stored in a nonvolatile manner into the bistable circuit; and a determining unit (50) that does not store the data written in the bistable circuit into the nonvolatile elements when the data in the bistable circuit is the same as the data in the nonvolatile elements, but stores the data in the bistable circuit into the nonvolatile elements when the data in the bistable circuit is not the same as the data in the nonvolatile elements.
US09496033B2
A Programmable Resistive Device (PRD) memory that can be read under low voltage is disclosed. The PRD includes at least one Programmable Resistive Element (PRE) having one end coupled to a first supply voltage line and the other end coupled to at least one selector and at least one read selector. The read selector includes at least one read source line (SLR) and/or one read enable (ENR) coupled to a second and/or a third supply voltage lines, respectively. The read selector includes at least one MOS device built by core logic device. The PRE in the at least one PRD cells can be configured to be readable by applying voltages to the first, second, and/or the third voltage supply lines to thereby sense the PRE resistance to a logic state. The programmable resistive element can have at least one element in an OTP, MTP, floating gate device, anti-fuse, or emerging memory such as PCRAM, RRAM, or MRAM, etc.
US09496031B2
A device for determining an actual cell state of a resistive memory cell having a plurality M of programmable cell states comprising a sensing circuit, a settling circuit, a prebiasing circuit, and a resistor coupled in parallel to the resistive memory cell, wherein the resistor is configured to reduce an effective resistance seen by the prebiasing circuit. The sensing circuit is configured to sense a sensing voltage of the resistive memory cell and output a resultant value in response to the sensing voltage which is indicative for the actual cell state. The settling circuit is configured to settle the sensing voltage to a certain target voltage representing one of the M programmable cell states. The prebiasing circuit is configured to prebiase a bitline capacitance of the resistive memory cell such the sensing voltage is close to the certain target voltage.
US09496024B1
A system on a chip (SOC) includes a processor and a memory system coupled to the processor. The memory system includes a static random access memory (SRAM) bank and a memory controller. The SRAM bank includes a first switch coupled to a SRAM array power supply and a source of a transistor of an SRAM storage cell in an SRAM array. The SRAM bank also includes a second switch coupled to a NWELL power supply and a bulk of the transistor of the SRAM storage cell. The second switch is configured to close prior to the first switch closing during power up of the SRAM array.
US09496022B2
To provide a novel semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a circuit including a memory cell including a transistor using an oxide semiconductor; and a refresh timing determination unit including a capacitor, a transistor using an oxide semiconductor, and a comparator circuit. The potential of a floating node in the refresh timing determination unit is directly or indirectly input to the comparator circuit and compared with a reference potential. When the potential of the floating node becomes a certain value, a power switch operating in accordance with an output of the comparator circuit is turned on, power is supplied to the circuit including the memory cell, and then the reference potential is also changed. After that, refresh operation of the memory cell is performed. When the refresh operation is finished, the power switch is turned off.
US09496015B1
An array structure includes: a plurality of first signal lines and a plurality of sub-arrays. Each of the sub-array includes: a second signal line, a plurality of third signal lines, a plurality of fourth signal lines, a plurality of local decoders at each intersection of the first signal lines, the second signal line and the third signal lines; and a plurality of array cells at each intersection of the first signal lines, the third signal lines and the fourth signal lines. Respective control terminals of the local decoders are implemented by the first signal lines. In response to a selection status of the first signal lines and the second signal line, one of the local decoders selects one of the third signal lines.
US09496006B2
The memory module having a plurality of memory chips and a plurality of connections for connecting the memory module to a processor. At least part of the connections is configurable to be grouped into N sets of address and control connections for N separatively controllable groups of memory chips of the plurality of memory chips (N≧2).
US09496003B2
Methods and arrangements for facilitating media playlist generation for a program participant based at least in part on media library inventory information provided by a number of program participants. The system or program in which the individuals are participating is an on-line media store. Those individuals that decide to be program participants are interested in organizing, maintaining and playing their music, based at least in part, on data derived from a population of other participants in the program that have similar or the same music in their libraries. To be a program participant, the individual music holder must send, and the on-line music store receive, data representative of that program participant's media inventory. This data typically contains identification data of the individual media items presently contained in that participant's media library regardless of the individual media item's source. The system or program determines an incidence of co-occurrence of pairs of individual media items in different program participants' media libraries. Based on this determination, a similarity rating is assigned between the pairs of individual media items based on the determined incidence of co-occurrence in the different program participants' media libraries.
US09496000B2
Features described herein relate to providing the capability to playback audiovisual content in a comprehensible manner at a rate adjustable by the viewer. For example, if a viewer wishes to watch a one hour news program, but the viewer only has thirty minutes to view the program, playback of the program at twice the rate, but in a comprehensible manner is provided. To provide the playback of the video at the adjustable rate, substitute audio is generated by adding or removing audio content without changing the playback rate of the audio. The video at the adjusted playback rate and the substitute audio at the normal playback rate may have the same duration and in some embodiments, may be presented synchronously.
US09495995B1
A relatively larger nominal track spacing associated with a first write head is determined and a relatively smaller nominal track spacing associated with a second write head is determined. The first and second write heads simultaneously write to respective different first and second surfaces of a heat-assisted recording medium. A laser write power for a selected one of the first write head and the second write head is changed to enable the first write head and the second write head to operate at an equivalent nominal track spacing.
US09495987B1
The disclosed technology provides techniques for mitigating write-to-write bit error rate fluctuations that decrease accuracy of write precompensation (WPC) tuning. According to one implementation, such write-to-write bit error rate fluctuations are mitigated if a predetermined pattern is written at a particular radial offset from a target data track prior to testing a WPC register in association with the target data track. Selection of the particular radial offset can be performed according to an iterative offset track clean-up disclosed herein.
US09495980B1
A magnetic head includes a coil, a main pole and a return path section. The return path section includes a yoke section, and a coupling section coupling the yoke section to the main pole. The coil includes a first coil portion surrounding at least part of an outer peripheral surface of the coupling section, and a second coil portion surrounding at least part of the entire perimeter of the main pole as viewed from the medium facing surface. The winding of the coil includes a common portion used in common to form part of the first coil portion and part of the second coil portion.
US09495977B2
Disclosed is a method of receiving an audio stream containing user speech from a first device, generating text based on the user speech, identifying a key phrase in the text, receiving from an advertiser an advertisement related to the identified key phrase, and displaying the advertisement. The method can include receiving from an advertiser a set of rules associated with the advertisement and displaying the advertisement in accordance with the associated set of rules. The method can display the advertisement on one or both of a first device and a second device. A central server can generate text based on the speech. A key phrase in the text can be identified based on a confidence score threshold. The advertisement can be displayed after the audio stream terminates.
US09495975B2
A method includes receiving an input signal comprising an original domain signal and creating a first window data set and a second window data set from the signal, wherein an initiation of the second window data set is offset from an initiation of the first window data set, converting the first window data set and the second window data set to a frequency domain and storing the resulting data as data in a second domain different from the original domain, performing complex spectral phase evolution (CSPE) on the second domain data to estimate component frequencies of the first and second window data sets, using the component frequencies estimated in the CSPE, sampling a set of second-domain high resolution windows to select a mathematical representation comprising a second-domain high resolution window that fits at least one of the amplitude, phase, amplitude modulation and frequency modulation of a component of an underlying signal wherein the component comprises at least one oscillator peak, generating an output signal from the mathematical representation of the original signal as at least one of: an audio file; one or more audio signal components; and one or more speech vectors and outputting the output signal to an external system.
US09495969B2
A received transport stream may be demultiplexed into a compressed audio stream and a control stream. The compressed audio stream may be decoded. Audio corresponding to a tuned program may be stored. The stored audio may be separated from the compressed audio stream by subtracting the stored audio from the decoded audio stream, until a no-active-speech command is found in the control stream. Responsive to the no-active-speech command, the subtracting may be omitted for a period corresponding to a duration of the no-active-speech command.
