| Document | Document Title |
|---|---|
| US08869310B2 |
Low drift scanning probe microscope
A scanning probe microscope, such as an atomic force microscope, include a z-stage and a bridge structure comprised substantially free of Invar. A scanner containing a probe is mounted to the z-stage, which is movable in the z-axis to raise and lower the probe. A drift compensation system is provided to reduce thermal drift of the z-stage and the bridge. The drift compensation system includes heating elements thermally coupled to the z-stage and the bridge, ambient temperature sensors, and a controller to actively control the heating elements to maintain the bridge and the z-stage at an elevated temperature. |
| US08869308B2 |
Computer motherboard having peripheral security functions
A secure motherboard for a computer, wherein each user accessible peripheral port is protected by hardware based peripheral protection circuitry soldered to the motherboard. The protection circuitry provides security functions decreasing the vulnerability of the computer to data theft. User input ports such as keyboard and mouse peripheral ports are coupled to the computer through a security function that enforce unidirectional data flow only from the user input devices to the computer. Display port uses a security function which isolates the EDID in the display from the computer. Authentication device such as smart card reader is coupled to the computer via a port having a security function which enumerates the authentication device before coupling it to the computer. |
| US08869302B2 |
System and method for managing and sharing users' information and contacts within a computer network
A system and a method for managing and sharing, within a computer network, information and contacts related to users, according to which the user (UC), on his personal profile (PF) created on the restricted access web site, can create a certain number of business cards (BV) to be booked to given categories of persons, with the information and/or data he considers to inserted into that card; in this way, the system does not allow to a third party to access user's (UC) personal profile (UC), neither in as merely curios observers, and reserves to each user (UC) places for the insertion of their information which, thus, are made accessible only to whom the user (UC) decides to send them and only during the period for which the user (UC) desires to send them. Once the user (UC) comes into contact with a person belonging to the categories to whom he has allowed the vision of the data, he can share, for each category, certain information which are however lent, for a prefixed time period, and automatically updated in real time on personal profile (PF) of then web site. |
| US08869300B2 |
Redirection of information from secure virtual machines to unsecure virtual machines
The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for redirecting an access request to an unsecure virtual machine. A computing device may execute a hypervisor hosting a secure virtual machine and an unsecure virtual machine. A control virtual machine, hosted by a hypervisor executing on the computing device, may intercept a request to access an unsecure resource. The unsecure resource may include one of: a file, an application and an uniform resource locator (URL). The control virtual machine may further determine that the request originates from a secure virtual machine executing on the computing device. The control virtual machine may redirect, responsive to the determination, the request to an unsecure virtual machine executing on the computing device, whereupon the unsecure virtual machine may provide access to the requested unsecure resource. |
| US08869298B2 |
Enhanced content resolution method
A method of providing automatically verifiable trust in a content resolution process in which a PDR resolves a content reference identifier (CRID) identifying a content item using a resolution authority record (RAR) to obtain a locator identifying a location where the PDR can obtain the content item. Preferably, the measure comprises computing a digital signature over at least part of the contents of the CRID, the locator and/or the RAR. The method may also comprise encrypting at least a data portion of the CRID, RAR or locator. Digital rights needed to access the content item can be provided with the CRID, RAR or locator. |
| US08869294B2 |
Mitigating branch prediction and other timing based side channel attacks
To provide hardware protection against timing based side channel attacks, a processor's microarchitecture enables an OS to determine which applications have the privilege to read timestamp and performance counters. Using a white list of applications, and an authentication mechanism to authenticate applications, a legitimate Protection Required Application (PRA) may temporarily prevent other applications from reading timestamp and performance counters while it executes (or excutes sensitive operations). |
| US08869292B2 |
Method and device for 3D object protection by transformation of its points
A 3D object is protected by a first device that receives the 3D object, generates translation vectors that are added to the points of the 3D object to obtain a protected 3D object, and outputs the protected 3D object. The protected 3D object is unprotected by a second device by receiving the protected 3D object, generating translation vectors that are subtracted from the points of the protected 3D object to obtain an unprotected 3D object, and outputting the unprotected 3D object. Also provided are the first device, the second device and computer readable storage media. |
| US08869291B2 |
Generating and storing document data
A markup language document is generated and stored within a network, the network including a client, and one or more storage locations. A markup language document is generated, and policy information is accessed, wherein the policy information defines a content-filtering policy, a security policy and a storage location policy for the markup language document. A portion of the markup language document that is subject to security is determined, based on the content-filtering policy as defined in the policy information. A storage location is identified for storage of the markup language document from among the one or more storage locations, based on the storage location policy as defined in the policy information. Security is applied to the determined portion of the markup language document based on the security policy as defined in the policy information. The markup language document is stored on the identified storage location. |
| US08869290B2 |
Method and system for secure content distribution by a broadband gateway
A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Security boundaries such as conditional access (CA) and/or digital right management (DRM) boundaries associated with the broadband gateway are identified based on security profiles associated with the plurality of devices and/or a service from networks. The identified security boundaries are utilized to determine or negotiate CA information for content access for the service. The received content may be distributed according to the determined CA information and the security profiles of the corresponding devices. The broadband gateway may be automatically and dynamically configured based on the identified security boundaries to secure content distribution to the devices. Content distribution security schemes, for example, super encryption, simul-crypt, IPSec and/or watermarking, may be selected by matching the CA information with corresponding device security profiles. |
| US08869289B2 |
Software application verification
Various embodiments for software application verification are disclosed. Software application verification applies digital rights management to applications that run protected content on a playback device. In this way, protected content may be provided to approved applications and withheld from applications that have not been approved to run the protected content. |
| US08869288B2 |
Method for using time from a trusted host device
A method for using time from a trusted host device is disclosed. In one embodiment, an application on a memory device receives a request to perform a time-based operation from an entity authenticated by the memory device, wherein the entity is running on a host device. The application selects time from the host device instead of time from a time module on the memory device to perform the time-based operation and uses the time from the host device to perform the time-based operation. Other embodiments are disclosed, and each of the embodiments can be used alone or together in combination. |
| US08869284B1 |
Systems and methods for evaluating application trustworthiness
A computer-implemented method for evaluating application trustworthiness may include 1) identify an application subject to a security assessment, 2) identify a secondary identifier used by the application to identify the application to a third-party service to which the application is configured to send a request during execution, 3) query a secondary identity database with the secondary identifier for information about the secondary identifier, and 4) determine whether the application is malicious based at least in part on the information about the secondary identifier. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US08869280B2 |
Method and system for automatic detection of eavesdropping of an account based on identifiers and conditions
A system and method for detecting whether a user account has been compromised. A server computer determines, for a client device, a first identifier associated with the client device. The server computer analyzes an activity log associated with an account of a user to determine if an eavesdropping condition has been met during a given duration. The analysis includes: 1) determining that an eavesdropping activity has occurred during the given duration and determining that no normal activity has occurred during the given duration for the first identifier; 2) determining a second identifier associated with a second device used to access the user account; and 3) determining that a normal activity associated with the second identifier has occurred during the given duration. |
| US08869260B2 |
Computer or microchip with a master controller connected by a secure control bus to networked microprocessors or cores
A computer or microchip securely controlled through a private network including a connection to a network of computers including the Internet; a separate connection to at least a private network of computers located in a hardware protected area of said computer or microchip, a first microprocessor, core or processing unit configured to connect to the connection to the network of computers including the Internet; a master controlling device for the computer or microchip located in the hardware protected area; and a secure control bus configured to connect at least said master controlling device with said microprocessor, core or processing unit, and isolated from input from the network and components other than said master controlling device. The master controlling device securely controls an operation executed by the microprocessor, core or processing unit, with secure control being provided through the private network to the private network connection through the secure control bus. |
| US08869250B2 |
Providing secure dynamic role selection and managing privileged user access from a client device
An approach is provided that receives a first role selection from a client device. Each of the roles includes various user accounts provisioned to access various software applications. An authentication challenge is retrieved. The authentication challenge is based upon the role selection that was received from the client device. The authentication challenge is transmitted to the client device. An authentication submission is received from the client device. This authentication submission is authenticated and, if the authentication is successful, then the client device access is granted access to software applications using the provisioned user accounts that were included in the role selection. In addition, audit data of usage of the software applications by the client device is recorded. The audit data includes identification of the provisioned user accounts used to access the software applications using the role selection. |
| US08869246B2 |
Mask based challenge response test
A method for providing a challenge response test associated with a computer resource performed by a physical computing system includes, with the physical computing system, generating a challenge response test image comprising a plurality of well-formed construct elements forming a well-formed construct and a plurality of random construct elements, and providing a number of masks to be placed over the image, one of the number of masks configured to reveal the well-formed construct elements when placed over the image. |
| US08869238B2 |
Authentication using a turing test to block automated attacks
System and methods for authenticating a transaction between a user system and a host system are described herein. In one embodiment, the system and methods use a text-reading test (TRT) image as part of the authentication process. The TRT image is presented to the user upon initiation of a transaction by the user. Information provided by a user, via the user system, after perception of the TRT image is compared to the source information in the TRT image. If the user input corresponds to the source information, the user is authenticated and transaction is allowed to proceed. |
| US08869237B2 |
Method and system for propagating network policy
A technique for acquiring and disseminating network node characteristics to enable policy decisions including receiving a resolution request from one or more clients in a network environment is disclosed. Information, for example, network address, is then acquired from one or more sources regarding a specific location in a network, for example, a network node. A list of the network addresses is then generated and ranked based on one or more parameters that merit making traffic handling decisions. The network addresses are then associated with a host name on at least one directory server and then propagated to the one or more clients. |
| US08869234B2 |
System and method for policy based privileged user access management
Embodiments dynamically manage privileged access to a computer system according to policies enforced by rule engine. User input to the rule engine may determine an extent of system access, as well as other features such as intensity of user activity logging (including logging supplemental to a system activity log). Certain embodiments may provide access based upon user selection of a pre-configured ID at a dashboard, while other embodiments may rely upon direct user input to the rule engine to generate an ID at a policy enforcement point. Embodiments of methods and apparatuses may be particularly useful in granting and/or logging broad temporary access rights allowed based upon emergency conditions. |
| US08869231B2 |
Information processing unit for acquiring television program-related information
An information processing unit includes: a receiving unit which receives, via a communication network, first specifying information which is used by a content source to specify the content, from a display device which receives and displays broadcast content; a converting unit which, upon retrieval request from the display device for related information which is related to the content, converts the first specifying information into second specifying information, which is used by a source of the related information to specify the content; a retrieval controlling unit which transmits the second specifying information to a retrieval device, which retrieves the related information based on the second specifying information, via the communication network and controls retrieval of the related information; and a providing unit which provides the display device with the related information acquired from the retrieval device via the communication network upon retrieval request for the related information to the retrieval device. |
| US08869230B2 |
Mobile terminal and coupon managing method thereof
A mobile terminal and coupon managing method thereof are disclosed, by which coupon information may be received using broadcast related information and by which a specific coupon may be received using the received coupon information. The present invention includes receiving broadcast related information, extracting at least one coupon information from the received broadcast related information, displaying the extracted at least one coupon information, and receiving a coupon corresponding to a selected coupon information if the coupon information is selected from the displayed at least one coupon information. |
| US08869225B2 |
Digital cable TV receiver, diagnostic method for the digital cable TV receiver, and data structure of DVI status report
A host includes a plurality of Digital Visual Interface (DVI) ports. A controller is configured to receive a single DVI diagnostic request from a source external to the host, wherein the controller is further configured to collect DVI status information associated with each of the plurality of DVI ports in response to the single DVI diagnostic request. |
| US08869223B2 |
Increased cable television tap bandwidth utilizing existing tap housings
In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes a resonance restricting material in communication with a bypass line of a cable television tap. The bypass line generates resonances at a defined frequency in response to RF parameters in the tap and the resonances increase insertion losses at the defined frequency and precludes bandwidth of the tap being increased above the defined frequency. The resonance restricting material may attenuate the resonances generated by the bypass line at the defined frequency (e.g., approximately 1.2 GHz) and reduce insertion losses at the defined frequency and enable the bandwidth of the tap to be increased (e.g., from 1.0 GHz to 1.8 GHz). |
| US08869217B2 |
Media files delivery system and method
A file server delivers media files in unicast mode to a media gateway device in response to user requests, and a FCAST/NORM media streamer delivers a stream of these media files in multicast mode to the media gateway device. By using a file server operating in unicast mode and a FCAST/NORM media streamer delivering a stream of these media files in multicast mode, it is possible to switch seamlessly between the two modes in an embodiment. In an embodiment of the invention, a media gateway device includes a cache memory for storing media files from the file server and/or the FCAST/NORM media streamer; and a controller that controls delivery of media files from the cache memory to the user and transmits user requests for media files to the file server when the cache memory does not contain the media files requested by the user. Thus, the controller requests media files from the file server only when the media files requested by the user are not cached. Otherwise, the media files requested by the user are fetched from the cache memory for delivery to the user. In this manner, the media files requested by the user will be delivered by the file server in unicast mode only when the FCAST/NORM media streamer has not supplied such files to the gateway device for caching. |
| US08869210B2 |
Broadcast receiving apparatus, control method thereof, and storage medium
A broadcast receiving apparatus and method for controlling the apparatus includes selecting a channel from a plurality of channels included in a broadcast signal, an outputting channel selection information specifying a selected channel, outputting video of the selected channel to a display device, outputting channel information related to the selected channel to the display device, and controlling selection of the channel and outputting of the channel information based on the outputted channel selection information specifying a selected channel and a predetermined condition. |
| US08869209B2 |
Display device and transmitting device
A display device includes a signal receiving unit, an image display unit, a communicating unit, a position designating unit, and an information transmitting unit. The signal receiving unit receives a video signal by a differential signal through a plurality of channels from an external apparatus via a transmission path. The image display unit processes the video signal received in the signal receiving unit to display an image. The communicating unit performs a bi-directional communication by using a predetermined line which constitutes the transmission path. The position designating unit designates a position on a display screen of the image display unit. The information transmitting unit transmits, by the communicating unit, coordinate information on the position designated by the position designating unit to the external apparatus. |
| US08869208B2 |
Computing similarity between media programs
System and method are provided to associate or compare media programs. A method includes: obtaining, using at least one processing circuit, first metadata for a first media program and second metadata for a second media program, wherein the first metadata are organized into a plurality of first fields, and the second metadata are organized into a plurality of second fields; extracting, using at least one processing circuit, a plurality of first tokens from one of the plurality of the first fields and a plurality of second tokens from one of the plurality of second fields; assigning a weight factor to each of the first and second tokens; cross-correlating the first and second tokens between the plurality of first fields and the plurality of second fields; and calculating a similarity score between the first and second media programs based on the cross-correlating. |
| US08869204B2 |
Method and system for displaying advertisements in an electronic program guide
A system and method for displaying an electronic program schedule guide is provided. The system has areas for displaying program schedule information. In addition, the system also has areas that may be used for advertising programs, products or services. In another embodiment, the system has areas for displaying messages to the user. |
| US08869201B2 |
Program guide apparatus
A method acquires program guide information in an image signal receiver, and program guide method and apparatus using the same. In the program guide apparatus, information immediately required by a user is obtained first, and information of less preferential channels is obtained next, thus presenting a smooth interface to the user. The method of acquiring program guide information for channels includes acquiring the program guide information for each channel by scanning accessible channels while a received program is not displayed. The program guide apparatus includes a tuner tuning a channel, a program guide information detector, a memory, a key input, a microprocessor, and a character signal generator. |
| US08869200B2 |
Selection list of thumbnails
A method and system to view a selection of thumbnails are described herein. A plurality of content channels, which are most recently tuned into by a user, are stored. Further, a display presents a selection array for a plurality of thumbnails that represent the plurality of content channels. |
| US08869199B2 |
Media content transmission method and apparatus, and reception method and apparatus for providing augmenting media content using graphic object
Disclosed is a media content reception method for providing augmenting media contents using graphic objects, including: receiving metadata including information representing each event of any one of broadcast contents or moving picture contents, and any one of the broadcast contents or the moving picture contents and graphic object related information associated with events, the events including at least one of a specific scene, a specific situation, and a specific phenomenon of any one of the broadcast contents or the moving picture contents; analyzing the received metadata; designating the graphic objects to correspond to each event within any one of the broadcast contents or the moving picture contents based on the analyzed metadata; and displaying the designated graphic objects to meet each event at the time of playing any one of the broadcast contents or the moving picture contents. |
| US08869197B2 |
Presentation of an avatar in a media communication system
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) system having a controller to retrieve a user profile associated with a user of the IPTV system, cause a set-top box (STB) operating in the IPTV system to present an avatar having characteristics that correlate to the user profile, receive from the STB one or more responses of the user, wherein the one or more responses are collected by the STB from a communication exchange between the avatar and the user, identify from the one or more responses a need to communicate with a content source, establish a communication session with the content source, receive from the content source an avatar profile, adapt the characteristics of the avatar to correlate at least in part to the avatar profile, and cause the STB to present the adapted avatar. Other embodiments are disclosed. |
| US08869194B2 |
Methods, computer program products, and apparatus for providing targeted content based on user data
Targeted content associated with user information stored in a database within a network in communication with a user device is received along with program content. A determination by a scanning process is made at what position or at what time in the program content to include the targeted content. The program content and the targeted content are rendered, with the targeted content included at the determined position or time in the program content, for presentation to at least one user. This rendering may occur within a network or within a user device. |
| US08869189B2 |
Controlling access to content and/or services
The exemplary embodiments of the method and system according to the present invention provide a system and method for controlling access to audiovisual content such as television shows, video-on-demand services or streaming video which can be delivered by cable, satellite, wired or wireless networks, cell phones, the Internet, etc. More particularly, the present invention provides a capability to define certain criteria which can be used to restrict access to content based on combinations of various parameters including, but not limited to, time of day, day of the week, type of content, source of content, content display device, etc. These criteria may also be provided by data storage arrangements or a network, and access restrictions specified by such criteria can be associated with a plurality of display devices. |
| US08869183B2 |
Methods and apparatus to detect user attentiveness to handheld computing devices
Methods and apparatus to detect user attentiveness to handheld computing devices are disclosed. An example method includes detecting a change of a handheld computing device from a first starting spatial condition to a first ending spatial condition, wherein the first starting spatial condition and the first ending spatial condition are angular orientations of the handheld computing device relative to a reference; and querying an index associating a plurality of spatial condition changes with respective likelihoods indicative of user attentiveness to determine if the index includes an entry having the first starting spatial condition and the first ending spatial condition of the detected change. |
| US08869181B2 |
Method and system for message notification
Methods and systems for message notification are described. A video message is received from a source access device. A selection of a target user may be received for the video message. A message notification of availability of the video message for a target access device associated with the target user may be provided. |
| US08869179B2 |
Rotary head data storage and retrieval system and method
A data storage and retrieval system includes a head carriage unit having a working surface and multiple heads disposed at the working surface. The head carriage unit is adapted for rotational motion about an axis oriented substantially normal to the working surface. The system also includes a tape drive unit for moving a tape media past the working surface of the head carriage unit, the tape media having a width approximately equal to a width of the working surface of the head carriage unit. The multiple heads are configured to record multiple data tracks on or retrieve multiple data tracks from the tape media as the head carriage unit rotates while the tape media moves past the working surface of the head carriage unit. |
| US08869178B2 |
Digital video disc player
A digital video disc player includes a housing, a shaft rotatably arranged in the housing, a rotary support accommodated in the housing and fixed to the shaft, a plurality of trays arranged on the rotary support, each of the trays supporting a digital video disc and a driving bar movably connected to the housing, the driving bar driving the shaft to revolve, thereby causing the trays to rotate together with the rotary support. User needs only to push the driving bar to switch the positions of the discs instead of opening the tray to replace new disc. |
| US08869161B2 |
Characterization and assignment of workload requirements to resources based on predefined categories of resource utilization and resource availability
A method for managing computing resources includes generating a first workload metadata for a first workload, generating a second workload metadata for a second workload, and comparing the first workload and the second workload metadata against resource metadata. The method includes, based upon the comparison of workload metadata against resource metadata, identifying a potential conflict in resource requirements between the first workload and the computing resources available to the processing entity, and assigning the second workload for execution by one of the processing entities. The metadata characterize computing resources required by the associated workload. The first workload metadata is initially prioritized over the second workload metadata. The workloads are to be executed by processing entities. The resource metadata is available to the processing entities. The potential conflict in resource requirements does not exist between the resource requirements of the second workload and the computing resources of the processing entity. |
| US08869160B2 |
Goal oriented performance management of workload utilizing accelerators
A method, information processing system, and computer readable storage medium are provided for dynamically managing accelerator resources. A first set of hardware accelerator resources is initially assigned to a first information processing system, and a second set of hardware accelerator resources is initially assigned to a second information processing system. Jobs running on the first and second information processing systems are monitored. When one of the jobs fails to satisfy a goal, at least one hardware accelerator resource in the second set of hardware accelerator resources from the second information processing system are dynamically reassigned to the first information processing system. |
| US08869159B2 |
Scheduling MapReduce jobs in the presence of priority classes
Techniques for scheduling one or more MapReduce jobs in a presence of one or more priority classes are provided. The techniques include obtaining a preferred ordering for one or more MapReduce jobs, wherein the preferred ordering comprises one or more priority classes, prioritizing the one or more priority classes subject to one or more dynamic minimum slot guarantees for each priority class, and iteratively employing a MapReduce scheduler, once per priority class, in priority class order, to optimize performance of the one or more MapReduce jobs. |
| US08869158B2 |
Job scheduling to balance energy consumption and schedule performance
An energy-aware backfill scheduling method combines overestimation of job run-times and processor adjustments, such as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, to balance overall schedule performance and energy consumption. Accordingly, some scheduled jobs are executed in a manner reducing energy consumption. A computer-implemented method comprises identifying job performance data for a plurality of representative jobs and running a simulation of backfill-based job scheduling of the jobs at various combinations of run-time over-estimation values and processor adjustment values. The simulation generates data including energy consumption and job delay. The method further identifies one of the combinations of values that optimizes the mathematical product of an energy consumption parameter and a job delay parameter using the simulation generated data for the plurality of jobs. Jobs submitted to a processor are then scheduled using the identified combination of a run-time over-estimation value and a processor adjustment value. |
| US08869156B2 |
Speculative task reading in a traffic manager of a network processor
Described embodiments provide for scheduling packets for transmission by a network processor. The network processor generates tasks corresponding to received packets associated with a data flow. A traffic manager of the network processor receives tasks provided by a processing module of the network processor and generates a tree scheduling hierarchy having one or more scheduling levels. Each received task is queued in a queue of the scheduling hierarchy associated with the received task, the queue having a corresponding parent scheduler in each level of the scheduling hierarchy, forming a branch of the scheduling hierarchy. A parent scheduler selects a child node to transmit a task. A task read module determines a thread corresponding to the selected child node to read corresponding packet data from a shared memory. The traffic manager forms one or more output tasks for transmission based on the packet data corresponding to the thread. |
| US08869152B1 |
Methods and procedures to dynamically adjust processor frequency
A method for altering an operating frequency of a processor. The method includes monitoring a real-time performance indicator of a system, and determining a desired frequency in response to the indicator. The indicator may be an amount of idle time of a processor of the system. The method also includes selectively altering an operating frequency of the processor in response to a comparison of the desired frequency and the operating frequency, including increasing the operating frequency in response to the desired frequency being greater than the operating frequency, and decreasing the operating frequency only in response to the desired frequency being less than the operating frequency by more than a predetermined value. |
| US08869151B2 |
Packet draining from a scheduling hierarchy in a traffic manager of a network processor
Described embodiments provide for controlling a state of each node in a scheduling hierarchy of a network processor. A traffic manager generates a tree scheduling hierarchy having a root scheduler and N scheduler levels. The network processor generates tasks corresponding to received packets. A traffic manager enqueues received tasks in a queue of the scheduling hierarchy associated with a data flow. The traffic manager maintains scheduling data structures for each node in the scheduling hierarchy. The scheduling data structures include a backpressure indicator and a timer indicator. If the backpressure indicator is set, the traffic manager sets the node as unavailable for scheduling and removes the node from the scheduling hierarchy. If the timer indicator is set, the traffic managers sets the node as unavailable for scheduling. Otherwise, if neither the backpressure indicator nor the timer indicator is set, the traffic manager sets the node as available for scheduling. |
| US08869148B2 |
Concurrency identification for processing of multistage workflows
A system and method may be utilized to identify concurrency levels of processing stages in a distributed system, identify common resources and bottlenecks in the distributed system using the identified concurrency levels, and allocate resources in the distributed system using the identified concurrency levels. |
| US08869146B2 |
Virtual machine migration
In embodiments of virtual machine migration, a virtual machine migration system includes a storage array that maintains data. A first host computer includes at least one virtual machine with a virtual drive that is mapped to a logical unit number (LUN) of the storage array, and the LUN corresponds to a LUN mask that associates the LUN with the first host computer. A virtual manager is executable on the first host computer, and is implemented to unmask the LUN to migrate the virtual machine from the first host computer to a second host computer that is configurable as a host of the virtual machine. The virtual manager can log the first host computer out of the LUN and the second host computer can log into the LUN to access the data in the storage array. |
| US08869144B2 |
Managing forwarding of input events in a virtualization environment to prevent keylogging attacks
The methods and systems described herein provide functionality for managing injection of input events to one virtual machine of a plurality of guest virtual machines, in a computing device executing a hypervisor hosting a trusted virtual machine and a non-trusted virtual machine. An input manager receives a first item of input data from an input device communicating with the computing device. The input manager identifies whether the first item of input data includes a predetermined string. The input manager forwards, responsive to the identification, the first item of input data to one of (i) a first virtual machine of a plurality of guest virtual machines executed by the processor of the computing device and (ii) an application executed by the control virtual machine, wherein at least one virtual machine of the plurality of guest virtual machines is a trusted virtual machine. |
| US08869140B2 |
Deploying software modules in computer system
Methods and systems are disclosed herein for deploying software modules in a computer system. In one embodiment, a number of containers are registered with a deployer. At least one container provides runtime environment for a corresponding type of software module in the computer system. The software modules are one of standalone software modules and components of software applications. From an archive file a number of files that include deployable software modules are extracted. The software modules corresponding to at least one of the containers are detected based on container specific detecting mechanisms. The detected software modules are validated in order to test their functionality and interoperability. When the software modules are validated, they are distributed for implementation in the corresponding containers. |
| US08869139B2 |
System and method for converting a physical disk to a virtual disk
A method for converting a disk of a physical computer into a virtual disk for use by a virtual machine is described. Contents of the disk of the physical computer are copied into an image file, wherein the image file has a different sector-by-sector organization of the contents than the disk but a logically equivalent file system organization. Hardware configuration information from the image file is then extracted, wherein the hardware configuration information relates to hardware of the physical computer and, based on a comparison of the extracted hardware configuration information and a virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine, hardware-dependent files in the image file are replaced with substitute files that are compatible with the virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine. |
| US08869131B2 |
Method and apparatus for downgrading firmware in a controller
A method for downgrading firmware in a controller is provided. The method includes receiving a request, by the controller, to downgrade the firmware from a current version to an older version. For a feature implemented in the current version and not implemented in the older version, the method includes determining if the feature is currently in-use by the controller. If the feature is currently in-use by the controller, the method includes warning a user and abandoning the request. If the feature is not currently in-use by the controller, the method includes checking other features implemented in the current version and not implemented in the older version, and repeating determining, providing, abandoning, and checking, and downgrading the firmware, if all of the features implemented in the current version and not implemented in the older version are not currently in-use by the controller. |
| US08869129B2 |
Apparatus and method for scheduling instruction
An apparatus and method for scheduling an instruction are provided. The apparatus includes an analyzer configured to analyze dependency of a plurality of recurrence loops and a scheduler configured to schedule the recurrence loops based the analyzed dependencies. When scheduling a plurality of recurrence loops, the apparatus first schedules a dominant loop whose loop head has no dependency on another loop among the recurrence loops. |
| US08869128B2 |
Compiling method, program, and information processing apparatus
A method, program, and apparatus for optimizing compiled code using a dynamic compiler. The method includes the steps of: generating intermediate code from a trace, which is an instruction sequence described in machine language; computing an offset between an address value, which is a base point of an indirect branch instruction, and a start address of a memory page, which includes a virtual address referred to by the information processing apparatus immediately after processing a first instruction; determining whether an indirect branch instruction that is subsequent to the first instruction causes processing to jump to another memory page, by using a value obtained from adding the offset to a displacement made by the indirect branch instruction; and optimizing the intermediate code by using the result of the determining step. |
| US08869124B2 |
Method and program product for costing and planning the re-hosting of computer-based applications
A computer-implemented method and program product for estimating cost and/or time requirements for migrating an application from one platform to another. The method includes receiving identifications for tasks, receiving at least one assessment type selected for estimating cost and/or time requirement for migration, where the assessment type delineates a degree of accuracy for estimating the cost and/or time requirement for migration, correlating base costs and/or time requirements to the tasks identified, receiving identifications of attributes that affect base costs and/or time requirements, correlating cost and/or time factors to the tasks, a respective cost factor and/or time factor indicating an amount by which an attribute affects the respective base cost and/or time requirement for a task, and estimating cost and/or time requirements for each task, by applying the respective cost and/or time factors for each task to the respective base cost and/or base time requirements for each task. |
| US08869120B2 |
Multi language software code analysis
The invention concerns a method, a computer, and software for analysis of software code that includes code written in multiple languages. A static analysis on source code of an embedded system that has source code written in a low-level language embedded within a high level language is accompanied by transforming the embedded low level language source code to a common high level representation for performing the static analysis. This transformation only retains sufficient semantic meaning of the low level source code necessary to perform the static analysis. |
| US08869119B2 |
Preferential execution of method calls in hybrid systems
Affinity-based preferential call technique, in one aspect, may improve performance of distributed applications in a hybrid system having heterogeneous platforms. A segment of code in a program being executed on a processor may be intercepted or trapped in runtime. A platform is selected in the hybrid system for executing said segment of code, the platform determined to run the segment of code with best efficiency among a plurality of platforms in the hybrid system. The segment of code is dynamically executed on the selected platform determined to run the segment of code with best efficiency. |
| US08869118B2 |
System aware performance counters
System aware performance counters including a processor for performing a method that includes executing a predefined code segment of an application, the executing on a processor. The executing includes executing an instrumented thread included in the predefined code segment. The method includes performing a first action associated with executing the instrumented thread in the predefined code segment, and registering the instrumented thread. A performance counter associated with the predefined code segment is started. Also, the execution of the predefined code segment is paused and the performance counter is paused. The method further includes performing a second action associated with pausing the executing of the predefined code segment. The executing of the predefined code segment is resumed and the performance counter is resumed responsive to resuming the executing of the predefined code segment. Also, a third action associated with resuming executing the predefined code segment is performed. |
| US08869117B2 |
Capturing multi-component trace for unit of work
Provided are techniques for the tracing of computer processes and, more specifically, to techniques that enable a work unit to be traced across multiple processing components. A data structure is created and associated with a work unit. The first time a unit of work is processed a tracing context is retrieved form a pool and associated with the data structure. As the unit of work is passed from component to component, the data structure is passed so that each component has access and is able to augment the same tracing context associated with the unit of work. |
| US08869116B2 |
Software testing capability assessment framework
An improved testing assessment tool and methodology maps the Testing Maturity Model (TMM) structure to individual test areas, thereby enabling comprehensive and targeted improvement. In this way, the present invention uses the five TMM maturity levels to assess individual areas, rather than merely assigning a single maturity level to the entire organization. Embodiments of the present invention include a quick assessment that includes a relatively small number of questions to be subjectively answered using the TMM hierarchy. Embodiments of the present invention further include a full assessment that includes a relatively large number of questions to be discretely answered, with these results being use to evaluate various testing areas using the TMM hierarchy. |
| US08869115B2 |
Systems and methods for emotive software usability
Systems and methods are disclosed for emotive healthcare software usability. A method to improve software usability is described, the method comprising presenting a software application to a user. The method also including logging activities of the user with respect to the software application, wherein the logging includes recording the user using the software application, and wherein the activities include user action with respect to the software application and mouse location on a user interface displaying the software application. The method also including interpreting user emotion from the recording, and tracking an emotive index based on a combination of user emotion and user action with respect to the software application and mouse location. The method also including providing feedback based on the emotive index. |
| US08869114B2 |
Mechanism for facilitating customized data overriding for software programs in an on-demand services environment
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for facilitating customized overriding of data for maintenance of software applications in an on-demand services environment. In one embodiment and by way of example, a method includes duplicating first data of a first data set into a second data that is placed in a second data set. The first data relates to a software application at a computing device. The method may further include amending a portion of the second data at the second data set. The amended portion of the second data corresponds to an unchanged portion of the first data. The method may further include facilitating running of the software application based on the first data while referring to the amended portion of the second data and ignoring the corresponding unchanged portion of the first data. |
| US08869113B2 |
Software architecture for validating C++ programs using symbolic execution
Particular embodiment compile a C++ program having one or more input variables to obtain bytecode of the C++ program; compile a C++ library to obtain bytecode of the C++ library; symbolically execute the bytecode of the C++ program and the bytecode of the C++ library, comprising assign a symbolic input to each input variable of the C++ program; determine one or more execution paths in the C++ program; and for each execution path, construct a symbolic expression that if satisfied, causes the C++ program to proceed down the execution path; and generate one or more test cases for the C++ program by solving the symbolic expressions. |
| US08869111B2 |
Method and system for generating test cases for a software application
The present invention provides a method, system and computer program product for generating one or more test cases for testing a software application by identifying one or more units of functionalities of the software application, structuring use cases of the software application, using the identified units of functionalities, generating a first set of use case activity diagrams from the structured use cases, and generating test cases from the generated use case activity diagrams. |
| US08869110B2 |
Method and arrangement for test case creation
The invention concerns a method for assigning a value to at least one data item of a test case instance. The invention is characterized in that the method comprises steps of selecting an input data item from a test design library, the library comprising a plurality of input data items and information about semantics and/or data type of the input data items and assigning the selected input data item as a value of data item of the test case instance. Also an arrangement and a computer readable media comprising a computer executable program are disclosed. |
| US08869106B2 |
Language service provider management using application context
A language service provider framework that generates an application context of a dynamic language program being authored. The application context includes a description of the dynamic language application being authored, one or more specific locations within the program, and runtime environment information. A language service provider port component holds one or more language service providers. Each language service provider may receive the application context and generate a set of available symbols corresponding to each of at least one of the identified one or more specific locations. A management component receives the application context from the application context generation component, provides the application context the language service provider, and correspondingly receives the available symbol set from the language service provider. Since the management component provides an application context that also includes runtime environment information, the available symbol set may be more accurately represented, thereby facilitating authoring of dynamic language programs. |
| US08869105B2 |
Extensibility integrated development environment for business object extension development
In one aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method. The method may including selecting an existing business object for extension in an extensibility integrated development system; generating, in the extensibility integrated development system, a page highlighting one or more nodes of the existing business object to allow selection of the one or more nodes for modification; selecting, in the extensibility integrated development system, at least one of the one or more nodes, when highlighted; modifying, in the extensibility integrated development system, the selected one or more nodes by adding at least one attribute to the at least one of the selected one or more nodes; and storing, in a repository, the modified node including the added at least one attribute. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described. |
| US08869100B1 |
Data objects for model-based design
A method of defining data objects for use with an executable block diagram modeling and code generation system including providing pre-defined data object classes, each of the pre-defined data classes having default attributes, extending the pre-defined data object classes with subclasses, each of the subclasses having user-defined attributes and generating data objects, which are instances of the pre-defined classes and the subclasses. |
| US08869096B2 |
Requirement management method and apparatus
Embodiments of the present invention provide a requirement management method and apparatus. The method mainly includes: dividing all requirements of a system into layers from top to bottom according to a service object, a value and granularity of every requirement; obtaining a direct progress rate of any requirement in the system; obtaining direct progress rates of all lower-layer requirements of the any requirement; and calculating a mean of direct progress rates of all the lower-layer requirements to obtain a verification progress rate of the any requirement, and performing a weighting operation on the direct progress rate and the verification progress rate of the any requirement to obtain a progress rate of the any requirement. |
| US08869094B2 |
Standard cells having transistors annotated for gate-length biasing
A standard cell library is disclosed. The standard cell library contains cells wherein at least one transistor in at least one cell is annotated for gate length biasing. Gate length biasing includes the modification of the gate length, so as to change the speed or power consumption of the modified gate length. The standard cell library is one used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices (e.g., that result as semiconductor chips), by way of fabricating features defined on one or more layouts of geometric shapes. The annotations serve to identify which ones of the transistor gate features are to be modified before using the geometric shapes for manufacturing the semiconductor device. |
| US08869092B2 |
Wiring inspection apparatus and wiring inspection method
A wiring inspection apparatus includes a dividing unit, a calculating unit, and an output unit. The dividing unit draws a boundary line in a predetermined area between a transmission component and a reception component, to divide the predetermined area into a first area containing the transmission component and a second area containing the reception component. The transmission component transmits a signal to the reception component via relay components. The calculating unit calculates a number of wirings that connect the components across the boundary line, based on positions of the transmission component, the reception component, and the relay components in the predetermined area. The output unit outputs information indicating the presence of a wiring extending in a direction opposite to a direction from the transmission component to the reception component, when the number of the wirings calculated by the calculating unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. |
| US08869090B2 |
Stretch dummy cell insertion in FinFET process
A method embodiment includes identifying an empty region in an integrated circuit (IC) layout, wherein the empty region is a region not including any active fins and outside a minimum spacing boundary, applying a grid map over the empty region, wherein the grid map comprises a plurality of grids inside the empty region, and filling the empty region with a plurality of dummy fin cells by placing a dummy fin cell in each of the plurality of grids, wherein applying the grid map and filling the empty region is performed using a computer. |
| US08869089B2 |
Semiconductor integrated circuit and method of designing the same
According to example embodiments of inventive concepts, a method of designing a semiconductor integrated circuit includes: creating a marking layer that indicates at least one semiconductor device of a plurality of semiconductor devices that is to be changed in at least one of width, height, and space thereof from an adjacent semiconductor device; and applying the marking layer to a previously created layout to generate a new library of the at least one semiconductor device that is changed in at least one of width, height, and space from an adjacent semiconductor device. The marking layer may be based on a change in characteristics of the at least one semiconductor device of the plurality of semiconductor devices. |
| US08869086B1 |
Small, adaptable, real-time, scalable image processing chip
An imaging solution that uses a small, adaptable, real-time, scalable, image-processing (SMARTS IP) chip configured to function like any one of a wide range of specialized FPA imaging devices, and a method for configuring and implementing same is provided. Configuration for a wide range of applications and implementations, including ones with or without IDCA assemblies or other types of dewar/cooler structures, is disclosed. A wide range of output data formats, including all SDI-compatible image data formats, may be accomplished. Frame stacking and variable effective resolution and charge well depth levels may be accomplished in output image data based on on-chip image processing techniques. On-chip image processing algorithms may include XR™, DRC, NUC, and other similar or related techniques. Image data output compression through on-chip processing is also disclosed. |
| US08869085B2 |
Multi-finger transistor layout for reducing cross-finger electric variations and for fully utilizing available breakdown voltages
Structure and methods for a semiconductor transistor design. The transistor structure comprises a field effect transistor having a multi-finger gate and three or more diffusion regions. Each diffusion region is identified as either a source region or a drain region, and each diffusion region is further identified as either an inner diffusion region or an outer diffusion region. Electrical contacts are established in the inner diffusion regions and the outer diffusion regions. There are approximately twice as many contacts in an inner source region as in the outer source region. There are approximately twice as many contacts in an inner drain region as in the outer drain region. The number and locations of contacts in each diffusion region are adjusted to reduce the difference among source node voltages of all fingers and the difference among drain node voltages of all fingers. |
| US08869084B2 |
Parameterized cell layout generation guided by a design rule checker
A method for generating a layout for a cell of an integrated circuit (IC) guided by design rule checking (DRC) is disclosed. In the method, a model is defined, wherein the model comprises a plurality of parameters for generating a layout of the cell. Next an initial layout for the cell can be generated according to an initial set of values for the plurality of parameters. Then design rule checking (DRC) is performed for the initial layout based on a set of design rules. If any violations are found, the corresponding violation reports will be associated with the model. Therefore, a new set of values for the plurality of parameters can be generated by analyzing the violation reports collectively based on the model. With the new set of values for the plurality of parameters and above steps repeated, until no violation is found, a “DRC clean” layout can be generated. |
| US08869082B2 |
Method and device for checking a circuit for adherence to set-up and hold times
A method and a device for checking a circuit path of a circuit for adherence to set-up and hold times are provided. A timing behavior of the circuit path is designated as being correct if at least one pair of set-up and hold times from predefined set-up and hold times that are for the circuit path does not produce any timing infringement in the circuit path. Otherwise, the timing behavior of the circuit path is classified as being defective. This decreases the number of circuit paths wrongly designated as being defective by the use of pairs of predefined set-up and hold times and decreases the chip area for buffers. |
| US08869081B2 |
Automating integrated circuit device library generation in model based metrology
Various embodiments include computer-implemented methods, computer program products and systems for generating an integrated circuit (IC) library for use in a scatterometry analysis. In some cases, approaches include: obtaining chip design data about at least one IC chip; obtaining user input data about the at least one IC chip; and running an IC library defining program using the chip design data in its original format and the user input data in its original format, the running of the IC library defining program including: determining a process variation for the at least one IC chip based upon the chip design data and the user input data; converting the process variation into shape variation data; and providing the shape variation data in a text format to a scatterometry modeling program for use in the scatterometry analysis. |
| US08869078B2 |
Boosting transistor performance with non-rectangular channels
Roughly described, the invention includes layouts and masks for an integrated circuit, in which the diffusion shape for a transistor includes a transversely extending jog on one or both transversely opposite sides, the jog having inner and outer corners, at least one of which is located relative to the gate conductor longitudinally such that during lithographic printing of the diffusion shape onto the integrated circuit, the corner will round and extend at least partly into the channel region. The invention also includes aspects for a system and method for introducing such jogs, and for an integrated circuit device having a non-rectangular channel region, the channel region being wider where it meets the source region than at some other longitudinal position under the gate. |
| US08869077B1 |
Selection of replacement patterns for reducing manufacturing hotspots and constraint violations of IC designs
Methodologies and an apparatus enabling an improvement of a manufacturing yield of an IC design are disclosed. Embodiments include: determining a portion of a layout of an IC design, the portion including a first pattern including a plurality of design connections; determining a function performed by the first pattern based, at least in part, on the design connections; and selecting, by a processor, a second pattern based on the function. |
| US08869076B2 |
Global landmark method for critical dimension uniformity reconstruction
Data associated with a substrate can be processed by measuring a property of at least a first type of specific features and a second type of specific features on a substrate. The first type of specific features is measured at a first plurality of locations on the substrate to generate a first group of measured values, and the second type of specific features is measured at a second plurality of locations on the substrate to generate a second group of measured values, in which the first and second groups of measured values are influenced by critical dimension variations of the substrate. A combined measurement function is defined based on combining the at least first and second groups of measured values. At least one group of measured values is transformed prior to combining with another group or other groups of measured values, in which the transformation is defined by a group of coefficients. Variations in the critical dimension across the substrate are determined based on the combined measurement function and a predetermined relationship between the measured values and the critical dimension. |
| US08869075B2 |
Locally optimized coloring for cleaning lithographic hotspots
Approaches for cleaning/resolving lithographic hotspots (e.g., during a simulation phase of semiconductor design) are provided. Typically, a hotspot will be identified in a first polygon (having a first color) of a lithographic pattern or contour. Once a hotspot has been identified, a location (e.g., another portion of the first polygon or in a second polygon of the lithographic pattern having the first color) proximate the hotspot will be identified to place a stitch marker. Once the location has been identified, a stitch marker will be placed at that location. Then, a color of the stitch marked location will be changed to a second color, and the resulting lithographic pattern can be further processed to clean/resolve the hotspot. |
| US08869073B2 |
Hand pose interaction
Provided is a method of hand pose interaction. The method recognizes a user input related to selection of an object displayed on a computing device and displays a graphical user interface (GUI) corresponding to the object. The graphical user interface comprises at least one representation of a hand pose, wherein each representation of a hand pose corresponds to a unique function associated with the object. Upon recognition of a user hand pose corresponding to a hand pose representation in the graphical user interface, the function associated with the hand pose representation is executed. |
| US08869061B1 |
User interface for searching an electronic document
A graphical user interface (GUI) capable of presenting a display that indicates that navigation controls can be used for navigating through results of a search using a search engine. The GUI highlights the GUI control that accepts text characters for indicating a search term such that the area contrasts with the display of an adjacent display area in response to entering the search term. Once the search is initiated, such as by actuating a search initiation control, the GUI may change to highlight navigation controls to indicate that those controls can be used to navigate between search result hits. Additional icons or controls may be displayed to further indicate the function of navigation controls and actions that may be taken to further modify the display of controls, such as collapsing some of the controls. |
| US08869057B2 |
Server displaying status of operator using seat layout, terminal for manager, system, and method
A server (10) is connected to a terminal (13) for an operator and a terminal (12) for a manager through a network (14), receives operation situation data representing the operation situation of the terminal (13) transmitted from the terminal (13) together with the seat ID, creates display data for displaying an image of the seat layout representing the operation situation different with the type of the received operation situation data according to the seat ID from the layout data read out of a storage unit (120) of the server (10), and transmits the display data to the terminal (12). |
| US08869056B2 |
Information-processing device and program
An information-processing device according to the present invention displays plural windows in a certain arrangement. The information-processing device selects one of displayed windows as a selected window, and in response to an operation to specify a direction, sets a window located in the direction as a selected window. The information-processing device also, in a case where plural windows are displayed in a certain arrangement, changes the arrangement in accordance with a predetermined operation. The change may be made in a regular manner or according to a random pattern. For example, in a case where window W1 shown in Fig. (a) is a selected window, a desired window (a window a user wishes to select) is window W5, and arrangement is changed, the arrangement is changed to an arrangement shown in Fig. (b) or (c) so that a number of operations that is required for a user to select the desired window is reduced. |
| US08869054B2 |
Framework for persistent user interactions within web-pages
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for tracking user interactions comprising receiving a first request associated with a first user, to exchange a communication with a second user about one of a plurality of elements of a web-page, wherein the plurality of elements includes at least one of graphical elements and textual elements; in response to the first request, exchanging a communication between the first user and the second user; capturing the communication; storing an interaction object comprising the communication, wherein storing includes associating the interaction object with the one of the plurality of elements of the web-page; and serving a modified version of the web-page to a third user; wherein the modified version specifies the interaction object being associated with the one of the plurality of elements of the web-page. |
| US08869053B2 |
Organizer for managing employee time and attendance
Embodiments relate to systems and methods allowing comprehensive access to, and management of, workforce data from a remote location. Embodiments may allow communication of information between a mobile device of a supervisor or section leader working at a remote site, and a centralized information repository. Embodiments allow the user to communicate with a central enterprise resource management (ERM) application in order to receive and update relevant employment information. Utilizing certain embodiments, a supervisor working remotely may be able to quickly identify work schedules of various staff members, as well as gain access to information such as employee time management data, shift assignments, overtime, skill sets, and absences. Certain embodiments may allow a mobile device to display and/or modify information such as work schedules, time entries, clock-in/clock-out times, available/consumed vacation time, and on-call lists of replacement candidates possessing appropriate skills. |
| US08869052B2 |
Context-dependent object types in an integrated development environment
A method is provided to display indicia of an object type for a service within a user interface of a software development system that runs on a computer, the method comprising: obtaining runtime context information that includes an identification of a respective service and an indication of a user role; providing a plurality of corresponding object types; using context dependent rules to determine which respective object types are within scope of a service; and generating a user interface that includes respective indicia of respective object types determined to be within the scope of the service. |
| US08869049B1 |
Auto-completion for user interface design
Techniques for automatically completing a partially completed UI design created by a user are described. A UI query including attributes of UI components in the partially completed UI design is created. Design examples with similar UI components are identified. UI components of one such design example are displayed to automatically complete the partially completed UI design (also called an “auto-complete suggestion”). The user can systematically navigate the design examples and accept auto-completed suggestions to include into the partially complete UI design. |
| US08869048B2 |
Declarative and multi-mode wizard framework
A user interface mechanism may be defined by a story from which a wizard engine may create a user interface. The engine may present the story using various user interface containers that define a layout and general functions of a user interface, along with styles that may define the ‘look and feel’ of the user interface. The story may define an action performed once data are collected from the user. The story may also define data passed to the action, as well as the data collected from a user. The story may further define translation routines or other actions that may be launched in response to receiving user action and used to generate data that may be passed to the action. |
| US08869046B2 |
System and method for online rating of electronic content
A system and method are provided for rating online electronic content. A compilation of information or other item of electronic content is presented to a user, along with comments. The comments may target discrete portions of the content item (e.g., a sentence, a statement, an assertion), the content as a whole, or another comment. A user is able to identify a specific portion of the content item as a target for a new comment, which will automatically be associated with that portion. Users may rate the content item, a portion of the item and/or other users' comments based on credibility and/or other traits (e.g., bias, accuracy, violence, enjoyability, prurience). Users' ratings are tallied to produce an overall rating for comments, commentators, portions of content item, entire content items, a program or series or other source of the content item, etc. |
| US08869042B2 |
Recommendation engine
Determining an item to present to a first user is disclosed. Preference information is received that comprises the preferences of a plurality of users associated with one or more items. User correlations are determined from the received preference information. For the first user, a set of other users most correlated with the first user is determined. One or more items are presented to the first user based at least in part on the preferences of the other users. |
| US08869037B2 |
Event visualization
Displaying a preference by a first user of a content contribution submitted by a second user is disclosed. A preference event by the first user is detected. A plurality of detected events is stored. In response to a query from a client, at least a portion of the stored detected events is stored. At least a portion of the received events is caused to be rendered graphically. |
| US08869031B1 |
Scaling intro music
A system, a computer readable storage medium storing at least one program, and a computer-implemented method for playing intro music while an online game loads on a client system. One or more intro songs are identified, and the stages of loading are monitored. Once the loading reaches a stage where interactivity between the user and the online game is possible, the currently playing intro song finishes playing while interactivity is permitted, but after the currently playing intro song finishes, the intro music has ended. |
| US08869028B2 |
Interface structures and associated method for automated mining of legacy systems using visual configuration tools
Disclosed are embodiments of an interface structure and a method for automated data mining of a legacy system. A GUI is employed to navigate through the legacy system interface application and access a data field. Once the data field is displayed, the GUI can receive a tag from the user labeling the data field. Additionally, a screen tracing device can trace the sequence of events that ultimately results in the data field being displayed. The traced sequence and its corresponding tag are then stored in a data storage device. These processes can be repeated for multiple different data fields. Subsequently, a sequence applying device can retrieve one or more previously stored sequences in response to a request referencing the corresponding tag(s) and can apply the sequence(s) in order to access, for processing, data from the corresponding data field(s). |
| US08869024B2 |
Monitoring a background process in a web browser and providing status of same
The functionality of a browser application is enhanced using a browser plug-in, which enables the browser application to access portions of a file system not otherwise accessible to the browser application. The enhanced functionality provided by the browser plug-in is used in one example by an image uploading web application. The browser application may also start a task in the background, such as a task for uploading several images, and then monitor the progress of the task even when the browser application navigates away from the page that initiated the task. The browser application may use a local web server running on the client device to perform tasks, including the rendering of images and monitoring progress of long running tasks. |
| US08869021B2 |
Method and apparatus for personalizing completion of electronic forms
The invention is a method and apparatus for encouraging applicants or others completing electronic forms to complete the forms and to become associated with the institution to which the form is directed. While completing the form or afterward, the applicant follows a hyperlink that presents a personal communication from an identified individual associated with the institution. The communication typically relates to the underlying purpose of the form rather than providing instructions on completing the form. For example, the communication may include a personalized message encouraging the applicant to attend the university. By varying the communication depending on the information entered onto the form by the applicant, the communication can be tailored to the specific background and interests of the applicant. The communication can also vary depending upon the applicants progress in the application process, for example, upon submission of verifiable payment information identifying the applicant, the applicant may be provided contact information to contact the identified individual. |
| US08869017B2 |
Aggregating social networking system user information for display via stories
The invention provides a display interface in a social networking system that enables the presentation of information related to a user in a timeline or map view. The system accesses information about a user of a social networking system, including both data about the user and social network activities related to the user. The system then selects one or more of these pieces of data and/or activities from a certain time period and gathers them into timeline units based on their relatedness and their relevance to users. These timeline units are ranked by relevance to the user, and are used to generate a timeline or map view for the user containing visual representations of the timeline units organized by location or time. The timeline or map view is then provided to other users of the social networking system that wish to view information about the user. |
| US08869016B2 |
Page creation system
Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for creating web pages for third party web sites such as Facebook. A page creation system is disclosed for creating web pages that encourage visitors to like a particular page on a third party site. Integration details are received about a third party site. Upon selecting a particular page template, the template is displayed with incomplete sections of the page template for the user to fill in. Content is received from the user for incomplete sections to form a completed page content. A create page selection is received from the user. A blurred version of a web page is created from the completed page content. A normal version of the web page that is designed for display after the blurred version is also created. The blurred version and normal version of the web page are published to the third party site. |
| US08869013B1 |
Circuit enabling and a method of generating a product in a decoder circuit
A circuit enabling generating a product in a decoder circuit is disclosed. The circuit comprises a first memory element coupled to receive a first error value and a first portion of a second error value; a second memory element coupled to receive the first error value and a second portion of the second error value; and an adder circuit coupled to add an output of the first memory element and an output of the second memory element. The output of the first memory element is generated in response to an address based on the first error value and the first portion of the second error value, and the output of the second memory element is generated in response to an address based on the first error value and the second portion of the second error value. A method for generating a product in a decoder circuit is also disclosed. |
| US08869012B2 |
Transmitting method, receiving method, receiving apparatus and transmitting apparatus
A transmitter apparatus wherein a simple structure is used to successfully suppress the degradation of error rate performance that otherwise would be caused by fading or the like. There are included encoding parts (11—1-11—4) that encode transport data; a mapping part (3304) that performs such a mapping that encoded data sequentially formed by the encoding parts (11—1-11—4) are not successively included in the same symbol, thereby forming data symbols; and a symbol interleaver (3301) that interleaves the data symbols. In this way, a low computational complexity can be used to perform an interleaving process equivalent to a bit interleaving process to effectively improve the reception quality at a receiving end. |
| US08869011B2 |
Unequal error protection scheme for headerized sub data sets
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a headerized SDS protected by unequal error protection; decoding a header from the headerized SDS and removing an impact of the header from C1 row parity to obtain a SDS; for a number of iterations: performing C2 column decoding, for no more than a number of interleaves in each row of the SDS: overwriting a number of columns with successfully decoded C2 codewords, erasing a number of C2 codewords, and maintaining remaining columns as uncorrected, performing C1 row decoding; for no more than a number of interleaves in each row of the SDS: overwriting a number of rows with successfully decoded C1 codewords, erasing a number of C1 codewords, and maintaining remaining rows as uncorrected; and outputting the SDS when all rows include only C1 codewords and all columns include only C2 codewords; otherwise, outputting indication that the SDS cannot be decoded properly. |
| US08869007B2 |
Three dimensional (3D) memory device sparing
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a three dimensional (“3D”) memory device includes detecting, by a memory controller, a first error on the 3D memory device and detecting, by the memory controller, a second error in a first chip in a first rank of the 3D memory device, wherein the first chip has an associated first chip select. The method also includes powering up a second chip in a second rank, sending a command from the memory controller to the 3D memory device to replace the first chip in the first chip select with the second chip and correcting the first error using an error control code. |
| US08869005B2 |
Error correction in a stacked memory
Electronic apparatus, systems, and methods to construct and operate the electronic apparatus and/or systems include a stack of memory dies with user data and/or first level error correction data stored in a stripe across the memory dies. One such stack can include a second level error correction vault, such as a parity vault, to store parity data corresponding to the user data and/or first level error correction data. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. |
| US08869002B2 |
Wireless communication device and data reception method
The present disclosure eliminates the need for a buffer large enough to store a MAC PDU for the CRC check and eliminates processing delay involved in outputting data to, and inputting data from, the buffer. A wireless communication device analyzes and buffers an RLC data PDU, which is a data processing unit in the Radio Link Control layer (RLC layer), in the RLC layer without waiting for the completion of error detection processing, which is performed in the Medium Access Control layer (MAC layer), for a data processing unit (PDU) in the MAC layer. In the RLC layer, the wireless communication device references the result of the error detection processing for the MAC PDU performed in the MAC layer and creates an RLC Service Data Unit (RLC SDU) using an error-free RLC data PDU. |
| US08868999B1 |
Systems and methods for erasure correction of iterative codes
Systems and methods are provided for correcting erasures in received codewords. In certain implementations of the system and methods, a codeword transmitted over a channel is processed to identify and/or mark a set of locations in the codeword corresponding to erased codeword symbols. A decoder selects a subset of locations from the set of locations in the codeword and selects a sequence of symbol values from a plurality of symbol value sequences. The decoder replaces each of the erased symbols in the subset of locations with a corresponding symbol value from the sequence of symbols values to produce a modified codeword and attempts to decode the modified codeword. |
| US08868997B2 |
Data transfer method
A data transfer method having a data retransmission function, in which a sending side saves data that was sent in memory, a receiving side uses a transmission confirmation signal to request the sending side to retransmit the data when the data was not properly received, then monitors the elapsed time, and when the data is not retransmitted after the elapsed time has exceeded a set time, uses a transmission confirmation signal again to request that the data be retransmitted, and where in response to that transmission confirmation signal, the sending side retransmits the saved data to the receiving side. |
| US08868996B2 |
Apparatus and method for transmitting/receiving the hybrid-ARQ ACK/NACK signal in mobile communication system
An apparatus and method are provided for transmitting a symbol group in a mobile communication system. The method includes generating a symbol group to which an orthogonal sequence is applied; mapping the generated symbol group to an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) symbol based on a symbol group index and a Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) group index; and transmitting the mapped symbol group. The generated symbol group is mapped to the OFDM symbol in an alternating pattern in accordance with the symbol group index. |
| US08868994B2 |
High performance virtual Converged Enhanced Ethernet with persistent state flow control
Maintaining bandwidth in links between servers and storage arrays comprising a device. The device establishes the links. The device identifies a first link from the links. The first link has a high response time. The device transmits a plurality of data packets on the first link. Each data packet is associated with a corresponding acknowledgment (ACK). The transmission is performed without waiting for the corresponding ACK to be received. The device tracks the ACK received in response to each of the transmitted data packets. The device detects a failure of the first link. In response to the detection, the device identifies invalid data packets. The invalid data packets comprise data packets transmitted on the first link after the detected failure. |
| US08868991B2 |
Memory devices, testing systems and methods
Testing systems and methods, as well as memory devices using such testing systems and methods, may facilitate testing of memory devices using a read-modify-write test procedure. One such testing system receives a signal indicative of at least some of a plurality of bits of data read from an address differing from each other, and then masks subsequent write operations at the same address. Therefore, any address at which the bits of read data do not all have the same value may be considered to be faulty. Failure data from the test can therefore be stored in the same array of memory cells that is being tested. |
| US08868989B2 |
System for testing error detection circuits
A system for testing an error detection circuit includes a fault injection unit for operating the error detection circuit in a fault injection mode. A fault is inserted in either of a primary or a redundant processor. Output signals generated by the primary and redundant processors are compared and checked for a mismatch and the error detection circuit outputs a test signal based on the comparison result. |
| US08868987B2 |
Systems and methods for visual correlation of log events, configuration changes and conditions producing alerts in a virtual infrastructure
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and systems for detecting and correlating log events, configuration changes and conditions producing alerts within a virtual infrastructure. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. |
| US08868985B2 |
Supervised fault learning using rule-generated samples for machine condition monitoring
A machine fault diagnosis system is provided. The system combines a rule-based predictive maintenance strategy with a machine learning system. A simple set of rules defined manually by human experts is used to generate artificial training feature vectors to portray machine fault conditions for which only a few real data points are available. Those artificial training feature vectors are combined with real training feature vectors and the combined set is used to train a supervised pattern recognition algorithm such as support vector machines. The resulting decision boundary closely approximates the underlying real separation boundary between the fault and normal conditions. |
| US08868982B2 |
Compact function trace based on execution length of leaf functions
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a system for generating compact function trace data for leaf functions includes a central processing unit (CPU), configured to output program flow information needed for generating a program flow trace, and a trace unit, coupled to the CPU. The trace unit is configured to receive the program flow information from the CPU for generating compact function trace data. The trace unit further comprises a first output mode and a second output mode and is further configured to select either the first output mode or the second output mode for generating compact function trace data. |
| US08868980B2 |
Monitoring circuit
A monitoring circuit monitors for the occurrence of a failure event on a data bus. The monitoring circuit includes a failure detection circuit for detecting the occurrence of the failure event within a device coupled to the data bus. An isolation circuit isolates the device from the data bus in response to the occurrence of the failure event. |
| US08868978B2 |
Reclaiming discarded solid state devices
Discarded memory devices unfit for an original purpose can be reclaimed for reuse for another purpose. The discarded memory devices are tested and evaluated to determine the level of performance degradation therein. A set of an alternate usage and an information encoding scheme to facilitate a reuse of the tested memory device is identified based on the evaluation of the discarded memory device. A memory chip controller may be configured to facilitate usage of reclaimed memory devices by enabling a plurality of encoding schemes therein. Further, a memory device can be configured to facilitate diagnosis of the functionality, and to facilitate usage as a discarded memory unit. Waste due to discarded memory devices can be thereby reduced. |
| US08868976B2 |
System-level testcase generation
A system-level testcase may be generated by performing system-level generation tasks by a system-level generator to produce an abstract testcase. Based upon the abstract testcase, one or more unit-level generators may generate the testcase. The testcase may be utilized in simulation of operation of a system-under-test (SUT). The testcase may be utilized for verification of the SUT. The SUT may comprise a plurality of units. The unit-level generator may be associated with units of the SUT and perform generation tasks associated with pertinent units. |
| US08868973B2 |
Automating diagnoses of computer-related incidents
A technique includes using a computer agent to observe diagnoses of computer-related incidents. Based on the observation, patterns are identified in the diagnoses, and based at least in part on the patterns, the diagnoses are selectively automated. |
| US08868970B2 |
Object based storage system and method of operating thereof
A method and a storage system for managing logical objects, wherein the storage system includes a plurality of control servers and the method includes: (i) defining a plurality of object pools and associating each logical object, hosted in the storage system, with one of the plurality of object pools; (ii) configuring each control server to have a primary responsibility over at least two of the object pools, such that each object pool is controlled by one primary control server, configured to handle requests directed to logical objects associated with the object pool; and (iii) in response to a failure of one of the plurality of control servers, configuring each operational server of the plurality of control servers to take over primary responsibility for at least one object pool, originally defined under the primary responsibility of the failed control server. |
| US08868963B2 |
Dynamically configurable placement engine
A stream application may allocate processing elements to one or more compute nodes (or hosts) to achieve a desired optimization goal. Each optimization mode may define processing element selection criteria and/or host selection criteria. When allocating a processing element to a host, a scheduler may place each processing element individually. Accordingly, the scheduler may use the processing element selection criteria for selecting which processing element in the stream application to allocate next. The scheduler may then determine, based on one or more constraints, which host the processing element can be placed on. If the scheduler determines that multiple hosts are suitable candidates for the processing element, it may use the host selection criteria to pick one of the candidate hosts that further optimize the stream application to meet the desired goal. Examples of different optimization goals that may be achieved using processing element and host selection criteria include optimizing performance, decreasing maintenance and operating costs, increasing solvability, sharing limited computer resources with other applications, and the like. |
| US08868961B1 |
Methods for acquiring hyper transport timing and devices thereof
A method, computer readable medium, system and apparatus that acquires data link timing includes sequentially introducing a delay and sampling data on a link after each sequentially introduced delay. A starting edge of a valid data eye and a trailing edge of the valid data eye during the sequentially introducing the delay and the sampling of the data is determined. The sequentially introduced delay when the starting edge of the valid data eye is detected and a subsequently introduced delay when the trailing edge of the valid data eye is detected are recorded. A bit sampling time that provides the timing for the sampling of data in the valid data eye between the sequentially introduced delay and the subsequently introduced delay is determined. By way of example, an optimum bit sampling time is determined as a mean from the transition of the starting edge of the valid data eye to the trailing edge of the valid data eye. The bit sampling time for the sampling of data is applied and the link is established. |
| US08868960B2 |
Synchronous clock stop in a multi nodal computer system
A computer system is provided which includes a plurality of nodes, which include chips of different types. In each node, one of the chips is configured as a master chip, which is connected to one or more slave chips via two or more multi-drop nets (e.g., checkstop, clockrun). The master chip and the slave chips are connected to a reference clock, and event triggering information is transmitted via the multi-drop nets (checkstop, clockrun) to the slave chips. Event trigger commands are submitted by the master chip when it receives a request, and internal offset counters are used to adjust both the receiving cycle and the cycle when the command is propagated to the units on the chips. In operation, the offset counters are synchronized by a reference clock. |
| US08868959B1 |
Logical battery partitions
A logical battery partitioning approach is disclosed. In one embodiment, a power management system in a portable computing device having a plurality of subsystems can include: (i) a battery coupled to a plurality of subsystems; (ii) a first battery variable provided to a first subsystem to indicate a characteristic of a first logical battery partition; and (iii) a second battery variable provided to a second subsystem to indicate a characteristic of a second logical battery partition. A battery variable can include an accessibility control, or a percent of battery power available, for example. |
| US08868958B2 |
Method and system for enhancing computer peripheral safety
A method and system for enhancing computer peripheral safety are configured to monitor and/or isolate alternating current (A.C.) supplies with and/or from any peripheral subsystems or devices. An exemplary method and system comprises an A.C. supply, a host computer system, and a peripheral subsystem or device connected to the host computer system, such as an ultrasound imaging and/or therapy peripheral, and an isolation subsystem configured for monitoring and/or isolating the A.C. supply from the peripheral subsystem or device. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, an isolation subsystem comprises application software and associated modules and functions that when executed continuously monitors and/or polls the host computer's hardware and/or operating system for the presence of an isolated source, such as a battery, or an unisolated power source, such as through a battery charger and/or other connection path to the A.C. main supply. |
| US08868954B1 |
Low cost storage for rarely read data
Low cost storage for write once read rarely data is described. In an embodiment a storage device comprises a plurality of hard disk drives connected to a server via an interconnect fabric. The storage device comprises a cooling system which is only capable of cooling a first subset of the hard disk drives and a power supply system which is only capable of powering a second subset of the hard disk drives and in some examples, the interconnect fabric may be only capable of providing full bandwidth for a third subset of the hard disk drives. Each subset may comprise only a small fraction of hard disk drives. A control mechanism, which may be implemented in software, is provided which controls which hard disk drives are active at any time in order that the constraints set by the cooling and power supply systems and interconnect fabric are not violated. |
| US08868951B2 |
Multiple-queue multiple-resource entry sleep and wakeup for power savings and bandwidth conservation in a retry based pipeline
Methods and apparatus relating to multiple-queue multiple-resource entry sleep and wakeup for power savings and bandwidth conservation in a retry based pipeline are described. In one embodiment, a bit indicates whether a corresponding queue entry is asleep or awake with respect to arbitration for resources in a retry based pipeline. Furthermore, multiple entries from different queues may be grouped together and multiple resources may be grouped together. Other embodiments are also disclosed. |
| US08868947B2 |
Fan control for determining a fan speed that is closer to an optimal fan speed based on an amount of measured change in system power consumption and temperature of a processor
In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes running a cooling fan within a computer at low speed while the computer is in low temperature operations (e.g., idle). The operation of the cooling fan may reduce CPU temperature enough to decrease CPU leakage power, offsetting the power consumption of the fan, and possibly resulting in a net system power reduction. The benefit at the platform level increases further when considering the low efficiency of voltage regulation (VR) in this lower power regime, and potentially reductions in other components (e.g., graphics processor). The optimal fan speed is the speed at which the overall system power is reduced the most (e.g., CPU power savings is greater than fan power utilized). The optimal temperature may be determined dynamically during operation or may be determined in manufacturing and applied statically during operation. |
| US08868946B2 |
Maintaining power to a powered device during a low power mode of the powered device
A powered device receives electrical power through a data transmission cable from a power supplying device that monitors a load on the data transmission cable and turns off the power to the load if the load is outside of a range. The powered device draws a first current at least part of a time during which the powered device is in a low power mode. The powered device is operable during the low power mode to draw a second current. And the powered device increases and decreases the second current to maintain a sum of the first current and the second current, or a level of a current into the powered device, at least at a minimum level for at least a portion of a cycle time. |
| US08868944B2 |
Computing center power and cooling control apparatus and method
Various computing center control and cooling apparatus and methods are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of controlling plural processors of a computing system is provided. The method includes monitoring activity levels of the plural processors over a time interval to determine plural activity level scores. The plural activity level scores are compared with predetermined processor activity level scores corresponding to preselected processor operating modes to determine a recommended operating mode for each of the plural processors. Each of the plural processors is instructed to operate in one of the recommended operating modes. |
| US08868943B2 |
Stateless remote power management of computers
A remote power management system and method for awakening a remote computing device over a computer network. A wakeup event is initiated by a client on the network, and an application server publishes the wakeup event. A subscriber, such as the subnet where the remote computing device resides, picks up the wakeup event and gives it to a computing device on the subnet that is awake. The awake computing device constructs a “magic packet” to take advantage of the automatic wakeup feature of the network card on the remote computing device, and broadcasts the “magic packet” throughout the subnet. Stateless handling of wakeup events is used to alleviate any need for a dedicated proxy server on the subnet to send the “magic packets.” The computing device on the subnet that constructs and broadcasts the “magic packets” is rotated to provide equitable rest time for each of the computing devices. |
| US08868942B2 |
Information processing device and method for starting up with storage device preheat and battery reheat
After a power switch 101 is turned on, if the temperature of the auxiliary storage device 105 detected by a first temperature detection unit 108 is lower than a determined first determination temperature T1, a power supply controller 107 turns on power supply to a heater unit 102, to start heating of the auxiliary storage device 105. After the power supply to the heater unit 102 is turned on, if the temperature of the auxiliary storage device 105 is higher than or equal to a first determination temperature T1, and if the temperature of a battery 103 detected by a second temperature detection unit 109 is higher than or equal to a determined second determination temperature T2, the power supply controller 107 starts power supply to an information-processing-device system including the CPU 104, but excluding the heater unit 102. |
| US08868939B2 |
Portable power supply device with outlet connector
One or more embodiments include an outlet interface that is configured to mate with an electrical outlet. The outlet interface is provided as an integral structure of the housing. |
| US08868936B2 |
Dynamic power balancing among blade servers in a chassis
Techniques are provided to redistribute and rebalance power to a plurality of blade servers with a chassis unit. At a chassis management controller device in a chassis unit comprising a plurality of blade server devices, policy information is stored for the chassis unit. The policy information comprises power limit information that indicates a power budget for the chassis unit and blade server priority information that indicates priority for access to power for each of the plurality of blade servers in the chassis unit. Power is distributed to the plurality of blade servers based on the blade server priority information for each of the plurality of blade servers and the power limit information for the chassis unit. The actual power consumption of each of the plurality of blade servers is determined and power is redistributed to the plurality of blade servers based on the actual power consumption and the policy information. |
| US08868934B2 |
Storage system including energy saving function
A controller unit, a plurality of storage devices, a log area, and a normal area are provided. A quantity of log storage devices forming the log area is smaller than a quantity of normal storage devices forming the normal area. In an operational period, in which the controller unit may accept an input-output command, a power consumption condition of the log storage devices is constantly in a normal condition in which an input or output of data can be carried out, while a power consumption condition of the normal storage devices is in an energy saving condition in which a power consumption is lower than in the normal condition. The controller unit, when receiving the input-output command if the power consumption condition of the normal storage devices is the normal condition, carries out an input or output with respect to both the normal area and the log area. |
| US08868930B2 |
Systems and methods for transformation of logical data objects for storage
Systems and methods for encrypting a plaintext logical data object for storage in a storage device operable with at least one storage protocol, creating, reading, writing, optimization and restoring thereof. Encrypting the plaintext logical data object comprises creating in the storage device an encrypted logical data object comprising a header and one or more allocated encrypted sections with predefined size; encrypting one or more sequentially obtained chunks of plaintext data corresponding to the plaintext logical data object thus giving rise to the encrypted data chunks; and sequentially accommodating the processed data chunks into said encrypted sections in accordance with an order said chunks received, wherein said encrypted sections serve as atomic elements of encryption/decryption operations during input/output transactions on the logical data object. |
| US08868925B2 |
Method and apparatus for the secure processing of confidential content within a virtual machine of a processor
A secure virtual machine system, method, and computer program product implemented on a processor are provided for processing a third party's content for output. At least one processor is provided. Additionally, at least one secure virtual machine implemented on the processor is provided for interpreting a second party's program that processes and outputs a third party's content. The virtual machine system abstracts the underlying processor hardware allowing implementation variations across products to execute the same program identically. Furthermore, the scope of the programmable operations, the types of input & output variables, and execution of programs within the processor, is deliberately constrained within the virtual machine environment, in order to mitigate potential security leaks by programs, and to ensure confidentiality of second party's secrets, and third party's content as managed by the second party's program. |
| US08868921B2 |
Methods and systems for authenticating users over networks
A method for authenticating users over networks includes requesting a one-time password, entering a personal identification number into a communications device, and retrieving a replaceable shared secret stored in the communications device. Moreover, the method includes generating a hashed personal identification number from the entered personal identification number, combining the hashed personal identification number with the replaceable shared secret to generate a modified shared secret, and generating a one-time password with the modified shared secret and the time of requesting the one-time password. |
| US08868920B2 |
Method, system and device for securing a digital storage device
Method of securing a digital storage device, wherein a host is connected to the storage device, the host digitally locks the storage device so that unauthorized data access to the storage device is denied, the host sets the encryption conditions of the storage device in one of a condition wherein encryption of data on the storage device is enabled, and a condition wherein encryption of data on the storage device is disabled. |
| US08868916B2 |
Self-contained electronic signature
Techniques for providing a self-contained electronic signature are disclosed. In some embodiments, techniques for providing a self-contained electronic signature include recording an audit trail for a plurality of events associated with an electronic signature of an electronic document; embedding the audit trail in the electronic document; and digitally signing the electronic document, in which the electronic document including the embedded audit trail and the electronic signature are secured by the digital signature. In some embodiments, the audit trail is embedded in metadata of the electronic document, a body of the electronic document, or both the metadata and body of the electronic document. In some embodiments, digitally signing the electronic document includes a certifying signature provided by a service provider of an electronic signature service. |
| US08868914B2 |
System and methods for distributing trusted time
Systems and methods for distributing trusted time, including trusted dates with digital data files, which are accessed, created, modified, received, or transmitted by devices that include a trusted time source in a tamperproof environment. The system includes one or more subsystems for providing trusted time for a moment in time. The trusted time source may be a real time clock, which is not resettable, is independent of any system clock of the devices, and where one or more devices may contribute to the distribution of trusted time among each other. |
| US08868911B2 |
Method for key generation, member authentication, and communication security in dynamic group
The present invention provides a method for keys generation, member authentication and communication security in a dynamic group, which comprises steps: assigning each member an identification vector containing common group identification vector elements and an individual identification vector element, and generating an authentication vector and an access control vector for each member according to the identification vector; using the identification vector elements to generate public key elements and establish an authentication public key and an access control public key; and using a polynomial and the identification vector to generate a private key. The present invention uses these public keys and private keys, which are generated from the identification vectors, to implement serverless member authentication and data access control, whereby is protected privacy of members and promoted security of communication. |
| US08868908B2 |
Total hypervisor encryptor
Embodiments are directed towards providing cryptographic services to protect guest operating system (OS) images in virtualized computing environments. A hypervisor may trap privileged operations initiated by guest OS images. These trapped operations may be intercepted by a cryptographic module. A hypervisor may trap a write operation made by a guest OS image, and cryptographic module may encrypt the write buffer and return it the hypervisor. A hypervisor may trap a read operation made by a guest OS image, and provide the encrypted data to the cryptographic module for decrypting. If the data is decrypted, the cryptographic module may provide the decrypted data to the hypervisor which provides the decrypted data to the guest OS image. Also, guest OS image context information may be decrypted and encrypted as the guest OS image is scheduled and de-scheduled on physical CPU(s). Further, if necessary entire guest OS images may be encrypted. |
| US08868904B2 |
Information processing device, disc, information processing method, and program
A configuration is provided wherein usage restrictions of an application are determined in accordance with timestamps. A certificate revocation list (CRL) in which the revocation information of a content owner who is a providing entity of an application program recorded in a disc is recorded is referred to verify whether or not a content owner identifier recorded in an application certificate is included in the CRL, and in the case that the content owner identifier is included in the CRL, comparison between a timestamp stored in a content certificate and a CRL timestamp is executed, and in the case that the content certificate timestamp has date data equal to or later than the CRL timestamp, utilization processing of the application program is prohibited or restricted. According to the present configuration, a configuration is realized wherein an unrevoked application is not subjected to utilization restriction, and only a revoked application is subjected to utilization restriction. |
| US08868901B2 |
Mobile terminal supporting dual operating systems and a method for controlling thereof
A mobile terminal including a communication unit configured to communicate with at least one external terminal; a memory configure to store at least first and second operating systems including at least first and second modes, respectively; and a controller configured to execute the first operating system and to activate the first mode corresponding to the first operating system, to display a first information screen on a display unit corresponding to the activated first mode, to receive a switching signal indicating the first mode is to be switched to the second mode, to activate the second mode and deactivate the first mode, and to display a second information screen on the display unit corresponding to the second mode and that is different than the first information screen. |
| US08868897B2 |
Self-restarting network devices
A method and apparatus for self-monitoring to identify an occurrence of a threshold and rebooting in response to the occurrence of the threshold is provided. In an embodiment, a data processing apparatus comprises one or more processors; logic coupled to the one or more processors and comprising one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to obtain a threshold associated with the apparatus; self-monitor the apparatus to identify an occurrence of the threshold; and self-reboot the apparatus responsive to the occurrence of the threshold. |
| US08868891B2 |
Method and apparatus to support booting despite deficient resources
A method and related apparatuses support booting despite deficient system resources. In one embodiment, a processing system includes two or more devices in a peripheral connect interface (PCI) subsystem, as well as instructions encoded in a machine accessible medium. The instructions, when executed during a process of booting the processing system, may determine whether sufficient resources are available for the devices. The instructions may also retrieve boot information from an extended firmware interface (EFI) environment of the processing system, and may automatically identify a device as boot-critical, based on that boot information. The instructions may also identify a device to be rejected, and may automatically allocate resources for the boot-critical device but not for the rejected device, before the processing system boots the OS, if sufficient resources for the devices are not available. Other embodiments are described and claimed. |
| US08868890B2 |
No-delay microsequencer
An apparatus generally including a memory and a circuit is disclosed. The memory may be configured to store a plurality of instructions. Each of the instructions generally includes a corresponding command and a corresponding command repeat count. At least one of the instructions may include a subprocedure call. The circuit may be configured to (i) decode the instructions one at a time and (ii) present a sequence of the commands at an interface. The sequence (i) may be based on the decoding and (ii) may have no delays between consecutive the commands at the interface. |
| US08868888B2 |
System and method of executing instructions in a multi-stage data processing pipeline
A device is disclosed that includes an instruction execution pipeline having multiple stages for executing an instruction. The device also includes a control logic circuit coupled to the instruction execution pipeline. The control logic circuit is adapted to skip at least one stage of the instruction execution pipeline during execution of the instruction. The control logic circuit is also adapted to execute at least one non-skipped stage during execution of the decoded instruction. |
| US08868887B2 |
Programmable event driven yield mechanism which may activate other threads
Method, apparatus, and program means for a programmable event driven yield mechanism that may activate other threads. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes execution resources to execute a plurality of instructions and a monitor to detect a condition indicating a low level of progress. The monitor can disrupt processing of a program by transferring to a handler in response to detecting the condition indicating a low level of progress. In another embodiment, thread switch logic may be coupled to a plurality of event monitors which monitor events within the multithreading execution logic. The thread switch logic switches threads based at least partially on a programmable condition of one or more of the performance monitors. |
| US08868884B2 |
Method and apparatus for servicing read and write requests using a cache replacement catalog
Methods and systems to intelligently cache content in a virtualization environment using virtualization software such as VMWare ESX or Citrix XenServer or Microsoft HyperV or Redhat KVM or their variants are disclosed. Storage IO operations (reads from and writes to disk) are analyzed (or characterized) for their overall value and pinned to cache if their value exceeds a certain defined threshold based on criteria specific to the New Technology File System (NTFS) file-system. Analysis/characterization of NTFS file systems for intelligent dynamic caching include analyzing storage block data associated with a Virtual Machine of interest in accordance with a pre-determined data model to determine the value of the block under analysis for long term or short term caching. Integer values assigned to different types of NTFS objects in a white list data structure called a catalog that can be used to analyze the storage block data. |
| US08868877B2 |
Creating encrypted storage volumes based on thin-provisioning mode information
Methods and systems for thin provisioned storage. A storage array controller may materialize LUN extents, by filling extents with random data only as necessary at materialization time. Encryption software may recognize operation on a thin provisioned LUN having extents that are pre-filled and/or re-materialized on next use. |
| US08868872B2 |
Computing device system and information managing method for rearrangement of data based on access characteristic related to a task
Technique for decision criterion for determining a transfer destination layer in rearrangement processing. A computer configures rearrangement reference information showing whether an access characteristic related to a task executed on a plurality of host computing devices is considered as a decision criterion for transfer destination determination in rearrangement processing of transferring data between actual storage areas of physical storage devices of different response performance. Storage subsystem refers to the rearrangement reference information and, based on an access characteristic of the plurality of computing devices with respect to the actual storage areas assigned to the plurality of computing devices, executes rearrangement processing of transferring data stored in the actual storage areas to different actual storage areas in the physical storage devices of different response performance. |
| US08868870B1 |
Systems and methods for managing off-host storage migration
A method for managing migration may include detecting an attempt to perform migration from an existing off-host storage array to a new off-host storage array by 1) identifying a new communication path that appears to a host system as a path from the host system to the existing off-host storage array, 2) determining whether the new communication path comprises a standby path that is not actively being used for communication between the host system and the existing off-host storage array, 3) determining whether the new communication path actually comprises a path to the new storage array configured to appear to the host system as though it were the existing storage array, and 4) concluding that non-disruptive data migration is being attempted. The method may also include performing a management operation with respect to the new off-host storage array. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed. |
| US08868868B1 |
Method and system for responding to client requests for information maintained by storage systems
Method and system for providing information regarding a plurality of storage devices managed by a plurality of storage servers are provided. The storage space at the storage devices is presented to a plurality of computing systems as logical storage space. A plurality of searchable data structures having a plurality of data object types are stored at a temporary memory storage device of a management console that interfaces with the plurality of computing systems and the storage servers. Each data object type stores information regarding the storage device. The searchable data structure includes information regarding the storage devices and the logical storage space presented to the computing systems. A lock data structure for tracking locks that are assigned for accessing information pertaining to a storage server and a data object type is maintained to prevent unauthorized access to at least one of the searchable data structures. |
| US08868863B2 |
Method and apparatus for a frugal cloud file system
Various embodiments provide a method and apparatus of providing a frugal cloud file system that efficiently uses the blocks of different types of storage devices with different properties for different purposes. The efficient use of the different types of available storage devices reduces the storage and bandwidth overhead. Advantageously, the reduction in storage and bandwidth overhead achieved using the frugal cloud file system reduces the economic costs of running the file system while maintaining high performance. |
| US08868862B2 |
Method and apparatus for synchronization in primary-backup replication schemes
A primary-backup replication capability is disclosed. A primary process and a backup process participate in a synchronization process configured to synchronize state information of the primary and backup processes. The synchronization process operates in periods of time referred to as epochs. During the current epoch, the primary process computes state update information representing changes to the state information of the primary process since a previous epoch, and also buffers output messages generated during the current epoch in an associated output buffer dedicated for use in the current epoch. The primary process initiates a new epoch independent of receiving, from the backup process, a state update acknowledgement for the previous epoch. The output messages buffered for the current epoch are released from the associated output buffer after the primary process receives a state update acknowledgment for the current epoch and all output buffers of all previous epochs are empty. |
| US08868861B2 |
Information recording apparatus and copy management program for caching content data of digital content
In an information recording apparatus, when it is determined to perform a copy process, a copy processor copies content data cached in a first storage section to an information recording medium as copy destination. A process-result sender sends, to a copy-count management server, a result of the copy process. A cached-data abandoning unit abandons the content data cached in the first storage section if information regarding an allowable number of copies on which the result of the copy process has been reflected represents that a next copy process is disallowed. |
| US08868859B2 |
Methods and apparatus for multi-source restore
Methods and apparatus that restore a resource from a first source and a second source to a device are described. Availability of the resource from a second source may be dynamically determined after a portion of the resource has been restored to the device from the first source. If the second source is determined to be more efficiently connected with the device than the first source, a remaining portion of the resource may be restored from the second source to the device after the portion of the resource has been restored to the device. |
| US08868858B2 |
Method and apparatus of continuous data backup and access using virtual machines
A continuous data backup and access method/system using virtual machines is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes creating a virtual machine associated with a backup module based on attributes of an application server when the application server is connected to a network having the backup module, continuously capturing any change of a data processed in the application server, and automatically backing up the any change of the data in a storage device coupled to the backup module using the virtual machine, and communicating at least the data in the storage device to the application server using the virtual machine when a command is communicated to the backup module. The method may also include automatically recovering a recent attribute and data of the application sever using the virtual machine associated with the backup module when the application sever fails. |
| US08868851B2 |
Data access method of a memory device
The invention provides a data access method of a memory device. In one embodiment, the memory device comprises a plurality of memories. First, a plurality of commands sequentially received from a host is stored in a command queue. A target command is then retrieved from the command queue. A target memory accessed by the target command is then determined. Whether the target memory is in a busy state is then determined. When the target memory is not in a busy state, access operations requested by the target command are then performed. When the target memory is in a busy state, a substitute command is selected from a plurality of subsequent commands stored in the command queue and access operations requested by the substitute command are performed, wherein the sequence of the subsequent commands in the command queue is subsequent to the target command. |
| US08868846B2 |
Method and system for maintaining data coherency across a network
Disclosed is a coherent storage system. A network interface device (NIC) receives network storage commands from a host. The NIC may cache the data to/from the storage commands in a solid-state disk. The NIC may respond to future network storage command by supplying the data from the solid-state disk rather than initiating a network transaction. Other NIC's on other hosts may also cache network storage data. These NICs may respond to transactions from the first NIC by supplying data, or changing the state of data in their caches. |
| US08868841B2 |
Statistical cache promotion
Storing data in a cache is disclosed. It is determined that a data record is not stored in a cache. A random value is generated using a threshold value. It is determined whether to store the data record in the cache based at least in part on the generated random value. |
| US08868840B2 |
Information processing device and method, and program
Provided is an information processing device including a holding portion of a cache link that is formed such that, when clusters are recorded on a predetermined recording medium by a FAT file system and a FAT formed by link information of the clusters is also recorded on the predetermined recording medium by the system, an entry is arranged for each of the clusters located at a predetermined interval, the entry being formed by information including the link information extracted from the FAT, an information update portion that, when updating the cache link after data is additionally written to the clusters on the recording medium, updates the information for an update target entry among entries forming the cache link, and a configuration conversion portion that removes the update target entry updated from an original position in the cache link, and connects it to an endmost position of the cache link. |
| US08868838B1 |
Multi-class data cache policies
One embodiment of the invention sets forth a mechanism for evicting data from a data cache based on the data class of that data. The data stored in the cache lines in the data cache is categorized based on data classes that reflect the reuse potential of that data. The data classes are stored in a tag store, where each tag within the tag store corresponds to a single cache line within the data cache. When reserving a cache line for the data associated with a command, a tag look-up unit examines the data classes in the tag store to determine which data to evict. Data that has a low reuse potential is evicted at a higher priority than data that has a high reuse potential. Advantageously, evicting data that belongs to a data class that has a lower reuse potential reduces the number of cache misses within the system. |
| US08868828B2 |
Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with cache data/directory mirroring
A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with cache data and cache directory mirroring between dual adapters minimizing firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. One of the first controller or the second controller operates in a first initiator mode includes firmware to set up an initiator write operation building a data frame for transferring data and a respective cache line (CL) for each page index to the other controller operating in a second target mode. Respective initiator hardware engines transfers data, reading CLs from an initiator control store, and writing updated CLs to an initiator data store, and simultaneously sends data and updated CLs to the other controller. Respective target hardware engines write data and updated CLs to the target data store, eliminating firmware operations of the controller operating in the second target mode. |
| US08868826B2 |
Facilitating communication between memory devices and CPUs
According to one embodiment, an apparatus comprises one or more memory devices and one or more processors coupled to a circuit board. The memory devices are configured according to a second memory technology. The processors are configured to receive messages conforming to a first memory technology, translate the messages from the first memory technology to the second memory technology, and send the translated messages to the memory devices. |
| US08868825B1 |
Nonrepeating identifiers in an address space of a non-volatile solid-state storage
A method of applying an address space to data storage in a non-volatile solid-state storage is provided. The method includes receiving a plurality of portions of user data for storage in the non-volatile solid-state storage and assigning to each successive one of the plurality of portions of user data one of a plurality of sequential, nonrepeating addresses of an address space. The address range of the address space exceeds a maximum number of addresses expected to be applied during a lifespan of the non-volatile solid-state storage. The method includes writing each of the plurality of portions of user data to the non-volatile solid-state storage such that each of the plurality of portions of user data is identified and locatable for reading via the one of the plurality of sequential, nonrepeating addresses of the address space. |
| US08868821B2 |
Systems and methods for pre-equalization and code design for a flash memory
A system, computer readable program, and method for programming flash memory, the method includes: providing multiple pairs of most significant bit (MSB) page uncoded bit error rates (UBERs) and least significant bit (LSB) page UBERs; selecting a selected MSB page code rate and a selected LSB page code rate so that a selected MSB page UBER associated with the selected MSB page code rate and a selected LSB page UBER associated with the selected LSB page code rate support a highest average UBER out of the multiple pairs of MSB page UBERs and LSB page UBERs, wherein the selected MSB page code rate and the selected LSB page code rate are obtainable under a desired code rate constraint; and determining an encoding and programming scheme that may be based on the selected MSB page UBER, the selected MSB code rate, the selected LSB page UBER and the selected LSB code rate. |
| US08868819B2 |
Storage system group including scale-out storage system and management method therefor
A management system is coupled to a storage system group including a scale-out storage system (a virtual storage system). The management system has storage management information, which includes information denoting, for each storage system, whether or not a storage system is a component of a virtual storage system. The management system, based on the storage management information, determines whether or not a first storage system is a component of a virtual storage system, and in a case where the result of this determination is affirmative, identifies, based on the storage management information, a second storage system, which is a storage system other than the virtual storage system that includes the first storage system, and allows a user to perform a specific operation only with respect to this second storage system. |
| US08868818B2 |
Method for associating physical address with logical communication address in a media library assembly
A method for associating a physical address with a logical communication address for an Ethernet-connected media drive (22A1-22A4, 22B1-22B4) in a media library assembly (10) includes the steps of providing a first media drive (22A1) having a first physical address; sending a request for a first logical communication address from the first media drive (22A1) to a library controller (16) via an Ethernet switch (18) the first physical address being imbedded in the request; and recording the first physical address with the Ethernet switch (18). The method can include associating the first physical address with one of a plurality of Ethernet switch ports (26A1-26A4, 26B1-26B4) using a mapping server (25) of the library controller (16). The method can include searching a routing table (228) of the Ethernet switch (18) with the library controller (16) to determine the first physical address. The method can also include assigning the first logical communication address to the first physical address with the library controller (16). The step of assigning can include basing the first logical communication address on an Ethernet switch port (26A1-26A4, 26B1-26B4) that is associated with the first physical address. |
| US08868814B2 |
I/O system, downstream PCI express bridge, interface sharing method, and program
Fault tolerance is improved, a functional limitation at the time of start-up of an I/O system is avoided, and a start-up time is shortened. A downstream PCI Express bridge sets a PCI Express device connected to the downstream PCI Express bridge itself, among a plurality of single root-compatible PCI Express devices shared by a plurality of root complexes connected to a plurality of upstream PCI Express bridges that exchange data with the downstream PC Express bridge itself through a network, controls and monitors a state of a physical link with the PCI Express device connected to the downstream PCI Express bridge itself, and performs monitoring and notification of an error of the PCI Express device connected to the downstream PCI Express bridge itself. |
| US08868813B2 |
Communications control system with a serial communications interface and a parallel communications interface
A communications control system is disclosed that includes a serial communications interface and a parallel communications interface for coupling a plurality of input/output modules with a control module. The serial communications interface is configured for connecting the plurality of input/output modules to the control module in parallel to transmit information between the plurality of input/output modules and the control module, and the parallel communications interface is configured for separately connecting the plurality of input/output modules to the control module to transmit information between the plurality of input/output modules and the control module, and to transmit information between individual ones of the plurality of input/output modules. The serial communications interface may comprise a multidrop bus, and the parallel communications interface may comprise a cross switch. |
| US08868812B2 |
Interface for communication between sensing devices and I2C bus
A conversion module contains an asynchronous analog-to-digital converter (AADC) with the output signal generated at irregular time intervals, whose output is connected to the input of the buffer memory module (BUF), and the output of the buffer memory module (BUF) is connected through the internal bus (BUS) simultaneously to the source address module (SADR), to the configuration registers module (REG), to the control module of the interface (CM), which the reference generator (RG) is connected to, and to the destination address module (DADR), to the selection register module (SELREG), to the transmitter/receiver module (SDM), and moreover the control inputs/outputs (1, 2, . . . , 8) of the control module (CM) are connected respectively to the asynchronous analog-to-digital converter (AADC), to the buffer memory module (BUF), to the source address module (SADR), to the configuration registers module (REG), to the destination address module (DADR), to the selection register module (SELREG), to the transmitter/receiver module (SDM), and to the clock control module (SCM), and on the other hand, the transmitter/receiver module (SDM) output is connected through the controller (SDD) to the data line (SDA) of the I2C bus whose clock line (SCL) is connected through the other controller (SCD) to the clock control module (SCD) output, and what is more the write control output (9) of the asynchronous analog-to-digital converter (AADC) is connected to the write control input (10) of the buffer memory module (BUF). |
| US08868810B2 |
Managing over-initiative thin interrupts
A method, system, and computer program product identify extraneous input/output interrupts for a queued input/output device architecture. At least one interrupt is determined to have been generated for at least one queue in a plurality of queues of a queued input/output device architecture. An interrupt handler of an operating system determines at least one of if the queue is associated with at least one reply message waiting to be dequeued for a previously processed interrupt, and if the queue fails to include at least one pending reply for a previously received unprocessed interrupt. The interrupt is identified as an extraneous interrupt in response to the determining one of that the queue is associated with at least one reply message waiting to be dequeued for a previously processed interrupt, and that the queue fails to include at least one pending reply for a previously received unprocessed interrupt. |
| US08868806B2 |
Methods and structure for hardware management of serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) DMA Non-Zero Offsets in a serial attached SCSI (SAS) expander
Methods and structure for enhanced SAS expander functionality to store and forward buffered information transmitted from a SATA end device to an STP initiator device while managing use of Non-Zero Offset (“NZO”) field values in DMA Setup FISs transmitted by the SATA end device. The enhanced expander establishes a connection between an STP initiator and a SATA end device. The expander forwards a read command from the initiator to the end device. If NZO use is supported and enabled in the end device, the end device may return read data in any order by use of the NZO field values in multiple DMA Setup FISs. The expander is further adapted to store received data and the associated multiple DMA Setup FISs from the end device in its buffer and forwards the stored data to the initiator device. In another embodiment, use of NZO in the end device is disabled. |
| US08868804B2 |
Unified I/O adapter
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with a unified hybrid input/output adapter are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes an Input/Output (I/O) interconnect configured to connect with a host device and to provide communications with the host device. The apparatus also includes a network adapter connected to the I/O interconnect and configured to communicate with a network storage. The apparatus includes a host adapter connected to the I/O interconnect and configured to communicate with a first storage device and a second storage device. The first storage device has a higher latency than the second storage device. The apparatus further includes a storage logic configured to control the I/O interconnect to cause storage access requests from the host device to be cached in the second storage device via the host adapter. |
| US08868801B2 |
System and method for creating a scalable monolithic packet processing engine
A novel and efficient method is described that creates a monolithic high capacity Packet Engine (PE) by connecting N lower capacity Packet Engines (PEs) via a novel Chip-to-Chip (C2C) interface. The C2C interface is used to perform functions, such as memory bit slicing and to communicate shared information, and enqueue/dequeue operations between individual PEs. |
| US08868800B2 |
Accelerator buffer access
Technologies are generally described for methods and systems effective to provide accelerator buffer access. An operating system may allocate a range of addresses in virtual address spaces and a range of addresses in a buffer mapped region of a physical (or main) memory. A request to read from, or write to, data by an application may be read from, or written to, the virtual address space. A memory management unit may then map the read or write requests from the virtual address space to the main or physical memory. Multiple applications may be able to operate as if each application has exclusive access to the accelerator and its buffer. Multiple accesses to the buffer by application tasks may avoid a conflict because the memory controller may be configured to fetch data based on respective application identifiers assigned to the applications. Each application may be assigned a different application identifier. |
| US08868795B2 |
Data processing device for multiple hardware systems, switching method and computer program product
A data processing device with multiple hardware systems and a switching method thereof are provided. The device comprises a first hardware system, a second hardware system, a shared device and a switcher, wherein the first hardware system is connected to the shared device through the switcher, and includes a first inquiry module for inquiring information on applications currently executed in the first hardware system so as to obtain an inquiry result, a first control module for triggering the first inquiry module to perform inquiry when it is required to switch from the first hardware system to the second hardware system, and a first communication module for transmitting the inquiry result to the second hardware system; and the second hardware system includes a second communication module for receiving the inquiry result, a second control module for, in accordance with the inquiry result, activating corresponding applications in the second hardware system so as to generate a first message, and transmitting the first message to the first hardware system through the second communication module; wherein the first control module instructs the switcher to switch the shared device into connection with the second hardware system when the first message is received by the first hardware system through the first communication module. |
| US08868794B2 |
Application limitations for a medical communication module and host device
System and method for interfacing with a medical device having a host device and a communication module. The host device has a user interface configured to input and display information relating to the interfacing with the medical device. The communication module is locally coupled to the host device and configured to communicate wirelessly with the medical device. The system, implemented by the host device and the communication module, is configured to communicate with the medical device with functions. The system, implemented by at least one of the host device and the communication module, has a security condition. At least one of the functions is disabled, at least in part, from operating on the system based upon the security condition. |
| US08868793B2 |
SAS expander system and method for dynamically allocating SAS addresses to SAS expander devices
In a method for allocating SAS addresses to SAS expander devices in an SAS expander system, the SAS expander system includes a master SAS expander device, a slave SAS expander device and an EEPROM. The method defines an address parameter for specifying a master SAS address for the master SAS expander device and specifying a slave SAS address for the slave SAS expander device, and obtains an original SAS address from the EEPROM when the original SAS address is identical to either the master SAS address or the slave SAS address. The method adds the address parameter to the original SAS address to generate a first SAS address and allocates the first SAS address to the master SAS expander device. The method adds the address parameter to the first SAS address to generate a second SAS address, and allocates the second SAS address to the slave SAS expander device. |
| US08868792B2 |
Devices and methods for enabling USB communication over extension media
USB extension devices that transmit USB 3.0 differential signaling over an extension medium that supports serial communication are provided. In some embodiments, an electrical idle or suspend is detected from a transmit conductor of a USB host or device, and a corresponding USB extension device is reconfigured to couple a receive conductor of the USB host or device to a null data source instead of an extension medium transceiver. Once the electrical idle or suspend state ceases, the receive conductor of the USB host or device is reconnected to the extension medium transceiver. In some embodiments, a transmit input of the extension medium transceiver is coupled to a null data source upon detection of electrical idle or suspend from the USB host or device. |
| US08868791B2 |
System and method for evaluating multiple connectivity options
This present application relates to, among other things, novel techniques to evaluate and qualify multiple networking options. A device contains multiple network connectivity options, including but not limited to various wireless and wired technologies such as Wi-Fi, 3G, WiMAX, LTE, Ethernet, Bluetooth, UWB, WHDMI, etc. Each connectivity option can be evaluation and pre-qualified prior to the user selecting that mode of communication. This evaluation process takes into account both lower-layer information such as signal strength, bit error rates, SNR, interference, etc. but also network-layer information such as IP connectivity, and end-to-end path performance. |
| US08868790B2 |
Processor-memory module performance acceleration in fabric-backplane enterprise servers
A hybrid server and multi-layer switch system architecture, referred to hereinafter as the Enterprise Fabric (EF) architecture, forms the basis for a number of Enterprise Server (ES) chassis embodiments. Each ES embodiment generally includes one or more Processor Memory Modules (PMMs, each generally having one or more symmetric multiprocessor complexes), one or more Network Modules, and a System Control Module (SCM). The SCM includes a cellified switching-fabric core (SF) and a System Intelligence Module (SIM). Each PMM has one or more resident Virtual IO Controller (VIOC) adapters. Each VIOC is a specialized I/O controller that includes embedded layer-2 forwarding and filtering functions and tightly couples the PMM to the SF. Thus the layer-2 switch functionality within the ES chassis is distributed over all of the SCM, NM, and PMM modules. Through the use of VIOC/VNIC device drivers, host operating system software (Host O/S) running on the PMMs is presented with a plurality of Virtual Network Interface Cards (VNICs). In some embodiments, each VNIC behaves as a high-performance Ethernet interface at the full disposal of the Host O/S. In other embodiments, at least some of the VNICs behave as high-performance Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters. |
| US08868788B2 |
Optimizing static dictionary usage for signal compression and for hypertext transfer protocol compression in a wireless network
A method includes receiving a registration request including a first dictionary definition. The registration request is associated with user equipment. The method includes transmitting to the user equipment a response including a second dictionary definition. The method includes transmitting subsequent messages to the user equipment if the first and second dictionary definitions agree, the subsequent messages being compressed using the first static dictionary. |
| US08868786B1 |
Apparatus, systems and methods for transformation services
A web services hub receives a request from a data source system, transforms the request, and transmits the transformed request to an external system. A secure service router is coupled to the web services hub. The secure service router authenticates the data source system and locates a transformation service to transform the request. |
| US08868782B2 |
System and methods for a managed application server restart
Systems and methods for managing the traffic handled by an application server while the application server is in the process of restarting is disclosed. An application server has a plurality of internal processing units. When the application server is restarted, it signals a forwarding node to cease forwarding traffic to the internal processing units. When all of the nodes are ready, or at the expiration of a predetermined time interval, the application server signals the forwarding node to resume forwarding traffic to the internal processing units. |
| US08868781B2 |
Service forwarding addresses in distributed computing
A message sent to a first service addressed in a distributed computing environment having a service oriented architecture is received, wherein the message is directed to a service that is no longer present at the first service address. The message is forwarded to a second service address at which the service is located. |
| US08868780B2 |
Data processing system with routing tables
A data processing system with routing tables comprising an operating system for supporting processes, such that the process are associated with one or more resources and the operating system being arranged to police the accessing by processes of resources so as to inhibit a process from accessing resources with which it is not associated. Part of this system is an interface for interfacing between each process and the operating system and a memory for storing state information for at least one process. The interface may be arranged to analyze instructions from the processes to the operating system, and upon detecting an instruction to re-initialize a process cause state information corresponding to that pre-existing state information to be stored in the memory as state information for the re-initialized process and to be associated with the resource. |
| US08868778B2 |
Transmission bandwidth and memory requirements reduction in a portable image capture device
Storage and network transmission bandwidth requirements of a portable image capture device are reduced. An online service using at least one hardware server on a network provides action information for an image capture device, the action information corresponding to an action that can be performed on images by the online service. A captured image is received uploaded from the image capture device to the online service. A request is received from the image capture device to perform the action for the uploaded image. The request includes an image identifier assigned by the online service. |
| US08868769B2 |
System and method for obtaining responses to tasks
A method of automatically forwarding a response to a message to the sender of the message, wherein the sender is prompted to provide a message, the sender is prompted to identify a recipient, the recipient having a plurality of associated contact numbers, a user is prompted to rank the identified associated contact numbers relating to the recipient from highest to lowest, the message is sent to the highest ranked associated contact number to which the message has not yet been sent, the recipient of the message is prompted to provide a reply to the message, at least a predetermined amount of time is waited, until a response is received or the message has been sent to all associated contact numbers, the message is repeatedly sent to the next highest ranked associated contact number (and the recipient is prompted and the predetermined amount of time is waited), and the response is forwarded to the sender. |
| US08868765B1 |
System and method to associate a private user identity with a public user identity
The inventive system includes a host, a network including a security gateway, and a public application. Established are an access session between the network and the host and an application session between the public application and the network. An application session record is created for the application session, and includes the user's public user identity used to access the public application, the user's private user identity used to access the network, a host identity, and an application session time. To determine the private user identity for the application session, the security gateway sends a query with the host identity and the application session time. These are compared with the host identity and access session time in an access session record. If they match, then the private user identity in the access session record is returned, and it is stored as the private user identity in the application session record. |
| US08868764B2 |
System and method for management of ethernet premise devices
A system and method for managing customer premise equipment (CPE) devices. A wake signal is issued to the CPE device. Action parameters are communicated to the CPE device in response to receiving acknowledgement of the wake signal from the CPE device. A management session is established with the CPE device utilizing an address for secure communications in response to the CPE device acknowledging the action parameters. Communications are performed through the management session to perform operation, administration, and maintenance of the CPE device. The management session with the CPE device is terminated. |
| US08868760B2 |
Systems and methods for determining the location of a request on a content delivery network
A domain name server includes a processor operable to receive a domain name system request, determine a source Internet protocol address of the request, and in response to determining the source Internet protocol address to send a prompt to a client system associated with the source Internet protocol address and receive a reply from the client system. In response to receiving the reply the processor selects a content server that is closer to the source Internet protocol address than another content server. In response to selecting the content server the processor composes a file including a list of domain names that are associated with the content delivery network and an Internet protocol address associated with the content server. The processor sends the file to the client system. |
| US08868759B2 |
Communication system and server
A communication system and server includes a first memory for storing terminal information of a first terminal and a second terminal, a second memory for storing outgoing call history information of at least either the first terminal or the second terminal, a third memory for storing incoming call history information of at least either the first terminal or the second terminal; and a processing unit for reading out the information from the first memory to control at least either information of the second memory or the third memory in accordance with information contained in a notification from the communication device when setting the connection between at least either the first terminal or the second terminal and the communication device, therefore, two parties to be communicated with each other specify a connection terminal of a call source. |
| US08868756B1 |
Sticky routing
A system and method are provided for sticky routing of a user's service requests and connections to a distributed service hosted by multiple data centers. Sticky routing data are generated when a user first connects, to include member ID, preferred data center, a user bucket associated with one data center, a generation of the bucket, a generation of the user's sticky routing data, and timing information identifying a time of issue and/or a time of expiration of the routing data. A user bucket is either online (accepts new users; their requests are routed to the associated data center), offline (not accepting new users; existing users are expelled and must join a different bucket), or closed (not accepting new users; existing users' requests continue to be routed to the associated data center). All of a user's requests, from all devices, are thus routed to one data center, based on member ID. |
| US08868755B2 |
Two-level management of locks on shared resources
In a shared data system comprising one or more primary nodes and a plurality of secondary nodes, global lock manager on a primary node manages locks for shared resources by exchanging an abstract lock state with local lock managers on the secondary nodes. The abstract lock state includes a particular representation of all of the applications on the nodes that are requesting or are granted locks. The exchange of these particular lock states instead of individual requests improves performance by increasing concurrency and reducing off-machine communication. A global deadlock detector on a node detects and resolves global deadlocks, in conjunction with local deadlock detectors on the secondary nodes. |
| US08868753B2 |
System of redundantly clustered machines to provide failover mechanisms for mobile traffic management and network resource conservation
Systems of redundantly clustered machines to provide failover mechanisms for mobile traffic management and network resource conservation are disclosed. One embodiment includes a system of redundantly clustered machines to provide failover mechanisms for mobile traffic management and network resource conservation including, a first set of redundantly clustered machines coupled to a second set of redundantly clustered machines via a common repository node where each of the first and second set of redundantly clustered machines function independently to provide mobile traffic management or network resource conservation services. The first and second set of redundantly clustered machines can be physically located in different data centers or in the same data center. |
| US08868751B2 |
Framework for diversified provisioning of services into business networks
Implementations of the present disclosure include methods for provisioning services in a business network. In some implementations, methods include receiving data corresponding to a first service, receiving data corresponding to a second service, processing the data corresponding to the first service and the data corresponding to the second service using a computer-executable tool selected from a plurality of computer-executable tools to enable provisioning of a service using the business network, and the processing being performed in a situational modeling layer of a service provisioning framework, generating a kernel model corresponding to the service, the generating being performed in a kernel modeling layer of the service provisioning framework, and storing the kernel model in computer-readable memory. |
| US08868745B1 |
Method and system for providing configurable route table limits in a service provider for managing VPN resource usage
A number of route tables are stored in a server at the edge of a service provider network, and are used to connect a set of customer sites to VPNs provided by the service provider. The forwarding entries in the route tables describe how packets conveyed over associated VPNs are to be forwarded between the service provider network and customer equipment systems. The disclosed system provides a configuration process for the route table including a route count limit as a parameter. The route count limit parameter provided through the configuration process is associated with the route table, and may be stored at the provider edge system, as well as at each other packet forwarding device within the network infrastructure of the service provider. Each forwarding device in the service provider infrastructure stores the route count limit, and further operates to keep track of the current number of routes inserted into the route table. Once the route table reaches the route count limit associated with it, new route requests can be either rejected, or accepted, based on a predetermined policy configuration. If new route requests are accepted, then the number of routes exceeding the route count limit is taken into account when charging the associated customer for service. |
| US08868742B2 |
Method for communication between a terminal and a server
The invention relates to a method for the communication of a terminal (10) with a server (14), the terminal including an application and computer software capable of communicating with the server (14). The method comprises: the step of sending (42) a request (RLoc) by the application (26) to the software (34), and the step of obtaining (44) by the software (34) and from the application (26) data (DAutor) necessary for the software (34) to communicate with the server (14) so that the request can be executed. This method enables access to GPS assistance servers to be limited only to users who have paid the localization service to the owner operator of the localization assistance server. |
| US08868741B2 |
Method and apparatus for custodial monitoring, filtering, and approving of content
The system provides a way for a parent or other custodian or guardian to control content to be accessed by a child or children on a network. In one embodiment, the system logs all activity on a network by a child and sends regular historical reports to the parent for review. The parent can set certain triggers that will provide more immediate feedback when certain events occur or when certain types of data are accessed, or an attempt is made by the child for such access. The system allows the parent to control the filters and options from a variety of sources, including via the child's computer, texting, instant messaging, cell phone, other web enabled computers, and PDA's. |
| US08868740B2 |
Systems and methods for injecting content
Aspects of the present disclosure include systems and methods for injecting content into a webpage at or local to a network access gateway. For example, in an embodiment, a network access gateway is provided for accessing the internet. A user logs onto the internet through the network access gateway and request a webpage. The gateway requests the webpage from the webpage provider. Before the gateway delivers the webpage to the user, the gateway, or a content injection engine local to the gateway, injects content, such as, for example, advertisements or other useful information, into the webpage and then sends the altered webpage to the user. |
| US08868739B2 |
Filtering recorded interactions by age
Systems and methods for the forming of user device groups are presented. First, logical relationship information can be recorded, the logical relationship information describing logical relationships between a first user and other users, the logical relationship information associated with a social networking service. Communications between the first user and the other users, the communications being of at least two different types of communications, may be monitored. A first user group in which to add the first user is determined based on the logical relationship information, a first factor and a second factor, the first factor corresponding to a first of the different types of communications and the second factor corresponding to a second of the different types of communications, the determining including applying a first time-varying function to the first factor and a second time-varying function to the second factor to represent an effect of passage of time, the first time-varying function being different than the second time-varying function. |
| US08868738B2 |
Automatic server position determination
A method is provided for determining the location of a target computer device, such as a server in an array of interconnected servers. In one embodiment, the method comprises selecting a first server defining a first point of an axis of a reference coordinate system and selecting a second server defining a second point of the axis. A first cable is connected from the target server to the first server and a second cable is connected from the target server to the second server. The location of the target server is determined according to the length of the first cable, the length of the second cable, and the locations of the first and second servers. The axis may be designated using an axis cable, by connecting a first end of the axis cable to the first server and connecting a second end of the axis cable to the second server. |
| US08868736B2 |
Estimating a severity level of a network fault
A method of estimating a level of severity of a network fault is provided. Performance parameters are monitored on upstream and downstream links to terminal network elements on a network to detect potential network faults. An alarm is raised with respect to a potential network fault automatically if at least one of the performance parameters as monitored crosses a preset threshold. After an alarm is raised, a level of severity is assigned to the alarm based on pre and post forward error correction (FEC) bit error rates (BER). In addition, the total number of terminal network elements that are impacted by the network fault is estimated and, when multiple alarms are raised of an equal level of severity, a higher priority is placed upon an alarm that affects service to a greatest number of terminal network elements. |
| US08868734B2 |
Network auditing tool
A method, performed by a computer device, may include scanning a network of digital cross connect devices to identify an open port and determining that the identified open port has been designated as unavailable in a provisioning database. The method may further include determining that the identified open port corresponds to a recoverable port and recovering the identified open port by designating the identified open port as available in the provisioning database, in response to determining that the identified open port corresponds to a recoverable port. |
| US08868733B2 |
Socket application program interface (API) extension
Embodiments contemplate one or more socket application program interface (API) extensions that may provide one or more Internet Protocol Address lists. Embodiments may include determining a state (or status) of one or more available Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Further, embodiments may include communicating the state (or status) of the available Internet addresses to a Multi Connection Transport Protocol. |
| US08868725B2 |
Apparatus and methods for real-time multimedia network traffic management and control in wireless networks
The invention is directed to network management systems and methods that provide substantially real-time network management and control capabilities of multimedia streaming traffic in telecommunications networks. The invention provides pre-emptive and autonomous network management and control capabilities, and may include shared intelligence of embedded systems—Heterogeneous Sensor Entities (HSE) and the Sensor Service Management (SSM) system. HSEs are distributed real-time embedded systems provisioned in various network elements. HSEs performs fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security network management functions in real-time; and real-time network management control activations and removals. SSM facilitates automated decision making, rapid deployment of HSEs and real-time provisioning of network management and control services. The service communication framework amongst various HSEs and the SSM is provided by the Heterogeneous Service Creation system. The proposed network management procedure provides real-time network management and control capabilities of multimedia traffic in wireless networks and clusters of independent networks respectively. |
| US08868722B2 |
Monitoring activity on a computer
A mechanism of monitoring activity on a computer which may be applied to measuring the performance of the computer. The computer is configured to track a first set of information relating to at least a first occurrence of at least one scenario on the computer. At least some of the first set of information is evaluated to make a determination about the first occurrence of the scenario. Based on that determination, the computer may be configured to track a second set of information relating to at least a second occurrence of the scenario on the computer, in which the second set of information includes at least some types of information not tracked in the first set of information. The second set of information can then be evaluated. |
| US08868720B1 |
Delegation of discovery functions in information management system
Environment and/or file discovery operations are delegated by an information management service in a network to external computing resources. The external computing resource performs discovery operations to discover objects in the network, which may include discovering every object in the network, or discovering only new, changed, and/or deleted objects in the network. Discovery information identifying the discovered objects is reported back to the information management service. The information management service uses the discovery information to perform information management, including classification of discovered objects into categories, mapping categories to service level objectives that include one or more services, and orchestrating execution of the one or more services. Optionally, the information management service can delegate classification, service level management, and/or orchestration of services to one or more additional external computing resources. |
| US08868713B2 |
Method and apparatus providing a user interface for a request-oriented service architecture
An approach for providing a request in a request-oriented service architecture is described. A user interface is presented. A verb-noun request based on an input into a user interface causes generation of a transaction based on a feature, declaration information, an action to be performed on the feature, and a current state of the feature. A response is received indicating that the current state of the feature is updated, at least in part, by the transaction. An indication relating to the response is presented by the user interface. |
| US08868711B2 |
Dynamic load balancing in a scalable environment
Systems and methods are provided that enable a general framework for partitioning application-defined jobs (e.g., computation) in a scalable environment. The general framework decouples partitioning of a job from the other aspects of the job. As a result, the effort required to define the application-defined computation in a scalable environment is reduced or minimized, as the user is not required to provide a partitioning algorithm. The general framework further allows a user to provide load balancing conditions to allow for modification of how partitions are assigned. |
| US08868703B2 |
Systems and methods for dynamically configuring node behavior in a sensor network
The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods for controlling sensor networks. A sensor network has a plurality of sensor nodes, which have sensors for monitoring operational parameters of devices within an application-specific system. A wireless communication module is provided for each node to enable the node to wirelessly communicate with other nodes of the network. A user defines various scripts for controlling the behavior of one or more nodes, and the network distributes the scripts, as appropriate, to various nodes thereby implementing the behavior defined by the scripts. Accordingly, a user can easily and dynamically configure or re-configure the behavior of any node without having to physically access the node that is being configured or re-configured. |
| US08868701B1 |
Configuration management repository for a federation of distributed platforms
Some embodiments provide a repository that manages configurations for a distributed platform and that automatedly configures servers of the distributed platform with different hierarchical sets of configurations while ensuring integrity and consistency across the servers and in the repository. In some embodiment, the repository includes a data store that stores configurations for a first set of servers that are operated by a first service provider and a second set of servers that are operated by a second service provider. The data store also identifies different sets of configurations to deploy to different sets of servers from the first and second sets of servers. The repository also includes a function processor to automatedly deploy the different sets of configurations to the different sets of servers and to perform functions for updating the configurations in a manner that ensures integrity and consistency. |
| US08868700B2 |
Distributed network interfaces for application cloaking and spoofing
Systems and methods associated with distributing an application's network interface over nodes of a networking fabric are presented. Nodes of the fabric can operate as interface modules, each taking on a role or responsibility for a portion of the application's network address including IP address, port assignments, or other portions of the network address. Interface modules of the networking nodes can then spoof or cloak the application to provide security against internal or external threats. |
| US08868698B2 |
Establishing a secure wireless network with minimum human intervention
Techniques for automatically configuring necessary parameters of a device to be coupled to a network with minimum human intervention are disclosed. In one embodiment, a wired and/or wireless Ad-hoc network is established to facilitate communications among a group of devices. When a new device is added to the network, a rudimentary communication path is initially established between one of the devices in the network and the new device such that necessary parameters (e.g., SSID, WEP security, channel frequency) can be exchanged for the new device to function properly in the network. To ensure the parameters are exchanged in a secure fashion, an additional public security procedure can be used between the two devices. |
| US08868696B2 |
Registration notification for mobile device management
System(s) and method(s) are provided for notification of registration of a mobile device with femto coverage for firmware content management. An attachment component that administers location of mobile devices or a femto access point (AP) conveys a notification to a network platform that manages firmware content updates when a mobile device for which firmware update is available hands off from wireless macro coverage onto femto coverage through the femto AP. The notification is triggered in response to firmware update notification received by the attachment component, or an update flag received by the femto AP. Upon reception of the notification, to exploit wireline bandwidth, the network platform delivers firmware content(s) update through backhaul link to the femto AP to which the mobile device is registered. Femto APs not provisioned to serve a mobile device can be incentivized to authorize the mobile device for coverage and thus facilitate firmware updates. |
| US08868695B2 |
Configuring a generic computing device utilizing specific computing device operation information
A method begins with the specific computing device token sending a distributed storage network (DSN) access request to DSN memory via the generic computing device. The DSN access request identifies specific computing device operation information that is stored as one or more of-sets of encoded data slices in the DSN memory. The method continues with the specific computing device token receiving the one or more of sets of encoded data slices from the DSN memory via the generic computing device and decoding the one or more of sets of encoded data slices to retrieve the specific computing device operation information. The method continues with enabling the generic computing device to function as a specific computing device in accordance with the specific computing device operation information. |
| US08868694B2 |
Configuring multiple network devices in a setup flow
A smart network may include a smart network host device as well as a smart network connector device, a smart network extender device and one or more client devices configured to connect to the smart network. An installation module is configured to connect to the smart network host device to determine whether a user is attempting to setup multiple network devices substantially simultaneously. The installation module then configures the multiple network devices based on the other network devices connected to the smart network host device. The installation module simplifies setup of the smart network by combining the configuration of multiple network devices into a single setup flow. |
| US08868690B2 |
System and method for support wireless device access to external storage
To meet the needs for storing larger volume personal information for user of wireless device, it is desire to provide extra storage space to the wireless device such as for cell phone etc due to the limited storage space that the wireless device has. Instant application disclosed a system and method for the wireless device to efficiently and effectively use remotely located storage space provided by a server. |
| US08868674B2 |
Streaming and bulk data transfer transformation with context switching
In described embodiments, processing of a data stream, such as a packet stream or flow, associated with data streaming is improved by context switching that employs context history. For each data stream that is transformed through processing, a context is maintained that comprises state information and includes a history and state information that enables the transformation for the data stream. Processing for the data transformation examines currently arriving data and then processes the data based on the context data and previously known context information for the data stream from the history stored in memory. |
| US08868672B2 |
Server node interconnect devices and methods
Described are systems and methods for interconnecting devices. A switch fabric is in communication with a plurality of electronic devices. A rendezvous memory is in communication with the switch fabric. Data is transferred to the rendezvous memory from a first electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices in response to a determination that the data is ready for output from a memory at the first electronic device and in response to a location allocated in the rendezvous memory for the data. |
| US08868671B2 |
Method for selecting a master device in a coexistence system
Disclosed is a method of selecting a master device for coexistence, the method comprising: identifying devices to be used in at least one network capable of coexisting without cooperation; selecting a master device among the identified devices; and controlling, by the master device, other network and device. |
| US08868669B2 |
Broadcasting in chat system without topic-specific rooms
A method, system and graphical user interface for a chat system is disclosed. One aspect of certain embodiments includes broadcasting popular messages to users that have not previously received the popular messages and including with the popular messages one or more qualitative signals based on user feedback. |
| US08868666B1 |
Methods, devices and systems for content discovery, aggregation and presentment over a network
A media aggregator device includes a plurality of interfaces, at least one of which may be configured to couple to a local network and at least one processor coupled to the plurality of interfaces. The processor may be operable to access a first device coupled to the local network and catalog media content stored on the first device; access a second device and catalog media content stored on the second device; populate a media aggregator database with references to the media content cataloged in the first and second devices, and present contents of the populated media aggregator database to a client device to enable the client device to access any of the media content referred to in the media aggregator database, subject to appropriate access rights. |
| US08868661B2 |
Message management based on metadata
A method includes receiving a message, determining at least one of a message importance level or a message delivery alert level based on one or more message characteristics associated with the message and generating metadata that indicates the at least one of the message importance level or the message delivery alert level with the message. The method further includes transmitting the message and the metadata toward a destination, receiving the message with the metadata, and providing notification and user interface indication corresponding to the at least one of the message importance level or the message delivery alert level or a storing of the message in an inbox folder corresponding to the at least one of the message importance level or the message delivery alert level. |
| US08868660B2 |
Electronic communication work flow manager system, method and computer program product
The present invention provides systems, methods and a computer program product for the management of electronic work items by providing uniform methodology across an enterprise. Work items are electronically received by an organization and routed to available users depending upon the business rules of the organization and certain parameters of the work items. Service level commitments may be assigned, tracked and reported as capturing standard reporting across the enterprise specifically with respect to electronic work items. |
| US08868659B2 |
Method and apparatus for automatic notification and response
A disclosed notification and response system enables applications to communicate with recipients using a number of different media. The notification and response system (i) sends requests to one or more recipients, using the medium specified by each individual recipient; (ii) collects and processes responses; and (iii) forwards the responses to their final destination by means of the medium specified by the final destination. Applications frame requests in at least one supported human language and media format, and the request is delivered to the appropriate recipient(s), according to their preferences. Communication flow expressions specify the recipients for a given request, and how, when and where each recipient shall receive the request. Requests are dynamically updated, and the parameters of a communication flow expression are not evaluated, until the request is delivered. Communication flow rules specify recipient's communication preferences and tailor communication flows to characteristics of the sender, the topic or scheduling constraints. |
| US08868657B2 |
Method and system for generating a collaboration timeline illustrating application artifacts in context
A method and apparatus for generating a collaboration timeline which illustrates application artifacts in context. A collaboration session includes a plurality of participants. Each participant collaborates via a corresponding processing device. Media streams associated with the plurality of participants are received during the collaboration session and a collaboration media stream based on the media streams is generated. A collaboration application generates an artifact during the collaboration session. A timeline entry is generated in a collaboration timeline, the timeline entry including time information identifying a time associated with the artifact, and a reference to the artifact. |
| US08868654B2 |
Privacy-preserving matching service
Described herein are technologies pertaining to protecting user privacy in connection with attribute-based matching services. A user registers with a platform that includes a plurality of non-collaborating partitions, where registration includes transmitting a message to the platform that indicates that the user has one or more attributes corresponding thereto. Through selective encryption and a communications protocol amongst the partitions, none of the partitions are able to ascertain that the user has the attributes. Acting in conjunction, however, the plurality of partitions perform rich attribute. |
| US08868652B2 |
Systems and methods for federating open social networks for analyses
Methods and arrangements for constructing and analyzing federated social networks. A first social network with a first plurality of accounts is defined, as well as a second social network with a second plurality of accounts, the second social network being unaffiliated with the second social network. The first and second social networks are federated to determine a union of the first and second social networks and an intersection of the first and second social networks, and second-order connections between one or more of the first plurality of accounts and one or more of the second plurality of accounts are ascertained, the second-order connections including connections outside of the intersection of the first and second social networks and within the union of the first and second social networks. |
| US08868649B2 |
Broadcasting events affecting public safety
A system includes a marker having a marker range. The marker is configured to receive a message from an operation center, wherein the message identifies an event associated with the marker range. A device is configured to receive the message from the marker in response to the device entering the marker range and determine whether to communicate that message by the device. |
| US08868645B1 |
Method and system for prioritizing commercial communications processing based on location data
A method and system for prioritizing commercial communications based on location data whereby a merchant is identified and a priority communication source location database is created for, and/or associated with, the merchant. Then when a communication from a source party is received from a source party communication system the source location of the source party communication system, and/or the source party, is determined from location data. The location data representing the determined source location of the source party communication system, and/or the source party, is then used to search the priority communication source location database and if the source location of the source party communication system matches data indicating priority source locations in the priority communication source location database, if so, the communication is processed on a priority basis. |
| US08868643B2 |
Methods and apparatus to collect process control data
Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to collect process control data are disclosed. An example method to collect process control data includes registering an electronic device description describing a parameter to be measured and a measurement sampling rate, measuring the parameter based on the measurement sampling rate, storing data representative of the measured parameter in a data structure, and transferring data in the data structure to a first process control device via a process control network in response to at least one of a request for the data, a condition associated with the data, or an event associated with the data. |
| US08868640B2 |
System and method for centralized retrieval and delivery of content to mobile devices using a server based RSS feed
A system, server, and method are provided for delivering at least one web feed to at least one wireless device. The server subscribes to the at least one web feed. The server has a processor connected to a memory with at least one module stored in the memory for execution by the processor. The server is configured to: monitor the web feed status for an expiration of a refresh time; retrieve new content from the web feed upon expiry of the refresh time; process the new content and package the processed new content as a content package for delivery to the wireless device; and send the content package to the wireless device as a push delivery. |
| US08868637B2 |
Page rendering for dynamic web pages
In one embodiment, in response to the detection of an event initiated in connection with a first structured document rendered by a first client application executing on a host, the event related to a target structured document, a method includes receiving, by executable code segment embedded in with the first structured document and executing within the context of the first client application, a first request for resources, related to the target structured document, generated by the first client application; formulating and transmitting, by the executable code segment, a second request related to the target structured document to a remote server; accessing, by the executable code segment, one or more resources related to the target structured document; and rendering, by the executable code segment, content rendered by the first client application based at least in part on the one or more accessed resources. |
| US08868634B2 |
Method and apparatus for performing multiplication in a processor
A method and apparatus are described for performing multiplication in a processor to generate a product. In one embodiment, a 64-bit multiplier and a 64-bit multiplicand may be multiplied together over four cycles by merging different partial product (PP) subsets, generated by a Booth encoder and a PP generator, with feedback sum and carry results. The logic inputs of a plurality of multiplexers may be selected on a cyclical basis to efficiently compress (i.e., merge) each PP subset with feedback sum and carry results. A pair of preliminary sum results stored during one cycle may be outputted during a subsequent cycle and processed by a logic gate (e.g., an XOR gate) to generate a feedback sum result that is merged with a feedback carry result and a PP subset. Final sum and carry results may be added to generate the product of the multiplier and the multiplicand. |
| US08868628B2 |
Sharing computer data among computers
Sharing computer data among computers, including identifying by a user through a user interface on a first computer at least one object of a file system to be shared through a second computer; creating by a sharing file system generator on the first computer a sharing file system; installing by the sharing file system generator in the sharing file system the object to be shared; and exposing the object to be shared from the sharing file system to a second computer through a Universal Serial Bus (‘USB’) connection between the first computer and the second computer. |
| US08868627B2 |
Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus includes an application execution unit configured to generate data to be recorded onto a medium that records data or reproduce data from the medium, a file system unit configured to manage data recorded on the medium using a file system, and a file conversion unit configured to perform conversion between a first file format processable by the application execution unit and a second file format defined by the file system. The file conversion unit converts a file of the first file format generated by the application execution unit into a file of the second file format having an allowable size defined by the file system and supplies the converted file to the file system unit in the form of a file to be recorded. |
| US08868625B2 |
Information processing device, data processing system and method, and computer program
The present invention provides a configuration in which a service corresponding to a user can be provided by using an apparatus near the user, even when the user moves from one location to another and apparatuses near the user change. A mobile apparatus carried by the user forms cells, with the mobile apparatus itself being the master, collects information of nearby apparatuses from a space directory (SDR), which stores information of directly-accessible slaves or nearby apparatuses, and generates and updates mobile directory information in a storage unit based on the collected information. Accordingly, the user can obtain the information of nearby information processors unconsciously without performing a special process and, thus, the user can receive services, such as content distribution and communication services, by using the nearby apparatuses based on the obtained information. |
| US08868621B2 |
Data extraction from HTML documents into tables for user comparison
The Computer-implemented system, method or computer program that creates a data table of rows and columns from an HTML Web page or document independent of the HTML markup tags. Data embedded in the HTML is identified using clustering of text and extracted into a data table. The generation of data tables can be performed in real-time and is not subject to problems with malformed or poorly created HTML. |
| US08868617B2 |
Common connection definitions for database clients
A system and method for connection of an application program to its corresponding database in a relational database system environment. Rather than embedding connection configuration information or properties in an application program, connection configurations are stored in a connection configuration repository. The connection configuration repository is likewise stored in a database within the relational database system environment. The connection configuration information stored in the configuration repository may be updated, revised, deleted or assembled into groups/subgroups, without affecting the application programs. |
| US08868616B1 |
Event data monitoring systems and methods
A personal monitoring system of the present disclosure has a network and a sensing device. The sensing device has a network interface for coupling the sensing device to the network and is coupled to a user for sensing raw data at a discrete time related to the user. Additionally, the system has logic that associates a timestamp with the raw data at the discrete time and stores the raw data as raw history data indicative of a plurality of raw data from discrete times. Further, the logic determines, based upon the raw history data, whether an event has occurred. |
| US08868615B2 |
Enhanced database scheme to support advanced media production and distribution
An enhanced database system and method for media production and distribution enables the aggregation of assets using external unique IDs. The use of the external IDs allows the searching of Media Asset Management database to be performed without any prior knowledge of the actual database. The search configuration defines a set of search environment parameters that are imported into the search database during a configuration stage and which are used by the search services to provide client applications with an interface to create, validate, and execute queries. |
| US08868614B2 |
System and method for creating and utilizing metadata regarding the structure of program content
Metadata is created in connection with an editing of a copy of a digital media for the purpose of generating a sample of the digital media, such as a ringtone generated from a song. The metadata is published and is retrievable for use in editing another copy of the digital media to automatically recreate the media sample. |
| US08868613B2 |
Updating data on a remote device
Systems and methods, including computer software products, for updating data on a remote device involve defining multiple channels on a remote device, where each channel is associated with a predetermined type of content. Content updates for the channels are automatically delivered to the remote device, and an update frequency is identified for each channel. A most frequent update frequency among the multiple channels defined on the remote device is determined, and updates to the channels are requested according to the most frequent update frequency. |
| US08868606B2 |
Client-based caching of remote files
A lease system is described herein that allows clients to request a lease to a remote file, wherein the lease permits access to the file across multiple applications using multiple handles without extra round trips to a server. When multiple applications on the same client (or multiple components of the same application) request access to the same file, the client specifies the same lease identifier to the server for each open request or may handle the request from the cache based on the existing lease. Because the server identifies the client's cache at the client level rather than the individual file request level, the client receives fewer break notifications and is able to cache remote files in more circumstances. Thus, by providing the ability to cache data in more circumstances common with modern applications, the lease system reduces bandwidth, improves server scalability, and provides faster access to data. |
| US08868604B2 |
Methods and apparatus for implementing Semi-distributed Lock Management
Disclosed is an improved approach for performing lock management. A semi-distributed Lock Management (SDLM) system is provided utilizing RDMA and an acyclic time-dependent dependency graph that can lead to higher system performance while maintaining higher flexibility and autonomy for each process at each compute node in the given cluster, in particular for distributed database applications. |
| US08868599B2 |
Computing correlated aggregates over a data stream
Described herein are approaches for computing correlated aggregates. An aspect provides for receiving a stream of data elements at a device, each data element having at least one numerical attribute; maintaining in memory plurality of tree structures comprising a plurality of separate nodes for summarizing numerical attributes of the data elements with respect to a predicate value of a correlated aggregation query, said maintaining comprising: creating the plurality of tree structures in which each node implements one of: a probabilistic counter and a sketch, wherein said probabilistic counter and said sketch each act to estimate aggregated data element numerical attributes to form a summary of said numerical attributes; and responsive to a correlated aggregation query specifying said predicate value, using said plurality of tree structures as a summary of said data element numerical attributes to compute a response to said correlated aggregate query. |
| US08868597B2 |
Directory server processing requests based on hierarchical models while using backend servers operating based on relational models
A virtual directory server (VDS) processes requests based on a first hierarchical model while using a backend server operating based on a relational model. In one embodiment, classes representing the tables and columns in the relation model are generated according to a second hierarchical model (class hierarchy). On receiving a directory request for values' corresponding to attributes in the first hierarchical model, tables and columns corresponding to the requested attributes are identified. A query according to the relational model is constructed employing the generated classes (of the second hierarchical model), the query including the identified tables and columns. The query is then executed in the backend server to retrieve the values corresponding to the attributes, and the values are then sent (according to the first hierarchical model) as a reply to the directory request. |
| US08868595B2 |
Enhanced control to users to populate a cache in a database system
Providing enhanced control to users to populate a cache in a database system. A user provides an explicit indication indicating the specific information (available from the data stored in a storage of the database system) to be populated in the cache, and the cache is populated with the corresponding information. The information in the cache (whether due to explicit indications or otherwise) can then be used to generate results of queries, without having to access the same information from the storage of the database system. |
| US08868594B2 |
Split processing paths for a database calculation engine
A dynamic split node defined within a calculation model can receive data being operated on by a calculation plan generated based on the calculation model. A partition specification can be applied to one or more reference columns in a table containing at least some of the received data. The applying can cause the table to be split such that a plurality of records in the table are partitioned according to the partition specification. A separate processing path can be set for each partition, and execution of the calculation plan can continue using the separate processing paths, each of which can be assigned to a processing node of a plurality of available processing nodes. |
| US08868592B1 |
Providing customized autocomplete data
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for providing customized autocomplete suggestions. First profile data is obtained for a first user. Second profile data is obtained for second users that submitted search queries, where the second users are different from the first user. Based on the first profile data and the second profile data, similarity scores are determined. The similarity scores are each indicative of a degree of similarity between the first user and at least one of the second users. A proper subset of the search queries is selected based on the similarity scores, and an update for an autocomplete cache of a computing device associated with the first user is generated using the selected subset of search queries. The update is provided to the computing device associated with the first user. |
| US08868591B1 |
Modifying a user query to improve the results
The present invention relates to the identification of alternative suggestions which potentially improve on a given query suggestion, without being perceived by a user as being offensively different from the user's query. The alternative suggestions may for example be different query formulations that relate to the same topic as that of the given query suggestion. The technology disclosed uses similarity screening of the given query suggestion against unique queries which do not include the given query suggestion as a prefix, in conjunction with query utility scores representing prior user response to the unique queries. |
| US08868590B1 |
Method and system utilizing a personalized user model to develop a search request
A method and system for developing a computer-executable query relating to a search request issued by a user includes determining whether a search term of the search request has a user-specific meaning, connotation, context, or association based on an analysis of electronic content associated with the user and/or an analysis of interactions of the user with electronic content that is accessible to the user through one or more computing devices. If the search term has a user-specific meaning, connotation, context, or association, the method and system can incorporate the user-specific meaning, connotation, context, or association into the search request and/or the computer-executable query. |
| US08868588B2 |
System and method for providing a composite view object and SQL bypass in a business intelligence server
Systems and methods are described for performing a SQL bypass in a business intelligence (BI) server environment. The BI server initially receives a SQL query and constructs an extensible markup language (XML) representation of the SQL query. The XML representation is sent to an application server that hosts an application developer framework (ADF). The ADF receives the XML representation of the SQL query and constructs a composite view object at runtime, to access the appropriate data. It then generates a database-specific query based on the composite view object and returns it to the BI server. The BI server replans the database-specific query and sends it to a database storing the data. |
| US08868583B2 |
Similarity calculation apparatus
A relationship-information storage unit stores relationships between configuration items. The configuration items belong to an information system and are stored in multiple databases. A first counting unit compares, across the databases, attribute values of one configuration item in each of the databases, thereby counting a matching-attribute-value count. A second counting unit identifies a configuration item having a relationship with the one configuration item, for which the first counting unit counts the matching-attribute-value count, by referring to the relationship-information storage unit. Then, the second counting unit compares, across the databases, attribute values of the identified configuration items to count a matching-attribute-value count. A similarity calculation unit calculates similarity between the configuration items, based on the matching-attribute-value count counted by the first counting unit and the matching-attribute-value count counted by the second counting unit. |
| US08868582B2 |
Repository infrastructure for on demand platforms
In an aspect there is provided a method. The method may include providing, at a repository, storage for a plurality of tenants, providing a plurality of layers, and providing a plurality of versions; and separating, based on the plurality of layers and the plurality of versions, data for each of the plurality of tenants, wherein during runtime one of the plurality of tenants corresponds to the plurality of layers and one of the plurality of versions. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described. |
| US08868581B2 |
Communication device and method of controlling operation of communication device
A communication device and method of controlling an operation of a communication device are provided, by which an application can be efficiently selected according to location information. The communication device includes a wireless communication unit for determining a location using received information, a controller for generating location information based on the determined location and searching for an application corresponding to the location information, and a display for displaying an indicator of the searched application. |
| US08868574B2 |
System and method for advanced search and filtering mechanisms for enterprise administrators in a cloud-based environment
A cloud-based platform (e.g., cloud-based collaboration and/or storage platform/service) is described that permits advanced searches with advanced filtering mechanisms to be performed by administrators or other authorized individuals, across an organization, enterprise, or other select groups of entities in a cloud environment, such as a cloud-based collaborative environment. Various types, categories, metadata, and filters can be specified for use in the advanced search within select folders, users' folders, or across a larger set/group of folders and/or users. |
| US08868572B2 |
Predictive conversion systems and methods
In one embodiment, a system and method of predicting sale transaction conversion rate of an item operates through a search of information in response to a query over a network. The item can be included in a category of items. Information for other relevant items of the category is available through network query and historical data, among others. Respective information for the other items of the category is available to the method. The system and method includes discovering available information of the item of interest, extracting certain of the available information of the item, analyzing the certain information for the item by comparing the information to other item information for the category of items, weighting the information for the commercial item in comparison to other items of the category, calculating a predictive score for the commercial item of interest, and presenting the information of the commercial item of interest ranked according to the predictive score as compared to other items of the category. |
| US08868566B2 |
Electronic communication messaging
Systems, methods, and apparatus related to suggesting components of an electronic communication. A component input associated with an electronic communication is received. Suggested recipient address sets of the electronic communication based on previous electronic communications associated with the component input are identified and presented to a user for selection. |
| US08868565B1 |
Calibrating click duration according to context
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for determining short click measures and long click measures on a per-category basis. In one aspect, a method includes determining, for each of a set of categories, a respective first threshold click duration that is a long click duration that defines a period of time for which click durations resulting from selections of resources that belong to the category and that meet the first threshold click duration are classified as long clicks, and a respective second threshold click duration is a short click duration that defines a period of time for which click durations resulting from selections of resources that belong to the category and that do not meet the second threshold click duration are classified as short clicks. |
| US08868563B2 |
System, method, and computer program product for analyzing and decomposing a plurality of rules into a plurality of contexts
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for analyzing a plurality of rules in a textual rules structure. Further, the plurality of rules are decomposed into a plurality of contexts, based on the analysis. In addition, the plurality of contexts are stored in a table. Furthermore, a database associated with a device and/or any robot equipped with an operating system may be utilized. |
| US08868562B2 |
Identification of semantic relationships within reported speech
Methods and computer-readable media for associating words or groups of words distilled from content, such as reported speech or an attitude report, of a document to form semantic relationships collectively used to generate a semantic representation of the content are provided. Semantic representations may include elements identified or parsed from a text portion of the content, the elements of which may be associated with other elements that share a semantic relationship, such as an agent, location, or topic relationship. Relationships may also be developed by associating one element that is in relation to, or is about, another element, thereby allowing for rapid and effective comparison of associations found in a semantic representation with associations derived from queries. The semantic relationships may be determined based on semantic information, such as potential meanings and grammatical functions of each element within the text portion of the content. |
| US08868561B2 |
Electronic discovery system
Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for improved electronic discovery and custodian management. Embodiments herein disclosed provide for an enterprise wide e-discovery system that provides for data to be identified, located, retrieved, preserved, searched, reviewed and produced in an efficient and cost-effective manner across the entire enterprise system. In addition, by structuring management of e-discovery based on case/matter, custodian and data and providing for linkage between the same, further efficiencies are realized in terms of identifying, locating and retrieving data and leveraging results of previous e-discoveries with current requests. |
| US08868559B2 |
Representative document selection for a set of duplicate documents
Systems and methods for indexing a representative document from a set of duplicate documents are disclosed. Disclosed systems and methods comprise selecting a first document in a plurality of documents on the basis that the first document is associated with a query independent score. Each respective document in the plurality of documents has a fingerprint that indicates that the respective document has substantially identical content to every other document in the plurality of documents. Disclosed systems and methods further comprise indexing, in accordance with the query independent score, the first document thereby producing an indexed first document. With respect to the plurality of documents, only the indexed first document is included in a document index. |
| US08868557B2 |
Actionable email documents
A received reply email document enables some action to be effectuated using data included in the email document responsive to field identifiers associated with the data and corresponding to fields of metadata. The associated field identifiers that correspond to known fields of the metadata provide some expectation as to the semantic meaning and/or syntactic constraints of the data to which the field identifiers are associated. In a described implementation, an actionable email documents module creates an email document having blocks that are mapped to fields of metadata. The email document is transmitted to one or more recipients. Each recipient adds data to the blocks so that the data becomes mapped to the fields of the metadata. The recipients return a reply email document having the field-mapped data. Upon receipt, the module can effectuate some action using the field-mapped data responsive to the mappings. |
| US08868556B2 |
Method and device for tagging a document
There are disclosed a method and a device for tagging a document. The method includes the steps of acquiring structural information of the document, retrieving a content block list corresponding to a user-input tag, comparing blocks in the structural information with blocks in the content block list, to obtain similar blocks, and annotating the user-input tag at positions, which correspond to the similar blocks, in the document. |
| US08868555B2 |
Computation of a recongnizability score (quality predictor) for image retrieval
A MMR system for newspaper publishing comprises a plurality of mobile devices, an MMR gateway, an MMR matching unit and an MMR publisher. The MMR matching unit receives an image query from the MMR gateway and sends it to one or more of the recognition units to identify a result including a document, the page and the location on the page. The MMR system also includes a quality predictor as a plug-in installed on the mobile device to filter images before they are included as part of a retrieval request or as part of the MMR matching unit. The quality predictor comprises an input for receiving recognition algorithm information, a vector calculator, a score generator and a scoring module. The quality predictor receives as inputs an image query, context information and device parameters, and generates an outputs a recognizability score. The present invention also includes a method for generating robustness features. |
| US08868552B2 |
Systems and methods to facilitate searches based on social graphs and affinity groups
Business, recommendation, and social relationship graph information for businesses may be received from a data source social networking website, where each business is recommended by users. The recommendation information may indicate users that recommend certain businesses. The social relationship graph information may indicate user-specific networks of social relationships on the social networking website. For a user query including business and affinity group selection criteria, business, recommendation, and social relationship graph information may be searched to select businesses that: match the business selection criteria; and are recommended by users having social relationships within a maximum degree of closeness with the querying user and being in an affinity group matching the affinity group selection criteria. The selected businesses may be ranked based on numbers of recommending users and social relationship graph information. A search result, with businesses indicated in a rank order and with business and recommendation information, may be provided. |
| US08868547B2 |
Programming content on a device
Discovering content on a device. Content stored on a device can be examined or searched based on the programming of channels that are available to the device. The content can be searched using other rules related to user preferences. Based on the results of the examination of the content, playlists are generated. Each playlist includes content from the device that matches or partially matches the content associated with one of the channels. Using the playlists, a user can load content from their device that has a theme consistent with a particular channel. The playlists can also be used to tune to the channels associated with the playlists and thereby discover the content on those channels. |
| US08868542B2 |
Customized user interface based on user profile information
A user interface including one or more references to content is customized. Several user profiles are provided from which a user may be associated. Each user profile includes user profile information. The user profile associated with a user to whom a user interface will be provided is accessed. A user interface is configured for the user, based at least in part upon the user profile accessed as being associated with the user. Access to content is enabled based on user manipulation of the configured user interface. |
| US08868541B2 |
Scheduling resource crawls
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for scheduling resource crawls. In one aspect, a framework is provided for scheduling resource crawls such that a crawl scheduler determines the health of a document, i.e., whether it can be crawled, the popularity of the document, and the frequency of “interesting,” i.e., substantive, content changes, and based on this information, estimates an appropriate crawl interval for each web resource to improve crawl resource utilization. |
| US08868533B2 |
Method and apparatus for intelligent capture of document object model events
A monitoring system intelligently captures Document Object Model (DOM) events. The DOM events may provide state information that may not usually be captured during a web session. To reduce processing bandwidth, content identifiers may be used to represent some DOM events. Checkpoints may be identified during the web session and a current state of the webpage may be captured to provide replay synchronization. Different data may be captured based on a sequence and timing of the DOM events during the original web session. Data exchanged with third party websites also may be selectively captured to provide a more through simulation of the original web session. |
| US08868523B2 |
File server for migration of file and method for migrating file
A file server stores storage management information and migration policy information. The storage management information includes information that indicates a storage attribute for each storage apparatus. The migration policy information includes a plurality of information sets. Each of the information sets includes information that indicates a condition of a file attribute and information that indicates a condition of a storage attribute of a storage apparatus that is a migration destination. The file server specifies a migration target file, specifies a storage apparatus that conforms to the storage attribute condition indicated by the information set that includes the information indicating a condition of a file attribute that conforms to that of a file attribute of a target file based on the storage management information, and migrates a target file from a storage apparatus that has stored the target file to the storage apparatus that has been specified. |
| US08868520B1 |
System and method for removing overlapping ranges from a flat sorted data structure
A system and method efficiently removes ranges of entries from a flat sorted data structure, such as a fingerprint database, of a storage system. The ranges of entries represent fingerprints that have become stale, i.e., are not representative of current states of corresponding blocks in the file system, due to various file system operations such as, e.g., deletion of a data block without overwriting its contents. A deduplication module performs an attributes intersect range calculation (AIRC) procedure on the stale fingerprint data structure to compute a set of non-overlapping and latest consistency point (CP) ranges. The output from the AIRC procedure, i.e., the set of non-overlapping and latest CP ranges, is then used to remove stale fingerprints associated with that deleted block (as well as each other deleted data block) from the fingerprint database. |
| US08868507B2 |
Method and apparatus for data recovery using storage based journaling
A storage system maintains a journal and a snapshot of one or more data volumes. Two journal entry types are maintained, an AFTER journal entry and a BEFORE journal entry. Two modes of data recovery are provided: “fast” recovery and “undo-able”recovery. A combination of both recovery modes allows the user to quickly recover a targeted data state. |
| US08868504B2 |
Database system with active standby and nodes
A system includes an active node and a standby node and zero or more replica nodes. Each of the nodes includes a database system, such as an in-memory database system. Client updates applied to the active node are written through to the standby node, and the standby node writes the updates through to a primary database and updates the replica nodes. Commit ticket numbers tag entries in transaction logs and are used to facilitate recovery if either of the active node or the standby node fails. Updates applied to the primary database are autorefreshed to the active node and written through by the active node to the standby node which propagates the updates to the replica nodes. Bookmarks are used to track updated records of the primary database and are used to facilitate recovery if either of the active node or the standby node fails. |
| US08868499B2 |
Method and system for pushing data to subscribers in an on-demand service
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for pushing data, which maybe associated with documents that are being tracked, in an on-demand service. These mechanisms and methods for pushing data in an on-demand service can enable subscriptions to elements associated with the documents being shared. As a result of the subscription the user may be notified that a document associated with the subscription has been changed (e.g., altered). In an embodiment, the subscription may be forced on a user. |
| US08868495B2 |
System and method for indexing user data on storage systems
A system and method for indexing user data on storage systems is provided. A client of the storage system executes a novel client side agent that is configured to detect changes to data stored by the client on the storage system. In response to detecting that data has been modified, the agent examines modified data containers and parses the modified data to identify new and/or modified index terms or the creation/deletion of data containers. Once the data has been parsed by the agent to identify new/modified index terms, the parsed data is transmitted from the agent to a management module executing on a management server. The management module receives the parsed data and updates a search database using the received parsed data. |
| US08868493B2 |
Method and system using reusable state information for synchronization and maintenance of data
A system for synchronization whereby metadata repository maintains information regarding the history and status of data items in a data repository. Data items are associated with states and such states changes (e.g. increment) in response to changes to the data items. History statements associated with the same states describe the changes in a generic enough fashion that multiple data items may be associated with a single state (e.g. if multiple data items share a common history such as that they were all edited by a user on the same device). The history repository is synchronized with other history repositories so as to reflect the states of data items on multiple devices. The synchronized history stores are used during synchronization to identify and resolve data conflicts through ancestry of data item history. |
| US08868492B2 |
Method for maximizing throughput and minimizing transactions response times on the primary system in the presence of a zero data loss standby replica
A method and system is provided for reducing delay to applications connected to a database server that guarantees no data loss during failure or disaster. After storing a log record persistently in a local primary log, the log writer returns control to the application which continues running concurrently with the database server sending the session's log records to a standby database. A separate back channel is used by the standby to communicate, out-of-band to the primary, the location of the last log record stored persistently to the standby log. An application waiting for a transaction to commit may wait until the transaction's commit record has been persisted. Also described is a technique for reducing application delay when there is contention between nodes of a multi-node cluster for updating the same block. The technique provides for an asynchronous ping protocol that guarantees zero data loss during failure or disaster. |
| US08868488B2 |
Techniques for integrating structured accounting data with unstructured data
Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for integrating structured accounting data with unstructured data. From an application that manages structured accounting data related to an entity, a user selection is received to create a document container for a collaboration tool. The document container is used for storing unstructured data related to the entity. In response to the selection of the create option, a site creation service is launched for automatically creating the document container using settings previously specified by an administrator on a configuration screen of the application. Once the document container is created, unstructured data related to the entity is stored in the document container. The user can view and navigate between the structured accounting data and unstructured data without having to leave the application. Unstructured data is automatically published to the document container for the entity as users interact with the application. |
| US08868486B2 |
Time-sensitive cube
A time-sensitive cube data system is disclosed in which time-sensitive and/or time-series data objects are output in response to a user's operations on a time-sensitive OLAP cube. The time-sensitive and/or time-series data objects output by the time-sensitive cube data system may be displayed to the user in any way that may be advantageous to the user's understanding. The time-series objects output by the time-sensitive cube data system are more helpful than a single snapshot, as a user is able to see data trends over time. |
| US08868485B2 |
Data flow cost modeling
Techniques are disclosed for cost modeling in a data flow model. In one embodiment, a data flow model is provided that includes multiple data flow objects, each data flow object including one or more data units. Each data flow object represents a respective information asset. Quality and cost components are assigned to each data unit of a first data flow object. A cost property is determined for each data unit of the first data flow object, based on the assigned components. An object cost property is also determined for the first data flow object. The determined cost properties may be used to identify information assets that are more cost-effective to upgrade, relative to other information assets. |
| US08868484B2 |
Efficiently updating rows in a data warehouse
An aspect of the present invention facilitates efficient updating of rows in a data warehouse. In one embodiment, a sequence of identifiers is allocated to rows of data elements received earlier, and then inserted along with the received data elements in a table according to the defined by the sequence of identifiers. On receiving data elements as updates to the rows having associated identifiers, the received data elements are sorted according to the order of the associated identifiers and updates of the rows are performed successively in the sorted order of identifiers. According to another aspect, the above features are performed when (target) fact/dimension tables in the data warehouse are sought to be updated based on transformations/computations performed on data in other (source) fact/dimension tables. |
| US08868479B2 |
Natural language parsers to normalize addresses for geocoding
The present invention provides a technique for building natural language parsers by implementing a country and/or jurisdiction specific set of training data that is automatically converted during a build phase to a respective predictive model, i.e., an automated country specific natural language parser. The predictive model can be used without the training data to quantify any input address. This model may be included as part of a larger Geographic Information System (GIS) data-set or as a stand alone quantifier. The build phase may also be run on demand and the resultant predictive model kept in temporary storage for immediate use. |
| US08868478B2 |
Tensor trace norm and inference systems and recommender systems using same
A convex regularized loss function is minimized respective to a prediction tensor of order K to generate an optimized prediction tensor of order K where K>2. The convex regularized loss function comprises a linear combination of (i) a loss function comparing the prediction tensor and an observation tensor of order K representing a set of observations and (ii) a regularization parameter including a K-th order matrix norm decomposition of the tensor trace norm of the prediction tensor. In some such embodiments, the observation tensor of order K represents a set of social network observations and includes at least dimensions corresponding to (1) users, (2) items, and (3) tags. The optimized prediction tensor of order K is suitably used to perform inference operations. |
| US08868471B1 |
Evaluation of task judging results
Embodiments of systems and methods can determine evaluations of the quality of task results provided by judges. Certain embodiments can determine the quality evaluations with relatively little overlap of judges (e.g., two or three judges). The quality evaluations may include determining an error rate or a confidence index for a judge or for a particular judgment made by the judge. Certain embodiments may determine the quality evaluations by intercomparing judging results from multiple judges without requiring human intervention, comparison to evaluation data known (or assumed) to be accurate, or input from an external judge review panel. In some implementations, task results can be combined with a confidence score (based at least in part on the quality evaluation of the judge who provided the task result), and this information can be used as training data to improve performance of machine learning algorithms. |
| US08868470B2 |
Parallel processing of data sets
Systems, methods, and devices are described for implementing learning algorithms on data sets. A data set may be partitioned into a plurality of data partitions that may be distributed to two or more processors, such as a graphics processing unit. The data partitions may be processed in parallel by each of the processors to determine local counts associated with the data partitions. The local counts may then be aggregated to form a global count that reflects the local counts for the data set. The partitioning may be performed by a data partition algorithm and the processing and the aggregating may be performed by a parallel collapsed Gibbs sampling (CGS) algorithm and/or a parallel collapsed variational Bayesian (CVB) algorithm. In addition, the CGS and/or the CVB algorithms may be associated with the data partition algorithm and may be parallelized to train a latent Dirichlet allocation model. |
| US08868468B2 |
Intelligent decision supporting system and method for making intelligent decisions and classifying text using classifiers trained to define different semantic standards
An intelligent decision system and a method for making an intelligent decision are provided. The intelligent decision supporting system includes a multi-dimensional classifier comprising a plurality of classifiers that define different semantic standards and are trained based on the different semantic standards, for classifying a text by the semantic standards and for outputting a plurality of attributes of the text and a confidence rate of each of the plurality of attributes, a question submitting module for receiving the output of the multi-dimensional classifier, for forming a question based on the plurality of attributes of the text and the confidence rate of each attribute, and for submitting the question to an inference machine, the inference machine for receiving the question submitted by the question submitting module, for inquiring of a domain ontology knowledge library based on the question, and for providing an answer for the question to an decision reply module. |
| US08868461B2 |
Electronic trading platform and method thereof
An electronic trading platform performs trading of one or more types of financial instruments and includes at least one cloud providing at least one independent trading environment executed by a server. The at least one cloud includes a plurality of instances of an express interface application executed by the server and configured to receive interests in the financial instruments. The plurality of instances of the express interface application are configured to write the interests to a shared memory on the server. A matching engine, executed by the server, is configured to continuously poll the shared memory, read the interests written by the plurality of instances of the express interface application, analyze the read interests to determine if there is a matching contraside interest and allocate matching interests based on at least one allocation rule. |
| US08868459B2 |
System and method for adjusting asset value and availability in data records for mitigating speculative trading in a prediction market
The present subject-matter belongs to the field of system and methods for automatic and electronic transaction control, namely in introducing minimum holding times and forcing transaction outcomes in a market. The system and method include adjusting asset value and availability for mitigating speculative market manipulation and pure speculative trading transactions outcomes in a prediction market. The modules introduce pure delays, selective delays or force the transaction outcome evaluations such that these goals are addressed. One of the principles used in these methods and modules is that by increasing the risk of the purely speculative or manipulative trading strategies, their expected payoff will be reduced. Thus participants will have less incentive to use them and their occurrence and impact will be greatly reduced. |
| US08868456B1 |
Method and apparatus for managing financial control validation processes
The invention comprises a method and apparatus for determining compliance of at least one financial control. Specifically, the method comprises obtaining the at least one financial control where the at least one financial control is associated with at least one revenue generation process, selecting at least a portion of sample data associated with the at least one financial control, generating at least one test result by testing the at least one financial control using the at least a portion of the sample data, and determining at least one maturity level associated with the at least one financial control according to the at least one test result, the at least one maturity level for determining compliance of the at least one financial control with at least one regulation. |
| US08868453B2 |
System for supply chain management
A system for tracking a product from origin to destination is disclosed. The system includes a probe that comprises two plates, a power source and a processor. The power source is controlled by the processor to produce an oscillating output at the plates. Using the oscillating voltage, the probe interrogates a device through capacitive coupling. The device includes a control unit, a memory unit, and first and second materials physically associated with the device for communication using capacitive coupling. Information associated with the device is transferred from the device to the probe through capacitive coupling between the first and second materials and the first and second plates, respectively. |
| US08868452B2 |
Smart grid deployment simulator
A decision management system simulates a smart grid communications network service deployment using business and technology changeable parameters, models describing traffic profiles for smart grid domain devices and smart grid applications, smart grid infrastructure and a cost model. Candidate solutions for deploying the smart grid service are determined for different sets of changeable parameters through the simulations. These solutions are analyzed to identify a solution for deploying the smart grid service. |
| US08868447B1 |
Sensor and control node publishing and subscription system
A system aggregates data collected from independently owned and controlled networked sensors and controls into content channels. The system allows for anonymous subscription to content channels and sensor data by channel client, other sensor owners, and service providers who bid for the right to advertise services to content channel clients based on sensor data patterns for which the service providers can provide particular insight. |
| US08868446B2 |
System and method for concept development
A computer implemented method, system, and computer program product include one or more processors identifying a dynamic element within framework for building a visual representation of a product concept, the visual representation including one or more of a textual component and a graphical component, the dynamic element associated with a variant list including one or more variant elements; one or more processors identifying one of a longest variant element and a shortest variant element from within the variant list; and one or more processors generating a first instantiation of a visual representation of a product concept including the one of the longest variant element and the shortest variant element as the dynamic element. |
| US08868435B2 |
Information archival and retrieval system for internetworked computers
A computing system can archive information from internetworked computers, such as Internet content, for later retrieval. A server system processes content providers, such as DNS registries and web sites, to extract and store content, including text, image, audio, and video content. For web sites, HTML source code is stored along with a browser-rendered display file. The content is perpetually archived to create a historical record of information for each content provider. An interface is used to retrieve the archived content in response to queries. |
| US08868431B2 |
Recognition dictionary creation device and voice recognition device
A recognition dictionary creation device identifies the language of a reading of an inputted text which is a target to be registered and adds a reading with phonemes in the language identified thereby to the target text to be registered, and also converts the reading of the target text to be registered from the phonemes in the language identified thereby to phonemes in a language to be recognized which is handled in voice recognition to create a recognition dictionary in which the converted reading of the target text to be registered is registered. |
| US08868429B2 |
Method and device for storing audio data
A method for storing audio data is disclosed, including: recording basic information of a versatile audio data storage file into the versatile audio data storage file; storing Versatile Audio Codec (VAC) frame data into the versatile audio data storage file sequentially; recording payload information of the versatile audio data storage file into the versatile audio data storage file; and recording index information of VAC frames stored in the versatile audio data storage file into the versatile audio data storage file. A device for storing the audio data is also disclosed, including: a basic information record module, a VAC frame data storage module, a payload information record module and an index information record module. The file generated with this method is simple and is easy to read and access, which can be applied to various applications of the versatile audio frequently. |
| US08868427B2 |
System and method for updating information in electronic calendars
Systems and methods for updating electronic calendar information. Speech is received from a user at a vehicle telematics unit (VTU), wherein the speech is representative of information related to a particular vehicle trip. The received speech is recorded in the VTU as a voice memo, and data associated with the voice memo is communicated from the VTU to a computer running a calendaring application. The data is associated with a field of the calendaring application, and stored in association with the calendaring application field. |
| US08868422B2 |
Storing a representative speech unit waveform for speech synthesis based on searching for similar speech units
According to one embodiment, a method for editing speech is disclosed. The method can generate speech information from a text. The speech information includes phonologic information and prosody information. The method can divide the speech information into a plurality of speech units, based on at least one of the phonologic information and the prosody information. The method can search at least two speech units from the plurality of speech units. At least one of the phonologic information and the prosody information in the at least two speech units are identical or similar. In addition, the method can store a speech unit waveform corresponding to one of the at least two speech units as a representative speech unit into a memory. |
| US08868420B1 |
Continuous speech transcription performance indication
A method of providing speech transcription performance indication includes receiving, at a user device data representing text transcribed from an audio stream by an ASR system, and data representing a metric associated with the audio stream; displaying, via the user device, said text; and via the user device, providing, in user-perceptible form, an indicator of said metric. Another method includes displaying, by a user device, text transcribed from an audio stream by an ASR system; and via the user device, providing, in user-perceptible form, an indicator of a level of background noise of the audio stream. Another method includes receiving data representing an audio stream; converting said data representing an audio stream to text via an ASR system; determining a metric associated with the audio stream; transmitting data representing said text to a user device; and transmitting data representing said metric to the user device. |
| US08868415B1 |
Discontinuous transmission control based on vocoder and voice activity
A method and system is disclosed for control of discontinuous transmission based on vocoder and voice activity. An access terminal (AT) may engage in a communication session via an encoder-decoder in a network device in a wireless network. During silence intervals of the communication session, when the AT has no data to transmit, the AT may transmit periodic silence frames at a silence-frame rate to the encoder-decoder. The silence frames may contain parameters for generation of audio noise by the network device. Upon determining that the encoder-decoder has ceased transmitting data to the AT in response to a prolonged absence of transmissions from the AT, the AT may increase the silence-frame rate so as to reduce the duration of the absence of transmissions from the AT, and correspondingly cause the encoder-decoder to begin transmitting audio data to the AT. |
| US08868413B2 |
Accelerometer vector controlled noise cancelling method
A telecommunication device is disclosed, comprising: a microphone array comprising a plurality of microphones, wherein each microphone receives an analogue acoustic signal; a position sensing device for determining how the telecommunication device is positioned in three-dimensions with respect to a user's mouth; at least one analogue/digital converter for converting each analogue acoustic signal into a digital signal; a digital signal processor for performing signal processing on the received digital signals comprising a controller, a plurality of delay circuits for delaying each received signal based on an input from the controller and a plurality of preamplifiers for adjusting the gain of each received signal based on a gain input from the controller, wherein the controller selects the appropriate delay and gain values applied to each received signal to remove noise from the received signals based on the determined position of the telecommunication device. A method for creating and controlling a location of a virtual microphone near a telecommunication device so as to reduce background noise in a speech signal is also disclosed. |
| US08868408B2 |
Systems and methods for word offensiveness processing using aggregated offensive word filters
Computer-implemented systems and methods are provided for identifying language that would be considered obscene or otherwise offensive to a user or proprietor of a system. A first plurality of offensive words are received, and a second plurality of offensive words are received. A string of words are received, where one or more detected offensive words are selected from the string of words that matches words from the first plurality of offensive words or the second plurality of offensive words. The string of words is processed based upon the detection of offensive words in the string of words. |
| US08868407B2 |
Language processor
A referring expression processor which uses a probabilistic model and in which referring expressions including descriptive, anaphoric and deictic expressions are understood and generated in the course of dialogue is provided. The referring expression processor according to the present invention includes: a referring expression processing section which performs at least one of understanding and generation of referring expressions using a probabilistic model constructed with a referring expression Bayesian network, each referring expression Bayesian network representing relationships between a reference domain (D) which is a set of possible referents, a referent (X) in the reference domain, a concept (C) concerning the referent and a word (W) which represents the concept; and a memory which stores data necessary for constructing the referring expression Bayesian network. |
| US08868400B2 |
Modeling storage environments
Example embodiments provide various techniques for modeling network storage environments. To model a particular storage environment, component models that are associated with the components of the storage environment are loaded. Each component model is programmed to mathematically simulate one or more components of the storage environment. A system model is then composed from the component models and this system model is configured to simulate the storage environment. |
| US08868398B2 |
Method for predicting arc flash energy and PPE category within a real-time monitoring system
A method for simulating an arc flash event on an electrical power system is disclosed. The virtual system model of the electrical system is modified to introduce a short circuiting feature. The standard to supply equations used in the arc flash event calculations is chosen. The arc flash event is simulated using the modified virtual system model in accordance with the chosen standard. The quantity of arc energy released by the arc flash event is calculated using results from the simulation. The report that forecasts an aspect of the arc flash event is communicated. |
| US08868397B2 |
Transaction co-validation across abstraction layers
A method, apparatus, and system in which a modeling tool made up of a testbench executable program validates behavior of one or more sub-components of an electronic system design modeled as one or more executable behavioral models and a transactor translates a behavior of the sub-components between one or more different levels of abstraction derived from a same design. |
| US08868396B1 |
Verification and debugging using heterogeneous simulation models
A method and apparatus for verifying and debugging a circuit design module of a high level programming system is disclosed herein. A circuit design created in a high level programming environment must undergo a number of transformations as it is compiled into a form that can be realized in hardware. At each transformative step, the behavior of the circuit must be verified with a simulation model and debugged if the transformation has changed the behavior of the circuit. The claimed invention presents a novel approach for verifying and debugging between different simulation models and achieves an advance in the art by utilizing the modularized structure of a high-level circuit design to systematically identify simulation mismatches among different simulation models and determine which portions of the circuit design are responsible for the discrepancy. |
| US08868394B2 |
Method for computer-aided simulation of operating parameters of a technical system
A method for computer-aided simulation of operating parameters of a technical system including a plurality of modules which each contain one or more components is provided. Failure events with associated downtimes for each component are simulated in a predetermined operating period using a first probability distribution for the moment of failure of the components and a second probability distribution for the length of the failure of the components, and a third probability distribution for a degree of reliability of the modules is determined. Based upon the probability distributions for the degrees of reliability of the modules, operating parameters of the technical system are simulated for the predetermined operating period. The method is used for any technical facilities, in particular for energy generation facilities. |
| US08868393B2 |
Algorithms for classification of disease subtypes and for prognosis with gene expression profiling
Methods for generating a normalized expression signal for microarray data based on a theoretical distribution at the unit level to produce a normalized expression signal for the single microarray that is independent of other microarrays. The method typically includes receiving microarray data representing a plurality of probe pairs for a single microarray, determining, for each probe pair, differences between intensities of perfect match (PM) probes and intensities of mismatched (MM) probes, determining a difference signal, D, based on the determined differences, and scaling the difference signal, D, to produce an expression signal, DS. The method also typically includes normalizing the expression signal based on a theoretical distribution at the unit level to produce a normalized expression signal for the single microarray that is independent of other microarrays. |
| US08868388B2 |
Contact defining device, contact defining method, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium
A contact defining device includes: a component moving unit that moves a component represented by data of a surface region in a 3D model in a predetermined direction; an overlap determination unit that determines whether or not the surface region of the component moved by the component moving unit includes an overlapping area that overlaps the surface region of another component; and a contact defining unit that, when a determination is made by the overlap determination unit that the surface region of the component includes the overlapping area that overlaps the surface region of another component, defines the overlapping area as a contact area with the another component. |
| US08868386B2 |
Navigation in simulated workflows
An enabled task accessed by a user within a workflow is identified. The workflow is expressed as a Petri net and includes enabled tasks and non-enabled tasks. A non-enabled task selected by a user is identified, and a suitable state that enables the non-enabled state is determined based on the identified enabled task. A simulated workflow for the selected non-enabled task is generated based on the determined suitable state. The simulated workflow is expressed as a Petri net. The user is enabled to navigate through the simulated workflow. |
| US08868385B2 |
Automated method to determine composite material constituent properties
According to an aspect, a computer implemented method includes: accepting a set of user input composite material properties, including a composite modulus in a first direction, a composite modulus in a second direction normal to the first direction, a composite shear modulus in a plane that includes the first direction and the second direction, and a composite Poisson ratio in a plane that includes the first direction and the second direction; accepting a user input composite microstructure; and automatically compute adjusted material properties of all constituents of the composite material, wherein a set of consistent fixed constituent property constraints are utilized to obtain the adjusted material property. |
| US08868384B2 |
Methods and apparatus for monitoring operation of a system asset
A device for monitoring operation of a plurality of system assets includes a storage device configured to store a model of a plurality of system assets, wherein the model includes a plurality of asset images associated with the system assets, and a plurality of component connections representative of a plurality of conduits coupled to the system assets. The device also includes a processor coupled to the storage device. The processor is configured to display the plurality of asset images and to display the plurality of component connections. The processor is also configured to select an asset image, display a status of a system asset associated with the selected asset image, and automatically display a representation of at least one of a process flow entering the system asset and a process flow exiting the system asset when the asset image is selected. |
| US08868383B2 |
Consumption energy calculating device
There is provided a consumption energy calculating device which simulates power consumption of a heating and cooling appliance operated by a customer living in a house. A first receiver and a second receiver receive a demand response signal and an external environmental factor parameter. A pain level model shows a relationship between an indoor air temperature and a pain level. A first calculator calculates, when the appliance is not in operation, the indoor air temperature of a next sample time. A second calculator calculates, when the appliance is in operation, determines the indoor air temperature of the next sample time. A working sequence generator determines whether the appliance is or not to be operated during the next sample time. The power consumption determination unit determines power consumption consumed by the appliance before the next sample time and outputs data showing the power consumption. |
| US08868374B2 |
Data services based on gesture and location information of device
With the addition of directional information and gesture based input in a location based services environment, a variety of service(s) can be provided on top of user identification or interaction with specific object(s) of interest. For instance, when a user gestures at or points at a particular item, or gestures at a particular location or place, this creates an opportunity, e.g., an advertising opportunity, for anyone having an interest in that particular item or place to communicate with the user regarding that item or related items at a point in time when the user's focus is on the particular item. User context for the interaction can also be taken into account to supplement the provision of one or more interactive direction based services. |
| US08868362B2 |
Electric power metering accuracy
An apparatus and method for monitoring power consumption of an appliance includes a processor in communication with a memory, the memory including program instructions for execution by the processor to determine a first stable power consumption state of the appliance, record a power consumption of the appliance during the first stable power consumption state, determine an unstable power consumption state of the appliance, suspend recording of the power consumption of the appliance during the unstable state, determine a second stable power consumption state of the appliance, resume recording of the power consumption of the appliance when the appliance is in the second stable power consumption state, and estimate a value of a power consumed during the unstable power consumption state as a factor of the recorded power consumption of the appliance during the first stable power consumption state and the second stable power consumption power state. |
| US08868359B2 |
Device and method for detecting and locating defects in underground cables
A device and method for detecting and locating defects in a cable are provided. The device and method may include using sensor feedback to determine that an insulation defect exists and to calculate the location of the insulation defect in a cable. The method may include performing principle component analysis to determine whether an insulation defect occurs and using extracted data to determine the location of the insulation defect. |
| US08868358B2 |
Fill level measuring device working with microwaves
A fill level measuring device includes: a transmitting and receiving system for producing a higher frequency microwave signal and a lower frequency microwave signal. The transmitting and receiving system includes a single antenna, which has an internally funnel shaped horn and two hollow conductor segments connected with one another and connected to the horn. The antenna additionally includes, a coaxial conductor connection, via which the antenna is fed with the lower frequency microwave signal and the associated lower frequency echo signal is received. The antenna additionally includes, connected to a horn-remote end of that one of the two hollow conductor segments arranged on an end of the hollow conductor segment adjoining the horn, a hollow conductor connection, via which the antenna is fed with the higher frequency microwave signal and the associated higher frequency echo signal is received. |
| US08868353B2 |
System and method for testing autoverification rules
A method of testing an autoverification rule comprises providing a rule check including a example test result. After the rule check is provided, the autoverification rule is automatically performed on the rule check. Performance of the autoverification rule on the rule check provides a rule check output. It is then determined whether the rule check output is an expected output. A system for testing the autoverification rules comprises a graphical user interface configured to display an autoverification rule and receive the rule check for the autoverification rule. The system further includes a processor configured to automatically perform the autoverification rule on the rule check and provide a rule check output. The processor is further configured to receive an input indicating whether the rule check output is an approved output for the autoverification rule. |
| US08868352B2 |
Predicting response to chemotherapy using gene expression markers
The present invention provides gene expression information useful for predicting whether a cancer patient is likely to have a beneficial response to treatment with chemotherapy, comprising measuring, in a biological sample comprising a breast tumor sample obtained from the patient, the expression levels of gene subsets to obtain a risk score associated with a likelihood of a beneficial response to chemotherapy, wherein the score comprises at least one of the following variables: (i) Recurrence Score, (ii) ESRI Group Score; (iii) Invasion Group Score; (iv) Proliferation Group Score; and (v) the expression level of the RNA transcript of at least one of MYBL2 and SCUBE2, or the corresponding expression product. The invention further comprises a molecular assay-based algorithm to calculate the likelihood that the patient will have a beneficial response to chemotherapy based on the risk score. |
| US08868349B2 |
Methods, systems, and products for quantitatively measuring the degree of concordance between or among microarray probe level data sets
Methods, systems and products are provided to quantitatively measure the degree of concordance between or among microarray probe level data sets. These can include the steps of evaluating outlier probe values, determine gene expression scores, evaluating the significant treatment effect for each gene expression score, and determining concordance between replicate data sets. |
| US08868348B2 |
Well constrained horizontal variable H-V curve constructing method for seismic wave velocity field construction
A well constrained transverse variable height-velocity curve constructing method for seismic wave velocity field construction involves the steps of: a) calculating interval velocity of each stratum by a sonic logging curve, and calculating the conversion horizon velocity of each horizon; b) drawing a circle to collect well points; c) calculating the characteristic parameter values of the height-velocity curve by the interval velocity and the conversion interval velocity of each well; d) calculating the characteristic parameter values by Kriging interpolation. |
| US08868347B2 |
Forward elastic scattering in borehole acoustics
A method and computer-readable medium for determining a scattered wave particle velocity for a formation is disclosed. In aspects, the method may include: defining an embedded grid of the formation, and defining a contrast grid of the formation that includes a contrast feature of the formation; calculating a Green's function over the embedded grid; calculating a first scattering vector of the contrast feature for a first offset between the embedded grid and the contrast grid; determining the scattered wave particle velocity for the contrast feature at the first offset using the calculated Green's function and the first scattering vector; calculating a second scattering vector of the contrast feature for a second offset between the embedded grid and the contrast grid; and determining the scattered wave particle velocity for the contrast feature at the second offset is determined using the calculated Green's function and the second scattering vector. |
| US08868346B2 |
Correction for low porosity effects on neutron gamma density
Systems, methods, and devices are provided to determine an accurate neutron-gamma density (NGD) measurement for a broad range of formations, including low-hydrogen-index or low-porosity formations and formations with heavy elements. For example, such an NGD measurement may be obtained by emitting neutrons into a formation such that some of the neutrons inelastically scatter off elements of the formation and generate inelastic gamma rays. The neutrons and inelastic gamma rays that return to the downhole tool may be detected. Some characteristics of certain formations are believed to affect the fast neutron transport of the formations. Thus, if a formation has one or more of such characteristics, a correction may be applied to the count rate of neutrons, the count rate of inelastic gamma rays, or the neutron transport correction function, upon which the neutron-gamma density (NGD) may be determined. |
| US08868345B2 |
Meteorological modeling along an aircraft trajectory
A method of providing approximate weather data points for an aircraft trajectory to a system, such as a flight management system (FMS), which is configured to accept a number of weather data points for the aircraft trajectory. |
| US08868342B2 |
Orientation device and method
A method and device for streamlining navigation from a point to a visual point of interest by combining the necessary items into a single device incorporating an optical finder such as binoculars which incorporates an optical display into the viewfinder, a rangefinder, GPS, compass, altimeter, inclinometer, microprocessor and memory. The device performs three functions: 1) acquires the POI's coordinates relative to the user by visual indication of the POI by the user; 2) reproduces an updated POI vector on demand; and 3) displays the POI vector information in the device viewfinder. All three functions happen seamlessly and instantaneously with the use of only one compact hand held device. |
| US08868339B2 |
System and method for dynamic route guidance
A system and method for informing commuters of real-time time of arrival and cost information with respect to one or more routes prior to commencement of a trip. Reserved lane information (e.g., toll charge, traffic speeds in the reserved and general lanes, etc.) can be integrated with a data feed provided to, for example, navigation enabled devices such as in-car guidance systems or mobile phones. Time of arrival information with respect to the destination can be provided based on wireless data indicative of traffic conditions and highway speed limit information. Additionally, real-time toll charges can be provided to the commuter for multiple routes. |
| US08868337B2 |
Vehicle navigation systems and methods for presenting information originating from a mobile device
Vehicle navigation systems and methods for presenting information originating from a mobile device on a vehicle navigation system display of a vehicle are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of presenting information originating from a mobile device on a vehicle navigation system display of a vehicle includes receiving, by a vehicle navigation system, application data from an application operating on the mobile device, wherein the application data from the application represents an entity in proximity to the vehicle. The method further includes displaying an icon representing the application data from the application on a map presented on the vehicle navigation system display. The icon is positioned on the map according to a geographic location of the entity. |
| US08868331B2 |
Navigation apparatus
A navigation apparatus in a vehicle displays road names of cross roads that crosses a to-be-traveled road along the to-be-traveled road at positions that area adjacent to respective cross roads. In this manner, a user of the navigation apparatus easily recognizes the road names of the roads to be traveled by the vehicle in his/her view. |
| US08868328B1 |
System and method for routing decisions in a separation management system
A method comprising computer receiving at least one of time and location-referenced state data for an object of interest, determining present location of a vehicle within two presently overlapping fat paths, fat paths comprising homotopically distinct regions of travel, determining distance of vehicle from a point of divergence of fat paths, fat paths diverging to avoid object, the computer generating a decision boundary reachable prior in time to point of divergence wherein decision boundary is in advance of the present location of vehicle, computer generating a first second set of feasible headings for the vehicle, the first and second set respectively associated with a projected first and second crossing points of the decision boundary by vehicle wherein feasible headings promote positioning of vehicle in one of fat paths beyond point of divergence, and computer sending first and second sets of feasible headings to vehicle prior to vehicle reaching decision boundary. |
| US08868326B2 |
Method for detecting critical driving situations of lorries or passenger vehicles and method for avoiding collisions
A method for detecting critical driving situations of motor vehicles, in particular for preventing collisions with an object in front of an own vehicle, has the following steps: detection of a current vehicle acceleration and a current vehicle velocity of an own vehicle; specification of an acceleration profile depending on driving variables of the own vehicle; assumption of a time progression of a foreseeable acceleration of the own vehicle based on its current acceleration; determination of a path profile of the own vehicle from the time progression of the foreseeable acceleration; acquisition of a current distance and a current relative velocity of an object in front of the own vehicle; calculation of the current absolute velocity of the object as well as of the absolute current acceleration of the object; assumption of a time progression of a foreseeable acceleration of the object based on its current acceleration; determination of a path profile of the object from the time progression of the foreseeable acceleration; comparison of the path profile of the own vehicle with the path profile of the object; and if the two path profiles intersect, determination of a probable collision time of the own vehicle with the object; establishment of a time before the probable collision time comparison of this time with the probable collision time determined; and if the probable collision time lies before the established time, issue of a warning to the driver of the own vehicle. |
| US08868325B2 |
Collision judgment apparatus for vehicle
A correct collision judgment is realized between an obstacle and a vehicle even when the vehicle enters a curve. In a collision judgment apparatus for judging the collision between the vehicle and the obstacle based on a relative positional relationship between a subject vehicle position of the vehicle and a relative movement straight line of the obstacle with respect to the vehicle as calculated based on a plurality of pieces of the position information acquired by a position information acquiring unit in relation to the obstacle, the relative positional relationship between the relative movement straight line and the subject vehicle position is adjusted so that a distance between the relative movement straight line and the subject vehicle position is separated if it is judged that the vehicle enters an entrance to a curve as compared with a situation in which the vehicle does not enter the entrance to the curve. |
| US08868312B2 |
Vehicle speed control apparatus and method
The present disclosure describes systems and methods for controlling the speed of a vehicle comprising: during a pulse phase of cruise control, applying engine torque to raise speed, the amount and duration of which being responsive to engine speed; and during a glide phase of cruise control, discontinuing engine combustion. In this way cruise control may maintain a mean speed equivalent to a desired, threshold speed while reducing fuel consumption, and NVH effects felt by the end user compared to traditional cruise control methods. |
| US08868310B2 |
Method and apparatus for real time estimation of road surface friction coefficient
A computer program product, a method and an apparatus for detection of road surface friction coefficient for vehicle stability control are disclosed. The computer program product comprises stored instructions for receiving detected vehicle parameters from a vehicle; calculating a lookup value based on the detected vehicle parameters, the calculating comprising an recursive least square estimation; retrieving a road surface friction coefficient from a lookup table by matching the calculated lookup value to the road surface friction coefficient stored in the lookup table; calculating adjustments to the vehicle using the road surface friction coefficient; and outputting the adjustments to a vehicle control system for execution. |
| US08868309B2 |
Vehicle behavior control apparatus
A normality detector includes a steering angle yaw rate calculator, a first difference calculator, a lateral G yaw rate calculator, a second difference calculator, and a normality determination section. The steering angle yaw rate calculator calculates a steering angle yaw rate. The first difference calculator calculates a first difference which is a difference between the steering angle yaw rate and an actual yaw rate. The lateral G yaw rate calculator calculates a lateral G yaw rate. The second difference calculator calculates a second difference which is a difference between the lateral G yaw rate and the actual yaw rate. The normality determination section determines that the yaw rate detector is in a normal state when the first difference falls within a first predetermined value and the second difference falls within a second predetermined value. |
| US08868305B2 |
Apparatus for parking control of automatic transmission vehicle and method thereof
An apparatus for parking control of an automatic transmission vehicle may include a speed detector that provides a controller with a vehicle speed, a shift lever detector that provides the controller with a position of a shift lever, the controller that analyses the vehicle speed and the position of the shift lever, and supplies a predetermined hydraulic pressure to brake elements and clutch elements in order to create drag on a parking gear shaft in conversion into a parking mode, and an actuator that supplies the hydraulic pressure to the clutch elements and the brake elements or discharges the hydraulic pressure from the clutch elements and the brake elements according to the control of the controller. |
| US08868303B2 |
Method and apparatus for automatic positioning of gull wings of stackerbar planter based on tractor hitch position
A method and apparatus for automating some of the tasks that heretofore required operator action at headland turns or similar events are provided. The present invention automates operation of lift assist wheels and/or gull wings, such as those found on a stack-fold implement, based on the position of the tractor hitch to which the implement is coupled. An operator may control the position of the implement, such as at a headland turn, by raising and lowering the tractor hitch using a remote control. The invention enables the planter to compare the tractor hitch position relative to an implement position and control operation of the implement accordingly without additional user inputs. |
| US08868302B2 |
System for autonomous path planning and machine control
A control system is disclosed for use with a mobile loading machine operating at a first location and a plurality of mobile haul machines configured to move material received at the first location to a second location. The control system may have a plurality of control modules, each associated with one of the mobile loading machine and the plurality of mobile haul machines, and a worksite controller. The worksite controller may be configured to make a determination that a position of the mobile loading machine has changed, and to generate a new travel path for the plurality of mobile haul machines based on the determination. The worksite controller may also be configured to selectively communicate the new travel path to each of the plurality of control modules. The new travel path between the first and second locations may be automatically determined in accordance with at least one user-selected goal. |
| US08868300B2 |
Multi-variable rate agricultural product application system, device and method
The invention provides a system, device and method that can control the rates of seed dispensation and fertilizer application as a function of forward speed as well as across all rows. Thus, the system and control device allow control of each individual row unit, whereby dispensation and application are effected, by a central controller which controls a plurality of pulse width modulation valves, each of which controls a hydraulic motor with an integrated rpm reduction and which drives a stub drive shaft which rotates at the proper speed in order to provide the desired seed and fertilizer metering. Each of the stub drive shafts may rotate at completely different speeds and/or may be shut down while the remaining stub drive shafts rotate at the desired speed. The integrated rpm reduction within each hydraulic motor allows very fine rotational control of the dispensation and application rates. |
| US08868294B2 |
Adjustable hysteresis circuit for control of air suspension
This disclosure, and the exemplary embodiments described herein, provides vehicle suspension systems and methods including a plurality of gas springs and an associated height control system. The height control system includes height sensors associated with the gas springs, a valve arrangement, a pressurized gas service and a control circuit which includes a variable hysteresis circuit to dynamically control the response of the suspension. |
| US08868290B2 |
Wheel speed sensor with support for indirect tire pressure monitoring
The present disclosure relate to an indirect tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). In some embodiments, the indirect TPMS has magnetic field sensor that detects a modulated magnetic field indicative of one or more resonance parameters of an automobile tire. The magnetic field sensor generates a modulated sensor signal based upon the modulated magnetic field. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) converts the modulated sensor signal to a digital sensor signal, which is provided to a digital signal processing unit that perform analysis of the digital sensor signal to determine the one or more resonance parameters. A communication interface transmit data corresponding to the one or more resonance parameters to an electronic control unit (ECU). |
| US08868289B2 |
Vehicle location navigation system
An apparatus includes a connector to an on board diagnostic (OBD) port of a vehicle, wireless communications circuitry, a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to monitor the ignition state of the vehicle, and upon detecting an ignition off state, reporting at least the off state to a network-enabled communications appliance wirelessly paired for wireless communication with the apparatus. |
| US08868287B2 |
Prediction of maintenance operations on an aircraft engine
The invention relates to a method and a system for predicting maintenance operations on a current aircraft engine, comprising: processing means to compare a set of failure models (M1, . . . , Mn) adapted to said current engine to select a relevant failure model (Mi) with a failure age (T0) defining the age of said engine at the time of the failure; processing means to associate decision rules (R) about the workscope on said current engine with said relevant failure model (Mi), as a function of a set of parameters (P1, P2, Pi) related to said current engine; and processing means to determine the required maintenance workscope (Wf) to be applied to said current engine, as a function of said decision rules. |
| US08868284B2 |
Virtual monitoring of aircraft fleet loads
A computer-implemented method, system, and computer program product for virtual monitoring of aircraft fleet loads are provided. The method includes calculating virtual load data associated with an aircraft from a set of orthogonal waveforms. The method also includes calculating a set of coefficients as a function of parametric data and high frequency data associated with an aircraft. The method further includes storing the set of coefficients on the aircraft and transmitting the set of coefficients to a ground-based system configured to reproduce the virtual load data based on a copy of the set of orthogonal waveforms and the received set of coefficients in order to perform aircraft fleet management. |
| US08868283B2 |
Oil life monitoring system with fuel quality factor
An oil-life monitoring system includes an engine revolution counter configured to provide an output corresponding to the rotation of a component of an engine, and a controller in communication with the engine revolution counter. The controller is configured to determine the composition/properties of a fuel being combusted by the engine, and select a fuel quality penalty factor from a table, with the fuel quality penalty factor corresponding to the determined composition/properties of the fuel. Additionally, the controller is configured to compute an adjusted revolution count by multiplying the rotations of the component of the engine by the fuel quality penalty factor, and aggregate the adjusted revolution count. |
| US08868279B2 |
Time-based vehicle battery balancing system and method
A power system for a vehicle may include at least one controller and a battery having a plurality of cells. The at least one controller may, for each of the cells, determine a voltage of the cell, determine a discharge time to reduce the voltage to a value approximately equal to a minimum of the determined voltages, and cause the cell to discharge for the discharge time to balance the battery. |
| US08868278B2 |
Control device and control method for hybrid vehicle
A hybrid vehicle includes an engine and a motor each for generating vehicle driving power. An operation region indicated by rotational speed and torque of the engine includes: an normal region in which a fuel injection amount is calculated in accordance with a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio; and an amount increase region in which an amount of fuel is increased compared with the normal position so as to suppress temperature increase of a catalyst. A control device calculates a total required power of the vehicle depending on the vehicle state, and determines an engine operation point in accordance with the total required power. When the engine operation point is in the OT amount increase region, the engine operation point is changed to fall within the normal region by decreasing the engine output power. An output power of the motor is determined to compensate the decrease of the engine output power and secure the total required power. |
| US08868276B2 |
Hybrid vehicle control device
A hybrid vehicle control device is provided with an engine, a motor and a mode switch section, an automatic transmission and a controller. The controller outputs the gear shift command prior to an engine start command when a simultaneous output prediction condition is met that predicts the output of a gear shift request and a start request at the same time. In this way, the generation of a large shock by the entering of the engine start in the start prohibiting region during the gear shift is prevented. |
| US08868275B2 |
Outward power supply control apparatus for fuel cell vehicle
An ECU of a control apparatus further alleviates a fluctuation in a power generation amount of a fuel cell stack with respect to the power required by an inverter apparatus, when a power supply circuit configured by each of contactors and a power supply inlet 11a supplies the power to the inverter apparatus compared with when a vehicle is driving. The ECU, when the power supply circuit supplies power to the inverter apparatus, stops the power generation of the fuel cell stack in a case where a remaining capacity in a battery is greater than or equal to a predetermined remaining capacity, and inhibits the fuel cell stack from stopping the power generation in a case where the power supplied to the inverter apparatus by the power supply circuit is greater than or equal to a predetermined power supply amount. |
| US08868272B2 |
Electric vehicle and method of controlling the same
An electric vehicle includes an electric storage device, an electric motor that generates driving force for running the vehicle, using electric power output from the storage device, and a controller that controls an output of the storage device. The controller includes a restriction control unit that restricts a permissible output power indicating electric power permitted to be output from the storage device, based on a load condition of the storage device, and an output control unit that reduces the rate of increase of the electric power output from the storage device as the permissible output power is more likely to be restricted when returning from a restricted condition in which the permissible output power is restricted by the restriction control unit. |
| US08868271B2 |
System and method for motor torque control for electric vehicle with transmission
Disclosed herein is a motor control system and method for a vehicle with a transmission comprising for improving the quality of shifting, by improving precision in shifting control with precise and active motor torque control by calculating a maximum and a minimum motor torque in response to determining a power-on up-shift for increasing a shifting gear and a power-off down-shift for decreasing the shifting gear in shifting of the vehicle. |
| US08868264B2 |
Aircraft power plant, an aircraft, and a method of piloting said aircraft
A power plant (2) having at least one engine (3, 4) and control means (5) for controlling said engine (3, 4). The control means (5) include a memory (6), said memory (6) containing information for operating said engine (3, 4) in accordance with at least two distinct utilization envelopes during a maximum number of flying hours, the two envelopes comprising an envelope enabling takeoff from a platform and another envelope enabling takeoff from takeoff zones not including platforms, each utilization envelope comprising at least two distinct utilization ratings each defined by a developed power and by a utilization duration for said developed power. |
| US08868261B2 |
Monitoring device for an actuation system of an aircraft, actuation system and method for reconfiguring the actuation system
A monitoring device is disclosed for an actuation system of an aircraft for monitoring a guiding device of a regulating flap with a load sensor. An actuation system with the monitoring device and a method for reconfiguring such an actuation system are disclosed. The monitoring device includes an interface to the load sensor and an interface to a driving device for adjusting the regulating flap. The monitoring device can determine or receive in-flight information actively signaling a predefined flight attitude and/or a predefined operational state of the aircraft. The monitoring device can compare a load value corresponding to a sensor value acquired by the load sensor and a limiting value corresponding to a minimum operational load for the predefined flight attitude and/or the predefined operational state of the aircraft and a monitoring function. The monitoring function can assign a fault mode to the regulating flap. |
| US08868253B2 |
Bicycle communication adapter
A bicycle communication adapter is provided with a voltage converting component, a signal converting component and a superimposing component. The voltage converting component is configured to convert a received voltage supplied from a bicycle electrical management system to a converted voltage suitable for at least one of a plurality of electric devices of a bicycle electrical system. The signal converting component is configured to convert a received signal outputted from a bicycle electrical management system into a converted signal compliant with a standard for power line communication. The superimposing component is configured to superimpose the converted signal converted by the signal converting component onto the converted voltage converted by the voltage converting component. |
| US08868251B2 |
Hot water supply system, water heater and hot water supply control method
A hot water supply system including a water heater that includes a storage unit storing at least device information of another water heater, and performs hot water supply control by which the water heater cooperates with the other water heater, these water heaters being able to supply hot water according to a hot water supply request; one or a plurality of the other water heater that is connected to the water heater in parallel, and supplies hot water according to the hot water supply control by the water heater; communication connection means that communicably connects the water heater and the other water heater; water supply means that supplies water to the water heater and the other water heater; and hot water supply means that supplies hot water heated by the water heater and the other water heater to a hot water supply destination. |
| US08868241B2 |
Robot task commander with extensible programming environment
A system for developing distributed robot application-level software includes a robot having an associated control module which controls motion of the robot in response to a commanded task, and a robot task commander (RTC) in networked communication with the control module over a network transport layer (NTL). The RTC includes a script engine(s) and a GUI, with a processor and a centralized library of library blocks constructed from an interpretive computer programming code and having input and output connections. The GUI provides access to a Visual Programming Language (VPL) environment and a text editor. In executing a method, the VPL is opened, a task for the robot is built from the code library blocks, and data is assigned to input and output connections identifying input and output data for each block. A task sequence(s) is sent to the control module(s) over the NTL to command execution of the task. |
| US08868239B2 |
Walking control apparatus of robot and method of controlling the same
A walking control apparatus of a robot includes joint portions provided in each of a plurality of legs of the robot, a state database to store state data of each of the legs and state data of the joint portions corresponding to the state of each of the legs, when the robot walks, a position instruction unit to store desired positions corresponding to the state data of the joint portions, an inclination sensing unit to sense an inclination of an upper body of the robot, a torque calculator to calculate torques using the inclination of the upper body and the desired positions, and a servo controller to output the torques to the joint portions to control the walking of the robot. Since the robot walks by Finite State Machine (FSM) control and torque servo control, the rotation angles of the joint portions do not need to be accurately controlled. Thus, the robot walks with low servo gain and energy consumption is decreased. Since the robot walks with low servo gain, each of the joints has low rigidity and thus shock generated by collision with surroundings is decreased. |
| US08868238B1 |
Apparatus and method for systematic control of robotic deployment and extraction
A system control apparatus and method for systematic control of (i) extraction of a vehicle from an environment, (ii) stowage of the vehicle in a modular handling and stowage system, the system having a primary module and zero or more secondary modules, wherein the secondary modules are serially, mechanically coupled to the primary module and together, and (iii) deployment of the vehicle from the module group in response to command signals, sensor signals, and status signals. |
| US08868237B2 |
Robot confinement
An autonomous coverage robot system includes an active boundary responder comprising a wire powered with a modulated current placed along a perimeter of a property, at least one passive boundary responder placed on a property interior circumscribed by the active boundary responder, and an autonomous coverage robot. The robot includes a drive system carried by a body and configured to maneuver the robot across the property interior. The robot includes a signal emitter emitting a signal, where the passive boundary responder is responsive to the signal and a boundary responder detection system carried by the body. The boundary responder detector is configured to redirect the robot both in response to the responder detection system detecting an active boundary responder and in response to detecting a passive boundary responder. |
| US08868235B2 |
Battery quick-change system for an electric passenger car chassis having a cartesian coordinate robot
One type of battery quick-change system of electric passenger car chassis based on the Cartesian coordinate robot, including electric changing platform, and this platform, quick-change robot and charging rack along the same straight line; the quick-change robot comprises the battery tray and the Cartesian coordinate robot of four degrees of freedom, the Cartesian coordinate robot is associated with the X-axis driving motor, the Y-axis driving motor, the Z-axis up-down motor, the battery tray is connected with the R-axis driving motor; each of driving motors is connected with the corresponding encoder, and each of encoders is connected to the corresponding drive; there are equipped with a distance measuring sensor on the battery tray, and the corresponding limit switches on the both ends of each two-track rack; the drive, each limit switch and the distance measuring sensor of each driving motor are connected with the control system. |
| US08868233B2 |
Control apparatus, a substrate treating method, a substrate treating system, a method of operating a substrate treating system, a load port control apparatus, and a substrate treating system having the load port control apparatus
A control apparatus in a substrate treating system with a substrate treating apparatus having a physical load port for receiving pods for storing substrates, and a carrier transport system for transporting the pods to and from the physical load port. The control apparatus includes a virtual load port control device for allotting a virtual load port to the physical load port, and instructing the carrier transport system to perform a transporting operation to and from the virtual load port on an assumption that the virtual load port really exists. |
| US08868231B2 |
Flexible production collating system
In a system, one or more robotic arms are positioned adjacent a transport surface that is moving workpieces, and one or more picking elements are connected to each of the robotic arms. The picking elements have physical picking features that remove the workpieces from the transport surface and move the workpieces to another location. A controller is operatively connected to the robotic arms and the picking elements, and the controller independently controls the robotic arms and the picking elements to dynamically position the picking elements in coordination with a dynamic size, spacing, and transport speed of the workpieces being moved by the transport surface. |
| US08868230B2 |
Iterative packing optimization
An iterative method and system for performing the method are described that implement a technique to fit irregularly shaped items into a defined space. In particular, one example may take the form of a method including predetermining one or more layouts for a defined space. Each layout has a plurality of shapes. The method also includes receiving a set having a plurality of items and determining one or more configurations formed by assigning to each shape in the layout an item from the set. The items match the shapes to which they are assigned. Additionally, the method includes scoring each configuration and selecting one configuration based at least in part upon the scoring. |
| US08868227B2 |
System and method for aligning design elements on a garment
The present invention relates generally to garment design. In particular, embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods configured to assist a garment designer in applying graphics and artwork across the seams of a garment. |
| US08868226B2 |
Systems, methods and apparatus for fabricating an orthopedic implant
Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some aspects a custom orthopedic implant is designed, fabricated and sterilized for immediate surgical use to treat a patient's injury. In some aspects, the orthopedic implant is designed using patient and injury specific scan data, fabricated using a five axis milling machine, and sterilized with a sterilization system. In other aspects, the fabricated orthopedic implant is transferred into the sterilization system with a transport system. In some aspects, methods to design, fabricate and sterilize a custom orthopedic implant are presented. In other aspects, patient and injury specific scan data is used to design and plan the placement of a custom orthopedic implant to treat the injury, and the custom orthopedic implant is then fabricated and sterilized to be used in surgery. |
| US08868223B1 |
Positioning using audio recognition
Systems and methods for determining location based on audio fingerprinting are disclosed. An extraction component extracts a set of interest points from an audio signal associated with an audio announcement. Then a matching component determines if the extracted set of interest points matches a set of interest points representative of an audio fingerprint in a data store comprising audio fingerprints. In an aspect, the audio fingerprints in the audio fingerprint data store represent announcements for underground transportation systems. A location component further determines location information associated with the audio fingerprint based in part on the set of extracted interest points matching the set of audio interest points representative of the audio fingerprint in the data store. |
| US08868216B2 |
Electrode garment
The present disclosure is directed to a wearable garment device for application of electrical current to a patient's tissue. The garment device includes a material having a aperture and a mesh material extending across the aperture. At least one electrode is attached onto one side of the mesh material. The surface of the mesh material attached to the at least one electrode is defined as the outer surface. The other surface of the mesh material is defined as the inner surface. The inner surface of the mesh material is placed against the patient's tissue to receive the electrical stimulation from the electrode. |
| US08868214B2 |
Cardiac electrode anchoring system
A cardiac electrode arrangement has one or several heart electrodes arranged on the exterior surface of a heart or attached to the heart from the outside and/or arranged with a pole in the cardiac tissue. The electrodes, which can be fixed in the operating position by an anchor, run to an implanted heart pacemaker. For positioning and affixing the anchor, a tool is used that is designed as a rod or stylet and acts on an attachment site of the anchor, whereby the anchor can be pushed into or through the myocardium. The anchor is, at the same time, attached to a tension element or thread, over which the electrode, which has an inner guide channel that accommodates the tension element or thread, can be moved in a fitted and controlled manner. In the operating position, the electrode can be connected to the tension element or thread located in the guide channel. |
| US08868211B2 |
Nerve cuff for implantable electrode
A flat interface nerve electrode provides a plurality of electrical contacts embedded in a non-conductive cuff structure, which acts to gently and non-evasively redefine the geometry of a nerve through the application of a force acting on the nerve without causing damage to the nerve. The cuff is open at one side and has a connection to a lead at the other side. During implantation the open sides of the cuff are closed so as to capture the nerve in the cuff in a single motion. |
| US08868209B2 |
Fixation mechanisms for temporary implantable medical electrical stimulation leads
A temporary implantable medical device lead includes a connector configured to connect the lead to an external control module, a helically coiled conductor including a plurality of insulated filars and having a proximal end mechanically and electrically connected to the connector, and one or more electrodes defined by uninsulated portions of the helically coiled conductor. The temporary implantable medical device lead also includes one or more tine assemblies proximal to the one or more electrodes and configured to inhibit axial migration of the temporary implantable medical device lead, each tine assembly including a base and a plurality of tines extending from the base. |
| US08868206B2 |
Electrode array having embedded electrodes and methods of making the same
A method of manufacturing a device for brain stimulation includes forming a lead body having a distal end section and coupling at least one pre-electrode to the distal end section of the lead body. The pre-electrode defines a divider with a plurality of partitioning arms, and has a plurality of fixing lumens. A portion of the pre-electrode aligned with the portioning arms is removed to divide the pre-electrode into a plurality of segmented electrodes. Each of the plurality of segmented electrodes defines at least one of the plurality of fixing lumens at least partially disposed through the segmented electrode. A material is introduced through the at least one fixing lumen to couple the plurality of segmented electrodes to the lead body. |
| US08868205B2 |
System and method for determining physiological parameters based on electrical impedance measurements
A system and method for determining physiological parameters based on electrical impedance measurements is provided. One method includes obtaining electrical measurement signals acquired from a plurality of transducers coupled to a surface of an object and constructing a system matrix to define one or more relationships between the impedance measurement signals. The method also includes decomposing the system matrix to separate the electrical measurement signals. |
| US08868203B2 |
Dynamic lead condition detection for an implantable medical device
A method, apparatus, and system for perform dynamic detection of a lead condition associated with a lead assembly in an implantable medical device that provides a controlled current therapeutic electrical signal to a cranial nerve. A pulsed therapeutic electrical signal is provided to a portion of a patient's body. A multiplicity of feedback signals is provided. Each the signal in the multiplicity comprises a voltage signal associated with the lead assembly for a pulse in the pulsed therapeutic electrical signal. For each the feedback signal, a determination is made as to whether the voltage signal is below a predetermined threshold to create a multiplicity of voltage signal comparison results. A determination is made as to whether or not a lead condition problem exists based upon the multiplicity of voltage signal comparison results. |
| US08868197B2 |
Neurostimulation system for defining ideal multipole configurations at lead boundary
A system for an neurostimulator coupled to electrodes. The system comprises a input device configured for generating directional control signals, and memory storing ideal multipole configurations. The system further comprises control circuitry configured for defining the ideal multipole configurations relative to the electrodes in response to the directional control signals, determining a spatial relationship between at least one of the defined ideal multipole configurations and the maximum extent of the electrodes, modifying the defined ideal multipole configurations based on the determined spatial relationship, such that the modified ideal multipole configurations are spatially within the maximum extent of the electrodes, generating stimulation parameter sets respectively corresponding to the modified ideal multipole configurations, each stimulation parameter set defining relative amplitude values for the electrodes that emulate the respective modified ideal multipole configuration, and instructing the neurostimulator to convey electrical energy to the electrodes in accordance with the stimulation parameter sets. |
| US08868189B2 |
Internally grounded flat through filter with hermetically sealed insulative body with internal ground plates
A shielded three-terminal flat-through EMI/energy dissipating filter includes an active electrode plate through which a circuit current passes between a first terminal and a second terminal, a first shield plate on a first side of the active electrode plate, and a second shield plate on a second side of the active electrode plate opposite the first shield plate. The first and second shield plates are conductively coupled to a grounded third terminal. In preferred embodiments, the active electrode plate and the shield plates are at least partially disposed with a hybrid flat-through substrate that may include a flex cable section, a rigid cable section, or both. |
| US08868187B2 |
Battery depth of discharge in an implantable device
Systems and methods for determining depth of discharge for implantable device batteries are provided. One aspect of this disclosure relates to a method for determining depth of discharge for a battery in an implantable medical device. Voltage recovery of the battery is measured subsequent to a predetermined event. Measured voltage recovery data is stored in a database adapted to store data for one or more devices. Measured voltage recovery data is compared with stored voltage recovery data to determine battery depth of discharge. According to various embodiments, battery capacity consumed is measured using a coulometer and using a capacity-by-voltage device. Measured battery capacity consumed is combined with measured voltage recovery data using a predetermined weighted average, and the combined data is stored in the database. The stored data is used to determine battery depth of discharge, according to an embodiment. |
| US08868182B2 |
Device based cardiac monitoring and stress test
A medical device and associated method establish an occurrence of a premature atrial contraction. The device senses a ventricular signal. A control unit is configured to determine a metric of the ventricular signal during an interval following the premature atrial contraction and detect a change in cardiac stress tolerance in response to the determined metric. |
| US08868178B2 |
Arrhythmia electrotherapy device and method with provisions for mitigating patient discomfort
Apparatus and method for treating an arrhythmia in a patient using an electrotherapy device such as a subcutaneous pacing device. The device applies a series of electrotherapy pulses in response to the presence of the arrhythmia. Various provisions are disclosed for mitigating pain or discomfort as a result of the electrotherapy pulses. |
| US08868174B2 |
Brain information output apparatus, robot, and brain information output method
A brain information output apparatus includes an intention determination information storage unit in which two or more pieces of intention determination information can be stored, with each intention determination information including a pair of an intention identifier, and a learning feature amount group including one or more feature amounts extracted from second learning data that is obtained by converting first learning data into intracerebral brain activity data, the first leaning data being acquired from the outside of the cranium of a user when the user performs a trial according to one intention; a first brain activity data acquiring unit that acquires first brain activity data from the outside of the cranium of a user; a second brain activity data acquiring unit that converts the first brain activity data to intracerebral brain activity data, and acquires second brain activity data; a feature amount group acquiring unit that acquires, from the second brain activity data, an input feature amount group including one or more feature amounts; an intention identifier acquiring unit that acquires an intention identifier corresponding to the input feature amount group based on the two or more pieces of intention determination information; and an intention identifier output unit that outputs the intention identifier. |
| US08868172B2 |
Methods and systems for recommending an appropriate action to a patient for managing epilepsy and other neurological disorders
The present invention provides methods and system for managing neurological disorders such as epilepsy. In one embodiment, the method comprises measuring one or more signals from a patient and processing the one or more signals to characterize a patient's propensity for a future seizure. The characterized propensity for the seizure is thereafter used to determine an appropriate action for managing or treating the predicted seizure; and a recommendation is communicated to the patient that is indicative of the appropriate action. |
| US08868169B2 |
Method and system for detection of biological rhythm disorders
System, assembly and method are provided to facilitate reconstruction of cardiac information representing a complex rhythm disorder associated with a patient's heart to indicate a source of the heart rhythm disorder. The complex rhythm disorder can be treated by application of energy to modify the source of the rhythm disorder. |
| US08868165B1 |
Use of cardiogenic impedance waveform morphology to analyze cardiac conditions and to adjust treatment therapy
In specific embodiments, one or more cardiogenic impedance signal template is stored, where each template has a corresponding morphology. Additionally, one or more cardiogenic impedance signal is obtained using electrodes implanted within a patient, where each signal has a corresponding morphology. The morphology of one or more obtained cardiogenic impedance signal is compared to the morphology of one or more stored template, to determine one or more metric indicative of similarity between the compared morphologies. The one or more metric indicative of similarity is used to analyze the patient's cardiac condition, to discriminate among arrhythmias and/or to adjust a cardiac pacing parameter. |
| US08868164B2 |
Fetal monitoring device and method
A fetal monitoring device includes a piezofilm sheet, a first electrode, and a second electrode. A controller is operably connected to the piezofilm sheet, first electrode, and second electrode and receives a biopotential and a piezofilm signal. The controller derives at least one of a maternal heart rate and a uterine activity for the biopotential and derives at least one of a fetal heart rate and fetal motion detection from the piezofilm signal. The controller derives an index of fetal health and operate an indicator to present the derived index of fetal health. |
| US08868163B2 |
Method and apparatus for predicting patient outcomes from a physiological segmentable patient signal
A method and apparatus for predicting patient outcome from a physiological segmentable signal of a patient. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of obtaining the physiological segmentable signal of the patient; segmenting the physiological segmentable signal into a plurality of separate segmentable components; calculating a time series of the morphological distance between adjacent separate segmentable components of the plurality of separate segmentable components; and predicting patient outcome in response to the time series of the morphological distance. In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for extracting information from physiological signals for one or more subjects including the steps of partitioning the physiological signal into a plurality of components, grouping the components into a plurality of information classes, assigning a unique symbol to each information class, mapping each component to the assigned symbol, and examining one or more such sequences for clinical significance. |
| US08868162B2 |
Method and attenuator for detection and iterative attenuation of spikes in complex signals
A method of attenuating spikes in a complex signal comprises examining the complex signal to detect spikes therein and for each detected spike, generating an estimate inverse signal and applying the estimate inverse signal to the complex signal to attenuate the spike associated with the estimate inverse signal. |
| US08868160B2 |
Medical apparatus
A medical apparatus includes: a storing section in which information concerning a drug kinetics in a living body is stored in advance for each of plural kinds of fluorescent drugs; a processing section that acquires information concerning diagnosis start timing corresponding to a desired fluorescent drug based on information stored in the storing section, information concerning a target region to which the desired fluorescent drug is administered, information concerning a method of administering the desired fluorescent drug to the target region, and information indicating start of the administration of the desired fluorescent drug; and a light source control section that controls radiation of excitation light for exciting the desired fluorescent drug to a stop state until the diagnosis start timing is reached and controls, at and after the diagnosis start timing, the radiation of the excitation light to a state in which the excitation light can be radiated. |
| US08868157B1 |
Thermal optical imager system and method for detection of peripheral neuropathy
A system and method for assessing a peripheral neuropathy risk wherein the system and method according to one embodiment of the present invention detects abnormality which may be directed to a probability, a stage, a category, or other indicator as to the degree of progression of the disease. |
| US08868156B1 |
Optical spectroscopy device and method for its manufacture
A device (1) for use in optical spectroscopy and a method for its manufacture are described. The device includes at least one light source (8) and at least one spectrometer (3) fabricated integratively, the optical components of the at least one spectrometer (3) being optical microcomponents (11,13,16,19,20,21) which are mounted integratively on the top and/or bottom side (9,12) of a substrate board (2). In the method according to the present invention, at least one light source (8) is mounted on a substrate board (2), and at least one spectrometer (3) is produced monolithically in a three-dimensional integration on the substrate board (2). In this context, the spectrometer (3) that is produced according to the method is assembled from optical microcomponents (11,13,16,19,20,21). |
| US08868153B2 |
Image correction using multichannel blind deconvolution with homomorphic filtering
A method includes obtaining a plurality of magnetic resonance (MR) coil images of a subject of interest, each MR coil image being generated from one of an array of MR receiving coils; combining the plurality of coil images to generate an image estimate of the subject of interest; performing a multichannel blind deconvolution (MBD) process including: deriving coil sensitivity information for every one of the array of MR receiving coils based on the image estimate or a filtered image estimate derived from the image estimate; updating the image estimate or the filtered image estimate using the derived coil sensitivity information to generate an updated image estimate; and applying a homomorphic filter to the image estimate to derive the filtered image estimate, or to the updated image estimate to derive a filtered updated image estimate, or a combination thereof. |
| US08868148B2 |
Methods and systems for qualifying physiological values based on segments of a physiological signal
A physiological monitoring system may process a physiological signal such a photoplethysmograph signal from a subject. The system may determine physiological information, such as a physiological rate, from the physiological signal. The system may use search techniques and qualification techniques to determine one or more initialization parameters. The initialization parameters may be used to calculate and qualify a physiological rate. The system may use signal conditioning to reduce noise in the physiological signal and to improve the determination of physiological information. The system may use qualification techniques to confirm determined physiological parameters. The system may also use autocorrelation techniques, cross-correlation techniques, fast start techniques, and/or reference waveforms when processing the physiological signal. |
| US08868147B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling positioning of a noninvasive analyzer sample probe
The invention relates generally to a probe interface method and apparatus for use in conjunction with an optical based noninvasive analyzer. More particularly, an algorithm controls a sample probe position and attitude relative to a skin sample site before and/or during sampling. For example, a sample probe head of a sample module is controlled by an algorithm along the normal-to-skin-axis. Preferably, the sample probe head is positioned in terms of 3-D location in the x-, y-, and z-axes and is attitude orientated in terms of pitch, yaw, and roll. Further, attitude of the probe head is preferably orientated prior to contact of the sample probe head with the tissue sample using indicators, such as non-contact distance feedback from capacitance sensor, contacting or non-contacting optical sensors, and/or contact electrical sensors. |
| US08868138B2 |
Method for controlling low-power state in mobile handset
Provided is a method for controlling a low-power state in a mobile handset. The method includes shifting from an active state to a low-power idle state by blocking power of modules for a mobile communication function and decreasing a frequency of a control clock when an inactive request of the mobile communication function is received; shifting from the low-power idle state to a low-power access state by increasing the frequency of the control clock when an additional service request is received; shifting from the low-power access state to the low-power idle state if an additional service request is not received any more; shifting from the low-power idle state to a suspension state by suspending the control clock when request is not received for predetermined time; and shifting from the suspension state to the low-power idle state when the input interrupt and the timer interrupt occur. |
| US08868133B1 |
Beacon and associated components for a ranging system
A beacon for a ranging system includes an electronic scanned array (ESA) antenna and a transceiver. The ESA antenna is configured to emit a separate radio frequency (RF) phased-array narrow beam for each of a plurality of segments of an arc, and receive from an end user node a response signal based on at least one of the RF phased-array narrow beam. Each segment of the arc is scanned at a specified time interval. The transceiver is configured to transmit a pulsed signal via the RF phased-array narrow beam, and receive the response signal. |
| US08868132B1 |
Techniques for providing efficient transmit diversity and bandwidth segmentation in a wireless communication system
Wireless communication techniques for cellular deployment of wireless communication systems with transmitters in each cell to have partially overlapped transmission patterns between two adjacent transmitters. Implementations of the described techniques can provide transmit diversity with intentional partial beam pattern overlays to improve cell sectorization or frequency re-use factor, at the same time, reduce intra-cell and inter-cell interference. Various modulations may be used in the described systems, including FDMA, TDMA, and OFDMA modulation schemes. |
| US08868124B2 |
Frequency domain equalizer for a beamformed system
A method, system, and computer program product for beamforming in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method, system, and computer program product comprise a plurality of transmit antennas for a transmitter and at least one receive antenna for a receiver. The method, system, and computer program product comprise: initiating beamforming on a communication channel between the plurality of transmit antennas and the at least one receive antenna. The communication channel includes two data streams. A received signal to noise ratio (SNR) on one of the two data streams is weaker than a received SNR of the other data stream. The method, system, and computer program product include reallocating the transmit power between the stronger stream and the weaker stream to provide improved channel performance. |
| US08868123B2 |
Method and system for managing transmit power on a wireless communication network
The present disclosure sets forth multiple embodiments of the invention. Among those embodiments is a method for managing the power of an uplink signal (e.g., an LTE PUSCH or PUCCH). The method involves determining a convolution of a first function and a second function (which may be power density functions) of the uplink signal and determining the power of the uplink signal based on the convolution. The uplink signal comprises one or both of a data signal (transmitted over a PUSCH, for example) and a control signal (transmitted over a PUSCH or PUCCH, for example). The uplink signal is transmitted over one or more subcarriers (which may be carried by resource blocks, for example). |
| US08868117B2 |
Method for grouping access points in high speed mobile environment and communication system using the method
Provided is an access point grouping method to be performed in a high speed mobile environment and a communication system using the access point grouping method. A system capacity may be improved by grouping users having different movement speeds with respect to various channel environments classified based on existence of an LOS channel, and by performing beamforming. Channel information with respect to a user moving at a high speed may not be required, and thus overhead may be reduced. |
| US08868112B2 |
Personalized location information for mobile devices
Providing location information on a mobile device includes receiving signals from external devices. Each signal includes information that specifies a geographic location for the external device that has provided the signal. A geographic location for the mobile device is calculated by using the information contained in each of the received signals. A representation of the geographic location of the mobile device is generated. The representation of the geographic location is included within an electronic message that provides information describing a user of the mobile device to other users of an electronic communications system. The electronic message is transmitted to another device to provide an indication of the geographic location for the user to one of the other users of the electronic communications system. |
| US08868111B1 |
Method and apparatus to enable the use of a personal communication device with an integrated vehicle interface
A method and apparatus to couple a personal communications device to an integrated vehicle interface is provided. The method, in one embodiment, enables the use of the personal data on the personal communications device, to provide a feature to the user. |
| US08868110B2 |
Wireless communication device capable of efficient network search
A wireless communication device is disclosed that is capable of performing efficient network searching. Specifically, by utilizing its location information and accessing stored cell information, the device can streamline searching. Further, if a full search is to be performed, the device receives information from multiple radio access technologies together, and processes the received information digitally in order to search the individual radio access technologies. In addition, the device is capable of performing efficient 4G searches by setting its RF module to capture information of multiple raster points simultaneously within a search band, and shifting the search band so as not to duplicatively search raster points. |
| US08868105B2 |
Method and apparatus for generating location stamps
An approach for generating location stamps in response to a request from a device is presented. A location stamping platform receives a request from a device for one or more location stamps. The location stamping platform then processes and/or facilitates a processing of a hierarchy of one or more policies to determine one or more candidate location stamps in response to the request. |
| US08868104B2 |
Multi-tier geofence detection
Methods, program products, and systems for multi-tier geofence detection are disclosed. In general, in one aspect, a mobile device can be configured to perform a task when the mobile device enters a geographic region. The mobile device can monitor a current location using a multi-tier approach. A baseband subsystem can monitor a coarse location of the mobile device using various course location parameters, such as a mobile country code (MCC), a location area code (LAC), or a cell identifier (cell ID), as the mobile device moves closer to the geographic region. Upon determining that the mobile device is in a cell that intersects the geographic region, the baseband subsystem can transfer the monitoring to the application subsystem. The task can be performed when the application subsystem determines that the mobile device is currently located in the geographic region. |
| US08868102B1 |
Method and apparatus for tracking a transported item while accommodating communication gaps
A method and apparatus is provided for minimizing potential security problems and battery power usage in a tracking device used in tracking an associated product while being transported along a route wherein wireless communication may be nonexistent or intermittent. This is accomplished in part by having an accessible database of signal quality and strength at a large plurality of locations along given transportation routes whereby adjustments can be made as to the times for the tracking device to obtain GPS location information as well as for times to report any location and or product status data to a remotely located central station. The ability to predict when, along a transportation route communication problems may occur provides the opportunity to notify appropriate authorities in advance of arriving at the communication gap zones whereby arrangements can be made to alleviate potential problems during transportation through wireless communication “gap or dead” zones. |
| US08868099B2 |
Vehicle identification system
The specification and drawing figures describe and show a vehicle identification system that includes a programmable application for database management of a plurality of customer-specific vehicle descriptors. The vehicle identification system also includes a mobile computing platform in a mobile satellite communications system adapted to operatively associate the customer-specific vehicle descriptors with a vehicle. |
| US08868098B2 |
Method and system for providing service information using location information
The present invention relates to a method and system to provide service information to a portable terminal based on the location information associated with the portable terminal. The service information providing method is performed in such a way that a server acquires location information associated with the portable terminal and service information corresponding to the location information. The portable terminal may acquire and store the service information from the server. The portable terminal user can also identify new service information regarding a place where the user is located. |
| US08868094B2 |
Optimizing bandwidth usage in a cellular communication network
A method and apparatus is provided for improving bandwidth usage in a cellular communication network serving at least one mobile terminal, the network being arranged to use a predefined bandwidth range. The apparatus includes a base band unit for capable of supporting at least a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, a counting means for determining the number of mobile terminals within a cell of the first radio access technology supporting the second radio access technology and a measuring means for determining the level of traffic carried by the first radio access technology cell. Bandwidth assignment means are also provided so that the bandwidth assigned to GSM and LTE can be configured to take account of changes in the traffic levels and device capabilities in either RAT. |
| US08868093B1 |
Carrier frequency assignment based on transmit power differentials
Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for carrier frequency assignment based on transmit power differentials. In a particular embodiment, a method comprises determining first power levels of first carrier frequencies transmitted from a first wireless network base station and determining second power levels of second carrier frequencies transmitted from a second wireless network base station. The method further comprises determining transmit power differentials between the first power levels and the second power levels for corresponding ones of the first and second carrier frequencies. The method further comprises assigning a wireless communication device to one of the first carrier frequencies based on the transmit power differentials. |
| US08868092B2 |
Method and apparatus for transmitting data in wireless communication system
A method of transmitting data in a wireless communication system is provided. A machine-to-machine (M2M) device transmits a first ranging request message including a M2M short message service (SMS) request indicating that the M2M device has a M2M SMS to transmit, and receives a first ranging response message including a M2M SMS response, a basic connection identifier (CID) and a temporary CID timer. If the M2M SMS request is accepted by a base station, the M2M device transmits a second ranging request message including the M2M SMS based on the basic CID, and receives a second ranging response message including a M2M SMS confirmation indicating whether the reception of the M2M SMS is successful or not by the base station. |
| US08868085B2 |
Communications base station with decision function for distributing traffic across multiple backhauls
A communication station, such as a base station or access point, has multiple backhaul options and distributes backhaul data between the available backhaul options. The communication station includes a transceiver for transmitting and receiving data with user equipments, multiple backhaul interface modules, and a backhaul distribution module arranged for monitoring demand for backhaul bandwidth and distributing data over the backhauls based on the demand for backhaul bandwidth. Additional modules for user data and control plane processing may be included with the user/control distinction used in distributing data over the backhauls. The backhaul options may include a preferred backhaul and an alternate backhaul. Distributing data over the backhauls may be based, for example, on applications associated with the data, financial cost, delay, robustness, computational resources, and/or additional security associated with using a particular backhaul. |
| US08868084B2 |
Mobile communication terminal, mobile communication system, and mobile communication method
UE10 includes a detection unit 12 configured to detect a specific cell provided to the first communication system and a control unit 13 configured to start measurement of the second cell or cell reselection from the first cell to the second cell in response to detection of the specific cell. The specific cell has a service area having the same range as a service area of the second cell. |
| US08868082B2 |
Adjusting coverage regions of wireless access points serving as handoff indication mechanism in wireless local area networks
A mobile communication device includes a processor and a communication subsystem coupled to the processor. The communication subsystem is configured to provide the mobile device with wireless communications via an access point of a wireless network. The mobile device communicates with the access point via the communication subsystem for adjusting boundaries of an RF coverage region of the access point. The mobile device subsequently communicates with the access point via the communication subsystem in the adjusted RF coverage region for handoff to another wireless network, while the access point serves as part of a handoff indication mechanism in the wireless network. |
| US08868081B2 |
Systems and methods for speed and location based network access and features control
Systems and methods are presented to allow or prohibit any or all services between a network and a node in the network based upon the geographic location and rate of travel of the node. One exemplary application is for the prevention of texting while driving. For example, in FIG. 1: Typical Wireless Communications Network, the location and rate of travel of the mobile station, (MS), 140, can be determined from the use of Global Positioning System, (GPS), information received by the MS, (140), and transmitted to the network. The MS, (140), may have any or all of its subscriber services enabled or disabled by the network based upon the speed that the MS, (140), is traveling and/or its geographical location. Other methods are possible to determine the location and rate of travel of a mobile station as well. In the preferred exemplary embodiment, it is possible for a mobile wireless network to determine the location and speed of an MS. The preferred exemplary embodiment will disallow the operation of features like text messaging or speaking on the mobile phone, when an individual is driving over a range of predetermined speeds. Additionally, this embodiment would disallow the operation of similar features in specific locations, like schools, and jails. In this embodiment it is also possible to allow any MS to access predetermined destinations for emergencies, like 911, at any time. This embodiment also allows services at otherwise forbidden speeds and/or locations to specific MSs or end-users. In this way public safety officials are not restricted and “hotspot” service can be offered on buses or trains. This enhancement to the network would permit more fine-grained control over where and when services can be allowed. |
| US08868079B2 |
Radio communication system, radio base station, and communication control method
A radio communication system includes a first radio base station that forms a first cell; a plurality of second radio base stations each of which forms a second cell; and a mobile station provided with a radio communication unit that connects, by radio, to each radio base station. The first radio base station specifies a correction value according to the number of the second cells formed in the first cell of the first radio base station and signals the correction value to the mobile station. The mobile station corrects a characteristic value indicating the reception characteristic of radio waves from the second radio base station by using the correction value. Either the first radio base station or the mobile station selects the destination of the mobile station according to the characteristic value of the first radio base station and the corrected characteristic value of the second radio base station. |
| US08868078B2 |
Selecting between radio access technologies
A mobile terminal comprising: transceiver apparatus for accessing a wireless network using an earlier and a later generation radio access technology, to establish a voice channel and packet data channel; and an inter radio access technology selector configured to monitor a condition for disabling the earlier generation access, being a condition other than coverage under the earlier generation technology falling below an acceptable lower level. The selector makes inter radio access technology decisions dynamically from the mobile terminal by updating registration with the network to indicate that the earlier generation technology is no longer supported. The selector thereby prevents the mobile terminal being subject to decisions from the network that would otherwise impose transfer to the earlier generation. At least some of the decisions made from the mobile terminal thus disable the earlier generation access whilst in presence of at least the lower level of coverage under the earlier generation. |
| US08868073B2 |
Mobile communication method, mobile communication system, subscriber management server device, and mobile switching center
A mobile communication method according to the present invention comprising the subscriber management server device HSS determines either the radio access network of the WCDMA scheme or the radio access network of the LTE scheme as the standby radio access network of the mobile station UE based on the CSFB capability presence/absence information included in the received “Update GPRS Location/Update Location Request” of received the mobile station UE, and a step in which the mobile station UE performs the standby operation in the standby radio access network of the mobile station UE determined by the subscriber management server device HSS. |
| US08868071B2 |
Method and system for managing closed subscriber group of a femto base station in WiMAX system
A femto base station of a WiMAX system can manage a list of closed subscriber groups (CSGs). A CSG indicator is broadcast. The femto base station receives a registration request message from a mobile station having received the CSG indicator and adds the mobile station to a CSG registration list. The femto base station searches for the mobile station from the CSG registration list if an attach request message is received; and forwards the attach request message to an access service network (ASN) gateway if the mobile station is in the CSG registration list. The femto base station establishes a link message with the mobile station if an attach acceptance message corresponding to the attach request message from the ASN-gateway. |
| US08868067B2 |
Identifying coverage holes using inter-rat handover measurements
Embodiments of systems and techniques for identifying coverage holes in a radio access technology (RAT) are described. In some embodiments, a network management (NM) apparatus may receive a first report, including one or more measurements taken by a first user equipment (UE), in response to an event related to a handover of the first UE between a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT different from the first RAT. The NM apparatus may receive a second report including one or more measurements taken by a second UE in response to an event related to a handover of the second UE between the first RAT and a third RAT different from the first RAT. The NM apparatus may identify a hole in a coverage area of the first RAT based at least in part on the first and second reports. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. |
| US08868061B2 |
Method and device for detection in cell random access
A method and a device for detection in cell random access are provided. The method includes: extending an original format used for a random access procedure to change a CP range defined by the original format; in the process of extracting a time-domain signal of a random access channel, extracting and splitting input data into time-domain antenna data in the original format and time-domain antenna data in an enhanced format, and performing signal extraction processing on the time-domain antenna data in the original format and the time-domain antenna data in the enhanced format respectively; and in the process of detection, detecting the time-domain antenna data in the original format and the time-domain antenna data in the enhanced format after the signal extraction processing to obtain detection information. The method can improve the performance of a BS and reduce the network construction costs without affecting an MS. |
| US08868059B2 |
Digital upgrade system and method
Digital upgrade system and method for translating analog commands and digital commands in wireless customer services premises equipment (CPE). The digital upgrade system receives a command from a CPE Host and translates the command from analog to digital in order to broadcast it over a wireless digital network to be received by a client. Alternatively, the digital upgrade system receives a digital command from a digital network and translates it to an analog command to be received by a functionality module of a wireless CPE Host. |
| US08868057B2 |
Staging a mobile device to an enterprise network securely using voice channel of a wireless wide area network (WWAN)
Wireless networking systems and methods are provided for “staging” a wireless communication device (WCD). The WCD is designed to communicate over the air with a wireless communication station via RF signals. Network infrastructure (NI) that receives a call from the WCD (via the wireless communication station), can authenticate the WCD. Once authenticated, the NI can communicate an RF signal that includes the encrypted staging data to the WCD over an RF channel. The staging data can include settings for the WCD and/or a list of software packages to be installed on the WCD and their respective server locations. When the WCD receives the RF signal, the WCD can convert (e.g., decode) the received RF signal to generate digital data. The WCD can then decrypt the digital data to generate decrypted staging data that can be used to stage the WCD. |
| US08868054B2 |
Method and system for restoring transferred mobile terminal by mobile transfer service
The present invention relates to a method and system for restoring a transferred mobile service by a mobile transfer service.To this end, the present invention provides a method for restoring a mobile service that releases a mobile transfer state of a first mobile terminal when it is confirmed that a state where the power strength of a common pilot channel received from a second mobile terminal is a previously set threshold value or less is maintained for a previously set threshold time or more. In addition, the present invention provides a method for restoring mobile service that releases a mobile transfer state of the first mobile terminal when it is confirmed that the frequency of a period that is the power threshold value or less of the common pilot channel received from the second mobile terminal exceeds the previously set threshold frequency within the previously set time unit.Further, the present invention provides a method for restoring mobile service that releases and restores the mobile transfer state of the first mobile terminal when the first mobile terminal is located in a service possible area and the second mobile terminal is located in a shadow area.According to the present invention, a situation where mobile communication service subscribers do not receive important mobile communication service can be prevented from occurring, which is caused by not performing a procedure of restoring the transferred mobile terminal. |
| US08868053B2 |
Communication delivery filter for mobile device
Messages received by a mobile device can be processed in one of at least two modes. In the normal mode, the messages are handled in accordance with the normal settings of the mobile device. In the filtered mode, or “night-time” mode, incoming messages are examined to determine if they are to be filtered or if they are exempt from filtering. If a message is exempt from filtering, it is processed in accordance with the normal mode. However, if the message is to be filtered, the mobile device is prevented from providing normal message reception alert notifications. Messages can be identified as being exempt to being filtered by editing an address book or selecting entries from an address book. All messages not identified as exempt then get filtered. |
| US08868050B2 |
Information output method and device
An information output method includes obtaining an identifier of a second communication terminal when a communication connection request is initiated to a second communication terminal or a communication connection request is received from the second communication terminal; determining whether the identifier of the second communication terminal satisfies a first preset condition; obtaining first associated information corresponding to the identifier of the second communication terminal according to the identifier of the second communication terminal, if the second communication terminal identifier satisfies the first predetermined condition; and outputting communication connection request prompt information and the first associated information to a display interface of the first communication terminal. |
| US08868047B2 |
Apparatus and method of wireless instant messaging
A wireless communication device declares one of a plurality of extended instant messaging states and transmits the declared states to a presence information server. Declared extended instant messaging states for destination devices are received, and an enhanced instant message based on declared extended instant messaging states is generated. |
| US08868041B2 |
Radio management method and system using embedded universal integrated circuit card
A multi-use embedded universal integrated circuit card contains more than one active MNO (mobile network operator) profile. The example card may include a time manager and a radio resource schedule for managing access to a radio within a wireless device. The time manager enables one of the active MNO profiles at a time in accordance with the radio resource schedule, effectively allocating respective time slices to applications associated with each of the active MNO profiles. |
| US08868040B2 |
Wireless communication terminal, wireless communication system, wireless communication method, and computer program product
A first wireless communication terminal includes: a receiver configured to receive an instruction to initiate a setting process of setting unique information to be used for a first encrypted communication with a second wireless communication terminal; a setting unit configured to set based on the instruction, a first setting method to be used for the setting process; and a processor configured to, if a first report is received from the second wireless communication terminal after the instruction is received, the first report including information indicating a second setting method to be used for the second wireless communication terminal to perform the first encrypted communication, and the first and second setting methods being identical, perform the setting process using the first setting method, and perform a set-up process of specifying an authentication method and an encryption method to be used for a second encrypted communication performed after the first encrypted communication. |
| US08868039B2 |
Context-related arrangements
In one arrangement, a first device presents a display that is based on context data, derived from one or more of its sensors. This display is imaged by a camera in a second device. The second device uses context data from its own sensors to assess the information in the captured imagery, and makes a determination about the first device. In another arrangement, social network friend requests are automatically issued, or accepted, based on contextual similarity. In yet another arrangement, delivery of a message is triggered by a contextual circumstance other than (or in addition to) location. In still another arrangement, two or more devices automatically establish an ad hoc network (e.g., Bluetooth pairing) based on contextual parallels. In still another arrangement, historical context information is archived and used in transactions with other devices, e.g., in challenge-response authentication. A great number of other features and arrangements—many involving head-mounted displays—are also detailed. |
| US08868032B2 |
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for automatic, recurrent enforcement of a policy rule
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for automatic, repetitive enforcement of a policy rule according to a schedule are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method for automatic, recurrent enforcement of a policy rule includes providing, to a node for enforcing policy rules in a telecommunications network, an automatically recurrent policy rule, the policy rule defining an enforcement activation condition and including an enforcement recurrence attribute; and using, at the node, the enforcement activation condition and the enforcement recurrence attribute to recurrently activate the enforcement of the policy rule according to the enforcement recurrence attribute. |
| US08868030B2 |
Automated vehicle intrusion device
A method of identifying abnormal activity within a communication system between one or more vehicles and a wireless carrier system. The method may include receiving a first record from a wireless carrier system or a call center. It may further include automatically receiving a second record from a data logger via a vehicle telematics unit. The second record may be a data upload record and includes information pertaining to a wireless connection that includes an event type (mode) and a call type (mode). The event type may indicate whether the wireless connection was SMS, circuit switched, or packet switched. The call type may indicate a transaction during the wireless connection. The method may include determining the occurrence of an abnormal activity based on the first record and the second record. And the method may also include providing a report. |
| US08868029B2 |
Method and apparatus for managing mobile resource usage
A method and apparatus for managing network resource consumption. In various embodiments, excessive resource consumption within a network such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network attributed to one or more user devices (UDs) is constrained by adjusting a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rule associated with a network element serving the UD such that the corresponding network resource consumption level is reduced. |
| US08868025B2 |
Methods, systems and devices for prioritizing access to wireless networks
Methods, devices and systems enable prioritizing mobile device access to a communication network during periods of reduced network availability, such as during emergency situations. The mobile device may be configured to detect the existence of an emergency situation locally, on the mobile device. Upon recognizing an emergency situation the mobile device may collect information from various components and/or sensors of the mobile device. Using the collected information, the mobile device may compute a priority for accessing the communication network. Using the computed priority, the mobile device may attempt to access the communication network in a manner that staggers access attempts among all mobile devices to reduce network congestion. |
| US08868023B2 |
Digital radio systems and methods
A system, apparatus, method, and media directed to power control in the field of digital radio systems are provided. For example, an apparatus, method, or medium can be implemented to enter a radio into lower power mode, store radio programming with reduced functionality, and resume normal power mode. |
| US08868020B2 |
Community interaction using mobile communication devices
Techniques are provided for delivering content to mobile communication devices related to interactions of members with a user community. The method involves detecting a communication session involving a mobile communication device; determining one or more context parameters associated with the communication session; and delivering content related to the context parameters to one or more mobile communication devices. Data is stored at a central computing entity that indicates association or membership of a plurality of mobile communication device users in a user community. The central computing entity detects when an action is taken by one mobile device user that is a member of the user community, and sends a notification to members of the social circle based on the detected action. These techniques allow individuals who are involved in a user community to maintain their interaction with the user community using their mobile communication devices. |
| US08868009B2 |
Method and system for multi-beam forming based on joint transceiver information
A method for multi-beam forming based on joint receiving and transmitting end information is provided. The method includes: a transmitting end decomposing a channel matrix H using a geometric mean decomposition (GMD) way to obtain a unitary matrix P; the transmitting end using the unitary matrix P as a weight matrix of GMD beam forming and executing multi-beam forming processing on an original transmission signal x. The present invention also provides a system for multi-beam forming based on joint receiving and transmitting end information, and a transmitting device and receiving device for supporting multi-beam forming based on joint receiving and transmitting end information. By using geometric mean decomposition way to decompose the channel matrix H, the sub channels corresponding to various beams obtain the equal gain. When the channel is ill-conditioned, the channel equalization will not interfere with searching the perturbation vector, thereby avoiding the performance degradation. |
| US08868008B2 |
Switch circuit for controlling a connection between an antenna and an external circuit
A switch circuit with a unit capable of improving a margin voltage without using a negative bias generation circuit is provided. A switch comprising an N-type MOSFET is used for a switch passing a signal to an antenna and a switch comprising a P-type MOSFET is used for a shunt switch grounding a signal. A common control signal is input to the gate terminal of the MOSFET constituting each switch. The inverted signal of this control signal is coupled to a ground terminal of the switch, and thus the potential of the gate terminal of each MOSFET can be set to the ground voltage. |
| US08868007B2 |
DC offset cancellation
Communication processing paths include distortions, such as DC offset in the baseband analog path which needs to be accounted for. The use of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to inject a DC offset cancellation signal can bring about noise/area/power advantages. The DAC is driven by a mixed signal low pass filter loop. However, the DAC could also be driven in an open loop system, or a combination of open and closed loop. A low noise sign and magnitude DAC with low area and power requirements is implemented using selectively connected programmable current sources to virtual earth input terminals on a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) op-amp circuit. The constant virtual earth voltage eliminates linearity problems that would otherwise exist due to the finite current source output impedance. Current sources are only switched in when required so unneeded sources are out of circuit and do not contribute noise or use any power. |
| US08868005B1 |
Systems, methods, and devices having databases for electronic spectrum management
Systems, methods, and apparatus are provided for automated identification of baseline data and changes in state in a wireless communications spectrum, by identifying sources of signal emission in the spectrum by automatically detecting signals, analyzing signals, comparing signal data to historical and reference data, creating corresponding signal profiles, and determining information about the baseline data and changes in state based upon the measured and analyzed data in near real time, which is stored on each apparatus or device and/or on a remote server computer that aggregates data from each apparatus or device. |
| US08868001B2 |
Scheme for monitoring battery of machine type communication device
Provided is a machine type communication system including a machine type communication device operating with a battery. The machine type communication system may monitor a residual power of the battery supplying power to the machine type communication device, and may output the monitored residual power to a device of a manager that manages the machine type communication device. Also, a point in time when the residual power of the battery is to be monitored may be determined based on the residual power. |
| US08868000B2 |
Multiservice communication device with cognitive radio transceiver
A multiservice communication device includes a plurality of transceivers that wirelessly transceive network data with a corresponding plurality of networks in accordance with a corresponding plurality of network protocols, wherein the plurality of transceivers includes at least one cognitive radio transceiver that is configured based on cognitive transceiver configuration data received from a management unit in communication with the multiservice communication device via a control channel. |
| US08867999B2 |
Downlink interference cancellation methods
A method to mitigate interference in a wireless system is provided. The method includes processing a set of radio network identifiers and limiting a number of hypotheses associated with the radio network identifiers in order to mitigate interference in a wireless network. In another aspect, the method includes processing a set of hypotheses and limiting the set of hypotheses by limiting a number of downlink grants to a common space, limiting the number of downlink grants to a number of instances, or limiting the number of grants to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) type. In yet another aspect, the method includes processing a downlink set and generating a target termination level for the downlink data set, the termination level associated with a Hybrid automatic repeat-request. |
| US08867995B2 |
Apparatus and method for human body communication in a mobile communication system
An apparatus and method for human body communication in a mobile communication system are provided. A portable terminal includes a human body communication module and a controller. The human body communication module performs human body communication. The controller performs a process to perform connection with an external device through the human body communication and then perform an operation executable through the human body communication. |
| US08867993B1 |
Wireless tracking system and method utilizing near-field communication devices
The present invention provides a method and system for determining a near-field communication interaction in a wireless tracking mesh network. The present invention preferably utilizes near-field communication devices in conjunction with tracking tags to transmit signals for reception by sensors stationed throughout a facility which form a mesh network and forward the signals to an information engine for analysis. Bearers of the near-field communication devices preferably include individuals, objects, assets and rooms of the facility. |
| US08867990B2 |
Detecting a presence of near field communications (NFC) devices
A near field communications (NFC) device is disclosed that detects a presence of another NFC capable device within its magnetic field. The NFC device generates an unmodulated frequency varying detection sequence to generate a frequency varying magnetic field and/or a modulated frequency invariant detection sequence to generate a carrier-frequency invariant magnetic field. The NFC device samples these magnetic fields and compares these samples to various a priori known responses of various objects to determine whether another NFC device is present within the frequency varying magnetic field and/or the carrier-frequency invariant magnetic field. |
| US08867988B2 |
Performing contactless applications in battery off mode
Contactless services, applications, and/or transactions can be performed between a mobile terminal and a contactless reader even when the mobile terminal battery power is found to be insufficient or if there is some other problem with the battery. Current is induced from electromagnetic (EM) fields or radio frequency (RF) signals detected near the mobile terminal such that sufficient power can be momentarily and/or temporarily used to access information from a smart card or other components within the mobile terminal, and allow user interaction via the contactless reader. |
| US08867987B2 |
Gain control metric computation in a wireless repeater
A method for computing a gain control metric used in controlling gain in a wireless repeater operates to store correlation and normalization values associated with the gain control metric for the previous N samples in registers. For each new sample of the gain control input signal, the correlation and normalization values are computed by discarding the multiplication terms of the obsolete sample and adding the multiplication terms of the new sample to the stored correlation and normalization values. In this manner, the complexity of the computation is greatly reduced and the complexity of the computation does not increase with the integration length. |
| US08867986B1 |
Enhanced mobile satellite communication system
There is provided a mobile satellite communication terminal system including a transmit/receive sub-system. The transmit/receive sub-system includes an antenna dish, a feed boom assembly, and a power supply unit having a first power input adapted to receive alternating current power and a second power input adapted to receive direct current power. The power supply unit is able to operate on either alternating current or direct current for supplying power to the transmit/receive sub-system. The power supply unit is received in a grip case. A transport container is provided. The antenna dish, the feed boom assembly, and the grip case are received in the transport container. |
| US08867985B2 |
Method for relaying data in multi-hop cellular system
Disclosed is a method for relaying data in a multi-hop cellular system, the method including receiving by a terminal from a base station a notification as to whether the terminal is decided as a candidate for a relay, deciding by the terminal whether to be a representative candidate terminal for the relay according to a channel state with the other terminals within a coverage of the base station if the terminal is decided as the candidate for the relay, sending by the terminal to the base station a notification if the terminal is decided as the representative candidate terminal, and relaying data received from the other terminals to calculate relay probability terminals to the base station if the terminal is notified from the base station as to that the terminal is finally decided as the relay. |
| US08867983B2 |
Method and apparatus for controlling a relay station in a multi-hop relay network
A method of controlling a relay station in a cell of a multi-hop relay network in accordance with a one-way propagation delay between a base station in the cell and the relay station. A relay station in a cell of a multi-hop relay network including means for controlling the signal flow between the relay station and the various other stations in the cell in accordance with a one-way propagation delay between a base station in the cell and the relay station. |
| US08867982B2 |
Image forming apparatus and double-sided image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus has an intermediate transfer member onto which an image is transferred, a transfer part transferring the image formed on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer, a detection part detecting a transfer which is conveyed, a both-surface conveying part reversing the transfer with an image being formed on a first surface, and conveying the transfer to the transfer part again, and a control wherein a timing when forming an image on a second surface of the transfer by the image forming part is set based on a time necessary to reverse the transfer material and a size in a conveying direction of a transfer material. |
| US08867979B2 |
Image forming method and image forming apparatus
Provided are an image forming method by which an image in which arbitrary glossiness is adjusted to any section is formed, and an image forming apparatus thereof. It is a feature that an image forming method possesses the steps of forming a gloss adjusting layer possessing a gloss adjusting toner-fixed image formed with a gloss adjusting toner, on an image support, and forming a toner-fixed image obtained from a toner, on the gloss adjusting layer, wherein the gloss adjusting layer possesses an aggregate of gloss adjusting units; the gloss adjusting units each possess a section where the gloss adjusting toner is attached and another section where the gloss adjusting toner is unattached; and a borderline between the section and the another section is a straight line. |
| US08867974B2 |
Image forming apparatus
Provided is an image forming apparatus which uses a separation claw to separate a recording medium from a photosensitive member without damaging the recording medium even when the recording medium is thin. The employed separation claw fixed to a frame is a flattened plate made of a resin. The separation claw is gradually tapered toward a leading end thereof, and is provided with a slit from the apex toward the frame . The separation claw is not gradually tapered in a thickness direction and has a constant thickness. A plurality of separation claws are fixed to the frame in a length direction of the photosensitive drum so that the recording medium can be separated regardless of the sheet size. The frame is moved to easily adjust the positional relationship between the photosensitive drum and the separation claws. |
| US08867971B2 |
Developer regulator, development device, and image forming apparatus incorporating same
A developer regulator to restrict an amount of a developer, including a base portion; an intermediate portion continuous with the base portion, the intermediate portion having a flat area on one face, the flat area having a roughened surface; and a distal end continuous with the intermediate portion, the distal end being bent relative to the base portion in a direction opposite the one face in which the flat area is formed. |
| US08867967B2 |
Development apparatus
A development apparatus includes a developer bearing member which develops a latent image, a first room supplying developer to the developer bearing member, and a second room connecting to the first room via opening portions formed at both ends of the first room, with the first room and the second room forming a circulation passage circulating the developer. In addition, a partition wall partitions the first room and the second room, a replenishment passage connects outside of the circulation passage and replenishes the developer, and a discharge port discharges surplus developer from the development container. A replenishing screw is arranged in the replenishment passage and conveys developer in a replenishing port toward the circulation passage, and a ventilation port is formed at a replenishing port side outside of the circulation passage of the first room or the second room or inside of the replenishment passage. |
| US08867963B2 |
Driving mechanism and image forming apparatus comprising the same
The belt driving mechanism of the present invention includes: a driving pulley; a driven pulley; a looped transmission belt extended over the driving pulley and the driven pulley; a first holding member that bearing-supports and holds the driving pulley; a second holding member that bearing-supports and holds the driven pulley, and is combined with the first holding member; and a biasing member that biases the first holding member and the second holding member to be separated, in a state in which the first holding member and the second holding member are combined. |
| US08867962B2 |
Driving component, photosensitive drum and process cartridge
The present invention provides a driving component, a photosensitive drum and a process cartridge. The driving component comprises a gear having one fixed end and a regulating component having a rotational driving force receiver outside the other end projecting from the gear. The regulating component is provided within the gear by being moved reciprocally and translationally along the gear's longitudinal direction and a first direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction relative to the gear. A spring support part and a longitudinal position limit part are provided between the regulating component and the gear. The rotational driving force receiver is provided inside the regulating component by rotating around its own axis. Compared to the existing technology, the process cartridge using this driving component has a smooth engagement with a printer, reliable performance and stable work. |
| US08867952B2 |
Image carrier and image forming apparatus having the same
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, where the image carrier may include an image carrier body having a hollowness and image carrier flanges, which are installed at both ends of the image carrier body. Each image carrier flange may include a blower fan integrally formed therewith, so that air outside of the image carrier body is moved from one end of the image carrier body, at which a drive gear is positioned, to the other end of the image carrier body as the image carrier rotates. Waste developer which may accumulate on the drive gear is reduced, thereby preventing the operational error of the image carrier and thus avoiding the degradation of the image quality. |
| US08867940B2 |
Image forming apparatus and method of controlling transfer power thereof
An image forming apparatus including a transfer unit that transfers onto a transfer medium an image that is formed on a photosensitive medium; a power supply unit that provides a transfer power to the transfer unit; and a transfer power control unit that controls the transfer power that is provided to the transfer unit by the power supply unit. The transfer power control unit sets as a target voltage an output voltage of the power supply unit that is measured by supplying an initial transfer current to the transfer unit in a predetermined certain period before an image is transferred onto the transfer medium and controls the power supply unit to apply the set target voltage to the transfer unit while an image is being transferred onto the transfer medium. |
| US08867939B2 |
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable photosensitive member, and a charging member for electrically charging the photosensitive member in contact or proximity to the photosensitive member. The charging member forms an upstream gap and a downstream gap between the photosensitive member and itself. In addition, a power source applies a DC voltage to the charging member, an irradiation unit irradiates with light a surface of the photosensitive member in the upstream gap, and a controller controls the irradiation of the light by the irradiation unit. The photosensitive member is movable at a first speed and a second speed slower than the first speed, and wherein the irradiation of the light is effected when the photosensitive member is moved at the first speed to effect image formation, and is not effected when the photosensitive member is moved at the second speed to effect the image formation. |
| US08867936B2 |
Image forming apparatus, method of controlling the same, and program
This invention provides an image forming apparatus which performs sleep control for a shift to the sleep mode for each function and provides a user-friendly operation system, and a method of controlling the same. To accomplish this, the image forming apparatus sets a shift time until a power state of the image forming apparatus shifts to the low-power state after execution of image formation; and performs control to shift the power state of the image forming apparatus to the low-power state, when the shift time is not more than the predetermined time, before an elapse of the shift time after execution of image formation by the printing function, while shifting the power state of the image forming apparatus to the low-power state, in response to an elapse of the shift time after execution of image formation by the copying function. |
| US08867935B2 |
Power control device, electronic apparatus, and image forming apparatus
A power control device includes a power control unit, a power switch, a timer unit, a power supply switch, and a connection instruction unit. The power control unit is driven by power supplied from a power source. The power switch outputs a detection signal to the power control unit. The timer unit outputs a switch-on signal for giving an instruction to turn on the switch. The power supply switch switches between connection and non-connection of the power source and a load. The connection instruction unit outputs a connection instruction signal for connecting the power source to the load. The power control unit outputs a stop signal for stopping the output of the switch-on signal to the timer unit before a time point at which the predetermined time elapses when the power is supplied from the power source. The power control unit outputs the switch-on signal to the connection instruction unit. |
| US08867931B2 |
Digital radio frequency transceiver system and method
A transceiver architecture for wireless base stations wherein a broadband radio frequency signal is carried between at least one tower-mounted unit and a ground-based unit via optical fibers, or other non-distortive media, in either digital or analog format. Each tower-mounted unit (for both reception and transmission) has an antenna, analog amplifier and an electro-optical converter. The ground unit has ultrafast data converters and digital frequency translators, as well as signal linearizers, to compensate for nonlinear distortion in the amplifiers and optical links in both directions. In one embodiment of the invention, at least one of the digital data converters, frequency translators, and linearizers includes superconducting elements mounted on a cryocooler. |
| US08867926B2 |
Optical communication of interleaved symbols associated with polarizations
An apparatus comprises a coherent optical transmitter. The coherent optical transmitter comprises a first modulator for generating a first polarization, a second modulator for generating a second polarization, and a symbol interleaver configured to receive a first symbol stream intended to be transmitted on a first polarization and a second symbol stream intended to be transmitted on a second polarization, to direct one portion of symbols of the first symbol stream to the first modulator for modulation onto the first polarization and another portion of the symbols of the first symbol stream to the second modulator for modulation onto the second polarization, and to direct one portion of symbols of the second symbol stream to the first modulator for modulation onto the first polarization and another portion of the symbols of the second symbol stream to the second modulator for modulation onto the second polarization. |
| US08867924B2 |
Low power consumption small form-factor pluggable transceiver
A method is provided to lower the overall power consumption of small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers. The method includes receiving an indication to operate the SFP transceiver in a low power mode, and setting the SFP transceiver to a low power mode in response to the indication by at least switching off a thermal electric cooler (TEC) that controls a temperature of a laser diode of the SFP transceiver. The proposed method may be implemented whenever a reach is not more than a predetermined distance, for example, 65 kilometers. At such reduced distances, the TEC of the SFP transceiver can be switched off while still guaranteeing link functionality. The instant low power mode has the benefit of reducing the power consumption of the SFP transceiver so that, for example, host platforms with lower power delivery budgets can support the SFP transceiver for at least some applications. |
| US08867923B2 |
Transponder, repeater, and terminal equipment
A transponder for performing bidirectional conversion between a client-side signal used for communication to a client device and a transmission path-side signal used for communication to a transmission path, the transponder comprising: a client-side interface for inputting/outputting the client-side signal; a transmission path-side interface for inputting/outputting the transmission path-side signal; a connection determining unit for determining which of the another client-side interface and the client device is coupled to the client-side interface; and a transmission signal generating unit for outputting, in a case where a state signal indicating a state on a transmission path side is input to the transmission path-side interface, a transmission signal indicating that the state signal has been input, from the client-side interface, wherein: the transmission signal generating unit changes a form of the transmission signal to be output from the client-side interface, based on a determination result obtained by the connection determining unit. |
| US08867919B2 |
Multi-port accumulator for radio-over-fiber (RoF) wireless picocellular systems
A multi-port accumulator apparatus for a radio-over-fiber (RoF) wireless picocellular system comprising a housing supporting a tail cable port and transponder ports. The tail cable port is optically coupled to the RoF transponder ports to provide for transmission of uplink and downlink optical signals between the tail cable port and each of the transponder ports. The tail cable port is also electrically coupled to provide power to each transponder port. The multi-port accumulator supports RoF transponders, one at each of the transponder ports. Each RoF transponder includes a directional antenna system forming a picocellular coverage sub-area, with the combined sub-areas constituting a picocellular coverage area for the multi-port accumulator. The multi-port accumulator permits quick installation and deployment of large numbers of RoF transponders without individually connecting each RoF transponder to downlink and uplink optical fibers in an optical fiber RF communication link. |
| US08867918B2 |
Remote controller
A remote controller includes: an operation unit including plural operation keys; a radio communication unit that performs bidirectional communication with a controlled apparatus; an infrared communication unit that performs unidirectional communication with the controlled apparatus; and a control unit that is input with an operation signal from the operation unit and controls the radio communication unit and the infrared communication unit, wherein the control unit includes a measuring unit that measures power supply voltage, and the control unit controls the radio communication unit to transmit a control signal to the controlled apparatus when the power supply voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined value and controls the infrared communication unit to transmit the control signal to the controlled apparatus when the power supply voltage is lower than the predetermined value. |
| US08867912B2 |
Optical service channel systems and methods over high loss links
Optical service channel (OSC) systems and methods over high loss links are described utilizing redundant telemetry channels. A first telemetry channel provides a low bandwidth communication channel used when Raman amplification is unavailable on a high loss link for supporting a subset of operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning (OAM&P) communication. A second telemetry channel provides a high bandwidth communication channel for when Raman amplification is available to support full OAM&P communication. The first and second telemetry operate cooperatively ensuring nodal OAM&P communication over high loss links (e.g., 50 dB) regardless of operational status of Raman amplification. |
| US08867910B2 |
Strobe device and image pickup device
A strobe device of the present invention includes a reflector having an opening on the subject side, a cylindrical flashtube disposed in the reflector, and a first trigger electrode disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the flashtube. The first trigger electrode is disposed on the subject side of the outer peripheral surface of the flashtube. Thus, a flash of light emitted from the flashtube is reflected in a large range, from the bottom side to the opening side of the reflector, and a strobe device having a large range of light distribution can be achieved. |
| US08867908B2 |
Self-programming water heater
A hot water heater includes a tank for storing water, one or more heating elements for selectively applying heat to the water in the tank, and a controller for controlling the heating elements, operative to automatically self-program control of the hot water heater to reduce energy consumption of the hot water heater based on usage data. The controller is operative to execute a learning algorithm that tracks usage data of the hot water heater based on one or more parameters. |
| US08867907B2 |
Reservoir fluid heating devices and methods of heating
A heater assembly for a fluid reservoir includes an outer housing coupled to a flange on the fluid reservoir, an inner tubular member disposed within the outer housing, the inner tubular member having a central passageway therethrough, wherein an annulus is formed between the outer housing and the inner tubular member, and a heating device coupled to a lower end of the outer housing and having heating elements which extend upwardly into the central passageway of the inner tubular member. |
| US08867894B2 |
Video processing system
A method and apparatus for producing video content. The method includes acquiring video data from a source. If the video data is not digitized, then the video data is digitized. The method includes generating scene indexes for the video data including a representative still image for each scene and combining the video data and scene indexes along with a media player on a video disc. The video player is operable to play the video data in accordance with the scene indexes including playing a scene from the video data on a client computer while displaying the representative stills for other of the scenes available for display on the video disc. |
| US08867892B2 |
Method and apparatus for camera motion analysis in video
Embodiments disclose methods and apparatuses for camera motion analysis in a video, wherein one of the methods includes: analyzing, video segments with significant movement characteristics and video segments without any significant movement characteristic; for each segment without any significant movement characteristic, if a first motion type corresponding to a preceding neighboring video segment is different from a second motion type corresponding to a succeeding neighboring video segment, lowering detection criterions of the first type and the second type; judging whether the segment without any significant movement characteristic meets the lowered detection criterions; and merging the segment without any significant movement characteristic with a neighboring video segment according to the result of judgment. With the embodiments of the invention the motion type of a camera in the video can be detected more effectively and accurately, and the photographic intention of a user can be reflected more accurately. |
| US08867891B2 |
Video concept classification using audio-visual grouplets
A method for determining a semantic concept classification for a digital video clip, comprising: receiving an audio-visual dictionary including a plurality of audio-visual grouplets, the audio-visual grouplets including visual background and foreground codewords, audio background and foreground codewords, wherein the codewords in a particular audio-visual grouplet were determined to be correlated with each other; analyzing the digital video clip to determine a set of visual features and a set of audio features; determining similarity scores between the digital video clip and each of the audio-visual grouplets by comparing the set of visual features to any visual background and foreground codewords associated with a particular audio-visual grouplet, and comparing the set of audio features to any audio background and foreground codewords associated with the particular audio-visual grouplet; and determining one or more semantic concept classifications using trained semantic classifiers. |
| US08867890B2 |
Method and apparatus for synchronizing data streams containing audio, video and/or other data
Several data streams contain video, audio and/or other data. Some of the data streams are pre-recorded in a multiplex on a storage medium while other data streams are located out of the data stream multiplex on the storage medium. The data streams are synchronized using a navigation file (List_of_PlayItems), which comprises descriptors (PlayItems, SubPlayItems) pointing to parts of said data streams, wherein said descriptors define the arrangement in time for said data streams by means of data sub stream paths. |
| US08867885B2 |
Optical waveguide forming epoxy resin composition, optical waveguide forming curable film, light transmission flexible printed board, and production method for the flexible printed board
An optical waveguide forming epoxy resin composition is free from a diluent component irrelevant to a curing reaction, and comprises: (A) a liquid epoxy resin; and (B) a photoacid generator; wherein the liquid epoxy resin (A) comprises a liquid epoxy resin represented by the following general formula (1) in a proportion of 40 to 75 wt % based on the overall amount of a resin component: wherein R1 and R2 are each a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; R3 to R6 are each a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a chlorine atom or a bromine atom; X is a C2 to C15 alkylene group, an ethyleneoxy group, a di(ethyleneoxy) group, a tri(ethyleneoxy) group, a propyleneoxy group, a propyleneoxypropyl group, a di(propyleneoxy)propyl group or a tri(propyleneoxy)propyl group; and n is a natural number and has an average value of 1.2 to 5. |
| US08867882B2 |
Optical input/output device for photo-electric integrated circuit device and method of fabricating same
A photo-electric integrated circuit device comprises an on-die optical input/output device. The on-die optical input/output device comprises a substrate having a trench, a lower cladding layer disposed in the trench and having an upper surface lower than an upper surface of the substrate, and a core disposed on the lower cladding layer at a distance from sidewalls of the trench and having an upper surface at substantially the same level as the upper surface of the substrate. |
| US08867878B2 |
Fiber optic cable design with clear buffer tubes
A fiber optic cable has at least one fiber and at least one buffer tube surrounding the fiber, with the fiber being loosely held within the buffer tube. A jacket surrounds the tube where the at least one buffer tube is constructed from an extruded transparent polymer, allowing the arrangement of the fiber within the buffer tube to be visible along the entire length of the tube. |
| US08867874B2 |
Method for modifying the combining or splitting ratio of a multimode interference coupler
Method for modifying the splitting or combining ratio of a first multimode interference (MMI) coupler (100), which first coupler is arranged to convey light from one or several input waveguides to one or several output waveguides, wherein a film (103a) of a material is arranged over the first coupler, wherein the film is strained so that a force is applied by the film to the surface of the first coupler, and so that the refractive index profile in the material of the first coupler changes as a consequence of the force, and wherein the splitting or combining ratio is modified as a consequence of the changed refractive index profile. |
| US08867865B2 |
Point set matching with outlier detection
Aspects of the present invention include point set matching systems and methods. In embodiments, a tree model is used to find candidate matching locations for a set of query points. In embodiments, a similitude transform is assumed, and the parameters are separately solved to reduce computation complexity. In embodiments, the dominant scaling (α) and rotation (R) parameters are obtained by identifying a maximum in an accumulator space. A translation (t) matrix is calculated in another 1D accumulator space. With the obtained similitude transform, outliers can be reliably detected. This two-stage approach reduces the complexity and calculation time of determining a similitude transform and increases the accuracy and ability to detect outliers. |
| US08867864B2 |
Data processing apparatus, image processing apparatus, and method therefor
There are provided a data processing apparatus which makes an I/F for data processing modules (processors) versatile to facilitate addition/modification on a data processing module basis in accordance with processing contents, an image processing apparatus, and a method for the apparatuses. A data processing module (3) includes a read address generator (11), read FIFO (7), write address generator (13), write FIFO (9), and arbiter (10) and is connected to a host arbiter (4) through a 1-channel port. The read address generator (11) and write address generator (13) generate interrupts upon acceptance of final access requests so as to control activation of each data processing module (8-1-8-m) in accordance with the state of each data processing module in interrupt processing. Note that data transfer among the respective data processing modules is performed on a RAM (6). |
| US08867863B2 |
Presentation and manipulation of high depth images in low depth image display systems
High depth grayscale images, (e.g. <8 bits per pixel) are losslessly cross channel encoded to multi-channel image formats for transformation and display by display devices not capable of displaying high depth grayscale. DICOM and other images may be encoded and provided to web browser based client image viewers that leverage native code for handling multi-channel images. Transformations are applied to reconstitute the high depth grayscale images. |
| US08867862B1 |
Self-optimizing analysis window sizing method
A method of selecting an optimal window length in a digital processing system includes receiving a digital signal and analyzing the signal with a group of Hanning windows having different sizes. The windows being arranged so that they can be scaled to be comparable. The digital signal is windowed with each selected window and a transform is computed. The transformed signal is scaled and corrected. A metric is computed from the resulting signal for each window. The metrics are compared and the window size is selected based on agreement with a user defined metric. The specific window function, shift and scaling are such that the resulting analysis is mathematically equivalent across different window sizes. |
| US08867859B1 |
Illumination estimation for images
An image comprising varying illumination is selected. Instances of a repeating pattern in the image is determined. Illumination values for pixels at locations within instances of the repeating pattern are calculated responsive to pixel intensities of pixels at corresponding locations in other instances of the repeating pattern. The varying illumination is removed form the image responsive to the illumination values. |
| US08867858B2 |
Method and system for generating an output image of increased pixel resolution from an input image
A method and system (30) generates an output image (21) of increased pixel resolution from an input image (20), which is non-dyadically upscaled to generate an upscaled image (22) having more pixels than the input image and is low-pass filtered to generate a smoothed image (23). A high detail image (24) is generated by subtraction and for each pixel in the upscaled image, a patch (25) containing the pixel is identified. A best-fit patch (26) within a localized region (27) of the smoothed image is found by searching in the smoothed image in close proximity to a mapped location of the patch in the upscaled image. Each pixel in the patch of the upscaled image is corrected by uniquely adding the value of the corresponding pixel in an equivalent patch of the high detail image corresponding to the best-fit patch, and the corrected upscaled image is stored for further processing. |
| US08867855B2 |
Picture coding method and picture decoding method
The method includes the following units: a coefficient number detecting unit (109) for detecting the number of coefficients which has a value other than 0 for each block according to the generated coefficient, a coefficient number storing unit (110) for storing the number of coefficients detected, a coefficient number coding unit (111) for selecting a table for variable length coding based on the numbers of coefficients in the coded blocks located on the periphery of a current block to be coded with reference to the selected table for variable length coding so as to perform variable length coding for the number of coefficients. |
| US08867849B1 |
Suggesting profile images for a social network
A system and method for generating an ordered set of suggested profile images. The profile image application includes a scorer, a recognition engine, a trend analyzer, a suggestion module and a user interface engine. The scorer scores user images based on metadata, such as the number of people tagged in the image and the recency of the image. The recognition engine identifies people and objects in the image. The trend analyzer identifies trends. The suggestion module generates the ordered set of suggested profile images based at least in part on the score. The user interface engine generates a user interface that includes the ordered set of suggested profile images. |
| US08867847B2 |
Method for fast, robust, multi-dimensional pattern recognition
A method and system for probe-based pattern matching including an apparatus for synthetic training of a model of a pattern. The apparatus comprises a sensor for obtaining an image of the pattern and a processor for receiving the image of the pattern from the sensor and running a program. In the steps performed by the program a boundary of the pattern in the image is identified. A plurality of positive probes are placed at selected points along the boundary of the pattern and at least one straight segment of the boundary of the pattern is identified. The at least one straight segment of the boundary is extended to provide an imaginary straight segment and a plurality of negative probes are placed at selected points along the imaginary straight segment, where each negative probe has a negative weight. |
| US08867846B2 |
Method and device for generating image-processing component data used for image recognition of a component by component measurements
Disclosed is a method of generating image-processing component data which is used when an image of a component to be mounted by a component mounting apparatus is recognized. The method includes extracting first component shape data from CAD data of the component, measuring second component shape data from an image of the component obtained by an imaging device, and generating image-processing component data based on the first and second component shape data. |
| US08867844B2 |
Edge based template matching
A method for image processing includes determining edge pixels of a model image and determining features for the edge pixels of the model image. The image processing includes determining edge pixels of an input image and determining features for the edge pixels of the input image. The system matches the features of the model image with the features of the input image to determine candidate locations of an object within the input image. |
| US08867843B2 |
Method of image denoising and method of generating motion vector data structure thereof
The present invention discloses a method of image denoising and method of generating motion vector data structure thereof. The method comprises: providing an image sequential capturing module to capture and to receive the plurality of images; generating a global motion vector based on the plurality of images in accordance with a first algorithm; reducing each image as reduced images; dividing each of the first reduced images into a plurality of first areas and generating a first local motion vector based on each of the first areas in accordance with a second algorithm, and via the similar way for generating a second local motion vector; finally, obtaining motion vector data in the plurality of images according to the global motion vector, each of the first local motion vectors and each of the second local motion vectors. |
| US08867842B2 |
Image processing device producing a single-viewpoint image based on a plurality of images viewed from a plurality of viewing points, image processing system producing a single-viewpoint image based on a plurality of images viewed from a plurality of viewing points, and image processing method producing a single-viewpoint image based on a plurality of images viewed from a plurality of viewing points
According to one embodiment, an image processing system includes a decoder, a corresponding area detector and an image corrector. The decoder is configured to decode an input image signal obtained by encoding a plurality of images viewed from a plurality of viewing points different from each other, to generate a first image signal, a second image signal, and a motion vector for referring to the first image from the second image. The corresponding area detector is configured to detect a corresponding area in the second image, the corresponding area corresponding to a target block in the first image. The image corrector is configured to mix each pixel in the target block with each pixel in the corresponding area according to a degree of similarity between the target block and the corresponding area, to generate a third image signal. |
| US08867841B2 |
Intelligent cropping of images based on multiple interacting variables
Methods and systems for intelligently cropping images, including receiving, over a computer network, a source image, and then associating a first identifier tag with a first object in the source image. A cropped image is generated from the source image wherein the cropping is based on the first object. The system and method then notifying a first user that the first identifier tag is associated with the first object in the cropped image, wherein the notification includes the cropped image. |
| US08867839B2 |
Image capture and identification system and process
A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object. |