| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08584258B2 |
Control for inviting an unauthenticated user to gain access to display of content that is otherwise accessible with an authentication mechanism
Enabling an unauthenticated user to access content associated with an authenticated user as though the unauthenticated user had a selected user relationship with the authenticated user. The user relationship may comprise a relationship degree, a relationship category, a relationship rating, and/or the like. An invitation to join an electronic service, such as an online social network, is sent to the unauthenticated user at an address known to the authenticated user. The invitation includes a time-limited token, such as a URL, that includes an invitation identifier, which relates the invitation to the authenticated user content. The token may be encrypted in the invitation. The unauthenticated user returns the token as a request to preview the authenticated user content without first becoming an authenticated user of the electronic service. If the token is still valid, access is granted. The unauthenticated user may also request to establish a connection with the authenticated user. |
| US08584257B2 |
Method and interface for video content acquisition security on a set-top box
A method of providing access to downloadable protected video content includes providing parental controls. The parental controls include a parental control password. Purchase controls are also provided and include a purchase control password. The purchase control password is different from the parental control password. Further, protected video content is downloaded and stored to a memory within a set top box when both the parental controls and the purchase controls are satisfied. A number of attempts to correctly input the parental control password or the purchase control password are monitored. When the number of attempts for either password exceeds a predetermined threshold, a user is prevented from further attempts to input the respective password. Moreover, the attempt to download protected video content is canceled, and further downloads of protected video content are prevented for a predetermined time period. |
| US08584255B2 |
Networked conditional access module
A networked Conditional Access Module provided on an IEEE 1394 network, by defining a Conditional Access Module as a Conditional Access Subunit of the IEEE 1394 network. There is provided an AV/C Conditional Access Commands to allow communication between the Conditional Access Subunit and other Subunits on the network. The Conditional Access Subunit is configured to receive AV/C Conditional Access Commands over the IEEE 1394 network from another subunit, and means to is also configured to transmit AV/C responses over the IEEE 1394 network in response to the received AV/C Conditional Access Commands. |
| US08584251B2 |
Token-based payment processing system
A data-processing system, such as a payment processing system, including a tokenizer, such as a card encryption and storage system (CES) employing a tokenization feature. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a first-computer-implemented method for preventing the transmission of confidential information between a first computer and a second computer in communication with the first computer. The method includes the steps of: (a) the first computer receiving information for performing a transaction, the information including confidential information manually entered by a user; (b) the first computer sending the confidential information to a third computer; (c) the first computer receiving, from the third computer, a token having no algorithmic relationship to the confidential information; and (d) the first computer sending to the second computer (i) the information for performing the transaction, except for the confidential information, and (ii) the token. |
| US08584238B1 |
Method and apparatus for identifying data patterns in a file
A method and apparatus for identifying data patterns of a file are described herein. In one embodiment, an exemplary process includes, but is not limited to, receiving a data packet of a data stream containing a file segment of a file originated from an external host and destined to a protected host of a local area network (LAN), the file being transmitted via multiple file segments contained in multiple data packets of the data stream, and performing a data pattern analysis on the received data packet to determine whether the received data packet contains a predetermined data pattern, without waiting for a remainder of the data stream to arrive. Other methods and apparatuses are also described. |
| US08584235B2 |
Fuzzy whitelisting anti-malware systems and methods
In some embodiments, an anti-malware system accounts for benign differences between non-malicious data objects, such as differences introduced by compilers and other polymorphisms. A target object is separated into a multitude of code blocks, and a hash is calculated for each code block. The obtained set of target hashes is then compared against a database of hashes corresponding to code blocks extracted from whitelisted objects. A target object may be labeled as whitelisted (trusted, non-malicious) if it has a substantial number of hashes in common with a whitelisted object. Objects which are slightly different from known whitelisted objects may still receive whitelisting status. By allowing a certain degree of mismatch between the sets of hashes of distinct objects, some embodiments of the present invention increase the efficiency of whitelisting without an unacceptable decrease in safety. |
| US08584231B2 |
Service opening method and system, and service opening server
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a service opening method and system, and a service opening server. The method includes: receiving a service request from a third-party application, where the service request carries type and parameter information of the requested service; querying, according to the type information of the service, a service directory to obtain an access address and authentication type information of the requested service; when it is determined that the invoking of the service needs an authorization of an end user, obtaining an authorization notification message of the end user according to the type information of the service and the parameter information of the service; and forwarding, the service request to a capability server, and forwarding, to the third-party application, a service response message returned by the capability server. The control of the end user on the authorized service is ensured to the greatest extent. |
| US08584230B2 |
Security authorization queries
In an example implementation, a bifurcated security scheme has a first level that does not allow usage of negations and a second level that does permit usage of negations. In another example implementation, an authorization query table maps respective resource-specific operations to respective associated authorization queries. In yet another example implementation, authorization queries are permitted to have negations, but individual assertions are not. |
| US08584226B2 |
Method and apparatus for geographically regulating inbound and outbound network communications
A system and method for regulating and analyzing inbound and outbound communications in and between computer networks on the basis of geographic security assertions are provided. Geographic information is collected, optimized, and shared between network objects to enforce network access control on the basis of configurable security assertions. Security assertions are configured and metrics displayed using maps and other geographic data in a graphical user interface. |
| US08584223B2 |
Method of protecting access to data on a network
The invention is a method of managing access to a plurality of data from a server by a client through a point-to-point link. Each of the data is reachable through a set of URIs that belongs to an index list. The method comprises the step of inserting a request to a control message in the index list. The control message applies to a data reachable through one URI belonging to the index list. |
| US08584222B2 |
Secure pin reset process
A secure password/Personal Identification Number (PIN) reset process is disclosed. The process involves replacing a transportation password/PIN of a terminal with a user-specific password/PIN. During the replacement, the user-specific password/PIN is bound with a token. The token can then be used to securely reset the password/PIN of the terminal back to the transportation password/PIN if the user-specific password/PIN is forgotten or compromised. |
| US08584218B2 |
Disconnected credential validation using pre-fetched service tickets
One or more user service tickets are obtained (i.e. pre-fetched) from an authentication server and stored in a ticket cache. The user service tickets facilitate a login device communicating with one or more users or group members associated with the login device. Login credentials for the users or group members may be subsequently authenticated against the user service tickets within the ticket cache thereby eliminating the need for immediate access to the authentication server or a previous login session by the users or group members. The user service tickets within the ticket cache may be refreshed as needed. In one embodiment, the user service tickets are refreshed daily and also in response to login attempts if the authentication service is readily accessible. |
| US08584217B2 |
Service segregation according to subscriber service association
Processing a plurality of packets through at least one service, a privilege granter monitors at least two authentication packets to obtain a source unique network identifier, one of which does not have a vendor specific attribute and detects an authentication packet among the at least two authentication packets, and the authentication packet having the vendor specific attribute. The privilege granter receives at least one response authentication packet having at least one service definition identifier, the service definition identifier corresponding to the source unique network identifier, responsive to detecting the authentication packet having the vendor specific attribute and builds an entitlement database to pair the source unique network identifier to the service definition identifier. The privilege granter receives a session packet and determines that the source unique network identifier corresponds to a user entitlement in the entitlement database. The privilege granter routes the session packet to an addressable service. |
| US08584216B1 |
Systems and methods for efficiently deploying updates within a cryptographic-key management system
A computer-implemented method for efficiently deploying cryptographic key updates may include (1) receiving a request for subscribed cryptographic key material from a client device that includes information that identifies both the client device and cryptographic key material currently possessed by the client device, (2) automatically identifying the client device's subscribed cryptographic key material, (3) determining, by comparing the information received from the client device with the client device's subscribed cryptographic key material, that the cryptographic key material currently possessed by the client device does not match the client device's subscribed cryptographic key material, and (4) deploying at least one update to the client device that causes the client device to update the cryptographic key material currently possessed by the client device to match the client device's subscribed cryptographic key material. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US08584214B2 |
Secure server certificate trust list update for client devices
A method, a network element, and a client device for creating a trusted connection with a network are disclosed. A client device 104 may attempt to access a sub-network 106. The client device 104 may determine that a certificate of the sub-network 106 is issued by a certification authority absent from a device certificate trust list. The client device 104 may receive via the sub-network 106 a certificate trust list update 400 from a certificate trust list provider 108. |
| US08584213B2 |
Automated encryption and password protection for downloaded documents
A method receives a user login from a user. The method grants, to the user, access to a user account of the user maintained by a computerized document management system based on the user login. The computerized document management system is accessible to a plurality of users. The method receives a request from the user to provide a requested document and the method determines whether the requested document should be password protected. If the requested document should be password protected, the method generates a unique password for the requested document. The unique password is unique to the user and is based upon information contained within the user account by the computerized document management system. Again, if the requested document should be password protected, the method adds the unique password to the requested document to generate a password-protected document and sends the password-protected document to the first user. |
| US08584210B2 |
Multiple server access management
An access management system receives an access request for a target computer from a client computer. The access request comprises a digital certificate belonging to a user. The access management system verifies the identity of the user by validating the digital certificate. When so verified, the user receives access privileges from a policy database. The access privileges contain one or more access attributes. The access management system evaluates the access request based the one or more access attributes and grants the user access to the target computer if all the one or more access attributes are satisfied. |
| US08584207B2 |
Infrastructure-less bootstrapping: trustless bootstrapping to enable mobility for mobile devices
Methods and apparatus for supporting a session in Mobile IP are disclosed. A Mobile Node sends a first Mobile IP message identifying the Mobile Node to a Home Agent, wherein the first Mobile IP message indicates to the Home Agent that the Mobile Node is requesting dynamic configuration of a Mobile-Home authentication key to be shared between the Mobile Node and the Home Agent during the session. A Mobile-Home authentication key to be shared between the Home Agent and the Mobile Node is obtained or generated by the Mobile Node and the Home Agent, where the Mobile-Home authentication key is not valid after the session has ended or during another session. The Home Agent sends a second Mobile IP message to the Mobile Node, the second Mobile IP message including a lifetime associated with the session, wherein the lifetime indicates a lifetime of the key, thereby enabling the Mobile Node to register with the Home Agent using the Mobile-Home authentication key to be shared between the Home Agent and the Mobile Node during the session. |
| US08584205B2 |
Guard spot beams to deter satellite-based authentication system spoofing
A transmission-based authentication system and method to prevent an unauthorized claimant from tracking a signal are disclosed herein. In one or more embodiments, the method involves transmitting, from at least one transmission source, a plurality of authentication signals. The method further involves receiving, from at least one receiving source, a resultant signal that includes at least two of the authentication signals. Further, the method involves authenticating, with at least one authenticator device, at least one claimant by comparing properties of the resultant signal the claimant receives from the receiving source location(s) to expected properties of the resultant signal that the claimant should receive from the receiving source location(s). The properties that are compared are signal power, doppler shift, time of reception, and/or signal modulation. The transmission source(s) is employed in at least one satellite and/or at least one pseudo-satellite. |
| US08584202B2 |
Apparatus and method for determining environment integrity levels
According to one embodiment, an apparatus may receive a resource token indicating that access to the resource has been requested. The apparatus may determine the value of an access value associated with at least one network token. The apparatus may then determine that the value of the access value is insufficient to grant access to the resource and determine that access to the resource over the network should be denied. |
| US08584200B2 |
Multiple time outs for applications in a mobile device
A method for revoking access to a mobile device includes providing a plurality of authenticated applications accessible by the mobile device, and providing a plurality of revocation timeout intervals for revoking access by the mobile device to the plurality of authenticated applications. Access to a first authenticated application is revoked after a first timeout interval and access to a second authenticated application is revoked after a second timeout interval. |
| US08584199B1 |
System and method to apply a packet routing policy to an application session
A security gateway includes packet routing policies, each including a host network address, an application network address, and a forwarding interface. In routing data packets of an application session, the security gateway: recognizes the application session between a network and an application; determines a user identity from an application session record for the application session; determines packet routing policies applicable to the application session based on the user identity; receives a data packet for the application session, including a source network address and a destination network address; compares the source network address with the host network address, and the destination network address with the application network address; and in response to finding a match between the source network address and the host network address, and between the destination network address and the application network address, processes the data packet using the forwarding interface of the packet routing policy. |
| US08584195B2 |
Identities correlation infrastructure for passive network monitoring
User names and user groups serve as the basis of a formal policy in a network. A passive monitor examines network traffic in near real time and indicates: which network traffic is flowing on the network as before; which users or user groups were logged into workstations initiating this network traffic; and which of this traffic conforms to the formal policy definition. In one embodiment of the invention, users and user groups are determined by querying Microsoft® Active Directory and Microsoft® Windows servers, to determine who is logged onto the Microsoft® network. Other sources of identity information are also possible. The identity information is then correlated with the network traffic, so that even traffic that does not bear on the Microsoft® networking scheme is still tagged with identity |
| US08584192B2 |
Upstream bandwidth conditioning device
An upstream bandwidth conditioning device is provided that can be inserted into a signal transmission line of a CATV system on a premise of a user. The device includes a tunable low pass filter, a tunable high pass filter connected in series with the tunable low pass filter, and at least one voltage control unit. The voltage control unit is configured to adjust each of the tunable low pass filter and the tunable high pass filter between at least a first intermediate frequency range having a first width and a second intermediate frequency range having a second width. The first width differs in size from the second width. |
| US08584189B2 |
System and method for emergency communications through a set-top box
A system and method for sending an emergency communication from a set-top box. A user and location of the user is associated with the set-top box. An indicator of an emergency is received through the set-top box. The user and the location associated with the set-top box are determined in response to receiving the indicator. A database returns the user and the location utilizing an identifier of the set-top box. An emergency communication is sent indicating the location through a media network in communication with the set-top box. |
| US08584188B2 |
System and method for displaying call status on TV
Embodiments of the disclosed invention include a system and a method for displaying, among other things, call status information associated with one or more communication devices on a television. In one embodiment, an integrated set top box is disclosed that includes a memory component for storing computer executable instructions; a data storage unit for storing data associated with at least one monitored communication device; a communication interface in communication with a cable head end for receiving communication data associated with the monitored communication device and television media content; a decoder for decoding the television media content; and a processing unit for executing the computer executable instructions to generate a user interface using the communication data to depict a call status associated with the monitored communication device on a television couple to the set top box. |
| US08584181B2 |
Multimedia channel sharing across access network boundaries
An initiating viewer identifies a multimedia channel and submits a request to share the multimedia channel with at least one recipient viewer at another viewer premises. This request is processed by the multimedia receiver of the initiating viewer so as to generate a channel change request for submission to a service provider. In response to the channel share request, the service provider queries the recipient viewer to determine whether the recipient viewer accepts or rejects the offered multimedia channel. If the recipient viewer accepts the multimedia channel, the multimedia channel can be provided to the multimedia receiver of the recipient viewer either for storage for later playback or for immediate playback concurrent with the provision of the multimedia channel to the initiating viewer. Billing for costs associated with the shared multimedia channel is conducted based on billing feedback provided by the initiating viewer. |
| US08584172B2 |
Interactive television program guide with remote access
An interactive television program guide with remote access is provided. The interactive television program guide is implemented on interactive television program guide equipment. A remote program guide access device is connected to the interactive television program guide equipment by a remote access link to provide a user with remote access to program guide functions. An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc. |
| US08584171B2 |
Local context navigation system
Embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and machine-readable media for browsing, navigating and searching a context sensitive entertainment-programming guide. According to one embodiment, a method for navigating an entertainment-programming guide can comprise establishing a connection from a client device to a server computer through a public network. A first content array can be received from the server computer over the public network. The first content array can comprise information describing a plurality of entertainment programs. The first content array can be stored on the client device and entertainment-program information can be presented based on the first content array stored on the client device. |
| US08584168B2 |
Apparatus and method for automatically recording content, and recording medium and program thereof
An apparatus automatically recommends content. A preference operation history managing unit generates history information of an operation relating to a preference for a content according to a plurality of operations relating to a preference for the content and explanation information relating to the content and using preference value parameters for each kind of these operations. A preference information managing unit generates and renews preference information including preference values in which a given preference value is based on a combination of a given keyword and a preference value for that keyword. A content recommending unit calculates a preference degree for the content according to the preference information and the explanation information with respect to the content and recommends at least a portion of the content according to the preference degree. |
| US08584164B2 |
System and apparatus for managing media content
A system and apparatus for managing media content is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a terminal device can have a controller element that receives a media guide from a set-top box, and presents on a display unit of the terminal device the media guide without presentation of said media guide on a media device coupled to the set-top box. Additional embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08584162B1 |
Signal processing apparatus and methods
A unified system of programming communication. The system encompasses the prior art (television, radio, broadcast hardcopy, computer communications, etc.) and new user specific mass media. Within the unified system, parallel processing computer systems, each having an input (e.g., 77) controlling a plurality of computers (e.g., 205), generate and output user information at receiver stations. Under broadcast control, local computers (73, 205), combine user information selectively into prior art communications to exhibit personalized mass media programming at video monitors (202), speakers (263), printers (221), etc. At intermediate transmission stations (e.g., cable television stations), signals in network broadcasts and from local inputs (74, 77, 97, 98) cause control processors (71) and computers (73) to selectively automate connection and operation of receivers (53), recorder/players (76), computers (73), generators (82), strippers (81), etc. At receiver stations, signals in received transmissions and from local inputs (225, 218, 22) cause control processors (200) and computers (205) to automate connection and operation of converters (201), tuners (215), decryptors (224), recorder/players (217), computers (205), furnaces (206), etc. Processors (71, 200) meter and monitor availability and usage of programming. |
| US08584159B2 |
Converting standard definition television advertisements to high definition format
A device receives a request for an advertisement from a set-top box (STB) displaying television content in a high definition format, and provides, to the STB, the advertisement in a standard definition format, where the high definition format includes a resolution higher than a resolution of the standard definition format. The device also determines whether the STB converts the advertisement from the standard definition format to the high definition format. When the STB fails to convert the advertisement from the standard definition format to the high definition format, the device generates a first error code and instructs the STB to continue to display the television content, without interruption, in the high definition format. |
| US08584152B2 |
Disc drive with heat dissipating ventilation
The electronic device pertaining to an embodiment comprises a housing that holds an optical disk. The housing comprises a holding space holding an optical disk, a first internal space being apart from the holding space and in which a first electronic component controlling a pickup is disposed, an intake channel leading from the first internal space to the holding space, and an exhaust channel leading from the holding space to a specific space being distinct from the first internal space. |
| US08584148B2 |
Terminal device and program
A terminal device in which basic information and detailed information of each a plurality of application programs are stored in a different storage area for each application program, and that prohibits access to each storage area by other application programs, is caused to execute the processes of displaying a window that includes the basic information of each application program, and, if a cursor is moved to the display position of one of the pieces of basic information, reading out, from the appropriate storage areas, the detailed information of a first application program corresponding to the basic information where the cursor is positioned and the detailed information of a second application program whose basic information is displayed adjacent to the basic information of the first application program, and displaying the detailed information of the first application program. |
| US08584144B2 |
Determining the processing order of a plurality of events
A method for operating a multi-threading computational system includes: identifying related events; allocating the related events to a first thread; allocating unrelated events to one or more second threads; wherein the events allocated to the first thread are executed in sequence and the events allocated to the one or more second threads are executed in parallel to execution of the first thread. |
| US08584143B2 |
Collection access in a parallel environment
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with collection access are described. One example system includes a data store to store a set of listener object identifiers. A listener object identifier identifies a member of a set (or collection) of listener objects. A Listener object initiates an action in response to an occurrence of an event associated with a member of a set of external logics. A member of the set of external logics invokes a notify process to trigger actions. The example system may also include storing the listener object identifiers in an array to allow instances of the notify process to operate in parallel. |
| US08584141B2 |
Data communications in a parallel active messaging interface of a parallel computer
Data communications in a parallel active messaging interface (‘PAMI’) of a parallel computer composed of compute nodes that execute a parallel application, each compute node including application processors that execute the parallel application and at least one management processor dedicated to gathering information regarding data communications. The PAMI is composed of data communications endpoints, each endpoint composed of a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task, the compute nodes and the endpoints coupled for data communications through the PAMI and through data communications resources. Embodiments function by gathering call site statistics describing data communications resulting from execution of data communications instructions and identifying in dependence upon the call cite statistics a data communications algorithm for use in executing a data communications instruction at a call site in the parallel application. |
| US08584140B2 |
Systems and methods for receiving and sending messages about changes to data attributes
Systems and methods for receiving and sending messages about changes to data attributes are described. A message that includes all common data attributes associated with a first reference object is received. The data attributes in the message are mapped to common data attributes in a second reference object. The type of the message is determined, where the message is either a synchronization message or a key change message. The common data attributes in the second reference object are updated to match the common data attributes in the first reference object if the message is a synchronization message. A unique data attribute in the second reference object is updated if the message is a key change message. |
| US08584136B2 |
Context-aware request dispatching in clustered environments
The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for providing context-aware request dispatching in a clustered environment. One process includes operations for receiving an event at a first computer node. The contents of the event are analyzed to determine a target process instance for handling the event. A target computer node hosting the target process instance is determined, and the event is sent to the target computer node for handling by the target process instance. |
| US08584135B2 |
Intelligent buyer's agent usage for allocation of service level characteristics
A system, method, program product and service for managing bidding in a resource management framework. A buyer's agent is provided to manage the bidding process for resources for a client. The buyer's agent includes the ability to submit a bid to a resource broker to acquire a set of resources for the client based on service level requirements of the client. Once the set of resources is obtained, they are monitored to ensure the required service level of the client is being met. If the service level requirements are not met, the buyer's agent automatically resubmits a bid to the resource broker. Finally, collaboration among a plurality of buyer's agents may be utilized to avoid bidding wars and the like. |
| US08584132B2 |
Ultra-wideband radio controller driver (URCD)-PAL interface
Various embodiments provide a two-way interface between a URC driver (URCD) and various Protocol Adaption Layer (PAL) drivers. The two-way interface can enable bandwidth to be shared and managed among multiple different PALs. The two-way interface can also be used to implement common radio functionality such as beaconing, channel selection, and address conflict resolution. In at least some embodiments, the two-way interface can be utilized for power management to place PALs in lower power states to conserve power and to support remote wake-up functionality. Further, at least some embodiments can enable vendor-specific PALs to interact with vendor-specific hardware. |
| US08584130B2 |
Allocation of resources on computer systems
A method, computer program product, and system for allocating resources on computer systems are provided. The method, computer program product, and system provide for displaying a resource allocation matrix, the resource allocation matrix including a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells indicating a quantity of one of a plurality of resources on one of a plurality of physical systems allocated to one of a plurality of virtual systems hosted by the one physical system, receiving an input changing the quantity indicated in a cell, the cell indicating the quantity of a resource on a physical system allocated to a virtual system hosted by the physical system, and adjusting the quantity of the resource allocated to the virtual system based on the input. |
| US08584129B1 |
Dispenser determines responses to resource requests for a single respective one of consumable resource using resource management policy
Providing an intermediate isolate, referred to as a dispenser, to handle resource requests allows for monitoring and controlling of resource consumption separate from an operating system. Resources are characterized with a set of common attributes, separate from their specific implementation. The dispenser invokes computations that provide policy decisions corresponding to a resource request. The dispenser provides the requesting isolate a response based at least in part on the policy decisions. Separating management of resources from the operating system facilitates implementation of a dispenser in a safe language and management of a broad range of resources by the dispenser. |
| US08584127B2 |
Storage medium storing job management program, information processing apparatus, and job management method
A physical machine executes a job on a virtual machine operated on the physical machine. A management apparatus manages execution of the job and a state of a computation resource of the physical machine. The management apparatus has a job execution request inputting unit for inputting or re-inputting into the physical machine a request for execution of the job without using an OS (Operating System) of the physical machine. The physical machine has a job inputting unit for inputting or re-inputting into the virtual machine the job in response to the request for execution of the job input or re-input into the physical machine by the job execution request inputting unit. |
| US08584121B2 |
Using a score-based template to provide a virtual machine
A software element database stores software element definitions according to a software element hierarchy. A score is assigned to at least one of the software element based at least in part upon the software element's hierarchy level. Further, virtual machine templates are stored in a library. The virtual machine templates include at least one software element associated with a software element from the software element database. A user enters a specification that specifies desired software elements to be included in the virtual machine via a user interface. After the specification is entered, the a score value is calculated for at least one virtual machine template from the library, based on the scores assigned to the software elements. Using the calculated score, the virtual machine template having the highest score value is selected and the selected virtual machine template is delivered as the virtual machine to a hypervisor. |
| US08584119B2 |
Multi-scenerio software deployment
A method for multi-scenario software deployment includes creating a software deployment plan that includes at least one task granulated into independently executable sub-tasks; and saving the software deployment plan on a computer readable medium. A computer program product for multi-scenario software deployment includes computer usable program code configured as a software deployment program which runs on a controlling computing device; the software deployment program being configured to: query a user for deployment parameters corresponding to software to be deployed to a target computing device(s); and create a plan for deploying software to a target computing device(s) which can be performed automatically and includes tasks that can be independently performed by separate people. The tasks deploying the software to the target computing device(s) are then performed according to the deployment parameters. |
| US08584118B2 |
Terminal, method and computer program product for validating a software application
A terminal for validating a software application includes a processor capable of operating an operating system (OS) platform (e.g., Symbian™ OS platform), and capable of operating at least one software application above the OS platform. The software application(s) are associated with a permission record that includes permissions identifying services the software application is authorized to receive from the OS platform. The OS platform is capable of receiving a request, from a software application, for a service of the OS platform. The OS platform can determine if the software application is authorized to receive the requested service based upon the associated permission record. And if the software application is authorized, the OS platform is capable of providing the requested service to the software application. |
| US08584115B2 |
Automated operating system device driver updating system
Generally speaking, systems, methods and media for updating device drivers of an operating system for a server computer system are disclosed. Embodiments may include a method for updating device drivers for a server computer system by a build server. Embodiments of the method may include determining whether device drivers for an operating system image source need to be updated, such as by crawling a vendor website. Embodiments may also include in response to determining that device driver updates need to be downloaded, scheduling a time for download of device driver updates. Embodiments of the method may also include downloading the scheduled device driver updates based on the scheduled time and storing the device driver updates in a device driver update database. Further embodiments of the method may include installing the operating system image source on a target server and installing the device driver updates on the target server. |
| US08584109B2 |
Virtualization for diversified tamper resistance
A computer-implementable method includes providing an instruction set architecture that comprises features to generate diverse copies of a program, using the instruction set architecture to generate diverse copies of a program and providing a virtual machine for execution of one of the diverse copies of the program. Various exemplary methods, devices, systems, etc., use virtualization for diversifying code and/or virtual machines to thereby enhance software security. |
| US08584108B2 |
Method and apparatus for analyzing software
A computer-implemented method for evaluating a machine-executable software code specification includes using the computer to generate a system dependence graph corresponding to the software code specification. The system dependence graph includes elements including nodes and edges, wherein the computer evaluates the system dependence graph. The evaluation of the system dependence graph includes selecting a variable modified in the software code specification, traversing to selected elements of the system dependence graph, the selected elements associated with the selected variable, evaluating only the selected elements of the system dependence graph, and identifying ones of the selected elements whereat a state of the selected variable is modified. |
| US08584098B2 |
Component statistics for application profiling
Implementations of the present disclosure provide methods including executing an application using one or more processors, generating a plurality of method call stacks, each method call stack comprising a plurality of methods invoked by the application, providing a component call stack based on a method call stack of the plurality of method call stacks, the component call stack comprising a plurality of components, each component being defined by one or more methods of the plurality of methods, and generating component statistics based on the component call stack and profiling data collected during the executing. |
| US08584096B2 |
Change management methodologies for industrial automation and information systems
Systems and methods that facilitate electronic audit recording and tracking of interactions in an industrial control system via employing a differentiation engine that supplies an object-oriented presentation of an audit trail—and further present a view of a desired segment associated with a PLC program (e.g., a particular run of the PLC program), for an object that an audit is requested for. A user (e.g., a customer of the industrial process) can initially identify an object and subsequently view typically all changes to such identified object. Accordingly, a general requirement for checking every version to determine a change to the object is mitigated. |
| US08584092B2 |
Methods and systems of determining risk levels of one or more software instance defects
An exemplary method includes displaying a graphical user interface configured to facilitate identification of one or more defects within a software instance, receiving data representative of at least one instruction via the graphical user interface to assign a severity risk value, an impact risk value, and a likelihood risk value to each of the one or more defects, and generating a defect risk factor corresponding to each of the one or more defects that indicates a risk level of each of the one or more defects, the generating based on a combination of the severity risk value, the impact risk value, and the likelihood risk value corresponding to each of the one or more defects. |
| US08584090B2 |
Heuristic approach on checking service instance protection for availability management framework (AMF) configurations
A configuration including Service Instances (SIs) and a list of Service Units (SUs) is to be validated. The SIs are to be allocated to the SUs for protection of the service represented by the SIs. A set of heuristics is applied to determine whether, for each of the SI assignments, the SI can be allocated to one of the SUs whose capacities support the required capacities of the SI. The heuristic then walks the list in order, to find a first SU that supports a current SI. If none of the SUs in the list can support the current SI, the heuristic indicates that the configuration is not validated. In response to a result that at least one of the heuristics in the set indicates the SUs can support all of the SIs, a final result is generated indicating that the configuration is valid. |
| US08584089B2 |
Virtual computer system, test method, and recording medium
A method for testing an application in a virtual computer system includes transmitting a request to select one of first and second conditions of a test of the application from a first virtual machine to execute the test of the application to a second virtual machine to control the virtual computer system via a virtual computer monitor, generating, if the virtual machine monitor receives the request to select the one of the first and second conditions of the test of the application, a clone of the first virtual machine by the virtual machine monitor, and executing the test of the application based on the first condition in the first virtual machine while executing the test of the application based on the second condition in the generated clone of the first virtual machine. |
| US08584085B2 |
Identification of concepts in software
Techniques enabling an end-user to specify complex concepts consisting of code abstractions, design abstractions and architectural abstractions in rule form are disclosed. In one embodiment, a graphical user interface is provided to guide a user through the process of entering concept specification information in order to define concepts, including the provision of one or more code snippets that are subsequently analyzed to assist the user in specifying the concept. The resulting rules or concept signatures are evaluated by a rule engine to determine the degree to which the underlying concepts are reflected in a given set of code. Recommended measures that need to be taken for transforming code to satisfy a concept may be provided subsequent to the analysis of the code. In this manner, code quality may be improved through systematic analysis of targeted code to demonstrate adherence (or non-adherence, as the case may be) to user-defined concepts. |
| US08584084B2 |
System for library content creation
A method for generating a library of materials that can be applied to geometry in a graphics scene when performing rendering operations. The method includes generating a class file that includes material parameters representing rendering characteristics of a material class and generating a library root file that includes a reference to the class file. The method further includes generating a rendering implementation file for translating values of the material parameters into a format recognized by a particular rendering engine and generating a user interface file that includes at least one user interface configured to allow a user to modify the values of the material parameters. The method also includes linking the class file to the library root file, and linking the rendering implementation file and the user interface file to the class file. Advantageously, the library can be organized and updated more effectively when compared to prior art techniques. |
| US08584082B2 |
System for dynamic discovery, configuration, and development of process-bound widgets
Techniques are provided for designing a mashup. In an example embodiment, a user input is detected. The user input relates a first GUI object, which represents a first widget, to a second GUI object that represents a second widget. The first widget conforms to a first widget specification and the second widget conforms to a second widget specification that is different than the first widget specification. In response to the user input, a variable is defined, where, at run-time, a value of an output parameter of the first widget is assigned to the variable and the variable is used as an input parameter of the second widget. An event definition that defines an event is generated based on the user input, where the event, when detected at run-time, causes contents of at least one of the first widget and the second widget to be refreshed. A binding definition is stored, where the binding definition associates with each other the event definition, the variable, the output parameter of the first widget, and the input parameter of the second widget. A definition of the mashup, which includes the binding definition, is then generated. |
| US08584080B2 |
Modeling and generating computer software product line variants
A system for modeling computer software product line variants may include a model builder configured to construct a model of a plurality of variants of a computer software application. The model may include at least one common-to-variants element that may be common to a plurality of the variants, a plurality of variant-specific elements, and interface code configured to adapt any of the variant-specific elements to any of the common-to-variants elements. The model may further include an application generator configured to generate a plurality of computer software applications for a corresponding plurality of combinations of the common-to-variants elements and the variant-specific elements, where the model builder and the application generator may be implemented in at least one of computer hardware and computer software embodied in a tangible computer-readable storage medium. |
| US08584077B1 |
User-controllable connectivity engine for electronic design automation tools
A method for operating a computer system to generate a layout of a device and a computer-readable medium containing instructions that cause a computer system to carry out that method are disclosed. The computer system has a display that includes a display area. The computer system provides a list of objects and creates user selected objects from the list for inclusion in the display area. The computer assigns one of a plurality of operating modes for each connectivity object in the layout. The computer generates a Net assignment for each connectivity object that is not forced to have a specific Net assignment and for which automatic assignment of a Net is allowed. The computer generated assignment depends on the operating mode associated with that connectivity object. The operating mode of at least one of the connectivity objects can be altered by input from a user of said computer system. |
| US08584063B1 |
Assertion-based design partitioning
An approach is provided in which a computing system retrieves a design description that corresponds to an electronic circuit design. The computing system selects an assertion corresponding to the electronic circuit design, which includes one or more assertion signal identifiers corresponding to one or more description signal points included in the design description. Next, the computing system creates a partitioned region from the design description based upon the description signal points. The computing system compiles and verifies the partitioned region that, in turn, verifies the electronic circuit design. |
| US08584058B2 |
Methods for defining evaluation points for optical proximity correction and optical proximity correction methods including same
Methods are disclosed for defining evaluation points for use in optical proximity correction of a rectangular target geometry. A method for defining evaluation points for use in optical proximity correction of a rectangular target geometry may comprise predicting a contour of an image to be produced in an optical proximity correction simulation of a target geometry. The target geometry may comprise a plurality of line segments, each line segment of the plurality having one evaluation point defined thereon. The method may further comprise shifting at least one evaluation point to an associated point on the predicted contour of the image. |
| US08584057B2 |
Non-directional dithering methods
A method of data preparation in lithography processes is described. The method includes providing an integrated circuit (IC) layout design in a graphic database system (GDS) grid, converting the IC layout design GDS grid to a first exposure grid, applying a non-directional dither technique to the first exposure, coincident with applying dithering to the first expose grid, applying a grid shift to the first exposure grid to generate a grid-shifted exposure grid and applying a dither to the grid-shifted exposure grid, and adding the first exposure grid (after receiving dithering) to the grid-shifted exposure grid (after receiving dithering) to generate a second exposure grid. |
| US08584056B2 |
Fast freeform source and mask co-optimization method
The present invention relates to lithographic apparatuses and processes, and more particularly to tools for optimizing illumination sources and masks for use in lithographic apparatuses and processes. According to certain aspects, the present invention significantly speeds up the convergence of the optimization by allowing direct computation of gradient of the cost function. According to other aspects, the present invention allows for simultaneous optimization of both source and mask, thereby significantly speeding the overall convergence. According to still further aspects, the present invention allows for free-form optimization, without the constraints required by conventional optimization techniques. |
| US08584055B2 |
Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, decision method and computer for deciding exposure condition using evaluation item of interest and auxiliary evaluation item
The present invention provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to decide an exposure condition in an exposure apparatus, the program causing the computer to execute a step of selecting an evaluation item of interest from a plurality of evaluation items to be used to evaluate an image formed on an image plane of a projection optical system in correspondence with the exposure condition, a step of selecting, as an auxiliary evaluation item, an evaluation item which is different from the evaluation item of interest and changes a value in the same direction as that of a change in a value of the evaluation item of interest upon changing parameter values included in the exposure condition, and a step of setting an evaluation function including the evaluation item of interest and the auxiliary evaluation item as values. |
| US08584054B2 |
Photomask manufacturing method and semiconductor device manufacturing method
This invention discloses a photomask manufacturing method. A pattern dimensional map is generated by preparing a photomask in which a mask pattern is formed on a transparent substrate, and measuring a mask in-plane distribution of the pattern dimensions. A transmittance correction coefficient map is generated by dividing a pattern formation region into a plurality of subregions, and determining a transmittance correction coefficient for each of the plurality of subregions. The transmittance correction value of each subregion is calculated on the basis of the pattern dimensional map and the transmittance correction coefficient map. The transmittance of the transparent substrate corresponding to each subregion is changed on the basis of the transmittance correction value. |
| US08584048B2 |
Method and system for multi-touch-based browsing of media summarizations on a handheld device
The inventive system comprises a touch screen on a mobile device and an application that defines a set of functioning components that provide the functionality for navigating media. The inventive application comprises components including event handling touches on the touch screen, presentation and layout interacting with event handling, content cache storing media and metadata, and content loading connecting to and loading the media and the metadata from a remote storage device, such that the event handling component invokes one or more of the presentation and layout component, the content cache component and the content loading component in response to various touch screen interactions. The various touch screen interactions perform setting a browser shape, setting a range, focus, zoom in and out, and/or level of detail of the media segments, moving laterally in time, resetting a view, annotating and/or viewing annotations, playing, pausing, and stopping the media summarization. |
| US08584047B2 |
Orbital representation of hierarchical navigation
Hierarchical structures are visualized and navigated using an orbital model. Sibling nodes are orbitally displayed in a generally circular arrangement along an orbital path. Choosing one of the orbitally displayed nodes opens it, moving down in the hierarchy. Nodes which were not chosen are undisplayed, and child node(s) of the chosen node are orbitally displayed. Node movements may be animated. A history displays recently chosen nodes. Choosing a parent node of the orbiting nodes undisplays the child nodes, and the parent node and its siblings are orbitally displayed, thereby moving up in the hierarchy. A user may select nodes from different parts of the hierarchy by moving them into a selection tray. Selected nodes can then be subjected to a specified batch operation. Controls are available for sorting nodes and/or for altering node appearance in the display. |
| US08584046B2 |
Visualizing differences in similarity metrics of hierarchies
A hierarchy differences visualization system and method for visualizing differences between two hierarchical structures based on similarity metrics. The two hierarchical structures are merged into a merged hierarchical structure and differences between the two hierarchical structures are computed and displayed in a user interface using node visualization metrics. In addition, at least one path is computed to a root of the merged hierarchical structure from a selected node and displayed in the user interface. The user interface uses various node visualization metrics including color, shapes, size, underlining, strikethrough, and text transparency. In some embodiments the hierarchical structures are tree structures and the similarity metric is structural uncertainty including location uncertainty and sub-tree structure uncertainty. The location uncertainty of a node is indicated by a color of the node label and sub-tree structure uncertainty of a node is shown by various levels of transparency of node labels. |
| US08584045B2 |
Systems and methods for navigating, finding, and presenting data objects
Various systems and related methods involve navigating, finding, and visually presenting data objects or sets of data objects. In one implementation, a set of data objects is visually presented as a graphical element and one or more semantic relationships between the graphical element and other sets of data objects are visually presented. Furthermore, this includes a method for finding related sets of data objects by presenting different search paths and enabling the user to select a destination set of data objects based on the presented paths. One possible operation associated with this system includes presenting relationships between data objects outside of predefined work flows. |
| US08584041B2 |
Graphical user interface with a concentric arrangement and method for accessing data objects via a graphical user interface
A graphical user interface (1) and a method (20, 27) for providing access to task data objects as well as a method (37, 44) for navigating through a set of task data objects is provided. The graphical user interface (1) may comprise a reference area (2) representing a reference data object and at least one classification belt (3, 4, 10) in a concentrical arrangement. On the classification belts (3, 4, 10) at least one task area (5) representing a task data object can be displayed. The classification belt (3, 4, 10) may at least partly surround the reference area (2). The method (20, 27) for providing access to task data objects may comprise the steps of comparing data entries of task data objects with classes of data entries and the step of displaying task areas (5) on the classification belts (3, 4, 10) based on the comparison. The method (37, 44) for navigating may comprise the steps of radially or rotationally scrolling of the classification belts (3, 4, 10). |
| US08584038B2 |
Techniques for use with a calendar and messaging component
Techniques are provided for displaying electronic calendar information. A calendar entry corresponding to a date is selected. In response to selecting the calendar entry, the calendar entry is expanded by increasing a portion of a display area associated with the calendar entry. Other calendar entries are compressed by decreasing a portion of the display area associated with the other calendar entries. |
| US08584037B2 |
Method for requesting and viewing a zoomed area of detail from an image attachment on a mobile communication device
A process is set forth for viewing an enlarged area of an image. The image is stored on a server and re-sized for viewing on a mobile communication device based on screen size and color display capabilities of the device. The image is enlarged within the server by modifying binary raw data of the original image based on crop rectangle coordinates entered at the mobile communication device. The process allows users to quickly retrieve any relevant part of a large image attachment that has been resized by the server. This minimizes bandwidth usage, device memory/CPU consumption, and request/response latency while still allowing the user to view an image area in its original level of detail. |
| US08584035B2 |
Zooming user interface interactions
A computer-implemented user interface method includes displaying on a touch screen a portion of a large scale graphical space that is at least multiples larger than the device display, receiving from a user of the device an input to pan within the graphical space, automatically generating a pop up graphical panning control in response to receiving the user input, and receiving a user input to the panning control and providing panning in the graphical space, wherein movement of the panning control in a single selection is able to pan the display across a substantial portion of the large scale graphical space. |
| US08584033B2 |
Individualized tab audio controls
According to one general aspect, a method may include detecting an audio signal configured to be played from a local loudspeaker. The method may also include determining which of one or more applications is included with the audio signal, wherein the determined application includes one or more tabs. The method may include determining which tab of the one or more tabs of the determined application is included with the audio signal. The method may comprise providing a graphical user interface (GUI) included with a handle of the determined tab, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to facilitate the manipulation of the audio signal by a user. The method may include manipulating the audio signal, based upon a command generated by the graphical user interface in response to a user interaction. |
| US08584030B2 |
Systems and methods for displaying HVAC information
Described herein are systems and methods for displaying HVAC information. One embodiment provides a method for displaying HVAC information including obtaining data indicative of a plurality of HVAC components of an HVAC system. For example, this data may be maintained by a building management system. The method further includes defining data indicative of a display object for rendering on a client display, the display object including a plurality of geometrically arranged indicator blocks, wherein each indicator block is associated with a respective HVAC component. For the purposes of this display object, each indicator block is bound with respective source of comfort level data for its associated HVAC component. Display characteristics are defined for each indicator block responsive to the comfort level data. The display characteristics are selectively modified responsive to changes in the comfort level data. The resulting display object is referred to as a “comfort map” for the present purposes. |
| US08584029B1 |
Surface computer system and method for integrating display of user interface with physical objects
Systems and methods for assisting user interaction with physical objects. A system may include an interactive display surface configured to display visual output and receive a physical object, where the object possesses encoded data including data other than data directly identifying the object. The system may include a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions executable by the surface computer to implement software applications. In response to the display surface receiving the object, the surface computer may be configured to read the encoded data passively with respect to the object, without using an active electronic interface between the surface computer and the object, and to display a user interface for software applications dependent upon the passively read encoded data, such that one or more elements of the user interface are visually associated on the interactive display surface with the physical object. |
| US08584028B2 |
Adaptable transparency
By adjusting visual settings on a display behind a section of a background to emphasize menu options, a user can determine the status in the series of menus and sub-menus and can better read the menu options. |
| US08584026B2 |
User interface for orienting new users to a three dimensional computer-generated virtual environment
When new users are first introduced to virtual environments, the new users may be confused and uncertain as to how to interact with the virtual environment. Several new user orientation features have been added to the virtual environment user interface to help orient new users to the three dimensional computer-generated virtual environment and to prevent the new users from making common mistakes. Example beginning user orientation features include clearly distinguishing when the user is interacting with the virtual environment and when the user is interacting with virtual environment application controls, limiting the vertical field of view of the new user's Avatar to prevent the user from becoming stuck looking straight up or straight down, providing the user with visual feedback when switching between first and third person points of view, and providing the user with clear instructions as to how to control their Avatar and how to reenter the virtual environment. |
| US08584025B2 |
Virtual world teleportation
The present invention is directed to teleporting avatars between disparate virtual worlds. A system is disclosed that includes a facility for creating a persona profile for an avatar in a first virtual world when the avatar wants to be teleported out of the first virtual world; a facility for transferring persona profiles to and from a disparate virtual world; and a facility for instantiating an inbound avatar based on a received persona profile. Persona profiles may include, e.g., rendering information, trait information, and inventory information. |
| US08584014B2 |
Information processing apparatus and information processing method
An information processing apparatus having an input configured to receive a first operation and a second operation input by a user, a playback unit configured to obtain predetermined data and play back the data based on the operation input by the user from the input; and a display control unit configured to control, in correspondence with a virtual hierarchical structure for classifying the predetermined data, a display of a display screen indicating each hierarchy level, and for controlling a display of a predetermined mark in the display screen. The display control unit also controls the display of the predetermined mark corresponding to the predetermined data which is played back by the playback unit in a manner different from other non-selected marks while the predetermined mark is being selected. |
| US08584011B2 |
Document representation transitioning
One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for transitioning between representations of an electronic document. Elements, such as visual elements, common between a first set of elements from a first representation of the document and a second set of elements from a second representation of the document are identified. The non-intersecting elements from the first and second sets are respectively ranked in accordance with a representation relevance. First set non-intersecting elements are removed from an intermediate representation of the document, and second set non-intersecting elements are added to the intermediate representation, while the intermediate representation is not equivalent to the second representation; and respective iterations of the intermediate representation are output, such as to a display to depict a transition from the first representation of the document to the second representation of the document. |
| US08584010B2 |
Image stitching for mobile electronic devices
A device and method for modifying content for use on a mobile electronic device are described. In one embodiment, there is provided an automated method for modifying content for use on a mobile electronic device, comprising: selecting image files from a plurality of image files; combining the selected image files into a single merged image file that has a smaller file size than the sum of the file sizes of the selected image files; and sending the single merged image file to the mobile electronic device. |
| US08584008B1 |
Method and system for layout of annotation data
Systems and methods may operate to display a plurality of data containers or bubbles within a user interface so that they do not overlap. Data containers are associated with a pointer or association indicium of fixed size that indicates the relationship between the data container and a target item. They systems and methods include, among other things, determining that two or more data containers will overlap if displayed in the user interface and performing a shift of the data containers, a resizing of the data containers, a shifting of the pointer, or a combination of the above. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. |
| US08584006B2 |
Method and apparatus for uniform presentation of documents on a mobile communication device
A mobile communication device, comprising a display, a persistent store, at least one input device, and a processor for executing (i) an invoking application for generating a request for document data responsive to an input via the input device, (ii) an attachment viewer for receiving the request and generating a command for chunks of document data, and (iii) a listener interface for receiving a response to the command and passing the chunks to the attachment viewer for displaying respective chunks of said document data via the display. |
| US08583999B2 |
Display control apparatus
A display control apparatus includes a comparison control unit which performs a cyclic redundancy check over an arbitrary region of image data. The comparison control unit includes a region control unit which selects a region of the image data based on comparison region information for specifying an arbitrary region of the image displayed on the display unit as a cyclic redundancy check target region, an arithmetic processing unit which performs arithmetic processing for the cyclic redundancy check over a region selected by the region control unit, and a comparison circuit which performs error detection by comparing the result of the arithmetic processing by the arithmetic processing unit with its expected value. Error detection by the cyclic redundancy check is performed only on the target region of the cyclic redundancy check in the arbitrary region, which facilitates the cyclic redundancy check. |
| US08583984B2 |
Method and apparatus for increasing data reliability for raid operations
A method and apparatus to enable data integrity checking of a block of data while the block of data is being transferred from a volatile memory to a non-volatile storage device is provided. The data integrity checking is performed in conjunction with Direct Memory Access operations and Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) operations. In addition, data integrity checking of syndrome blocks in the RAID is performed during transfers to/from the storage devices in the RAID system and during RAID update and RAID data reconstruction operations. |
| US08583981B2 |
Concatenated codes for holographic storage
Systems and methods for constructing concatenated codes for data storage channels, such as holographic storage channels, are provided. The concatenated codes include an outer BCH code and an inner iteratively decodable code, such as an LDPC code or turbo code. The correction power and coding rate of one or both of the codes may be programmable based on the channel characteristics and the desired SNR coding gain. The correction power and/or coding rate of the inner and/or outer code may also be dynamically adjusted in real-time to compensate for time-varying error conditions on the channel. |
| US08583971B2 |
Error detection in FIFO queues using signature bits
A first in, first out (FIFO) queue includes logic to provide detection of operational errors in the FIFO queue. The FIFO queue includes entries to store data written to the FIFO queue and signature bits, each signature bit corresponding to one of the entries. A test pattern and a read signature register includes a number of bits greater than a depth of the FIFO queue. A comparator compares the test pattern to the read signature register and output an error signal indicating whether the test pattern matches the read signature register. |
| US08583970B2 |
Enhancing a receiver for improved impairment/fault detection when handling the reception of intermittent signals
One embodiment of a Test Signal generated by Test Signal Synthesis 10 being coupled, by a method of Coupling 12, to an Antenna 14, a Receiver 16 and a Method of Verification 18; for the transmission of a Test Signal to verify the operation of the Receiver Chain of equipment in Applications receiving Intermittent Signals. |
| US08583966B2 |
Methods and structure for debugging DDR memory of a storage controller
Methods and structure for diagnosing errors in the initialization of DDR memory “on board” a storage controller or a storage expander are presented herein. The features and aspects discussed herein allow for the debugging of the DDR memory initialization. A memory diagnostic system is operable on a storage controller and includes an initialization module in communication with a firmware module of the storage controller. The memory diagnostic system is adapted to initialize a Double Date Rate (DDR) memory of the storage controller. The memory diagnostic system also includes an application programming interface adapted to retrieve initialization information from the initialization module and transfer the initialization information to a debug system via a direct communication link between the application programming interface and the debug system to diagnose the initialization of the DDR memory and to debug the initialization module based on the initialization information. |
| US08583963B2 |
Computing device and system error detection method
In a system error detection method of a computing device, the computing device includes a graphics controller and a display screen. A frame of an image that is currently displayed on the display screen is obtained from a video memory of the graphics controller at regular intervals. The obtained image is compared with abnormal images of the display screen prestored in a storage system, to detect whether the computing device works abnormally. Characters of the obtained image are extracted when the computing device works abnormally. System errors of the computing device are detected by comparing the extracted characters with system error codes of the computing device that are stored in the storage system. |
| US08583961B2 |
Method and device for creating pattern matching state machine
A method and a device for creating a pattern matching state machine are provided. The method includes: obtaining a predefined keyword set; generating a Goto function according to the keyword set; constructing a Failure function according to the generated Goto function, and setting that an acceptable input set of the Failure state of each state is not a subset of an acceptable input set of the state, where the acceptable input set of the state indicates that when any symbol within the symbol set is input in the state, the Goto function of the state does not fail; and generating an Output function according to the Goto function and the Failure function. |
| US08583953B2 |
Power control for information handling system having shared resources
An information handling system includes at least two processing systems that share system resources. In response to detecting a designated event, a power control module of the information handling system can select one of a plurality of available power profiles. The power profile can be selected based on the event and state information indicative of a state of the processing systems. Based on the selected profile, the power control module can set an operational power mode of one or more of the shared system resources. |
| US08583950B2 |
Power supply circuit for a CPU
A power supply circuit for a CPU (central processing unit) includes a CPU, a power supply, a plurality of voltage adjustment modules, a pulse width modulator, a plurality of resistivity selection modules, and a module management unit. The resistivity selection module includes an electronic switch, a first resistor, a second resistor, a third resistor, and a fourth resistor. When the CPU operates abnormally, the power supply circuit utilizes the resistors in the resistivity selection module as voltage dividers, thereby restricting MOSFET or other components to operate in a normal voltage range. |
| US08583947B2 |
Methods and systems for dynamically controlling operations in a non-volatile memory to limit power consumption
Systems and methods are disclosed for limiting power consumption of a non-volatile memory (NVM) using a power limiting scheme that distributes a number of concurrent NVM operations over time. This provides a “current consumption cap” that fixes an upper limit of current consumption for the NVM, thereby eliminating peak power events. In one embodiment, power consumption of a NVM can be limited by receiving data suitable for use as a factor in adjusting a current threshold from at least one of a plurality of system sources. The current threshold can be less than a peak current capable of being consumed by the NVM and can be adjusted based on the received data. A power limiting scheme can be used that limits the number of concurrent NVM operations performed so that a cumulative current consumption of the NVM does not exceed the adjusted current threshold. |
| US08583944B1 |
Method and integrated circuit for secure encryption and decryption
In one embodiment, a circuit arrangement for performing cryptographic operations is provided. The circuit includes a substitution block, a cryptographic circuit coupled to the substitution block, and a balancing circuit coupled to the substitution block. The substitution block includes a memory unit storing substitution values and ones-complement values that are corresponding ones-complements of the substitution values. The substitution block, responsive to a request to read a specified one of the substitution values, concurrently reads and outputs the specified substitution value and the corresponding ones-complement value. A power consumed in reading the specified substitution value is uniform with a power consumed in reading another one of the substitution values. The cryptographic circuit and the balancing circuit are configured to concurrently operate on each substitution value and the corresponding ones-complement value read from the memory, respectively. |
| US08583943B2 |
Method and system for providing data field encryption and storage
An approach is provided for securely storing and managing sensitive data. A system and method are provided that include a central device that receives an actual data value from a requestor, encrypts the actual data value, obtains a replacement value for the encrypted actual data value, obtains a secondary replacement value based on the encrypted actual data value, and transmits the replacement value to the requestor for storage by the requestor. The system and method also includes a storage device for storing the secondary replacement value in association with the encrypted actual data value at a secure location. The requestor can later use the replacement value to retrieve the actual data value from the central device. |
| US08583941B2 |
Computer checking tool
A computer checking tool that can repeatedly process a plurality of data sets including data distributed according to a statistical rule may include an estimator that can establish, for a data set, a value characterizing the reproduction of a criterion concerning the data contained therein. The tool may also include a driver that calls the estimator with a plurality of data sets in order to determine a plurality of values, establish a new plurality of sets from the plurality of values, and repeat the estimator call with a new previously established plurality of sets until a condition is verified that involves an extremum of the plurality of values and/or number of repetitions. In addition, the tool may include a mixer that establishes a new set of data on the basis of an existing data set while maintaining the distribution according to the statistical rule. |
| US08583934B2 |
Access control to data processing means
A method for preventing secret code manipulation in a data processing device, such as a smart card, to which a presented code is applied. Prior to implementation of a code transforming function in the processing device, the secret code is transformed into a transformed secret code in the card. For each use of the card, the presented code is transformed into a transformed presented code in accordance with the implemented transformation function. A comparison of the transformed secret code with the transformed secret code in the card is then performed. |
| US08583928B2 |
Portable security transaction protocol
A technique for providing message authenticity includes accepting transaction information, accepting a first data item used for authenticating an originating user, cryptographically processing the transaction information using only a second data item, wherein the entropy of the first data item is less than the entropy of the second data item, and authenticating the originating user using the first data item. The first data item can be a sequence of digits corresponding to those displayed on an external device, such as, for example, an RSA authorization token, credit card, etc. |
| US08583927B2 |
Streaming system and streaming method
A streaming system includes an authoring unit (2), a stream server (3) and a client terminal (5). The authoring unit generates a file composed of encrypted contents data and the ancillary information at least containing the packetizing control information for generating an RTP packet, a non-encrypted codec dependent header made up of the information pertinent to encoded contents data, and the encryption information for decrypting the encrypted contents data form packet to packet. The streaming server packetizes the encrypted contents data along with at least the codec dependent header and distributes the resulting data as a stream. The client terminal refers to the codec dependent header of the received packet, re-assembles the packet, and decrypts the encrypted contents data of the re-assembled packet to generate contents data. |
| US08583926B1 |
System and method for anti-phishing authentication
Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for providing security against phishing attacks. The method can include receiving a login ID from a client, and providing an encrypted commitment to the client. The method can also include receiving a one-time password (OTP) from the client, and validating the OTP. The method can also include sending a commitment key, to be authenticated by the client, receiving a static password from the client and authenticating the client. Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system for providing security against phishing attacks. The system can include one or more servers configured to receive a login ID from a client, and provide an encrypted commitment to the client. The processors can be configured to receive a one-time password (OTP) from the client, validate the OTP, send a commitment key, to be authenticated by the client, receive a static password from the client and authenticate the client. |
| US08583925B2 |
Mix-net system
Each participant apparatus (103) encrypts a plaintext by using a secret key of secret key cryptography, encrypts the encryption key by a public key, and sends the plaintext and public key to a substitution/decryption apparatus (112). With this processing, the limitation on the length of a ciphertext to be processed can be eliminated. In this invention, a verifiable proof text using a public key by each substitution/decryption apparatus is verified by a verification apparatus (109) by using the public key. If one of a plurality of organizations to decrypt and shuffle ciphertexts has not correctly executed the operation, a third party can specify it and prove that the specified organization is unauthorized. |
| US08583922B2 |
Hidden identification
A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture limit unauthorized access to digital services. A hidden non-modifiable identification number is embedded into a nonvolatile memory component. The hidden number uniquely identifies a device containing the nonvolatile memory component and access to digital services is based on rights associated with the hidden number. Access to the nonvolatile memory is isolated such that access to the identification number is limited to a fixed state custom logic block. The custom logic block has hardware configured to use the hidden number and other information to provide an output that is a function of the hidden number and that can be used to confirm an identity of a device without revealing information that can be used to impersonate the device. |
| US08583921B1 |
Method and system for identity authentication
Used in a communication involving Entity 1 and Entity 2 to authenticate Entity 1's identity, a digital identification of Entity 1 comprises an encrypted character string wherein the string is related to Entity 2 and is directly or indirectly encrypted with a key in a private/public key pair of Entity 1's. Such digital identification is dynamic and can be used as one-time or multiple-time identification. Such digital identification of an entity allows for the entity's being authenticated by another entity without the two entities having a one-to-one communication in advance. Also such a digital identification does not rely on the syntax of other messages or data as does a digital signature do and can be verified easily. The verification of such a digital identification can be easily confirmed by both human beings and machines. |
| US08583917B2 |
Distribution of certification statements into repository
A method and apparatus for distributing certification statements. Digital certificates are stored in a plurality of entries in a repository. Certification statements that include revocation status information for the stored digital certificates are received and stored in corresponding entries of the repository. Upon receiving a client request for a digital certificate, the digital certificate and corresponding revocation status information is sent to the client. |
| US08583916B2 |
System and method for issuing digital certificate using encrypted image
The present invention relates to a system and method for issuing a digital certificate using an encrypted image, in which a digital certificate is sealed in a digital envelope image so as to protect a digital certificate user from damages caused by hacking, phishing attacks and the like in the course of issuance, update and re-issuance of the digital certificate, and the method for issuing a digital certificate comprises the steps of: storing a user select image for issuing the digital certificate, by a proxy server or a certificate server; and requesting the certificate server to issue the digital certificate and, if the digital certificate is issued, creating a sealed digital envelope image by combining the digital certificate with the user select image and transmitting the digital envelope image to a user terminal. |
| US08583915B1 |
Security and authentication systems and methods for personalized portable devices and associated systems
Systems and methods for client authentication and verification in a distributed client-server system are described. An authentication and verification system may include a plurality of client devices containing private keys, a first server configured to interface with the plurality of client devices, and a second, secure server configured to interface with the first server and store public keys associated with the private keys on the client devices. A method is further described for verifying client devices in conjunction with the first and second servers. The first server may contain secure tokens that can be decrypted in conjunction with the authentication and verification method. |
| US08583910B2 |
Method and apparatus for device detection and multi-mode security in a control network
A method and apparatus for device discovery and multi-mode security in a wired and/or wireless control network are described. A controlled device is configured with discovery-level instructions and application-level control instructions. The controlled device includes a user-configurable parameter for selecting between multiple security modes. In one or more security modes, the controlled device may ignore application-level messages until encrypted communications are established with a controller. In one mode, the encrypted communication is established with an encryption key exchange using a predetermined security key. In another mode, a specific key is manually entered into the controller by the user/administrator to facilitate the encryption key exchange. Additionally, for control applications where security is not important, an unencrypted security mode may be implemented. A driver ID provided by the controlled device facilitates loading of a preferred device driver by the controller. |
| US08583909B2 |
Digital broadcast receiver and booting method of digital broadcast receiver
A digital broadcast receiver and a booting method of the digital broadcast receiver are disclosed herein. A method of secure booting of a system in a digital broadcast receiver comprises aligning a plurality of interleaved portions to generate a digital signature, respectively, with an entire firmware image, generating a digital signature of each interleaved portion, selecting a specific interleaved portion, generating a first message digest to read a region of the selected interleaved portion in the entire firmware image and a second message digest from the digital signature of the selected interleaved portion and verifying the firmware image based on the first and second message digest and booting the system in the digital broadcast receiver. |
| US08583907B2 |
Electronic device having an alterable configuration and methods of manufacturing and configuring the same
An electronic device having an alterable configuration includes a non-volatile memory configurable to include at least a first partition and a second partition, the non-volatile memory storing a boot ROM. The boot ROM is operable when executed by a processor of said electronic device to, in the event that a third partition is available, boot an operating system in the third partition, the operating system operable when booted to cause the third partition to be deleted and the second partition to be expanded to encompass memory freed by the deletion; and otherwise boot an operating system in the first partition. |
| US08583906B2 |
BIOS field mapping
BIOS field mapping includes generating basic input/output system (BIOS) information by defining property identifications using a visual form code language and determining that a proprietary set-up service is accessible. The BIOS field mapping then includes converting the visual form code language to a binary format and storing the property identifications in binary format on a setup database as data hidden from an operating system. A BIOS driver may then request the property identifications causing a transfer of the property identifications to the BIOS driver. |
| US08583905B2 |
Runtime extraction of data parallelism
Mechanisms for extracting data dependencies during runtime are provided. The mechanisms execute a portion of code having a loop and generate, for the loop, a first parallel execution group comprising a subset of iterations of the loop less than a total number of iterations of the loop. The mechanisms further execute the first parallel execution group and determining, for each iteration in the subset of iterations, whether the iteration has a data dependence. Moreover, the mechanisms commit store data to system memory only for stores performed by iterations in the subset of iterations for which no data dependence is determined. Store data of stores performed by iterations in the subset of iterations for which a data dependence is determined is not committed to the system memory. |
| US08583898B2 |
System and method for managing processor-in-memory (PIM) operations
A system and method of compiling program code, wherein the program code includes an operation on an array of data elements stored in memory of a computer system. The program code is scanned for operations that are vectorizable. The vectorizable operations are examined to determine whether they should be executed at least in part in a vector atomic memory operation (AMO) functional unit attached to memory. If so, the compiled code includes vector AMO instructions. |
| US08583897B2 |
Register file with circuitry for setting register entries to a predetermined value
A register file comprising a plurality of register entries for storing data values for use in the execution of data processing instructions is provided, and comprises at least one write port and at least one read port, and circuitry responsive to a write request received at said at least one write port to update one of said plurality of register entries identified by an address specified by said write request with a data value specified by said write request. The register file also comprises further circuitry responsive to a received control signal to set at least a portion of a predetermined register entry to a predetermined value. In this way, certain register file updating instructions can be executed in parallel with other instructions without the need for additional full write-ports as would be required for typical dual-issue, thereby reducing area and routing complexity and cost compared with the use of an additional write-port due to the lower gate count required by the proposed further circuitry. |
| US08583896B2 |
Massively parallel processing core with plural chains of processing elements and respective smart memory storing select data received from each chain
Systems and methods for massively parallel processing on an accelerator that includes a plurality of processing cores. Each processing core includes multiple processing chains configured to perform parallel computations, each of which includes a plurality of interconnected processing elements. The cores further include multiple of smart memory blocks configured to store and process data, each memory block accepting the output of one of the plurality of processing chains. The cores communicate with at least one off-chip memory bank. |
| US08583895B2 |
Compressed instruction format for use in a VLIW processor
A compressed instruction format for a VLIW processor allows greater efficiency in use of cache and memory. Instructions are byte aligned and variable length. Branch targets are uncompressed. Format bits specify how many issue slots are used in a following instruction. NOPS are not stored in memory. Individual operations are compressed according to features such as whether they are resultless, guarded, short, zeroary, unary, or binary. Instructions are stored in compressed form in memory and in cache. Instructions are decompressed on the fly after being read out from cache. |
| US08583892B2 |
Extension of write anywhere file system layout
A file system layout apportions an underlying physical volume into one or more virtual volumes (vvols) of a storage system. The underlying physical volume is an aggregate comprising one or more groups of disks, such as RAID groups, of the storage system. The aggregate has its own physical volume block number (pvbn) space and maintains metadata, such as block allocation structures, within that pvbn space. Each vvol has its own virtual volume block number (vvbn) space and maintains metadata, such as block allocation structures, within that vvbn space. Notably, the block allocation structures of a vvol are sized to the vvol, and not to the underlying aggregate, to thereby allow operations that manage data served by the storage system (e.g., snapshot operations) to efficiently work over the vvols. |
| US08583891B1 |
Associating partitions in a computing device
Methods and apparatus for associating partitions in a computing device are disclosed. An example method includes, loading an operating system (O/S) kernel partition (kernel partition) and identifying one or more root filesystem (rootfs) partitions that are compatible with the loaded kernel partition. In the example method, the one or more compatible rootfs partitions are identified by comparing a set of compatibility bits of the loaded kernel partition with respective sets of compatibility bits of a plurality of rootfs partitions of the computing device. The example method still further includes selecting a rootfs partition from the one or more identified compatible rootfs partitions and loading the selected rootfs partition. |
| US08583890B2 |
Disposition instructions for extended access commands
A computer system that generates a disposition instruction and an associated access command directed to a block of data at a logical address is described. The disposition instruction and the access command are communicated to a memory system in the computer system via a communication link. Note that the memory system includes different types of memory having different performance characteristics, and the disposition instruction is generated based on the different performance characteristics. In response to the access command, the memory system accesses the block of data at the logical address in a first type of memory in the different types of memory. Furthermore, based on the disposition instruction, the memory system moves the block of data to a second type of memory in the different types of memory to facilitate subsequent accesses to the block of data. |
| US08583889B2 |
Synchronous extent migration protocol for paired storage
Extent migration is provided in a data storage environment configured for synchronous replication between a primary and secondary pair of storage entities, each having tiered storage devices. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a migration instruction is sent, by the primary storage entity, to the secondary storage entity, the migration instruction including a time delta approximately equal to a time of an intended migration at the primary storage entity adjusted for a transmission time such that the primary and secondary storage entities conduct the extent migration at approximately a same time. |
| US08583886B2 |
Synchronizing data storage systems in a data storage environment
A method for synchronizing data storage systems is provided. The method comprises designating a relationship between a first data storage system and a second data storage system, such that data stored in the first data storage system is copied to the second data storage system, in response to determining that the data stored in the first data storage system has been modified; receiving a first request to modify data stored in a first data block of a first storage volume in the first data storage system, wherein the data block is modified according to the first request; determining that the first data block has not been successfully synchronized when the modified data stored in the first data block is not copied to the second data storage system; and executing a process to retry synchronization of the first data block until synchronization of the first data block is successful, without suspending the relationship while the process is executed. |
| US08583884B2 |
Computing system and backup method
This invention proposes a computing system and a backup method capable of improving the backup efficiency. In accordance with copy requests from the host, the data written to the first logical volume in the first storage system is copied to the second logical volume in the first storage system, the data copied to the second logical volume is used to form a journal and is transferred to the second storage system asynchronously, with the writing of data from the host to the first logical volume. In the second storage system, the data transferred from the first storage system is written to the third logical volume in the second storage system. |
| US08583883B2 |
Storage system comprising function for reducing power consumption
For at least one of storage unit, processor and cache memory which are I/O process-participating devices related to I/O command process, when a load of one or more I/O process-participating devices or a part thereof is a low load equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, a processing related to a state of one or more of the I/O process-participating devices or a part thereof is redirected to another one or more I/O process-participating devices or a part thereof, and the state of the one or more I/O process-participating devices or a part thereof is shifted to a power-saving state. |
| US08583879B2 |
Data storage device, storing medium access method and storing medium thereof
A data storage device including a storing medium to shingle write and a controller to access the storing medium so that data is sequentially written on the storing medium using a mapping table based on Logical Block Address (LBA) included in a write command. |
| US08583878B2 |
Storage device having direct user access
Various methods, devices and systems are described for providing distributed storage services. A data storage device is capable of initiating a communication session with an external entity such as a local host computer (and vice versa) coupled directly to the data storage device, a remote server computer, or directly with remote data storage devices with or without intervention by a local host computer. |
| US08583874B2 |
Method and apparatus for caching prefetched data
A method is provided for performing caching in a processing system including at least one data cache. The method includes the steps of: determining whether each of at least a subset of cache entries stored in the data cache comprises data that has been loaded using fetch ahead (FA); associating an identifier with each cache entry in the subset of cache entries, the identifier indicating whether the cache entry comprises data that has been loaded using FA; and implementing a cache replacement policy for controlling replacement of at least a given cache entry in the data cache with a new cache entry as a function of the identifier associated with the given cache entry. |
| US08583871B2 |
System and method for managing an object cache
In order to optimize efficiency of deserialization, a serialization cache is maintained at an object server. The serialization cache is maintained in conjunction with an object cache and stores serialized forms of objects cached within the object cache. When an inbound request is received, a serialized object received in the request is compared to the serialization cache. If the serialized byte stream is present in the serialization cache, then the equivalent object is retrieved from the object cache, thereby avoiding deserialization of the received serialized object. If the serialized byte stream is not present in the serialization cache, then the serialized byte stream is deserialized, the deserialized object is cached in the object cache, and the serialized object is cached in the serialization cache. |
| US08583868B2 |
Storage system cache using flash memory with direct block access
Embodiments of the invention enable a storage cache, comprising flash memory devices, to have direct block access to the flash such that the physical block addresses are presented to the storage system's cache layer, which thereby controls the storage cache data stream. An aspect of the invention includes a caching storage system. The caching storage system comprises a plurality of flash memory units organized in an array configuration. Each of the plurality of flash memory units includes at least one flash memory device and a flash unit controller. Each flash unit controller provides the caching storage system with direct physical block access to its corresponding at least one flash memory device. The caching storage system further comprises a storage cache controller. The storage cache controller selects physical block address locations (within a flash memory device) to be erased where data are to be written, issues erase commands to a flash unit controller corresponding to the selected physical block address locations, and issues page write operations to a set of erase blocks. |
| US08583867B1 |
Non-disruptive data migration between processing systems that do not share storage
A technique is disclosed for non-disruptive migration of data between storage on hosts that do not share storage with each other. Aggregate relocation is enabled to operate between the hosts in the absence of shared storage connectivity. The technique includes mirroring an aggregate from storage of a first host to storage of a second host by using a sub-RAID level proxy in each of the first and second hosts to proxy data communications between the hosts. The proxy is used in lieu of the mirroring application in the first host having direct access to the storage devices of the second host. The technique further includes relocating the aggregate from the first host to the second host. |
| US08583865B1 |
Caching with flash-based memory
A system is used in caching with flash-based memory. First and second controllers communicate with a flash-based cache. A magnetic disk array is in communication with the flash-based cache. The flash-based cache has a dual ported link to the first and second controllers. The flash-based cache has flash-based memory components arranged in a RAID data protection scheme. |
| US08583861B1 |
Presentation of management functionality of virtual arrays
Described are a system and method of presenting virtual arrays in a storage network. A physical storage array is partitioned into a plurality of virtual arrays. Each virtual array has logical units of storage. Each virtual array is associated with a virtual array management interface by which a management application executing remotely on a host can address communications separately to that virtual array for managing the logical units of storage of that virtual array. |
| US08583858B2 |
Nonvolatile memory controller and nonvolatile storage device
A flash memory unit includes a plurality of physical blocks including a plurality of memory cells and serving as erase units of data, wherein each of the memory cells is capable of recording information of 1 bit or more and degradation in the characteristics of the memory cells differs according to the amount of information that is recorded. A controller includes a control unit for controlling the reading, writing and erasure of data to and from the flash memory unit, and a degradation level table for recording a degradation level of the memory cells in physical block units. The control unit stores, in the degradation level table, the degradation level of the memory cells according to the amount of information stored in the memory cells for each cycle of data erasure from the physical blocks. |
| US08583856B2 |
Memory system
According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a nonvolatile memory, a managing unit, an order rule holding unit, a position information storing unit, a list selecting unit, a block selecting unit, a writing unit, and an updating unit. The managing unit holds for each of storage areas of the nonvolatile memory a free block list indicating free blocks. The order rule holding unit holds an order rule used to determine an order of the free block lists. The position information storing unit stores position information indicating the position of the free block list in the order rule. The list selecting unit selects the free block list corresponding to the position indicated by the position information and the block selecting unit selects the free block therefrom. The updating unit updates after the list selection the position information in the position information storing unit with position information indicating the position of the subsequently selected free block list. |
| US08583855B2 |
Flash memory preprocessing system and method
A flash memory preprocessing system comprises at least one flash memory device, a memory controller controlling program and read operations of the at least one flash memory device, and a flash preprocessor receiving program data from an external source, generating preprocessed data by converting the received program data, and outputting the preprocessed data to the memory controller. The memory controller controls the at least one flash memory device to perform a program operation on the at least one flash memory device according to the preprocessed data. |
| US08583853B1 |
Error-handling for write-distribute command in raid mirroring
A method includes transmitting, by a processor to an I/O controller, a write-distribute command. The command includes a single copy of data and instructions to write instances of the data to multiple storage locations within a group of storage mediums. For each individual location of the multiple storage locations, the I/O controller transmits a write complete message to the processor after writing an instance of the data to the individual location is complete. If writing the instance of the data to a particular location has an error, the write complete message for the particular individual location is a write error message. |
| US08583849B2 |
Signal switch connector set applied to motherboard of computer system
A signal switch connector set is disposed on a motherboard of a computer system. The signal switch connector set is capable of selectively connecting a USB 3.0 signal terminal of a south bridge chip to a USB 3.0 port located at the rear panel of a casing or connecting the USB 3.0 terminal of the south bridge chip to the USB 3.0 port located at the front panel of the casing. |
| US08583846B2 |
Extender
In one embodiment, there is provided an extender for extending functions of an electronic apparatus. The extender includes: a connection terminal electrically connected to the electronic apparatus; input signal lines connected to the connection terminal to transmit a video signal that is supplied from the electronic apparatus via the connection terminal; a first video output terminal which complies with a first standard; a second video output terminal which complies with a second standard; and a signal converter configured to convert the video signal into a first video signal that complies with the first standard to output the first video signal to the first video output terminal and configured to convert the video signal into a second video signal that complies with the second standard to output the second video signal to the second video output terminal. |
| US08583836B2 |
Packet-based digital display interface signal mapping to bi-directional serial interface signals
A passive cable adaptor for connecting a data source device with a display device is described. The adaptor has a packet-based interface connector at one end, the connector having a positive main link pin, a negative main link pin, a positive auxiliary channel pin, and a negative auxiliary channel pin. Also at the same end is a serial interface connector, such as a serial interface connector. At the other end is an upgraded serial interface connector (e.g., enhanced serial interface) connector having high-speed transmission pins, high-speed receiving pins, and a ground pin, wherein multimedia content is transmitted over the cable adaptor and electrical power is supplied over the cable adaptor simultaneously. |
| US08583835B1 |
Command portal for executing non-standard storage subsystem commands
A command portal enables a host system to send non-standard or “vendor-specific” storage subsystem commands to a storage subsystem using an operating system (OS) device driver that does not support or recognize such non-standard commands. The architecture thereby reduces or eliminates the need to develop custom device drivers that support the storage subsystem's non-standard commands. To execute non-standard commands using the command portal, the host system embeds the non-standard commands in blocks of write data, and writes these data blocks to the storage subsystem using standard write commands supported by standard OS device drivers. The storage subsystem extracts and executes the non-standard commands. The non-standard commands may alternatively be implied by the particular target addresses used. The host system may retrieve execution results of the non-standard commands using standard read commands. The host-side functionality of the command portal may be embodied in an API that is made available to application developers. |
| US08583829B2 |
Semantic-based lossy compression
Systems and methods for providing reduced object data to devices. Context can be received from a device. The context can be used to determine what portion of an object is used by an application executed on the device. The object can be reduced prior to communicating the data to the device, thereby conserving resources associated with the device. |
| US08583825B2 |
Device information acquisition apparatus and device information acquisition program
A disclosed portable apparatus is connectable to a client terminal connected to a network and has a program stored therein for causing the client terminal to function as a device information acquisition unit and an analysis unit. The device information acquisition unit is configured to obtain operational information on a device that is assigned a network address and connected to the network, and the analysis unit is configured to delete at least a part of information on the network address which information is obtained together with the operational information, to analyze the obtained operational information, and to output results of the analysis of the operational information. |
| US08583821B1 |
Streaming traffic classification method and apparatus
In a method of classifying streaming media data, a media server may be identified by monitoring packets transmitted on a wireless network between a server and a client. A rule to identify the data associated with the media server may be generated in response to identifying the media server. A streaming media data request may be detected from the data associated with the media server. In response to detecting the streaming media data request, data packets sent by the media server may be classified based on the generated rule. |
| US08583816B2 |
System for providing streaming-based portable application under selective conditions
Provided are a system and method for providing a streaming-based portable application, which can add and update a portable application in one click, without separate procedures, by using advantages of application streaming while maintaining advantages of a portable application. In the system, a streaming server stores an application execution code provided at the inside of the system. A client provides a virtualization of an execution code necessary to execute an application process, streams an execution code from the streaming server through a network, and manages application streamed images. |
| US08583810B2 |
Session affinity cache and manager
A method and apparatus for managing sessions by a load balancer using a session affinity cache to manage common session identifiers and resource node session identifiers. A session affinity manager within the load balancer utilizes a common session identifier to represent multiple sessions to a client. The session affinity manager provided generates a common session identifier for a set of resource node sessions for each client. The relationship between the resource node session identifiers and common session identifier is maintained in the session affinity cache by the session affinity manager. The session affinity manager translates client requests using the common session identifier into requests using the resource node session identifier retrieved from the session affinity cache. The session affinity manager rewrites resource node responses to use a common session identifier in place of resource node session identifiers. |
| US08583809B2 |
Destroying a secure session maintained by a server on behalf of a connection owner
A method and system for establishing a secure over-the-air (OTA) connection between a connection owner and a server, the connection owner being associated with a wireless device connected to the server via a communications network. A secure session is instantiated on behalf of the connection owner, the secure session being maintained by the server and defining a context for the secure OTA connection. A registration key and a reset key are defined, and stored in association with the secure session on both the server and the wireless device. Access to the secure session is controlled using at least the registration key, and the secure session is maintained on the server only as long as the connection owner has a valid registration key. |
| US08583808B1 |
Automatic generation of rewrite rules for URLs
A rewrite component automatically generates rewrite rules that describe how uniform resource locators (URLs) can be rewritten to reduce or eliminate different URLs that redundantly refer to the same or substantially the same content. The rewrite rules can be applied to URLs received when crawling a network to increase the efficiency of the crawl and the corresponding document index generated from the crawl. |
| US08583802B2 |
Multimedia outbound notification
A device may include a memory and a processor. The memory may store first information relating to a trigger, second information relating to multimedia content, and a destination party identifier. The memory may further associate the first information, the second information, and the one or more destination party identifiers. The processor may detect that the trigger has been satisfied, and obtain, in response to detecting that the trigger has been satisfied, the multimedia content based on the second information. The processor may also establish a session with a user device using the destination party identifier, and provide the multimedia content to the user device. |
| US08583797B2 |
Interdependent capacity levels of resources in a distributed computing system
In general, this disclosure describes techniques of managing resources in a service-oriented distributed computing system. As described in this disclosure, a control node automatically manages the system such that the system has sufficient capacity to satisfy an agreement to provide a given level of a service. In order to automatically manage the system, the control node evaluates the current capacity levels of resources in the system. The current capacity levels are indicative the capacity of resources to perform certain acts. The capacity of the resources to perform these acts may be indicative of whether the system is able to provide the given level of the service. Because resources may be deployed in chains, the capacities of resources to perform the certain acts may be defined to be dependent on the capacities of other resources to perform other acts. |
| US08583795B2 |
URI service system and method
A URI-redirection via machine-scannable-code system and method are provided herein. |
| US08583790B2 |
Server session management application program interface and schema
Application program interfaces (APIs), schemas and procedures manage multiple sessions within a server system has a create session request call for establishing a session between a client and a server within the server system. Each of plurality of sessions among the servers is persisted within a database operatively coupled to the servers. Each session is associated with a unique session identification which uniquely identifies the session among the plurality of sessions. A management request call for managing one of the sessions is performed according to the unique session identification. |
| US08583789B2 |
Computer system management method and management apparatus
An object of the present invention is to create information for use in problem analysis only for a required event in a case where an event denoting a change in the configuration of a computer system has been detected. A management apparatus detects a configuration change of the computer system as an event and records this event in an event management table T30. The management apparatus holds an event propagation model for analyzing a problem, and records an event corresponding to the event propagation model in target event management information T34. The management apparatus executes a problem analysis process in a case where a detected event is registered in the target event management information. |
| US08583787B2 |
Zero-minute virus and spam detection
Disclosed are systems and methods for detecting unwanted electronic message transmissions on a communications network. These include establishing a database for storing metadata associated with message traffic according to at least the source addresses of the senders of electronic message transmissions. The disclosed principles also include monitoring electronic message transmissions at the certain location on the electronic communications network. Also, included is populating the database with metadata derived from analysis of the monitored electronic messages, where the metadata includes metadata derived by analyzing the contents of the monitored electronic messages. Based upon the populated database, it is determined whether certain received electronic messages are likely to be unwanted based on an examination of the metadata associated with the source addresses of the senders of the received electronic messages and based on the analysis of the content of monitored electronic messages at least in part without reference to a promulgated database of “signatures” of known unwanted electronic messages. |
| US08583780B2 |
Discovery of duplicate address in a network by reviewing discovery frames received at a port
A duplicate address discovery process detects duplicate MAC addresses or duplicate unique port identifiers within the network, alerts attached devices of the duplicates, and takes action to avoid data corruption that might be caused by such duplicate addresses. |
| US08583778B1 |
Identifying exceptional web documents
Techniques are provided through which “suspicious” websites may be identified automatically. A suspicious website is one that is associated with many changes or an inconsistent number of changes in web registry information over time. Registry information is received when changes to the registry information occur. The registry information is referred to as a transaction. A transaction is comprised of a plurality of values that each correspond to a characteristic. A characteristic is a property of a website, such as the website's contact information. A count associated with a particular characteristic-value pair is updated each time the particular value is identified in a transaction. A high count indicates that the website associated with the particular value is associated with a lot of changes. Therefore, a website associated with a high count is suspicious. Other factors that may be used for identifying a “suspicious” website include how often and how much the count changes. |
| US08583777B1 |
Method and system for providing real-time end-user WiFi quality data
A system and method for providing WiFi operators real-time end-user WiFi quality information is disclosed herein. An application server injects a scriptlet into a content transferred to a web browser of a mobile device during a browsing activity. The scriptlet is configured to run in the background of the browsing activity and configured to periodically test a latency of HTTP requests from the mobile device to the application server to determine a quality of the WIFI network. |
| US08583773B2 |
Autonomous primary node election within a virtual input/output server cluster
In a data processing system having a plurality of virtual input/output servers (VIOSes) configured within a VIOS cluster, a method, data processing system and computer program product provide for autonomous election of a primary node within a virtual input/output server (VIOS) cluster. A first VIOS performs the functions of: detecting that a primary node is required for the VIOS cluster; and autonomously initiating an election process to elect a next primary node from among the VIOSes within the VIOS cluster. When the first VIOS meets the pre-established requirements for becoming a primary node, the first VIOS obtains a lock on a primary node ID field within a VIOS database (DB) and then initiates a primary node commit process to assign the first VIOS as the primary node. The first VIOS issues a notification to the VIOS cluster to notify the other VIOSes that a primary node has been elected. |
| US08583770B2 |
System and method for creating and managing virtual services
A method of creating and managing virtual servers utilizes separate master copies of information such as operating systems, configuration files, and application programs. When a virtual server is created, it loads an appropriate operating system and configuration information. During the boot process, the virtual server is configured to provide a predetermined service. Appropriate application programs are subsequently loaded to support the service configuration. Multiple virtual servers can be created and configured using the master copies of information, thus reducing the amount of customization required by each virtual server. Virtual servers can be easily restarted from failures with minimal loss of data. |
| US08583760B2 |
Storage area network file system
A shared storage distributed file system is presented that provides clients with access to a storage area network (SAN) attached storage device. The access is provided either via block-level requests over the SAN or via file-level requests made to a server over a local area network (LAN). File requests are categorized between SAN requests and LAN requests. This categorization can be based on dividing the requests between write and read requests, or between requests that alter data stored on the storage device and requests that do not alter data on the storage device. In other embodiments, the categorization can be made on the size of the file or the data involved in the file request. In one embodiment, the client is able to access and interpret metadata stored on the storage device. |
| US08583757B2 |
Data processing method and computer system
A technique for increasing the speed of data entry into a distributed processing platform is provided. According to a computer system of the present invention, when data is entered into each node in a distributed manner, the most efficient entry method (a method with the highest processing speed) is selected from among a plurality of entry methods, so that the data is entered into each node with no overlaps in accordance with the selected method. |
| US08583756B2 |
Dynamic configuration and self-tuning of inter-nodal communication resources in a database management system
A database management system in which a plurality of nodes form a database instance, each node including a communication manager for dynamically configuring inter-nodal communication resources. The communication manager receives communication resource allocation requests from clients or a self-tuning algorithm. A resource self-tuning mechanism allocates or de-allocates memory blocks used for communication resource elements dynamically in real time without cycling the instance. Memory blocks are de-allocated asynchronously by placing associated communication resource elements in quarantine until all communication resource elements associated with the memory block are quarantined. |
| US08583754B2 |
Business flow distributed processing system and method
This system has plural process servers each having a unit to generate process instances that a series of transaction events are arranged in a time sequence, and a master server that reads out event data from an event data storage unit, and allocates the event data to any one of the plural process servers. Moreover, the master server inquires the holding state of the process instances to the plural process servers, determines a merge destination of the process instance based on replies to the inquiry, and outputs a merge instruction. Then, the process server that is the merge source sends the event data relating to the merge instruction to the merge destination, and the process server of the merge destination receives the event data to merge the received event data to the process instance relating to the merge instruction. |
| US08583749B2 |
First party advertisement serving
Adservers with the ability to access advertiser cookies and vice versa when both are serving from the advertiser's domain are provided, thereby avoiding the overhead and delay in backend cookie synchronization efforts. Further, advertising cookie data can be gathered regardless of whether a user is browsing a publisher's web site with an advertisement served by an adserver, or browsing the advertiser's web site, because the cookies were previously set when the user visited the advertiser's web site in the context of a first-party cookie. Even if the user has configured his or her browser to limit the setting of third-party cookies, the cookies can still be read by the adserver. By making cookie and advertising data immediately available in real time to both the advertiser and the adserver, the solution also provides for instantaneous and accurate targeting of web advertising to allow an educated ad selection process by either party. |
| US08583748B2 |
Method and apparatus for messaging service internetworking
A method and system for converting data message formats in a message server is provided. The message server receives a first data message including origin format information from a first user. The message server then sends the first data message including origin format information to a second user. The message server receives a second data message from a second user, the second data message including the origin format. The second data message is converted to the origin format if the first user is unable to receive the second data message. The message server then sends the converted second data message to the first user. |
| US08583746B1 |
Methods and systems for web and call processing
Communication systems and methods are described. In an illustrative embodiment, embeddable code is provided to a user to embed on a user web page. A communication request is received from a visitor via a user interface displayed on the user web page, the user interface including an address field configured to receive from the visitor an address associated with the visitor, and a text entry field configured to receive a text message from the visitor, wherein the user interface is generated at least in part by the code. If the visitor enters a phone address into the address field, a determination is made as to whether the phone address is valid at least partly in response to a first action by the visitor. If the visitor enters text into the text entry field, the text is transmitted to the user at least partly in response to a second action by the visitor. |
| US08583743B1 |
System and method for message gateway consolidation
A method for consolidating platform-specific messages is disclosed. The method comprises translating a first message in one of a plurality of platform-specific message formats into a second message in a generic message format and translating a third message in the generic message format to a fourth message in one of the plurality of platform-specific message formats. The method also comprises associating a plurality of messages that have been translated from the platform-specific message formats into the generic message format into at least one thread based on at least one of a plurality of threading fields for presentation. The method also comprises inserting at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth messages into a message database and managing the message database. |
| US08583738B2 |
Personalizing a web page outside of a social networking system with content from the social networking system that includes user actions
A user device requests a web page from a web server of a third-party website, which is separate from a social networking system. The web server from the third-party website sends a markup language document for the requested web page to the user device which includes an instruction for a browser application running on the user device to incorporate information obtained from the social networking system within the web page. Based on the instruction in the received markup language document, the user device requests personalized content from the social networking system, which generates the requested personalized content based on social information about the user. The user device then renders the web page with the personalized content contained in a frame and displays the rendered web page and the frame to the user. |
| US08583735B2 |
Delivery in session initiated protocol (SIP) conferencing
A method includes determining conference data associated with a conference and determining an optimum congestion control technique for a call leg of the conference based on the conference data. The determining the conference data includes obtaining or receiving the conference data from at least one of: a Home Subscriber Service (HSS), a presence server, and a conference object. The conference is a Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) conference. |
| US08583734B2 |
Heterogeneous evolutionary self-formatting internet protocols
A system, method and computer program product for virtual communities that enables the establishment of rules created by members of the society in accordance with the existing rule creation restrictions and, that provides a mechanism for validating and accepting of the rules established inside the society. The system, method and computer program product further provides a mechanism that enables the establishment of rules created by members of the virtual society themselves, that allows for the self-evolution of the virtual societies. |
| US08583731B1 |
System and method for analyzing and filtering journaled electronic mail
A system, method, and program for the processing of large amounts of email based on user-configurable criteria in close to real-time. The invention enables filtering of all journaled emails in an organization for the duration of a regulatory proceeding, or for audit purposes, thus greatly reducing the manual effort required to produce a targeted set of emails. The journaling feature copies all unique emails coming through the distributed email server farm to a smaller set of email mailboxes. The filtering application could run as a batch operation on each of those “journaling” mailboxes at periodic intervals or could run interactively. The user-defined filter criteria are applied to the emails filling up the “journaling” mailboxes, and matches are separated from the non-matches for analysis. The invention can be executed on offline data, such as personal message stores or individual compound message files. |
| US08583727B2 |
Deposition exhibit management system
An electronic exhibit management system configured to assign exhibit numbers in real time during a multi-track deposition. The system comprises a main server, one or more client systems networked to the server, and computer code for the functioning of the invention. The system ensures that a each document marked as an exhibit is assigned a unique exhibit number, and prevents a document from being assigned multiple exhibit numbers during multiple depositions. The system finds particular use during multi-track depositions, that is, multiple depositions occurring at the same time in different venues across the country. |
| US08583726B2 |
Event-processing method and system for a home network supporting a remote user interface
An event-processing method and system are provided for efficiently re-delivering notification events stored by a Remote User Interface Server (RUIS), from the RUIS to remote user interface clients (RUICs), in a home network supporting an RUI. An RUIC transmits an information request to the remote user interface server, receives, from the RUIS, notification event information corresponding to the information request, transmits a notification event request based on the received notification event information to the RUIS, and receives, from the RUIS, at least one notification event corresponding to the notification event request. |
| US08583721B2 |
Systems and methods for distributing work among a plurality of workers
Systems and methods for distributing work among a plurality of workers in a distributed environment using a granularity determinator module to determine a desired granularity of a data to be worked-on whereby each one of a plurality of document subcomponents individually maintains a level of security based on a security policy. The data is separated out into a plurality of subcomponents which are transmitted to respective workers. A consolidator module can be used to consolidate subcomponents worked on by the respective workers into one worked-on document or file for validation purposes. The system and methods provide an efficient and cost effective way to distribute confidential work to workers without compromising the confidentiality of the information contained in the document or file being worked on. |
| US08583718B2 |
Comparing boolean functions representing sensor data
According to certain embodiments, a first Boolean function and a second Boolean function are received. The first Boolean function represents a first data set, and the second Boolean function represents a second data set. The first Boolean function and the second Boolean function are transformed to a first arithmetic function and a second arithmetic function, respectively. A first hash code and a second hash code are calculated from the first arithmetic function and the second arithmetic function, respectively. If the first hash code equals the second hash code, the first Boolean function and the second Boolean function are designated as equivalent; otherwise, the first Boolean function and the second Boolean function are designated as not equivalent. |
| US08583716B2 |
Method and system for efficient full resolution correlation
Aspects of a method and system for efficient full resolution correlation may include correlating a first signal with a second signal at a rate corresponding to a first discrete signal, wherein each sample of the first signal may be generated by summing a plurality of consecutive samples from the first discrete signal, and the second signal may be generated by summing the plurality of consecutive samples from a second discrete signal. The correlating may be performed by a matched filter and/or a correlator. The first signal comprising N samples may be generated by summing L consecutive samples for each of the N samples from the first discrete signal comprising N*L samples. The second signal comprising N samples may be generated by summing L consecutive samples for each of the N samples from the second discrete signal comprising N*L samples. The first signal and the second signal may be correlated by multiplying the N samples of the first signal with the N samples of the second signal in N multipliers and summing a plurality of outputs of the multipliers. A maximum of the correlating may be determined to achieve synchronization between the first discrete signal and the second discrete signal. |
| US08583714B2 |
ROM-based direct digital synthesizer with pipeline delay circuit
A DDS system is disclosed that is configured to provide a variable clock delay that allows timing of data coming out of the ROM to be adjusted. In one example case, a DDS system is provided that includes a ROM for storing phase-to-amplitude conversion data and generating digital amplitude values corresponding to respective digital phase values, and delay circuitry for adjusting timing of data output by the ROM to compensate for propagation delay of the DDS system. The delay circuitry may include, for instance, delay elements that can be selected alone or in combination to adjust the timing. The timing can be adjusted, for example, by adjusting delay of a clock signal that clocks one or more ROM pipeline registers. The system may include a phase accumulator and DAC, and adjusting the timing may include adjusting delay of a clock signal that clocks one or more DAC pipeline registers. |
| US08583712B2 |
Multi-bit sampling of oscillator jitter for random number generation
An apparatus includes an oscillator, a counter for counting pulses, and a latch for latching a count from the counter in response to changes in a logic level of an output of the oscillator. The apparatus can further include an edge detector for producing a latching signal in response to changes in the logic level of the output of the oscillator. |
| US08583709B2 |
Detailed inventory discovery on dormant systems
A file system interface is simulated out of at least a portion of a dormant computer system. File-based discovery is performed on the simulated file system interface to obtain a detailed inventory of at least the portion of the dormant computer system. The detailed inventory includes one or more of software profiles of at least the portion of the dormant computer system, software instances of at least the portion of the dormant computer system, services of at least the portion of the dormant computer system, and data objects used by the services. |
| US08583707B2 |
Method, computer program, and system-model converter for converting system model
A method, computer program, and system-model converter for converting system model. The method includes the steps of: receiving input of a conversion processing description about a structure of a multi-dimensional data model and extraction queries, where the multi-dimensional data model and the extraction queries extract at least one element from a plurality of model elements; and generating a hierarchical multi-dimensional data model from a graph model stored in a graph model storage unit on the basis of the inputted conversion processing description, where the hierarchical multi-dimensional data model includes dimensions having a hierarchical relationship. |
| US08583705B2 |
Automatic document exchange and execution management
The exchange of documents for signature can be performed efficiently using an automatic routing system that associates a document with appropriate identifying metadata. The routing can be facilitated through facsimile in which the metadata is encoded on a return facsimile cover sheet that is routed with the document. Appropriate central exchange servers have appropriate input and out subsystems to perform the document routing. The executed documents can be conveniently archived for efficient document storage and access, such as network access to one or more of the parties. |
| US08583704B2 |
Systems and methods for efficient data transfer
A system and method for transferring data are provided. The method comprises: sending, from a receiving device, a data query to request data from a sending device; receiving, from the sending device, a data result model in response to the data query, the data result model including a table block; analyzing the data result model to regenerate the data for storage at the receiving device in accordance with the table block; and providing the regenerated data for storage at the receiving device. |
| US08583701B2 |
Uniform data model and API for representation and processing of semantic data
In some implementations, a method includes receiving a first data set that is stored using a first format, generating an info item based on the first data set, the info item representing an entity extracted from the first data set, generating a delta item based on the first data set, the delta item including a reference to the into item and defining a context-based modification of the info item, generating a second data set in a second format comprising the into item and the delta item, and storing the second data set to the computer-readable storage medium. |
| US08583700B2 |
Creation of date window for record selection
A method for creating a date window for record selection. The method includes defining a set of parameters for calculating a date window for record selection, automatically detecting a current date, receiving input values corresponding to the defined set of parameters, from a user via a user interface, calculating and generating the date window based on the input values and the current date detected, and providing the generated date window and data records associated with the generated date window to the user via the user interface. |
| US08583699B2 |
Web service discovery via data abstraction model augmented by field relationship identification
A computer-implemented method includes receiving a selection of a particular logical field via a database query interface. The method includes querying a discovery registry associated with a data abstraction model of a database to discover one or more web services that are resolvable based on the particular logical field. The data abstraction model includes a plurality of logical fields, where each logical field corresponds to a particular data structure of the database. A web service input and a web service output of a particular discovered web service are associated with logical fields of the data abstraction model via the discovery registry. The method further includes initiating execution of a discovered web service that returns a list of values. The list of values obtained by the discovered web service may be augmented with information determined based on field relationship metadata of the data abstraction model, where the field relationship metadata corresponds to the list of values. |
| US08583698B2 |
Hierarchical load estimation system, method and program
A hierarchical load estimation system 1 has a memory device 2, an invocation count calculation module 100 and an issue count calculation module 200. Stored in the memory device 2 are a hierarchical invocation data 10 indicating design of hierarchical processing that is hierarchically invoked in a multi-layer system and an issuance data 20 specifying database manipulation sentences issued by database manipulation processing in the hierarchical processing. The invocation count calculation module 100 refers to the hierarchical invocation data 10 to calculate an invocation count of the database manipulation processing. The issue count calculation module 200 refers to the calculated invocation count and the issuance data 20 to calculate an issue count of database manipulation sentences issued by the database manipulation processing. |
| US08583693B2 |
System and method for creating and marketing authentic virtual memorabilia
An advertising engine, system and method of using is described. The engine includes at least one vault including a plurality of media assets, a recommendation engine that matches at least one media asset from the vault with at least one requested creative, a delivery engine that integrates the requested creative with the matched media assets from the vault, and a management engine that regulates and/or tracks ones of the at least one media asset. |
| US08583690B2 |
Managing information about relationships in a social network via a social timeline
A system, method, and computer program for generating a social timeline is provided. A plurality of data items associated with at least one relationship between users associated with a social network is received, each data item having an associated time. The data items are ordered according to the at least one relationship. A social timeline is generated according to the ordered data items. |
| US08583687B1 |
Systems and methods for indirect algebraic partitioning
Systems and methods for storing and accessing data. Example embodiments may perform optimization based on patterns of requests received by the system and relations between data sets identified by the system. Example embodiments may identify restrictions on a data set based on a different data set. Conditions for automatically algebraically partitioning the data set based on a constituent of a different data set may be evaluated, including evaluation of the relationship between the data sets and identification of a pattern of statements restricting the data set using the same logical structure. If the conditions are met, component data sets and a partition data set may be algebraically defined based on ranges applied to constituent(s) of the other data set. The component data sets may also be realized in storage to physically partition the data set. |
| US08583680B2 |
System and method for integrating, managing and coordinating customer activities
A system, method and computer program product for integrating, managing and coordinating activities of customers in an enterprise, across a plurality of applications, resources and touch-points. Customer data is obtained during interactions between a customer and an application, a resource or a touch-point. This data is stored in the form of virtual composite objects in cache memory, on a cluster of servers. The virtual composite objects contain customer data, policies and behaviors of the enterprise. The applications query for the virtual composite objects through the server. The server hosting the queried virtual composite object delivers the queried virtual composite object in real time to the querying application. Any updates to the virtual composite object on account of events at the applications, resources or touch-points, is carried out in real time. |
| US08583671B2 |
Mediaset generation system
Disclosed are various embodiments of systems and methods for generating composite mediasets from mediasets, each comprising media items, associated with a plurality of users. In some embodiments, individual and/or group recommendations are provided for creating a group playlist by aggregating user taste data for a plurality of users in a group. In other embodiments, systems and methods are provided which allow for sharing and playing of a group playlist by users in a group, each of which has a media playback device. Each media item, such as a song, is played from one of the individual user devices for the benefit of all users in the vicinity at the time. Music thus can be “shared” without transferring files potentially in violation of copyrights. |
| US08583670B2 |
Query suggestions for no result web searches
Presenting one or more suggested search-engine queries based on an initial search-engine query is described herein. Once the initial query is received, a search engine determines whether any web content is relevant thereto. If not, a query-suggestion service determines whether any suggested queries can be substituted for the initial query. If not, the query is spell-corrected, if necessary, and parsed into individual terms. Each parsed term is then checked to see whether it can be associated with alternative search terms. Terms than can are combined and their combination is also checked for alternative search terms. All of the alternative search terms are scored and then assembled into a list of suggested search terms that is presented to the user. |
| US08583668B2 |
System and method for context enhanced mapping
A system and method for Context Enhanced Mapping. A request is received from a user over a network for a map comprising an identification of a physical location, and at least one criteria. The physical location is mapped. Spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network relating to the physical location and criteria is retrieved using a global index of data available to the network and prioritized for inclusion based upon the user and context of the request. The map of the physical location and at least some of the retrieved spatial, temporal, topical, and social data is displayed on a display medium. |
| US08583662B2 |
Managing data across a plurality of data storage devices based upon collaboration relevance
A computer-implemented method of managing data storage according to collaborative activity can include determining collaborative activity for each of a plurality of data items associated with a first user and stored within a first data storage device. The method can include calculating a measure of relevancy for each of the plurality of data items according to the collaborative activity and comparing the measure of relevancy of each of the plurality of data items to at least one relevancy threshold. Different ones of the plurality of data items can be selectively migrated from the first data storage device to a second data storage device according to the comparison of the measure of relevancy of each of the plurality of data items. |
| US08583660B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program
A configuration is provided that allows secure data management to be performed on subsequently acquired data associated with content management units. When subsequently acquired data, such as information subsequently generated or downloaded by a user in association with content stored on an information recording medium, is recorded to a hard disk or the like, subsequently-acquired-data search information and access control information are set. This configuration allows a subsequently-acquired-data file to be searched for and be obtained based on the subsequently-acquired-data search information and allows access control for each subsequently-acquired-data file to be performed based on the access control information. The search information and the access control information are also set in shared directories, such as a studio shared directory. |
| US08583655B2 |
Using an inverted index to produce an answer to a query
In response to a query having a search term, an inverted index that is defined on a set of attributes of a database structure is accessed, where the inverted index associates values of the set of attributes with corresponding references to rows of the database structure. It is determined whether any of the attributes in the set is in the search term. In response to determining that any of the attributes in the set is in the search term, the inverted index is used to produce an answer to the query. |
| US08583653B2 |
Methods and systems for determining candidates for a custom index in a multi-tenant database environment
Methods and systems are described for determining candidates for a custom index in a multi-tenant database environment. In one embodiment, a method includes, capturing a query that is directed to a multi-tenant database, determining whether the captured query is a candidate for an additional filter, determining operators used by the captured query if the query is a candidate, determining data types of the database used by the captured query if the query is a candidate, determining whether there is a current filter for the operator and data types used by the captured query if the query is a candidate, selecting the captured query based on the determined operators, data types, and the determined current filters, and generating a custom index for the selected query. |
| US08583649B2 |
Method and system for clustering data points
Systems and methods for clustering a group of data points based on a measure of similarity between each pair of data points in the group are provided. A pairwise similarity function can be estimated for each pair of data points in the group. A clustering algorithm can be executed to create clusters and associate data points with the clusters using the pairwise similarity function. The algorithm can be iterated multiple times until a stopping condition is reached in order to reduce variance in the output of the algorithm. The pairwise similarity function for each pair of data points can be updated between iterations of the algorithm and the results of each iteration can be aggregated. The data in each data point associated with a cluster can be consolidated into a consolidated data point. |
| US08583648B1 |
Merging semantically similar clusters based on cluster labels
A server device may receive first label information regarding a first cluster that includes information identifying a first set of documents, where the first label information regarding the first cluster includes a first set of labels that are associated with the first cluster, and second label information regarding a second cluster that includes information identifying a second set of documents, where the second label information regarding the second cluster includes a second set of labels that are associated with the second cluster, where the second set of documents is different from the first set of documents. The server device may also form a merged cluster by merging the first and second clusters. The server device may further determine one or more labels for the merged cluster. Furthermore, the server device may assign the one or more labels to the merged cluster. |
| US08583645B2 |
Putting items into categories according to rank
A method, system, and computer program product for putting items into categories according to rank. The method divides the (unranked) items into a plurality of groups. The method then performs a first ranking of the items in each group, such that each item has a set of befores and a set of afters. A set of befores is the set of items that are ranked higher than an item; a set of afters is the set of items that are ranked lower than an item. The method selects at least one set of items for a subsequent ranking. The method then performs the subsequent ranking of the items of the selected set of items. The method then cascades the befores and afters of the items of the selected set of items according to the subsequent ranking. The method then determines which, if any, of the items are categorized and removes any categorized items from consideration. The method repeats the selecting, subsequent ranking, cascading, and determining steps all items have been categorized. |
| US08583641B2 |
Method and apparatus for constructing user profile using content tag, and method for content recommendation using the constructed user profile
A method of and apparatus for constructing a user profile using a content tag, a method of recommending digital content by using a user profile including a tag included in the digital content and a preference value for the tag. According to the methods and apparatus, a user profile is generated by using a content tag, and thus the taste of the user according to digital content consumption can be expressed in more varied ways. Also, by suggesting a method of generating a tag from web content, construction of a user profile for digital content having no tag is enabled. Furthermore, a tag extracted from digital content used by a user is included in a profile and it can be used for a variety of purposes, such as expansion of a comparison scope, use of preference keywords, providing of content links, and expansion of search scope. |
| US08583637B2 |
Coarse-to-fine navigation through paginated documents retrieved by a text search engine
A method and apparatus for visualizing results from a text search engine are described. A query term is first received. A first set of results is generated based on the query term using a database storing documents, and an index of documents, each document having at least one structural element. Structural elements associated with the first set of results are retrieved. A second set of results is generated based a predefined relationship between the structure elements and the query term. A visualization of the second set of results is displayed. |
| US08583636B1 |
Systems and methods for determining a quality of provided items
A system may provide items during a time period and determine a quality of the items provided during the time period using a time series model. |
| US08583633B2 |
Using reputation measures to improve search relevance
A system and method for determining relevancy for dynamic data sets is disclosed. A specific embodiment for use in an internet marketplace is presented wherein the relevancy for a descriptive factor associated with an item is increased when a user selects that item. To prevent abuse of the relevancy determination system, various embodiments incorporate abuse prevention measures. In one embodiment, a user's selection of the user's own items does not affect the relevancy system. In one embodiment, only a first selection of a particular item by a user will affect the relevancy system and any additional selections of that item will have no effect. In another embodiment, the size of the changes made due to the selections of particular user to the relevancy system are correlated to that user's reputation score. |
| US08583632B2 |
Method and system for active ranking of browser search engine results
A computer system and method a computer system and method for processing a search query result includes identifying a plurality of result pages in response to a search query submitted from a computing device directed to a collection of pages, determining a relevancy ranking of the result pages in accordance with a multiple dimension parameter set that includes metrics relating to the search query itself and also includes metrics unique to a subscriber associated with the search query, and providing the result pages in accordance with the determined relevancy ranking. This provides an active ranking process for the search results before they are provided to a user. |
| US08583631B1 |
Metadata tracking for a pipelined search language (data modeling for fields)
Embodiments are directed towards determining and tracking metadata for the generation of visualizations of requested data. A user may request data by providing a query that may be employed to search for the requested data. The query may include a plurality of commands, which may be employed in a pipeline to perform the search and to generate a table of the requested data. In some embodiments, each command may be executed to perform an action on a set of data. The execution of a command may generate one or more columns to append and/or insert into the table of requested data. Metadata for each generated column may be determined based on the actions performed by executing the commands. The table of requested data and the column metadata may be employed to generate and display a visualization of at least a portion of the requested data to a user. |
| US08583628B2 |
Recursive document network searching system having manual and learned component structures
An apparatus and method for a recursive document network searching system comprising a searchable document database containing multiple root and sub-root documents containing relational links to other documents where the relational links are manually created or are created by way learned functional components. An inventive aspect of this work is the ability to co-mingle the manual and learned components of such structures so that the user can have an efficient system for and method of a convenient and economical retrieval of the one desired informational item in an informational retrieval system that allows leveraging of the time and effort invested during prior information retrieval sessions; and can have an efficient system and method for a dynamic and context sensitive mapping of help items in a help information retrieval system. The documents at any point in the network can contain relational links to other documents both for the purposes of constructing a network. This network can be cyclic or acyclic. |
| US08583622B2 |
Application of breadcrumbs in ranking and search experiences
Methods, computer systems, and computer-readable storage media for utilizing breadcrumb information associated with a Web page to improve a user's search experience on a search engine page and to improve ranking of search results are provided. Breadcrumb information is identified for a plurality of Web pages and is used to create an entity data structure. The entity data structure is used to determine related search items, deep links, and query suggestions on a search engine page. Further, contextual relationships between different breadcrumb elements that are part of a breadcrumb trail associated with a Web page are identified and used to adjust a ranking order of the Web page on a search engine results page. |
| US08583616B2 |
Policy-based file management for a storage delivery network
A method for managing storage and access to data files stored in a storage delivery network comprising a plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes, the method including: receiving a file request from a user, wherein the user is associated with a service level agreement (SLA) containing one or more policies governing handling of file requests from the user; determining if the SLA dictates redirecting the file request to a predetermined storage node; if the SLA dictates redirecting the file request to a predetermined storage node, redirecting the file request to the predetermined storage node; otherwise, identifying all storage nodes from the plurality of geographically distributed storage nodes that are not too busy by determining whether a number of current access requests being served by each storage node exceeds a predetermined threshold value; identifying a nearest storage node from among the not too busy storage nodes; and redirecting the user request to the nearest storage node. |
| US08583606B2 |
Storing method of performance data and system thereof
A method and system for storing performance data are disclosed, and the method includes: during a process of adding a collection point, a system creating a data subtable in real time according to the number of added collection points and a predetermined maximum number of collection points of the data subtable; and storing the performance data of the collection point into the created data subtable, and storing the corresponding relationship between the collection point and the data subtable. |
| US08583600B2 |
Deploying directory instances
A method, system, and computer usable program product for deploying directory instances are provided in the illustrative embodiments. A configuration of an existing directory instance is cloned to the new directory instance. The existing directory instance may execute in a first data processing system and the new directory instance may execute in a second data processing system. A schema of the existing directory instance is cloned to the new directory instance. A determination is made whether the new directory instance is a peer of the existing directory instance. Data from the existing directory instance is cloned to the new directory instance if the new directory instance is a peer of the existing directory instance. The new directory instance is made operational in a directory topology. |
| US08583599B2 |
Reducing data duplication in cloud storage
Data duplication may be reduced in cloud storage. First snapshots of one or more remote volumes may be received via a network. Responsive to and/or based on the first snapshots, unique clusters and duplicate clusters may be identified among the valid clusters of the remote volumes. The unique clusters and single instances of the duplicate clusters may be stored in a backup file, such that the backup file is devoid of duplicate clusters. Second snapshots of the one or more remote volumes may be received via the network. Responsive to the second snapshots, the clusters in the backup file that are no longer valid may be utilized to store the valid clusters in the one or more remote volumes not yet stored in the backup file. |
| US08583598B2 |
Device and method for enabling long-lived snapshots
Decreasing disk costs make it possible to take frequent snapshots of past storage system states and retain them for a long duration. Existing snapshot approaches offer no satisfactory solution to long-lived snapshots. Split snapshots are an approach that is promising because it does not disrupt the current state storage system in either the short or the long run. An unsolved problem has been how to maintain an efficient access method for long-lived split snapshots without imposing undesirable overhead on the storage system. Skippy is a new approach that inexpensively indexes long-lived snapshots in parallel with snapshot creation. An embodiment of Skippy uses append-only index data structures to optimize writes while simultaneously providing low-latency snapshot lookup. Performance evaluations of Skippy indicate that this new approach is effective and efficient. It provides close-to-optimal access to long-lived snapshots while incurring a minimal impact on the current-state storage system. |
| US08583596B2 |
Multi-master referential integrity
A method and apparatus for maintaining referential integrity in a plurality of directory servers is described. In one embodiment, a first directory server receives a request to operate on an entry in the first directory server. The request is serially repeated in at least one other directory server if the operation on the entry in the first directory server is not valid. The at least one other directory server communicates indirectly with the first directly server. |
| US08583595B2 |
Method and system for enhanced attribute synchronization in a content management system
Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system, and article of manufacture for enhanced attribute synchronization in a content management system (CMS). One-way synchronization rules associated with objects stored in the CMS may be applied to synchronize both the substantive content and/or metadata included in a particular data object (e.g., an XML document) with attributes maintained by the CMS. The one-way synchronization rules may synchronize information stored in the data object with information stored in the CMS attributes. Alternatively, the one-way synchronization rule may synchronize information stored in the CMS attributes with information stored in the data object. |
| US08583594B2 |
System and method for performing integrated storage operations
The present invention relates to a method for performing integrated storage operations on an information store. The present invention comprises identifying a plurality disparate types of storage operations stored in a policy option table. A first storage operation is performed according to a first set of storage criteria stored in the policy option table and a second operation, disparate from the first storage operation, is performed according to a second set of storage criteria stored in the policy option table. |
| US08583592B2 |
System and methods of searching data sources
In a particular embodiment, a system is disclosed to search one or more data sources. The system includes an interface to a network, a visualization system to provide a search interface to a destination device via the network, and a search system. The search system communicates with the interface to receive a query from the destination device. The search system proxies the query to search multiple data sources, receives search results from the multiple data sources, and extracts data from the search results. The system also includes a personalization system to personalize the search results from the multiple data sources to a particular user. |
| US08583579B1 |
Targeting content based on user mode
Methods, systems, and computer program products, including computer programs encoded on a computer readable storage medium, for providing content to a user based on the mode of the user. A method includes: identifying a user for targeting content; evaluating usage information for the user to determine targeting information for a plurality of modes associated with the user; receiving a request to deliver content to the user including an identifier associated with the user and information to determine which mode of the plurality of modes the user is operating in; and providing content to the user based on the mode and associated targeting information. |
| US08583578B2 |
Method and system for supporting design
A method and system for determining an optimal improvement measure for a product assembling time and a defective assembly generated in an assembling process. This is achieved by extracting an assembling element having a high assembling time and a high defective assembly potential from similar assembling operations and extracting a concrete improvement guideline from extracted improvement guidelines and the parts, the assembling operations, and the attributes associated with the extracted improvement guidelines. |
| US08583572B1 |
Explicit diploid evolutionary control
A method of analyzing an environment is provided. The method comprises evaluating, using a fitness evaluation module, the fitness of the plurality of individuals in a population. Each of the plurality of individuals comprises a dominant genotype and a recessive genotype. The fitness is evaluated by applying a fitness function to the dominant genotype of each individual. The method further comprises recombining and mutating, using the fitness evaluation module, the dominant genotype of one or more selected individuals based on the fitness evaluation. The method further comprises storing, using a change detection module, previously encountered genotypes in the recessive genotypes of the individuals. The fitness evaluation module and change detection module comprise instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by a processor. |
| US08583570B2 |
Advanced data integrity
A payment integrity system that processes data, including data associated with a biometric technology. The system includes a discovery module to receive insurance records from a source of data, which includes the data associated with the biometric technology, the records providing information that pertain to at least one transaction. The discovery module includes a query component and an artificial intelligence engine to process the records to identify a second subset of the records having anomalous information, and provide a second analysis output indicative of the second subset. The system also includes an audit module to determine whether to instruct the artificial intelligence engine to analyze the records according to the outputs. The system facilitates resolution of a claim payment based on the first analysis output and the second analysis output. |
| US08583566B2 |
Methods and systems for selecting and presenting content based on learned periodicity of user content selection
A method of selecting and presenting content based on learned user preferences is provided. The method includes receiving search input from the user for identifying desired content items and receiving content selection actions from the user. The method further includes analyzing the date, day, and time of content selection actions by the user and analyzing descriptive terms associated with the selected content items to learn a periodicity of user selections of similar content items. In response to subsequent searches by the user, the method calls for selecting and ordering a collection of content items for presentation to the user based on comparing the user's search input to descriptive terms associated with content items and based on the learned periodicities of the user. |
| US08583561B2 |
Apparatus, method, and computer program product for providing a quality control mechanism for the contactless interface of a dual-interface card
Techniques for enabling performance of a quality control function on the contactless interface while the contactless interface is disabled are provided. The techniques include implementing, on a dual-interface payment device, one or more security mechanisms, wherein the dual-interface payment device comprises a first interface and a second interface, using the one or more security mechanisms to prevent a subset of data corresponding to the first interface from being read using the second interface while allowing data corresponding to the second interface to be read using the first interface, and personalizing the dual-interface payment device and the one or more security mechanisms according to one or more requirements of an issuer of the dual-interface payment device. |
| US08583560B1 |
Method and apparatus for third party control of a device
A method and apparatus for third party control of a device have been disclosed. By utilizing a third party to control a device, view and control of a device may be separated. |
| US08583558B2 |
On-line software rental
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for a rental service through a computer network. A collection of virtual containers is assigned to a set of users including one or more users. Each virtual container in the collection is configured to identify one or more software products that are rented by users in the set. A user in the set is authorized to access a software product through the computer network based on whether the software product is identified as a rented software product in one or more virtual containers of the collection assigned to the set of users. |
| US08583554B2 |
Dependent payment device
The present invention provides embodiments of a dependent payment device, such as a credit card, for allowing a primary customer to control and monitor the transactions made by a dependent customer who is authorized to use the account of the primary customer. The primary customer can control the maximum limit that the dependent customer can spend on the dependent card up to the maximum amount that the financial institution has approved for the primary customer. The primary customer can also block/approve purchases that the dependent customer can make at store or on products by adding MCCs, store names, store types, UPCs, or other product or store identifiers to a list of blocked/approved transactions. The primary customer can set monetary and time limits on the amount and frequency of the transactions the dependent customer can make at stores or on products that have been blocked/approved. |
| US08583553B2 |
Conditionally obfuscating one or more secret entities with respect to one or more billing statements related to one or more communiqués addressed to the one or more secret entities
A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: associating one or more fees with one or more communiqués that were transmitted by a particular end user and addressed to one or more secret entities; and providing one or more billing statements that indicate the one or more fees without at least directly identifying the one or more secret entities, the providing of the one or more billing statements being in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user to conditionally obfuscate the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more billing statements. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. |
| US08583551B2 |
Systems and methods for prepaid electric metering for vehicles
A method for delivering energy to an electric vehicle is provided, wherein the electric vehicle is associated with a customer account. The method includes identifying the electric vehicle at an energy delivery point, and determining a current balance of the customer account, wherein the current balance includes at least a portion of a prepayment amount based on a predetermined amount of energy to be delivered to the electric vehicle at the energy delivery point. The method also includes delivering energy to the electric vehicle, metering an actual amount of energy delivered to the electric vehicle, and determining a transaction amount based on the actual amount of energy delivered to the electric vehicle at the energy delivery point. |
| US08583542B2 |
Financial products based on a serialized index
A method for trading financial instruments includes listing, by an electronic financial exchange, financial instruments that specify which version of a serialized index the financial instrument tracks; receiving, by the electronic financial exchange, an electronic indication to buy or sell the financial instrument; executing, by the electronic financial exchange, a trade involving the financial instrument; and settling the financial instrument according to the version of the serialized index specified by the financial instrument. |
| US08583537B1 |
Cross trading securities during time windows at the volume weighted average price
Embodiments of a system and method for cross trading a publicly traded security are disclosed. In an embodiment, a cross trade is executed at the volume weighted average price of the publicly traded security calculated for a portion of the trading day. An embodiment of the method includes accepting offers to buy and sell the security during a first window of time, calculating the volume weighted average price of the security during a second window of time, and cross trading the offers. An embodiment of the system includes a user interface for accepting offers, a volume weighted average price calculator for calculating the volume weighted average price at which to execute the cross trade and a cross trade application for executing the cross trade. |
| US08583535B2 |
Operation of auctions over computer networks
A system and method for networked exchange are disclosed. A system for networked exchange comprises an internal proxy (140); an exchange processor (120) in communication with the internal proxy (140); a database (130) in communication with the internal proxy (140); an external proxy (150) in communication with the internal proxy (140); and, a communications network (110) connected to the external proxy.A method for networked exchange comprises 8 steps. Those steps are (1) specifying a mode of operations for an exchange; (2) identifying a commodity for the exchange; (3) listing information about the commodity; (4) accessing of the listing by a potential purchaser; (5) accessing the network based exchange by the potential purchaser; (6) processing information generated by the potential purchaser, the information comprising a negotiation; (7) concluding the negotiation; and, (8) clearing the concluded negotiation. |
| US08583534B1 |
System and method for multi-market risk control in a distributed electronic trading environment
A system and method are provided for distributed risk management. According to one example embodiment, a central risk controller is provided that can communicate with a plurality of local risk management modules located at a plurality of gateways. The central risk controller may allocate a portion of a central account balance associated with a trading account to each local risk management module. Then, as the trades are made using the trading account, the local risk management modules may manage risk associated with the trades until the local account balance is insufficient. As the account balance gets low, the local risk management module may query the central risk controller for the additional risk account balance. |
| US08583533B2 |
System, method, article for facilitating derivatives transactions
A derivatives transaction service is provided and includes qualifying prospective users of the service based on a user type and credit evaluation, determining approved transaction types for qualified users, identifying approved risk mitigation methods for qualified users; enrolling qualified users in the service; and providing to a qualified user services such as transaction search services; transaction offer services; portfolio management services; and transaction negotiation services. The service may be provided using one or more configured computing systems. |
| US08583530B2 |
Code generation based on spreadsheet data models
Disclosed herein are processor-executable methods, computing systems, and related technology for the generation of software code based on spreadsheet data models. A spreadsheet data model may be parsed, and an intermediate representation may be generated based on the spreadsheet data model. Software code may be generated based on the intermediate representation. The software code may be in a high-level language such as C or C++, or in any other appropriate language. Alternatively or additionally, the software code may include the use of General Purpose Computing On Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) technology. The software code may be compiled, and then executed to obtain results data. |
| US08583529B2 |
Method of purchasing a product to avoid adverse selection
A method for providing automatic purchase of products, such as insurance products, by one or more third parties acting on behalf of a purchaser and for automatic deductions from an income source to pay for the product utilizes stored data regarding the products, information provided to a purchaser from the stored data based upon inquiries from the purchaser and concluding a purchase or not along with payment for the purchaser. |
| US08583527B2 |
System and method for independently authorizing auxiliary communication services
Systems and methods which determines the likelihood that a calling (or in some cases the called) user will pay for a particular auxiliary service are described. A system of an embodiment considers the user's credit risk and his/her propensity to pay, when deciding if the user is eligible for a particular auxiliary service. A methodology used for determining propensity to pay for an auxiliary service according to embodiments is independent from a determination of propensity to pay for a basic calling service. Thus, the criteria used, and the weight given to each criteria, for determining eligibility for auxiliary services can be different from the criteria and criteria weight used for basic communication connections. |
| US08583521B2 |
System and method for processing investment transactions
A method for processing investment transactions includes receiving investor information regarding each of a plurality of investors. The investor information may include, an identity, a minimum investment per unique investment and a minimum number of required unique investments. Each of the plurality of investors may be signatory to a respective general partnership agreement that share a common general partner. Some of the investor information may be derived from the terms of the general partnership agreement. The method may also include notifying the plurality of investors of a future unique investment opportunity. In accordance with a particular embodiment, for each particular investor of the plurality of investors, it is determined whether the particular investor will participate in the future unique investment. |
| US08583518B2 |
Automated sales tax payment system
Described are technologies relating to transaction processing. In general, one aspect of the subject matter described herein can be embodied in methods that include the actions of calculating, in relation to a transaction, one or more tax amounts associated with a price of the transaction, obtaining, in relation to a payment source, an approval for at least the price of the transaction and the one or more tax amounts, thereby defining an approved sales transaction, and, subsequent to obtaining the approval, (a) settling at least a revenue portion of one or more approved sales transactions in favor of a first account, and (b) settling the one or more tax amounts in favor of a second account that is different than the first account. |
| US08583515B2 |
Transfer account systems, computer program products, and associated computer-implemented methods
Embodiments of the present invention include transfer account systems, computer program products, and associated computer-implemented methods of providing prioritized payments from the proceeds of automatic or direct deposits. Embodiments of the present invention include routing automatic deposit information to a financial institution computer managing a prioritized payment program and formulating an outgoing ACH file with both an entry for an automatic deposit destined for a customer account and an entry for a pre-authorized prioritized payment to a select creditor, so that the automatic deposit is credited to the customer account and relatively instantaneously any prioritized payment is debited from the customer account. According to embodiments of the present invention, the customer account can be a checking, deposit, savings, money market, or other account as understood by those skilled in the art, so that a customer has effective access through the customer account only to a net value of funds. |
| US08583512B1 |
Segregated electronic shopping lists for recurring item purchases
Systems, computer-implemented methods and computer program products for generating customized shopping lists for recurring purchases of the same item based upon item-level electronic transaction data. Item-level electronic transaction data is analyzed to determine purchase intervals of items and estimate when the consumer will purchase the items again. Segregated, customized shopping lists are generated such that shopping lists have identified items when it is estimated that the consumer will need to purchase the items again. Multiple shopping lists may be segregated by merchant such that consumers have two more different lists of items for different merchants for a given estimated date. For example, a consumer may be provided with a first shopping list for a grocery store such as SAFEWAY, a second shopping list for a warehouse club store such as COSTCO, and a third shopping list for a big box store or superstore such as TARGET. |
| US08583510B2 |
Automatic sales assistant for electronic commerce customers
An Automatic Sales Assistant (“ASA”) automates the handling of electronic commerce transactions by gathering all of the relevant information with respect to an electronic commerce transaction being carried out by a customer using a computer and presenting it to the customer in a unified and convenient form (e.g., a template) that the customer may use to properly complete the electronic transaction (e.g., a purchase of retail goods using the Internet). The transaction may be an active document that resides in a private folder on the customer's computer. This type of active process handles all of the procedures related to any given electronic commerce transaction. Moreover, the ASA facilitates the proper resolution of any problems with a transaction by providing all of the necessary support material and information. |
| US08583508B1 |
Call routing apparatus
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and in particular to systems and methods for routing and placing telephone calls. In one embodiment, a call manager system is configured to place a call to a pay-per-call service, or to cause such a call to be placed by a user computer terminal, in response to a user initiating a purchase transaction over a computer network. In addition, the call may include billing information, such as the user's phone number, which is provided to the pay-per-call service so that the user can be billed for the call in an appropriate amount. |
| US08583507B2 |
Rule-based transferable shopping basket for online purchases
An online shopping basket is acquired by a buyer from an online store and is customized according to rules specified by the buyer. The buyer places zero or more items in the online shopping basket(s) before they are given to at least one shopper by the online store. The shopper(s) may further customize the online shopping basket(s) with rules that do not conflict with those specified by the buyer. The shopper(s) then place zero or more items in the online shopping basket(s) and return the basket(s) to the online store. Multiple online shopping baskets are merged into a single basket, and the buyer reviews the items in the merged online shopping basket and adds or removes items as necessary. The buyer then purchases the remaining items from the online store. |
| US08583506B2 |
Method and system for implementing an online purchase transaction with rewards
A system and method for implementation of product searches via a search engine over a networked computer system such as the Internet. In particular, a user may execute a search for product offers that are accompanied with reward components (e.g. reward points, rebates, coupons, etc.) and/or those that allow payment in whole or in part with payment components (e.g. reward points, rebates, coupons, etc.). |
| US08583503B2 |
On line web portal for private network service providers
A web-enabled user interface is provided to enable the carriers of private networks to interact and to offer services to one another. The web-enabled user interface is integrated to a switch fabric configured to provide interconnection services for the carriers. The web-enabled user interface is configured to enable the carriers to assign different roles to different representatives. Each of the representatives is granted certain rights and permissions by an administrator representative based on the representative's role. The web-enabled user interface is configured to present to each representative a unique interface based on their roles thus providing each representative a unique experience. |
| US08583502B2 |
Value maximizing recommendation systems
A server determines a plurality of immediate candidate items for a first web page to recommend to a user. For each particular immediate candidate item of the plurality of immediate candidate items, the server determines a separate sequence of two or more subsequent possible candidate items for subsequent web pages to recommend to the user in the event that the user selects the particular immediate candidate item. Further, the server selects a particular immediate candidate item from the plurality of immediate candidate items for the first web page to recommend to the user. The first web page that recommends the plurality of immediate candidate items is generated and sent over the Internet to the user. |
| US08583500B2 |
Systems and methods for providing computing device counts
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for providing computing device counts are disclosed. Exemplary methods include providing a count of computing devices corresponding to an organization, the count of computing devices being responsive to data corresponding to the computing devices, providing a time period for which the count is valid, and providing information on how the computing device count was determined. |
| US08583498B2 |
System and method for biometrics-based fraud prevention
The system employs the use of biometric authentication, a fraud control gateway and widget, and a point of sale sensor to restrict the use of credit cards or other financial tokens to authenticated actual owners of the card or token. The card or token holder will have biometric information entered into a database during an initiation or enrollment process, and subsequent uses of the card may be authenticated by comparing the biometric information of the attempted user to biometric information stored in the system. The biometric component is used for voice authentication. As part of a multi-factor security schema, the biometric authentication is combined with a series of point of sale and fraud control methods to ensure a comprehensive security umbrella for financial transactions. Both financial institution limits to transactions and consumer-preferred limits to transactions are employed. |
| US08583496B2 |
Systems and methods to process payments via account identifiers and phone numbers
Systems and methods are provided to facilitate transactions via mobile communications. In one aspect, a system includes a data storage facility and an interchange coupled with the data storage facility that stores data associating a phone number of a user and an account identifier of the user. The interchange includes a common format processor and a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of different controllers of mobile communications. The converters are configured to communicate with the controllers in different formats and with the common format processor in a common format. The common format processor uses one of the converters to transmit premium messages to the phone number to collect funds via a telecommunication carrier, receives a payment request having the account identifier, identifies the phone number based on the account identifier, and makes a payment on behalf of the user using the collected funds. |
| US08583489B2 |
Generating a media content availability notification
Systems and methods for bookmarking media content for future availability are described. The method includes receiving a receiving a request for media content and user account data for a plurality of unique online content sources. The method also includes requesting content availability data from the plurality of unique online content sources and using received content availability data to generate a notification. Pricing information, the media format, and notification preferences may be used to further configure the searches and notifications. |
| US08583487B2 |
Method and system for media initialization via data sharing
A method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium estimate media performance on advertising space inventory. The method selects at least one media cell that shares one or more common attributes with a target media cell. The method subsequently estimates mean revenue per impression (RPI) of the selected media cell, and then defines an initial estimate of a RPI of the target media cell based on the estimated RPI of the selected cell. The method computes the RPI of the target media cell by combining the initial RPI estimate for the target media cell with performance data associated with the target media cell. |
| US08583485B2 |
Individualized marketing to improve capacity utilization
Suppliers of goods and/or services subject to shifts in capacity utilization design and implement marketing campaigns around utilization forecasts, targeting marketing expenditures on periods of excess capacity rather than periods without excess capacity, and in some embodiments also to alter variables such as pricing, consumer targeting, or even the intensity of the campaign itself on a dynamic basis in response to changing market conditions. |
| US08583484B1 |
Frequency optimization of advertisement insertion in media streams
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, are described for frequency optimization of advertisement streams. The methods and systems described in this specification may enable determination of an optimal presentation frequency of an ad stream, or a number of times the ad stream is to be broadcast and/or rebroadcast, prior to the audience becoming interested in the ad, or acting on the ad to generate a conversion event. |
| US08583483B2 |
Online platform for web advertisement competition
Embodiments discussed herein relate to creating and managing competitive campaigns for advertisement spaces on a web page. Competitive campaigns may take several forms, including boosting bids for advertisements to try an match the competitor's advertisement bids in an online auction, dynamically replacing the entity's advertisement being shown, or out-and-out refusing to show an advertisement whenever the competitor's advertisement is also shown. |
| US08583478B2 |
Systems and methods for determining whether to offer a reward at a point of return
Computerized decision-making systems and methods are described for determining whether to provide one or more rewards, such as a coupon or instant discount, to a customer requesting to make a merchandise return at a store, and, if so, to determine the terms of the reward, such as value, expiration date/time and other terms that may be associated with a coupon. The reward determinations may be implemented in conjunction with a system for authorizing the requested merchandise return transaction. Information about the requested return may be used together with data about the customer's past purchase, return transactions, and other customer-related data. In some embodiments, the determinations are based, at least in part, on store-related information and policies. The reward may be printed with a receipt issued to the customer at the point of return and/or may be provided to the customer using a wide variety of other communications technologies. |
| US08583472B2 |
Measuring customer service levels
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for measuring how well interactive components of a service facility that are accessible to users through a communication network perform in serving users, the interactive components being a proper subset of all of the interactive components of the service facility, and using the results of the measuring to evaluate the performance of the service facility with respect to a target performance. |
| US08583471B1 |
Inferring household income for users of a social networking system
Information about a set of users of a social networking system is obtained to develop a predictive model of income distribution for all users of the social networking system. This predictive model is based on selected attributes about the users (e.g., declared/profile information, user historical information, and/or social information). Users of the social networking system are mapped to a specific income bracket based on statistical correlations derived from the predictive model. Advertisements are targeted to users based on income bracket. The system may use a machine learning algorithm to analyze conversion rates of targeted advertising to retrain the predictive model. |
| US08583468B2 |
Method, system and computer program product for analyzing maintenance operations and assessing the readiness of repairable systems
An automated method, system and computer program product for assessing the readiness of a plurality of repairable systems, such as a fleet of aircraft, are provided. In addition to identifying the repairable systems that will be operational, the relative state of readiness of the repairable systems is determined such that the repairable systems that are most likely to successfully complete the designated task can be selected. Additionally, an automated method of analyzing the maintenance operations performed upon a plurality of repairable systems, such as a fleet of aircraft, is provided. In this regard, the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems are determined and maintenance resources are allocated based upon the respective measures of the relative states of readiness of the repairable systems. As such, maintenance operations scheduled for the aircraft that will have the greatest state of readiness upon completion of the maintenance operations can be prioritized. |
| US08583467B1 |
Method and system for optimized scheduling of workflows
A computer-implemented method is provided for optimizing scheduling and resource allocation for a workflow. The method includes receiving i) resource information representing resources available for allocation to the workflow and ii) one or more workflow constraints. The method determines one or more probable sequences for executing the workflow. Each probable sequence includes tasks usable to execute at least a portion of the workflow. Each task is assigned a probability of task execution. The method assigns a probability of sequence execution to each of the probable sequences based on the probability of task execution of the tasks forming the probable sequence. The method further determines an optimized scenario for scheduling the workflow based on the probable sequences. The optimized scenario can have an optimized probability of completion. |
| US08583463B1 |
Aircraft fuel conservation system
A method and apparatus for managing fuel consumption for vehicles. A set of inconsistencies is identified on a number of vehicles in a plurality of vehicles. The set of inconsistencies has an effect on the fuel consumption by the number of vehicles. A predicted fuel consumption is identified for the number of vehicles based on the set of inconsistencies. A determination is made as whether to perform rework on the set of inconsistencies on the number of vehicles based on the predicted fuel consumption for the number of vehicles. |
| US08583462B2 |
Method and system for assessing penalties associated with an employee without a job assignment
A method for managing the application of penalties to employees of a company. The method comprises executing software encoded on a machine readable storage medium by a CPU to implement a job assignment monitoring function, the job assignment monitoring function monitoring events occurring in the course of a job assignment procedure during which a server arrangement communicates with a remote client over a data network to present an employee at the remote client with a job proposal, detecting among the monitored events a penalty triggering event and in response to the detecting, determining a penalty to be applied to the employee on the basis of the penalty triggering event. The method further comprises recording in an employee record stored in a database, data derived from the determining to register the penalty applied to the employee. |
| US08583457B1 |
Method of coordinating and displaying a short name of a drug
A system and methods for coordinating and displaying a short name of a drug are disclosed. The short name may be a subset of the prescribed drug's name, it may be an independent name, or it may be a graphical symbol. Short names for multiple drugs of a patient may be related by a common naming convention. Short names may be printed onto a reference card along with an indication corresponding to the drug's dosing regime. Short names may also be printed onto medicament container labels, additional instruction sheets, labels used for stocking and the like. The short name may be selectable and may be stored. |
| US08583456B2 |
System and method for advertising revenue distribution
The system monitors user actions in a user payment system and provides targeted advertisements to a user where the user opts-in as a participant in an advertising program. The system is further configured to track and distribute revenue from the advertising program to various parties including the user, healthcare providers, and user payment systems providers. |
| US08583455B2 |
Patient diabetes data interchange with electronic medical records
A system and method for transferring patient diabetes information into an electronic medical record on a health record system with user validation are disclosed. After testing a patient's blood glucose levels over a period of time with a blood glucose meter which stores the patient diabetes information and the blood glucose levels in a first electronic format record, and after a user transfers the first electronic format record from the blood glucose meter into a diabetes management system on a computer, the invention provides a service which automatically monitors an output folder to determine when an export file containing the patient diabetes information is stored therein and after detection, automatically processes the export file into a default electronic medical report which can be copied into a clipboard utility provided by the computer and pasted into the electronic medical record of the patient on the health record system. |
| US08583452B2 |
Health check system, health check apparatus and method thereof
Various types of health checks are realized using optimal sensors. The health check apparatus according to the present application is configured such that optimal sensors 160 corresponding to an environment or the like in which an information service is realized out of a plurality of available sensors 160 or sensors 160 available to realize a health check to be delivered are selected. The health check apparatus according to the present application selects appropriate parameters for the sensors 160 and processing programs 286, 300 and 310 so that a health check is appropriately delivered and sets the parameters in the sensors and processing programs. Thus, the health check apparatus according to the present application is configured to be able to deliver various health checks by only receiving specification of a desired information service by the user and thereby appropriately combining various types of sensors and a plurality of processing programs. |
| US08583448B1 |
Method and system for verifying websites and providing enhanced search engine services
The ownership or control of a website is verified. In one implementation this includes providing a verification identifier and determining whether the verification identifier appears in a first resource or a first location. Enhanced search engine services are provided after verifying ownership or control of the website. Examples of enhanced services includes providing analytics associated with the website; providing an electronic shopping cart or checkout mechanism associated with the website; providing a financial status indicator associated with the website; providing a custom search engine associated with the website; and providing a custom toolbar associated with the website. |
| US08583447B2 |
System for marketing campaign specification and secure digital coupon redemption
Product vendors are provided with a system for performing a marketing campaign to mobile communication device users, providing offers as instruments, such as digital coupons, to a selected group of users of the mobile communication devices and validating the integrity of the instruments. The invention has two phases: the selection of the components of the instrument from a menu provided by a social networking organization; and validating the instrument upon redemption from the product vendor. In the first phase, the product vendor selects elements from the menu relevant to the campaign, such as timing, nature of the offer, targeting of the recipients, etc. In the second phase, the instrument is encoded as to the marketing campaign and an arbitrary designation which initiates a pattern as the instrument is redeemed. The product vendor inspects the instrument to ensure that the encoding is correct during the redemption process. |
| US08583446B2 |
System and method for automated training and certification for radio frequency safety and regulatory compliance at wireless transmission sites
Computer based system which provides wireless site specific RF safety information and promotes protection of all concerned individuals from RF radiation. The System further informs contractors, workers, site owners, and FCC licensees bow to comply with federal, state and local RF safety standards and regulations. The system provides a method for managing and accommodating RF safety training and certification relating to the radio transmission sites. The system includes a database of transmission sites with corresponding antenna systems including maps of maximum permissible exposure limits, site physical layouts and camera images. The system provides a site specific RF safety summary sheet only to users having a predetermined training certification status. The system further includes recordation of training process, testing results, certification status, and delivery of RF safety summary sheets to users. |
| US08583445B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing a signal using a time-stretched band extension base signal
A method and apparatus for processing a signal are discussed. According to an embodiment, the method includes receiving extension information and a downmix signal decoded by either an audio coding scheme or a speech coding scheme, the downmix signal having a bandwidth of a low frequency signal; generating an upmixing signal from the downmix signal by using channel extension; determining an extension base signal corresponding to partial band of the upmixing signal based on the extension information; and generating an extended upmixing signal by applying the extension information to the extension base signal, the extended upmixing signal having a bandwidth extended by reconstructing a high frequency signal. |
| US08583444B2 |
Method and apparatus for canceling vocal signal from audio signal
Provided is a method of canceling a vocal signal, wherein the method includes obtaining a difference signal between two audio signals; and smoothing the frequency of the difference signal. Also provided is a device for canceling a vocal signal, the device including a subtracter which obtains a difference signal between two audio signals; and a frequency smoothing unit which smoothes a frequency of the difference signal. |
| US08583441B2 |
Method and system for providing speech dialogue applications
A server for producing at least one speech dialogue application stores a formal description of a speech dialogue programmed into the description language and speech models for dialogue steps of the speech dialogue. A broadcasting transmitter digitally transmits produced speech dialogue applications to a radio set of mobile end terminals which are arranged in the transmission area thereof. |
| US08583439B1 |
Enhanced interface for use with speech recognition
Improved methods of presenting speech prompts to a user as part of an automated system that employs speech recognition or other voice input are described. The invention improves the user interface by providing in combination with at least one user prompt seeking a voice response, an enhanced user keyword prompt intended to facilitate the user selecting a keyword to speak in response to the user prompt. The enhanced keyword prompts may be the same words as those a user can speak as a reply to the user prompt but presented using a different audio presentation method, e.g., speech rate, audio level, or speaker voice, than used for the user prompt. In some cases, the user keyword prompts are different words from the expected user response keywords, or portions of words, e.g., truncated versions of keywords. |
| US08583437B2 |
Speech synthesis with incremental databases of speech waveforms on user terminals over a communications network
Service architecture for providing to a user terminal of a communications network textual information and relative speech synthesis, the user terminal being provided with a speech synthesis engine and a basic database of speech waveforms includes: a content server for downloading textual information requested by means of a browser application on the user terminal; a context manager for extracting context information from the textual information requested by the user terminal; a context selector for selecting an incremental database of speech waveforms associated with extracted context information and for downloading the incremental database into the user terminal; a database manager on the user terminal for managing the composition of an enlarged database of speech waveforms for the speech synthesis engine including the basic and the incremental databases of speech waveforms. |
| US08583436B2 |
Word category estimation apparatus, word category estimation method, speech recognition apparatus, speech recognition method, program, and recording medium
A word category estimation apparatus (100) includes a word category model (5) which is formed from a probability model having a plurality of kinds of information about a word category as features, and includes information about an entire word category graph as at least one of the features. A word category estimation unit (4) receives the word category graph of a speech recognition hypothesis to be processed, computes scores by referring to the word category model for respective arcs that form the word category graph, and outputs a word category sequence candidate based on the scores. |
| US08583431B2 |
Communications system with speech-to-text conversion and associated methods
A communications system includes a first communications device cooperating with a second communications device. The first communications device multiplexes a digital speech message and a corresponding text message into a multiplexed signal, and wirelessly transmits the multiplexed signal. The second communications device wirelessly receives the multiplexed signal, de-multiplexes the multiplexed signal digital into the speech message and the corresponding text message, decodes the speech message for an audio output transducer, and operates a text processor on the corresponding text message for display. The corresponding text message is displayed in synchronization with the speech message output by the audio output transducer. A memory is coupled to the text processor for storing the text message, and the text processor is configured to display the stored text message. |
| US08583425B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for fricatives and high frequencies detection
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for fricatives and high frequencies detection are disclosed. According to one method, the method includes receiving a narrowband signal. The method also includes detecting, using one or more autocorrelation coefficients, a high frequency speech component associated with the narrowband signal. |
| US08583423B2 |
Method and arrangement for processing of speech quality estimate
Method and arrangement for processing of a speech quality estimate, which involve adaption of a speech quality estimate based on information related to the bandwidth of a reference signal used when determining said speech quality estimate, such that the adapted speech quality estimate is independent of the bandwidth of the reference signal. The method and arrangement enable objective speech quality measurements or assessments to be performed on a unified bandwidth scale, independent of the bandwidth of a reference signal, which allows e.g. a more relevant comparison of communication systems and/or equipment, such as e.g. codecs. |
| US08583420B2 |
Method for the extraction of relation patterns from articles
A method for building a knowledge base containing entailment relations is proposed. The proposed method makes use of an automatic or semi-automatic procedure to learn iteratively patterns for specific relations using clusters of similar articles. For each considered relation a user provides a system with one or several pivot patterns or input patterns, and the system returns patterns which express the same meaning in different ways. |
| US08583415B2 |
Phonetic search using normalized string
A method and system for generating a normalized string and performing a phonetic search are provided. To normalize a string, a native string is obtained. Upon obtaining a native string, native-character sets within the native string are identified. Each native-character set is associated with a phonetically corresponding normalized character-set. A normalized string is generated based on the phonetically corresponding normalized character-sets. After normalizing a query string and one or more search content strings, the normalized strings may be utilized to perform a phonetic search. As such, the query string may be compared to the one or more search content strings to ascertain relevant search results. Relevant search results may be indexed and obtained at a later instant. |
| US08583411B2 |
Scalable simulation of multiphase flow in a fractured subterranean reservoir as multiple interacting continua
A subterranean reservoir where the pore space of media or formation rock is multimodal, and the media may have imbedded multiple scales of fracture networks, is simulated. The modes of the pore system and the scale of fracture networks are each represented as a separate, but interactive continuum with the other. The simulation allows multiple continua to be co-located and multi-interacting, in that each continuum may have current and counter-current multiple multiphase exchanges with other continua. |
| US08583408B2 |
Standardized modeling suite
An enhanced modeling tool associated with an entity may facilitate end-to-end modeling of problems in any application space. The enhanced modeling tool may collect modeling data from a variety of sources, check the collected data, find the best predictor variables for a given target variable, estimate the model, implement the model, and validate the model. The output of each of these steps may be in a standardized format to allow other steps to directly incorporate the output. An additional feature of the system may include a reporting capability that generates supporting documents related to model governance and risk compliance. |
| US08583404B2 |
Photoelectric sensor and method for aiding checking of threshold
A photoelectric sensor comprises a control unit which performs a measuring process for data on an amount of light input from a light-receiving unit. The control unit measures the length TPS of period (from point a to point d) from when measurement data starts to change in the direction of a threshold P0 to when the amount of received light returns to the level at which the measurement data started to change, and the length TON of period (from point b to point c) for which the detection signal is ON-level. The control unit then outputs information on a margin for TPS with respect to TON on a display unit provided for the photoelectric sensor or to an external device in order to display them. |
| US08583400B2 |
Indoor localization of mobile devices
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to indoor localization, for example, where GPS or other localization signals are unavailable. More specifically, aspects relate to using a particle filter in conjunction with a gyroscope and/or accelerometer to identify a current location of a client device with respect to a map. In one example, the map may be based upon a map including a series of walls representing locations where a user may not walk within a building. In another example, the map may be based upon a series of rails representing locations where a user may walk within a building. |
| US08583399B2 |
Methods for behavior pattern analysis
A method for behavior pattern analysis is provided in which the behavior signals of a subject are continuously detected using tri-axis accelerator. The behavior signals are divided as a plurality of time windows based on a predetermined time length. The plurality of time windows are configured as an X-Y matrix, and cross analysis is performed on the time windows as X-axis and Y-axis to obtain a plurality of correlation coefficients as being the preferred correlation values. A pattern with bright spots and dark spots is plotted according to the preferred correlation values, and behavior pattern is evaluated from the number and distribution of bright spots and the pattern. The behavior consistency of a subject can be efficiently evaluated, and his/her behavior abnormality, disease development or other situations can be determined accordingly. |
| US08583398B2 |
Temperature sensing device
A temperature sensing device includes a bandgap voltage generator, N mirror current sources, a temperature voltage generator, and a temperature calculating unit. The mirror current sources mirror N mirror currents according to a positive temperature coefficient current. The temperature voltage generator sets the conducting number M of the mirror current sources based on a control signal, so as to generate a temperature voltage. The temperature calculating unit gradually counts the control signal and compares a potential of the temperature voltage with a potential of a reference voltage generated by the bandgap voltage generator after counting the control signal, so as to calculate and obtain temperature information. Thus, the temperature sensing device controls the conducting number M of the mirror current sources to generate the temperature voltage instead of applying serially-connected resistors, so as to reduce a circuit area of the temperature sensing device and reduce noise. |
| US08583396B2 |
Impedance-scanning quartz crystal microbalance
Method for detecting a change in mass with a quartz crystal impedance-scanning microbalance, which can be connected to an evaluation device, wherein the quartz crystal microbalance is designed to transmit the measurement points recorded at a predetermined data recording rate as raw data to the evaluation device, including at least the following steps: linearly fitting the measurement points of the raw data to a fractional rational function and determining at least one resonance frequency from the fitted measurement points of the raw data, wherein a change in the at least one resonance frequency corresponds to an effective change in mass. |
| US08583395B2 |
Self-testing optical transceiver
Systems and methods for an optical transceiver module to perform one or more diagnostic self-tests without the assistance of a host computing system. The optical transceiver module includes at least one processor, a persistent memory and a system memory. The persistent memory, which is coupled to the at least one processor, contains microcode. The microcode is loaded from the persistent memory to the system memory and executed by the at least one processor. The executed microcode causes the optical transceiver module to perform one or more diagnostic self-tests. The diagnostic result data of the one or more diagnostic self-tests is then stored in the persistent memory and is formatted for analysis. The formatted data may then be analyzed to ascertain the response of the optical transceiver to changes in its test environment. |
| US08583392B2 |
Inertial measurement unit calibration system
An electronic device can include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) operative to monitor the movement of the electronic device. The IMU used in the device can be inaccurate due to the manufacturing process used to construct the IMU and to incorporate the IMU in the electronic device. To correct the IMU output, the electronic device in which the IMU is incorporated can be placed in a testing apparatus that moves the device to known orientations. The IMU output at the known orientations can be compared to an expected true IMU output, and correction factors (e.g., sensitivity and offset matrices) can be calculated. The correction factors can be stored in the device, and applied to the IMU output to provide a true output. The testing apparatus can include a fixture placed in a gimbal movable around three axes. |
| US08583391B2 |
Monitoring the low cycle fatigue of ruggedized avionics electronics
A health monitoring system for monitoring the health of an electronic system. The health monitoring system includes an analog-to-digital converter, and a monitoring circuit within the electronic system. The monitoring circuit includes fatigue life characterized electrical components representative of electrical components comprising the balance of the electronic system. The fatigue life characterized electrical components are employed solely to monitor the health of the electronic system. The monitoring circuit output is electrically connected to the analog-to-digital converter. |
| US08583389B2 |
Battery control device
A plurality of resistance value tables of a battery group with respect to temperature and SOC of the assembled battery, which are measured in advance when currents of different change patterns flow in the assembled battery, are stored. A resistance value for the assembled battery is calculated, based upon its voltage and current. From among the plurality of resistance value tables, a resistance value table is selected so that it corresponds to the change pattern of the current flowing in the assembled battery when the voltage and the current of the assembled battery were measured, and a resistance value is searched for from that resistance value table corresponding to the temperature and the SOC of the assembled battery. Then the calculated resistance value and the one from the table are compared to determine the life of the assembled battery. |
| US08583385B2 |
Thermal, flow measuring device
Thermal, flow measuring device and method for operating a thermal, flow measuring device. The thermal, flow measuring device has a first sensor with a first heatable resistance thermometer and at least an additional, second sensor with a second heatable resistance thermometer; wherein a decision coefficient is calculated according to the formula DC=(PC1−PC2)/PC1, with PC1(t=t1)=P1,1(t1)/(T1,heated;actual(t=t1)−Tmedium;actual(t=t1)) and PC2(t=t2)=P2,2(t2)/(T2,heated;actual(t=t2)−Tmedium;actual(t=t2)), with P being the heating powers consumed by the corresponding resistance thermometers at the points in time t, and T being the temperature values; wherein the value of the decision coefficient indicates the flow direction of a measured medium in the measuring tube. |
| US08583379B2 |
Method and device for image-based biological data quantification
A device and method for determining a concentration of a biological target including capturing an image of a ticket that contains the biological target; extracting a region of interest from the captured image; detecting a target from the extracted region of interest; computing intensity of the target in the region of interest; and determining the concentration of the biological target according to the computed intensity. |
| US08583373B2 |
Methods and apparatuses for providing enhanced navigation services
Systems and methods for providing enhanced navigation services are disclosed. A navigation system can include a memory, a processor, and a location determination device. The navigation system can receive data that indicates the location of a device. The navigation system can generate notifications for the device. The navigation system can interrupt communications at the device to provide notifications, if desired. Methods for providing notifications during enhanced navigation sessions also are disclosed. |
| US08583371B1 |
Autonomous gyro temperature calibration
The present disclosure provides systems and methods that improve the pointing accuracy of a spacecraft using temperature-sensitive gyros (e.g., MEMS gyros) by using a temperature bias model to compensate for temperature biases of the gyros and using attitude data (e.g., star tracker data) to automatically and continuously calibrate the temperature bias model over the life of the spacecraft. When star tracker data is unavailable (e.g., due to sun interference), the most recently updated temperature bias model is used in open-loop to provide improved estimation of the gyro biases and improved attitude estimation. |
| US08583370B2 |
Identifying a network record corresponding to a particular routing event
A method for associating routing event records with network records in a system including a GPS device, the method including: receiving, from the GPS device, a route request; sending, to the GPS device, route information corresponding to a route calculated based on the route request; storing, in a database, a routing event record corresponding to the sending of the route information; comparing a parameter of the routing event record with a corresponding parameter of a network record generated by a wireless carrier to determine whether the network record matches up with the routing event record; and associating the routing event record with the matched network record. |
| US08583368B1 |
Rule based depiction of minimum altitudes
The different advantageous embodiments provide an apparatus comprising a data processing system and program code configured to run on the data processing system. The program code is configured to receive location information and generate display instructions for a moving map system using a number of display rules to display altitude information. |
| US08583367B2 |
System and method for displaying a route based on a vehicle state
A user selects route preferences related to weighing or considering different factors when determining a requested candidate route to a destination and chooses a candidate route ranking. A motor vehicle detects a condition associated with a vehicle state. The motor vehicle displays the candidate route based on the detected vehicle condition in a preselected order determined by the route ranking. |
| US08583365B2 |
Route guide system and method using state information of POI
A route guide method includes collecting state information of respective points of interest (POIs) and storing the collected state information in a state information database, extracting state information of one or more candidate POIs with reference to the state information database according to a request for the state information of the one or more candidate POIs, and applying the extracted state information of the candidate POIs to routes to the respective POIs to guide a user along the routes to the respective candidate POIs. |
| US08583364B2 |
Navigation method of mobile terminal and apparatus thereof
A navigation method and apparatus of a mobile terminal capture an image of a road on which a driver is driving a vehicle if the road is a new road which has not been updated on map data, automatically generates guidance information of the captured road, and provide a user preference route in searching a route from a current location to a destination to thereby enhance user satisfaction. The navigation apparatus of a mobile terminal includes a storage unit configured to store map data, a display unit configured to display a route from a current location to a destination on the map data, and a controller configured to store locus information of a vehicle in real time when the vehicle gets off of the route and gives a weight value to a link corresponding to the locus information. |
| US08583362B2 |
Apparatus, method, and program for generating road information
History information for the history of vehicle travel on a road is obtained. Traffic-volume information indicating a traffic volume on the road is obtained based on the history information that has been stored in at least a predetermined amount. When the traffic volume on the road during a predetermined period is smaller than a predetermined reference value indicating a difficulty of passage, road-selection information for avoiding that road is generated. |
| US08583361B2 |
Guided maneuvering of a mining vehicle to a target destination
A system and method for navigating a first heavy equipment to a target destination is provided. A location of the target destination is retrieved from a distributed objects database. The location of the target destination is at least partially determined by a position of a second heavy equipment. A position sensor identifies a current position and orientation of the first heavy equipment, and a path from the current position of the first heavy equipment to the location of the target destination is calculated. The calculated path is selected to avoid hazards. A progress of the first heavy equipment along the calculated path is monitored using the position sensor. When the first heavy equipment deviates from the calculated path, a message is outputted to an operator of at least one of the first heavy equipment and the second heavy equipment. |
| US08583360B2 |
Usage mode determination of navigation system
A navigation system determines its usage mode. In some embodiments, a method comprises determining a usage mode of a navigation system based on at least one of an acceleration indicator, a speed indicator, and a magnet sensor. The usage mode is at least one of a pedestrian mode, a vehicular mode, an aerial mode, a train mode, and a marine mode. The method further comprises configuring a navigation subsystem based on the usage mode. |
| US08583356B2 |
Navigation device and method
A method of correcting map data stored on a portable navigation device or navigation system is described, together with an appropriately enabled device or navigation system. A computer program enabling the method is also described. The method includes the steps of displaying map data on a PND or navigation system during a navigation or free-driving mode, and is characterized in that at least one of a plurality of user-selectable graphical indicators is displayed together with said map data adjacent or overlaid on the particular thoroughfare along which the device is currently traveling, the indicator graphically representing a travel restriction pertinent to one of either the current thoroughfare or a subsequent thoroughfare occurring after a thoroughfare intersection towards which the current thoroughfare leads. |
| US08583355B2 |
Road shape estimating device, road shape estimating method and program
A road shape estimating device has a data obtaining processing unit for obtaining interpolation point data for a plurality of shape interpolation points which are set along a road and represent a shape of the road, a radius calculation processing unit for calculating a radius of curvature at each of the shape interpolation points based on the interpolation point data for a predetermined section of the road, a corner detection processing unit for detecting a corner in the predetermined section based on the radii of curvature, and a corner dividing processing unit for dividing the corner at a shape interpolation point having a radius of curvature equal to or larger than a threshold in the detected corner. The threshold is set corresponding to an average value of radii of curvature at respective shape interpolation points in the detected corner. |
| US08583348B2 |
Fuel injection amount control system, fuel injection amount control device, and fuel injection amount control method of multi-cylinder internal combustion engine
A fuel injection amount control system acquires an air-fuel ratio imbalance index value that increases as the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among cylinders increases, based on an output value of an upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, and acquires an imbalance index learned value by performing a first-order lag filtering operation for removing noise, on the air-fuel ratio imbalance index value. Also, the fuel injection amount is increased based on the imbalance index learned value. In the filtering operation, the time constant of the filter is set to a smaller value when a magnitude of a difference between the current value and the last value of the air-fuel ratio imbalance index value is equal to or larger than a threshold value. |
| US08583346B2 |
Closed loop control of fuel viscosity in multi-fuel engine
A system and method for controlling the viscosity of liquid fuel delivered from a fuel tank to the fuel injectors of an internal combustion engine. A viscosity sensor is placed in the fuel line, or in a bypass fuel line, in close proximity downstream the fuel injectors. A heat exchanger is placed on the fuel line downstream the sensor. The sensor is a rotating cylinder having a nominal rotation velocity, and is configured to rotate such that the nominal rotation velocity increases or decreases in response to fuel viscosity. The sensor delivers a measurement signal to a control unit, which performs a closed loop algorithm to adjust the heat provided by the heat exchanger until the measured rotation matches a target rotation. |
| US08583343B2 |
Vehicle drive control apparatus, travel section pick-up apparatus and method of picking up travel section
A vehicle drive control apparatus for use in a vehicle collects the number of travels in each of road sections in a traveled route for each of travel directions, extracts road sections having been traveled for more than a threshold number for each of travel directions, and stores extracted road sections as control section data maps in a durable storage medium. If the vehicle travels into the road sections stored as the control section data map, the “stored-as-the-map” road sections are identified as a series of road sections of high-travel-probability. In this manner, a series of road sections can be accurately identified as a high-probability section without having a user input of a travel destination or the like. |
| US08583338B2 |
Control device of inverted pendulum type vehicle
Provided is a controller of an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of being moved smoothly by a guided subject as a support. In the inverted pendulum type vehicle 1, an upper portion of a base body 9 is fixed with a grip 18 extending vertically, and a joystick 20 is disposed at an upper end of the grip 18 and is configured to be held by a guided subject to issue commands to every direction of 360° according to thumb operations thereof. A manipulated variable of the joystick 20 is detected by a position sensor 55, a required center-of-gravity velocity generator 74 determines required center-of-gravity velocities of Vb_x_aim and Vb_y_aim according to the detected manipulated variable of the joystick 20, and on the basis thereof, a traveling motion unit controller determines a manipulated variable for control. |
| US08583336B2 |
Power transmission control apparatus for vehicle
First and second clutches correspond to systems which include “first gear” and “second gear,” respectively. When the temperature of the first clutch at the time of start of the vehicle is lower than a first temperature, only the first clutch is used as a start clutch for driving the vehicle. When the temperature of the first clutch is not lower than the first temperature but is lower than a second temperature, both the first and second clutches are used as the start clutch. When the temperature of the first clutch is equal to or higher than the second temperature, only the second clutch is used as the start clutch. Thus, the higher the temperature of the first clutch, the smaller the load acting on the first clutch. When the temperature of the second clutch is high, engine torque is reduced, and a warning is issued. |
| US08583332B2 |
Prime mover revolution speed control system for hydraulic construction machine
A prime mover revolution speed control system for a hydraulic construction machine sets the revolution speed of the prime mover in accordance with the operating state invoked by an operating command and as a result of a determination of an excavation state so that that the revolution speed of the engine can be increased for a heavy load (speedup) in the excavation state. When the control lever is fully operated in the direction of arm crowding, the control lever 43 is also operated, and first judgment conditions are all met to conclude that an excavation state has begun. During excavation work, when the control lever 44 is subjected to a half or greater operation in the arm crowding direction, second judgment conditions are all met to conclude that the excavation state persists, and the speedup sequence is continued. |
| US08583329B2 |
Techniques for improving safe operation of a vehicle
Vehicle control system and method in which restrictions on travel of the vehicle are determined based on an indication of the visibility of a driver and information about objects moving in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the vehicle are considered. The travel restrictions include preventing a passing maneuver on a two-lane road when an oncoming vehicle precludes safely initiating or completing an already-initiated passing maneuver. A warning system is provided to warn a driver about the travel restrictions so that the driver will, hopefully, not attempt an unsafe maneuver. |
| US08583328B2 |
Rear wheel toe angle control device and method for calibrating a reference position of an electric actuator in a rear wheel toe angle control device
[TASK]The wheel alignment of rear wheels can be properly set without using an alignment tester if the rear wheels are equipped with a rear wheel toe angle control device.[SOLUTION]In a calibration drive control, an ECU (12) actuates electric actuators (11) until the front wheel steering angle (δf) becomes zero or the rear wheel toe angles (δr) are symmetric to each other (steps S3 and D4) to thereby achieve a symmetric toe angle position (Ssym) (step S5). Then, the ECU (12) actuates the electric actuators (11) from the symmetric toe angle position (Ssym) by a same amount so as to cause the rear wheel toe angles to be a neutral value, and a reference position (S0) to be substantially equal to a standard operational position (Sstd) or an axial force (AF) to be substantially equal to a standard axial force (AFstd) (step S7). At this time, the operational position detected value (Sdtc) may be reset as the reference position (S0) (step S10). |
| US08583324B2 |
Method and device for determining the angle of inclination of a two-wheeled vehicle
In a method for determining the angle of inclination of a two-wheeled vehicle of the type of a bicycle, a scooter or a motorcycle with respect to the roadway normal, the angle of inclination is able to be determined simply and accurately if the transverse acceleration of the vehicle is measured using a transverse acceleration sensor and the acceleration in the direction of the vertical axis of the vehicle is ascertained and the angle of inclination with respect to the roadway normal is calculated based on the two acceleration values. |
| US08583323B2 |
Vehicle-use electronic control device
The vehicle-use electronic control device includes a main microcomputer and a sub microcomputer. The sub-microcomputer is configured to be in one of a normal operation mode, a sleep mode and a stop mode, and to learn a frequent use time period in which frequency of use of the vehicle is high. The sub-microcomputer continues to be in the sleep mode if the frequent use time period prevails, and changes from the sleep mode to the stop mode if the frequent use time period does not prevail in order to further reduce the dark current. |
| US08583321B2 |
Method and device for secured control of alternator-starter assembly coupled to thermal engine of vehicle, and corresponding alternator-starter assembly and wire links
An electric control unit is used to generate control signals for the alternator-starter assembly on the basis of first information signals representative of a state of the vehicle and a control unit is used to generate control signals for power circuits on the basis of diagnosis signals representative of the state of the alternator-starter assembly. The control signals are generated using the electronic control unit also on the basis of at least one first diagnosis signal, and control signals are generated using the control circuit also on the basis of second information signals from a data communication bus. |
| US08583313B2 |
Robotic vehicle for performing rail-related actions
A robotic vehicle configured for autonomous or semi-autonomous operation in a rail environment is provided. The vehicle can process image data to move about the rail environment and perform one or more actions in the rail environment. The actions can include one or more actions related to decoupling and/or attaching rail vehicles, and can be implemented by performing three-dimensional image processing. The vehicle can be configured to move with any movement of a rail vehicle on which one or more actions are being performed. In an alternative embodiment, the various components configured to perform the action are implemented at a stationary location with respect to a rail line. |
| US08583311B2 |
Overhead wire transportation system and control method thereof
A storage battery control device detects an overhead wire supply current value showing a sum of a current value output from a storage battery and a current value output from a transformer substation, and charging or discharging of the storage battery is controlled so that a charging rate of the storage battery becomes a charging rate target value when the detected overhead wire supply current value is less than a first threshold. In addition, charging or discharging of the storage battery is controlled so that the output voltage of the storage battery control device is maintained at a constant voltage control mode when the detected overhead wire supply current value is greater than or equal to the first threshold. |
| US08583310B2 |
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle includes a wheel-driving motor, a motor inverter that supplies electric power to the wheel-driving motor, a pump that delivers a cooling medium to at least one of the motor inverter and the motor, a capacitor that stores a counter electromotive force generated by the pump, and a pump inverter that supplies electric power to the pump to drives the pump. When a vehicle controller receives a signal indicating a collision of the vehicle, the vehicle controller stops a supply of electric power from the pump inverter to the pump and connects the pump inverter to the capacitor. The pump inverter converts AC power generated by the counter electromotive force of the pump into DC power to store the DC power in the capacitor. |
| US08583308B2 |
Control device for vehicle
A control device for a vehicle includes a system control unit for putting the state of an electric power supply line into an interrupted state when a first condition on the state of the vehicle is satisfied, a battery ECU for, in parallel with the operation of the system control unit, detecting a state of charge of a battery for traveling and transmitting the detected state of charge to the system control unit and for putting the state of the electric power supply line into the interrupted state when a second condition on the state of the battery for traveling is satisfied, and a power supply interrupting unit for putting the state of the electric power supply line into the interrupted state with an SMR in response to a request from at least either one of the system control unit and the battery ECU. |
| US08583307B2 |
Power supply system for electrically powered vehicle and method for controlling the same
A power supply system includes a main power storage device and a plurality of sub power storage devices. A converter is connected to a selected one of the sub power storage devices to convert voltage between the selected sub power storage device and an electric power feeding line bidirectionally. Connection of the sub power storage device is switched and, when the last sub power storage is used, a request to disconnect the sub power storage device is generated based on the SOC of the sub power storage device and the vehicle state. Specifically, where the SOC is included in a disconnection forced region in which the SOC is smaller than a reference lower limit, the sub power storage device is forced to be disconnected regardless of the vehicle state. Where the SOC is included in a disconnection permitted region in which the SOC is higher than that in the disconnection forced region, the disconnection request is generated on condition that the vehicle is in such a state that will not affect vehicle's drivability. |
| US08583306B2 |
Method for controlling torque output of a hybrid powertrain system
A method for controlling output torque of a hybrid powertrain system includes determining a constrained output torque in response to an operator torque request, and determining maximum and minimum output torque limits. A time-rate change in the constrained output torque at each of a plurality of torque breakpoints is determined. A desired output torque is determined. A preferred output torque is determined as the desired output torque adjusted using the time-rate changes in the constrained output torque at the plurality of torque breakpoints and limited within the maximum and minimum output torque limits. Torque outputs of torque generators of the hybrid powertrain system are controlled in response to the preferred output torque. |
| US08583303B2 |
Electric drive vehicle, system and method
An electric drive system is provided for use in a vehicle that is operated in environments with stringent emissions and ventilation regulations. In one embodiment, the electric drive system comprises a motor capable of propelling the vehicle and an energy storage device coupled to the motor, and selectively couplable to a catenary line, wherein the catenary line is capable of supplying electrical power to the vehicle and to the energy storage device. Additionally, the vehicle includes a mining device that is operable to be powered by energy from one or more of the catenary line and the energy storage device. |
| US08583302B2 |
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle includes a base; a front wheel that can be driven omnidirectionally; a rear wheel that is mounted on the base so that a symmetry axis is parallel with a symmetry axis of the front wheel; a seat member that is mounted so that a straight line connecting a wheel center of the front wheel and a wheel center of the rear wheel specifies a fore-and-aft direction; an controller that detects an acceleration and deceleration command and a turning command; an inclination sensor that detects inclination of the base; and a control unit that controls acceleration and deceleration of the base based on the acceleration and deceleration command detected by the controller, that controls turning of the base based on the turning command detected by the controller, and that controls translational motion of the base based on inclination of the base detected by the inclination sensor. |
| US08583301B2 |
Engine speed control for an engine in a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain for improved noise, vibration and harshness
A control strategy is disclosed for regulating speed of an engine in a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain that includes an electric motor and gearing. An electrical power flow path and a mechanical power flow path are established. Electrical power is coordinated with mechanical power to effect an arbitrated engine speed for a given power demand that will result in an acceptable noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) characteristic for the powertrain and an acceptable powertrain efficiency. |
| US08583291B2 |
Methods and apparatus for energy demand management
To manage energy demands of a plurality of appliances, a meter controller apparatus receives a first message from a first appliance controller apparatus coupled to a first appliance of the plurality of appliances. The first message comprises first information regarding a first power demand of the first appliance and a first demand category associated with the first appliance, wherein the first demand category is one of a plurality of demand categories. The meter controller apparatus computes an updated meter controller model for the plurality of appliances based at least in part on the first message received from the first appliance controller apparatus and a present meter controller model for the plurality of appliances. |
| US08583288B1 |
System and method for using climate controlled spaces as energy storage units for “receiving” surplus energy and for “supplying” energy when needed
A method and system for managing an energy supply of a utility provider include calibrating one or more climate controlled spaces for a controller. The calibrating may include calculating a heating/cooling ratio for the one or more climate controlled spaces. After this calibration occurs, the system may determine if an energy supply surplus exists. If an energy supply surplus exists, then the system may start using the one or more climate controlled spaces as energy sinks for expending energy according to the heating/cooling ratio. The system may also determine if an energy supply deficit exists and if an energy supply deficit exists, then the system may start using the one or more climate controlled spaces as energy “sources,” in which a direct load control algorithm is used to reduce energy consumption by the one or more climate controlled spaces. |
| US08583283B2 |
Legged mobile robot and control system thereof
The legged mobile robot the foot comprises a foot main body connected to each leg, a toe provided at a fore end of the foot main body to be bendable with respect to the foot main body, and a bending angle holder capable of holding a bending angle of the toe in a bendable range of the toe. In addition, a legged mobile robot control system is configured to hold the bending angle of the toe at a first time point which is a liftoff time of the leg from a floor or earlier thereof, and to release the bending angle at a second time point after the leg has lifted off the floor to restore the toe to a initial position. With this, the bending angle at the time of liftoff can continue to be held after liftoff, whereby the robot can be prevented from becoming unstable owing to the toe contacting the floor immediately after liftoff. In addition, stability during tiptoe standing can be enhanced. |
| US08583280B1 |
Vending machine nutritional information display system using standard inventory control system components
A method for using a vending machine nutritional information display system using standard inventory control system components. A vending machine nutritional information display system using standard inventory control system components. An apparatus for implementing a vending machine nutritional information display system using standard inventory control system components. |
| US08583277B2 |
Method and automated manipulator system for palletizing packages dependent on a grip position of the packages
In a method for palletizing packages using an automated manipulator, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with programming instructions for implementing the method, a sequence of grip positions is designated for accepting packages with the automated manipulator, and a supply of provided packages is automatically checked with regard to the grip positions of the packages in the supply. The supplied packages are palletized according to a predetermined initial palletizing pattern as long as the packages are supplied in the grip positions in the sequence. The packages are palletized by the manipulator according to an alternate palletizing pattern, different from the initial palletizing pattern, in the event that a package is not supplied to the manipulator in a grip position in the sequence. |
| US08583276B2 |
Pharmaceutical storage and retrieval system and methods of storing and retrieving pharmaceuticals
A pharmaceutical storage and retrieval system and a method of storing and retrieving pharmaceutical containers from the system. The system includes a pharmaceutical storage and retrieval and a controller operatively coupled to the device to control storage and retrieval functions of the device. The device includes a gantry assembly, a shelving assembly, a user access assembly, and a user authorization system that function in a coordinated manner to carry out the storage and retrieval functions of the device. |
| US08583275B2 |
Unstacker device for a machine for sorting flat articles, and a method of unstacking flat articles
The invention relates to an unstacker device for unstacking flat articles, said unstacker device including: first detection means for detecting transitions between article types; at least first and second specialized unstacking programs and a default unstacking program, which programs are suitable for maintaining respectively a first nominal gap, a second nominal gap, and a default nominal gap, between two consecutive flat articles; and a monitoring/control unit arranged for automatically executing said default unstacking program in response to detection of said transition, for counting said flat articles subsequent to said transition, and, in response to a predetermined counting threshold being reached, for executing, for said subsequent flat articles and until the next transition detection, the corresponding one of said first and second specialized unstacking programs. The invention also relates to a method of unstacking flat articles using said unstacker device. |
| US08583269B2 |
Isochronous audio network software interface
A computer system includes a network interface that transmits and/or receives packets over a network. The packets may include isochronous audio packets and data packets. The computer system may have an operating system in which isochronous audio software is executable to extract audio data from the isochronous audio packets, or format audio data into isochronous audio packets. The system may also include other software executable within the operating system substantially in parallel with the isochronous audio software. The other software may extract data from the data packets. |
| US08583267B2 |
Selective invocation of playback content supplementation
A system, method, computer program product, and carrier are described for obtaining one or more positions in a playable message and at least an indication of a playback system configuration and signaling a decision of which supplemental content to use in supplementing the one or more positions in the playable message. |
| US08583260B2 |
Long travel steerable catheter actuator
The present invention is an electrophysiology, RF ablation, or similar catheter (i.e., catheter or sheath) that includes an actuator that significantly increases the length of travel (i.e., steering travel) of the actuation wires, as compared to the length of travel provided by prior art actuators. The catheter includes a hollow flexible tubular body, a pair of actuation wires disposed in a side-by-side relationship in the body, a handle attached to a proximal end of the body, an actuator pivotally mounted to the handle, an arcuate internal gear rack disposed on the actuator, one or more pulleys pivotally mounted on the handle and coaxially coupled to a pinion gear engaged with the gear rack, and a guide block mounted within the handle. The one or more pulleys include a first channel in which the first actuation wire resides and a second channel in which the second actuation wire resides. The actuation wires pass through holes in the guide block, which aligns the wires into their respective channels. The actuation wires enter into their respective channels on opposite sides of the axis of the one or more pulleys. As the actuator is pivoted relative to the handle, the gear rack rotates the pinion gear and the one or more pulleys. This causes one of the actuation wires to be in-hauled (i.e., wound about the one or more pulleys) and the other actuation wire to be paid-out (i.e., unwound from the one or more pulleys). |
| US08583259B2 |
Electrode lead and pacemaker using the same
An electrode lead of a pacemaker includes a metal conductive core, a carbon nanotube film, and an insulator. The metal conductive core defines an extending direction. The carbon nanotube film at least partially surrounds the metal conductive core and is electrically insulated from the metal conductive core. The insulator is located between the metal conductive core and the carbon nanotube film. The carbon nanotube film includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes substantially extending along the extending direction of the metal conductive core. A bared part is defined at one end of the electrode lead. A pacemaker using the above mentioned electrode lead is also disclosed. |
| US08583256B2 |
System and method for nerve stimulation
A system and method for stimulating a nerve, wherein the system includes a first waveform generator adapted to generate a first waveform having a frequency capable of stimulating a predetermined nerve of the mammal, a second waveform generator adapted to generate a carrier waveform having a frequency capable of passing through tissue of the mammal, a modulation device electrically coupled to the first and second waveform generators and adapted to modulate the first and carrier waveforms to create a modulated waveform, and an electrode electrically coupled to the modulation device and positioned substantially adjacent to skin of the mammal, and adapted to apply the modulated waveform thereto. |
| US08583253B1 |
Implantable neurostimulation system and method for estimating electrode impedance values for neurostimulation systems
In one embodiment, a method, for estimating electrode resistance values, comprises: calculating an aggregate resistance value for each electrode in a group of electrodes of an implantable stimulation lead of the electrical stimulation system, wherein the calculating, for each electrode, comprises: (i) setting a respective electrode in the group of electrodes as an anode; (ii) setting electrodes in the group of electrodes other than the respective electrodes as cathodes; (iii) applying a predetermined electrical signal through the group of the electrodes using a pulse generator of the electrical stimulation system; (iv) measuring current flow or voltage resulting from application of the predetermined electrical signal through the group of the electrodes; (v) calculating the aggregate resistance value for the respective electrode in response to the measuring; calculating an individual resistance value for each electrode of the group of electrodes using the set of aggregate resistance values for the group of electrodes. |
| US08583247B1 |
Methods and systems for providing visual cues to assist in fitting a cochlear implant patient
An exemplary method of fitting a cochlear implant patient includes a fitting station detecting a user input associated with a sound processor of a cochlear implant system, wherein the sound processor is communicatively coupled to the cochlear implant fitting station by way of a communication path, and transmitting a signal to the sound processor by way of the communication path in response to the detecting of the user input, the signal configured to direct the sound processor to display a visual cue. Corresponding methods and systems are also described. |
| US08583244B1 |
Methods and systems for selectively performing a quick initialization of a sound processor
An exemplary method of initializing a sound processor includes detecting a condition prompting an initialization of a sound processor for a cochlear implant patient, verifying, in response to the detecting, an integrity of program data stored by the sound processor, and performing, in response to the verifying, a quick initialization of the sound processor by selectively rewriting header information stored by the sound processor to associate the sound processor with the patient without rewriting the program data stored by the sound processor. Corresponding methods and systems are also described. |
| US08583241B2 |
Field of view matching in a visual prosthesis
A visual prosthesis apparatus including a video capture device for capturing a video image, a video processing unit associated with the video capture device, the video processing unit configured to convert the video image to stimulation patterns, and a stimulation system configured to stimulate subject's neural tissue based on the stimulation patterns, wherein the stimulation system provides a span of visual angle matched to the subject's neural tissue being stimulated. |
| US08583240B2 |
Device and method for treating dysphagia with electrical stimulation
An electrical stimulation device and non-invasive method for treating dysphagia and artificially promoting swallowing by simultaneous electrical stimulation of the pharyngeal and facial muscles. The device includes a plurality of electrodes selectively placed in electrical contact with pharyngeal and oral-facial regions of a patient and a series of electrical pulses in electrical contact with each of the plurality of electrodes with a generator. The generator includes a pulse rate modulator for generating electrical pulses having a frequency generally fixed at 80 hertz, a pulse width modulator for generating a series of electrical pulses each at a duration fixed at 300 microseconds, and a governor for regulating the electrical pulses such that at least one of current does not to exceed 4.4 milliamps RMS or power does not to exceed 9.6 MW RMS. The electrical pulses selectively stimulate muscles located proximate to the electrodes to close the mouth and initiate swallowing. |
| US08583237B2 |
Devices and methods for tissue modulation and monitoring
A tissue stimulating device has an elongate member, a proximal annular stimulating region and a distal annular stimulating region. Each of the annular stimulating regions circumscribe the elongate member, and each has a plurality of independently energizable electrodes that deliver current into tissue. Adjacent electrodes in the annular stimulating regions are separated from one another by an insulating member. The annular stimulating regions are axially separated from one another by a gap. An internal electrical connector electrically couples a first electrode in the proximal annular stimulating region with a first electrode in the distal annular stimulating region. The first internal electrical connector is disposed within the elongate member, and extends across the gap between annular stimulating regions. A recording electrode is disposed in the gap and is adapted to record local tissue potentials from the tissue. |
| US08583229B2 |
Methods of treating medical conditions by neuromodulation of the sympathetic nervous system
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for treating respiratory or pulmonary medical conditions by neuromodulation of a target site of the sympathetic nervous system and preferably a target site in communication with a sympathetic nerve chain. A system for treating a respiratory or pulmonary medical condition incorporating a closed-loop feedback system is also provided. |
| US08583227B2 |
Evaluation of gastrointestinal function using portable electroviscerography systems and methods of using the same
Portable electroviscerography systems are provided. Aspects of the systems include a body-associated receiver and an ingestible identifier unit, both of which are configured to detect visceral electrical signals. The system communicates with an extra-corporeal data processor configured to receive data from the body-associated receiver and generate and electroviscerogram from the received data. Also provided are methods of producing electroviscerograms using systems of the present invention. |
| US08583224B2 |
Implantable medical device and methods for automated detection of infection
The invention relates to systems, devices, and methods for detecting infections associated with implantable medical devices. In an embodiment, the invention includes a method of detecting infection in a patient including measuring a physiological parameter using a chronically implanted sensor at a plurality of time points and evaluating the physiological parameter measurements to determine if infection is indicated. In an embodiment, the invention includes an implantable medical device including a first chronically implantable sensor configured to generate a first signal corresponding to a physiological parameter and a controller disposed within a housing, the controller configured to evaluate the first physiological parameter signal to determine if an infection is indicated. Other embodiments are also included herein. |
| US08583220B2 |
Standardization of catheter-based treatment for atrial fibrillation
A method for treating atrial fibrillation in an atrium of a heart includes (a) acquiring an image or map of the atrium; (b) displaying the image or map of the atrium; (c) marking at least one feature on the image or map; (d) calculating dimensions of the at least one feature; (e) identifying one or more points on or within the atrium for treatment as part of a treatment plan; (f) determining paths to the one or more points on or within the atrium for treatment; (g) simulating insertion of a sheath into the atrium; (h) simulating insertion of a medical device through the sheath and into the atrium; (i) verifying that the one or more points on or within the atrium can be accessed for treatment; (j) computing an overall surface area of the atrium; (k) calculating an estimated area not treated in the atrium based on the treatment plan; (l) assessing whether macro-reentrant circuits can exist in the estimated area not treated in the atrium; (m) repeating steps (e)-(l) in the event step (l) indicates that macro-reentrant circuits can exist in the estimated area not treated in the atrium; and (n) implementing the treatment plan. |
| US08583219B1 |
Intracardiac device and method for storing cardiac test results and associated EGM data
In a possible implementation, a method for cardiac testing is provided which includes measuring test data associated with cardiac events and storing the test data in an intracardiac stimulation device. The method further includes acquiring event electrograms corresponding with the test data and storing the event electrograms corresponding with the test data in the intracardiac stimulation device. In a possible implementation, marker data is stored associating event electrograms with measured test data, which may identify the event electrograms used for measuring the test data and/or identify when adjacent event electrograms are not contiguous. In some implementations, the test data may be measured and stored in an out-of-clinic test, and the test data and the corresponding event electrograms may be later retrieved from the intracardiac stimulation device and presented on a visual display. |
| US08583218B2 |
Optical imaging probe connector
An elongated optical guidewire assembly, such as for optically imaging a patient from within another catheter, can have a lead portion and a probe portion. A connector between the lead and probe portions can include a bore including first and second bore ends. The first bore end can include a substantially circular cross-sectional profile. The second bore end can include a substantially non-circular cross-sectional profile. The bore can be configured to receive the optical guidewire assembly at the first bore end and configured to deform the optical guidewire assembly at the second bore end such that probe and lead ends of the optical guidewire assembly are deformed into a substantially non-circular profile and located between the first and second bore ends. |
| US08583217B2 |
In vivo drug concentration distribution measuring device, variable-wavelength filter used for the same, and in vivo drug concentration distribution measuring method
An in vivo drug concentration distribution measuring device for measuring, when a drug having an imaging function is administered, in vivo concentration distribution of the drug is disclosed. The device includes: a light source which casts light to a living body as a measuring target; a variable-wavelength filter which, when the light is cast to the drug from outside of the living body, the light emitted from the drug to outside of the living body becomes incident on and transmits light of a predetermined wavelength range, of an entire wavelength range of the incident light, and which is capable of changing the predetermined wavelength range; a photodetector unit which detects intensity of light made incident through the variable-wavelength filter and acquires intensity distribution of light emitted from plural positions on the measuring target; and a drug concentration calculating unit which calculates a concentration of the drug in accordance with the intensity distribution of the light at the plural positions on the measuring target acquired by the photodetector unit. |
| US08583212B2 |
MRI apparatus
An MRI apparatus for imaging a subject so as to emphasize, more than a background tissue, a bodily fluid flowing through an imaging region of the subject, the apparatus includes a transmission coil for transmitting an RF pulse to the subject, a first transmission coil control device for controlling the transmission coil so that the transmission coil transmits a first inversion pulse for inverting longitudinal magnetization components of the bodily fluid and the background tissue to negative values from the positive values, a second transmission coil control device for controlling the transmission coil so that the transmission coil transmits a second inversion pulse for inverting the longitudinal magnetization component of the background tissue to the positive value from the negative value inverted by the first inversion pulse, a third transmission coil control device for controlling the transmission coil so that the transmission coil transmits a third inversion pulse for inverting the longitudinal magnetization component of the background tissue to the negative value from the positive value inverted by the second inversion pulse and a fourth transmission coil control device for controlling the transmission coil so that the transmission coil transmits an excitation pulse for acquiring data about the bodily fluid. |
| US08583210B2 |
Apparatus and method for communication between MRI system and implantable medical devices
A device and a method for handling and withstanding electromagnetic fields, specifically such fields as occur in magnetic resonance tomography examinations (i.e., MRT or MRI). This refers in particular to an IMD that can transmit data and/or parameters to an MRT device. |
| US08583207B2 |
Audio/video recording method and device
An audio/video recording method and device for recording a main audio/video file and at least one index audio/video file corresponding to the main audio/video file. A section of the index audio/video files can be transformed into text data serving as a portion of file names of the main audio/video file. When a user collates or uses the main audio/video file, the index audio/video file is used to accelerate distinguishing what the main audio/video files are, thereby facilitating searching, classification and management of the main audio/video file effectively. |
| US08583199B2 |
Telematics systems and methods with multiple antennas
Vehicle telematics systems and methods for vehicle telematics systems are provided. The telematics system includes a first antenna, a second antenna, and a processing device. The first antenna is disposed at a first location on the vehicle. The second antenna is disposed at a second location on the vehicle. The second location is remote from the first location. The processing device is coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna. The processing device is configured to monitor a parameter that is indicative as to whether the first antenna is operational, communicate using the first antenna if the parameter indicates that the first antenna is operational, and communicate using the second antenna if the parameter indicates that the first antenna is not operational. |
| US08583197B2 |
Method and system for sharing antennas for high frequency and low frequency applications
Aspects of a method and system for sharing antennas for high frequency and low frequency applications may include configuring a multi-frequency antenna system by coupling a plurality of antennas together communicatively via one or more frequency-dependent coupling elements. Radio signals may be received and/or transmitted on one or more radio frequencies via said configured multi-frequency antenna system. The one or more frequency-dependent coupling elements may be frequency-tunable, and may comprise microstrips, transmission lines, and/or RLC circuits. The multi-frequency antenna system may be configured for concurrent operation or time-division duplex operation during the transmitting and/or the receiving. The one or more radio frequencies may operate concurrently or in time-division duplex. The radio signals for transmission may be generated in one or more radio frequency front-ends, and the received radio signals may be demodulated in one or more radio frequency front-ends. |
| US08583194B2 |
Electronic apparatus
A touch sensor becomes an operation enable state in which an operation state can be detected, when predetermined voltage is applied. A touch sensor control unit switches the touch sensor to an operation detection enable state by raising the voltage to a predetermined voltage level gradually and performing predetermined calibration when detecting an activation permission request of the touch sensor in a no-voltage applied state of the touch sensor, and switches the touch sensor to an operation detection disable state in which an operation state of the touch sensor cannot be detected by lowering voltage gradually to the no-voltage applied state. And, when detecting the activation permission request of the touch sensor during switching to the operation detection disable state, the touch sensor control unit switches the touch sensor to the operation detection enable state, after the switching operation to the operation detection disable state is completed. |
| US08583191B2 |
Base station apparatus and method used for mobile communication system
A base station apparatus includes a unit configured to determine a discontinuous reception pattern for a user apparatus that is classified according to a channel state of a radio link; and a unit configured to report the discontinuous reception pattern to the user apparatus. The discontinuous reception pattern specifies at least a cycle of discontinuous reception. |
| US08583190B1 |
Power saving technique for a wireless device
A system and method are disclosed for decreasing the amount of power consumed by a wireless signal receiver in a wireless device. Received data is communicated from the receiver to a play-out buffer in communication with a media play-out device. The level of data in the play-out buffer increases when received data is written to the buffer, and the level of data decreases when data is read from the buffer. If the level of data is above a first watermark level, the receiver is transitioned to a sleep mode while data is read from the buffer. When the level of data in the buffer falls below a second watermark level, the receiver is transitioned back to an active mode to receive data. The device communicates status messages (whether the receiver is asleep or active) to the transmitting device so that the transmitting device stops transmitting data when the receiver is in sleep mode, and transmits data when the receiver is in the active mode. |
| US08583189B2 |
Method and apparatus for the selective use of imperceptible invites
A communication device [400] includes a transceiver [405] to receive and transmit data. A message detection element [410] detects at least a first message and a second message in the data received by the transceiver [405]. A processor [400] modifies a state of the communication device [400] based on the first message and the second message. A positive acknowledgement is transmitted in response to the first message comprising a call pending message, and the state is modified to establish a session and inhibit an alerting of a user of the communication device. The state is modified to alert the user of the communication device [400] in response to the second message comprising a call start message. |
| US08583186B1 |
Communication device
The wireless communication device and the method thereof which implements the 1st function and the 2nd function; when the 1st function is implemented, the video image generator processes a plurality of two-dimensional images and the plurality of two-dimensional images are displayed on the display, and when the 2nd function is implemented, the video image generator processes a plurality of two-dimensional images and a plurality of three-dimensional images, both of which are displayed on the display. |
| US08583184B2 |
Portable communication terminal
A portable communication terminal comprises wireless communication units 1, 2 for transmitting and receiving data by connecting to a communication line by wireless, broadcasting receiving units 3-9 for receiving digital broadcasting including a program image and data broadcasting, a communication service area determining unit 17 for determining whether or not to be in communication service area, a display unit 12 which has an image display region 23, a data broadcasting display region 24, and a soft key display region 25, a display control unit 11 for controlling display of the data broadcasting display region 24 and/or the soft key display region 25 based on at least the determination result by the communication service area determining unit 17, an access request detecting unit 15, and a wireless communication control unit 18 for controlling the wireless communication units 1,2 based on detection result by the access request detecting unit 15. |
| US08583180B2 |
Communication terminal
According to one aspect of this disclosure, a communication terminal is provided comprising a subscriber identity module, wherein the subscriber identity module includes a plurality of subscriber identities assigned to identify the subscriber identity module. |
| US08583178B2 |
Mobile terminal, display device and controlling method thereof
The mobile terminal has a memory unit configured to store a software, a first display unit configured to display a first screen image generated by a first version of the software, and an interface unit configured to be connected to an external display device having a second display unit. A controller is configured to display the first screen image corresponding to the software of a first version on the first display unit when the software is executed, and to control a second screen image corresponding to the first image, according to the software of a second version to be displayed on the second display unit when the interface unit is connected to the external display device, the second image generated by a second version of the software. Accordingly, a user is able to experience different versions of software simultaneously. |
| US08583177B2 |
Receiver for audio player
An accessory for use with an existing portable electronic device has a housing that removably couples to a housing of the existing portable electronic device such that the accessory and portable electronic device function and can be portably carried as a single unit. A tunable FM radio receiver in the housing receives an FM broadcast signal and produces a broadcast audio output. A connector on the housing electrically connects the broadcast audio output to a corresponding connector on the device. Application software residing on the device utilizes an internet connection of the device to download digital content related to the broadcast audio output and display the digital content on a display of the device. |
| US08583176B2 |
Automatic audio routing dependent on dock state
A mobile communication device with various operation modes and a method of toggling the operation modes thereof is disclosed. The operational mode of the mobile communication device can be automatically changed as the result of a docking or undocking event of the mobile communication device with a docking station. During the docking or undocking of the mobile communication device with the docking station, the mobile communication device is conditionally toggled between a speakerphone operation mode and a non-speakerphone operation mode such as a handset operation mode, a headset operation mode and the like. |
| US08583175B2 |
Contact-centric user-interface for computing devices
Embodiments described herein provide a system, method and technique for operating a communication device. According to an embodiment, information contained in a contact record is displayed, where the information includes a plurality of entries. Each entry is associated with one of a plurality of communication types and includes an identifier for use with an application of the associated communication type. An input is detected corresponding to a user's selection of one of the plurality of entries. In response to the user's selection, the application of the communication type associated with the selected entry is automatically executed by initiating a communication using the identifier included in the selected entry. |
| US08583168B1 |
Spare mobile phone
This invention discloses a spare mobile phone with a simple structure is a mobile phone that can be situated at a standby and backup state for a long time. The spare mobile phone includes a circuit board installed in a casing, and the circuit board is electrically coupled to at least one antenna module, a telecom signal processing module, a SIM card connecting module, a microprocessor module, and the casing includes a keys module electrically coupled to the microprocessor module, and a battery module for installing at least one battery of a default commercial specification. |
| US08583165B2 |
System for cartoon creation and distribution to mobile devices
A system for creating cartoons for mobile devices facilitates the creation and dissemination of cartoons to a plurality of mobile devices and computers. A cartoon can comprise of multiple panels, and each panel, in addition to graphics and text, can have an ordered set of audio (voice, music, etc.) provided, which are played back in a mobile device by a cartoon client component in the specified order for each of the panels. A computer or PC comprising the cartoon creator functionality is used to generate cartoons and communicate it to a cartoon distribution server. Mobile devices have a cartoon client component to receive and present the cartoon to a user. A cartoon creator device makes it possible for a user to create and distribute cartoons. |
| US08583158B2 |
Method and system for session participation through chat PoC group invitation reservation in PoC system
Disclosed are a method and a system in which a client intending to participate in a chat Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) group, presents a session participation-invitation reservation to a server when the number limit has been exceeded pursuant to the policy of the chat PoC group, or when a chat PoC group ID exists but a corresponding session has not been initiated. Herein, when a client intending to participate in a chat PoC group receives a response indicating participation is not possible because the number limit of the chat PoC group has been exceeded, the client performs invitation reservation until participation is possible. |
| US08583156B2 |
Mobile station, base station, communication system, amount-of-data information transmission method, transmission-control-information notification method, and wireless communication method
A mobile station includes an amount-of-data information determining means for monitoring data which are stored on a communication-service-by-communication-service basis or on a transmit-channel-by-transmit-channel so as to determine communication-service-by-communication-service or transmit-channel-by-transmit-channel amount-of-data information. The mobile station transmits the communication-service-by-communication-service or transmit-channel-by-transmit-channel amount-of-data information determined by the amount-of-data information determining means to a base station. |
| US08583154B2 |
Energy and time-efficient set-up of a wireless communication system
The invention relates to a method for the wireless communication between a base station and several devices. The base station monitors the non-use of the transmission of a device telegram to the base station in a time range, or in several consecutive time ranges, between two synchronization signals (S) in the communication mode and after a duration (Tping) of non-use emits an identification telegram (GWping). |
| US08583153B2 |
Radio communication system, radio communication method and base station
When DFFR is performed in a heterogeneous environment in which a pico base station coexists in the area of a macro base station and when the pico base station judges that, based on the received-signal quality report result from a mobile terminal, the macro base station causes interference to the pico base station, the pico base station reports an interference power threshold to be notified to the macro base station based on the transmission power setting value of the macro base station, the transmission power setting value of the pico base station, and the estimated interference amount calculated from the scan report result. The macro base station transmits a result of comparison between the transmission powers of multiple frequency resources and the interference power threshold, to the pico base station and the pico base station selects a frequency resource, unlikely to be affected by interference. |
| US08583152B2 |
Base station apparatus, mobile station, and communications control method
A base station apparatus which communicates in uplink with a mobile station using a random access channel is disclosed. The base station apparatus includes a preamble-sequence securing unit which secures, as preamble sequences not to be used in signal transmission, some preamble sequences of multiple preamble sequences used in the random access channel; and an interference power estimating unit which estimates interference power using the preamble sequences not to be used in the signal transmission. |
| US08583151B2 |
Beamforming for wireless communication
Technologies are generally described for usage recommendation for mobile device. In some examples, a method performed under control of a downlink beamforming system may include receiving respective movement information of a plurality of mobile devices, grouping at least some of the mobile devices into one or more groups based on the movement information, and generating beams for the groups, respectively. |
| US08583150B2 |
Personalized channel service providing system, real-time channel service providing method, and personalized channel service providing system method
The present invention relates to a technology of maintaining and managing a contents push channel using a smart phone, and more particularly, to a personalized channel service providing system, real-time channel service providing method, and a personalized channel service providing method capable of maintaining and managing a personalized contents channel using a portable smart phone and timely using personalized contents by pushing to devices having a large display such as TV, etc., if necessary. |
| US08583149B2 |
Registering email addresses for online communication sessions
A client computing device registers an email address as an identifier for online communication sessions. An email validation request message is received from the client computing device to validate an email address that includes the email address and an online communication session profile identifier that identifies an online communication session profile of a user of the client computing device. Responsive to determining that the email address has been validated, an email validated success message is sent to the client computing device. An activated email address request message is received from the client computing device that includes the email address and the online communication session profile identifier. The email address is then activated as an identifier associated with the online communication session profile to be used for online communication sessions. |
| US08583145B2 |
Location of cooperative tags with personal electronic device
The present disclosure relates to location and communication systems that can be utilized for locating people, pets and other objects with a software defined radio set. A personal electronic device (PED) such as a cellular telephone, personal data assistant (PDA) or other device that include a software defined radio set can be configured for operation as a locator device. The PED transmits a signal A transponder or micro-transponder (MT) that is tagged to an object is arranged to reply to a transmission received from the PED. The PED based locator is arranged to calculate a distance between the PED and the MT using the time-of-flight (TOF) between the transmission and the receipt of a reply. The absolute geographic position of the PED can be determined using satellite navigation information, while the position of the MT relative to the PED can be determined from the TOF information. |
| US08583137B2 |
Dynamic coverage adjustment in a multi-carrier communication system
Techniques for dynamically varying coverage in a multi-carrier communication system are described. A sector may operate on multiple carriers. The sector may vary coverage on a given carrier k based on its load, so that less interference may be caused to other sectors when the sector load is light. In one design, the sector may communicate on a first carrier at a first transmit power level and on a second carrier at a second transmit power level equal to or lower than the first transmit power level. The sector may vary the second transmit power level based on its load to vary the coverage of the second carrier. The sector may reduce the second transmit power level to zero or a low level if the sector load is light. The sector may also vary the second transmit power level based on a function of sector load or a switching pattern. |
| US08583135B2 |
Systems and methods for reducing interference between and a macro base station and a femto base station
Systems and methods for reducing macro-femto bas station interference are disclosed. In one aspect, macro-femto interference is reduced by configuring t macro bases station to avoid using resources allocat to the femto base station. |
| US08583134B2 |
Method, system and transmitter for adaptive coordinated transmission in wireless communications
A method for adaptive coordinated transmission in wireless communications includes: determining more than one transmitter for performing coordinated transmission, configuring one of the more than one transmitter to be a serving transmitter with others of the more than one transmitter being cooperating transmitters, and determining more than one receiver; determining, by a cooperating transmitter, a cooperation mode according to measured signal parameters of the more than one receiver after receiving a cooperation request from the serving transmitter, and providing the cooperation mode to the serving transmitter; generating, by each of the more than one transmitter, a transmit signal corresponding to the more than one receiver according to the cooperation mode determined, and transmitting the transmit signal to each of the more than one receiver. |
| US08583132B2 |
Efficient channel structure for a wireless communication system
Systems and methodologies are described that provide efficient channel assignment and communication for a wireless communication network. System resources can be allocated for a traffic channel for communication between a base station and a terminal in a physical layer frame, a portion of which can be made available for an acknowledgement channel. Resources for the acknowledgement channel can then be allocated such that the resources allocated for the acknowledgement channel occupy only a portion of the resources available for the acknowledgement channel within the resources allocated for the traffic channel. By scheduling the acknowledgement channel such that it occupies only a portion of the resources available to it, traffic data and acknowledgements can be communicated in the wireless communication system on their respective channels more efficiently. |
| US08583130B2 |
Resource management for a mobile telephone terminal
A resource management unit for a mobile telephone terminal, with the terminal comprising radio transmission/reception means for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals corresponding to bursts of symbols during allocated time slots, and a device able to operate in a first mode and in a second mode, said device interfering less with the transmission/reception of radio frequency signals when it is in the first mode than when it is in the second mode. The resource management unit is able to cause the device to change from one of the first and second modes to the other of the first and second modes during the same time slot. |
| US08583121B2 |
Mobile communication system, radio apparatus, and radio frequency change method
A mobile communication system includes a first base station which defines a first cell and a second base station which defines a second cell. In this mobile communication system, when communication conditions of a first mobile station currently radio-linked to the first or second base station have degraded, then the first base station stores identification information of a second mobile station currently radio-linked to the first base station and causes the second mobile station to hand over to the second cell, and thereafter changes a first radio frequency currently used in the first cell to a second radio frequency and sends the second base station a message that carries identification information of the second mobile station and information indicating the second radio frequency. When the message is received, the second base station causes the second mobile station to hand over to the first cell. |
| US08583117B2 |
Wireless communication device that prioritizes access probe handling using a predetermined transmission delay
A wireless communication device that prioritizes the receipt of access probes within the slots of a base station having a slotted access protocol for incoming communications from wireless communication devices, where the slotted access protocol includes a plurality of discrete slots in which communication packets from wireless communication devices are received and communication packets arriving earlier in a slot are handled first by the base station. The wireless communication device can statically or dynamically change a predetermined delay in sending the access probe to insure it arrives earlier or later in a slot so as to cause a priority of handling by the base station. |
| US08583115B2 |
Communication apparatus, base station, and communication method
A communication apparatus includes memory that stores registration information that indicates a registered mobile terminal registered in a base station; and a processor configured to perform connection processing of connecting a non-registered mobile terminal to the base station, based on a connection request signal from the non-registered mobile terminal not stored in the memory; measure utilization of the base station by the non-registered mobile terminal for which the connection processing has been performed; and transmit obtained measurement results to another communication apparatus via a communication interface. |
| US08583108B2 |
Methods and system for detecting roaming location of mobile network
A method and system for detecting a roaming location of a mobile network is provided to detect the roaming location in a systematic and efficient way. The method first collects roaming call detail records (CDRs) of a subscriber of the mobile network which are generated when the subscriber roams to a roaming network and makes or receives corresponding roaming calls, and then finds at least one roaming CDR whose corresponding roaming call is occurred in a cell of the roaming network covering a registered address of the subscriber. Last, the method determines whether the registered address is the roaming location according to the found roaming CDR(s). |
| US08583107B2 |
System and method for fixed mobile convergence using a residential gateway apparatus
A system and method for providing call mobility for a dual-mode phone between a cellular network and a home wireless network for a dual-mode phone having a cellular identity and a home identity, wherein the home identity is active when the dual-mode phone is in communication with the home wireless network. The system comprises a residential gateway to connect the home wireless network to a public network, and a VoIP service provider in communication with a mobile switching center on the cellular network and the public network. After placing or receiving a call, the dual-mode phone sends a signal to the residential gateway to initiate the movement of the call between the cellular network and the home wireless network while the call is ongoing. |
| US08583106B2 |
Cellular docking station
A system for communicating with the user of a cellular telephone via the cellular mobile radio (CMR) system and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). A communications interface appends the telephone exchange number of an outgoing communication to include an identifier unique to the communications interface. The outgoing communication is transmitted by the cellular telephone to the CMR system, which recognizes and verifies the outgoing communication as originating with the communications interface. Accordingly, the origination of the outgoing communication from a communications interface is documented prior to forwarding the outgoing communication to its intended recipient via the PSTN. Communications incoming to a communications interface are authenticated as such, and a record as to this is created, prior to forwarding the incoming communication to the cellular telephone. |
| US08583105B2 |
System and method for a personal phone extension
A system and method for implementing extensions for a cordless telephone system. A menu configured to receive user input is displayed to a user for setting a configuration for routing incoming communications of the cordless telephone system to one or more of a plurality of handsets. An identifier of a caller is associated with one or more handsets based on the user input. The handsets wirelessly communicate through a base station utilizing a singe phone number. A call is routed to the one or more of the handsets in response to determining the identifier is associated with the call. |
| US08583104B2 |
Inter-RAT/frequency automatic neighbor relation list management
A telecommunications system comprises a serving radio base station and a candidate radio base station which are different with respect to at least one of frequency and radio access technology. The serving radio base station comprises a radio base station to which a wireless mobile station provides measurement reports. A method comprises the serving radio base station allowing the mobile station to obtain information broadcasted by the candidate radio base station. The information is either information for locating Cell Global Identity (CGI) of the candidate radio base station or the Cell Global Identity (CGI) itself of the radio base station. The mobile station obtains the information from the candidate radio base station during at least one reading gap. The reading gap is a time period in which the mobile station does not receive information from the serving radio base station. |
| US08583103B2 |
Apparatus and method for automatic mobile device crash notification
An apparatus and method for automatic mobile device crash notification to a wireless network comprising setting configuration parameters for automatic notification if a crash occurs, detecting at least one stalled condition to determine if the crash occurred, gathering crash data, establishing a reverse link data call to the wireless network, and transferring the crash data to the wireless network. |
| US08583102B2 |
System and method for improving cellular telephone user experience
A method for determining an amount of time required to download a data file to a wireless device includes receiving information indicating a first amount of wireless bandwidth allocated for the download of the data file, calculating a first length of time required to download the data file to the wireless device based on the first amount of wireless bandwidth allocated, and comparing the first length of time required to a predetermined amount of time. If the first length of time required is less than the predetermined amount of time, the download begins. If the first length of time required is more than the predetermined amount of time, information indicating the first length of time required is sent to the wireless device, a start download signal is received from the wireless device, and download of the data file to the wireless device begins in response to the start download signal. |
| US08583101B1 |
Method and apparatus for synchronizing heartbeat behavior
The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for synchronizing heartbeat behavior. The method includes: acquiring a period list and a time list; acquiring a period length of the heartbeat behavior according to the period list; acquiring synchronization time according to the time list, a heartbeat period, and a preset multiple; and synchronizing at least one type of heartbeat behavior by using the period length of the heartbeat behavior as a period from the synchronization time. |
| US08583096B2 |
Method, system and apparatus for handling a call received at a mobile communication device
A method, apparatus and system for handling a call received at a mobile communication device, in association with an automated number identification (ANI) number are provided. The ANI number is compared with a list of ANI numbers associated with an applications server, the list stored at the mobile communications device. When the ANI number is not in the list, a tone is provided on the call. When a corresponding tone is detected on the call in response to the tone, the call is handled as a call associated with the applications server and otherwise the call handled as a typical mobile communication call. |
| US08583091B1 |
Dynamic loading, unloading, and caching of alternate complete interfaces
A processor-implemented method is provided. The method comprises determining that a portable electronic device is within a coverage area of a local wireless communication network. The method also comprises automatically sending information about accessing the local wireless communication network to a mobile wireless communication network. The method also comprises receiving a request to access the local wireless communication network from the portable electronic device, wherein the request comprises at least some of the information about accessing the local wireless communication network. The method also comprises transmitting an interface pack to the portable electronic device. |
| US08583090B2 |
Transferring task completion to another device
A mobile communication device is adapted to identify a task for postponed transfer to a computing device over a local communication link. A similar transfer task function is established on the computing device for receiving the identified task and any required related data. The user is provided with the ability to initiate a task on the mobile communication device and continue or complete the task on a computer. |
| US08583087B2 |
Disambiguating ambiguous characters
In one general sense, information may be presented to a user by receiving one or more ambiguous characters that may be resolved to one of at least two disambiguated characters, exchanging at least one of the ambiguous characters with a host, receiving, from the host, results that reflect disambiguated terms related to the ambiguous characters exchanged with the host, rendering the results in a manner enabling the user to perceive which of the disambiguated terms will be used upon user selection of an aspect of the results, and enabling the user to select an aspect of the results to effect use of a corresponding one of the disambiguated terms. |
| US08583086B2 |
Mobile terminal and chat method in a mobile terminal using an instant messaging service
A mobile terminal and chat method in a mobile terminal using an instant messaging service are provided. According to the present invention, in the course of a chat with a specific party using an instant messaging service, a specific one of previous chat contents with at least one party including the specific party may be used as a chat content with the specific party. |
| US08583083B2 |
Apparatus, system and method for forwarding data sent to a wireless device to another address
An apparatus for forwarding data sent to a wireless device having a first address to a second address. The apparatus includes a server in communication with a wireless network and an external network. The server includes a processor. The processor includes a data forwarding module for forwarding the data to the second address via the external network when the wireless device is not in communication with the wireless network. |
| US08583082B2 |
System and method for tracking stolen communication terminal, and communication terminal
A system and method for tracking a stolen communication terminal and a communication terminal provide tracking of a thief. The system comprises: a communication terminal and a standby server for receiving theft tracking information; the communication terminal comprises: a radio frequency module, a camera for taking pictures, a storage module for storing data, a baseband module for setting anti-theft protection information, and a GPS module for obtaining current positioning information; wherein the radio frequency module, the camera, the storage module and the GPS module are connected with the baseband module. When the communication terminal is stolen, facial pictures of the thief obtained by the camera and current positioning information of the communication terminal obtained by the GPS module are sent to a standby server. |
| US08583078B2 |
Femto cell service delivery platform usage compliance
Embodiments of the disclosed invention include an apparatus, method, and computer program product for managing cellular usage in controlled areas. For example, in one embodiment, a cellular monitoring system communicates with one or more femto cells located within a controlled area for detecting the presence of unauthorized cellular devices or for monitoring the usage of cellular devices within the controlled area. |
| US08583068B2 |
Interference reduction for multiple signals
The present invention reduces the degradation in performance of one or more radio signals that are co-transmitted with a first radio signal from the same transmitting antenna in the same frequency channel and received by the same antenna due to multipath or other shared interference, where the one or more radio signals can be separated from the first radio signal. All received signals are coupled to the same adaptive array or adaptive filter to reduce multipath or other shared interference of the first radio signal, which reduces multipath and other shared interference in the other radio signals before they are separated and processed by their respective receivers, or the individual radio signals are separated before the first signal enters the adaptive array or adaptive filter and each of the other signals coupled to an individual associated adaptive array or adaptive filter slave weighting network with weights slaved to the weights of the adaptive array or adaptive filter of the first signal to reduce the multipath and other shared interference in all the signals. |
| US08583057B2 |
Techniques to control a shared antenna architecture for multiple co-located radio modules
Techniques to control a shared antenna architecture for multiple co-located radio modules is disclosed. For example, a method may comprise receiving power state information for a set of transceivers, receiving activity information for the set of transceivers, and generating control signals for simultaneous operations or mutually-exclusive operations for a shared antenna structure connecting the set of transceivers to an antenna based on the power state information and activity information. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed. |
| US08583054B2 |
Wireless display performance enhancement
Embodiments may comprise logic such as hardware and/or code to adaptively control the transmission power for a wireless channel. In many embodiments, adaptively controlling the transmission power may reduce or, in some embodiments, minimize interference between the wireless display (WiDi) transmissions and other transmissions such as multimedia content streaming over another wireless channel to the notebook via a second generation (2G) channel, third generation (3G) channel, or a future long term evolution (LTE) channel. |
| US08583052B2 |
Wireless communication apparatus changing radiation patterns of antenna apparatuses
When controlling antenna apparatuses to select a predetermined combination from among a plurality of combinations of antenna elements, a controller measures RSSIs of wireless signals received by the antenna apparatuses, and sets a detection packet interval and a changeover threshold based on measured RSSIs with reference to a detection packet interval table and a changeover threshold table. Then, the combination of the antenna elements is changed over by using the set detection packet interval and the changeover threshold. |
| US08583048B2 |
Multi-hop wireless systems having noise reduction and bandwidth expansion capabilities and the methods of the same
The present invention provides methods for noise reduction and bandwidth expansion in wireless communication and the devices thereof. The method in accordance with the present invention may include identifying a plurality of neighbor nodes with respect to a central node; sending a first communication signal to the plurality of neighbor nodes, wherein the first communication signal is only sent to the nodes that are considered as the plurality of neighbor nodes by the central nodes; and based on the first communication signal, when the central node is transmitting data to one of the plurality of neighbor nodes, the other nodes of the plurality of neighbor nodes do not send data in the same channel, thereby reducing the noise in the wireless network. |
| US08583043B2 |
High-frequency device and wireless IC device
A high-frequency device includes a wireless IC chip and a board which is coupled to the wireless IC chip and electrically connected to radiator plates, and an inductor and/or a capacitance are provided as a static electricity countermeasure element in the board. The inductor is connected in parallel between the wireless IC chip and the radiator plates, and its impedance at the frequency of static electricity is less than an impedance of the wireless IC chip. |
| US08583042B2 |
Channel randomization for backoff efficiency improvement
Methods and apparatus for solving problems caused by backoff procedures like that specified in the BLUETOOTH Link Layer Specification, by introducing selected randomizations of communication channels used for communication by scanning devices. |
| US08583040B2 |
Devices, systems, and methods for configuring a wireless device
Various embodiments include a devices, systems, and methods to configure a wireless device. A wireless device may comprise a housing, a wireless communication interface, and a configuration interface. The housing may be configured to be mounted to an outlet supplying power to the wireless device via an electrical conductor. The wireless communication interface may be capable of connecting the wireless device to a wireless network. The configuration interface may be coupled to both the electrical conductor and the wireless communication interface and communicate with a configuration device directly attached to the electrical conductor. The configuration device may communicate configuration instructions to the wireless device over the electrical conductor by modulating power on the electrical conductor. The configuration interface may configure the wireless interface to connect the wireless device to the wireless network based on the configuration instructions. |
| US08583039B2 |
Data prioritization and distribution limitation system and method
A method of communicating between a handheld computer and other local area computing devices having wireless communication capability includes providing a handheld computer and identifying a plurality of other local area computing devices having wireless communication capability. The method further includes creating an identifier for one or more of the plurality of other local area computing devices and listing each identifier on a display. The list is sorted in order of at least one of distance and direction from the handheld computer. |
| US08583038B2 |
Device and method for content searching between peer devices
A portable communication device is equipped to search for content stored on a target electronic device. The portable communication device transfers user-defined content search query to an electronic device via a near-field communications (NFC) module. The portable communication device receives search results from the electronic device via the NFC module and indicates to the user that search results have been received from the electronic device. The portable communication device facilitates content searching and data transfer between two devices. |
| US08583036B2 |
System and method for providing an improved terrestrial subsystem for use in mobile satellite systems
A system or method is disclosed which employs filters on a satellite whose bandwidth is varied by ground command to restrict interference experienced by a satellite as an auxiliary terrestrial component (ATC) system is increased to a multiplicity of cities and markets. Thus there is provided a novel method and system which optimizes overall MSS and ATC traffic. |
| US08583030B2 |
Mobile based learning and testing system for automated test assignment, automated class registration and customized material delivery
A mobile based learning and testing system comprising a mobile device for mobile based learning and testing, wherein the mobile device is communicatively coupled to a server that supports retrieving educational and instructional material and testing. The mobile device comprises a downloadable educational mobile app capable of presenting educational and instructional material retrieved from the server, facilitating group interactions, providing a mock test, conducting an actual test and arranging automatic registration of a user of the mobile device based on a test result from the actual test. The downloadable educational mobile app presents the educational and instructional material (retrieved from the server, or locally available in the mobile device where it is stored in storage components) to the user of the mobile device based at least on the user's membership in a group of users, the user's membership information being maintained by the server. |
| US08583025B2 |
Image forming apparatus which decreases a sheet transportation speed difference between a registration device and a transfer device
An image forming apparatus includes a transfer material transportation device to transport a transfer material; a transfer device to transfer a toner image to the transfer material transported by the transfer material transportation device; a fusing device, disposed after the transfer device, to fuse a toner image on the transfer material transported by the transfer material transportation device; a registration device, disposed before the transfer device, to feed the transfer material, supplied from a sheet feeder, to the transfer device; and a biasing device, disposed for the registration device, to regulate movement of the registration device to decrease a speed difference between a transfer material transport speed generated by the transfer device and a transfer material transport speed generated by the registration device. |
| US08583023B2 |
Developer conveying apparatus, developer storage container, and image forming apparatus
A developer conveying apparatus includes a main body in which a developer is conveyed, a first conveying member including a first rotation shaft rotatably provided in the main body and a first conveying portion having a spiral shape and provided around the first rotation shaft, and a second conveying member including a second rotation shaft rotatably provided in the main body and a second conveying portion having a spiral shape and provided around the second rotation shaft. A developer retention portion is formed at a predetermined portion of the second conveying member. |
| US08583022B2 |
Lubricant coating device and image forming apparatus incorporating the lubricant coating device
A lubricant supplying device comprises a solid lubricant, a lubricant applicator to scrape and supply the lubricant to a target, and a pressing mechanism to press the solid lubricant against the lubricant applicator. An amount of pressure applied to the solid lubricant by the pressing mechanism increases until one of a thickness of the solid lubricant and a number of printed sheets reaches a prescribed level after the lubricant starts being consumed. |
| US08583020B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
A fixing device includes a tubular belt holder, a rotatable flexible fuser belt, a contact member, a pressure member, and a heater. The tubular belt holder extends in an axial direction thereof. The fuser belt is looped into a generally cylindrical configuration around the belt holder. The tubular belt holder retains the fuser belt in shape as the belt rotates in a circumferential direction. The contact member and pressure member extend in the axial direction. The pressure member presses against the contact member through the fuser belt to form a fixing nip. The heater is disposed to heat a predetermined circumferential portion of the fuser belt. The belt holder includes a first circumferential section and a second circumferential section. The first circumferential section faces the heated portion. The second circumferential section faces upstream from the heated portion in the circumferential direction. |
| US08583019B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
A fixing device includes an endless belt-shaped fixing member; a pressing member; a contact member provided inside a loop formed by the fixing member and pressed against the pressing member via the fixing member to form a nip between the pressing member and the fixing member, a laminated heater facing an inner circumferential face of the fixing member to heat the fixing member, connected to an external power source, and including a heat generation sheet that includes a heat-resistant resin in which conductive particles to receive electricity from the external power source and generate heat are unevenly dispersed throughout the heat-resistant resin to have a dispersal gradient of increasing particle dispersion density from an inner face toward an outer face of the heat generation sheet; and a heater support to support the laminated heater along the inner circumferential face of the fixing member. |
| US08583016B2 |
Developing device and image forming apparatus
A developing device includes a developer bearing body provided so as to face a latent image bearing body. The developer bearing body rotates to supply a developer to the latent image bearing body. A developer supplying member is provided so as to contact the developer bearing body. The developer supplying member rotates to supply a developer to the developer bearing body. A developer recovery member is provided so as to contact a surface of the developer bearing body that moves from a position facing the latent image bearing body to a position in contact with the developer supplying member by a rotation of the developer bearing body. The developer recovery member rotates to recover the developer from the developer bearing body. The developer recovery member is constituted by a brush roller. |
| US08583012B2 |
Driving device usable with image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same
A driving device includes a motor, and first and second gears having gear teeth engaged with each other. At least one of the first gear and the second gear includes a crowning portion formed at a tooth surface of each of the gear teeth such that the center of the tooth surface is more convex than both ends of the tooth surface in a tooth width direction. A height of the crowning portion is determined to effectively compensate for misalignment between the first gear and the second gear. |
| US08583010B2 |
Image forming apparatus employing an electrical charge removal device with an improved configuration
An image forming apparatus, including: a main body; an image carrying body disposed in the main body, a transfer unit and an electrical charge removal unit. The image forming apparatus forms a visible image on the image carrying body by carrying out charging, exposing and developing processes. The transfer unit transfers the visible image from the image carrying body to a printing medium. The electrical charge removal unit is configured to remove the residual electrical charge from the printing medium, and is movable, in cooperation with at least one replaceable component part of the transfer unit, between an operable position at which the electrical charge removal unit is capable of removing the electrical charge from the printing medium and a non-interfering position at which the electrical charge removal unit does not interfere with the movement of the at least one replaceable component part of the transfer unit being received into or being removed from the main body for replacement. |
| US08583005B2 |
Process cartridge and image forming apparatus
A process includes an image bearing member unit; a developing unit; a shaft provided in either the image bearing member unit or the developing unit at an end portion of the process cartridge with respect to an image bearing member axial direction; and an opening, provided in the unit at the end portion, engaged with the shaft to permit movement of the developing unit relative to the image bearing member unit. The opening defines a first contact portion, when the process cartridge is mounted to a main assembly, contacting the shaft to permit movement of the developing unit, and defines a second contact portion, when the second contact portion contacts the shaft when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly and does not receive a driving force from the main assembly, contacting the developing unit so the shaft and the first contact portion are in contact. |
| US08583004B2 |
Image forming apparatus having exposure unit moving mechanism
A cam member has each of a plurality of first exposure-side surfaces provided in association with a first contact part of each exposure units and each of a plurality of second exposure-side surfaces provided in association with each first contact part. Each first contact part confronts but separates from the corresponding first exposure-side surface when the corresponding exposure unit is disposed in an adjacent position where the exposure unit is capable of exposing the corresponding photosensitive drum. Each first contact part is in contact with the corresponding second exposure-side surface when the corresponding exposure unit is disposed in a retracted position positioned farther than the adjacent position from the photosensitive drum. |
| US08582998B2 |
Fixing device and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes: a heating rotary member having a heating layer generating heat upon current application; a pressurizing rotary member brought into pressure-contact with an outer circumferential surface of the heating rotary member to form fixing nip, through which a sheet on which unfixed toner image is formed passes for heat fixing; circular electrodes that are circumferentially formed at two respective positions sandwiching a sheet passing region therebetween, on the outer circumferential surface, and feed electrical power to the heating layer, the electrodes are each metallic and formed of at least two electrode layers including a first electrode layer layered directly on the heating layer and a second electrode layer as an outermost layer, linear expansion coefficient difference between the first layer and the heating layer is smaller than that between the second layer and the heating layer, and the second layer is more oxidation-resistant than the first layer. |
| US08582994B2 |
Image forming system for improved image formation on both sides of a recording medium
An image forming system including a first image forming apparatus and a second image forming apparatus. The first image forming apparatus forms an image on a first side of a recording medium and has a mark forming device to form a mark on the recording medium. The second image forming apparatus forms an image on a second side which is the obverse of the first side, and has a mark detector to detect the mark at a predetermined position in a conveyance path of the recording medium and a calculator to calculate an expansion and contraction ratio of the recording medium in a first direction and in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction based on the output of the mark detector. |
| US08582990B2 |
Recording-medium imaging device and image forming apparatus
An effective image area can be properly corrected in accordance with the quantity of light from an irradiation unit by selecting, as the effective image area, pixels having light quantities more than or equal to a threshold value that allows accurate acquisition of a surface image of a recording medium, on the basis of a light quantity distribution of the light from the irradiation unit. This reduces the influence of mounting accuracy of the irradiation unit, and allows the recording medium to be identified accurately. |
| US08582981B2 |
Optical transmitter and control method therefor
The disclosed optical transmitter and control method include performing phase modulation of a light propagating through a corresponding optical path in accordance with a data signal, supplying bias voltages for regulating an operating point of each of phase modulation performed, imparting a predetermined phase difference, supplying bias voltages for phase difference regulation and coupling lights output from the corresponding optical paths. The optical transmitter includes superimposing a pilot signal on either one of bias voltages where the pilot signal has a frequency lower than a frequency of a bit rate of the data signal, and performing a feedback control in accordance with a result of monitoring. |
| US08582979B2 |
Method and arrangement for transmitting an optical OFDM-signal
From an real valued OFDM signal (S0(t)) is a baseband signal (SB(t)) derived and converted into a complex single sideband modulation signal (n(t)). This is modulated onto an optical carrier (fOC) to generate a SSB transmission signal (SOT) having a small bandwidth an carrying the information in the envelope or in the power of the envelope. According to the modulation direct detection is possible. Only a small bandwidth is necessary for the transmission. |
| US08582970B2 |
Office-side line concentration device, access control device, and computer program therefor
There is provided an office-side line concentration device that accommodates a plurality of passive optical networks, including a plurality of receiving means connected to each of the plurality of passive optical networks, and interface means for controlling a transmission timing of user data from the plurality of passive optical networks so that user data received by the plurality of receiving means can be arranged closely in an uplink, thus enabling effective use of bandwidth in the uplink. |
| US08582963B2 |
Detection of substrate warping during rapid thermal processing
Apparatus and methods for detecting substrate warping during RTP processing are provided. In one embodiment, one or more beams of light are provided above and across the substrate being processed. In this embodiment, the amount of beam blockage correlates to the amount of substrate warping. In another embodiment, a beam of light is reflected off of a substrate during processing. In this embodiment, the amount of movement of the beam correlates to the amount of substrate warping. In yet another embodiment, a region of a substrate is illuminated during processing. In this embodiment, images of the illuminated region are analyzed to determine the amount of substrate warping. |
| US08582962B2 |
Substrate processing chamber with dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly
A thermal processing chamber with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) lamp assembly and a method for using the same are provided. In one embodiment, a thermal processing chamber includes a chamber body and a dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly further comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and a dielectric barrier. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly is positioned between the first electrode and the second electrode. The dielectric barrier defines a discharge space between the dielectric barrier and the second electrode. A circuit arrangement is coupled to the first and second electrodes, and is adapted to operate the dielectric barrier discharge lamp assembly. |
| US08582956B1 |
System and method for previewing multimedia files
Systems and methods for previewing multimedia files associate information with a multimedia file that designates certain “frames” of the multimedia file as preview content. Such information is embedded within the multimedia file itself using, for example, tags. A media player application may, in response to a user's request to preview a selected multimedia file, determine from the associated information those frames of the multimedia file that are designated as preview content, and the media player application may then present such designated preview frames to the user as a preview. Certain embodiments further enable extended play beyond the designated preview frames, responsive to a user request for such extended play. For example, during playing of a given preview frame, a user may request extended play, wherein additional contiguous frames are appended to the preview frame(s) to provide an extended play beyond what would be presented by the pre-designated preview. |
| US08582954B2 |
System and method for automatically creating a media archive from content on a recording medium
A media player may include a media reader to read media content from a recording medium inserted into the media reader. The media player may also include a media analysis component to identify one or more valid portions of the recording medium containing media content and one or more invalid portions of the recording medium without media content. In one embodiment, the media player includes an archival component to store the media content from the one or more valid portions in a storage medium and a playback component to play back the one or more valid portions of the media content from the storage medium concurrently with the identification of the one or more valid portions by the media analysis component and the storage of the media content by the archival component. |
| US08582953B2 |
Information processing device, information processing method, playing device, playing method, and program
The present invention relating to an information processing device, information processing method, playing device, playing method, and program that enables playing of stereo image (3D image) contents appropriately.In the case that 3D playing using Base view video and D1 view video is instructed, “10000.ilvt (ref_to_D1-B_interleaved_file_name) described in interleaved_file_info ( ) of the PlayList file is specified, and Base view video chunks and D1 view video chunks are read out from an optical disc through a UDF file system. The Base view video chunks and D1 view video chunks that are read out are supplied to a decoder unit and played. The present invention is applicable to a playing device compatible with the BD-ROM standard. |
| US08582950B2 |
Reproducing apparatus, reproducing method, reproducing program, and recording medium for reproducing recorded content data
For a large capacity recording medium, a user interface having high flexibility and enriched representation is accomplished. A flag that represents whether a play item has a multiple angle structure of which the play item is reproduced with a plurality of angles is described. In addition, a flag that represents whether the beginning of each decode unit is an angle switchable point is described. In a seamless multiple angle structure, the current angle can be switched without need to increase the number of interleave units. In a nonseamless multiple angle structure, with the flag, in a predetermined region on the rear end side of each angle, the current angle is prohibited from being switched. Thus, when a play item exits from the multiple angle, discontinuity in the reproduction can be prevented. In addition, with a flag that represents whether a sub play item should be reproduced not in synchronization with a main path, the sub play item of only audio data can be used as a BGM. |
| US08582947B2 |
Method and apparatus for processing video and audio data received in decoding system
A method and an apparatus for processing video and audio data received in a decoding system are provided. The method includes the following steps. When a program clock reference (PCR) is unavailable in the system, a system time clock (STC) is recovered by using a presentation time stamp (PTS) of video or audio data, or a linear combination result of the PTS of the video data and the PTS of the audio data. The STC is compared with the PTSs of the currently captured and audio data, and a current data processing mode is determined. A difference between the PTS of the video data and the PTS of the audio data is monitored. An absolute value of the difference is compared with a preset threshold value, and when the absolute value is greater than or equal to the threshold value, an asynchronous play mode is adopted as a system play mode; otherwise, a synchronous play mode is adopted as the system play mode. Through the method and apparatus, synchronization of video signals and audio signals can be achieved when the PCR is unavailable in the decoding system. |
| US08582942B1 |
Compression resistant and thermal expansion compensated fiber optic cable
A fiber optic cable can comprise technology for mitigating stress on optical fibers of the cable. The technology can protect the optical fibers from compression, such as stemming from installation, deployment, or handling. The technology can compensate for thermally induced expansion and contraction of cable elements having differing thermal expansion characteristics, arising when the cable is subjected to temperature variations. The cable can comprise a central strength member onto which an elastomeric material, such as silicone, has been applied. The elastomeric material can protect optical fibers that are located between the central strength member and an outside jacket. |
| US08582935B2 |
Correction wedge for leaky solar array
A leaky travelling wave array of optical elements provide a solar wavelength rectenna. |
| US08582934B2 |
Miniature optical elements for fiber-optic beam shaping
In part, the invention relates to optical caps having at least one lensed surface configured to redirect and focus light outside of the cap. The cap is placed over an optical fiber. Optical radiation travels through the fiber and interacts with the optical surface or optical surfaces of the cap, resulting in a beam that is either focused at a distance outside of the cap or substantially collimated. The optical elements such as the elongate caps described herein can be used with various data collection modalities such optical coherence tomography. In part, the invention relates to a lens assembly that includes a micro-lens; a beam director in optical communication with the micro-lens; and a substantially transparent film or cover. The substantially transparent film is capable of bi-directionally transmitting light, and generating a controlled amount of backscatter. The film can surround a portion of the beam director. |
| US08582933B2 |
Scalable waveguide-mode coupler for an optical receiver or transmitter
A waveguide-mode (WM) coupler having a plurality of single-mode fibers, each optically coupled to a different respective waveguide mode of a multimode fiber. The coupling optics employed by the WM coupler are scalable and include reflective fiber-tip coatings, polarization beam splitters, phase masks, and quarter-wave plates configured to overlap and/or separate the optical beams corresponding to different waveguide modes of the multimode fiber in a manner that does not cause a significant increase in the optical insertion losses with an increase in the number of optical channels in the WM coupler. |
| US08582932B2 |
Method and device for transmission of optical data between transmitter station and receiver station via of a multi-mode light wave guide
A method for transmitting optical information between an emitter station and a receiving station via a multi-mode optical wave guide uses a wave length multiplex method. Several optical emitters generate a respective signal for each wave length to be transmitted. The signals are fed to the multi-mode optical wave guide in the form of a number of modes via mode multiplexers and wavelength multiplexers, the multi-mode optical wave guide having its own mode that can propagate within the multi-mode optical wave guide for each mode to be transmitted. After transmission and optionally regeneration and/or amplification of the signal via the multi-mode optical wave guide, the transmitted signals are broken down via the wavelength multiplexer into groups of signals having the same wavelength and via the mode demultiplexer into signals having the same mode. Subsequently, the interference signals are extracted from the transmitted demultiplexed signals. |
| US08582926B2 |
Hand-held scanning system and method thereof
A hand-held scanning system and method thereof are described. A look-up table is created to generate a mapping relation between a plurality of reference amplitudes and a plurality of corresponding sampled positions. An analog-to-digital converter samples an analog signal and converts it into a digital signal. The digital signal represents a mapping relation between the sampled positions of the movement distance and the corresponding scanning amplitudes of the signal intensity. The hand-held scanning system ascertains the sampled positions corresponding to a former scanning amplitudes and a present scanning amplitudes according to the look-up table during the scanning stage for detecting the position variation status to determine whether the trigger signal is activated for image scanning or not. |
| US08582925B2 |
System and method for displaying and using non-numeric graphic elements to control and monitor a vision system
This invention provides a system and method for employing GUI-based non-numeric slide buttons and bar meters to setup and monitor operating parameters of a vision system. Graphical representations of operating parameters are displayed in a parameter box on the GUI with moving bars that are shaded, patterned or colored so as to provide a relative level between two extremes on a scale of the given operating parameter. Input of operating parameter settings with respect to the scale is made by moving a setting slider along the scale between the extremes. The position of the slider establishes the user-input setting relative to the scale. In an illustrative embodiment, scales, level bars and setting sliders can also be displayed on the image view itself, adjacent to a given image view feature, which is the subject of the scale. |
| US08582924B2 |
Data structure of an image storage and retrieval system
Disclosed is an imaging system that stores and retrieves very large scanned digital images, as in applications that automatically scan biological samples using a computer-controlled digital camera microscope. Slide data is entered, zelle data is captured and compressed and a zelle database file is loaded. Furthermore, an image database file is loaded and it is determined whether another zelle is to be stored. The image can be retrieved by accessing the zelle database, reading a zelle record, reading an image file, loading the display buffer, and determining whether another zelle is to be loaded. |
| US08582923B2 |
Image processing apparatus, image processsing method, and program
An image processing apparatus includes: a representative value calculation unit calculating a representative value from an input first image signal; an interpolation unit interpolating the representative value calculated by the representative value calculation unit using a second image signal input after the first image signal; and an adjustment processing unit blending the interpolated image signal and the second image signal so that an output ratio of the image signal interpolated by the interpolation unit is smaller when a variation amount of an image corresponding to the second image signal with respect to an image corresponding to the first image signal is large in comparison to a case when the variation amount is small. |
| US08582922B2 |
Image processing device and method
To obtain a high resolution image from two or more low resolution images, positional offsets among the low resolution images are determined and the low resolution images are mapped onto a common plane according to the positional offsets. Pixel values in the high resolution image are calculated by weighted interpolation from the pixel values of the low resolution images, using interpolation coefficients that increases with increasing correlation with the pixel of interest. Correlation is determined by taking horizontal and vertical first and second derivatives of the pixel values in one low resolution image to find a direction of strong correlation. Appropriate interpolation is thereby obtained even near edges and other abrupt changes in the image. |
| US08582916B2 |
Noise reduction of images
A method of reducing noise in an image, comprising: a) for each pixel being examined in the image, selecting a set of search pixels; b) calculating a value of one or more features of a neighborhood of each search pixel, and a value of corresponding features of a neighborhood of the pixel being examined; and c) calculating a reduced noise grey value for each pixel being examined, based on raw or transformed grey values of its search pixels, with greater sensitivity to those with one or more feature values similar to those of the pixel being examined; wherein calculating the value of at least one feature comprises calculating a characteristic of a distribution of raw or transformed grey values of pixels in the neighborhood, other than a mean grey value of all pixels in the neighborhood. |
| US08582915B2 |
Image enhancement for challenging lighting conditions
An image and video enhancement technique is described that allows a core enhancement algorithm to be applied to images captured in various challenging lighting conditions. The technique detects a lighting impairment and inverts the image if it is a low-light impairment. The inverted low-light image is similar to haze impairment images, allowing both haze images and low-light images to be enhanced using the same enhancement algorithm. |
| US08582913B2 |
Enhancing dynamic ranges of images
Methods and apparatus according to various aspects take as input image data in a lower-dynamic-range (LDR) format and produce as output enhanced image data having a dynamic range greater than that of the input image data (i.e. higher-dynamic range (HDR) image data). In some embodiments, the methods are applied to video data and are performed in real-time (i.e. processing of video frames to enhance the dynamic range of the video frames is completed at least on average at the frame rate of the video signal). |
| US08582912B2 |
Systems and methods for calculating image sharpness measurements
Imaging systems with image sensors and image processing circuitry are provided. The image processing circuitry may calculate sharpness values for a window within an image captured by the image sensors. The window may be divided into zones. A first filter may be applied to each row of each zone. A first sharpness value may be calculated by averaging the absolute values of the outputs of the first filter that are greater than a first threshold. A second sharpness value may be calculated by averaging the absolute values of the outputs of the second filter that are greater than a second threshold. A final sharpness value for each zone may be calculated by dividing the second sharpness value by the first sharpness value and multiplying the result by corresponding scalar weights. A window sharpness value may be calculated from the weighted sum of the final sharpness values of each zone. |
| US08582910B2 |
Methods and apparatus for editing images
Methods and apparatus for editing an image having focused and defocused objects are provided in the present application. According to an embodiment, the method comprises: determining blurriness of edge pixels in the image; propagating the determined blurriness to non-edge pixels adjacent to each of the edge pixels so as to determine blurriness of the non-edge pixels; estimating a focus map based on the blurriness of the edge pixels and the non-edge pixels to identify the defocused objects and the focused objects; and refocusing the defocused objects based on the focus map or defocusing at least one of the defocused objects and the focused objects. |
| US08582904B2 |
Method of second order prediction and video encoder and decoder using the same
A method and apparatus for second order prediction are provided. In the decoding method, the reconstruction of decoded picture comprises second order prediction and compensation and second prediction storage. The second order prediction and compensation comprises first prediction and compensation and second prediction and compensation, input of which includes reconstructed first order residue and second order residue. The encoding method comprises second order prediction and second prediction storage. Second order prediction consists of first prediction and second prediction, input of which includes reconstructed first order residue and second order residue, and it will generate bit-stream accordingly. This invention will eliminate redundancy using second order prediction encoding and decoding method, so that coding efficiency will be improved. |
| US08582902B2 |
Pixel block processing
A compressed pixel block (400) is decompressed by defining multiple available property values. At least one reference point relative the pixel block (300) is identified based on a reference codeword (410) of the compressed pixel block (400). Pixel indices of the pixels (310) are determined based on the respective positions of pixels (310) in the pixel block (300) relative the at least one reference point. These pixel indices are used for selecting among the multiple defined property values. The selected property values are then assigned to pixels (310) to be decompressed based on their determined pixel indices. |
| US08582898B2 |
Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding image based on code table selection adapted to residual value distribution
A method and apparatus are provided for encoding and decoding an image which entropy encode and decode a residual value of a current pixel in consideration of a context model determined with reference to at least one pixel value that is encoded and decoded before the current pixel and distribution of the residual values encoded and decoded according to the determined context model. |
| US08582891B2 |
Method and apparatus for guiding user with suitable composition, and digital photographing apparatus
A method for guiding a user with a suitable composition includes detecting scene information from an input image, recognizing a scene of the input image by using the detected scene information, extracting composition information corresponding to the recognized scene, and displaying the extracted composition information. Accordingly, an apparatus for guiding a user with a suitable composition and a digital photographing apparatus using the method displays a composition suitable for a current scene by automatically recognizing the current scene, so that the user photographs the current scene quickly and easily. |
| US08582889B2 |
Scale space normalization technique for improved feature detection in uniform and non-uniform illumination changes
A normalization process is implemented at a difference of scale space to completely or substantially reduce the effect that illumination changes has on feature/keypoint detection in an image. An image may be processed by progressively blurring the image using a smoothening function to generate a smoothened scale space for the image. A difference of scale space may be generated by taking the difference between two different smoothened versions of the image. A normalized difference of scale space image may be generated by dividing the difference of scale space image by a third smoothened version of the image, where the third smoothened version of the image that is as smooth or smoother than the smoothest of the two different smoothened versions of the image. The normalized difference of scale space image may then be used to detect one or more features/keypoints for the image. |
| US08582884B2 |
Approximation of an imaged object from edges detected from the underlying image
Processes and systems for use in generating an approximation of an image from its edges project a respective scaled intensity value from each edge into regions abutting positive and negative sides of the edge. Positive and negative composite edge projection maps are generated, each including a respective combination of the projected scaled intensity values. A respective ratio of combined local intensity values is determined for each edge in each of the positive and negative composite maps. Respective intensity values weighted by the respective ratios are projected for each edge into regions abutting positive and negative sides of the edge. Revised positive and negative composite, weighted edge projection maps are generated, each including a respective combination of the projected, weighted intensity values. |
| US08582882B2 |
Unit for and method of segmentation using average homogeneity
A segmentation unit included an assignment unit configured to assign a first pixel of a first image of a sequence of images to a segment comprises an assignment unit, and to assign a first homogeneity value to the first pixel on basis of the first image. An averaging unit is configured to calculate an average homogeneity value for the first pixel by averaging the first homogeneity value and a second homogeneity value being determined for a second pixel of a second image of the sequence of images. The first and second pixels are related by a motion vector. A comparing unit is configured to compare the average homogeneity value with a threshold in order to assign the first pixel to the segment. |
| US08582881B2 |
Method and apparatus for modifying an image by using a saliency map based on color frequency
A method for modifying an image being defined by a matrix of pixels comprises: •calculating (1) a color frequency distribution of the matrix of pixels; •defining (3) for each pixel an energy value as a weighted function of the color frequency of the pixel, so as to define an image saliency map; •transforming (5) the image, said transformation being based on the pixel energy values. A computer software product to apply the method, an apparatus and a TV set are also disclosed. |
| US08582879B2 |
Image processing device and image processing method that convert color image into monochrome image
An image processing device includes: a separating unit configured to separate colors of a plurality of pixels included in an input color image into a plurality of color groups on the basis of similarities between the colors of the pixels; and a conversion unit configured to generate a monochrome image by performing correction on each of the pixels of the color image on the basis of a grayscale representation assigned to each of plurality of the color groups. |
| US08582877B2 |
Distortion of digital images using spatial offsets from image reference points
A method for distorting a digital image comprising receiving the coordinates of one or more than one image reference point defined by a user within the digital image, receiving one or more than one spatial offset assigned by the user and associated with the coordinates of the one or more than one defined image reference point, providing a mixing function algorithm embodied on a computer-readable medium for distorting the digital image, calculating an offset matrix by applying the mixing function algorithm based on the one or more than one spatial offset and the coordinates of the one or more than one defined image reference point; and distorting the digital image by application of the offset matrix. A graphic tag may be associated with each of the defined image reference points and displayed over the digital image, and the assignment of the spatial offset may be accomplished by movement of the graphic tag with the pointing device. Abstract image reference points may be used to limit distortion. |
| US08582873B2 |
Use of an object database in an image process
In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method is provided for processing an image. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of providing an image file depicting an image, in a computer memory, providing an object database including a list of objects that appear in the image, and information on material reflectance color values for each object and generating intrinsic images corresponding to the image as a function of the information on material reflectance color values for each object. |
| US08582867B2 |
Learning-based pose estimation from depth maps
A method for processing data includes receiving a depth map of a scene containing a humanoid form. Respective descriptors are extracted from the depth map based on the depth values in a plurality of patches distributed in respective positions over the humanoid form. The extracted descriptors are matched to previously-stored descriptors in a database. A pose of the humanoid form is estimated based on stored information associated with the matched descriptors. |
| US08582864B2 |
Fault inspection method
A fault inspection method and apparatus in which the scattergram is separated or objects of comparison are combined in such a manner as to reduce the difference between an inspection object image and a reference image. As a result, the difference between images caused by the thickness difference in the wafer can be tolerated and the false information generation prevented without adversely affecting the sensitivity. |
| US08582862B2 |
Mobile image quality assurance in mobile document image processing applications
Techniques for assuring the quality of mobile document image captured using a mobile device are provided. These techniques include performing one or more tests to assess the quality of images of documents captured using the mobile device. The tests can be selected based on the type of document that was imaged, the type of mobile application for which the image quality of the mobile image is being assessed, and/or other parameters such as the type of mobile device and/or the characteristics of the camera of the mobile device that was used to capture the image. The image quality assurance techniques can also be implemented on can be implemented on a mobile device and/or on a remote server where the mobile device routes the mobile image to the remote server processing and the test results are be passed from the remote server to the mobile device. |
| US08582860B2 |
Signet ring cell detector and related methods
A detector and method for automatically detecting signet ring cells in an image of a biopsy tissue sample, includes finding in the image, points about which cell membranes appear in radial symmetry; selecting as candidate points, at least ones of the points that have an adjacent nuclei with a predetermined shape feature; and applying a convolutional neural network to the candidate points to determine which of the candidate points are signet ring cells. |
| US08582858B2 |
Method and apparatus for quantitative analysis of breast density morphology based on MRI
A method and apparatus configured to analyze breast density based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a breast of a patient includes the steps of segmenting an MR image of the breast from one set of three-dimensional breast MRI images, and analyzing the amount of dense tissue and the morphological distribution of the dense tissue and a data processor configured by software to perform these steps. Analyzing the amount of dense tissue and the morphological distribution of the dense tissue includes the steps of segmenting tissue data to separate breast tissue from other body tissue, separating tissue data of the dense and fatty tissues in the breast, and analyzing the morphological distribution of dense tissue in the breast to derive one or more three dimensional morphological parameters of the dense tissue distribution. |
| US08582857B2 |
Dual-energy material identification method and apparatus with undersampling
A dual-energy material identification method and system with under-sampling is disclosed. A CT image of the object is obtained by using the CT image reconstruction method, while the dual-energy projections are under-sampled to obtain a few samples. Photoelectric coefficient integral and Compton coefficient integral are computed from these dual-energy projection data. The CT image is segmented into regions with image processing technique, and the regions are labeled. The length by which a few dual-energy rays crosses each labeled region is computed, and an equation system is established with dual-energy preprocessing dual-effect decomposition reconstruction method to compute Photoelectric coefficient and Compton coefficient, and then atomic number and electron density of material in each region are computed. The material of the object can be identified with the atomic number. |
| US08582853B2 |
Device, system and method for automatic detection of contractile activity in an image frame
A device, system and method for automatic detection of contractile activity of a body lumen in an image frame is provided, wherein image frames during contractile activity are captured and/or image frames including contractile activity are automatically detected, such as through pattern recognition and/or feature extraction to trace image frames including contractions, e.g., with wrinkle patterns. A manual procedure of annotation of contractions, e.g. tonic contractions in capsule endoscopy, may consist of the visualization of the whole video by a specialist, and the labeling of the contraction frames. Embodiments of the present invention may be suitable for implementation in an in vivo imaging system. |
| US08582852B2 |
Dual-spectrum heat pattern separation algorithm for assessing chemotherapy treatment response and early detection
It is developed a Dual-Spectrum Heat Pattern Separation (DS-HPS) algorithm to quantify the energy from the area of the high temperature tissues, called qH map, and decompose the body surface into the high and normal temperature areas based on a pair of middle-wave Infra-red images and long-wave Infra-red images. Further, with longitudinal registration, we can detect the cancerous tissues and assess the chemotherapy treatment response on a pixel by pixel basis according to the change of the qH map derived by the DS-HPS algorithm. The preliminary result shows the area and the qH values in the high temperature area are decreased as the patients receive more chemotherapy. These suggest the proposed algorithm could capture the incremental or decremental of the energies emitted by the cancerous tissues, which has the potentials for chemotherapy assessment and early detection. |
| US08582846B2 |
Method and system for validating image registration
A method for validating non-rigid image registration includes acquiring a source image and a target image. Registration is performed from source image to target image using a non-rigid registration technique to produce forward transformation map. Registration is performed from the target image back to the source image using the non-rigid registration technique to produce a backward transformation map. Consistency registration error is measured as an indication of a change in local volume of the source with respect to the target image using the produced forward transformation map and the produced backward transformation map. The non-rigid registration technique is validated based on the measured consistency registration error. |
| US08582845B2 |
Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and method of compensation for readout gradient magnetic field error
In nonlinear measurement in which a dephasing readout gradient magnetic field is not used, a positional shift of the k space data, which is caused by a difference between a readout gradient magnetic field actually applied and the calculated value, and a deterioration in the image quality resulting therefrom are reduced. In order to do so, in the invention, when executing an imaging pulse sequence including a nonlinear measurement which does not use a dephasing gradient magnetic field, a prescan sequence is executed and a correction value for correcting the shift of the readout gradient magnetic field from the set value is calculated from the data acquired in the prescan. When gridding the data acquired in the imaging pulse sequence, a parameter value of the gridding is corrected using the correction value to perform the gridding. |
| US08582842B2 |
Image display device, method and program
A pair of static magnetic field generating means disposed so as to sandwich a space in which an examination target is disposed, magnetic field generating means that applies high-frequency magnetic field and gradient magnetic field to an examination target disposed in the static magnetic field, and reception means that receives a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated by the examination target are provided. The reception means has a predetermined coil pattern, and contains a reception coil which can be formed in a cylindrical shape. The reception coil has a flexible portion and a rigid portion which are alternately arranged along the peripheral direction when it is designed in a cylindrical shape, and the flexible portion has a flexible board on which a part of the predetermined coil pattern is mounted, and a bubble-containing organic resin portion covering both the surfaces of the flexible board. |
| US08582840B2 |
Method and apparatus for thickness compensation in mammographic images
Methods and apparatuses perform thickness compensation in anatomical images. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing an image including a breast; estimates thickness of the breast at multiple locations inside the breast using an image data characteristic and a reference tissue in the breast; compensates thickness of the breast using a thickness model; and refines compensation of breast thickness from the compensating step. |
| US08582839B2 |
Ultrasound system and method of forming elastic images capable of preventing distortion
The present invention is directed to an ultrasound system and a method of forming an elastic image, which are capable of preventing the distortion of the elastic image. The persistence of the previous frame and the present frame is performed after moving the boundary pixels set up in the previous interest frame to the boundary pixels in the present interest frame. This is so that the distortion of the elastic image may be reduced and the signal to noise ratio may be increased. |
| US08582838B1 |
Fingerprint check to reduce check fraud
A digital image of a surface of a check is received. A check scanning device captures the digital image as the check moves through the check scanning device. A fingerprint is impressed on the surface of the check. A computing system uses the digital image to determine a match score. The match score represents an approximate probability that the fingerprint on the check matches a reference fingerprint. An alert is presented based on the match score. |
| US08582837B2 |
Pseudo-translucent integrated circuit package
An integrated circuit (IC) package includes at least one light source disposed together with an IC structure within an encapsulation structure. The material forming the encapsulation structure is generally opaque. Accordingly, the light source and at least a portion of the IC are not visible to the unaided human eye. The thickness and geometry of the encapsulation are such that when the light source is caused to emit light, the encapsulation structure permits at least a portion of that light to be visible to a user. The IC may be a portion of a fingerprint sensor, exposed for receiving a fingertip of a user. The light source, or a plurality of such light sources, may be functional (e.g., providing visual indication of the of the condition or state of an item of hardware or software, assist the user in operation of a device), be primarily aesthetic, or a combination thereof. |
| US08582832B2 |
Detecting behavioral deviations by measuring eye movements
Detecting behavioral deviations in members of a cohort group is provided. Ocular metadata is analyzed to identify patterns in changes in a size of a pupil of an eye of a member of the cohort group captured by a set of cameras. The ocular metadata describes the changes in the size of the pupil. The patterns in the changes in the size of the pupil include a rate of changes in the size of the pupil, a degree of change in the size of the pupil, and a number of changes in the size of the pupil. The patterns in the changes in the size of the pupil indicate any external stimuli associated with the changes in the size of the pupil. In responsive to the changes in the size of the pupil indicating behavioral deviations in the member, the member is identified as a person of interest. |
| US08582831B2 |
Personal identification device and method
A personal identification device including: an image pickup unit; a guide unit to set a finger to be captured; a light source which emits light adapted to be transmitted through the finger and incident on the image pickup unit; an image operating unit which generates a vein pattern from an image picked by the image pickup unit for personal identification, wherein the image operating unit is adapted to detect a contour of the set finger, calculate a width of the contour, and normalize the image based on a magnification determined by using the width of the contour. |
| US08582827B2 |
Image mapping to provide visual geographic path
Provided is a computer system and method for mapping a visual path. The method includes receiving one or more images included in a predefined area; receiving one or more parameters associated with the image; and integrating the images and parameters into a map of the predefined area to enable mapping the visual path through the predefined area in response to one or more input path parameters. |
| US08582825B2 |
Device and method for displaying full azimuth angle domain image data
A device, system, and method for displaying seismic image data may include computing, from a wide-azimuth data set, a discrete data set associated with an image function at a seismic image point. The discrete data set may be mapped onto a continuous curved three-dimensional surface. The mapped data set may be projected onto a continuous planar surface. The projected data may be displayed as a planar disk. A plurality of continuous planar surfaces, each representing a single image point, may be assembled to form a three-dimensional body, representing a seismic gather of image points. The three-dimensional body may be displayed. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08582823B2 |
Image processing apparatus, method, and program
An image processing apparatus includes: a motion detection unit detecting a motion of a subject to be evaluated by using an image of the subject to be evaluated; a correlation calculation unit calculating a temporal change correlation between motion amounts of a plurality of portions of the subject to be evaluated, by using a motion vector indicating the motion of the subject to be evaluated, which is detected by the motion detection unit; and an evaluation value calculation unit calculating an evaluation value to evaluate cooperativity of the motion of the subject to be evaluated, by using the correlation calculated by the correlation calculation unit. |
| US08582821B1 |
Tracking objects between images
Systems and methods track one or more points between images. A point for tracking may be selected, at least in part, on a determination of how discriminable the point is relative to other points in a region containing the point. A point of an image being tracked may be located in another image by matching a patch containing the point with another patch of the other image. A search for a matching patch may be focused in a region that is determined based at least in part on an estimate of movement of the point between images. Points may be tracked across multiple images. If an ability to track one or more points is lost, information about the points being tracked may be used to relocate the points in another image. |
| US08582820B2 |
Coded aperture camera with adaptive image processing
An image capture device is used to identify object range information, and includes: providing an image capture device, an image sensor, a coded aperture, and a lens; and using the image capture device to capture a digital image of the scene from light passing through the lens and the coded aperture, the scene having a plurality of objects. The method further includes: dividing the digital image into a set of blocks; assigning a point spread function (psf) value to each of the blocks; combining contiguous blocks in accordance with their psf values; producing a set of blur parameters based upon the psf values of the combined blocks and the psf values of the remaining blocks; producing a set of deblurred images based upon the captured image and each of the blur parameters; and using the set of deblurred images to determine the range information for the objects in the scene. |
| US08582818B2 |
Method and system of automatically detecting objects in front of a motor vehicle
A method of automatically detecting objects in front of a motor vehicle comprises the steps of pre-storing template objects representing possible objects in front of the motor vehicle, detecting images from a region in front of the vehicle by a vehicle mounted imaging means, generating a processed image containing disparity or vehicle-to-scene distance information from the detected images, comparing the pre-stored template objects with corresponding regions-of-interest of the processed image, and generating a match result relating to the match between the processed image and the template objects. Each of the pre-stored template objects is a flat two-dimensional multi-pixel area of predetermined shape. |
| US08582816B2 |
Method and apparatus for video analytics based object counting
A video analytics based object counting method which can obtain and process video frames from one or more video sources is proposed. By setting a variety of parameters, calculating a reference point, and a mapping table, a sampled referenced image can be constructed to obtain image pixels variation information according to these parameters. With the changed value of multiple sampling line segments and the pre-defined reference object, total object counts can be estimated by analyzing the whole number of the triggered sampling line segments and their directional states. |
| US08582813B2 |
Object detection device which detects object based on similarities in different frame images, and object detection method and computer-readable medium recording program
An object detection device includes: an obtaining unit successively obtaining frame images; a first determination unit determining whether a first similarity between a reference image and a first image region in one of the obtained frame images is less than a first threshold value; a second determination unit determining whether a second similarity between the reference image and a second image region, included in a frame image obtained before the one of the frame images and corresponding to the first image region, is less than a second threshold value larger than the first threshold value, when the first determination unit determines that the first similarity is not less than the first threshold value; and a detection unit detecting the first image region as a region of a particular object image when the second determination unit determines that the second similarity is not less than the second threshold value. |
| US08582812B2 |
Motion detection method for complex scenes
A motion detection method for complex scenes has steps of receiving an image frame including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixel including a first pixel information; performing a multi-background generation module based on the plurality of pixels; generating a plurality of background pixels based on the multi-background generation module; performing a moving object detection module; and deriving the background pixel based on the moving object detection module. |
| US08582807B2 |
Systems and methods for determining personal characteristics
Systems and methods are disclosed for determining personal characteristics from images by generating a baseline gender model and an age estimation model using one or more convolutional neural networks (CNNs); capturing correspondences of faces by face tracking, and applying incremental learning to the CNNs and enforcing correspondence constraint such that CNN outputs are consistent and stable for one person. |
| US08582805B2 |
Synthetic foveal imaging technology
Apparatuses and methods are disclosed that create a synthetic fovea in order to identify and highlight interesting portions of an image for further processing and rapid response. Synthetic foveal imaging implements a parallel processing architecture that uses reprogrammable logic to implement embedded, distributed, real-time foveal image processing from different sensor types while simultaneously allowing for lossless storage and retrieval of raw image data. Real-time, distributed, adaptive processing of multi-tap image sensors with coordinated processing hardware used for each output tap is enabled. In mosaic focal planes, a parallel-processing network can be implemented that treats the mosaic focal plane as a single ensemble rather than a set of isolated sensors. Various applications are enabled for imaging and robotic vision where processing and responding to enormous amounts of data quickly and efficiently is important. |
| US08582802B2 |
Automatic method to generate product attributes based solely on product images
Disclosed is a method to generate data describing a product. The method includes the steps of comparing a digitized query image of the product to digitized pre-existing product images in a pre-existing product database. The pre-existing product database is organized using a taxonomy and an ontology. The pre-existing product images are linked to a corresponding node in the taxonomy and are also linked to attribute data and attribute value data in the ontology. At least one pre-existing product image is then retrieved that most closely matches the query image based on at least one matching criterion selected in whole or in part by a user. From the pre-existing product database is extracted the node in the taxonomy, the attribute data, or the attribute value data linked to the pre-existing product image retrieved earlier. In this fashion, product data relevant to the item depicted in the query image can be generated automatically from existing product data. |
| US08582801B2 |
Assisting the authoring of posts to an asymmetric social network
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for assisting the authoring of posts to an asymmetric social network. In one aspect, a method performed by a system of one or more data processing devices includes receiving, at the system, an identification of an electronic document that is available on the Internet, the system identifying image content in the electronic document, the system filtering the identified image content, the system triggering presentation of the filtered image content to an author of a post to an asymmetric social network, the system receiving a selection of a first image from amongst the presented image content, and the system adding the first image to a post to the asymmetric social network. |
| US08582800B2 |
Slim-type speaker with interconnecting damper and bobbin
A speaker includes a frame, a diaphragm disposed in a top end of the frame of the speaker and a bobbin disposed below the diaphragm. A voice coil is wound around a bottom end of the bobbin and a magnetic member, which has a groove in which the bottom end of the bobbin around which the voice coil is wound, is inserted and reciprocated in a straight line upward and downward. A central pillar is fixed to the magnetic member at a center of the bobbin and extends parallel to the movement of the bobbin. A damper supports an inner circumferential surface of the bobbin from the central pillar. The damper additionally supports an outer circumferential surface of the bobbin, from the frame, so as to allow the bobbin to reciprocate in a straight line. This results in minimization of wobble and distortion, so that accurate sound is generated. |
| US08582799B2 |
Speaker device
A speaker device has a magnet, outer yokes, and inner yokes which are assembled so that a magnetic gap is formed between the outer yoke and inner yokes over which a magnetic flux which is generated from the magnet cuts across. A voice coil unit which is linked to a diaphragm is disposed within the magnetic gap, and positioning members determine the positions of the inner yokes and the outer yokes which attach magnetically to the magnet such that a magnetic gap is formed. The speaker device has a magnetic circuit of which the construction facilitates assembly, and recycling of various individual parts is relatively easy. |
| US08582796B2 |
Earmuff and headphone
An earmuff and a headphone includes: a headband; an ear cup attached to the headband; a baffle board fixed on the ear cup; an ear pad engaged to the baffle board. An air-permeable member provided between the baffle board and the ear pad. |
| US08582794B2 |
Speaker with acoustic damped port
Systems, methods, and devices for improving speaker performance with an acoustic damped port are disclosed. In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, a damping material is placed around a vented frame of a speaker driver, and substantially covers or fills the vents of the frame. In some embodiments, the damping material results in improved impedance matching with acoustic delay, without required dimensional tuning (as with conventional ports). In some embodiments, it also reduces the air velocity gradients minimizing higher order frequency distortion components. In some embodiments, the damping material also acts as an absorber of energy by coupling to the sound wave. In some embodiments, low-frequency performance is improved in a small-scale design. |
| US08582791B2 |
Hearing aid and circuit for detecting a connector
A circuit for a hearing aid includes an interface including a contact element for receiving a connector. The interface is configured to provide produce an electrical signal when the connector contacts the contact element. The circuit further includes a logic circuit coupled to the interface for receiving the electrical signal and configured to detect the connector in response to receiving the electrical signal. |
| US08582790B2 |
Hearing aid and computing device for providing audio labels
A hearing aid includes a microphone to convert audible sounds into sound-related electrical signals and a memory configured to store a plurality of hearing aid profiles. Each hearing aid profile has an associated audio label. The hearing aid further includes a processor coupled to the microphone and to the memory and configured to select one of the plurality of hearing aid profiles. The processor applies the one of the plurality of hearing aid profiles to the sound-related electrical signals to produce a shaped output signal to compensate for a hearing impairment of a user. The processor is configured to insert the associated audio label into the shaped output signal. The hearing aid also includes a speaker coupled to the processor and configured to convert the shaped output signal into an audible sound. |
| US08582776B2 |
Electronic monitoring system and method
An electronic monitoring system located in a second service area when an electronic monitoring target has moved from a first service area having a first authority to the second service area having a second authority starts electronic monitoring for the electronic monitoring target that has moved into the second service area, configures a temporary electronic monitoring authority based on the first authority and the second authority, and executes the electronic monitoring on the electronic monitoring target in the second service area according to the configured temporary electronic monitoring authority. |
| US08582774B2 |
Method for making safe an electronic cryptography assembly with a secret key
An aim of this invention is to eliminate the risks of aggression “DPA of the n order” attacks, for all n values, of cryptography electronic assemblies or systems with a secret or private key. The process according to this invention concerns a securing process for an electronic system using a cryptographic calculation procedure using a secret key. The process consists of masking intermediate results in input or output of at least one critical function for the said procedure. |