| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08442501B1 |
Dynamically configurable IP based wireless devices and networks
A wireless communication and control system including a wireless device. There is a central server for storing communication protocols and control protocols and communicating the communication protocols and selectively communicating the control protocols between the wireless device and the central server. A communication protocol configures the system for communication and control protocols configure the system as one of a selection of intelligent appliance controllers. Alternately the control protocols configure the system as one of a selection of Internet terminals. The wireless device is any hand-held communication device, such as a hand-held computing device, wireless telephone, or cellular phone. |
| US08442492B2 |
System and method for reliable mobile communication in areas with sporadic signal reception
A method of operating a cellular telephone comprises presenting a user with an option of a first rule or a second rule, and accepting a selection of the first rule or the second rule. The first rule relates to a voice message, and the second rule relates to a text message. The method determines that reception is not sufficient to establish communication, and stores an address of an intended recipient. The method also stores the voice message if the first rule was selected or the text message if the second rule was selected. When reception is sufficient to establish communication, the stored message is sent to the address. |
| US08442485B2 |
System and method for measuring and reporting service usage
Systems and methods for measuring and reporting prepaid service usage are provided. More particularly, monitoring and reporting packet data session usage for purposes of charging for service usage are provided. In some embodiments, layer-3 data packet monitoring is used to determine usage. In other embodiments, the start and end of a packet data session are used to determine usage. The usage can be determined from the duration of the packet data session or from the size or amount of packets sent and received by a mobile node. |
| US08442484B2 |
Mobile device-based bandwidth throttling
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for implementing mobile device-based bandwidth throttling. In one aspect, a method includes receiving policy from a wireless carrier that specifies one or more data usage thresholds allotted by the wireless carrier for data transferred over a wireless carrier network during a predetermined period of time, determining an amount of data that has been transferred by the mobile device over the wireless carrier network during the predetermined period of time, determining that the amount exceeds one or more of the data usage thresholds, and throttling the bandwidth of a mobile device over the wireless carrier network based on determining that the amount exceeds one or more of the data usage thresholds. |
| US08442478B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling voice call quality in portable terminal
A method and apparatus is disclosed that controls voice call quality by networks and maintains the optimal voice call quality in a portable terminal. The voice call quality control method includes: identifying a network, connected to the portable terminal when the portable terminal enters a voice call mode, and a value for applying voice call quality of the network; changing a value for setting voice call quality, performed in the network, by the value for applying voice call quality; and controlling voice call quality of a voice call mode in the network by the altered value for setting voice call quality. |
| US08442472B2 |
Technique to generate divide by two and 25% duty cycle
A frequency divider with a twenty-five percent duty cycle is disclosed. A frequency divider may include an input configured to receive a clock signal, each cycle of the clock signal including a first phase and a second phase, a plurality of latches, and a plurality of three-state circuits wherein a first of the plurality of three-state circuits is configured to drive a first twenty-five percent duty cycle signal from within the first three-state circuit high during a first phase of a first of two clock cycles. |
| US08442471B2 |
Broadband tuner for very wide signal conversion
An agile RF tuner circuit capable of converting a wide portion of RF signal into an IF signal suitable for analog-to-digital conversion. The circuit up converts a received RF signal to a high IF signal and then down converts the high IF signal to a low IF signal. Embodiments of the RF circuit incorporate harmonic reject mixers to suppress harmonics and intermodulations typically associated with the frequency conversion process. |
| US08442468B2 |
Omni-directional sensing of radio spectra
Multiple antennas used for data transmission and/or reception are also used to achieve omni-directional antenna functionality. Signals from the antennas are converted to baseband and stored. Phase shifts are applied to the stored signals to steer the effective reception beam in one of a number of directions. A process of interest (e.g., white space sensing) is applied to the beam to produce a result for the given beam direction. By scanning the beam over a number of representative directions, a spatial receiver range equivalent to that of an omni-directional antenna is achieved. |
| US08442467B1 |
Wireless communication device with a multi-band antenna
In a wireless communication device, circuitry selects a first frequency band for a first wireless communication and transfers a pair of radio frequency signals at the first frequency band. An antenna receives and orthogonally transmits the radio frequency signals over a first patch antenna element that is resonant at the first frequency band. The circuitry selects a second frequency band for a second wireless communication and transfers a pair of radio frequency signals at the second frequency band and including a voltage component. The antenna receives the radio frequency signals including the voltage component, couples a second patch antenna element to the first patch antenna element in response to the voltage component, and orthogonally transmits the radio frequency signals over the coupled patch antenna elements that together are resonant at the second frequency band. |
| US08442466B2 |
FM transmitter with a delta-sigma modulator and a phase-locked loop
A frequency modulation (FM) transmitter implemented with a delta-sigma modulator and a phase-locked loop (PLL) is described. The delta-sigma modulator receives a modulating signal (e.g., an FM stereo multiplex (MPX) signal) and provides a modulator output signal. The PLL performs frequency modulation based on the modulator output signal and provides an FM signal. The FM transmitter may further include a gain/phase compensation unit and a scaling unit. The compensation unit may compensate the modulating signal for the closed-loop response of the PLL. The scaling unit may scale the amplitude of the modulating signal based on a gain to obtain a target frequency deviation for the FM signal. The PLL may operate in a transmit mode or a receive mode, may perform frequency modulation in the transmit mode, and may provide a local oscillator (LO) signal at a fixed frequency in the receive mode. |
| US08442462B2 |
Modular frequency divider and mixer configuration
A system including a first frequency divider, a plurality of second frequency dividers, and a control module. The first frequency divider includes a first plurality of components and is configured to divide an input frequency of an input signal to generate a first signal having a first frequency and a first phase. Each of the plurality of second frequency dividers includes a second plurality of components and is configured to divide the input frequency of the input signal to generate a second signal having the first frequency and a second phase. The control module is configured to connect the second plurality of components of one of the second frequency dividers to the first plurality of components of the first frequency divider. |
| US08442461B2 |
Transmitter and semiconductor integrated circuit available for it
The transmitter synthesizes amplitude and phase components and calibrates a delay mismatch between amplitude and phase components with high accuracy at high speed. The transmitter has: a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a low-pass filter (LPF) in its amplitude-signal path; and a phase modulator operable to convert up a phase component into an RF component in its phase-signal path. In an operation of delay calibration, a test input signal is supplied to a delay-calibrating unit in the amplitude-signal path, and the delay-calibrating unit provides a test input signal to DAC. Then, LPF generates a test output signal. The delay-calibrating unit detects a delay of the test output signal relative to the test input signal, calibrates an amplitude signal delay in a range from the input of the delay-calibrating unit to the output of LPF, reduces the difference between amplitude and phase signal delays of the phase modulator in the phase-signal path. |
| US08442459B2 |
Transmitter and communication apparatus using the same
A signal generating section 10 outputs an amplitude signal and a frequency signal by conducting a signal processing on inputted data. A regulator 31 outputs a signal that is proportional to a magnitude of the amplitude signal. The signal outputted from the regulator 31 passes through a low pass filter 41, and is inputted into a power amplifier 51. The power amplifier 51 conducts an amplitude modulation on a frequency signal on which an angle modulation is conducted by an angle modulation section 20, using a signal outputted from the low pass filter 41. A controlling section 60 controls an amount of attenuation of a radio frequency component at the low pass filter 41 based on information such as: a modulation method of the inputted data; a modulation condition of the inputted data; a reception band; an output power of a modulation signal; and a frequency of the modulation signal. |
| US08442457B2 |
System and method for adaptive beamforming for specific absorption rate control
A system may include a modifiable mobile device having at least two antennas coupled to fractional amplifiers, with returned power detectors. A beamformer unit provides adaptive beam shaping pattern, and a baseband processor provides beam pattern requirements, wherein the beamformer unit modifies the beam pattern requirements with return loss sampling information to shape the adaptive beam pattern so that a transmitted beam pattern minimizes transmitted power reflected back to the mobile device. A method may include regularly measuring a return power level, if output power is greater than a specific absorption rate level, comparing the return power level to a first threshold, else implementing mobile transmit diversity (MTD), and repeating. If the return power level is greater than the first threshold, implementing a MTD combined with reflection-based beamforming that modifies beam pattern requirements of the mobile device with return loss sampling information to create an adaptive beam pattern. |
| US08442456B2 |
Wireless communication unit, integrated circuit and method of power control therein
A wireless communication unit comprises a transmitter having a power amplifier and a feedback path operably coupled to the power amplifier. The feedback path comprises a coupler for feeding back a portion of a signal to be transmitted and a detector for detecting a power level of the fed back signal. A controller provides a ramp signal to the power amplifier that controls an amplitude characteristic of the signal to be transmitted. Averaging logic is operably coupled to the detector and arranged to average the detected power level over a first period. Comparison logic is operably coupled to the averaging logic and arranged to compare the average detected power level with a reference value. The controller is operably coupled to the comparison logic and arranged to scale a ramp signal applied to the power amplifier in response to the comparison. |
| US08442446B2 |
Radio communication device
A radio communication device and multifunction device are provided. The radio communication device includes a radio communicating unit which receives data according to a radio communication method using one of a plurality of radio channels provided in a frequency band and changes the radio channel according to a period; a data processing unit which performs processing using the data; a communication status determining unit which determines, for each channel, whether a communication status of the radio channel is good; a ratio changing unit which changes a ratio of setting a good channel whose communication status is determined as good, and a ratio of setting a not-good channel whose communication status is determined as not-good; and a setting unit which sets either the good channel or the not-good channel as the radio channel in the radio communication method according to the ratios changed by the ratio changing unit. |
| US08442444B2 |
Method of transmit power control and device thereof
A method of transmit power control to allow a transmission side to execute transmit power control so that a signal to interference ratio (SIR) measured at a reception side is matched with a target SIR, the method includes digitizing a reception environment at the reception side, and setting the target SIR corresponding to an error rate of reception data for each of the reception environments; and changing the target SIR in accordance with the reception environment measured at the reception side or the reception environment selected at the reception side. |
| US08442441B2 |
Traffic interference cancellation
A method and system for interference cancellation (IC). One aspect relates to traffic interference cancellation. Another aspect relates to joint IC for pilot, overhead and data. Another aspect relates to improved channel estimation. Another aspect relates to adaptation of transmit subchannel gains. |
| US08442439B2 |
Method of allocating radio resources in multi-carrier system
A method of allocating radio resources in a multi-carrier system is disclosed, by which a signaling message can be efficiently transmitted according to necessity of a user equipment. In a user equipment of a mobile communication system transceiving data using a plurality of subcarriers, the present invention includes the steps of if the signaling message to be transmitted is generated in the user equipment, generating a preamble sequence according to a user equipment identifier to identify the user equipment, transmitting a preamble signal including the preamble sequence and the signaling message to a base station, and receiving an acknowledgement signal for the preamble signal generated according to the user equipment identifier. |
| US08442433B2 |
Method and apparatus for provisioning a device
An article (100) has a device (122), and a radio frequency identification (RFID) module (102) coupled to the device. The RFID module is programmed to receive (210) provisioning instructions from a wireless source (142), and transfer (212) to the device the provisioning instructions when said device is enabled. |
| US08442430B2 |
Apparatus and method for processing signals in a distributed antenna system
An apparatus and method for processing signals in a distributed antenna system. The method includes receiving, by a Base Station (BS), Channel State Information (CSI) from Mobile Stations (MSs) located within a coverage area of the BS or a coverage of Relay Stations (RSs) connected to the BS; multiplying signals for transmission to the MSs by beamforming vectors by using the CSI; and transmitting the multiplied signals to the MSs. |
| US08442428B2 |
Wireless sharing of audio files and information for streamlined purchasing
A system and method are disclosed for capturing information associated with wireless audio sounds among a plurality of users. When a user encounters audio sound files of interest, the user can capture information regarding the audio sounds, such as title, artist, collection, genre, year, encoding rate, size, playlist, a unique identifier, or other desired information. The information can be used to seamlessly purchase the sound files from a remote digital repository. |
| US08442427B2 |
Apparatus for viewing full version of content contained therein on a nearby display screen
An apparatus is provided for viewing full content on a display screen. The apparatus includes a portable device adapted to allow viewing of full content on a nearby display screen which is not physically connected to the portable device. The portable device includes a memory that stores the full content; a display screen that displays only a portion of the full content; a button which facilitates communication of the full content between the portable device and a local control device connected to the nearby display screen; and a wireless transmitter that communicating the full content from the portable device to the local control device via a signal sent by the wireless transmitter upon selection of the button. The signal is received by the local control device which provides the full content to the nearby display screen for display thereon. |
| US08442423B1 |
Testing within digital media items
A digital media item, such as an electronic book (eBook), may include testing content. The testing content may include questions about the content of the digital media item. When is user is viewing the digital media item on an electronic device, such as an eBook reader, the user may be allowed to select whether the testing content is displayed. The user may also be allowed to select a particular mode of testing, such as automatic testing, selective testing, etc. If the user chooses to display the testing content, the user may also be allowed to provide answers to the testing questions. |
| US08442419B2 |
Image forming apparatus and method for controlling same
In full-color printing, one of first and second rotary members is activated with a time lag after the other of the first and second rotary members is activated such that the phase difference between the first and second rotary members is an adjusted phase difference. In addition, every time monochrome printing is performed, the time lag is changed. |
| US08442418B2 |
Image forming apparatus having door to access jammed sheets
An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet, a first door that can make the conveyance unit accessible, a rotation shaft configured to rotatably support the first door, and a second door which is provided to the first door in an openable/closable manner, wherein the second door can make the conveyance unit near the rotation shaft accessible. |
| US08442414B2 |
Seal member, developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus
A seal member covers a space between a developing roller and a casing of a developing device. The seal member includes a flexible sheet and a reinforcing member fixed to the sheet. The reinforcing member is fixed to the casing. Notches are provided in the reinforcing member in a direction perpendicular to the length of the reinforcing member. |
| US08442413B2 |
Bearing seal unit, and developing device and image forming device using bearing seal unit
A bearing seal unit comprises: a bearing member that supports a rotating shaft so as to freely rotate; a seal member provided integrally at one side along an axial direction of the bearing member to seal the rotating shaft; a connecting part extended along the axial direction from one member to the other member of the bearing member and the seal member and having an end side in the extending direction which protrudes more in the direction intersecting the axial direction than a base end side to connect the bearing member integrally with the seal member. |
| US08442408B2 |
Sensor system and apparatus for identifying recording medium
A sensor system includes an LED configured to emit light to a recording medium and a light-receiving sensor configured to receive a transmitted light that has passed through the recording medium after having been emitted from the LED to the recording medium. An emitting optical axis of the LED is away from a perpendicular receiving optical axis of the light-receiving sensor. |
| US08442407B2 |
Methods, apparatus and systems to control the tribo-electric charge of a toner material associated with a printing development system
Disclosed are printing methods, apparatus and systems for developing a latent image recorded on a surface, for example, a photoreceptor with developer material. According to an exemplary embodiment, the development method applies a development field voltage between a development station donor member and a development station transport member as a function of a humidity measurement associated with the developer material, the humidity measurement providing a surrogate tribo measurement of the developer material. |
| US08442398B2 |
Performance monitoring in passive optical networks
One embodiment provides a system for performance monitoring in a passive optic network (PON). The system includes an optical line terminal (OLT) and an optical network unit (ONU). The OLT includes an optical transceiver configured to transmit optical signals to and receive optical signals from the ONU, and a performance monitoring mechanism configured to monitor performance of the PON based on received optical signals. |
| US08442395B2 |
Lens barrel, driving method thereof, and image pickup device
A lens barrel which is capable of increasing the total length of the lens barrel in a shooting state even in a case where the collapsed lens barrel length is short, with a simple construction. A shooting optical system is disposed movably in an optical axis direction. A lens barrel driving member moves the shooting optical system in the optical axis direction while rotating around the optical axis. A lens barrel driving member moving unit moves the lens barrel driving member in the optical axis direction in a transition region during which the lens barrel moves between a shooting state and a non-shooting state while the driving member rotating. |
| US08442393B2 |
Shake correction apparatus in digital camera
A shake correction apparatus for correcting shake of a camera includes: a lens support plate including a correction lens and driven in a perpendicular direction with respect to an optical axis; and a position fixing member that decouplably couples with the lens support plate and fixes a position of the lens support plate according to a rotation of the lens support plate.The shake correction apparatus performs a correction operation for offsetting shake when an optical image stabilization (OIS) function is turned on, and performs a centering operation for fixing the correction lens to an original position when the OIS function is turned off. The shake correction apparatus is advantageous for low power operation, being miniaturized, and being light-weighted. |
| US08442392B2 |
Method and apparatus for operating the automatic focus or the optical imaging stabilizing system
In accordance with an example embodiment, an apparatus comprises a printed wiring board. The printed wiring board comprising a coil and being coupled to an image sensor. The coil, using the magnetic circuitry, is designed to tilt the printed wiring board and automatic focus optomechanics, the automatic focus optomechanics being attached to the printed wiring board over a gimbal pivot system to operate an optical imaging stabilizing system. A second coil is designed to interact with the magnetic circuitry to move the lens barrel at least one of closer and farther from the image sensor to perform an automatic focus. An apparatus comprises a lens barrel comprising at least four coils. The at least four coils each configured to interact with respective magnet circuitry. The at least four coils and respective magnetic circuitry capable designed to tilt the lens barrel in such a manner as to correct an imbalance. |
| US08442390B2 |
Pulsed aerosol generation
An aerosol generator periodically forms aerosolized fragrance material by repeatedly supplying a liquid fragrance material to a capillary passage via only capillary action and heating the capillary passage, such that the liquid fragrance material at least partially volatilizes and is driven out of an outlet of the capillary passage. A wick feeds the liquid fragrance material to an inlet of the capillary passage by capillary action. An apparatus and method for generating such an aerosolized fragrance material, as well as the methods of heating, are disclosed. |
| US08442382B2 |
Stream generation apparatus, stream generation method, coding apparatus, coding method, recording medium and program thereof
A stream generation apparatus generates a stream including coded pictures and a command for managing a buffer which holds a decoded picture, the command being added to one of the coded pictures as a reference picture. A judging unit judges whether or not the coded picture to which the command is added is skipped at the time of trick-play, and an adding unit adds, in the case where the coded picture is judged to be skipped, repetition information indicating the same contents as the command to another coded picture that follows, in decoding order, the coded picture judged to be skipped and that is not skipped at the time of the trick-play. A generating unit generates the stream including the coded pictures, the command and the repetition information. |
| US08442379B2 |
Broadcast reception apparatus
According to one embodiment, a broadcast reception apparatus includes a first receiver, second receivers, a first controller, and a second controller. A first receiver is configured to switch to a channel as a target and receive a broadcast signal. Second receivers are configured to receive broadcast signals from channels which are set for the second receivers, respectively. A first controller is configured to perform display control to display a video on the basis of the broadcast signal received by the first receiver. A second controller is configured to switch between a first mode performing drive control of operation of the second receivers and performing record control based on the broadcast signals received by the second receivers, and a second mode performing control to stop operation of at least one of the second receivers and performing record control based on any remaining one or ones of the second receivers. |
| US08442367B2 |
Grating for VCSEL coupling to a heat assisted magnetic recording head
An apparatus includes a waveguide including a core layer having curved edges shaped to reflect light to a focal point, and a grating positioned adjacent to or imbedded in the core layer, wherein at least a portion of the grating is positioned between the curved edges and adjacent to or imbedded in a portion of the core layer that is not traversed by light reflected from the curved edges. A data storage device that includes the apparatus is also provided. |
| US08442361B1 |
Apparatus and method of linearization in an optical modulator
An optical modulator apparatus and linearization method are disclosed. The optical modulator may include a buffer layer disposed proximate the electro-optical material substrate. The optical modulator may also include physically asymmetric waveguide elements, which may have physically asymmetric waveguide arms or physically asymmetric hot electrodes. The waveguide arms may include first and second waveguide arms having different dimensions, and the hot electrodes may include first and second hot electrodes having different dimensions. Modulator linearization may be achieved by the above-described modulator structure. Modulator linearization may also be achieved by asymmetric external driving of electric fields applied to the waveguide elements, where the waveguide or electrode dimensions may or may not be symmetric. |
| US08442358B2 |
Presentation and manipulation of high depth images in low depth image display systems
High depth grayscale images, (e.g. <8 bits per pixel) are losslessly cross channel encoded to multi-channel image formats for transformation and display by display devices not capable of displaying high depth grayscale. DICOM and other images may be encoded and provided to web browser based client image viewers that leverage native code for handling multi-channel images. Transformations are applied to reconstitute the high depth grayscale images. |
| US08442353B2 |
Incorporation of mathematical constraints in methods for dose reduction and image enhancement in tomography
A system and method for creating a three dimensional cross sectional image of an object by the reconstruction of its projections that have been iteratively refined through mathematical transformations and modifications in object space and Fourier space is disclosed. A primary benefit of the method is radiation dose reduction since the invention can produce an image of a desired quality with a fewer number projections than seen with conventional methods. |
| US08442349B2 |
Removal of artifacts in flash images
The present invention relates to a method, a computer-readable medium, a computer program and apparatuses for removal of artifacts in flash images. Image data of a reference image captured using a first level of flash energy and image data of a main image captured using a second level of flash energy that is higher than said first level of flash energy is received. Image data of a third image is then determined based on said image data of said reference image and said image data of said main image, wherein said third image is a representation of said main image with removed artifacts. |
| US08442340B2 |
Method of generating a multiscale contrast enhanced image
At least one approximation image is created of the image at one or multiple scales. Translation difference images are created by pixel-wise subtracting the values of an approximation image at scale s and the values of a translated version of the approximation image. A non-linear modification is applied to the values of the translation difference image (s) and at least one enhanced center difference image at a specific scale is computed by combining the modified translation difference images at that scale or a smaller scale with weights Wi,j. An enhanced image is computed by applying a reconstruction algorithm to the enhanced center difference images. The non-linear modification of the values of the translation difference images is steered by the values of an orientation map which comprises for each pixel a local direction of interest. In addition or alternatively, at least one enhanced center difference image is computed by anisotropic weighing of the enhanced translation differences with weights steered by the orientation map. |
| US08442336B2 |
Image processing apparatus, compression method, and extension method
Disclosed is an image processing apparatus comprising an image compression conversion unit to quantize an image having attribute data for each pixel, wherein when a region has the attribute data of a photographic image, the image compression conversion unit quantizes the region by a BTC method, wherein when a region has the attribute data of other than the photographic image, and the region is a halftone region, the image compression conversion unit quantizes the region by the BTC method, and wherein when a region has the attribute data of other than the photographic image, and the region is a high resolution region, the image compression conversion unit generates a density pattern for the region to quantize the region according to the generated density pattern. |
| US08442335B2 |
Method for modifying a reference block of a reference image, method for encoding or decoding a block of an image by help of a reference block and device therefore and storage medium or signal carrying a block encoded by help of a modified reference block
A method for modifying a reference block of a reference image, the method includes transforming the reference block into a first set of coefficients, modifying the first set of coefficients by help of one or more weights and inverse transforming the modified first set of coefficients wherein the weights are determined by help of one or more further pixels of the current image and by help of one or more further reference pixels of the reference image. |
| US08442333B2 |
Parallel processing image encoding device with variable length coding
The present invention provides an image encoding device which does not necessitate reference of a quantization parameter between consecutive macroblocks across a parallel processing area boundary without forming slices. The image encoding device encodes a macroblock of an encoding target image by parallel processing sequentially from the top of a parallel processing area, and possesses an encoding element for every parallel processing area. When all the quantized orthogonally-transformed coefficients of a top macroblock of the parallel processing area are zero, the encoding element adds a non-zero coefficient to a part of the coefficients, making the coefficients non-zero. Accordingly, generation of a skip macroblock in the top macroblock of each parallel processing area is suppressed. Since slice formation is not necessary, the prediction over a parallel processing area boundary is applied, and encoding efficiency improves. Errors are not generated in decoding and the decoded image quality does not deteriorate. |
| US08442322B2 |
Image processing apparatus and non-transitory storage medium storing image processing program
An image processing apparatus executes acquiring, on a first image having a pattern having first areas and second areas that have a different color from the first areas, center position of the pattern where the first areas and the second areas cross, acquiring boundary positions between the first and second area, converting the first image to a second image having its image distortion corrected by using the center position and the boundary positions, acquiring, by scanning on the second image, expectation values which are areas including the point where the first and second areas cross excluding the center position, acquiring a intersection position of the intersection on the second image based on the expectation values, acquiring the center position and the positions on the first image corresponding to the intersection position by inverting the second image to the first image, determining the points corresponding to the acquired positions as features. |
| US08442319B2 |
System and method for classifying connected groups of foreground pixels in scanned document images according to the type of marking
Methods and systems for classifying markings on images in a document are undertaken according to marking types. The document containing the images is supplied to a segmenter which breaks the images into fragments of foreground pixel structures that are identified as being likely to be of the same marking type by finding connected components, extracting near-horizontal or -vertical rule lines and subdividing some connected components to obtain the fragments. The fragments are then supplied to a classifier, where the classifier provides a category score for each fragment, wherein the classifier is trained from the groundtruth images whose pixels are labeled according to known marking types. Thereafter, a same label is assigned to all pixels in a particular fragment, when the fragment is classified by the classifier. |
| US08442318B2 |
Method and apparatus for modifying a moving image sequence
A moving image sequence is automatically reframed for a small display. The framing is adjusted in dependence upon foreground and background segment weights derived for pixels in images in the sequence. Reframed images are formed from only those input pixels which fall within a reframing window within the input image area and the position or size of the reframing window is adjusted so as to maximize a weighted total of the sum of the foreground weights of pixels within the window and the sum of the background weights of pixels outside the window. |
| US08442317B2 |
Method, apparatus and computer program product for compensating eye color defects
Method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided. The method includes computing a first difference image for a first eye region based on a difference of red pixel intensity and green pixel intensity of each of a first set of pixels associated with the first eye region. The method further includes determining a first eye color defect region by computing a neighborhood processed first difference image by processing the first difference image, computing a first central point of the neighborhood processed first difference image based on a weighted centroid of red pixels associated with the neighborhood processed first difference image, and thereafter computing the first eye color defect region based on the first central point, and the red pixels associated with the first difference image. |
| US08442308B2 |
Method and apparatus for preparing image representative data
Apparatus for processing a digital mesh representing a three-dimensional subject automatically filters out portions of a predetermined color to simplify further processing. |
| US08442306B2 |
Volume-based coverage analysis for sensor placement in 3D environments
Coverage of sensors in a CTV system in a three-dimensional environment are analyzed by partitioning a 3D model of the environment into a set of voxels. A ray is cast from each pixel in each sensor through the 3D model to determine coverage data for each voxel. The coverage data are analyzed to determine a result indicative of an effective arrangement of the set of sensors. |
| US08442303B2 |
Constructing three-dimensional model apparatus
Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for constructing an accurate three-dimensional model. The apparatus includes a plurality of light sources, an image-capturing element and an image-processing unit. The present invention is used to integrate the two-dimensional images from different views of an object into a high accurate three-dimensional model. Compared with conventional apparatuses, the apparatus of the present invention is useful without safety problems, relatively easily manipulated, and capable of quick image reconstruction. |
| US08442299B2 |
Evaluation of image processing algorithms
One exemplary aspect of this invention pertains to a method to evaluate an image processing algorithm. The method includes varying a parameter of a model of an imaging system and, for each variation of the parameter, calculating with a data processor a corresponding image of a sample; applying an image processing algorithm to the calculated corresponding images of the sample; and determining an ability of the image processing algorithm to detect the variation in the parameter. |
| US08442295B2 |
Anti-counterfeiting / authentication
A system includes an imager that images an object, which includes a marker that is visually obscured, a marker identifier that identifies markers in the image of the object, and an image processor that combines the image of the object and a visual representation for the identified marker into a combined image, wherein a presence of a visual representation for the marker included with the object in the combined image indicates the object is authentic. A method includes imaging an object that includes a visually obscured marker and generating an image of the object, identifying the marker in the image of the object, generating a combined image that includes the image of the object and a visual representation of the identified marker, presenting the combined image, wherein the object is authenticated as not counterfeit in response to the visual representation of the marker corresponding to a reference authentication marker for the object. |
| US08442294B2 |
Motion artefact reduction in CT scanning
An example of sporadic motion that causes difficulty in CT scanning is gas pockets moving around the rectum. The invention allows the automatic detection of such movements, by enhancing low density features around the prostate in the individual X-ray images, projecting these features on the cranio-caudal axis (assuming that the gas predominantly moves in this direction) to form a 1-dimensional image, and combining successive ID projections to form a 2D image. Moving gas will produce tilted lines in this image, identifying an angular range that needs to be discarded. Such a process can be used in an image processing apparatus of a CT scanner. |
| US08442290B2 |
Simultaneous dual window/level settings for display of CT colonography images
A method for processing and displaying colonography image data. First distance tissue pixels representative of tissue within a first distance of gas pixels representative of gas are processed with a first window/level setting to generate a first setting set of image pixels. Second distance tissue pixels representative of tissue within a second distance of the gas pixels are processed with a second window/level setting to generate a second setting set of image pixels. The second distance is a distance greater than the first distance. A colonography image including both the first and second setting sets of image pixels is then displayed. |
| US08442284B2 |
Swept source OCT apparatus
A method of performing spectral OCT imaging on a target involves repeatedly scanning said target along a transverse scanning line with an object beam derived from an OCT interferometer having a narrowband source. The wavelength of the narrowband source is modulated over a range of wavelengths at a rate that is slow relative to the rate of scanning the target. The object beam returned from the target is detected to produce a set of data obtained from multiple scans along said scanning line over the entire range of wavelengths. The data is then processed to extract an OCT image (typically a B-scan) of the target containing depth information. |
| US08442279B2 |
Assessing biometric sample quality using wavelets and a boosted classifier
A biometric sample training device, a biometric sample quality assessment device, a biometric fusion recognition device, an integrated biometric fusion recognition system and example processes in which each may be used are described. Wavelets and a boosted classifier are used to assess the quality of biometric samples, such as facial images. The described biometric sample quality assessment approach provides accurate and reliable quality assessment values that are robust to various degradation factors, e.g., such as pose, illumination, and lighting in facial image biometric samples. The quality assessment values allow biometric samples of different sample types to be combined to support complex recognition techniques used by, for example, biometric fusion devices, resulting in improved accuracy and robustness in both biometric authentication and biometric recognition. |
| US08442276B2 |
Invariant radial iris segmentation
A method and computer product are presented for identifying a subject by biometric analysis of an eye. First, an image of the iris of a subject to be identified is acquired. Texture enhancements may be done to the image as desired, but are not necessary. Next, the iris image is radially segmented into a selected number of radial segments, for example 200 segments, each segment representing 1.8° of the iris scan. After segmenting, each radial segment is analyzed, and the peaks and valleys of color intensity are detected in the iris radial segment. These detected peaks and valleys are mathematically transformed into a data set used to construct a template. The template represents the subject's scanned and analyzed iris, being constructed of each transformed data set from each of the radial segments. After construction, this template may be stored in a database, or used for matching purposes if the subject is already registered in the database. |
| US08442273B2 |
Method and device for detecting the course of a traffic lane
A method for detecting the course of a traffic lane, including the following steps:measuring structures of the traffic lane; evaluating the homogeneity of the measurements; and determining the course of the traffic lane on the basis of the evaluated homogeneity. |
| US08442272B1 |
Post-BLOB analysis method and article of manufacture
An article of manufacture and method for performing post-BLOB analysis. |
| US08442268B2 |
Video analysis apparatus and method for calculating interpersonal relationship evaluation value using video analysis
An image analysis apparatus comprising: an identification unit operable to, in each of a plurality of scenes, identify one or more persons who appear in the scene; a scene evaluation value calculation unit operable to calculate a scene evaluation value for, among the plurality of scenes, each scene in which at least one person has been identified, the one person being included as one of persons identified by the identification unit; a scene selection unit operable to select, from among the plurality of scenes, one or more scenes that include the one person; and a person evaluation value calculation unit operable to calculate a person evaluation value for the one person by summating scene evaluation values of the scenes selected by the scene selection unit. |
| US08442267B2 |
Apparatus and method for detecting upper body posture and hand posture
Provided are an apparatus and method which detect a user's upper body posture and the user's hand postures through at least two cameras to configure a user interface such as computers and home appliances. An apparatus for detecting upper body posture and hand posture includes a stereo vision calculation unit, a color pattern categorization unit, a plurality of position detection units, an upper body posture recognition unit, and a hand posture recognition unit. The stereo vision calculation unit calculates three-dimensional distance information from each image provided from at least two cameras. The color pattern categorization unit categorizes each color and pattern from the image to output color information and pattern information. The position detection units extract three-dimensional position information for each subject based on the three-dimensional distance information, the color information and the pattern information. The upper body posture recognition unit recognizes an upper body posture based on the three-dimensional position information. The hand posture recognition unit recognizes hand postures with hand position information of the three-dimensional position information. |
| US08442266B2 |
Device and method for identifying mail items
A device for identifying mail items includes a memory for storing mail item information of a mail item and characteristic image features of the mail item. A control unit assigns the mail item information to image features that are recorded again. In order that the mail items can still be identified reliably even after a cancellation in print or a forwarding sticker has been applied, the control unit carries out the assignment with the aid of an identification code associated with the mail item. |
| US08442264B2 |
Control signals in streaming audio or video indicating a watermark
Methods and apparatuses for searching for a control signal in streaming video or streaming audio that indicates the presence of a watermark in the streaming video or streaming audio. The streaming video or streaming audio is received and searched for a control signal. The detection of a control signal indicates the presences of a digital watermark in the streaming video or streaming audio. An indicator is triggered based upon detecting the control signal. |
| US08442258B2 |
Headphone
A headphone including a headband, an ear cup attached to the headband, a baffle plate fixed to the ear cup and having a rib wall at its periphery, an ear pad engaged with the baffle plate, and a gas permeable buffer between the ear cup and the baffle plate, wherein the buffer and the rib wall prevent a reduction in volume of a front air chamber caused by lateral pressure. |
| US08442252B2 |
Behind-the-ear hearing aid with interchangeable ear hook and ear tube
A hearing aid includes a casing, an ear hook, and an ear tube. The casing includes a first connector on an upper portion of the casing and a second connector on a lower portion of the casing, wherein the first and second connectors are substantially identical. The ear hook includes a receptacle sized to fit the first and second connectors and adapted to releasably couple to one of the first connector and the second connector. The ear tube includes a receptacle sized to fit the first and second connectors and adapted to releasably couple to another of the first connector and the second connector. |
| US08442249B2 |
Human body sound transmission apparatus and method for minimizing signal loss
A human body sound transmission apparatus and method for minimizing a signal loss are disclosed. The human body sound transmission apparatus includes: an audio signal transmission unit modulating an audio signal desired to be transmitted, and transmitting the modulated audio signal to the vicinity of a user's ear through the human body (i.e., a user's body); and a carrier wave signal transmission unit transmitting a carrier wave signal for demodulating the modulated audio signal to the vicinity of the user's ear through the air. |
| US08442244B1 |
Surround sound system
A surround sound system acquires a set of original channel signals as picked up or modeled by a set of microphones, located in a real or virtual acoustic space. Two microphones, mounted on or near the front of a head that may be real or artificial, are oriented to pick up the sounds emanating from the front. Two additional microphones are located near the ear canals of the head configured to emulate a human head in a manner that encodes the surround sound signals with a head-related transfer function (HRTF) that, in reproduction, enhances the accuracy and realism with which a listener perceives the various source locations. The head can be augmented, e.g. with small baffles strategically configured and located to modify the HRTF for overall accuracy and realism. Surround sound channels, so originated, may be transmitted for real-time reproduction or may be recorded, filtered, delayed, or otherwise processed and stored in memory for later reproduction. In an exemplary 4.0 surround sound listening system the listener is located facing a L/R pair of front loudspeakers and fitted with a L/R pair of small earbud loudspeakers located one at each ear near the canals in an aurally transparent manner that preserves normal hearing, e.g. with regard to the front channels. The listener experiences realistic perception of XY locations of various sound sources reproduced as originally located. |
| US08442243B2 |
Ribbon microphone
A ribbon microphone includes two magnets spaced in parallel and generating a magnetic field therebetween, two ribbon diaphragms arranged in parallel at a predetermined distance in the magnetic field, and a step-up transformer raising the voltages of electric signals generated in response to vibrations of the ribbon diaphragms in the magnetic field and outputs the raised electric signals. The step-up transformer includes two primary windings and two secondary windings corresponding to the two ribbon diaphragms, one of the two ribbon diaphragms and one of the two primary windings of the step-up transformer are connected in parallel whereas the others are connected in parallel, and the two secondary windings of the step-up transformer are connected in series so as to have opposite polarities. The ribbon microphone exhibits enhanced shielding effect without shielding a step-up transformer and does not generate noise caused by electromagnetic induction. |
| US08442237B2 |
Apparatus and method of reproducing virtual sound of two channels
A stereo sound generation apparatus and method of reproducing multi-channel sound input signals through two-channel speakers. The stereo sound generation apparatus includes: a preprocessing filter unit to reduce correlation between two-channel audio signals from among multi-channel audio signals and to generate a presence perception, a virtual speaker filter unit to convert the two-channel audio signals output from the preprocessing filter unit into a virtual sound source at a predetermined position, a signal correction filter unit to correct a signal characteristic between remaining multi-channel audio signals excluding the two-channel audio signals, and the two-channel audio signals output from the virtual speaker filter unit, and an addition unit to add signals to be output to a first channel from among the multi-channel audio signals output from the virtual speaker filter unit and the signal correction filter unit, and to add signals to be output to a second channel from among the multi-channel audio signals output from the virtual speaker filter unit and the signal correction filter unit. |
| US08442234B2 |
System and method for obtaining certificate status of subkeys
Systems and methods for updating status of digital certificate subkeys. A request is made to a key server to verify if a given key is revoked. If it is not, then the key with its subkeys is acquired from the key server. If one or more subkeys or signatures of the subkeys are different in the acquired key, then the key is replaced. |
| US08442231B2 |
Method and system for improving robustness of secure messaging in a mobile communications network
A mobile communications network has mobile communications capabilities and supports a secure messaging service, such as an SMS messaging service, that allows a message sender and at least one message receiver (at least one among the message sender and the message receiver being a user of the mobile communications network) to exchange messages encrypted by means of a cryptographic process performed by the message sender, so as to obtain an encrypted message that can be decrypted by a corresponding cryptographic process performed by the intended message receiver. End-to-end security of the exchanged message is thus achieved. A cryptographic algorithm, exploited by the user of the mobile communications network for performing the cryptographic process, is modified by exploiting the mobile communications capabilities of the mobile communications network. Robustness and reliability over time of the end-to-end security messaging is improved. |
| US08442230B1 |
Enhanced high availability for group VPN in broadcast environment
A light-weight resilient mechanism is used to synchronize server secure keying data with member devices in a highly-scalable distributed group virtual private network (VPN). A server device generates an initial secure keying data set, for the VPN, that includes a first version identifier, and sends, to member devices and via point-to-point messages, the secure keying data set. The server device sends, to the member devices, heartbeat push messages including the first version identifier. The server device generates an updated secure keying data set with a second version identifier and sends, to the member devices, a key push message that includes the updated data set. The server device sends, to the member devices, heartbeat push messages including the second version identifier. Member devices may use the first and second version identifiers to confirm that secure keying data sets are current and quickly identify if updates are missed. |
| US08442229B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing security in a passive optical network
An apparatus and method for providing security in a Passive Optical Network (PON) using an Enhanced Security Control management entity (ME). In one embodiment, an optical network unit (ONU) comprising: a processor coupled to a memory and configured to exchange security information between the ONU and an optical line terminal (OLT) by using a plurality of attributes in an Enhanced Security Control management entity (ME) in the ONU via an ONU management control interface (OMCI) channel; wherein the plurality of attributes comprise: an OLT crypto capabilities attribute, an ONU selected crypto capabilities attribute, an OLT random challenge table attribute, an ONU authentication result table attribute, an ONU random challenge table attribute, an OLT authentication result table attribute, and a master session key name attribute. |
| US08442226B2 |
Decryption key management
An encrypted program received in an MPEG transport stream is decrypted by receiving an address in the MPEG transport stream, reading a key from a memory in accordance with the received address, and decrypting the encrypted program based on the key. |
| US08442225B2 |
Method and system for the secured distribution of audiovisual data by transaction marking
The application relates to a method for distributing a marked audiovisual sequence from a nominal audiovisual sequence, said nominal audiovisual sequence having a nominal content, wherein a first modified flow having a modified content different from the nominal content is generated, and a second marked complementary flow including marked complementary digital information is generated; said first modified flow and said marked complementary information are transmitted, so as to allow the restoration of said marked audiovisual sequence at the receiving item of equipment; an operation of marking said nominal audiovisual sequence is carried out, so as to determine a marked audiovisual sequence having a marked content; a difference is determined between said marked content, on the one hand, and said modified content or said nominal content, on the other hand; wherein said marked complementary digital information depend on said difference. |
| US08442216B2 |
Fault detection in exponentiation and point multiplication operations using a montgomery ladder
A system and method are provided enabling implicit redundancies such as constant differences and points that should be on the same curve, to be checked at the beginning, end and intermittently throughout the computation to thwart fault injection attacks. This can be implemented by checking the constant difference in point pairs during point multiplication, by checking constant scalings in exponentiation pairs, and by checking that any intermediate point is on the curve and/or in the correct subgroup of the curve. |
| US08442215B2 |
Determining HDCP source KSV support
Presented is a method for determining the maximum number of key selection vectors (KSVs) supported by an HDCP source. The method includes providing a number of KSVs to the HDCP source, determining whether the HDCP source has entered a failure mode in response to the provided number of KSVs, increasing or decreasing the number of KSVs in response to the HDCP source not entering or entering the failure mode, providing the increased or decreased number of KSVs to the HDCP source, determining whether the HDCP source has entered the failure mode in response to the provided increased or decreased number of KSVs, and repeating the increasing, decreasing, and determining steps until the difference between a lowest number of provided KSVs resulting in the HDCP source entering the failure mode and a highest number of provided KSVs resulting in the HDCP source not entering the failure mode is one. |
| US08442213B2 |
Method and apparatus for shared positive protection
A line card includes a plurality of subscriber line interface circuits, a plurality of interface lines, and a first overvoltage protector. The subscriber line interface circuits each have a first input terminal operable to receive power at a first positive reference voltage. The interface lines are each coupled to one of the subscriber line interface circuits for interfacing with subscriber lines external to the line card. The first overvoltage protector is coupled to the interface lines and referenced to the first positive reference voltage to provide overvoltage protection responsive to a voltage on at least one of the interface lines exceeding the first positive reference voltage. |
| US08442210B2 |
Signal line routing to reduce crosstalk effects
A signaling system is disclosed. The system includes a transmitter comprising an encoder to encode a data signal such that the encoded data signal has a balanced number of logical 1s and 0s. The system also includes a receiver having a decoder to decode the encoded data signal, and a link. The link is coupled between the transmitter and the receiver to route the encoded data signal. The link comprises three or more conductive lines that are routed along a path in parallel between the encoder and the decoder, and wherein the link comprises segments, each segment comprising a routing change to reorder proximity of at least one pair of lines relative to any adjacent segment, with a sufficient number of segments such that each line has each of the other lines of the link as a nearest neighbor over at least a portion of the path. |
| US08442206B2 |
Method of responding to an incoming voice call
A system and method of responding to an incoming voice call are described. The method may comprise receiving the incoming call at a voice communication device, monitoring a user input via the voice communication device and generating a user control signal in response to the user input. The user control signal may identify that termination of ring functionality associated with the incoming call is at least to be delayed. Further, a system and method are described of processing a voice call to a voice communication device. The method may comprise communicating the voice call to a voice communication device and receiving from the voice communication device a user control signal in response to a user input. Termination of ring functionality may be at least delayed in response to the user control signal. The invention extends to a device to process a voice call to a voice communication device. |
| US08442202B2 |
Private-branch exchange that provides outgoing calling for an off-premises terminal in the presence of a third-party application
A telecommunications system is disclosed that enables a user to pair a desk set that is an extension of a private-branch exchange with a cell phone that is accessible via the Public Switched Telephone Network. One feature of the telecommunications system enables a call that is directed to the user's desk set to be automatically forwarded to the user's cell phone. This is advantageous to the user because it provides the illusion to the caller that the user is physically in her office when she is not necessarily there. A similar feature also provides the illusion when a third party initiates a call that connects the user's cell phone to a called party. Such a third party includes a computer-telephony integration (CTI) application in a telephone telemarketing center, which automatically places many outgoing telephone calls. |
| US08442201B2 |
Telephone device
A telephone device comprises an operating device, a call request receiving device, a first identification information determination device and a first positive response sending device. The call request receiving device may be configured to receive a call request. The first identification information determination device may be configured to determine, on a condition that the call request is received by the call request receiving device in a time between a call preparing operation being started and the call preparing operation being ended on the operating device, whether or not telephone identification information corresponding to the call preparing operation is identical to telephone identification information of the source of the call request. The first positive response sending device may be configured to send the positive response in reply to the call request on a condition that a positive determination is obtained by the first identification information determination device. |
| US08442200B2 |
Enhanced services provided using communication redirection and processing
Processing a communication is disclosed. A first request to establish communication is received at a redirection node from a requesting communication participant. A destination communication participant associated with the request is determined. A communication session in which the requesting communication participant, the redirection node, and the destination communication participant are participants at the same time is established, including sending from the redirection node to an equipment associated with the destination communication participant a second request to establish communication between the redirection node and the equipment associated with the destination communication participant. A communication session processing feature not provided with respect to the communication session by a telecommunication service provider associated with a service provider network used to establish and provide the communication session is made available to at least one of the requesting communication participant and the destination communication participant. |
| US08442199B2 |
Recursive identification of individuals for casual collaborative conferencing
A method for real-time communication among two or more individuals separated in space. The method includes the steps of determining that a first individual is likely to be interested in communicating with a second individual via a first communications link; retrieving information via the first communications link about one or more additional individuals from electronic memory means associated with the second individual; and establishing communication with at least one of the additional individuals based on the retrieved information. |
| US08442198B2 |
Distributed multi-party conferencing system
Techniques for multi-party conferencing are provided. A plurality of audio streams is received from a plurality of conference-enabled devices associated with a conference call. Each audio stream includes a corresponding encoded audio signal generated based on sound received at the corresponding conference-enabled device. Two or more of the audio streams are selected based upon an audio characteristic (e.g., a loudness of a person speaking). The selected audio streams are transmitted to each conference-enabled device associated with the conference call. At each conference-enabled device, the selected audio streams are decoded into a plurality of decoded audio streams, the decoded audio streams are combined into a combined audio signal, and the combined audio signal is played from one or more loudspeakers to be listened to by a user. |
| US08442196B1 |
Apparatus and method for allocating call resources during a conference call
A method and apparatus for allocating call resources during a conference call are disclosed. A conference call between a plurality of clients is conducted on a first conference call. The clients communicate media streams to the first conference call for mixing. A media gateway identifies a second call resource to conduct the conference call and mix the media streams, and transfers the conference call from the first call resource to the second call resource without suspending a plurality of mixed media streams received by the clients. |
| US08442192B2 |
Connecting wireless, wireline, and internet-protocol terminals
An appliance for use at home or a business is disclosed that is inserted between the Public Switched Telephone Network and wireline terminal(s) in the home or business. The appliance also connects to the Internet and has a wireless transceiver for communicating with wireless terminals via radio. The appliance enables a user of a wireless terminal in the vicinity of the appliance to answer and conduct telephone calls on the wireline terminal(s) in the home or business. Furthermore, the appliance enables a user of the wireline terminal(s) in the home or business to initiate and conduct telephone calls through the wireless terminal. Furthermore, the appliance enables a user of the wireline terminal(s) in the home or business to answer, initiate, and conduct telephone calls through the Public Switched Telephone Network and the Internet. |
| US08442190B2 |
Method, system and device for call processing
A method, a system and a device for call processing are disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. The method includes: obtaining, by a call initiator, address information of all or part of call managers in a network domain that processes a call, where the all or part of the call managers include a call manager that processes the call and is adjacent to the call initiator; sending, by the call initiator, a first call creating request message to an adjacent call manager according to the address information of the all or part of the call managers; and receiving, by the call initiator, a first call creating response message from the adjacent call manager. In the case that a service at a client side is required to be sent through multiple networks at a server side, inter-domain link selection and admission control may be implemented through section call processing. |
| US08442188B2 |
Automatic incubation and revival of messages in message systems
A computerized message transaction system has an incubation function and a storage repository. In this system a transaction or a version of the transaction may be stored for a pre-specified period of time, and may be revived at the end of the specified time. |
| US08442184B2 |
Spectral CT
An imaging system includes a radiation source (106, T1, T2, T3) that rotates about an examination region and emits radiation that traverses the examination region. The radiation source (106, T1, T2, T3) emits radiation having an energy spectrum that is selectively alternately switched between at least two different energy spectra during an imaging procedure. The system further includes an energy-resolving detector array (116, D1, D2, D3) that detects radiation traversing the examination region. The energy-resolving detector array (116, D1, D2, D3) resolves the detected radiation over at least two different energy ranges and produces energy-resolved output signals as a function of both emission energy spectrum and energy range. The system further includes a reconstructor (126) that performs a spectral reconstruction of the energy-resolved output signals. In another embodiment, the detector array (116) includes a photon-counting detector array (116). |
| US08442183B2 |
Pulse signal output circuit and shift register
An object is to provide a pulse signal output circuit capable of operating stably and a shift register including the pulse signal output circuit. A pulse signal output circuit according to one embodiment of the disclosed invention includes first to tenth transistors. The ratio W/L of the channel width W to the channel length L of the first transistor and W/L of the third transistor are each larger than W/L of the sixth transistor. W/L of the fifth transistor is larger than W/L of the sixth transistor. W/L of the fifth transistor is equal to W/L of the seventh transistor. W/L of the third transistor is larger than W/L of the fourth transistor. With such a structure, a pulse signal output circuit capable of operating stably and a shift register including the pulse signal output circuit can be provided. |
| US08442181B2 |
Apparatus for inspecting and testing startup range neutron monitoring system
An apparatus for inspecting and testing a startup range neutron monitoring system for a nuclear reactor. The apparatus includes: a neutron-flux detector; a preamplifier that amplifies an electric signal output from the neutron-flux detector; a pulse measurement unit that counts times when electric signal output from the preamplifier exceeds a discrimination voltage; a discrimination-voltage setting unit that applies the discrimination voltage to the pulse measurement unit; a voltage-setting unit that applies a voltage to the neutron-flux detector; an arithmetic processing unit that calculates an output power of the reactor based upon an output signal of the pulse measurement unit; an output unit that outputs data representing the output power of the reactor, calculated by the arithmetic processing unit; and an inspecting/testing unit that sets the discrimination voltage and the voltage to be applied by the voltage-setting unit. |
| US08442179B2 |
Method and apparatus for tagging and identifying a target
A method and apparatus for identifying and tagging a target, such an individual or an item, are described that provide an improved mechanism for identifying the target without alerting the target. In this regard, a method and apparatus can irradiate the target so as to create a radioisotope signature for the target. By thereafter monitoring the radioisotope signature, the target can be identified and tracked in a covert manner. |
| US08442178B2 |
Linear phase detector and clock/data recovery circuit thereof
A linear phase detector includes an up/down pulse generator operating in response to received data signals and a recovered clock signal. The phase detector generates up and down pulses that have pulse widths proportional to the phase differences between transitions of the received data signals and edges of the recovered clock signal. By generating up and down pulses using a linear phase detector in proportion to a phase error, data signals are effectively recovered, even data signals with significant jitter. |
| US08442177B2 |
Signal receiving apparatus and signal transmitting system
A signal receiving apparatus 2 has a memory circuit 22, writing of data contained in a digital input signal transmitted from a signal transmitting apparatus 1 is performed using a clock signal separated and created by a PLL circuit 21 from the digital input signal received, and reading is performed using a reference clock signal with quartz accuracy from a reference clock generating circuit 24. To reproduce the digital input signal by correcting the shift between the clock signal and the reference clock signal, the signal receiving apparatus detects the shift between the two clock signals. When the signal receiving apparatus 2 side lags behind the signal transmitting apparatus 1, the data contained in the digital input signal undergoes thinning out, and when it leads, a signal generated from previous and subsequent digital input signal is interpolated. |
| US08442174B2 |
Apparatus and method for rotational frequency detection
Apparatus and methods for rotational frequency detection are disclosed. In one embodiment, a rotational frequency detector is configured to receive samples taken from a serial data stream and to generate a frequency up error signal or a frequency down error signal. The rotational frequency detector processes a first set of samples to generate first transition data, which may be stored in a memory. The rotational frequency detector processes a second and third set of samples to generate second and third transition data. The frequency up or frequency down error signal is generated based at least partly on the first, second or third transition data. This configuration can reduce the maximum operating frequency of the rotational frequency detector, thereby simplifying the rotational frequency detector design to a point that a conventional static digital CMOS circuit design flow can be used to design the rotational frequency detector. |
| US08442173B2 |
Apparatus and method for clock and data recovery
Apparatus and methods for clock and data recovery are disclosed. In one embodiment, a clock and data recovery system includes a sampler, a deserializer, a phase detector and a frequency detector. The sampler may be configured to sample a serial data stream to produce data samples and transition samples. The deserializer may be configured to deserialize the data samples and the transition samples to produce deserialized data samples and deserialized transition samples. The deserialized data samples and the deserialized transition samples can be aligned and provided to the phase detector and the frequency detector, thereby improving phase alignment and cycle slip detection. |
| US08442171B2 |
Digital correction of analog polyphase filters
Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, devices and methods for modeling and correcting amplitude and quadrature phase errors generated within analog components of a receiver. A frequency-dependent correction method is employed that closely tracks the frequency dependent nature of the mismatch between the I and Q polyphase filter responses. In particular, digital correction is performed on a signal based on a modeled error function generated during a calibration of the receiver. |
| US08442168B2 |
Interference cancellation with a time-sliced architecture
Example embodiments include methods of interference cancellation at NodeB receivers of baseband antenna signals including physical channels. The methods include canceling interference from a received baseband antenna signal by removing a reconstructed baseband signal from the processed received baseband antenna signal. The processed reconstructed baseband signal includes users whose physical data channel signals were successfully decoded. Methods also include removing interference from a received baseband signal to form an interference cancelled baseband signal that will be processed by the receiver. The interference cancelled baseband signal is the received baseband antenna signal minus users' signal interference contributions whose demodulated physical data channel signals have a determined user symbol energy value that exceeds a threshold. Methods further include removing interference from a user's signal to be error corrected. The interference is symbol interference from an earlier successfully decoded user's symbols. The user symbol interference is determined by cross correlations. |
| US08442167B2 |
Multistage channel estimation method and apparatus
A multistage channel estimation method and apparatus is provided. The multistage channel estimation method includes: receiving a data frame to compensate for a distortion of the data frame based on a first channel estimation value associated with a corresponding section of the data frame; a first step of changing the corresponding section to calculate a second channel estimation value associated with the changed section; a second step of updating the first channel estimation value based on the calculated second channel estimation value; a third step of compensating for the distortion of the data frame based on the updated first channel estimation value to count a number of compensations; and repeating the first step through the third step, when the counted number of compensations does not match a predetermined numerical value. |
| US08442166B2 |
Preamble detection with unknown channel
A system including a control module and a correlation module. The control module partitions a total number of subcarriers, in a received signal, into a predetermined number of bands. The correlation module generates a plurality of correlation values for a plurality of preamble sequences. A correlation value for a preamble sequence is generated by correlating symbols in each band with corresponding symbols in the preamble sequence to generate correlations for each band, adding the correlations generated for a respective band to generate a sum for each band, and adding the sums generated for all the bands. The control module select a largest correlation value from the plurality of correlation values and determine that one of the preamble sequences is detected in the received signal in response to the largest correlation value being greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. |
| US08442163B2 |
List-viterbi hard iterative decoder for multilevel codes
Two decoding algorithms are introduced for the decoding of multi-level coded modulation and other types of coded modulation involving component codes and interleaving operations. An improved hard iterative decoding (IHID) algorithm is presented that improves upon a hard iteration decoding technique by adding a stopping criterion. Also, a list Viterbi hard iteration decoding (LV-IHID) algorithm is presented that employs list decoding in conjunction with the IHID algorithm. Both of these decoding algorithms improve upon conventional multi-stage decoding by reducing the effective error multiplicity that is observed at the lowest coding level. It is demonstrated that the LV-IHID algorithm performs close to soft iterative decoding. The computational and delay complexity of the proposed decoding algorithms compare favorably with soft iterative decoding strategies. Also, a novel labeling strategy for MLC design is presented. |
| US08442154B2 |
Channel sensitive power control
A communication receiver which applies signal processing for quantitatively estimating receive signal factors such as communication channel quality, signal characteristics, and overall system received bit error rate (BER) or packet error rate (PER) and which applies a general algorithm for mapping these estimated factors to control receiver performance and minimize power consumption. |
| US08442151B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting reference signal in multiple antenna system
A method and an apparatus for transmitting a reference signal in a multiple antenna system are provided. The method includes transmitting a common reference signal through N antennas (N |
| US08442147B2 |
Multi-carrier communication apparatus
A local carrier wave output from a synthesizer to quadrature demodulators is multiplied by an offset that makes a frequency shift by an integer number of subcarriers in units of sub-carrier bands. The offset is set to a value obtained by multiplying the number sequentially counted up from 0 to the number of unused sub-carriers included in guard tones in a signal band by the bandwidth of a sub-carrier. By shifting the frequency of the local carrier wave at the time of quadrature demodulation with the offset, the SNR of a baseband signal is prevented from being constantly degraded by a frequency characteristic possessed by the circuit of a receiver in a particular sub-carrier signal. Especially, by preventing a pilot signal from being constantly degraded, the signal can be received with higher accuracy. |
| US08442145B2 |
Transmitting terminal and transmit antenna selecting method thereof
A transmitting terminal includes a signal processing unit, MS RF units, MT transmit antennas and a switch unit. The signal processing unit has K precoders for precoding K data streams corresponding to K receiving terminals. The MS RF units output MS up-converted transmit signals based on the precoded K data streams. The switch unit is coupled between the RF units and the transmit antennas and controlled by the signal processing unit for selection of the transmit antennas. The signal processing unit sets the MT transmit antennas as a universal set, calculates a plurality of sum rates corresponding to a plurality of subsets, each subset excluding an ith transmit antenna, according to channel state information, selects the subset with a maximum sum rate as the universal set of a next iteration, and then repeats the calculating and selecting steps until the subset with the maximum sum rate remaining MS transmit antennas. |
| US08442141B1 |
Opportunistic beamforming in a wireless communication system
A method for processing a preamble of a data unit transmitted via a communication channel includes receiving a signal via a plurality of antennas, applying a plurality of distinct steering vectors to the received signal to generate a plurality of respective outputs, and using the plurality of outputs to perform at least one of carrier sensing and symbol timing synchronization associated with the preamble. |
| US08442140B2 |
Method of designing codebook for network multiple input multiple output communication system and method of using the codebook
Provided herein is a method of designing a network codebook that may be shared by a plurality of base stations. Also provided herein is a feedback method of a terminal using the network codebook. The network codebook design method may design the network codebook by processing a pre-defined first codebook based on large scale fading of the base stations. The terminal may more effectively feed back a preferred matrix indicator with respect to the network codebook. |
| US08442138B2 |
Codebook selection for transmit beamforming
A method select a codebook for transmit beamforming. The method constructs an estimated channel matrix based on a codebook, selects a channel submatrix from the estimated channel matrix, calculates a selection matrix from the channel submatrix; and assigns a steering matrix based on the selection matrix. There may be multiple codebooks and the method may construct an estimated channel matrix, select a channel submatrix, and calculate a selection matrix for each of the codebooks, then select an optimal codebook. The steering matrix is assigned based on the optimal codebook. The steering matrix may be used in steering a transmitted packet. The method may also calculate a post-MIMO equalizer signal-to-noise ratio for a data stream, based on the estimated channel matrix and the selected codebook. A related system is also disclosed. Other embodiments are provided, and each of the embodiments described herein can be used alone or in combination with one another. |
| US08442135B2 |
Process and apparatus for performing initial carrier frequency offset in an OFDM communication system
A carrier frequency offset between a base station and a receiver of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex communication system is estimated by maximizing a function depending on the carrier frequency offset. The function is built using a sequence received by the transmitter when the base station emits a pilot sequence, taking into consideration a variance of the noise and a presumed length of the channel. |
| US08442132B2 |
Method and apparatus for allocating processing delays in multi-carrier systems
A multi-carrier linear equalization receiver, e.g., a RAKE receiver or chip equalization receiver, is described herein. The multi-carrier receiver distributes processing delays among a plurality of received carriers based on a comparison between the signal-to-interference ratios (SIRs) determined for each carrier. The receiver initially allocates a minimum number of processing delays to each carrier. In one embodiment, any remaining additional processing delays are distributed evenly between the carriers when a comparison between the largest and smallest SIR is less than or equal to a threshold. In another embodiment, the remaining additional processing delays are distributed to favor the carrier(s) with the strongest SIR(s) when the comparison between the largest and smallest SIR exceeds the threshold. By distributing the additional processing delays to favor the carriers with the strongest SIRs, the embodiments of the present invention enable system designers to limit the total number of available processing delays without sacrificing performance. |
| US08442131B2 |
Power reduction for digital subscriber line
An apparatus comprising a transmitter configured to transmit a low power mode Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT) signal using a plurality of DMT tones, wherein at least some of the DMT tones comprise a low power mode (LPM) tone that carries data at a normal PSD level and a non-LPM tone that is transmitted at a reduced PSD level. Also disclosed is a network component comprising at least one processor configured to implement a method comprising detecting a plurality of signal to noise ratio (SNR) values for a plurality of LPM tone signals and a plurality of non-LPM tone signals, and handling crosstalk interference between lines using the detected SNR values. |
| US08442127B2 |
Method for transmitting a signal via a power line network, transmitter, receiver, power line communication modem and power line communication system
A method for receiving signals over a power line network, within the power line network at least one transmitter and at least one receiver communicate via at least two channels, each of the channels having a respective feeding port of the at least one transmitter and a respective receiving port of the at least one receiver, and the receiver having at least two receiving ports. The method determines a channel characteristic of each of the channels, applies a receiving port selection criterion based on the channel characteristic, and selects an excluded receiving port among the at least two receiving ports based on the receiving port selection criterion, the excluded receiving port is not used during further communication. |
| US08442124B2 |
Methods and systems for signaling chroma information in video
Embodiments of systems and methods for signaling chroma information for a picture in a compressed video stream are provided. One system embodiment, among others, comprises a memory with logic, and a processor configured with the logic to provide a compressed video stream that includes a picture having chroma samples and luma samples, and provide in the compressed video stream a flag for signaling information corresponding to the location of the chroma samples in relation to the luma samples in the picture, wherein a first defined flag value indicates default locations of the chroma samples in relation to the luma samples in the picture, wherein a second defined flag value indicates a presence in the compressed video stream of auxiliary chroma information corresponding to relative locations of the chroma samples to the luma samples in the picture, and wherein the number of chroma samples in the picture implied by the first defined flag value is equal to the number of chroma samples in the picture implied by the second defined flag value. Other embodiments for signaling chroma information for a picture in a compressed video stream are included herein. |
| US08442120B2 |
System and method for thinning of scalable video coding bit-streams
A system for videoconferencing that offers, among other features, extremely low end-to-end delay as well as very high scalability. The system accommodates heterogeneous receivers and networks, as well as the best-effort nature of networks such as those based on the Internet Protocol. The system relies on scalable video coding to provide a coded representation of a source video signal at multiple temporal, quality, and spatial resolutions. These resolutions are represented by distinct bitstream components that are created at each end-user encoder. System architecture and processes called SVC Thinning allow the separation of data into data used for prediction in other pictures and data not used for prediction in other pictures. SVC Thinning processes, which can be performed at video conferencing endpoints or at MCUs, can selectively remove or replace with fewer bits the data not used for prediction in other pictures from transmitted bit streams. This separation and selective removal or replacement of data for transmission allows a trade-off between scalability support (i.e. number of decodable video resolutions), error resiliency and coding efficiency. |
| US08442114B2 |
Moving picture encoding apparatus and distribution system
A moving picture encoding apparatus divides a moving picture signal into key frames and non-key frames, encodes the key frames, predicts the non-key frames from the encoded key frames, determines a final encoding rate for each non-key frame, encodes each non-key frame, and outputs an error-correcting code at the final encoding rate as encoded data of the non-key frame. To determine the final encoding rate, the number of error-correcting bits needed to correct prediction errors is estimated by a first method and one or more second methods. The second methods are used to decide whether to use the number of bits estimated by the first method as the final encoding rate, or whether to supplement the estimated number of bits by adding an encoding rate correction. As a result, the encoding rate is not supplemented unnecessarily and the encoding efficiency is improved. |
| US08442111B2 |
Optimal power usage in encoding data streams
An encoder provided according to an aspect of the present invention uses different encoding techniques depending on an amount of power available in the corresponding durations. Due to the ability to use such different encoding techniques, power may be optimally utilized. The optimization is further enhanced by dynamically switching between encoding techniques according to power amount availability in corresponding durations. In an embodiment, each encoding technique estimates motion vectors at corresponding level of precision (thereby consuming a corresponding level of power) and the precision level is chosen to correspond to available power budget. The circuitry not required for a desired precision level may be switched off. |
| US08442110B2 |
Method for bandwidth regulation on a cable television system channel
A method for regulating bandwidth usage in an output data stream transmitted on an analog channel from a cable head end. The output data stream comprises a plurality of input information content signals. For each input information content signal, a series of images are captured, compressed and formed into an input digital data stream. The bandwidth of each input digital data stream is regulated by associating the stream with a current bit allocation total. During each frame time: a bit allocation increment is added to the current bit allocation total for each input digital data stream. When a data packet to be transmitted for an input digital data stream is received by the multiplexer, the data packet is stored. When the number of bits in the stored data packet is not more than the current bit allocation total for the input digital data stream, the multiplexer forwards the stored data packet for transmission in the output data stream on the analog channel and decrements the current bit allocation total for the given input digital data stream by the number of bits in the stored data packet. In this way, no individual input channel takes more than its share of the bandwidth on the output stream on the analog channel. |
| US08442107B2 |
Memory mapping apparatus and method for video decoder/encoder
A memory mapping apparatus and a method in a video decoder/encoder utilize a dividing unit, a storage unit and a memory allocation unit. The dividing unit divides picture data into macroblocks and divides each of the macroblocks, which are units of encoding, into partitions having a predetermined size. A storage unit comprises at least one memory bank which is independently accessible. A memory allocation unit allocates adjacent partitions to different memory banks. Accordingly, a total number of cycles necessary to read and write the picture data is reduced. |
| US08442099B1 |
Crosstalk cancellation for a common-mode channel
A transceiver circuit is disclosed. The transceiver circuit comprises a receive path to receive a differential signal and a first crosstalk filter coupled to the receive path. A common-mode path is provided for carrying a common-mode signal. An RFI interference filter is coupled between the common-mode path and the receive path. Isolation circuitry decouples the RFI interference filter from the first crosstalk filter. |
| US08442098B2 |
Distributed repeater and distributed repeating method thereof
Provided are a distributed repeater for repeating output signals identical to input signals through a channel different from that of main transmitter signals but identical to channels of other distributed repeaters, and a distributed repeating method thereof. The distributed repeater includes: a pre-processing unit configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted from an external device and demodulate the RF signal into a baseband signal; an equalizer configured to equalize the baseband signal to correct a distortion occurring on a transmission channel; an identification signal generation and insertion unit configured to generate an identification signal for identification of the distributed repeater and network conditioning, and insert the identification signal in the equalized baseband signal; and a post-processing unit configured to convert the baseband signal from the identification signal generation and insertion unit into an RF signal, and send the RF signal. |
| US08442095B2 |
Multiple correlation processing in code space search
Methods and apparatus for code phase processing in a wireless communication device are described herein. A wireless device performs code phase search on a pseudo random code spread signal received over a wireless channel. A correlator correlates the received signal to a plurality of code phases in each of a plurality of frequency hypothesis. A maximum peak and a second peak are determined from the correlation results. Cross correlation processing is performed on the maximum peak and the maximum peak is discarded in favor of the second peak for position processing based on the results of the cross correlation. |
| US08442094B2 |
Cell search using rake searcher to perform scrambling code determination
A spread spectrum receiver configured to perform cell searching can include a cell search system and a searcher. The cell search system is configured to perform primary and secondary synchronization, thereby identifying a scrambling code group. The searcher is configured to determine a scrambling code from the scrambling code group identified by the cell search system. |
| US08442092B2 |
Creation and use of unique hopping sequences in a frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) wireless communications network
A method for generating and using frequency-hopping sequences in frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) networks, such that no additional network overhead is required to convey a device's hopping sequence to another device, is disclosed. Furthermore, a method to maximize the number of unique hopping sequences, without increasing the random access memory (RAM) requirements on the network devices, is disclosed. |
| US08442089B2 |
Laser device
[Object] An object of the invention is to provide a laser device having high optical amplification efficiency.[Solving Means] A laser device 100 includes: an optical fiber 20 which includes a core 21 and a clad 22 and through which seed light and pumping light propagate; and a glass rod 50 which is doped with rare earth elements, has a diameter larger than that of the core 21, wherein the seed light and the pumping light output from the optical fiber 20 are input to the glass rod 50 to have increased diameters, and output light including at least the amplified seed light is output from the glass rod 50. |
| US08442085B2 |
Semiconductor optical device
By forming upper-bank patterns made of Au with a thickness of 1.5 μm or larger on bank portions, a solder material on a submount and a surface of a conductive layer in an upper part of a ridge portion of a laser chip are separated so as not to be in contact with each other, thereby preventing the stress generated in a bonding portion when bonding the laser chip and the submount from being applied to the ridge portion. |
| US08442084B2 |
High performance vertically emitting lasers
A semiconductor laser that has a reflective surface. The reflective surface redirects the light of an edge emitting laser diode to emit from the top or bottom surface of the diode. The laser may include a gain layer and a feedback layer located within a semiconductive die. The gain and feedback layers generate a laser beam that travels parallel to the surface of the die. The reflective surface reflects the laser beam 90 degrees so that the beam emits the die from the top or bottom surface. The reflective surface can be formed by etching a vicinally oriented III-V semiconductive die so that the reflective surface extends along a (111)A crystalline plane of the die. |
| US08442079B2 |
Mode-locked semiconductor laser device and driving method thereof
Provided is a driving method of a mode-locked semiconductor laser device comprising a laminated structure in which a first compound semiconductor layer, a third compound semiconductor layer having an emission region and a second compound semiconductor layer are successively laminated, a second electrode, and a first electrode. The laminated structure is formed on a compound semiconductor substrate having polarity, the third compound semiconductor layer includes a quantum well structure having a well layer and a barrier layer. The well layer has a depth of 1 nm or more and 10 nm or less. The barrier layer has an impurity doping density of 2×1018 cm−3 or more and 1×1020 cm−3 or less. An optical pulse is generated in the emission region by passing a current from the second electrode to the first electrode via the laminated structure. |
| US08442075B2 |
Disparate clock domain synchronization
Disparate clock domains are resynchronized after circuits in one of the clock domains awake from a reduced power state. Parallel test data is routed from a core circuit to a parallel-to-serial converter in an input/output (I/O) circuit. The parallel-to-serial converter clocks the parallel test data in response to a load signal. The load signal is varied until the clock domains are synchronized. |
| US08442074B1 |
Systems and methods for passing timing information over packet networks
The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods for passing timing information over packet networks. In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a transmitter inserts a timestamp into various packets being transmitted. A receiver determines the packet delay for each of these packets. The receiver monitors the packet delays of received packets over time to estimate a minimum packet delay for the network. Thereafter, the receiver uses the timestamps of received packets in order to update a local receiver clock signal so that the local receiver clock signal is synchronous to the clock signal used by the transmitter to generate the timestamps. However, the receiver filters the received timestamps such that the effects of packet delay variation to the synchronization of the local clock signals are reduced. |
| US08442071B2 |
Relay device and wireless control network management system using the same
There is provided a relay device for relaying first wireless communication and second wireless communication. The first wireless communication is based on a process control wireless communication standard, and the second wireless communication is based on another wireless communication standard than the process control wireless communication standard. The device includes: a superframe management unit configured to receive a first superframe of the first wireless communication from the outside and generate a second superframe of the second wireless communication based on the first superframe; and a transmission unit configured to transmit the second superframe to a wireless communication terminal performing the second wireless communication. |
| US08442070B1 |
Fractional threshold encoding and aggregation
Fractional encoding of a packet into fractional packets and reconstruction of fractional packets into an original packet is disclosed. A packet is received. A plurality fractional packets is constructed from the received packet such that the received packet is fully reconstructable from a portion of the fractional packets. The portion is fewer than all of the fractional packets. At least one fractional packet is transmitted. |
| US08442069B2 |
System and method to enable uplink control for restricted association networks
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate resource management in a wireless communication system. Various techniques described herein can enable a network cell in a wireless communication system (e.g. a macro cell) to mitigate the effects of interference on other surrounding network cells (e.g., femto cells embedded within the coverage of the macro cell). For example, a network cell can allocate control resources that overlap control resources of a nearby cell and assign resources within the region of overlap only to users that will not cause substantial interference to the nearby cell. As another example, a network cell can utilize a control channelization that partially coincides with a control and/or random access channelization of a nearby cell. The network cell can subsequently elect not to use the control resources in the coinciding region in order to enable the nearby cell to control the effects of interference though data scheduling. |
| US08442066B2 |
Method of changing channels and configuring a sub-network in a wireless network
A method of changing channels of a first device in a wireless network, which includes a first coordinator and at least one device, comprises searching whether another channel other than a first channel which is currently used in the wireless network is available, changing the first channel to a second channel among at least one or more available channels as a result of the searching step, and transmitting data to a second device or receiving data from the second device through the second channel. |
| US08442065B2 |
Apparatus and method for supporting quality of service in wideband wireless communication system using multiple frequency allocations
An apparatus and method for supporting Quality of Service (QoS) in a wideband wireless communication system using multiple Frequency Allocations (FAs) are provided. In a transmitting method for packet distribution in the wideband wireless communication system, the method includes, during a network entry process, determining a number of FAs through multi-FA capability negotiation; distributing packets, received from a superordinate layer, through the multiple FAs; and transmitting the packets distributed through the multiple FAs. Accordingly, packets can be effectively distributed through multiple FAs, and QoS can be effectively provided. |
| US08442060B2 |
Method and apparatus for providing signaling access
Signaling-only access may be established with an access node under certain circumstances such as, for example, upon determining that a node is not authorized for data access at the access node. A node that is not authorized for data access at an access node may still be paged by the access node through the use of signaling-only access. In this way, transmissions by the access node may not interfere with the reception of pages at the node. A first node may be selected for providing paging while a second node is selected for access under certain circumstances such as, for example, upon determining that the second node provides more desirable service than the first node. |
| US08442059B1 |
Storage proxy with virtual ports configuration
A fiber channel network is configured into different zones. A first zone of the fiber channel network is configured with an initiator port, a first virtual port for a first physical port on a storage proxy, and a first virtual port for a second physical port on the storage proxy. A second zone of the fiber channel network is configured with a storage target port, a second virtual port for the first physical port on a storage proxy, and a second virtual port for the second physical port on the storage proxy. The virtual ports configured on the storage proxy increase the amount of bandwidth in the fiber channel available for asymmetric data transfers. |
| US08442058B2 |
Locating stations between protocols
A wireless system including a first network protocol, a second network protocol, and an interoperability node. The interoperability node operable on the system to locate one or more stations within one or more of the first and second network protocols. |
| US08442057B2 |
Queuing architectures for orthogonal requirements in quality of service (QoS)
A node in a mobile ad-hoc network or other network classifies packets (a) in accordance with a first set of priority levels based on urgency and (b) within each priority level of the first set, in accordance with a second set of priority levels based on importance. The node: (a) queues packets classified at highest priority levels of the first and/or second sets in high-priority output queues; (b) queues packets classified at medium priority levels of the first set in medium-priority output queue(s); and (3) queues packets classified at low priority levels of the first and/or second set in low-priority output queue(s). Using an output priority scheduler, the node serves the packets in order of the priorities of the output queues. In such manner, orthogonal aspects of DiffServ and MLPP can be resolved in a MANET or other network. |
| US08442056B2 |
Scheduling packets in a packet-processing pipeline
The disclosed embodiments relate to a packet-processing system. This system includes an input which is configured to receive packets, wherein the packets include control-message (CM) packets and traffic packets. It also includes a pipeline to process the packets, wherein the pipeline includes access points for accessing an engine which services requests for packets, wherein CM packets and traffic packets access the engine through different access points. The system additionally includes an arbiter to schedule packets entering the pipeline. While scheduling the packets, the arbiter is configured to account for empty slots in the pipeline to ensure that when CM packets and traffic packets initiate accesses to the engine through different access points, the accesses do not cause an overflow at an input queue for the engine. |
| US08442055B2 |
Information distribution system and method, terminal apparatus, server apparatus, data reception method, and data transmission method
An information distribution system and method capable of averaging a traffic load over time and effectively utilizing communication facilities, wherein a terminal station 30 transmits to a contents server 10 a distribution request for desired information including information of time limit of distribution, and the contents server 10 receives the distribution request, estimates a time band where the traffic load is small in the communications system in the period until the time limit of distribution, pages the terminal station again at that period of time, and, if the terminal station is in a state able to receive the information content, transmits the requested information content to the terminal station 30 through a network node. |
| US08442054B2 |
Method and core network node for establishing a connection through a core network
A method and core network node for establishing a connection between a first access node and a second access node. The first access node sends to a first core network node, a connection establishment request that includes a set of framing protocol parameters for the framing of information to be sent over an interface between the first access node and the first core network node. The first core network node stores the parameter set and initializes a connection to a further core network node according to the framing protocol. If the further core network node is not connectable to the second access node, connections are successively made to additional core network nodes until reaching a final core network node connectable to the second access node. The final core network node initializes the connection to the second access node, which stores the parameter set. The connection is then established between the first access node and the second access node utilizing the parameter set. |
| US08442052B1 |
Forward packet recovery
A method for providing ordered data packets to a processor is provided. The method comprises receiving a plurality of data packets, each comprising an order identifier. At least one out-of-order data packet of the plurality of data packets is placed in a priority queue. One or more correction packets are received. One or more missing data packets or corrupted data packets of the plurality of data packets are detected based on the one or more correction packets. The one or more missing data packets or corrupted data packets of the plurality of data packets are corrected based on the one or more correction packets. The one or more corrected data packets are provided to the processor. The at least one out-of-order data packet in the priority queue is provided to the processor. |
| US08442051B2 |
Data transmission method for HSDPA
In the data transmission method of an HSDPA system according to the present invention, a transmitter transmits Data Blocks each composed of one or more data units originated from a same logical channel, and a receiver receives the Data Block through a HS-DSCH and distributes the Data Block to a predetermined reordering buffer. Since each Data Block is composed of the MAC-d PDUs originated from the same logical channel, it is possible to monitor the in-sequence delivery of the data units, resulting in reduction of undesirable queuing delay caused by logical channel multiplexing. |
| US08442048B2 |
Methods and apparatus for configuring a virtual network switch
In one embodiment, a method includes sending a configuration signal to a virtual network switch module within a control plane of a communications network. The configuration signal is configured to define a first network rule at the virtual network switch module. The method also includes configuring a packet forwarding module such that the packet forwarding module implements a second network rule, and receiving status information from the virtual network switch module and status information from the packet forwarding module. The status information is received via the control plane. |
| US08442047B2 |
Method, system, router and apparatus for implementing switching between layer-2 multicast route tracing and layer-3 multicast route tracing
Disclosed herein are a method for implementing switching between layer-2 multicast route tracing and layer-3 multicast route tracing, and a method, a system, a router and an apparatus for differentiating between a layer-2 property and a layer-3 property. One of the methods includes: The query apparatus judges whether to perform layer-2 multicast route tracing, and adds an IP option of layer-2 multicast route tracing into the IGMP Tracert Query packet if layer-2 multicast route tracing needs to be performed. The last-hop router receives the IGMP Tracert Query packet, judges whether the packet carries the IP option of layer-2 multicast route tracing, and transmits the IGMP Tracert Query packet to a downstream layer-2 node transparently if the packet carries the IP option, or initiates layer-3 multicast route tracing if the packet carries no such IP option. The method, system, and router disclosed herein can implement switching between layer-2 multicast route tracing and layer-3 multicast route tracing, and enable the query apparatus to identify the layer property of each IGMP Tracert Response data block. |
| US08442044B2 |
Digital broadcasting system and method of processing data
A digital broadcasting system and a method of processing data are disclosed. Herein, additional encoding is performed on mobile service data, which are then transmitted, thereby providing robustness in the processed mobile service data, so that the mobile service data can respond more strongly against fast and frequent channel changes. The method of processing data in a transmitting system includes receiving mobile service data, encapsulating the received mobile service data to a transport stream (TS) packet, and outputting the encapsulated mobile service data as a mobile service data packet, and multiplexing a main service data packet including main service data and the encapsulated mobile service data packet, thereby transmitting the multiplexed data packets to at least one transmitter located in a remote site. |
| US08442043B2 |
Service selection mechanism in service insertion architecture data plane
As described herein, explicit service ordering information may be associated with each of a plurality of logical services in a service path. A unique sequence number, for example, may be assigned, and associated with each service in the path. The sequence number may be assigned by a service broker in the control plane of a service insertion architecture that provides a platform-independent framework to insert services into a network. The sequence number may represent the relative ordering of the service with respect to the other services in the path. The sequence number, along with a traffic classification identifier, constitutes the shared context that is tagged to the packet injected into the chain which is used in the SIA data plane to virtualize and uniquely select series of services defined in the policy. |
| US08442041B2 |
Virtual service domains
In one embodiment, ports of a network device are assigned to virtual service domains (VSDs). The ports are coupled to a virtual Ethernet module (VEM) of the network device. Each VSD is associated with one or more virtual service engines (VSEs) in a particular order. Each VSE is configured to apply a particular service to traffic traversing the VSE. Traffic received at a virtual Ethernet module (VEM) of the network device that is destined for a particular VSD, and is received on a port that has not been assigned to the particular VSD, is forwarded to the particular VSD via the one or more VSEs associated with the particular VSD such that the traffic traverses the one or more VSEs in the particular order. |
| US08442038B2 |
Method and network unit for setting up a connection in a second network
Method and network unit for setting up a connection in a second network (16) from a first user terminal (21) to a second user terminal (22), when a connection in a first network (15) is present between the first user terminal (21) and at least the second user terminal (22). The connection in the second network (16) is initiated using a context dependent second network address, the context dependent second network address identifying a combinational service in the second network (16). The combinational service comprises retrieving the second network address of the second terminal (22) using a common part (17) of the first and second network (15, 16), and completing the set up of the second connection using the second network address of the second terminal (22). |
| US08442034B2 |
Dual mode network telephony gateway
A system and method for routing and interacting with a dual mode network telephony environment are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system includes an external analog telephony line, a DSL modem, an analog telephony bridge controller, one or more additional analog telephony lines, and a communication center computer. The system routes analog and Voice-over-Internet Protocol calls between the analog telephony lines and the communication center computer. Furthermore, the communication center computer performs operations on calls inbound to the environment and calls outbound from the environment. |
| US08442027B2 |
Mobile station, radio base station and synchronization establishing method
A mobile station (UE) is configured to establish uplink synchronization with a radio base station (eNB). The mobile station (UE) is configured not to return transmission acknowledgment information for downlink data until receiving a command for adjusting uplink transmission timing, when the radio base station (eNB) allocates a radio resource for transmission of the downlink data to the mobile station (UE). |
| US08442026B2 |
Mobile communication method and mobile station
A mobile communication method according to the present invention includes the steps of: establishing a first radio link between the “LTE-AS” and the eNB in response to the “Service Request” received from the “EMM”; transmitting, from the “UMTS-AS” to the “MM/GMM”, the “reconnect request”, after the completion of the switching process from the mobile communication system of the LTE scheme to the mobile communication system of the UMTS scheme, when the “LTE-AS” detects RLF within a first predetermined period after receiving the switching command instructing performance of the switching process; and not transmitting, from the “MM/GMM” to the “UMTS-AS”, the “Service Request” responding to the “reconnect request”, when the mobile station UE has not performed a packet communication in the mobile communication system of the LTE scheme before a start of the switching process. |
| US08442025B2 |
Methods and apparatus for controlling discontinuous reception
Methods and apparatus for controlling discontinuous reception (DRX) in mobile devices are disclosed. An example method for controlling discontinuous reception includes entering a packet transfer mode, receiving a network message that indicates that the mobile station is to utilize an optimized DRX mode, and entering DRX mode immediately upon leaving packet transfer mode. |
| US08442021B2 |
Radio link performance prediction in wireless communication terminal
A method for predicting performance of a radio link in a wireless communication terminal including hypothesizing a second codeword including information associated with a hypothesized first codeword, obtaining channel state information from a received signal, and estimating a decoder error rate of the first codeword under a condition that the second codeword may not be decoded correctly, wherein the decoder error rate is estimated using the channel state information. |
| US08442020B1 |
Phase compensation system and method to correct M-code dual sideband distortion
A system and method of generating a position is disclosed. The system and method are configured for receiving from a transmitter an M-code signal, the M-code signal modulated with a pseudorandom number sequence. The system and method are also configured for down converting the received M-code signal to a baseband signal. Further, the system and method are configured for correlating the baseband signal with a known pseudorandom number sequence. Further still, the system and method are configured for processing the converted baseband signal to remove errors due to phase distortion of the M-code signal. |
| US08442017B2 |
Method for transmitting random access channel message and response message, and mobile communication terminal
A method for responding to a random access channel message is disclosed, the method includes reading quality measurement information of a downlink channel from a second layer header of a random access channel (RACH) message which is transmitted from a user equipment to an uplink, controlling transmission power of a response message for the RACH message according to the quality measurement information, and transmitting the response message to the user equipment. |
| US08442011B1 |
Support of hierarchical network mobility for proxy mobile IP
A networking system comprises a proxy mobility agent (PMA) module, and a home agent (HA) module. The PMA module sends a first binding update message including a unique identifier to a remote HA based on a trigger signal. The unique identifier identifies a mobile terminal associated with the remote PMA. The HA module receives a second binding update message including the unique identifier from a remote PMA, and selectively sends the trigger signal to the PMA module based on the second binding update message. |
| US08442008B2 |
Systems and methods for handoff in wireless network
Methods performed by a mobile node (MN) in a secured network for handoff of communication from a serving access point (AP) to a target AP are provided. In a bounded delay channel switching (BDCS) method, the MN periodically switches between a first channel and one of multiple other channels during handoff, utilizes the first channel to transmit/receive packets to/from a corresponding node (CN) via the serving AP and utilizes one of the other channels to perform the handoff procedure to the target AP. In a dual-MAC switching (DMS) method, the MN employs a first MAC (medium access control) address to transmit/receive packets to/from the serving AP and a second MAC address to perform the handoff procedure to the target AP. The BDCS and DMS methods may be used concurrently, and may be used in a secured network that complies with, e.g., the IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.1x or IEEE 802.11i plus IEEE 802.11f standards. |
| US08442006B2 |
Wireless LAN mobility
A method of performing hand-off of a Mobile Node from a previous Access Point to a new Access Point within a WLAN domain, where the previous and new Access Points are connected respectively to previous and new Access Routers. The method comprises, following a MAC authentication exchange between the Mobile Node and the new Access Point, sending a MAC Reassociation Request from the Mobile Node to the New Access Point, forwarding said Reassociation Request to said new Access Router, and sending the Reassociation Request from said new Access Router to said previous Access Router within an IP hand-off request, and authenticating the Reassociation Request at the previous Access Router and initiating the tunnelling of IP packets received at the previous Access Router and destined for said Mobile Node, towards said new Access Router. |
| US08442003B2 |
Routing in a mesh network
Apparatus and method for associating with any one of a plurality of access points in a mesh network including estimating a plurality of metrics for the access points, the estimated metrics being related to throughputs provided by the access points, and selecting one of the access points to associate with based on the metrics and a plurality of backhaul metrics for the access points, the backhaul metrics being related to backhaul throughputs for the access points. The backhaul metrics may be advertised by the access points. |
| US08441999B2 |
Method, system and device for adaptive modulation and coding
An adaptive modulation and coding method is provided by the present invention, comprising: selecting punctured Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) to transmit the downlink data for the User Equipment (UE); determining the Transport Block Size (TBS) and the number of punctured PRB pairs for transmission to the UE based on the carried service; scheduling the downlink data for the UE based on the determined TBS, and transmitting the number of the used punctured PRB pairs and a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) sequence number to the UE; and the UE converting the number of the punctured PRB pairs to the number of normal PRB pairs, determining the modulation scheme and the TBS sequence number based on the MCS sequence number, and determining the TBS of the downlink data based on the number of the normal PRB pairs and the TBS sequence number. The specific condition when downlink data are transmitted with punctured PRBs may be performed in the present invention on the basis of utilizing the existing resources and adaptive processing of the general subframes by performing conversion between the number of punctured PRBs and the number of normal PRBs in scheduling resource for the UE with the NodeB, which may be implemented simply and efficiently. |
| US08441995B2 |
Method, system and apparatus for supporting addressing by user static IP address in LTE system
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and relevant apparatuses for supporting addressing by a user static Internet Protocol (IP) address in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. The method includes: when a user attaches to a network, downloading, by a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), user subscription data including a user static IP address and information of a corresponding Access Point Name (APN) to a Mobility Management Entity (MME); sending, by the MME, the user static IP address and the information of the corresponding APN to a Serving Gateway (S-GW) through a Create Default Bearer Request message; sending, by the S-GW, the user static IP address, the information of the corresponding APN and an address of an S-GW serving the user to a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) corresponding to the APN which corresponds to the user static IP address; and establishing, by the P-GW, a default bearer according to the user static IP address, the information of the corresponding APN and the address of the S-GW serving the user. The present invention solves the packet data addressing problem of the user static IP address in a simple manner. The procedure is simple and convenient for use and has better applicability. |
| US08441994B2 |
Communication method and, terminal apparatus and communication system using the method
A control unit 18 transmits via a processing unit 16 through a wireless unit 12 a participation request to a registrar among multiple other terminal apparatuses forming an ad hoc network. The control unit 18 receives participation approval via the wireless unit 12 through the processing unit 16. The wireless unit 12 through the processing unit 16 all communicate by participating in the ad hoc network when the participation approval is received. The control unit 18 broadcasts a search signal for searching another terminal apparatus to which a role of approving participation of a new terminal apparatus in the ad hoc network is assigned, prior to the transmission of a participation request. |
| US08441992B2 |
Apparatus and method for supporting vertical handover on a wireless communication system
A broadband wireless communication system is provided. An apparatus for an information server (IS) comprises an event module for determining whether updating the network information of at least one access network (AN) is needed, a generator module for generating at least one Information_Get_Request packet for requesting the network information of the at least one AN when the updating is needed, a communication module for transmitting at least one Information_Get_Request packet to the at least one AN, and a database (DB) module for storing network information within an Information_Get_Response packet received from the at least one AN. |
| US08441990B2 |
Method and system for sharing reverse channel in trunk communication system
A method for sharing reverse channel in trunk communication system includes: step A, establishing a forward channel and one or more in a group: step B, mobile stations in idle state determine a sharing reverse channel that can be used based on information of the sharing reverse channel; step C, the mobile station transmits information through the sharing reverse channel. Furthermore a system for sharing reverse channel in trunk communication system includes: channel establishing means, for establishing a forward channel and one or more in a group; reverse channel determining means, for determining a sharing reverse channel that can be used by a mobile station based on the information of the sharing reverse channel; reverse channel information transmitting means, for transmitting information through the sharing reverse channel. This invention saves the air and physics sources of the system, and reduces the collision probability of the signaling of each mobile station in idle state. |
| US08441989B2 |
Open transaction central billing system
Various embodiments are disclosed for a services policy communication system and method. In some embodiments, an open transaction central billing system includes a communications device, in which the communications device is configured to execute a payment component to accept a billing request from a transaction server; and a transaction server, in which the transaction server is programmed with a set of credentials, and the communications device is in network communication with the transaction server. |
| US08441988B2 |
Method for providing home agent geographic redundancy via a service redundancy protocol
Methods and systems for providing redundancy in servicing packet data communications within wireless mobile data networks are disclosed. More particularly, the method and system provide a redundant Home Agent with the ability to assume the role of the primary Home Agent in the event of a primary Home Agent network, software, or other failure. The redundancy allows the Home Agent services to remain functional even in the event of a failure of one of the Home Agents in the redundant group, which may be composed of one or more Home Agents. The Home Agents can use a service redundancy protocol which is composed of messages that are sent between the redundant group of Home Agents. The messages allow the Home Agents to, for example, back up call session information, check on the status of one another, and share priority information. |
| US08441986B2 |
Method for partitioning cell identities according to cell type in wireless communication system and an apparatus therefor
A method of transmitting a cell type information, which is transmitted by a base station in a wireless communication system, is disclosed. The present invention includes broadcasting a first boundary point information (Z) between a cell identity of a public ABS (advanced base station) and a cell identity of a private ABS via an S-SFH SP3 (secondary-super frame header subpacket3), and broadcasting at least one second boundary point (K) information via an AAI-SCD (Advanced Air Interface_System Configuration Descriptor) message. In this case, the at least one second boundary point information (K) indicates a last index of cell identity corresponding to a specific ABS type. Further, an order of ABS types of the public ABS and an order of ABS types of the private ABS are pre-defined. |
| US08441984B2 |
Wireless device and method for efficiently paging idle-mode mobile stations in multicarrier systems
Embodiments of a mobile station and a method performed by a base station for transmitting a paging message to an idle-mode mobile station are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a multicarrier paging information (MC-PAG-Info) message is transmitted to indicate a time-slot and paging carrier for a subsequent transmission of a paging message to an idle-mode mobile station. The idle-mode mobile station may monitor the indicated paging carrier during the indicated time-slot of a paging listening interval for receipt of a paging message directed to the idle-mode mobile station. In some embodiments, the indicated time-slot and the paging carrier are determined by the idle-mode mobile station using a device identifier of the idle-mode mobile station and hash modulo parameters provided within the paging information message. |
| US08441981B2 |
Exploiting known rate matching information in blind decoding of downlink wireless data transmissions
In the processing of a data transmission received on wireless data channel HS-DSCH during HS-SCCH-less (HSL) operation according to 3GPP TS 25.214 V7.7.0, a situation is identified wherein redundancy version information corresponding to the received data transmission cannot be obtained from wireless control channel HS-SCCH. The redundancy version information is normally indicative of an HSL redundancy version that specifies derate matching for the received data transmission. In response to identification of the situation, derate matching is applied to the received data transmission according to an HSL redundancy version other than the HSL redundancy version that is specified by HSL for derate matching in the situation. |
| US08441979B2 |
Control apparatus to divide other communication apparatuses into multiple groups for slot allocated communication
A communication control apparatus that performs wireless communication with a plurality of communication apparatuses, the communication control apparatus comprises: a grouping unit adapted to group the plurality of communication apparatuses based on the relative positions of each of the plurality of communication apparatuses; a notification unit adapted to notify each of the plurality of communication apparatuses of the group to which that communication apparatus belongs and of a communication slot allocated to that group; and a transmission unit adapted to transmit transmission data at a predetermined timing. |
| US08441977B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for efficiently using radio resources in wireless communication system based on relay station (RS)
Methods and apparatuses for efficiently using radio resources in a wireless communication system based on a relay station are provided. An operating method of a relay station (RS) for efficiently using radio resources in a wireless communication system based on the RS. The method includes setting a call with a sending terminal; checking whether a receiving terminal of the sending terminal travels in the same RS cell, in a different RS cell of the same base station (BS) cell, or in a different cell of a neighbor BS; and checking a destination address of a data and relaying the data to the receiving terminal according to a result of the checking. |
| US08441976B2 |
Method of managing multimedia broadcast multicast service reception and related communication device
A method of managing multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) reception for a communication device in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method comprises the step of using a dedicated-type resource allocation to decode data of a MBMS subframe when a MBMS resource allocation and the dedicated-type resource allocation are received. The dedicated-type resource allocation is dedicated to the communication device and used for the MBMS subframe. |
| US08441975B2 |
Medium accessing mechanisms within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications
Medium accessing mechanisms within multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications. A multi-user super-frame (MU-SF), as controlled by a MU-SF owner, is used to govern the manner by which various wireless communication devices have access to the communication medium. When various wireless communication devices operate within a wireless communication system, communication medium access can be handled differently for wireless communication devices having different capabilities. Per the MU-SF, those having a first capability may get medium access in accordance with a first operational mode (e.g., carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA)), while those having a second capability may get medium access in accordance with a second operational mode (e.g., scheduled access). The respective durations for each of the first operational mode and the second operational mode within various MU-SFs need not be the same; the respective durations thereof may be adaptively modified based on any number considerations. |
| US08441973B2 |
Fast dormancy requests in communication systems
Methods and apparatus for operating a user equipment (UE) for a wireless communication system. A method includes determining, by the UE, whether the UE is in a battery-efficient state; if the UE is not in a battery-efficient state, configuring the UE to transmitting a signaling connection release indicator with a cause value; if the UE is in the battery-efficient state, determining whether the UE is in a high-mobility state; if the UE is in the high-mobility state and is in the battery-efficient state, enabling the UE to transmit the signaling connection release indicator with a cause value; and if the UE is not in the high-mobility state and is in the battery-efficient state, disabling the UE from transmitting the signaling connection release indicator with a cause value. |
| US08441972B2 |
WCDMA device and method for discontinuous reception for power saving in idle mode and flexible monitoring of neighboring cells
A WCDMA enabled user equipment device configured to have functions collectively or selectively idle to conserve power. A discontinuous receiver is used to detect and read network messages and report the messages to the host processor within the WCDMA enabled user equipment device. The host processor then activates functions previously powered down to receive incoming messages for the user of the WCDMA device. The discontinuous receiver is also used when the WCDMA device is active to read network messages, freeing a modem of the device to operate on user messaging; and therefore, enhancing user related performance. |
| US08441960B2 |
Method and system for timely delivery of multimedia content via a femtocell
Aspects of a method and system for timely delivery of multimedia content via a femtocell are provided. In this regard, a femtocell may receive data via an upstream path and transmit data via a downstream path. One of the upstream path and downstream path may comprise a cellular path and the other may comprise a non-cellular path. One or both of the upstream path and the downstream path may be audio video bridging (AVB) paths. Data may be stored in the femtocell based on timing characteristics of one or both of the upstream path and the downstream path. Data may be delivered to the femtocell utilizing best effort delivery and the data may be forwarded by the femtocell with guaranteed quality of service. Resources in the femtocell may be reserved and/or synchronized, utilizing AVB protocols, for communication of one or more data streams. |
| US08441958B2 |
Directed acyclic graph discovery and network prefix information distribution relative to a clusterhead in an ad hoc mobile network
Each mobile router in an ad hoc mobile network is configured for concurrently attaching to multiple parents advertising respective parent depths relative to a clusterhead of the ad hoc mobile network. The mobile router selects an advertised depth relative to the clusterhead based on adding a prescribed increment to a maximum one of the parent depths, enabling the mobile routers to form a directed acyclic graph relative to the clusterhead. Each mobile router sends to each of its parents a neighbor advertisement message specifying at least one reachable prefix, a corresponding cost for reaching the reachable prefix, and a corresponding sequence identifier that enables the parents to validate the neighbor advertisement message relative to stored router entries. Hence, mobile routers automatically can form a directed acylic graph relative to the clusterhead, and can distribute routing information with minimal overhead. |
| US08441957B2 |
Apparatus and method of remote PHY auto-negotiation
A communications network includes a management device and a remote device. The remote device includes a physical layer device (PHY) coupled to a link partner. An independent station manager of the remote device provides the bi-directional exchange of management information between the PHY and a serial-to-parallel (S/P) interface connecting the remote device and the management device. A station manager of the management device provides the bi-directional exchange of management information between the S/P interface and a Media Access Controller (MAC) of the management device. The independent station manager and the station manager transmit initiation messages, formatted according to a message template of an Auto-Negotiation (AN) routine of the S/P interface reserved for customization, to reserve an embedded management channel for the transfer of management information. Management information messages, formatted according to a message template of the AN routine, are subsequently exchanged, thereby providing Auto-Negotiation of the PHY. |
| US08441955B2 |
Determining mobile video quality of experience and impact of video transcoding
Video data packets transmitted through a wireless network are captured by a network monitoring system. Video data sessions are detected from the video data packets. Key parameters are identified within the video data packets, such as video bit rate, resent or failed video packets, and video session duration. A Quality of Experience (QoE) is determined for some or all users associated with the video sessions based upon the key parameters. A header extension is added to the video data packets by a transcoding system. The header extension includes data associated with original and transcoded video data packets. The network monitoring system monitors the header extension and evaluates the effect of video transcoding upon the overall QoE for users. The monitoring system provides feedback to a transcoding policy engine based upon the effect of transcoding upon QoE. |
| US08441954B2 |
Router and method for distinguishing real-time packets in the router
A router and method distinguishes real-time packets in the router. The router reads information of reference packets and a packet length of a test packet. A packet arrival rate of the test packet, an inter-arrival time standard deviation of the test packet, and a packet length standard deviation of the test packet are calculated according to the information of the reference packets. The router marks the test packet as the real-time packets in response to a determination that the packet length of the test packet falls in the allowable range, the packet arrival rate of the reference packets falls in the allowable range, the inter-arrival time standard deviation of the test packet falls in the allowable range, and the packet length standard deviation of the test packet falls in the allowable range. |
| US08441952B2 |
Dual-band wireless communication apparatus and method for channel allocation using the same
A dual-band wireless communication apparatus and a channel allocation method thereof, the channel allocation method of a dual-band wireless communication apparatus including a plurality of wireless communicators includes: receiving wireless environment information via at least one of the wireless communicators; changing, at a wireless communicator not allocated a channel among the wireless communicators, a frequency band according to a received signal strength; and scanning, at the wireless communicator not allocated the channel, channels in the changed frequency band and setting one of the scanned channels to a channel for communicating with an external device. Thus, the dual-band wireless communication apparatus can offer various wireless application services by minimizing interference caused when a plurality of wireless terminals operates within one wireless communication apparatus. |
| US08441951B2 |
Configuration measurement time slots for mobile terminals in a TDD system
The technology applies to a cellular radio network where each cell area is associated with a radio base station in which mobile terminals communicate with at least one of the base stations over a radio interface. The mobile terminals perform mobility-related measurements on downlink signals received from a corresponding neighbor cell during time slots configured for downlink transmission measurement. A configuration node receives input information, and based on that received input information, determines measurement time slot configuration information. The node provides the measurement time slot configuration information to the base stations so that the base stations may signal the measurement time slot configuration information to mobile terminals. |
| US08441950B2 |
Method and system for inter-system interference based radio control
User-networks having more than one type of access system are connected to networks having multi-access technology. Interference is measured between the connected, active access systems and the active systems are prioritized. A priority value is assigned to each of the active access systems based on the interference between systems. According to the assigned priority value, the access system with the highest value is enabled. Remaining systems are then compared with the enabled access system and an interference threshold. If the level of interference exceeds the threshold, the offending access system is disabled. If the threshold is not exceeded, the number of simultaneously operating access systems is compared to a predetermined number and the access systems below that number are then disabled. |
| US08441948B2 |
Communication control apparatus, wireless communication apparatus, communication control method, and wireless communication method
In a transmission bandwidth notification /analysis unit (107), IP packets including a transmission bandwidth request is analyzed based on IP packets received by reception interface units (101Rx, 103Rx) and a transmission bandwidth notified from a mobile node (300) is notified to a transmission path control unit (113), and a transmission bandwidth field included in the received IP packets is monitored and a time from when a transmission bandwidth request has been sent to the mobile node (300) till when an IP packet reflecting the transmission bandwidth arrives is measured as well. |
| US08441942B1 |
Method and apparatus for link level loop detection
A method and system of loop detection for improving network performance and data integrity over a communications network are disclosed. A process is capable of transmitting a diagnostic packet stream from a source object to a destination object. The diagnostic packet stream, in one embodiment, is an IEEE 802.1ag continuity check message and is transported to a destination object periodically across a communications network. Upon receipt of a returning packet stream from the destination object, the process broadcasts loop detection at a port level in response to the comparison between the returning packet stream and the diagnostic packet stream. |
| US08441940B2 |
Parallel packet processor with session active checker
Apparatus, processes, and computer readable storage media for processing received packets. A session memory, coupled to and shared by a plurality of packet processors, may store configuration and statistics information for a plurality of communication sessions. A session active memory may store session identifiers corresponding to packets currently being processed by the plurality of packet processors. A comparator may compare a session identifier extracted from a received packet with the stored session identifiers to determine if another packet belonging to the same session as the received packet is currently being processed. Forwarding logic may distribute received packets among the plurality of packet processors. In the case that another packet belonging to the same session as the received packet is currently being processed, the forwarding logic may wait until the processing of the another packet is complete before sending the received packet to one of the packet processors. |
| US08441931B2 |
Method and device for managing priority during the transmission of a message
Method of managing priority during the transmission of a message, in an interconnections network comprising at least one transmission agent which comprises at least one input and at least one output, each input comprising a means of storage organized as a queue of messages. A message priority is assigned during the creation of the message, and a queue priority equal to the maximum of the priorities of the messages of the queue is assigned to at least one queue of messages of an input. A link priority is assigned to a link linking an output of a first transmission agent to an input of a second transmission agent, equal to the maximum of the priorities of the queues of messages of the inputs of said first agent comprising a first message destined for that output of said first agent which is coupled to said link, and the priority of the link is transmitted to that input of said second agent which is coupled to the link. |
| US08441930B2 |
Estimating communication conditions
Embodiments are configured to provide communication features, including providing channel condition estimates for a communication path, such as packet loss, jitter, and/or available bandwidth, but are not so limited. In an embodiment, a method uses aspects of in-band data packets to provide channel condition estimates. In one embodiment, a system includes a bandwidth estimation component that operates to classify payload packets as part of performing capacity estimation and available bandwidth estimation operations. |
| US08441927B2 |
System and method for implementing periodic early discard in on-chip buffer memories of network elements
An advance is made over the prior art in accordance with the principles of the present invention that is directed to a new approach for a system and method for a buffer management scheme called Periodic Early Discard (PED). The invention builds on the observation that, in presence of TCP traffic, the length of a queue can be stabilized by selection of an appropriate frequency for packet dropping. For any combination of number of TCP connections and distribution of the respective RTT values, there exists an ideal packet drop frequency that prevents the queue from over-flowing or under-flowing. While the value of the ideal packet drop frequency may quickly change over time and is sensitive to the series of TCP connections affected by past packet losses, and most of all is impossible to compute inline, it is possible to approximate it with a margin of error that allows keeping the queue occupancy within a pre-defined range for extended periods of time. The PED scheme aims at tracking the (unknown) ideal packet drop frequency, adjusting the approximated value based on the evolution of the queue occupancy, with corrections of the approximated packet drop frequency that occur at a timescale that is comparable to the aggregate time constant of the set of TCP connections that traverse the queue. |
| US08441925B1 |
Pseudo-relative mode WRED/tail drop mechanism
A buffer memory can be configured to temporarily store data in a number of queues. A processor can be configured to measure a fullness of the buffer memory. The processor can be configured to adjust thresholds and drop profiles based on a measured global resource usage for a weighted random early detection (WRED) technique with less resources than a conventional. |
| US08441924B2 |
Redundant capability in a fiber optic network
In one embodiment, a system includes a first gateway router and second gateway router that are communicatively coupled to an optical line terminal. The system further includes an optical network terminal communicatively coupled to the optical line terminal, wherein the optical network terminal is configured to direct communications from the first gateway router to the second gateway router when the operation of the first gateway router meets a predetermined threshold. |
| US08441922B1 |
Method and system for congestion management in networks
In a network having a computing system interfacing with a storage system via a switch, an average transmit wait count value is compared with a first threshold value. The average transmit wait count value is updated when a switch port has a frame available for transmission but is unable to transmit the frame if a port of the storage system is unable to receive the frame or if another switch port is unable to receive the frame. A congestion message is generated for notifying a management module of congestion at the switch port when the average transmit wait count value reaches the first threshold value. Depending upon the characteristics of the congestion, a notification is sent to the computing system to either only reduce a rate of write operations to reduce congestion, or to reduce both the rate of write operations and a rate of read operations. |
| US08441921B2 |
System and method for ethernet protection switching in a provider backbone bridging traffic engineering domain
A method of providing protection switching on a backbone network includes configuring a service instance table for a first port of a first bridge. The service instance table includes a Virtual Local Access Network (VLAN) identifier entry for one or more service instances. The method also includes mapping data traffic received at the first bridge onto a first trunk by setting a VLAN identifier entry for a first service instance and transmitting data traffic to a second bridge on the first trunk in accordance with the mapping and monitoring the first trunk for faults by exchanging continuity check messages with the second bridge over the first trunk. The method additionally includes, upon detecting a fault, remapping data traffic for the first service instance by changing the VLAN identifier entry for the first service instance and transmitting data traffic to the second bridge in accordance with the remapping. |
| US08441918B2 |
System access and synchronization methods for MIMO OFDM communications systems and physical layer packet and preamble design
A method and apparatus are provided for performing acquisition, synchronization and cell selection within an MIMO-OFDM communication system. A coarse synchronization is performed to determine a searching window. A fine synchronization is then performed by measuring correlations between subsets of signal samples, whose first signal sample lies within the searching window, and known values. The correlations are performed in the frequency domain of the received signal. In a multiple-output OFDM system, each antenna of the OFDM transmitter has a unique known value. The known value is transmitted as pairs of consecutive pilot symbols, each pair of pilot symbols being transmitted at the same subset of sub-carrier frequencies within the OFDM frame. |
| US08441917B2 |
OFDM system and method employing OFDM symbols with known or information-containing prefixes
Systems and methods for transmitting and receiving OFDM symbols are provided which enable the otherwise wasted transmission time normally used as a prefix for each OFDM symbol to contain useful information. At the receiver, the received signal is processed to convert received OFDM symbols from a linear convolution with the channel to a cyclic convolution. |
| US08441913B2 |
Switching diversity in broadcast OFDM systems based on multiple receive antennas
Systems and methods are provided for enhancing signal quality at receivers in a wireless network. In one embodiment, an antenna is selected from a subset of antennas based on a signal quality parameter such as received signal power or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In another embodiment, multiple antennas are applied to independent signal processing paths for the respective antennas where output from the paths is then combined to enhance overall signal quality at the receiver. |
| US08441903B2 |
Optical disk playback device with prescan functionality for early detection of surface imperfections
An optical disk playback device comprises first and second lasers, an optical assembly, first and second optical detectors, and controller circuitry coupled to the optical detectors. The optical assembly is configured to direct incident light from the first and second lasers so as to form respective leading and trailing scanning spots on a surface of an optical disk, and is further configured to direct corresponding reflected light from the leading and trailing scanning spots on the surface of the optical disk to respective ones of the optical detectors. The controller circuitry is configured to identify a surface imperfection of the optical disk by processing the reflected light associated with the leading scanning spot prior to the trailing scanning spot reaching that surface imperfection. |
| US08441902B2 |
Optical information recording/reproducing device, optical information reproducing device, and optical information recording medium
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an optical information recording/reproducing device and the like that can suppress a decrease in a recording speed even where an optical information recording medium including multiple layers has eccentricity. The optical information recording/reproducing device records information, by treating a predefined area in a second layer corresponding to a position of a first layer at which a defect is detected, as a defect area. The optical information recording/reproducing device reproduces information, by treating a predefined area in the second layer corresponding to a position of the first layer at which a defect is registered, as a defect area. The radial distance of the defect area is preferably greater than a bonding error between the first and second layers. |
| US08441899B2 |
Method and apparatus for compensating periodic signal
An apparatus and a method for compensating periodic signal in an optical disc drive are described. The control apparatus includes an amplitude processing unit, a phase processing unit, a wave generator, a first switch module and a second switch module. The amplitude processing unit processes the amplitude of the input signal based on a reference signal for generating an amplitude signal. The phase processing unit processes the phase of the input signal based on the reference signal for generating a phase signal. The first switch module switches the amplitude signal to select one of the amplitude value and a predetermined amplitude value. The second switch module switches the phase signal to select one of the phase value and a predetermined phase value. The wave generator generates a compensated wave signal based on the selected amplitude value and the selected phase value, and outputs the compensated wave signal. |
| US08441896B2 |
Energy assisted magnetic recording head having laser integrated mounted to slider
A method and system for providing energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) heads are described. The method and system include providing a substrate, at least one EAMR transducer, an overcoat layer and at least one laser. The substrate has a leading edge and a substrate trailing edge. The EAMR transducer(s) reside in a device layer and on the substrate trailing edge. The overcoat layer includes a plurality of contacts. The device layer is between the overcoat layer and the substrate trailing edge. The laser(s) provide energy to the EAMR transducer. The overcoat layer is between the substrate trailing edge and the laser(s). The laser(s) are electrically coupled to at least a first portion of the contacts. The contacts provide thermal connection through the overcoat layer and the device layer. At least a second portion of the contacts is electrically insulated from the substrate. |
| US08441895B2 |
Thermally-assisted magnetic recording head with light detector in element-integration surface
A thermally-assisted magnetic recording head is provided, in which the light-source output can be adjusted according to its variation by environmental influences and over time. The head comprises: a light source; a write head element provided in a element-integration surface; an optical system provided in the element-integration surface and configured to guide a light emitted from the light source to the vicinity of one end of the write head element; and a light detector for monitoring the light-source output, provided in the element-integration surface and comprising a light-receiving surface covering an area directly above at least a portion of the optical system. This light detector with such a light-receiving surface can detect a leakage light emitted from the optical system as a monitoring light. Therefore, feedback adjustment of the light-source output can be realized to stabilize the intensity of light for thermal-assist applied to a magnetic recording medium. |
| US08441888B2 |
Write command and write data timing circuit and methods for timing the same
Circuits, memories, and methods for latching a write command and later provided write data including write command and write data timing circuits. One such timing circuit includes internal write command latch to latch an internal write command in response to write command latch signal. The internal write command latch releases the latched write command in response to the write command latch signal after a latency delay. The timing circuit further includes a write leveling flip-flop (FF) circuit and a write data register. One such method includes generating and latching an internal write command. The latched internal write command is released after a latency delay responsive to the memory clock signal. The internal write command is propagated over an internal write command path. Write data is captured and internal write command latched in response to a write clock signal. The captured write data is released to be written to memory. |
| US08441886B2 |
System and method for processing signals in high speed DRAM
A method is disclosed for operating a memory device, including providing a timing signal comprising a plurality of clock cycles, providing an activate signal, and providing a bank address signal. An activate command executes on every first duration of clock cycles, and the bank address signal is high for at least a portion of the first duration of clock cycles. In one embodiment, the first duration of the activate signal is at least four clock cycles, and the bank address signal is at least one clock cycle. A memory device having a row decoder and an active driver is also provided. |
| US08441883B2 |
Memory arrangement for accessing matrices
A memory arrangement is provided having a plurality of memory elements, the elements being associated with a memory space that can be addressed in a row and column fashion during a write or a read access. The memory arrangement further includes a first macro bank comprising a first plurality of memory cells comprising a first subset of the memory elements and a second macro bank comprising a second plurality of memory cells comprising a second subset of the memory elements. The memory arrangement further includes an address resolution stage for addressing the memory cells in the respective macro banks. The memory cells are arranged so that the memory space is partitioned into a plurality of non-overlapping basic matrices, whereby each basic matrix is mapped to a given macro bank and wherein the memory cells are arranged logically so that the memory space is partitioned into a plurality of non-overlapping logic matrices of a given size, each logic matrix being of a size equal or larger than a basic matrix. |
| US08441871B2 |
Ringback circuit for semiconductor memory device
A circuit for a semiconductor memory device includes: a filtering control signal generation unit configured to synchronize a seed signal activated in a pre-amble period of a data strobe signal with the data strobe signal and sequentially generate a plurality of filtering control signals in response to the seed signal; and a filtering signal output unit configured to generate a filtering signal for filtering the data strobe signal in response to the plurality of filtering control signals and a plurality of burst length (BL) control signals. |
| US08441867B2 |
Circuit and method for generating pumping voltage in semiconductor memory apparatus and semiconductor memory apparatus using the same
A circuit for generating a pumping voltage in a semiconductor memory apparatus includes a control signal generation block configured to generate a first control signal obtained by level-shifting a voltage level of a test signal to a first driving voltage level, a voltage application section configured to supply an external voltage to a first node in response to a first transmission signal, a first charge pump configured to raise a voltage level of the first node by a first predetermined level in response to an oscillator signal, and a first pumping voltage output section configured to select at least one of a first connection unit and a second connection unit in response to the first control signal, and to interconnect the first node with a second node using the selected connection unit when a second transmission signal is enabled, wherein a first pumping voltage is output through the second node. |
| US08441864B2 |
Self refresh circuit
A self refresh circuit includes a continuous output interrupting unit and a glitch removing unit. The continuous output interrupting unit is configured to receive a delay self refresh signal, transmit a pulse of an internal active signal as a first output active signal and interrupt the transmission of the pulse of the internal active signal during a first time period. The glitch removing unit is configured to generate and output a second output active signal when the first output active signal has a predetermined pulse width. |
| US08441859B2 |
Flash memory device and method of programming same
A flash memory device includes a memory cell array made up of memory cells arranged in rows and columns. A first page of data is programmed in selected memory cells of the memory cell array, and a second page of data is subsequently programmed in the selected memory cells. The first page of data is programmed using a program voltage having a first start value, and the second page of data is programmed using a program voltage having a second start value determined by a programming characteristic of the selected memory cells. |
| US08441858B2 |
Apparatus having a string of memory cells
Apparatus having a string of memory cells are useful in semiconductor memory. Some apparatus have circuitry configured to program memory cells of the string in a particular sequence. Some apparatus have circuitry configured to program a threshold voltage of a selected memory cell in the string to match a target voltage compensating, at least in part, for a voltage drop across any unselected memory cells in the string on a source side of the selected memory cell during a sensing operation. Some apparatus have circuitry configured to maintain a resistance presented by source-side unselected memory cells of the string the same between a program verify operation and a later read operation. |
| US08441855B2 |
Strings of memory cells having string select gates, memory devices incorporating such strings, and methods of accessing and forming the same
Strings of memory cells having a string select gate configured to selectively couple ends of a string to a data line and a source line concurrently, memory devices incorporating such strings and methods for accessing and forming such strings are provided. For example, non-volatile memory devices are disclosed that utilize vertical structure NAND strings of serially-connected non-volatile memory cells. One such string including two or more serially-connected non-volatile memory cells where each end of the string shares a string select gate with the other end of the string is disclosed. |
| US08441854B2 |
Nonvolatile memory apparatus capable of reducing current consumption and related driving method
Various exemplary embodiments of a nonvolatile memory apparatus are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, the memory apparatus may include: a page buffer; an even bit line connected to the page buffer; an odd bit line connected to the page buffer; an even memory cell string installed on the even bit line; an odd memory cell string installed on the odd bit line; and a bit line select unit configured to selectively generate a signal read path between the even bit line and the even memory cell string or between the odd bit line and the odd memory cell string. |
| US08441851B2 |
Semiconductor storage circuit
The present invention provides a semiconductor storage circuit that may suppress a data read characteristic from being deteriorated due to influence of characteristic change of a sense amplifier, in a multi-bit-type memory cell. The semiconductor storage circuit includes a memory cell array that has plural multi-bit-type memory cells, two multiplexers, and two sense amplifiers. The first multiplexer connects a main bit line connected to an R-side electrode of the even-numbered memory cell in a row direction to the first sense amplifier, and connects a main bit line connected to an L-side electrode of the odd-numbered memory cell to the second sense amplifier. The second multiplexer connects a main bit line connected to an L-side electrode of the even-numbered memory cell to the first sense amplifier, and connects a main bit line connected to an R-side electrode of the odd-numbered memory cell to the second sense amplifier. |
| US08441845B2 |
Semiconductor memory device and control method thereof
A semiconductor memory device substantially prevents a faulty operation from being generated in a read operation, and increases the operation reliability. The semiconductor memory device includes a cell array configured to include a memory element having a different resistance value in response to data, a sense-amp configured to sense and amplify the data, a global bit line configured to couple the sense-amp to a cell array, and a discharge unit configured to discharge the global bit line prior to execution of a read operation. |
| US08441844B2 |
Method for writing in a MRAM-based memory device with reduced power consumption
A method of writing in a memory device comprising a plurality of MRAM cells, each cell including a magnetic tunnel junction having a resistance that can be varied during a write operation when heated at a high threshold temperature; a plurality of word lines connecting cells along a row; and a plurality of bit lines connecting cells along a column; the method comprising supplying a bit line voltage to one of the bit lines and a word line voltage to one of the word lines for passing a heating current through the magnetic tunnel junction of a selected cell; said word line voltage is a word line overdrive voltage being higher than the core operating voltage of the cells such that the heating current has a magnitude that is high enough for heating the magnetic tunnel junction at the predetermined high threshold temperature. The memory device can be written with low power consumption. |
| US08441834B2 |
Resistive memory element sensing using averaging
A system for determining the logic state of a resistive memory cell element, for example an MRAM resistive cell element. The system includes a controlled voltage supply, an electronic charge reservoir, a current source, and a pulse counter. The controlled voltage supply is connected to the resistive memory cell element to maintain a constant voltage across the resistive element. The charge reservoir is connected to the voltage supply to provide a current through the resistive element. The current source is connected to the charge reservoir to repeatedly supply a pulse of current to recharge the reservoir upon depletion of electronic charge from the reservoir, and the pulse counter provides a count of the number of pulses supplied by the current source over a predetermined time. The count represents a logic state of the memory cell element. |
| US08441832B2 |
Semiconductor device and test method thereof
For example, to include plural data input/output terminals and a strobe terminal that are electrically connected in common by a test probe, a command address terminal that is connected to a test probe, and an output control circuit that performs a selecting operation of data output circuits based on a signal that is supplied to the command address terminal. According to the present invention, it is possible to perform a test that uses non-compressed actual data while allocating plural data input/output terminals to one determination circuit within a tester. With this configuration, it is possible to test a large number of semiconductor devices in parallel by using a limited number of determination circuits within the tester. |
| US08441829B2 |
Stable SRAM cell
SRAM cells and SRAM cell arrays are described. In one embodiment, an SRAM cell includes a first inverter and a second inverter cross-coupled with the first inverter to form a first data storage node and a complimentary second data storage node for latching a value. The SRAM cell further includes a first pass-gate transistor and a switch transistor. A first source/drain of the first pass-gate transistor is coupled to the first data storage node, and a second source/drain of the first pass-gate transistor is coupled to a first bit line. The first source/drain of the switch transistor is coupled to the gate of the first pass-gate transistor. |
| US08441825B2 |
H-bridge circuit having energy compensation circuit and controlling method thereof
The configurations of an H-bridge circuit and a controlling method thereof are provided in the present invention. The proposed circuit includes an H-bridge having a first and a second bridge arms, each of which has a middle point, and a bidirectional switch connected to the two middle points, a bootstrap circuit providing a bootstrap voltage, a driving circuit receiving the bootstrap voltage and driving the bidirectional switch, and an energy compensation circuit coupled to the H-bridge, the bootstrap circuit and the driving circuit, and providing a compensation energy to the bootstrap circuit. |
| US08441823B2 |
Rectifier circuit
Switches perform switching at a timing when a first phase voltage and a second phase voltage outputted from a three-phase voltage source have a phase difference of 90°. Then, a three-phase/two-phase conversion inductor outputs a pair of AC currents, and a rectification and a single-phase pulse-width modulation are performed on each of AC currents. Modulated currents obtained as a result of the rectification and the single-phase pulse-width modulation are synthesized, to generate an output current, which is supplied to a circuit in which a capacitor and a load are connected in parallel with each other. |
| US08441821B2 |
Circuits and methods for alternating current-to-direct current conversion
An AC-to-DC converter for converting an AC voltage to a DC voltage includes a first converter, a second converter, a sense circuit, a controller, and an enabling circuit. The first converter converts an AC voltage to a first DC voltage. The second converter converts the first DC voltage to a second DC voltage. The sense circuit coupled to the first and second converters provides a first sense signal indicative of the first DC voltage and a second sense signal indicative of the AC voltage. The controller coupled to the first and second converters controls the first and second DC voltages. The enabling circuit coupled to the sense circuit generates a control signal to the controller to disable both the first converter and the second converter by comparing the first sense signal to a first threshold voltage and comparing the second sense signal to a second threshold voltage. |
| US08441819B2 |
Power transfer devices, methods, and systems with crowbar switch shunting energy-transfer reactance
The present application discloses methods, circuits and systems for power conversion, using a universal multiport architecture. When a transient appears on the power input (which can be, for example, polyphase AC), the input and output switches are opened, and a crowbar switch shunts the inductance which is used for energy transfer. This prevents this inductance from creating an overvoltage when it is disconnected from outside lines. |
| US08441818B2 |
Method and device for optimizing a space vector pulse width modulation
In a method for optimizing a space vector pulse width modulation, a voltage is connected to a load, by combining discrete switching states of a plurality of switches to control the load, the load being switched to zero potential by two of the switching states. In the case the maximum degree of control is increased, during a pulse width modulation period, at least one of the switching states, that switches to zero potential, is omitted. |
| US08441814B2 |
Power supply having a voltage monitoring circuit
A blocking-oscillator-type converter circuit works with a transformer that has only one primary winding and one secondary winding. The transformer contains no reaction coupling winding for the blocking oscillator.The control voltage for the oscillator is derived from the primary voltage of the transformer, that is, during the free-running phase.Furthermore, a voltage monitoring circuit is provided that works independent of the oscillator, inhibiting the output voltage of the oscillator when the voltage on the output of the blocking-oscillator-type converter is too large.A current monitoring circuit works independent of the oscillator and the voltage monitoring circuit and inhibits the pulses for the power transistor when the current on the output side exceeds a specified amount. |
| US08441813B2 |
Maximize efficiency method for resonant converter with self-adjusting switching points
A maximize efficiency method for resonant converter with self-adjusting switching points is disclosed. The method is operated by a resonant converter, which comprises a transformer and a field effect transistor (FET). When the transistor is turned on, energy is stored in the transformer. When the transistor is turned off, a resonant signal is generated at a drain of the transistor. At this time, a suitable trigger time has to be found to turn on the transistor, so as to reduce switching power loss. The method measures the slope of the resonant signal at the trigger time. This is used as a reference to adjust the next cycle's trigger time. If the slope is negative at the time of trigger, a delta time is added to the trigger time in the next cycle, If the slope is positive, a delta time is subtracted from the trigger time for the next cycle. |
| US08441809B2 |
Microelectronic package containing silicon connecting region for high density interconnects, and method of manufacturing same
A microelectronic package comprises a substrate (110), a silicon patch (120) embedded in the substrate, a first interconnect structure (131) at a first location of the silicon patch and a second interconnect structure (132) at a second location of the silicon patch, and an electrically conductive line (150) in the silicon patch connecting the first interconnect structure and the second interconnect structure to each other. |
| US08441805B2 |
Circuit board mounting structure of compound circuit
A structure for mounting a compound circuit on a circuit board is provided. The compound circuit includes a high voltage circuit and a low voltage circuit whose supply voltages are different from each other. The structure includes: a main circuit board on which constituents of the low voltage circuit are mounted; and a hybrid IC which includes a sub circuit board on which at least a part of constituents of the high voltage circuit is mounted and a moisture preventing agent coating the sub circuit board, and is arranged over the main circuit board. Both an insulation distance between terminals provided on the main circuit board for connecting to the hybrid IC and an insulation distance between terminals provided on the hybrid IC for connecting to the main circuit board are larger than a minimum insulation distance between terminals provided on the constituents mounted on the sub circuit board. |
| US08441804B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
A semiconductor device and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. One embodiment provides an electrically conductive carrier. A semiconductor chip is placed over the carrier. An electrically insulating layer is applied over the carrier and the semiconductor chip. The electrically insulating layer has a first face facing the carrier and a second face opposite to the first face. A first through-hole is in the electrically insulating layer. Solder material is deposited in the first through-hole and on the second face of the electrically insulating layer. |
| US08441803B2 |
Retaining facility for printed circuit boards on curved surfaces
A retaining facility for clearance-free fixing of a printed circuit board onto a one-dimensional curved surface is provided. In the direction of curvature of the one-dimensional curved surface, a tensile or compressive force acts on the printed circuit board or on at least one first connection device connected to the latter, with the printed circuit board being bent and pressed onto the curved surface. In this way the printed circuit board is held solidly and with little vibration on the surface even when acted on by centrifugal forces. |
| US08441790B2 |
Electronic device housing as acoustic input device
There are provided systems, devices and methods for related to an electronic device housing having input functionality. Specifically, in one embodiment, the electronic device includes a housing and one or more acoustic transducers positioned within the housing each operative to generate an electrical signal in response to detecting a sound resulting from an impact with the housing. Additionally, the electronic device includes a microprocessor coupled to the one or more acoustic transducers and configured to receive the electrical signals generated by the one or more acoustic transducers. The microprocessor operative to interpret the generated electrical signals as input to the electronic device. |
| US08441784B2 |
Housing and an electronic device using the same
A housing includes a bottom shell, a support frame and protection blocks. The support frame is fixed on the bottom shell. The protection blocks are fixed between the bottom shell and the support frame. The support frame includes reinforcement side walls and receiving portions. The receiving portions are defined in the connecting portions of the adjoining reinforcement side walls. The protection blocks are received in the corresponding receiving portions. The bottom shell includes a bottom plate and four side plates extending from a periphery of the bottom plate. The support frame resists the four side plates. |
| US08441782B2 |
Wall-mounted computer work station
Computer workstation includes a mounting bracket for attachment to a wall, and a cabinet connected to the mounting bracket. A track, attached to the cabinet, is engaged with the mounting bracket to vertically guide the cabinet. A non-contacting sensor detects a computer operator. An input device tray is rotatably connected to the cabinet, and has i) an operating position that holds computer input device(s) in an input position and ii) a stowed position substantially preventing access. First electromagnet selectively retains the tray in the stowed position. Second electromagnet selectively retains the tray in the operating position. An electronic lock control panel accepts authentication input from the operator. An electronic lock control module, in a lockable compartment of the cabinet, is connected to the lock control panel and the sensor. The lock control module separately controls electric current flow through the electromagnets in response to authentication by the lock control module. |
| US08441779B2 |
Advertising apparatus with hook
A hook apparatus includes a front side and a back side. A hook extending from the front side is included for hanging objects. A shelter structure extends from the front side positioned around and apart from the hook. The shelter structure may serve as a second hook for hanging objects. A communications device extends from the body, at least a portion of which is above and spaced apart from the shelter structure. The back side of the hook apparatus is adapted to be secured to a surface. An interface adapter plate between the back side and the mounting surface may be provided to enable the securing. The communications device includes a display device that is either passive or capable of interactive communication of information. The apparatus may be operationally coupled to a remote server to alert vendors to deliver purchased products, services, and/or to provide emergency services to the user. |
| US08441778B1 |
Modular substation feeder assembly
A modular substation feeder assembly comprising a substantially rigid and collapsible support frame is presented. In particular, the support frame of the present invention comprises a plurality of at least two members disposed in a movable or removable relation to one another and structured to dispose the support frame between the collapsed position and into the operative expanded position. The feeder assembly comprises a support stand cooperatively structured to support or house a recloser or circuit breaker. When the support frame is disposed in the collapsed position, the support stand is oriented at least partially within a internal clearance zone which is defined as an area free of electrical components, including insulators, cross bars, etc. |
| US08441772B2 |
Substrate for electrostatic chuck and electrostatic chuck
An electrostatic chuck includes a metal base member and an insulating substrate having an opposite surface to an attraction surface joined onto the base member via an adhesive layer. In the substrate, an electrode layer to which a direct current voltage for attraction is applied is embedded in a portion of the substrate, close to the attraction surface. In addition, a plurality of independent RF electrode layers to which different radio frequencies for plasma control are fed, respectively, are embedded in portions of the substrate, at an opposite side of the first electrode layer to the attraction surface. The RF electrode layers are arranged separately in different layers which are not on an identical plane in such a manner as to partially overlap each other in a plan view. |
| US08441769B2 |
Power supplies
The present invention provides a power supply (200) comprising a ground terminal (110, 320), means (102, 104, 240, 242) for receiving and transmitting a telecommunications signal from/to at least one telecommunications device and means (100) for protecting the telecommunications device from a surge by shunting the surge to the ground terminal (110, 320). |
| US08441765B2 |
Electrostatic discharge protected device
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protected device includes a device (6) to be protected and an ESD protection circuit (4). It is determined that if an ESD pulse is applied to pad (2) a leakage current flows on path (14) through the device (6). This leakage current of the device to be protected (6) is used as a precursor trigger signal to trigger the ESD device (4). |
| US08441764B2 |
Quench propagation circuit for superconducting magnets
A quench propagation arrangement for a superconducting magnet comprising a plurality of series-connected superconducting coils, the arrangement comprising: a positive supply line connected to cathodes of first diodes, of which respective anodes are connected to each respective node of the series connection of superconducting coils; a negative supply line connected to anodes of second diodes, of which respective cathodes are connected to each respective node of the series connection of superconducting coils; a number of heaters, respectively thermally connected to each of the superconducting coils and electrically connected between the positive supply line and the negative supply line; and a voltage limiter connected between the positive supply line and the negative supply line, in parallel with the heaters. |
| US08441756B1 |
Method and system for providing an antiferromagnetically coupled writer
A method and system for fabricating a magnetic transducer are described. The magnetic transducer includes a pole and a nonmagnetic intermediate layer adjacent to the pole. The pole has a paddle and a pole tip including a plurality of sidewalls. The pole includes a first magnetic pole layer, at least one antiferromagnetic coupling (AFC) structure on the first magnetic pole layer, and a second magnetic pole layer on the AFC structure(s). At least a portion of the first magnetic pole layer resides on the sidewalls of the pole tip. The paddle has a paddle width in a track width direction. The pole tip has a pole tip width in a track width direction that is less than the paddle width. |
| US08441754B2 |
Servo pattern transfer
A servo master having a pattern capable of being magnetically transferred as a servo pattern to a magnetic recording medium, wherein the servo master is formed of a material having a magnetic anisotropic constant perpendicular to a surface of the magnetic recording medium. The magnetic transfer method can include preparing a servo master patterned with a servo pattern to be formed on a magnetic recording medium, and arranging the servo master on the magnetic recording medium and applying an external magnetic field to the servo master in a first direction perpendicular to a recording surface of the magnetic recording medium, and in a second direction parallel to the recording surface of the magnetic recording medium. |
| US08441750B1 |
Method and system for compensating for adjacent tracks during reading of data
A storage controller includes a device controller and a read data channel. The read data channel includes a decoder for decoding output of a detector, where the detector is for reading data requested from a storage medium by the device controller, and the storage medium has a plurality of tracks of data thereon. When the device controller requests data from a current track of data on the storage device, the detector reads an adjacent track of data, the decoder decodes data from the adjacent track of data, the detector reads data from the current track, and the decoder decodes the data read from the current track, based on the decoded and stored data from the adjacent track of data. A storage system includes a storage medium having a plurality of tracks of data thereon and a storage controller as described above. |
| US08441749B2 |
Shape memory alloy actuation apparatus
An SMA actuation apparatus comprises a camera lens element supported on a support structure by a plurality of flexures. An SMA wire at an acute angle to the movement axis and a biasing element are connected between the support structure and the movable element. A component of the force applied by the SMA wire perpendicular to the movement axis compresses the flexures causing them to apply a force to the movable element having a component along the movement axis in the same direction as the SMA wire. An end-stop limits the movement of the movable element, and the moment applied by the end-stop to the movable element about the center of stiffness is equal to the moment applied by the SMA wire about the center of stiffness at the point when the movable element loses contact with the end-stop on contraction of the SMA wire. |
| US08441742B2 |
Lens barrel and optical apparatus including the same
A lens barrel includes lens units movable in an optical axis direction, a driving unit including an annular actuator in which an optical axis serves as a rotation center, a first cam cylinder disposed inwardly of the annular actuator and including a circular cylindrical base portion and a large-diameter portion, a second cam cylinder configured to drive at least one of the lens units by rotating at an outer-peripheral side of the large-diameter portion, and a rotation transmitting portion provided at the large-diameter portion and transmitting rotation of the first cam cylinder to the second cam cylinder, wherein, in a state in which the length of the lens barrel is shortest, a portion of the second cam cylinder and the rotation transmitting portion overlap in the optical axis direction a lens unit holding frame that is closest to an object side. |
| US08441739B2 |
Zoom optical system, optical apparatus and method of manufacturing zoom optical system
A zoom optical system includes, in order from its object side along its optical axis, a first lens group G1 having a positive refracting power, a second lens group G2 having a negative refracting power, a third lens group G3 having a positive refracting power, and a fourth lens group G4 having a positive refracting power, wherein at least one of the first, second, third and fourth lens groups G1, G2, G3, G4 comprises a front group having a positive refracting power including at least two lenses and a rear group having a negative refracting power, and during zooming from the wide angle end state W to the telephoto end state T, the distance between the front group and the rear group does not change, and during focusing onto an object, the front group moves along the optical axis. |
| US08441738B2 |
Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus having the same
A zoom lens includes, in order from the object side to the image side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, and a rear group including one or more lens units. An aperture stop is included on the image side of the second lens unit, and the second lens unit and at least one of the lens units included in the rear group move during zooming. The Abbe number νdj1 and the partial dispersion ratio θgFj1 of a material of a refractive optical element j1 having a negative refractive power included in the second lens unit, the focal length fj1 of the refractive optical element j1, the focal length f2 of the second lens unit, and the anomalous partial dispersion ratio ΔθgFj1 of the refractive optical element j1 are set appropriately. |
| US08441734B2 |
Head-up display with optical combination providing protection against solar illumination
The general field of the invention is that of head-up display systems HUD, protected from solar illumination. An HUD includes at least one display, an optical system and at least one semi-reflecting plate called a combiner, said optical system and said combiner being arranged so that the image on the display is collimated, the display emitting in at least one first optical spectrum of first spectral width, the display being arranged so as to withstand illumination of a predetermined level. In the display according to the invention, the lateral chromatism of the optical system is sufficiently strong for the level of solar illumination received by the display to be always less than said predetermined level and said lateral chromatism is sufficiently weak for the dispersion of the first spectrum emitted by the display and seen by a user to be less than or equal to the resolution limit of the human eye. |
| US08441732B2 |
Whole beam image splitting system
The present invention comprises methods and apparatuses for causing a single imaging lens system to simultaneously form multiple high resolution images on multiple imaging sensor planes. The images are preferably substantially identical, with no parallax error, except for different light levels so that the multiple images are of sufficient quality and similarity that they may be compared and/or combined (typically pixel-by-pixel) to create a single instantaneous high dynamic range (HDR) image. The invention may be used to create high-resolution HDR snapshots of moving subjects, as well as high-resolution HDR moving pictures (e.g. cinematographic films, movies, or other video) in which the subject and/or camera is moving. Alternatively, the images are substantially identical, or substantially identical except for different focuses. |
| US08441731B2 |
System and apparatus for pixel matrix see-through display panels
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and apparatus directed toward using a contact lens and deflection optics to process display information and non-display information. In one embodiment of the invention, a display panel assembly is provided, comprising: a transparent substrate that permits light to pass through substantially undistorted; a two-dimensional display panel disposed on the transparent substrate, wherein the display panel comprises pixel elements sufficiently spaced with respect to each other to allow light to pass through the display panel assembly; and at least one filter disposed on at least one pixel element. The filter may comprise a bandpass filter that reduces bandwidths of emitted light from the pixel element, or a polarizer filter that limits polarity of emitted light from the pixel element. |
| US08441730B2 |
Non-attenuating light collimating articles for graphic arts
Various systems and methods are provided for non-attenuating light collimating articles. In one embodiment, among others, a phototool comprises a substrate; and a microstructured surface disposed on a first surface of the substrate, the microstructured surface comprising a plurality of light collimating articles. |
| US08441729B2 |
Optical arrangement, method of use, and method for determining a diffraction grating
An optical arrangement includes a light source which emits coherent light of a wavelength λ, and a diffraction grating which has a multiplicity of diffraction structures which follow one another periodically at the spacing of a grating period d and are arranged along a base surface, the individual diffraction structures respectively having a blaze flank and an antiblaze flank, the blaze flanks being arranged at an angle β and the antiblaze flanks being arranged at an angle α to the base surface, and respectively neighbouring blaze and antiblaze flanks enclosing an apex angle γ, and an incident light beam being arranged at a Littrow angle θL relative to a grating normal of the diffraction grating. The angle β of the blaze flanks to the base surface is selected as a function of the Littrow angle θL such that the diffraction efficiency is at least approximately maximal in one of the largest diffraction orders m, which still fulfils the condition (2((m+1)/m)−1)sin θL≧1, and for at least one polarization direction. |
| US08441726B2 |
Optically variable filter apparatus and filter characteristic control method thereof
Light from an optical fiber is incident on a frequency dispersion element. The frequency dispersion element disperses the incident light into light beams in different directions according to their frequencies and directs the dispersed light beams to a lens. The lens develops the incident light beams over an xy plane according to their frequencies in a strip-like form. A frequency selective element has pixels arranged in a frequency dispersion direction and brings pixels located at positions corresponding to the frequency to be selected into a reflective state. A light beam selected by the frequency selective element is emitted from an optical fiber through the same path. By changing reflection characteristics of the frequency selective element according to each pixel, optical filter characteristics can be desirably changed so as to achieve change of passband width and frequency shift. |
| US08441725B2 |
Optical image stabilizer and optical apparatus
The optical image stabilizer includes a shift member holding an image stabilizing element and being movable with respect to a center axis, a lock member disposed around the shift member and rotatable about the center axis between a lock position to limit movement of the shift member and an unlock position to release the limit of the movement of the shift member, and a base member including a supporting portion to rotatably support the lock member. The shift member includes protrusions at its plural circumferential places. The lock member includes, in its inner circumferential part, locking portions to receive contact of the protrusions at the lock position so as to limit the movement of the shift member. The supporting portion is formed so as to include plural openings allowing contact of the protrusions with the lock portions and so as to support the inner circumferential part of the lock member. |
| US08441716B2 |
Electro-optic displays, and color filters for use therein
A process for producing a color electro-optic display uses an electro-optic sub-assembly comprising an electro-optic layer and a light-transmissive electrically-conductive layer. This sub-assembly is laminated to a backplane comprising a plurality of electrodes with the electro-optic layer disposed between the backplane and the electrically-conductive layer. A flowable material is placed over the sub-assembly and a color filter array is placed over the electrically-conductive layer and aligned with the electrodes of the backplane to form the color electro-optic display. |
| US08441715B2 |
Electronic paper unit and method for fabricating electronic paper unit
An electronic paper unit including a flexible substrate, a thin film transistor layer, an electronic ink layer, a waterproof layer, and a sealant is provided. The thin film transistor layer is disposed on the flexible substrate. The electronic ink layer is disposed on a surface of the thin film transistor layer. The waterproof layer is disposed on the electronic ink layer. An edge surface of the waterproof layer and an edge surface of the electronic ink layer form a side wall where there is a first acute angle or a first obtuse angle between the side wall and the surface of the thin film transistor layer. The sealant is coated and covered on the side wall and the surface. A method for fabricating the electronic paper unit is also provided. |
| US08441714B2 |
Multi-color electrophoretic displays
A multi-color electrophoretic medium contains first, second and third species of particles, the particles having substantially non-overlapping electrophoretic mobilities and bring of three different colors. The particles are dispersed in a fluid having a fourth color. A method for driving such a display is also described. |
| US08441711B2 |
Electrophoretic display device and method of fabricating the same
A method of fabricating an electrophoretic display device includes forming a gate electrode, a gate line, a data line and a thin film transistor on a substrate having a display region, a non-display region at a periphery of the display region and a cut portion at an outer region of the non-display region; forming a passivation layer over the thin film transistor; forming a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor; forming an align mark in the cut portion; attaching an electrophoresis film onto the pixel electrode; forming a color filter layer on the base film using the align mark; wherein the step of forming the align mark is simultaneously performed with one of the step of forming the gate line, the step of forming the data line, and the step of forming the pixel electrode. |
| US08441690B2 |
Image processing apparatus and image processing method for processing screen-processed image
A multi-value code image generation part generates a multi-value code image by assigning first code information, which is obtained by encoding a dot pattern in a specific area, to each growth core. A multi-value code image affine transformation part performs affine transformation on the multi-value code image. A multi-value code image assignment part assigns second code information to each of the growth cores before the affine transformation according to the first code information of at least one growth core after the affine transformation, which growth core neighbors close to the growth core before the affine transformation. A dot pattern development part develops the dot pattern for the specific area at each of the growth cores before the affine transformation according to the second code information. |
| US08441678B2 |
Image forming apparatus and method
An image forming apparatus includes a communication interface unit to receives an XML paper specification (XPS) file, an XPS file processing unit which converts the XPS file into an output data corresponding to printing paper to print the XPS file using information regarding the height and width of a FixedPage in the XPS file, and a control unit which controls the image forming apparatus to print the output data. Accordingly, even when an XPS file does not include information regarding printing paper, a user can select and print printing paper suitable for the user's demand. |
| US08441677B2 |
Velocity calculation device, image forming apparatus, and computer readable storage medium
A velocity calculation device disclosed includes a computation section that, using as a reference period at each of plural predetermined points in time a individual period detected most recently by a detection section for one or another of plural generating sections, computes for each of the reference periods an average value of the reference period and one or more individual periods for other generating sections of the plural generating sections, detected separately prior to detecting the respective reference period for pulse signals nearest to the reference period; and a calculation section that calculates a velocity related to rotation of the rotation body based on the plural average values computed by the computation section, the number of individual generating sections, and a predetermined rotation angle. |
| US08441674B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus having a first image obtaining portion which obtains an image of a medium as a first image, a second image obtaining portion which can continuously obtain each image of a plurality of originals as a second image, and an image output section which outputs the image has: an input portion which inputs composition instruction information for instructing composition of first image and each second image; a control portion which makes said first and said second image obtaining portions operative when the composition instruction information is inputted; and an image composing portion which forms each composite image by composing each of the second images sequentially obtained by the second image obtaining portion to the first image obtained by said first image obtaining portion. The image output section outputs the composite images formed by the image composing portion. |
| US08441667B2 |
Printer driver and image forming apparatus
A printer driver and an image forming apparatus for appropriately combining additional information (such as a stamp) and an original to print the combined image data. The printer driver according to one embodiment of the present invention, relates to a printer driver connected to a printer for registering form data transmitted from the printer driver, and for combining the registered form data and contents data. The printer driver transmits transparent data as form data and a command indicating that the form data is transparent data, to the printer. |
| US08441663B2 |
Apparatus information obtaining apparatus, operation information providing apparatus, operation information providing method, operation information providing program and the recording medium
An apparatus information obtaining apparatus for obtaining apparatus information including model information of an image output apparatus from the image output apparatus via a network is disclosed. The apparatus information obtaining apparatus includes: an image output apparatus list database storing a list of image output apparatuses from which the apparatus information is obtained; an apparatus information send instruction sending unit for instructing the image output apparatus included in the image output apparatus list to send the apparatus information; and an apparatus information receiving unit for receiving the apparatus information from the image output apparatus that is instructed to send the apparatus information. |
| US08441656B2 |
PDL data processing device
A PDL data processing device may obtain PDL data including plural sets of drawing part data and a set of deletion part data. The set of the deletion part data may include timing information and data information indicating a target set of the drawing part data of a deletion target. The PDL data processing device may store the PDL data in a memory, create drawing data by utilizing the plural sets of the drawing part data, and delete from the memory the target set of the drawing part data indicated by the data information included in the set of the deletion part data, regardless of the timing indicated by the timing information included in the set of the deletion part data, at a specific timing which is subsequent to the timing indicated by the timing information. |
| US08441654B2 |
Cable label forming apparatus, tape printing apparatus, method of forming cable label for cable label forming apparatus and program
Provided herein is a cable label forming apparatus having an edit screen display device, a selection candidate display instructing device, and a selection candidate display device. The selection candidate display device displays a last selected candidate among the plurality of selection candidates on a priority basis in a normal edit screen when displaying the plurality of selection candidates is instructed, and displays a specific candidate among the plurality of selection candidates on a priority basis in a cable label forming edit screen when displaying the plurality of selection candidates is instructed. |
| US08441650B2 |
Grazing incidence interferometer
A grazing incidence interferometer includes: a beam splitting section configured to split a beam from a beam source section into a measuring beam emergent to a measurement surface and a reference beam serving as a measurement reference, and configured to cause the measuring beam to emerge obliquely to the measurement surface; a beam combining part configured to combine the reference beam and the measuring beam reflected at the measurement surface, to obtain a combined beam; a detecting section configured to detect a profile of the measurement surface based on an interference fringe formed by the combined beam; and an image inverting part configured to invert an orientation of a wave front of the measuring beam or the reference beam, the image inverting part being provided in an optical path of the measuring beam or the reference beam leading from the beam splitting section to the beam combining section. |
| US08441647B2 |
Apparatus for detecting foreign material in pouch type battery
An apparatus and method for detecting a foreign material within a pouch type battery by performing a light scattering method on a surface of a battery case are provided. The apparatus for detecting a foreign material within a pouch type battery includes: a light source irradiating linear light to a surface of a battery case at a pre-set incident angle; a sensor unit sensing light reflected from the battery case; and a foreign material detection unit detecting the presence or absence of a foreign material and the position of the foreign material within a battery through the reflected light sensed by the sensing unit. A foreign material within a battery can to be quickly and accurately detected. |
| US08441646B2 |
Sensor device and method for detecting the turbidity of wash liquor
A sensor device and method for detecting the turbidity of wash liquor. The sensor device includes an optical transmitter; an optical receiver, wherein the wash liquor to be tested flows between the transmitter and the receiver; and an electronic control and evaluation device to (a) carry out a reference measurement by means of the optical transmitter and receiver in order to determine a reference measured value; (b) carry out a turbidity measurement on the wash liquor to be measured by means of the optical transmitter and receiver in order to determine a test measured value; (c) relate the reference measured value to the test measured value; and (d) determine a characteristic value for a determined turbidity of the wash liquor therefrom and transmit the characteristic value as a measurement signal. The determination of the reference measured value and the test measured value include determining a gradient of the turbidity. |
| US08441641B1 |
Method for color measurement
The present disclosure is directed to a method for producing color spectral data of an article illuminated with lights emitted from one or more light emitting units, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). The method is useful for obtaining accurate color spectral data of the article and for matching the color data produced from another color measuring instrument. The method is particularly useful for obtaining color spectral data using light emitting diodes as light source for color measurement. This disclosure is also directed to a color measuring system using the method disclosed therein. |
| US08441639B2 |
Metrology systems and methods
Various metrology systems and methods are provided. |
| US08441637B2 |
Method and device of compensating scattering light signals generated by light interaction with particles or biological cells moving in fluid currents, such as in flow cytometry
A method and device of detecting a scattering light beam for tools measuring scattering signals produced by the interaction of solid microparticles, such as a biological cells moving with a high-intensity, focused light beam, capable of reducing the influence of the cell movement with respect to the optical axis of the illuminating beam, and improving the quality of the signal characterized by the recognition of the individual particle or cell, specifically in fluid currents, such as those used in flow cytometry are disclosed. |
| US08441631B2 |
Integrated device capable of performing chemical separation and light scattering
An integrated chemical separation device includes a single device body, a chemical separation unit configured to separate a chemical from a fluid, a Raman sensor substrate comprising one or more surfaces configured to be adsorbed by molecules of the chemical from the fluid, and a Raman scattering spectrometer unit that can emit a laser beam to illuminate the Raman sensor substrate and to detect the chemical from the light scattered from the Raman sensor substrate. The chemical separation unit, the Raman sensor substrate, and the Raman scattering spectrometer unit are held in or mounted to the single device body. |
| US08441629B2 |
Optical detection system for monitoring rtPCR reaction
An optical detection system for monitoring real-time PCR reactions in a plurality of sample chambers with a plurality of optical units is provided. Due to a relative movement, the optical units are relative to the sample chambers, color multiplexing and space multiplexing are combined for optically detecting pathogens in a sample during the process of the PCR and delivering a quantitative result. |
| US08441627B2 |
Surface inspection apparatus and surface inspection method
A surface inspection apparatus and a surface inspection method aim to securely deal with finer repetition pitch without shortening the wavelength of illumination light. To this end, the apparatus includes a unit illuminating repetitive pattern(s) formed on the substrate surface to be inspected with linearly polarized light, a unit setting to an oblique angle an angle between the direction of an intersecting line of a vibration plane of the linearly polarized light on the substrate surface and the repetition direction of repetitive pattern(s), a unit extracting a polarized light component perpendicular to the vibration plane of the linearly polarized light, from light having been emitted from the repetitive pattern(s) in a specular direction, and a unit detecting a defect of the repetitive pattern(s) according to the light intensity of the polarized light component. |
| US08441625B2 |
Laser beam profile measurement
A method for characterizing a laser beam profile is provided. The method includes disposing a laser target, moving the surface of the target, directing a laser to emit the beam at the surface, measuring a reflection from the surface as intensities, and averaging the intensities. The target's surface is disposed substantially perpendicular to an incident direction. The surface is reflective at a wavelength corresponding to the laser beam. The travel direction is substantially parallel to the surface. The laser beam travels along said incident direction to the surface. The reflection represents a plurality of intensities having a distribution of positions along the surface and during a temporal interval. The intensities are averaged over the temporal interval for each position of the distribution to produce an analyzed beam profile. Each position corresponds to a speed along the travel direction based on movement of the surface. The surface can be preferably spun along an axis substantially parallel to the incident beam. |
| US08441624B2 |
Dynamic characterization of particles with flow cytometry
Flow cytometry concepts are modified to enable dynamic characterizations of particles to be obtained using optical scattering data. Particles in flow will be introduced into a sample volume. Light scattered by a particle in the sample volume is collected and analyzed. What differentiates the concepts disclosed herein from conventional flow cytometry is the use of an acoustic source that is disposed to direct acoustic energy into the sample volume. As the particle passes through the sample volume, it responds to the acoustic energy, causing changes in the light scattered by the particle. Those changes, which are not measured during conventional flow cytometry, can be analyzed to determine additional physical properties of the particle. |
| US08441623B2 |
Method for detecting the diameter of a single crystal and single crystal pulling apparatus
The invention is a method for detecting the diameter of a single crystal grown by the Czochralski method, wherein the diameter of a single crystal is detected by both a camera and a load cell, the diameter detected by the camera is corrected based on a difference between the diameter detected by the camera and the diameter calculated by the load cell and a correction coefficient α obtained in advance according to a growth rate of the single crystal, and a value obtained by the correction is set as the diameter of the single crystal, and a single crystal pulling apparatus including both a camera and a load cell for detecting the diameter of a single crystal to be pulled upwardly. As a result, it is possible to improve the measurement accuracy of the diameter of a large-diameter, heavy crystal and achieve the enhancement of yields and a reduction in variations in quality. |
| US08441621B2 |
Observation device with range finder
The invention describes a long-range optical device (1) with two observation parts (3, 4) and a first observation beam path (11; 12) and a measurement beam path (25), in which the two observation parts (3,4) are arranged essentially parallel next to each other and spaced a predefinable distance (10) apart via at least one connection element (7). In a plan view of the device 1 with respect to a plane, in which the longitudinal axes (8, 9) of the observation parts (3, 4) are arranged, the sub-regions of the observation parts (3, 4) facing each other lie directly opposite each other over a length aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis (8, 9) of the observation parts (3, 4) of 20% to 90%, preferably 30% to 80% of a length (24) of the observation parts (3, 4). In addition, the observation beam path (11, 12) and the measurement beam path (25) are arranged outside the sub-regions (22, 23) of the observation parts (3, 4). |
| US08441615B2 |
System for isolating an exposure apparatus
A precision assembly (10) for fabricating a substrate (42) includes a precision fabrication apparatus (12), a pedestal assembly (14) and a suspension system (16). The precision fabrication apparatus (12) fabricates the substrate (42). The pedestal assembly (14) supports at least a portion of the fabrication apparatus (12). The suspension system (16) inhibits the transfer of motion between the mounting base (20) and the pedestal assembly (14). The suspension system (16) can include (i) a first boom (380) that is coupled to the mounting base (20) and the pedestal assembly (14), the first boom (380) being pivotable coupled to at least one of the mounting base (20) and the pedestal assembly (14), and (ii) a first resilient assembly (382) that is coupled between the mounting base (20) and at least one of the first boom (380) and the pedestal assembly (14). The first resilient assembly (382) can function similar to a zero length spring over an operational range of the resilient assembly (382). With this design, the components of the precision fabrication apparatus (12) are better protected by the suspension system (16) during a seismic disturbance. This reduces the likelihood of damage and misalignment of the components of the precision fabrication apparatus (12) during the seismic disturbance. |
| US08441614B2 |
Processing apparatus and device manufacturing method
A processing apparatus of the present invention processes for a wafer 9. The processing apparatus includes an XY stage 6 which includes a wafer chuck 8 which holds the wafer 9 and an elevating device which rises relative to the wafer chuck 8 to hold the wafer 9, and a wafer conveying robot hand 14 which conveys the wafer 9 from the XY stage 6 at a wafer transfer position 18. The XY stage 6 moves to change a direction at an angle between 30 degree and 120 degree via the wafer transfer position 18 in a state where the elevating device rises relative to the wafer chuck 8. The wafer conveying robot hand 14 has a shape which does not interfere with the XY stage 6 which moves to change the direction at the angle when the wafer conveying hand 14 is positioned at the wafer transfer position 18. |
| US08441612B2 |
LED light source, its manufacturing method, and LED-based photolithography apparatus and method
This invention provides a structurally-simple LED light source that is capable of preventing temperature variations among its multiple LED elements arranged densely on its LED-mounting substrate and also improving the heat release capabilities of the substrate by comprising an LED light source with: a plurality of LED elements each of which is formed by connecting an LED chip to electrodes formed on a ceramic substrate; an LED-mounting substrate on which to mount the plurality of LED elements, the LED-mounting substrate having through holes therein; and a heat sink plate for releasing heat from the LED-mounting substrate, wherein a thermally conductive resin is present between the LED-mounting substrate and the heat sink plate and wherein part of the thermally conductive resin protrudes from the through holes of the LED-mounting substrate and covers the top surface of the LED-mounting substrate on which the plurality of LED elements are mounted, so that the part of the thermally conductive resin is in contact with the plurality of LED elements. |
| US08441608B2 |
Liquid crystal display including heating element between bottom cover and backlight unit
A liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal display panel, a backlight unit providing light to the liquid crystal display panel, a bottom cover receiving the backlight unit, and at least one heat generation sheet disposed between the backlight unit and the bottom cover. The at least one heat generation sheet generates a radiant heat for increasing a surface temperature of the liquid crystal display panel. |
| US08441607B2 |
Display device with sufficient adhesive strength for sealing material
A display device which can ensure sufficient adhesive strength between each pair of substrates of a liquid crystal display panel and a sealing material includes: a first substrate having a predetermined integrated circuit; a second substrate on one surface of the first substrate in an overlapping manner; and an adhesive material between the first substrate and the second substrate that has an annular planar shape. The adhesive material adheres the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein an outer periphery of the adhesive material includes a zone which includes a plurality of first portions passing substantially the same position as an outer periphery of the surface of the first substrate and a plurality of second portions each connected with the two neighboring first portions and having a center portion thereof in a peripheral direction retracted toward an inner peripheral side of the adhesive material. |
| US08441594B2 |
Liquid crystal display device having improved end reinforcing structure of a chassis surrounding a mold frame
A liquid crystal display device has an improved end reinforcing structure of a chassis. The liquid crystal display device comprises: a liquid crystal panel for realizing an image; a backlight unit for irradiating a backlight on the liquid crystal panel; a mold frame for storing the backlight unit; a first chassis for supporting the mold frame and including a hemming processor which is bent at an end of the first chassis so as to have a double thickness; and a reinforcing member installed so that the thickness of the hemming processor is increased. Accordingly, the intensity of the end of the first chassis may be increased, thereby guaranteeing strong durability against an external shock. |
| US08441593B2 |
Receiving container and display device having the same, and method thereof
A receiving container includes a frame member and a first reinforcing member. The frame member is formed of a plastic material. The frame member includes a bottom part of which a center portion is opened and sidewalls respectively extending from peripheral edges sides of the bottom part. The first reinforcing member is separably disposed internally within at least one of the sidewalls, and disposed substantially parallel to a length direction of the at least one of the sidewalls, the first reinforcing member reinforcing a strength of the at least one of the sidewalls. |
| US08441591B2 |
Pixel array substrate
A pixel array substrate includes a pixel region and a circuit region adjacent to the pixel region. A plurality of display pixel units are disposed in the pixel region and a plurality of dummy pixel units are disposed in the circuit region. Each of the dummy pixel units includes a data line, a scan line, a plurality of switching elements and a plurality of pixel electrodes. The switching elements are electrically connected to the scan line and data line. The pixel electrodes are electrically connected to the switching elements. Particularly, electrostatic currents in the pixel region can be dissipated by the dummy pixel units in the circuit region. The dummy pixel units preserve the continuity of electricity in the pixel array substrate and function as an inner short ring. Therefore, the area of the circuit region on the pixel array substrate is larger. |
| US08441583B2 |
Thin touch panel
A thin touch panel includes a transparent substrate with a black bordering around the inner surface of the transparent substrate. A plurality of metal connecting structures, metal guiding lines, transparent insulating structures and a transparent sensing layer are formed on the inner surface, so that the transparent substrate not only provides a touch surface, but also has the touch sensing ability, to decrease the manufacture material and increase the transmittance of the touch panel. Besides, the manufacture of the thin touch panel may not use any optical adhesive to decrease the manufacture cost and improve the yield. Further, the thin touch panel may satisfy the trend of thin design. |
| US08441580B2 |
Method and system for scanning a frequency channel in digital television
One embodiment sets forth a method of scanning a frequency channel, which includes receiving a radio-frequency signal in a selected frequency channel, performing a carrier recovery process, and evaluating a control signal generated during the carrier recovery process to determine the presence of program content in the selected frequency channel. |
| US08441578B2 |
Slicer level calculator
A slicer level calculator including a signal detector, a moving average calculator, a sync-tip voltage sample circuit, a blanking voltage sample circuit, a slicer level calculator, and a rear-end processor is disclosed. The signal detector determines whether an input video signal satisfies a low signal to noise ratio (SNR) criterion. If so, the first signal detector further enables a low SNR control signal. The moving average calculator obtains a moving average voltage level of the input video signal. The sync-tip voltage sample circuit, the blanking voltage sample circuit and the slicer level calculator obtain a sync-tip voltage level, a blanking voltage level, and a slicer voltage level, respectively. The rear-end processor selectively executes low-pass filtering operation on the slicer voltage level in response to the low SNR control signal. |
| US08441577B2 |
Apparatus, systems and methods for synchronization of a video stream and an audio stream
Systems and methods are operable to synchronize presentation between video streams and separately received audio streams. An exemplary embodiment receives a first media content stream at a media device, wherein the first media content stream comprises at least a video stream portion; receives a second media content stream at the media device, wherein the second media content stream comprises at least an audio stream portion; delays the audio stream portion of the second media content stream by a duration corresponding to at least one synchronization time delay; communicates the video stream portion of the first media content stream to a visual display device; and communicates the delayed audio stream portion of the second media content stream to an audio presentation device, wherein a visual scene of the video stream portion of the first media content stream is substantially synchronized with sounds of the audio stream portion of the second media content stream. |
| US08441572B2 |
Imaging device
To produce a subject's image on an imager as accurately as possible, a technique that is effectively applicable to the process of assembling an optical system is provided.An imaging device includes: an imager; a plate member, to which the imager is attached; and a holding member configured to hold the plate member. The plate member has a first portion, through which at least one fixing hole has been cut, and a second portion, to which the imager is attached and through which at least one adjusting hole has been cut. The plate member is held by the holding member using a number of fastening members to be introduced through the at least one fixing hole and the at least one adjusting hole. When the first portion is fixed on the holding member, the fastening member that is introduced through the at least one adjusting hole adjusts the relative position of the second portion to the holding member. |
| US08441569B2 |
Reproducing apparatus, image data reproducing method, program, and storage medium
A reproducing apparatus, an image data reproducing method, a program, and a storage medium each detects an attitude state of the reproducing apparatus, extracts a part of an area of image data obtained by an image pickup device, and reproduces the part of the area of the extracted image data. According to the detection result, the part of the area of the image data is changed to another part of the area and rotation processing of another part of the area is performed, thereby reproducing the another part of the area which was subjected to the rotation processing. |
| US08441568B2 |
Image apparatus prioritizing displayed attribute information for recognized people
An imaging apparatus includes a storage unit configured to store attribute information about a person and information about a priority of the person with the attribute information associated with the information about a priority, an imaging unit configured to capture a subject to generate image data, and a display unit configured to display attribute information of a person included in an image represented by the image data generated by the imaging unit. When displaying plural pieces of attribute information for a plurality of people with the plurality pieces of attribute information being overlapped, the display unit displays attribute information of a person having a higher priority above attribute information of a person having a lower priority. |
| US08441566B2 |
Image sensing apparatus and imaging system
An image sensing apparatus comprises: a pixel array in which a plurality of pixels are arrayed in a row direction and column direction; a selection unit configured to select a row of the pixel array; and a readout unit configured to read out signals from the pixels of the row selected by the selection unit, wherein, when the readout unit reads out signals from the pixels of not all rows but some rows in the pixel array, the selection unit resets the pixels of rows in adjacent regions adjacent to readout rows from which signals are read out, and the pixel array includes rows, in which the pixels are not reset by the selection unit, in regions other than the readout rows and the adjacent regions. |
| US08441564B2 |
Solid-state imaging apparatus
In the solid-state imaging apparatus, the carrier holding portion is arranged at a position in a first direction from a photoelectric conversion portion, a floating diffusion region is arranged at a position in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction from the carrier holding portion with a transfer portion sandwiched between the floating diffusion region and the carrier holding portion, the carrier holding portion included in the first pixel is arranged between the photoelectric conversion portion included in the first pixel and the photoelectric conversion portion included in the second pixel, the carrier holding portion included in the first pixel is covered with a light shielding portion, and the light shielding portion extends over a part of each of the photoelectric conversion portions included in the first and second pixels. |
| US08441555B2 |
Image capturing apparatus with electronic zoom and recording size setting, and control method and program therefor
An image recording apparatus for recording an image captured by use of electronic zoom, comprises an electronic-zoom setting unit configured to set a zoom magnification when using the electronic zoom, a recording-mode selection unit configured to select at least either a non-compression format or a compression format as a recording mode in recording the captured image, a recording-size setting unit configured to set a recording size in each recording mode, and a control unit configured to, when the zoom magnification is set to a magnification at which an image is enlarged, control a recording size in the non-compression format to be larger than the recording size set by the recording-size setting unit. |
| US08441553B2 |
Imager for composing characters on an image
An imager is provided having an image-capturing device, a voice detector, a voice recognition device and a composer. The image-capturing device captures a subject image and outputs an image. The voice detector detects ambient sound. The voice recognition device converts the ambient sound to characters. The composer composes the characters into the image. |
| US08441552B2 |
Photographing apparatus with improved white balance correction and method and recording medium
A photographing apparatus and method and a recording medium, the photographing apparatus including: an exposure control value calculator for calculating a first exposure control value for a first image obtained by performing non-flash photographing and a second exposure control value for a second image by performing flash photographing based on light received from a subject; a photographing unit for acquiring the first image by performing photographing based on the first exposure control value and acquiring the second image by performing photographing based on the second exposure control value; an exposure control value difference calculator for calculating an exposure control value difference that is a difference between the first exposure control value and the second exposure control value; and a subject brightness calculator for calculating a first subject brightness of the first image and calculating a second subject brightness of the second image. |
| US08441550B2 |
Imaging device program and method for preventing the generation of flicker
A video camera includes an imager. An imager outputs an object scene image produced on an imaging surface. A detector detects a plurality of luminance change amounts respectively corresponding to a plurality of timings based on the object scene image outputted from the imager. A determiner determines generation/non-generation of a flicker by referring to a difference between a sine wave depicted along a time axis and the plurality of luminance change amounts detected by the detector. A first adjuster adjusts an angular frequency of the sine wave to a frequency corresponding to a drive system of the imager. A second adjuster adjusts an initial phase and an amplitude of the sine wave based on the plurality of luminance change amounts detected by the detector. |
| US08441548B1 |
Facial image quality assessment
An example method includes capturing, by a camera of a mobile computing device, an image, determining whether the image includes a representation of at least a portion of a face, and, when the image includes the representation of at least the portion of the face, analyzing characteristics of the image. The characteristics include at least one of a tonal distribution of the image that is associated with a darkness-based mapping of a plurality of pixels of the image, and a plurality of spatial frequencies of the image that are associated with a visual transition between adjacent pixels of the image. The method further includes classifying, by the mobile computing device, a quality of the image based at least in part on the analyzed characteristics of the image. |
| US08441545B2 |
Image capturing apparatus and control method therefor having pixel signals for focus detection and pixel signals for image recording
An image capturing apparatus includes an image sensor 104 in which at least part of pixels arranged in two dimensions are configured as focus detection pixels with divided-pupil, a memory control circuit 113 configured to read out from a memory position information for the focus detection pixels 401, 402 stored in the memory, and a correction circuit 110 configured to identify positions of the focus detection pixels 401, 402 in the image sensor 104 based on the position information for the focus detection pixels 401, 402 and to correct a defective focus detection pixel signal using defect-free focus detection pixel signals. |
| US08441541B2 |
Control apparatus and control method therefor
A control apparatus which controls a capturing device so as to obtain a plurality of captured images including an entire region of an object by capturing the object by a plurality of times while changing a capturing direction of the capturing device, the apparatus comprises: a derivation unit configured to derive a corrected capturing range when at least one of lens aberration correction and perspective correction which are based on a position and the capturing direction of the capturing device with respect to the object is applied to a capturing range obtained upon capturing the object by the capturing device; and a determination unit configured to determine a plurality of capturing ranges which cover the entire region of the object so that two corrected capturing ranges corresponding to two adjacent capturing ranges, respectively, overlap each other. |
| US08441540B2 |
Apparatus and methods for controlling image sensors
A computer-implemented method for controlling an image sensor includes loading an image file having data sets associated with multiple image sensors respectively, identifying the image sensor if identification data included in one of the data sets matches to the image sensor, and configuring the image sensor according to configuration data included in the data set matching to the image sensor. The identification data indicates an identity of the image sensor. The configuration data indicates operation parameters of the image sensor. |
| US08441536B2 |
Vehicle periphery displaying apparatus
A vehicle periphery displaying apparatus for a vehicle is disclosed. The apparatus includes: an imaging device for capturing a periphery image; a storage medium for storing history data comprising one of the periphery image and information on an object-in-periphery, the storage medium pre-storing a vehicle image; a display screen having a real-time displaying part for displaying thereon the periphery image with distortion of the periphery image being uncorrected, and a history displaying part for displaying thereon the vehicle image and a history image being produced based on the history data; and a drawing section configured to superimposingly draw the vehicle image and the history image provided with the distortion that the periphery image has, such that the object-in-periphery shown in the history image is continuously connected to that shown in the periphery image. |
| US08441533B2 |
Two-way communication system with integral camera lens
A bi-directional communication system is provided for mounting to a partition (e.g., a glass partition or a partition formed of a bullet-resistive material). The system is a self-contained system and is formed of several parts that mount together to form the assembled system. The system is not only a two-way, hands-free audio system that includes working audio components that deliver high-quality audio communication between people separated by the partition (i.e., a security or isolation barrier) but also the system provides high-quality video communication. The video communication is provided by a micro video camera that can be disposed on either or both sides of the partition. |
| US08441531B2 |
Video inspection method for inspecting welds, structural beams, and underdecks of marine vessels and like structures
A method for inspecting a marine vessel underdeck utilizes a video camera such as a digital video camera with a magnifying or telephoto lens. The method produces a magnified image on a monitor for viewing by an inspector that appears to be no more than about 24 inches (61 cm) away. The method includes the step of filming the underdeck of a distance of about 40-70 feet (12-21 m). The lens provides a focal length of between about 15 feet (4.6 m) and 150 feet (46 m). Thus the method is conducted at a workable focal range of between about 15 feet (4.6 m) and 150 feet (46 m). The lens preferably has a focal length of between 30 feet (9 m) and 75 feet (23 m). The method includes the step of scanning the suspect area of the underdeck of a speed of about 1 inch (2.54 cm) per second to three feet (91.4 cm) per second. The preferred method contemplates scanning of the suspect area of a rate of between about 0.5-1 foot (15.2-30.5 cm) per second. The digital video can be focused on a particular area for about 15-30 seconds to create a loop for vetting. |
| US08441521B2 |
Method and apparatus for determining view of stereoscopic image for stereo synchronization
Provided is a method and apparatus for determining stereo views of a stereoscopic image. The method includes: selecting a pair of first and second images from a pair of frames of the stereoscopic image, the pair of frames including a base view image and an additional view image. The method further includes determining which of the first image and the second image is the base view image and which of the first image and the second image is the additional view image based on a parallax between the pair of first and second images. |
| US08441520B2 |
Primary and auxiliary image capture devcies for image processing and related methods
Disclosed herein are primary and auxiliary image capture devices for image processing and related methods. According to an aspect, a method may include using primary and auxiliary image capture devices to perform image processing. The method may include using the primary image capture device to capture a first image of a scene, the first image having a first quality characteristic. Further, the method may include using the auxiliary image capture device to capture a second image of the scene. The second image may have a second quality characteristic. The second quality characteristic may be of lower quality than the first quality characteristic. The method may also include adjusting at least one parameter of one of the captured images to create a plurality of adjusted images for one of approximating and matching the first quality characteristic. Further, the method may include utilizing the adjusted images for image processing. |
| US08441512B2 |
Optical scanner and image forming apparatus addressing uneven birefringence distribution of a scanning lens
An optical scanner includes a light source, a deflector and a scanning optical system. The scanning optical system includes a first optical system including at least one resin scanning lens, and a second optical system between the target surface and one resin scanning lens. The second optical system includes at least one of a folding mirror(s) and a glass sheet(s), wherein m1+g2=m2+g1 is satisfied wherein m1 and g1 are respectively number of the folding mirror(s) and number of the glass sheet(s) to which the first ray has a shorter optical path than the second ray does, m2 and g2 are respectively number of the folding mirror(s) and number of the glass sheet(s) to which the first ray has a longer optical path than the second ray does. |
| US08441511B2 |
Surface-emitting laser element including dielectric film selectively provided to control reflectance in emission region, surface-emitting laser array, optical scanner device, and image forming apparatus
A disclosed surface-emitting laser element includes a substrate, multiple semiconductor layers stacked on the substrate including a resonator structure including an active layer, a semiconductor multilayer mirror on the resonator structure, and a confined structure where a current passage region is enclosed by at least an oxide generated by oxidation of part of a selective oxidation layer containing aluminum, an electrode provided around an emission region, and a dielectric film provided in a peripheral portion within the emission region and outside a central portion of the emission region to make a reflectance of the peripheral portion lower than that of the central portion. The dielectric film is arranged such that a reflectance of a high-order transverse mode in a second direction is higher than that in a first direction, and a width of the current passage region in the first direction is greater than that in the second direction. |
| US08441507B2 |
Exposure device, image forming apparatus, and image forming unit
The present invention provides an annular exposure device, including: plural light emitting members that are provided two-dimensionally along an outer circumferential surface of the annular exposure device, the annular exposure device rotating when the annular exposure device contacts a surface of an image holding member. |
| US08441506B2 |
Liquid crystal display and method for initializing field programmable gate array
The present disclosure relates to a liquid crystal display device including a field programmable gate array (or “FPGA”) and a method for initializing the FPGA in stable. The present disclosure suggests a liquid crystal display device comprising: a liquid crystal display panel including a plurality of data lines and a plurality of gate lines crossing each other; a backlight unit configured to radiate backlight to the liquid crystal display panel; a backlight driving circuit configured to turn on and off light sources of the backlight unit according to a backlight dimming data; a data driving circuit configured to convert digital video data into positive and negative data voltages and to supply the positive and the negative data voltages to the plurality of data line; a gate driving circuit configured to supply a gate pulse to the plurality of gate line sequentially; a field programmable gate array configured to set circuit configurations of a built-in gate array logic part according to a gate array connection data downloaded from a non-volatile memory in order to modulated an input video data and to generate the backlight dimming data; and a timing controller configured to control operating timings of the data driving circuit and the gate driving circuit. |
| US08441505B2 |
System and method of driving a liquid crystal display
A driver unit comprises a latch circuit for holding digital image data in a voltage state, a digital-to-analog converter, and a voltage compensator circuit for raising the analog display voltage. The digital-to-analog converter can access content of the digital image data from the voltage state in the latch circuit, and convert the digital image data into analog display signals. In other embodiments, a method of driving a liquid crystal display comprises storing digital image data in a latch circuit under a voltage state, accessing a content of the digital image data from the voltage state held in the latch circuit, selecting a reference voltage according to the content of the digital image data for converting the digital image data into analog display signals, and raising the analog display voltage for obtaining a driving voltage. |
| US08441500B2 |
Method and system for processing image files
A system for processing image files includes a palette module, an image file disposal module, and an image file rebuild module. The palette module defines a plurality of colors. The image file disposal module processes a RGB image, and acquiring RGB values of all pixels of the RGB image. The image file rebuild module converts the RGB image to a new image displayed by the plurality of colors defined by the palette module. |
| US08441497B1 |
Interpolation of vertex attributes in a graphics processor
Vertex data can be accessed for a graphics primitive. The vertex data includes homogeneous coordinates for each vertex of the primitive. The homogeneous coordinates can be used to determine perspective-correct barycentric coordinates that are normalized by the area of the primitive. The normalized perspective-correct barycentric coordinates can be used to determine an interpolated value of an attribute for the pixel. These operations can be performed using adders and multipliers implemented in hardware. |
| US08441495B1 |
Compression tag state interlock
Systems and methods for determining a compression tag state prior to memory client arbitration may reduce the latency for memory accesses. A compression tag is associated with each portion of a surface stored in memory and indicates whether or not the data stored in each portion is compressed or not. A client uses the compression tags to construct memory access requests and the size of each request is based on whether or not the portion of the surface to be accessed is compressed or not. When multiple clients access the same surface the compression tag reads are interlocked with the pending memory access requests to ensure that the compression tags provided to each client are accurate. This mechanism allows for memory bandwidth optimizations including reordering memory access requests for efficient access. |
| US08441494B2 |
Method and system for copying a framebuffer for transmission to a remote display
Remote desktop servers include a display encoder that maintains a secondary framebuffer that contains display data to be encoded and transmitted to a remote client display. The display encoder submits requests to update the display data in the secondary framebuffer to a video adapter driver that has access to a primary framebuffer whose display data is updated according to drawing commands received from applications running on the remote desktop servers. The video adapter driver utilizes a spatial data structure to track changes made to the display data located in regions of the primary framebuffer and copies the display data in those regions of the primary framebuffer to corresponding regions in the secondary framebuffer. |
| US08441488B2 |
Media action script acceleration apparatus, system and method
Exemplary apparatus, method, and system embodiments provide for processing an action script for a graphical image for visual display. An exemplary apparatus comprises: a first memory; first circuitry configured to convert a plurality of descriptive elements of the action script into a plurality of operational codes; and second circuitry configured to execute the plurality of operational codes using corresponding data stored in the first memory to generate pixel data for the graphical image. Exemplary embodiments may further include third circuitry configured to parse the action script into the plurality of descriptive elements and the corresponding data, and fourth circuitry configured to extract data from the action script and to store the extracted data in the first memory as a plurality of control words having the corresponding data in predetermined fields. |
| US08441486B2 |
Position tracking in a virtual world
Positions of avatars in a virtual world may be communicated to clients using multiple bitcode resolutions to minimize required communication bandwidth between a virtual world server and virtual world clients, thereby allowing transmission of all avatars' positions to every other player. Lower resolution bitcodes may be based on a lower resolution grid overlaid on the virtual world, whereas higher resolution bitcodes may be based on a higher resolution grid overlaid on the virtual world. In one example, a virtual world server may determine the bitcode resolution to use based on a distance between an avatar to which the position information is to be sent and other avatars in the virtual world. Resolution may include spatial resolution, where nearer avatars' locations are provided with higher resolution bitcodes, or temporal resolution, where the transmission frequency of position information is greater for nearer avatars. Position information in a transmission stream may further be condensed by using run length encoding. |
| US08441485B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating video animation
The examples of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for generating a video animation, and the method and apparatus relate to the animation field. The method includes: receiving a command sent by a user, determining an action corresponding to the command according to the command, and determining the total number of frames corresponding to the action and a motion coefficient of each frame; calculating an offset of each control point in each frame according to the motion coefficient of each frame, and generating a video animation according to the offset of each control point in each frame and the total number of frames. An apparatus for generating a video animation is also provided. |
| US08441483B2 |
Image generating device, image generating method, information recording medium, and program
A bullet-mark information memory unit (250) stores bullet hole information containing a normal map defining a recess of a bullet hole. An original image drawing unit (261) draws an original image containing an object having undergone lighting. A synthesizing unit (262) synthesizes a bullet hole to which a normal map is applied with a hit location of the drawn object. A compensation value calculating unit (263) calculates a compensation value based on a relationship between a normal line of the object and a light source direction. A brightness value calculating unit (264) calculates a brightness value based on a relationship between a normal line direction of a bullet through a normal map and a light source direction, and a relationship with the calculated compensation value. A shading unit (265) uses the calculated brightness value and performs shading which changes a tone of the object at a synthesis position. |
| US08441481B2 |
Method and apparatus for segmenting an image in order to locate a part thereof
A method is disclosed to automatically segment 3D and higher-dimensional images into two subsets without user intervention, with no topological restriction on the solution, and in such a way that the solution is an optimal in a precisely defined optimization criterion, including an exactly defined degree of smoothness. A minimum-cut algorithm is used on a graph devised so that the optimization criterion translates into the minimization of the graph cut. The minimum cut thus found is interpreted as the segmentation with desired property. |
| US08441479B2 |
Three dimensional data processing device and method, three dimensional image generating device, navigation device, and computer-readable medium containing three-dimensional data processing program
A three-dimensional data processing device includes a bounding volume generating unit for generating a bounding volume of a solid body using stereographic data of the solid body, a view volume setting unit for setting a view volume based on a set viewpoint, and a culling processing unit for determining whether or not to draw the solid body within the view volume using the generated bounding volume. The bounding volume generating unit obtains bottom plane data of the solid body from the stereographic data, obtains an outer quadrangular frame that encloses a bottom plane of the solid body defined by the bottom plane data, obtains an inner quadrangular frame inscribed on the outer quadrangular frame, determines bounding volume geometry data using the inner quadrangular frame as a reference plane, and generates the bounding volume of the solid body from the bounding volume geometry data. |
| US08441477B2 |
Apparatus and method of enhancing ray tracing speed
A method and an apparatus of enhancing a ray tracing speed. The method of enhancing a ray tracing speed may group a secondary ray based on a direction of the secondary ray in a 3D space, and may perform packet tracing based on the grouped secondary ray. |
| US08441474B2 |
Method and system for setting display resolution
A computing system with a graphical windowing server displaying to a display, and a method for setting the resolution of a display to which a computing device displays. The method comprises running a graphical windowing server with a digital connection enabled between the display and a graphics adapter for the display, querying the display with the digital connection for display modes supported by the display, receiving returned mode data, the mode data being indicative of one or more display modes supported by the display, shutting down the graphical windowing server, composing a modeline for the display according to the returned mode data and a desired resolution, running the graphical windowing server with the digital connection disabled and the modeline, and loading a graphics specification corresponding to the resolution indicated by the modeline. |
| US08441472B2 |
Method of driving display panel
Provided is a method of driving a display panel having a charge trap device and an organic light emitting diode (OLED). The charge trap device includes a nanocrystal layer. The nanocrystal layer includes nanocrystals, which are crystallized and dispersed, and a barrier layer, which buries the nanocrystals. When a program voltage is applied, charges are trapped in the nanocrystals, and the OLED emits light at a predetermined luminance with the application of a read voltage. Data signals are sequentially applied to all pixels of the display panel to express desired grayscales. The pixels of the display panel receive the read voltage and emit light at the same time. |
| US08441471B2 |
Light source device and display device including the same
A light source device with an improved contrast ratio between a bright portion and a dark portion of a displayed image and a display divide including the light source device. In order to change a reflectance of a portion of a reflection sheet 110, 111 with gradation in response to light and dark of portions of an image displayed on a display panel 201, a control mechanism 202 arranged to control the display panel 201 is provided. A first storing mechanism 104 and a second storing mechanism 105 arranged to store signals generated by the control mechanism 202, a calculation mechanism 103 arranged to calculate reflectances of portions of the reflection sheet 110, 111, a third storing mechanism 106 arranged to store the reflectances calculated by the calculation mechanism 103, and a reflectance control mechanism 107 arranged to control the reflection sheet 110, 111 based on the reflectances are provided. |
| US08441470B2 |
Color sensor unit for use in display device, color measuring device for use in display device, display system incorporated with color sensor unit, and display calibration method
In a color sensor unit for use in a display device, a color measuring device for use in a display device, a display system and a display calibration method of the invention, a CPU is operable to calculate a luminance value or a chromaticity value substantially equivalent to that to be obtained by a measuring device having a light receiving angle smaller than a light receiving angle of a sensor, by correcting a luminance value or a chromaticity value measured by the sensor based on gradation information from the display device. |
| US08441465B2 |
Apparatus comprising an optically transparent sheet and related methods
An apparatus includes an optically transparent sheet having an electrically conductive layer, an electrode element, and electro-vibration circuitry configured to provide a time-varying voltage signal across the electrically conductive layer and the electrode element so as to cause a user to experience electro-vibration in a first body part of the user when the first body part is moved across an exterior surface of the optically transparent sheet while a second body part of the user is in contact with the electrode element. |
| US08441463B2 |
Hand-held device with touchscreen and digital tactile pixels
A mobile electronic device has a touch screen display, a processor operably coupled to the touch screen display, and a network interface coupled to the processor. An array of one or more tactile pixels is located on the display or proximate the display along at least one edge of the touch screen display. Each of the tactile pixels in the array includes an actuatable portion coupled to an actuator. The actuatable portion is actuatable by the actuator in response to execution of one or more instructions by the processor. A tactile feel of the actuatable portion changes as a result of actuation of the actuatable portion by the actuator. This abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. |
| US08441461B2 |
Touch panel and method of detecting press operation position thereof
In a touch panel, upper conductive layers on a bottom surface of an upper substrate and lower conductive layers on a top surface of a lower substrate are formed in belt shapes and extend in directions intersecting each other. End portions of the upper conductive layers are connected by an upper resistive layer, and end portions of the lower conductive layers are connected by a lower resistive layer. Then, a voltage is applied between ends of the lower resistive layer and the upper resistive layer sequentially, and voltages at the end portions of the upper resistive layer and the lower resistive layer are detected. Pressed positions can be detected with such a simple configuration. |
| US08441456B2 |
Touch display substrate and touch screen display apparatus having the same
A touch display substrate comprises a base substrate, a plurality of pixel portions, a sensing element portion and a sensing line portion. The pixel portions can be arranged in at least one pixel column and at least one pixel row on the base substrate, and may include a pixel electrode. The sensing element portion may be disposed in a first column between a first pixel column and a second pixel column, and senses a touch. The sensing line portion may be disposed in a second column between adjacent pixel columns and coupled to the sensing element portion, and the second column is different from the first column. The sensing line portion may be disposed between pixel columns different from the pixel columns where the sensing element portion is disposed so that an aperture ratio of the touch screen display apparatus may be enhanced. |
| US08441450B2 |
Movable track pad with added functionality
An input device is disclosed. The input device includes a movable touch-sensitive track pad capable of detecting an object in close proximity thereto so as to generate a tracking control signal. The input device also includes a movement indicator capable of detecting the movements of the movable track pad so as to generate one or more other control signals (e.g., button signals). The control signals can be used to perform actions in an electronic device operatively coupled to the input device. |
| US08441444B2 |
System and method for providing directional tactile sensations
An interface device providing haptic feedback to a user is in communication with a host computer. The device includes a housing, at least one sensor for detecting user input, and an actuator assembly. The actuator assembly includes a grounded flexure suspension coupled to an inertial mass which moves when the actuator assembly is energized to cause inertial sensations. The inertial mass includes a pole piece surrounding a magnet, and a grounded coil between magnet and pole piece causes the motion of the inertial mass when current is flowed therethrough. Another embodiment provides directional haptic feedback to a user and includes at least two actuator assemblies oriented such that the inertial masses oscillate substantially orthogonally, and can be controlled to output the inertial sensations approximately along a single axis having a desired orientation. |
| US08441442B2 |
Storage medium with stored code, method, apparatus, and/or system providing gesture recognition including determination of user input movement direction
An acceleration data acquisition means obtains acceleration data repeatedly. An acceleration determination means determines whether an acceleration represented by the acceleration data acquired by the acceleration data acquisition means is an acceleration at the time of accelerating, which is applied when a housing is moved and accelerated in a predetermined direction, or an acceleration at the time of decelerating, which is applied when the housing is moved and decelerated in the predetermined direction. A moving direction calculation means calculates a direction in which the housing is moved, by using the acceleration at the time of decelerating determined by the acceleration determination means. A processing means performs a predetermined process based on the moving direction calculated by using the moving direction calculation means. |
| US08441439B2 |
Modifying a value based on a user's directional motions independent of location of input relative to a display
A method for changing a value displayed on a screen is provided. In response to receiving a user input indicating motion in a particular direction, changing the value independent of where the position of a cursor is on the screen. The value being changed may comprise of a series of segments, and each segment value can be changed individually. In addition, a different user input device that does not indicate motion in a particular direction may be used to change segment values and to select other segment values. Methods for automatically formatting a segmented values and calculating a base time rate based on two different frame rates are also provided. |
| US08441432B2 |
Display cell structure and electrode protecting layer compositions
The invention is directed to compositions of display cell structure and electrode protecting layers for improving the performance of display devices. The composition comprises a polar oligomeric or polymeric material having a glass transition temperature below about 100° C., and the resulting display cells or electrode protecting layer have an average crosslinking density of below about 1 crosslink point per 80 Dalton molecular weight. |
| US08441429B2 |
Clock generation circuit, light source control circuit, and display device
A PLL as a clock generation circuit that generates a PWM clock based on a reference clock, which PWM clock is used for controlling, in a pulse width modulation method, a lamp on time and a lamp off time of a light source illuminating a liquid crystal panel by synchronizing with a video signal that performs display in a set period on the liquid crystal panel, includes a configuration that generates a PWM clock that can maintain a fixed ratio of the lamp on time to the lamp off time within one period even if the set period is changed, by changing a pulse interval of the reference clock in conjunction with the change in the set period. |
| US08441424B2 |
Liquid crystal display device and method of driving the same
A driver circuit for an LCD display includes; a gate line; a data line crossing the gate line; a feed TFT connected to the gate line; a feed control line connected to the feed TFT to switch on the feed TFT; and a feed signal line connected to the feed TFT to supply a feed signal to the gate line. |
| US08441422B2 |
Light sensitive display with object detection calibration
A system comprising a stack of layers configured to display an image and including multiple elements configured to sense light. The system is configured to obtain a first reference image based on output from the multiple elements in a dark lighting condition associated with the system, and calibrate object detection based on output from the multiple elements using the obtained reference image. Additionally, a system comprising a display having a stack of layers configured to display an image and including a first and second set of elements. Each of the elements in the first set is configured to sense light, and each of the elements in the second set is configured to sense a dark current. The system is configured to perform object detection based on output from the elements in the first set, and calibrate the object detection based on output from the elements in the second set. |
| US08441420B2 |
Organic electroluminescent display device having plurality of driving transistors and plurality of anodes or cathodes per pixel
An organic electroluminescent (EL) display device having a plurality of pixel circuits formed at crossing points of a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines is provided. Each pixel circuit includes at least two driving transistors connected to a first power voltage line, the at least two driving transistors receiving a data signal through at least one of the data lines and outputting a driving current corresponding to the data signal; and an organic light emitting diode having at least two first electrodes respectively connected to the at least two driving transistors and emitting a light corresponding to the driving current. The organic light emitting diode has the at least two first electrodes and a common second electrode per pixel in order to prevent the whole pixel from not operating due to a short circuit occurring between one of the first electrodes and the second electrode. |
| US08441419B2 |
Display apparatus, display data processing device, and display data processing method
A display apparatus includes: an edge processing section extracting an edge component of a display data signal; a display data signal processing section changing the display data signal according to a level conversion signal and adding the edge component thereto; a level conversion signal generating section changing the level conversion signal according to the display data signal and a signal output from the display data signal processing section; and a display section performing a display operation according to the signal output from the display data processing section. |
| US08441416B2 |
Active matrix electroluminescent display apparatus
Provided is an active matrix electroluminescent display apparatus in which a short circuit between a power line and data line in adjacent sub-pixels can be substantially prevented. The active matrix electroluminescent display apparatus includes: a power line; a first transistor positioned on a side of the power line and connected to the power line; a second transistor positioned on the other side of the power line and connected to the power line; and electroluminescent devices respectively connected to the first transistor and the second transistor. |
| US08441414B2 |
Luminance enhancement structure with Moiré reducing design
The present invention is directed to luminance enhancement structure for reflective display devices. The structure not only can enhance the brightness of a display device, but also can reduce the Moiré effect of the display device. The present invention is also directed to a display device comprising an array of microcups and a luminance enhancement structure. |
| US08441411B2 |
Integrated electronic device and methods of making the same
An integrated electronic device, and its method of manufacture, are provided. The integrated electronic device can include an electronic assembly, such as an active RFID assembly, that is electrically coupled to a thin printed flexible electrochemical cell. In one example, the electronic assembly and the electrochemical battery are provided on a single substrate. In one example method of manufacture, the entire cell to be made on a printing press to integrate the battery directly with the electronic assembly. |
| US08441404B2 |
Feed networks for slot antennas in electronic devices
Electronic devices and antennas for electronic devices are provided. The antennas may have ground plane elements with dielectric-filled openings. The dielectric-filled openings may be configured to form one or more rectangular slots. The antennas may be fed using transmission lines having first and second conductors. The first conductor of a given transmission line may be coupled to the ground plane element on one side of the slots. The second conductor of the transmission line may be coupled to a planar conductive element. The planar conductive element may couple to the ground plane element on the other side of the slots. The slots may be separated by a portion of the ground plane element. The planar conductive element may bridge at least one of the slots and may overlap the portion of the ground plane element that separates the slots without electrically contacting that portion of the ground plane element. |
| US08441397B2 |
Monostatic multibeam radar sensor device for a motor vehicle
A monostatic multibeam radar sensor device for a motor vehicle, including a directional characteristic of an antenna unit having at least one transceiving channel and at least one receiving channel, and including a mixer system, which has an at least approximately isolating mixer for at least one of the receiving channels. The at least approximately isolating mixer includes a Gilbert cell mixer, which, due to a non-ideal isolation between an input of the local oscillator signal and the corresponding receiving channel, emits a transmission power via this receiving channel, using an overcoupling signal, the transmission power influencing the directional characteristic of the antenna unit and the directional characteristic being switchable by controlling the phase position of the overcoupling signal. |
| US08441386B2 |
Method to reduce voltage swing at comparator input of successive-approximations-register analog-to-digital converters
A SAR ADC includes a DAC including a first set of capacitors each having a first end connected to a common node, and a second end, and a first set of switches each connecting the second end of a respective one of the capacitors to a first reference voltage. The SAR ADC further includes a second set of capacitors each having a first end connected to the common node and a second end that receives an input to be converted when the common node is connected to ground. The SAR ADC further includes a second set of switches that selectively connect the second end of a first capacitor of the second set of capacitors to ground when the input is disconnected from the second ends of the second set of capacitors and when the common node is disconnected from ground during a first of a plurality of successive approximations. |
| US08441385B2 |
Power digital to analog converter
A digital to analog converter having a plurality of power dividers interconnected into a binary tree configuration, each one having an input and a pair of electrically isolated outputs for dividing power of an input signal at the input equally between the pair of outputs. A plurality of amplifiers is coupled between one of the pair of outputs of the one of the power dividers in one stage of the tree and the input of one of the power dividers in a succeeding stage of the tree. A power combiner is coupled between outputs of the amplifiers in a last one of the stages and an output of the analog to digital converter. |
| US08441383B1 |
Photonic digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) based on RSOAs
The present invention is directed to a photonic digital-to-analog converter (pDAC) system. The system may include a mode locked laser, an optical splitter connected to the laser, and a plurality of reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers connected to the splitter. The mode locked laser transmits a digital optical pulse train to the splitter. The splitter splits an optical pulse of the digital pulse train into multiple optical pulses and provides the multiple optical pulses to the amplifiers via a plurality of optical paths, at least two of the optical paths having different path lengths. The amplifiers amplify the multiple optical pulses and provide the amplified multiple optical pulses to the splitter. The splitter outputs an analog optical pulse train derived from the amplified multiple optical pulses. The system provides for faster sampling rate and lower jitter than Electrical Digital-to-Analog converter (eDAC) systems. |
| US08441382B2 |
Current steering DAC with switched cascode output current source/sink
A current-steering digital-to-analog converter may include a plurality of current cells. Each current cell may comprise a dual bias switched cascode output current source/sink, a bias source, complementary bias switching elements coupled between the bias source and the bias inputs of the switched cascode output current source/sink, and complementary switching signals coupled to the control inputs of the complementary bias switching element. |
| US08441376B1 |
System, module, and method for presenting surface symbology on an aircraft display unit
A present novel and non-trivial system, module, and method for presenting surface symbology on an aircraft display unit are disclosed. Symbology image data representative of an image depicting takeoff distance symbology is generated by a symbology generator based upon flight management data and navigation reference data provided by a flight management data source and the navigation reference data source, respectively. The takeoff distance symbology comprises a far end and a near end, where the location of the far end corresponds to a location of the end of the assigned runway, and the location of the near end is dependent upon the location of the far end, the direction of the runway opposite of the assigned runway, and the takeoff distance. The takeoff distance symbology may be presented as a superimposition against an image of the assigned runway presented on the screen of the display unit. |
| US08441371B2 |
Method and mechanism for assisted diagnosis and maintenance of health monitoring system
The invention relates to a system and method of a health monitoring network which automates detection of faulty or failed sensors using realt-time fault checking on a dynamically registered sensor data stream. The monitoring system and sensor network can provide a one-touch system to notify users when a sensor requires attention, without prior knowledge of the operational characteristics, installation method or configuration of sensors in the network. The network uses a decision engine to assist in maintenance according to a profile based on individual preferences and capabilities. |
| US08441368B2 |
Radiation guide for a detector, scattered radiation detector
A surface mountable radiation guide for a radiation path between a measurement volume (1) and an electro-optical component has a first radiation interface in a radiation path towards the measurement volume, a third radiation interface in a radiation path towards the electro-optical component, and a reflecting portion forming a first radiation path between the first and the third radiation interface, said first radiation path providing a focus region at the measurement volume. |
| US08441362B2 |
Moisture detection label, moisture detection device, moisture detection method, power shutoff method, and electronics device
Provided is a moisture detection device including: a moisture detection label that has at least a pair of detection terminals and a pattern, the detection terminals being provided on a base material with an insulated front surface, the pattern being provided on the surface of the base material and formed between the detection terminals with water-dispersible and conductive paint; and detection circuit which detects an electrical connection state between the detection terminals. |
| US08441360B2 |
Search and rescue using ultraviolet radiation
A system includes an ultraviolet c-band radiation detector to enable detection of radiation during search and rescue operations, at least a portion of the radiation including ultraviolet c-band radiation, and a stimulus generator configured to generate a stimulus in response to detected ultraviolet c-band radiation. Further embodiments may include multiple synchronized ultraviolet c-band detectors to enhance system sensitivity and facilitate detection of relatively weak radiation sources, relatively distant sources, and/or radiation scattered about an environment. |
| US08441355B2 |
Product and electronic tag assembly
A host article and electronic tag assembly includes an article portion of rubber-based material composition. The electronic device and antenna attach to or are embedded within the article portion. The antenna is constructed to be flexible and at least partially composed of a flexible conductive material such as conductive rubber. The flexible antenna conductive material is selected to provide material composition properties substantially equivalent to the rubber-based article portion, whereby rendering the antenna mechanically compatible for incorporation into the article portion. A change in compression within the rubber-based article portion changes compression forces exerted from the article portion on the antenna arms which, in turn, results in a detectable change in signal strength from the tag. The antenna may further be configured and positioned within the article portion to change transmission characteristics responsive to a change of air pressure in an ambient adjacent air mass within the article, and thereby function as an air pressure sensor. |
| US08441353B2 |
Methods, systems and articles of manufacture for monitoring subjects within a facility
A monitoring system includes a plurality of display devices located throughout a facility, and a data server in communication with the display devices. Each subject within the facility has an information tag attached thereto that contains subject identification information. A plurality of information tag readers in communication with the data server are located throughout the facility. Each information tag reader is configured to activate and read subject identification information from an information tag of a subject who comes within a predetermined distance of the reader. If the reader is located near a display device, the data server displays subject information for the identified subject on the display device. Displayed subject information includes identification information for of a subject and one or more coded icons adjacent to the identification information, wherein each coded icon provides information about a respective subject attribute. |
| US08441352B2 |
Personal security backpack and method
A personal security backpack and method of use include a portable container having a first compartment and a second compartment, the second compartment having an audible alarm siren window for transmission of an audible siren; a strap attached to the portable container; and an alarm system responsive to at least one activation signal, the alarm system includes an alarm system circuit removably disposed in the second compartment; an audible alarm siren operably connected to the alarm system circuit and responsive to the activation signal to generate the audible siren; and a microphone operably connected to the alarm system circuit, the microphone being responsive to the activation signal, responsive to a user voice, and selectively unresponsive to the audible siren to generate a voice signal. |
| US08441351B2 |
System and method for tracking shopping behaviors
The present invention provides a system and method for tracking an interrogator relay unit disposed on a shopping cart within a store. The method comprises emitting an RF interrogation signal using the IRU; receiving, at the IRU, location data from an RFID tag in response to the RF interrogation signal; transmitting the location data, an identification information of the IRU, and timestamp data to a remote server using the IRU; and generating a behavior report using the transmitted location data, the identification information, and the timestamp data. |
| US08441347B2 |
System, method and apparatus for energizing vehicle brake lights
The present invention provides system, method and apparatus for energizing one or more brake lights on a vehicle without an operator of the vehicle applying a brake of the vehicle by determining an acceleration of the vehicle, energizing the brake lights on the vehicle whenever the acceleration of the vehicle equals or exceeds a braking threshold, and deenergizing the brake lights on the vehicle whenever: (a) the brake lights are energized, (b) the acceleration of the vehicle is less than the braking threshold, (c) a specified period of time has elapsed since the brake lights were energized, and (d) the operator is not applying the brake of the vehicle. |
| US08441345B2 |
Hydraulic pressure warning system for internal combustion engine
A hydraulic pressure warning system for an internal combustion engine including a hydraulic pressure sensor that is prevented from being influenced by the heat of the engine and by the pulsation of an oil pump. A hydraulic pressure sensor detects hydraulic pressure in a lubricating oil passage of the engine and issues a warning based on hydraulic pressure detected by the hydraulic pressure sensor when the hydraulic pressure drops. The hydraulic pressure sensor is provided on a wall surface of a water jacket of a rear cylinder block so as to project therefrom. |
| US08441344B2 |
Vehicle alarm customization systems and methods
Vehicle alarm customization systems and methods are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a vehicle alarm customization system providing a user interface configured to facilitate end-user customization of a vehicle alarm, receiving an end-user selection of an audio content instance via the user interface, accessing data representative of the audio content instance, and customizing the vehicle alarm to sound at least part of the audio content instance in response to a vehicle alarm trigger event. |
| US08441339B2 |
Displacement detector, displacement detection apparatus, displacement detection system, loosening detector, loosening detection apparatus, and loosening detection system
The present invention provides a displacement detector for a relative displacement of a fixed member and a movable member, which includes a first member and a second member. The first member is secured to the fixed member and composed of an insulator. The second member moves relative to the fixed member, integrally with the movable member. The second member is disposed opposite to the first member. The second member is composed of an insulator. Either of the first member and the second member includes an IC tag for detection performing non-contact communication, and the other includes a blocking member composed of a conductor blocking the communication performed by the IC tag. When the second member moves a predetermined amount relative to the first member, starting from an initial state, the IC tag for detection moves from inside to outside a region of the blocking member or vice versa. |
| US08441337B2 |
Multicomputer data transferring and file accessing to authenticate online voting and registration in a secure database system
A method and system is provided for file accessing and data transferring to secure online voting using a multilayered security system where all contents of the data may be delivered to users of varied electronic devices. The data transferring occur as an external communication between separate computers which themselves are distinguishable processing entities, such as a voter processing center, online voting station, registration station, and calling station. The system includes (i) requesting at least one voter and biometric information based on a security level; (ii) receiving the at least one voter and biometric information from the user; (iii) verifying the at least one voter and biometric information against the stored voter and biometric information; (iv) in response to acceptable verifications, sending a voting ballot; and (v) receiving and storing the voting ballot with a vote selection. The security level may depend on the type of ballot. |
| US08441335B2 |
Method of trimming a thin film resistor, and an integrated circuit including trimmable thin film resistors
Apparatus and methods of trimming resistors are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of controlling the PCR of a thin film resistor is provided. The method includes applying a first current to a resistor so as to alter a property of the resistor, and measuring the property of the resistor. Applying the first current and measuring the property of the resistor can be repeated until the PCR of the resistor is within an acceptable tolerance of a desired value for the property of the resistor. |
| US08441333B2 |
Stack inductor with different metal thickness and metal width
A stacked inductor with different metal thickness and metal width. The stacked inductor comprises top and bottom metal traces which are aligned with each other. The thickness and width of the top and bottom metal traces are different. The top and bottom metal traces are connected at the end of metal trace with via holes. The inductance is increased with the use of the mutual inductance between top and bottom metal layers The parasitic resistor is reduced due to the difference of the top and bottom metal widths. |
| US08441328B2 |
Electrostatic switch for high frequency and method for manufacturing the same
An electrostatic switch for high frequency and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The electrostatic switch for high frequency in accordance with an embodiment includes: a first substrate module including a first substrate, an electrode part and a pair of CoPlanar Waveguides (CPWs), the electrode part being installed on the first substrate, the pair of CPWs being formed on either side of the electrode part and guiding an RF signal to travel; and a second substrate module being joined to the first substrate module, the second substrate module including a membrane and a bias line, the membrane being installed on a second substrate and bent by bias voltage supplied to the electrode part and being coupled to the pair of CPWs across an upper area of the electrode part in order to be short-circuited to the electrode part, the bias line being connected to the electrode part. |
| US08441325B2 |
Isolator with complementary configurable memory
An isolator that includes first and second substantially identical circuitry galvanically isolated from each other and each having at least one communications channel thereon for communicating signals across an isolation boundary therebetween and each of said first and second circuitry having configurable functionality associated with the operation thereof. A coupling device is provided for coupling signal across the isolation boundary between the at least one communication channels of the first and second circuitry. First and second configuration memories are provided, each associated with a respective one of the first and second circuitry. First and second configuration control devices are provided, each associated with a respective one of the first and second circuitry and each configuring the functionality of the associated one of the first and second circuitry. The first and second configurable memories have stored therein complementary configuration information to control each of the functionalities of the first and second circuitry to operate in a complementary manner for communication of signals across the isolation boundary. |
| US08441321B2 |
Multi-stage amplifier
The disclosed multi-stage amplifier (200) comprises several amplifier stages (201-203) which, together with an output network, form different branches. A first branch comprises a first and a second amplifier (201, 202) having their outputs connected to each other via a quarter-wave transmission line. The first branch is connected to a load via a first offset-transmission-line (0.1). A second branch comprises a third amplifier stage (203) and a second offset-transmission line (0.22) which are also connected to the load. |
| US08441320B2 |
Cancelation of gain change due to amplifier self-heating
A system includes a power amplifier, a preamplifier, a first temperature sensor, and a bias generator. The power amplifier has a first gain, which is a function of a temperature of the power amplifier. The preamplifier has a second gain, amplifies an input signal, and outputs an amplified signal to the power amplifier. The first temperature sensor senses the temperature and generates a first signal. The bias generator generates a first biasing signal to bias the power amplifier, generates a second biasing signal to bias the preamplifier, and adjusts the second gain by adjusting the second biasing signal based on the first signal. The adjusted second gain compensates a change in the first gain due to the change in the temperature. |
| US08441318B2 |
Push-pull low noise amplifier with variable gain, push-pull low noise amplifier with common gate bias circuit and amplifier with auxiliary matching
A push-pull low noise amplifier (LNA) includes at least one amplifier block. Each amplifier block includes a bypass stage and at least one gain cell. The bypass stage has a first node and a second node. The gain cell has an input terminal and an output terminal, comprising a loading stage and a driving stage. When the push-pull LNA is in a first gain mode, the loading stage is enabled and the bypassing stage is disabled; and when the push-pull LNA is in a second gain mode, the loading stage is disabled and the bypassing stage is enabled. |
| US08441316B2 |
Switching supply circuits and methods
In one embodiment the present invention includes a switching circuit. The circuit comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, and a boost circuit. The first transistor couples a first power source to a first intermediate node during a first phase of operation and the second transistor couples a second intermediate node to the first intermediate node during a second phase of operation. The boost circuit is coupled to the second intermediate node and provides a second power source by a transferring of energy from the first power source. The transferring of energy includes an inductor receiving energy from the first power source during the first phase of operation and providing a portion of said energy to the boost circuit during the second phase of operation. The boost circuit provides a biasing to enable deactivation of the second transistor during the first phase of operation. |
| US08441309B2 |
Temperature independent reference circuit
A temperature independent reference circuit includes first and second bipolar transistors with commonly coupled bases. First and second resistors are coupled in series between the emitter of the second bipolar transistor and ground. The first and second resistors have first and second resistance values, R1 and R2, and third and second temperature coefficients, TC3 and TC2, respectively. The resistance values being such that a temperature coefficient of a difference between the base-emitter voltages of the first and second bipolar transistors, TC1, is substantially equal to TC2×(R2/(R1+R2))+TC3×(R1/R1+R2)), resulting in a reference current flowing through each of the first and second bipolar transistors that is substantially constant over temperature. A third resistor coupled between a node and the collector of the second bipolar transistor has a value such that a reference voltage generated at the node is substantially constant over temperature. |
| US08441305B2 |
Low-leakage diodes and methods of forming the same
Low leakage diodes and methods of forming the same are disclosed. In one embodiment an apparatus includes a designed or parasitic bipolar transistor having an emitter, a base and a collector. The bipolar transistor is configured to operate as a diode, the diode having reverse-biased and forward-biased modes of operation. The emitter and base operate as first and second terminals of the diode, respectively. The collector is configured to receive a collector bias voltage, which is controlled relative to a voltage of the emitter to reduce a diffusion leakage current of the diode when the diode is in the reverse-biased mode of operation. |
| US08441304B2 |
High-frequency switch circuit
A high-frequency switch circuit according to the present invention includes at least a first switch connected between a common terminal and a first terminal, and a second switch connected between the common terminal and a second terminal. Each of the first and second switches includes a plurality of field-effect transistors connected in series and each having a body, a source, a drain, and a gate. A compensation capacitance that compensates a parasitic capacitance generated when the first switch is in an off-state is formed between the drain and the body or between the source and the body in the FET of the first switch. A compensation capacitance that compensates a parasitic capacitance generated when the second switch is in an off-state is formed between the drain and the body or between the source and the body in the FET of the second switch. |
| US08441303B1 |
Analog switching system for low cross-talk
A system includes a voltage pump to generate a first pump voltage from an analog voltage signal. The system further includes switching pad to receive an analog signal from an external source and route the analog signal to analog processing circuitry over one or more analog signal busses based on the first pump voltage and the analog voltage signal. |
| US08441302B2 |
Circuit comprising at least a first transistor group and a second transistor group
A circuit including a first transistor group and a second transistor group. The transistor groups are connected such that they are arranged to be fed with at least one input signal, and such that they are arranged to output at least two currents. At least two transistors are arranged to be biased in such a way that desired signal paths are obtained in the circuit, such that a desired output current ratio is obtained. |
| US08441297B2 |
PMOS resistor
Provided is a PMOS resistor. The PMOS resistor includes a PMOS transistor pair, a switching unit, and a negative feedback unit. The PMOS transistor pair is symmetrically connected between first and second nodes. The switching unit compares a voltage of the first node and a voltage of the second node to output one of the voltages of the first and second nodes. The negative feedback unit receives an output of the switching unit to control a current which flows in the PMOS transistor pair, for maintaining a constant resistance value. |
| US08441288B2 |
Differential current signal circuit
A differential current signal circuit is described which includes a voltage to differential current converter circuit that generates a differential pair of current output signals in response to receiving a voltage input signal, where the differential pair of current output signals are linearly proportional to the voltage input signal within a voltage operating range from a minimum operating voltage to a maximum operating voltage. The differential pair of current output signals are linear over a wide range of voltage input signals. A correction circuit is included which eliminates voltage offsets in the voltage operating range due to process and temperature variations. The correction circuit also provides the capability to adjust the minimum operating voltage, and eliminates variations in the minimum operating voltage due to process and temperature variations. |
| US08441287B2 |
Low voltage track and hold circuits
Circuits that operate with power supplies of less than 1 Volt are presented. More particularly, circuits that operate with supply voltages near or lower than the threshold voltage of the transistors in those circuits are presented. Various circuits and embodiments such as operational transconductance amplifiers, biasing circuits, integrators, continuous-time sigma delta modulators, track-and-hold circuits, and others are presented. The techniques and circuits can be used in a wide range of applications and various transistors from metal-oxide-semiconductor to bipolar junction transistors may implement the techniques presented herein. |
| US08441285B2 |
Latching control buffer between functional logic and tri-state output buffer
An electronic integrated circuit includes a signal path connected between the functional logic (15) thereof and an external output terminal. The signal path includes a switch (S), a bus holder circuit (121B), and an output buffer (19). |
| US08441283B2 |
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit includes: an on-die-termination (ODT) circuit configured to drive an input signal with drivability adjusted according to an impedance calibration code and a reference voltage; and an input buffer configured to buffer the input signal in response to the reference voltage and generate an output signal. |
| US08441282B2 |
Impedance calibration circuit and impedance calibration method
An integrated circuit includes a first ODT (On Die Termination) unit and an input buffer. The first ODT unit is configured to receive at least one pull-up code and at least one pull-down code and calibrate a resistance value for impedance matching of a first line transferring data. The input buffer is configured to buffer the data in response to a reference voltage level and drive input data. Herein, the driving of the input data is controlled in response to the pull-up code and the pull-down code. |
| US08441279B2 |
Scan flip-flop circuits and scan test circuits including the same
A scan flip-flop circuit includes an input unit and an output unit. The input unit selects one of a data input signal and a scan input signal depending on an operation mode and generates an intermediate signal based on the selected signal. The output unit generates an output signal based on the intermediate signal and selects one of a data output terminal and a scan output terminal depending on the operation mode to provide the output signal through the selected output terminal. A voltage level at the selected output terminal bidirectionally transitions between a first voltage level and a second voltage level. A voltage level at a non-selected output terminal unidirectionally transitions between the first voltage level and the second voltage level. |
| US08441273B2 |
Testing card and testing system for USB port
A testing card for a USB port includes first USB contacting pins, a second USB contacting pin, a transmitting circuits, a voltage converting circuit, and a testing portion. The first USB contacting pins are connected to the USB port to receive a number of USB signals. The second USB contacting pin is connected to the USB port to receive a voltage signal from the USB port. The transmitting circuit is electrically connected to the first USB contacting pins to transmit the USB signals therefrom. The voltage converting circuit is electrically connected to the second USB contacting pin to convert the voltage signal to a predetermined level. The testing portion is electrically connected to the outputs of the transmitting circuit and the voltage converting circuit to receive the USB signals and the converted voltage signal. |
| US08441271B2 |
Contactor and method of production of contactor
A contactor includes: a silicon layer composing a part of beam part with a rear end side provided at a base part and with a front end side sticking out from the base part; SiO2 layer as an insulating layer formed on the silicon layer; and a conductive layer formed on the SiO2 layer. |
| US08441269B2 |
Determining formation properties while drilling
The present disclosure relates to a method to determine a characteristic of a subsurface formation using a downhole logging tool. A downhole logging tool having the ability to make substantially concurrent disparate measurements on the subsurface formation is provided and substantially concurrent disparate measurements on the formation using the downhole logging tool are made. Those measurements are used to solve a system of equations simultaneously and the solution to the system of equations is used to determine the characteristic of the subsurface formation. |
| US08441264B2 |
Station for detecting winding products and method for detecting inter-turn short circuit
A detecting station of a winding product and a method for detecting an inter-turn short circuit are provided. The method includes following steps. First, a high voltage pulse is input to two ends of a winding of a winding product. Next, a voltage value of an electrifying process of the winding is extracted for generating an extracting data. Finally, a time-frequency converting operation is performed to the extracting data, and a time-frequency analysis information is generated for indicating whether or not the inter-turn short circuit is occurred in the winding. |
| US08441263B2 |
Voltage monitor with self diagnostic function
In a voltage monitor, an abnormality detecting unit receives first information outputted from a first obtaining unit and second information outputted from a second obtaining unit, and determines that an abnormality that affects on at least one of first and second diagnostic thresholds arises in the voltage monitor when the first information is different from the second information. The abnormality detecting unit receives a first forced signal outputted from a first forced-output unit and a second forced signal outputted from a second forced-output unit. The abnormality detecting unit determines whether a timing at which the level of the first diagnostic threshold is switched for each step is deviated from a timing at which the level of the second diagnostic threshold is switched for a corresponding step based on a result of a comparison between the first forced signal and the second forced signal. |
| US08441262B2 |
Optimization of electrical component parameters in energy storage system models
A method of predicting an electrochemical mapping parameter in a vehicle that derives at least a portion of its motive power from an energy storage system is provided. The method may comprise providing a plurality of electrochemical mapping parameter sources capable of rendering one or more electrochemical mapping parameters selected from the group consisting of resistance and capacitance and selecting at least one electrochemical mapping parameter source capable of rendering one or more electrochemical mapping parameters based on the state of the energy storage system. The method may also comprise determining an adaptive gain and determining an adaptive factor based on the operating state of the vehicle or the energy storage system. The method may also comprise adapting the one or more electrochemical mapping parameters based on the adaptive factor and adaptive gain to provide an adapted electrochemical mapping parameter value. |
| US08441260B2 |
Transmit-receive switching circuit for NMR spectrometer and NMR spectrometer incorporating same
A transmit-receive switching circuit is offered which is for use in an NMR spectrometer that employs a solid-state NMR probe using a cooled detection coil. The switching circuit is cryogenically cooled to reduce thermal noise in use. The switching circuit has a first terminal for applying high-power RF pulses sent in from the power amplifier of the NMR spectrometer, a second terminal for sending the RF pulses applied from the first terminal to the NMR detector via crossed-diodes and for receiving and entering a low-power NMR signal detected by the NMR detector, and a third terminal for sending the NMR signal entered from the second terminal toward a preamplifier. Plural stages of shunts are connected to the transmission line connecting the second and third terminals such that one stage of shunt corresponds to a 90° phase shift in the RF radiation. |
| US08441257B2 |
Time resolved spin labeled MRI cineangiography
A sequence of magnetic resonance images of the beating heart depicts the flow of blood through the heart chambers. Blood appears bright and background tissues are darkened by acquiring MR data following a preparatory pulse sequence in which spin magnetization throughout the field of view is inverted using a non-selective RF inversion pulse and spin magnetization in a selected pool of blood moving into the heart is re-inverted by a selective RF inversion pulse. |
| US08441256B2 |
Method for analyzing a multi-phase fluid
A magnetic resonance based apparatus capable of measuring, without using time-of-flight measurements, flow regimes of multi-phase fluids in a pipe, comprises a magnetic resonance module through which the fluid phases flow, wherein the magnetic resonance module includes a radiofrequency coil for transmitting and detecting a signal and means for generating inside the module a homogenous constant magnetic field Bx that is thermally compensated and a transverse magnetic field gradient Gx that is superposed on Bx; and at least one pre-polarization module through which the fluid phases flow before entering the magnetic resonance module. |
| US08441253B2 |
Measuring apparatus having charge control circuit
A measuring apparatus includes: a measuring circuit configured to carry out predetermined processing for the measurement result of an object to be measured; a communication control circuit configured to generate output data to be output externally depending on the processing result of the measuring circuit; a power source circuit having a charging element configured to supply power to the measuring circuit and the communication control circuit; an output circuit having open-drain output terminals configured to externally output the output data generated in the communication control circuit; and a charge control circuit configured to charge the charging element at the timing when the output data is not output externally, the open-drain output terminals of the output circuit being used as the input terminals thereof. |
| US08441250B2 |
Method and apparatus for monitoring electrical properties of polymerization reactor wall film
Disclosed is a method for using at least one static probe during polymerization in a fluid bed polymerization reactor system to monitor a coating on a surface of the reactor system and a distal portion of each static probe, wherein the coating is exposed to flowing fluid within the reactor system during the reaction. The surface may be a reactor bed wall (exposed to the reactor's fluid bed) and the coating is exposed to flowing, bubbling fluid within the fluid bed during the reaction. The method may include steps of: during the polymerization reaction, operating the static probe to generate a sequence of data values (“high speed data”) indicative of fluid flow variation (e.g., bubbling or turbulence), and determining from the high speed data at least one electrical property of the coating (e.g., of a portion of the coating on the distal portion of the static probe). |
| US08441248B2 |
Laundry treating appliance with voltage detection
A method of determining a voltage and phase across an electric heating element in a laundry treating appliance, such as a clothes dryer. |
| US08441246B2 |
Temperature independent reference current generator using positive and negative temperature coefficient currents
A temperature independent type reference current generating device and methods thereof. A temperature independent type reference current generating device may include a first reference current generator generating a first reference current having a first element decreasing according to a temperature, a second reference current generator generating a second reference current having a second element increasing according to the temperature, and/or mirroring and outputting a second reference current and/or a mirrored second reference current. A temperature independent type reference current generating device may include a first current mirror mirroring a first reference current and/or outputting a mirrored first reference current, and a second current mirror adding a mirrored first reference current and a mirrored second reference current, and/or mirroring a result of an addition to output a mirrored result as an output reference current. |
| US08441241B2 |
Methods and systems to digitally balance currents of a multi-phase voltage regulator
Methods and systems to generate a digital error indication of an input signal relative to a reference signal, using resistors, comparators, and latches. The digital error indication may indicate that the input signal is within a range of the reference signal, above the range, or below the range. The methods and systems may be implemented within a multi-phase digital voltage regulator to generate a digital error indication for each of a plurality of phase currents relative to an instantaneous average of the phase currents. The digital voltage regulator may be fabricated on an integrated circuit die with a corresponding load, such as a processor. The digital voltage regulator may include a plurality of multiplier or look-up based gain modules, each to receive a corresponding one of the digital error signals and to output one of three values. Outputs of each gain module may be integrated over time. |
| US08441240B2 |
Protection circuit for protecting a half-bridge circuit
The present invention relates to a protection circuit for protecting a half-bridge circuit. The protection circuit detects an incorrect response of the half-bridge by monitoring the current of a first switch at a series resistor of a second switch. The protection circuit has a detector for detecting the voltage across the resistor and an evaluation circuit which is designed in such a manner that it evaluates an output signal from the detector after the first switch has been switched on and provides a fault signal at an output when the voltage across the resistor is greater than the threshold voltage. |
| US08441239B2 |
Power supply controller, electronic device, and method for controlling power supply
A comparator type power supply controller that controls an output voltage. The power supply controller includes a comparator that compares a feedback voltage, which corresponds to the output voltage, with a reference voltage, wherein the comparator instructs power supply when the feedback voltage decreases when the feedback voltage decreases from the reference voltage. An offset application circuit is coupled to the comparator. The offset application circuit controls an input offset voltage of the comparator and decreases the input offset voltage as time elapses when the feedback voltage becomes lower than the reference voltage after the power supply ends. An amplifier amplifies a voltage difference of the feedback voltage and the reference voltage. The offset application circuit increases a change speed of the input offset voltage as the voltage difference increases in accordance with an output voltage of the amplifier. |
| US08441237B2 |
Power factor correction (PFC) circuit and method therefor
Consistent with an example embodiment, a circuit comprises a power factor correction stage having a DC input, a ground input, a DC output and a ground output. The circuit further includes a capacitor; a diode; and a discharge circuit. A first terminal of the diode is connected to an input of the power factor correction stage, a second terminal of the diode is connected to the first plate of the capacitor; and the second plate of the capacitor is connected to the other input of the PFC stage. The discharge circuit is connected to the capacitor and is configured to discharge the capacitor such that it contributes to the output of the PFC stage when the level of a signal at the input of the PFC stage falls below a threshold value. |
| US08441236B2 |
Grid plate for lead acid storage battery, plate, and lead acid storage battery provided with same plate
There is provided a method for operating a lead acid storage battery in order to compensate for fluctuations in the amount of power generated by a solar power generation apparatus, a wind power generation apparatus, or another natural energy power generation device, the lead acid storage battery being charged by a power generation device and discharged to a load. The state of charge of the lead acid storage battery is maintained in a range of 30 to 90% where the fully charged state of the lead acid storage battery is 100%; and the lead acid storage battery is charged and discharged while the battery voltage is kept in a specified range of 1.80 to 2.42 V per cell to extend the service life of the battery. A reference temperature of 25° C. is established, and when the ambient temperature has risen above or fallen below the reference temperature, the upper and lower limit values of a specified range are corrected within a range of −4 mV/° C. to −6 mV/° C. per cell according to the amount by which the temperature has increased or decreased so that a corrected voltage range is obtained. The storage battery is charged and discharged while the battery voltage is kept in the corrected voltage range, and the battery is operated. |
| US08441235B2 |
Battery charger digital control circuit and method
A digital controlled battery charger comprises a power converter, a voltage sensor, a current senor, a mode selector and a digital controller. The voltage sensor and current sensor detect the voltage of a rechargeable battery and the current flowing through the rechargeable battery respectively. The mode selector selects a feedback signal from either the output of the voltage sensor or the output of the current sensor. The digital controller receives the selected feedback signal and generates a pulse width modulated signal for the power converter. Additionally, the digital controller is capable of dynamically adjusting its coefficients so that the control loop can maintain a stable system when the battery charger operates in different battery charging phases. |
| US08441228B2 |
Bi-directional battery voltage converter
A battery module for use with a vehicle electrical system. The battery module includes a bi-directional battery voltage converter, a first battery, and a second battery. A first relay selectively connects the first battery to the bi-directional battery voltage converter. A second relay selectively connecting the second battery to the bi-directional battery voltage converter. A controller selectively energizes the first relay, selectively energizes the second relay, and controls a direction of current through the bi-directional battery voltage converter. |
| US08441226B2 |
Apparatus and method for adaptive illumination charging
Disclosed is an apparatus for adaptive illumination charging, including: an image process sensor for detecting an external image information; a pixel sensor unit for receiving light of the image information detected by the image process sensor, the pixel sensor unit including multiple pixels; a light quantity calculator for calculating average quantity values of light received by pixels of the pixel sensor unit within a specific area during a pre-set time period; a controller for searching for a location of a pixel corresponding to an average value with a highest light quantity average among the average quantity values of the light and notifying of the search result; and a solar battery for generating energy according to a quantity of light received by the pixel sensor unit. |
| US08441219B2 |
Motor control device and electrical equipment provided with the same
A motor control device controlling an inverter to control an electric motor, includes a plurality of function sections, a voltage command generating section generating a d-axis voltage command and a q-axis voltage command, a voltage operational processing section, an input current operation section, a speed information generating section estimating a rotational speed of the motor based on at least one of a motor constant, a positional information generating section delivering positional information about a rotor, and a processor executing control software set by a user or a manufacturer. At least a part of the function sections are configured by hardware. The function section configured by the hardware is given at least one parameter retaining section. The parameter retaining section is configured so as to be readable/writable on the processor. The function section is configured by the hardware so as to be operated in a predetermined sequence. |
| US08441218B2 |
Electrical regenerative braking
This invention relates to an electrical regenerative brake (100) with a rotating brake coil (10) which is mounted on a wheel (14) of a vehicle, whereby a magnetic field (18) is fed in the coil (10). In order to allow effective regenerative braking (100) at low speeds and to provide a significant increase in power saving, this invention proposes that the permanent magnet (13) producing the magnetic field (18) is placed in the inner space of at least one additional coil (11, 12), whereby the brake has an electric circuit (22) which contains the rotating brake coil (10) and the additional coil (11, 12) as elements. |
| US08441212B2 |
System and method for driving light emitting devices using wireless communication module
Disclosed herein is a system for driving light emitting devices. The system for driving light emitting devices includes a main light emitting device and at least one sub-light emitting device. The main light emitting device includes a first communication unit for exchanging information with a central monitoring server and a close sub-light emitting device using a wireless communication module, a first light emitting unit having at least one light emitting element, and a first control unit for controlling the light emission of the first light emitting unit, and transmitting a command signal for controlling the sub-light emitting device to the sub-light emitting device. The sub-light emitting device includes a second communication unit for exchanging information with the main light emitting device, a second light emitting unit having at least one light emitting element, and a second control unit for controlling the light emission of the second light emitting unit. |
| US08441211B2 |
Electronic ballast capable of self-protection at natural or premature end of life of fluorescent light tube
The present invention is to provide an electronic ballast connected in parallel to two filaments of a fluorescent light tube, which comprises a controller for generating two output signals, two power switches being switched according to the output signals, a resonant circuit oscillating according to switching of the power switches and thereby causing a resonant capacitor thereof to generate a voltage, a voltage sensor connected in series to the resonant capacitor and connected in parallel between the two filaments so as to sense an AC voltage proportional to a voltage across the fluorescent light tube, and a regulator connected separately to the voltage sensor and controller so as to convert the AC voltage into a DC voltage and deliver the DC voltage to the controller. Upon determining that the DC voltage exceeds a preset voltage level, the controller generates an interruption control signal for immediately stopping operation of the controller. |
| US08441205B2 |
Dimming apparatus transmitting control signals with AC power line
A dimming apparatus transmitting control signals with AC power line (10) is applied to an alternating current power source (20), a light emitting diode driving power unit (40), and a light emitting diode unit (30). The dimming apparatus transmitting control signals with AC power line (10) includes an input voltage detection unit (102), a one-shot signal unit (104), an AND gate unit (106), a pulse width modulation dimming signal unit (108), an inductor unit (110), a first switch unit (114), a dimming signal recovery unit (124), and a second switch unit (122). The input voltage detection unit (102) is electrically connected to the alternating current power source (20), the inductor unit (110), and the one-shot signal unit (104). The AND gate unit (106) is electrically connected to the one-shot signal unit (104), the pulse width modulation dimming signal unit (108), and the first switch unit (114). The dimming signal recovery unit (124) is electrically connected to the light emitting diode driving power unit (40), the inductor unit (110), the first switch unit (114), and the second switch unit (122). The second switch unit (122) is electrically connected to the light emitting diode unit (30). |
| US08441203B1 |
Dimming electronic ballast for true parallel lamp operation
A dimmable and program start electronic ballast is configured for powering one or more lamps in a true parallel configuration. An inverter driver is coupled to each gate of a pair of inverter switches and is responsive to at least a reference input signal and a feedback input signal to drive the inverter switches. The inverter circuit is effective thereby to generate an output voltage at an inverter output terminal between the pair of switches. One or more tank circuits are coupled in parallel, with a first end of each coupled to the inverter output terminal. Each tank circuit has a switching circuit as well as first and second output terminals on a second end which can receive a discharge lamp filament. A controller is configured to adjust a switching state for each of the one or more switching circuits and thereby enable or disable an associated tank circuit. |
| US08441198B2 |
Method and device for driving light-emitting diode
A device and a method for driving a light-emitting diode include using multiple current guiding control circuits to drive multiple LED modules. Each of the current guiding control circuits includes at least two transistors connected in parallel to constitute at least two switch circuits. Each of the current guiding control circuits permits or prevents electric current to flow to an immediate downstream one of the LED modules in response to a predetermined voltage level of the positive part of a voltage source. The respective the current guiding control circuits are responsive to different voltage levels. As a result, a maximum number of LED modules are driven to emit light at a given voltage level, thereby achieving the purposes of efficiently utilizing electric power and reducing power loss. |
| US08441196B2 |
Multi-color light emitting device circuit
The present invention discloses a multi-color light emitting device circuit, which includes: multiple light emitting device strings of different colors, a timing control circuit, a power regulator circuit, and preferably a dark feedback circuit. Each light emitting device string has multiple light emitting devices coupled in series. The number of the light emitting devices of each light emitting device string is determined by an operational voltage of the light emitting device, wherein at least two of the light emitting device strings have different numbers of the light emitting devices, such that voltage drops of the two light emitting device strings are closer to each other than in a case wherein the two light emitting device strings have the same number of the light emitting devices, and the response time of the light emitting device strings are increased. |
| US08441194B2 |
Multi-function vehicle light assembly
A multi-function vehicle light assembly (10) (MVLA 10) that is designed to provide a compact light assembly that incorporates in a single enclosure (24) a plurality of LED modules (16). Each module (16) produces a white light that indicates that a vehicle is in reverse, an amber light that indicates that a vehicle is making a right or a left turn, and a red light that functions as a vehicle tail light and to also indicate that the vehicle brakes are being applied. Two embodiments are disclosed in the first embodiment the plurality of LED modules (16) directly produce a set of white, amber and red lights. In the second embodiment an LED module (16) is utilized that includes a blue, green and red LEDs that are selectively combined by an LED control module (22) to provide the required white, amber and red lights. |
| US08441192B2 |
LED based lamp replacment
The present invention provides an energy efficient replacement for a standard incandescent lamp using LED devices which direct their light output into a light transmissive medium which is also capable of radiating the transmitted light outwardly in a plurality of directions. More particularly, the present invention provides an incandescent lamp replacement which is virtually identical in external form factor to the standard incandescent lamp. |
| US08441191B2 |
Multi-cavity vacuum electron beam device for operating at terahertz frequencies
The present invention relates to the formation of a vacuum electronics circuit by the fusion bonding of multiple substrate wafers, e.g., silicon, copper, or other suitable conductive material, each etched using DRIE, cut using EDM, or machined by other suitable means. Other aspects of the invention relate to the alignment of a cathode with tube by fusion bonding the cathode wafer to a tube built using the fabrication methods described herein. Yet other aspects involve the alignment of dies or wafers during the fabrication of a vacuum electronics device using the “lego” technique outlined herein. In yet other aspects, fabrication methods are described. |
| US08441187B2 |
Radiation-emitting device
A radiation-emitting device having comprising: a substrate (1); a first electrode (2) and a second electrode; (9), at least one emitter layer (5) arranged between the first and second electrodes and emitting light in the violet or blue spectral range, wherein the emitter layer comprises a matrix material and, relative to the matrix material, 0.1%-5% by weight of a fluorescent, radiation-emitting emitter and 1-30% by weight of a phosphorescent exciton trap; and wherein the emission maximum of the fluorescent emitter and that of the phosphorescent exciton trap being situated in the blue, violet or ultraviolet spectral range. |
| US08441186B2 |
Organic electroluminescence display device
An organic electroluminescence display device is disclosed wherein plural organic electroluminescence elements each having an anode, a cathode and an organic layer sandwiched in between the anode and the cathode, the plural organic electroluminescence elements including organic electroluminescence elements developing different colors in a row direction, and at least one of the organic layers having an outer edge of a conic section at an end portion in a column direction thereof, the outer edge of the conic section becoming narrower gradually in its width in a row direction of vapor deposition thereof toward an extreme end at an end portion in a column direction thereof. The organic electroluminescence display device can improve the vapor deposition accuracy and the degree of design freedom. |
| US08441185B2 |
Semiconductor device with improved pixel arrangement
As a result of miniaturization of a pixel region associated with an improvement in definition and an increase in a substrate size associated with an increase in area, defects due to precision, bending, and the like of a mask used at the time of evaporation have become issues. A partition including portions with different thicknesses over a pixel electrode (also referred to as a first electrode) in a display region and in the vicinity of a pixel electrode layer is formed, without increasing the number of steps, by using a photomask or a reticle provided with an auxiliary pattern having a light intensity reduction function made of a diffraction grating pattern or a semi-transmissive film. |
| US08441182B2 |
Organic light emitting diode display
An organic light emitting diode display that includes a substrate defined with a plurality of pixels, an organic light emitting diode formed at each pixel with a first electrode, an organic emissive layer, and a second electrode, a driving circuit with a thin film transistor electrically connected to the organic light emitting diode, and a wire electrically connected to the driving circuit with a gate line, a data line, and a common power line to transmit external signals to the driving circuit. The data line and the common power line are formed in different geometric planes. |
| US08441180B2 |
Light source having phosphor including divalent, trivalent and tetravalent elements
A phosphor having an excitation band relative to lights in the wide range of wavelengths from ultraviolet to visible light, and having an emission spectrum in the red range and so on, with a wide half value width, and an LED and a light source using the phosphor and emitting white and other color lights with good color rendering properties are provided. Powdered raw materials of Ca3N2 (2N), CaO (2N), AlN (3N), Si3N4 (3N), and Eu2O3 (3N) are prepared, and the respective raw materials are mixed to have a mole ratio of the respective elements of Ca:Al:Si:Eu=0.985:1:1:0.015. The mixed raw materials are fired at 1000° C. or higher in an inert atmosphere for three hours, and thereafter pulverized to obtain a phosphor having a composition of CaAlSiN2.83O0.25:Eu, which is one example of the phosphor satisfying the above described object. Furthermore, by combining the phosphor with an appropriate LED or a light source emitting from ultraviolet light to visible light, the LED and the light source emitting white and other color lights with good color rendering properties can be obtained. |
| US08441175B2 |
Piezoactuator having electrical contact
A piezoactuator has multilayer construction. Piezoelectric layers and electrode layers are alternatingly disposed one over the other in a stack. A number of the electrode layers are electrically conductively connected to a contact pin. A continuation is electrically conductively disposed on the contact pin. The continuation has a contact point with the contact pin and a free end for producing an electrical connection of the piezoactuator. A straight line extending through the contact point and the free end of the continuation encloses an angle with the longitudinal axis of the contact pin that is greater than 0° and less than 180°. |
| US08441174B2 |
Multilayer piezoelectric element and injector using the same
In a multilayer piezoelectric element in which a plurality of piezoelectric layers and a plurality of metal layers are stacked alternately, the plurality of metal layers include a plurality of low-filled metal layers having a lower filling rate of metal composing the metal layers than oppositely disposed metal layers adjacent to each other in a stacking direction. In a multilayer piezoelectric element in which a plurality of piezoelectric layers and a plurality of metal layers are stacked alternately, the plurality of metal layers include a plurality of thin metal layers having a smaller thickness than oppositely disposed metal layers adjacent to each other in a stacking direction. In a multilayer piezoelectric element in which a plurality of piezoelectric layers and a plurality of metal layers composed mainly of an alloy are stacked alternately, the plurality of metal layers include a plurality of high-ratio metal layers having a higher ratio of a component constituting the alloy than oppositely disposed metal layers adjacent to each other in a stacking direction. |
| US08441171B2 |
Motor device, method of manufacturing motor device, and robot device
A motor device comprises a transmission substrate formed with a transmission portion that is wound around at least part of the outer periphery of a rotator; and a driving substrate that has a driving portion which moves the transmission portion by a certain distance in a state in which a rotational force is transmitted between the rotator and the transmission portion returns the transmission portion to a predetermined position in a state in which the rotation force transmission state is released, and is connected to the transmission substrate so that the driving force due to the driving portion acts on the transmission portion. |
| US08441169B2 |
Voltage converter and driving system using such voltage converter
A voltage converter is provided for receiving a low input DC voltage and driving a piezoelectric actuator of a fluid transportation device. The voltage converter includes plural capacitors, a resistor and a boost chip. The boost chip is connected with the plural capacitors and the resistor, has a switch element and a polar switching circuit, and receives the low input DC voltage. The low input DC voltage is increased and multiplied to a high DC voltage by a switching operation of the switch element. The high DC voltage is converted into an output AC voltage by the polar switching circuit so as to drive the piezoelectric actuator. An operating frequency of the boost chip is controlled by the plural capacitors and the resistor. |
| US08441167B2 |
Capacitive electric current generator
A capacitive generator has a generator circuit (G) and a charge priming circuit (P) that includes variable capacitors (1, 2, 101, 102) all coupled to a mechanical transmission which acts to vary the capacitance of the capacitors and to actuate an array of switches (K). A small residual charge on the priming circuit (P) can thus be amplified and conveyed to the generating circuit (G) where it is used to generate an alternating current between the variable capacitors (1, 2) of the generating circuit. The capacitance of the generating capacitors (1, 2) is varied in antiphase in response to the movement of the transmission. An electrical energy extraction device (8) in circuit with the generator capacitors (1, 2) extracts electrical energy from the circuit in reaction to the alternating current which can then be used to power or recharge a small portable device. |
| US08441163B2 |
Rotating electric machine with homopolar double excitation
The present invention essentially relates to an electric machine (1.1) with homopolar double excitation, comprising a rotor particularly consisting of a central portion (51) made of a solid magnetic material and a laminated annular portion (53) located at the periphery of the solid portion. In addition, the rotor comprises permanent magnets (54), the magnetization thereof being radially oriented relative to the axis (33) of the rotor (31), and separated from one another such that the double excitation flow generated by the field coils (38, 39) can enter the rotor (31, 67) via the flanges (48, 49) of the rotor, and come back out via the spaces between the magnets (54), or vice-versa. |
| US08441160B2 |
Inverter-integrated electric compressor
Provided is an inverter-integrated electric compressor which is compact, has excellent ease of mounting, can ensure heat resistance reliability, and can reduce vibration and noise. In an inverter-integrated electric compressor where an inverter device having a noise removing filter circuit and an inverter circuit is incorporated in an inverter accommodating section provided on an outer periphery of a housing, the inverter accommodating section consists of an inverter box provided on the outer periphery of the housing and in which the inverter circuit is accommodated and installed, and a junction box integrally coupled to the inverter box and in which a constituent component of the noise removing filter circuit is accommodated and installed, the junction box is coupled to the inverter box with internal spaces opposing each other, and functions as a cover of the inverter box, and the noise removing filter circuit is electrically wire-connected to the inverter circuit. |
| US08441157B2 |
Power supply system and portable electronic device using the same
A power supply system includes a transformer for converting an external AC power into an external DC power, a battery for providing a battery power, a selection module for outputting the external DC power or the battery power, a first-stage DC conversion module for converting power provided by the selection module into a first DC power, a plurality of second-stage DC conversion module, each for converting an input power into a second DC power, and a switching module for switching to output the battery power or the first DC power of the first-stage DC conversion module as the input power of each of the plurality of second-stage DC conversion module according to the external DC power. |
| US08441152B2 |
Renewable energy transmission, generation, and utilization device and method
The power generation and transmission device and method is able to be used to harness power such as solar and/or wind power and then transmit the power to a device on the other side of a physical structure such as a house, a car, a umbrella, a tent, and an awning. |
| US08441149B2 |
Distributed power delivery scheme for on-die voltage scaling
A high-speed low dropout (HS-LDO) voltage regulation circuit suitable to enable a power gate unit to produce a variable voltage signal based on the load of a processor is disclosed herein. In various embodiments, selection logic may dynamically enable or disable the HS-LDO circuit to allow the power gate unit to operate under a fully-on or fully-off mode. Other embodiments may be disclosed or claimed. |
| US08441148B2 |
System and method for controlling single inductor dual output DC/DC converters
A DC to DC converter comprises voltage regulation circuitry for generating at least two output voltages responsive to an input voltage. The voltage regulation circuitry further includes a plurality of main switches connected to receive the input voltage. A plurality of auxiliary switches is connected to provide the at least two output voltages. A single inductor is connected between the plurality of main switches and the plurality of auxiliary switches. A dual-output PWM controller provides a first PWM control signal for controlling the operation of the plurality of main switches responsive to a first feedback voltage from a first output voltage using a first control loop and provides a second PWM control signal for controlling the operation of the plurality of auxiliary switches responsive to a second feedback voltage from a second output voltage using a second control loop. Current mode control can be used for each control loop to reduce the cross regulation problem. |
| US08441147B2 |
Device and system for bypassing a power cell of a power supply
A bypass device for bypassing a power cell of a multi-cell device. The bypass device includes a stationary portion of a first set of contacts connected to at least first and second output terminals of a power cell, a magnetically latching solenoid that, when energized, moves a moving portion of the first set of contacts from a first position to a second position or from the second position to the first position, and at least one added insulating material positioned between the solenoid and the first set of contacts, and configured to allow a voltage between the magnetically latching solenoid and the first and second output terminals of the power cell to exceed a voltage between said output terminals. |
| US08441129B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes a first structural body having first electrode pads; a second structural body disposed in a face-up type over the first structural body in such a way as to expose the first electrode pads, and having first connection members with at least two protrusions; and a third structural body disposed in a face-down type over the second structural body, and having second connection members with at least two protrusions, on a surface thereof facing the second structural body, wherein some of the protrusions of the second connection members are electrically connected with the exposed first electrode pads, and at least one of remaining protrusions of the second connection members is electrically connected with the first connection members. |
| US08441128B2 |
Semiconductor arrangement
A semiconductor arrangement includes a circuit carrier, bonding wire and at least N half bridge circuits. The circuit carrier includes a first metallization layer, a second metallization layer, an intermediate metallization layer arranged between the first metallization layer and the second metallization layer, a first insulation layer arranged between the intermediate metallization layer and the second metallization layer, and a second insulation layer arranged between the first metallization layer and the intermediate metallization layer. Each half bridge circuit includes a controllable first semiconductor switch and a controllable second semiconductor switch. The first semiconductor switch and the second semiconductor switch of each half bridge circuit are arranged on that side of the first metallization layer of the circuit carrier facing away from the second insulation layer. The bonding wire is directly bonded to the intermediate metallization layer of the circuit carrier at a first bonding location. |
| US08441127B2 |
Bump-on-trace structures with wide and narrow portions
A device includes a package component, and a metal trace on a surface of the package component. A first and a second dielectric mask cover a top surface and sidewalls of the metal trace, wherein a landing portion of the metal trace is located between the first and the second dielectric masks. The landing portion includes a first portion having a first width, and a second portion connected to an end of the first portion. The second portion has a second width greater than the first width, wherein the first and the second widths are measured in a direction perpendicular to a lengthwise direction of the metal trace. |
| US08441126B2 |
Semiconductor device
A semiconductor apparatus includes a semiconductor chip in which a plurality of electrode pads are provided on a main surface, and a plurality of bump electrodes are provided on the electrode pads of the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor apparatus also includes a wired board which is allocated in a side of the main surface of the semiconductor chip, and is positioned in a central area of the main surface of the semiconductor chip so as to be separated from an edge part of the semiconductor chip by at least 50 μm or more. The semiconductor apparatus also includes a plurality of external terminals which are provided on the wired board, and which are electrically connected to a plurality of bump electrodes through wirings of the wired board, and sealing part which is provided between the semiconductor chip and the wired board, is made of underfill material that covers a connection part between the bump electrode and the wiring. |
| US08441122B2 |
Semiconductor device having semiconductor chip and metal plate
A semiconductor device includes a first protection film for covering a first metal wiring. A second protection film is disposed on the first protection film, which is covered with a solder layer. Even if a crack is generated in the second protection film before the solder layer is formed on the second protection film, the crack is restricted from proceeding into the first protection film. |
| US08441106B2 |
Apparatus and method for defining laser cleave alignment
An apparatus includes a crystalline substrate. A cleaving guide on the substrate is positioned over a cleave plane of the crystalline substrate and positioned in a known location with respect to a feature of an electronic device on the substrate. Cleaving of the substrate along the cleave plane changes a physical characteristic of the cleaving guide and measurement of the physical characteristic provides a parameter representative of the relative position of the cleave plane and the cleaving guide. |
| US08441105B2 |
Semiconductor device, wafer structure and method for fabricating semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes an element forming region including at least one semiconductor element formed on at least one compound semiconductor layer formed on a substrate and a trench formed between an outer edge of the semiconductor device and the element forming region. The trench spatially separates the compound semiconductor layer, and the trench is formed at least to reach the substrate. |
| US08441104B1 |
Electrical overstress protection using through-silicon-via (TSV)
A semiconductor device formed on a substrate includes a first diode junction formation, a second diode junction formation, and at least one through-silicon-via (TSV), in which a cathode and an anode of the first diode are cross-connected to an anode and cathode of the second diode through the at least one TSV for achieving electrical robustness in through-silicon-via based integrated circuits, including photosensitive devices and circuits for signal processing applications. |
| US08441102B2 |
Semiconductor device having a capacitor
It is an object to provide a semiconductor device integrating various elements without using a semiconductor substrate, and a method of manufacturing the same. According to the present invention, a layer to be separated including an inductor, a capacitor, a resistor element, a TFT element, an embedded wiring and the like, is formed over a substrate, separated from the substrate, and transferred onto a circuit board 100. An electrical conduction with a wiring pattern 114 provided in the circuit board 100 is made by a wire 112 or a solder 107, thereby forming a high frequency module or the like. |
| US08441098B2 |
Semiconductor package
A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor chip and a passive element. The semiconductor chip has a semiconductor chip body which possesses a first surface and a second surface facing away from the first surface, and a circuit section is formed in the semiconductor chip body. The passive element includes passive element bodies which are disposed in through-electrodes passing through the semiconductor chip body and connection members which are disposed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the semiconductor chip body and which electrically connect to at least one of the passive element bodies. |
| US08441094B2 |
Resonator element and resonator pixel for microbolometer sensor
A resonator element for the absorption and/or conversion of electromagnetic waves having a predefined wavelength, in particular infrared radiation having a wavelength of 2 μm to 200 μm, into heat, has a three-layer structure formed of a first metal layer, a second metal layer and a dielectric layer interposed between the two metal layers. The maximum lateral dimension of the layers is in the range between one quarter and a half of the predefined wavelength. |
| US08441092B2 |
Thermoelectric cooler system, method and device
A semiconductor thermoelectric cooler is configured to direct heat through channels of the cooler. The thermoelectric cooler has multiple electrodes and a first dielectric material positioned between side surfaces of the electrodes. A second dielectric material, different from the first dielectric material, is in contact with top surfaces of the electrodes. The first dielectric material extends above the top surface of the electrodes, separating portions of the second dielectric material, and is in contact with a portion of the top surfaces of the electrodes. The first dielectric material has a thermal conductivity different than a thermal conductivity of the second dielectric material. A ratio of the first dielectric material to the second dielectric material in contact with the top surface of the electrodes may be selected to control the heat retention. The semiconductor thermoelectric cooler may be manufactured using thin film technology. |
| US08441087B2 |
Direct readout focal plane array
According to one embodiment, an image detector comprises a plurality of photosensitive detector unit cells interconnected to a plurality of integrated circuits by a plurality of direct bond interconnects. Each unit cell includes an absorber layer and a separation layer. The absorber layer absorbs incident photons such that the absorbed photons excite photocurrent comprising first charged carriers and second charged carriers having opposite polarities. The separation layer separates the first charged carriers for collection at one or more first contacts and the second charged carriers for collection at one or more second contacts. The first and second contacts include the direct bond interconnects to conduct the first charged carriers and the second charged carriers from the unit cells in order to facilitate image processing. |
| US08441086B2 |
Image sensor packaging structure with predetermined focal length
An image sensor packaging structure with a predetermined focal length is provided. The image sensor packaging structure includes a substrate, a chip, an optical assembly, and an encapsulation compound. The chip has a sensitization area and is coupled to the substrate. Conductive contacts on the substrate are electrically connected with conductive contacts around the sensitization area. The optical assembly has the predetermined focal length and is disposed above the chip so as to form an air cavity between the optical assembly and the sensitization area of the chip. The encapsulation compound is formed on the substrate to surround the chip and the optical assembly. With the above stated structure, not only can the focus adjusting procedure be dispensed with, but also the image sensor packaging structure can be manufactured by a molding or dispensing process. |
| US08441084B2 |
Horizontal polysilicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor
A horizontal heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) includes doped single crystalline Ge having a doping of the first conductivity type as the base having an energy bandgap of about 0.66 eV, and doped polysilicon having a doping of a second conductivity type as a wide-gap-emitter having an energy bandgap of about 1.12 eV. In one embodiment, doped polysilicon having a doping of the second conductivity type is employed as the collector. In other embodiments, a single crystalline Ge having a doping of the second conductivity type is employed as the collector. In such embodiments, because the base and the collector include the same semiconductor material, i.e., Ge, having the same lattice constant, there is no lattice mismatch issue between the collector and the base. In both embodiments, because the emitter is polycrystalline and the base is single crystalline, there is no lattice mismatch issue between the base and the emitter. |
| US08441082B2 |
Memory element and memory
There is provided a memory element including a magnetic layer that includes FexNiyBz (here, x+y+z=1, 0.2x≦y≦4x, and 0.1(x+y)≦z≦0.4(x+y)) as a main component, and has magnetic anisotropy in a direction perpendicular to a film face; and an oxide layer that is formed of an oxide having a sodium chloride structure or a spinel structure and comes into contact with one face of the magnetic layer. |
| US08441078B2 |
Semiconductor device including SiON gate dielectric with portions having different nitrogen concentrations
An integrated circuit (IC) includes a substrate having a top semiconductor surface including at least one MOS device including a source and a drain region spaced apart to define a channel region. A SiON gate dielectric layer that has a plurality of different N concentration portions is formed on the top semiconductor surface. A gate electrode is on the SiON layer. The plurality of different N concentration portions include (i) a bottom portion extending to the semiconductor interface having an average N concentration of <2 atomic %, (ii) a bulk portion having an average N concentration >10 atomic %, and (iii) a top portion on the bulk portion extending to a gate electrode interface having an average N concentration that is ≧2 atomic % less than a peak N concentration of the bulk portion. |
| US08441075B2 |
Power semiconductor apparatus having a silicon power semiconductor device and a wide gap semiconductor device
A power semiconductor apparatus which is provided with a first power semiconductor device using Si as a base substance and a second power semiconductor device using a semiconductor having an energy bandgap wider than the energy bandgap of Si as a base substance, and includes a first insulated metal substrate on which the first power semiconductor device is mounted, a first heat dissipation metal base on which the first insulated metal substrate is mounted, a second insulated metal substrate on which the second power semiconductor device is mounted, and a second heat dissipation metal base on which the second insulated metal substrate is mounted. |
| US08441063B2 |
Memory with extended charge trapping layer
A memory array includes a plurality of bit lines and a plurality of word lines, a gate region, and a charge trapping layer. The charge trapping layer is wider than a word line; the charge trapping layer is extended beyond the edge of the gate region to facilitate capturing and removing charges. |
| US08441062B2 |
Nonvolatile memory devices having memory cell transistors therein with lower bandgap source/drain regions
Nonvolatile memory devices include a plurality of nonvolatile memory cell transistors having respective channel regions within a semiconductor layer formed of a first semiconductor material and respective source/drain regions formed of a second semiconductor material, which has a smaller bandgap relative to the first semiconductor material. The source/drain regions can form non-rectifying junctions with the channel regions. The source/drain regions may include germanium (e.g., Ge or SiGe regions), the semiconductor layer may be a P-type silicon layer and the source/drain regions of the plurality of nonvolatile memory cell transistors may be P-type germanium or P-type silicon germanium. |
| US08441058B2 |
Memory devices having reduced interference between floating gates and methods of fabricating such devices
A memory array comprising transistors having isolated inter-gate dielectric regions with respect to one another. Transistors are formed such that each of the transistors in the array has a charge storage region such as a floating gate, a control gate and an inter-gate dielectric layer therebetween. The inter-gate dielectric layer for each transistor is isolated from the inter-gate dielectric of each of the other transistors in the array. |
| US08441057B2 |
Embedded memory device having MIM capacitor formed in excavated structure
A method of patterning a metal (141, 341, 841) on a vertical sidewall (132, 332, 832) of an excavated feature (130, 330, 830) includes placing a material (350) in the excavated feature such that a portion (435) of the metal is exposed in the excavated feature above the material, etching the exposed portion of the metal away from the vertical sidewall using a first wet etch chemistry, and removing the material from the excavated feature by etching it away using a second wet etch chemistry. The described method may be used to produce a MIM capacitor (800) suitable for an eDRAM device. |
| US08441056B2 |
NROM memory cell, memory array, related devices and methods
An array of memory cells configured to store at least one bit per one F2 includes substantially vertical structures providing an electronic memory function spaced apart a distance equal to one half of a minimum pitch of the array. The structures providing the electronic memory function are configured to store more than one bit per gate. The array also includes electrical contacts to the memory cells including the substantially vertical structures. The cells can be programmed to have one of a number of charge levels trapped in the gate insulator adjacent to the first source/drain region such that the channel region has a first voltage threshold region (Vt1) and a second voltage threshold region (Vt2) and such that the programmed cell operates at reduced drain source current. |
| US08441055B2 |
Methods for forming strained channel dynamic random access memory devices
DRAM trench capacitors formed by, inter alia, deposition of conductive material into a trench or doping the semiconductor region in which the trench is defined. |
| US08441054B2 |
Driver for driving a load using a charge pump circuit
A charge pump circuit includes MOSFETs and MOS capacitors formed on the same substrate. Each of the MOS capacitors has a multiplicity of first electrodes formed in one region of the substrate, insulating layers formed on/above respective substrate regions between neighboring first electrodes, each layer covering at least the respective substrate region, and a multiplicity of second electrodes formed on/above the respective insulating layers. The MOS capacitors have improved frequency response. |
| US08441051B2 |
Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof
A space is provided under part of a semiconductor layer. Specifically, a structure in which an eaves portion (a projecting portion, an overhang portion) is formed in the semiconductor layer. The eaves portion is formed as follows: a stacked-layer structure in which a conductive layer, an insulating layer, and a semiconductor layer are stacked in this order is etched collectively to determine a pattern of a gate electrode; and a pattern of the semiconductor layer is formed while side-etching is performed. |
| US08441048B2 |
Horizontally depleted metal semiconductor field effect transistor
The present invention provides a horizontally depleted Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MESFET). A drain region, a source region, and a channel region are formed in the device layer such that the drain region and the source region are spaced apart from one another and the channel region extends between the drain region and the source region. First and second gate contacts are formed in the device layer on either side of the channel region, and as such, the first and second gate contacts will also reside between opposing portions of the source and drain regions. With this configuration, voltages applied to the first and second gate contacts effectively control vertical depletion regions, which form on either side of the channel region. |
| US08441046B2 |
Topside structures for an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) device to achieve improved device performances
This invention discloses an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) device formed in a semiconductor substrate. The IGBT device has a split-shielded trench gate that includes an upper gate segment and a lower shield segment. The IGBT device may further include a dummy trench filled with a dielectric layer disposed at a distance away from the split-shielded trench gate. The IGBT device further includes a body region extended between the split-shielded trench gate and the dummy trench encompassing a source region surrounding the split-shielded trench gate near a top surface of the semiconductor substrate. The IGBT device further includes a heavily doped N region disposed below the body region and above a source-dopant drift region above a bottom body-dopant collector region at a bottom surface of the semiconductor substrate. In an alternative embodiment, the IGBT may include a planar gate with a trench shield electrode. |
| US08441043B2 |
Maskless process for suspending and thinning nanowires
Semiconductor-based electronic devices and techniques for fabrication thereof are provided. In one aspect, a device is provided comprising a first pad; a second pad and a plurality of nanowires connecting the first pad and the second pad in a ladder-like configuration formed in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer over a buried oxide (BOX) layer, the nanowires having one or more dimensions defined by a re-distribution of silicon from the nanowires to the pads. The device can comprise a field-effect transistor (FET) having a gate surrounding the nanowires wherein portions of the nanowires surrounded by the gate form channels of the FET, the first pad and portions of the nanowires extending out from the gate adjacent to the first pad form a source region of the FET and the second pad and portions of the nanowires extending out from the gate adjacent to the second pad form a drain region of the FET. |
| US08441037B2 |
Semiconductor device having a thin film stacked structure
An objective is to provide a semiconductor device capable of utilizing properties of a high-mobility electron transport layer with a thin film stacked structure having large ΔEc, high electron mobility, and simplified element fabrication process even when the substrate material and the electron transport layer greatly differ in lattice constant. The semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate (1); a first barrier layer (2) on the substrate (1); an electron transport layer (3) on the first barrier layer (2); and a second barrier layer (4) on the electron transport layer (3). The first barrier layer (2) has an InxAl1-xAs layer. At least one of the first barrier layer (2) and the second barrier layer (4) has a stacked structure having an AlyGa1-yAszSb1-z layer in contact with the electron transport layer (3) and an InxAl1-xAs layer in contact with the AlyGa1-yAszSb1-z layer. The stacked structure is doped with a donor impurity. |
| US08441036B2 |
Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same
A trench is formed extending from a surface of a hetero semiconductor region of a polycrystal silicon to the drain region. Further, a driving point of the field effect transistor, where a gate insulating film, the hetero semiconductor region and the drain region are adjoined, is formed at a position spaced apart from a side wall of the trench. |
| US08441035B2 |
Field effect transistor and method of manufacturing the same
The present invention has an object to provide an FET and a method of manufacturing the FET that are capable of increasing the threshold voltage as well as decreasing the on-resistance. The FET of the present invention includes a first undoped GaN layer; a first undoped AlGaN layer formed on the first undoped GaN layer, having a band gap energy greater than that of the first undoped GaN layer; a second undoped GaN layer formed on the first undoped AlGaN layer; a second undoped AlGaN layer formed on the second undoped GaN layer, having a band gap energy greater than that of the second undoped GaN layer; a p-type GaN layer formed in the recess of the second undoped AlGaN layer; a gate electrode formed on the p-type GaN layer; and a source electrode and a drain electrode which are formed in both lateral regions of the gate electrode, wherein a channel is formed at the heterojunction interface between the first undoped GaN layer and the first undoped AlGaN layer. |
| US08441025B2 |
Light emitting device
A light emitting device is provided. The light emitting device may include a reflective layer having a prescribed pattern of at least one shape having prescribed thickness, width and periodicity. The light emitting device may also include a light emitting layer formed on the reflective layer. The prescribed periodicity may be based on 0.75λ/n to 5λ/n, where λ is the wavelength of the light emitted from the light emitting layer, and n is the refractive index of the light emitting layer. |
| US08441021B2 |
Display device and manufacturing method thereof
To achieve enlargement and high definition of a display portion, a single crystal semiconductor film is used as a transistor in a pixel, and the following steps are included: bonding a plurality of single crystal semiconductor substrates to a base substrate; separating part of the plurality of single crystal semiconductor substrates to form a plurality of regions each comprising a single crystal semiconductor film over the base substrate; forming a plurality of transistors each comprising the single crystal semiconductor film as a channel formation region; and forming a plurality of pixel electrodes over the region provided with the single crystal semiconductor film and a region not provided with the single crystal semiconductor film. Some of the transistors electrically connecting to the pixel electrodes formed over the region not provided with the single crystal semiconductor film are formed in the region provided with the single crystal semiconductor film. |
| US08441020B2 |
Light emitting diode wafer-level package with self-aligning features
Several embodiments of light emitting diode packaging configurations including a substrate with a cavity are disclosed herein. A patterned wafer has a plurality of individual LED attachment sites, and an alignment wafer has a plurality of individual cavities. The patterned wafer and the alignment wafer are superimposed with the LED attachment sites corresponding generally to the cavities of the alignment wafer. At least one LED is placed in the cavities using the cavity to align the LED relative to the patterned wafer. The LED is electrically connected to contacts on the patterned wafer, and a phosphor layer is formed in the cavity to cover at least a part of the LED. |
| US08441019B2 |
Light emitting device, light emitting device package and lighting system
Disclosed are a light emitting device, a light emitting device package, and a lighting system. The light emitting device comprises a substrate; a light emitting structure including a first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductive semiconductor layer, which are formed on the substrate such that a part of the first conductive semiconductor layer is exposed upward; schottky contact regions on the second conductive semiconductor layer; a second electrode on the second conductive semiconductor layer; and a first electrode on the exposed first conductive semiconductor layer, wherein a distance between the schottky contact regions narrowed as the schottky contact regions are located closely to a mesa edge region. |
| US08441016B2 |
Thin-film transistor, display device, and manufacturing method for thin-film transistors
Disclosed is a high-quality, efficiently manufacturable thin film transistor in which leakage current is minimized. The thin film transistor is provided with a semiconductor layer (34) that contains a channel region (34C) having a microcrystalline semiconductor; source and drain contact layers (35S and 35D) that contains impurities; a first source metal layer (36S) and a first drain metal layer (36D), and a second source metal layer (37S) and a second drain metal layer (37D). The end portion of the second metal source layer (37S) is located at a position receded from the end portion of the first metal source layer (36S) and the end portion of the second drain metal layer (37D) is located at a position receded from the end portion of the first drain metal layer (36D). The semiconductor layer (34) contains low concentration impurity diffusion regions formed near the end portions of the aforementioned source contact layer (35S) and drain contact layer (35D). |
| US08441014B2 |
Electro-optical device substrate, electro-optical device, and electronic apparatus
In an electro-optical device substrate, first and second pixel switching elements each include a gate electrode formed of a first conductive film, a gate insulation film formed of a first insulation film, a semiconductor layer, a source electrode formed of a second conductive film, and a drain electrode formed of the second conductive film. A first storage capacitor includes a first storage capacitor electrode formed of the second conductive film, a protective film formed of a second insulation film so as to over at least the first storage capacitor electrode, and a pixel electrode formed so as to overlap with the first storage capacitor electrode at least partially with the protective film interposed therebetween. |
| US08441010B2 |
Semiconductor device
In a transistor including an oxide semiconductor, hydrogen in the oxide semiconductor leads to degradation of electric characteristics of the transistor. Thus, an object is to provide a semiconductor device having good electrical characteristics. An insulating layer in contact with an oxide semiconductor layer where a channel region is formed is formed by a plasma CVD method using a silicon halide. The insulating layer thus formed has a hydrogen concentration less than 6×1020 atoms/cm3 and a halogen concentration greater than or equal to 1×1020 atoms/cm3; accordingly, hydrogen diffusion into the oxide semiconductor layer can be prevented and hydrogen in the oxide semiconductor layer is inactivated or released from the oxide semiconductor layer by the halogen, whereby a semiconductor device having good electrical characteristics can be provided. |
| US08441008B2 |
Solution composition for manufacturing metal oxide semiconductor
Provided is a solution composition for manufacturing a metal oxide semiconductor including aluminum salts, metal acetylacetonate and a solvent. In addition, provided is a method for manufacturing a metal oxide semiconductor, including: manufacturing of a metal oxide semiconductor by performing heat treatment after coating a solution composition for manufacturing the metal oxide semiconductor above a substrate. In addition, provided is a thin film transistor, including: a gate substrate; a metal oxide semiconductor manufactured to be overlapped with the gate substrate; a source electrode electrically connected to the metal oxide semiconductor; and a drain electrode that is electrically connected to the metal oxide semiconductor and faces the source electrode. |
| US08441003B2 |
Phosphorescent polymer compound based on iridium polymer complex and organic electroluminescent device utilizing the same
A phosphorescent polymer compound including structural units that are derived from a compound represented by Formula (1): wherein R1 to R8 and L are as defined herein. |
| US08441002B2 |
Organic semiconductor composite, organic transistor material and organic field effect transistor
The present invention provides an organic semiconductor composite containing a certain thiophene compound and carbon nanotubes, which can be formed into a film by a coating process such as an inkjet process, has high charge mobility and can maintain a high on/off ratio even in air, an organic transistor material and an organic field effect transistor. |
| US08441000B2 |
Heterojunction tunneling field effect transistors, and methods for fabricating the same
The present invention relates to a heterojunction tunneling effect transistor (TFET), which comprises spaced apart source and drain regions with a channel region located therebetween and a gate stack located over the channel region. The drain region comprises a first semiconductor material and is doped with a first dopant species of a first conductivity type. The source region comprises a second, different semiconductor material and is doped with a second dopant species of a second, different conductivity type. The gate stack comprises at least a gate dielectric and a gate conductor. When the heterojunction TFET is an n-channel TFET, the drain region comprises n-doped silicon, while the source region comprises p-doped silicon germanium. When the heterojunction TFET is a p-channel TPET, the drain region comprises p-doped silicon, while the source region comprises n-doped SiC. |
| US08440999B2 |
Semiconductor chip with graphene based devices in an interconnect structure of the chip
A semiconductor structure includes a first dielectric material including at least one first conductive region contained therein. The structure also includes at least one graphene containing semiconductor device located atop the first dielectric material. The at least one graphene containing semiconductor device includes a graphene layer that overlies and is in direct with the first conductive region. The structure further includes a second dielectric material covering the at least one graphene containing semiconductor device and portions of the first dielectric material. The second dielectric material includes at least one second conductive region contained therein, and the at least one second conductive region is in contact with a conductive element of the at least one graphene containing semiconductor device. |
| US08440998B2 |
Increasing carrier injection velocity for integrated circuit devices
Embodiments of the present disclosure describe structures and techniques to increase carrier injection velocity for integrated circuit devices. An integrated circuit device includes a semiconductor substrate, a first barrier film coupled with the semiconductor substrate, a quantum well channel coupled to the first barrier film, the quantum well channel comprising a first material having a first bandgap energy, and a source structure coupled to launch mobile charge carriers into the quantum well channel, the source structure comprising a second material having a second bandgap energy, wherein the second bandgap energy is greater than the first bandgap energy. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed. |
| US08440997B2 |
Nanowire photodetector and image sensor with internal gain
A 1D nanowire photodetector device includes a nanowire that is individually contacted by electrodes for applying a longitudinal electric field which drives the photocurrent. An intrinsic radial electric field to inhibits photo-carrier recombination, thus enhancing the photocurrent response. Circuits of 1D nanowire include groups of photodetectors addressed by their individual 1D nanowire electrode contacts. Placement of 1D nanostructures is accomplished with registration onto a substrate. A substrate is patterned with a material, e.g., photoresist, and trenches are formed in the patterning material at predetermined locations for the placement of 1D nanostructures. The 1D nanostructures are aligned in a liquid suspension, and then transferred into the trenches from the liquid suspension. Removal of the patterning material places the 1D nanostructures in predetermined, registered positions on the substrate. |
| US08440994B2 |
Nanotube array electronic and opto-electronic devices
Carbon nanotube (CNT)-based devices and technology for their fabrication are disclosed. The discussed electronic and photonic devices and circuits rely on the nanotube arrays grown on a variety of substrates, such as glass or Si wafer. The planar, multiple layer deposition technique and simple methods of change of the nanotube conductivity type during the device processing are utilized to provide a simple and cost effective technology for a large scale circuit integration. Such devices as p-n diode, CMOS-like circuit, bipolar transistor, light emitting diode and laser are disclosed, all of them are expected to have superior performance then their semiconductor-based counterparts due to excellent CNT electrical and optical properties. When fabricated on Si-wafers, the CNT-based devices can be combined with the Si circuit elements, thus producing hybrid Si-CNT devices and circuits. |
| US08440990B2 |
Nonvolatile memory device having an electrode interface coupling region
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a resistive switching nonvolatile memory device having an interface layer structure disposed between at least one of the electrodes and a variable resistance layer formed in the nonvolatile memory device, and a method of forming the same. Typically, resistive switching memory elements may be formed as part of a high-capacity nonvolatile memory integrated circuit, which can be used in various electronic devices, such as digital cameras, mobile telephones, handheld computers, and music players. In one configuration of the resistive switching nonvolatile memory device, the interface layer structure comprises a passivation region, an interface coupling region, and/or a variable resistance layer interface region that are configured to adjust the nonvolatile memory device's performance, such as lowering the formed device's switching currents and reducing the device's forming voltage, and reducing the performance variation from one formed device to another. |
| US08440987B2 |
System and method for automated cyclotron procedures
Systems and methods are provided to perform efficient, automatic cyclotron initialization, calibration, and beam adjustment. A process is provided that allows the automation of the initialization of a cyclotron after overnight or maintenance imposed shutdown. In one embodiment, five independent cyclotron system states are defined and the transition between one state to another may be automated, e.g., by the control system of the cyclotron. According to these embodiments, it is thereby possible to achieve beam operation after shutdown with minimal manual input. By applying an automatic procedure, all active devices of the cyclotron (e.g., RF system, extraction deflectors, ion source) are respectively ramped to predefined parameters. |
| US08440985B2 |
Method and a device for detecting the fluorescence of a biochip
An imaging method and a device for detecting the fluorescence of a biochip by illuminating chromophores associated with probes (14) of a substrate (12) placed on a sensor (10) having photodetectors, e.g. of the CCD or CMOS type, a stop filter that rejects the excitation light of the chromophores being provided between the probes (14) and the sensor, the substrate (12) being separable from the sensor (10) after use so as to enable the sensor to be reused. |
| US08440984B2 |
Fluoroscopy system
Provided is a fluoroscopy system includes a light source device that emits white light and excitation light for irradiation of a subject; a white-light-image generating section that generates a white-light image by capturing the white light reflected from the subject; a fluorescence-image generating section that generates a fluorescence image by capturing fluorescence from the subject irradiated with the excitation light; an intensity-distribution generating section that generates a fluorescence intensity distribution of pixels of the fluorescence image; a peak-detecting section that detects a fluorescence-intensity peak in the fluorescence intensity distribution; a peak-count comparing section that calculates a count of the peak; an image-combining section that generates a combined image by superimposing a display representing a region including a pixel having the fluorescence intensity at the peak on the white-light image or the fluorescence image based on the peak count; and a monitor that displays the combined image. |
| US08440980B2 |
CsLiLn halide scintillator
Li-containing scintillator compositions, as well as related structures and methods are described. Radiation detection systems and methods are described which include a Cs2LiLn Halide scintillator composition. |
| US08440979B2 |
Ultraviolet light exposure chamber for photovoltaic modules
An apparatus for performing UV light exposure testing of solar panels, also known as PV modules, with superior exposure uniformity, equipment throughput, and floor space requirements, consisting of a chamber including a plurality of UV lamps in a lamp array, at least one target plane, and reflective panels positioned within the chamber to redirect UV light to the target plane(s). |
| US08440967B2 |
Mass spectrometer
A device for separating ions according to differences in their ion mobility as a function of electric field strength is disclosed. The device comprises an upper electrode, a lower electrode and a plurality of intermediate electrodes. An asymmetric voltage waveform is applied to the upper electrode and a DC compensating voltage is applied to the lower electrode. |
| US08440954B2 |
Solid-state image pickup device with a wiring becoming a light receiving surface, method of manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus
Disclosed herein is a solid-state image pickup device, including: a plurality of pixels each composed of a photoelectric conversion element formed in a semiconductor substrate for generating and accumulating signal electric charges corresponding to a light quantity of incident light, and an electric charge reading portion formed on a front surface side of the semiconductor substrate for reading out the signal electric charges generated and accumulated in the photoelectric conversion element; a wiring for a substrate potential formed on a back surface side, becoming a light receiving surface, of the semiconductor substrate for supplying a desired voltage to the semiconductor substrate; and a back surface side contact portion through which the wiring for a substrate potential and the semiconductor substrate are electrically connected to each other. |
| US08440952B2 |
Methods for optical amplified imaging using a two-dimensional spectral brush
An apparatus and method for ultrafast real-time optical imaging that can be used for imaging dynamic events such as microfluidics or laser surgery is provided. The apparatus and methods encode spatial information from a sample into a back reflection of a two-dimensional spectral brush that is generated with a two-dimensional disperser and a light source that is mapped in to the time domain with a temporal disperser. The temporal waveform is preferably captured by an optical detector, converted to an electrical signal that is digitized and processed to provide two dimensional and three dimensional images. The produced signals can be optically or electronically amplified. Detection may be improved with correlation matching against a database in the time domain or the spatial domain. Embodiments for endoscopy, microscopy and simultaneous imaging and laser ablation with a single fiber are illustrated. |
| US08440949B2 |
In-line microwave warming apparatus
Microwave warming apparatus includes a housing defining a heating waveguide with a longitudinal ridge and a heating cavity. A slot extends through the ridge into the heating cavity for receiving a cartridge containing a looped tube so that the tube extends into the heating cavity where the tube contents are heated by energy coupled into the waveguide. Receiving waveguides adjacent to the slot sense the thermal radiation emanating from the tube and deliver corresponding signals to a radiometer which produces a temperature indication. The cartridge includes a support member which maintains the shape of the tube loop. A pair of notches in the support member have walls enabling the notches to complete the receiving waveguides in the housing. |
| US08440948B2 |
Heating cooker
A heating cooker includes a cooking chamber accommodating an object to be cooked, a hot air generator and a blower. Hot air generated by the generator impinges as a high-speed impinging jet on the object from a nozzle hole located in a ceiling plate. The hot air having impinged on the object is drawn our through hot-air suction openings located in lower parts of right and left sidewalls of the chamber by the blower. A shelf plate is located in the chamber so that the object is placed on it. The shelf plate has openings on right and left sides. Hot air is caused to impinge on the object through the nozzle hole. The shelf has a convex portion formed on a face on which the object is to be placed which supports the object from below. |
| US08440946B2 |
System using a jet mill in combination with a microwave system to economically prepare clean coal for use in power generation
Coal is processed to produce relatively pure carbon particles of small size by first subjecting mined coal fragments to microwave energy to vaporize the water, mercury, sulfur, and like contaminants and to increase the friability of the coal. Next the fragments are pulverized and then reduced in a jet mill to produce particles of small maximum size and fine particles having an average size of about 20 microns, for use in a power plant or as a fuel for a turbine or diesel engine. |
| US08440941B2 |
Heat treatment apparatus, heat treatment method and method for manufacturing semiconductor device
Provided is a heat treatment apparatus in which a large-sized substrate can be rapidly heated and rapidly cooled with high uniformity, and a heat treatment method using the heat treatment apparatus. The heat treatment apparatus includes: a first chamber of which one side is opened; a second chamber of which one side is opened; a device for moving the first and the second chambers; a heating device; a gas introduction port; a gas exhaust port; and a jig for longitudinally fixing a substrate, in which the substrate is rapidly heated while the first and the second chambers are connected, and rapidly cooled by separating the chambers to move the substrate away from a heat storage portion of the heating device or the like. Further, the heat treatment method includes the heat treatment apparatus, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using an oxide semiconductor is included. |
| US08440940B2 |
Photovoltaic ice dam remediation apparatus
An ice dam remediation apparatus comprises a photovoltaic cell panel DC power source (9) directly connected electrically to a low-voltage electrical heat tape or wire cable (8). The heat tape or wire cable (8) is arranged near the eave (6) of a rooftop (2) in an orientation that will create a plurality of runoff channels or tunnels (11) through the ice or snow covering the roof. The channels or tunnels (11) are oriented along the dip of the rooftop, thus permitting water to drain off the edge (6) of the rooftop (2) instead of freezing and contributing to the formation of an ice dam along the edge (6) of the rooftop (2). Preferably, the photovoltaic cell (9) is situated on a sunny roof surface (3), so as to provide maximum power to the heat tape or wire cable (8), which is situated on a shady portion (2) of the roof, where ice dam formation is most likely. |
| US08440936B2 |
Welding power supply
A welding power supply (1) for supply of current to a welding electrode (2), and a method and a computer program for controlling such a welding power supply is described. The welding power supply (1) comprises an output (3) for output of current from the welding power supply (1), and a control unit (9) for controlling the welding power supply (1). The control unit (9) is arranged to control the welding power supply (1) to supply current to the output (3) in the form of a series of alternating positive current pulses (11), having a positive top value (Imax+), and negative current pulses (12), having a negative top value (Imax), and to lower the current in the current pulses from the negative top value (Imax) and the positive top value (Imax+) to a negative switch value (Ix−) and a positive switch value (Ix+), respectively, before switch between a positive current pulse (11) and a negative current pulse (12). The control unit (9) is arranged to control, in dependence of the current from the output and a first set point, the welding power supply (1) at least with regard to one of the point of time for lowering of the current in the current pulses and the level for at least one of the negative switch value (Ix−) and the positive switch value (Ix+). |
| US08440930B2 |
Vacuum circuit breaker
Disclosed is a vacuum circuit breaker. A rotation link provided between a rotation shaft which transfers a rotation force of a driving force, and a moveable link which performs a linear motion by a rotation force of the rotation shaft is configured to receive a tensile force to be pulled to a direction of the rotation shaft when a driving unit performs a closing operation. This may prevent the moveable link from being buckled during a closing operation, and thus prevent lowering of the reliability due to deformation of sliding levers. |