Document Document Title
US07877978B2 Power transmission chain made from metal
In order to construct a power transmission chain, a configuration of a metal sideplate is proposed in the case of which the sideplate has a first end region and a second end region, the first end region having at least two through-holes. The second end region of the sideplate made from metal has a number of elements which corresponds to the number of through-holes, which elements at least partially extend during the construction of a power transmission chain into the respective through-hole of another sideplate, the elements protruding from the plane of the sideplate owing to a forming method, in particular plunging.
US07877976B2 Spring flotation for center deck of draper header
A harvesting machine includes a harvesting header with a header frame, a cutterbar assembly attached to the header frame along the length thereof and configured to cut a crop, and a draper assembly positioned behind the cutterbar assembly. The draper assembly includes a center draper that delivers crop material to a feeder house of the harvesting machine and oppositely spaced side drapers that deliver crop material to the center draper. The center draper includes a draper frame swingably supported on the header frame at a pivot to project forwardly therefrom and a draper belt supported on the draper frame to present a rearwardly moving run for conveying the crop rearwardly. The center draper includes a counterbalance mechanism coupled between the header and draper frames to counteract the weight of the center draper about the pivot so as to reduce the load of the center draper on the cutterbar assembly.
US07877975B2 Windrow merger lift mechanism
A windrow merger lift mechanism having on a pair of rotational axes, skewed with respect to each other, to manipulate a merger apparatus between working and non-working positions. When the merger apparatus is in a first, or working position, the lift mechanism positions it to receive crop material from the conditioner rolls with minimal losses. When the merger apparatus is in a second, or non-working position, the lift mechanism positions the merger apparatus to allow crop material to be discharged from the header/conditioner with the same efficiency as a windrower having no installed merger attachment. The skewed axes of the merger lift mechanism optimize the merger position in both the working and non-working positions by moving the merger apparatus in four distinct, but related degrees of motion as the merger apparatus is moved between the positions.
US07877974B2 Floating swathgate
A floating swathgate for a cutting and conditioning header for a frame-supported tractor in which the angular attitude of the swathgate relative to an airborne stream of crop material being ejected from conditioner apparatus is varied as the header moves vertically with respect to the tractor to optimally direct the crop material toward a rearwardly disposed crop merger conveyor. As the header moves vertically, changes in the angular attitude of the swathgate direct the airborne crop material to generally the same location on the merger conveyor to minimize crop losses that typically occur with a fixed swathgate when the crop trajectory varies directly with the header vertical movement.
US07877969B2 Method for adjusting a working unit of a harvesting machine
A method of adjusting at least one working unit of a harvesting machine includes taking pictures or picture series of a crop-material flow at a position downstream from a particular working unit in a crop-material conveyance path at various setting states with certain control parameter setting values of the working unit, storing the pictures or picture series such that they are assigned to control parameter setting values belonging to a particular setting state, with which a picture or a picture series is selected based on an analysis of the crop-material flow depicted in the picture or picture series, and adjusting the particular working unit using the control parameter setting values assigned to the selected picture or the selected picture series; and a harvesting machine carries out the method.
US07877963B2 Method of producing a sealed bundle of consumer articles
A method of producing a sealed bundle containing consumer articles such as smoking articles comprises the steps of wrapping a sealable material around an outer surface of a sleeve; at least partially sealing the sealable material while being wrapped around the sleeve at its bottom and along its length; pushing a group of smoking articles through the sleeve to remove the partially sealed sealable material from the sleeve; and sealing the partially sealed sealable material at the top so as to form the sealed bundle.
US07877962B2 System and method having an improved self-mating beam
A system and method for providing a stronger lanai, area or pool enclosure. The system utilizes a beam having an interior channel that provides increased thread receiving surface for receiving one or more fasteners and an interlocking joint for further strengthening the connection between a plurality of beam members that form the beam.
US07877961B2 Lower chord bearing cold-formed steel joists
A joist comprised of at least one cold-formed steel elongated chord member; a cold-formed steel web having a plurality of web members and means for securing said web to said chord member. A plurality of joists are generally for use in a support system for a platform or a deck in the construction of floors and roofs. The support system is of particular use in a composite floor and roof systems.
US07877958B2 Continuous flexible spacer assembly having sealant support member
A spacer and sealant assembly comprising a sealant support member having a planar surface bounded by first and second edges wherein said first and second edges have at least one pleated portion, a plastic shim having at least one undulating portion in contact with said first and second edges of said stretchable sealant support member so that said at least one pleated portion is oriented inward into said at least one undulating portion of said shim, a sealant joined to at least said first and second edges of said sealant support member.
US07877957B2 Method of installing an improved elevated batten system
Various embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for installing an elevated batten system that includes a horizontal batten strip to which cylindrical-shaped pads are coupled. The pads elevate the horizontal batten strip above the roof deck surface, preventing water and debris from gathering on the roof deck surface and eliminating the need to install the vertical and horizontal battens in separate steps. Other various embodiments of the invention are directed to an elevated batten system that includes a horizontal batten strip to which pads are coupled that define a depressed portion. The depressed portion receives a fastener for coupling each pad to the horizontal batten strip, and in some embodiments, prevents irregularities in the height of the horizontal batten strip relative to the roof deck surface when installed on the roof deck surface.
US07877955B2 Fire retardant roof structure for styrene insulated roofs and method for making the same
Disclosed is a fire retardant roof system with a roof deck, a sealant material applied to the roof deck to prevent fluid migration, a polystyrene insulation board upwardly adjacent the sealant material and a sealing material upwardly adjacent the polystyrene material.
US07877952B2 Process for making water receptacles in general
A process for constructing water receptacles such as swimming pools, fountains and artificial ponds, comprising in one embodiments the following steps: excavating the receptacle; preparing the foundation by laying a layer of sand on the bottom of the excavation; laying of one or more sheets of a non-woven fabric on the internal surface of the excavation and on the foundation layer; laying a waterproofing layer on top of said sheet of non-woven fabric; disposing modular elements for stabilizing the lining to be applied; adding all equipment necessary for a proper functioning of said basin, swimming pool, etc.; lining the internal walls of the receptacle and/or of the bottom of the receptacle and/or of the edge of the receptacle with smoothed natural stones disposed on top of said waterproofing layer; and applying a binding resin on said lining.
US07877946B1 Weep vent
An improved weep vent for use in brick and masonry wall construction includes an adjustability feature that provides a superior vent. The vent includes an outer inverted U-shape casing having an inner smaller inverted U-shape member slidably retained in the casing, and an open mesh insert type plug that fits in front of the casing to keep out insects while allowing water to drain outwardly. During installation, the casing is positioned adjacent the side of bricks of the first course above a foundation or at other locations. The sliding member is extending out the back of the casing until it contacts the balloon frame or masonry, flashing or other obstructions. Then mortar is positioned over the vent. Excessive mortar does not clog the vent.
US07877937B2 High-stiffness, lightweight beam structure
A lightweight, high-stiffness structural beam having a web and a chord, which features a cross-sectional geometry featuring a plurality of sides arranged in an asymmetrical, non-closed, convex polygon shape. At least three of the sides of the chord are substantially parallel to one another, and are substantially perpendicular to the web. The beam is easily manufactured using fully-automated fabrication machinery and may serve as the main, flexure-resistant structural component of a sunlight-concentrating photovoltaic module.
US07877935B2 Wind turbine tower, a wind turbine, a wind turbine tower elevator and a method for assembling a wind turbine tower
The invention relates to a wind turbine tower comprising at least two annular tower rings placed vertically on top of each other. The wind turbine tower is characterized in that, a first tower ring overlaps at least a further tower ring of the at least two tower rings. The invention further relates to a wind turbine, a wind turbine tower elevator for use in a wind turbine tower and a method for assembling a wind turbine tower.
US07877929B2 Method and apparatus for reducing fertilizer use in agricultural operations
An agricultural method is provided for reducing the amount of fertilizer needed to effectively grow various plants as well as reducing fertilizer run-off, therefore minimizing fertilizer contamination of groundwater. A composition and/or material are also provided to facilitate the agricultural method. The material may include a semi-permeable or selectively permeable membrane made out of, for example, activated charcoal. An apparatus is also provided that incorporates the composition and/or material.
US07877920B2 Door-mounted rifle rack
A door-mounted rifle rack for use with a gun safe. The rifle rack has a stock support having one or more butt recesses located on a lower portion of an interior surface of the safe door. The butt recesses may be postioned at an angle to the interior surface of the safe door. A barrel support having one or more barrel holes is located on an upper portion of the interior surface of the safe door above the stock support. The barrel support, alternatively, may have one or more barrel recesses provided with barrel restraints instead of barrel holes.
US07877916B2 Garment marking clip and label strip
There are disclosed embodiments of a marking clip for marking garments which may be stacked flat on a surface. The marking clip is generally U-shaped with leg portions joined by a bight portion and is preferably molded of flexible, resilient, plastics material and bears repetitive indicia along the outer surface of the leg and bight portions. Two or more marking clips may be coupled to provide selected combinations. A label strip with respective indicia and with an RFID transponder and/or a machine-readable code can be adhesively adhered either directly to a garment across a fold or to the marking clip.
US07877915B2 Wristband carrier with snap closure and label
A wristband is assembled from a flexible preferably vinyl carrier and a preferably laminated ID label, the carrier having a panel portion and a strap portion with a snap closure located in a toe extension at the end of the carrier adjacent the panel. The strap has a series of holes, one of which is captured within the snap closure to attach the wristband to the wearer's limb. The laminated ID label has a pair of opposing slots, one of which slips over the strap to abut the panel and the other of which is captured by the snap closure to attach the label to the carrier. The panel portion has a relieved edge formed along its opposing sides which increases the comfort of the wristband as it is worn.
US07877910B2 Display system
A display system is described having a plurality of display units, wherein each of the display units is movable between at least a first position and a second position, and wherein each display unit is provided with at least a first light emitting element. Each display unit may be configured to be rotatable about an axis thereof, such that the first position is defined as a first angular position of rotation about the axis, and the second position is defined as a second angular position of rotation about the axis. A method of operating a display system having a plurality of display units is also described, wherein each of the display units is movable between at least a first position and a second position, and wherein each display unit comprises at least a first light emitting element, the method including: moving the display units from the first position to the second position, thereby exposing a first display surface; controlling emission of light from the first light emitting element of each of the display units; and returning the display units to the first position.
US07877905B2 Plastic shoe provided with decoration and method of manufacturing using casting mold
A plastic shoe provided with a decoration, a method of manufacturing the shoe, and a casting mold for manufacturing the shoe, is disclosed. The decoration is printed on a polyurethane decorative film which is applied to the surface of the upper part of the plastic shoe with the printed side facing down. To do so, the upper shell of a conventional casting mold is provided on the inside with a fine-pored aluminum foam body to produce plastic shoes. The aluminum foam body is connected to a suction pump. The decorative film is held in the casting mold with the help of the vacuum thereby generated.
US07877904B2 Cleat assembly for clipless pedal
An improved cleat assembly is disclosed, the assembly containing one or more spring clips configured for releasably securing the assembly to a bicycle pedal or the like. Specifically, the cleat assembly is configured such that an improper over-tightening of the cleat onto the sole of a user's shoe has substantially no effect on the free flexing of the spring clip while it is engaging or disengaging to/from the pedal. In addition, the cleat assembly incorporates one or more soft elastomeric caps that frictionally engage the ground when the user walks about, to provide improved traction and to eliminate undesired wear of critical assembly components. Further, for embodiments of cleat assemblies of the kind incorporating one or more adjustable set screws for adjusting the assemblies' float angles, threaded apertures for the set screws are formed by the confronting surfaces of a plastic upper plate and a metallic bottom plate, wherein the threads are formed only in the plastic upper plate. This allows the upper plate to be conveniently formed of an injection-molded plastic material and the bottom plate to be conveniently stamped from a piece of sheet metal.
US07877902B2 Footwear with variable configuration heel
A footwear comprises a sole and a heel provided with a first heel portion fixed to said sole, said heel comprising a second heel portion, rotatable around a hinge device and adjustable from a first position, in which said second heel portion protrudes transversely from said sole, to a second position in which said second heel portion is rotated to said sole; a footwear comprises a sole provided with a heel, and a support portion connected to said sole on which a further heel is obtained shaped to supportingly receive said heel.
US07877894B2 Digital displacement measuring instrument
A digital displacement measuring instrument includes a spindle screwed into a body to be axially advanced and retracted relative to the body; and an encoder that detects a displacement of the spindle. The encoder includes a rotor and a stator. The rotor is supported by a rotor bushing. The rotor bushing includes an engaging key engageable with a key groove axially provided on the outer circumference of the spindle, and is displaceable in the axial direction of the spindle via a position adjusting screw. The stator is fixed to the body via a stator bushing in the vicinity of the spindle so as not to be displaceable in the axial direction of the spindle.
US07877892B2 Circular saw alignment system and method
A circular saw alignment system and method, the system having a first longitudinal member securable to a saw arbor and a second member perpendicular to the first member. The first member having one or more locating devices. The locating devices can be bubble indicators or dial indicators located at the first or second end of the second member.
US07877891B2 Rotor clocking bar and method of use
A clocking bar includes a rod and an indicator located along a length of the rod, wherein the indicator has a pair of indication components with a predetermined spacing therebetween. The bar also includes a hole one locator located along the length of the rod, and a rear hole locator located along the length of the rod. The clocking bar is configured to identify a stack bolt hole one from among a plurality of bolt holes on a rotor through use of a relationship between physical features of the rotor.
US07877890B2 Device for detecting spatial position
The invention relates to a device for detecting spatial position, which can be attached via a mounting device to a surgical instrument, which has a longitudinal axis, wherein the mounting device has a through opening, which is penetrated by the instrument, wherein the mounting device is mounted so as to be rotatable around the longitudinal axis of the instrument, and wherein the mounting device can be immobilized in an axial and a radial direction via two angular ball bearings.
US07877888B2 System and method for measuring installation dimensions for flow measurement system
A method includes measuring a radius of curvature at each of the plurality of positions of the outer peripheral surface of the predetermined section of the pipe is measured through the first device. A second device is detachably coupled to the plurality of positions along the outer peripheral surface of the predetermined section of the pipe. A wall thickness at each of the plurality of positions of the outer peripheral surface of the predetermined section of the pipe is measured through the second device. A cross-sectional area of the predetermined section of the pipe is measured based on a measurement data including the radius of curvature and wall thickness at each of the plurality of positions of the outer peripheral surface of the predetermined section of the pipe.
US07877887B2 Method and system for heading indication with drift compensation
An apparatus and method for compensation of the effects of various bias errors encountered by inertial rate gyroscopes, particularly vibrating element gyroscopes, configured to detect heading relative to true north. Certain embodiments are suitable for reducing rotational dynamic errors associated with rotating gyroscopes. Other embodiments may include compensation of biases not related to rotational dynamics, such as thermal drift. The various methods disclosed may also account for the bias by sampling the rotational vector of the earth at an arbitrary heading, and at a heading that is 180° offset from the arbitrary heading. The sequence may be repeated numerous times to compensate for bias drift. The bias drift may be constant with respect to time (linear) or changing over time (non-linear) during the data acquisition sequence. Some embodiments include methods that utilize data from accelerometers to infer the bank and elevation angles as well as earth latitude location relative to the equator.
US07877881B2 Constant force mechanical scribers and methods for using same in semiconductor processing applications
A scribing system comprising a mounting mechanism, stylus, and force generating mechanism is provided. The mounting mechanism is configured to rotate an elongated object in such a manner that the object is subjected to a bow effect wherein a middle portion of the object bends relative to the end portions of the object. The stylus is for scribing the object at a position x along the long dimension of the object while the mounting mechanism rotates the object. The force generating mechanism is connected to the stylus so that the stylus applies the same constant force to the elongated object regardless of the position x along the long dimension of the object that the stylus is positioned, while the mounting mechanism rotates the object and thereby subjects the object to the bow effect, thereby scribing the object.
US07877879B2 Razor
In a razor including a razor head 16 having blade bodies 19, a shaving aid member 27 is provided on the razor head 16. The shaving aid member 27 reciprocates between an initial position and an end position, which is separate from the initial position by a predetermined range. The shaving aid member 27 is urged toward the initial position by elastic bodies 31.
US07877877B2 Method for manufacturing a solid housing
A method for manufacturing a solid housing, in particular a valve housing for an electromagnetically operable valve. The method includes providing at least three flat metal plates side by side, each having different magnetic properties directly adjacent to the others. The at least three plates are joined to the directly adjacent bordering edges to form a sheet metal section. The sheet metal section shaped into a sleeve shape. Furthermore, the bordering edges, which are now opposite one another, and run in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve to form a sleeve blank are joined together. The sleeve blank is machined until a desired geometric shape of the housing is achieved. The housing may be suitable in particular for use in fuel injectors in fuel injector systems of internal combustion engines operating by spark ignition of a compressed fuel-air mixture.
US07877874B2 Process for the collective fabrication of 3D electronic modules
The invention relates to the collective fabrication of n 3D modules. A batch of n wafers I are fabricated on one and the same plate. This step is repeated K times. The K plates are stacked. Plated-through holes are formed in the thickness of the stack. These holes are intended for connecting the slices together. The stack is cut in order to obtain the n 3D modules. The plate 10, which comprises silicon, is covered on one face 11 with an electrically insulating layer forming the insulating substrate. This face has grooves 20 that define n geometrical features, which are provided with an electronic component 1 connected to electrical connection pads 2′ placed on said face.
US07877868B2 Method of fabricating circuit configuration member
A circuit configuration member has a space capable of storing a resin in a liquid state is formed on the adhering face and on an inner side of the case main body. The adhering face of the heat radiating member and the circuit configuration member are adhered by an adhering member at inside of the space by integrally molding the case main body arranged to surround the circuit configuration member and the heat radiating member.
US07877867B2 Component fixing method
A resist having a predetermined thickness is formed on a printed circuit board except for portions of the printed circuit board that oppose a convex portion of a component when the component is mounted on the printed circuit board. A silk screen printed layer having a predetermined thickness is formed on the resist. Thereafter, a concave portion of the component is bonded to the silk screen printed layer using double coated tape having a predetermined thickness. The component is mounted such that the convex portions of the component oppose the portions of the printed circuit board that do not have a resist formed thereon. The sum of the thicknesses of the resist, the silk screen printed layer and the double coated tape is larger than a height difference between the concave portion and the convex portion of the component.
US07877866B1 Flexible circuit electrode array and method of manufacturing the same
A method of manufacturing a flexible circuit electrode array that provides excellent adhesion between the polymer base layer and the polymer top layer and insulation of the trace metals and electrodes. A layer of polymer is laid down. A layer of metal is applied to the polymer and patterned to create electrodes and leads for those electrodes. A second layer of polymer is applied over the metal layer and patterned to leave openings for the electrodes, or openings are created later by means such as laser ablation. Hence the array and its supply cable are formed of a single body. Alternatively, multiple alternating layers of metal and polymer may be applied to obtain more metal traces within a given width.
US07877865B2 Method of forming a wiring having carbon nanotube
In a method of forming a wiring having a carbon nanotube, a lower wiring is formed on a substrate, and a catalyst layer is formed on the lower wiring. An insulating interlayer is formed on the substrate to cover the catalyst layer, and an opening is formed through the insulating interlayer to expose an upper face of the catalyst layer. A carbon nanotube wiring is formed in the opening, and an upper wiring is formed on the carbon nanotube wiring and the insulating interlayer to be electrically connected to the carbon nanotube wiring. A thermal stress is generated between the carbon nanotube wiring and the upper wiring to produce a dielectric breakdown of a native oxide layer formed on a surface of the carbon nanotube wiring. A wiring having a reduced electrical resistance between the carbon nanotube wiring and the upper wiring may be obtained.
US07877864B2 Compression tool with rotating, multiple cable cradle
An adjustable cable compression tool having at least two driver pins and a selectable cable cradle to ensure compatibility with multiple sized wired and connectors. The driver pins are mounted on an assembly to avoid loss when the driver pin is not selected for use.
US07877863B2 Apparatus for routing conductors in electro-mechanical machine housings
An apparatus for routing conductors, such as signal carrying conductors, from within an electro-mechanical machine housing to a location outside the housing is provided. The apparatus includes a base for fitting in a first opening in the housing and securing a lower portion of the apparatus to the housing. The apparatus also includes a channel for carrying the conductors, which may be formed in a shape corresponding to a profile of a portion of the housing. The apparatus includes a fastener, such as a snap-type mechanical fastener, for securing the apparatus to the housing.
US07877862B2 Weldless mesotube grid holder
An apparatus for assembling an electronic device is disclosed, which includes one or more grid holders for maintaining one or more grids in association with a plurality of conducting components positioned perpendicular to the grid(s). One or more insulating components are also provided for mounting and supporting the conducting components. The grid holder(s) can be pushed onto the conducting components in order to eliminate the need for applying spot weld currents to the conducting components and thereby provide a weldless assembly apparatus for the precise construction of an electronic device.
US07877857B2 Manufacturing method of electric motor
Coils are electrically connected to a commutator, which includes commutator segments that are arranged one after another in a circumferential direction of a dielectric body along an outer peripheral surface of the dielectric body. Each commutator segment includes a slidably contacting portion, a claw portion and a bending fulcrum portion. The slidably contacting portion is provided in one axial side of the commutator segment and is slidably contactable with each brush. The claw portion is provided in the other axial side of the commutator segment and is engageable with the corresponding coil. The bending fulcrum portion is formed on a claw portion side of the slidably contacting portion and is bent upon radially inwardly pressing the claw portion by a fusing electrode.
US07877856B2 Method of manufacturing a speaker
An edge (29) for supporting a diaphragm assembly (100) with respect to a frame (26) is bonded to the frame (26) along the outer periphery thereof and joined to a diaphragm (27) in a position more peripherally inward than a voice coil (28) along the inner periphery thereof. The edge (29) partly overlaps diaphragm (27). This structure allows downsizing of the speaker, without reducing the sizes of a permanent magnet (21) and the edge (29).
US07877853B2 Method of manufacturing end effector assembly for sealing tissue
A method for manufacturing an end effector assembly for sealing tissue includes the initial step of providing first and second electrically conductive sealing plates. The method also includes the steps of: encasing at least one of the electrically conductive sealing plates in a substantially moldable insulative material; applying a load to the electrically conductive sealing plates; allowing the insulative material to deform to create a gap between the sealing plates between about 0.001 inches to about 0.010 inches; and allowing the insulative material to cure.
US07877852B2 Method of manufacturing an end effector assembly for sealing tissue
A method for manufacturing an end effector assembly for sealing tissue includes the initial step of providing a pair of first and second jaw members each including an inwardly facing electrically conductive sealing surface. The method also includes the steps of: coating the inwardly facing electrically conductive sealing surface of one or both jaw members with an insulative material, the coating having a thickness within the range of about 0.001 inches to about 0.010 inches; allowing the insulative material to cure onto the inwardly facing electrically conductive sealing surface; removing a portion of the insulative material from the inwardly facing electrically conductive sealing surface to form a series of stop members arranged thereacross; and assembling the pair of first and second jaw members about a pivot such that the two inwardly facing electrically conductive sealing surfaces are substantially opposed to each other in pivotal relation relative to one another.
US07877851B2 Apparatus for making tubular film transistors
Disclosed is an apparatus for making tubular-shaped membrane electrode assembly. The apparatus includes a guiding unit for guiding the direction of MEA production, a first weaving unit for weaving conductive fiber bundles into a first tubular conductive fabric around the guiding unit, a first catalyst-providing unit for forming a first catalyst film on the first tubular conductive fabric, a proton-exchange-membrane-providing unit for providing a proton-exchange-membrane on the first catalyst film, a second catalyst-providing unit for forming a second catalyst film on the proton-exchange-membrane, a second weaving unit for weaving conductive fiber bundles into a second tubular conductive fabric on the second catalyst film and a cooling and pulling unit for cooling and pulling the first tubular conductive fabric, the first catalyst film, the proton-exchange-membrane, the second catalyst film and the second tubular conductive fabric into a tubular laminate.
US07877846B1 Ratchet buckle with excess strap retention arm and double layered arm
The ratchet buckle for tightening a strap under a ratchet action provides a retention arm that constrains folded excess strap to the buckle to prevent it from flapping free during transport of cargo that the strap secures. A guard is provided outside a crank arm that is rotatably journaled to a base by a spindle on its forward end. The crank arm is secured to the guard intermediate the length of the guard with the guard extending rearward of the crank arm. The guard thus covers a ratchet wheel and the crank arm and with the crank arm forms an effective double-layered crank arm. The retention arm is rotatable on a handle shaft mounted to the guard rearward end, biased down onto folded excess strap.
US07877845B2 Controlled-release fastening device
A controlled-release fastening device including a toothed strap with pitched toothing, a base on which is mounted at least one main hook pivotal with respect to the base between a retaining position, in which the hook is selectively engaged between contiguous teeth of the toothing in order to hold the strap in one direction with respect to the base, and a release position, in which at least one hook is disengaged from the strap, allowing the sliding thereof relative to the base. A ratchet is mounted on the base for the gradual release of the strap by one or more teeth at a time. The ratchet including a first and a second hook mutually spaced by a non-integral multiple of the toothing pitch and capable of alternately engaging the toothing during controlled release of the strap. The first hook of the escapement ratchet mechanism coincides with the main hook and the second hook is structurally independent of the first hook, hinged on the base coaxially with the first hook and operationally connected to the first hook in order to disengage it from the toothing of the strap when the second hook is engaged therein and vice versa.
US07877843B2 Handle
The present invention relates to a handle, in particular for use in a screwdriver. Such handle comprises an outer region having a first stiffness and an inner region comprising a second stiffness. According to the invention the second stiffness is smaller than the first stiffness. The inner region might be built with chambers and ribs wherein the chambers might be hollow or filled with a soft material, e.g. a gel or a soft porous or non-porous plastic material.
US07877842B2 Tool system with replaceable heads and offset handle
A tool system is disclosed having a body including a handle extending therefrom, a detachable head including a working tool, and a multi-part connector for detachable connecting the head to the body, the connector including opposed, flexible members positioned on the body towards an end of the body and means on the head for connecting with the opposed flexible members, the opposed flexible members and the means for connecting with the flexible members working in concert to detachably secure the head to the body. The handle of the tool system can be offset with respect to the axis of the body and the detachable head.
US07877840B2 Constructive arrangement applied to swivel castor guards
A constructive arrangement applied to swivel castor guards represented as an improvement that provides the possibility to interchange an infinite variety of end pieces on a single basic castor structure, providing the ability to create a wide range of castor models at a reduced cost, considering that the constructive arrangement disclosed requires a reduced amount of investment in production tooling, limited to the interchangeable end piece, as the new components, namely the main body with a wheel guard having a slot on its trailing end face and the intermediate part, which are part of the improvement, can be considered as standard parts.
US07877837B2 Cleaning appliance including a telescopic wand assembly retainer
A cleaning appliance of the cylinder type includes a main body and a hose and wand assembly including a telescopic wand movable between retracted and extended positions and a flexible hose having a first end connected to the main body and a second end connected to the wand. The wand and the main body include a retainer for releasable attaching the wand to the main body when the wand is in the retracted state and the hose passes around the main body. Alternatively, the wand and the main body include a retainer for releasably attaching the wand to an upper surface of the main body when the wand is in the retracted state. This construction provides a compact storage solution.
US07877836B2 Extractor control apparatus
A cleaning apparatus is disclosed. The cleaning apparatus includes a base portion for movement along the surface and a handle pivotally connected to the base portion. The cleaning apparatus further includes a solution tank for supplying a flow of cleaning solution to the surface. The solution tank removably mounted to one of the handle and the base portion. The cleaning apparatus still further includes a recovery tank removably mounted to one of the handle and the base portion and a floor suction nozzle secured to the base portion and in fluid communication with the recovery tank. The cleaning apparatus yet further includes a suction source in fluid communication with the floor suction nozzle for generating suction to draw dirt and liquid through the floor suction nozzle and into the recovery tank. The cleaning apparatus still further includes an accessory hose secured to one of the handle and base portion in fluid communication the recovery tank and a holder mounted to one of the handle or base and adapted to receive an end of the accessory hose. The cleaning apparatus further includes a sensor for sensing the position of the accessory hose within the holder. A function of the cleaning apparatus is controlled in response to the position of the accessory hose within the holder.
US07877835B2 Method and apparatus for cleaning master disk
In a method of cleaning a master disk according to the present invention, a self-adhesive surface sticking/peeling operation is performed on dust on the master disk by reciprocatingly oscillating the self-adhesive member while applying external forces in a plurality of directions. Dust on the master disk can be effectively removed by moving the self-adhesive member in this way and by using the adhesion of the self-adhesive member. Since the cleaning method according to the present invention is a removal method using a physical force, it has both the effect of removing organic materials and the effect of removing inorganic materials. Further, according to the present invention, the master disk to be cleaned can be cleaned in a state of being mounted on a disk holding member such as a holder. Therefore an apparatus of a comparatively simple construction can be applied in on-line form according to the cleaning method.
US07877833B2 Oral-care device and system
An oral-care device with a power cleaning head configured to dispense an oral-care cleaning solution is disclosed. The power cleaning head comprises squeegees and bristles and one or more apertures for dispensing the oral-care solution. Preferably, the squeegee and bristle are configured to rotate, oscillate, vibrate or otherwise move while dispensing the oral-care solution through the one or more apertures.
US07877832B2 Toothbrush
An electrically powered toothbrush comprising a handle which contains an electric motor and power supply, a head part connected to the handle to be driven in motion by the electric motor by a transmission means between the motor and the oral head part. The head part is flexibly and resiliently connected to the handle such that the head part can move resiliently under pressure of the oral hygiene part against a tooth surface. The motor is moveably mounted within the handle and the assembly of motor and transmission means is pivotally connected to the handle at a pivot point between the brush head and the motor. Suitably the handle is in two parts with a flexible connection between the parts.
US07877826B2 Hands free operable foot washing station
A plurality of nozzles are located on each side of a foot washing station on curved portions of spray members. At least some of the nozzles are located at a plurality of elevations and are downwardly directed to knock debris off the lower leg and foot of a user to thus wash the debris away. A foot platform supports the foot or feet of a user is preferably continuously sloped so that water does not accumulate at any portion of the foot platform. Additionally, an actuator is preferably actuated by the placement of the weight of the foot on the foot platform to begin the spraying of the foot or feet with water in a hands-free operation. Spray nozzle tips are screwed into orifices which then dispense water under pressure preferably in a spray pattern with highly atomized water pellets efficiently removing debris from the feet of a user.
US07877824B2 Telescoping support bar
A telescoping support bar installed in a shower enclosure and similar facilities requires no mechanical wall fasteners. The support bar includes telescoping tubes with end retainers gripping walls of the enclosures. Length of the support bar is governed by fixed length spacer means and internal extensible means. Extensible means, having bearings movable along a rod, provides the lengthening and shortening of the support bar as the distance between the bearings is increased or decreased. This change in distance likewise changes the overall length of the support bar. With the retainers snug against the walls, one of the tubes, being rotatable, is turned in circular motion. This rotation is converted into an axial force along the bar causing the retainers to forcefully grip the walls, providing a rigid and strong bar installation.
US07877822B2 Non-water lavatory flushing device with flushing pump
A non-water lavatory flushing device consists of a electrical four-way valve, which one of its exit is connected with the exit of the side wall of the valley at the back of the toilet pan for collecting the feces. The three exits are connected with the central part of the toilet pan, feces collecting box and the flushing liquid collecting box through a feces dispersing pipe, a feces collecting pipe and a urine collecting pipe. The non-water lavatory flushing device of the invention uses a four-way valve to replace the feces dispersing pipe magnetic valve, feces collecting pipe magnetic valve and urine collecting pipe of the prior art. The dispersed feces liquid and urine in the feces dispersing pipe, feces collecting pipe and urine collecting pipe is controlled by the four-way valve respectively. Then the structure is simplified and the cost is decreased. Furthermore, as the four-way joint is cancelled, the problem of wrong flowing of the leaving liquid is solved. Thus, it could be avoided that the feces plasm flow into flushing liquid collecting box or the limited clean urine is discharged along the feces collecting pipe and this is advantaged to improve the flushing effect.
US07877821B1 Portable compressed-air gun for unclogging single drains
A hand-held gun-shaped device having an air compressor, an air chamber, and at least one detachable drain-sealing adapter, which are used together to clear soft stoppages from single drains. Air compressor power may be supplied by a removable power cord or battery. Optional features include a detachable side handle, a toilet plunger adapter, a hollow cup adapter for shower and kitchen sink drains, a funnel-shaped adapter for bathtub and sink drains, an air compressor tire valve, a tire valve attachment, a safety-release valve, and a pressure gauge. An operator sets the PSI setting dial or display on the air compressor above a needed threshold air chamber pressure and starts the air compressor. When the air compressor stops and an air chamber release button is activated, a drain-unclogging air burst is released from the air chamber. One charge of the air chamber provides one air burst.
US07877820B2 Artificial disc
A heart protector is described that comprises of an angular body. The angular body will have at least two contact points wherein the angular body is capable of being attached to a garment at said contact points such that the angular body is positioned in front of the heart of a user and said contact points are positioned at locations around the pectoral muscles of the user when said garment is worn by the user.
US07877818B2 Easy on and off collar for a protective garment
An improved collar mechanism and method of use for the securing of reusable gowns typically used in health care settings around the neck of a user without the need to secure with ties, tabs, snaps or other securing devices. The collar mechanism is made of a stiff material that is pliable enough to move without fracture when force is applied but with a sufficient memory that allows the collar to return to its original position once the force is removed or when modeled as such.
US07882565B2 Controlled access to objects or areas in an electronic document
Methods, systems, and computer products provide for designating areas or objects in an electronic document as controlled access regions for prohibiting or limiting access to the regions and/or for limiting application functionalities that may be utilized in the regions.
US07882564B2 Information recording/playback apparatus and method
A block key to encrypt block data is generated using an ATS (arrival time stamp) appended to each of TS (transport stream) packets included in a transport stream correspondingly to the arrival time of the TS packet. The ATS is a random data depending upon an arrival time, and so a block-unique key can be generated, which enhances the protection against data cryptanalysis. A block key is generated from a combination of an ATS with a key unique to a device, recording medium or the like such as a master key, disc-unique key, title-unique key or the like. Since an ATS is used to generate a block key, any area for storage of an encryption key for each block may not be provided in a recording medium.
US07882560B2 Methods and apparatus providing computer and network security utilizing probabilistic policy reposturing
A system defines at least one key event to be monitored by at least one agent, and creates a graphical model for the at least one key event. The system observes the at least one key event. The system infers a degree of attack on the computer system based on an observation of the at least one key event in conjunction with a result of an effect the at least one key event has on the graphical model. The system then adjusts a security policy based on an output of the graphical model.
US07882559B2 Electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and storing medium storing therein program for executing the method
A document processing system which can form, for example, an electronic document that is encrypted, having: setting means for setting access permission attributes for restricting a predetermined function request and ID information per function into the electronic document; storing means for storing the electronic document in which the access permission attributes are set so that the electronic document can be updated; an access information management table for managing the access permission attributes of each electronic document and the ID information which are set into the electronic document by the setting means; and electronic document managing means for updating the access permission attributes and the ID information set in the electronic document in response to a change request for the access permission attributes and the ID information after the electronic document was registered into the storing means and updating contents in the access information management table on the basis of the changed access permission attributes and the changed ID information so as to be matched.
US07882554B2 Apparatus and method for selective mirroring
An apparatus is described that facilitates selective mirroring through processing of network traffic in accordance with provisioned rules and policies. The apparatus includes a port included in a set of at least one port, wherein each port in the set receives input traffic, a data processor that processes input data from the set of at least one port to generate mirrored data, based on rules with bitwise granularity across a header and a payload of the input data, and a mirror port selectable from the set of at least one port that transmits output traffic corresponding to the mirrored data. Advantageously, the apparatus provides an architectural framework well suited to a low cost, high speed, robust implementation of selective mirroring that enables flexible, advanced network security and monitoring features and network traffic analysis.
US07882552B2 Remote administration of smart cards for secure access systems
A secure access method for use with a communication network which communicates information between an information resource controller and a remote unit comprising a smart card, the method including: identifying, at the remote unit, a command to upload data; employing, in response to said command, a hash function at the remote unit to encode contents of at least a portion of a memory at the remote unit and thereby to produce a hashed result; transmitting the hashed result to the information resource controller; comparing, at the information resource controller, the hashed result with a trusted hashed result maintained at the information resource controller thereby to provide a comparison result; if the comparing produces an unfavorable result, performing at least one of: revoking the remote unit by the information resource controller; and cancelling authorizations to the remote unit; and determining that the at least a portion of the memory at the remote unit has integrity based, at least in part, on the comparison result.
US07882550B2 Customized untrusted certificate replication
Embodiments of the invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to electronic messaging security through replicated certificate stores and provide a method, system and computer program product user-specific certificate repository replication. In one embodiment of the invention, a method of replicating with multiple different messaging systems disposed in correspondingly different computing clients, retrieving a local repository of untrusted certificates from each of the different messaging systems during replication, and associating each retrieved local repository with a particular end user can be provided. Moreover, the method can include updating a global repository of untrusted certificates with the untrusted certificates of each local repository while eliminating redundant instances of an untrusted certificate present in different retrieved local repositories.
US07882547B2 Securely calling web services from macros
A method of securing communications between an application that includes a macro and a Web Service. The method includes an act of, at the macro, generating a request for data. The request for data comprises generating commands for retrieving data, generating security information, and embedding the commands for retrieving data and the security information in a request. The request for data is sent to the Web Service. The requested data is received from the Web Service if the security information provides appropriate authorization to receive the requested data.
US07882546B2 Controlling access of a client system to an access protected remote resource
The present invention provides a security module for Web application, especially a portal application, using a rewriter proxy. The security module ensures that the rewritten URIs are appended by an authentication identifier for determining whether the rewritten URI has not been changed. Preferably, the authentication identifier can be generated by applying a secure hash algorithm and/or secret key to the original URIs of the remote resource or the entire rewritten URIs. When a client activates those URIs, a request is sent to the rewriter proxy. Before a connection to the access protected remote resource is established, the security module validates whether the URIs contained in the user client request have been changed by the user.
US07882545B2 Secure wireless network
A method is used to authenticate a wireless device for secure operation on a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network including a controller. The method to include broadcasting from the controller a configuration message based on the controller being physically switched to a configuration mode. The method to also include accepting at the controller a response from the wireless device, the response accepted based on receiving the response within a fixed time period following the broadcasting of the configuration message, the accepted response including information encrypted using the controller's public key. A user message is obtained, the user message entered by the user at the controller and maintained at the controller. The wireless device is authenticated based on whether the response including the encrypted information, when decrypted with a private key associated with the controller's public key, matches the user message.
US07882543B2 Systems and methods for added authentication in distributed network delivered half-duplex communications
In half-duplex communications over a wireless network, a user from a private organization sends the request for half-duplex communication through a private server controlled by the private organization. The private server sets up a private account with the wireless carrier and the user communicates via the private account.
US07882541B2 Authentication system in information processing terminal using mobile information processing device
A mobile information processing device (200) obtains specific information of a user in response to an operation by the user, authenticates the user based on the specific information, establishes the first wireless communication mode, and then transmits authentication information to an information processing terminal. The information processing terminal (100) receives the authentication information from the mobile information processing device in the first wireless communication mode (A), verifies the received authentication information, generates an identification based on the resultant verification, transmits, in the first wireless communication mode, the identification to the mobile information processing device, then changes from the first wireless communication mode into the second wireless communication mode (B), and iteratively performs polling of the mobile information processing device. The mobile information processing device receives the identification from the information processing terminal in the first wireless communication mode, then changes from the first wireless communication mode to the second wireless communication mode, and transmits, in response to the polling from the information processing terminal, a reply containing the identification back to the information processing terminal in the second wireless communication mode. Thus the presence of the mobile information processing device is managed.
US07882539B2 Abstracting security policy from, and transforming to, native representations of access check mechanisms
Abstracting access control policy from access check mechanisms allows for richer expression of policy, using a declarative model with semantics, than what is permitted by the access check mechanisms. Further, abstracting access control policy allows for uniform expression of policy across multiple access check mechanisms. Proof-like reasons for any access query are provided, such as who has access to what resource, built from the policy statements themselves, independent of the access check mechanism that provide access. Access is audited and policy-based reasons for access are provided based on the access control policy.
US07882528B1 Methods and systems for enhancing a user's viewing experience
Methods and systems for enhancing a user's viewing experience are described. Various embodiments can record episodes of a special event program, record previously-broadcast episodes of a special event program, assist the user in recording episodes that are associated with a program for which they have set up a record event, maintain an entertainment system's user interface by automatically removing record events, handle season premiers and finales by automatically recording them, and assist the user in recording episodes in which they might be interested.
US07882526B2 Program information retrieval system, broadcast receiving apparatus, program information retrieval apparatus, program information retrieval method, and computer program
A program information retrieval system in which a broadcast receiving terminal and a resolver server are connected through a communication network includes a local storing unit that stores a program information, a taste-information acquiring unit that acquires taste information of a user, a program-information requesting unit that requests the resolver server to provide program information, and a program-information receiving unit that receives the program information transmitted from the resolver server. The resolver server includes a master storing unit that stores the program information, a program-information-request receiving unit that receives a request for program information based on the taste information from the broadcast receiving terminal, a program-information extracting unit that extracts program information matching the taste information from the master storing unit using the identifier, and a transmitting unit that transmits the program information extracted from the master storing unit to the broadcast receiving terminal.
US07882522B2 Determining user interest based on guide navigation
An electronic program guide (EPG) application is configured to render a program listing, a currently indicated program, and additional data. The EPG application is further configured to automatically determine, based on user-submitted EPG navigation commands, whether or not the user is likely interested in the currently indicated program. If it is determined that the user is likely interested in the currently indicated program, then the additional data that is displayed along with the program listing is detailed data associated with the currently indicated program. In contrast, if it is determined that the user is likely not interested in the currently indicated program, then instead of detailed data associated with the currently indicated program, the additional data that is displayed along with the program listing is content that is targeted to the user.
US07882521B2 EPG providing apparatus with a channel table and method thereof
Provided are an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) providing apparatus and method. The EPG providing apparatus includes a receiver receiving EPG channel information from a broadcast receiver, a channel table showing entire broadcast channel information, and a display device displaying a screen of a channel corresponding to a current location of the display device on the channel table based on the received EPG channel information.
US07882520B2 Broadcast program recording overrun and underrun scheduling system
A broadcast program recording overrun and underrun scheduling system provides a system for adjusting the start and end times of a broadcast program's recording schedule that has a predetermined start and end broadcast time. An on screen program guide is displayed to the viewer via a monitor or television and lists the predetermined scheduled broadcast times and channels of a plurality of broadcast programs. The viewer selects a particular broadcast program to record from the program guide using a remote input device. The invention schedules the broadcast program to be recorded by inserting the program's information such as program identifier, start and end times, and storage duration into a recording schedule database. The invention allows the viewer to adjust the scheduled start and/or end recording times for a broadcast program by specifying the time increment to add or subtract from the start and/or end recording times of a specific program or series of programs. The invention adjusts the recording schedule to the viewer's modifications. Broadcast programs are recorded onto a persistent storage device when the recording schedule indicates that it is time to do so. The viewer is allowed to adjust the end recording time of a program while the program is being recorded. The viewer can randomly access the recorded programs on the persistent storage device for play back.
US07882518B2 Method and apparatus for transmission, receipt and display of advertisements
An apparatus for the intelligent display of advertisements to a television services user includes a transmitter, a receiver and a display on which an electronic television program guide, television programs, and advertisements are displayed. Advertising and electronic program guide data are transmitted to a receiver used by one or more television service users. The electronic program guide data includes information characterizing television programs listed in an electronic program guide. Similarly, the advertising data includes advertisements and information characterizing the transmitted advertisements. A selection history contains information characterizing those programs selected by a user for viewing. Received advertisements are displayed to the user based upon a comparison between the information characterizing each of the plurality of advertisements and the information in the selection history.
US07882513B2 Optical disc device and method for controlling optical disc device
An optical disk device of the present application includes: a turntable 30 including plural induction grooves 31a to 31h as concave portions radially extending from vicinity of a center of the turntable 30 and having open portions in an outer periphery of the turntable 30 and plural through-holes 32a to 32h penetrating bottom faces 33a to 33h on the vicinity of the center side of the plural induction grooves 31a to 31h and a top face of the turntable 30; and an outer rotor type spindle motor 35 provided with plural fins 36a to 36h as convex portions on a rotor on a side face thereof. The optical disk device of the present application utilizes an airflow generated by rotation of the rotor of the spindle motor 35 and the turntable 30 in conjunction therewith as a dust removing wind for removing dust attaching to an objective lens side area.
US07882510B2 Demultiplexer application programming interface
A set of interfaces and data structures (i.e., a demultiplexer API) represents a demultiplexer of multimedia data. The data structure utilizes a number of fields, each containing an element of a command. In one embodiment, at least seven commands are formed for proper operation of the demultiplexer, including Initialize, SetPresentationDescriptor, GetPresentationDescriptor, GetPendingPresentationDescriptor, ProcessInput, ProcessOutput, and Flush commands. The demultiplexer API allows the consumer to use muxed stream data such as DV in a uniform manner to generate elementary stream data such as audio and video (compressed or uncompressed) and allows demultiplexers to be used as an independent component.
US07882505B2 Method and apparatus for switching between per-thread and per-processor resource pools in multi-threaded programs
In a multi-processor multi-threaded computer system, resources are dynamically assigned during program operation to either threads or processors in such a manner that resource usage is maximized. In one embodiment, the choice of whether to assign resources to threads or processors is dependent on the number of threads versus the number of processors. In another embodiment, when the system is operating in one assignment mode, the amount of wasted resources is measured and when this measured amount exceeds a predetermined threshold based on the maximum resources that could be wasted were the system operating in the other assignment mode, the assignment is switched to the other assignment mode.
US07882504B2 Intelligent memory device with wakeup feature
A wakeup mechanism for computing system is disclosed. A wakeup unit connected to a host interface is configured to detect a sequence of data values and to generate the activation signal if the detected sequence matches an expected sequence of data values. First, a read by the host processor at a particular address in memory is detected by the wakeup unit. Next, a sequence of data values is written to the address by the host processor and the wakeup unit compares the sequence to an expected sequence. If there is a match, the wakeup unit causes the multitasking controller to execute a test of the data in memory. If the test is positive, then an indicator is written to the address and when the host reads the indicator, the wakeup unit causes the multitask controller to become active.
US07882503B2 Production redeployment
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for substituting a new version resource adaptor for a production version of the resource adaptor. These mechanisms and methods can enable embodiments to provide upgrade to a new version resource adaptor contemporaneous with completion of work by the production version of the resource adaptor. The ability of embodiments to provide upgrade to a new version resource adaptor contemporaneous with completion of work by the production version of the resource adaptor can enable an installation desiring to install a new component of their connector system while the system remains in production, eliminating the need to halt the system, i.e., stop all traffic, replace the production version of the component with an upgraded version, test and finally place the upgraded version into production.
US07882502B2 Single file update
A system and method are described for performing updating of an application using a single file update. In one embodiment, a request from a client is received at a server to amend a deployed application by updating a single file of the application. The request is received at a deploy service of the server. The file to be update is accessed and updated to amend the application. The transaction for successful updating of the file is committed to a database.
US07882497B2 Symbiotic computer application and system and method for generation and presentation of same
A system and method for a symbiotic computer application and system and method for generation and presentation of same. The symbiotic computer application allows end-user devices to access back-end data systems including legacy host data systems having legacy host applications and other alternative data systems not directly compatible with the end-user devices. In some embodiments, the symbiotic computer application is generated by a symbiotic computer application generator to include user interface forms and discrete associations, which relate the user interface forms to the back-end data systems. A symbiotic computer application presentation end-user system allows the end-user device to perform desired functions of the back-end data systems through programs and user interfaces configured for the end-user device.
US07882495B2 Bounded program failure analysis and correction
In one embodiment, a computer system determines that a previously run test scenario configured to test a software program has failed to produce an expected result due to one or more semantic errors, generates error trace code configured to monitor the called component, processes the test scenario using the error trace code, and analyzes error trace information to determine the point at which the semantic error occurs in the called component. In an alternative embodiment, a computer system detects a semantic error in a software component of a software program, constructs an error condition that may include source code representing a minimum condition under which the error occurs, generates an object invariant based on the error condition that represents an opposite condition to that represented by the error condition, and automatically generates source code change recommendations using the object invariant that prevent the semantic error from reoccurring in subsequent test scenarios.
US07882492B2 Intelligent computer program debugger, and system and method for implementing the same
A method for displaying a user-defined artifact in a debugger view is provided. The user-defined artifact is defined in a software application that is developed by a computer software application developer. The software application is included in a packaged application that includes instructions, with each instruction being either a user-defined instruction or a non-user defined instruction. A breakpoint is defined at a desired instruction of the packaged application. The method includes initiating debugging of the packaged application and hitting the breakpoint defined at the desired instruction. Also included is identifying the user-defined artifact in the software application and obtaining data to populate the debugger view. Further included is filtering-in data associated with the user-defined artifact and displaying the debugger view showing the filtered-in data. The method also includes marking data not associated with the user-defined artifact and stepping through the user-defined instruction.
US07882491B2 Automatic generation of a graphical program with a structure node in response to receiving a diagram with states and state transitions
A system and method for automatically generating a data flow diagram in response to a first diagram. The first diagram may specify one or more states and one or more state transitions, wherein each state transition specifies a transition from a first state to a second state. A data flow diagram may be automatically generated from the first diagram. A hardware description may be generated from the data flow diagram. The hardware description may be usable to configure a programmable hardware element such as, for example, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The configured programmable hardware element may implement a hardware implementation of the data flow diagram.
US07882482B2 Layout schemes and apparatus for high performance DC-DC output stage
A layout method that enables a high power switch mode voltage regulator integrated circuit to generate a large output current and achieve substantially low switching loss is disclosed. The layout method includes forming an array of switching elements on a semiconductor die, each switching element including a plurality of discrete transistors configured to have a substantially reduced ON resistance; and forming a plurality of gate driver circuits on the same die among the switching elements, all using a single metal process. Each gate driver circuit placed substantially close to and dedicated to drive only one switching element so that the gate coupling capacitance resistance product is substantially reduced.
US07882475B2 Method to reduce the wirelength of analytical placement techniques by modulation of spreading forces vectors
A method of force directed placement programming is presented. The method includes: assigning a plurality of objects from a cell netlist to bins; shifting the objects based on the bins; computing a magnitude of a spreading force for each object of the plurality of objects based on the shifting; sorting the objects based on the magnitude of the spreading force of the objects; selecting a subset of the sorted objects based on a threshold value indicating at least one of a top percentage, a threshold force, and a threshold value that is based on a placement congestion; adjusting the spreading force of the selected objects to be equal to a predetermined value indicating a minimum spreading force; and determining a placement of the objects based on adjusted spreading force of the selected objects.
US07882467B2 Test pattern evaluation method and test pattern evaluation device
Provided are an evaluation method and device of a test pattern which enable an appropriate evaluation in a reliability test with a simulation time reduced and high accuracy. It is assumed that each possible internal state of a cell determined at least by a logic value or a voltage value of an input terminal is a cell state, and each possible state of a transistor determined by a voltage between terminals of the transistor is a transistor state. The method comprises steps of: verifying operation of a semiconductor integrated circuit at a gate level or higher; acquiring an appearance cell state continuously appearing for a predetermined time or more in the operation verification; acquiring an appearance transistor state using the corresponding appearance cell state in the operation verification for each transistor; and calculating a test activity ratio of the transistor using the corresponding appearance transistor state for each transistor.
US07882466B2 Noise checking method and apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium in which noise checking program is stored
There is provided a technique in which internal wires of a large cell are spuriously patterned and treated as object of a noise check. Internal wires of a large cell are spuriously determined based on terminal information and wiring forbidden information of the large cell and are added to chip wires to be checked, from which an object wire to be checked and at least one affecting wire are selected, a noise value representing a degree at which the at least one affecting wire induces noise onto the signal of the object wire is calculated and the noise check is performed on the basis of the calculated noise check.
US07882462B2 Hardware definition language generation for frame-based processing
An automatic code generation application is used to automatically generate code and build programs from a textual model or graphical model for implementation on the computational platform based on the design. One or more model elements may be capable of frame-based data processing. Various options and optimizations are used to generate Hardware Description Language (HDL) code for the frame-based model elements.
US07882461B2 Method for optimized automatic clock gating
A method of optimizing clock-gated circuitry in an integrated circuit (IC) design is provided. A plurality of signals which feed into enable inputs of a plurality of clock gates is determined, where the clock gates gate a plurality of sequential elements in the IC design. Combinational logic which is shared among the plurality of signals is identified. The clock-gated circuitry is transformed into multiple levels of clock-gating circuitry based on the shared combinational logic.
US07882459B2 Method and system for reduction of AND/OR subexpressions in structural design representations
A method, system and computer program product for reducing subexpressions in structural design representations containing AND and OR gates are disclosed. The method comprises receiving an initial design, in which the initial design represents an electronic circuit, containing an AND gate. A first simplification mode for the initial design from a set of applicable simplification modes is selected, wherein said simplification mode is an AND/OR simplification mode, and a simplification of the initial design according to the first simplification mode is performed to generate a reduced design. Whether a size of the reduced design is less than a size of the initial design is determined and, in response to determining that the size of the reduced design is less than the size of the initial design, the initial design is replaced with the reduced design.
US07882456B2 Optical lithography correction process
A apparatus and method for correcting a process critical layout includes characterizing the influence of individual ones of a set of worst case process variations on a simulated nano-circuit layout design and then correcting layout geometries in the simulated nano-circuit layout based on such characterizations.
US07882454B2 Apparatus and method for improved test controllability and observability of random resistant logic
A method for implementing improved observability of random resistant logic included in an integrated circuit (IC) design includes configuring a multiplexer device to pass, to a preexisting storage latch within the design, one of: a signal from one or more observation points within the random resistant logic and an output of first preexisting combinational logic; and selecting a preexisting net within the IC design to generate a randomized logic signal that, in a test mode, is passed to the multiplexer device to serve as a control signal thereto; wherein, in the test mode, the existing storage latch captures data randomly selected from either the existing combinational logic and the one or more observation points and in a normal mode, the existing storage latch captures data from only the existing combinational logic, facilitating random testing of the random resistant logic in a manner that avoids adding latches to the design.
US07882446B2 System for selling, buying, lending, and renting virtual region and method thereof
The right for correlating a region or an existence with a virtual region in a virtual world structured in for example the Internet is sold, bought, lent, or rented. For example, when a buyer bought a virtual region from a seller, the virtual region of the seller is correlated with a virtual region of the buyer in a link method, a paste method, or a projection method.
US07882444B2 Methods and devices for reconstructing visual stimuli observed through browser-based interfaces over time
In one embodiment, the invention allows an operator to identify a specific article of online-content to be reconstructed and displayed, and specify a duration of time to be used when graphically representing what areas of the visual stimuli were actually visible to the user. First, the operator selects an article of online-content based on its original network address, or from a substitute name from a database that contains a record of all online-content visited by the original user. Next, the operator enters a specific duration of time to reconstruct, preferably by using slider-bar, a timeline equal to duration, preferably the maximum duration, that the online content was visible to the original user. Next, the user selects from various compositions that can be used to represent the visual stimuli as it was originally displayed to the user. Finally, the original visual stimuli displayed to the user is recreated based on the article of online content and period of time specified, using the selected form of composition. In yet another embodiment, the invention is a method for retrieving multiple instances of an article of online content from a database of previously recorded content. In yet a further embodiment, the invention is a method for reconstructing visual stimuli as originally displayed to a user as one form of composition. Still another embodiment of the invention is a method for reconstructing a field of visual stimuli that could be observed by a user as one form of composition.
US07882441B2 Apparatus for interoperation between legacy software and screen reader programs
A computer program for facilitating operation of a screen reader with legacy programs whose user interface definitions do not conform to the design guidelines expected by the screen reader program. A graphical user interface is analyzed to identify a logical sequence of user interface elements within the interface. The sequence of user interface elements within a definition of the user interface is compared with the identified logical sequence to identify any required reordering of the elements to conform to the identified logical sequence. One or more lists or tables are generated for each separable user interface component to (1) specify the required sequence for reordering incorrectly-sequenced user interface controls within the definition and to (2) identify a new static text control which is dynamically generated for use with an edit control which does not have a required static text control.
US07882440B2 System and method of switching appearance of a graphical user interface
A styleswitcher displayed in a graphical user interface allowing a user to transform the appearance of the graphical user interface with one-click access. The styleswitcher captures viewing settings previously selected and saved by the user. By clicking on an available styleswitcher, the user causes the entire graphical user interface to refresh and display in viewing settings corresponding to the selected styleswitcher.
US07882437B2 Creating a voice response grammar from a presentation grammar
Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for creating a voice response grammar in a voice response server including identifying presentation documents for a presentation, each presentation document having a presentation grammar. Typical embodiments include storing each presentation grammar in a voice response grammar on a voice response server. In typical embodiments, identifying presentation documents for a presentation includes creating a data structure representing a presentation and listing at least one presentation document in the data structure representing a presentation. In typical embodiments listing the at least one presentation document includes storing a location of the presentation document in the data structure representing a presentation and storing each presentation grammar includes retrieving a presentation grammar of the presentation document in dependence upon the location of the presentation document.
US07882436B2 Distribution of video data
A method of distributing video data comprising defining a plurality of programme elements, each programme element comprising a video clip taken from said video data. Each programme element is allocated to one of a predetermined plurality of classes, each class having an associated icon. Data representing a plurality of icons is transmitted to a receiver, each icon representing a class to which a respective one of said plurality of programme elements is allocated. User selection data indicative of a user selection of at least one icon is received, and data associated with the or each programme element associated with the user selection data is transmitted to the receiver. A method for generating video data, and a method for presenting video data are also disclosed.
US07882433B2 System and apparatus for managing personal and work-related matters
A family management system provides a family manager with family-related and work-related information. This information may be provided to the family manager in the form of one or more screens depicting calendars, e-mail, and/or other tasks. In particular, family-related and work-related matters may be merged on a single screen so that the family manager can facilitate scheduling better between family-related and work-related matters.
US07882432B2 Information processing apparatus having font-information embedding function, information processing method therefor, and program and storage medium used therewith
An information processing apparatus and method for embedding font information in an electronic document. The apparatus and method comprise generating an electronic document containing editing instructions, and based on the editing instructions, querying to determine whether font information is to be embedded in the electronic document.
US07882428B2 Method for improving the functionality of a binary representation
A method for improving functionality of a binary representation of an XML-based content description, wherein a structure of any instance of an XML document corresponds to a tree-like data structure is provided. The method includes providing that each tree node represents an element of the content description and has a structure which is defined in a schema, providing the tree nodes in the binary representation with tree branch codes, providing that the respective tree branch code has a schema branch code and, when there are multiple occurrences of an associated child node based on the definition of the schema, a position code, and re-sorting a complete path such that all the position codes are moved to an end of the respective complete path, thereby enabling simpler filtering of the binary representation.
US07882427B2 System and method for managing a spreadsheet
A system and method for managing a spreadsheet are disclosed. The method may include determining a portion of a digital image of a data statement, determining data of the data statement based on the portion of the digital image, and mapping a data cell of a standardized spreadsheet to the portion of the digital image based on the data of the data statement. The data of the data statement may be determined by applying an optical character recognition process to the digital image. The data cell may be mapped to the portion of the digital image based on a label or key included in the data of the data statement, a set of coordinate values, a mathematical equation, and/or the like. The method may further include determining a location of a second data statement based on the mapping data.
US07882417B2 Semiconductor memory device and memory system including the same
A semiconductor memory device and a memory system including the same are provided. The semiconductor memory device may include a first memory cell array block generating first data, a second memory cell array block generating second data, and first and second error detection code generators. The first error detection code generator may generate a first error detection code and may combine a portion of bits of the first error detection code with a portion of bits of a second error detection code to generate a first final error detection signal. The second error detection code generator may generate the second error detection code and may combine the remaining bits other than the portion of bits of the second error detection code with the remaining bits other than the portion of bits of the first error detection code to generate a second final error detection signal.
US07882413B2 Method and/or system for space-time encoding and/or decoding
Time-space encoding and/or decoding may employ time variant linear transformations. Turbo coding and/or decoding may be used in conjunction with the use of time variant linear transformations. Such time variant linear transformations may be unitary in nature.
US07882412B2 Enhanced block acknowledgement
Embodiments disclosed herein address the need in the art for enhanced block acknowledgement. In one embodiment, a receiver indicates a decoding delay for a maximum size aggregate frame in Block Ack negotiation, which may be used by a transmitter to determine to which Block Ack Request a Block Acknowledgement is responsive. In another embodiment, a Transmission Sequence Number (TSN) may be included in a Block Ack Request. The receiver includes the TSN in the corresponding Block Ack response. This allows the transmitter to determine which frames are “in transit.” The TSN may be used to identify blocks. In another embodiment, a TSN may be associated with one or more transmitted frames. While, the TSN is not transmitted with the Block Ack Request, the transmitter may determine which TSN corresponds with a Block Ack response in accordance with acknowledgements contained therein. Combinations of these techniques may be deployed. Various other aspects are also presented.
US07882409B2 Method and apparatus for synthesis of augmented multimode compactors
Proposed are methods and apparatuses for synthesis of a new class of compressors called augmented multimode compactors, capable of achieving a flexible trade-off between compaction ratio, observability, control data volume and diagnostic properties in the presence of a large number of unknown values. The augmented multimode compactors reduce and/or completely avoid the X-masking effect in the compacted test responses. In addition, a requirement for constructing compactors is that any single error in the test response produces a unique erroneous signature within S consecutive shift cycles where the erroneous signature is calculated as a difference between the faulty signature and the fault-free signature.
US07882408B1 Real time feedback compensation of programmable logic memory
Memory performance in programmable logic is significantly increased by adjusting a timing of control signals sent to a memory to compensate for variations in process, voltage, or temperature. A calibration circuit can adjust the control signal timing, dynamically and automatically, to provide accurate and high performance memory operations. For example, timing settings for the control signals can be determined such that data written/read from the memory are accurate. The timing setting can also be changed to provide faster memory operations while still providing accuracy. A feedback system using a control block and a dummy mimicking concept are also provided.
US07882407B2 Adapting word line pulse widths in memory systems
A memory system and method using adaptive word line (WL) pulse widths, including a memory operating according to a wordline (WL) pulse with an associated WL pulse width, and a built-in self-test (BIST) unit that interfaces with the memory, the BIST unit being configured to run a self-test of the internal functionality of the memory and provide a signal indicating if the memory passed or failed the self-test. An adaptive WL control circuit that interfaces with the BIST unit and the memory, the adaptive WL control circuit being configured to adjust the WL pulse width of the memory based on the signal provided by the BIST unit.
US07882405B2 Embedded architecture with serial interface for testing flash memories
A flash memory device includes a flash memory array, a set of non-volatile redundancy registers, a serial interface, and testing logic coupled to the serial interface, the testing logic configured to accept a set of serial commands from an external tester; erase the array; program the array with a test pattern; read the array and compare the results with expected results to identify errors; determine whether the errors can be repaired by substituting a redundant row or column of the array, and if so, generate redundancy information; and program the redundancy information into the non-volatile redundancy registers.
US07882399B2 Intelligent job functionality
A method, apparatus, and program product utilize intelligent job functionality to diagnose an error in a computer. After detecting an error in a first job processing a task, and in response to another attempt to perform the task, a job selection algorithm selects a predetermined job in which to perform the task and diagnose the error. The predetermined job can be the first job or a new job associated with a signature that corresponds to the task that experienced the error. The predetermined job can be used to diagnose the error in a debugging session. Alternately, the first job may enter a debug session immediately after experiencing an error.
US07882396B2 Method for controlling program execution integrity by verifying execution trace prints
The inventive method for controlling a program execution integrity by verifying execution trace prints consists in updating the representative print of an execution path and/or data applied for a program execution, comparing the actual print value (dynamically calculated to an expected value (statistically fixed, equal to a value of the print if the program execution is not disturbed) at a determined program spots and in carrying out a particular processing by the program when the actual print differs from the expected value.
US07882393B2 In-band problem log data collection between a host system and a storage system
A mechanism for in-band problem log data collection is provided. Facilities are provided for a host system, host application, or server system to instigate a state save operation in a storage system utilizing direct commands in response to an error or failure. The host system may include an application program interface (API) to force the storage device to collect a set of state save data for debug purposes at a specific time interlocked with a host system log. The API of the illustrative embodiments may be provided in a failover driver and/or host bus adapter (HBA) driver in the prime code path such that first time data capture following an error is maximized. Since the host system is instigating the state save operation with direct commands, a larger amount of transient data may be collected to provide more comprehensive state information for debugging purposes.
US07882391B2 Computer system, changeover-to-backup-system method, changeover-to-backup-system program, monitoring device, terminal device and backup system
To aim at autonomously selecting and switching over a management system by a terminal device, and preventing the terminal device from switching over the system, managing the self-terminal, to a backup system even in the case of a temporary fault from which to recover relatively immediately and in the case of occurrence of an inconvenience (trouble) negligible enough not to be treated as the fault. Included are a terminal device 21 transmitting, a registration request (S101) to a backup system 1b, if a fault occurs in a main system 1a, and the backup system 1b not providing a management service even when receiving the registration request (S101) till a startup request (S204) made by a monitoring server 18b is received.
US07882390B2 Repair of defective servo tracks
A method for repairing at least one defective servo segment of a servo sector having at least one defective servo track written on a magnetic recording media. The method comprises mapping the magnetic recording media for locations of the defective servo segment of the servo sector. A non-defective segment of the servo sector is replicated at least once on the magnetic recording media in a customer data zone, thereby creating at least one good servo segment copy of the servo sector. The good servo segment copy is propagated through the customer data zone associated with the defective servo segment. The good servo segment copy is copied onto the magnetic recording media previously occupied by the defective servo segment of the servo sector.
US07882384B2 Setting and minimizing a derived clock frequency based on an input time interval
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a circuit including a data relay stage configurable to receive primary data via a primary data interface, a primary clock having a frequency FP and a secondary clock having a frequency FS′. The primary data is received over a fixed periodic interval TI and at a rate substantially equal to FP. The amount of primary data received over TI is known to be N. The data relay stage is further configurable to provide secondary data via a secondary data interface based on the primary data and the secondary clock. The circuit also includes a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit configurable to receive an interval reference signal having a frequency FI substantially equal to 1/TI. The PLL circuit is also configurable to provide the secondary clock based on the interval reference signal.
US07882383B2 System on a chip with RTC power supply
A system on a chip includes a real time clock (RTC) module, a crystal oscillation circuit and a voltage supply circuit. The RTC module is coupled to provide timing functions and the crystal oscillation circuit is coupled to produce an oscillation. The voltage supply circuit is coupled to produce a supply voltage for at least a portion of the RTC module and the crystal oscillation circuit. The voltage supply circuit includes: a reference circuit coupled to produce a reference voltage based on the supply voltage; a transistor coupled to the battery IC pin, wherein the transistor produces the supply voltage based on a regulation signal and the battery voltage; an amplifier coupled to produce the regulation signal based on the reference voltage and a feedback representation of the supply voltage; and a start-up circuit coupled to enable the voltage supply circuit at battery connection.
US07882382B2 System and method for performing computer system maintenance and service
Systems and methods for maintaining and servicing a data processing system or “computer system,” including rack enclosures housing multiple servers, desktop computers, and controllers for industrial automation. According to one aspect, touch-activated circuitry is configured with a computer system to control power and data flow to a component port and facilitate hot-swapping of components, such as PCI cards, fans, and hard drives. The component port, such as a PCI slot, electronically interfaces with a removable electronic component, such as a PCI card. A user activates the touch-activated circuitry by touching one or more contact points. Touching the contact points thereby initiate a shut-down sequence of a component driver or other software and then powers down the electronic port so that the electronic component may be safely removed.
US07882380B2 Work based clock management for display sub-system
A system and method for enabling or disabling clocks to one or more portions of hardware circuitry, for example a display sub-system of a personal computer. A processor generates a command or data to a first circuit configured to perform a function based at least on the command or data. A clock generator selectively supplies clocks to the first circuit and a second circuit configured to perform a second function. A software interface circuit coupled to the processor and the clock generator autonomously determines based at least on the command or data whether the second circuit will perform the second function or be idle in an upcoming period and disables one or more of the clocks to the second circuit if the second circuit will be idle in the upcoming period.
US07882375B2 Power off controllers and memory storage apparatus including the same and methods for operating the same
Memory storage apparatus include a non-volatile memory for storing data and a power management unit configured to sense a level of an external power supply and to predict a loss of the external power supply. A power-polling time control circuit is configured to control a time when a voltage level sourced from the external power supply is reduced below a predetermined level after loss of the external power supply. A control logic controls read and/or write operations of the non-volatile memory responsive to a prediction of loss of the external power supply from the power management unit.
US07882369B1 Processor performance adjustment system and method
The present invention performance enhancement and reliability maintenance system and method pushes a processor to its maximized performance capabilities when performing processing intensive tasks (e.g., 3D graphics, etc). For example, a clock speed and voltage are increased until an unacceptable error rate begins to appear in the processing results and then the clock speed and voltage are backed off to the last setting at which excessive errors did not occur, enabling a processor at its full performance potential. The present invention also includes the ability to throttle back settings which facilitates the maintenance of desired reliability standards. The present invention is readily expandable to provide adjustment for a variety of characteristics in response to task performance requirements. For example, a variable speed fan that is software controlled can be adjusted to alter the temperature of the processor in addition to clock frequency and voltage.
US07882357B1 System and method of retrieving a watermark within a signal
A system, method and computer readable medium that processing a watermarked signal using the phase Sk(f) of an original signal. The watermarked signal includes odd and even overlapped blocks where the watermark is contained in the even blocks. The method comprises test-decoding the watermarked signal and, if the watermarked signal contains errors, recoding the watermarked signal with a higher redundancy code. The steps of test-decoding and recording may be performed until all errors are corrected.
US07882353B2 Method for protecting data in a hard disk
The present invention discloses a method for protecting data in a hard disk, which is applied to the hard disk, such that if a computer executes boot codes of the hard disk and a hard disk identification code recorded by the hard disk is determined to be identical to a computer identification code stored in a computer, the hard disk can be read, which subsequently allows an operating system to be initialized, or else the content in a partition table area will be cleared and the hard disk cannot be read, thus the initialization of the operating system cannot be completed.
US07882352B2 Secure mobile wireless device
A secure mobile wireless device in which executable code to be installed on the device is assigned a set of capabilities which define the protected resource(s) on the device which it can access. Hence, the present invention takes the idea of capabilities (known in the context of defining the capabilities or access privileges of different users in a multi-user system) and applies it to defining the capabilities or access privileges of different native executable code for secure, single-user mobile wireless devices.
US07882351B2 Systems and methods for authenticating and protecting the integrity of data streams and other data
Systems and methods are disclosed for enabling a recipient of a cryptographically-signed electronic communication to verify the authenticity of the communication on-the-fly using a signed chain of check values, the chain being constructed from the original content of the communication, and each check value in the chain being at least partially dependent on the signed root of the chain and a portion of the communication. Fault tolerance can be provided by including error-check values in the communication that enable a decoding device to maintain the chain's security in the face of communication errors. In one embodiment, systems and methods are provided for enabling secure quasi-random access to a content file by constructing a hierarchy of hash values from the file, the hierarchy deriving its security in a manner similar to that used by the above-described chain. The hierarchy culminates with a signed hash that can be used to verify the integrity of other hash values in the hierarchy, and these other hash values can, in turn, be used to efficiently verify the authenticity of arbitrary portions of the content file.
US07882350B2 Encryption and decryption method for conditional access content
Example embodiments relate to an encryption and decryption method for a conditional access content, including (a) extracting a marker (Mc) from a data packet (DP); (b) creating a first marking block including the marker (Mc) and a second padding value (PAD2); (c) encrypting the first marking block with a second encryption key (K2); (d) encrypting a second encrypted marking value (MK2) of the first encrypted marking block; (e) creating a mixed marking block including the second encrypted marking value (MK2) a the first encrypted padding element (PADK1); (f) decrypting the mixed marking block a device of the first encryption key (K1), in order to obtain a decrypted mixed marking block; (g) extracting a predetermined part of the decrypted mixed marking block; (h) comparing the extracted part with a reference value (Mc; PDV2); and (i) if the comparison leads to an identity, determining a new set of encryption parameters different to the first set of encryption parameters and repeating steps b) to h) in which the second set of encryption parameters is replaced by the new second set of encryption parameters.
US07882345B1 System, method, and apparatus for processor detection in a pre-boot execution environment
The disclosure is directed to systems and methods for processor detection in a pre-boot execution environment. In one example, a client initiates a boot process by transmitting a pre-boot image request identifying the client's processor architecture. A boot server replies to the request and transmits a non-booting image configured to precisely determine the processor installed on the client. The non-booting image then initiates a second pre-boot image request including the precise identification of the processor installed on the client. The boot server may then proceed with the boot process, transmitting subsequent boot code precisely configured for the installed processor.
US07882339B2 Primitives to enhance thread-level speculation
A processor may include an address monitor table and an atomic update table to support speculative threading. The processor may also include one or more registers to maintain state associated with execution of speculative threads. The processor may support one or more of the following primitives: an instruction to write to a register of the state, an instruction to trigger the committing of buffered memory updates, an instruction to read the a status register of the state, and/or an instruction to clear one of the state bits associated with trap/exception/interrupt handling. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US07882335B2 System and method for the scheduling of load instructions within a group priority issue schema for a cascaded pipeline
The present invention provides system and method for a group priority issue schema for a cascaded pipeline. The system includes a cascaded delayed execution pipeline unit having a plurality of execution pipelines that execute instructions in a common issue group in a delayed manner relative to each other. The system further includes circuitry configured to: (1) receive an issue group of instructions; (2) determine if at least one load instruction is in the issue group, if so scheduling the least one load instruction in a first pipeline based upon a priority list; and (3) schedule execution of the issue group of instructions in the cascaded delayed execution pipeline unit.
US07882333B2 Architectural enhancements to CPU microcode load mechanism using inter processor interrupt messages
A method for loading microcode to a plurality of cores within a processor. The method includes loading the microcode to a first core of the plurality of cores within the processor system and generating a broadcast inter process interrupt (IPI) message via the first core. The IPI message causes other cores within the processor system to synchronize respective microcode with the microcode that is loaded into the first core. The synchronizing loads microcode to the plurality of cores without requiring independent loads of microcode to each core.
US07882330B2 Virtualizing an IOMMU
In one embodiment, a system comprises one or more input/output (I/O) devices; an I/O memory management unit (IOMMU) coupled to receive memory requests sourced by the I/O devices and configured to provide address translation for the memory requests; and a virtual machine monitor (VMM) configured to manage one or more virtual machines on the system, wherein the VMM is configured to virtualize the IOMMU, providing one or more virtual IOMMUs for use by one or more virtual machines.
US07882329B2 Cancellation of individual logical volumes in premigration chains
Provided are techniques for cancellation of premigration of a member in a chain. A set of premigration messages are received, wherein a separate premigration message is received for each logical volume in a chain of logical volumes. While processing the premigration messages in order of receipt of each of the premigration messages, a cancel message indicating that premigration of a logical volume in the chain is to be cancelled is received. In response to determining that the logical volume whose premigration is to be cancelled has not already been transferred to physical storage media, premigration of the logical volume is cancelled by removing a premigration message for that logical volume from the set of premigration messages and premigration of each other logical volume in the chain of logical volumes is continued in order of receipt.
US07882325B2 Method and apparatus for a double width load using a single width load port
A single micro-instruction to perform either an N-bit or a 2N-bit load is provided. A microprocessor having an N-bit load port performs either an N-bit load or a 2N-bit load in a single cycle with the same micro-instruction being used for both the N-bit and the 2N-bit load.
US07882322B2 Early directory access of a double data rate elastic interface
A system and method to organize and use data sent over a double data rate interface so that the system operation does not experience a time penalty. The first cycle of data is used independently of the second cycle so that latency is not jeopardized. There are many applications. In a preferred embodiment for an L2 cache, the system transmits congruence class data in the first half and can start to access the L2 cache directory with the congruence class data.
US07882321B2 Validity of address ranges used in semi-synchronous memory copy operations
A system, method, and a computer readable for protecting content of a memory page are disclosed. The method includes determining a start of a semi-synchronous memory copy operation. A range of addresses is determined where the semi-synchronous memory copy operation is being performed. An issued instruction that removes a page table entry is detected. The method further includes determining whether the issued instruction is destined to remove a page table entry associated with at least one address in the range of addresses. In response to the issued instruction being destined to remove the page table entry, the execution of the issued instruction is stalled until the semi-synchronous memory copy operation is completed.
US07882319B2 Method and system for memory management
A method for memory management that includes receiving a request for memory space, identifying a first memory module from a plurality of memory modules based on a first memory power management policy, wherein the first memory power management policy specifies how to allocate memory space in the plurality of memory modules to satisfy a power consumption criteria, and allocating the memory space on the first memory module.
US07882318B2 Tamper protection of software agents operating in a vitual technology environment methods and apparatuses
Methods, apparatuses, articles, and systems for comparing a first security domain of a first memory page of a physical device to a second security domain of a second memory page of the physical device, the security domains being stored in one or more registers of a processor of the physical device, are described herein. Based on the comparison, the processor disallows an instruction from the first memory page to access the second memory page if the first security domain is different from the second security domain. Resultantly, software agents, in particular, critical software agents, may be protected in a virtual technology (VT) environment more efficiently and effectively.
US07882314B2 Efficient scheduling of background scrub commands
A method and apparatus to efficiently scrub a memory, during a scrub period, of a computer system that has a memory comprising a number of memory elements. Examples of memory elements are memory ranks and banks. A memory rank may further comprise one or more banks. The computer system has a memory controller that receives read requests and write requests from a processor. The memory controller includes a scrub controller configured to output more than one scrub request during a particular request selector cycle. The memory controller includes a request selector that services a read request, a write request, or one of the scrub requests during a request selector cycle.
US07882313B2 Data recording system
A data recording system comprises a first memory, a counting unit for counting the number of data writes to the first memory, and an alarm unit for outputting an alarm if the number of data writes to the first memory reaches a first threshold value. The counting unit writes data of the number of writes, which represents the number of data writes to the first memory, to the first memory or a second memory. The alarm unit outputs an alarm based on the data of the number of writes, which is written to the first or the second memory.
US07882312B2 State engine for data processor
A state engine receives multiple requests from a parallel processor for a shared state. The state engine includes at least one state element and the at least one state element is adapted to operate, atomically, on the shared state in response to a request made by the parallel processor. The request includes at least a command directing the at least one state element on how to perform an operation on the shared state. The state engine also includes a memory connected to the at least one state element and configured to store the shared state.
US07882309B2 Method and apparatus for handling excess data during memory access
A computer system includes a system memory and a processor having one or more processor cores and a memory controller. The memory controller may control data transfer to the system memory. The processor further includes a cache memory such as an L3 cache, for example, that includes a data storage array for storing blocks of data. In response to a request for data by a given processor core, the system memory may provide a first data block that corresponds to the requested data, and an additional data block that is associated with the first data block and that was not requested by the given processor core. In addition, the memory controller may provide the first data block to the given processor core and store the additional data block in the cache memory.
US07882305B2 Storage apparatus and data management method in storage apparatus
Provided are a storage apparatus and its data management method capable of preventing the loss of data retained in a volatile cache memory even during an unexpected power shutdown. This storage apparatus includes a cache memory configured from a volatile and nonvolatile memory. The volatile cache memory caches data according to a write request from a host system and data staged from a disk drive, and the nonvolatile cache memory only caches data staged from a disk drive. Upon an unexpected power shutdown, the storage apparatus immediately backs up the dirty data and other information cached in the volatile cache memory to the nonvolatile cache memory.
US07882296B2 Deadlock avoidance in a bus fabric
Circuits, apparatus, and methods for avoiding deadlock conditions in a bus fabric. One exemplary embodiment provides an address decoder for determining whether a received posted request is a peer-to-peer request. If it is, the posted request is sent as a non-posted request. A limit on the number of pending non-posted requests is maintained and not exceed, such that deadlock is avoided. Another exemplary embodiment provides an arbiter that tracks a number of pending posted requests. When the number pending posted requests reaches a predetermined or programmable level, a Block Peer-to-Peer signal is sent to the arbiter's clients, again avoiding deadlock.
US07882295B2 Non-system bus width data transfer executable at a non-aligned system bus address
Disclosed are a method and apparatus of non-system bus width data transfer executable at a non-aligned system bus address. In one embodiment, a method of a controller is described. The method includes applying a FIFO buffer having a buffer width (e.g., determined using a transfer algorithm) that is wider than that of a system bus width. A system bus that permits transfer of data amounts which are non-integer multiples of a width of the system bus is used. The system bus is designed such that it supports any non-aligned system bus address. Data is transferred between devices coupled to the system bus.
US07882286B1 Synchronizing volumes for replication
In one aspect, a method to perform synchronization in a network-based system includes notifying a source side appliance that I/O data is going to be written to a source side storage and a target side appliance, waiting for an acknowledgement that the notification was received and writing I/O data to the source side storage and the target side appliance.
US07882285B2 Buffer cache management to prevent deadlocks
A method, computer program product, and data processing system for managing a input/output buffer cache for prevention of deadlocks are disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, automatic buffer cache resizing is performed whenever the number of free buffers in the buffer cache diminishes to below a pre-defined threshold. This resizing adds a pre-defined number of additional buffers to the buffer cache, up to a pre-defined absolute maximum buffer cache size. To prevent deadlocks, an absolute minimum number of free buffers are reserved to ensure that sufficient free buffers for performing a buffer cache resize are always available. In the event that the buffer cache becomes congested and cannot be resized further, threads whose buffer demands cannot be immediately satisfied are blocked until sufficient free buffers become available.
US07882284B2 Compute unit with an internal bit FIFO circuit
A compute unit with an internal bit FIFO circuit includes at least one data register, a lookup table, a configuration register including FIFO base address, length and read/write mode fields for configuring a portion of the lookup table as a bit FIFO circuit and a read/write pointer register responsive to an instruction having a lookup table identification field, length of bits field and register extract/deposit field for selectively transferring in a single cycle between the FIFO circuit and the data register a bit field of specified length.
US07882281B2 SAS reference Phys for virtualization and traffic isolation
Enabling virtualization in a SAS expander is disclosed. For each SAS address to be virtualized through one or more physical or virtual Phy, a reference Phy associated with each SAS address is created within the expander. Next, a route table is generated that includes an entry for each of the SAS addresses being virtualized, each entry associated with one or more of the physical or virtual Phy through which the SAS address is being virtualized. With the route table so established, requests for a virtualized SAS address are routed to a particular one of the one or more physical or virtual Phy associated with the virtualized SAS address in the route table.
US07882277B2 Processor, data transfer unit, multicore processor system
A processor includes a CPU capable of performing predetermined arithmetic processing, a memory accessible by the CPU, and a data transfer unit capable of controlling data transfer with the memory by substituting for the CPU. The data transfer unit is provided with a command chain unit for continuously performing data transfer by execution of a preset command chain, and a retry controller for executing a retry processing in case a transfer error occurs during data transfer by the command chain unit. Then, the data transfer unit reports a command relating to the transfer error to the CPU after completion of the execution of the command chain, thereby lessening the number of interruptions for error processing, and attaining enhancement in performance of a system.
US07882276B2 Input/output module for a programmable controller
An input/output module for a programmable controller is provided that generates an output voltage and an output current from the power input. The input/output module functions as a power supply which re-emits or outputs at least some of the power input so that the occurrence of dissipation heat internally within the module is prevented or reduced. The input/output module reduces the power loss that arises inside the input/output module whenever a digital input receives current. A method is also provided for operating an input/output module for a programmable controller.
US07882274B2 Computer system with multiple terminals
A computer system having a host computer and multiple terminals. The host computer (including any peripheral hubs or the like) has groups of at least three I/O ports (preferably USB ports) where the I/O ports of a single group are supposed to be used to connect I/O devices associated with a single terminal. When connecting up a new terminal, after a user connects two I/O devices into a group and affirmatively indicates, by user input, that these belong to the same terminal, then further devices subsequently connected into the same group of I/O ports will be automatically assigned to the terminal previously indicated by the user. Also, a computer system where multiple operating systems are respectively used to control multiple displays. A video output module creates a master frame display including display data for (at least) the displays of all of the operating systems. The master frame display is split into portions respectively corresponding to each operating system.
US07882266B2 Method and system for negotiating interface data path establishment
A method and system for negotiating interface data path establishment is provided in the invention, including: making a decision, by Target ASN-GW, on whether to establish an R4 data path or an redirect R3 data path, and sending a corresponding request to the Anchor ASN-GW according to the decision; and determining a negotiation result, by the Anchor ASN-GW, according to the corresponding request from the Target ASN-GW, or the corresponding request from the Target ASN-GW and a local decision, and returning a reply to the Target ASN-GW according to the negotiation result. In this way, the R3 data path is redirected if either the Target ASN-GW or the Anchor ASN-GW determines to redirect the R3 data path; and an R4 data path is established only if both the Target ASN-GW and the Anchor ASN-GW determine to establish the R4 data path.
US07882264B2 Methods and computer program products for route determination
This application discloses methods and computer program products for optimal or at least improved routing by evaluating routing alternatives based on multiple-path elements. The systems and methods can determine the shortest route to network points while maintaining route diversity. As such, the systems and methods can determine diverse routes with network-entrance diversity or diverse routes entering a network through a common access point.
US07882263B2 Signal message compression
A method for compressing a signalling message in a communication system. The method comprising the steps of: receiving a part of the signalling message; detecting in a memory a copy of the part of the signalling message; comparing the length of the detected part against a stored length value; and dependent on the output of the comparison step performing a step of storing the detected part of the signalling message in the memory.
US07882261B2 Method and apparatus for realizing positioning play of content stream in peer-to-peer network
A method of content transmission in peer-to-peer network includes the following steps: dividing contents to be transmitted into a plurality of stripes in time sequence (101); establishing one or more than one group(s) for clients which request for transmission contents from same stripes (102); a source divides the requested content into a plurality of blocks and marks each content block (104); determining which content block will be transmitted first in an stripe requested by one group; from the determined content block beginning, transmission it and its subsequent content blocks in succession to part or all members in the group respectively (105); and controlling that the member received the content blocks from the source retransmits the content to other members in its own group (106). The invention realizes positioning play in multicast mode for the clients using a P2P technology.
US07882256B2 Gateway device and control device
The present invention provides a gateway device releasing information and service information of an appliance to an appliance connected to a network having a different protocol. The gateway device includes a device description creation processing unit, a device description template holding unit, a service description creation processing unit, and a service description template holding unit. The service description creation processing unit categorizes services and attributes that each appliance can provide into property types, which are control models, and based on a rule defined for each property type, a service information description, which is information to be released, is automatically created.
US07882254B2 Common protocol layer architecture and methods for transmitting data between different network protocols and a common protocol packet
The present invention provides common protocol architecture and methods for transmitting data between different network protocols and a common protocol packet. The common protocol architecture comprises an application layer; a common protocol layer positioned under the application layer, the common protocol layer enabling data communications between the different protocols; a presentation layer positioned under the common protocol layer; a session layer positioned under the presentation layer; a transport layer positioned under the session layer; a network layer positioned under the transport layer; a data link layer positioned under the network layer; and a physical layer positioned under the data link layer. The common protocol packet comprises a common protocol header with information about a packet and a payload with the contents of data. By designing the common protocol layer and the common protocol packet accepting various protocols simultaneously, the present invention can improve compatibility between different protocols.
US07882253B2 Real-time publish-subscribe system
A real-time protocol for real-time network programming applications is disclosed. The protocol is executable on a computer network having a plurality of nodes that include applications, a network stack, an operating system, and middleware capable of executing real-time operations. The protocol can use group objects to model physical and logical devices connected to the network wherein each group object comprises at least one variable. Changes in these variables are encapsulated in variable change messages which are propagated in the network using communication objects. Also described is a real-time messaging format useful for implementing the protocol.
US07882246B2 Method for updating connection profile in content delivery service
A method for updating a connection profile in a content delivery service by a dynamic content delivery (DCD) terminal, comprises: receiving, from a server, a connection profile update message including a connection profile; transmitting, to the server, a connection profile update confirmation message in response to the reception; transmitting, to the server, a session deactivation request message based on the connection profile; and transmitting, to another server, a session activation request message base on the connection profile.
US07882243B2 Connecting external devices to a gaming voice chat service
Voice chat enhances the game playing experience by allowing gamers in different locations to have conversations within the gaming environment. Functionality can be implemented within a gaming system to send an external invitation a user who is logged out of the game system to participate in a voice chat and/or multiplayer game session. The user can choose to accept the invitation and participate in the voice chat session on a device such as a mobile phone. Automatically generating external requests improves convenience for players, especially when inviting several other players to a voice chat session, because they do not have to find external contact information for each player who is not logged in.
US07882241B2 Communication management apparatus and communication management method
A transmitting/receiving unit receives a SIP signal after occurrence of trouble in a SIP server and outputs a call ID of the SIP signal to a recovery-file searching unit. A session control unit once again procures a call process resource and an instance for a session corresponding to a recovery file and stores the call process resource data and the instance data in a main storage unit. The main storage unit stores anew session data included in the recovery file. A recovery-file creating unit creates the recovery file. An external storage unit stores therein the recovery file. The recovery-file searching unit retrieves from the external storage unit the recovery file that matches with the call ID output by the transmitting/receiving unit and outputs the recovery file to the session control unit and the main storage unit.
US07882236B2 Communication channel model
The present invention provides for a channel model capable of generating a runtime communication channel with pluggable modular channel components. These channel components implement one of a set of standard interfaces that allow processing details of communication semantics between components to be represented in a polymorphic way. A message and corresponding communication semantics are recursively passed through the channel components using the standard interface, thereby abstracting other modules and components from specific implementation details of how the communication semantics are performed. The message may then be sent to the next appropriate module for further processing, or the processing may be completed at that particular component or module. Note also that the message can also be de-multiplexed on the service side in a similar fashion as that described above.
US07882234B2 Wireless communication system, wireless communication device, and control method for establishing a one-to-one relationship
This invention has as its object to set a one-to-one relationship upon establishing a wireless communication channel between a wireless communication device on the information transmitting side and a wireless communication device that receives and processes the information even in an environment including a plurality of wireless communication devices, and to assure simple user's operations at least until the communication channel is established. To this end, when the user inputs a wireless communication channel establishment instruction to both a digital camera and printer having wireless communication channel establishment instruction to both a digital camera and printer having wireless communication functions, these devices execute wireless communication establishment processes within an allowable time period which is specified by a time set in a timer and a retry count. When the devices can seize each other within that time period, the communication channel is established. After that, the digital camera sends a sensed image to the printer, which prints the sensed image.
US07882231B2 Technique for regulating link traffic
A system which regulates communication with a server is described. During operation, the system determines a retransmission rate of data packets during a first set of conversations between a group of users and the server via a peering link. Next, the system compares the retransmission rate and an historical retransmission rate of data packets during a second set of conversations between a second group of users and the server via the peering link. The system then adjusts a target acceptance rate of the server to requests to initiate conversations with additional users via the peering link based on the comparison of the retransmission rate and the historical retransmission rate. Additionally, the system accepts or rejects a request to initiate a conversation between another user and the server via the peering link based on an actual acceptance rate of the server to requests to initiate the conversations and the target acceptance rate.
US07882227B2 Mechanism for implementing file access control across a network using labeled containers
A mechanism is disclosed for enabling labeled containers on different host machines to share file system portions. Before a process in a first container on a first host machine is allowed to access a file in a file system contained within a second container on a second host machine, a check is performed to determine whether a first sensitivity label associated with the first container is either identical to or dominates a second sensitivity label associated with the second container. If either is true, access to the file is granted. If the first sensitivity label is neither identical to nor dominates the second sensitivity label, access to the file is denied. By controlling access in this way, it is ensured that only containers with identical or higher sensitivity labels will be allowed to access the file. This in turn allows files to be shared by multiple containers without compromising security.
US07882226B2 System and method for scalable and redundant COPS message routing in an IP multimedia subsystem
An Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem for use in a telecommunication network. The IP multimedia subsystem comprises: 1) an IP switch for receiving Common Open Policy Service (COPS) protocol messages from an external IP network; and 2) a plurality of call application nodes capable of executing a plurality of Policy Decision Function (PDF) application groups. The IP switch distributes the COPS messages to the plurality of call application nodes according to a load-sharing algorithm.
US07882225B2 Information processing device, and method and computer readable medium for the same
There is provided an information processing device comprising: an image processing unit including at least one of an image reading function and a print function; a historical information acquisition unit to acquire a plurality of pieces of historical information, each of the plurality of pieces of historical information concerning execution of at least one of the image reading and print functions; a historical information transmission unit to transmit the historical information to the client device; a request reception unit to receive from the client device a request for data corresponding to a selected piece of historical information selected from the plurality of pieces of historical information through the client device, the data concerning a job executed by at least one of the image reading function and the print function; and a data obtaining unit configured to obtain the data corresponding to the request received by the request reception unit.
US07882224B2 Method and system for automatic network connection establishment in case of network address renewal
A method and system for maintaining a connection in a communication network is provided. One implementation involves activating a first network interface for obtaining a first network address for communication over the network; monitoring the network and determining a first lease time for the first network address; activating a second network interface for obtaining a second network address for communication over the network upon approaching end of the lease time, thereby maintaining communication over the network via the second network address; and deactivating the first network interface.
US07882222B2 Virtual environment module bundle
A method for providing virtual world functionality to a user of a base virtual world having base virtual world functionality, includes providing a virtual world layer having virtual world layer functionality beyond the base virtual world functionality, encapsulating the virtual world layer to provide a virtual world module and transmitting the virtual world module to virtual world layer infrastructure to provide a transmitted virtual world module. The transmitted virtual world module is executed to provide user access to the base virtual world functionality and the virtual world layer functionality.
US07882221B2 Method and system for measuring status and state of remotely executing programs
A system and method for providing attestation and/or integrity of a server execution environment are described. One or more parts of a server environment are selected for measurement. The one or more parts in a server execution environment are measured, and the measurements result in a unique fingerprint for each respective selected part. The unique fingerprints are aggregated by an aggregation function to create an aggregated value, which is determinative of running programs in the server environment. A measurement parameter may include the unique fingerprints, the aggregated value or a base system value and may be sent over a network interface to indicate the server environment status or state.
US07882220B2 Substation automation system with increased availability
In automation systems, such as Substation Automation systems, the mean time to repair is reduced by remote reconfiguration and start-up of a replacement or spare Intelligent Electronic Device (IED), leaving some more hours for the maintenance personnel to repair an inactive or faulty IED. The time for the actual repair is irrelevant for the system availability as long as it is short enough compared to the IED failure rate. Exemplary embodiments can provide nearly the same availability as a hot-standby configuration, but without the need for doubling all the essential IEDs. Additionally, spare IEDs are supervised to be healthy, and a fault of the spare IED being detected before it is put in use. Only one spare online IED is needed for each set of IEDs of the same type connected to the same station bus and process bus. In a retrofit or extension case with limited downtime, a number of previous IEDs can be replaced by an equivalent set of new or real IEDs of a different type, but configured to perform the same functions as the previous IEDs.
US07882214B2 Communication system and session establishment method
A communication system capable of securely preventing illegal use of addresses and enhancing confidentiality of communication. Based on an originating-side real address which is the real address of an originating-side client terminal and specific information included in a registration message, a conversion data generator generates conversion data which the local server alone can convert to a receiving-side real address which is the real address of a receiving-side client terminal, and transmits the conversion data to the originating-side client terminal. A session controller receives a first session establishment request message, obtains the receiving-side real address from the conversion data and the originating-side real address included in the first session establishment request message, and transmits a second session establishment request message to the receiving-side real address, whereby a session is established between the originating-side and receiving-side client terminals without directly using the originating-side and receiving-side real addresses uniquely assigned on the network.
US07882212B1 Methods and devices for archiving recorded interactions and retrieving stored recorded interactions
At least one contact between at least one server and at least one user is archived. The contact includes a recorded interaction between the user and the server, e.g., a recorded interaction between a customer and a customer service agent via the server. The contact is associated with a contact folder in a local storage. A portion of the contact is selected to be archived, and the time to archive the selected portion is determined. The selected portion of the contact is archived in an extended storage at the determined time. Archiving includes copying at least the content from the associated contact folder in the local storage and forwarding at least the copied content to an extended storage. A portion of the archived contact or the entire archived contact may be restored by determining that the contact is archived and retrieving the contact or the portion of the contact from the extended storage.
US07882211B2 Release of integration reference points
In a management system of a communication system having at least one manager and an agent, the agent stores information on management functions that can be executed between the manager and the agent. The manager requests information from the agent on the management functions that can be carried out between the manager and the agent, by a request message. The request message contains identification information in an encoded manner for both the manager or the communication system and at least one of the management functions. The agent decodes the identification information of the manager or the communication system and sends the information requested by the request message to the manager, where the information sent relates exclusively to the management function(s) indicated by the identification information in the request message.
US07882208B2 Information management apparatus, information management method, and program for managing an integrated circuit
An information management apparatus includes a management unit for managing the type of integrated circuit chip and the type of command to be executed by the integrated circuit chip in such a manner as to correspond to each other; an information obtaining unit for obtaining information on the type of the integrated circuit chip to be controlled; and a command generation unit for generating a command of the type corresponding to the type of the integrated circuit chip to be controlled, the type of the integrated circuit chip being obtained by the information obtaining unit, from among a plurality of different types of commands corresponding to the command requested from a server and for transmitting the generated command to the server.
US07882204B2 Mail server appliance and support service
Embodiments of the present invention provide electronic mail that is easy to automatically setup. Embodiments of the invention provide a mail server appliance that is designed to operate with a support service. Each mail server appliance is pre-configured to use the support service as part of an integrated product. The mail server appliance is configured for ease of installation and maintenance and comprises the hardware bundled with the software applications pre-installed. The mail server appliance is also coupled to the support service and may begin operations almost immediately. The support service serves as the primary relay point for sending/receiving mail for the mail server appliance and provides various supporting features. First, it provides pre-installation services for the mail server appliance. Second, the support service provides flexible operations support. For example, the support service allows the mail server appliance to have a dynamically assigned IP address. In addition, the support service may provide continuous availability and backup services for the mail server appliance.
US07882203B2 Remote authoring for dynamic web pages
A remote authoring service is described. Remote page authoring includes receiving a stream of data from a server that includes embedded control attribute data. The embedded control attribute data facilitates the generation of a proxy control and allows a web page designer to make modifications to dynamic elements of the webpage without requiring the executable code for the actual controls. The proxy control may provide preview data of the control to allow the client to perform authoring functions using the proxy control. Modifications made via the proxy control service may then be transmitted to the server where the controls are updated.
US07882197B2 Control system methods that transfer control apparatus information over IP networks in web page-less transfers
A system for process control comprises a server digital data processor and a client digital data processor that are coupled by a network, such as the Internet or an Intranet. The server digital data processor, which is additionally coupled to a control/sensing device and any associated interface equipment (collectively, referred to as “process control apparatus”), includes a command processor that transfers information between the network and the process control apparatus. The client digital data processor includes an information client (e.g., a so-called Internet web browser) capable of requesting and receiving an applet from the server digital data processor. The information client, further, defines a hardware-independent and operating system-independent virtual machine environment within the client digital data processor. The client digital data processor executes, within that virtual machine environment, an applet for configuring the client digital data processor as a “process controller” that establishes communications over the network with the command processor and that monitors and/or controls the process control apparatus via those communications.
US07882195B2 Instant messaging priority filtering based on content and hierarchical schemes
A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for filtering and prioritizing instant messaging threaded conversations in an instant messaging system based on thread content. The instant messaging client analyzes an incoming message to determine the thread subject. Based on the thread subject analysis, the client determines the priority level associated with the incoming message. The message is then delivered and displayed to the recipient according to the priority level. The present invention also allows a participant initiating a thread of conversation to override filter settings on a messaging client. The authority to override settings may be predicated on an external list, such as a corporate telephone directory. As a result, the participant, having some authority or rights to override the recipient's instant messaging settings, may be allowed to conduct a messaging session with the recipient.
US07882194B2 System, method and program for managing chat sessions
System, method and program product for managing a chat session. A server maintains an identity and list of member(s) of a group that can be added to a chat session, and a list of people authorized to request that the group of member(s) be added to the chat session. A person in a chat session at a workstation makes a request to add the group of member(s) to the chat session. In response, the workstation sends the request to the server. In response to the request, the server determines if the person is authorized to add the group to the chat session. If so, the server sends an invitation to the member(s) to join the chat session. If not, the server does not send an invitation to the member(s) to join the chat session. To make the request to add the group to the chat session, the person can enter in a chat session text field a character string that is a command to add the group to the chat session. A program at the workstation monitors the text field and determines that the character string is the command to add the group to the chat session.
US07882193B1 Apparatus and method for weighted and aging spam filtering rules
A server is disclosed for filtering e-mail messages. The server receives requests to retrieve e-mail messages on behalf of a client and then retrieves e-mail messages from a mail server on behalf of the client. The server then filters the e-mail messages based on one or more rules and transfers the filtered e-mail messages to the client. In addition, the server continues to filter the e-mail messages after the client has disconnected from the server. In one embodiment of the invention the e-mail message recipient is sent a notification by the server indicating that messages have been filtered. The recipient is then able to scan the filtered messages and insure that the messages have been filtered correctly. In another embodiment, a third party scans the e-mail messages on behalf of the e-mail user to make this determination. Also disclosed is an e-mail filter comprising an application programming interface and a plurality of dynamically loaded rule modules adapted to interface with the API. The rule modules are activated and deactivated based on usage. Specifically, rule modules which have not been used for a predetermined period of time are deactivated. In addition, different rule modules are assigned different weighted values based on the probability that the rule module will accurately filter e-mail messages and/or on the content of the e-mail messages.
US07882189B2 Using distinguishing properties to classify messages
A system and method are disclosed for classifying a message. The method includes receiving the message, identifying in the message a distinguishing property; generating a signature using the distinguishing property; and comparing the signature to a database of signatures generated by previously classified messages.
US07882184B1 Group list exclusions for messaging
A message is received comprising a recipient list and an exclusion list. Recipients in the recipient list are identified, as are recipients in the exclusion list. A recipient is removed from the recipient list based on an identification of the recipient in the exclusion list.
US07882181B2 Minimizing data transfer from POP3 servers
Systems and methods are disclosed that facilitate minimizing data transfer from a post office protocol (POP) server to a client device by employing a date filter with a predefined date range and applying a message body size threshold above which only a message header will be downloaded to conserve bandwidth and/or memory space on the client device. A user can request download of a message for which only a message header was originally downloaded if the header comprises information of interest to the user.
US07882179B2 Computer system tools and method for development and testing
The current invention allows a user to evaluate web pages, emails, or software across different operating systems without requiring the user to have the operating system being tested. The patent has a novel method to (1) generate screen captures in parallel, (2) create counter-anti-spam reporting and (3) a method to remotely interact any arbitrary operating system (DVA).
US07882174B2 Multiple parallel user experiences provided by a single set of internet hosting machines
This disclosure describes techniques of using a hosting device to provide multiple versions of a single web application. As described in detail below, the hosting device stores resources associated with different versions of the web application in different subdirectories. When the hosting device receives a request associated with the web application, the hosting device automatically identifies one of the versions of the web application as an applicable version of the web application. The hosting device rewrites a pathname in the request to include a subdirectory name of the subdirectory that stores the applicable version of the web application. The hosting device then dereferences the resource identified by the rewritten pathname. In this way, the hosting device uses the resources of the applicable version of the web application to process the request.
US07882171B1 Automatic download provisioning
An automatic download provisioning system and method that includes appending an Installer into a Loader, gathering UserInfo, injecting the UserInfo into the Loader, and using the Loader to write the UserInfo into a Registry of a user computer. One preferred embodiment includes the steps of appending an Installer to a Loader having a Static Buffer, posting the Loader on the Web Server, gathering UserInfo, injecting the UserInfo into the Static Buffer, and transmitting the Loader to the user computer. Another preferred embodiment includes means for receiving a Loader having a Static Buffer and an appended Installer, means for gathering UserInfo, means for injecting the UserInfo into the Static Buffer, and means for transmitting the Loader to the user computer.
US07882170B1 Interfacing a first type of software application to information configured for use by a second type of software application
Systems and methods for enabling a host application and uses thereof access to otherwise inaccessible information configured solely for use by other types of applications. The information may be exposed for use by the host application as information elements (e.g., metadata). During execution the host application may dynamically access these information elements using references specifying the information elements. These references may be used to retrieve pieces of information for display and/or modification by users. The content provided by the application may have an associated smart tag or uniform resource locater that specifies the reference. Further, for particular content, references may be generated from a structural abstraction representing the structure of the content. The structural abstraction may have one or more nodes corresponding to one or more respective sections of the content. A mapping table may be applied to map nodes of the structural abstraction to references that specify exposed information.
US07882167B2 Complexity-based dynamical analysis of a network
In a subject undergoing therapeutic intervention, efficacy of the therapeutic intervention is assessed based on a series of physiologic data associated with the subject. The series of physiologic data is analyzed to produce a measure of complexity. The complexity measure is then compared to a control. The efficacy of the therapeutic intervention is assessed based on the comparison of the complexity measure to the control. The control may be, for example, a complexity measure taken prior to initiation of the therapeutic intervention, a complexity measure taken from a different subject, or a predetermined threshold value. The measure of complexity is generated using, for example, a multiscale entropy measurement (MSE), a time asymmetry measurement, and/or an information-based similarity measurement. An increase in complexity indicates a positive effect of the therapeutic intervention, while a decrease in complexity indicates a negative effect of the therapeutic intervention. Stability of a non-biologic network, such as a computer network, communications network or transportation network can also be assessed.
US07882164B1 Image convolution engine optimized for use in programmable gate arrays
Minimizing the power consumption in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) when used for convolution. The power consuming parts of the calculation are determined, and symmetry in those parts is exploited. For example, when multiplying by a filter have in common Values, the symmetry in the taps is detected. The values to be multiplied by the common tap values are edited and then the added value is multiplied. This minimizes the number of multipliers, thereby reducing power consumption.
US07882163B2 Electronic abacus and operation method of the electronic abacus
An electronic abacus includes a calculating apparatus, an input apparatus and a display apparatus. The input apparatus and the display apparatus are connected to the calculating apparatus respectively. The calculating apparatus receives the input information from the input apparatus, processes the information, and displays the processed information on the display apparatus. The input apparatus includes function keys and number input keys The number input keys include several sets of numeral keys. Each set of the numeral keys is corresponding to one digit of the input information displayed in the display apparatus. Each set of the numeral key includes the keys indicating “5”, “−5”, “4”, “−4”, “3”, “−3”, “2”, “−2”, “1”, “−1” respectively.
US07882161B2 File management apparatus and method, program therefore, and recording medium
The present invention provides a file management apparatus for managing files, recorded on a recording medium, on the basis of an index file including management information about the files, the apparatus including: a management status information holding unit for holding management status information indicative of a management status of the files in the index file; a recording status detecting unit for detecting a recording status of the files recorded on the recording medium; and an inconsistency detecting unit for detecting an inconsistency between the management status of the files in the index file and the recording status of the files recorded on the recording medium on the basis of the management status information and the recording status detected by the recording status detecting unit.
US07882160B2 Low latency optimization for generational garbage collection
A solution for handling objects in a nursery heap that includes a garbage collector monitoring engine, a size adjustor program, and/or a promotion program. The garbage collector monitoring engine can monitor occurrences of global garbage collection events performed by a global garbage collector program as well as occurrences of nursery garbage collection events performed by a nursery garbage collector. The size adjustor program can dynamically adjust a size of a nursery heap based upon programmatically deterministic events detected by the garbage collector monitoring engine. The promotion program can dynamically adjust conditions of promotion for nursery objects, wherein when additional space is needed in the nursery heap to reduce nursery garbage collection induced latency, the promotion program changes promotion criteria to ensure objects are promoted more frequently from the nursery heap.
US07882152B2 Selection and storage of policies in network management
User interface and policy loading aspects of a policy-based, outsourced, network management system. In one aspect, a user selects policies using a graphical user interface (GUI) with a two paned window having a tree view of the policies in one pane. In another aspect, the policies are (1) created in the GUI format (e.g., XML), (2) sent over a network (e.g., the internet) to a service center in the same format, and (3) are loaded, manipulated and stored in the same format. In another aspect, the initial loading of the policies is done using a bulk loader in a logic layer. In another aspect, the logic layer also includes a configuration checker which handles changes or additions to policies in a finished network management system. Any aspects of the new or changed policy that are inconsistent with the finished system are parsed and stripped out. In another aspect, where the details of a new policy or change aren't specified, a base configuration creator creates a policy with minimal attributes. In another aspect, the logic layer also contains a device control console, which allows bypassing the policy creating and configuring to allow a user to directly access a device for configuration.
US07882151B2 Quasi-inverses of schema mappings
A method and system for processing a schema mapping M from a source schema S to a target schema T by executing program code on a processor of a computer system. A schema mapping M′ from T to S is determined via processing the schema mapping M. The schema mapping M includes at least one constraint σ. Each constraint σ consists of a source-to-target tuple-generating dependencies (s-t tgd). The schema mapping M′ includes at least one constraint σ′. Each constraint σ′ consists of a disjunctive tgd with constants and inequalities among the constants. The schema mapping M′ is stored in at least one computer usable storage device of the computer system and/or is outputted in at least one output device of the computer system.
US07882149B2 System and method for future-proofing devices using metaschema
Disclosed are arrangements which seek to update schemas in a controlled manner so that a device (3710) or service can accurately parse documents conforming to a new version of a schema (3724, 3734) without the need for translation services or extra information within the document to provide guides for translation. One embodiment provides a “best-effort” attempt to process documents of an unknown schema, based on a defined similarity threshold, instead of rejecting such documents as being invalid. The arrangements disclosed seek to provide a satisfactory output from an input document that conforms with an unexpected schema. A method for constraining evolution of a schema associated with a markup language includes the steps of defining the schema and defining a metaschema associated with the schema. The metaschema provides rules for valid changes to the schema.
US07882143B2 Systems and methods for indexing information for a search engine
Embodiments of the invention form an information set from the current set of index information available by the operations of the pre-search and runtime Search components of the search engine. A search request that contains search terms and/or other search criteria (e.g. date or file type) is entered by a user through an input interface. The search terms and the information set are worked through the search engine modules to provide the actual results sought by the user. These results are provided to the user via an output interface. Embodiments involve scanning the repository for documents that comprise at least one information type, and forming a numerical matrix from the scanned documents.
US07882140B1 System and method for inserting secondary content into programmed primary content
A system for inserting secondary content into programmed primary content includes a first database storing a number of primary content, a second database storing a number of secondary content and a server in communication with the first and second databases. The server is programmed to receive primary content distribution requests and associate the primary content distribution requests with one of a plurality of programmed play lists. The server is also programmed to execute secondary content insertion instructions including secondary content selection instructions and frequency of secondary content distribution instructions to generate an integrated play list comprising the primary content associated with the programmed play list and the secondary content.
US07882137B2 Process for determining object level profitability
A process for determining object level profitability includes the steps of (1) preparing information to be accessed electronically, (2) establishing rules for processing the prepared information, (3) calculating at least one marginal value of profit using established rules as applied to a selected set of prepared information, (4) calculating a fully absorbed value of profit adjustment using established rules as applied to the selected set of prepared information, and (5) combining the at least one marginal value of profit and fully absorbed value of profit adjustment to create a measure for object level profitability. The inventive process gives management profit measures tailored to its need for accurate decision oriented profit information required to manage a large organization based on profit measurement.
US07882134B2 Non-repeating random values in user specified formats and character sets
Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with producing non-repeating random values for use in data masking are described. One example method includes accessing data describing a mask for a value in a database table column to be masked. The example method may also include identifying a number of distinct values in the database table column to be masked and determining a field width for a mask to provide unique random numbers to mask the distinct values. The method may include identifying locations in a mask value to store the unique random value and locations in a mask value to store filler values. The mask value may include different character sets and may comply with user specified formats. The method may include generating a set of statements that when executed produce a mapping table that includes masks for distinct values in the database table column to be masked.
US07882132B2 Support for RDBMS in LDAP system
A mapping scheme is disclosed so that data can be communicated between a relational database and a system that represents data in a manner different than the relational database. In one embodiment, the mapping scheme uses a mapping catalog that identifies attributes, columns and tables in the relational database that store data for the attributes, and relations between tables in order to determine how to access the attributes.
US07882131B2 Web service providing apparatus, web service requesting apparatus, and method of the same
A web service providing apparatus and a web service requesting apparatus that use an inheritable web service by including access modifiers and inheritance relationships for domains, functions, and services in a WSDL for the web service and by referring to the access modifiers and the inheritance relationships, and method of the same. The web service providing apparatus includes: a storage unit that stores an interface document comprising inheritance information and service processing logic; a message generating unit that, with reference to the service processing logic, generates a response message comprising at least one of a result value for a request of a web service and a providing location where the result value is calculated; and a message transmitting/receiving unit that, according to a web service specification, receives a request message comprising the request of the web service and transmits the generated response message as a response to the request message.
US07882129B1 Methods and apparatuses for media file delivery
Methods and apparatuses whereby legally obtained media files are marked so they are associated with the legal owner. A legally obtained media file is delivered normally, without any form of interruption. However, when an illegally obtained media file is delivered, a message file is delivered in association with the media file.According to an embodiment, a method of the invention comprises receiving a media file, retrieving an identifier that uniquely identifies a player unit, appending the identifier onto the media file, and storing the appended media file in a data storage medium.According to another embodiment, a method of the invention comprises receiving a media file with a first identifier, retrieving a second identifier, comparing the first identifier with the second identifier, retrieving a message file from a non-volatile memory and producing a message output if the first identifier does not correspond to the second identifier, and producing a media output from the media file.
US07882128B2 Data mining by determining patterns in input data
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for pattern detection in input data containing several transactions, each transaction having at least one item. Filter conditions for interesting patterns are received, and a first set of filter conditions applicable in connection with generation of candidate patterns is determined. An evaluated candidate pattern is selected as a parent candidate pattern, and evaluation information about the parent candidate pattern is maintained. Child candidate patterns are generated by extending the parent candidate pattern and taking into account the first set of filter conditions. The child candidate patterns are evaluated with respect to the input data together in sets of similar candidate patterns and based on the evaluation information about the parent candidate pattern. At least one child candidate pattern successfully passing the evaluation step is recursively used as a parent candidate pattern.
US07882122B2 Remote access of heterogeneous data
A method and system for providing remote access to heterogeneous information sources from computing devices including but not limited to personal computers, laptop computers, PDAs, cellular telephones is presented. A middle-tier server is provided in a multi-tier environment for allowing a data-centric approach to accessing, modifying and updating content located at remote data sources. The middle-tier server provides functionality for a mobile (or similar) user to perform a search query, request for document and/or data, update remote data, and perform commands on remote data sources. In addition, the middle-tier server manages the authentication of the user in sessioned or sessionless mode. In particular, search query results are processed such that the results answer a search query. That is, rather than simply providing a list of document matches, the middle-tier server extracts information from the document that answers the search query most appropriately. Finally, the middle-tier server, using user preferences, device capabilities and settings, transforms the result, document or data into an appropriate format that is suitable for the device, user and communication network. This allows the user to easily process and view the document on a (possibly limited capacity/functionality) device.
US07882109B2 Computer representation of a data tree structure and the associated encoding/decoding methods
A memory storing a computerized data array in the form of a table of values stored in the memory as a directed tree representing a set of data. Each data entry in the set is associated with a particular node of the tree, the values representing node ranks of the tree. The node ranks are ordered according to a first total order relation, the values being stored at addresses in the memory representing the node ranks and being ordered according to a second total order relation.
US07882105B2 Method of ranking a set of electronic documents of the type possibly containing hypertext links to other electronic documents
A method which makes it possible to select a predefined maximum number N of documents from a set of electronic documents. A graph G is constructed on the basis of the set of electronic documents, each vertex of the graph G corresponding to one of the documents of said set and each edge between two vertices of the graph indicating the presence of at least one hypertext link between the two documents, corresponding to the two vertices considered. The method uses the topological properties of this graph to select a subset of N documents. A minor MG of the graph G is generated comprising a predefined maximum number N of vertices by deletion of at least one vertex of the graph G, this deletion being aimed at minimizing for the predefined number N of vertices a predefined distance between the graph G and the minor MG, this distance measuring the perturbation of the neighborhood of the vertices of the graph G that is engendered by the generation of the minor MG.
US07882100B2 Database system with methodology for generating bushy nested loop join trees
A database system with methodology for generating bushy nested loop join trees is described. In one embodiment, for example, an improved method is described for optimization of a query requesting data from a database, the method comprises steps of: generating a left deep operator tree for returning data requested by the query based on traversing a left deep operator tree search space; transforming the left deep operator tree into a semantically correct structure for returning data requested by the query; and building a query execution plan for returning data requested by the query based on the semantically correct structure.
US07882099B2 System and method for focused re-crawling of web sites
A method (100) of crawling the Web (620) is disclosed. The method (100) crawls (120) Web pages on the Web starting from a given (110) set of seed Universal Resource Locators (URLs). Crawled Web pages are partitioned (140) into sets of relevant and irrelevant pages. A set of exclusion and/or inclusion patterns are discovered (150) from the sets of relevant and irrelevant pages, and subsequent crawling of the Web is restricted through the set of exclusion and/or inclusion patterns.
US07882093B2 Managing copies of data
A method in a computer system for retrieving data from one of multiple copies of the data is provided, referred to as the data management system. The data management system receives a request identifying at least one data object to be accessed. Then, the data management system queries a metabase to locate data copies that contain the identified at least one data object, wherein the data copies are created from similar source data, and wherein for each data copy the metabase contains an indication of the availability of the copy relative to other copies. Next, the data management system determines one of the located data copies to use to access the identified at least one data object, wherein the determination is made based on the indicated availability contained in the metabase for each of the located data copies. Then, the data management system accesses the identified at least one data object using the determined one of the located data copies.
US07882092B2 Method and system for hoarding content on mobile clients
A device and method for efficient hoarding content set on a mobile client prior to disconnection of the mobile client from a network. The content set to be hoarded on the mobile client and a respective schedule for hoarding the content set on the mobile client are dynamically computed by considering various real times factors such as file utilities, device capabilities and network connectivity that affect the performance of the mobile client and the hoarding process.
US07882090B2 Customizing help content
A method for providing customized help, the method comprising: retrieving a first help content from a first help datastore in response to a help request received from a user, the first help datastore storing a plurality of help content each associated with a respective help identifier; retrieving a second help content from a second help datastore, the second help datastore storing a plurality of help content each associated with a respective help identifier, the second help content having the same help identifier as the first help content; generating a help presentation file comprising the first help content and the second help content; wherein one the first help datastore or the second help datastore is editable by the user and the other help datastore is non-editable by the user.
US07882087B2 Complex dependencies for efficient data warehouse updates
The invention relates to a method of updating a data storage system. The method updates a raw database using an input data stream based on an input temporal value associated with the input data stream and a raw temporal value associated with the raw database. The method includes updating a derived database associated with the data storage system using the updated raw database based on the input temporal value, a derived temporal value and a user-defined relationship, the derived temporal value being associated with the derived database. The invention also relates to a computer-readable medium. The computer readable medium including instructions, wherein execution of the instructions by at least one computing device updates a data storage system. The invention further relates to a data storage system. The system includes a raw database, a derived database and a computing device operatively coupled to the raw database and the derived database.
US07882084B1 Compression of data transmitted over a network
A system, method, and apparatus are directed towards identifying adaptive length segments of redundant data for encoding a data structure. Initial boundaries are identified for an input matching segment within input data and for a candidate store matching segment in a synchronized store. The data prior to and after the boundaries are compared to identify matching data. As matching data is identified, at least one of the boundaries of the matching segments is revised. An encoded representation of the resulting input matching segment is then generated based in part on pointers and offsets into the synchronized store. A data structure is generated based on the encoded representation and unmatched portion, which is sent to a receiver. The receiver uses the data structure to extract matching data from the synchronized store, and together with the unmatched input data in the data structure, reconstruct the input data.
US07882083B2 Information retrieval apparatus, information retrieval method and computer product
An information retrieval apparatus includes contents, an index data generating unit, a character frequency management data generating unit, a compressing/encrypting unit, a retrieval initializing unit, a full text retrieving unit, and a retrieval result displaying unit. The character frequency management data generating unit generates character frequency management data based on the contents. The compressing/encrypting unit compresses the contents and encrypts the character frequency management data. The retrieval initializing unit decrypts encrypted character frequency management data. The full text retrieving unit executes full text retrieval for compressed contents using the character frequency management data and index data when receiving a retrieval keyword. The retrieval result displaying unit decompresses a retrieval candidate selected from retrieval candidates and displays as a retrieval result.
US07882082B2 Repairing links in locked files
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing a technique for repairing links in a file. The file can contain one or more links, each link referring to a target file. For one or more of the links, a file identifier such as a file name, file number, or file address is stored. Alternatively, for one or more of the links, target information is stored that identifies an old target and a new target for the link. The links can be repaired based on the stored information. The stored information can be used to identify changes to the links that occurred while the file containing the link was inaccessible to the system, for example, due to the file being locked by a user.
US07882079B2 Database system configured for automatic failover with user-limited data loss
Techniques used in an automatic failover configuration having a primary database system, a standby database system, and an observer. In the automatic failover configuration, the primary database system remains available even in the absence of both the standby and the observer as long as the standby and the observer become absent sequentially. The failover configuration may use asynchronous transfer modes to transfer redo to the standby and permits automatic failover only when the observer is present and the failover will not result in data loss due to the asynchronous transfer mode beyond a specified maximum. The database systems and the observer have copies of failover configuration state and the techniques include techniques for propagating the most recent version of the state among the databases and the observer and techniques for using carefully-ordered writes to ensure that state changes are propagated in a fashion which prevents divergence.
US07882078B2 Method for preserving virtual filesystem information across high availability takeover
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for preserving a virtual file system. Data for a virtual file system is received. The data include file handle information, vnode information, and gnode information. The data is saved to a storage device. The saved data can be used to reconstruct the virtual file system upon changeover between a primary data processing system and a backup data processing system.
US07882075B2 System, method and program product for forecasting the demand on computer resources
An automated system and method for predicting a future resource utilization tendency by analyzing a change in resource usage on the basis of a real operation condition in a computer system. A CPU utilization estimating unit acquires a resource log and a transaction log, and estimates utilization for each transaction, and information on the number of executions for each transaction, a processing amount predicting unit performs a statistical time-series analysis on the basis of time-series data of the number of executions for each transaction included in the transaction log and predicts an amount of processing for each type of a transaction, and a resource utilization predicting unit predicts the computer resource utilization or demand on from the estimated resource utilization for each transaction and the future predicted amount of processing for each transaction.
US07882073B1 Backup agent for dynamically decomposing a database backup request to constituent files to facilitate backup restartability
A method for performing backup operations while avoiding data loss due to backup failure. A backup agent software receives a database server backup request and decomposes the backup request into a plurality of smaller backup requests. The plurality of smaller backup requests are then performed on the database to backup the specified database components to an archive. The backup agent software monitors success (or failure) of each of the plurality of backup requests and generates backup scripts for those backup requests that failed. These backup scripts may be subsequently executed to “re-run” the failed backups. The backup agent software is a modular program separate from the client application and the database server software.
US07882072B1 Autosave functionality for web browser
A system may present a document including a form. Forms content may be received into the form. The received forms content may be periodically and automatically saved to reduce the likelihood that received forms content is lost prior to form submission.
US07882071B2 Systems and methods for a snapshot of data
In one embodiment, a user or client device is connected to a distributed file system comprised of one or more physical nodes. The data on each of the physical nodes store metadata about files and directories within the file system. Some of the embodiments permit a user to take a snapshot of data stored on the file system. The snapshot may include a single file, a single directory, a plurality of files within a directory, a plurality of directories, a path on the file system that includes nested files and subdirectories, or more than one path on the file system that each includes nested files and directories. In one embodiment, previous versions of a file or directory are stored only in response to a request to modify the file or directory. The system creates and updates a snapshot tracking data structure which provides information regarding each file or directory governed by the snapshot that was modified or deleted after the snapshot was taken. The snapshot tracking data structure may be used by the system to perform functions related to the snapshot, including deleting the snapshot.
US07882069B2 Tag based backup and recovery
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with selective tag-based file backup and recovery are described. One example method includes selectively tagging a file for inclusion in a snapshot-based backup image by associating a tag with the file. The associating may include encoding file metadata with a tag. The method may include selectively adding a file to the backup image upon determining that the file has experienced a write event and that the file is associated with a tag. The method may also include receiving a request to provide a recovery file from the backup image and selectively providing the recovery file upon determining that the recovery file is associated with a recovery tag specified in the request.
US07882062B2 Synchronization of plural databases in a database replication system when replication is slower than the synchronization process
A target database is synchronized with a source database and the source database is replicated to the target database in a database replication system. The source database is on-line during the synchronization. The source database is located at a first node of the system, and the target database is located at a second node of the system. Changes in the source database are replicated to the target database by sending a replication stream from the first node to the second node. Successive blocks of data are sent from the first node to the target database to synchronize or resynchronize the target database with the source database. Each block of data includes one or more rows of data. The successively sent blocks of data define a loading stream. The successively sent blocks of data are posted into the target database when the replication stream is occurring slower than the loading stream. Synchronization or resynchronization thereby occurs simultaneously with replication.
US07882051B2 Control device and a control method for a fuel cell system
A control device and method for a fuel cell system accurately learns output characteristics of fuel cell even when the output characteristics of fuel cell change due to changes in fuel cell temperature. The method and device generate power by supplying fuel and oxidant gases. The control device has a memory portion that memorizes output characteristics of fuel cell that change with the temperatures of fuel cell, and that become the base output characteristics, for each of the temperatures. An output characteristics learning portion learns the relationship between the output characteristics that become the base output characteristics and the actual output characteristics of fuel cell. The output characteristics learning portion prohibits learning when an actual current is less than a first predetermined current and more than a second predetermined current.
US07882049B2 Process control system using spatially dependent data for controlling a web-based process
System and method for controlling a process with spatially dependent conditions for producing a product with spatially dependent properties, e.g., a web/sheet-based process for producing a web/sheet-based product. Input data comprising a plurality of input data sets are provided to a neural network (analog or computer-based), each data set comprising values for one or more input parameters, each comprising a respective process condition or product property. The input data preserve spatial relationships of the input data. The neural network generates output data in accordance with the input data, the output data comprising a plurality of output data sets, each comprising values for one or more output parameters, each comprising a predicted process condition or product property. The output data preserve spatial relationships of the output data, which correspond to the spatial relationships of the input data. The output data are useable by a controller or operator to control the process.
US07882048B2 Methods and systems for applying genetic operators to determine system conditions
Disclosed are methods, systems, and/or processor program products that include generating a population of genotypes, the genotypes based on at least one stimulus to a system, measuring at least one response of the system upon providing the population of genotypes to at least one model of the system, and, based on the measured at least one response of the system, performing at least one of: (a) applying at least one genetic operator to at least some of the population of genotypes, and iteratively returning to generating a population of genotypes, and (b) associating a condition of the system with at least one of the population of genotypes.
US07882043B2 Method and apparatuses for facilitating spontaneous shopping collaboration
Methods, systems, and computer programs for servicing and/or providing spontaneous collaboration between a shopper and consultants concerning a shopping goal. Information about the shopper's physical or logical proximity to a particular product category, combined with the current contents of his or her shopping cart is used to determine one or more shopping goals. Information about each potential consultant, including physical proximity, willingness to consult, areas of expertise and recent experience is used to rank each consultant in terms of relevance to one or more shopping goal. Communication is established between the shopper and one or more consultants in order that consulting services be provided. Consultants' evaluations are maintained persistently for use in future ranking. In some cases collaboration is coordinated by a service bureau.
US07882041B2 System and method for optimizing the effectiveness of an educational institution
A system and method for optimizing the effectiveness of an educational institution. Means are provided for establishing a relationship between educational institution and a student wherein the student's progress is monitored from registration through and beyond graduation. Monitoring means allow the student's progress to be measured and the student's need for support and attention to be determined. Additional means permit an administrator of an educational institution to measure the effectiveness of an educational institution's program and to determine prospectively the resources needed to meet student commitments.
US07882040B2 Method for computer server operation
A method of operating an online recruitment management site, such as an employment recruitment site, includes the steps of capturing information of reference providers provided by a candidate and sending the reference providers an invite to accept to be reference providers for the candidate. After the reference providers accept the invitation and verify their information, their names and information are automatically added to the candidate's profile for potential recruiters, e.g. employers, to view. The reference providers also have the opportunity to enter evaluations regarding the candidate on the site. The reference providers' evaluations are readily and conveniently available for the recruiters to view and assess the candidate's suitability for the recruited position during their initial screening and selection period. After the reference providers have accepted or declined to be reference providers for the candidate, the site invites the reference providers to participate as candidates or recruiters on the site. To participate as candidates, the reference providers may register their C.V. or search job opportunities on the site. To participate as recruiters, they may post job openings or search for candidates who have registered on the site.
US07882036B1 System and method for postal indicia printing evidencing and accounting
System and method for printing indicia on mailing items, such as envelopes, cards, or label media, has a host computer system connected to a postal security device. The postal security device stores postage funds and, responsive to the host computer postage requests, provides data to the host computer representing an IBI Lite barcode having at least part of a unique authentication code. The host computer utilizes such data to produce print data representing postage indicia, and send such print data to one of a mailing machine, stand-alone printer, or printing system, for printing on a mailing item to be associated with the authentication code. A plurality of host computer systems each with their respective PSD may be provided. A reset computer system can communicate with each PSD, via their respective host computer, to provide additional postage funds and to receive information representing transaction data stored in the host computer.
US07882032B1 System and method for tokenless biometric authorization of electronic communications
This invention is a method and system for tokenless biometric authorization of an electronic communication, using a biometric sample, a master electronic identicator, and a public communications network, wherein the method includes: an electronic communication formation step, wherein at least one communication comprising electronic data is formed; a user registration step, wherein a user electronically submits a registration biometric sample taken directly from the person of the user; a public network data transmittal step, wherein the registration biometric sample is electronically transmitted to a master electronic identicator via a public communications network, said master electronic identicator comprising a computer database which electronically stores all of the registration biometric samples from all of the registered users; a user registration biometric storage step, wherein the registration biometric sample is electronically stored within the master electronic identicator; a bid biometric transmittal step, wherein a bid biometric sample, taken directly from the person of the user, is electronically transmitted to at least one electronic identicator; a user identification step, wherein an electronic identicator compares the bid biometric sample to at least one registration biometric sample previously stored in an electronic identicator, for producing either a successful or failed identification of the user; an electronic communication authorization step, wherein upon a successful identification of the user by an electronic identicator, at least one electronic communication is authorized for execution; wherein an electronic communication is biometrically-authorized without the user having to present any personalized man-made memory tokens such as smartcards, or magnetic stripe cards.
US07882031B2 Anti-crimes financial network
A computerized system is established through a network to help business organizations conduct and manage their businesses with anti-financial crimes provisions according to the government regulations and laws, e.g., the Bank Secrecy and the USA PATRIOT Act, and to enable financial institutions to monitor and manage these business organizations with confidence in compliance with the regulatory requirements and applicable laws.
US07882030B2 Connection information management system for managing connection information used in communications between IC cards
Each IC card 1 notifies a server 3 of the ID of the IC card and the connection information of a terminal device to which the IC card is connected. The server 3 stores the ID and the connection information in a database 4 while associating the ID and the connection information with each other. When an IC card 1 communicates with another IC card, the IC card 1 requests the connection information concerning the destination IC card from the server 3 while specifying the ID of this IC card. The server 3 searches the database 4 for the connection information corresponding to the ID specified by the request, and notifies the requesting IC card 1 of the acquired connection information. This enables communications between IC cards even if the terminal device to which a destination IC card is connected has been changed in the past.
US07882029B2 Centralized billing credit system utilizing a predetermined unit of usage
Disclosed is an electronic transaction recording system for accumulating data from printer devices comprising a mobile access unit containing content which is to be printed, a printer device which receives the content from the mobile access unit and prints the content in response to a authorization process, a billing manager coupled to the printer device and the mobile access unit for determining the amount of printer usage and associating a predetermined amount of token values with the costs of printing and generates an accounting of usage based on a predetermined measure of usage and a billing system for maintaining accounting records of user and associating user account information with the predetermined measure of usage and stores account information in an account records database.
US07882019B2 Method and system for effecting straight-through-processing of trades of various financial instruments
A Straight-Through-Processing (STP) trading platform provides a fully electronic and seamless solution to all substantially aspects of the trading cycle for fixed income instruments and other financial instruments. In an exemplary embodiment, all participants to a trade transaction have access to computer software that facilitates trade order management, trade order generation, trade execution (including electronic axes), trade allocation, allocation acknowledgement, trade confirmation, and finally acquisition of settlement instructions. In said exemplary embodiment, the STP trading platform includes computer software modules including at least an account management module and an electronic trading module to handle the various stages of executing a trade, confirming the trade, and facilitating settlement of the trade.
US07882014B2 Display of market impact in algorithmic trading engine
A graphical user interface is used along with an automated algorithm selection function to enable market participants to initiate automated, multi-algorithm trading strategies through a single drag and drop motion. A symbol representing a security can be dragged and dropped onto an icon representing a tactical or strategic algorithm. Other features of the graphical user interface show information such as the progress of the algorithms.
US07882008B2 Apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture for computerized transaction execution and processing
Apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture for n-tier transaction execution and processing are shown. The first layer comprises a presentation layer in the form of a user interface for entering instrument orders, modifying orders, and monitoring orders, instruments and markets. The second layer comprises an intermediate component layer for information transfer, and the third layer comprises an information source layer for feeding information to and accepting information from the first two layers.
US07882002B2 System and method for chart pattern recognition and analysis in an electronic trading environment
A system and method are provided for chart pattern recognition and analysis. In one embodiment, a graphical interface is provided to enable a trader to select a portion of a chart to be used in the chart pattern analysis. The pattern of the selected portion of the chart could then be used to find one or more similar chart patterns in a user-defined timeframe, such as any future time period or a time period in the past. When a reoccurring chart pattern is found in any future time period, an alert signal can be generated to alert a user of a possibility of the chart pattern reoccurrence. Alternatively, chart pattern matches can be found in a time period in the past, and a set of studies can be applied to the found matches to generate a set of reoccurring indicator values. The reoccurring indicator values can be used in combination with the chart pattern to detect any similar chart patterns in the future.
US07881999B2 System and method for generating a reimbursement request
In a reimbursement request workflow system and method, a processor may generate a reimbursement request by converting at least a selected portion of a purchase order request into the reimbursement request or by retrieving content provided by an external catalogue, extracting data from the retrieved content, and populating fields of a copy of a reimbursement request template copy with the extracted data or a portion thereof.
US07881996B1 Method and system for screening financial transactions
Efficiently screening ACH items and providing an indicator of the screening result. Electronic files, which can be in the NACHA file format, comprise ACH items. A gateway operator or an originating financial institution can screen each ACH item using a screening software module. For each ACH item, an indicator associated with the screening can be inserted into the ACH file before the ACH item is forwarded to a receiving financial institution. The indicator can identify whether the screening produced a match against an interdiction list and/or whether the screening produced a false positive. If the screening produced a match, processing of the ACH item can be suspended, and the ACH item can be returned to the originating financial institution. Notification of the match can be transmitted to the originating financial institution, the receiving financial institution, and/or law enforcement authorities.
US07881986B1 Method and system for event-driven inventory disposition
A method and system for event-driven inventory disposition are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method may include detecting a disposition event associated with a given one of a number of inventory items. The method may further include evaluating each of a number of disposition channels with respect to the given item in response to detecting the disposition event, and dependent upon the evaluation, selecting a particular disposition channel through which to dispose of the given item. In one particular implementation of the method, detecting the disposition event may include detecting an indication that an expected profitability of the given item is less than a threshold value.
US07881985B2 Electronic marketplace providing service parts inventory planning and management
Service parts inventory planning and management are provided for one or more entities in a supply chain (12), preferably within the context of an electronic marketplace (14). Status data reflecting substantially current service parts inventory levels at stocking locations within the supply chain (12) is accessed, these inventory levels indicating service parts excesses or needs at one or more stocking locations. A substantially current service parts inventory plan is generated according to the status data, a service parts demand forecast, and a supply chain model, the inventory plan including target stocking levels for service parts at stocking locations. According to the inventory plan, one or more services are initiated to attempt to resolve service parts excesses or needs at stocking locations through interaction with one or more other entities.
US07881976B2 Apparatus, methods and systems for discounted referral and recommendation of electronic content
Apparatus, methods and systems for sharing and distributing electronic content using a mobile device are presented. In more specific terms, a viral marketing-based, discounted referral and recommendation model by which users may forward electronic content to other users in disclosed. In one aspect, a method of distributing electronic media content over a network includes displaying a discounted offer on a first device that has been transmitted from another device for which the electronic media content has been purchased. A notification is then received, and upon receiving an acceptance from the first device, the electronic media content is transmitted to the device.
US07881975B2 Methods and systems using client-side scripts for review requests
The embodiments of the present system include a review engine that is connected to support modules and databases that receive, store, and retrieve reviews, based upon the subject and the users' relationship to the authors of the reviews. The review engine comprises a social network engine, a rate and rank engine, a credentials engine and a privacy engine. These engines allow reviews to be sorted, filtered and ordered in terms of relevance when presented to the user. Numerous methods are also provided by the system that receive, store and retrieve reviews.
US07881969B2 Trust based architecture for listing service
A unique system and method that facilitates trust-based interaction within an online social marketplace is provided. The system and method involve allowing users of the marketplace to selectively interact with one another according to a trustworthiness factor. Users can be deemed trustworthy depending on which email groups they belong to with respect to one another. For example, sellers can limit who can view their listings and when based on trust levels associated with their social groups, communities, or networks. Notifications of new or modified listings can also be sent to potentially interested users based on the users' trust levels. A ratings system can be employed as well to facilitate boosting or diminishing a user's or group's trust level. The social marketplace can include such activities as a listing service to buy, sell, or give items to others, dating and other personal listings, and job searching.
US07881966B2 Method of tracking in production in a plant for liquid foods
The invention relates to a method and associated database structure for tracking in production in a plant for liquid foods. Each production unit in the plant is allocated a unit identity which is registered in a database. Each production unit can be a source or a destination. Each material quantity which is included in the production is allocated a work identity which is registered in the database. A material quantity includes a given product of a given quantity. Each event in the plant is registered in the database. The registration takes place as a transport from a source to a destination, with references to the unit identities of both the source and the destination.
US07881963B2 Connecting internet users
In one embodiment, the invention is a method. The method includes providing an offer to a connector. The method also includes receiving responses from users to the offer, the users having received the offer from the connector. The method further includes completing the transaction with the users.In another embodiment, the invention is an apparatus. The apparatus includes a set of profiles of users. The apparatus further includes a database of connectors, connectors of the database selected from the users based on the profiles associated with the users. The apparatus also includes an interface between vendors and the database. The interface is to receive queries from the vendors and to return connector identities responsive to the queries.In yet another embodiment, the invention is a machine-readable medium embodying instructions. The instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method. The method includes providing an offer to a connector. The method also includes receiving responses from users to the offer, the users having received the offer from the connector. The method further includes completing the transaction with the users.In still another embodiment, the invention is a method. The method includes receiving an offer as a connector from a vendor. The method also includes propagating the offer to associated users through a network.
US07881962B2 Early-payment discount for E-billing system
An Early Payment Discount (EPD) mechanism that enables customers to automatically receive an early payment discount for paying their invoice electronically, e.g., via electronic funds transfer (EFT), through an e-Billing system within a designated number of days from on-line invoice post date.
US07881961B2 Method and system of managing a business process
A method of managing capacity in a business process on demand for providing a service to a service requester. The method comprises the steps of providing a business process having one or more service inputs, at least one service output, at least one capacity constraint having a capacity level and a queue located ahead of the capacity constraint having an upper queue threshold and a lower queue threshold. The method further comprises gathering with a performance monitoring subsystem a set of business process data, and adjusting with a capacity management subsystem the capacity level of the capacity constraint in response to the set of business process data gathered by the performance monitoring subsystem.
US07881959B2 On demand selection of marketing offers in response to inbound communications
A database system and method for ordering on demand a plurality of marketing offers for offering to a candidate in response to an inbound communication from the candidate. The database system comprises a first database structure storing a first list identifying marketing offers, a second database structure storing a second list of candidates, and a database manager software application stored on a computer readable medium. The database manager software application comprises an on demand optimization tool. The on demand optimization tool is for optimizing and sorting, the marketing offers from the first list with for a first candidate from the second list in response to an inbound communication from the first candidate.
US07881951B2 System and method for computerized insurance rating
The invention relates generally to a computer system and method for integrating insurance policy underwriting. In one aspect, it integrates an older legacy insurance policy generating system to on-line rating systems where users access the system through browsers. The computer system to perform the process of dynamically rating includes generating an input XML file of risk information that is sent to a web service and calculated in a calculation engine. The processed data is retrieved by the web service and transmitted as an XML file to a user interface that parses the rating information and displays the data.
US07881948B2 Method and system for platinum database
A method and system for providing real estate information to users, tailored to requirements and fields relating to the location of the property. A single repository, such as a database or database farm, is used with middle tier software on servers on a network, such as the Internet, to provide information to users via user terminals coupled to the network, for particular properties, and to receive information for properties for addition to the database. Information and fields specific to locations are input to the system via a system operator. User terminals utilize either downloaded software to interact with the middle tier, or a network browser. In one variation, the middle tier software is based upon an open standard, such as an open Application Program Interface standard, so as to allow access for a variety of terminal types and software.
US07881943B2 Method for speed correction of audio recordings
The method adjusts the playback speed of an audio recording such that the pitch of the playback is substantially the same as the pitch at the time of the original recording. Assuming tuned instruments were used for the recording, the method alters the playback speed of the recording to bring the pitch back to the original. The method should produce accurate results when correcting speed changes that were causing pitch errors less than or more than a semitone. The method can be used to correct pitch even when the first machine used for the recording had an incorrect recording speed. This method can be used to correct the speed of a nonmusical recording by referencing known frequencies or frequencies in the recording.
US07881942B2 Signal compressing apparatus
An input signal is quantized into a quantization-resultant signal. The quantization-resultant signal is compressed into a compression-resultant signal. The compression-resultant signal is formatted into a formatting-resultant signal corresponding to a predetermined format for a digital recording disc. The formatting-resultant signal includes segments corresponding to user data areas prescribed in the predetermined format. The compression-resultant signal is placed in the segments of the formatting-resultant signal. The formatting-resultant signal is encoded into an encoding-resultant signal of a CD format. The encoding-resultant signal is recorded on a recording medium.
US07881937B2 Method for analyzing patent claims
A patent evaluation method analyzes key words in the claims and how many patents use those words, to measure the impact of a given patent. For a group of patents in a particular field (e.g., as defined by a patent classification code), the key words can be indexed against the patents having claims in which those key words appear, and in particular with respect to that patent having the earliest reference date (e.g., a publication date such as the date on which the patent issued or any corresponding patent application was published). Output may be presented in the form of a table, which aids in quickly understanding a patent's value compared to other patents in its group. Various visualization and user interaction tools may be employed.
US07881935B2 Speech recognition device and speech recognition method and recording medium utilizing preliminary word selection
A speech recognition apparatus in which the accuracy in speech recognition is improved as the resource is prevented from increasing. Such a word which is probable as the result of the speech recognition is selected on the basis of an acoustic score and a linguistic score, while word selection is also performed on the basis of a measure different from the acoustic score, such as the number of phonemes being small, a part of speech being a pre-set one, inclusion in the past results of speech recognition or the linguistic score being not less than a pre-set value. The words so selected are subjected to matching processing.
US07881933B2 Age determination using speech
A device may include logic configured to receive voice data from a user, identify a result from the voice data, calculate a confidence score associated with the result, and determine a likely age range associated with the user based on the confidence score.
US07881932B2 VoiceXML language extension for natively supporting voice enrolled grammars
The present invention extends the VoiceXML language model to natively support voice enrolled grammars. Specifically, three VoiceXML tags can be added to the language model to add, modify, and delete acoustically provided phrases to voice enrolled grammars. Once created, the voice enrolled grammars can be used in normal speaker dependent speech recognition operations. That is, the voice enrolled grammars can be referenced and utilized just like text enrolled grammars can be referenced and utilized. For example using the present invention, voice enrolled grammars can be referenced by standard text-based Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS) grammars to create more complex, usable grammars.
US07881929B2 Ambient noise injection for use in speech recognition
A method of ambient noise injection for use with speech recognition in a production vehicle. The method includes the steps of monitoring audio including user speech, receiving an utterance from the user speech, retrieving vehicle-specific ambient noise, and prepending the vehicle-specific ambient noise to the utterance before pre-processing and decoding the utterance.
US07881928B2 Enhanced linguistic transformation
Techniques for enhanced linguistic transformation are disclosed. For example, a method of linguistic transformation includes the steps of providing at least one input to a plurality of modules, wherein at least one module has a different configuration than at least another module, obtaining at least one output from each of at least a subset of the plurality of modules, and generating a set of distinct outputs. The input and the output include linguistic representations and at least a portion of the output is a result of applying one or more linguistic transformations to at least a portion of the input.Techniques for displaying a plurality of results so as to emphasize component-level differences are also disclosed. By way of example, a method of displaying a plurality of results includes the steps of determining at least one primary result within the plurality of results; displaying the at least one primary result with at least a first set of color attributes; and displaying at least one alternative result with at least a second set of color attributes. Each result represents an application of at least one linguistic transformation to a common input and each result comprises a plurality of components.
US07881926B2 Joint estimation of formant trajectories via bayesian techniques and adaptive segmentation
The invention relates to the field of automated processing of speech signals and particularly to a method for tracking the formant frequencies in a speech signal, comprising the steps of: obtaining an auditory image of the speech signal; sequentially estimating formant locations; segmenting the frequency range into sub-regions; smoothing the obtained component filtering distributions; and calculating exact formant locations.
US07881922B2 Communication device and method to derive context information
A communication device comprises processing means, storage means for storing a database of language components, display means and user interface means. The processing means is arranged to determine at least one qualifier, to access the database, and to select at least one language component according to the at least one determined qualifier, and the display means is arranged to display the at least selected language component. A user can select a displayed language component, and this can be outputted as an audio or wireless signal.
US07881918B2 System and method for spatially profiling a distribution of hydrophobicity of a transmembrane protein
A profiler which spatially profiles a hydrophobicity distribution for the transmembrane protein based on a scaled hydrophobicity value, includes an identifier for identifying a residue external to a membrane and removing the residue to obtain a truncated structure comprising plural residue side-chains, and a calculator which calculates plural residue centroids for the plural residue side-chains, calculates a distribution of the plural residue centroids, and obtains a geometric center for the distribution.
US07881916B1 Precision shape sensing of elastically deformable materials
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for sensing and determining the shapes of deformable materials, shaped by a plurality of actuators, using sparse sensor network topologies. The method comprises placing a plurality of curvature sensors on the surface of a deformable material to measure the local curvatures of the deformable material. The plurality of curvature sensors generate a collection of sensor data correlated to the local curvatures. Actuator parameters are generated from sensor data by assuming linear approximation between sensors data and actuator parameters. The shape of the deformable material is determined from the generated actuator parameters.
US07881907B2 System and method for providing remote monitoring of voltage power transmission and distribution devices
The present invention provides a system and method for providing remote monitoring of a power device or power delivery system. In architecture, the system includes a remote device for performing the operation. The remote device comprises a power condition detection circuitry and a memory circuitry that stores information describing the power condition of the power device. Moreover, the remote device further comprises a transmission circuitry that transmits the information of the power condition to the service device for analysis. The present invention can also be viewed as a method for providing remote monitoring of a power device. The method operates by (1) detecting a power condition of the power device; (2) storing information describing the power condition of the power device; and (3) transmitting the information of the power condition to the service device for analysis.
US07881906B2 Method, system and computer program product for event-based sampling to monitor computer system performance
A system, method and computer program product for event-based sampling to monitor computer system performance are provided. The system includes a sample buffer to store a sample of instrumentation data, where the instrumentation data enables measurement of computer system performance. The system also includes a sample segment selector to isolate a segment of the sample of instrumentation data as an event. The system further includes an instrumentation counter counting in response to a combination of the event and a sample pulse, and asserting a sample interrupt indicating that the sample of instrumentation data is ready to logout from the sample buffer.
US07881904B1 Method for assessing and forecasting the operational health of a telephone network switch
A current operational health of a Telephone Network Switch (TNS) is determined by selectively using only certain parameters. These selected parameters, both internal and external to the TNS, are those that most influence the operational health. The operational health of the TNS is projected into the future in order to forecast the TNS performance. Not only can a current or future deviation be determined, but also a source of the deviation is identified allowing for a focused preventative maintenance effort.
US07881902B1 Human activity monitoring device
A method for monitoring human activity using an inertial sensor includes continuously determining an orientation of the inertial sensor, assigning a dominant axis, updating the dominant axis as the orientation of the inertial sensor changes, and counting periodic human motions by monitoring accelerations relative to the dominant axis.
US07881898B2 Priority system and method for processing standardized tests
Systems and methods are provided for prioritizing the processing of standardized tests. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a method for processing completed standardized tests. In one embodiment, test-processing priority information is received, and is associated with machine-readable identifiers for standardized tests. Completed standardized tests are received, and are identified by reading machine-readable identifiers. The identified standardized tests are processed according to the associated test-processing priority information such that higher priority tests are automatically processed before lower priority tests. Other aspects are provided herein.
US07881892B2 Standardization methods for correcting spectral differences across multiple spectroscopic instruments
The invention relates to systems and methods for measuring properties of samples with standardized spectroscopic systems. The methods can include (i) measuring, with a first spectroscopic system, spectra of at least three different reference targets; (ii) calibrating the first spectroscopic system; (iii) measuring, with the first spectroscopic system, a spectrum of a known reference specimen having a known value of the property; (iv) generating a model for the measured property using the spectrum of the known reference specimen; (v) measuring, with a second spectroscopic system, the spectra of at least three different reference targets; (vi) calibrating the second spectroscopic system; (vii) applying the model to the second spectroscopic system; (viii) measuring a spectrum of the sample using the second spectroscopic system; and (ix) determining a value of the property using the model.
US07881889B2 Method and apparatus for determining energy savings by using a baseline energy use model that incorporates an artificial intelligence algorithm
A computer-based system, computer-implemented method and computer program product facilitate determining energy cost savings in an energy-consuming facility, such as a commercial building, using an artificial intelligence model, for example a neural network model, that projects or estimates the amount of energy that would have been consumed by the facility but for the implementation of energy efficiency or conservation measures. Energy savings are represented by the difference between the estimate of energy that would have been consumed but for the measures and the actual amount of energy consumed by the facility under actual conditions during a time interval after the measures have been implemented.
US07881886B1 Methods for performing transient flow prediction and verification using discharge coefficients
A method for determining an actual gas flow rate as gas flows through a gas flow delivery system is provided. The method includes sending the gas through the gas flow delivery system into a gas conduit, wherein a section of the gas conduit is widened to form an orifice. The method also includes pressurizing the gas to create a choked flow condition within the orifice of the gas conduit. The method further includes measuring upstream pressure of the gas via a set of pressure sensors. The method yet also includes calculating the actual flow rate based on the upstream pressure of the orifice of the gas conduit.
US07881883B2 Device and method for the detection of an occlusion
A method for detecting occlusions including providing a signal that characterizes a conveying status of a fluid, and determining from a difference between two such signals whether an occlusion has occurred. The invention encompasses a device for detecting an occlusion including a sensor for sensing a fluid flow parameter and/or an operational parameter of the device and an evaluation unit for processing the output of the sensor.
US07881879B2 Methods and systems for wheel balancer matching and flat spot correction
Methods and systems for a computer implemented method of analyzing a vehicle wheel assembly including a tire and a rim is provided. The method includes removably mounting a wheel assembly on a shaft having a longitudinal axis and being rotatable about the longitudinal axis to rotate the wheel assembly, applying a substantially radial force to the wheel assembly during rotation thereof, and measuring variations in the radial force from at least one of radial runout, tire uniformity, and tire flatspotting. The method also includes determining a condition of the wheel assembly based on a spectral density analysis of the measured variations.
US07881878B2 Systems, devices, and methods for diffusion tractography
Certain exemplary embodiments comprise a method, which can comprise automatically causing a representation of body tissue to be rendered. The body tissue can be tracked via clusters. The clusters each can comprise a predetermined number of particles. Each particle of a particular cluster can be representative of a discreet path associated with the particular cluster in a tensor field.
US07881876B2 Methods and systems for removing offset bias in chemical array data
Methods, systems and computer readable media for quantifying and removing offset bias signals in a chemical array data set having one or more channels. In one embodiment, for each channel of data in the data set, a first set of features is selected from the data set. Surface intensities are calculated for features in the first selected set of features and surface intensifies of features not in the first selected set are calculated from the calculated surface intensities. A second set of features is selected, the intensity values of which are within a range of correspondingly located surface intensity values defined by upper and lower threshold intensities. Secondary surface intensifies are calculated for features in the second selected set of features and secondary surface intensities for all other locations on the array that were not locations corresponding to the features having secondary surface intensities calculated therefore, are calculated. Feature intensities of the channel features are then corrected as a function of the secondary surface intensities.
US07881873B2 Systems and methods for statistical genomic DNA based analysis and evaluation
Systems and methods for performing rapid genomic DNA analysis of samples, such as control samples and experimental samples. In one aspect, the system makes use of genomic DNA input, rather than gene expression input such as mRNA and/or cDNA associated with mRNA. The systems and methods perform statistical analyses on data generated from the samples to determine which DNA sequences in an identified set of DNA sequences have a basis of variation in an experimental sample when compared to a control sample, and additionally provide a quantitative measure of this variation. The quantitative measure may be based on metrics such as copy number and/or fold-change. The systems and methods employ this statistical framework in DNA-based evaluation settings, including the evaluation/diagnosis of a pathological condition such as cancer or transgenic analysis of transgenic plants and animals. The systems and methods also provide means to select and refine the selection of DNA sequences, such as genes, known to undergo copy change for a particular pathological condition. This leads to the creation of stock gene sets catered to individual application areas and/or clinical uses, which may be used with the systems and methods described in this application for the purpose of, for example, a clinical kit for rapid DNA-based evaluation.
US07881872B2 Methods of analyzing multi-channel profiles
The present invention provides methods for analyzing multi-channel profiles. In the method of the invention, systematic cross-profile (cross-experiment) errors among a plurality of multi-channel profiles having a common reference channel are estimated using profiles of the common reference channel. The cross-profile errors are then removed from profiles of the experiment channels, e.g., by subtracting the error from the experiment profile. The obtained error-corrected experiment channel data can then be used in comparison with each other, e.g., in generating virtual differential profiles between pairs of experiment channels. The method of the invention is particularly useful in analyzing multi-channel expression profiles obtained in microarray measurements.
US07881851B2 Method of operating glow plugs in diesel engines
The invention describes a method for operating glow plugs in a diesel engine that comprises a housing and a heater element projecting beyond that housing which interacts with an engine control unit and a glow plug control unit which, following a preheating phase, controls the electric power supplied to the glow plugs in dependence on an input received from the engine control unit. According to the invention it is provided that the engine control unit determines a value representative of a temperature that is to be reached at the heater element and the engine control unit transmits that value as target value to the glow plug control unit which converts that target value using an algorithm stored in the glow plug control unit and taking into account the characteristic values stored in the glow plug control unit.
US07881850B2 Wheel lifted and grounded identification for an automotive vehicle
A control system (18) for an automotive vehicle (10) has a first roll condition detector (64A), a second roll condition detector (64B), a third roll condition detector (64C), and a controller (26) that uses the roll condition generated by the roll condition detectors (64A-C) to determine a wheel lift condition. Other roll condition detectors may also be used in the wheel lift determination. The wheel lift conditions may be active or passive or both.
US07881847B2 Clutch control device and vehicle
An EEPROM of an ECU (engine control unit) stores regulation maps corresponding to a plurality of running modes (e.g., normal mode, swift mode and gentle mode). The regulation maps regulate the relationship between the clutch rotational speed difference and the target clutch position. When any one of the running modes is selected according to user intentions, the target clutch position is uniformly changed according to the running mode.
US07881844B2 Apparatus and method to vary the sensitivity slope of the FNR control lever of an agricultural windrower
The apparatus and method of the invention vary the sensitivity slope of the FNR control lever of an agricultural windrower, such that speed commands outputted through a first range of movements of the FNR lever are slower and increase less rapidly than commands outputted through a second range of movements greater than the first range, the first range corresponding to movements in closer proximity to the neutral position of the FNR lever. The different show is achieved by using different slopes for transfer function signals for the first and the second ranges of positions of the FNR lever.
US07881842B2 Restraint system with impact recognition, taking into account environmental influences
A safety device for vehicles having first sensor arrangement for acquiring the vehicle impact and for outputting first sensor signals, a control device for outputting triggering signals dependent on the first sensor signals, and a restraint system that is triggered dependent on the first sensor signals, second sensor arrangement being provided for the acquisition of obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle and for the outputting of second sensor signals, and third sensor arrangement being provided for the acquisition of environmental influences on the second sensor arrangement, the second sensor signals output by the second sensor arrangement being used in the control unit for the decision concerning the triggering of the restraint system, after an evaluation of the third sensor signals output by the third sensor arrangement.
US07881840B2 Level control system for a motor vehicle
Disclosed is a level control system in which the operational readiness of the compressor (2) is tested by connecting the pressure sensor (10) to the output (6) of the compressor (2) via a compressed-air sensor line (8). All other compressed-air lines that are connected to the output (6) of the compressor (2) are locked by shutting directional control valves (201 to 20d and 30). The compressor (2) is then switched on and it is tested how rapidly the pressure increases on the pressure sensor (10). If the increase per interval exceeds a defined threshold value, the compressor is operationally ready.
US07881837B2 Diagnostic apparatus and method
Provided is a diagnostic apparatus easily applied to diagnosis of a small lot product, etc. When measurement data on a measurement object is inputted sequentially, a filter section (408) performs filtering of the measurement data. When new measurement data is employed as diagnosis object data, a statistic processing section (420) updates diagnosis reference data using the new diagnosis object data. A diagnostic section (416) diagnoses the diagnosis object data based on the diagnosis reference data and determines whether an abnormality is present or not. If an abnormality is present, the fact is displayed to a user along with diagnosis results through an UI section (428).
US07881836B2 Tire state monitoring apparatus
There is provided a tire state monitoring apparatus including transponders mounted on a plurality of tires possessed by a vehicle, and ECUs provided on a vehicle body repeatedly transmit address electric waves for acquiring data showing tire states to the transponders at fixed intervals. The ECUs transmit estimates of the transmission timing of the address electric waves at the predetermined transmission cycle so that the transponders can transmit the address electric waves within a communicable range, maintain the predetermined transmission cycle if the estimated transmission timing satisfies a predetermined condition, and adjust the predetermined transmission cycle if the transmission timing does not satisfy the predetermined condition.
US07881833B2 Airplane emergency navigational system
An emergency navigational system that monitors the navigation of an aircraft by comparing actual flight parameter data to predefined flight parameter data to thereby determine if the actual flight parameter data deviates beyond a defined value, and if so, activating a navigational controller to at least partially control the navigation of the aircraft.
US07881832B2 Automatic speech recognition system and method for aircraft
A system and method which implement automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) programs to permit pilots, co-pilots, and other persons to more quickly and easily perform control and monitoring tasks on aircraft. The system may be used to automatically change the frequency of an aircraft radio when a pilot or co-pilot is instructed to do so by ATC.
US07881831B2 System and method for controlling temperature of a liquid residing within a tank
A water heating system including a tank to store water, a temperature sensor positioned to detect a temperature of the water, and a temperature control element configured to alter the temperature of the water. The system also includes a controller configured to control the temperature of the water based on a first temperature threshold during a first time period and monitor the amount of time that the temperature control element is in either the activated state or the deactivated state during the first time period. The control then determines a second temperature threshold for a subsequent time period based on the monitored amount of time.
US07881828B2 Bus module for connecting electrically triggered fluidic valves
A bus module for connecting electrically triggerable fluidic valves to a data bus. The bus module has an electrical circuit configuration, which evaluates address data and user data from data telegrams transmitted on the data bus and which triggers a fluidic valve determined by the address data in accordance with the user data of the data telegram. In order to keep the current load on the bus module low particularly when triggering hydraulic valves, the electronic circuit configuration, following the reception of user data in the form of a switch-on command for one of the fluidic valves connected to the bus module, first constantly supplies a supply voltage to the fluidic valve determined by the address data during a gate-controlled rise time of specifiable duration. Following the expiration of the gate-controlled rise time, the electronic circuit configuration supplies the fluidic valve with the supply voltage in a pulse width modulated form having a specifiable pulse control factor. Only when the bus module has received user data in the form of a switch-off command for the previously switched-on fluidic valve, does the electronic circuit configuration no longer supply a supply voltage to the fluidic valve.
US07881820B2 Method and system for inventory placement according to expected item picking rates
A method and system for inventory placement according to expected item picking rates. In one embodiment, a method may include determining a respective expected picking rate for each of a number of inventory items, and dependent upon the expected picking rate, selecting a corresponding one of a number of zones of an inventory storage area for each of the items. The zones may be physically arranged within the inventory storage area such that a first, innermost zone is successively and at least partially surrounded by one or more other zones. The method may further include storing each of the items within the corresponding zones, such that the expected picking rates of members of a given group of items stored in a given zone are less than the expected picking rates of members of another group of items stored in a successive zone that at least partially surrounds the given zone.
US07881817B2 Method and apparatus for processing an audio signal
A method for processing an audio signal, comprising the steps of extracting an ancillary signal for generating the audio signal and an extension signal included in the ancillary signal from a received bit stream, reading length information for the extension signal, skipping decoding of the extension signal or not using a result of the decoding based on the length information, and generating the audio signal using the ancillary signal. Accordingly, in case of processing the audio signal by the present invention, it is able to reduce a corresponding load of operation to enable efficient processing and enhance a sound quality.
US07881811B2 Flexible electrode assembly having variable pitch electrodes
An electrode assembly for use in a prosthetic hearing implant, the electrode assembly comprising: an elongate carrier member for implantation into the cochlea, the carrier member having a proximal end adapted to be positioned in a basal region of the cochlea, and a distal end adapted to be positioned in an apical region of the cochlea; and a plurality of electrodes disposed along a longitudinal surface of the carrier member, wherein the plurality of electrodes have a predetermined spacing to attain a desired flexibility along the length of the carrier member.
US07881810B1 Cardiac access methods and apparatus
A chamber or vasculature of a heart may be accessed via the pericardial space of the heart. Initially, the pericardial space may be accessed via a transmyocardial approach or a subxiphoid approach. A lead or other implantable apparatus may thus be routed into the pericardial space, through myocardial tissue and into the chamber or vasculature. The lead or other apparatus may be used to sense activity in or provide therapy to the heart.
US07881803B2 Multi-electrode implantable stimulator device with a single current path decoupling capacitor
Disclosed herein are circuits and methods for a multi-electrode implantable stimulator device incorporating one decoupling capacitor in the current path established via at least one cathode electrode and at least one anode electrode. In one embodiment, the decoupling capacitor may be hard-wired to a dedicated anode on the device. The cathodes are selectively activatable via stimulation switches. In another embodiment, any of the electrodes on the devices can be selectively activatable as an anode or cathode. In this embodiment, the decoupling capacitor is placed into the current path via selectable anode and cathode stimulation switches. Regardless of the implementation, the techniques allow for the benefits of capacitive decoupling without the need to associate decoupling capacitors with every electrode on the multi-electrode device, which saves space in the body of the device. Although of particular benefit when applied to microstimulators, the disclosed technique can be used with space-saving benefits in any stimulator device.
US07881802B2 Telemetry switchover state machine with firmware priority control
The selection of one communication channel from a plurality of available channels is determined by a state machine. In an automatic selection mode, a first telemetry system has priority over other telemetry systems. A communication session is in progress based on session initiation and termination triggers. An override function allows manual selection of a telemetry system.
US07881801B2 Medical device testing apparatus
An apparatus (30) that can test external components of a cochlear implant system in a manner that does not require the person conducting the test to have advanced knowledge of the operation of the tested component. The apparatus provides a relatively quick and straightforward answer to the question of whether the component is operative or not. The testing apparatus (30) comprises at least one testing station (32,33,34) for receiving the component to be tested and makes an electrical and/or inductive connection thereto. A testing circuit is adapted to apply at least one test to the component and measure the response of the component to that test. The apparatus (30) compares the response of the component to stored data indicative of the response to the test of at least one equivalent component that is known to be operational and outputs a result of said comparison.
US07881799B2 Retinal prosthesis and method of manufacturing a retinal prosthesis
An improved package and configuration for an implantable retinal prosthesis includes an electrode array suitable to be mounted in close proximity to a retina, an electronics package, and inductive receiving coil mounted next to each other on a strap surrounding the sclera so that the height above the sclera of the prosthesis is minimized.
US07881797B2 Methods and devices for gastrointestinal stimulation
Methods and devices for gastrointestinal stimulation are disclosed. In one embodiment, disclosed is an electrical stimulator device that includes a circuit board and a battery contained within a base housing; a conduction element; and at least one electrode. In some embodiments, the stimulator base housing can be directly attached to a wall of a body lumen. In other embodiments, the stimulator base housing can be attached to a cuff or a sleeve device. In still other embodiments, one or more elements of the system are free-floating within the GI tract. The devices can be delivered endoscopically, and in some embodiments toposcopically.
US07881795B2 Method of patient initiated electro-cardiogram storage, status query and therapy activation
Heart rhythm status information can be provided to a user, including providing a normal heart rhythm indication if detected electrocardiogram data is indicative of a normal heart rhythm, providing an abnormal heart rhythm indication if detected electrocardiogram data is indicative of an abnormal heart rhythm. Further, a current heart rhythm can be recorded, including recording the current heart rhythm in response to the provided abnormal heart rhythm indication if an abnormal heart rhythm indication is provided in response to the first query command, and recording the current heart rhythm in response to a second patient-initiated query command from the user-interface device following a normal heart rhythm indication in response to the first query command.
US07881792B1 Methods and systems for detecting the presence of T-wave alternans
Embodiments of the present invention relate to implantable systems, and method for use therein, that can detect T-wave alternans. In accordance with specific embodiments of the present invention, intrinsic premature contractions of the ventricles are detected, and at least one metric of T-waves is measured in a specified number of beats that follow each detected intrinsic premature contraction of the ventricles. A determination of whether T-wave alternans are present is made based on the measured T-wave metrics. In alternative embodiments, rather than waiting for intrinsic premature contractions of the ventricles, premature contractions of the ventricles are caused on demand by inducing premature atrial contractions. In still other embodiments, a patient's vagus nerve is stimulated to simulate premature contractions of the ventricles. This abstract is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention.
US07881790B1 Reducing data acquisition, power and processing for photoplethysmography and other applications
Hemodynamic signals, such as photoplethysmography (PPG) signals, pressure signals, and impedance signals, are sampled once per cyclical body cycle to reduce the amount of data, processing and/or power required to analyze the hemodynamic signals.
US07881787B1 Capture detection system and method CRT therapy
An exemplary method includes implementing a cardiac pacing therapy capable of delivering bi-ventricular stimulation, deciding if the therapy calls for bi-ventricular stimulation and, if the therapy calls for bi-ventricular stimulation, comparing an interventricular conduction delay to a threshold and based on the comparing, deciding whether to enable a capture detection algorithm. Various other exemplary methods, devices, systems, etc. are also disclosed.
US07881783B2 Implantable medical electrical stimulation lead, such as a PNE lead, and method of use
An implantable medical electrode lead for stimulation of bodily tissue. The lead is adapted for use with a needle lumen diameter of not greater than 0.05 inch, and includes a lead body and a tine assembly. The lead body has a distal section forming at least one exposed electrode surface. The tine assembly includes a plurality of tines each having a base end coupled to an exterior of the lead body immediately adjacent the exposed electrode surface and a free end that is movable relative to the lead body to inhibit axial migration of the lead body upon implantation into a patient. In one embodiment, the lead body is a PNE lead and provides two electrode surfaces for bipolar operation.
US07881782B2 Neural stimulation system to prevent simultaneous energy discharges
Various aspects of the present subject matter relate to a system. Various embodiments of the system comprise at least one port to connect to at least one lead with at least one electrode, at least one stimulator circuit and at least one controller. The at least one stimulator circuit is connected to the at least one port and is adapted to deliver neural stimulation to a neural stimulation target using the at least one electrode. The at least one controller is adapted to determine when another energy discharge other than the neural stimulation to the neural stimulation target is occurring and to prevent delivery of the neural stimulation simultaneously with the other energy discharge. Other aspects and embodiments are provided herein.
US07881780B2 Biological interface system with thresholded configuration
A system and method for a biological interface system that processes multicellular signals of a patient and controls one or more devices is disclosed. The system includes a sensor that detects the multicellular signals and a processing unit for producing the control signal based on the multicellular signals. The system further includes an automated configuration routine that is used to set or modify the value of one or more system configuration parameters.
US07881779B2 Method and apparatus for synthetically detecting ventricular fibrillation
The present application discloses a complexity-based method for synthetically detecting ventricular fibrillation, which centers on complexity calculations while incorporating a plurality of feature values and thus differentiates more effectively among various types of ECG signals. The method further modifies the complexity algorithm, making it more adapted to reflecting characteristics of the VF-related signals, thereby enabling high sensitivity and specificity of detection. Further, the related calculation load is reduced according to the algorithm. As such, the method can fully satisfy the clinical needs and is aimed for solving the problems of low sensitivity, low specificity and weak anti-interference ability present in current medical equipment for detecting ventricular fibrillation, such as monitors, implanted cardioversion defibrillator (ICD), automatic external defibrillator (AED) and so on. Systems for performing the method are also disclosed.
US07881775B2 Radio guided seed localization of imaged lesions
A method of removing lesions by implanting a radioactive seed at the location of the lesion, locating the lesion with the radioactive seed, and removing the lesion with the radioactive seed.
US07881771B2 Bone reposition device, method and system
A bone reposition device includes first and second bone supports for supporting first and second portions of a fracture or osteotomize bone about a fracture or osteotomize site, a plurality of sequentially connected connection members and a plurality of joints each with at least a pair of adjacent parts for connecting the connection members therebetween and to the first and second bone supports. The plurality of joints includes at least six joints, each of which possesses one degree of freedom and allows controllable relative rotation or translation of said pair of adjacent parts about one of three axes respectively.
US07881770B2 Multiple cannula image guided tool for image guided procedures
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for use within an image-guided surgical navigation system for facilitating the combined positioning and orientation of multiple surgical implements. A tool guide having multiple cannulas is tracked by a surgical navigation system in real time. Position data of the tool guide is registered and combined with pre-acquired images by the navigation computer. Concurrent graphical representations of the plurality of cannulas are superimposed over the images and displayed. The display allows the surgeon to place the tool guide into the patient's body and position and orient the plurality of cannulas which are then used to place each of the implements.
US07881767B2 Method and system for registering a medical situation associated with a first coordinate system, in a second coordinate system using an MPS system
System for registering a first image with a second image, the system including a first medical positioning system for detecting a first position and orientation of the body of a patient, a second medical positioning system for detecting a second position and orientation of the body, and a registering module coupled with a second imager and with the second medical positioning system, the first medical positioning system being associated with and coupled with a first imager, the first imager acquiring the first image from the body, the first imager producing the first image by associating the first image with the first position and orientation, the second medical positioning system being associated with and coupled with the second imager, the second imager acquiring the second image and associating the second image with the second position and orientation, the registering module registering the first image with the second image, according to the first position and orientation and the second position and orientation.
US07881762B2 Clip-style medical sensor and technique for using the same
A clip-style sensor is provided that includes a sliding clip, such as a flat spring that slides along the sensor to provide a closing force for the sensor. When the sliding clip is engaged, the sensor is secured to the patient. The sensor may be placed on a patient's finger, toe, ear, and so forth to obtain pulse oximetry or other spectrophotometric measurements.
US07881761B2 Method and circuit for storing and providing historical physiological data
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a sensor for facilitating detection of a physiological characteristic of a patient. Specifically, one embodiment includes a detector configured to obtain signals from the patient, the signals being indicative of the physiological characteristic, an interface configured to send the signals to a monitor, and a sensor memory coupled with the sensor and separate from the monitor, the sensor memory storing sensor expiration data.
US07881758B2 Electronic apparatus having rotating display housing
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus including a housing unit of which the angle can be varied by a rotation mechanism and is directed to improve the fixation precision of the housing unit that can be fixed at predetermined angles. The apparatus includes a supporting frame unit (movable arm unit), a rotation supporting unit (rotating module) installed on the supporting frame unit, a housing unit (movable housing unit) that is fixed on the rotation supporting unit and can be rotated by the rotation supporting unit, and a rotation locking mechanism that is installed away from the center of rotation of the rotation supporting unit and, when the housing unit is rotated to a predetermined angle, holds the supporting frame unit and the housing unit in a locked state.
US07881749B2 Mobile communication device and method for controlling component activation based on sensed motion
A mobile communication device in accordance with an exemplary embodiment comprises a transceiver, a motion sensor, and logic. The transceiver is configured to communicate wireless signals. The logic is configured to perform a comparison of data from the motion sensor to data indicative of an expected flight path of the mobile communication device and to control an activation state of at least one component based on the comparison.
US07881748B2 Network identity and timezone (NITZ) functionality for non-3GPP devices
A system that provisions a multimode mobile or converged device with local time information and network provider identification when the multimode mobile device is operating within the purview of a wireless local area network (WLAN). The system includes components that receive protocol data and that extract network provider identification from the received protocol data as well as utilizing the received protocol data to ascertain the local time.
US07881746B2 Shared processing between wireless interface devices of a host device
An integrated circuit includes a first wireless interface circuit that transceives first packetized data between a host module and a first external device in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol, wherein the first wireless interface circuit includes a first processing module that processes the first packetized data. A second wireless interface circuit, coupled to the first wireless interface device, transceives second packetized data between the host module and a second external device in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol, wherein the second wireless interface circuit includes a second processing module that processes the second packetized data, wherein the second wireless interface circuit is operable to assign a first processing task to the first processing module and wherein the first processing task relates to the processing of the second packetized data.
US07881738B2 Estimation based approach to determine the retransmission timeout value for access probe retransmissions
Systems and methods for reducing latency in a group communication system including transmitting an access probe; establishing predetermined criteria relating to communication parameters; and setting a retransmission timeout value at a communication device based upon the predetermined criteria, wherein the retransmission timeout value is an amount of time the communication device waits for an acknowledgment following the transmission of the access probe before it initiates retransmission of the access probe.
US07881736B2 Short message service network plug-in
An apparatus for use with communication devices, the communication devices being configured to send and receive SMS messages, the apparatus includes a memory configured to store information indicative of the communication devices that are configured to process an SMS message of a first type, a processor configured to receive an SMS message of the first type from a first communication device, wherein the received SMS message includes contact information related to a user of the first communication device, analyze the received SMS message to determine information indicative of a destination address of the SMS message, the destination address corresponding to a second communication device, determine whether the second communication device is configured to receive SMS messages of the first type using the information indicative of the destination address and the information stored in the memory, send an outgoing SMS message to the second communication device wherein the outgoing SMS message is of the first type if it is determined that the second communication device is configured to receive SMS messages of the first type, and the outgoing SMS message is of a second type if it is determined that the second communication device is not configured to receive SMS messages of the first type.
US07881735B2 Messaging gateway and method
An application on a server submits the message to a gateway (1) (which it sees as a service centre). The gateway performs interaction with external applications on servers such as charging and then instead of storing transaction related information associated with this message, it packages the transaction information along with the message as inter-working data. The gateway then forwards the message including the inter-working data to the service center, while requesting a delivery receipt. The service centre may generate a message-id for this transaction, but no data relating to the transaction now needs to be stored by the gateway. The gateway (1) then informs the application that it has successfully stored the message for delivery. When the message reaches a complete state in the service centre the service centre (25) sends the gateway (1) a delivery receipt including the service centre generated message-id and the inter-working data. At this point the gateway no longer needs to retrieve transaction information relating to this message (based on service centre and message-id), as the data is already present in the message. On inspection of the transaction information the gateway can determine whether the original application requested the delivery receipt, and if so, forward the receipt to the application. Dependent on the resulting state of the message and any transaction information, the gateway may interact with external servers again. At this stage the gateway (1) then generates a Call Detail Record and acknowledges receipt of the delivery receipt.
US07881730B2 Method and system for dynamic estimation and predictive route generation
The preferred embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for dynamic route estimation and prediction using discrete sampled location updates from various mobile devices for the purpose of providing a graphical representation of a mobile device's route along a known network path of map data. The embodiments also provide supplemental route metrics, such as traveled distance, elapsed time, etc., and the capability to assign destination points for the purpose of providing the ability to modify location update points in an application, such as a route planner, and/or to store the dynamically generated route based on various preferences for later retrieval.
US07881725B2 Method and apparatus for providing adaptive thresholding for adjustment to loading conditions
An approach is provided for adaptively adjusting a threshold relating to a loading condition of a communication link. The threshold (e.g., rise over thermal (ROT) threshold) is adaptively adjusted the threshold based on an overshoot rate parameter that specifies number of times a target rate is exceeded and based on number of occurrences of an overshoot event.
US07881723B2 Method for controlling voice gain in a communication terminal and apparatus of enabling the method
Disclosed are a method for automatically controlling volume so that sending volume and receiving volume are equal in accordance with a communication network accessed at a communication terminal, and an apparatus for performing the method. The present invention receives communication information from an accessed base station in a mobile communication terminal and automatically adjusts volume to make sending volume and receiving volume equal in accordance with the received communication information. Accordingly, a user does not need to do anything to control volume.
US07881720B2 Method of indoor radio planning
A radio planning method and apparatus for determining the setting scheme of base stations in an indoor environment is provided. A radio signal propagation model is generated including a theoretical attenuation part and an environment affecting part. Through on-site measurements, a site radio signal propagation characteristics database is constructed combining the indoor radio signal propagation model and on-site measurement results. Based on the environment-dependent database, a radio signal map representing the radio signal distribution to be generated in the site in the case of placing any type of base station in any position is generated, using the indoor radio signal propagation model. By applying a signal-to-quality mapping, the distribution of a specific quality metric for any base station is obtained. Thus, by inputting different base station parameters, respective radio signal maps can be generated to optimize positioning of base stations.
US07881719B2 Telecommunication system and transmission method
At the time of carrying out a DHO, a DHO execution unit encodes data to be transmitted and interleaves it, followed by dividing it into segment data and sending out from respective transmission paths. When receiving data, the unit receives pieces of segment data from the respective transmission paths, combines them together, de-interleaves them and receives data by decoding it. When dividing into segment data, it allocates segment data with larger amount of data to a transmission path with a high transmission quality, and that with smaller amount of data to a transmission path with a low transmission quality, in accordance with the transmission quality.
US07881716B2 Mobile phone
When acquiring a PRL, a mobile phone judges whether the newly acquired PRL contains a base station satisfying a selection condition specifying (i) a communication mode, (ii) whether a base station available via a roaming service is selectable, and (iii) a data communication mode. On judging that such a base station is contained, the mobile phone retains the current selection condition. On judging, on the other hand, that such a base station is not contained, the mobile phone changes the selection conditions so that all the base stations contained in the PRL are made selectable for communication.
US07881714B2 Synchronization of stored service parameters in a communication system
Techniques for synchronization of stored service parameters are disclosed. In one aspect, a configuration identifier is transmitted from a mobile station to a base station, and compared with an identifier generated in the base station. If the identifiers match, the configuration is used for communication. In another aspect, the identifier is generated by selecting an identifier associated with a configuration from a configuration table. In yet another aspect, the identifier is generated by computing a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the configuration. Various other aspects are also presented. These aspects have the benefit of preventing attempted use of unsynchronized stored service parameters and associated call setup failures and subsequent renegotiation, with the net effect of reducing call setup time and more efficient use of system resources.
US07881708B2 Mobile terminal, and an associated method, with means for modifying a behavior pattern of a multi-medial user interface
A mobile terminal having a multi-medial user interface, a controller and a memory is presented. The memory is adapted to store a plurality of profiles, each profile defining a respective behavior pattern of the multi-medial user interface and being definable by a user of the mobile terminal. The controller is adapted to provide a first control parameter representative of a desired profile as selected by the user. The controller is also adapted to provide a second control parameter representative of a contextual status of the mobile terminal. The controller is adapted to modify a behavior pattern of the multi-medial user interface depending on the first and second control parameters.
US07881707B2 Method and system for filtering wavetable information for wireless devices
A method for providing wavetable information to a wireless device from a content server over a wireless network, the wavetable information including a plurality of samples corresponding to a plurality of notes, comprising: in response to a request from the wireless device, receiving at a proxy server the wavetable information from the content server; filtering the wavetable information in accordance with a selection of samples contained in the request; and, transmitting the filtered wavetable information to the wireless device.
US07881703B2 Call intercept methods, such as for customer self-support on a mobile device
A method for intercepting calls from a remote or mobile device for customer self-support detects when users or subscribers dial one or more predetermined numbers. If the number corresponds to one of the predetermined numbers (such as a customer support number), the phone may intercept the call and display a list of potential solutions to the subscriber's problems. Various other features and embodiments art disclosed.
US07881701B2 Method and system for verifying telephone numbers
A system for verifying and updating a telephone number. After dialing a telephone number, a contact name and a timestamp in a service provider database is compared with a contact name and a timestamp in a storage device. If the contact name in the service provider database does not match the contact name in the storage device and the timestamp in the service provider database is not more recent than the timestamp in the storage device, a determination is made as to whether the service provider database indicates that a new telephone number is associated with the contact name. If a new telephone number is indicated for the contact name, the service provider database is queried for the new telephone number and the dialed telephone number is routed to the new telephone number. Also, the storage device is updated with the new telephone number.
US07881699B2 Systems and methods for subscriber profile management
Systems and methods subscriber profile management to facilitate seamless roaming of mobile devices from one network to another. A subscriber profile management system is provided that includes a time to live (“TTL”) generator that generates a TTL limit for a subscriber based on usage characteristics of the subscriber. The subscriber profile management system further includes an administration module that administers TTL limits, TTL limit database that store TTL limits, a subscriber profile database that stores subscriber profiles, a usage measurement database that stores usage measurements, and a TTL limit reference module that administers TTLs when a subscriber profile and TTL limit are transmitted. The invention further includes a series of methods that support seamless roaming capabilities of a subscriber throughout visited networks without the need to continually make proxy calls to re-authenticate a subscriber.
US07881698B2 Network based archiving of user-specific information in a communication system
User-specific information (e.g., call log information, contact information, etc.) normally stored within a mobile user device associated with a user is also maintained at one or more network storage locations within a communication system. The information may thereafter be easily transferred from the network storage location(s) to a new user device associated with the user.
US07881696B2 Method and apparatus to initiate point-to-point call during shared-channel delivery of broadcast content in a wireless telephone network
A method for managing a point-to-point call initiated (702) between a wireless mobile station (114, 400) and a remote party while the mobile is receiving broadcast content via one or more multi-user forward-link broadcast channels (508). The mobile station notifies (704) the network (110) of preferences as to prescribed categories of operating conditions, such as whether to continue receiving the broadcast content, and election between the point-to-point call and the broadcast content should network resources be unable to conduct the point-to-point call and broadcast content concurrently. In accordance with the preferences, communications are conducted (706) in one of the following operating modes: (1) conducting the point-to-point call and discontinuing reception of the broadcast, (2) conducting the point-to-point call and continuing reception of the broadcast, (3) aborting completion of the point-to-point call and continuing reception of the broadcast.
US07881695B2 Fixed network master
An exemplary method of operation of network devices with one device operating as a master device on a communication network involves the master device broadcasting a beacon during a communication session being carried out over the network; the master device determining that the communication session being carried out over the network has ended; the master device ceasing broadcast of the beacon; the master device entering a sleeping or power saving mode; at a client device on the network, transmitting a master search message requesting services of a master device while the master device is in the sleeping or power saving mode; the master device responding to the master search message; and the master device resuming broadcasting beacon signals. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from or contain a subset of the features described in this abstract.
US07881691B2 Direct conversion TV tuner and method thereof
A direct conversion method is disclosed. The method comprises: amplifying the input signal to generate an amplified signal; down-converting the amplified signal into two intermediate signals using a first set of ternary signals and a second set of ternary signals, respectively; filtering the first intermediate signal to generate a third intermediate signal; filtering the second intermediate signal to generate a fourth intermediate signal; digitizing the third intermediate signal into a first output signal in accordance with a first clock; digitizing the fourth intermediate signal into a second output signal in accordance with the first clock; and generating the first set of ternary signals and the second set of ternary signals based on a second clock.
US07881689B2 Vehicle radar sensor assembly
A radar electronics module includes a support structure having a first surface having a plurality of recesses with a transmitter circuit board and a receiver circuit board disposed thereon. The transmitter and receiver circuit boards are disposed over the first surface of the supports structure such that transmitter and receive circuits are disposed in cavities on the support structure. The radar electronics module further includes a digital/power supply circuit printed wiring board (PWB) disposed on a second surface of the support structure and a connector disposed on the support structure. The connector is disposed in such a way that it provides electrical connections for at least one of power signals, analog signals or digital signals between at least two of the digital/power supply PWB, the transmitter circuit board and the receiver circuit board.
US07881688B1 Method and apparatus for controlling a local oscillator
In a method for setting a local oscillator (LO) frequency in a receiver, a power level of an interfering signal corresponding to a harmonic of an LO signal is determined. The LO frequency is set based on the determined power level of the interfering signal.
US07881686B2 Selectable Capacitance Circuit
A voltage-controlled capacitor and methods for forming the same are described. A mechanical conductor membrane of the voltage-controlled capacitor is movable to and from a first position and a second position. An amount of capacitance can vary with the movement of the mechanical conductor membrane. A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) voltage-controlled capacitor can be used in a variety of applications, such as, but not limited to, RF switches and RF attenuators.
US07881685B2 Amplifier gain control
The present invention discloses an automatic gain controller with an amplifier (10) having an amplifier output connected to a mixer (20) and a receiver signal strength indicator (100) connected to the amplifier output and to a first counter (60). The first counter (60) is adapted to produce a signal to control gain of the amplifier (10) and receives its input from the receiver signal strength indicator (100) which causes the first counter (60) to count up or down depending on the strength of the signal output from the amplifier (10). The automatic gain controller also includes a second counter (70) which is connected to an applications circuit and is adapted to produce a signal to control gain of the mixer (20). The second counter (70) receives its input from a gain control signal from the applications circuit (50) and also from the first counter (60).
US07881680B1 Predictive transmitter calibration
Apparatus for calibrating a transmitter of a first integrated circuit, the transmitter being capable of transmitting a signal at N different transmit power levels based on N respective calibration values stored in the first integrated circuit, wherein N>1, the apparatus having corresponding methods, comprise: a power meter to measure a received power level of the signal transmitted at one of the N power levels; and a calibration circuit comprising an adjustment circuit to adjust the calibration value for the power level until the received power level of the signal falls within a predetermined range, and an offset circuit to replace each of the calibration values for the N−1 remaining transmit power levels based on the adjusted calibration value for the transmit power level and a respective predetermined offset from the adjusted calibration value.
US07881677B2 Transceiver system and method of using same
A chip comprises and operational section and an input/output section. The operational section includes a controller. The input/output (I/O) section is coupled to the operational section. The I/O section comprises a transformer and a switching device. The transformer includes a primary side connected to first and second I/O ports and a secondary side connected to the operational section. The switching device is coupled to the controller and between the first and second I/O ports and a bias port, such that, under control of the controller, the switching device connects one of the first and second I/O ports to the bias port.
US07881676B2 Radio-frequency communication control system, radio-frequency communication control method and computer-readable storage medium
An RF communication control system for executing the process of transmitting and receiving an RF signal through an RF control circuit unit and digitally processing the data contained in the RF signal through a baseband circuit unit, is disclosed. The baseband circuit unit includes a setting parameter holder for holding the setting parameter of each of a plurality of RF control elements, a setting parameter determining unit for determining, when the RF control element connected to the baseband circuit unit is switched to a second RF control element, the setting parameter to be used by the second RF control element after switching based on the setting information supplied from an external source, and a setting parameter selection processing unit for selecting the setting parameter corresponding to the second RF control element from the setting parameter holder based on the determined result and sending out the setting parameter to the second RF control element. An RF communication control method using the RF communication control system and a computer-readable storage medium to store the program for executing the RF communication control method by the computer, are also disclosed.
US07881674B2 System and method for antenna diversity using equal power joint maximal ratio combining
An equal gain composite beamforming technique which includes the constraint that the power of the signal output by each antenna is the same, and is equal to the total power of the transmit signal divided by the number N of transmit antennas from which the signal is to be transmitted. By reducing output power requirements for each power amplifier, the silicon area of the power amplifiers are reduced by as much as N times (where N is equal to the number of transmit antennas) relative to a non-equal gain composite beamforming technique.
US07881668B2 Receiving apparatus for swallow-type capsule endoscope
A receiving apparatus is for receiving radio signals including image information transmitted by a mobile transmitting device through a plurality of receiving antennas. The receiving apparatus includes a plurality of frequency converters for outputting modulated signals obtained by converting respective radio signal received through the plurality of receiving antennas by different modulation frequencies; a superposing unit for superposing each of the modulated signals generated by the plurality of frequency converters on a frequency axis; a cable with a single coaxial cable where each of the modulated signals superposed by the superposing unit is transmitted; and a receiving unit for demodulating each modulated signal input through the cable to receive and output the image information.
US07881666B2 Ad-hoc communication network and method
A method of controlling location information of subscribers (210, 212, 222) in a wireless, ad-hoc communications network (200). The network (200) comprises a plurality of nodes (204, 216, 226), wherein at least portion of said nodes are provided with Home Location Registers (HLRs) (206, 218, 228) and each of said nodes (204, 216, 226) has a Visitor Location Register (VLR) (208, 220, 230). When an operation of a first node (216) is to be reconfigured at least a part of records from a first HLR (218) assigned to said first node (216) are transferred to at least one of the other nodes (226) of the network (200).
US07881661B2 Apparatus and method for providing notification on remote devices
A system and method for providing notification on remote devices are provided. In architecture, the system includes a computer device for performing the operation. The computer device includes a message send module that sends a message to the remote device using an IP link and a determination module that determines that the message sent by the IP link was not received by the remote device. Moreover, the computer device further includes a resend module that resends the message automatically using a SMS transmission process. A method for providing notification on remote devices is also provided. The method operates by (1) sending a message to the remote device using a IP link; (2) determining that the message sent by the IP link was not received by the remote device; and (3) resending the message automatically using a SMS transmission process.
US07881659B2 Radio frequency repeater
A radio frequency repeater equipment in a radio communication system is disclosed. An indoor space exists under a radio base station of the radio communication system, and a mobile terminal in the indoor space performs radio communications with the radio base station via the radio frequency repeater equipment, the radio frequency repeater equipment includes: a first antenna for receiving a DOWN LINK signal from the radio base station; a first attenuator for attenuating an output of the first antenna; a second antenna for outputting an output of the first attenuator, and for receiving a signal from the mobile terminal; and a second attenuator for attenuating an output of the second antenna.
US07881658B2 Method and apparatus for entertainment and information services delivered via mobile telecommunication devices
A method and system for entertainment and information services delivered via mobile telecommunication devices include a communication network, and a station communicatively linked to the communication network. The station includes an output and an interface. Also included is a head-end having at least one database configured to store programs including an audio content. The head-end receives a request from the station for a desired one of the programs, verifies the request, transmits a first portion of the desired program to the station, and records an association between the identification and the desired program. The head-end further suspends transmission of a second portion of the program based upon detection of an indication to suspend transmission. The head-end further transmits the second portion of the program based upon detection of an indication to resume transmission and stored bookmark data indicating the starting location in the program of the second portion.
US07881653B2 Image recording apparatus
An image recording apparatus including: a body; a supply tray attached to the body for putting a recording sheet thereon; a recording mechanism provided in a middle of a feed path defined in the body for recording an image on the recording sheet; a feeding mechanism which has an arm pivotably supported at one of opposite ends thereof and a feeding roller rotatably provided in the other of the opposite ends of the arm, and which is configured such that the recording sheet is fed toward the recording mechanism by rotating of the feeding roller held in contact with the recording sheet; a discharge opening provided in the body for discharging the recording sheet therethrough; a cover supported by the body to be pivotable between an open position and a closed position; and a cover-arm interlock mechanism which permits the arm to pivot such that the feeding roller contacts the recording sheet when the cover is positioned at the open position, and which positions the arm such that the feeding roller is away from the recording sheet when the cover is positioned at the closed position.
US07881652B2 Modular printer and scanner ADF duplexer feedpath including second tray
A modular duplexing housing for an all-in-one device which may be added at a final stage of assembly in order to convert a simplex printing unit into a duplex printing and duplex ADF scanning unit. The modular duplexing unit includes a duplexing feedpath which may be positioned for feeding communication with a simplex printing feedpath in the all-in-one device. The modular duplexing unit may also comprise a secondary input tray in feeding communication with the simplex printing unit and duplexing ADF scanning unit.
US07881646B2 Developing roller and manufacturing method thereof, process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus
A developing roller suppresses scattering of toner during a developing process and provides a further higher-quality electrophotographic image. The developing roller has a mandrel, an elastic layer provided on the circumference of the mandrel, and a surface layer provided on the circumference of the elastic layer. The surface layer contains a urethane resin serving as a binder and urethane resin particles dispersed in the binder, for forming convex portions on the surface of the surface layer. The surface of the urethane resin particles is partly covered with fine inorganic particles containing at least one element selected from silicon, titanium and aluminum and the urethane resin particles are in direct contact with the binder at the surface onto which the fine inorganic particles are not attached.
US07881638B2 Developing apparatus
A developing apparatus includes a developer container for containing a developer; a first screw, provided in a first screw, provided in a first chamber in the developer container, for feeding the developer; a second screw, provided in a second chamber in the developer container, for feeding the developer in a direction opposite from that of the first screw; an opening through which the developer is moved between the first chamber and the second chamber; and a developer carrying member, provided in the first chamber, for carrying the developer to effect development of an electrostatic image. At least one of said first screw and said second screw has a multiple thread screw portion having a number n of threads and a thread pitch P. The opening is located downstream from the multiple thread screw portion in a developer feeding direction and extends from a downstream-side end of the multiple thread screw portion in the developer feeding direction toward an upstream side of the multiple thread screw portion in a length equal to or more than nP.
US07881631B2 Fixing unit and fixing temperature control method
An image forming apparatus contains an image forming section; a fixing unit configured to heat the toner image by a heater to fix on the sheet; a power source section; an acquisition section configured to acquire a voltage value of the input power source; a sensor configured to detect a temperature of the fixing unit; and a controller configured to control the heater to stabilize the temperature at a first temperature upon acquiring a first voltage value as the voltage value by the acquisition section, and configured to control the heater to stabilize the temperature at a second temperature upon acquiring a second voltage value as the voltage value by the acquisition section, the first voltage value being lower than the second voltage value, the first temperature being higher than the second temperature.
US07881629B2 Image forming apparatus and image density control method
In an image forming apparatus and an image density control method that are capable of suppressing the amount of toner consumed for a purpose other than image formation and responding to variation in the development ability of a development device due to environmental variation and the like such that a constant image density is obtained, the image density is maintained at a substantially fixed level by first target output value correcting means in accordance with a toner replacement amount and without consuming toner, and adjustment of the image density accompanying variation in the development ability due to environmental variation and the like is dealt with by second target output value correcting means in accordance with a toner pattern detection result. Hence, the frequency with which the toner pattern is detected in order to maintain the image density at a fixed level can be reduced in comparison with a case in which the image density is maintained at a fixed level on the basis of the toner pattern detection result alone, and as a result, the toner consumption amount can be suppressed.
US07881628B2 Image forming apparatus that identifies halftone process parameter
An image forming apparatus appropriately adjusts an image forming conditions even if a halftone-processed image data is inputted. The image forming apparatus forms a patch image by applying a halftone process which is substantially equivalent to the halftone process which has been previously performed for the inputted image data. The image forming apparatus detects the density of the formed patch image and adjusts the image forming conditions according to the detected density.
US07881627B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes image bearing member having a movable surface; charging means for charging the surface of the image bearing member; image exposure means for exposing the surface of the image bearing member charged by the charging means to light in accordance with image information, thus forming an electrostatic image; developing means for developing the electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member into a developed image; surface potential detecting means for detecting a potential of the surface of the image bearing member; discharging means for discharging the surface of the image bearing member; changing means for changing an image forming condition, wherein an area of the image bearing member passes the discharging means under different operating conditions of the discharging means, and the area is charged by the charging means, the changing means changes the image forming condition on the basis of a result of detection, by the surface potential detecting means, of surface potentials of the area charged by the charging means.
US07881624B2 Developer cartridge, developing unit and image forming apparatus having the same
A developer cartridge includes a cartridge body including a developer discharge port, a remaining developer detecting unit arranged in the proximity to the developer discharge port, and an agitating unit rotatably arranged inside the cartridge body to convey the developer accommodated in the cartridge body toward the developer discharge port. Since the optical sensor provided in the image forming apparatus body is capable of physically measuring an exact amount of remaining sensor of the developer cartridge, a printing error due to erroneous determination of the remaining developer amount can be prevented.
US07881623B2 Image forming apparatus with developer supply control
An image forming apparatus includes a developing device for developing an electrostatic image with a developer; a developer amount detecting device for detecting an amount of a developer in the developing device; a developer consumption amount calculating device for calculating a consumption amount of the developer on the basis of image information of the electrostatic image; a developer supplying device for supplying the developer to the developing device; a control device for controlling a developer supply operation to the developing device by the developer supplying device, wherein the control device controls the developer supply device to supply a predetermined amount of the developer every time an integrated value of the consumption amount of the developer exceeds a supply threshold, and corrects the supply threshold on the basis of information relating to an amount of the developer in the developing device detected by the developer amount detecting device.
US07881622B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a feeding portion, an image forming portion, a discharge portion, a paper transport path, a plurality of detection members, and a control portion. The image forming portion forms images on sheets of paper fed from the feeding portion. The path transports paper from the feeding portion to the discharge portion via the image forming portion. The detection members detect transport state of paper at respective locations on the path including the feeding portion, between the feeding and image forming portions, within the image forming portion, between the image forming and discharge portions, and the discharge portion. Upon detection of paper jam at any of the locations, the control portion displays, on an indicator, information identifying a location where the jam has occurred, and the image forming portion where paper is detected by the detection members, as locations of paper to be eliminated from the path.
US07881621B2 Optical transmission system with directly modulated laser and feed forward noise cancellation
An optical transmitter for generating a modulated optical signal for transmission over a fiber optic link to a remote receiver including a laser; an input coupled to the laser for directly amplitude modulating the laser with an RF signal to produce an optical signal including an amplitude modulated information-containing component; and a phase modulator coupled to the output of the laser for reducing or canceling the noise signals generated in the laser.
US07881618B2 System and method for m-ary phase-shifting keying modulation
System and method for m-ary phase shifting keying modulation. According to an embodiment, the present invention provides a method for performing m-ary phase-keying shift modulation. The method includes providing at least a first signal and a second signal by a signal source. The first signal and the second signal are characterized by a first signal strength level. The method also includes attenuating the second signal to provide a third signal. The second signal are characterized by a second signal strength level which is at approximate 50% of the first signal strength level. The method additionally includes coupling the first signal to a first bias voltage to provide a fourth signal. Furthermore, the method includes coupling the third signal to a second bias voltage to provide a fifth signal. The method also includes a step for providing a sixth signal by combing the fourth signal and the fifth signal.
US07881613B2 Wavelength tracking apparatus and method in WDM-PON system
Provided are an apparatus and method for tracking a wavelength in a passive optical subscriber network in which a central base station and at least one subscriber terminal are connected via a remote node. The apparatus includes a first wavelength aligning unit multiplexing and aligning wavelengths of optical signals from a plurality of single-mode optical sources of the central base station; a second wavelength aligning unit multiplexing and aligning wavelengths of optical signals transmitted to the remote node from a plurality of single-mode optical sources of the subscriber terminal; and a third wavelength aligning unit demultiplexing and aligning wavelengths of optical signals from the second wavelength aligning unit, the third wavelength aligning unit being included in the central base station. Accordingly, when the wavelengths of passbands of a multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) of a remote station change due to a change in the ambient temperature, wavelength tracking is performed by making aligned the wavelengths of optical sources of a central base station, a multiplexer/demultiplexer, and subscriber terminals, thereby minimizing optical channel loss and enabling reliable management of WDM-PON.
US07881604B2 Image recording device, image managing system, and image recording control program
An image recording device that includes: a photographing condition information storing unit that stores photographing condition information including information of an area in which an image is photographed and information of a period of time in which the image is photographed; photographing control means that allows the photographing unit to photograph an image when it is determined that current location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit and current time information acquired by the time information acquisition unit satisfy a condition shown in the photographing condition information stored in the photographing condition information storing unit; and image recording means that records local image data, and allowing the local image data to correspond to recording content information including information of an area in which the photographing is executed and time information acquired by the time information acquisition unit in a photographing period.
US07881601B2 Electronic camera
An electronic camera includes a face detecting section, a setting section, and a controlling section. The face detecting section detects a face of a subject. The setting section sets a scene shooting mode to adjust a shooting condition to an optimum shooting condition in accordance with each pre-assumed shooting scene. The controlling section controls the face detection of the face detecting section only when the setting section has set a scene shooting mode for shooting a scene including a person.
US07881600B2 Photographing device
A photographing device for photographing an object in a photographing area has a detection processor, and first and second determination processors. The detection processor conducts repetitive detection processes for detecting a specific area where a specific object appears in the photographing area. The first determination processor determines the detected specific area to be a designated area. The second determination processor re-determines a substitute area including the detected specific area that has been latest detected by the detection processor to be the designated area if the specific area is not detected in the detection process.
US07881599B2 Measurement device and method, imaging device, and program
A measurement device has a light source, an imaging device, and a distance measuring section The distance measuring section obtains a distance between the imaging device and a person based on a presence of occurrence of a red-eye effect at an eye of the person in an image in which the person irradiated with an illumination light emitted from the light source is imaged by the imaging device, and a distance between an optical axis of the imaging device and the light source.
US07881596B2 Image fluctuation correction device
An image fluctuation correction device includes a shake detecting means 5 for detecting a shake occurring in a photographic device, two movable refraction elements 10A, 10B arranged on an incident light path to an optical lens 3 to change a direction of refraction of incident light on the optic lens, two rotating means 4A, 4B for rotating each of the two movable refraction elements 10A, 10B about an optical axis within a predetermined movable range, a rotating control amount calculating means 6A for calculating rotating control amounts of the two rotating means 4A, 4B so as to cancel the shake detected by the shake detecting means, and rotating control means 6B for controlling the two rotating means 4A, 4B on the basis of the rotating control amounts calculated by the rotating control amount calculating means 6A.
US07881590B2 Method for reproducing contents information in interactive optical disc device and method for providing contents information in contents provider server
Disclosed herein are a method for reproducing contents information in an interactive optical disc device and a method for providing contents information in a contents provider server. The interactive optical disc device is connected with the contents provider server via the Internet to receive a variety of contents information provided from the contents provider server. When the sending of the contents information from the contents provider server to the interactive optical disc device is suspended or delayed due to a network connection loss on the Internet or an insufficient storage capacity of a buffer memory in the interactive optical disc device, contents information re-sent from the contents provider server and a data stream read from an interactive DVD are re-synchronized and reproduced. Therefore, a user of the interactive optical disc device can normally watch more various contents information.
US07881589B2 Playback apparatus, program, playback method
When playing an AV Clip recorded on a BD-ROM, a judgment is made, for each elementary stream, which of a plurality of predetermined conditions the elementary stream satisfies. The plurality of predetermined conditions include (a) a condition that a playback apparatus has a capability of playing the elementary stream, (b) a language attribute of the elementary stream matches a language setting of the playback apparatus, and (c) a channel attribute of the elementary stream is surround sound and the playback apparatus has a surround output capability. The playback apparatus assigns a priority to each elementary stream based on which conditions the elementary stream satisfies, selects an elementary stream having a highest priority, and plays the selected elementary stream.
US07881588B2 Image reproducing apparatus
A reproducing apparatus includes: a reproducing unit for reproducing, from a recording medium on which main image for normal reproduction data and specific reproduction image data made up of a plurality of blocks each including first data and second data are recorded, the main image data and the specific reproduction image data; a detecting unit for detecting an error in the first data and an error in the second data in the respective blocks of the specific reproduction image data that is reproduced by the reproducing unit, independently; and an interpolation processing unit for interpolating independently the first data and the second data in which the error is detected by the detecting unit, by selectively using a plurality of interpolating methods.
US07881585B2 Multi video device control and expansion method and apparatus
A digital video recorder-controller apparatus (DVRC) having a network port for transmitting and receiving digitized video signals and for controlling one or more other DVRCs, and/or digital video recorders (DVRs, e.g., DVRCs operating in slave-mode). A digital video system including a networked DVRC having cameras and a networked DVR having cameras. The DVR may be remote from the DVRC, yet video signals from the cameras of the both the DVR and the DVRC can be selected, viewed, and/or recorded at the DVRC's location. A method for expanding a digital video system including providing at least one DVRC.
US07881584B2 Reproducing apparatus and method, and recording medium
A reproducing apparatus and method includes a reproducing unit to reproduce mainstream data and sub audio data separately added in the mainstream data, wherein the reproducing unit comprises a counter used in reproducing the sub audio data. Accordingly, it is possible to more naturally reproduce still image data, such as a browsable slide show, to which sub audio data is additionally included, thus preventing an interruption in reproduction of the sub audio data even during a forward or reverse play.
US07881576B2 Fiber optic drop cables and preconnectorized assemblies
A preconnectorized outdoor cable streamlines the deployment of optical waveguides into the last mile of an optical network. The preconnectorized outdoor cable includes a cable and at least one plug connector. The plug connector is attached to a first end of the cable, thereby connectorizing at least one optical waveguide. The cable has at least one optical waveguide, at least one tensile element, and a cable jacket. Various cable designs such as figure-eight or flat cables may be used with the plug connector. In preferred embodiments, the plug connector includes a crimp assembly having a crimp housing and a crimp band. The crimp housing has two half-shells being held together by the crimp band for securing the at least one tensile element. When fully assembled, the crimp housing fits into a shroud of the preconnectorized cable. The shroud aids in mating the preconnectorized cable with a complimentary receptacle.
US07881575B2 Low-loss optical interconnect
A low-loss optical interconnect is disclosed and may include an optical interconnect system with narrow and wide waveguides joining optical devices. The system may also comprise mode converters and waveguide bends. The waveguides may be made of silicon. Other exemplary aspects of the invention may comprise a continuous optical bend, whose radius of curvature at its endpoints is infinity and at its internal points is finite. The bend may be made of silicon. The width of the bend may vary along the bend. The system may comprise narrow and wide waveguides and a continuous bend.
US07881574B2 Optical device
Provided is an optical device, which includes a substrate, a first cladding disposed on the substrate, a first optical waveguide extended in a first direction on the first cladding, and having a first refractive index, a side grating formed in at least one side of the first optical waveguide, a second optical waveguide filling a space of the side grating, extended in a second direction across the first direction on the first cladding, and having a second refractive index, and a second cladding disposed on the second optical waveguide, and having a third refractive index, wherein the first refractive index is greater than the second refractive index, and the second refractive index is greater than the third refractive index.
US07881572B2 System and method for determining fiber characteristics
A system is provided for characterizing optical fibers carrying signal traffic. The system includes a transmitter, a variable optical attenuator (VOA), a receiver, and a computing device. The transmitter propagates an optical test signal along a channel of a fiber pathway. The VOA adjusts the attenuation of the optical test signal from an initial, greater attenuation to a subsequent, lesser attenuation. At the same time, the computing device monitors at least one other channel of the fiber pathway and identifies effects upon the other channel(s) from the optical test signal. The computing device may communicate with the VOA and with other components of the fiber pathway to direct adjustment of the signal strength. A maximum optical test signal strength may thus be achieved that does not negatively affect signal traffic on the other channels, and the fiber pathway may subsequently be tested using the achieved maximum optical test signal strength.
US07881571B2 Coupling device with compensated birefringence
The invention relates to a coupling device comprising a support substrate; a first layer arranged on the support substrate and comprising first patterns produced within the thickness of said first layer, said first patterns being arranged in parallel and periodic rows; a second layer arranged on the first layer and comprising second patterns passing through the thickness of said second layer, said second patterns being arranged in parallel and periodic rows. The direction of periodicity of the rows of the first patterns is perpendicular to the direction of periodicity of the rows of the second patterns. The rows of the first patterns extend over a distance greater than or equal to the wavelength in the void of the optical wave intended to be coupled. The first patterns have a width less than or equal to a tenth of the wavelength of the optical wave intended to be coupled, and the period of these patterns is between 50 nm and 1 μm. The second patterns are arranged so as to form a periodic diffraction grating.
US07881570B2 Photonic devices having degenerate spectral band edges and methods of using the same
Provided herein are photonic devices configured to display photonic band gap structure with a degenerate band edge. Electromagnetic radiation incident upon these photonic devices can be converted into a frozen mode characterized by a significantly increased amplitude, as compared to that of the incident wave. The device can also be configured as a resonance cavity with a giant transmission band edge resonance. In an exemplary embodiment, the photonic device is a periodic layered structure with each unit cell comprising at least two anisotropic layers with misaligned anisotropy. The degenerate band edge at given frequency can be achieved by proper choice of the layers' thicknesses and the misalignment angle. In another embodiment, the photonic device is configured as a waveguide periodically modulated along its axis.
US07881569B2 Two-channel plastic optical fiber (POF) rotary joint
The present invention connects two independent plastic optical fiber channels simultaneously, in which optic signals can be transmitted along two optic passes through a single mechanical rotational interface. The first channel of light path consists of a pair of plastic optic fibers with larger-core, co-axially fixed in 2 holders respectively. The light signal from one of the fiber can be directly coupled into another fiber. A number of smaller-core plastic optic fibers for second channel of light path are circumferentially arranged in the peripheral space of the first channel fibers. They are blind-spot free during rotation and are ideal for machine control applications such as SERCOS Interfaces. The rugged design permits underwater usage. Damaged fibers can be easily replaced without costly repairs of the device itself.
US07881568B2 Signal interconnect incorporating multiple modular units
An interconnect element incorporates a plurality of smaller, substantially identical, interconnect modules. Multiple identical elements can in turn be combined to form larger interconnect networks. Signal paths in the elements can be implemented with optical fibers or electrical conductors.
US07881561B2 Method of pre-analysis of a machine-readable form image
The present invention relates generally to an optical character recognition of machine-readable forms, and in particular to a verification of a direction of spatial orientation and a definition of a form type of the document electronic image. The goals of the invention are achieved by preliminarily assigning one or more form objects as elements composing a graphic image unambiguously defining its direction of spatial orientation. Similarly, one or more form objects are preliminarily assigned as elements composing a graphic image unambiguously defining its type. The direction of spatial orientation and the type of the form are verified via identification of said images. The models of graphic images either for verification the direction of spatial orientation or for defining the form type are stored in a special data storage means, one of the embodiment of which is form model description.
US07881559B2 Method for taking panorama mosaic photograph with a portable terminal
A method for taking a panorama mosaic photograph includes displaying a partial image of a previously taken image as a guide image on a viewer of an image to be currently taken and taking a number of images constituting the panorama mosaic photograph according to a photography operation; projecting the taken images onto a common cylindrically curved surface; and joining the projected images into a single image.
US07881558B2 Scanning microscope
A method which, while displacing the field-of-view, allows the image in a target area to be acquired without degradations such as out-of-focus of the image. Plural pieces of images are acquired before and after a target area while displacing the field-of-view. Next, these images are grouped into groups each of which includes several pieces of images, and integrated images on each group basis are created. Moreover, a relational expression is calculated which holds between image displacement quantity calculated by comparing the integrated images with each other and the number of the photographed pieces of images. Furthermore, image displacement quantities between the acquired plural pieces of images are calculated from this relational expression. Finally, these images are corrected by the amounts of these displacement quantities, then being integrated. This process allows reconfiguration of the image in the target area.
US07881555B2 Methods and systems for reducing bright burn in images
A system and method to reduce bright burn in images, such as x-ray images. The reduction of bright burn may be accomplished by processing a received raw image to obtain a grey-value histogram. The raw image may be divided into a plurality of regions of interest, and an average signal of each region of interest is calculated. Regions of interest are identified as bright burn candidates based on a predetermined function of the average signal of each region of interest and the grey-value histogram of the entire raw image. The regions of interest may be analyzed for local connectivity to estimate bright burn areas. An image with reduced bright burn is generated by either automatically adjusting a physical wedge filter position based on the bright burn areas, or by adaptively reducing a signal level of the bright burn areas.
US07881550B2 Visual processing apparatus, visual processing method, program, recording medium, display device, and integrated circuit
It is possible to inhibit side effects, even when an image that has sharp edge regions has been input, using a spatial processing portion (10) outputting surrounding image information US from an input image signal, a control signal generation portion (40) outputting an effect adjustment signal MOD according to a degree of flatness of an edge proximal region, and an effect adjustment portion (20) outputting a synthesized signal MUS that is synthesized by changing a ratio of the image signal IS and the surrounding image information US according to the effect adjustment signal MOD. Further, the side effects are inhibited using a visual processing portion (30) visually processing the image signal IS based on the synthesized signal MUS and the image signal IS.
US07881544B2 Methods and apparatus for reducing storage size
Prediction-based compression engines are spoon-fed with sequentially efficiently compressible (SEC) streams of input data that make it possible for the compression engines to more efficiently compress or otherwise compact the incoming data than would be possible with streams of input data accepted on a TV-raster scan basis. Various techniques are disclosed for intentionally forming SEC input data streams. Among these are the tight packing of alike files or fragments into concatenation suitcases and the decomposition of files into substantially predictably consistent (SPC) fragments or segments that are routed to different suitcases according to their type. In a graphics-directed embodiment, image frames are partitioned into segment areas that are internally SPC and multidirectional walks (i.e., U-turning walks) are defined in the segment areas where these defined walks are traced during compression and also during decompression. A variety of pre-compression data transformation methods are disclosed for causing apparently random data sequences to appear more compressibly alike to each other. The methods are usable in systems that permit substantially longer times for data compaction operations than for data decompaction operations.
US07881537B2 Automated activity detection using supervised learning
In an embodiment, one or more sequences of learning video data is provided. The learning video sequences include an action. One or more features of the action are extracted from the one or more sequences of learning video data. Thereafter, a sequence of operational video data is received, and the one or more features of the action from the sequence of operational video data is extracted. A comparison is then made between the extracted one or more features of the action from the one or more sequences of learning video data and the one or more features of the action from the sequence of operational video data. In an embodiment, this comparison allows the determination of whether the action is present in the operational video data.
US07881532B2 Imaging device with improved image segmentation
An improved image segmentation algorithm is provided that identifies each object in an image. Pixels of the image are sorted based on a range of attribute values of the image. These pixels are then added to a labeling image one by one starting with an extreme point in the range of attribute values. Features are calculated for each object located and these features are matched with pre-defined acceptance criteria. If there is a match, the object is output to an output image. The steps of adding pixels to the image, evaluating the features of the resulting objects and outputting the objects are repeated until a stopping point is reached.
US07881530B2 Adjusting colorants specified in a digital image
A method for making a device link (90) for a color management system, with an associated imaging apparatus (20), wherein the device link specifies a transformation of digital-image colorant combinations to imaging-apparatus colorant combinations. The device link converts the digital image (70) to a modified digital image (100) represented using the imaging-apparatus colorant combinations, thereby allowing the imaging apparatus to produce an output image (170) having output-image colors matching reference-image colors at corresponding physical locations in a reference image (80). The method includes establishing an association between selected digital-image colorant combinations and reference-image colors, determining for each associated measured reference-image color a suitable imaging-apparatus colorant combination that will produce the reference-image color when rendered by the imaging apparatus, extending the transformation to all other digital-image colorant combinations by means of a mathematical interpolation, and encoding and encapsulating the transformation in a digital form as a device link.
US07881524B2 Information processing apparatus and information processing method
A plurality of kinds of feature amounts are collected from image information and voice information on a person existing in a space, valid values of the collected feature amounts are calculated, feature amounts to be used for personal recognition are determined in the collected feature amounts on the basis of the calculated valid values, and personal recognition is performed by using the determined feature amounts.
US07881521B2 Rotational image generation method, program, and information storage medium and virtual camera
A model object MOB (tree) having a plurality of part objects (branches) POB1 and POB2 each of which has a projection shape is arranged in an object space. Each of the POB1 and POB2 has a projecting portion formed on a display surface on which an image is drawn. The POB1 and POB2 are rotated so that the display surfaces thereof are directed toward a virtual camera VC. A Z texture for setting bump shapes on the display surfaces by pixel unit or forming a virtual projection shape on each of the display surfaces is mapped on the POB1 and POB2. When the VC rotates about a Y-axis and an X-axis while being directed toward a column-shaped part object (trunk) COB, the POB1 and POB2 are rotated so that the display surfaces thereof are directed toward the VC.
US07881519B2 Document processing system using full image scanning
A system for tracking currency bills comprises a currency scanning device. The scanning device includes a sensor that retrieves currency identification characteristic information of each bill processed. The currency identification characteristic information permits the unique identification of each bill processed. The system further comprises a customer identification means and means for associating each processed bill with the customer depositing the bill. Means for identifying the customer (or customer account) associated with a particular processed bill after the deposit transaction has been completed is also included in the system.
US07881516B2 Method and system of image fusion for radiation therapy
An image fusion method which is used for medical applications. The method includes: (a) acquiring a first image with a planned radiation region; (b) acquiring a second image with actual radiation region; (c) determining if user defined landmarks have been placed on the first and second images, if user defined landmarks are present go to step (d), if not go to step (e); (d) pre-transforming the first image or second image or both images; and (e). performing a first delineation step on the actual radiation region. The method further includes: (f) determining if the delineation is correct, if yes go to step (g), if not go to step (h); (g) fusing the first and second image and exit process; and (h) selecting multiple guide points around the actual radiation region in the second image, wherein the guide points are position adaptable points; which are placed near but not on the boundaries of the region; and (i) performing a second delineation step on the actual radiation region and go to step (f).
US07881508B2 Method, apparatus, and program for judging medical images
Notice is given when a medical image does not include an appropriate region imaged therein. At least one anatomical structure is extracted from a medical image obtained by an imaging apparatus. Whether a diagnostic region imaged within the medical image is appropriate for conducting diagnosis is judged, employing the at least one extracted anatomical structure as a reference. Further, display is performed on a console, based on the obtained judgment results.
US07881504B2 Person image correcting apparatus and method
A person image correcting apparatus and a person image correcting method that reproduce face colors of persons in an image group consisting of a plurality of images shot under identical shooting conditions, with an appropriate color and/or density, prevent variations in the background colors, and effectively perform correcting process, even if the image group contains an image of a person having a significantly different face color from other persons, are proposed. Two or more display images that are different in face color are selected from the plurality of person images, based on a feature amount in a face region, and displayed. When a modification value of color or density is inputted, all of the display images are corrected using the inputted modification value, and the corrected images are redisplayed. When an instruction for confirming the modification value is inputted, all of the plurality of person images are corrected and outputted.
US07881500B2 Motion estimation with video mode detection
The invention relates to a method for providing a motion parameter set and/or a picture repetition pattern from an input video signal, in particular for de-interlacing a video signal with using a candidate motion parameter set weighted with a picture repetition pattern value for calculating a motion compensated pixel from a pixel value of a first image. To provide motion compensation which accounts for field repetition patterns, minimizing an error criterion between at least one pixel value of a second image and at least the motion compensated pixel value by iterating the calculation of the motion compensated pixel with at least two candidate motion parameters sets and/or at least two picture repetition values, and putting out the candidate motion parameter set and/or the picture repetition value which provides the minimized error criterion is proposed.
US07881497B2 Vision based navigation and guidance system
A method of controlling an autonomous vehicle with a vision-based navigation and guidance system. The method includes capturing image frames at a predetermined frame rate. Detecting image points that define an edge in each image frame. Using image points in each image frame to locate a determined edge. Dynamically predicting the location of image points that define an edge in a subsequent image frame. Using the prediction of the location of image points that define an edge to narrow the search area for the edge in the subsequent image frame. Determining offset distances between determined edges in sequential image frames and controlling the vehicle based at least in part on determined offset distances between determined edges in sequential image frames.
US07881486B1 Directional microphone assembly
A microphone capsule for an in-the-ear hearing aid is disclosed. The capsule can include a top plate having first and second spaced openings defining front and rear sound inlets, and a directional microphone cartridge enclosing a diaphragm. The diaphragm is oriented generally perpendicular to the top plate and divides the directional microphone cartridge housing into a front chamber and a rear chamber. A front sound passage communicates between the front sound inlet and the front chamber, and a rear sound passage communicates between the rear sound inlet and the rear chamber. Front and rear acoustic damping resistors having selected resistance values are associated with the front and rear sound passages. The acoustic resistor pair provides a selected time delay, such as about 4 microseconds, between the front and rear sound passages. The use of two acoustic resistors instead of one levels the frequency response, compared to the frequency response provided by a rear acoustic damping resistor alone.
US07881483B2 Two-way communications device having a single transducer
Embodiments of the invention provide a small and economical two-way communications device that has both an excellent echo-cancellation function that substantially suppresses echoes over the entire frequency range and an excellent voice-operated exchange function that provides natural switching of conversation sounds while protecting against unnatural disconnection or echoes during conversation, even when a reception signal and a transmission signal are superimposed in a single transducer.
US07881481B2 Audio processing apparatus and method
Disclosed herein are an audio processing apparatus and method. In an embodiment, if a playing mode that abruptly changes the level of audio being played has been input, the data of the audio is processed to mitigate the abrupt change in the level of the audio and converted into analog signals, and the analog signals are output. In an embodiment, if a playing mode that causes a jump from the current track of the audio being played to another track is input, the audio data is divided by an exponential function of 2 before the jump to the another track is completed. In another embodiment, if a playing mode that rapidly moves a playing position to another location on the same track has been input, the audio data is divided by a specific exponential function, and is then multiplied by the exponential function after the playing mode has been completed.
US07881479B2 Audio processing method and sound field reproducing system
An audio signal processing method comprises the steps of emitting a sound at a virtual sound image location in space on the outer side of a closed surface, generating measurement-based directional transfer functions corresponding to a plurality of positions on the closed surface based on a result of measuring the sound at the plurality of respective positions on the closed surface by using a directional microphone, generating composite transfer functions corresponding to the plurality of respective positions on the closed surface by respectively adding, at a specified ratio, the measurement-based directional transfer functions and auxiliary transfer functions and generating reproduction audio signals corresponding to the plurality of respective positions on the closed surface by performing a calculation process on an input audio signal in accordance with the set of composite functions.
US07881478B2 Method for controlling access to an encrypted programme
An access control method is described for an encrypted program transmitted by an operator to a plurality of groups of subscribers, where each group of subscribers has a group key KG, and each subscriber is able to receive from the operator an operating key KT, enciphered by the group key KG for decryption of the transmitted program. The method further involves linking the enciphered operating key KT to a random value R to generate a secret code, transmitting the secret code to subscribers prior to transmission of the encrypted program, and transmitting the random value R to subscribers for calculation of the operating key KT.
US07881475B2 Systems and methods for negotiating security parameters for protecting management frames in wireless networks
Systems and methods provide a mechanism for wireless stations and access points to negotiate security parameters for protecting management frames. The access point and station determine which management frames they are capable of and desire to protect. Data indicating protected frames are then exchanged between the station and access point to select which management frames are to be protected and a protection mechanism to be used for protecting the management frames.
US07881469B2 Crypto-wireless-tag
The crypto-wireless-tag containing a data set, which is characterized in that it comprises at least one block of crypto data.
US07881467B2 Image forming apparatus and electronizing method for information mentioned in paper
An image forming apparatus configured to generate image data by reading information in a paper, includes a machine signature generation part configured to generate a first electronic signature for the image data by using a secret key peculiar to the image forming apparatus, and an operator signature generation part configured to generate a second electronic signature for the image data by using a secret key peculiar to an operator of the image forming apparatus.
US07881466B2 Method and system for obfuscating a cryptographic function
Embodiments include a system, wherein a server provides a cryptographic function F to an execution device in an obfuscated form. The function F composes output of a plurality of the mapping tables Ti (0≦i≦n; n≧1) using an Abelian group operator. A processor chooses tables O and C such that C[x] O[x]=0, x Di and creates tables T′i, 0≦i≦m; n≦m≦n+1, where for 0≦i≦n, each Table T′i represents the respective corresponding table Ti and at least one table T′o1, 0≦o1≦n, being formed through an Abelian composition of To1 and O, and at least one table T′c1, 0≦c1≦m, c1≠oj; being formed through an Abelian composition that includes C.
US07881463B1 Wireless digital subscriber line device having reduced RF interference
A system and method for wireless DSL routing without signal interference is disclosed herein. The system includes a DSL interface, a WLAN interface, and a power system. The WLAN interface is isolated from the rest of the system by various isolation and signal interference reduction techniques. The system can be implemented in a single printed circuit board.
US07881462B2 Outlet add-on module
A method and an apparatus for upgrading an existing service outlet (e.g. LAN, telephone, power or CATV outlet) in a house by adding functionality thereto. The functionality is added by an add-on module, connected electrically and secured mechanically to the existing outlet. Several attachment devices are exampled, including surface attachment, side clamping, snap locking, strap securing and fastening screws. The add-on module may include a service connector for retaining the basic existing outlet function. The module may be attached in a permanent way or by using a detachable solution.
US07881461B2 Method and apparatus for conveying bidirectional data, power and timing signals using a single transformer
Transformer driven by data modulated signal provides isolated power. Outbound data is extracted from the data modulated signal received from the transformer. Inbound data received in isolated circuitry modulates the load presented to transformer. Inbound data perceived in non-isolated circuitry by sensing load experienced by the transformer.
US07881458B2 Method and apparatus for adaptive hybrid termination in a multi-carrier communication system
An xDSL modem having an adaptive hybrid termination impedance. The modem has a transformer with two cores, one connected to the modem's receiver and the other connected to the modem's transmitter. The two cores share an adjustable termination impedance. The modem determines which impedance setting to use, based on one or more measurements of channel loss, local echo power and received power from the far end transmitter, and the like.
US07881457B1 Apparatus and method of single-in-line embedded modem
The invention is a compact embedded modem that meets global telephone standards with its interface constructed in a single-in-line form factor. The modem in single-in-line form factor, namely SIP modem, can be integrated into a host system through a single-in-line header socket. The SIP interface includes TIP and RING signals for connecting to a phone line, isolation spacers, ground pin, power pin, and digital signals for transferring data to and from the host. The digital interface can be configured to operate in serial connection or in parallel connection to the host, selectable by user.
US07881456B1 Music phone, station, and system and method of using same
An audio system including an audio-enhancing station including at least one speaker and an audio-enhancing station docking connector, a music phone configured to play audio files and function as a wireless communication device separate from the audio-enhancing station, the music phone including at least one speaker to emit sound from the playing of the audio files, and a music phone docking connector that connects with the audio-enhancing station docking connector to dock the music phone with the audio-enhancing station, wherein the music phone and the audio-enhancing station together form an audio system where the at least one speaker of the music phone and the at least one speaker of the audio-enhancing station emit sound from the playing of the audio files on the music phone.
US07881451B2 Automated directory assistance system for a hybrid TDM/VoIP network
An automated directory assistance platform architecture is provided for at least partial automatic processing of 411 calls from TDM-based telephone networks and from VoIP networks. The architecture includes three layers. One layer is a telephony network interface that accepts information from both TDM and VoIP based DA networks. The telephony layer sequesters the other two layers from the complexities of interacting with different source networks. Another layer is a VoiceXML-based IVR dialog engine that directs information received from the telephony interface. The third layer is an App Server Layer that processes information received from the dialog engine by retrieving information from an internet-accessible database. Calls that cannot be handled completely by automation are handed off to a live operator working in all IP environment.
US07881450B1 Answer on hold notification
An answer on hold notification feature is provided. The answer on hold notification feature is activated when a call is waiting for servicing by a human agent. For example the feature may be activated when the call is placed on hold by the user of the first communication endpoint. By providing an answer on hold notification signal feature, a user can engage in a second call, or perform other tasks, without the risk of losing an opportunity to speak with a human agent as a result of attending to such other call or task.
US07881449B2 Enhanced call notification service
The present invention provides a system and a method for providing notification of an incoming call from the calling party to the called party. The method includes receiving a request to connect the call from the calling party to plurality of end devices of the called party. A profile information associated with the called party is retrieved. The profile information includes data on plurality of the end devices provisioned to be alerted upon connection of the incoming call and on instructions for alerting the end devices in a specific sequence. Additionally, the end devices of the incoming call are alerted in accordance with the specific sequence which would be either parallel ringing order or sequential ringing order.
US07881445B2 Apparatus and method for data communication
The present invention relates to a data communication method and apparatus comprising a noise information memory for storing noise information to indicate a degree of noise on a current communication line and capable of performing communications in a plurality of communication modes. The method and apparatus further comprising a mode memory for storing the plurality of communication modes in response to the degree of noise, and a mode change control unit for reading current noise information from the noise information memory and selecting the communication mode corresponding to the current degree of noise from the mode memory, and changing the current communication mode into the selected communication mode. The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for highly reliable data communication with simplified construction.
US07881440B2 Method for automatic graphical profiling of a system
A method and apparatus for processing unique dialogs from a dialog system to identify paths through the dialog system, each unique dialog having a corresponding identified path and generating a visual call flow representation as a function of the identified paths of the dialog system, the call flow representation including nodes and edges connected to correspond to the identified paths.
US07881435B2 Detector panel and X-ray imaging apparatus
A portable detector panel includes an X-ray detector assembly having an X-ray detecting surface on its surface, a box-like case that houses the X-ray detector assembly therein and whose upper part that is opposite to the X-ray detecting surface is X-ray transmissive, and a buffer member that is arranged between the inner side wall of the case and the X-ray detector assembly, is made of a hard material, and has a flexible shape with respect to the movement of the X-ray detector assembly in the direction generally parallel to the X-ray detecting surface.
US07881434B2 Radiographic imaging system
A radiographic imaging system comprises: a radiation source for irradiating an examinee with radiation; a radiation detector for detecting radiation that has penetrated the examinee to acquire radiographic image data; image data receiving unit for receiving the radiographic image data from the radiation detector and outputting a termination signal indicating that an image has been taken each time receiving the radiographic image data; control unit for controlling operations of the radiation source and the radiation detector and detecting a progress of an imaging session for successively taking a series of images according to the termination signal outputted from the image data receiving unit; and progress notification unit for notifying the examinee of a progress of imaging session detected by the control unit.
US07881430B2 Automatic bus management
A method includes providing a bus, and providing a means for testing the bus for proper termination resistance during normal operation of the bus.
US07881429B2 System for detecting contraband
A system for detecting contraband. A container is scanned with a first type of contraband detection apparatus. Based on results of the first scan, a plurality of risk values, which correspond to particular types of contraband, are generated. The container is then scanned with a second type (and/or a third type) of contraband detection apparatus. Based on the results of the second scan (and/or the third scan), the risk values are modified. If the combined risk values are above a predetermined value, an alarm is triggered.
US07881415B2 Communication protocol method and apparatus for a single wire device
The present invention is a noise tolerant communication protocol device and method where a clock signal input triggers an internal delay clock in an integrated circuit. Data is presented to an input pin and sampled prior to the next external clock pulse based on the internal delay clock. A data pulse value is distinguished by input signal voltage level and not by pulse length. Sampling of data bits is deferred until a signal level is most likely stable, thereby avoiding sampling during periods around edges of changing data values. Therefore, error detection and correction circuitry is not required. A time reference pulse, produced by a bus master, is measured by the protocol device to determine a data transmission rate by the master. The timing of sampling of input signaling from the master is determined by the protocol device from measurement of the time reference pulse magnitude.
US07881411B2 Modulation dependent automatic gain control
Automatic gain control (AGC) methods and apparatus that implement a dynamically variable AGC setpoint. The variable AGC setpoint can be determined based in part on the type of modulation used to convey information to the receiver. The AGC setpoint can be set higher than a nominal setpoint for higher order modulation types and can be lower than the nominal setpoint for low order modulation types. The manner in which gain is adjusted can also depend on the modulation type. The gains can be increased according to a front to back priority. The gains can be decreased in a priority that is based on the modulation type. For lower order modulation types, the gain controller can decrease gain according to a back to front priority. For higher order modulation types, the gain controller can maintain linearity of front end amplifiers prior to decreasing gain according to a back to front priority.
US07881409B2 Demodulator, chip and method for digitally demodulating an FSK signal
A demodulator, chip and method for digitally demodulating an FSK signal utilizing a digital data transfer protocol and a digital demodulator circuit have been developed. The data-rate approaches the carrier-frequency. The one application for this technique is in the magnetically powered wireless systems such as biomedical implants and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with high data rates above 1 Mbps. The demodulator circuit extracts the serial data bit-stream and a constant-frequency clock from an FSK carrier signal in the 1˜20 MHZ range, which can power the wireless system as well. The digital demodulator circuit is implemented entirely with digital circuitry and is called a digital-FSK (DFSK) demodulator.
US07881406B2 Method, apparatus and system for high-speed transmission on fiber optic channel
Multi-carrier modulation fiber optic systems constructed using a series of electrical carriers, modulating the data on the electrical carriers and combining the carriers to form a wideband signal. The wideband signal can then be intensity modulated on a laser and coupled to a fiber optic channel. A receiver may then receive the laser signal from the fiber optic channel and convert it into an electrical signal. Multi-carrier modulation may be applied to existing fiber channels, which may be of lower quality. Existing fiber channels may have characteristics which prevent or restrict the transmission of data using intensity modulation at certain frequencies. An adaptive multi-carrier modulation transmitter may characterize an existing fiber optic channel and ascertain the overall characteristics of the channel. The transmitter and receiver can then be configured to use various bandwidths and various modulations in order to match the transfer characteristic of the fiber channel. A series of adaptive multi-carrier modulation transmitters and receivers can be integrated on a single integrated circuit. If multiple adaptive receivers and transmitters are integrated on a single integrated circuit, they may be used to upgrade existing networks by adding different wavelength lasers for the transmission of data in order to achieve any capacity desired. Each receiver and transmitter may characterize the fiber for its particular wavelength laser and may configure the modulation and bandpass to the fiber's characteristics.
US07881405B2 Combined mixer and polyphase decimator
Some embodiments discussed relate to an apparatus and method for processing signals, comprising receiving an input signal and forming a stream of digital samples of the input signal by sampling at a sampling frequency and mixing the stream of digital samples using a mixer sequence having a sine sequence and a cosine sequence based on the sampling frequency to generate an input sequence, each of the sine sequence and the cosine sequence including a plurality of components in an arrangement such that at least one of the components has a zero value and the remaining components has a non-zero value, and filtering the input sequence using a plurality of polyphase filter parts, each corresponding to the non-zero components of the sine sequence and the cosine sequence, and selectively combining the outputs of the polyphase filter parts to generate an in-phase sequence and a quadrature sequence.
US07881404B2 Distortion correction control apparatus and distortion correction control method
A distortion correction control apparatus is for compensating for a burst distortion of a transmission amplifier caused by a burst of an input signal of a transmission target. The apparatus includes a generation unit that generates a distortion correction coefficient having reverse characteristics to the foregoing burst distortion; a unit that multiplies the distortion correction coefficient output from the generation unit by the input signal or adds the distortion correction coefficient output from the generation unit to the input signal, upon reception of burst information notifying of switching between presence and absence of the input signal; and an update unit that updates, based on the input signal and a branch signal fed back as an output signal of the transmission amplifier, parameters of functions used for adaptively generating the distortion correction coefficient, and that inputs the updated parameters to the generation unit.
US07881401B2 Transmitter arrangement and signal processing method
A transmitter arrangement includes a first and a second phase-locked loop, each having a power amplifier. The first phase-locked loop generates a first amplified oscillator signal depending on a first input signal representing a first phase information, wherein a first feedback signal for the first phase-locked loop is derived from the first amplified oscillator signal. Accordingly, the second phase-locked loop generates a second amplified oscillator signal depending on a second input signal representing a second phase information. A second feedback signal for the second phase-locked loop is derived from the second amplified oscillator signal. The transmitter arrangement further includes a summation element to combine the amplified first oscillator signal and the amplified second oscillator signal to an output signal.
US07881400B2 Pulse modulation type transmitter apparatus and pulse modulation type receiver apparatus
A pulse modulation type transmitter apparatus and a pulse modulation type receiver apparatus wherein both a fast synchronization establishment and a low power consumption of a synchronizing part can be achieved at the same time and wherein the data transmission/reception can be performed soon after a commencement of communication, and further a fast data transmission and a low power consumption can be achieved. A first template signal (1006), which is generated based on a separately transmitted RF frame synchronization signal (1005), is used to generate a frame synchronization signal (1009), and a second frame synchronization timing adjusting part (150) is used to synchronize the frame synchronization signal (1009) with a received RF data signal (1004). Then, a synchronization detection is performed, whereby a prompt pulse acquisition and a prompt pulse phase acquisition can be achieved. After the establishment of frame synchronization, a template switching part (142) is used to switch from the first template signal (1006) to a second template signal (1007) that has been already synchronized with the first template signal (1006). Then, a synchronization detection is performed, whereby the frame synchronization can be maintained.
US07881397B2 Wireless communication system
Methods and systems for modulating a signal are described. A phase-modulated signal that includes a sequence of contiguous one-cycle sinusoidal waveforms having a frequency above 50 MHz is generated. The phases of the one-cycle sinusoidal waveforms correspond to symbols of a message signal. A bandwidth of the phase-modulated signal is reduced using a bandpass filter centered at the frequency of the contiguous one-cycle sinusoidal waveforms. The phase-modulated signal is wirelessly transmitted.
US07881393B2 Waveforms comprising a plurality of elements and transmission thereof
Systems and/or methods are disclosed for generating a waveform that comprises a plurality of elements by using a Fourier transform and/or an inverse Fourier transform. The waveform that comprises the plurality of elements may be transmitted by transmitting, sequentially in time, the plurality of elements. In some embodiments, the Fourier transform and/or inverse Fourier transform comprises a Fast Fourier Transform and/or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform and the waveform that comprises the plurality of elements may be transmitted by using, sequentially in time, the plurality of elements to modulate a sinusoidal waveform.
US07881390B2 Increased discrete point processing in an OFDM communication system
Methods and apparatus provide increased symbol length with more subcarriers in a fixed-bandwidth system. The subcarriers spacing may be reduced to provide increased symbol length and enable higher throughput. In one implementation, a system compatible with the IEEE P802.11n proposal can use 128 subcarriers in 20 MHz operation to provide increased throughput in lower-bandwidth channel operation.
US07881387B2 Apparatus and method for adjusting bitrate of coded scalable bitsteam based on multi-layer
Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for realizing signal to noise ratio (SNR) scalability in a video stream server in order to transmit a video stream in a variable network environment. An apparatus for adapting a bitrate of a coded scalable bit-stream based on multi-layers to a variable network environment, comprising a bit-stream parsing unit to parse an input bit-stream, a pre-decoding condition determining unit to determine a target transmission bitrate according to the variable network environment, a pre-decoding unit to skip at least one frame among the frames included in the parsed bit-stream according to the determined target transmission bitrate, and a bit-stream transmission unit to transmit to a client device the bit-stream that has been restructured due to frame skipping.
US07881385B2 Video decoding system supporting multiple standards
System and method for decoding digital video data. The decoding system employs hardware accelerators that assist a core processor in performing selected decoding tasks. The hardware accelerators are configurable to support a plurality of existing and future encoding/decoding formats. The accelerators are configurable to support substantially any existing or future encoding/decoding formats that fall into the general class of DCT-based, entropy decoded, block-motion-compensated compression algorithms. The hardware accelerators illustratively comprise a programmable entropy decoder, an inverse quantization module, a inverse discrete cosine transform module, a pixel filter, a motion compensation module and a de-blocking filter. The hardware accelerators function in a decoding pipeline wherein at any given stage in the pipeline, while a given function is being performed on a given macroblock, the next macroblock in the data stream is being worked on by the previous function in the pipeline.
US07881382B2 Video encoding/ decoding method and apparatus for motion compensation prediction
A video encoding apparatus includes selecting one combination, for each block of an input video signal, from a plurality of combinations. Each combination includes a predictive parameter and at least one reference picture number determined in advance for the reference picture. A prediction picture signal is generated in accordance with the reference picture number and predictive parameter of the selected combination. A predictive error signal is generated representing an error between the input video signal and the prediction picture signal. Encoding the predictive error signal, information of the motion vector, and index information indicating the selected combination is included.
US07881359B2 Surface-emission semiconductor laser device
A surface-emitting semiconductor laser device includes a semi-insulating substrate, a layer structure with a bottom multilayer reflector, an n-type cladding layer, an active layer structure for emitting laser, a p-type cladding layer and a top multilayer reflector with a dielectric material, consecutively formed on the semi-insulating substrate, the active layer structure, the p-type cladding layer and the top multilayer reflector, configuring a mesa post formed on a portion of the n-type cladding layer, the p-type cladding layer or the p-type multilayer reflector. The surface-emitting semiconductor laser includes a p-side electrode formed on another portion of the p-type cladding layer, and an n-side electrode formed on another portion of the n-type cladding layer. The n-side electrode includes a substantially uniform Au film and AuGeNi film or AuGe film consecutively formed on the n-type cladding layer, and an alloy is formed between said Au film and said AuGeNi film or AuGe film.
US07881351B2 Laser module
A laser module (1) with at least two laser units (3) are adjusted such that the emitted beams of the laser units (3) converge. The laser units (3) exhibit cooling channels (5) that are provided with a cooling medium. At least one of the laser units has a curved adjustment surface (10) which his mounted to a facing mounting surface (9) of a mounting unit (2) such that a cooling channel opening in the adjustment surface (9) is located opposite an additional cooling channel opening in the mounting surface (10).
US07881350B2 Laser apparatus, laser irradiation method, and manufacturing method of semiconductor device
It is an object to provide a laser apparatus, a laser irradiating method and a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device that can perform uniform a process with a laser beam to an object uniformly. The present invention provides a laser apparatus comprising an optical system for sampling a part of a laser beam emitted from an oscillator, a sensor for generating an electric signal including fluctuation in energy of the laser beam as a data from the part of the laser beam, a means for performing signal processing to the electrical signal to grasp a state of the fluctuation in energy of the laser beam, and controlling a relative speed of an beam spot of the laser beam to an object in order to change in phase with the fluctuation in energy of the laser beam.
US07881347B2 Hybrid gain guiding in laser resonators
Methods and systems for hybrid gain guiding in laser resonators that combines the features of gain guiding and fiber or other types of lasers into a single system. Hybrid gain guiding in laser resonators is not limited to conventional fiber lasers. Any type of gain guided fiber, index guided or anti-guided, is used as an intracavity element to induce loss on high order modes in an otherwise multimode laser system. The gain guided element contributes little gain to the laser oscillator but allows only the lowest order mode to transmit without loss. When the gain guiding fiber length is selected so the loss for a particular cavity mode is greater than the gain, the cavity mode does not lase. Since the gain guiding fiber induces loss for all laser modes other than the lowest order mode it makes sure that the mode one higher than the lowest order mode does not lase and as a result, no other cavity modes lase.
US07881340B2 Decentralized media access control for ad-hoc mobile wireless network
A method of operating a decentralized ad-hoc wireless network including wireless stations, comprises establishing a common time reference which is used by the wireless stations to share access to a common wireless channel, the common time reference having a periodic superframe structure including a Scheduled Beacon Period, a Contended Beacon Period, Contention Periods (CPs) and Contention Free Periods (CFPs). The method further comprises time-scheduling, using wireless communication between the wireless stations, the CFPs in the SBTT interval to at least some of the wireless stations requesting access to the CFPs, and granting access to the CPs to at least some of the wireless stations requesting access to the CPs.
US07881339B2 Method and apparatus for assigning users to use interlaces in a wireless cellular communication system
Methods and apparatuses to selectively assign interlace preference factors to a plurality of user terminals to use a plurality of interlaces. These methods and apparatuses may improve capacity compared to a system that allows each user terminal to transmit data in every interlace.
US07881338B2 Handling quality of service in a communication system
A method of providing a selected Quality of Service for calls traversing an IP Multimedia Subsystem. A control-plane Home IP Multimedia Gateway is interposed between the IP Multimedia Subsystem and at least one non-SIP client, such that SIP signaling may be exchanged with a remote client on behalf of the at least one non-SIP client. The Home IP Multimedia Gateway identifies a Quality of Service type by reference to the SDP part of one or more SIP messages, and the call leg between the non-SIP client and a residential gateway is configured accordingly.
US07881335B2 Client-side bandwidth allocation for continuous and discrete media
The embodiments of the invention relate to client-side bandwidth allocation or rate-lowering processes, systems, and devices. In general, a received continuous stream is received at a lower rate while a discrete media stream is also being received by the client, and having the received continuous stream be received at a previous higher rate when the client is no longer receiving the discrete media stream.
US07881331B2 Method and system for utilizing a reserved and/or out of band channel for maintaining a network connection
Aspects of a method and system for utilization of an reserved and/or out of band channel for maintaining a network connection are provided. In this regard, information relating to training of one or more link partners communicatively coupled to an Ethernet link may be exchanged via a reserved and/or out of band channel on the Ethernet link. The reserved and/or out of band channel may be an auxiliary channel as specified by the IEEE802.1AN standard. The reserved and/or out of band channel may be utilized for scheduling training of one or more of the link partners, determining which of the link partners require training, synchronizing training of the link partners, training the link partners based on changes in environmental conditions. The training may comprise configuring an echo canceller a far-end crosstalk canceller, and/or a near-end crosstalk canceller.
US07881330B2 Controlling activation of electronic circuitry of data ports of a communication system
An apparatus and method of controlling activation of electronic circuitry of data ports of a communication system is disclosed. One method includes a first data port detecting a lack of data for transmission to a second data port. At least one of the first data port and a second data port deactivate electronic circuitry of at least one of the first and second data ports upon detection of the lack of data. The first and second data ports maintain synchronization with each other while the electronic circuitry is deactivated by periodically exchanging synchronization test patterns. At least one of the first data port and the second data port transmit an alert to the other of the first and second data port when data for communication is detected. The other of the first data port and the second data port activate electronic circuitry upon receiving the alert. At least one of the first data port and the second data port transmit data.
US07881328B2 Method and apparatus for controlling access to a communication channel
A method and an apparatus provide for controlled access to a shared communication medium. Time slots on a forward channel include information regarding status useful for remote units to determine whether a reverse channel is available for seizure. Additionally, information along the forward channel provides guidance to the remote units to control attempts to seize the reverse channel. In one embodiment a remote unit divides a data package into a plurality of portions and attempts to seize the reverse channel using a single portion of the data package which corresponds to one time slot on the reverse channel. It then waits until it receives notification along the forward channel that the first data portion was successfully received before it attempts to send any of the remainder of its data in consecutive time slots on the reverse channel.
US07881327B2 Code channel management in a wireless communications system
Systems and techniques are disclosed relating to communications. The systems and techniques involve dividing a plurality of subscriber stations into a plurality of groups, assigning a different plurality of orthogonal codes to each of the groups, the number of the orthogonal codes assigned to one of the groups being less than the number of subscriber stations in said one of the groups, encoding communications to one of the subscriber stations in said one of the groups at a data rate, and determining whether to spread at least a portion of communications to said to one of the subscriber stations with one of the orthogonal codes assigned to said one of the groups as a function of the data rate.
US07881325B2 Load balancing technique implemented in a storage area network
A technique is disclosed for managing load balancing operations in a storage area network. A frame is received at a switch in the fibre channel fabric. According to a specific implementation, the frame includes header information including a source device identity and a destination device identity. Zone and/or flow information relating to the identity of the zone/flow which is associated with the frame is identified. Using the identified information, a load balancing mechanism to be used for handling the frame is selected. According to a specific implementation, the selection of the load balancing mechanism is based at least in part upon the identity of the zone and/or flow which is associated with the frame.
US07881317B2 Border/packet gateway control system and control method
Border/packet gateway control systems and a control method thereof are provided in the embodiments of the invention, the system includes a service control unit, a resource control unit and an interconnecting execution unit. Through schemes of the embodiments of the present invention, the service control information obtained from the service control unit by the interconnecting execution unit in charge of current interconnecting services integrates requirements of three aspects: an IP network interconnecting request, real-time network resource information and control policies of the operator, such that both the user and the operator can obtain satisfying services. According to the schemes of the embodiments of the present invention, in the NGN, highly effective, secure and reliable network interconnecting is realized through effective control on the border/packet gateway based on the network resources and control policies, and NGN network performance is thus improved.
US07881313B2 Space-time-power scheduling for wireless networks
A technique is disclosed to schedule frame transmissions in a wireless local area network. The network includes a plurality of stations configured to communicate on the same frequency channel with a plurality of access points. A central controller examines the transmission characteristics between the various stations and access points and identifies frames that may be simultaneously transmitted by a subset of the access points to their intended stations.
US07881309B2 Controlling service stream
When a service is provided in a service stream between end devices controlling the service stream by using first protocol, there is also a need to control the service stream in the network via which the service stream is or is to be transmitted. The service stream is controlled in the network by utilizing first protocol messages which are separated (204) from other traffic transmitted in the network.
US07881308B2 Method and system for providing telecommunication subscriber services without provisioning or maintenance
An intelligent router takes the place of a conventional SCCP relay in a wireless network. The intelligent router automatically provisions and updates subscriber information in a network file.
US07881307B2 Multiple-instance meshing
One embodiment disclosed relates to a switching system. The switching system includes first, second, and third sets of switches. The first set of switches is configured with a first instance of meshing software such that the switches in the first set are members of a first mesh domain. The second set of switches is configured with a second instance of the meshing software such that the switches in the second set are members of a second mesh domain. The third set of switches is configured with both the first and second instances of the meshing software such that the switches in the third set are members of both the first and second mesh domains. Another embodiment disclosed relates to a packet switch apparatus executing multiple instances of meshing software. Another embodiment disclosed relates to a method of configuring a switching system having multiple mesh domains.
US07881306B2 Switchgear assembly system and method for installation of withdrawable units in switchgear assemblies
Disclosed is a system for installing withdrawable units (11) into switchgears. Said withdrawable units (11) are installed on certain levels (12, 14, 16, 18) of switchgear cabinets (10), communicate via a fieldbus, and are unambiguously identified via a unit address while basic data required for operating the unit is contained in a memory of the withdrawable unit. Each switchgear cabinet (10) is provided with at least one Ethernet switch (20) with which at least the withdrawable units communicate. An application server (30) managing at least the TCP/IP address allocation as well as a database (40) in which at least the unit data of at least the withdrawable units (11) is at least stored and/or managed are also part of the system. Further disclosed is a method for installing withdrawable units (11) into switchgears, said withdrawable units (11) being installed on certain levels (12, 13, 16, 18) of a switchgear cabinet (10), communicating via a fieldbus, being unambiguously identifiable via a unit address, and containing, in a memory, basic data required for operating the unit. Communication via the fieldbus is based on Ethernet TCP/IP technology, the unit addresses of the withdrawable units (11) are automatically assigned thereto and managed by an application server (30) which is integrated into the Ethernet network, and at least the basic data for each withdrawable unit (11) is automatically downloaded from a database (40) into the withdrawable unit (11).
US07881305B2 Network system and method for relaying communication between devices
Provided is a network system for relaying communication between devices communicating with the Internet using different communication networks. The network system includes a first home network controller which controls first home network devices within a household; a repeater that is connected to the Internet via a first communication network and which relays communication between the Internet and the first home network controller; a second home network controller that is connected to the Internet via a second communication network and which relays communication between the Internet and each of second home network devices within the household; and a management server that is connected to the Internet and relays communication between the first and second home network devices within the household, wherein the first and second home network devices communicate using the first and second communication networks, respectively.
US07881291B2 Packet classification acceleration using spectral analysis
A method and packet filtering system that accelerates the packet classification problem is made. Using spectral analysis of rules and using real time spectral analysis of packets, it is possible to determine very quickly that a packet does not match any of the possible rules that have been defined. That is to say, using the packet filtering of the invention, there is no possibility of a false negative decision; when a packet is determined not to match any rule, the work of a packet classifier is complete. This method and system are also capable, with a high degree of accuracy, of determining that the packet has matched one of the defined rules, so that the packet may be then directed to a packet classifier to determine the specific rule it matches.
US07881290B2 Serial interface circuit and serial receiver
A serial interface circuit includes a plurality of serial transmitters for a plurality of channels, respectively; and a plurality of serial receivers provided for said plurality of channels and connected with said plurality of serial transmitters, respectively. Each of said plurality of serial transmitters transmits a serial signal. Each of said plurality of serial receivers includes a receiver circuit configured to convert the serial signal into a data sequence; n (n is an integer more than 1) register groups configured to shift the data sequence; a data processing circuit configured to perform a data process on said data sequence based on n outputs of said n register groups and a detection result; and a header detecting circuit configured to detect a header of the data sequence when said b register groups from a first register group to a bth register group among said n register groups shift the data sequence, and to output the detecting result to said data processing circuit.
US07881286B2 Method for distributing and executing service logic
A method of distributing and executing service logic across private and public networks for the generation and provision of telecommunication services is disclosed. The functionality and capabilities associated with both Intelligent Network (IN) and non-IN compliant elements of a public telecommunications system are abstracted using a set of control and informational parameters and variables which are associated with a given network element or network element category. A service creation and execution application programming interface provides access to a service creation and execution environment which is distributed in public network gateways, private network gateways, and in compatible software platforms. The distributed service creation and execution environment enable the generation, provisioning, and execution of applications across private and public telecommunication networks in order to provide novel telecommunication services via the serial or concurrent invocation of one or more distributed applications.
US07881285B1 Extensible interactive voice response
The present invention discloses a system and method for providing interactive voice response (IVR) applications executable on individual communication devices. Unlike current IVR applications that run from centralized voice servers, the present invention describes a system in which communication units initiate communication with a multimedia server over a data network such as the Internet and download extensible copies of voice response applications. The communication device then runs the voice response applications, thus, locally administering the voice messages and accepting the voice or data input from a user. The multimedia server may preferably divide the application software into executable segments to accommodate communication devices with limited memory resources, such as mobile phones and hand-held computers. The system and method may implement different level of complexity by breaking application functionality into modules and the sub-modules. For multi-module applications, the communication units will re-establish communication links with the multimedia server to download each necessary or subsequent module or sub-module. The system and method may also allow users to connect directly to agents or operators to perform tasks that are too complex for efficient automation. The system may connect users and agents using any combination of a data network and voice network. The implementation of the voice response application using the data network connection allows a reduction in the number of telephone ports into an IVR and also allows multiple users to access the IVR over the same line, because of the asynchronous nature of the data network.
US07881284B2 Method and apparatus for dynamically adjusting the playout delay of audio signals
Disclosed is a method and apparatus for dynamically adjusting the playout delay for audio signals, which mainly includes three parts of dynamic adjustment, i.e., playout delay, silence length, and jitter buffer size. In the invention, the time for playout delay is real-time adjusted according to the probability distribution of the number of packets buffered in a jitter buffer. A voice active detection mechanism is taken to detect silence within a voice packet. By dynamically adjusting the silence length in the voice packets, the present invention reduces the network variation impact on the voice quality. It also overcomes the drawback of conventional techniques for estimating playout delay, and reduces the whole computation complexity of the playout delay for the voice packets.
US07881281B1 Border control system, method, and software
A communication network comprising a plurality of border controllers, a first packet voice network, a second packet voice network coupled to the first packet network by the plurality of border controllers, and a master border controller coupled to the plurality of border controllers and coupled to the first packet voice network and the second packet voice network. The master border controller, responsive to receiving a query from a switch in the first packet voice network for a call between the first and second packet voice networks, processes the query to determine a first border controller for the call of the plurality of border controllers, and transfers a response to the switch in the first packet network wherein the response indicates the first border controller.
US07881280B2 Method and apparatus to facilitate a non-fully meshed communications system gateway interface
One or more gateways (107 and 108) as serve to interconnect the discrete call facilitation platforms (403 and 404) of a given communication network with an external communication network (109) as provided with the routing addresses of such discrete call facilitation platforms. The discrete call facilitation platforms, however, are not provisioned in a reciprocal fashion. Instead, the discrete call facilitation platforms are only provided with a subset of available gateway addresses. In a preferred approach, this is accompanied by less-than-fully-meshed connectivity between the gateways and the discrete call facilitation platforms.
US07881274B2 Tri-core architecture for reducing MAC layer processing latency in base stations
A tri-core architecture for reducing MAC layer processing latency at the base stations is described. The new architecture minimizes the processing delay by introducing a pipelined approach. The fundamental concept involves splitting the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer functionality into three distinct tasks, with each processor performing a given task. All tasks will be thus performed concurrently, avoiding much of the overhead encountered while processing received packets and preparing packets to be transmitted.
US07881273B2 Wireless communication system, wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method, and computer program
Disclosed is radar wave detection and DFS (dynamic frequency selection) with high efficiency while considering, for instance, the power consumption of each communication station within an autonomous distributed network. At least one communication station runs in an interference avoidance operation mode, operates a radar wave detection section, and fulfills the obligation to issue instructions for radar wave detection and DFS for an approximately predetermined period of time. After the lapse of the approximately predetermined period of time, another communication station switches to the interference avoidance operation mode and assumes the obligation to issue instructions for radar wave detection and DFS. In other words, two or more communication stations sequentially run in the interference avoidance operation mode in a time sharing manner. Therefore, the average power consumption of the communication stations decreases.
US07881267B2 Portable computing device for wireless communications and method of operation
In one embodiment of the present invention, a portable computing device for wireless communications comprises a first network interface for communicating with a public wireless wide area network (WWAN), a second network interface for communicating with a private wireless local area network (WLAN), and a processor executing under control of software instructions, the software instructions defining a gateway protocol, the gateway protocol establishing the portable computing device as an access point within the private WLAN after the wireless presence on the public WWAN is established.
US07881264B2 Apparatus and methods for determination of gain factors for wireless communication transmission power
Apparatus and methods for wireless communication transmission power control are provided. Determination of gain factors and adjustments for physical channel reconfiguration in the context of transmission power control are addressed. Preferably, implementation is in conjunction with communication systems in which wireless communications are conducted between wireless transmit receive units (WTRUs) using multiple channels that are concurrently transmitted.
US07881260B2 Method and apparatus in a cellular telecommunications system
A method for use in a cellular, FFT based multi-carrier communications system comprising N subcarriers, for allocating a set P of sub-carriers to be reserved for potential use as carriers of specific information. A number M indicating the number of sub-carriers to be allocated to a set P of sub-carriers, such that L=N/M is an integer. At least two subcarriers of the set P={(n0+m*L) mod N : 0≦m
US07881259B2 Digital broadcasting system and method of processing data in digital broadcasting system
A digital broadcasting system and a data processing method are disclosed. A receiving system of the digital broadcasting system includes a baseband processor, a management processor, and a presentation processor. The baseband processor receives broadcast signals including mobile service data and main service data. Herein, the mobile service data may configure a RS frame, which includes mobile service data and table information describing channel configuration information and IP access information of an ensemble level corresponding to the RS frame. The table information is encapsulated to a UDP/IP header. The management processor processes table information from the RS frame to acquire channel configuration information and IP access information of an ensemble level, and accesses mobile service data requested to be received from the RS frame, based upon the acquired information. The presentation processor decodes the accessed mobile service data and outputs the decoded data to a display screen and/or a speaker.
US07881258B2 Mechanism for streaming media data over wideband wireless networks
A system is disclosed having a transmitter to wirelessly transmit multi-media data. The transmitter includes a module to packetize phase units of a multimedia frame that is to be transmitted. The system also includes a receiver to receive the multimedia frame received from the transmitter. The receiver includes a post processing module to perform error concealment on the phase units.
US07881251B2 Lightweight protocol for use in a TCP/IP communications network
A lightweight communications protocol optimized for wireless transfer of data across a TCP/IP network that connects a vehicle communications device to a remote entity, such as a call center. The lightweight protocol utilizes messages that include header, trailer, and payload elements, where the payload element is optimized for the transmission of SOAP content as a default content type, but is capable of transmitting other types of non-SOAP MIME content as well. The lightweight protocol also reduces session overhead and thus data traffic by maintaining sessions in an open status so that numerous messages can be transferred within a single session, without having to shut the session down and rebuild it each time.
US07881247B2 Method and apparatus for providing efficient precoding feedback in a MIMO wireless communication system
A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) scheme uses precoding and feedback in a wireless communication system including a transmitter and a receiver. The system may use either a single codeword (SCW) or a double codeword (DCW). The precoding scheme is based on transmit beamforming (TxBF). Combined differential and non-differential feedback with periodic resetting is considered.
US07881245B2 Local and wide-area transmissions in a wireless broadcast network
To broadcast different types of transmission having different tiers of coverage in a wireless broadcast network, each base station processes data for a wide-area transmission in accordance with a first mode (or coding and modulation scheme) to generate data symbols for the wide-area transmission and processes data for a local transmission in accordance with a second mode to generate data symbols for the local transmission. The first and second modes are selected based on the desired coverage for wide-area and local transmissions, respectively. The base station also generates pilots and overhead information for local and wide-area transmissions. The data, pilots, and overhead information for local and wide-area transmissions are multiplexed onto their transmission spans, which may be different sets of frequency subbands, different time segments, or different groups of subbands in different time segments. More than two different types of transmission may also be multiplexed and broadcast.
US07881243B2 Method and apparatus capable of unified multi-transport message handling
Upon obtaining a message object that specifies a plurality of destination addresses, a multi-transport client selects a candidate destination address from among the plurality of destination addresses, determines the transport associated with the candidate destination address and arranges for transmission of a portion of the message over the determined transport toward the candidate destination address.
US07881242B2 System and method for frame re-transmission in a broadcast communication system
An apparatus for providing frame re-transmission in a broadcast communication system. Frame re-transmission is accomplished only when a predetermined number of negative acknowledgement messages are received with respect to one or more data frames. The predetermined number may vary in accordance with various operating parameters, such as the latency of the transmission and/or the number of wireless communication devices currently receiving a broadcast transmission.
US07881241B2 Dynamical sequentially-controlled low-power multiplexer device
Multiplexers are basic components widely used in VLSI designs. Switching activities of a multiplexer are one of the most important factors of power consumption. A multiplexer may have some sub-multiplexers. An extra dynamic controller is applied in the present invention to reconfigure control signals for decreasing switching activities of the composed sub-multiplexers. Thus, the power consumption of the multiplexer is reduced to achieve higher power efficiency.
US07881239B2 Low-powered autonomous radio node with temperature sensor and crystal oscillator
A device for a node in a digraph network comprising is disclosed. The device comprises an internal time reference, a radio receiver, a radio transmitter. The device further comprises a temperature sensor for stabilizing the internal time reference against drifting with respect to an internal time reference of another node in the network and a microprocessor for managing the reception and transmission of information.
US07881237B1 Compensation for residual frequency offset, phase noise and I/Q imbalance in OFDM modulated communications
A method and apparatus for processing a radio frequency signal. The method includes compensating a digital in-phase signal and a digital quadrature signal for any imbalance; converting the compensated digital in-phase signal and the compensated digital quadrature signal into a frequency domain digital OFDM symbol; generating a plurality of channel estimates, wherein each channel estimate corresponds to an estimate of the channel for a corresponding sub-carrier of the frequency domain digital OFDM symbol; and generating (i) a most likely estimate of the imbalance between the digital in-phase signal and the digital quadrature signal and (ii) a most likely estimate of a common phase error in the plurality of channel estimates. The most likely estimate of the imbalance is used to compensate the digital in-phase signal and the digital quadrature signal, and the most likely estimate of the common phase error is used to compensate the plurality of channel estimates.
US07881229B2 Systems and methods for forming an adjacency graph for exchanging network routing data
A system for exchanging routing information over a communications network constructs a connectivity graph that indicates connectivity between a first node and a first set of nodes in the network. The system constructs an adjacency graph that indicates a second set of nodes with which the first node will exchange routing data, where the adjacency graph is distinct from the connectivity graph. The system exchanges routing data between the first node and each node of the second set of nodes based on the adjacency graph.
US07881226B2 Managing architecture and diagnostic method for remote configuration of heterogeneous local networks
Disclosed is a managing architecture and diagnostic method for remote configuration of heterogeneous local networks, which includes at least one sub-network agent, a local area network (LAN) management module and a remote LAN module. Each sub-network agent manages its sub-networks via its own management protocol, and collects the sub-networks' information. The LAN management module receives the requests from heterogeneous local networks via these sub-network agents, and converts the information associated with each request into a common information model (CIM) to seek a solution for each request. The remote LAN module receives the unsolved requests from the LAN management module via a channel, configures the heterogeneous local networks and uses compatible interface at a remote side to accomplish the management and diagnosis for the heterogeneous local networks.
US07881225B2 Customer premise equipment device-specific access-limiting for a cable modem and a customer premise equipment device
A method of initializing, provisioning, and managing a cable modem and a customer premise equipment device includes, prior to receiving the configuration file for the cable modem, providing an equipment identification message containing a description of the customer premise equipment device connected to the cable modem. In the case where the cable modem has yet to be provisioned, the configuration file received from the network server is a particular access-limiting configuration file that is selected from a group of access-limiting configuration files. The selection of the particular access-limiting configuration file is based on the description of the customer premise equipment device in the equipment identification message. This allows different devices to have different network restrictions or different walled gardens.
US07881218B2 Mobile wimax signal analyzing method
Disclosed herein is a method of analyzing portable Internet signals in a measuring instrument. The method includes the steps of (a) acquiring synchronization using a preamble included in a currently received frame, (b) acquiring the access parameters of a DL_MAP included in the frame, and checking the validity of the DL_MAP, (c) if, as a result of the check at step (b), the DL_MAP is determined to be valid, acquiring downlink parameters and burst configuration information by interpreting the DL_MAP, and (e) performing a variety of diagnoses, including evaluation of signal quality for each burst, using the parameters and the burst configuration information.
US07881214B2 Method for performing remote testing of network using IP measurement protocol packets
The practice and need for active network measurement is well established, however, current tools are not well suited to this task, mostly because the protocols which they employ have not been designed for measurement of the modem Internet. The IP Measurement Protocol (IPMP) is based on packet-probes, and is designed to allow routers to participate in measurements by the insertion of path information as the probe passes between a pair of hosts.
US07881209B2 Method and system for protecting communication networks from physically compromised communications
A method and system for protecting a packet switched network from compromised communications due to a physical intrusion in the network are disclosed. The network includes at least one network element having a detection device operable to detect a possible physical intrusion in a data communication path connected to the network element. The method includes receiving a notification from the detection device that the detection device has identified a physical intrusion in the data communication path, generating an alert, and transmitting the alert over the packet switched network. The alert may include instructions on how to remediate the physical intrusion that can be automatically implemented by a given network-connected device or manually addressed by a network user or network administrator.
US07881208B1 Gateway load balancing protocol
Gateway load balancing and failover methods, apparatus and systems use more than one gateway device in a gateway device group for communications directed outside of a LAN. In the load balancing arrangement, hosts that send ARP messages to a shared virtual IP address receive replies from one of the gateway devices in the gateway device group, directing the host to address outgoing communications to a virtual MAC address assigned to one of the gateway devices. Hosts are assigned virtual MAC addresses for the gateway devices according to a prescribed algorithm or methodology. In the event that one member of the gateway device group fails, the outgoing communications that would have been handled by the failed gateway device are re-assigned to another member of the gateway device group. A master gateway device controls address assignment and failover features. In the event that the master fails, additional steps are taken to appoint or elect a new master and ensure continuity in the load balancing function.
US07881206B2 Method and apparatus for mesh routing
Method and apparatus for optimizing mesh routing for stability and system lifetime maximization in networks, for example in wireless networks. A routing module may be instantiated in nodes on the network. The routing module may implement a link quality and node health aware routing protocol on the network that considers a combination of link quality and node health/residual lifetime metrics in the calculation of the desirability of nodes and links between nodes as parts of an overall route. A route selection metric for each route may be determined from routing cost metrics for the nodes on the route and the number of hops on the route. A node may then select a best route according to the determined route selection metrics for the routes.
US07881205B2 Configurable delay limit for error control communications
Systems, methods, and devices for novel error detection and retransmission processes are described. These processes may be implemented on intermediate communication links between two end terminals, wherein the intermediate links are via satellite. Error control mechanisms to detect and retransmit lost or corrupted frames may be implemented at the network layer, or between the network and data link layers. Processes for discovering error control protocol-aware terminals are described. Features of these error control processes may include a configurable delay limit, tailored to traffic type or class.
US07881204B2 Mobile telecommunication
A node implementing an RLC (Radio Link Control) entity and being for use in a mobile communications system transmits a sequence of RLC SDUs (SDU=Service Data Unit) towards a peer node. As a result of re-establishment of an RLC entity not all SDUs may have been received. The peer notifies the node which is the next SDU that the peer expects to receive (by transmitting the next SDU number to the node). The node resumes transmission from that SDU onwards. This may or may not lead to re-transmission of SDUs transmitted before the RLC re-establishment. As an alternative, the peer does not notify the node of the next SDU that it expects to receive, but instead the node re-transmits any unacknowledged SDUs, together with the SDU number of the first re-transmitted SDU. The peer then discards any duplicate SDUs. Both variants enable lossless data transfer whilst avoiding duplication.
US07881203B2 Terminal regulation management device
A terminal regulation management device capable of flexibly managing terminals in times of unexpected incident, to ensure communications of users whose daily life zone overlaps with the site of the incident and of users whose daily life zone is outside the site. A priority information memory stores, with respect to each base station, priority information indicating priority levels as to subscribers' incoming/outgoing calls and including communication counts that the subscribers have communicated using their radio terminals. A communication information receiver receives communication information on the terminal communications from a radio network controller for controlling the base stations. A priority decision unit updates the communication counts stored in the memory, based on the received communication information, and determines the priority order of the priority information in accordance with the updated communication counts. A priority information transmitter transmits the priority information stored in the priority information memory to the base stations.
US07881200B2 Method of controlling transmission rate and communication device using the same
A method of controlling a transmission rate and a communication device using the same are disclosed. A method of controlling a transmission rate includes changing a path for packet transmission/reception from a first path to a second path, setting a congestion window and a slow-start threshold to be used in the second path to a congestion window and a slow-start threshold used in the first path, and adapting the congestion window and the slow-start threshold to be used in the second path according to a packet loss generated in the second path.
US07881199B2 System and method for prioritization of traffic through internet access network
A method is provided for ensuring that specific traffic flows are adequately prioritized in a public packet communication network even when the network is heavily congested. Per-flow QoS capability is added to VPN tunnels. Connection requests are routed through a specific port in an access provider's network to designated VPN gateway. Deep packet inspection is performed on traffic through the port in an attempt to determine whether the connection request was accepted. If the connection request was accepted, the traffic flows associated with that session may be given a specific priority of QoS level when transiting a packet access network.
US07881197B2 Interface scheduling and traffic-shaping
Efficient interface scheduling that maintains fairness among the scheduled interfaces and remains efficient even when scheduling large numbers of interfaces and even when implemented in software. Systems for scheduling interfaces through a physical port are provided that utilize a bit-mask. Each bit-mask has a bit-mask-level-1 having a plurality of bits, each bit in the bit-mask-level-1 represents a unit of bandwidth with the total number of bits in the bit-mask-level-1 representing the port's line speed, each bit in a bit-mask-level-1 is associated with an interface, and the number of bits associated with each interface determines the bandwidth for that interface. Methods of scheduling interfaces are provided that utilize one or more bit-masks to determine an order in which interfaces are scheduled. The present invention can efficiently implement versions of the dual-token-bucket algorithm.
US07881195B2 Methods and apparatus for controlling wireless network operations associated with flow control process
Methods and apparatus for controlling wireless network operations associated with a flow control process which terminates data communications to a mobile station based on an out-of-coverage condition between the mobile station and a wireless communication network. In the wireless communication network, an indication is identified which indicates whether a mobile station utilizes an always-on connection for a data service. Based on the indication indicating that the mobile station utilizes the always-on connection, the flow control process is bypassed. Otherwise, the flow control process is performed. The always-on connection may be utilized for an e-mail application for the mobile station and involve a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session.