Document Document Title
US08887235B2 Authentication interworking
The present disclosure includes a method and system for authentication interworking. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving, from a communication device, a request for services from a core network. The communication device is foreign to the core network. Authentication internetworking is provided to the foreign device to enable access to services provided by the core network.
US08887233B2 Cookie-based acceleration of an authentication protocol
A system uses a proxy server to authenticate a client with an authentication protocol that does not support caching. Rather than cache the client's authentication credentials, or access a client account manager for each network request generated by the client, the proxy server issues a cookie to an authenticated client and authenticate the client for subsequent request on the basis of the cookie.
US08887232B2 Central biometric verification service
Based on information on a biometric print of a user of a mobile device and user associated identification, the user is biometrically authenticated over a network for access to an online service. When a request from the user for access to an online service is received, a server checks the identification to determine if the user or mobile device is registered for a biometric based verification service. If registered, a sample biometric print is obtained from the user and compared to a stored template biometric print of the authorized user associated with the mobile device to determine if there is a match. When there is a match, the user is biometrically authenticated and is granted access to the online service.
US08887230B2 Configuring and providing profiles that manage execution of mobile applications
Various aspects of the disclosure relate to configuring and providing policies that manage execution of mobile applications. In some embodiments, a user interface may be generated that allows an IT administrator or other operator to set, change and/or add to policy settings. The policy settings can be formatted into a policy file and be made available for download to a mobile device, such as via an application store or to be pushed to the mobile device as part of a data push service. The mobile device, based on the various settings included in the policy file, may perform various actions to enforce the security constraints that are represented by the policy. The various settings that can be included in a policy are numerous and some examples and variations thereof are described in connection with the example embodiments discussed herein.
US08887225B2 Method and apparatus for reproducing broadcast content, and method and apparatus for providing broadcast content
Provided are a method and apparatus for reproducing broadcast content in a digital television (DTV) in real time, and a method and apparatus for providing broadcast content to a DTV. In the reproducing method, reproduction of broadcast content is controlled to be temporarily stopped if an error is present in received packets constituting the content; packets received after the temporary stopping of the reproduction are stored; a errorless packet, which corresponds to a packet having the error, is obtained; and the content is reproduced using the obtained packet and the stored packets.
US08887217B2 Systems and methods for quality of experience aware joint scheduling of buffered video on demand and best effort flows
System and method embodiments for joint scheduling of buffered video on demand (VoD) and best effort flows within the same band enable improved quality of experience for VoD receiving mobile devices without resource partitioning or sacrificing FSS gains. In an embodiment, a method for scheduling video on demand flows and best effort flows within the same band includes determining with a transmission point (TP) a buffer vacancy for each of the ones of a plurality of mobile devices wirelessly coupled to a transmission point that are receiving VoD flows, calculating, with the TP, buffer vacancy scheduling weights for the plurality of mobile devices using the buffer vacancy, and determining, with the TP, a joint schedule of VoD flows and best effort flows based on the buffer vacancy scheduling weights.
US08887214B1 System and method for unified metadata brokering and policy-based content resolution in a video architecture
A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes establishing a connection between a client and a messaging fabric associated with a video system that includes a metadata broker element; storing metadata information associated with content, where the content is associated with a release uniform resource locator (URL); and generating a content guide, (e.g., an electronic program guide) that includes a plurality of content definitions (e.g., channels). A particular content (e.g., program) in the content guide is associated with a particular release URL that can be translated into a more specific URL based on a number of criteria.
US08887213B2 Handheld media and communication device with a detachable projector for sharing media assets in a group
A wireless network for delivering a media asset includes a plurality of media and communication devices. The media asset further includes a video file and an audio file. One of the devices is a controlling device. The video file is delivered by a projector unit and the audio file is delivered by the devices. The projector unit receives the video file from the controlling device when the unit and the device are connected. The controlling device can remotely control operations of the projector unit.
US08887207B2 Method and system for remotely transcoding content
A system and method for remotely transcoding content includes a set top box generating a playlist corresponding to content titles stored in a memory of the set top box. A user device is in communication with the cloud location and the set top box through a network. The user device reviews the playlist and selects a first content title from the playlist to form a selection. The cloud location includes a transcoder device transcoding content corresponding to the selection to form transcoded content. One of the cloud location and the set top box communicates the transcoded content to the user device.
US08887206B2 Device and method for rendering and delivering 3-D content
A device and method are provided for delivering three-dimensional (3-D) content. The device includes a receiving unit configured to receive a first signal containing at least two-dimensional (2-D) content, a processing unit configured to (i) determine an amount of a difference in the content in the first signal to be visualized by a left visual sensor and a right visual sensor, (ii) determine whether the amount of the difference is less than or equal to a predetermined minimum value, and to discard the signal to be visualized by one of the right and left visual sensors when the amount is determined to be less than or equal to the predetermined minimum value, and (iii) generate a second signal containing the 2-D content of the first signal and 3-D content in which the first signal to be visualized by the one of the right and left visual sensors is discarded.
US08887202B2 Tile based media content selection
Mechanisms are provided for allowing a user to dynamically manage rich media content in an efficient and effective manner. Tiles including media content, personalized video selections, content pack upgrades, and promotions for featured content are presented to a user. Each tile may include calls to view, purchase, discuss, rate, review, or read about associated content. Tiles may be presented as still images, logos, text, or live video. Multiple tiles may be manipulated using keyboard, mouse, touchpad, and/or touchscreen movements, motions, and gestures. In particular examples, an overlay provided on top of a tile mechanism provides a user with additional navigation and management options.
US08887199B2 System, apparatus, and method for templates offering default settings for typical virtual channels
The system, apparatus and method, of the present application offers the viewer a set of typical virtual channel types based on some predefined or definable category, e.g., news channel, which includes predefined default settings and behavior. These typical virtual channel ‘templates’ make it very easy for a viewer to specify a virtual channel. For example, for a news channel, the default behavior is to only keep the most current coverage, for a series, the default behavior is to keep all until watched. Such a typical virtual channel can be selected explicitly or implicitly. In addition, a virtual channel wizard is provided by the system, apparatus, and method of the present invention that interactively guides a viewer through setting up own templates.
US08887197B2 Method and apparatus for managing advertisements using social media data
A system that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining social media data associated with a plurality of end user devices of a plurality of users interacting with a social media network where the social media data includes user commentary at the social media network, determining first targeted advertising for delivery to first end user devices of a portion of the plurality of users based on an analysis of the social media data, and determining second targeted advertising for delivery during a target broadcast programming to a second end user device of a target user of the plurality of users based on an analysis of the user commentary, wherein the analysis includes identifying a comment context. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08887191B2 Methods and apparatus for identifying media using temporal signal characteristics
Methods and apparatus to identify media content using temporal signal characteristics are disclosed. An example method to identify media content includes generating a first signature based on a media content signal, the first signature comprising a plurality of first normalized features, each normalized feature corresponding to a signal peak and located at a temporal location of the signal peak in the audio signal, correlating the first signature to a reference signature comprising second normalized features to obtain an index, and determining that the first signature represents the same media content as the reference signature when the index is greater than a threshold.
US08887189B2 Methods and systems for providing synchronized display of content
Systems and methods may include receiving a device identifier that identifies a first device, the first device being capable of causing display of first content at a first display device, and communicating a synchronization request that includes the device identifier via a network. Systems and methods may further include receiving an event message from the first device via the network, the event message identifying the first content the first device is causing display at the first display device, wherein the event message is useable to synchronize second content a second device causes display at a second display device with the first content the first device is causing display at the first display device.
US08887184B2 Systems and methods for providing remote access to interactive media guidance applications
Systems and methods for providing remote access to interactive media guidance applications are provided. In particular, the systems and methods for providing remote access to interactive media guidance applications provided herein generally relate to enhancing remote access capabilities by providing algorithms and techniques for managing and correcting disparities that may be found between program listings data used by the interactive media guidance application and the remote access server.
US08887183B2 Optical disc device and lens cleaner
An optical disc device of the present invention comprises an insertion detection optical sensor which detects insertion of an optical disc based on light emitted from a first light emitting element to a first light receiving element being blocked, and an ejection detection optical sensor provided on the downstream side in the carry-in direction to the insertion detection optical sensor to detect ejection of the optical disc based on light emitted from a second light emitting element to a second light receiving element being blocked. The optical disc device is structured such that, in a state that the optical disc is attached onto the turntable, when the light of the first light emitting element is blocked and the light of the second light emitting element is not blocked, the optical disc device recognizes that a lens cleaner is attached onto the turntable as the optical disc, and the optical disc device performs a cleaning operation.
US08887174B2 Mechanism for monitoring instruction set based thread execution on a plurality of instruction sequencers
A technique to monitor software thread performance and update software that issues or uses the thread(s) to reduce performance-inhibiting events. At least one embodiment of the invention uses hardware and/or software timers or counters to monitor various events associated with executing user-level threads and report these events back to a user-level software program, which can use the information to avoid or at least reduce performance-inhibiting events associated with the user-level threads.
US08887167B2 High performance locks
Systems and methods of enhancing computing performance may provide for detecting a request to acquire a lock associated with a shared resource in a multi-threaded execution environment. A determination may be made as to whether to grant the request based on a context-based lock condition. In one example, the context-based lock condition includes a lock redundancy component and an execution context component.
US08887166B2 Resource allocation and modification using access patterns
A computer-implemented method includes obtaining information characterizing a level of actual usage of a first item of content; based on the obtained information, determining whether a re-provisioning condition is satisfied and if so, generating a specification of a re-provisioning operation to be executed in association with the resources of a storage environment; and executing the re-provisioning operation. The first item of content is stored on a first set of elements of resources of the storage environment according to a first resource allocation arrangement. The re-provisioning operation includes identifying a second resource allocation arrangement for storing the first item of content; and allocating a second set of elements of the resources of the storage environment according to the second resource allocation arrangement.
US08887163B2 Task scheduling based on dependencies and resources
An example system identifies a set of tasks as being designated for execution, and the set of tasks includes a first task and a second task. The example system accesses task dependency data that corresponds to the second task and indicates that the first task is to be executed prior to the second task. The example system, based on the task dependency data, generates a task dependency model of the set of tasks. The dependency model indicates that the first task is to be executed prior to the second task. The example system schedules an execution of the first task, which is scheduled to use a particular data processing resource. The scheduling is based on the dependency model.
US08887162B2 Persistent local storage for processor resources
Local storage may be allocated for each processing resource in a process of a computer system. Each processing resource may be virtualized and may have a one-to-one or a many-to-one correspondence with with physical processors. The contents of each local storage persist across various execution contexts that are executed by a corresponding processing resource. Each local storage may be accessed without synchronization (e.g., locks) by each execution context that is executed on a corresponding processing resource. The local storages provide the ability to segment data and store and access the data without synchronization. The local storages may be used to implement lock-free techniques such as a generalized reduction where a set of values is combined through an associative operator.
US08887161B2 System and method for estimating combined workloads of systems with uncorrelated and non-deterministic workload patterns
It has been found that a more reasonable estimation of combined workloads can be achieved by enabling the ability to specify the confidence level in which to estimate the workload values. A method, computer readable medium and system are provided for estimating combined system workloads. The method comprises obtaining a set of quantile-based workload data pertaining to a plurality of systems and normalizing the quantile-based workload data to compensate for relative measures between data pertaining to different ones of the plurality of systems. A confidence interval may then be determined and the confidence interval used to determine a contention probability specifying a degree of predicted workload contention between the plurality of systems according to at least one probabilistic model. The contention probability may then be used to combine workloads for the plurality of systems and a result indicative of one or more combined workloads then provided.
US08887154B2 Systems and methods for partitioning computing applications to optimize deployment resources
Systems and methods for dynamic partitioning of computing applications that involves partitioning a computing application based on processing requirements and available hardware resources to optimize resource usage and security across multiple platforms, and handle interprocess communications across the platforms.
US08887153B2 Digital signature server and user terminal
To reduce a load on a user terminal imposed when verifying signature data and at the same time reduce a load on a server, a signature key matrix KM includes a plurality of signature keys Ki-j arranged in a matrix structure of m rows and n columns, and is stored in a signature key matrix database 21. A correspondence relationship between a signature key set CK which is an aggregate of any signature keys selected from the n columns respectively and a user terminal 30 is stored in a correspondence relationship information database 22. A signature data generating unit 24 generates signature data having a matrix structure by encrypting a content digest D generated based on content data C by n number of signature keys included in the signature key matrix KM.
US08887152B1 Android application virtual environment
The behavior of an installed application within the Android device is modified. The program code is modified to allow a security application to load and run the application within its own context. The modified program code is repacked into a modified APK file, executed within the context of the security application. A component within a target application includes APIs for starting other components. These APIs are modified to use a new intent object which points to a proxy component. A modified target application is executed. The security application loads the target application into memory without installing it. The security application includes a component of each type and creates a proxy component instance for each component in the target application. A proxy component under control of the security application is created for each component within the target application. The target application is executed under the control of the security application.
US08887147B2 Method for supporting new network element software versions in an element management system without upgrading
A method and apparatus for configuring an element management system server (an EMS server) to support new network element service application versions without upgrading the EMS server software is provided. The EMS stores base version data that describes the data model of a first version of a service application installed on a network element. When a second version of the service application is available, incremental version data describing changes to the data model from the first version to the second version is obtained and stored. In response to receiving a client request involving a service application on a particular network element, the EMS may apply incremental version data, associated with the version of the service application installed on the particular network element, to the base version data to form merged version data that describes the data model of the version of the service application installed on the particular network element.
US08887145B2 Storage device and configuration-information storing method
When configuration information about a configuration of a storage is changed, a determining unit of a storage device determines whether configuration information just updated is to be stored in accordance with a main update cause of the configuration information and/or a update content of the configuration information. If the determining unit determines that the configuration information is to be stored, a configuration-information storing unit stores the configuration information just updated in a configuration-information storage unit.
US08887135B2 Generating test cases for functional testing of a software application
An aspect of the present invention generates test cases for functional testing of a software application. In one embodiment, rules specifying corresponding patterns in a natural language and corresponding templates are maintained. Each pattern contains corresponding variables and words of the natural language together in an ordered sequence. On receiving a design document containing statements in the natural language, a first statement is determined to match a first pattern specified in a first rule. A match is deemed to exist only if the words in the first pattern exist in the first statement in the same corresponding positions of the ordered sequence, and if the first statement also contains values for each of the variables specified in the first pattern. A set of test cases is generated based on a first template specified in the first rule and the values for each of the variables.
US08887133B2 Bi-directional communication between change management tool and implementation tools
An automated change management method and system has a change tool that associates a first identifier with each request to change the configuration of an Information Technology infrastructure. Tasks are configured to implement the change, and the change tool associates a second identifier with each of the tasks. The change tool sends task instructions to implementation tools to perform the tasks where each of the task instructions includes the first and second identifiers. The change tool receives responses to the task instructions where each response includes the first and second identifiers and an implementation result. The change tool maps/associates each of the implementation results to the associated change request and task based on the first and second identifiers. The associated results can be made available to a user for review, interpretation, etc. and can be used to drive subsequent processing by other task in the change process.
US08887132B1 Application runtime environment and framework
A system and method for supporting the development and instantiation of web and locally installed interactive software applications that are configurable through editing and processing of formatted XML files originating through programmed or manual means. Software applications load and instantiate native applications embedded within in combination with core framework/runtime supported components. The application runtime environment and framework has the ability to implement runtime-configurable design templates to facilitate object reuse. This, in combination with de-coupled integration with custom data sets and services in addition to support for dynamic layout calculations make for efficient development and maintenance of applications.
US08887130B2 Software design and development in a service oriented environment
The system and method provide for software design and development that result in applications that are service-oriented. The systems provide for architecture development, integration, and maintenance using an SOA approach, and in particular an approach that provides for service-oriented development of applications (SODA). Such systems include numerous beneficial and advantageous features, including ways to define requirements and ways to design and develop applications.
US08887127B2 Web browsing apparatus and method through storing and optimizing JAVASCRIPT® code
A web browsing method and apparatus for enhancing a user's convenience in web browsing is provided in a system that uses a multi-core processor. The web browsing method and apparatus is applicable in a system, such as a smart phone that has a low computing power or that has a storage device like a flash memory operating in a rapid manner. Optimized machine codes are stored in files and incremental optimization is achieved, so the JAVASCRIPT® program of the web application has a small compilation overhead and achieves fast execution.
US08887123B2 Framework for managing complex operations
An operations management environment is integrated with an information technology infrastructure through an adaptor, the integration occurring while the information technology infrastructure performs one or more tasks. Data from the information technology infrastructure is received through the adapter. Relationships between the artifacts included in the information technology infrastructure are modeled based on the received data. A proposed modification to the information technology infrastructure is determined based on an external change. While the information technology infrastructure performs the one or more tasks, the response of the artifacts to the proposed modification is simulated using the modeled relationships. The response of the artifacts is monitored to determine if the proposed modification implements the external change. A modification is generated based on the proposed modification if the proposed modification implements the external change, and the information technology infrastructure is updated while the information technology infrastructure performs the one or more tasks.
US08887121B2 Developing programs for hardware implementation in a graphical specification and constraint language
System and method for specifying and implementing programs. A graphical program is created in a graphical specification and constraint language that allows specification of a model of computation and explicit declaration of constraints in response to user input. The graphical program includes a specified model of computation, a plurality of interconnected functional blocks that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program in accordance with the specified model of computation, and specifications or constraints for the graphical program or at least one of the functional blocks in the graphical program. The specified model of computation and specifications or constraints are useable to analyze the graphical program or generate a program or simulation.
US08887120B1 Timing path slack monitoring system
An on-chip timing slack monitor that measures timing slack at the end of a critical path includes a master-slave flip-flop having a tap on the Q output of the master and a logic module coupled to the flip-flop for producing a pulse whose width is a function of the slack. A pulse width shrinking delay line removes glitches on the flip-flop output and, in combination with a digital integrator and counter, also performs a time to digital conversion operation for determining a value for timing path slack. The determined value is used by a decision module for yield analysis. The monitor can discriminate a glitch from a slack pulse at the flip-flop output for any width of glitch up to one-half of a clock cycle.
US08887116B2 Flexible pattern-oriented 3D profile for advanced process nodes
The present disclosure relates to a method of RC extraction that provides for a fast development time and easy maintenance. In some embodiments, the method provides a graphical representation of an integrated chip layout having a plurality of integrated chip components. A plurality of pattern based graphical features are then determined. Respective pattern based graphical features define a structural aspect of an integrated chip component. One of the plurality of integrated chip components is defined as a pattern oriented function having inputs of one or more of the pattern based graphical features. The pattern oriented function determines a shape of the one of the plurality of integrated chip components based upon a relation between the plurality of inputs. By determining a shape of an integrated chip component using a pattern oriented function, the complexity of RC profiles can be reduced.
US08887111B2 Extraction and sharing in high level synthesis
Technology for translating a behavioral description of a circuit into a structural description of the circuit is disclosed. The behavioral description may describe the circuit in terms of the behavior, or other functionality, of multiple circuit portions, with at least some of the multiple circuit portions having multiple components. The technology includes determining components across the multiple circuit portions of the behavioral description that have commonalities, and synthesizing the structural description with a description of a shared circuit portion instead of individual structural descriptions of the components having the determined commonality. The synthesized structural description may be organized according to a different hierarchical structure than that of the behavioral description.
US08887110B1 Methods for designing intergrated circuits with automatically synthesized clock distribution networks
In one embodiment of the invention, a method for designing an integrated circuit is disclosed. The method includes automatically partitioning clock sinks of an integrated circuit design into a plurality of partitions; automatically synthesizing a clock tree from a master clock generator into the plurality of partitions to minimize local clock skew within each of the plurality of partitions; and automatically synthesizing clock de-skew circuitry into each of the plurality of partitions to control clock skew between neighboring partitions.
US08887109B1 Sequential logic sensitization from structural description
A method of sensitizing a sequential circuit is described. This sensitizing generates stimuli to drive any circuit output to a predetermined value or transition. The method includes creating a directed graph of the sequential circuit. Nodes of the graphs can be topologically sorted. In one embodiment, feedback loops in the directed graph can be removed before topologically sorting the nodes. Final vectors for the sequential circuit can be generated based on the sorted nodes. Notably, the final vectors are expressed only by primary inputs to the sequential circuit. Using only primary inputs in the final vectors accurately replicates the sequential circuit under test, thereby ensuring accurate timing, power, and noise arcs are measured.
US08887100B1 Multi-dimensional hierarchical browsing
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that accesses information using multiple hierarchies. During operation, the system receives a specifier for a first location in a first hierarchy and a specifier for a second location in a second hierarchy. Next, the system retrieves information, if such information exists, from an intersection between the first location in the first hierarchy and the second location in the second hierarchy. Finally, the system presents the retrieved information to a user.
US08887099B1 Managing data hierarchically in a user interface
A user interface includes a parent node comprising a plurality of child nodes, where the parent node and the plurality of child nodes are related in accordance with a hierarchical structure, and a pagination utility is configured to display a paginated page for a paginated node, where the paginated node is a child node from the plurality of child nodes, where the paginated page includes a portion of data associated with the paginated node, and where the paginated utility is displayed with a sibling node of the paginated node.
US08887095B2 Recommending digital content based on implicit user identification
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for recommending digital content to a user of a digital content application based on continually learned patterns of behavior. Based on metrics collected from a current session of the digital content application, properties associated with one or more users interacting with the application are inferred. The inferred properties are matched against previously defined patterns of behavior to identify digital content that could be presented to the one or more users for optional selection.
US08887084B2 Letter input method
The letter input method of the present invention comprises: a first step of enabling a letter input window including an end button to be displayed on a touch screen at a location separate from a word input window, when a user applies contact pressure to the word input window of the web browser or web site displayed on the touch screen; a second step of inputting relevant letters to the word input window, when the user inputs characters to the character input window; and a third step of generating a driving signal such that the search engine associated with the word input window can be driven by using the letters input to the word input window as search data, when the user selects the end button. The letter input method of the present invention enables users to input letters on the touch screen simply by touch instead of a separate keyboard or a mouse, enables the driving of a search engine of the web browser or a web site to be performed on the letter input screen, and enables the simple selection of a search engine to be used.
US08887083B2 Generating equations based on user intent
Some embodiments provide a system that facilitates the creation of an equation. During operation, the system obtains a user selection of a function to be used in the equation. Next, the system determines a state of a graphical user interface (GUI) associated with a software program. More specifically, the system may determine a cursor position or a text selection in the equation. Finally, the system facilitates the creation of the equation by inserting the function into the equation based at least on the determined state.
US08887080B2 Indicating status of application program with icons
A computing device (100) and computing environment displays a graphical user interface (110) that presents a plurality of icons (260). Each icon is related to a different aspect of a resident software application. The icons are used to indicate the status of their associated aspects of the software application. Changes of state of the aspects of the software application represented by the displayed icons are determined and used to update the displayed icons so that the displayed icons present current status information concerning the associated aspects of the software application.
US08887071B2 Collaborative information sharing system
Enables a collaborative information sharing system configured to enable distally located users to quickly, conveniently and simultaneously share information such as images of websites, applications or any other information with each other in real-time, for example to enable multiple distally located users to shop, teach, learn or otherwise view shared information and communicate in a secure and coordinated fashion that is not possible with existing co-browsing or screen sharing technologies.
US08887068B2 Methods and systems for visually chronicling a conference session
An exemplary method includes displaying an interactive collaboration plane along a time axis within a graphical user interface, automatically detecting a plurality of participation events each performed by one of a plurality of participants during a conference session between the plurality of participants, recording a time of occurrence of each of the participation events, and displaying graphical depictions of the participation events within the interactive collaboration plane. The graphical depictions are positioned along the time axis in accordance with the recorded times of occurrence of the participation events. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.
US08887064B1 Managing calendar information among users
A method, system, and medium are disclosed for managing calendar information associated with multiple users over a network. The calendar information may relate to scheduling, events or tasks, and is shared among users or devices. Flags may be stored in order to share and provide functionality to calendar information, such as generating calendar entries, permitting searches and coordinating calendar entries.
US08887057B2 Searching channel path display of a video network
A device may provide for display equipment associated with a channel path of a video network, receive selection of one of the equipment, provide for display the selected equipment, receive selection of a port of the selected equipment, and provide for display other equipment of the video network connected to the selected port.
US08887053B2 Image data display system and image data display program
An image data display system classifies image data into a cluster based on a predetermined condition regardless of whether or not the image data conforms to DCF standard and displays information specific to the image data when displayed as a slide show. A CPU creates a cluster, including a plurality of the image data, and a slide show table having first and second cluster name candidates based on a FAT data or an Exif data and a third cluster name candidate input by a user. The image display screen combines any two of the above first, second, and third cluster name candidates and displays a list of the combined candidates as cluster names indicating contents of the image data. The user can select the cluster name in high visibility and can easily display the desired image data as the slide show.
US08887048B2 Media data presented with time-based metadata
Methods and systems for generating and presenting metadata during presentation of a media file are provided. The method includes identifying the media file having content to be played by a media player and identifying metadata. The method associates the identified metadata to specific content of the media file and at a time code of play of the media file. Then, a tag is generated containing the time code and reference to the identified metadata. The tag is linked to the media file, so that the media player identifies the tag during the play of the media file and presents the identified metadata upon reaching the time code of play, along with the presentation of content of the media file. Systems and computer readable media are also provided.
US08887046B2 Whiteboard presentation of interactive and expandable modular content
In one aspect, described herein is a method for creating an interactive expandable multimedia tutorial. The method includes receiving a plurality of tutorial elements, generating a first user interface including a plurality of regions that correspond to each of the plurality of tutorial elements, presenting the first user interface on a display device, receiving a request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements, accessing the one or more additional tutorial elements, generating a second user interface comprising one or more regions that correspond to each of the accessed one or more additional tutorial elements, and presenting the second user interface on the display device, wherein the second user interface is displayed simultaneously with the first user interface, and wherein at least a portion of the first user interface remains visible to the user to enable navigation between the second user interface and the first user interface.
US08887044B1 Visually distinguishing portions of content
In some implementations, a user may select a category, attribute or term related to content item. During presentation of the content item, an electronic device may visually distinguish (or, alternatively, hide) at least one portion of content associated with the selected category, attribute or term. In some examples, a user interface may be displayed to enable the user to select one or more categories, attributes, or terms related to the content item. The user interface may further enable the user to select a graphics scheme to be used for visually distinguishing at least one portion of content corresponding to the selection. Selection information identifying a portion of content to be visually distinguished or hidden may be sent to a content provider, such as for synchronization with other instances of the content item on other devices of a user, or for aggregation of the selection information by the content provider.
US08887043B1 Providing user feedback in projection environments
Systems and techniques for providing feedback to users within an environment that interact with user interfaces (UIs) that are projected within the environment. For instance, the systems and techniques may project a UI that includes one or more selectable portions, such as keys, icons, sliders, dials, or any other type of control. After projecting the UI, the systems and techniques may identify the user attempting to interact with the UI. In response, the systems and techniques may provide feedback to the user indicating that the user has engaged the UI. For instance, the systems and techniques may visually alter the projected UI, may output a sound via one or more speakers within the environment, or may provide the feedback in any other manner.
US08887042B2 Electronic multimedia publishing systems and methods
An electronic multimedia publishing system includes an authoring system, a service provider system, and a remote computing device. The authoring system creates an enhanced electronic book comprising text, multimedia content, and interactive services. The service provider system allows execution of the interactive services, adapts the enhanced electronic book based on usage of the enhanced electronic book by a user, and interfaces the enhanced electronic book to a plurality of additional services. The remote computing device renders the enhanced electronic book to the user and manages interactions between the user, the enhanced electronic book, and the service provider system using the interactive services.
US08887041B2 Displaying a call function within a web browser
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, which facilitates a terminal to be used in further consideration of user's convenience. According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, while a webpage is being displayed in a mobile terminal, a function frequently used by the mobile terminal is available by interconnecting to the webpage despite that the webpage is not closed. The present invention includes storing an object oriented program having a prescribed function, accessing an external server providing a webpage, driving a web browser for a webpage source by receiving the webpage source of the webpage from the external server, and displaying the webpage by rendering the webpage provided by the external server with a modified webpage having the prescribed function reflected thereon in a manner that the web browser configures a document object model tree using the web browser source and the object oriented program together.
US08887039B2 Web page based program versioning
An identification of one of multiple types of Web browsers that a Web page supports, as well as an identification of one of multiple versions of that one type of Web browser that the Web page supports, is obtained. The Web page is displayed using the identified version of the identified Web browser type. A request for an identification of the identified version of the identified Web browser type can also be received from a program, such as a Web page script. In response to the request, an identification of the identified version of the identified Web browser type is being used to display the Web page is returned, and instructions of the program are executed based at least in part on the identified version of the identified Web browser type.
US08887037B1 Scroll-free user interface and applications
A scroll-free user interface comprises a display area; an interface panel included within the display area; and a data panel. The data panel includes a portion of a set of data items. The size and number of data items in the portion of the set of items is based on the size of the data panel. A user interface comprises a display area; an interface panel included within the display area; a first user interface control; and a layered user interface element. Web pages are analyzed to identify associated electronic documents. A retrieved web page is analyzed to identify at least one dynamic element. The dynamic element is analyzed to determine a network location of at least one associated electronic document. The dynamic element may be analyzed by applying a pattern matching or by executing the dynamic element to identify the network location of at least one associated electronic document.
US08887033B1 Channel quality monitoring and method for qualifying a storage channel using an iterative decoder
Monitors, architectures, systems and methods for determining one or more quality characteristics of a storage channel. The monitor generally includes an iterative decoder configured to decode data from the storage channel and generate information relating to a quality metric of the storage channel and/or the iterative decoder, a memory configured to store a threshold value for the quality metric, and a comparator configured to compare the threshold value with a measured value of the quality metric. The monitor enables accurate determination of storage channel quality without use of conventional Reed-Solomon metrics.
US08887032B1 Defect detection and correction via monitoring of syndromes and bit flips in decoder
A system for reading data from a data storage device includes a channel detector configured to detect bits of digital data corresponding to the data read from the storage device, and, for each of the bits of digital data, determine a probability that each of the bits is a 0 or a 1. A decoder module is configured to generate confidence indicators associated with a first subset of the digital data. The confidence indicators include the probability, received from the channel detector, that each of the bits in the first subset of the digital data is a 0 or a 1, and/or bit flip data indicating a number of times each of the bits in the first subset of the digital data was flipped during decoding. A digital defect detection module is configured to selectively identify the first subset of the digital data as defective based on the confidence indicators.
US08887028B2 Multilevel encoding with error correction
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, systems, and apparatuses related to multilevel encoding with error correction. In some embodiments, a plurality of bits may be encoded into a plurality of memory cells by responding to bits of the plurality of bits by changing the logic levels of corresponding groups of memory cells of the plurality of memory cells. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
US08887027B2 Solid-state mass storage device and method for failure anticipation
A solid-state mass storage device and method of operating the storage device to anticipate the failure of at least one memory device thereof before a write endurance limitation is reached. The method includes assigning at least a first memory block of the memory device as a wear indicator that is excluded from use as data storage, using pages of at least a set of memory blocks of the memory device for data storage, writing data to and erasing data from each memory block of the set in program/erase (P/E) cycles, performing wear leveling on the set of memory blocks, subjecting the wear indicator to more P/E cycles than the set of memory blocks, performing integrity checks of the wear indicator and monitoring its bit error rate, and taking corrective action if the bit error rate increases.
US08887018B2 Masking circuit removing unknown bit from cell in scan chain
Electronic scan circuitry includes a decompressor (510), a plurality of scan chains (520.i) fed by the decompressor (510), a scan circuit (502, 504) coupled to the plurality of scan chains (520.i) to scan them in and out, a masking circuit (590) fed by the scan chains (520.i), and a scannable masking qualification circuit (550, 560, 580) coupled to the masking circuit (590), the masking qualification circuit (550, 560, 580) scannable by scan-in of bits by the decompressor (510) along with scan-in of the scan chains (520.i), and the scannable masking qualification circuit (550, 560, 580) operable to hold such scanned-in bits upon scan-out of the scan chains through the masking circuit (590). Other scan circuitry, processes, circuits, devices and systems are also disclosed.
US08887017B2 Processor switchable between test and debug modes
A processor includes a TCU TAP for access of a TCU for running functional tests and a DAP TAP for access of a debugger. A TAP selection module selects reversibly TAP access by default through the TCU TAP when the processor is a bare die, or by default through the DAP TAP when the processor is packaged, the selection of TAP access being reversible by the TCU. The processor also includes a fuse for irreversibly disabling the selection by the TAP selection module of the TAP access by default through the TCU TAP. Functional tests on bare dies are run with a TCU probing the dies through the TCU TAP by default. Packaged engineering samples can be supplied for debugging with the DAP TAP selected by default, but access possible for the TCU through the TCU TAP.
US08887015B2 Apparatus and method for designing semiconductor device, and semiconductor device
An arithmetic processor executes analysis processing for analyzing a probability that an output value of the scan flip-flop circuit after the capturing operation becomes a given logical state, and scan chain structure processing for structuring a scan chain for a plurality of scan flip-flop circuits having the same degree of probability that the output value after the capturing operation becomes the given logical state, on the basis of a result of the analyzing processing. The scan chain lower in a transition probability during the scan operation is formed so that a power consumption during a scan test can be reduced.
US08887014B2 Managing errors in a DRAM by weak cell encoding
This disclosure includes a method for preventing errors in a DRAM (dynamic random access memory) due to weak cells that includes determining the location of a weak cell in a DRAM row, receiving data to write to the DRAM, and encoding the data into a bit vector to be written to memory. For each weak cell location, the corresponding bit from the bit vector is equal to the reliable logic state of the weak cell and the bit vector is longer than the data.
US08887013B2 Mapping of random defects in a memory device
A memory device includes a memory array with random defective memory cells. The memory array is organized into rows and columns with a row and column identifying a memory location of a memory cell of the memory array. The memory device includes a row address device and a column address device and is operative to use a grouping of either the row or the column addresses to manage the random defective memory cells by mapping the memory location of a defective memory cell to an alternate memory location.
US08887012B2 Method and apparatus for saving and restoring soft repair data
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for saving and restoring soft repair information. One embodiment of the method includes storing soft repair information for one or more cache arrays implemented in a processor core in a memory element outside of the processor core in response to determining that a voltage supply to the processor core is to be disconnected.
US08887010B2 Application information specifiable by users and third parties
Example systems and methods of generating and distributing user-specified application information are presented. In one example, an informational code to be generated during execution of a software application is accessed. A character string specified by a first user of the software application that is descriptive of the informational code is received. The informational code and the character string are stored in a data storage device, which stores a plurality of information codes in association with corresponding character strings for the software application. The informational code is received in response to the first information code being generated during execution of the software for a second user. The character string is retrieved from the data storage device after the execution of the application based on the informational code, and transmitted for display to the second user.
US08887007B2 Media processing system, control method for media processing system, and media processing device
A media processing system enables producing a copy of media based on the state of media deterioration. An error rate measurement unit measures the error rate of recorded media after specific data is written to the media; an error rate evaluation unit determines if the media error rate measured by the error rate measurement unit is less than or equal to a preset threshold value; and a data recording unit that, when the error rate evaluation unit determines the error rate exceeds the specific threshold value, writes specific data recorded to the recorded media to other unused media.
US08887004B2 Periodic error detection method and periodic error detection circuit
According to one embodiment, a method for detecting a periodic error, the method detecting a periodic processing error of a module controlled by a processor, the processor controlling a periodic processing by booting a peripheral module, the peripheral module outputting periodic triggers with a predetermined interval includes storing a first count value acquired from a counter, a second count value when the processing is started, and a third count value when the processing is completed, calculating a processing time on a basis of the three count values, and comparing the processing time with the predetermined interval to determine whether the periodic processing error occurs.
US08887001B2 Trace data priority selection
An integrated circuit 2 is provided with a data source 6 in the form of a processor executing program instructions connected via a bus interconnect 16 to a trace output device 8. The trace output device 8 is memory mapped. Different memory addresses that are mapped to the trace output device 8 are associated with different priority levels. Trace data written to at least one memory address has a first level of priority in which it is either accepted or the transfer is stalled until the data can be processed by the trace output device 8. Another level of priority associated with a different memory address is such that the data is always accepted but is discarded if the trace output device 8 does not have the ability to process, e.g. store that data at that time.
US08886998B2 Server and power supply test method
A control server is electronically connected with a number of test servers via a number network interfaces. The control server records a network interface number and an IP address of a baseboard management controller (BMC) of each test server, sets an IP address of a network card of the control server, and generates a test command. The test command comprises information in relation to a number of times for powering on a test server, a number of times for powering off the test server, and a time interval between a power-on operation and a power-off operation. The test command is sent to each test server by the control server according to the network interface number and the IP address of the test server. After receiving the test command, the BMC of the test server performs power-on/power-off operations of the test server according to the test command.
US08886995B1 Fault tolerant state machine for configuring software in a digital computer
Software configuration changes are made in a digital computer by executing selected opcodes to add new features. When executing each opcode, a persistent record is kept of execution of each elementary command of the opcode. To recover from a failure of execution of an opcode, remediation opcodes are executed for a known error, or else the persistent record of execution is accessed to identify executed commands of the opcode, and the executed commands are reverted in reverse order by undoing changes made to the software configuration by the executed commands of the opcode. The resulting configuration of the digital computer is compared to a backup copy of the configuration existing at the start of execution of the opcode. If the reversion of the executed commands of the opcode has not reproduced the backup configuration, then the configuration of the digital computer is restored to the backup configuration.
US08886994B2 Radiation hard and fault tolerant multicore processor and method for ionizing radiation environment
A redundancy system in a fault tolerant computer comprises a multiple core processor which may support a real time operating system. The multiple core machine may be actual or virtual. Multiple identical instructions, e.g., three instructions, are executed redundantly so that the redundancy system can detect and recover from a single event upset (SEU). The instructions are also displaced in time. In one form, two non-consecutive instructions are run on one core which is virtualized into two cores. Alternatively, a second actual core may provide symmetric processing. The system prevents single event functional interrupts (SEFIs) from hanging up the processor. Each core may run a separate operating system. When a first core hangs up a first operating system, the second operating system takes over operation and the processor recovers. Embedded routines may store selected data variables in memory for later recovery and perform an SEFI “self-test” routine.
US08886993B2 Storage device replacement method, and storage sub-system adopting storage device replacement method
Based on information security rules, it is not possible to take out a failure HDD to the exterior of a facility for replacement without erasing data therefrom. According to the present storage sub-system, a slot in which failure has occurred and a slot not registered to a configuration information of a storage sub-system are used to simultaneously perform correction copy to a spare HDD and data erase of the failure HDD in parallel, so as to enable the failure HDD to be brought out to the exterior of the storage facility. Further, time required from when failure has occurred to the HDD to data recovery is shortened, so as to prevent deteriorated redundancy that may be caused by another failure occurring during data recovery and to reduce the risk of data loss.
US08886992B2 Requesting cloud data storage
A method begins by a processing module determining that a data storage request is a cloud data storage request. The method continues with the processing module determining at least one of a cloud storage access reliability indication and a cloud storage data reliability indication for the data storage request. The method continues with the processing module sending the data storage request and the at least one of cloud storage access reliability indication and cloud storage data reliability indication to a cloud storage system.
US08886991B2 Sector failure prediction method and related system
A method and system is disclosed for identification and removal of a memory sector prone to failure. The method performs satisfaction checks on the memory sector and monitors and stores returned Unsatisfied Checks (USC) for analysis by a pattern recognition algorithm. Once a first global iteration is pattern matched with a second global iteration from the sector, the method determines the period of the repetitive pattern. The method then identifies, as the sector prone to failure, the sector having the defined pattern and period. Once identified, the method uses a power management scheme to remove the sector prone to failure from further use by the memory system and displays to a user the details of the action taken.
US08886986B2 Clock synchronization method, customer premises equipment and clock synchronization system
A clock synchronization method, customer premises equipment and a clock synchronization system are provided. The customer premises equipment reads a first time stamp when receiving a first specific position of a first DMT signal sent by central office equipment; reads a second time stamp when sending a second specific position of a second DMT signal; receives a third time stamp and a fourth time stamp that are sent by the central office equipment through a data information channel. The third time stamp is read when the central office equipment sends the first specific position of the first DMT signal, and the fourth time stamp is read when the central office equipment receives the second specific position of the second DMT signal. The customer premises equipment adjusts a clock of the customer premises equipment according to the first, second, third and fourth time stamps.
US08886985B2 Automatic discovery of physical connectivity between power outlets and IT equipment
The invention relates generally to the field of power management in data centers and more specifically to the automatic discovery and association of connectivity relationships between power outlets and IT equipment, and to methods of operating data centers having automatic connectivity discovery capabilities.
US08886982B2 Power savings using dynamic storage cluster membership
A system for controlling power usage in a storage cluster by dynamically controlling membership in the storage cluster is disclosed. The storage cluster includes multiple storage servers that provide access to one or more storage subsystems. The power management system uses a power management policy to set parameters for controlling membership in the storage cluster and monitors the storage cluster based on the policy. Based on the monitoring, the system detects when the number of storage servers in the storage cluster should be reduced or increased. To reduce the number, the system selects a storage server to deactivate and directs the selected storage server to migrate storage resources (e.g., data, metadata) associated with the server to a different storage server. The system then deactivates the selected storage server by directing it to transition to a low power mode. The system may increase the number of servers in the storage cluster by reversing these steps.
US08886981B1 Systems and methods for idle driven scheduling
A system and method of idle driven scheduling in a network device is disclosed. An interrupt signal is received from a timer, wherein a network processing component of a network device awakes from sleep mode of a first sleep duration for a first cycle upon receiving the interrupt signal. Load information of a computer processing unit in the network device for the first cycle is determined. A second sleep duration is selected for the network processing component in a second cycle based on the load information, wherein the second sleep duration is different from the first sleep duration. The timer is then instructed to send the interrupt signal to the network processing component at an expiration of the second sleep duration.
US08886979B2 Methods and apparatuses for reducing step loads of processors
Methods and apparatuses for reducing step loads of processors are disclosed. Method embodiments comprise examining a number of instructions to be processed by a processor to determine the types of instructions that it has, calculating power consumption by in an execution period based on the types of instructions, and limiting the execution to a subset of instructions of the number to control the quantity of power for the execution period. Some embodiments may also create artificial activity to provide a minimum power floor for the processor. Apparatus embodiments comprise instruction type determination logic to determine types of instructions in an incoming instruction stream, a power calculator to calculate power consumption associated with processing a number of instructions in an execution period, and instruction throttling logic to control the power consumption by limiting the number of instructions to be processed in the execution period.
US08886971B2 Electronic device, storage medium and method for protecting the electronic device
In a method for protecting an electronic device, a voltage threshold value is set for indicating that water has entered the electronic device. A voltage value is detected from each water sensor included in the electronic device at a predetermined time interval. The method determines whether water has entered the electronic device according to the detected voltage value of water sensor and the voltage threshold value. When water has entered the electronic device, the method further prompts a user of the electronic device using a predetermined prompt mode, and controls the electronic device to be powered-off.
US08886970B2 Power manager tile for multi-tile power management integrated circuit
A Multi-Tile Power Management Integrated Circuit (MTPMIC) includes tiles including an MCU/ADC tile and a power manager tile. The power manager tile includes a set of Configurable Switching Power Supply Pulse Width Modulator (CSPSPWM) components. These components, in combination with other circuitry external to the integrated circuit, are configurable to form a selected one of a number of different switching power supply circuits. Upon power up, an internal regulator supplies power to the CSPSPWM. The CSPSPWM then controls the power supply to begin switching in a low frequency start-up mode. The CSPSPWM determines during start-up the current sensing method based on circuitry external to the integrated circuit. A supply voltage generated is then supplied via a conductor of a standardized bus to a processor in the MCU/ADC tile. The processor begins executing instructions, and as a result writes across the standardized bus to configure the various tiles of the MTPMIC.
US08886968B2 Method and device for controlling a dual-processor switch, and terminal associated with the method and device
A method, a device and a terminal for controlling dual-processor switch are disclosed in the present invention. The terminal may include an X86 processor system, an embedded processor system and a switch module connecting the X86 processor system with the embedded processor system. The switch module may be coupled to the peripheral device of the terminal. The method includes that the switch module is controlling the peripheral device by receiving a control signal from the X86 processor system, the switch module receiving a triggering signal for switching to the embedded processor system. The switch module wakes up the embedded processor system, switching to receive a control signal sent from the embedded processor system, and controlling the peripheral device by using the control signal from the embedded processor system. The method may enable the embedded processor system to control the peripheral device of the terminal individually through the switch module. Therefore, the embedded processor system may accomplish specific applications of the terminal without starting up the X86 processor system.
US08886967B2 Adaptive voltage positioning logic for voltage regulators
A voltage regulator may include a voltage converter to generate an output voltage based on an input voltage and a control signal. The voltage regulator may also include a control loop to adjust the control signal based on a magnitude of an error between a digital representation of the output voltage and an adaptive digital reference voltage. Additionally, the voltage regulator can have adaptive voltage positioning logic to modify the adaptive digital reference voltage based on the magnitude of the error.
US08886962B2 Systems and methods for disk encryption with two keys
Embodiments provide for using two encryption keys to encrypt data instead of only one as is customarily used in the industry. According to various embodiments, a default encryption key is generated and is initially used to encrypt data, while a second encryption key is available for generation by an end user. Embodiments provide that data is encrypted with the default key until the user generates their own key, after this event, all data is encrypted with key generated by the user.
US08886960B2 Microprocessor that facilitates task switching between encrypted and unencrypted programs
A microprocessor includes an architected register having a bit. The microprocessor sets the bit. The microprocessor also includes a fetch unit that fetches encrypted instructions from an instruction cache and decrypts them prior to executing them, in response to the microprocessor setting the bit. The microprocessor saves the value of the bit to a stack in memory and then clears the bit, in response to receiving an interrupt. The fetch unit fetches unencrypted instructions from the instruction cache and executes them without decrypting them, after the microprocessor clears the bit. The microprocessor restores the saved value from the stack in memory to the bit in the architected register, in response to executing a return from interrupt instruction. The fetch unit resumes fetching and decrypting the encrypted instructions, in response to determining that the restored value of the bit is set.
US08886954B1 Biometric personal data key (PDK) authentication
Systems and methods verifying a user during authentication of an integrated device. In one embodiment, the system includes an integrated device and an authentication unit. The integrated device stores biometric data of a user and a plurality of codes and other data values comprising a device ID code uniquely identifying the integrated device and a secret decryption value in a tamper proof format, and when scan data is verified by comparing the scan data to the biometric data, wirelessly sends one or more codes and other data values including the device ID code. The authentication unit receives and sends the one or more codes and the other data values to an agent for authentication, and receives an access message from the agent indicating that the agent successfully authenticated the one or more codes and other data values and allows the user to access an application.
US08886953B1 Image processing
A computing device includes an image capture device, a display, and at least one processor. The image capture device is configured to capture a digital enrollment image of a face of an authorized user and a digital authentication image of a face of an authenticating user. The display is configured to present the enrollment and authentication images. The at least one processor is configured to automatically alter the authentication image for presentation by the display and compare the authentication image to the enrollment image to unlock the computing device for use by the authenticating user.
US08886949B2 Information processing apparatus and method therefor
Electronic data is input. The electronic data is divided into N (N is an integer satisfying N≧2) segments. Examination data is generated by repeating, up to the Nth segment, the computation processing of using the computation result obtained by performing predetermined computation on the data of the Mth (M is an integer satisfying 1≦M≦N−1) segment as an input for predetermined computation of the data of the (M+1)th segment. Verification data for the electronic data is generated so as to contain, as intermediate data, the examination data and a computation result in the middle of generating the examination data.
US08886946B1 Authentication method and system
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for the production and labeling of objects in a manner suitable for the prevention and detection of counterfeiting. Thus, the system incorporates a variety of features that make unauthorized reproduction difficult. In addition, the present invention provides a system and method for providing a dynamically reconfigurable watermark, and the use of the watermark to encode a stochastically variable property of the carrier medium for self-authentication purposes.
US08886945B2 System and method for conveying session information for use in forensic watermarking
Methods for providing content session information using a content manager, streaming server, and one or more watermarking devices are disclosed. A content asset is also disclosed. The content asset may include content. In addition, the content asset may include a content data field having forensic watermark information, e.g. session or identifying information. In one aspect, the content asset is compressed and the compressed content asset has one or more pre-processed candidate watermark locations. In this aspect, the forensic watermark information may be extracted, e.g. by a watermarking device, from the content data field and included in the one or more pre-processed candidate watermark locations.
US08886943B2 Authentication of a vehicle-external device
A method for authenticating a vehicle-external device in a bus system of a motor vehicle comprising control units is provided. In order to effectively and inexpensively prevent a sequence control system that is stored in a control unit from being manipulated, an authentication device is provided in the bus system. The authentication device transmits an authentication request to the vehicle-external device. The vehicle-external device signs the authentication request with a secret key of an asymmetric pair of keys, such as a pair of public keys, and transmits the signed authentication request or exclusively the signature to the authentication device. The authentication device determines a signature of the authentication request using the same algorithm as the vehicle-external device, and decodes the signature transmitted by the vehicle-external device using the public key which is complementary to the secret key, and compares the determined signature with the transmitted signature.
US08886940B2 Hash function using a card shuffling process
In the computer data security field, a cryptographic hash function process embodied in a computer system and which is typically keyless, but is highly secure. The process is based on the type of chaos introduction exhibited by a game process such as the well known shuffling of a deck of playing cards. Computation of the hash value (digest) is the result of executing in a model (such as computer code or logic circuitry) a game algorithm that models the actual game such as a playing card shuffling algorithm using the message as an input to the algorithm, then executing the card shuffling algorithm on the input. A state (order) of the modeled deck of cards after a shuffle (or multiple shuffles) gives the hash digest value.
US08886936B2 Health care system
A measurement device measures vital data, encrypts the vital data using an encryption key to generate encrypted vital data, and generates, from a decryption key of the vital data, two pairs of a first share FSD and a second share SSD which enable reproduction of the decryption key. The measurement device generates an encrypted second share by encrypting the second share SSD. The measurement device transmits the encrypted vital data, the first share FSD, and the encrypted second share to a server device via an intermediate device.
US08886934B2 Authorizing physical access-links for secure network connections
A method of authenticating a network link of a first device to a second device is described. The method includes communicating a challenge request including a challenge value from the first device to the second device, wherein challenge value is unique to the challenge request. The method further includes receiving a challenge response from the second device, in which the challenge response includes encrypted data pertaining to the first device, and authenticating the network link based on the first device decrypting the encrypted data included in the challenge response from the second device.
US08886922B2 Separate power island for high performance processor that reboots to second boot sector
Separate power island for high performance processor. A multi-processor design is presented in which each of the processors is implemented in separately powered portions of a circuitry (e.g., an integrated circuit). One of the processors can be a main application processor, and another of the processors can be a baseband processor. In addition, the each of the processors can be implemented using different types of circuitry (e.g., one of the processors [such as the main application processor] is implemented using higher performance/higher leakage circuitry that another of the processors [such as the baseband processor]). One of the processors (e.g., main application processor) can be powered down when not needed thereby providing energy/power conservation which can be vital is handheld communication device applications such as wireless handheld communication devices.
US08886921B2 Activating applications based on accelerometer data
In some implementations, a computer-implemented method includes storing a plurality of acceleration profiles in a mobile device; receiving accelerometer data from an accelerometer in the mobile device; correlating the accelerometer data with one accelerometer profile in the plurality of accelerometer profiles; and activating a user application of the mobile device that is associated with the correlated accelerometer profile. Each acceleration profile can correspond to a sequence of acceleration forces a mobile device would be subjected to when carried with a user during an activity that corresponds to the correlated acceleration profile.
US08886919B2 Remote update programming idiom accelerator with allocated processor resources
A data processing system comprises at least one processing unit, a virtualization layer, and a remote update programming idiom accelerator. The remote update programming idiom accelerator is configured to receive a complex remote update programming idiom from a remote node. Responsive to a determination that the sequence of instructions in the complex remote update programming idiom is longer than a dedicated processor threshold, the remote update programming idiom accelerator is configured to request a processing unit from the virtualization layer in the data processing system, and receive an allocation of a processing unit from the virtualization layer. The allocated processing unit is configured to read the data from the storage location local to the data processing system, execute the sequence of instructions to perform the update operation on the data to form result data, and write the result data to the storage location local to the data processing system.
US08886917B1 Switching to core executing OS like codes upon system call reading greater than predetermined amount of data
A multi-core processor includes at least one first core and at least one second core. The first core is optimized to run applications, and the second core is optimized to meet the computing demands of operating-system-like code. The first core and the second core execute the same instruction set.
US08886916B2 Endpoint-based parallel data processing with non-blocking collective instructions in a parallel active messaging interface of a parallel computer
Endpoint-based parallel data processing with non-blocking collective instructions in a PAMI of a parallel computer is disclosed. The PAMI is composed of data communications endpoints, each including a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task. The compute nodes are coupled for data communications through the PAMI. The parallel application establishes a data communications geometry specifying a set of endpoints that are used in collective operations of the PAMI by associating with the geometry a list of collective algorithms valid for use with the endpoints of the geometry; registering in each endpoint in the geometry a dispatch callback function for a collective operation; and executing without blocking, through a single one of the endpoints in the geometry, an instruction for the collective operation.
US08886908B2 Management of multiple capacity types in storage systems
A management of capacity types with different consumption policies for an object in a computing storage system is performed by updating a reference type bitmap in a segment-fragment table containing segments that reference fragments upon the creation of a segment for an object. A reference is created in an object-segment reference table, between the object and the segment, in compliance with a consumption policy upon the creation of one of the segments for the object. The reference types that reference the segment are removed upon deletion of the segment.
US08886906B2 System for data migration using a migration policy involving access frequency and virtual logical volumes
In recent years, data life cycle management, in which data is relocated from, for example, a new storage sub-system to an older storage sub-system in accordance with how new the data is or the frequency of use of the data, has become important. One technology for achieving data life cycle management is technology for migrating the contents of a storage area (“volume”) of a storage sub-system to another volume without affecting the host computer that uses the volume. In the present invention, when an associated source volume (for example, the source volume in a copy pair association) of a pair of associated volumes is migrated, migration of an associated destination volume (for example, the target volume in the copy pair association) is also controlled. In this way, it is possible to control the migration of a pair (or a group) of associated volumes in accordance with the user's requirements.
US08886905B2 Dispersed storage network virtual address generations
A dispersed storage device within a dispersed storage network includes a processing module for determining whether to add a new generation for a vault, in which the vault identifies at least one user having data to be stored. When the new generation is to be added to the vault, the processing module further assigns a vault generation identifier to the new generation and reserves memory for the new generation.
US08886904B2 Managing a solid-state storage device
A method, comprising: during a normal operating mode of a first solid-state storage device, reserving a portion of an available physical storage space of the first solid-state storage device, giving rise to a reserved portion and a user data portion; setting a user data capacity of the first solid-state storage device according to a size of the user data portion; using substantially the entire available physical storage space for storing user data within the first solid-state storage device; and upon receiving at the first solid-state storage device an instruction to switch to a data protection mode, switching the first solid-state storage device to the data protection mode and allocating part of the reserved portion to the user data portion, giving rise to an extended user data portion, and using the added user data capacity for backing up data that is or was stored on the second solid-state storage device.
US08886902B1 Disk backup set access
Controlling backup data access is disclosed. A request is received to access backup data in a requested mode, wherein backup data is accessed based at least in part on a restore point. It is determined if the requested mode is allowed given a currently executing mode. In the event that the mode is allowed, access to backup data is allowed.
US08886901B1 Policy based storage tiering
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for transferring data from a source tier to a target tier. In some embodiments, this may include applying a policy to an object in the source tier, determining the target tier based on the policy, and moving the object from the source tier to the target tier based on the policy. In some embodiments, determining the target tier based on the policy may include determining a higher target tier. In some embodiments, determining the target tier based on the policy may include determining a lower target tier.
US08886898B2 Efficient interleaving between a non-power-of-two number of entities
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that maps an address to an entity, wherein the mapping interleaves addresses between a number of entities. During operation, the system receives an address A from a set of X consecutive addresses, wherein the address A is to be mapped to an entity E in a set of Y entities, and wherein Y need not be a power of two. Next, the system obtains F=floor(log2(Y)) and C=ceiling(log2(Y)). The system then calculates L, which equals the value of the F least-significant bits of A. The system also calculates M, which equals the value of the C most-significant bits of A. Next, the system calculates S=L+M. Finally, if S
US08886896B2 Storage format for media streams
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for storing live media streams are disclosed. A storage format that can be used to record and then playback live streams including data-streams, audio-streams, video-streams, and other multi-media streams is also disclosed. The disclosed storage format is referred to as “raw”.
US08886889B2 Methods and apparatus for reusing snoop responses and data phase results in a bus controller
Methods and apparatus are provided for reusing snoop responses and data phase results in a bus controller. A bus controller receives an incoming bus transaction BTR1 corresponding to an incoming cache transaction CTR1 for an entry in at least one cache; issues a snoop request with a cache line address of the incoming bus transaction BTR1 for the entry to a plurality of cache controllers; collects at least one snoop response from the plurality of cache controllers; broadcasts a combined snoop response to the plurality of cache controllers, wherein the combined snoop response is a combination of the snoop responses from the plurality of cache controllers; and broadcasts cache line data from a source cache for the entry during a data phase to the plurality of cache controllers, wherein a subsequent cache transaction CTR2 for the entry is processed based on the broadcast combined snoop response and the broadcast cache line data.
US08886885B2 Systems and methods for operating a plurality of flash modules in a flash memory file system
Apparatus having corresponding methods and computer-readable media comprise: a plurality of flash modules, wherein each of the flash modules comprises a cache memory; a flash memory; and a flash controller in communication with the cache memory and the flash memory; wherein the flash controller of a first one of the flash modules is configured to operate the cache memories together as a global cache; wherein the flash controller of a second one of the flash modules is configured to operate a second one of the flash modules as a directory controller for the flash memories.
US08886881B2 Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with parity update footprint mirroring
A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with parity update footprint mirroring between dual adapters minimizing firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. Each of a first controller and a second controller includes a plurality of hardware engines, a control store configured to store parity update footprint (PUFP) data; a data store; and a nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM). One controller operates in a first initiator mode for transferring PUFP data to the other controller operating in a target mode. Respective initiator hardware engines transfers PUFP data from the initiator control store, selectively updating PUFP data, and writing PUFP data to the initiator data store and to the initiator NVRAM, and simultaneously transmitting PUFP data to the other controller. Respective target hardware engines write PUFP data to the target data store and the target NVRAM, eliminating firmware operations.
US08886880B2 Write cache management method and apparatus
A method for destaging data from a memory of a storage controller to a striped volume is provided. The method includes determining if a stripe should be destaged from a write cache of the storage controller to the striped volume, destaging a partial stripe if a full stripe write percentage is less than a full stripe write affinity value, and destaging a full stripe if the full stripe write percentage is greater than the full stripe write affinity value. The full stripe write percentage includes a full stripe count divided by the sum of the full stripe count and a partial stripe count. The full stripe count is the number of stripes in the write cache where all chunks of a stripe are dirty. The partial stripe count is the number of stripes where at least one chunk but less than all chunks of the stripe are dirty.
US08886875B2 Systems and methods for handling non-volatile memory operating at a substantially full capacity
This can relate to handling a non-volatile memory (“NVM”) operating at a substantially full memory. The non-volatile memory can report its physical capacity to an NVM driver. The NVM driver can scale-up the physical capacity a particular number of times to generate a “scaled physical capacity,” which is then reported to the file system. Because the scaled physical capacity is greater than the NVM's actual physical capacity, the file system allocates a logical space to the NVM that is substantially greater than the NVM's capacity. This can cause less crowding of the logical block addresses within the logical space, thus making it easier for the file system to operate and improving system performance. A commitment budget can also be reported to the file system that corresponds to the NVM's physical capacity, and which can define the amount of data the file system can commit for storage in the NVM.
US08886874B1 System and method for low-latency addressing in flash memory
A system for operating a flash memory includes a memory controller in communication with a processor. The memory controller includes a memory read access command receiver that receives a memory read access command from the processor. The memory read access command includes a memory cell address of a memory cell to be accessed for the execution of the memory read accessed command. The memory cell address includes a current sector address and a sector specific memory cell address. The flash memory is provided with either both the current sector address and the sector specific memory cell address or only the sector specific memory cell address for generating the memory cell address.
US08886869B2 Storage system and data control method therefor
A package controller of a flash package, upon receiving an update data write request with respect to a first logical storage area corresponding to a first LU that is treated as a backup target, manages a first physical storage area as a backup storage area in a state where pre-update data is maintained, newly allocates a second physical storage area to the first logical storage area, and writes the update data to the second physical storage area. The package controller, upon receiving an update data write request with respect to a second logical storage area corresponding to a second LU that is treated as a non-backup target, manages a third physical storage area allocated to the second logical storage area as an invalid storage area, and writes the update data to a fourth physical storage area newly allocated to the second logical storage area. The package controller performs control so as to use the first physical storage area to provide backup data for the first LU, and delete pre-update data stored in the third physical storage area.
US08886867B1 Method for translating virtual storage device addresses to physical storage device addresses in a proprietary virtualization hypervisor
A method and system to translate virtual storage device addresses to physical storage device addresses without the cooperation of the proprietary virtualization hypervisor is disclosed herein. The method of the present invention allows additional functionality to be added to the I/O processing of a closed/proprietary virtualization hypervisor by third party software or physical storage devices on the basis of individual virtual storage devices.
US08886866B2 Optimizing memory management of an application running on a virtual machine
A method, system and computer program product for optimizing memory usage of an application running on a virtual machine. A virtual machine memory block is pre-allocated and the average memory usage of the virtual machine is periodically computed using statistics collected from the virtual machine through an API. If the memory usage average becomes higher than a maximum threshold, then a recovery mode is entered by releasing the virtual machine memory block and forcing the running application to reduce its processing activity; optionally, a garbage collector cycle can be forced. If the computed memory usage average becomes lower than a minimum threshold value, which is lower than the maximum threshold value, then a normal mode is entered by re-allocating the virtual machine memory block and forcing the running application to resumes its normal processing activity. Optionally, when the virtual machine is idle, a deep garbage collection is forced.
US08886865B1 Virtual machine image management using delta trees
Redo logs are used to facilitate efficient cloning of virtual machines. When a virtual machine with a virtual hard disk is to be cloned, two redo logs are created, both of which are linked to the virtual hard disk. The virtual machine being cloned is then linked to one redo log, and a newly created virtual machine is linked to the other. Each time an additional virtual machine is created, two new redo logs are created and linked to the end of the disk chain. The parent and newly created virtual machine are each linked to one of the new redo logs.
US08886861B2 Memory interleaving device to re-order messages from slave IPS and a method of using a reorder buffer to re-order messages from slave IPS
A memory interleaving device includes a slave interface, a master interface, and a crossbar switch. The slave interface is connected with a master intellectual property through an on-chip network. The master interface is connected with a slave intellectual property. The crossbar switch connects the slave interface with the master interface. The memory interleaving device transmits requests from the master intellectual property to the slave intellectual property, receives data or responses respectively corresponding to the requests from the slave intellectual property, and transmits the data or responses to the master intellectual property in an order in which the requests are received.
US08886857B2 Data consolidation using a common portion accessible by multiple devices
Multiple devices are provided access to a common, single instance of data and may use it without consuming resources beyond what would be required if only one device were using that data in a traditional configuration. In order to retain the device-specific differences, they are kept separate, but their relationship to the common data is maintained. All of this is done in a fashion that allows a given device to perceive and use its data as though it was its own separately accessible data.
US08886851B2 Method of monitoring a portable electronic device and a server for monitoring same
A system for locating and monitoring electronic devices utilizing a security system that is secretly and transparently embedded within the computer. This security system causes the client computer to periodically and conditionally call a host system to report its serial number via an encoded series of dialed numbers. A host monitoring system receives calls from various clients and determines which calls to accept and which to reject by comparing the decoded client serial numbers with a predefined and updated list of numbers corresponding to reported stolen computers. The host also concurrently obtains the caller ID of the calling client to determine the physical location of the client computer. The caller ID and the serial number are subsequently transmitted to a notifying station in order to facilitate the recovery of the stolen device. The security system remains hidden from the user, and actively resists attempts to disable it.
US08886849B2 Multi-mode adapter
An adapter can be used to connect a portable electronic device to an accessory in instances where the portable electronic device and the accessory have incompatible connectors. The adapter provides two connectors, one compatible with the portable electronic device and the other compatible with the accessory. The adapter has several modes of operation. The portable electronic device selects the appropriate mode of operation for the adapter once it receives information about the accessory connected to the adapter. The portable electronic device instructs the adapter to switch to the selected mode and in response the adapter configures its internal circuitry to enable the selected mode. The portable electronic device can then communicate with the accessory via the adapter. The presence of the adapter can be transparent to the accessory.
US08886847B2 Remote control method, system and associated apparatus for smart tv
A remote control method for a smart TV is provided. The method includes: the smart TV receiving function request information from a portable device in a network based on Universal Plug and Play (UPnP); the smart TV transmitting function information to the portable device in response to the function request information; the smart TV receiving hardware information including control information replied from the portable device according to the function request information; and the smart TV performing an operation control according to the hardware information. Thus, user experiences and interests are enhanced by controlling the smart TV through somatosensory system control or touch control.
US08886844B2 Efficient scheduling of read and write transactions in dynamic memory controllers
Data-transfer transactions in the read and write directions may be balanced by taking snapshots of the transactions stored in a buffer, and executing transactions in the same direction back-to-back for each snapshot.
US08886842B2 System and method of connecting a computer to a peripheral of another computer
A system and method of connecting a computer to a peripheral of another computer. An example system includes a processor connected to a network and to the one and the other computers through the network. The processor executes web service software which establishes a discovery service for receiving a peripheral connection request from application software of the one computer and peripheral management software which receives information from the other computer through the web service software about the peripherals of the other computer. In addition, the peripheral management software logically associates the peripherals and the other computer with a peripheral station, receives the peripheral connection request from the application software, maps the one computer to a requested peripheral of the peripheral station, and sends information to the application software through the web service software to facilitate connection by the application software to the requested peripheral of the peripheral station through the other computer.
US08886840B2 System and method for implementing a single chip having a multiple sub-layer PHY
A system and method are disclosed for supporting 10 Gigabit digital serial communications. Many of the functional components and sublayers of a 10 Gigabit digital serial communications transceiver module are integrated into a single IC chip using the same CMOS technology throughout the single chip. The single chip includes a PMD transmit/receive CMOS sublayer, a PMD PCS CMOS sublayer, a XGXS PCS CMOS sublayer, and a XAUI transmit/receive CMOS sublayer. The single chip supports both 10 Gigabit Ethernet operation and 10 Gigabit Fiber Channel operation. The single chip interfaces to a MAC, an optical PMD, and non-volatile memory.
US08886836B2 Providing a multi-column newsfeed of content on a social networking system
News feed stories are ranked so that some stories appear above other stories for users of a social networking system. These “top” news stories are selected based on a ranking algorithm that incorporates an analysis of affinities for interests, users, and entities in the social networking system based on user interactions as well as story layout dimensions. The top news stories are presented in a multiple-column format, such as a grid format. Top news stories may be presented higher or in a more prominent placement among one or more columns in the story layout as compared to other news stories. The ranking of the top new news stories may change after a top news story is viewed. The multiple-column newsfeed enables a more visually pleasant placement of targeted advertisements on the social networking system.
US08886835B2 Transcoding method and apparatus of media server and transcoding request method and apparatus of control point
A method and apparatus are provided for transcoding data to a format desired by a control point with the aid of a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) media server. In the method and apparatus, the control point discovers the media server, detects one or more formats to which data can be transcoded by the media server, and selects one of the detected formats. The media server then transcodes the data to the format selected by the control point.
US08886832B2 Protection against the effect of equipment failure in a communications system
A data communications system has a plurality of nodes connected by a plurality of links. A subset of the links and nodes forms a worker path for carrying worker data through the communications system, and a further subset of links and nodes provides a protection path for carrying other data in the absence of a fault in the worker path and for providing an alternative path for the worker data in the event of a fault in the worker path. The alternative path is predetermined prior to the detection of a fault in the worker path.
US08886831B2 System and methodology for fast link failover based on remote upstream failures
A method and apparatus that promote expedited fast link failover decisions by and end station with redundant multilayer switching paths to a network are disclosed. In response to detecting a change in connectivity with an upstream link to a network, an upstream switch may send a notification to an intermediate switch with a downstream link to the end station. In response to the notification, the intermediate switch may disable (“bring down”) the downstream link to the end station. Bringing the downstream link down in this manner may cause the end station to switch (“failover”) to a different downstream link, for example, allowing the end station to establish connectivity to the network via a redundant path.
US08886830B2 Adaptive routing of content requests using multiple anycast addresses
A system includes a plurality of cache servers and a domain name server. Each of the cache servers is configured to respond to a content request. The plurality of cache servers is divided into a plurality of subsets and configured to respond to an anycast address for each subset to which the cache server belongs. The domain name server is configured to receive a request from a requestor for a cache server address, identify an anycast address for a largest available subset, and provide the anycast address of the largest available subset to the requestor.
US08886826B2 System for multipoint infrastructure transport in a computer network
A method and apparatus for implementing a Multipoint Infrastructure Transport (MINT) protocol in a data network. The present invention includes a method for distributing data in a data network. The data network connects a plurality of nodes and at least a portion of the plurality of the nodes form a multicast group. One of the nodes in the multicast group is designated as a rendezvous node. The method includes a step of maintaining a data store containing a group state at each of the nodes in the multicast group. State updates, received at the rendezvous node are used to update the group state in the data store at the rendezvous node. The state updates are propagated, using a reliable protocol, from the rendezvous node to the other nodes in the multicast group. Finally, the group states in the data stores at the other nodes in the multicast group are updated.
US08886824B2 Media adaptation determination for wireless terminals
A method (and corresponding equipment) by which a multimedia message is sent from a sending terminal (21) via a messaging server (22)—such as a MMS Proxy-Relay in MMS or a SIP proxy server in SIP IM—to a receiving terminal (25) having limited multimedia capabilities, with the sending terminal (21) adapted to include a user agent (21a) for inserting, into the message, media characteristics of the message sufficient in detail to enable the messaging server (22) to determine whether the message should be transcoded based on actual or assumed multimedia capabilities of the receiving terminal (25), and with the messaging server (22) configured to read the media characteristics and decide whether the message should be transcoded based only on the inserted media characteristics and on actual or assumed multimedia capabilities of the receiving terminal (25). The media characteristics are advantageously inserted into the header of the message.
US08886820B2 Method for transferring a flow between heterogeneous access points
A method is provided for handing off flows. The flow, having a flow identifier, is established between a terminal and a correspondent. The terminal has as many terminal identifiers as access interfaces to access networks of mutually different data technologies. A first execution entity converts a handoff execution order emanating from a decision entity into execution messages by taking into account a hierarchy of execution entities of a current network. After a handoff decision has been taken for a given pair of flow and terminal identifiers, the decision entity sends an execution order to the first execution entity. The first execution entity: selects a mobility protocol from the mobility protocols supported by the execution entities of the hierarchy associated with the current network; selects in the hierarchy at least one execution entity responsible for executing the mobility protocol; and sends to the selected execution entities respective execution messages.
US08886819B1 Cross-domain communication in domain-restricted communication environments
A messaging frame can be used to allow different domains to communicate in an electronic environment that are otherwise prevented from directly communicating. A messaging frame or other communication element can be configured to receive messages or communications from any frame, object, or element in the same domain as the messaging frame. The messaging frame then can switch to a target domain in order to provide the message or communication to a frame, object, or element in the target domain. The messaging frame can include an interface definition that allows only approved messages to be passed between domains, such that the risk of malicious attack is minimized.
US08886814B2 Load-balancing cluster
A load-balancing cluster includes a switch having a plurality of ports; and a plurality of servers connected to at least some of the ports, each of the servers being addressable by the same virtual Internet Protocol (VIP) address. Responsive to a connection request at the switch to connect a client computer to a server associated with the VIP address, a first server of the plurality of servers establishing a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection with the client computer, and, in response to a resource request received by the first server from the client computer for a particular resource, if the first server does not have a copy of the particular resource it queries one or more peers regarding the particular resource. Based at least in part on responses from the peers, the first server either: obtains the particular resource from a first peer of the one or more peers when the first peer indicates that the first peer has a copy of the particular resource; or migrates the TCP connection to a second peer when the second peer indicates that the initial peer server should migrate the connection to the second peer; or serves the particular resource to the client request through a second server when a third peer indicates that the initial server should proxy the particular resource through the second server.
US08886809B2 Wireless node auto-reset function
A method for wireless communication within a building automation system is disclosed. The method includes establishing a communications link between a first automation component and a second automation component, detecting a change in the communications link at the second automation component, and initiating a reset function on the second automation component in response to the detected change in the communications link. A building automation system is further disclosed. The system includes a first automation component, a second automation component in communication with the first automation component via a communication link. The second automation component further includes a reset function stored on a memory and executable by a processor in communication with the memory, such that the reset function is activated in response to a change in the communications link.
US08886805B2 Method and system for dynamically allocating services for subscribers data traffic
Access services are dynamically allocated for processing received data traffic by creating routing information for data traffic associated with a particular subscriber, subscriber equipment and/or network address information. The routing information identifies services that the data traffic can be subjected to and the order in which the services are provided. When an attached request is received, appropriate services for the requesting subscriber are retrieved from a database based on particular identifying information which may include the identification of the subscriber, subscriber equipment, network address or other information. The services are organized in a routing path and the allocated network address and the routing path are transferred to a smart router. Data traffic, associated with the allocated network address is then routed through servers to provide the identified services.
US08886803B1 Dynamic query response in a distributed network
A dynamic query response scheme for a distributed network is provided. In one embodiment, the distributed network is a peer-to-peer (P2P) network including a number of peer nodes. In general, peer nodes delay their query responses, address their query responses, or both delay and address their query responses dynamically to avoid feedback implosion. In one embodiment, the peer nodes delay their query responses, address their query responses, or both delay and address their query responses based on one or more quality metrics calculated for their query responses.
US08886798B2 Group monitoring system and method
An internet based social networking system, the system including: a number of video sensors monitoring a specified environment and streaming video into the system; a series of system users collectively monitoring the video streams and analyzing events generated in relation to the video stream; and a reporting system for reporting actions taken by the system users among the system users.
US08886797B2 System and method for deriving user expertise based on data propagating in a network environment
A method is provided in one example and includes evaluating network traffic; identifying data within the network traffic that is associated with a uniform resource locator (URL); identifying at least one condition associated with the URL; and classifying the URL as a transitional web page or as a valuable web page based on the condition.
US08886796B2 Load balancing when replicating account data
Embodiments of the present invention relate to invoking and managing load-balancing operation(s) applied to partitions within a distributed computing environment, where each partition represents a key range of data for a storage account. The partitions affected by the load-balancing operation(s) are source partitions hosted on a primary storage stamp and/or destination partitions hosted on a secondary storage stamp, where the primary and secondary storage stamps are located in geographically distinct areas and are equipped to replicate the storage account's data therebetween. The load-balancing operation(s) include splitting partitions into child partitions upon detecting an increased workload as a result of active replication, merging partitions to form parent partitions upon detecting a reduction in workload as a result of decreased processing-related resource consumption, or offloading partitions based on resource consumption. A service within a partition layer of the storage stamps is responsible for determining when to invoke these load-balancing operation(s).
US08886794B2 System and method for detecting RF transmissions in frequency bands of interest across a geographic area
Wireless devices form a significant portion of equipment forming the source/destination of content transmitted over telecommunications infrastructure together with applications such as RF identification, smart tags, etc. As such the wireless spectrum supports these devices operating to multiple standards, both licensed and unlicensed. In many environments it would be beneficial for a network administrator to know whether the environment and network they are responsible for is compliant to policies established in dependence of the environment/network. The invention provides distributed wireless signal analyzers within the environment/network to provide signal/spectrum analysis and determine whether received signals by the wireless signal analyzer are compliant to the network administrator policy. Compliance may be based upon time or frequency domain measurements with different rules for different wireless spectrum regions. Non-compliance is communicated to remote servers and/or network administrator and allows local control of network equipment.
US08886787B2 Notification for a set of sessions using a single call issued from a connection pool
A server-to-server notification model that employs a connection pool such that an asynchronous request issued from the pool can access any session of the remote server for pending notifications on all of the sessions. Only one asynchronous request (or call) is issued to the remote server for all sessions in the connection pool, and the call is completed if any notifications to any participating sessions occur on the remote server. When the asynchronous request completes, the returned data provides a set of the sessions that have pending notifications.
US08886783B2 System and method for providing secure subnet management agent (SMA) based fencing in an infiniband (IB) network
A system and method can use a secure subnet management agent (SMA) to perform fencing operations in an InfiniBand (IB) fabric. A host channel adapter (HCA) in the fabric can be associated with a plurality of ports, wherein the HCA operates to implement a SMA in its embedded firmware. Furthermore, the SMA operates to be used as a proxy, by a port on the HCA, for updating one or more states associated with another port on the HCA. The one or more states are associated with at least one of updating a management key and resetting a link at another port on the HCA.
US08886781B2 Load balancing in cluster storage systems
Methods and systems for load balancing in a cluster storage system are disclosed herein. The method includes identifying a source node within the cluster storage system from which to move a number of data objects, wherein the source node includes a node with a total load exceeding a threshold value. The method also includes selecting the data objects to move from the source node, wherein the data objects are chosen such that the total load of the source node no longer exceeds the threshold value. The method further includes determining a target node within the cluster storage system based on a proximity to the source node and the total load of the target node and moving the data objects from the source node to the target node.
US08886763B2 Method and apparatus for providing interoperability between devices
An apparatus, method, and computer program product are provided for enabling interoperability between devices, such as a mobile terminal and some other remote device or remote environment. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured, with the processor, to cause the apparatus to maintain a terminal session between a server device and a client device in which the client device emulates at least a portion of a display presented at the server device; receive an indication of a user input received at the client device identifying a function to be performed at the server device; determine a corresponding input to elicit the identified function; and cause the identified function to be performed at the server device.
US08886761B2 Flexible token for use in content delivery
An embodiment of a system for managing delivery of content to end users includes a semantics generator configured to generate name/value pair semantics for name/value pairs that can be included in flexible tokens, a semantics publisher configured to publish the name/value pair semantics in a menu, wherein the name/value pair semantics are selectable, a flexible token interpreter configured to interpret name/value pairs included in flexible tokens according to the name/value pair semantics, the flexible token interpreter further configured to determine responses to content requests based on the name/value pairs included in flexible tokens, and an edge server configured to generate token-dependent responses to content requests based on determined responses from the flexible token interpreter.
US08886760B2 System and method of predictive data acquisition
Systems and methods of predictive data acquisition are disclosed. A personal proxy server is configured to acquire first data in response to a first request to access the first data and to acquire second data prior to receiving a second request to access the second data. The first request and the second request are received from a common source. The personal proxy server is also configured to store the acquired first data and the acquired second data so that the acquired first data and the acquired second data are accessible to the personal proxy server.
US08886756B2 Exchanging data between a user equipment and an application server
A user equipment (UE) and an application server exchange data in a wireless communications network. The UE is configured to connect to both a wireless local area network (WLAN) and a wireless wide area network (WWAN). The application server is positioned within the WWAN behind a WWAN firewall. The WLAN includes a WLAN network address translation (NAT) component and firewall such that the UE and the application server do not have a persistent data connection over the WLAN. In an embodiment, the application server can open a WWAN firewall to permit uploads from the UE over the WLAN. In another embodiment, the UE can open the WLAN firewall and/or NAT to permit downloads from the application server over the WLAN. In another embodiment, the application server or UE can upload files to a server outside the WLAN and WWAN firewalls and send a link to the uploaded files for retrieval.
US08886755B1 Method and apparatus for facilitating simultaneous transmission from multiple stations
A first communication device determines that each second communication device in a plurality of second communication devices has respective data to be transmitted to the first communication device. The first communication device transmits a request to the plurality of second communication devices to transmit data to the first communication device simultaneously during a transmit opportunity period of the first communication device. The first communication device receives data transmitted simultaneously by the plurality of second communication devices during the transmit opportunity period of the first communication device.
US08886754B2 Network-optimized content delivery for high demand non-live contents
A method, apparatus and computer-readable storage medium distribute a non-live content stream in a network. An initial meta-file is transmitted in response to a request for the content, which identifies a division of the content stream into blocks, and available sources for delivery of the blocks. The initial meta-file can identify a first multicast and a second multicast server, assigning a first and second portion of the blocks for delivery using the first and second multicast source server, respectively. The first and second portions are transmitted using the first and second multicast source servers, respectively. The first and second portions correspond to distinct non-overlapping portions of the non-live content stream. The initial meta-file can also identify a unicast source server, assigning a third portion of the blocks for delivery using the unicast source server, the third potion being transmitted by the unicast source server.
US08886749B2 Method and apparatus for controlling data usage of mobile terminal
A method and an apparatus for controlling data usage of a mobile terminal. The method includes checking a plurality of web contents contained in a web page in a web browser executing mode. The method also includes selectively downloading at least one of the checked web contents when data usage for a preset period exceeds a data usage limit. The method further includes displaying the at least one downloaded web content. The apparatus performs the method. Without periodic control of data usage by a user, the data usage of a mobile terminal is automatically controlled.
US08886742B2 Content delivery network with deep caching infrastructure
Embodiments herein include methods and systems for use in delivering resources to a client device over a local network. An exemplary system comprises a plurality of caching devices operable to cache resources on behalf of a plurality of content providers, and a local caching device communicatively situated between an access network and the client device, wherein the access network is communicably situated between the plurality of caching devices and the local caching device. The local caching device is operable to retrieve a requested resource from at least one of the plurality of caching devices, deliver the requested resource to the client device over the local network, and store the requested resource for future requests by other client devices.
US08886740B2 Card-based processing and updates
Systems and methods providing users with a rich web experience are disclosed. In one embodiment, a client and at least one server are in communication using a dual communication link. In another embodiment, a markup language based instant messaging application is disclosed. The instant messaging application may include group instant messaging. The instant messaging application may also provide group member persistence and message persistence at the server. In another embodiment, a card based web application is disclosed, where the card information and character may be shared with other users or within a group. The cards may also be configurable by users.
US08886738B2 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 sending target messages to users based on the respective selection and filtering criteria selected by the respective users instead of having users enter topic specific rooms.
US08886737B1 Identifying particular parties
A method includes, receiving social network information of a user. The received social network information represents social graph data of the user and social network interactions of the user. The method also includes determining one or more subjects from content of the social graph data of the user and the interactions of the user. The method also includes identifying an initial collection of one or more individuals prominent in the one or more subjects from one or more measures of potential prominence provided by social network information of the individuals. The method also includes enhancing the initial collection of one or more prominent individuals to include additional prominent individuals. The method also includes providing a list of selectable entries to the user that includes each of the identified and additional prominent individuals.
US08886733B2 Vessel and land messenger service apparatus and method using vessel maintenance service
A vessel messenger service apparatus includes: a vessel messenger service unit for providing messenger service between vessel, converting a local message from a vessel client into a global message to be transmitted to a land client, converting a message generated from the land client into a local message and providing the converted local message to the vessel client; and a vessel maintenance service unit for providing a remote vessel maintenance service and a messenger service between the vessel client and the land client by interworking with a unified vessel maintenance service unit on land. The apparatus further includes a database managing unit for managing information for the vessel client and the land client.
US08886732B2 Out-of-office calendar aggregator
A computing device receives and stores configuration data for out-of-office calendar events and information for an employee out-of-office event. The computing device generates, in response to the receiving the information for the employee out-of-office event, a notification message for a manager, wherein the notification message is based on the configuration data and the information for an employee out-of-office event. The computing device receives a request to present an out-of-office calendar for a portion of an organization associated with the employee and sends, to a user device, a calendar with the stored information for the employee out-of-office event that is responsive to the request to present the out-of-office calendar.
US08886729B2 Methods, systems and computer program products for a mobile-terminated message SPAM restrictor
This disclosure details the implementation of methods, systems and computer program products for mobile terminated message SPAM control (hereinafter, “M-SPAM Restrictor”). In one embodiment, M-SPAM Restrictor systems implement a live application at a mobile network element that processes message service, whereby a message rate limit is set on the element, and a message source may be blocked from further messaging activity if the rate of message activity exceeds the rate limit, until the offending source has resolved the issue with the service provider (carrier).
US08886728B2 Method and apparatus for reclassifying e-mail or modifying a spam filter based on users' input
A method is disclosed including passing a plurality of e-mails through a spam filter and classifying at least of the plurality of e-mails as not spam. Thereafter, the plurality of e-mails are received at each of a plurality of user computers. The method may further include receiving a plurality of reports, the plurality of reports including one report from each of the plurality of user computers that one or more of the plurality of e-mails are spam that was not classified as spam by the spam filter. Based on the plurality of reports, one or more of the plurality of e-mails is reclassified as spam and/or the spam filter is modified.
US08886727B1 Message distribution control
A method of controlling distribution of content in a message sent by a message sender comprises receiving an indication from the message sender that the message is to be protected, identifying content in the message to be protected, adding the identified content to a database of protected content, and determining whether subsequently received content in a subsequently received message is associated with the identified content. A system for controlling distribution of content in a message sent by a message sender comprises a processor configured to receive an indication from the message sender that the message is to be protected, identify content in the message to be protected, add the identified content to a database of protected content, and determine whether subsequently received content in a subsequently received message is associated with the identified content.
US08886726B2 Systems and methods for interactive smart medical communication and collaboration
Certain examples provide collaboration systems, apparatus, and methods to facilitate automated command recognition and execution in collaborative communication. An example system includes a communication interface to accept a communication input in an electronic collaboration session regarding clinical content. The system also includes a collaboration engine to automatically analyze the input to identify one or more instructions corresponding to the input and to automatically execute the identified one or more instructions with respect to content associated with the collaboration session. The collaboration engine is to provide results of the execution of the identified one or more instructions to at least one collaborator in the collaboration session.
US08886716B2 Cloud-based de-duplication
Example apparatus, methods, and computers support cloud-based de-duplication with transport layer transparency. One example apparatus includes a processor, a memory, and an interface to connect the processor, memory, and a set of logics. The set of logics includes a hardware identification logic for identifying networking hardware used by or available to the apparatus to interact with a cloud-based computing environment and a protocol identification logic for identifying a protocol used by or available to the apparatus to communicate messages for the cloud-based computing environment through the networking hardware. The set of logics also includes a de-duplication preparation logic for preparing a message to carry data to be de-duplicated and metadata concerning the data to be de-duplicated. The message is to be provided to the cloud-based computing environment through the networking hardware according to the protocol.
US08886712B2 Communication device
A communication device is connected to a terminal device including a display and a web browser through a network. The communication device includes: a first providing unit that provides a first web page display instruction to the terminal device; and a second providing unit that provides a second web page display instruction to the terminal device for making the web browser display a second web page including a specific message on the display unit. The specific message indicates a solution when the first web page including the predetermined information acquired from the external server is not displayed on the display unit of the terminal device, and the solution is for making the web browser acquire the predetermined information by a different method from the method of acquiring the predetermined information from the external server and display the predetermined information on the display unit of the terminal device.
US08886710B2 Resuming content across devices and formats
Intelligent content delivery enables content to be delivered to different devices in formats appropriate for those devices based on the capabilities of those devices. A user might access the same piece of content on two different devices, and can automatically receive a higher quality format on a device capable of playing that higher quality format. The user can purchase rights to content in any format, such that as new formats emerge or the user upgrades to devices with enhanced capabilities, the user can receive the improved formats automatically without having to repurchase the content. Further, the user can pause and resume content between devices even when those devices utilize different formats, and can access content on devices not otherwise associated with the user, receiving content in formats that are appropriate for those unknown devices even if the user has not previously accessed content in those formats.
US08886708B2 Centralized computer network virtualization environment
A method and system include compatibly interfacing a suitably adapted central switch in a computer network virtualization environment to one or more user-end peripheral device(s) to dispense with a need for a user-end thin client. The method and system also include appropriately routing a data associated with a direct and exclusive communication between a virtual machine on a host server including a number of virtual machines and the one or more user-end peripheral device(s) using the central switch.
US08886705B1 Goal-oriented storage management for a distributed data storage network
A system and method for performing goal-oriented storage management for a distributed data storage network. Storage management software may execute on each node to cause the distributed data storage network to converge toward a system-wide storage goal. In various embodiments, the system-wide storage goal may be defined to accomplish any of various kinds of optimizations or performance improvements for the system, such as balancing storage utilization, achieving appropriate data replication, increasing performance, increasing fault tolerance, etc.
US08886704B2 Method, system, and computer program product for automatically performing an operation in response to information
In one embodiment, at least one information handling system receives an excerpt of information. In response to the excerpt, the information handling system performs at least one of the following operations: in an XML format, automatically storing the excerpt in a folder that is preselected by a first user, wherein the folder is accessible by one or more second users specified by the first user; and, in the XML format, automatically outputting the excerpt to one or more second users preselected by the first user.
US08886703B2 Advertising and facilitating management access to added capabilities of intelligent devices in a system
A network interface device (NID) or management access point of a system is configured to: receive requests to register one or more additional capabilities provided by a second intelligent device integrated into the system; in response to the request, register the additional capabilities within a capabilities listing; advertise the additional capabilities as being an available within the system; and respond to a request from an external requestor for access to one of the additional capabilities by forwarding the management protocol and payload to the second intelligent device to enable the second intelligent device to perform all substantive processing required for the request. The NID establishes and maintains a network session between the second intelligent device and any external requestor requesting access to the additional capabilities. In response to receiving a response from the second intelligent device, the NID packages the response and forwards the response to the external requestor.
US08886702B2 Hardware triggering in a management system
A method operates a management system having at least one manager and one agent and said manager is provided with information containing plurality of information items for triggering. The information items are stored for triggering in the manager memory. At least one information item for triggering is transmitted by the manager to the agents in such a way that said information item for triggering effects at least one hardware unit at the agent. Afterwards the at least one information item for triggering is erased from or marked in the manager memory.
US08886700B2 Content sharing with limited cloud storage
Apparatus and methods for sharing electronically rendered information between a plurality of devices over a data communications network with limited used of network data storage is described. Content may be shared automatically between members of a share group, without interactive content-sharing operations being executed by users. The embodiments include content tagging, commenting, searching, and syncing of content. Action metadata messages, that are not viewed by a user of a device, may be sent separately from content portions to notify share-group members of content to be shared. Sharing of content can be accomplished via peer-to-peer links as well as intermediary links, which may execute concurrently.
US08886699B2 Offloading the processing of signals
A server computer that is connected over a network to one or more remote client computers includes specialized hardware for handling computationally-intensive signal processing operations involving video, audio, and/or other signals. As a result, users of the client computers experience little or no delay when accessing over the network applications that are hosted on the server.
US08886698B2 Electronic device monitoring method, electronic device computer and program thereof
Processing relating to maintenance of a monitoring subject device is performed by detecting by a computer an IP address of an electronic device connected to a LAN, automatically referring to communication protocol specification data indicating a communication protocol with the electronic device indicated in remote maintenance management data provided in advance or obtained from the electronic device, and performing a communication with the electronic device by using said communication protocol and the IP address indicated by the communication protocol specification data.
US08886692B2 Apparatus for generating random number
An apparatus for generating a random number has high entropy. The apparatus includes a plurality of random number generators, each of which generates a metastability signal and generates a random number by using the generated metastability signal in a first mode, and in a second mode, the plurality of random number generators are connected to one another to operate as a ring oscillator.
US08886685B2 Navigating media content by groups
Grouping media files via playlists on a computer-readable medium. One or more media files are selected according to a grouping criterion to define one or more playlists from the media files. A container group is associated with the playlists and stores values identifying each of the playlists associated with the container group along with references to each of the playlists.
US08886683B2 Metadata generation management device, metadata generation system, integrated circuit for managing generation of metadata, metadata generation management method, and program
A metadata generation management device includes a count unit that measures a playback amount of content, which is an amount of content that has been played back; and a control unit that controls whether to output an instruction for generating metadata indicating characteristics of the content, based on the playback amount of the content.
US08886680B2 Deterministic finite automata graph traversal with nodal bit mapping
An apparatus, and corresponding method, for generating a graph used in performing a search for a match of at least one expression in an input stream is presented. The graph includes a number of interconnected nodes connected solely by valid arcs. A valid arc may also include a nodal bit map including structural information of a node to which the valid arc points to. A walker process may utilize the nodal bit map to determine if a memory access is necessary. The nodal bit map reduces the number of external memory access and therefore reduces system run time.
US08886678B2 Method and device for constructing an arborescence of clusters of electronic documents
A method of assisting with the construction of a tree of clusters of electronic documents, the documents being defined by predetermined attributes. The method includes, for a given cluster of documents and a given level of the tree, the following steps: a) obtaining (E300) constraints defined between at least two documents of said cluster and storing those constraints; b) constructing (E310) subclusters as a function of the constraints obtained and the attributes of the documents of said cluster; c) creating (E320) a tree level corresponding to the subclusters created; and d) selecting (E340) a created subcluster and iterating the steps a), b), c) and d) for the selected subcluster until said tree is obtained. A device for implementing the method is also disclosed.
US08886672B2 Providing access in a distributed filesystem
A system and method for providing access in a distributed filesystem. The disclosure describes systems and methods for providing access to filesystem objects in a distributed filesystem (DFS). In one implementation, access to filesystem objects in the DFS can be restricted to only authenticated users and client devices. To this end, the client devices of the DFS can be divided into trusted and non-trusted clients, and further access can be denied to non-trusted clients. Concepts of trusted computing can be utilized to obtain trusted clients. New clients added to the system can be added as non-trusted clients. Further, access can be restricted by extending the file access permissions to include additional bits that can control access to non-trusted clients. In certain situations, the owner of the object can be allowed access to the object from a non-trusted client.
US08886671B1 Multi-tenant in-memory database (MUTED) system and method
In various embodiments, systems and methods for Multi-Tenant In-Memory Database access to an application program accessing an object-oriented database (OODB) are disclosed. Embodiments may include: connecting, by a processor, the application program to a data repository for a database; generating, by the processor, a first Firm for a first tenant; placing, by the processor, an address of a first object of the first Firm into a knowledge base pointer associated with the first tenant; placing, by the processor, an address of a main database object of the database into a pointer in an object of the first Firm; and accessing, by the processor, the first Firm through the knowledge base pointer and the database through the pointer object of the first Firm.
US08886669B2 File access via conduit application
A computer-implemented data access method includes executing a file manager application in a container application, wherein the file manager application does not have direct access to a computer file system, executing a native application that does have direct access to the computer file system, and communicating between the file manager application and the native application, and between the native application and the computer file system to simulate direct file system access by the file manager application.
US08886668B2 Navigation system with search-term boundary detection mechanism and method of operation thereof
A method of operation of a navigation system includes: detecting a search string; determining a forward-element using a forward-boundary within the search string in a forward direction; determining a backward-element in a backward direction up to the forward-boundary using a backward-boundary within the search string; and determining a matching result for the search string using the forward-element and the backward-element for displaying on a device.
US08886667B2 Method and system for providing distributed storage system using consumer storage media
An approach is provided for providing a distributed database management and distributed storage system, which can use consumer storage media. A query for data stored in a distributed database formed by a plurality of storage media is received. The plurality of storage media corresponds to a plurality of set-top boxes. A determination is made that which one or more of the set-top boxes is associated with the data stored in the storage media. A request for the data is generated in response to the received query. The request is transmitted to the determined one or more of the set-top boxes.
US08886662B1 Generating word completions based on shared suffix analysis
A technology is described herein for identifying suggested query completions for a partial query based upon unique queries which have suffixes similar to the suffix of the partial query, but have prefixes which do not contain the prefix of the partial query. The technology described herein selects suggested query completions for the partial query based on terms occurring at the ends of the unique queries, in a manner which is not limited to past queries that include all of the terms in the partial query. As a result, meaningful suggested query completions that are likely to assist the user in completing a partial query can be provided in instances where terms in the prefix of the partial query are ambiguous or uncommon.
US08886660B2 Method and apparatus for tracking a change in a collection of web documents
A method and an apparatus for tracking changes in a collection of web documents, for example, provided by a web site. The web documents are retrieved at a first assigned point in time and a second assigned point in time. Then a similarity measure for a combination of a retrieved web document at a first assigned point in time and a retrieved web document at a second assigned point in time is calculated for determining pairs of corresponding web documents. By comparing said calculated similarity measure of a pair of corresponding web documents with predetermined thresholds for the similarity measure a change in the content of the corresponding web document between the first assigned point in time and second assigned point in time is detected. Instead of referring to identifiers like URLs for web pages the content similarities of web pages are considered. The proposed strategy facilitates the work of marketing analysts.
US08886655B1 Visual display of topics and content in a map-like interface
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing a map-like interface to navigate topics and content.
US08886654B2 Infrastructure and architecture for development and execution of predictive models
A system that enables development and execution of predictive models comprises a centralized data management system, a data extraction tool a model validation tool and a model execution tool. In embodiments, a data management system includes a data management server that can be accessed via a web browser that stores data. An extraction tool includes a data filter adapted to filter data based on, for example, a population criteria, a sample size, and a date range criteria. A model validation tool validates the model. A model execution tool allows a user to score the model.
US08886653B2 Information processing device, computer readable recording medium, and information processing method
An information processing device includes: a creating unit that extracts link information from content, and creates interpage relationship data which includes information between a subject page and linking pages having links from/to the subject page directly or indirectly; a page weight calculating unit that calculates the weight of at least one of the linking pages, based on the interpage relationship data; a tag weight calculating unit that calculates the weight of a tag, based on the weight of the at least one of the linking pages and information about the tag; a tag transmission determining unit that determines which tag is to be transmitted to which page, based on the tag weight; and a page creating unit that creates a new page having the tag added to the subject page, based on the determination result of the tag transmission determining unit.
US08886649B2 Multi-center canopy clustering
A canopy clustering process merges at least one set of multiple single-center canopies together into a merged multi-center canopy. Multi-center canopies, as well as the single-center canopies, can then be used to partition data objects in a dataset. The multi-center canopies allow a canopy assignment condition constraint to be relaxed without risk of leaving any data objects in a dataset outside of all canopies. Approximate distance calculations can be used as similarity metrics to define and merge canopies and to assign data objects to canopies. In one implementation, a distance between a data object and a canopy is represented as the minimum of the distances between the data object and each center of a canopy (whether merged or unmerged), and the distance between two canopies is represented as the minimum of the distances for each pairing of the center(s) in one canopy and the center(s) in the other canopy.
US08886647B2 Hierarchy of servers for query processing of column chunks in a distributed column chunk data store
An improved system and method for query processing in a distributed column chunk data store is provided. A distributed column chunk data store may be provided by multiple storage servers operably coupled to a network. A storage server provided may include a database engine for partitioning a data table into the column chunks for distributing across multiple storage servers, a storage shared memory for storing the column chunks during processing of semantic operations performed on the column chunks, and a storage services manager for striping column chunks of a partitioned data table across multiple storage servers. Query processing may be performed by storage servers or query processing servers operably coupled by a network to storage servers in the column chunk data store. To do so, a hierarchy of servers may be dynamically determined to process execution steps of a query transformed for distributed processing.
US08886645B2 Method and system of managing and using profile information
A method and system for matching a search request to a human assistant and/or other items based on information indicated in a profile associated with the search request is described. A ranking of a guide is determined based on matching of information associated with the guide and information associated with a search request. Profile information such as demographic, geographic, personality, areas of interest, people, hobbies, etc. may be used in addition to other information such as keywords or categories which are associated with a request in order to select a guide. Items such as a search result, an advertisement, a search resource, a previous query, etc. may be selected based on profile information associated with the item. Profile information may be associated with an item based on profile information associated with a guide and/or a user who has expressed an opinion regarding the item.
US08886644B1 User control of search filter bubble
In one aspect, the present disclosure can be embodied in a method that includes receiving a search query from a user via an interface of a search engine. User-selected options are identified for excluding at least one search category in a plurality of predetermined search categories. Each search category corresponds to one or more query signals and page signals used by the search engine to execute search queries. The search query is executed based on the user-selected options, one or more query signals related to the search query received from the user, and one or more page signals related to each potential result of the search query to be executed. Search results are provided to the user based on the executed search query.
US08886642B2 Method and system for unified searching and incremental searching across and within multiple documents
A user-interface system and method for searching among multiple documents and searching for subsections within individual documents using a single search interface on an input-constrained user device having a screen and a keypad.
US08886640B2 Using smart push to retrieve search results based on a set period of time and a set keyword when the set keyword falls within top popular search ranking during the set time period
A portable terminal transmits to a server setting information for a smart push in which a keyword and a search term are set. The server determines whether the keyword falls within top popular search rankings during a term period corresponding to the search term based on the received smart push setting information. If the keyword falls within the top popular search rankings, the server transmits search results obtained using the keyword to the portable terminal.
US08886638B2 System and method for ranking search results within citation intensive document collections
Systems and methods facilitate a search and identify documents and associated metadata reflecting content of the documents. In one implementation, a method receives a query comprising a set of search terms, identifies a stored document in response to the query, and determines a score value for the retrieved document based on a similarity between one or more of the query search terms and metadata associated with the identified document. The method locates the identified document in a citation network of baseline query results, the citation network comprising a first set of documents that cite to the identified document and a second set of documents cited to by the identified document. The method further determines a new score value of the identified document as a function of the score value and a quantity and a quality of documents within the first and second set of documents.
US08886635B2 Apparatus and method for recognizing content using audio signal
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for recognizing content using an audio signal. The content recognition apparatus includes a query fingerprint extraction unit for forming frames having a preset frame length for an audio signal, and generating frame-based feature vectors for respective frames, thus extracting a query fingerprint. A reference fingerprint DB stores reference fingerprints to be compared with the query fingerprint and pieces of content information corresponding to the reference fingerprints. A fingerprint matching unit determines a reference fingerprint matching the query fingerprint. In this case, the query fingerprint extraction unit forms the frames while varying a frame shift size that is an interval between start points of neighboring frames in a partial section. According to the present invention, there can be provided a content recognition apparatus and method which can maintain the accuracy and reliability of matching while promptly providing results.
US08886634B2 Apparatus for displaying result of analogous image retrieval and method for displaying result of analogous image retrieval
A challenge to be met is to make it possible to accurately ascertain a behavior history of a person in various camera environments. Person characteristic data extracted from a plurality of cameras are stored in a person characteristic database. A retrieval request receiving section receives an identifier for identifying a person to be retrieved as a retrieval key. A characteristic retrieval section performs retrieval of persons matching the retrieval key from the person characteristic database in descending order of similarity. A retrieval result grouping section classifies the results of retrieval into units assumed to belong to the same environment. A retrieval result display section displays results of grouping. Since retrieval results are displayed in the form of a list on each unit assumed to belong to the same environment, the person to be retrieved can simply be ascertained in various camera environments despite a limited number of displays provided.
US08886628B1 Management of multilevel metadata in the PORTAL-DOORS system with bootstrapping
The PORTAL-DOORS System has been designed as a distributed network system with hierarchical authorities for entity registering and attribute publishing of mobile metadata. An alternate bootstrapping design with self-referencing and self-describing features has been implemented with an integrated model for the combined registry-directories that co-exists with the independent model for the separate registries and directories. The concept of multilevel metadata about metadata has been implemented with the use of entity, record, infoset, representation and message metadata. This multilevel metadata about metadata improves the efficiency of search and analysis of the metadata content within the networked system. The methods facilitate search of varying scope both within and across the registries, directories and registry-directories focused on different problem oriented domains. Maintaining the integrity of these problem oriented domains serves to improve the efficiency of search throughout the system.
US08886626B2 Personalized network searching
Personalized network searching, in which a search query is received from a user, and a request is received to personalize a search result. Responsive to the search query and the request to personalize the search result, a personalized search result is generated by searching a personalized search object. Responsive to the search query, a general search result is generated by searching the general search object. The personalized search result and the general search result are provided to a client device, an advertisement is selected based at least in part upon the personalized search object, and the advertisement, the personalized search result, and the general search result are displayed.
US08886625B1 Methods and computer-readable media for providing recommended entities based on a user's social graph
Provided are methods and computer-readable media for providing recommended entities based on a user's external social graph, such as asymmetric social graph of a social networking service. In some embodiments, entities responsive to a search query or other request may be obtained. Each entity may be evaluated to determine if the entity is associated with a contact from a user's social graph. The association may include an evaluation (e.g., a rating, review, other evaluation or combination thereof) of the entity by the contact. Additionally, the contacts having associations with an entity may be ranked based on a relationship score with a user. The entities having associations with the contacts from a user's social graph may be provided as recommended entities to the user, and the association may be annotated to the recommended entity for viewing by the user.
US08886623B2 Large scale concept discovery for webpage augmentation using search engine indexers
Disclosed is a method and system for retrieving data; extracting information from the data; learning to disambiguate the extracted information such that a particular sense of each phrase within the extracted information is determined; generating a disambiguation classifier from the learning to disambiguate step, the disambiguation classifier configured to determine a sense of a phrase within a document; learning to select a portion of the information as being relevant to a theme of the data; generating a selection classifier from the learning to select step, the selection classifier configured to select a topic in a document that is relevant to a theme of the document; and using the disambiguation classifier and the selection classifier by an indexing computer to determine a set of topics from a web document retrieved by the indexing computer.
US08886620B1 Enabling ordered page flow browsing using HTTP cookies
A system, apparatus, and method are directed to managing an ordered page flow browsing of a website. As a request is received for a webpage on the website, a referrer is examined. If the referrer indicates that the request is from another website, the request may be redirected to a pre-selected webpage on the website. In addition, a cookie may be generated that includes, in part, the request and a secret. The request and rotating secret may also be encrypted. The cookie may then be provided along with a response to the request. When another request is received with the cookie, the cookie may be compared, in part, with the referrer and the secret to determine if the request is from an ordered page within the website. If it is not, the request may be redirected to the pre-selected webpage, thereby enforcing orderly page flow browsing.
US08886617B2 Query-based searching using a virtual table
A method of searching all tables in a data model is disclosed, using a non-materializing virtual table interface that acts as a view into the underlying data model. The virtual table is virtually built on the fly at query execution time, and maps to all columns and rows within the data model. A query on the virtual table is translated into a set of data model queries for searching the data model, based on columns selected from the virtual table and other specified search parameters, as well as the virtual table definition. The search process works in conjunction with data domains, and uses compaction and tokenization of data.
US08886616B2 Blocklet pattern identification
Apparatus, methods, and other embodiments associated with blocklet pattern identification are described. One example method includes accessing a blocklet produced by a computerized data de-duplication parsing process before providing the blocklet to a duplicate blocklet determiner. The example method also includes hashing a portion of the blocklet to produce a pattern indicating hash and then identifying the blocklet as a pattern blocklet if the pattern indicating hash matches a pre-determined pattern indicating hash. To improve efficiency in a data de-duplication process, the blocklet pattern identifying may be performed independently from a data structure and process used by the duplicate blocklet determiner. If the blocklet is a pattern blocklet, then the method includes selectively controlling the duplicate blocklet determiner to not process the pattern blocklet. The duplicate determination is not needed because a pattern determination has already been made.
US08886614B2 Executing a join plan using data compression
A join plan creates an intermediate table from two or more database tables within a database. In doing so, at least one projected and compressible column within one of the database tables is identified, where the column contains data values to which the application of a compression data transformation results in a reduction in the size of the data values. The frequency of occurrences of at least some unique values in the compressible column is identified, and then the two or more database tables are joined. The results of the join are then stored in the intermediate table such that the compression data transformation is applied to at least some of the unique values in the compressible column for which the frequency has been identified.
US08886607B2 Cluster configuration backup and recovery
A cluster network environment may comprise a plurality of nodes configured to perform various tasks, such as data I/O, storage, backup, etc. It may be advantageous to improve disaster recovery and reliability by creating backups that may be used to restore the cluster network environment and/or nodes therein. Accordingly, one or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for restoring a cluster network environment and/or nodes therein. In particular, cluster configuration data, which may be stored in a healthy node or at a remote source, may be used to restore a node affected by an integrity loss. If the integrity loss affects the cluster network environment (e.g., a majority of healthy nodes are lost), then a new cluster network environment may be created from a healthy node or a restored healthy node. The creation of the new cluster network environment may be based at least in part on cluster configuration data.
US08886598B1 Tag-based synchronization
In some embodiments, techniques for synchronization may include determining a tag associated with a synchronization specification, determining a content element associated with the tag; and synchronizing the content element.
US08886595B2 System and method for performing an image level snapshot and for restoring partial volume data
The present invention relates to a method for performing an image level copy of an information store. The present invention comprises performing a snapshot of an information store that indexes the contents of the information store, retrieving data associated with the contents of the information store from a file allocation table, copying the contents of the information store to a storage device based on the snapshot, and associating the retrieved data with the copied contents to provide file system information for the copied contents.
US08886587B1 Model development and evaluation
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for managing decision models. In one aspect, a method includes providing data that cause presentation of a model development user interface receiving first model rule data through the user interface. The first model rule data specify a first characteristic of a violating resource and a threshold score for the first characteristic. Additional model rule data are received through the user interface. The additional model rule data specify one or more additional model rules. Relationship data are received through the user interface for each of the additional model rules. The relationship data specify sets of the additional model rules that violating resources satisfy. Data that cause a hierarchical presentation of the first model rule and the additional model rules are provided.
US08886584B1 Recommendation of media content items based on geolocation and venue
Content items, such as e-books, audio files, video files, etc., may be recommended to a user based on the user's presence at a geolocation or venue. Geolocation is the geospatial location of the user, while a venue is a designated area for an activity, such as a concert hall, aircraft, waiting room, etc. The recommendations may be of content items relating to the geolocation or venue, or they may be content items being accessed by others who are, or have been, in approximately the same geolocation or venue.
US08886582B2 Failure detection and locating system and engine containing the same
A system for detecting and locating failures that occur in a complex system includes elements (CAP, MODVAL, MODDP, MODFD) for detecting and locating a failure affecting at least one sub-system of the complex system. The system also includes an element (MODPD) for making a decision on any action to be taken in the event of such detection. A rocket engine can be monitored with this system.
US08886579B2 Methods, apparatus and products for semantic processing of text
A computer-implemented method of training a neural network includes training a first neural network of a self organizing map type with a first set of first text documents each containing one or more keywords in a semantic context to map each document to a point in the self organizing map y semantic clustering; determining, for each keyword in the first set, all points in the self organizing map to which first documents containing said keyword are mapped, as a pattern and storing said pattern for said keyword in a pattern dictionary; forming at least one sequence of keywords from a second set of second text documents each containing one or more keywords in a semantic context; translating said at least one sequence of keywords into at least one sequence of patterns using the pattern dictionary; and training a second neural network with the at least one sequence of patterns.
US08886575B1 Selecting an algorithm for identifying similar user identifiers based on predicted click-through-rate
A computerized method, system for, and computer-readable medium operable to select an algorithm for generating models configured to identify similar user identifiers. A first plurality of models generated by a first algorithm is received. A plurality of lists of similar user identifiers is generated. User queries associated with user identifiers on the plurality of lists of similar user identifiers are identified. Predicted click-through rates for the user queries is received. An average predicted click-through rate is computed for each model based on the predicted click-through rates. A weighted average predicted click-through rate associated with the first plurality of models is computed. The weighted average predicted click-through rate for the first plurality of models can be compared to a weighted average predicted click-through rate for a second plurality of models generated by a second algorithm. The algorithm for generating models is selected based on the comparison.
US08886573B2 Determining optimum graph bisection using a tree and pruning the tree using a packing lower bound
Techniques are described for graph partitioning, and in particular, graph bisection. A lower bound is provided that is computed in near-linear time. These bounds may be used to determine optimum solutions to real-world graphs with many vertices (e.g., more than a million for road networks, or tens of thousands for VLSI and mesh instances). A packing lower bound technique determines lower bounds in a branch-and-bound tree, reducing the number of tree nodes. Techniques are employed to assign vertices without branching on them, again reducing the size of the tree. Decomposition is provided to translate an input graph into less complex subproblems. The decomposition boosts performance and determines the optimum solution to an input by solving subproblems independently. The subproblems can be solved independently using a branch-and-bound approach to determine the optimum bisection.
US08886572B2 Systems and methods for record linkage and paraphrase generation using surrogate learning
A method of using unlabeled data to train a classifier is disclosed. In one embodiment related to record linkage, the method entails retrieving a set of candidate data records from a master database based on a least one update record. Next, a surrogate learning technique is used to identify one of the candidate data records as a match for the one update record. Lastly, the exemplary method links or merges the update record and the identified one of the candidate data records.
US08886571B2 System and method for service virtualization in a service governance framework
A service governance framework may provide a platform for development and hosting of virtual service offerings and generation of interfaces to operations thereof, dependent on configurable functional parameters and/or non-functional aspects associated therewith. Virtualization techniques may be applied at an endpoint level, binding level, message level, operation level, and/or service level at design time, and supported with corresponding changes at runtime. Users having various roles may access the framework to specify operations of services provided by computing service sources to include in a virtual service offering, specify configuration parameter values associated with them, and/or specify a contract of non-functional aspect clauses for the virtual service offering. The framework may produce the interface by modifying an interface provided by the computing service sources (e.g., a WSDL). The framework may include aspect enforcement methods and an underlying common information model, and may support versioning and life cycles of service offerings and/or components.
US08886569B2 System and method for location based mobile commerce
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for facilitating financial transactions over a network includes communicating with a user via a first mobile communication device over the network, obtaining a geo-location of the first mobile communication device, communicating with a merchant via a second mobile communication device over the network, obtaining a radius of coverage for the second mobile communication device, determining whether the geo-location of the first mobile communication device is within the radius of coverage of the second mobile communication device, and providing a listing to the first mobile communication device of one or more items for sale by the merchant when the first mobile communication device is within the radius of coverage of the second mobile communication device.
US08886567B2 Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium storing image processing program
A picture image extracting section extracts a picture image from an image shown by image data stored in an image memory. A document image creating section executes a processing of superimposing a special dot pattern and a pattern image onto the image from which the picture image is extracted. After that, the picture image is put over the image to which the special dot pattern is superimposed, so that an image is created.
US08886563B2 Least cost routing and matching
Systems and methods are disclosed for routing a transaction based on an assessment of costs associated with multiple payment processing networks. A transaction broker server determines how to route a received authorization request message for a transaction based on a first cost associated with processing the transaction via a first payment processing network and a second cost associated with processing the transaction via a second payment processing network. If the first cost is less than or equal to the second cost, the authorization request message is routed to the first payment processing network. If the first cost exceeds the second cost, at least one rule is applied to determine whether the first cost is to be reduced. If the at least one rule is satisfied, the first cost is reduced and the authorization request message is routed to the first payment processing network.
US08886561B2 Electronic trading among principals and brokers
Electronic trading systems and methods which facilitate principal/broker trading are provided. In a first aspect of the invention, a database relating to trading participants in the trading system is designed to indicate which traders utilize a principal/broker relationship and what, if any, limitations are placed on the activity of the broker, trading commands submitted by the broker, and counterparties in a transaction with the broker. In another aspect of the invention, trading commands and executed trades involving principals/brokers may be presented to other traders using special designations. The ability to enter certain trading commands by, and in response to, brokers may be limited. In a further aspect of the invention, anonymous trading features may prevent traders from knowing whether another trader is a broker or principal, may restrict traders from being able to block trading with brokers, and may permit brokers to configure anonymous trading parameters.
US08886558B2 Method and system for implementing mobile transaction solution based on early media dynamic content generation
A mobile transaction system comprising: a user's mobile phone, a mobile network of any provider, a transaction device equipped with a microphone, a transaction processing center with dynamic early media generation capability and with the capability of communicating with the mobile network, wherein, upon a mobile phone user's call through the mobile network to the transaction processing center, the transaction processing center detects the call and, instead of answering the call, starts transmitting user identification data as a dynamically modulated signal through an early media connection to the mobile network and further to the user's mobile phone; wherein, the speaker of the user's mobile phone reproduces the modulated signal, which is then captured by the transaction device through the microphone.
US08886551B2 Centralized job scheduling maturity model
The invention provides systems and methods for improving the job scheduling structure of an organization by raising the job scheduling maturity level of the organization. In one embodiment, a plurality of job management maturity levels may be defined and arranged in a hierarchy. Current job management information may then be received from the organization regarding the organization's current job management structure. Using this current job management information, a current job management maturity level may be determined from the plurality of maturity levels. A target maturity level may then be selected from the plurality of job management maturity levels. One or more maturation operations may be devised that, when implemented, shift the organization to the target maturity level. The one or more maturation operations may then be performed, thus, shifting the organization to the target maturity level.
US08886550B2 Systems and methods for classifying computer video game genres utilizing multi-dimensional cloud chart
Features of electronically embodied games are logically categorized, analyzed, and compared. Features are preferably organized according to a hierarchical classification scheme, according to a classification scheme that is not strictly tautological. All suitable feature sets are contemplated, including sets corresponding to characteristics of personifications of players and non-players, types and/or uses of game space, methods of rewarding a player, etc. In other aspects comparisons are made between an evaluation game and one or more sets of historically available games. Such sets can be grouped by genre and the number of games in such sets can range anywhere from a single game to hundreds of games, or more. Reporting and guidance can include providing a risk assessment score or other risk analysis, feature assessment (prevalence), market placement, business model analysis, dynamic trend analysis, clustered pattern recognition, and image analysis.
US08886546B2 Voice application access
A system may include a mobile computing device configured to receive voice input; identify, in the voice input, a navigate command including a sequence indication; determine, based on a sequence control map, a control of a user interface corresponding to the sequence indication; and activate the control of the user interface corresponding to the sequence indication.
US08886545B2 Dealing with switch latency in speech recognition
In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for interacting with a mobile communication facility comprising receiving a switch activation from a user to initiate a speech recognition recording session, wherein the speech recognition recording session comprises a voice command from the user followed by the speech to be recognized from the user; recording the speech recognition recording session using a mobile communication facility resident capture facility; recognizing at least a portion of the voice command as an indication that user speech for recognition will begin following the end of the at least a portion of the voice command; recognizing the recorded speech using a speech recognition facility to produce an external output; and using the selected output to perform a function on the mobile communication facility.
US08886541B2 Remote controller with position actuatated voice transmission
A method of operation of a remote controller consistent with certain implementations involves determining a spatial orientation of the remote controller based upon an output signal from a position detector; and setting a voice mode of operation of the remote controller as active or inactive based upon the spatial orientation of the remote controller as determined by the position detector, where the voice mode determines whether or not the remote controller will accept and process voice information from a microphone. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08886533B2 System and method for combining frame and segment level processing, via temporal pooling, for phonetic classification
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for combining frame and segment level processing, via temporal pooling, for phonetic classification. A frame processor unit receives an input and extracts the time-dependent features from the input. A plurality of pooling interface units generates a plurality of feature vectors based on pooling the time-dependent features and selecting a plurality of time-dependent features according to a plurality of selection strategies. Next, a plurality of segmental classification units generates scores for the feature vectors. Each segmental classification unit (SCU) can be dedicated to a specific pooling interface unit (PIU) to form a PIU-SCU combination. Multiple PIU-SCU combinations can be further combined to form an ensemble of combinations, and the ensemble can be diversified by varying the pooling operations used by the PIU-SCU combinations. Based on the scores, the plurality of segmental classification units selects a class label and returns a result.
US08886531B2 Apparatus and method for generating an audio fingerprint and using a two-stage query
An audio fingerprint is generated by transforming an audio sample of a recording to a time-frequency domain and storing each time-frequency pair in a matrix array, detecting a plurality of local maxima for a predetermined number of time slices, selecting a predetermined number of largest-magnitude maxima from the plurality of local maxima detected by said detecting, and generating one or more hash values corresponding to the predetermined number of largest-magnitude maxima.
US08886526B2 Source separation using independent component analysis with mixed multi-variate probability density function
Methods and apparatus for signal processing are disclosed. Source separation can be performed to extract source signals from mixtures of source signals by way of independent component analysis. Source separation described herein involves mixed multivariate probability density functions that are mixtures of component density functions having different parameters corresponding to frequency components of different sources, different time segments, or some combination thereof.
US08886523B2 Audio decoding based on audio class with control code for post-processing modes
In accordance with an embodiment, a method of generating an encoded audio signal, the method includes estimating a time-frequency energy of an input audio signal from a time-frequency filter bank, computing a global variance of the time-frequency energy, determining a post-processing method according to the global variance, and transmitting an encoded representation of the input audio signal along with an indication of the determined post-processing method.
US08886520B1 Method and apparatus for triggering the automatic generation of narratives
Artificial intelligence methods and systems for triggering the generation of narratives are disclosed. Specific embodiments relate to real-time evaluation and automated generation of narrative stories based on received data. For example, data can be tested against data representative of a plurality of story angles to determine whether a narrative story incorporating one or more such story angles is to be automatically generated.
US08886514B2 Means and a method for training a statistical machine translation system utilizing a posterior probability in an N-best translation list
Existing statistical machine translation machines presently require the availability of a given source language text and an equivalent target language text and from target text to train a translation system. The invention proposes training a statistical machine translation system, more specifically it proposes a computer means and method for training a statistical machine translation system using unilingual source language information. The translation system relies on translations with confidence scores calculated as a posterior probability based on the similarity of a good translation hypothesis in an N-best list generated for a source sentence with N−1 other hypotheses in the said N-best list.
US08886513B2 Embedded bus emulation
A bus emulation device in accordance with one aspect of the present description includes an embedded microcontroller and a nonvolatile memory carried on a body. The memory contains firmware which includes boot code adapted to boot the microcontroller to operate in one of a plurality of dedicated operating modes in response to a mode switch. These dedicated operating modes include a learning mode in which bus signals generated by other bus devices are recorded in the nonvolatile memory, and an emulation mode in which recorded bus signals are retransmitted over the bus in response to received signals, to emulate a bus device. Other aspects are described and claimed.
US08886503B2 Discontinuity detection
Implementations of discontinuity detection are described. In one possible embodiment, information associated with a computer-generated model is accessed. A location associated with a feature in the model can be reviewed for possible discontinuity properties by comparing an orientation associated with the location to an orientation of a true normal to the feature associated with a specific point nearby the location. In one possible aspect, if the orientation associated with the location and the true normal are within a given range of one another, the location can be flagged as a possible discontinuity in the feature.
US08886501B2 Method of simulating deformable object using geometrically motivated model
A method of stimulating a deformable object comprises modeling deformable elasticity for the object by defining an actual shape and a goal shape and pulling points in the goal shape towards corresponding points in the goal shape.
US08886499B2 Voice processing apparatus and voice processing method
A voice processing apparatus includes: a phase difference calculation unit which calculates for each frequency band a phase difference between first and second frequency signals obtained by applying a time-frequency transform to sounds captured by two voice input units; a detection unit which detects a frequency band for which the percentage of the phase difference falling within a first range that the phase difference can take for a specific sound source direction, the percentage being taken over a predetermined number of frames, does not satisfy a condition corresponding to a sound coming from the direction; a range setting unit which sets, for the detected frequency band, a second range by expanding the first range; and a signal correction unit which makes the amplitude of the first and second frequency signals larger when the phase difference falls within the second range than when the phase difference falls outside the second range.
US08886496B2 Method to determine a parameter of a fixing element for an implant to be affixed to a bone
In a method to determine a parameter of a fixing element for an implant to be affixed to a bone, the actual design of the bone and the relative attitude of the implant positioned on this are determined, a virtual 3D model depicting the actual design of the bone and the relative attitude of the implant is generated, and a parameter of the fixing element is determined automatically using the virtual 3D model.
US08886495B2 Diagnostic methods and apparatus for an accelerator using induction to generate an electric field with a localized curl
Methods and apparatus are described wherein a charged beam in an enclosed conducting cavity in an accelerator is monitored for position, current, and energy. One method uses induced electric signals on non-intercepting conducting electrodes. Another method uses an intercepting and moving electrode than can be moved into the beam to different degrees to monitor the beam current and vertical profile at different radial positions. Non-intercepting electrodes are also used as part of a moving diagnostic probe to monitor properties of the beam at different radial positions. Another method uses the current in the leads to a power supply, a portion of this current being equal to the beam current. Another method uses the magnetic and electric fields from the beam that penetrates a non-conducting portion of the conducting cavity. Yet another method uses the radiation emitted during acceleration of the beam by the deflecting magnets that guide the beam.
US08886490B2 Crash detection apparatus and method
A crash detection apparatus includes a crash detection unit and first, second, and third acceleration sensors which are installed at different positions of the object whose crash is to be detected. The crash detection unit calculates expectation acceleration of the third acceleration sensor based on measurement information obtained by the first acceleration sensor and the second acceleration sensor, compares the expectation acceleration with a measured acceleration measured by the third acceleration sensor, and detects whether a shape of the object has been deformed or not.
US08886488B2 System and method for calculating the thermal mass of a building
The invention comprises a system for calculating a value for the effective thermal mass of a building. The climate control system obtains temperature measurements from at least a first location conditioned by the climate system. One or more processors receive measurements of outside temperatures from at least one source other than the control system and compare the temperature measurements from the first location with expected temperature measurements. The expected temperature measurements are based at least in part upon past temperature measurements obtained by said HVAC control system and said outside temperature measurements. The processors then calculate one or more rates of change in temperature at said first location.
US08886485B2 Method and apparatus for determining whether a cooling device in a computer system is responsive to control signals
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that determines whether a cooling device in a computer system is responsive to control signals. During operation of the computer system, a control signal is sent to the cooling device. Next, a response of the computer system to the control signal is measured, wherein the response includes a temperature profile. The frequency content of the control signal is then compared to the frequency content of the temperature profile to determine whether the cooling device is responsive to the control signal.
US08886484B2 Method and apparatus for the corrected radiometric measurement of object points on surfaces of astronomical bodies
A method and an apparatus for air-borne or space-borne radiometric measurement of object points present in an object scene on the surface of a astronomical body. A corrected recording of image points in an image plane in which object points from the object scene are imaged on a detector, is carried out by determining recording errors of the detector caused by systematically occurring spatial and temporal changes in a scanning movement of the detector, with reference to a measurement line relative to a recording field, then generally an actuation function along the measurement line in the form of different trigger times in which measurements of the individual object points are initiated exactly at that time. Based on the triggering of the detector elements due to the actuation function synchronized measurements of all of the object points of every row of an object matrix are carrying out along the designated measurement line.
US08886483B2 Image enhancement for resistivity features in oil-based mud image
An apparatus and method for estimating a parameter of interest of an earth formation. An apparatus includes an elongated support member; a primary transmitter on the elongated support member; and a receiver toroid on the elongated support member, the receiver toroid being positioned transversely on the elongated support member and including a single coil antenna. Methods include positioning a logging tool in a borehole in the earth formation; using a transverse receiver toroid on an elongated support member on the logging tool, wherein the transverse receiver toroid includes a single coil antenna; and producing a signal responsive to an electrical signal produced by a primary transmitter.
US08886479B2 Charge state detecting device for battery pack and method for detecting charge state
A total SOC of a battery pack including a collection of a plurality of battery blocks is calculated based on a plurality of block SOCs representing respective stored charge amounts in the plurality of battery blocks. In the case where a block SOC maximum value is higher than a control upper limit value, the total SOC is calculated to be higher than the control upper limit value. On the other hand, in the case where a block SOC minimum value is lower than a control lower limit value, the total SOC is calculated to be lower than the control upper limit value. Further, in the case where each of the block SOCs is in a range of not less than the control lower limit value and not more than the control upper limit value, the total SOC is determined to fall within the range of not less than the control lower limit value and not more than the control upper limit value.
US08886476B1 Multi-terminal protection using phasor measurement unit networks
At a network device of each of a plurality of generator substations that is connected to a multi-terminal transmission line, phasor measurement data produced by a phasor measurement unit at the generator substation is assigned to a multicast stream. A request is received from a network device at any of the plurality of the generator substations to join the multicast stream so that a destination device at any of the plurality of generator substations receives the phasor measurement data carried by the multicast stream. The multicast stream is sent for distribution to one or more destination devices at respective ones of the plurality of generator substations.
US08886474B2 System and apparatus for testing cable
An apparatus for testing one or more transmission lines is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a processor capable of configuring the apparatus in one of a master mode and a slave mode. The apparatus when configured in the master mode controls the testing of the one or more transmission lines of a cable. The apparatus also includes one or more test modules associated with one or more tests to be performed on the one or more transmission lines. Further, one or more transceivers of the apparatus are capable of one or more of sending and receiving a plurality of signals through the one or more transmission lines. One or more signals of the plurality of signals are associated with the one or more test modules.
US08886473B1 System and method for vibration analysis
Identification and correction of component vibration issues in an industrial plant is accomplished with a database of component vibration data collected and maintained on a plant server, secure access to the database through the Internet, and three levels of periodic vibration analysis.
US08886464B2 Microwave-accelerated metal-enhanced detection method
The present invention relates to systems and methods using microwave accelerated surface plasmonics for the detection of target species. The system has a metallic surface and the system is exposed to microwave energy for increasing detection time and/or the reaction kinetics of the target species and other interacting participants in the system so that plasmonic emissions from the metallic surface alone or coupled with emissions from a luminescing entity are detected.
US08886463B2 Characterizing an earth subterranean structure by iteratively performing inversion based on a function
To characterize an earth subterranean structure using a measurement assembly including electromagnetic (EM) receivers and one or more EM sources, measured voltage data collected by EM receivers in response to transmission by one or more EM sources is received. Based on a model, predicted EM data is computed. Inversion is iteratively performed according to a function that computes a difference between the measured voltage data and a product of a term containing the predicted EM data and a term containing distortion data that accounts at least for distortion effect by an environment of the measurement assembly. The inversion is iteratively performed to solve for parameters of the model and the distortion data.
US08886460B1 Mobile device navigation state application programming interface
A method includes providing a service to expose navigation events data generated by a maps navigation application on a Linux-based mobile computing device platform to a third party application. The method further includes making provisions for verification on the mobile computing device platform that the third party application is authorized to access the navigation events data, and for establishing an interprocess service connection to the third party application upon verification of authorization.
US08886459B2 Systems and methods for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) tactical tracking and mission data acquisition
A system and method are provided to support accommodating safe integration of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) into the National Airspace Structure in the United States. A specifically-tailored service is provided to address a change of paradigm from aircraft-based avionics/capabilities to a ground-based solution centered on the sUAS control station that is typically employed to manage an sUAS mission and/or flight. Appropriate software, server and system components are integrated into an interactive, easy-to-use, web-based tool that provides interested parties with real-time, graphical flight-following information to acquire position information regarding an sUAS platform from the control console for the sUAS platform. The acquired position information is forwarded to a separate server that can augment and provide graphical display of the sUAS intended route of flight (flight planned route). The acquired position information for the sUAS is converted to a format commonly used by aviation and air traffic control systems.
US08886458B2 Neighborhood creating device, neighborhood creating method, and computer-readable recording medium storing program
A neighborhood creating device includes: a memory; and one or more processors that execute a procedure in the memory, the procedure including a position acquiring process that acquires position information representing a position of a mobile object; a data creating process that creates mobile object data representing a condition associated with a movable range of the mobile object based on the position information; a data acquiring process that acquires obstacle data representing a condition associated with a place through which the mobile object is not able to move; and an information creating process that creates neighborhood information satisfying both conditions represented by the mobile object data and the obstacle data and continuously representing a movable range of the mobile object around the mobile object.
US08886457B2 Mobile state determination of location aware devices
Systems and methods are provided for determining the mode of travel of a location aware device. Data from the location aware device is received, which includes location aware data about the speed, location, and navigational route of the location aware device and data about the connection of the location aware device to a power source. These features of data from the location aware device are used to determine the mode of travel of the location aware device. The data from the location aware device can also be used to determine preferred routes of navigation, speed of roads, and traffic on roads.
US08886456B2 Motor vehicle having a navigation system
A motor vehicle has a navigation system, which includes a graphic display unit and by which accurate-lane destination guidance is made possible on a planned route. A road map containing lane information can be displayed on the display unit. Within or in superimposition of the displayed road map, the route can be displayed accurately with respect to the lanes. A lane guidance display area can be displayed, which is graphically set off from the road map and within which several lanes of a currently traveled route section are graphically represented and within which the necessity of a lane change is graphically displayed. A rating can be determined for the urgency of the lane change, and this rating can be graphically displayed in the lane guidance display area.
US08886455B2 Navigation apparatus, audible instruction generation system and method of generating audible instructions
A navigation apparatus (200) comprises a processing resource (202) arranged to support an operating environment and a route follower (256) supported by the operating environment and arranged to monitor progression, when in use, along a route to be followed. The apparatus also comprises an instruction generator (260) supported by the operating environment and arranged to determine an identity of a location in advance of the location being reached where a manoeuvre has to be executed in order to continue following the route, and to generate manoeuvre data in relation to the manoeuvre. The apparatus further comprises a voice command generator (266) supported by the operating environment and arranged to obtain the manoeuvre data and to generate in response to the manoeuvre data voice instruction data for reproduction by a loudspeaker (276) as an audible voice instruction. The manoeuvre data comprises route manoeuvre instruction component data and supplementary descriptive instruction component data.
US08886454B2 Road guidance display method and system using geotagging image
A road guidance display method and system using a geo-tagging image are provided. More specifically, a street image is stored by capturing the street image at a specific point by a camera and storing the street image along with position information at a corresponding point. Subsequently, the street image stored in the storing process is output on a screen when a reproduction command is input by a user or when a vehicle is within a predetermined distance from a street image capturing point.
US08886446B1 Method and system for allocating aircraft arrival/departure slot times, with preferred movement
The present invention takes the form of a computer program, method and/or system to allow an airline, aviation authority or other aviation entity to temporally manage, coordinate and allocate aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times during a specified period for the flow of a plurality of aircraft at a specified fix point, based upon specified data comprised of the aircraft, the fix point, associated system resources, business/operational goals, airline Requested Slot Times, Preferred Movement and aviation system specified criteria, some of which is temporally varying.
US08886443B2 ISG control method for vehicle in congested area
An ISG control method for a vehicle in a congested area, may include an N-stage stop determining step that determines whether a shift lever has moved from a D-stage to an N-stage and a brake has been operated, discriminating from when the shift lever is at the D-stage; an N-stage vehicle speed determining step that determines whether a vehicle speed is equal to or less than a predetermined N-stage stop vehicle speed after the N-stage stop determining step; and a remaining condition determining step for entering an idle-stop state, when the vehicle speed is equal to or less than the N-stage stop vehicle speed, as a result of performing the N-stage vehicle speed determining step, and when idle-stop entering conditions other than a position of the shift lever, the vehicle speed, and the history of a maximum traveling vehicle speed are satisfied.
US08886441B2 Method for the open-loop control and closed-loop control of an internal combustion engine
The invention relates to a method for the open-loop control and the closed-loop control of an internal combustion engine (1), the rail pressure (pCR) being controlled in a closed loop mode in the normal operating state and an emergency operation mode being activated once a defective rail pressure sensor (9) is detected, in which emergency operation the rail pressure (pCR) is controlled in an open loop mode. The invention is characterized in that in the emergency operation mode, the rail pressure (pCR) is gradually increased until a passive pressure relief valve (11) is activated which redirects fuel from the rail (6) to the fuel tank (2) when it is open.
US08886438B2 Control of gas turbine engine
Systems, devices, and methods for controlling a fuel supply for a turbine or other engine using direct and/or indirect indications of power output and optionally one or more secondary control parameters.
US08886436B2 Driving force control apparatus and vehicle control method
A driving force control apparatus includes: a turning radius estimating unit that estimates a turning radius of a four-wheel-drive vehicle; a target slip angle computing unit that computes a target slip angle at the time of turning of the four-wheel-drive vehicle, on the basis of the estimated turning radius; a target rotational speed computing unit that computes target rotational speeds of right and left rear wheels of the four-wheel-drive vehicle, on the basis of the estimated turning radius, the computed target slip angle, and a vehicle speed; and a driving force control unit that controls driving forces that are transmitted to the right and left rear wheels such that actual rotational speeds of the right and left rear wheels approach the computed target rotational speeds.
US08886435B2 Lock-up device and control method for lock-up device
A lock-up device supplies hydraulic pressure to a lock-up clutch when lock-up capacity becomes insufficient with increasing accelerator operation amount during slip control. The lock-up device (1) sets a hydraulic unit pressure command value corresponding to drive source torque so rotational speed difference becomes target slip speed when a variation in accelerator operation amount is in a predefined range, and deriving an estimated drive source output torque corresponding to the accelerator operation amount to set the pressure command value corresponding to the estimated drive source torque so the rotational speed difference becomes target slip speed when accelerator operation amount variation exceeds the range's upper limit, and (2) controls the hydraulic unit to supply hydraulic pressure corresponding to hydraulic pressure command value to the lock-up clutch.
US08886432B2 Vehicle brake system and method of operating the same
A vehicle brake system and method that are designed to improve the driver braking experience by compensating for the effects that humidity and temperature can have on brake performance. According to one embodiment, the method determines if a braking event is underway and, if so, it measures humidity and brake temperature. With this information, the method is able to compensate for anticipated changes in the coefficient of friction (μ) of one or more brake components, such as brake pads or rotors, and to provide a modified brake command signal accordingly.
US08886427B2 Hydraulic control apparatus for automatic transmission
A hydraulic control apparatus for an automatic transmission has a circulating oil supply passage that supplies circulating oil to a starting apparatus, a circulating oil discharge passage that discharges circulating oil from the starting apparatus, and a speed change mechanism oil supply passage that supplies oil to a speed change mechanism. The oil discharged from an oil pump is supplied to the starting apparatus and the speed change mechanism. A first flow rate changing device that can change the flow rate of the circulating oil is arranged in the circulating oil discharge passage. A first flow rate instructing portion output a command to the flow rate changing device to change the flow rate when the amount of oil discharged from the oil pump is low, and reduces the flow rate to the starting apparatus, which enables the hydraulic pressure necessary for shifting to be obtained in the speed change mechanism.
US08886420B2 Control method for automatic transmission, and automatic transmission system
A control method for an automatic transmission includes a step of canceling the shift performed by a shift operation for performing shifting in the same direction as that of the shifting performed by automatic shift control, when the shift operation is performed before the input revolution speed correlation value of the automatic transmission becomes a predetermined value, after the automatic shift control has been started in a manual shift mode, a step of switching a shift stage display at a timing at which the shift operation that is to be canceled has been performed, and a step of switching the shift stage display at a timing at which the input revolution speed correlation value becomes the predetermined value when a shift operation is not performed within a period of time from when the automatic shift control is started till when the input revolution speed correlation value becomes the predetermined value.
US08886419B2 Automatic transmission apparatus and straddle-type vehicle equipped with the apparatus
An automatic transmission apparatus includes a clutch including a drive side rotator to which torque of an engine is transmitted and a driven side rotator, a multi-gear transmission mechanism including a dog clutch, at least one actuator to drive the clutch and the transmission mechanism, a torque changing device to change the torque of the engine, a gear shifting command output device to output a gear shifting command, and a transmission control system to control the at least one actuator and the torque changing device. The transmission control system includes a shock reduction control unit to execute control to, upon receiving the gear shifting command from the gear shifting command output device, reduce the engine torque by controlling the torque changing device and thereafter to start to disengage the clutch by controlling the at least one actuator.
US08886416B2 Hydraulic shovel operability range display device and method for controlling same
In a hydraulic shovel operability range display device, a calculation unit is configured to set a boundary between an operability range and an underbody area along a vertical direction in a global coordinate system when a vehicle body is horizontally oriented. When the vehicle body is tilted forward, the calculation unit is configured to set the boundary so as to be maintained along the vertical direction in the global coordinate system. When the vehicle body is tilted backwards, the calculation unit is configured to correct the boundary between the operability range and the underbody area so that an angle formed by the boundary and the ground surface on which the vehicle body is positioned is at least 90°.
US08886412B2 Steering system for an autonomously driven vehicle and methods of steering the same
A steering system for an autonomously driven vehicle and methods of steering the vehicle are disclosed. A main controller signals a secondary steering assembly to operate in a first phase when a power steering controller is in a first mode and a second phase to steer the vehicle when the power steering controller is in a second mode. The main controller signals a friction device to actuate to a disengaged position when the power steering controller is in the first mode and the secondary steering assembly is in the first phase, and to signal the friction device to actuate to an engaged position to secure a steering wheel in an initial position when the power steering controller is in the second mode and the secondary steering assembly is in the second phase to allow the secondary steering assembly to steer the vehicle.
US08886406B2 Corner unit guidance control system using one antenna
A corner unit guidance control system for use with a corner unit that is part of a center pivot irrigation system includes an antenna, a receiver, and a controller. The antenna may be located along a vertical axis through the center of a wheel of the corner unit and may be operable to receive signals from at least one external positional information source. The receiver may be in communication with the antenna and operable to process the signals to produce position data corresponding to a current position of the wheel. The controller may be in communication with the receiver and may be programmed to steer the wheel to a heading corresponding to a difference between the current position of the wheel and a point along the path.
US08886404B2 Control system for a motor vehicle with a box body and motor vehicle
The invention relates to a control system for a motor vehicle, especially for a commercial vehicle that has a box body supportable on a chassis, with at least one detection means generating detection data for detecting the road profile in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel and a control device for controlling at least one controllable spring and/or damper unit depending on the detected data, wherein the at least one spring and/or damper unit for suspension and damping of the box body in the direction of a vertical axis of the vehicle can be connected to the box body and the chassis.
US08886402B1 Actively variable shock absorbing strut and system
Methods and apparatus are provided for an actively variable shock absorbing system for actively controlling the load response characteristics of a shock absorbing strut. In one embodiment the shock absorbing system comprises a controllable valve adapted for actively varying a load response characteristic of the shock absorbing strut. The shock absorbing system further comprises an electronic control system comprising an input for receiving a signal from a sensor, an algorithm adapted to determine an optimal position for the controllable valve in view of the sensor signal, and an output for sending a control signal to the controllable valve to place the valve in the optimal position.
US08886399B2 System and method for controlling a vehicle user interface based on gesture angle
An in-vehicle computing system allows a user to control components of the vehicle by performing gestures. The user provides a selecting input to indicate that he wishes to control one of the components. After the component is identified, the user performs a gesture to control the component. The gesture and the component that was previously selected are analyzed to generate a command for the component. Since the command is based on both the gesture and the identified component, the user can perform the same gesture in the same position within the vehicle to control different components.
US08886397B2 Systems and methods for scheduling driver interface tasks based on driver workload
A vehicle's dynamic handling state, driver inputs to the vehicle, etc. may be examined to determine one or more measures of driver workload. Driver interface tasks may then be delayed and/or prevented from executing based on the driver workload so as to not increase the driver workload. Alternatively, driver interface tasks may be schedule for execution based on the driver workload and caused to execute according to the schedule, for example, to minimize the impact the executing driver interface tasks have on driver workload.
US08886396B2 Meter display device for vehicle and display method thereof
The present invention provides a meter display device provided in a vehicle, including a display portion having a display region in which a plurality of display areas extending elongatedly in the left-right direction of a meter body are provided in proximity in a line arrangement in the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the left-right direction, and a display control portion switching each of the display areas between the display operated state and the non-display operated state and increasing the number of the display areas display-operated.
US08886395B2 Dynamic tire slip angle estimation system and method
A dynamic slip angle estimation system and method uses measured vehicle acceleration and yaw rate parameters in estimating a tire slip angle. From load sensor(s) mounted to the vehicle tire, a tire static load estimation is made and a tire slip angle is calculated at low frequency. The vehicle center of gravity longitudinal position and yaw moment of inertia is estimated from the static load on the vehicle tires. An observer calculates tire axle forces based on the vehicle acceleration and yaw rate. From the tire axle force estimations, the vehicle moment of inertia and vehicle center of gravity longitudinal position estimate and a low frequency direct measurement of the tire slip angle, a dynamic tire slip angle calculation is made.
US08886394B2 Producing data describing states of a plurality of targets
Methods and systems for producing data describing states of a plurality of targets using a processor in a system having at least one onboard sensor. The method includes obtaining data from at least one onboard sensor and performing a first data fusion process on the obtained onboard sensor data to produce onboard sensor fused data. Data is also obtained from at least one off-board sensor, and a second, different data fusion process is performed on the obtained off-board sensor data and the onboard sensor fused data to produce target state data.
US08886390B2 Monitoring, diagnostic and tracking tool for autonomous mobile robots
A system and method are provided for managing and prioritizing for action fleets of mobile robots deployed at various locations. The system/method includes a plurality of homebase servers, each corresponding to a different location, with each of the homebase servers receiving operational parameter data (representing operational and navigational issues experienced by the mobile robot) from a plurality of mobile robots operating at the particular location where the homebase server is deployed. A central server receives the operational parameter data from the plurality of homebase servers. The central server included a data analysis module for processing the operational parameter data and prioritizing the mobile robots operating at the various locations for action by support staff. A list is generated ranking the mobile robots in order of importance for action by support staff.
US08886382B2 Method and system for regulating movement of an entity between zones
A method is described of regulating movement of an autonomous entity between a first zone (904) and a second zone (901), wherein the first and second zones each have an operation-defined geographical boundary within a defined geographical region. The autonomous entity is instructed to move into a transition zone (906, 907) that spans the first zone and the second zone, wherein the autonomous entity while located in the first zone is responsive to supervisory control of a first controller (912) associated with the first zone. The autonomous entity is registered with a second controller (910) associated with the second zone to enable the autonomous entity to respond to supervisory control of the second controller as the autonomous entity enters the second zone through the transition zone. The autonomous entity is de-registered from the first controller.
US08886376B2 Control apparatus for motor-assisted bicycle
A control apparatus for a motor-assisted bicycle detects a pedaling torque applied to a crankshaft with a pedaling force sensor, controls a motor unit of the motor-assisted bicycle in a regenerative control process to charge a battery, if the torque value of the detected pedaling torque is equal to or smaller than a predetermined level, and controls the motor unit in an assistive control process, if the torque value is greater than the predetermined level. The control apparatus performs an assistive transient control process with an assistive ratio lower than in the assistive control process while the crankshaft makes a predetermined number of revolutions and thereafter performs the regenerative control process, if the torque value detected by the pedaling force sensor has a peak equal to or smaller than the predetermined level.
US08886375B2 Control apparatus for electric vehicle
When a diagnosis result of an ABS control system is normal, a determination is made as to whether or not to execute ABS control based on a slip ratio of a vehicle wheel, whereupon motor torque control is executed based on an operational state of an ABS. In other words, when ABS control is not executed, the motor-generator is controlled to a regenerative state, and when ABS control is executed, the motor-generator is controlled to a power running state. When the diagnosis result of the ABS control system is abnormal, on the other hand, regenerative braking by the motor-generator is prohibited immediately and the motor-generator is controlled to the power running state.
US08886371B2 Method and system for high fidelity VTOL and hover capability
A vehicle having a plurality of thruster components, wherein each of the thruster components includes a plurality of sub-thrusters, each sub-thruster being grouped into one of a plurality of control groups. The vehicle including a control system receiving information related to the vehicle, wherein the control system selects one of the control groups and activates the sub-thrusters of the selected control group.
US08886368B2 Control of UAV
The present invention discloses a control stick for controlling an UAV formed by a bar with buttons on the bar head and a GUI displaying airplane like icons providing feedback of current steering control status of a UAV.
US08886362B2 Integrated distribution system optimization
A power forecasting module determines a load forecast of a distribution system (DS) and a power generation forecast of distributed energy resources (DERs) A demand response (DR) module estimates an available DR based on the load and the power generation forecast and modifies the load forecast by dispatching an optimal DR. An energy storage commitment module determines a charging/discharging schedule of energy storage devices in the system based on the modified load profile and generates a second load profile by incorporating the charging/discharging schedule of energy storage devices. An unit commitment (UC) module determines a DER schedule of supplying electrical power to the loads in the second load profile based on a first objective function. An economic dispatch (ED) module determines an optimum operating point for each DER and an Integrated Volt-VAR Control (IVVC) module controls distribution assets to maintain a voltage profile in the system.
US08886359B2 Robot and spot welding robot with learning control function
A robot (100) has a robot mechanism unit (1) having a sensor (10) and a control unit (2), and the control unit (2) includes a normal control unit (4) that controls the operation of the robot mechanism unit, and a learning control unit (3) that, when the robot mechanism unit (1) is operated by a speed command that is given by multiplying a teaching speed designated in a task program by a speed change ratio, performs learning to calculate, from a detection result by the sensor (10), a learning correction amount for making the trajectory or position of the control target in the robot mechanism unit (1) approach the target trajectory or target position, or for reducing the vibration of the control target, and performs processes so that the control target position of the robot mechanism unit (1) moves along a fixed trajectory regardless of the speed change ratio.
US08886356B2 Selectable release mode merge subsystem
Methods, devices, non-transitory storage media, and systems that utilize operations including configuring each feed conveyor in the plurality of feed conveyors to operate in a slug-building merge mode, monitoring to identify a first predefined condition, configuring each feed conveyor in the plurality of feed conveyors to operate in a zippering merge mode in response to identifying the first predefined condition, monitoring to identify a second predefined condition, and configuring a first set of the feed conveyors in the plurality of feed conveyors to operate in the slug-building merge mode and a second set of the feed conveyors in the plurality of feed conveyors to simultaneously operate in the zippering merge mode in response to identifying the second predefined condition.
US08886352B2 Electronic sewing machine
An electronic sewing machine (M) which makes a needle bar move up and down through a sewing machine spindle which is driven by a sewing machine motor of the sewing machine body provided with an illustration data storage unit (15) which stores a plurality of illustration data, a display unit (4) which displays the illustration data which is stored in the illustration data storage unit, an audio data storage unit (20) which stores audio data which corresponds to the illustration data, and an audio output unit (21) which outputs audio data which is stored in the audio data storage unit and displaying the illustration data on the display unit while outputting audio data corresponding to the illustration data from the audio output unit. Due to this, preferably illustration data which can reduce the frequency of screen switching to reduce the load of the operator without increasing the size of the display unit is data for explaining a method of use of the sewing machine and the audio data is data of explanations corresponding to the illustration data.
US08886349B2 Method of supplying molten metal to automatic pouring machine and equipment therefor
A supplying molten metal to an automatic pouring machine and equipment therefor. The equipment can not only supply the molten metal into the automatic pouring machine corresponding to the molding speed of the high-speed molding machine, but it can also appropriately supply the molten metal to the automatic pouring machine, so that the quality of that molten metal in the pouring ladle matches that of the molten metal that is poured in the molds. After supplying a required quantity of alloy materials in a treating ladle, supplying the molten metal from the melting furnace into the treating ladle; transporting the pouring ladle to the treating ladle; pouring the molten metal from the treating ladle into the pouring ladle; and fixing the pouring ladle that received the molten metal to the automatic pouring machine.
US08886348B2 Fabrication and tracking
A method of fabrication for a component to be installed in a facility, the facility being represented by an electronic design model, the method including extracting, at a computing device and from the model, details of the component and controlling a plurality of stations with the computing device to fabricate and track the component.
US08886346B2 Oversampling in a combined transposer filter bank
The present invention relates to coding of audio signals, and in particular to high frequency reconstruction methods including a frequency domain harmonic transposer. A system and method for generating a high frequency component of a signal from a low frequency component of the signal is described. The system comprises an analysis filter bank (501) comprising an analysis transformation unit (601) having a frequency resolution of Δf; and an analysis window (611) having a duration of DA; the analysis filter bank (501) being configured to provide a set of analysis subband signals from the low frequency component of the signal; a nonlinear processing unit (502, 650) configured to determine a set of synthesis subband signals based on a portion of the set of analysis subband signals, wherein the portion of the set of analysis subband signals is phase shifted by a transposition order T; and a synthesis filter bank (504) comprising a synthesis transformation unit (602) having a frequency resolution of QΔf; and a synthesis window (612) having a duration of Ds; the synthesis filter bank (504) being configured to generate the high frequency component of the signal from the set of synthesis subband signals; wherein Q is a frequency resolution factor with Q≧1 and smaller than the transposition order T; and wherein the value of the product of the frequency resolution Δf and the duration DA of the analysis filter bank is selected based on the frequency resolution factor Q.
US08886345B1 Mobile device audio playback
This disclosure is directed to providing audio playback to a mobile device user. According to one aspect of this disclosure, a mobile device may be to modify audio playback in response to detecting an inclination of the mobile device (and thereby a user) with respect to a reference plane. According to another aspect of this disclosure, a mobile device may be configured to automatically identify an audible sound that may be motivational to a user, and store an indication of the audible sound in response to the identification. According to another aspect of this disclosure, a mobile device may automatically play back a previously identified motivational song in response to detection of user movement.
US08886344B2 Exchange of metadata between a live sound mixing console and a digital audio workstation
A system for transferring metadata between an audio mixing console and a digital audio workstation connected by an audio link and a computer network. The audio mixing console and the digital audio system implement an Ethernet-based communication protocol for sending messages between them over the network connection, the messages including metadata specifying a plurality of settings on the audio mixing console corresponding to audio information received by the audio mixing console during a live performance. The audio information is sent to the digital audio system over the high bandwidth connection. The high bandwidth connection can also be used to transfer the metadata. The transfer of metadata between the console and the digital audio workstation facilitates new digital audio archiving, virtual live mixing, and virtual soundcheck workflows.
US08886341B1 Adaptive sample-by-sample controller for under-determined systems
A device and method to adapt a model in a underdetermined adaptive system that provides an output in response to an input. A controller provides parameters to the model in a transceiver system, composed of linearizers, equalizers, or estimators as a function of an error signal. The controller and the model parameters are manipulated to allow agnosticism with respect to input signals or model complexity, enabling robust operation and efficient implementation.
US08886340B2 Method and apparatus for retaining medical implants within body vessels
The present application describes a retention device for anchoring a medical device within the vasculature. The device may include expandable member coupled to an intravascular medical device and proportioned for receipt within a vessel. At least a portion of the expandable member is expandable to radially engage a vessel wall and to thereby retain the medical device within the vessel. The system is suitable for a variety of intravascular devices, including but not limited to ICD's, pacemakers, and intravascular drug delivery systems.
US08886335B2 Implantable leads with a low profile distal portion
A stimulation lead includes an elongate body having a proximal portion and a distal portion and has a multilumen tube extending along the elongate body and defining a central lumen and a plurality of peripheral lumens disposed circumferentially around the central lumen; a plurality of conductors, at least one of the conductors extending along the central lumen and a remainder of the conductors extending along the plurality of peripheral lumens with at least one of the conductors in each peripheral lumen; a plurality of terminals disposed along the proximal portion of the elongate body and electrically coupled to proximal ends of the conductors; and a plurality of electrodes disposed along the distal portion of the elongate body and electrically coupled to distal ends of the conductors. Each of the conductors is coupled to at least one terminal and at least one electrode.
US08886329B2 Retinal prosthesis with separate electrode array and return electrodes
The artificial percept of light may be created by electrically stimulating the neurons of the retina. While a photolithographed array internal to the retina provides superior resolution, an array external to the retina provides easier implantation and improved manufacturability. Therefore it is advantageous to supply a high-resolution electrode array internal to the sclera, near the fovea and a lower-resolution electrode array external to the sclera near the periphery of the retina. It is advantageous to encourage current to flow through the retina by providing a physically separate and distinct electrode array and return electrode. The high-resolution electrode array and lower-resolution electrode array may be return electrodes for the other, or completely separate return electrodes may be provided.
US08886327B2 Selective high frequency spinal cord modulation for inhibiting pain with reduced side effects, and associated systems and methods
Selective high-frequency spinal cord modulation for inhibiting pain with reduced side effects and associated systems and methods are disclosed. In particular embodiments, high-frequency modulation in the range of from about 1.5 KHz to about 50 KHz may be applied to the patient's spinal cord region to address low back pain without creating unwanted sensory and/or motor side effects. In other embodiments, modulation in accordance with similar parameters can be applied to other spinal or peripheral locations to address other indications.
US08886324B2 Method and apparatus for electrical cortex stimulation
A method for cortex stimulation is disclosed which may include the steps of collecting electric signals by a control system from the cortex through an electrode array; determining signals by a virtual neural field having a virtual array corresponding the electrode array, the virtual array receiving the collected signals as an input and the virtual neural field being adapted to control the frequency spectrum of neural activity in the cortical target, each stimulation signal being determined by a value of the virtual potential at each point of the virtual array; and emitting the stimulation signals in the cortex through the electrode array.
US08886316B1 Authentication of external devices to implantable medical devices using biometric measurements
An apparatus comprises a medical device configured for implantation into a living organism. The medical device comprises processing circuitry, a memory and interface circuitry configured for communication with a monitoring device. The medical device is configured to receive a request for access from the monitoring device, to measure a physiological value of the living organism, to perform a pairing protocol with the monitoring device, the pairing protocol comprising a secure channel set-up phase followed by an authentication phase, and to permit access by the monitoring device responsive to a successful pairing in accordance with the pairing protocol, the successful pairing being based at least in part on a determination that a physiological value supplied by the monitoring device substantially matches the measured physiological value. The medical device performs the secure channel set-up phase before sending the measured physiological value to the monitoring device.
US08886314B2 Therapy delivery method and system for implantable medical devices
The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for inducing ventricular fibrillation in a patient to facilitate defibrillation threshold testing. The apparatus includes a plurality of output capacitors that are dynamically configurable in a selected stacking arrangement that facilitates delivery of energy for inducing the ventricular fibrillation. An output of the apparatus is coupled to patient electrodes and a threshold energy level delivered by the output capacitors is determined.
US08886312B2 Apparatuses and methods using the role of ventricular electrical delay to predict left ventricular remodeling with cardiac resynchronization therapy
A system comprises a cardiac signal sensing circuit and a processor circuit. The cardiac signal sensing circuit is configured to sense a cardiac signal segment using a set of electrodes connectable to the cardiac signal sensing circuit. The processor circuit is communicatively coupled to the cardiac signal sensing circuit and includes a peak detector circuit. The peak detector circuit is configured to identify, in the cardiac signal segment, a fiducial indicative of ventricular activation that is local to at least one electrode of the first set of electrodes. The fiducial includes a first large positive or negative peak greater than a specified percentage of a maximum peak of the first cardiac signal segment. The processor circuit is configured to provide an indication of local ventricular activation to at least one of a user or process.
US08886311B2 Techniques for mitigating motion artifacts from implantable physiological sensors
Disclosed techniques include monitoring a physiological characteristic of a patient with a sensor that is mounted to an inner wall of a thoracic cavity of the patient, and sending a signal based on the monitored physiological characteristic from the sensor to a remote device.
US08886300B2 Methods and systems for selecting capture verification modes
Methods and systems are directed to selecting from a variety of capture verification modes. A plurality of capture verification modes, including a beat by beat capture detection mode and a capture threshold testing mode without intervening beat by beat capture detection is provided. An efficacy of at least one of the capture verification modes is evaluated, and based on the evaluation, a capture verification mode is selected.
US08886299B2 System and method for the analysis of electrocardiogram signals
A microprocessor configured to receive and process digitized signals derived from an analogue ECG signal is provided. An example microprocessor comprises a beat detection unit configured to receive the in-phase and quadrature phase band power signals, calculate a band power value and an adaptive threshold value, and compare said band power value with said adaptive threshold value to detect a QRS complex of the ECG signal indicative of a detected valid beat; and an R peak detection unit configured to receive the digital ECG signal and information about the detected valid beat, select a portion of the received ECG signal as a first time window around the detected valid beat; determine the location of a first R peak position; and perform a time domain search in a second time window around said first R peak position in order to refine the location of an R peak position.
US08886290B2 Method and system for determining placement of a tracheal tube in a subject
According to various embodiments, a tracheal tube may employ optical sensing techniques for determining a distance between the inserted tube and an anatomical structure, such as a carina. The distance information may provide an indication as to whether or not the tracheal tube is properly placed within the trachea. The optical techniques may include backscattered intensity measurements.
US08886289B2 Dynamic reference method and system for use with surgical procedures
A substrate configured for placement on an internal organ or internal tissue is provided. In certain embodiments, the substrate conforms to and moves with the internal organ or internal tissue. Three or more sensor elements are integrated on the substrate. In one implementation, the substrate and associated sensor elements provide dynamic referencing of the internal organ or internal tissue after registration of the sensor data with images and/or volumetric representations of the internal organ or internal tissue.
US08886288B2 MRI-guided devices and MRI-guided interventional systems that can track and generate dynamic visualizations of the devices in near real time
An MRI-compatible catheter includes an elongated flexible shaft having opposite distal and proximal end portions. A handle is attached to the proximal end portion and includes an actuator in communication with the shaft distal end portion that is configured to articulate the shaft distal end portion. The distal end portion of the shaft may include an ablation tip and includes at least one RF tracking coil positioned adjacent the ablation tip that is electrically connected to an MRI scanner. The at least one RF tracking coil is electrically connected to a circuit that reduces coupling when the at least one RF tracking coil is exposed to an MRI environment. Each RF tracking coil is a 1-10 turn solenoid coil, and has a length along the longitudinal direction of the catheter of between about 0.25 mm and about 4 mm.
US08886284B2 Devices and methods for combined optical and magnetic resonance imaging
Optical devices for use with a magnetic resonance imaging breast compression system include light wands and optical adapters that can releasably mate with grids. These devices, and their associated methods, may reduce or eliminate the need for biopsy by allowing for the differentiation of cancerous tumors, non-cancerous tumors, calcifications and cysts.
US08886283B1 3D and 4D magnetic susceptibility tomography based on complex MR images
Magnetic susceptibility is the physical property for T2*-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T2*MRI). The invention relates to methods for reconstructing an internal distribution (3D map) of magnetic susceptibility values, χ (x,y,z), of an object, from 3D T2*MRI phase images, by using Computed Inverse Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CIMRI) tomography. The CIMRI technique solves the inverse problem of the 3D convolution by executing a 3D Total Variation (TV) regularized iterative convolution scheme, using a split Bregman iteration algorithm. The reconstruction of χ (x,y,z) can be designed for low-pass, band-pass, and high-pass features by using a convolution kernel that is modified from the standard dipole kernel. Multiple reconstructions can be implemented in parallel, and averaging the reconstructions can suppress noise. 4D dynamic magnetic susceptibility tomography can be implemented by reconstructing a 3D susceptibility volume from a 3D phase volume by performing 3D CIMRI magnetic susceptibility tomography at each snapshot time.
US08886281B2 Snap and electrode assembly for a heart rate monitor belt
The present invention relates generally to a thin, low thickness snap integrated within or built within a heart rate monitor belt or snap and electrode assebly. The snap can be integrated or built directly in to a heart rate monitor belt. Furthermore, the heart rate monitor belt can be integrated within a textile or garment, for example a compression shirt, sports bra or cycling shorts. The snap can be flushly integrated into the belt or garment such the snap does not take away from the general wearability of the heart rate monitor belt or garment.
US08886275B2 Encapsulated electronics
An eye-mountable device includes an electrochemical sensor embedded in a polymeric material configured for mounting to a surface of an eye. The electrochemical sensor includes a working electrode and a reference electrode that reacts with an analyte to generate a sensor measurement related to a concentration of the analyte in a fluid to which the eye-mountable device is exposed. An example assembly process includes: forming a sacrificial layer on a working substrate; forming a first layer of a bio-compatible material on the sacrificial layer; providing an electronics module on the first layer of the bio-compatible material, forming a second layer of the bio-compatible material to cover the electronics module; and annealing the first and second layers of the bio-compatible material together to form an encapsulated structure having the electronics module fully encapsulated by the bio-compatible material.
US08886274B2 Non-invasive method for estimating of the variation of the glucose level in the blood of a person and apparatus for carrying out the method
The estimation of the variation of the glucose level in the blood of a person by the variation of the volume of the interstitial fluid compartments in muscular tissue due to a shift of fluid between the extracellular and intracellular compartments caused by variations of the osmotic pressure of the extracellular fluids which is in turn correlated with the glucose level. The variation of the volume of the interstitial fluid compartments is detected by a non-invasive conductometry measurement using electrodes placed in contact with the skin of the person overlying a portion of soft tissue including muscular fibers. To eliminate the adverse effect of the conductivity of the capillary vessels, the conductivity of the tissue is measured independently in two directions, namely parallel and transverse to the muscular fibers.
US08886273B2 Analyte sensor
Systems and methods of use for continuous analyte measurement of a host's vascular system are provided. In some embodiments, a continuous glucose measurement system includes a vascular access device, a sensor and sensor electronics, the system being configured for insertion into communication with a host's circulatory system.
US08886272B2 Analyte sensor
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for measuring an analyte in a host. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transcutaneous measurement of glucose in a host.
US08886270B2 Syringe-based whispering gallery mode microresonator microfluidic biochem sensor
A syringe-based whispering gallery mode sensor includes a syringe including an assembly provided its needle, the assembly including (1) an optical carrier having a reflective distal end, and (2) at least one resonator coupled with the optical carrier. This sensor may be provided in a system including a light source, a light detector, and a data analysis component. A method for determining the presence or concentration of a target substance in body fluid may be performed using such a system.
US08886269B2 Wearable light-guiding bands for physiological monitoring
A monitoring device includes a band capable of encircling a portion of the body of a subject, and an optical emitter and detector attached to the band. The band includes comprises light transmissive material in optical communication with the optical emitter and optical detector and is configured to deliver light from the optical emitter to one or more locations of the body of the subject and to collect light from one or more locations of the body of the subject and deliver the collected light to the optical detector. The monitoring device may include a signal processor configured to receive and process signals produced by the optical detector, a transmitter configured to transmit signals processed by the signal processor to a remote device, and/or an optical filter.
US08886263B2 Incoming/outgoing-talk unit and incoming-talk unit
The present specification discloses an incoming/outgoing-talk unit having an ear-hook unit, a cartilage conduction vibration unit that makes contact with ear cartilage in a state where the hook unit is hooked to the ear, an outgoing-talk unit, and a unit for performing short-range wireless communication with the mobile telephone. Further disclosed is an incoming-talk unit having an ear-hook unit, and a cartilage conduction vibration unit for transmitting cartilage conduction from outside of ear cartilage in a state where the hook unit is hooked to the ear. Also disclosed is an incoming-talk unit having a three-dimensional viewing adjustment unit, a temple having a unit for adjusting contact of eyesight-adjusting eyeglasses with the temple when the unit is superposedly mounted on the eyesight-adjusting eyeglasses; and an audio information output unit provided to the temple.
US08886261B2 Multi-mode methods and devices utilizing battery power level for selection of the modes
A battery-powered wireless communication device monitors battery power level and switches from operation pursuant to a first wireless communication protocol to a second communication protocol in the event that the battery power level has dropped to a predetermined threshold while operating in idle mode or in active mode.
US08886257B2 Electronic device
An electronic device includes a housing, a display module, and a touch panel. On the housing, an opening is formed. The display module is fixed to the inside of the housing in such a way that a display surface faces the side of the opening. The touch panel is placed to be opposed to the display surface of the display module via a first elastic member placed on the display surface of the display module, and is fixed to the housing via a second elastic member placed on the housing. Hardness of the first elastic member is higher than that of the second elastic member.
US08886256B2 Mobile electronic apparatus, danger notifying method, and medium for storing program
A mobile electronic apparatus includes a memory that stores a search range of an object and a processor that executes a process. The process includes acquiring a moving speed of the mobile electronic apparatus, determining the search range of the object on a basis of the moving speed, detecting the object existing within the search range, detecting whether a display unit of the mobile electronic apparatus is in an active state, and notifying that the object is detected when the display unit is detected to be in the active state and the object existing within the search range is detected.
US08886255B2 Mobile terminal device and processing program update control method for the same
A mobile terminal device includes: a display section that displays information; a storage section that stores processing programs for internal processings; a communication section; and a control section that updates any of the processing programs by acquiring an update program concerning the processing program in the communication section, wherein the storage section stores a plurality of update screens, and the control section displays one of the update screens on the display section and switches the display on the display section to another update screen each time writing on a predetermined number of blocks of the storage section occurs or any processing of reading from, writing on, and erasing from the storage section occurs when updating the program.
US08886254B2 Radio base station and antenna weight setting method
A radio base station which includes an antenna and adjusts directivity of a radio wave to be transmitted and received by antenna weight of the antenna, the radio base station includes a receiver which receives a first reference signal from a first mobile terminal and a second reference signal from a second mobile terminal and a processer which produces antenna weight which is based on the first and the second reference signals, to the antenna for sending a common data to the first and the second mobile terminals.
US08886252B2 Method and apparatus for automatically changing operating modes in a mobile device
A method and system for automatically changing the operating mode of a mobile device in response to changes in positioning or the use of the device includes multiple sensors that provide information relating to the mobile device and its environment. The sensors determine positioning information, incident light intensity, and object proximity and detect the presence of a pointer device. The system monitors the sensors and applications executed by the operating system. Based on the monitoring, the system changes the operating mode of the mobile device.
US08886249B2 Method and system of setting transmitter power levels
The invention relates to a method and system of setting transmitter power levels, particularly in a Local Network Node transmitter, providing a pico cell for private use. A User Equipment (UE) is used to make measurements of the transmission link properties, such as downlink power and round trip time. Based on the measurements made at one or a plurality of locations, the power of the Local Network Node can be determined such that interference is minimized with any overlying cells of a macro-network. Call handovers between the UE and the cell of a macro network can also be arranged based on properties measure by the UE.
US08886247B1 Proximity based power throttling
Methods and systems for delaying a determination to adjust a first power transmit level when a presence of a human body part is detected proximate to a user device are described. A user device detects a presence of a human body part and, in response, determines whether to adjust the first transmit power level to a second transmit power level, and delays the determination by a specified amount of time that is programmable. The user device transmits the information using the second transmit power level when the presence of the human body part is detected.
US08886242B2 Push-to-talk interworking
A method and system for operating a push-to-talk communication between a PoC-group consisting of at least of one member of a first communication network and a PoC-group consisting of at least of one member of a second communication network, using a PoC application server in each communication network. Members of the PoC-group of the first network operator are connected with the members of the PoC-group of the second network operator, and the PoC application servers are synchronized to each other.
US08886241B2 GSM base station identity code (BSIC) method for irat cell reselection to conserve UE battery power
A measurement reporting method reduces battery waste. A UE receives a list of GSM neighbor cells and measures the signal strength of each of the GSM cells in the list. The UE performs base station identity code (BSIC) confirm/reconfirm procedures only for the cells having a signal strength above a threshold.
US08886239B2 Buffer status report control for creating transmission gaps
A method for wireless communication modifies an actual buffer status report value to create a modified buffer status report that is reported to a base station. The modified buffer status report value results in the base station sending fewer uplink grants to a user equipment. The fewer grants result in transmission gaps in a first radio access technology of the user equipment. The user equipment may use those transmission gaps in the first radio access technology to communicate using a second radio access technology.
US08886237B2 Smart antenna with multiple round selection
A smart antenna system for communicating wireless signals between a mobile device and a plurality of fixed base stations using different channels and beams. The system comprises a control subsystem, a radio transceiver and an antenna subsystem, providing a plurality of beams. Each beam has a main lobe, one or more nulls, and one or more lateral and back lobes with at least some attenuation, so as to reduce interference. The system performs scanning of different combinations of base stations, channels and beams using one or more test links established with one or more of the fixed base stations. The test links use at least some of the different channels and the different beams, select a first combination of base station, channel and beam based on the scanning, and establish a first operating link for transmitting a wireless signal to the selected base station using the selected channel and beam.
US08886236B2 Method and system for using a minimum sensitivity threshold for receiving wireless signals
A method includes computing a minimum sensitivity threshold value for a particular wireless device, configuring the particular wireless device to receive wireless signals with a signal strength higher than the minimum sensitivity threshold value, distributing the minimum sensitivity threshold value to other wireless devices, and configuring the other wireless devices based on the minimum sensitivity threshold value for the particular wireless device.
US08886230B2 Systems and methods for service set identifier-based location detection
Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying a location based at least in part on identifying a wireless access point and at least one service set identifier associated with the wireless access point.
US08886226B2 System and method for timely whereabouts determination by a mobile data processing system
Provided is a distributed system and method for enabling new and useful location dependent features and functionality to mobile data processing systems. Mobile data processing systems interact with each other as peers in communications and interoperability. A mobile data processing system may dynamically take on roles, depending on the environment and capabilities available at a particular time. Reference whereabouts data is appropriately shared between mobile data processing systems to carry out automatic location techniques ensuring mobile data processing systems are kept up to date with their own whereabouts and whereabouts of others, regardless of the freely moving travels of any of the mobile data processing systems involved, and the location technologies that may or may not be available when needed. A confidence is associated to whereabouts data shared for facilitating selection of the best candidate data used in determining new whereabouts information.
US08886224B2 Methods for providing enhanced telecommunication services
A first method for facilitating personal contacts among a plurality of subscribers to a location-based person contact service provided by a service provider; and a second method for real-time monitoring of vital signs of a living being. In the first method, personal profiles are transmitted to subscribers. In the second method, information relating to a violated vital sign parameter determined from the monitoring is communicated to a local communication node.
US08886221B1 Mobile device location estimation using local location data
Methods, program products, and systems of mobile device location estimation using local location data. For example, a method includes: detecting one or more wireless access gateways on a mobile device; for at least one detected gateway, determining whether or not the location data of the gateway exists on the device, the location data including one or more of: a location estimate of the gateway; an uncertainty value associated with the estimate; and a confidence value related to the likelihood that the gateway is stationary; determining whether or not a condition related to location estimation of the device is true; determining a location estimate of the device using the existing location data of the detected gateways on the device or other location estimation methods based on the determination of the condition.
US08886219B2 Timed fingerprint locating in wireless networks
A location of user equipment (UE) in a wireless network is determined. Geometric calculations are leveraged for an overlaid bin grid framework mapping the wireless network area to store differential values for each frame of the bin grid framework for each pair of relevant NodeBs. A timing offset can be determined, such that when a time value from a target UE is accessed, the location can be quickly determined. The target UE time value can be searched for in the pre-computed differential value data set indexed by a relevant NodeB site pair to return a set of frames (forming a hyperbola between the site pair) that can be intersected with a second set of frames for a second NodeB site pair for the same UE. The intersecting frames can represent the location of the UE in the wireless network and timing in the network is correctable based on the data.
US08886216B1 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.
US08886213B2 Mobile terminal and control method thereof
A method includes displaying an image on a display of a mobile terminal, wherein the image depicts an object; displaying information simultaneously with the image, wherein the information relates to the object at a particular time point of any of a plurality of different time points of a timeline; and changing the displayed information to reflect a change in the particular time point to another time point of the plurality of different time points of the timeline, wherein the changed displayed information is displayed simultaneously with the image and relates to the object at the another time point.
US08886209B2 Long term evolution integrated radio access network system leverage proactive load balancing policy enforcement
A method may comprise receiving, at a server configured in a long term evolution network, information indicative of a condition of utilization of a first radio access technology resource accessible by a user device. If the condition of utilization indicates an adverse network condition, then the server may transmit a change command instructing the user device to migrate to a second radio access technology resource.
US08886207B2 Frame structure for multi-hop relay in wireless communication systems
Implementations of systems and techniques for scheduling wireless transmission of data blocks between a base station (BS) and one or more relay stations (RSs) in a wireless relay communication network.
US08886203B2 Dynamic channel reuse in multi-access communication systems
Dynamic channel reuse in multi-access communication systems. A first station in a communication network may receive a transmission over a communication medium. The first station may generate a reuse determination based on information from the received transmission. The reuse determination may be usable with at least one other reuse determination to coordinate reuse of the communication medium.
US08886200B2 Using signal monitoring to resolve access point identifier ambiguity
Ambiguity (e.g., confusion) associated with access point identifiers may be resolved by querying candidate target access points and/or by using historical records indicative of one or more access points that the access point has previously accessed. For example, messages may be sent to access points that are assigned the same identifier to cause the access points to monitor for a signal from an access terminal that received the identifier from a target access point. The target access point may then be identified based on any responses that indicate that a signal was received from the access terminal. A mapping may be maintained for that access terminal that maps the identifier to that access point so that the mapping may be used to resolve any future confusion associated with the use of that identifier by that access terminal.
US08886199B2 Apparatus and method for controlling interference via information exchange between base stations in communication system
An apparatus and a method control interference via inter-base station information exchange in a communication system. In a method for operating a serving base station, for controlling interference in a communication system, sum of yield loss amounts of terminals inside a neighbor base station by a power level rise of the serving base station is determined. Yield gain amounts of serving terminals by the power level rise of the serving base station are determined. The sum of the yield loss amounts of the terminals inside the neighbor base station by the power level rise of the serving base station is compared with the determined yield gain amounts of the serving terminals by the power level rise of the serving base station, so that a power level for each serving terminal is determined.
US08886193B2 Storing of neighbour cell information for rapid recovery in case of handover failure
This disclosure teaches a method and apparatus for radio link failure recovery by a User Equipment (UE). The example UE includes one or more controllers that are configured to store cell access information for a target cell that is the target for an impending handover from a serving cell, and for a backup cell that is selected by the UE from among a set of neighboring cells that includes the target cell. Advantageously, in case the handover to the target cell fails, the one or more controllers are configured to retrieve the cell access information stored for the backup cell and to use that information for re-establishing connection in the backup cell. The UE selects the backup cell, for example, as the neighboring cell other than the target cell having the strongest signal conditions with respect to the UE.
US08886186B2 Verification of compatibility among telecommunication network features
A method and apparatus for assessing the compatibility of a selected network feature with the network features of an existing telecommunications network 10 comprises providing an abstraction of each network feature in the form of a data model 100 which defines the relationships between any network elements 12 or nodes 27, software elements 13 and software features 14 required for each network feature. Information 19 is then collected about the existing telecommunications network 10 to identity the deployment of the network features in the existing network. This information is then combined with the data model 100 to build a feature compatibility matrix 107 which defines the compatibility of network features in the existing telecommunications network 10. The matrix 107 can then be interrogated with information defining the parameters of the selected feature to be added or upgraded to determine whether the selected feature is compatible with features of the existing network.
US08886185B2 Method for performing handover or initial accessing
A method for performing handover or initial accessing by a terminal includes: receiving a message including one or more of information regarding a smart meter and information regarding neighbor base stations (BSs) connected to the smart meter, the smart meter having a function for managing power, determining at least one of the neighbor BSs connected to the smart meter as a BS to be accessed; transmitting an access request message for accessing the determined BS to the smart meter, and accessing the determined BS if a response message is received from the smart meter.
US08886183B2 Attaching to an access network
A method and apparatus for allowing a terminal to attach to an access network. The terminal determines that the access network does not support a subscriber identifier used by the terminal, and so it attaches to the access network using an IMSI, the IMSI having been pre-provisioned at the terminal. The terminal, once attached, sends a request for a roaming IMSI to a remote node in the subscriber's home network. It then receives a roaming IMSI from the remote, the roaming IMSI being associated with the subscription and related subscriber identifier. The terminal detaches from the access network and then re-attaches to the access network using the roaming IMSI.
US08886178B2 Location-based profile
A location determination subsystem of a mobile device can determine a location of the mobile device. A monitoring subsystem of the mobile device can be configured, using a profile, to monitor states of a wireless connection between the mobile device and a communications network. When the monitoring subsystem detects an interruption of the wireless connection, a virtual geofence can be constructed around the location of the mobile device when the interruption occurred. The geofence can indicate a boundary of an enclosed geographic area. The geofence can be associated with a diagnostics profile stored on the mobile device or dynamically retrieved from a server upon occurrence of the interruption. When the mobile device enters the area enclosed by the geofence, the monitoring subsystem can be configured using the diagnostics profile in anticipation of interruptions of connections. Information relating to the interruptions can be anonymously sent to a server for analysis.
US08886174B2 Method and system for service provider awareness
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a method and system for service provider awareness by receiving information associated with a potential call between an originator and an intended recipient, determining whether the potential call is in-network or out-of-network, notifying at least one of the originator or the intended recipient based on the determination, creating a message based on whether the potential call is in-network or out-of-network, encapsulating the message, and transmitting the message to a mobile device.
US08886170B2 Systems and methods for managing services for carrier subscribers and migrating them to service bundles
There is disclosed a system and method for managing service for carrier subscribers and migrating them to service bundles. In an embodiment, the method comprises obtaining a list of existing services to which a subscriber is subscribed; comparing the list of services to available service bundles; and determining if there is an exact match of services between the list of existing services and services included in one or more available service bundles, and if so, migrating the subscriber to the one or more available service bundles with the exact match. A subscriber may be manually migrated if migration is not possible with an exact match or partial match.
US08886169B2 Apparatus and method for providing enhanced telephonic communications
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, receiving over a communication network audio voice data originating from a telephony communication session established between a first communication device and a second communication device, transcribing the audio voice data to a text transcription, detecting a presence of a first communication device in the vicinity of a media processor device, and presenting the text transcription on a display communicatively coupled to a media processor device in response to the detected presence of a first communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08886168B2 Selective first delivery attempt (FDA) processing for text messages
Systems and methods are disclosed for selectively applying First Delivery Attempt (FDA) processing for text messages. A text message system in one embodiment includes a rules database that stores rules defining which text messages are authorized to be delivered using FDA processing. The text message system further includes a message processor that initially receives a text message, and determines whether to selectively apply FDA processing for a time period due to an occurrence of a triggering event. If selective FDA processing applies, then the message processor processes the rules in the rules database to determine whether the text message is authorized for FDA processing during the time period of selective FDA processing. If authorized, then the message processor forwards the text message to an FDA system for FDA processing. If not authorized, then the message processor forwards the text message to a store-and-forward system for store-and-forward processing.
US08886166B2 System to identify whether a text message is from a trusted source
The present invention concerns an apparatus comprising a first module and a second module. The first module may be configured to send a text message over a wireless network in response to one or more user keystrokes. The first module may generate a body of the text message and a security key to be transmitted along with the body of the text message. The second module may be configured to receive the body of the text message and the security key over the wireless network. The second module compares the security key to a set of known security keys to determine a match. A match indicates whether the text message was generated from a known sender. The first and second modules may be implemented as part of a portable device.
US08886164B2 Method and apparatus to perform secure registration of femto access points
Methods, apparatus, and systems to perform secure registration of a femto access point for trusted access to an operator-controlled network element. Method steps include establishing a security association for at least one said femto access point, making a request using the security association to an operator-controlled network element, which requests a secure registration credential from an authorizing component. The operator-controlled network element constructs a secure registration credential and sends the secure registration credential to the requesting femto access point, thus authorizing trusted access by the requesting femto access point to access operator-controlled network elements. Embodiments include establishing a security association via an IPsec security association received from a security gateway which is within an operator-controlled domain and using an operator-controlled database of IPsec inner addresses. In some embodiments the femto access point conducts message exchanges using one or more IMS protocols and components, including call session control function elements, which elements in turn may authorize a femto access point within the IMS domain, may or access non-IMS network elements for authorization.
US08886163B2 Subsidizing data usage in mobile wireless networks
Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are for subsidizing data usage in a mobile wireless network. A method for subsidizing data usage may include monitoring data traffic traversing the mobile wireless network, determining if the data traffic is directed to a unique uniform resource locator that is associated with a computing resource that data directed thereto is to be subsidized, and recording data usage for the data traffic and providing the data usage to a charging system of the mobile wireless network in response to determining that the data traffic is directed to the unique uniform resource locator.
US08886159B2 Automatic remote communication using network telephony
The present invention is a method and apparatus to provide remote communication using network telephony. In a transmitter, an activation message is decoded to generate an activation command. The activation message is sent from an activator via a communication medium in response to a telephony call. An information message is transmitted, responsive to the activation command, to a receiver using a communication protocol. In a receiver, an activation message is decoded to generate an activation command. The activation message is sent in response to a telephone call. An information message is received, responsive to the activation command. The information message is sent from a transmitter according to a communication protocol via a communication medium.
US08886158B2 Extended emergency notification systems and methods
Systems and methods are provided for notifying an extended group of persons that a person has requested assistance from a private response center. In one example, an electronic communication is received from the first person, requesting assistance. One or more potential assisting persons are automatically identified as being in position to render assistance to the first person. An electronic message is sent to the one or more potential assisting persons indicating that the first person has requested assistance. The potential assisting persons may be identified based at least in part on their proximity to the first person, for example based on their interaction with the same cell of a cellular communications network, or based on global positioning system data. The electronic message may contain other information, such as information about the first person. In this way, the original caller may be assisted more quickly than would otherwise occur.
US08886157B2 Mobile device having an emergency mode
Disclosed is an apparatus and method to locate a mobile device in an emergency situation. The mobile device includes a display device, a user interface to receive an emergency mode request from a user, and a processor. The processor may be configured to execute instructions to implement an emergency mode process based upon the receipt of the emergency mode request from the user. The emergency mode process is implemented to: monitor received signals to locate a base station, wherein, once a base station is located, a short emergency message is transmitted to the base station including the location of the mobile device. The emergency mode process is further implemented to: monitor received signals to receive an acknowledgement signal from the base station; and reduce a plurality of first non-essential functions of the mobile device to reduce power consumption.
US08886156B2 Method and apparatus for using mobility information to select profiles in network systems
In one embodiment, a method includes obtaining mobility information associated with a remote device. The mobility information indicates whether the remote device is approximately stationary. The remote device interacts with a server. The method also includes determining if the mobility information indicates that the remote device is approximately stationary, and selecting a first profile of a plurality of profiles if the remote device is approximately stationary. If the remote device is not approximately stationary, a second profiled of the plurality of profiles is selected.
US08886155B2 Emergency call handoff between heterogeneous networks
A system to receive, from a user device, a request to establish a communication session to allow an emergency call to be placed or transferred to a public safety access point (PSAP) server; determine whether the request includes a first indication that the emergency call is being initiated via the user device or a second indication that the emergency call is being handed off from a base station associated with another network device, place the emergency call, to the PSAP server and via a first gateway device associated with the network device, when the request includes the first indication; and transfer the emergency call, to the PSAP server and via a second gateway device associated with the other network device, when the request includes the second indication, where the second gateway device processed the emergency call prior to being handed off from the base station.
US08886154B2 Systems and methods for providing emergency callback procedures
Enhanced services, such as call restriction, call forwarding, anonymous call rejection, and proprietary services, may interfere with an emergency callback potentially preventing the callback from reaching the intended destination. Systems and methods for processing emergency calls to eliminate emergency callback failure in response to an emergency call being released are provided herein.
US08886152B2 Emergency override of battery discharge protection
An apparatus, system and method for overriding battery discharge protection in a mobile communication device in the presence of an emergency communication. The method of overriding battery discharge protection in a mobile communication device comprises determining a measured battery voltage; determining an excess battery discharge condition, wherein further battery discharge will result in an impaired ability to recharge a battery; detecting an emergency communication state; disabling battery discharge protection in response to the emergency communication state; and continuing discharge of the battery.
US08886151B2 Receiving device and method for removing mismatch between signal paths in a low noise amplifier in wireless communication system, and low-power amplifier therefor
The present invention relates to a receiving device and method for removing a mismatch in a wireless communication system, and to a low noise amplifier (LNA) therefor. According to the present invention, the receiving method for removing the mismatch comprises the steps of: distinguishing the type of input signal received through a wireless network; controlling such that a common bias is applied to transistors within a low noise amplifier, if said input signal is a wideband signal; and outputting a signal from which said mismatch has been removed, by using a current mirror mode in which current paths within said low noise amplifier are crossed.
US08886149B2 Detection and mitigation of interference in a multimode receiver using variable bandwidth filter
Embodiments include a novel receiver architecture to optimize receiver performance in the presence of interference. In various embodiments, power estimation circuits are used to determine the exact nature of the interference and to optimize the performance correspondingly. Variable selectivity of at least one power estimation circuit is achieved using a filter with variable bandwidth, with power measurements taken using different bandwidth settings. Also, the actual method of optimizing the receiver performance is novel compared to the prior art in that the gain settings and the baseband filter order (stages to be used) will be optimized based on the nature of the interference as determined by the power detector measurements. For a device such as a cellular phone that operates in a dynamic and changing environment where interference is variable, embodiments advantageously provide the capability to modify the receiver's operational state depending on the interference.
US08886147B2 Concurrent impedance and noise matching transconductance amplifier and receiver implementing same
According to one embodiment, a concurrent impedance and noise matching transconductance amplifier designed for implementation in a receiver comprises an input device configured to couple to a matching network of the receiver, and a boost capacitor connected to the input device to increase an input capacitance of the transconductance amplifier. The boost capacitor is selected to substantially minimize the receiver noise and to enable the concurrent impedance and noise matching of the receiver and the matching network. In one embodiment, the receiver comprises the transconductance amplifier to provide an amplified receive signal, and a mixer to produce a down-converted signal corresponding to the amplified receive signal, wherein the mixer is coupled to the transconductance amplifier by a blocking capacitor. The blocking capacitor is selected to substantially increase an amplitude ratio of the down-converted signal to the amplified receive signal to substantially increase the front-end gain of the receiver.
US08886144B2 Compensation apparatus for receiver asymmetric wide passband frequency response with 25% duty cycle passive mixer
A receiver compensation method comprising receiving a radio frequency signal, amplifying the radio frequency signal, thereby producing an amplified signal, compensating the amplified signal, thereby producing a compensated signal, and mixing the compensated signal, thereby producing a mixed compensated signal, wherein the mixed compensated signal has a first gain difference between a positive differential from a center frequency and a negative differential from the center frequency and wherein the first gain differential is smaller than a second gain differential that would be obtained by mixing the amplified signal without compensating the amplified signal.
US08886143B2 RF transceiver and modem comprising such a transceiver
A LTE compliant RF transceiver includes at least one transmit path and at least two receive paths. A switching arrangement connected between a transmit PLL synthesizer and at least one transmit path as well as between a receive PLL synthesizer and at least two receive paths allows the transmit PLL synthesizer to selectively be connected to the receive side of the transceiver as well as the receive PLL synthesizer to selectively be connected to the transmit side of the transceiver, thereby considerably increasing flexibility of the RF transceiver which enables both speed-up of handover procedures and power savings. A modem including the transceiver is also provided.
US08886142B2 Method and apparatus for sensing inter-modulation to improve radio performance in single and dual tuner
A method of performing alternate frequency switching in a radio includes tuning the radio to a primary frequency. A candidate alternate frequency is identified. It is determined whether the candidate alternate frequency is a third order inter-modulation artifact. Tuning is switched from the primary frequency to the candidate alternate frequency only if it is determined in the determining step that the candidate alternate frequency is not a third order inter-modulation artifact.
US08886141B2 Semiconductor device and adjustment method therefor
Provided is a semiconductor device that is capable of performing background calibration during a reception operation without adversely affecting reception characteristics. During a reception operation, the semiconductor device detects a timing at which an invalid received signal occurs upon a gain change or a reception channel change and performs background calibration at the detected timing. In this instance, as the received signal is invalid, performing the calibration does not further decrease the substantial accuracy of reception. Moreover, an unnecessary signal component, which would arise when the background calibration is performed at fixed intervals, will not be generated as far as the background calibration is performed at random timing.
US08886138B2 Wireless communication system, wireless transmitter, and control program for wireless transmitter
By switching between an SFBC and a CDD according to required transmission power in an uplink, the transmission diversity of the uplink is efficiently performed. A wireless transmitter which includes transmitting antennas 21-1, 21-2 and selects any of plural kinds of transmission diversity scheme to perform the transmission diversity includes a transmission power deciding section 14 that decides transmission power based on information notified from a receiver which is a transmission destination, a transmission diversity scheme selecting section 15 that selects any one of the plural kinds of transmission diversity schemes based on the decided transmission power, and a switching section 16, an SFBC coding section 17, a CDD section 18, IFFT sections 19-1, 19-2, CP inserting sections 20-1, 20-2, and the transmitting antennas 21-1, 21-2, which perform wireless transmission to the receiver using the selected transmission diversity scheme.
US08886132B2 Controlling power saving mode in radio
The disclosure relates to controlling the operational mode of a radio in a wireless device, with an aim to reducing power consumption. A method of controlling the operational mode of a radio in a wireless device, includes executing at least one application, that provides access information for use by radio control logic to determine an operational mode of a radio, where the said access information defines usage of the radio by that application.
US08886128B2 Method and system for providing proximity-relationship group creation
An approach for enabling computing devices to establish and recognize a relationship group based on physical proximity is described. A proximity management platform monitors a plurality of activities of a mobile device. The monitored activities include communications with one or more devices within a predetermined proximity of the mobile device. The proximity management platform stores the monitored activities and associated timing information.
US08886126B2 Resolution algorithms for multi-radio coexistence
Systems and methodologies are described herein that facilitate resolution between respective radios associated with a multi-radio wireless device. As described herein, various techniques can be utilized with a multi-radio coexistence manager and/or other suitable mechanisms associated with a wireless device to perform joint resolution for multiple associated radios, thereby providing performance enhancements over conventional piecewise radio resolution schemes. Various exhaustive, decoupled, and progressive radio resolution algorithms are provided herein, by which respective sets of parameters (e.g., transmit powers, interference targets, frequency sub-bands, radio frequency knob settings, etc.) can be selected for respective potentially conflicting radios to enable such radios to operate in coexistence. Further, techniques are provided herein for utilizing a graph theoretic algorithm for progressive radio resolution. In addition, a generic power resolution algorithm can be modified to provide support for multi-transmitter interference mechanisms by employing modifications such as joint power resolution and/or one-pass or iterative interference partitioning.
US08886125B2 Distance-based association
Various operations may be performed based on a distance-related function associated with two or more devices. For example, an association procedure for two or more devices may be based on one or more determined distances. Similarly, presence management may be based on one or more determined distances. A distance-related function may take various form including, for example, a distance between devices, two or more distances between devices, a rate of change in a relative distance between devices, relative acceleration between devices, or some combination of two or more of the these distance-related functions.
US08886124B2 Communication device and communication method
A relay device performs Near Field Communication with a terminal device that is a communication terminal device, and processes information received from the terminal device. A loop antenna receives radio waves from the terminal device; an NFC unit performs Near Field Communication with the terminal device via a loop antenna, and receives from the terminal device application identification information, which identifies an application that processes the information received from the terminal device. A controller acquires an application corresponding to the received application identification information, and causes the acquired application to run.
US08886123B2 Power level indicator
An electronic device is provided that is adapted to generate a supply voltage at an input node from a radio frequency (RF) signal. The electronic device includes a limiter coupled to the input node for limiting a supply voltage level at the input node that is generated by the received RF signal. The limiter is configured to draw a limiter current from the input node so as to limit the supply voltage level to a maximum and a magnitude of the limiter current is used for controlling a power consumption of the electronic device.
US08886119B2 Coordinating multiple contactless data carriers
A contactless transponder device is provided with multiple ICs. A first IC includes a first contactless transponder interface circuit configured and arranged to respond to a contactless field by providing a first identifier of the first IC. A second IC includes a second contactless transponder interface circuit configured and arranged to respond to the contactless field by providing a second identifier of the second IC. A controller is configured and arranged to inhibit the first IC from responding to the contactless field.
US08886113B2 Centralized control of relay operation
Techniques for centralized control of relay operation are described. In an aspect, a designated network entity (e.g., a base station or a network controller) may control the operation of relay stations within its coverage area. The network entity may select certain user equipments (UEs) to be relay UEs that can serve as relay stations for other UEs, e.g., based on pathloss between the UEs and a base station, the locations of the UEs, battery power levels of the UEs, fairness considerations, etc. The network entity may also select a specific relay UE to serve as a relay station for a client UE desiring to communicate with a base station, e.g., based on pilot measurements from relay UEs for the client UE. The network entity may also control transmission of discovery pilots by relay UEs and/or client UEs for relay detection.
US08886111B2 Quad-roll media curling apparatus, systems, and methods
A quad-roll curler apparatus includes a first roll, a second roll, a third roll, and a fourth roll. The curler apparatus is adjustable to a first processing configuration wherein three of the four rolls are engaged to impart a curl in a sheet in a first direction. The curler apparatus is adjustable to a second sheet processing configuration wherein three of the four rolls are engaged to impart a curl in a sheet in a second direction that is different from the first direction.
US08886109B2 Cleaning unit, process cartridge, and electrophotographic image forming apparatus
A cleaning unit including: frame abutment portions each including a first abutment portion and a second abutment portion; support portions each including a first support portion which abuts against the first abutment portion, and a second support portion which abuts against the second abutment portion so as to support a cleaning member in a pivotable manner about the frame abutment portions as a pivot axis; and an urging member configured to urge the cleaning member in a direction in which an elastic member is brought into contact with a photosensitive drum by pivoting the cleaning member.
US08886104B2 Fixing apparatus for a sheet-fed electrophotographic printer
A fixing apparatus includes a fixing drum having a heating heater internally equipped therein, the fixing drum positioned spaced part and downstream from a sheet delivery site at a downstream-most side of printing units and is adapted to rotate at a peripheral speed identical to a speed of travel of the sheet of paper. A first sprocket is positioned adjoining the sheet delivery site at the downstream-most side of the printing units, and a second sprocket is positioned coaxially with the fixing drum and being adapted to rotate integrally with the fixing drum. A conveyer chain having a gripper is wound around and engaging with the first and second sprockets to wind and convey a sheet of paper on a peripheral surface of the fixing drum upon gripping in turn with the gripper the sheet of paper traveling from the sheet delivery site at the downstream-most side.
US08886098B2 Apparatus and method to control media wrinkling through roll flaring
According to aspects of the embodiments, an electrophotographic system utilizing a belt roll fuser mechanism which inhibits or minimizes wrinkling or slipping of printed media through the fuser is disclosed. In this device, the belt is driven at the ideal velocity at all locations across the width of the roll with minimal differential shear stress between the internal pressure roll and the inside of the belt in the nip and around the wrap. The ideal velocity is achieved by straining the circumference belt while its mounted on a roll support structure by flaring the other rolls equally and flaring the internal pressure roll to match the strained circumference of the belt. A small flaring of the rolls in the belt module would reduce sliding of the belt and make the transition between the wraps or the stripper shoe less stressful.
US08886097B2 Cleaning system control method, fixing device, and image forming apparatus incorporating same
A fixing device includes a rotary fuser member, a rotary pressure member, and a cleaning system. The rotary fuser member is subjected to heating. The rotary pressure member is disposed opposite the fuser member. The cleaning system includes a cleaning web, a feeding mechanism, a positioning mechanism, and a controller. The cleaning web is disposed adjacent to the pressure member to wipe the pressure member. The feeding mechanism is operatively connected to the cleaning web to feed a new, unused portion of the cleaning web toward the pressure member. The positioning mechanism is operatively connected to at least one of the cleaning web and the pressure member to position the cleaning web and the pressure member with respect to each other. The controller is operatively connected with the feeding mechanism and the positioning mechanism to control feeding and positioning of the cleaning web.
US08886096B2 Belt-shaped member for image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus
A belt-shaped member for image forming apparatus, satisfying the following relationships: E1≧E2; and H2>H1 wherein E1 represents an elastic modulus of a center of the belt-shaped member in a thrust direction; E2 represents an elastic modulus of an end thereof; H1 is a breaking elongation of the center; and H2 represents a breaking elongation of the end.
US08886094B2 Toner supply device and image forming apparatus
A toner supply device including a casing and a shutter member. The casing includes a toner container for containing toner, a discharge aperture for discharging the toner from the toner container, and an aperture. The shutter member includes an elastic part having at least one bending portion and the elastic part is elastically deformable. The shutter member is insertable into the casing through the aperture to be movable between a closed position at which the discharge aperture is closed and an opened position at which the discharge aperture is opened while the elastic part is kept elastically deformed.
US08886091B2 Detachable unit and image forming apparatus
A detachable unit includes a detachable unit body to be attached to an image forming apparatus body such as to be detachable in a predetermined detachment direction, a grip part provided in the detachable unit body, and a latch portion provided in the detachable unit body, the latch portion being latched in a latched portion provided in the image forming apparatus body to restrict detachment of the detachable unit body from the image forming apparatus body in a state in which the detachable unit body is attached to the image forming apparatus body, and withdrawing from a latch position in the latched portion in conjunction with a pull-out operation of pulling out the grip part from the detachable unit body in the detachment direction.
US08886087B2 Photosensitive drum driving head and driving mechanism of image forming apparatus
The invention relates to a photosensitive drum driving head, which comprises drum flange, drum shaft and boss, wherein the drum flange is disposed on the end portion of a photosensitive drum and connected with the photosensitive drum; the drum shaft is axially extended from the end portion of the drum flange; the boss is axially extended from the end face of the drum shaft and engaged with a recess in a driving head of image forming apparatus; three vertical convex teeth radially extended along the boss and engaged with power transmission portions are formed on side wall of the boss, perpendicular to the drum shaft, extended along an axial line of the photosensitive drum, and provided with mating surfaces formed by longitudinal cutting angles on end faces of the vertical convex teeth; at least one mating surface is engaged with an edge of a twisted bevel of the recess.
US08886085B2 Image forming apparatus
The image forming apparatus includes a separating member, which is provided between a light emitting device and a drum bearing portion, for supporting the light emitting device to a separated position when the cartridge is shipped while being packed together, the separating member being provided to a regulating member for regulating a supply of a developer at a shipping mode. With this structure, when the image forming apparatus is shipped while the cartridge is packed together, the light emitting device as an exposure apparatus and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum is separated from each other, whereby the reliability during the transportation while packing the cartridge together may be enhanced.
US08886084B2 Photosensitive-member unit and image forming apparatus
A pressing member applies a pressing force to a trailing end in a direction which intersects a predetermined reference direction, allowing the pressing force to have both a first component in the predetermined reference direction and a second component perpendicular to the predetermined reference direction. A trailing end is pressed in the predetermined reference direction by the first component. In the mounted state, the leading end is in contact with the reference member at two contact surfaces including a first contact surface and a second contact surface. The first contact surface defines a first positioning direction being perpendicular to the first contact surface and intersecting the predetermined reference direction. The second contact surface defines a second positioning direction being perpendicular to the second contact surface and intersecting both the predetermined reference direction and the first positioning direction, allowing the photosensitive-member unit to be positioned with respect to the main body.
US08886080B2 Cleaner unit for removing waste toner within an image forming device
A device for cleaning a photoconductive member in an image forming device. The device includes a blade extending across the photoconductive member and having an edge that contacts a surface of the photoconductive member to remove toner therefrom. An elongated seal disposed adjacent the blade extends across a length of the blade such that an opening for receiving removed toner is formed between the elongated seal and the blade. The elongated seal includes at least one tab projecting at each longitudinal end thereof and extending between the blade and the photoconductive member so as to prevent a longitudinal end section of the edge of the blade from contacting the surface of the photoconductive member.
US08886079B2 Image forming apparatus and cooling device for developer mixing container
An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier configured to carry an electrostatic latent image thereon; a developing device to render the electrostatic latent image visible with a developer including toner and a carrier; a developer container to contain the developer collected from the developing device; a developer conveyance path through which the developer discharged from the developer container is conveyed to the developing device; a coolant conveyance path to convey a coolant; and a cooling device to cool the developer contained in the developer container when the coolant is contacted to an external surface of the developer container, in which the developer container and the coolant conveyance path are made of different materials and a thermal conductivity of the developer container is higher than that of the coolant conveyance path.
US08886077B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form a toner image on a recording material, a fixing unit configured to fix the toner image on the recording material by heat, a cooling air generating unit configured to generate a cooling air, and an air supplying unit configured to supply the cooling air toward the image forming unit. In addition, a primary water absorbing portion is configured to absorb water generated by the cooling air generating unit, and a secondary water absorbing portion is disposed at a position lower than the primary water absorbing portion in a gravitational direction and configured to absorb the water supplied through the primary water absorbing portion. An air blowing unit blows air warmed by the fixing unit toward the primary and secondary water absorbing portions to evaporate the water absorbed in the first and secondary water absorbing portions.
US08886074B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a power supply circuit, at least one motor configured to receive electric power from the power supply circuit, a photosensitive body configured to be rotated by the motor for forming an image on a sheet, a charger configured to charge the photosensitive body, a high voltage generation circuit configured to receive electric power from the power supply circuit and generate a high voltage applied to the charger, and a control device. The control device is configured to determine whether a motor activation condition to activate the motor is satisfied, determine whether a limitation condition to limit a peak of a current output from the power supply circuit is satisfied, and regulate the current flowing through the high-voltage generation circuit if the motor activation condition and the limitation condition are satisfied.
US08886073B2 Image forming apparatus that carries out image formation using electrophotographic method
An image forming apparatus which is capable of extending the life of relay contacts even when a noise filter circuit is disposed downstream of relays on paths over which commercial alternating-current power is supplied. First and second relays disposed in respective ones of two supply paths that are different in polarity, over which power is supplied, and switch supply and shut off of the power. The noise filter circuit filers out noise on the supply paths. When supply of alternating-current power to a power supplied device disposed downstream of the noise filter is started, one of the relays is switched into supply state first, and then the other one is switched into supply state so that the number of times each relay is switched into supply state first per predetermined number of times power is supplied can be substantially equal between the first and second relays.
US08886072B2 PWM generating unit, image forming apparatus, and image forming method
A PWM generating unit may include a base duty setting register configured to store a base duty value that is set thereto, and a PWM generator to obtain a corrected duty value by correcting the base duty value based on first correction data and second correction data, and to generate a PWM signal according to the corrected duty value. The first correction data may be computed from a rotation period of a first rotational body, and the second correction data may be computed from a rotation period of a second rotational body.
US08886068B2 Image forming apparatus with transfer voltage control
The present invention is directed to realizing a suitable electrical setting of a transferring unit as well as calculating the setting earlier than a conventional method. To achieve this, an image forming apparatus performs forcible light emission at an activation of a laser beam and automatic transferring voltage control (ATVC) concurrently. Then the image forming apparatus further corrects a result obtained by the ATVC during the forcible light emission and performs suitable electrical setting of a transferring unit.
US08886062B2 Image forming apparatus and image forming method
An image forming apparatus having a system speed of from 400 to 1,700 mm/sec, including a latent image bearer; an image developer developing the latent image with two-component developer including a toner and a carrier; a transferer, a toner concentration detector; a toner feeder; and a controller, wherein the toner comprises a release agent and a binder resin including a crystalline polyester resin and an amorphous resin, wherein a ratio (W/R) of a maximum rising peak height (W) of the crystalline polyester resin to a maximum rising peak height (R) of the amorphous resin, which are observed respective infrared absorption spectra when measured by an IR spectroscopy using a Fourier transform infrared spectroanalyzer, is from 0.22 to 0.55.
US08886061B2 Developer detection device capable of detecting amount developer in developer accommodating container
A developer detection device includes: a rotating member including a first part and a second part being joined to the first part, the first part having a light-blocking section and a light-passing section, the second part temporarily stopping rotating at a rotation position corresponding to a developer upper surface position of developer stored in an accommodating container; a rotation driving member pushing the rotating member in a predetermined rotation direction; and a detecting unit including a light-emitting unit and a light-receiving unit; wherein the rotating member is formed so that when the second part is at a lower position in the accommodating container, the light-passing section is positioned on an optical path from the light-emitting unit to the light-receiving unit.
US08886060B2 Print apparatus and method of controlling the same, and storage medium and cartridge
In a print apparatus having a photosensitive drum used for color printing, the number of sheets on which color printing has been performed and the number of sheets on which monochrome printing has been performed are obtained. It is determined whether or not the lifetime of the photosensitive drum used for color printing has expired based on a threshold value determined based on the ratio between the number of sheets on which color printing has been performed and the number of sheets on which monochrome printing has been performed and the sum of the number of sheets on which the color printing has been performed and the number of sheets on which the monochrome printing has been performed.
US08886057B2 Optical receiver, signal processor, and optical receiving method
An optical receiver includes a splitter that splits a local oscillator lightwave into a first local oscillator lightwave and a second local oscillator lightwave; a measurement unit that measures phase variation of the first local oscillator lightwave; a receiving unit that receives a signal lightwave and the second local oscillator lightwave and mixes these lightwaves and converts the mixed lightwaves into digital signal; a dispersion compensator that reduces chromatic dispersion of the digital signal; a phase processing unit that rotates phase of the dispersion-reduced signal based on the phase variation; and a discriminating unit that discriminates the phase-rotated signal.
US08886053B2 Multi-frequency dual-use system
The present invention relates to the dual-use of radiation, for example, but not limited to, visible or infrared light, for both a conventional application, e.g., illumination, combined with the additional or “dual-use” application of transmitting information without wires.
US08886051B2 Skew compensation and tracking in communications systems
Compensation for in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) timing skew and offset in an optical signal may be achieved based on the correlation between derivatives of I and Q samples in the optical signal. The magnitude of the correlation between derivatives is measured to determine the presence of skew. Correlation between derivatives may be coupled with frequency offset information and/or with trials having additional positive and negative skew to determine presence of skew. Correlations are determined according to pre-defined time periods to provide for continued tracking and compensation for timing skew that may result from, for example, thermal drift.
US08886049B2 Filter-based DPSK communications system
A filter-based method of demodulating differentially encoded phase shift keyed (DPSK) optical signals, such as commonly used binary-DPSK (DBDPSK) and quadrature DPSK (DQPSK) signals, that can achieve optimal receiver sensitivity is described. This approach, which combines filtering and differential phase comparison, can reduce the complexity and cost of DPSK receivers by obviating delay-line interferometer-based demodulation. This can improve receiver stability and reduce size, weight, and power, while maintaining the ability to achieve optimal communications performance.
US08886046B2 Intrapersonal data communication system
Intrapersonal communication systems and methods that provide an optical digital signal link between two or more local devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, the system includes a first signal converter disposed at a first end of the optical digital signal link and configured to convert between electrical digital signals from a first local device and optical digital signals from the optical digital signal link. The system can include an optical connector having a non-contact portion configured to couple optical digital signals between the first signal converter and the optical digital signal link across a gap. The system can include a second signal converter disposed at a second end of the optical digital signal link and configured to convert between electrical digital signals from the second local device and optical digital signals from the optical digital signal link.
US08886043B2 Optical network system, optical line terminal, optical network unit and optical distribution network apparatus
The disclosure provides an optical network system, an Optical Line Terminal (OLT), an Optical Network Unit (ONU) and an Optical Distribution Network (ODN) apparatus. The system includes: an OLT configured to modulate and encode at least one line of time-division-multiplexed downlink signals, synthesize the downlink signals encoded into one line and then output it, receive uplink signals, and decode the uplink signals received and then output them; an ODN configured to separate the downlink signals received into multiple lines and then output them, synthesize the uplink signals received into one line, and then output it to the OLT; and ONUs configured to receive the downlink signals output from the ODN, decode the downlink signals received and output them, encode one line of time-division-multiplexed uplink signals, and output the uplink signals encoded to the ODN. Decoding of the downlink signals and encoding of the uplink signals can further be implemented by the ODN. By means of the solution of the disclosure, a hybrid Passive Optical Network (PON) system based on a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technology and an Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) technology.
US08886036B2 Optical line terminal for monitoring and controlling upstream/downstream optical signals
Disclosed is an optical line terminal for monitoring and controlling upstream and downstream optical signals, and more particularly, to an optical line terminal for monitoring and controlling upstream and downstream optical signals, which adds different low frequency monitoring signals to upstream and downstream wavelength division multiplexing optical signals in a bidirectional wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical network and senses and detects low frequency components of upstream and downstream optical signals to unite, monitor, and control optical outputs and wavelengths of the upstream and downstream wavelength division multiplexing optical signals into a single system.
US08886035B2 Optical line terminal in time division multiple access passive optical network and method for processing optical signal thereof
Proposed is an efficient method of configuration of a transmitter and a receiver for realizing an optical transmission/reception module apparatus including at least one transmission wavelength and two or more reception wavelengths over a time division multiple access passive optical network or an optical network using multiple transmission/reception wavelengths. Further, proposed is a method of configuration of an apparatus which enables optical alignment and assembly in a single package by using a single lens and three different WDM optical filters for a reception module capable of receiving four wavelengths.
US08886034B2 Systems and methods for optical receiver decision threshold optimization
The present invention provides systems and methods for a receiver threshold optimization loop to provide self-contained automatic adjustment in a compact module, such as a pluggable optical transceiver. The receiver threshold optimization loop utilizes a performance metric associated with the receiver, such as FEC, to optimize performance of the receiver. The receiver is optimized through a change in the receiver threshold responsive to the performance metric. Advantageously, the present invention provides improved receiver performance through a continuous adjustment that is self-contained within the receiver, such as within a pluggable optical transceiver compliant to a multi-source agreement (MSA). The receiver threshold optimization loop can include a fine and a coarse sweep of adjustment from an initial setting.
US08886033B2 Enhanced status monitoring, storage and reporting for optical transceivers
An optical transceiver and methods for using the same are disclosed. The optical transceiver and methods may be useful for providing more accurate information regarding trends in operation of the optical transceiver, predicting an impending failure of the optical transceiver, and providing details of the optical transceiver prior to failure. The optical transceiver generally includes (1) at least one of (i) a receiver configured to receive optical information and (ii) a transmitter configured to transmit optical information, (2) circuitry configured to sample data for one or more operational parameters of the receiver and/or transmitter, (3) logic configured to perform one or more statistical calculations on the sampled data to generate statistical information, and (iv) one or more memories configured to store the sampled data and the statistical information.
US08886028B2 Flash module and image capturing system
A flash module including a main body, a fixing base, a rotating structure, a switch and a linking structure is disclosed. The rotating structure is movably connected between the main body and the fixing base. The switch has a moving part. The linking structure is connected between the rotating structure and the moving part. The linking structure moves the moving part to an open position from a close position and rotates the rotating structure, so that the main body is moved relative to the fixing base.
US08886024B2 Portable air conditioning apparatus
An air conditioning apparatus is provided with an air plenum in fluid communication with an air inlet and an air outlet. A fan moves air through the air plenum. An interchangeable air conditioning core is removably installed within the air plenum and interposed between the air inlet and air outlet such that air moving along an air pathway is forced to proceed through the interchangeable air conditioning core.
US08886023B2 Blind-spot image display system for vehicle, and blind-spot image display method for vehicle
A see-through side view monitor system includes a camera, an external monitor, and an image processing controller having an image deformation unit configured to perform point-of-view conversion on a real camera image signal inputted from the camera into a blind-spot image that is viewed from the position of the driver's point of view. A vehicle cabin image formation unit is configured to form a vehicle cabin image that is viewed from the position of the driver's point of view. An image composition device is configured to generate a transparent display image showing a blind-spot image transmitted through a semi-see-through vehicle cabin image, and an image composition device is configured to generate an animation display image showing the blind-spot image to be shifted stepwise from the vehicle cabin image.
US08886021B2 Recording medium having data structure for managing reproduction of at least video data recorded thereon and recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses
The recording medium has a navigation area storing at least one navigation file. The navigation file includes navigation commands for managing reproduction of at least video data forming different parental control reproduction paths.
US08886017B2 Display image generating method
An image processing apparatus including an input terminal that receives a plurality of image units that are temporally or spatially continuous; an image processing unit that performs image processing on the plurality of image units by iteratively performing the image processing on subsets of the plurality of image units; and a display image generating unit that controls a display to display the plurality of image units when the image processing unit begins performing the image processing; display, at a time of a completion of intermediate processing of a subset of the plurality of image units by the image processing unit, an intermediate processed image including the processed subset of the plurality of image data units; and display, after completion of the processing of the plurality of image units by the image processing unit, a complete processed image including the processed plurality of image data units.
US08886015B2 Efficient media import
Some embodiments provide a media-editing application. The application receives a command to import a media file into the media-editing application. The media file includes a sequence of video images. The application copies the media file to a storage location associated with the media-editing application. The method performs several analysis and transcode operations on the media file in parallel. In some embodiments, the application identifies a video image on which to the operations. The application schedules a single set of image preparation operations for the video image to generate one or more sets of image data for the operations. The method sends the image data to the different operations. A same set of image data is sent to at least two of the operations.
US08886012B2 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
An information processing apparatus includes: a detecting section that detects feature information of at least one AV stream; a recording section that records the AV streams, clip information defining attributes including the detected feature information, and playback-segment data specifying at least one playback segment to a storage medium in accordance with a predetermined data-recording format, the playback-segment data being obtained by setting a playback start point and a playback end point with respect to the AV streams; a playback-segment setting section that sets the playback segments with respect to the AV streams on the basis of detection time point of the feature information; and a data generating section that generates the playback-segment data specifying the playback segments set by the playback-segment setting section.
US08886008B2 Microcomputer, system including the same, and data transfer device
A microcomputer is provided, which can load data of different areas in parallel and transfer the loaded data to a storage circuit. The microcomputer includes a CPU to control a DRIs each of which loads image data of a prescribed area out of image data inputted from a camera and transfers the image data to a memory blocks, and the DRIs each of which transfers image data of respectively different area out of the image data inputted from the camera to the memory blocks. Therefore, it becomes possible to load image data of different areas in parallel and to transfer the loaded image data to the memory blocks.
US08886007B2 Apparatus and method of transmitting/receiving multimedia playback enhancement information, VBI data, or auxiliary data through digital transmission means specified for multimedia data transmission
A data transmission interface apparatus, communicating with another data transmission interface apparatus through a digital transmission means for transmitting multimedia data, includes a processor for processing multimedia data; and a data converting circuit, coupled to the processor, for converting a plurality of first multimedia data sets generated from the processor into a plurality of second multimedia data sets; and for converting a plurality of first auxiliary data sets into a plurality of second auxiliary data sets. The first auxiliary data set and the second auxiliary data set include closed caption information.
US08885997B2 NED polarization system for wavelength pass-through
A system and method are disclosed for providing uniform color distribution of light emitted from a light source to an eye box in a near eye display (NED). An example of the system and method uses an optical element including two or more waveguides optimized to different colors of the visible light spectrum. The optical element further includes one or more polarization state generators for controlling the polarization of light incident on the waveguides to facilitate coupling of light into a matched waveguide, and to impede coupling of light into unmatched waveguides.
US08885996B2 Optical device with a CMOS-compatible echelle grating
An optical multiplexer/de-multiplexer (MUX/de-MUX) includes a two-dimensional pattern of features in a propagation region that conveys an optical signal having wavelengths. A given feature in this pattern has a characteristic length and the features have an average pitch, both of which are less than fundamental smallest of the wavelengths divided by an effective index of refraction of the propagation region. Moreover, an optical device in the optical MUX/de-MUX images and diffracts the optical signal using a reflective geometry, and provides the imaged and diffracted optical signal to output ports. For example, the optical device may include an echelle grating.
US08885995B2 Light-guide solar energy concentrator
A light-guide solar concentrator that requires less precision to assemble and manufacture than some other two-layer solar concentrators has a light-condensing layer and an optical waveguide layer. The light-condensing layer includes a plurality of focusing elements for focusing incident sunlight and a plurality of corresponding collimating elements for collimating the light for output to the optical waveguide layer. The optical waveguide layer receives the collimated light and has a plurality of deflectors for redirecting the light for lateral transmission through the optical waveguide layer toward an exit surface. A secondary optic optically coupled to the exit surface can also be provided to redirect the light toward a light collection area where a solar energy collector can be placed to harvest the concentrated sunlight.
US08885985B2 Systems and methods for polarization mode dispersion mitigation
In one exemplary embodiment, a method comprises transmitting an optical signal via the optical line, measuring a relative change in spectral intensity of the optical signal near a clock frequency (or half of that frequency) while varying a polarization of the optical signal between a first state of polarization and a second state of polarization, and using the relative change in spectral intensity of the optical signal to determine and correct the DGD of the optical line. Another method comprises splitting an optical signal traveling through the optical line into a first and second portions having a first and second principal states of polarization of the optical line, converting the first and second portions into a first and second electrical signals, delaying the second electrical signal to create a delayed electrical signal that compensates for a DGD of the optical line, and combining the delayed electrical signal with the first electrical signal to produce a fixed output electrical signal.
US08885983B2 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.
US08885977B2 Automatically extending a boundary for an image to fully divide the image
Some embodiments provide a method for editing an image. For a displayed image, the method draws a partial boundary based on movement of a cursor over the image. The partial boundary does not fully divide the image into a region of interest and a second region. Upon completion of the cursor movement, the method automatically extends at least one end of the boundary in order to divide the image into the region of interest and the second region. The method applies edits (e.g., color correction) to only the region of interest of the image. In some embodiments, automatically extending at least one end of the boundary involves (i) extending one or both of the ends to points at which the boundary ends intersect borders of the image and (ii) connecting the boundary from the intersection points along the borders of the image.
US08885976B1 Systems and methods for performing image fusion
A method implemented in an image processing system for combining multi-exposure images comprises obtaining a plurality of images each having different exposure levels for a same scene. A merged weight map for at least one obtained image is constructed by determining at least one merged weight value for at least one pixel of each obtained image based on characteristics of the pixel, wherein the merged weight map comprises a weight map corresponding to the plurality of images. A Gaussian pyramid and a Laplacian pyramid of each obtained image are generated, and a Gaussian pyramid of the merged weight map is generated. A merged Gaussian pyramid and a merged Laplacian pyramid are generated based on the Gaussian pyramid of the merged weight map. An intermediate pyramid is generated based on the merged Laplacian pyramid, and a resultant image is constructed by blending the merged Gaussian pyramid with the intermediate pyramid.
US08885973B2 Method for determining distortions in a particle-optical apparatus
The invention relates to a method of determining the distortions in the projection system of a TEM, and a method of correcting for these aberrations. The aberrations are determined by collecting a large number of images of a sample, the sample slightly displaced between each acquisition of an image. On the images sub-fields (303, 304-i) showing identical parts of the sample are compared. These sub-fields (303, 304-i) will show small differences, corresponding to differential aberrations. In this way the differential aberrations in a large number of points can determined, after which the aberrations for each point can be determined by integration. By now correcting the position of each detected pixel in an image to be displayed, the displayed image has much reduced aberrations. An advantage of the method according to the invention is that no highly accurate steps of the sample are needed, nor is a sample with known geometry needed.
US08885972B2 Straightening out distorted perspective on images
Methods for correcting distortions in an image including text, or an image of a page that includes text, are disclosed. The methods include identifying reliable and substantially straight lines from elements in the image. Vanishing points are determined from the lines. Parameters associated with a rectangle are determined. A coordinate conversion is performed.
US08885970B2 Image processing apparatus, method, and medium for correcting pixel values using parameters corresponding to image spatial frequencies
Image processing apparatus in which a spatial frequency around a pixel of interest and a statistic value of pixel values around the pixel of interest are calculated based on a pixel value of the pixel of interest and a pixel value of a pixel around the pixel of interest. Correction parameters are stored corresponding to sets of spatial frequencies and statistic values. A correction parameter is acquired corresponding to the spatial frequency around the pixel of interest and the statistic value of the pixel values around the pixel of interest, as a correction parameter for the pixel of interest. The pixel value of the pixel of interest is corrected using the correction parameter for the pixel of interest.
US08885969B2 Method and apparatus for detecting coding artifacts in an image
The present invention relates to a method and a corresponding apparatus for detecting coding artifacts in an image. The proposed apparatus comprises an edge position detector that detects an edge position of an edge in said image, a border position detector that detects a border position of a border between a texture area and a flat area in said image, and an artifact position defining unit that defines the area between said edge position and said border position as artifact area potentially comprising coding artifacts.
US08885968B2 Method and apparatus for image signal processing
Image signal processing method and apparatus having a first filter storage portion in which first filters are correlatively stored; a second filter storage portion in which second filters are correlatively stored; a first filter selection portion for selecting a first filter based on the power spectrum of the input image; a second filter selection portion for selecting a second filter based on the SIN (signal-to-noise ratio) of the input image; a third filter creation portion for creating a third filter by summing up the first and second filters; and a convolutional processing portion for convolving the input image using the created third filter.
US08885964B2 Projector, projection transform processing device, and image processing method in projector
A projector includes: a frame image storage unit that stores input image data input to the projector; a block image storage unit that stores a part of the input image data in terms of block image data including N×M (where N and M≧2) pixels; a correction processing unit that performs a correction process of correcting a distortion of the image projected onto the projection plane to generate corrected image data which is image data after correction on the basis of the block image data stored in the block image storage unit; and a block image predicting unit that, while the correction processing unit performs the correction process on a predetermined pixel, predicts the block image data necessary for the correction process on a pixel to be processed after the predetermined pixel.
US08885962B1 Realtime long range imaging scatter reduction
Aspects of the subject technology relate to methods and systems for removing haze from an input image. The system includes a polarimeter configured to receive an input image, the input image comprising haze corresponding to light scatter. The polarimeter is further configured to produce plural Stokes values based on received input image. The system also includes a signal processor coupled to the polarimeter. The signal processor is configured to determine a peak angle and a valley angle for the input image based on the plural Stokes values, where the peak angle corresponds to an angle at which the input image has the most amount of light scatter passing therethrough, and the valley angle corresponds to an angle at which the input image has the least amount of light scatter passing therethrough. The signal processor is further configured to perform removal of the haze from the input image based on the determined peak and valley angles.
US08885960B2 Linking photographs via face, time, and location
The subject disclosure is directed towards a technology in which metadata such as time, location and/or people identity data, and/or tag or album data that is associated with a photograph or other content may be used to serendipitously discover related content, from among many possible sources. The related content may be from any local or remote source, such as uploaded by multiple contributors corresponding to content captured during a social event, and may be presented in an integrated view in conjunction with a local photograph or other content. Different views of content and related content are automatically constructed from the metadata, providing different user experiences/scenarios without manual collection of the photos. Also described are notifications of newly detected related content, and face detection and recognition to obtain additional metadata.
US08885959B2 Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding image by using large transform unit
A method of decoding an image includes performing entropy-decoding to obtain quantized transformation coefficients of at least one transformation unit in a coding unit of the image, determining a prediction mode of at least one prediction unit in the coding unit from information indicating a prediction mode for the at least one prediction unit, when the prediction mode is determined to be an inter prediction mode, not in an intra prediction mode, determining a size of the at least one transformation unit in the coding unit regardless of a size of the at least one prediction unit in the coding unit, performing inverse-quantization and inverse-transformation on the quantized transformation coefficients of the at least one transformation unit to obtain residuals, and performing inter prediction for at least one prediction unit in the coding unit to generate a predictor and restoring the image by using the residuals and the predictor.
US08885948B2 Identifying and evaluating potential center stringers of a pallet in an image scene
A method is provided for evaluating a possible center stringer of a pallet. The method may comprise providing a first Ro image; providing a second Ro image comprising pixels that may generally correspond to an orthogonal distance from an origin point to one or more possible vertical right lines in the corresponding gray scale image; identifying, using a computer, a possible lower left corner location of a center stringer in the corresponding gray scale image; determining, using the computer, an upper left corner location based on the possible lower left corner location; identifying, using the computer, a possible lower right corner location of the center stringer in the corresponding gray scale image; and determining, using the computer, an upper right corner location based on the possible lower right corner location.
US08885944B2 Image evaluation device, image evaluation method, program, integrated circuit
A template includes a frame a and a frame b, in each of which an image is to be inserted. An object introduction degree (OI) is associated with a frame set ab, which is a combination of the frames a and b. For a pair of images arranged with respect to the frame set ab, the object introduction degree (OI), which is associated with the frame set ab, is calculated according to a characteristic value of each of the images in the pair of images. The calculated object introduction degree is used as an evaluation value of an arrangement pattern in which the pair of images is arranged with respect to the frame set ab.
US08885941B2 System and method for estimating spatially varying defocus blur in a digital image
An image editing application (or a blur classification module thereof) may automatically estimate a coherent defocus blur map from a single input image. The application may represent the blur spectrum as a differentiable function of radius r, and the optimal radius may be estimated by optimizing the likelihood function through a gradient descent algorithm. The application may generate the spectrum function over r through polynomial-based fitting. After fitting, the application may generate look-up tables to store values for the spectrum and for its first and second order derivatives, respectively. The use of these tables in the likelihood optimization process may significantly reduce the computational costs of a given blur estimation exercise. The application may minimize an energy function that includes a data term, a smoothness term, and a smoothness parameter that is adaptive to local image content. The output blur map may be used for image object depth estimation.
US08885940B2 Method of inserting an image into a container file
A method of inserting an image into a container file including reading source data including the image; opening the container file where the image will be stored, the container file comprising one or more records. Each record includes an image file section reserved for storing the image, an image metadata section reserved for storing data about the image, and a record metadata section having a status flag or status mark indicating whether the image file section is empty. The method further includes determining whether the source data is valid to be entered into a record in the one or more records; if the source of data is valid, preparing the record and the image metadata; and writing the record into the container file and marking the status mark of the record as being updated while writing the record into the container file.
US08885931B2 Mitigating use of machine solvable HIPs
One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for mitigating machine solvable human interactive proofs (HIPs). A classifier is trained over a set of one or more training HIPs that have known characteristics for OCR solvability and HIP solving pattern from actual use. A HIP classification is determined for a HIP (such as from a HIP library used by a HIP generator) using the trained classifier. If the HIP is classified by the trained classifier as a merely human solvable classification, such that it may not be solved by a machine, the HIP can be identified for use in the HIP generation system. Otherwise, the HIP can be altered to (attempt to) be merely human solvable.
US08885930B2 Image processing apparatus and image processing method
An image processing method is provided for an image processing apparatus which executes processing by allocating a plurality of weak discriminators to form a tree structure having branches corresponding to types of objects so as to detect objects included in image data. Each weak discriminator calculates a feature amount to be used in a calculation of an evaluation value of the image data, and discriminates whether or not the object is included in the image data by using the evaluation value. The weak discriminator allocated to a branch point in the tree structure further selects a branch destination using at least some of the feature amounts calculated by weak discriminators included in each branch destination.
US08885929B2 Abnormal behavior detection system and method using automatic classification of multiple features
Described herein are a system and a method for abnormal behavior detection using automatic classification of multiple features. Features from various sources, including those extracted from camera input through digital image analysis, are used as input to machine learning algorithms. These algorithms group the features and produce models of normal and abnormal behaviors. Outlying behaviors, such as those identified by their lower frequency, are deemed abnormal. Human supervision may optionally be employed to ensure the accuracy of the models. Once created, these models can be used to automatically classify features as normal or abnormal. This invention is suitable for use in the automatic detection of abnormal traffic behavior such as running of red lights, driving in the wrong lane, or driving against traffic regulations.
US08885919B2 Semiconductor fault analysis device and fault analysis method
A failure analysis apparatus 1A is provided with a voltage applying unit 14 for applying a bias voltage to a semiconductor device S, an imaging device 18 for acquiring an image, and an image processing unit 30 for performing image processing, and the imaging device 18 acquires a plurality of analysis images each including a thermal image in a voltage applied state and a plurality of background images in a voltage non-applied state. The image processing unit 30 includes an imaging position calculating section 32 for calculating an imaging position of each of the analysis images and the background images, an image classifying section 33 for classifying the analysis images and the background images into N image groups based on a region division unit prepared for the imaging position, and a difference image generating section 34 for generating difference images between the analysis images and the background images individually for N image groups. Accordingly, a semiconductor failure analysis apparatus and method capable of suppressing the effect of a shift in imaging position in a thermal analysis image of a semiconductor device can be realized.
US08885913B2 Detection of circulating tumor cells using imaging flow cytometry
An automated identification of the types of white blood cells in a blood sample facilitates the manual identification of cancerous or other abnormal blood cells in the sample. Classifiers are predetermined for each type of white blood cell and subsequently used to automatically process images of cells in a sample stained with a nuclear dye or stain. The classifiers each comprise a linear weighted combination of morphometric and photometric features previously selected for white blood cells that were identified using monoclonal antibody stains. Red blood cells and excess fluid are removed from a sample being processed upstream of an imaging region of the imaging system. A plurality of different types of images are produced for each cell by the imaging system enabling automated identification of the white blood cells. Images of any cells not thus identified are manually reviewed to detect cancerous or abnormal cells.
US08885909B2 Radiographic-image processing apparatus
A radiographic-image processing apparatus that can accurately remove striated artifacts superimposed onto image data taken by an FPD radiographic imaging device includes: a partitioning section that partitions a region, in which image data taken by a radiographic imaging device is arranged two-dimensionally, into segments; a mean-value computation section that computes mean values from the image data along the same scanning line in each segment; an edge compression section that compresses mean-value differentials in boundary regions between the imaged subject and the surroundings thereof; a filtering section that applies an adaptive filter to the differential-compressed profile; and a correction-data creation section that creates correction data on the basis of each datum in the adaptive-filtered profile. Image data in which noise is removed is generated by subtracting corresponding correction data from the image data.
US08885908B2 Method for acquiring a 3D image dataset for an image object
A method for acquiring a 3D image dataset for an image object based on a plurality of 2D image datasets relating to the image object is proposed. A scattered radiation is taken into account in an acquisition operator used in the method for the optimum reconstruction of the 3D image dataset. The acquisition operator should be as close as possible to the real mapping operator.
US08885904B2 Systems and methods for landmark correction in magnetic resonance imaging
Systems and methods for landmark correction in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are provided. One method includes acquiring at least one calibration image or at least one localizer image of an object, identifying in the calibration or localizer images a region of the object as a reference point, wherein the reference point defines a landmark position. The method further includes determining an offset between an initial landmark position and the identified landmark position. The method also includes using the determined offset for MRI.
US08885903B2 Method and apparatus for statistical iterative reconstruction
Methods and apparatus for statistical iterative reconstruction are provided. One method includes pre-processing acquired raw measurement data to modify the raw data measurement data and determining a change in a variance of the raw measurement data resulting from the modification to the raw measurement data during pre-processing. The method also includes reconstructing an image using the modified raw measurement data resulting from the pre-processing and the determined change in variance.
US08885901B1 Systems and methods for automated enhancement of retinal images
Embodiments disclose systems and methods that aid in screening, diagnosis and/or monitoring of medical conditions. The systems and methods may allow, for example, for automated identification and localization of lesions and other anatomical structures from medical data obtained from medical imaging devices, computation of image-based biomarkers including quantification of dynamics of lesions, and/or integration with telemedicine services, programs, or software.
US08885900B2 System and method for quality assurance in pathology
Systems and methods for improving quality assurance in pathology using automated quality assessment and digital image enhancements on digital slides prior to analysis by the pathologist are provided. A digital pathology system (slide scanning instrument and software) creates, assesses and improves the quality of a digital slide. The improved digital slide image has a higher image quality that results in increased efficiency and accuracy in the analysis and diagnosis of such digital slides when they are reviewed on a monitor by a pathologist. These improved digital slides yield a more objective diagnosis than reading the corresponding glass slide under a microscope.
US08885899B2 Method and a system for multi-dimensional visualization of the spinal column by vertebra vectors, sacrum vector, sacrum plateau vector and pelvis vector
A new system and method introducing vertebra vectors for the three-dimensional (3D) visualization and its use for the complete 3D characterization and numerical analysis of vertebrae in spinal deformities is covered in this application. A vertebra vector representing its respective vertebra means a simplification of the very complex visual information in digital images and 3D reconstructions provided by the current radiodiagnostic devices, without sacrificing relevant data for the information important to understand the underlying processes in spinal deformation: 3D mathematical data on vertebral size, position, orientation and rotation. A series of vertebra vectors of the thoracic and lumbar spinal region provide the ability of a virtual 3D reconstruction of the spine, in frontal, sagittal and horizontal plane. Conventional angulation measurement methods to describe and characterize the spinal column in the frontal and sagittal plane are preserved and readily applicable by methods using vertebra vectors as well.
US08885898B2 Matching of regions of interest across multiple views
Described herein is a framework for multi-view matching of regions of interest in images. According to one aspect, a processor receives first and second digitized images, as well as at least one CAD finding corresponding to a detected region of interest in the first image. The processor determines at least one candidate location in the second image that matches the CAD finding in the first image. The matching is performed based on local appearance features extracted for the CAD finding and the candidate location. In accordance with another aspect, the processor receives digitized training images representative of at least first and second views of one or more regions of interest. Feature selection is performed based on the training images to select a subset of relevant local appearance features to represent instances in the first and second views. A distance metric is then learned based on the subset of local appearance features. The distance metric may be used to perform matching of the regions of interest.
US08885894B2 Reduction of transaction fraud through the use of automatic centralized signature/sign verification combined with credit and fraud scoring during real-time payment card authorization processes
A dynamic signature/sign biometric verification system for detecting and preventing fraudulent transactions is described. The system comprises remote digital signature/sign input devices, a means to extract spatial and temporal features from the signature, a means to transmit the signature/sign features along with customer identifier information to a centralized signature/sign verification authority, a means for combining signature/sign feature verification with other forms of fraud detection technology, and a means for transmitting the results of a signature/sign verification back to the remote location where the signature/sign was captured. The system was primarily developed for use in payment card industries (e.g. credit cards, debit cards) but has applicability to other centralized signature/sign verification applications such as Automated Teller Machine authorizations and other identity theft detection and monitoring services.
US08885893B1 System and method for adaptive face recognition
A system and method for adaptive face recognition includes at least one electronic processor having a central processing unit. At least one database having a plurality of pixilated face images of known subjects of interest is associated with the processor. At least one test image of a new subject of interest is configured for input into the electronic processor. A classification processing tool is associated with the electronic processor. The classification processing tool is configured to build a dictionary and provide a classification match of the test image with one of the plurality of pixilated face images of known subjects of interest. At least one device is associated with the processor and configured to output the classification match in a tangible medium.
US08885892B2 Content extracting device, content extracting method and program
An information processing apparatus that obtains intimacy degree information corresponding to identification information of a first person, specifies an extraction period based on the intimacy degree information, and extracts content in the extraction period.
US08885891B2 System and method for analyzing data captured by a three-dimensional camera
In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a three-dimensional camera and a processor communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional camera. The processor is operable to determine a first edge of a dairy livestock, determine a second edge of the dairy livestock, determine a third edge of the dairy livestock, and determine a fourth edge of the dairy livestock.
US08885890B2 Depth map confidence filtering
An apparatus and method for filtering depth information received from a capture device. Depth information is filtered by using confidence information provided with the depth information based an adaptively created, optimal spatial filter on a per pixel basis. Input data including depth information is received on a scene. The depth information comprises a plurality of pixels, each pixel including a depth value and a confidence value. A confidence weight normalized filter for each pixel in the depth information is generated. The weight normalized filter is combined with the input data to provide filtered data to an application.
US08885888B2 In-vehicle apparatus for recognizing running environment of vehicle
An in-vehicle running-environment recognition apparatus including an input unit for inputting an image signal from in-vehicle imaging devices for photographing external environment of a vehicle, an image processing unit for detecting a first image area by processing the image signal, the first image area having a factor which prevents recognition of the external environment, an image determination unit for determining a second image area based on at least any one of size of the first image area, position thereof, and set-up positions of the in-vehicle imaging devices having the first image area, an environment recognition processing being performed in the second image area, the first image area being detected by the image processing unit, and an environment recognition unit for recognizing the external environment of the vehicle based on the second image area.
US08885885B2 Multi-cue object association
Multiple discrete objects within a scene image captured by a single camera track are distinguished as un-labeled from a background model within a first frame of a video data input. Object position and object appearance and/or object size attributes are determined for each of the blobs, and costs determined to assign to existing blobs of existing object tracks as a function of the determined attributes and combined to generate respective combination costs. The un-labeled object blob that has a lowest combined cost of association with any of the existing object tracks is labeled with the label of that track having the lowest combined cost, said track is removed from consideration for labeling remaining un-labeled object blobs, and the process iteratively repeated until each of the track labels have been used to label one of the un-labeled blobs.
US08885883B2 Enhancing GMAPD LADAR images using 3-D wallis statistical differencing
A method for processing XYZ point cloud of a scene acquired by a GmAPD LADAR includes: performing on a computing device a three-dimensional statistical differencing on the XYZ point cloud obtained from the GmAPD LADAR to produce a SD point cloud; and displaying an image of the SD point cloud.
US08885878B2 Interactive secret sharing
Interactive secret sharing includes receiving video data from a source and interpreting the video data to track an observed path of a device. In addition, position information is received from the device, and the position information is interpreted to track a self-reported path of the device. If the observed path is within a threshold tolerance of the self-reported path, access is provided to a restricted resource.
US08885877B2 Systems and methods for identifying gaze tracking scene reference locations
A system is provided for identifying reference locations within the environment of a device wearer. The system includes a scene camera mounted on eyewear or headwear coupled to a processing unit. The system may recognize objects with known geometries that occur naturally within the wearer's environment or objects that have been intentionally placed at known locations within the wearer's environment. One or more light sources may be mounted on the headwear that illuminate reflective surfaces at selected times and wavelengths to help identify scene reference locations and glints projected from known locations onto the surface of the eye. The processing unit may control light sources to adjust illumination levels in order to help identify reference locations within the environment and corresponding glints on the surface of the eye. Objects may be identified substantially continuously within video images from scene cameras to provide a continuous data stream of reference locations.
US08885874B2 Method and apparatus for embedding image-related information in image
A method of embedding image-related information in an image, the method including: receiving an image including a plurality of frames; receiving information related to the image; generating a codeword by encoding the image-related information; and embedding the image-related information in the image by substituting macroblocks included in at least one of the plurality of frames of the image based on the generated codeword.
US08885871B2 Method and system for performing transcoding resistant watermarking
A method for performing transcoding resistant watermarking of digital media content is provided. The method enables obtaining a plurality of spectral frequency bands of the digital media content. The method further enables calculating an entropy value for each of the plurality of spectral frequency bands. The entropy value quantifies information in each of the plurality of spectral frequency bands. The method further enables selecting a spectral frequency band from amongst the plurality of spectral frequency bands based on the calculation. The selected spectral frequency band has the highest entropy. Furthermore, the method enables inserting a watermark in the selected spectral frequency band of the digital media content.
US08885869B2 Non-directional transducer
A transducer for the creation of acoustic energy omni directionally in a horizontal plane. The transducer includes a base plate, the base plate supporting a centrally located voice coil motor assembly and a hemi-toroidal diaphragm having a proximal edge and a distal edge. The proximal edge is appended to the centrally located voice coil motor assembly and the distal edge is appended to the base plate.
US08885860B2 Direct drive micro hearing device
A device and methods are provided for a hearing device. In one embodiment, a hearing device includes a microphone to receive sound, an interactive tip and actuator. The actuator can include an actuator element and preload force element to place the interactive tip in contact with a portion of an ear. The hearing device includes circuitry coupled to the microphone and actuator, the circuitry configured to process sound received by the microphone and drive the actuator based on processed sound, wherein the actuator drives the interactive tip relative to a portion of the ear based on one or more signals received from the circuitry.
US08885853B2 Electrostatic loudspeaker
An electrostatic loudspeaker includes: a vibrating member; an electrode disposed so as to be opposed to the vibrating member; a spacer member disposed on an opposite side of a face of the electrode, which is opposed to the vibrating member, and having acoustic transmission property; and a cover member disposed on an opposite side of a face of the spacer member, which is opposed to the electrode, and having waterproof property and insulation property.
US08885849B2 Component having a micromechanical microphone structure, and method for operating such a microphone component
A concept is proposed for a MEMS microphone which may be operated at a relatively low voltage level and still have comparatively high sensitivity. The component according to the present invention includes a micromechanical microphone structure having an acoustically active diaphragm which functions as a deflectable electrode of a microphone capacitor (1), and a stationary acoustically permeable counterelement which functions as a counter electrode of the microphone capacitor (1). The component also includes means for applying a high-frequency clock signal (2) to the microphone capacitor (1) and for applying the inverted clock signal (2′) to an adjustable but acoustically inactive compensation capacitor (7), an integrating operational amplifier (3) which integrates the sum of the current flow through the microphone capacitor (1) and the current flow through the compensation capacitor (7), a demodulator (4) for the output signal of the integrating operational amplifier (3), the demodulator being synchronized with the clock signal (2), and a low-pass filter for obtaining a microphone signal which corresponds to the changes in capacitance of the microphone capacitor (1), based on the output signal of the demodulator (4).
US08885846B2 Electronic device
An electronic device suitable for connecting with an expansion assembly is provided. The electronic device includes a main body and an expansion module. The expansion module is pivoted to the main body and suitable for rotating relative to the main body between an operating position and an accommodating position. When the expansion module is located at the operating position, the expansion assembly is suitable of being electrically connected to the expansion module and providing a supporting force to the main body.
US08885841B2 Audio processing apparatus and method, and program
An audio processing apparatus includes an audio signal acquisition unit which acquires an audio signal of a musical piece, a feature value extraction unit which extracts a predetermined type of feature value from the audio signal acquired by the audio signal acquisition unit in time series, a change point detection unit which detects a change point in which the amount of change of the feature value extracted in time series by the feature value extraction unit is changed to be greater than a predetermined threshold value, a hook analysis unit which analyzes a hook place of the audio signal based on the feature value extracted by the feature value extraction unit in block units with the change point detected by the change point detection unit as a boundary, and a hook information output unit which outputs the hook place analyzed by the hook analysis unit as hook information.
US08885838B2 Method of processing a signal in a hearing aid, a method of fitting a hearing aid and a hearing aid
A method comprises deriving a control signal (3) from an input signal (1). The process of deriving the control signal comprises a standard processing (6) so as to provide a standard processed control signal component (7) based on a standard compressor characteristic, and an individualized processing (10) so as to provide an individualized processed control signal component (11) based on an individualized compressor characteristic. The standard and individualized processed control signal components are multiplied together to form the control signal. The invention further provides a hearing aid.
US08885828B2 Multi-community network with quantum key distribution
This invention relates to an optical star network in which different communities of users, such as different businesses, are provided through use of quantum key distribution (QKD). At least one QKD device is located at the central hub of the star network and communicates with QKD devices at the endpoints to establish a separate quantum key, i.e. a cryptographic key established by QKD, with each endpoint. A separate key manager is provided for each different community and each key manager is arranged to use the appropriate quantum keys for endpoints within that community to deliver the same community key to each endpoint. This community key can be used by for encrypting network traffic between members of the same community with security. Traffic passing through the network switch is encrypted, but the community keys are not delivered via the switch and hence the switch an error in the switch does not compromise security.
US08885825B2 Method of establishing a cryptographic key, network head and receiver for this method, and method of transmitting signals
This method of establishing a cryptographic session key comprises: a subscription phase (104) during which an identifier of a local loop to the end of which a receiver must be connected is acquired, and an authentication step comprising: a) an operation (142) of automatically obtaining an identifier of the local loop to the end of which the receiver is actually connected, and b) an operation (146) of verifying that the identifier obtained during the operation a) corresponds to the identifier acquired during the subscription phase so as to authenticate the receiver.
US08885817B2 Nonlinear feedback shift register and method for nonlinear signature formation
A nonlinear feedback shift register for creating a signature for cryptographic applications includes a sequence of series-connected flip-flops which are connected to each other for forming at least one polynomial, with the aid of at least one signal feedback having at least one operator. The flip-flops are connected to at least one switching operator for forming at least two different polynomials, the switching operator switching between the polynomials as a function of an input signal. A method for nonlinear signature formation is also provided.
US08885815B1 Null-forming techniques to improve acoustic echo cancellation
A plurality of microphones of a communication device is grouped into multiple microphone groups, such that each microphone group includes two or more microphones. For each microphone group, output of the corresponding microphones is processed to form an acoustic null in a corresponding spatial direction, such that sound from the corresponding spatial direction is attenuated in the processed output. One of the microphone groups is selected based on various factors leading to maximal echo attenuation and rejection of reverberant components of the room. The selected microphone group is then used to detect sound from a near end talker of the communication device.
US08885813B2 Call queuing for location-aware mobile devices
A mobile device can be assigned to an extension configured as a Queue Agent (“QA”) in a call-queuing enabled virtual private branch exchange (vPBX). This and other mobile or fixed devices can be interconnected to form a virtual call center. Each extension can be assigned various rules, which specify how the incoming calls are answered at the extension and how calls in the call queue are selected for answering by the QA. As part of the rules, the vPBX system forwards calls from a call queue to the QA based on QA's availability status. If a location-aware mobile device is associated with the QA, the vPBX system can determine the QA's availability status based on a geographic location of the mobile device. A most geographically proximate agent can be selected for answering the call.
US08885811B2 Method and system for transferring a conference between a mobile communication device and a conferencing terminal
A conferencing system for an enterprise is disclosed. The conferencing system includes a management apparatus for managing conferencing resources in a premises. The management apparatus includes a communications link for communicating with a proximity announcing system, which indicates whether a portable communications device is near a conferencing device within the premises. The management apparatus can transmit a message to a proximate portable communication device indicating that a conferencing device is nearby. The proximity announcing system can include wireless transmitters and receivers associated with the premises and with portable communication devices used within the premises for tracking the location of the portable communication devices throughout the premises.
US08885810B2 Telephone communication control apparatus, telephone communication system and telephone communication control method used for the same
A telephone communication control apparatus is provided that ensures a user to be reached by a person who is calling the user without requiring the user to open a number, which identifies the user, to the party. The apparatus includes a registry in which at least status information that indicates status of each of a number of members is registered, wherein the number of members share a fixed telephone terminal and respectively have communication terminals. The apparatus includes— an authentication unit that authenticates a calling subscriber number of a call based on calling subscriber information in which calling subscriber numbers approved to have a session with the members are indicated when the call is made to the number of the fixed telephone terminal. The apparatus includes— a transfer control unit that transfers the call that is authenticated at the authentication unit to a communication terminal based on the information in the registry.
US08885802B2 Tethered digital butler consumer electronic remote control device and method
The present invention relates to a digital butler consumer electronics product and method. The digital butler, of a price and form factor suitable for consumer electronics markets of developed and developing countries, includes a communications and multi-media console and a wireless remote. The remote may resemble a handheld personal computer (HPC), a palm-held personal computer (PPC or PDA) or a smart phone, but has a low cost and feature set supported by the console that is novel in the consumer electronics market.
US08885800B2 Home gateway terminal system
A method of accessing a dedicated phone or Internet service at a remote location includes providing a system having a terminal, a phone, and a USB stick that is adapted to be used with a data-only communication device. The terminal has a phone jack that is coupled to a dedicated phone service line for use with the phone, a data jack that is coupled to a dedicated Internet service, and a connector that is adapted to receive a cable that is connected to a satellite dish for uplink and downlink communication with an orbiting satellite. Each of the phone and the USB stick are provided with an identification footprint that is unique to the terminal. The terminal is positioned at a first location. When the phone and/or the USB stick are moved to a remote location, voice and data signals corresponding to the dedicated phone service line and the dedicated Internet service can be communicated from the terminal to the phone and/or USB stick at the remote location via an antenna and the orbiting satellite.
US08885797B2 Systems and methods for providing network-based voice authentication
A system enables voice authentication via a network. The system may include an intelligent voice response engine operatively coupled to the network for receiving transaction or access requests from a plurality of telecommunications devices over the network. A speech recognition and verification services engine may be operatively coupled to the network and a database may be operatively coupled to the speech recognition and verification services engine for storing user voice print profiles. The speech recognition and verification services engine may receive a speaker verification call from the intelligent voice response engine and perform speaker verification on the received speaker verification call based on the stored user voice print profiles. The speech recognition and verification services engine may generate a verification score based upon results of the speaker verification.
US08885794B2 X-ray tomographic inspection system for the identification of specific target items
The present invention provides for an improved scanning process with a stationary X-ray source arranged to generate X-rays from a plurality of X-ray source positions around a scanning region, a first set of detectors arranged to detect X-rays transmitted through the scanning region, and at least one processor arranged to process outputs from the first set of detectors to generate tomographic image data. The X-ray screening system is used in combination with other screening technologies, such as NQR-based screening, X-ray diffraction based screening, X-ray back-scatter based screening, or Trace Detection based screening.
US08885793B2 System and method for tomographic reconstruction in the 2D parallel-beam geometry
An alternative analytical method for tomographic reconstruction in the 2D parallel-beam geometry is presented. This method may follow a filtering and backprojection scheme and may involve a global filtering in the projection domain and a local filtering in the image domain. For example, the method may include applying Hilbert filtering to the received projection data, computing an antiderivative of the filtered data, backprojecting the antiderivative into the image domain, and computing the 2D Laplacian of the backprojection image.
US08885789B2 Device for measuring and correcting a parallelism error in a nuclear fuel rod
A device for measuring and correcting a parallelism error of an upper plug end of a nuclear fuel rod comprising mechanisms for measuring a parallelism error and for correcting said error, and a mechanism for positioning said device on the fuel rod and cooperating with a rack on which the fuel rod is stored, said correction means being arranged opposite the measuring mechanism relative to the location of the fuel rod, in order to allow a measurement of the parallelism error during correction of said error.
US08885772B2 Radio-receiver circuit
A radio-receiver circuit. The radio receiver circuit comprises an analog-to-digital conversion unit. The analog-to-digital conversion unit comprises an analog-to-digital converter, ADC, and a filter operatively connected to an input terminal of the ADC in a receive path of the radio-receiver circuit. The radio-receiver circuit further comprises a control unit adapted to receive control data and determine, based on the control data, a frequency band in which data is to be transmitted to the radio-receiver circuit during a subsequent time interval. Furthermore, the control unit is adapted to adapt at least one frequency characteristic of the analog-to-digital conversion unit to the determined frequency band for receiving said data transmitted in said subsequent time interval.
US08885765B2 Method and a user terminal for processing digital predistortion
Embodiments of the present invention provide a digital predistortion processing method and a user terminal, which relate to the field of communications, and can simplify the structure of a digital predistortion apparatus and reduce the cost. The method includes: setting a control command; and tuning, when the control command is selecting a data collection mode as the working mode of a receive channel, the frequency of a local oscillator and the central frequency of a band-pass filter in the receive channel to the transmitting frequency of the user terminal, so that the user terminal performs predistortion factor update. The embodiments of the present invention are applied to the user terminal for digital predistortion processing.
US08885756B1 Multi-antenna/multilink diversity management for mobile communication platform
A system includes a vehicle and logic that performs predictive pairing of multiple antenna of the vehicle with multiple fixed antenna of a port the vehicle is approaching, the predictive pairing performed using data obtained about the multiple fixed antenna obtained via a satellite, the predictive pairing prioritizing maximum spatial diversity in the pairings of the antenna of the vehicle with the fixed antenna.
US08885754B2 Method and device for sending and receiving precoded signals on a wireless communication system
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting a precoded signal, the method comprising: determining a precoding matrix on the basis of the first matrix, which is determined from a first codebook including precoding matrices indicated by a first precoding matrix index (PMI), and the second matrix, which is determined from a second codebook including precoding matrices indicated by a second PMI; and transmitting the precoded signal using the determined precoding matrix to the receiver, wherein each precoding matrix contained in the first codebook is comprised of a block diagonal matrix, and individual blocks of the block diagonal matrix are configured independently of each other, and each precoding matrix contained in the second codebook is comprised of an upper element and a lower element, where the lower element includes a phase rotation value.
US08885749B2 Radio base station and method therein for transforming a data transmission signal
A method in a radio base station for transforming a data transmission signal in a radio communications network. The radio base station is connected to an active antenna array of a first number of active transmitting antennas, which each active transmitting antenna comprises sub elements. The radio base station comprises a precoder codebook comprising precoders for transmitting signals in a diversified manner for a second number of antenna ports. The radio base station precodes the data transmission signal with a precoder selected from the precoder codebook. The radio base station furthermore transforms, linearly, the precoded data transmission signal by neutralizing a direction of the precoded data transmission signal and then directing the precoded data transmission signal vertically. The precoded data transmission signal is thereby enabled to be vertically adjusted towards a user equipment in the radio communications network.
US08885746B2 Method for operating a radio station in a cellular communication network
The present invention relates to a method for operating a primary station comprising a transceiver for communicating with a plurality of secondary stations, the transceiver including at least two antennas, the method comprising the primary station transmitting to a secondary station for a single spatial channel at least one first set of reference symbols with a first antenna and at least one second set of reference symbols with a second antenna, the second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols.
US08885744B2 Providing antenna diversity in a wireless communication system
Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate cycling across antennas for channel quality information (CQI) computation and data transmission in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication environment. Pilots can be obtained by a wireless terminal. Further, virtual antennas that can be supported by a channel can be identified based upon an analysis of the pilots. Moreover, CQI computations can be effectuated for each of the supported virtual antennas; thereafter, the CQI data can be sent to a base station for data transmission scheduling. Additionally, the base station can schedule transmission based upon the CQI data and/or fairness considerations. When scheduled, data transmission can occur by cycling across the supported virtual antennas.
US08885740B2 Control mode PHY for WLAN
A first preamble for a first data unit includes a first long training field and a first signal field modulated according to a first technique. The first data unit is generated according to a first data unit format and includes the first preamble. A second preamble, generated for a second data unit, includes a second signal field and a second long training field. Information in the second signal field is repeated and/or the second long training field is generated so that a duration of the second long training field is longer than a duration of the first long training field. A portion of the second signal field is modulated according to a second technique or a portion of the second long training field is modulated according to the second technique to signal to a receiver that the second data unit is formatted according to a second data unit format.
US08885739B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting reference signal in wireless communication system
A method and apparatus for transmitting a reference signal in a wireless communication system is provided. CSI-RSs are generated for each of a plurality of antennas. The CSI-RS are mapped to a resource region on a basis of a CSI-RS pattern according to the number of the plurality of antennas. The CSI-RS are transmitted to a user equipment (UE).
US08885734B2 Clocking signal control
A system (21) comprises a first circuit (23) for transmitting information to a second circuit (22). The first circuit (23) comprises a signal generator (34) arranged to generate a signal (31) for transmission to the second circuit (22). The signal (31) has a first state for causing the second circuit (22) to perform a first operation and a second state for causing the second circuit (22) to perform a second operation. The signal generator (34) comprises means to modulate the generated signal (31) during a data burst period (52) to encode data into the generated signal (31). The data burst period (52) occurs within a period in which the generated signal (31) is in the second state. The signal (31) is modulated such that the encoded data is distinguishable from the generated signal (31). In an embodiment, a data burst period (52a, 52b) comprises a plurality of data periods (54) during which the state of the signal is representative of the data encoded in the signal (31). The data periods (54) may be separated by padding periods (55) during which the signal (31) is in the second state, The data burst period may be initiated following a delay after the signal changes from being in the first state to being in the second state.
US08885733B2 System and method for providing a variable frame rate and adaptive frame skipping on a mobile device
A processor and method are provided for decoding a multimedia file having video and audio data streams that are configured to be played in synchronization. Frames of the video stream are decoded and played with the audio and, to compensate for saturation of the processor usage, two procedures are performed. The first procedure operates at a first periodic interval and slows down the frame rate to reduce processor usage if needed. The second procedure first attempts to speed up the video to catch up to the audio if they are out of sync and if this cannot be done in the next time interval, the decoding of a select number of frames is skipped such that the video and audio data streams are resynchronized.
US08885730B2 Image coding method, image decoding method, and apparatuses therefor
The image coding method for improving the filtering quality and suppressing increase in the transmission bandwidth includes: selecting filter data elements of the first and second component filters from a filter memory (1330), and obtaining indexes stored in association with the selected filter data elements in the filter memory (1330) (S10, S11); coding a macroblock using the two filter data elements (S12); adding the two indexes to a coded video signal (S13); calculating the filter data elements of the first and second component filters based on a slice, and assigning indexes to the filter data elements (S20, S21); storing, in the filter memory (1330), a corresponding one of the calculated filter data elements and the index in association with each other for each of the component filters (S22); and adding the two calculated filter data elements to the coded video signal (S23).
US08885728B2 Decoding apparatus for a set-top box
A decoding apparatus includes at least one data input terminal receiving a program transport stream from an external set-top box. A decoder decodes the program transport stream and a data output terminal outputs the decoded content to an external device. The program transport stream is the same transport stream received by the external set-top box from a service provider.
US08885726B2 Neighbor management for use in entropy encoding and methods for use therewith
An entropy coding module is provided for use in a video encoder that encodes a video input signal based on a plurality of macroblocks derived from the video input signal. The entropy coding module includes an entropy coder that generates entropy encoded data from discrete transformed coefficients for the plurality of macroblocks. A neighbor management module stores neighbor data for at least one macroblock of the plurality of macroblocks for retrieval by the entropy encoder, when operating on at least one neighboring macroblock of the plurality of macroblocks.