Document Document Title
US08989574B2 Method and device for monitoring WDM signal light
A WDM signal light monitoring device includes a first monitor for monitoring input-side WDM main signal light and output-side WDM main signal light for each wavelength; and a second monitor for monitoring the first monitor by comparing a monitoring result received from an upstream WDM transmission device with a monitoring result of the first monitor, wherein the monitoring result of the first monitor is transmitted to a downstream WDM transmission device in the system.
US08989572B2 Optical path establishing method and optical node apparatus
An optical node apparatus that establishes an optical path between a first optical node and a second optical node in an optical network include a frequency modulation unit that superimposes a supervisory signal on a main signal by frequency-modulating the main signal, and a frequency demodulation unit that frequency-demodulates the supervisory signal superimposed on the received main signal.
US08989571B2 In-band supervisory data modulation using complementary power modulation
According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method of modulating supervisory data onto an optical signal includes increasing a first power level of a first polarization component of an optical signal based on supervisory data. The method further includes decreasing a second power level of a second polarization component of the optical signal based on the supervisory data. The decrease in the second power level is substantially the same as the increase in the first power level such that a total power of the optical signal is substantially constant.
US08989570B2 Long-range optical device
A long-range optical device with at least one replaceable electrical energy storage device for supplying power to the long-range optical device, which energy storage device is disposed in a closable compartment of the device incorporating electrical contacts, wherein an adapter is provided which can be inserted in the compartment instead of the energy storage device, which is configured to run a data exchange with at least one other component, in particular a memory, of the long-range optical device and/or by means of which the long-range optical device can be supplied with power.
US08989569B2 Combination dark field and bright field illuminator
Embodiments are disclosed of an apparatus including an apparatus comprising a curved reflector having an interior and an open end. The curved reflector includes a curved light-reflecting surface and a pair of reflective surfaces. A light module is positioned around a perimeter of the open end of the reflector, the light module including a first side having one or more interior light sources thereon to direct light toward the interior of the reflector and a second side having one or more exterior light sources thereon to direct light away from the reflector. A waveguide module is coupled to the light module and aligned so that light from the one or more exterior light sources is launched into the waveguide module. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed.
US08989567B1 Dental scanner device and system and methods of use
A three-dimensional (3D) scanner device for generating a three dimensional (3D) surface model of shaped objects, such as dental structures, applicable for use in the field of dentistry, particularly to dental prosthetics manufacturing. Methods and systems relating to the device are also disclosed.
US08989563B2 Recording medium, reproducing apparatus, and reproducing method
In a recording medium on which is recorded a multiplexed stream including a plurality of first packets (V_main) constituting a first I-picture in a first video stream and a plurality of second packets (V_sub) constituting a second I-picture in a second video stream, information for identifying the first I-picture and information for identifying the second I-picture are recorded on the medium. A recording medium can thereby be obtained that enables the rapid detection, from a small amount of information, of a particular picture included in a stream such as a TS in which multiple content streams are multiplexed.
US08989560B2 Systems and methods for variable video production, distribution and presentation
Methods, apparatus, systems and machine readable medium for variable video production, distribution and presentation are disclosed. An example composer to author a variable video includes a labeler to tag each of a plurality of scenes with at least one vector based on the content of the respective scenes. In addition, the example composer includes a receiver to define relevance data to be obtained from intended viewers of respective versions of the variable video. A mapper is also included to chart a sequence of two or more of the scenes, at least one of the scenes being a variable scene. The variable scene includes content selected based on the vector and the respective relevance data to form respective versions of the variable video. The example composer further includes a publisher to publish the variable video as a single file for creating the respective versions of the variable video.
US08989558B2 Recording medium, reproducing apparatus, and reproducing method
In a recording medium on which is recorded a multiplexed stream including a plurality of first packets (V_main) constituting a first I-picture in a first video stream and a plurality of second packets (V_sub) constituting a second I-picture in a second video stream, information for identifying the first I-picture and information for identifying the second I-picture are recorded on the medium. A recording medium can thereby be obtained that enables the rapid detection, from a small amount of information, of a particular picture included in a stream such as a TS in which multiple content streams are multiplexed.
US08989557B2 Recording medium, reproducing apparatus, and reproducing method
In a recording medium on which is recorded a multiplexed stream including a plurality of first packets (V_main) constituting a first I-picture in a first video stream and a plurality of second packets (V_sub) constituting a second I-picture in a second video stream, information for identifying the first I-picture and information for identifying the second I-picture are recorded on the medium. A recording medium can thereby be obtained that enables the rapid detection, from a small amount of information, of a particular picture included in a stream such as a TS in which multiple content streams are multiplexed.
US08989546B2 Polishing jig, ferrule, and optical connector
A polishing jig 10 includes a holding member 11 for holding a ferrule 31 when polishing a front end face of the ferrule 31. The holding member 11 is formed by a holding member body 12 having a through hole 121 through which the ferrule 31 is inserted, and protrusions 16 and 17 which are provided on an upper surface of the holding member body 12, for supporting a flange 33 of the ferrule 31 when the ferrule 31 is inserted into the through hole 121.
US08989544B2 All-optical logic gates and methods for their fabrication
The present invention provides optical devices that employ nonlinear optical effects for processing optical signals. For example, such an optical device can include a nano-sized interferometric component that provides an optical output signal via interference of two input signals subsequent to their asymmetric nonlinear phase accumulation. The interferometric element can have a variety of configurations, such as Sagnac, Mach-Zehnder or Michelson configurations.
US08989543B2 Optical cable
An optical cable comprises an optical fiber ribbon, a tension member and a sheath. The optical fiber ribbon is constructed by integrating a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel. The sheath is provided so as to surround the optical fiber ribbon. The sheath is used for protecting the optical cable. One optical fiber ribbon is arranged twistably within an inner space surrounded by the sheath.
US08989542B2 Optical fiber assemblies having a powder or powder blend at least partially mechanically attached
A fiber optic cable includes one or more optical fibers, a jacket, strength members, and water-swellable powder. The jacket is formed from a polymer and has a cavity defined therein. The one or more optical fibers extend through the cavity. Further, the jacket is non-round in cross-section and the strength members are encapsulated in the jacket on opposite sides of the cavity. The water-swellable powder is at least partially mechanically attached to an inner surface of the cavity, where the mechanical attachment of the water-swellable powder allows a portion of particles of the water-swellable powder to protrude beyond the surface and not be completely embedded therein.
US08989540B2 Device with multiple light sensors receiving light signals from a waveguide
The device includes a main waveguide on a base. The main waveguide is configured to guide a light signal through a light-transmitting medium. The device also includes multiple transition waveguides on the base. Each of the transition waveguide intersects a terminal end of the main waveguide such that each transition waveguide receives a different portion of the light signal from the main waveguide. The device also includes one or more light sensors positioned on the base. Each transition waveguide guides the received light portions to the one or more light sensors such that each of the light signal portions is received at the one or more light sensors.
US08989538B2 Sensor element and method for the production thereof and use thereof
A sensor element for detecting mechanical state variables contains at least one optical waveguide having at least one fiber Bragg grating, and at least one planar optical filter element to which light exiting the optical waveguide can be fed to at least one measuring device for determining an intensity ratio of a Stokes and an anti-Stokes lines and/or a propagation time of an optical signal. A method for detecting mechanical state variables uses such a sensor element running along a measuring section, wherein light having at least one predefinable mean wavelength and a predefinable spectral width is coupled into the optical waveguide and light reflected and/or scattered in the optical waveguide is fed to at least two measuring devices, measuring the intensity of the light exiting the optical waveguide in selected spectral ranges, and measuring an intensity ratio of a Stokes and an Anti-stokes line and/or a propagation time of an optical signal.
US08989537B2 Highly efficient optical gratings with reduced thickness requirements and impedance-matching layers
An optical grating comprising a grating layer and two surface layers, the layers being arranged with the grating layer between the surface layers. The grating layer comprises a set of multiple, discrete, elongated first grating regions that comprise a first dielectric material and are arranged with intervening elongated second grating regions. The bulk refractive index of the dielectric material of the first grating regions is larger than the bulk refractive index of the second grating regions. The first surface layer comprises a first impedance matching layer, and the second surface layer comprises either (i) a second impedance matching layer or (ii) a reflective layer. Each said impedance matching layer is arranged to reduce reflection of an optical signal transmitted through the corresponding surface of the grating layer, relative to reflection of the optical signal in the absence of said impedance matching layer.
US08989532B2 Integrated circuit package connected to an optical data transmission medium using a coolant
An integrated circuit coupling device includes an integrated circuit package; and an optical data transmission medium connected to the integrated circuit package, and comprising a movable coolant, adapted to remove heat from the integrated circuit package, in operation.
US08989530B2 Optoelectronic modules and submount for same and a method for manufacturing an array of optical devices
An array of optical devices includes singlets diced or separated from a first diced surface and a second diced surface of a semiconductor wafer. Each singlet includes a single optical emitter or a single photosensitive semiconductor device. The singlets are identified as operationally fit before being arranged in corresponding features in a receiving region of a submount. The corresponding features of the submount are arranged to align and precisely control the pitch or separation distance between optical portions of a desired number of singlets. The use of operationally fit singlets dramatically increases production efficiency as it is no longer necessary to identify N contiguous operational optical devices in a semiconductor wafer to produce a precisely aligned array of N operational optical devices.
US08989520B2 Method and system for conducting identification matching
A method of conducting pattern matching is provided that includes establishing probe categories. Each probe category corresponds to pattern characteristics of one of a plurality of subpopulations. Moreover, the method includes coordinating combinations of the subpopulations and probe categories with pattern matching systems such that each combination corresponds to at least one of a plurality of the pattern matching systems, obtaining pattern data for an object, configuring the obtained object pattern data as a probe, and determining the probe category of the probe. Furthermore, the method includes conducting a matching transaction between the probe and each of the subpopulations using the at least one matching system corresponding to each combination of subpopulation and the determined probe category, and determining at least one candidate match when the probe matches at least one enrollment data record in the at least one matching system of any of the subpopulations.
US08989518B2 Information processing method and apparatus for calculating information regarding measurement target on the basis of captured images
From a sequence of images captured by an image pickup unit, images necessary for measuring placement information regarding markers and/or a sensor are automatically determined and obtained. To this end, using position and orientation information regarding the image pickup unit at the time the image pickup unit has captured an obtained image and placement information regarding detected markers, whether to use the captured image corresponding to the position and orientation is determined. Using the captured image determined to be used, the marker placement information, placement information regarding a measurement target, or the position and orientation of the image pickup unit serving as an unknown parameter is obtained so as to minimize the error between the measured image coordinates and theoretical image coordinates of each marker, which are estimated on the basis of a rough value of the parameter.
US08989511B1 Methods for correcting for thermal drift in microscopy images
Methods for correcting for thermal drift in microscopy images are described. One such method includes receiving an original image for correction, the original image having been generated using microscopy, receiving information indicative of a feature selected from within the original image by a user, the selected feature including an edge, storing the original image in a database including a plurality of images, each having one or more features, correlating the selected feature with one of the one or more features stored in the database to identify a first plurality of points defining the edge, removing one or more points of the first plurality of points using an outlier rejection technique, generating a smoothing spline approximation for a second plurality of points defining the edge, and generating a corrected image by shifting points of the original image in accordance with the smoothing spline approximation.
US08989510B2 Contrast enhancement using gradation conversion processing
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an image processing program causing a computer to execute an image processing on image data to be processed, the image processing program including an obtaining step obtaining the image data, a gradation conversion processing step performing gradation conversion processing on the image data at an intermediate part of gradation according to input/output characteristics having characteristics to which characteristics to reduce a contrast are added, and a correcting step making a correction to enhance a local contrast indicative of contrast at a local part of an image for the image data subjected to the gradation conversion processing by using a gain curve in which a degree of enhancement changes in accordance with luminance information of a pixel to be processed, and thus, bright and dark part gradations are improved while suppressing a change in a hue and color saturation as well as maintaining an apparent contrast.
US08989505B2 Distance metric for image comparison
Systems and methods are provided for generating a distance metric. An image manipulation application receives first and second input images. The image manipulation application generates first and second sets of points corresponding to respective edges of a first object in the first input image and a second object in the second input image. The image manipulation application determines costs of arcs connecting each point from the first set to each point of the second set based on point descriptors for each point of each arc. The image manipulation application determines a minimum set of costs between the first set and the second set that includes a cost of each arc connecting each point of the second set to a point in the first set. The image manipulation application obtains, based at least in part on the minimum set of costs, a distance metric for first and second input images.
US08989504B2 Image processing device that renews identification information of specific subject
An image pickup device includes an image acquiring unit, calculating unit, memory controlling unit, first judging unit and notification unit.The calculating unit calculates a degree of similarity between information of a specific subject contained in the image acquired by the acquiring unit and identification information of the specific subject registered in a registering unit.The memory controlling unit controls a memory unit to store the calculated degree of similarity such that the degree of similarity is associated with date/time information.The first judging unit judges whether the calculated degree of similarity is relatively low compared with predetermined number of other degrees of similarity based on a chronological change of the degrees of similarity.The notification unit notifies that the identification information registered in the registering unit is to be renewed when judged, by the first judging unit, that the calculated degree of similarity is relatively low.
US08989502B2 Image-based georeferencing
A computer-implemented method of providing georeferenced information regarding a location of capture of an image is provided. The method includes receiving a first image at an image-based georeferencing system, the first image comprising digital image information and identifying a cataloged second image that correlates to the first image. The method further includes automatically determining reference features common to both the second image and the first image, accessing geographic location information related to the common reference features, utilizing the geographic location information related to the common features to determine a georeferenced location of capture of the first image and providing the georeferenced location of capture for access by a user of the image-based georeferencing system.
US08989501B2 Method of selecting an algorithm for use in processing hyperspectral data
The invention relates to a method of selecting an algorithm for use in processing hyperspectral data from a set of algorithms, each having qualities for processing certain characteristics of hyperspectral data.
US08989498B2 System, information providing method and electronic device
According to one embodiment, a system stores a plurality of contents in a storage medium, each content includes handwritten data including stroke data corresponding to strokes which are handwritten, image data corresponding to the strokes, and retrieval information for retrieving the handwritten data. The system provides, upon receiving a retrieve request including a character string from a terminal, to the terminal either the handwritten data in the content corresponding to first retrieval information, the first retrieval information corresponding to the character string from among retrieval information of the plurality of contents, or the image data in the content corresponding to the first retrieval information.
US08989494B2 Reading order determination apparatus, method, and program for determining reading order of characters
A method and apparatus for determining a reading order of characters The method includes preparing a list of character information, which is character information extracted from image data by character recognition processing and preparing a list of line information, which is made up of a line box surrounding a set of characters which are continuously aligned in the same direction in image data and an alignment direction of characters in the line box. In response to a request for adding character information to the list of character information, extracting a line box containing a character region of the character to be added, obtaining all character information having the character region contained in the concerned line box from the list of character information and rearranging according to the position with respect to the alignment direction of characters corresponding to the line box to determine a new reading order of characters.
US08989493B1 Method and apparatus for identifying regions of an image to be filtered during processing of the image
Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods, apparatuses, and systems for identifying regions to be filtered during processing of an image. A map generator is configured to receive pixels of an image and to determine a map for the image. The map indicates a number of islands within blocks of pixels of the image, where individual ones of the islands include either a single dark pixel, or two or more contiguous dark pixels, bordered by light pixels and/or one or more edges of the blocks of pixels. An index generator sets, based at least on the number of islands within the individual ones of the blocks of pixels that correspond to regions of the scanned image, filter indices for the regions of the scanned image. An image filter component, based on the filter indices, filters the regions of the scanned image.
US08989492B2 Multi-resolution spatial feature extraction for automatic handwriting recognition
A first technique of recognizing content is disclosed, including: determining a first value representative of a pixel content present at a first set of pixels associated with a first distance from a pixel under consideration; determining a second value representative of a pixel content present at a second set of pixels associated with a second distance from the pixel under consideration; and using the first and second values to compute one or more spatial features associated with the pixel under consideration for purposes of content recognition. A second technique of recognizing content is also disclosed, including: determining, for a pixel, a first value representative of a first feature associated with a set of pixels associated with a first direction from the pixel; and determining, for the pixel, a second value representative of a second feature associated with a set of pixels associated with a second direction from the pixel.
US08989490B2 Feature sensitive captioning of media content
There are provided methods and systems for use in performing feature sensitive captioning of media content. In one implementation, such a method includes detecting an aesthetically determinative feature of a media content unit selected by a user, and determining a captioning aesthetic for a caption of the media content unit based at least in part on the aesthetically determinative feature. The captioning aesthetic may include a background aesthetic and a text aesthetic. The captioning aesthetic may be utilized by a feature sensitive captioning application to produce a feature sensitive caption for the media content unit.
US08989489B2 Control apparatus controlling processing of image read by reading device
In a control apparatus, a controller operates as: identifying a reading condition instructed for reading an image from a document; and determining a method of an analysis processing, the identifying including identifying a reading section instructed to read an image from the document. If an identified reading condition satisfies a first condition including that an identified reading section is a first reading section configured to read an image from a document while maintaining the document to be stationary, a first analysis processing configured to extract a first type region from a read out image is determined. If the identified reading condition satisfies a second condition including that the identified reading section is a second reading section configured to read an image from the document while conveying the document, a second analysis processing configured to extract a second type region from the read out image is determined.
US08989487B2 Apparatus and method for combining images
Provided are an image composition apparatus for composing color images with black-and-white images including infrared components, and an image composition method thereof. The image composition method includes generating a first image signal with color information and a second image signal including infrared components without color information, dividing the first image signal into a brightness signal and a color signal, composing the brightness signal of the first image signal with a brightness signal of the second image signal to generate a composed brightness signal, and composing the composed brightness signal with the color signal of the first image signal to generate a color image.
US08989485B2 Detecting a junction in a text line of CJK characters
A method for detecting a junction in a received image of the line of text to update a junction list with descriptive data is provided. The method includes creating a color histogram based on a number of color pixels in the received image of the line of text and detecting, based at least in part on the received image of the line of text, a rung within the received image of the line of text. The method also includes identifying a horizontal position of the detected rung in the received image of the line of text and identifying a gateway on the color histogram, wherein the identified gateway is associated with the detected rung. The junction list is updated with data including a description of the identified gateway.
US08989477B2 Process monitoring device and process monitoring method in semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus
Provide is a process monitoring device in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can readily and reliably monitor the process in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The process monitoring device includes a storage unit that stores a normal state moving image data indicating a normal state of the process; an image capturing unit that captures an image of a state of the process to be monitored to acquire a moving image data; an abnormality level calculation unit configured to extract a feature amount for each frame of the moving image data and the normal state moving image data, and calculate an abnormality level based on the extracted feature amount; and a display unit that displays the abnormality level calculated by the abnormality level calculation unit in association with a frame position of the moving image data.
US08989474B2 X-ray image capturing system
Disclosed in an x-ray imaging device, which uses a Talbot-Lau interferometer, eliminates the effects on image quality of a reconstructed image that arises in such cases as when the direction of a multi-slit or each lattice slit is altered and imaging is performed, and provides reconstructed images favorable for diagnosis. When a plurality of moire images imaged with an imaging subject loaded onto a imaging subject stand (13) and a plurality of moire images imaged without the imaging subject are input, a control unit (51) of a controller (5) corrects signal value differences arising from variations in x-ray strength during imaging respectively between the plurality of moire images with the imaging subject and between the plurality of moire images without the imaging subject, and respectively creates a reconstructed image with the imaging subject and a reconstructed image without the imaging subject. Then, the control unit (51) creates a reconstructed image of the imaging subject for diagnosis by correcting, on the basis of the reconstructed image without the imaging subject, image unevenness in the reconstructed image with the imaging subject caused by heterogeneity in light distribution caused by the angle of rotation of the multi-slit.
US08989470B2 Image processing apparatus, program and image diagnostic apparatus for high-frequency enhancement processing
An image processing apparatus is provided. The image processing apparatus includes an acquiring device configured to acquire a typical pixel value corresponding to a noted region in an image, a calculating device configured to calculated index values of variances in pixel values in the noted region or in both the noted region and a region adjacent to the noted region, a first enhancement degree determination device configured to determine an enhancement degree according to the acquired typical pixel value and each of the calculated index values, and an image processing device configured to perform high-frequency enhancement processing on the noted region, based on the enhancement degree determined by the first enhancement degree determination device.
US08989467B2 Image processing apparatus, method and computer readable recording medium for detecting abnormal area based on difference between pixel value and reference surface
An image processing apparatus includes a reference surface generating unit that generates a reference surface indicating a reference value of each of a plurality of color elements of pixels constituting an intraluminal image at a pixel position of the each color element by performing a morphology process using pixel values of the color elements; and an abnormal area detecting unit that detects an abnormal area from the intraluminal image based on a difference for each of the color elements between the pixel value of each pixel and the reference surface.
US08989462B2 Systems, methods and computer readable storage mediums storing instructions for applying multiscale bilateral filtering to magnetic resonance (RI) images
Systems, methods and computer-readable storage mediums relate to segmenting MR images using multiscale bilateral filtering. Before the multiscale bilateral filtering, the MR images are transformed from the Image Domain to the Radon Domain.
US08989453B2 Digital image processing using face detection information
A method of processing a digital image using face detection within the image achieves one or more desired image processing parameters. A group of pixels is identified that correspond to an image of a face within the digital image. Default values are determined of one or more parameters of at least some portion of the digital image. Values are adjusted of the one or more parameters within the digitally-detected image based upon an analysis of the digital image including the image of the face and the default values.
US08989451B2 Computer-implemented method for performing similarity searches
A similarity search may be performed on the image of a person, using visual characteristics and information that is known about the person. The search identifies images of other persons that are similar in appearance to the person in the image.
US08989449B2 Method and arrangements for firing a fire arm
An arrangement and methods for firing a fire arm. The fire arm includes a determining unit configured to determine a movement of an aim point for the fire arm relative to a target. A processing unit is configured to determine a target point for the aim point based on the movement of the aim point relative to the target and to predict the future movement of the aim point. A firing unit is configured to fire the fire arm when the aim point is predicted to be within a tolerance of the target point.
US08989447B2 Dynamic focus for computational imaging
A method for all-in-focus image reconstruction and depth map generation in an imaging device is provided that includes capturing a multi-focus image by the imaging device, partitioning the multi-focus image into a plurality of blocks, determining, for each block of the plurality of blocks, a best inverse multi-focus point spread function (PSF) for reconstructing original image intensity values in the block, wherein the best inverse multi-focus PSF is selected from a plurality of predetermined inverse multi-focus PSFs stored in a memory of the imaging device, and applying to each block of the plurality of blocks the best inverse multi-focus PSF determined for the block to reconstruct the all-in-focus image.
US08989446B2 Character recognition in distorted images
Systems and methods are provided for recognizing characters within a distorted image. According to a one aspect, a method for recognizing one or more characters within a distorted image includes rendering one or more imitation images, the imitation images including simulations of the distorted image, applying one or more distortion models to the imitation images, thereby generating distorted imitation images, comparing the distorted imitation images with the distorted image in order to compute similarities between the distorted imitation images and the distorted image, and identifying the characters based on the best similarity. According to other aspects, the systems and methods can be configured to provide recognition of other distorted data types and elements.
US08989438B2 Mobile body track identification system
There is provided a mobile body track identification system that determines which mobile body matches which detected track with a high precision irrespective of frequent interruption of tracks of a mobile body detected in a tracking area. Herein, hypotheses are generated by use of sets of track-coupling candidate/identification pairs, which combines track-coupling candidates, combining tracks of a mobile body detected in a predetermined time in the past, and identifications of the mobile body and which satisfies a predetermined condition. Next, identification likelihoods are calculated as likelihoods of detecting identifications in connection with tracks indicated by track-coupling candidates included in track-coupling candidate/identification pairs ascribed to each of the selected hypotheses. Identification likelihoods are integrated per each track-coupling candidate/identification pair, thus calculating an identification likelihood regarding the selected hypothesis. A most-probable hypothesis is estimated based on identification likelihoods of hypotheses.
US08989436B2 Image processing method, computer-readable storage medium, image processing apparatus, and imaging apparatus
Information of a flare component is extracted from a shot image without using shooting condition data such as wavelength spectrum data of a bright point and imaging characteristic data of a shooting optical system. To achieve this, an aspect of an image processing method of the present application includes an input step inputting a processing target image obtained by a shooting optical system, an estimating step estimating an ideal bright point image component included in an occurrence area of a flare in the processing target image, an extracting step extracting a real bright point image component including a flare component from the occurrence area, and a calculating step calculating a difference between the ideal bright point image component and the real bright point image component as an index of the flare component included in the occurrence area.
US08989432B2 System and method of adding a watermark to a JPEG image file
A plurality of signature bits to be used to generate a watermark in a JPEG image file is determined, wherein the JPEG image file comprises at least one quantization table. A plurality of locations in the at least one quantization table is selected. A respective value associated with each of the selected plurality of locations in the at least one quantization table is changed, based on the plurality of signature bits.
US08989425B2 Earphone
An earphone is disclosed. The earphone includes a housing forming a volume, a plurality of sound holes arranged in the housing, a sound generator received in the volume of the housing and cooperatively with the housing forming a front volume, a supporter accommodated in the volume of the housing and engaging with the sound generator forming a main back volume, and cooperatively with the housing forming a auxiliary back volume. The supporter includes bottom, a sidewall upwardly extending from the bottom and an acoustic pipe, the acoustic pipe communicating the main back volume with the auxiliary back volume for balancing an internal acoustic pressure of the earphone.
US08989420B1 Throwable wireless microphone system for passing from one user to the next in lecture rooms and auditoriums
A wireless microphone system within an enclosure for use in lecture hall sound systems that enables facilitated passing of the system from one user to another and provides a less intimidating microphone configuration to grip and use than standard wireless microphones. The system can also include an integrated push-to-talk feature requiring activation before a user's comments will be picked up and amplified over the sound system. The system can also include a laser pointer allowing the user to reference objects while they speak into the device. A wireless mute button can also be provided so that the lecturer or discussion leader can control when the system will be operative. The audio transmitter can be substituted with a audio recorder to be used independently of an audio receiving system.
US08989418B2 Ear device for improved fit and sound
The present invention is directed to an in-the-ear device sized and shaped such that the in-the-ear device universally and ergonomically fits into the human ear without slipping out and providing the user with a comfortable fit. The in-the-ear device is secured in the user's ear taking advantage of the natural curvature of the human to provide support and shift the center of gravity from outside the ear to further inside the pinna to prevent the device from slipping out while retaining a high level of comfort.
US08989417B1 Method and system for implementing stereo audio using bone conduction transducers
Methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media are described herein related to implementing stereo audio using bone conduction transducers (BCTs). A wearable computing device can receive audio signals effective to cause the wearable computing device to provide stereo sound to a first ear and a second ear opposite the first ear. The wearable computing device can also apply a transform to the audio signals so as to determine other audio signals that are out of phase with the audio signals and effective to substantially cancel crosstalk signals resulting from the audio signals, where the transform may be based on one or more wearer-specific parameters. The wearable computing device may then cause two BCTs to vibrate substantially simultaneous to each other so as to provide the stereo sound to the first ear and the second ear and substantially cancel the crosstalk signals.
US08989415B2 Hearing aid noise reduction method, system, and apparatus
A computer-implemented method including receiving a first signal from an input device of a hearing aid. The first signal may include a noise signal. The computer-implemented method may include low-pass filtering first periodic samples of the first signal, and the first periodic samples may be approximately periodic with respect to a period of the noise signal. The computer-implemented method may further include low-pass filtering second periodic samples of the first signal, and the second periodic samples may be approximately periodic with respect to the period of the noise signal. The second periodic samples may also be phase shifted relative to the first periodic samples. Hearing aid systems and apparatuses are also disclosed.
US08989413B2 Sound capture focus adjustment for hearing prosthesis
A hearing prosthesis, the hearing prosthesis including a plurality of sound capture devices and a determinator configured to generate a parameter indicative of an orientation of the plurality of sound capture devices relative to a reference, wherein the hearing prosthesis is configured to adjust a direction of focus of the hearing prosthesis based on at least the parameter.
US08989412B2 Piezoelectric acoustic transducer
A piezoelectric acoustic transducer (1) of the present invention includes a lower frame (78), a lower speaker circuit (20), an upper frame (77), an upper speaker circuit (10), and a surround (76). The upper speaker circuit (10) has a piezoelectric diaphragm (14) in which piezoelectric elements (16, 17), each having a structure that flat plate electrodes are disposed on top and bottom of a piezoelectric member, are mounted on top and bottom surfaces of a board (15). The lower speaker circuit (20) has a piezoelectric diaphragm (24) in which piezoelectric elements (26, 27), each having the same structure, are mounted on a top surface and a bottom surface of a board (25). The piezoelectric diaphragms (14, 24) are coupled to each other via coupling members (74, 75). At an application of a voltage, the piezoelectric diaphragms (14, 24) are caused to curve in directions opposite to each other. Having this structure, the piezoelectric acoustic transducer (1) has an increased displacement in a thickness direction thereof, and thereby achieving high quality sound with space-saving.
US08989411B2 Differential microphone with sealed backside cavities and diaphragms coupled to a rocking structure thereby providing resistance to deflection under atmospheric pressure and providing a directional response to sound pressure
A vacuum sealed directional microphone and methods for fabricating said vacuum sealed directional microphone. A vacuum sealed directional microphone includes a rocking structure coupled to two vacuum sealed diaphragms which are responsible for collecting incoming sound and deforming under sound pressure. The rocking structure's resistance to bending aids in reducing the deflection of each diaphragm under large atmospheric pressure. Furthermore, the rocking structure exhibits little resistance about its pivot thereby enabling it to freely rotate in response to small pressure gradients characteristic of sound. The backside cavities of such a device can be fabricated without the use of the deep reactive ion etch step thereby allowing such a microphone to be fabricated with a CMOS compatible process.
US08989402B2 Use of sensors for noise suppression in a mobile communication device
Techniques are described herein that use sensors (e.g., microphones) for noise reduction in a mobile communication device. For example, one technique enables a first sensor that is initially configured to be a speech sensor to be used as a noise reference sensor. This technique also enables a second sensor that is initially configured to be a noise reference sensor to be used as a speech sensor. Another technique enables a primary sensor and/or a secondary sensor in a handset of a mobile communication device to be used as a speech sensor while a sensor in a headset of the mobile communication device is used as a noise reference sensor, or vice versa. In yet another technique, a secondary sensor in a mobile communication device is configured to be a directional sensor.
US08989399B2 Reflection cancelling boundary microphones and amplification systems incorporating reflection cancelling boundary microphones
Reflection cancelling boundary microphones are described in which a microphone capsule is mounted within the pressure zone of a vibrating surface and the microphone is tuned in such a way as to cancel pressure waves reflected by the surface while admitting pressure waves generated by the vibration of the surface. One embodiment of the invention includes a microphone capsule configured to be mounted within the pressure zone of a vibrating surface. In addition, the microphone is tuned to cancel pressure waves reflected by the surface while admitting pressure waves generated by the vibration of the surface.
US08989397B2 System and method for high reliability sound production
A system and method are provided for creating a loudspeaker system with low failure rate of sound production. The system uses a loudspeaker with more than one voice coil, a circuit to detect breakage of a voice coil and a switching circuit to steer the system input signal to a remaining good voice coil.
US08989394B2 Active delay method and a improved wireless binaural hearing device using the same method
Disclosed are an active delay method and an improved wireless binaural hearing device. The binaural hearing device includes: a first hearing device including a first microphone, an amplifier and a wireless transmitter; and a second hearing device including a second microphone, an amplifier, a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver which receives a signal from the wireless transmitter, an active delay circuit which synchronizes the received signal with a signal acquired by the second microphone, a neural network which synchronizes the delayed signal, and a speaker which converts the synchronized signal into a voice signal. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent incorrect detection of the position of the sound source or paralalia due to a time delay which is produced in the wireless binaural hearing device and reduce noises due to a time difference between both hearing devices, thereby providing a binaural hearing device with high quality.
US08989392B2 Physical layer frame format for long range WLAN
A preamble portion of a physical layer (PHY) data unit is generated for transmission via a long range communication protocol. A service field is generated with a length of eight or less bits. A data portion of the PHY data unit is generated to include the service field having the length of eight bits or less.
US08989388B2 Distribution of storage area network encryption keys across data centers
Efficient mechanisms are provided for transferring key objects associated with disk logical unit numbers and tape cartridges from one data center to another data center. A request is received to transfer a source data center key object from a source data center to a destination data center. The source data center key object corresponds to a data block, such as a disk logical unit number (LUN) or a tape cartridge, maintained in a storage area network (SAN) and includes a unique identifier, an encrypted key, and a wrapper unique identifier. The encrypted key is decrypted using a source data center key hierarchy. Key information is transmitted from the source data center to the destination data center. A destination data center key object is generated using a destination data center key hierarchy.
US08989383B2 Data authentication using plural electronic keys
A method for transmitting digital data to a recipient via a communications network includes providing digital data and digitally signing the digital data using N cryptographic keys. Each of the N cryptographic keys is associated with a same sender of the digital data, and N>1. The recipient receives the digital data and verifies the digital signature using N cryptographic keys associated with the N cryptographic keys used to sign the digital data. In dependence upon verifying the digital signature, the recipient accepts the digital data as being authentic.
US08989378B1 Read/write encrypted media and method of playing
A new media device including a decryption device that is operable to create a decryption key to read media. The decryption device is itself a read/write device that allows reducing or decrementing each time the decryption key is used.
US08989376B2 Method and apparatus for authenticating video content
A method for authenticating video content includes: receiving a digital signature, an unsecured video fingerprint, and an unsecured video content from a transmitting node at a receiving node in a communication network; determining if the digital signature is consistent with the unsecured video fingerprint at the receiving node to verify the unsecured video fingerprint; and determining if the unsecured video fingerprint is consistent with the unsecured video content at the receiving node to verify the unsecured video content in a manner that tolerates a predetermined measure of loss in the unsecured video content. If the unsecured video fingerprint and the unsecured video content are verified, the unsecured video content is authenticated for subsequent use at the receiving node. A receiving node associated with the method includes an input module, a fingerprint verification module, a content verification module, and a controller module.
US08989374B2 Cryptographic device for secure authentication
According to one embodiment, a memory being used to store a host identification key, a host constant (HC), and a first key, the first key being generated based on the host constant (HC); a first generator configured to decrypt a family key block read from an external device with the host identification key to generate a family key; a second generator configured to decrypt encrypted secret identification information read from the external device with the family key to generate a secret identification information; a third generator configured to generate a random number; a fourth generator configured to generate a session key by using the first key and the random number; a fifth generator configured to generate a first authentication information by processing the secret identification information with the session key in one-way function operation.
US08989371B2 Community telephony brokerage system and techniques
A community telephony brokerage system (“CTBS”) and techniques for facilitating telephony communications (including but not limited to text messages, audible messages, multimedia messages, commands, and voice communications) between members of a virtual or real-life community are described. The CTBS operates in conjunction with any known or later developed communication application or service, such as an email application, a social networking application, a gaming application, a discussion forum application, a blogging application, or a subscription/publication application, to provide intra-community telephonic communications via community members' own electronic devices, in a manner that keeps community members' unique telephone numbers secret from other members, and preserves other desired levels of privacy and/or security established by the community and/or communication application.
US08989370B1 Customizable call center dialing system, method and computer program product
A customizable call center dialing system, method and computer program product for providing computer based training module that permits an administrator to selectively adjust campaign variables associated with a calling campaign. The system preferably includes a server, a dialing algorithm having a plurality of variables associated with a dialing campaign wherein the dialing algorithm is executed by the server. An administrator interface is in communication with the server, and at least one agent interface in communication with the server. A dialing engine is controlled by an output from the dialing algorithm wherein the administrator interface permits an authorized user to selectively modify the output of the dialing algorithm. Advantageously, at least one dialing parameter can be modified, in real-time, such that a new call is predictively initiated close to a time when the call agent finishes a previous call.
US08989366B1 System and method for managing customer communications over communication channels
A system and method for managing customer communications over communication channels are disclosed. A method may include (1) at least one of a plurality of computer processors determining a communication channel for contacting a customer; (2) at least one of the plurality of computer processors determining contact information for the customer to be used with the determined communication channel; (3) presenting the contact information to an agent; (4) receiving, at an electronic device, authorization to initiate contact with the customer using the contact information; and (5) at least one of a plurality of computer processors automatically initiating contact with the customer using the communication channel.
US08989365B2 Call monitoring
Methods and systems are provided for monitoring calls routed to a telephone network-based voice mail system. When a subscriber receives a telephone call, a determination is made as to whether the call should be routed to the voice mail system. If call monitoring services are activated, a three-way communication is set up between the calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber. The subscriber is bridged into the call on a listen-only basis, but upon command by the subscriber, the subscriber may answer the call.
US08989364B2 Telecommunication system with enhanced implementation of service operations
A telecommunication system includes a first node, a second node and a network. The first node is configured with a set of predefined functions and a group of addresses of the telecommunication network such that a session setup request targeted to any address in the group of addresses is routed to the first node, and each address in the group of addresses is associated with at least one of the predefined functions. The second node is configured to send a session setup request to a target address that corresponds to an address in the group of addresses. The first node is configured to determine the function to be performed on the basis of the target address in the session setup request. Information delivery from the second node to the first node is implemented quickly. In the second node the power consumption may be significantly reduced.
US08989363B2 Incoming call forwarding management server, call-back terminal apparatus, and incoming call forwarding system
An incoming call relaying status identifying unit determines whether or not a call receiving request from an incoming call forwarding system is delivered through a preset forward source terminal apparatus based on incoming call relaying status identifying information included in the call receiving request. Next, when a determination based on the incoming call relaying status identifying information brings about a positive result, a display unit displays information for a call-back including forward source terminal information representing the forward source terminal apparatus utilized for relaying the incoming call based on the incoming call relaying status identifying unit. This makes it possible for a user of a forward destination to recognize from which forward source the incoming call is forwarded.
US08989360B2 Host mode for an audio conference phone
A system and method for receiving sound from a teleconference host at a teleconference phone is disclosed. The method comprises identifying a person to act as the teleconference host. A location of the identified teleconference host relative to the teleconference phone is determined. A plurality of microphones on the conference phone are configured as a beamforming receiver to receive an audio signal from the location of the teleconference host. Selected microphones from the plurality of microphones are biased to receive sound from the direction of the teleconference host relative to sound received from other directions.
US08989357B2 Method and inference engine for processing telephone communication data
A method and an inference engine for processing telephone communication data of telephone parties of a telephone network are provided to allow better services and better allocation of resources in a telephone network. The inference engine comprises an obtainer for obtaining telephone communication data that associates telephone parties identifiable by telephone network identifiers with usage data that describes usage of one or more services of a telephone network. Further, the inference engine also comprises a generator for generating contact structure data for a set of the telephone parties based on the telephone communication data, wherein the contact structure data expresses a degree of connectivity between each member of at least a part of the set and one or more other members. The generated data gives the required information to improve services and resource allocation in the network.
US08989356B2 Notifying network contacts of inquiries
A method, computer-readable medium, and user interface for displaying an inquiry indication related to an inquiring user's inquiry are described. An inquiring user prepares and submits an inquiry in an inquiry application. Upon preparing and submitting an inquiry, a notice of the inquiry is generated and routed to the inquiring user's network contacts. An inquiry indication is generated to notify network contacts that an inquiry has been submitted by the inquiring user. A network contact may select the inquiry indication to display an inquiry feature and may select an inquiry feature to view the inquiry and respond to the inquiry.
US08989354B2 Carbon composite support structure
A support structure for x-ray windows including carbon composite ribs, comprising carbon fibers in a matrix. The support structure can comprise a support frame defining a perimeter and an aperture, a plurality of ribs comprising a carbon composite material extending across the aperture of the support frame and carried by the support frame, and openings between the plurality of ribs. A film can be disposed over, carried by, and span the plurality of ribs and disposed over and span the openings.
US08989352B2 X-ray distance indicator and related methods
Apparatus and methods for providing a distance indication using an x-ray apparatus. According to various embodiments, an x-ray apparatus may be provided comprising an x-ray generator and a visible light generator. The apparatus may further comprise a projection member, such as a reticle, comprising a material at least partially transparent to visible light, wherein the projection member comprises an image positioned within the path of the visible light so as to project a secondary image comprising a shadow defined by the image. A LASER configured to deliver a LASER beam at an angle relative to the visible light may be provided such that the LASER beam intersects at least a portion of the secondary image at a predetermined distance from the LASER to allow a user to determine precisely a distance from the apparatus to an object to be exposed to x-ray radiation.
US08989348B2 Multi-linear X-ray scanning systems and methods for X-ray scanning
An x-ray scanner includes an x-ray source producing a fan of x-rays, an x-ray detector array, a collimator between the source and array, fixed to the source, and defining one or more slits collimating the x-ray fan into a linear x-ray beam. The array is spaced from the source such that a linear extent of the linear x-ray beam is no greater than a detector dimension of the array. An x-ray processing unit processes detection of the linear x-ray beam by the array. A processor-controlled motor moves the x-ray source about a source movement axis to pan the linear x-ray beam and create an x-ray emission cone and moves the array correspondingly with the source. The x-ray processing unit form an x-ray scanned image of an object disposed between the collimator and the array within the x-ray emission cone when the linear x-ray beam is panned across the object.
US08989345B2 Method for evaluation of density profile in carbon/carbon material and method for production of standard density test block used therein
Disclosed are a method for evaluating a local density profile in a carbon/carbon material and a method for producing a standard density test block capable of quantitatively evaluating the density profile in the carbon/carbon material, wherein the method for evaluating the density profile includes a first step of preparing a standard density test block to be inserted in the carbon/carbon material, wherein the standard density test block is produced by using the same type of material as the carbon/carbon material and thereafter inserted in the carbon/carbon material, a second step of radiating X-rays onto the carbon/carbon material having the standard density test block inserted so as to obtain and correct computed tomographic image, and a third step of measuring a physical density by use of a linear attenuation coefficient of the computed tomographic image, whereby the local density profile can accurately be evaluated by use of a nondestructive testing and additionally such method can be utilized as an excellent means for improving processes and ensuring quality.
US08989342B2 Methods and systems for volumetric reconstruction using radiography
Methods and systems for use in generating a volumetric reconstruction of an object using scattered X-ray radiography. An X-ray beam is directed towards a point within a target object. Scattered X-rays are measured by detectors and measurement data is stored. The X-ray beam is directed towards different points. Measurement data associated with each point is analyzed using a ray tracing methodology to assign contrast values to each point. A volumetric image is generated therefrom.
US08989341B2 X-ray CT apparatus
According to one embodiment, an X-ray CT apparatus includes a body thickness information acquiring unit, a threshold determining unit and an image generating unit. The body thickness information acquiring unit acquires information of a body thickness of an object. The threshold determining unit determines a threshold of an exposure dose according to the body thickness of the object. The image generating unit generates an image indicating a relationship between the body thickness of the object and the threshold and displays a generated image on a display unit.
US08989340B2 Uranium dioxide nuclear fuel containing Mn and Al as additives and method of fabricating the same
UO2 nuclear fuel pellets are fabricated by adding additive powder comprising Mn compound and Al compound into UO2 powder.
US08989339B2 Zirconium alloy material
Disclosed is a zirconium alloy material having high corrosion resistance regardless of thermal history during its manufacturing process. The zirconium alloy material is obtained by providing a zirconium alloy containing on the mass basis: 0.001% to 1.9% of Sn, 0.01% to 0.3% of Fe, 0.01% to 0.3% of Cr, 0.001% to 0.3% of Ni, 0.001% to 3.0% of Nb, 0.027% or less of C, 0.025% or less of N, 4.5% or less of Hf and 0.16% or less of O with the remainder being inevitable impurities and zirconium, being formed of a bulk alloy and a surface layer, in which the surface layer has a plastic strain of 3 or more or a Vickers hardness of 260 HV or more and an arithmetic mean surface roughness Ra of 0.2 μm or less.
US08989329B2 Eye width measurement and margining in communication systems
Generally, this disclosure describes eye width measurement and margining in communication systems. An apparatus may be configured to: decouple a phase detector from a CDR loop filter of a receiver under test in response to synchronizing a margining clock signal to a receiver clock signal; apply a margining input to the loop filter, the margining input configured to shift a frequency of the margining clock signal by a constant amount related to the margining input; compare a first bit stream and a second bit stream and configured to detect an error, the first bit stream related to a transmitted bit stream; and count cycles of the receiver clock signal or the margining clock signal, wherein an eye width associated with the receiver under test is related to the margining input, the frequency of the receiver clock signal and a count of clock cycles when the error is detected.
US08989328B2 Systems and methods for serial communication
This disclosure includes a point-to-point two-lineserial interface (TSI) suitable for use in a wireless communications device as well as in other applications. The TSI may employ a protocol providing multiple frame formats to achieve delivery of one type of message with a reduced latency and other messages at increased latencies. Further, although the master initiates reads, the slave circuit may signal the master in real time over the TSI.
US08989327B2 Method and apparatus for transmitting or detecting a primary synchronization signal
A method and apparatus for transmitting or detecting primary synchronization signal. The receiver receives primary synchronization signal from a transmitter, and detects the sequence used in the received primary synchronization signal by using three root indexes. Here, the primary synchronization signal is generated by using a Zadoff-Chu sequence having one of the three root indexes. The three root indexes comprise a first index and a second index, and a sum of the first index and the second index corresponds to the length of the Zadoff-Chu sequence.
US08989326B2 Method and apparatus for software GPS receiver
A receiver architecture for processing spread spectrum signals. The receiver has an RF front end to receive and down convert a broadcast signal to an intermediate frequency carrier. The IF signal is digitized and provided to a processor (which may be a software-driven DSP, an ASIC or other embodiment) for processing. A given IF carrier is removed and the signal is low pass filtered. The signal is provided to a number of channels, each, for example, correspond to a unique transmitter. On each channel the sample rate is reduced to a predetermined fixed rate with timing mismatch compensated. The Doppler frequency shift, as estimated for the channel, is removed succeedingly. A locally generated copy of the spreading code used by the transmitter is applied to the carrier and Doppler removed signal at the predetermined fixed sample rate. The de-spread signal is used to provide estimates of the Doppler shift and for subsequent sample selection. Pseudo-range and delta pseudo-range estimates from each channel are used to estimate, for example, the receiver's position.
US08989325B2 Multi-mode frequency domain equalization with adaptation to varying channel conditions
Methods and systems to configure a receiver based on a channel condition. A system may be implemented to estimate a channel based on PN sequences in a received signal, concurrently equalize a frequency domain representation of the signal with multiple blind adaptive equalizers, and evaluate results of the equalizations to select coefficients of one of the equalizers for further processing. A first equalizer may implement a constant-step-size (CSS) algorithm for a static channel. A second equalizer may implement a variable-step-size (VSS) algorithm for a dynamic channel. Static and dynamic channels may be distinguished based on convergence/divergence of the equalizers, which may be determined from a mean square error estimated from PN sequences in results of the blind equalizations. Subsequent processing may include linear and/or directed-decision equalization, channel estimation, and turbo equalization, which may be performed in the frequency domain, and which may be configurable based on the channel condition.
US08989321B1 Preamble detection based on repeated preamble codes
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with preamble detection based on repeated preamble codes are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus is provided that wirelessly receives a signal and calculates a differential output corresponding to a multiplication of the signal and a delayed version of the signal. A cross correlation is performed between the differential output and a known preamble pattern to produce a cross correlation output. One or more peaks are detected in the cross correlation. The detected peaks are used in subsequent processing to detect the known preamble pattern in the wirelessly received signal.
US08989318B2 Detecting circuit and related detecting method
A detecting circuit includes: a first offset generating circuit, arranged to apply a first offset to an input signal pair and accordingly generate a first output signal pair; and a first sampling circuit, coupled to the first offset generating circuit, the first sampling circuit arranged to sample the first output signal pair to generate a first sampling signal, wherein the first sampling signal is utilized to identify a data signal on the input signal pair, and the first sampling circuit is controlled by a first signal that is irrelevant to the input signal pair.
US08989312B2 Apparatus and method for MMSE channel estimation in consideration of offset compensation in wireless communication system
A channel estimation method of a channel estimation apparatus in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes predefining a plurality of weight tables about at least one of a speed and a Carrier to Interference-and-Noise Ratio (CINR) using a correlation value considering offset compensation; selecting a weight table to be used for channel estimation based on at least one of the estimated speed and the CINR, from the plurality of weight tables; and multiplying a pilot channel estimation value and the selected weight table, and performing data channel estimation.
US08989307B2 Power amplifier system including a composite digital predistorter
A power amplifier system including a composite digital predistorter (DPD) ensuring optimized linearity for the power amplifier is described. In this system, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an analog filter, a first mixer, and the power amplifier are serially coupled to the composite DPD. A second mixer, a receive gain block, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) are serially coupled to the output of the power amplifier. A DPD training component is coupled between the inputs of the composite DPD and the ADC. The composite DPD includes a memory-based DPD, e.g., a memory polynomial (MP) DPD, a memoryless-linearizing DPD, e.g., a look-up table (LUT) DPD, and two multiplexers.
US08989306B1 Low-noise regulation of battery power
The present disclosure describes apparatuses and techniques for low-noise regulation of battery power. In some aspects an indication of a voltage level of a battery supplying power to a linear regulator is received, an output voltage level is determined for the linear regulator that permits the linear regulator to operate in an active condition in which noise of the power supplied by the battery is mitigated, and the linear regulator is configured to output the regulated power at the output voltage level effective to provide low-noise regulated power for components of a device.
US08989302B2 Method for transmitting sounding reference signal in multiple antenna wireless communication system and apparatus therefor
A method for transmitting a sounding reference signal from a user equipment in a MIMO antenna wireless communication system. The method includes receiving sounding reference signal setup information from a base station, the sounding reference signal setup information including an initial cyclic shift value nSRScs and an initial transmissionComb parameter value kTC; setting an interval between cyclic shift values corresponding to each antenna port based on the initial cyclic shift value, to reach a maximum interval; setting a transmissionComb parameter value corresponding to a specific one of the antenna ports to a value different from the initial transmissionComb parameter value if the initial cyclic shift value is a previously set value and the number of antenna ports is 4; and transmitting the sounding reference signal to the base station through each antenna port by using the set cyclic shift value and transmissionComb parameter value.
US08989300B1 Multi-level coding and distortion compensation
An optical communication system, a transmitter, a receiver, and methods of operating the same are provided. In particular, a transmitter is disclosed as being configured to encode optical signals in accordance with a multi-level coding scheme. The receiver is configured to provide receive and decode to the optical signals received from the transmitter. One or both of the receiver and transmitter are configured to compensate for non-idealities or non-linearities introduced into the communication system by optical components of the system.
US08989295B2 Multi-layer beamforming with partial channel state information
A method of determining precoding information for beamforming between a sender and a receiver the method includes determining a first precoding vector of a first signal layer based on partial channel state information of a channel between the sender and the receiver. The method also includes determining a first guess vector based on long-term characteristics of the channel between the sender and the receiver. A grouping of antennas of the sender is defined and a phase shift value for each group of antennas is specified. The method further includes determining a second precoding vector in the sender of a second signal layer by multiplying each element in the first guess vector with the phase shift value specified for the group of antennas associated with said element in the first guess vector.
US08989294B2 Multiple-input multiple-output system and method
A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system can transmit on multiple antennas simultaneously and receive on multiple antennas simultaneously. Unfortunately, because a legacy 802.11a/g device is not able to decode multiple data streams, such a legacy device may “stomp” on a MIMO packet by transmitting before the transmission of the MIMO packet is complete. Therefore, MIMO systems and methods are provided herein to allow legacy devices to decode the length of a MIMO packet and to restrain from transmitting during that period. These MIMO systems and methods are optimized for efficient transmission of MIMO packets.
US08989293B2 Joint coding method based on binary tree and coder
The present invention provides a method and a coder for jointly coding Pre-coding Matrix Index #1 (W1) and Rank Index (RI) for channel state information feedback of a double codebook precoding frame. In the present invention, it is determined whether Rank Index RI is more than 2; if the RI is no more than 2, a first half branch of a coding binary tree is used to represent joint coding of the RI and W1 when RI=1 and RI=2; if the RI is more than 2, a second half branch of the coding binary tree is used to represent remaining separate codings and/or joint codings when the RI is more than 2; and processing results of the above coding steps are output. The present invention may be applied to an equal-length coding or an unequal-length coding. The present invention has advantages such as easy implementation, lower signaling overhead etc., and may be suitable for an LTE-A/4G cellular communication system and a future 5G cellular communication system.
US08989291B2 Spatial pre-coding for transmitting data within a mobile telecommunication network
A method for transmitting data within a mobile telecommunication system from a user equipment having at least two transmit antennas to a base station having at least two receive antennas. The method comprises (a) providing a number of data streams at the user equipment, wherein the number of data streams is smaller than the number of transmit antennas, (b) applying a spatial pre-coding to the data streams, and (c) transmitting the spatially pre-coded data streams to the base station via the transmit antennas, wherein the number of transmit antennas used for transmitting the spatially pre-coded data streams is larger than the number of data streams. A corresponding method for receiving data, a user equipment for carrying out the data transmitting method, a base station for carrying out the data receiving method and a computer program for controlling the described data transmitting and/or receiving method.
US08989290B2 Mode switching between SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO
The present invention relates to a method and arrangements in a communication system for Multi User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) signaling via Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) antennas between a base station and one of a plurality of mobile terminals supporting both Single User and Multi User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO) signaling modes. Switching between the modes is supported in the system and the modes have partly shared signaling. SU-MIMO mode signaling which is redundant, i.e. not needed, for MU-MIMO mode signaling is identified. Bits, i.e. data bits, of the identified redundant signaling is re-interpreted or re-defined to comprise signaling information associated with MU-MIMO mode. The signaling information associated with MU-MIMO mode is signaled to the mobile terminal by using the reinterpreted redundant bits.
US08989286B2 Mapping a transmission stream in a virtual baseband to a physical baseband with equalization
Embodiments include processes, systems, and devices for reshaping virtual baseband signals for transmission on non-contiguous and variable portions of a physical baseband, such as a white space frequency band. In the transmission path, a spectrum virtualization layer maps a plurality of transmission components associated with a transmission symbol produced by a physical layer protocol to sub-carriers of the allocated physical frequency band. The spectrum virtualization layer then outputs a physical transmission symbol composed of time-domain samples derived from the mapped frequency components and a cyclic prefix. In the receive path, a time-domain symbol received on the physical baseband is reshaped and equalized by the virtual spectrum layer in order to recompose a time-domain samples of a transmission stream in the virtual baseband.
US08989279B2 Reference data buffer for intra-prediction of digital video
Encoding or decoding digital video frames in intra-prediction mode by selecting column reference data locations for blocks adjacent a current block from a column reference data buffer storing column reference data samples for no more than two macro blocks of the frame. In some cases, the column reference data buffer may include a storage size for samples of a first column of data of blocks of one macro block of luminance samples. Encoding and decoding may also include selecting row reference data locations for blocks adjacent a current block from a row reference data buffer storing row reference data samples for at least one row of macro blocks of the frame. In some cases, the row reference data buffer may include storage for samples of a first row of data of fourteen successive blocks spanning two rows. The concept can be applied to various video processing components and standards.
US08989277B1 Reducing artifacts within a video processing system
An embodiment of a video processing system can include an alignment detector block configured to determine whether a video signal is misaligned and, responsive to determining that the video signal is misaligned, generate notifications indicating misalignment of the video signal. The video processing system also can include an unlock detector block coupled to the alignment detector block that is configured to determine an amount of time that the video signal is misaligned according to the notifications from the alignment detector block. The unlock detector block can be configured to ignore misalignment of the video signal until the video signal is misaligned for an amount of time exceeding a threshold amount of time.Another embodiment of the video processing system can include a buffer, a packetizer block that is coupled to the buffer, and a buffer controller that is coupled to the buffer and the packetizer block.
US08989275B2 Video processing architecture
A method for video processing may include receiving video data units, and compressing the video data units to generate compressed video data units that have a variable size. The method may also include storing the compressed video data units contiguously in a memory in memory segments that have a fixed size, where the size of at least one of the compressed video data units is indivisible by the fixed size of the memory segments, and where a portion of the indivisible compressed video data unit is stored with a portion of another compressed video data unit in one of the memory segments. The method may also include determining data storage information associated with the compressed video data units, and storing the data storage information in the memory. A system may have a video processing architecture designed to support the method.
US08989274B2 Method and apparatus for encoding video and method and apparatus for decoding video, based on hierarchical structure of coding unit
An apparatus and method for encoding video data and an apparatus and method for decoding video data are provided. The encoding method includes: splitting a current picture into at least one maximum coding unit; determining a coded depth to output an encoding result by encoding at least one split region of the at least one maximum coding unit according to operating mode of coding tool, respectively, based on a relationship among a depth of at least one coding unit of the at least one maximum coding unit, a coding tool, and an operating mode, wherein the at least one split region is generated by hierarchically splitting the at least one maximum coding unit according to depths; and outputting a bitstream including encoded video data of the coded depth, information regarding a coded depth of at least one maximum coding unit, information regarding an encoding mode, and information regarding the relationship.
US08989260B2 Using scalable codecs for providing channel zapping information to broadcast receivers
Scalable codecs are used for transmitting channel zapping data for one or more programs using timeslicing. The main codec layer may be utilized also for the zapping data, and the higher layers may be used in the primary channels. Zapping data may be provided to mobile terminals via a wireless multicast network, such as a DVB-H network, using timeslicing and providing the scalably encoded zapping data as part of the source stream.
US08989257B1 Method and apparatus for providing near-zero jitter real-time compression in a communication system
The method and apparatus of the present invention provides for the compression of signal data having a low latency jitter while maintaining a target compression ratio and reasonable degradation, as is required by next generation systems. In accordance with the present invention, a method and apparatus are provided for compressing data in a communication system by receiving uncompressed packet at a compressor of the communication system, segmenting the packet into a plurality of packet segments, calculating signal sample bit-removal information for each of the plurality of packet segments and compressing the packet segments utilizing the signal sample bit-removal information that is calculated based upon the signal characteristics of the uncompressed packet and a desired target compression ratio.
US08989253B1 Reconditioning equalizer filter for non-constant envelope signals
A technique for a reconditioning equalizer filter for non-constant envelope signals is described. The input to a transmitter chain is modified by a reconditioning equalizer filter, prior to being applied to the transmitter. The reconditioning equalizer filter modifies and smoothens the amplitude of the signal. The modified and smoothened signal has its peaks reduced which results in lower Crest Factor. The input to the reconditioning equalizer filter could be a baseband, intermediate frequency (IF) or radio frequency (RF) signal. When the signal is an IF or RF signal, it needs to be down-converted to baseband before being applied to the reconditioning equalizer filter. The reconditioning equalizer filter could be performed in a digital or analog domain.
US08989251B2 Method and apparatus to compensate for nonlinear echo in an output of a current source
A compensator generating a compensation signal to compensate for nonlinear echo in an output of a current source. The nonlinear echo is a result of transitioning the current source between an ON state and an OFF state. The compensator includes driving, weighting, function, and compensating circuits. The driving circuit receives a first signal that is based on the output of the current source. The weighting circuit is configured to generate a second signal based on weighted versions of the first signal. The function circuit, based on the second signal, (i) updates each of multiple functions, and (ii) selects a first function. The driving circuit generates a driving signal based on the first function selected by the function circuit. The compensating circuit generates the compensation signal based on the driving signal to compensate for the nonlinear echo provided by the output of the current source.
US08989244B2 Beacon detection structures, systems and processes for interference testing
A receiver is provided that receives signals from a device under test (DUT) for one or more modes of operation. For each mode, the system detects beacon transmission signals from the DUT, and counts the number of beacons for a period of time. If the count is not consistent with an expected count, e.g. a stored value, the system may preferably provide an output to indicate that there is a problem with the DUT. If the count is consistent with the expected count, the system may preferably perform further testing for other modes of operation. If the count output of the DUT is consistent with expected counts over each of the operation modes, the system may provide an indication that the DUT has passed the beacon tests.
US08989240B2 Method for operating a secondary station
The invention relates to a method for operating a secondary station in a communication network including a primary station, the method comprising generating a precoding matrix obtained from the Hadamard product of an alphabet modifying matrix and an original precoding matrix, wherein the original precoding matrix consist of complex coefficients of equal magnitude, transmitting a precoding report representative of the precoding matrix to the primary station.
US08989238B2 Bi-directional interface circuit having a switchable current-source bias
A bi-directional interface circuit includes a transmitter portion, a receiver portion, a current source bias circuit, and a switch. When the interface circuit is transmitting data, the switch steers the bias current generated by the current source bias circuit to the transmitter portion of the interface. When the interface is receiving data, the switch steers the bias current to the receiver portion of the interface. Thus, the current-source bias circuit is kept on regardless of whether the interface is transmitting or receiving data. Because the current-source bias circuit is not turned on and off, the switching noise generated when the interface transitions between transmitting and receiving operations is eliminated or reduced. Consequently, any dead time inserted for such a transition can be minimized, and the effective bandwidth of the interface is increased.
US08989230B2 Method and apparatus including movable-mirror mems-tuned surface-emitting lasers
VCSEL apparatus having a substrate, a solid-state gain medium, a reflective mirror on one side of the medium, a movable reflective mirror on an opposite side of the medium, and a mechanism configured to move the movable mirror to tune a characteristic wavelength. Also described is a VCSEL apparatus having a silicon substrate having a slot therethrough and electrical connections formed on a first face, a substrate having VCSELs thereon and mounted across the slot and electrically connected to the electrical connections on the silicon substrate, and a glass substrate affixed to a second face of the silicon substrate. Also described is a VCSEL apparatus having a graded-index lens array having GRIN lenses mounted adjacently in a staggered arrangement, a PCB mounted to the lens array, and VCSEL chips mounted adjacently on the PCB and arranged so as to emit laser light through the lenses.
US08989225B2 Laser apparatus
A laser apparatus includes a master oscillator capable of outputting a laser beam having a spectrum that includes at least three wavelength peaks, a multi-wavelength oscillation control mechanism capable of controlling energy of each of the wavelength peaks, a spectrum detecting unit that detects the spectrum of the above-mentioned laser beam, and a controller that controls the multi-wavelength oscillation control mechanism based on a detection result detected by the spectrum detecting unit.
US08989224B2 Apparatus for femtosecond laser optically pumped by laser diode pumping module
There is disclosed an apparatus for femtosecond laser optically pumped by a laser diode pumping module that is able to mechanically couple optical mounts for mounting optical mounts to each other by using a bar with a low thermal expansion coefficient and to form a light pumping module distant from a laser platform or a case, to provide a stable mode locking for an ultrashort laser and to enhance a power stability and a beam stability.
US08989223B2 Advancing virtual time bases for content
The invention provides a method and apparatus that addresses and resolves the issues currently affecting the ability to offer Enhanced TV, in particular, those issues concerning timing and synchronization, interaction with other modules in the STB, and distribution.
US08989222B1 Justification insertion and removal in generic mapping procedure in an optical transport network
A method and apparatus are provided for generating Generic Mapping Procedure (GMP) stuff/data decisions, which avoids brute force modulo arithmetic and is efficient for hitless adjustment of ODUFIex (G.7044) in an Optical Transport Network (OTN). Addition operations are used, rather than multiplication operations, to facilitate faster and less computationally expensive calculation of data/stuff decisions, based on calculated residue values. Residue values are logically arranged in rows to facilitate residue calculation, such as based on relationships with previously calculated residue values. This method is also applicable for mapping and de-mapping Constant Bit Rate (CBR) clients into and from an ODUk carrier.
US08989220B2 High speed variable bandwidth ring-based system
In one embodiment, a system includes a station circuit. The station circuit includes a data layer and a transport layer. The station circuit is capable of a source mode and a destination mode. The data layer of the station circuit in source mode disassembles a source packet into one or more source parcels and sends the one or more source parcels to the transport layer. The station circuit in destination mode receives the one or more destination parcels over a ring at its transport layer, reassembles the one or more destination parcels into a destination packet, and delivers the destination packet from the transport layer to the data layer. The transport layer of the station circuit in source mode transmits the one or more source parcels over the ring. The transport layer of the station circuit in destination mode receives the one or more destination parcels over the ring.
US08989214B2 High-speed serial data signal receiver circuitry
Circuitry for receiving a high-speed serial data signal (e.g., having a bit rate in the range of about 10 Gpbs and higher) includes a two-stage, continuous-time, linear equalizer having only two serially connected stages. Phase detector circuitry may be provided for receiving the serial output of the equalizer and for converting successive pairs of bits in that output to successive parallel-form bit pairs. Further demultiplexing circuitry may be provided to demultiplex successive groups of the parallel-form bit pairs to final groups of parallel bits, which can be quite large in terms of number of bits (e.g., 64 parallel bits). Another aspect of the invention relates to multiplexer circuitry for efficiently going in the opposite direction from such relatively large groups of parallel data bits to a high-speed serial data output signal.
US08989212B2 Systems and methods for coexistence of WLAN and bluetooth networks
Systems and methods for coexistence of WLAN and Bluetooth networks are described. At least one embodiment includes a method for operating a wireless device in both a 802.11 network and a Bluetooth network. In accordance with some embodiments, the method comprises monitoring transmission of Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) slots over the Bluetooth network, informing an access point (AP) in the 802.11 network not to transmit to the device before the end of an SCO slot, transmitting a power save trigger to the AP to retrieve buffered data from the AP, and transmitting data to the AP.
US08989211B2 Apparatus and method for managing channel resource
An apparatus for managing a channel resource by a node sets a channel hopping sequence and a channel hopping offset value which are to be used, divides an assigned time slot into a plurality of subslots, divides a data frame for transmission into a plurality of subframes, and selects a channel for transmitting the plurality of subframes in the plurality of subslots, respectively, by channel hopping based on the channel hopping sequence, the channel hopping offset value, the index of the time slot, and the index of a subslot for transmitting a subframe.
US08989206B2 MAC packet data unit construction for wireless system
A method for wireless communication using MAC PDUs. The method includes determining one or more characteristics of a service flow and selecting on the basis of the one or more characteristics a MAC PDU header type among a plurality of MAC PDU header types. The service flow data is encapsulated in MAC PDUs with a header of the selected type. The MAC PDUs with the encapsulated service flow data are then wirelessly transmitted. Also, a method for communication between a Base Station (BS) and a Subscriber Station (SS). The method includes generating at the BS a plurality of MAC PDU packets with a payload component holding service flow data and a plurality of MAC PDU packets without payload component, carrying control information. The method also includes transmitting wirelessly the MAC PDU packets with the payload component and the MAC PDU packets with the control information to the SS.
US08989201B2 Mapping logical ports of a network switch to physical ports
A Layer 2 network switch is partitionable into a plurality of switch fabrics. The single-chassis switch is partitionable into a plurality of logical switches, each associated with one of the virtual fabrics. The logical switches behave as complete and self-contained switches. A logical switch fabric can span multiple single-chassis switch chassis. Logical switches are connected by inter-switch links that can be either dedicated single-chassis links or logical links. An extended inter-switch link can be used to transport traffic for one or more logical inter-switch links. Physical ports of the chassis are assigned to logical switches and are managed by the logical switch. Legacy switches that are not partitionable into logical switches can serve as transit switches between two logical switches.
US08989200B2 Wireless/LAN router queuing method and system
A queuing method and system for wireless/LAN routers processes and routes an incoming data packet from a wireless mobile network to a destination server. The system uses a wireless transport module to initiate storage of the data packet in a permanent storage device while simultaneously forwarding the data packet to the destination server. A database thread is used to manage the operations being performed on the data packet and for initiating the storage of the data packet in a permanent storage device based on a permanent storage queue. A main thread is used to simultaneously forward the data packet to the destination server. The wireless transport module is adapted to determine whether the data packet has been acknowledged by the destination server and aborting the storage of the data packet in the permanent storage device once acknowledgment from by destination server has been received.
US08989198B2 Automatic address range detection for IP networks
Mechanisms are provided for automatic address range detection for an IP network. Flow data is obtained comprising the source or destination IP addresses for the flow and one of: the other of the source or destination IP addresses; or direction data identifying the flow direction across the network boundary. A tree is generated representing IP addresses in the flow data. IP addresses with initial portions in common are represented in the tree with a node in common. Weights are assigned to nodes in the tree based on occurrences of the represented IP addresses in the flow data. The IP address range of the network is detected by identifying, based on the assigned weights, the node associated with the last initial address portion common to all IP addresses in the network. A device is automatically configured with the IP address range to differentiate IP addresses inside and outside the network.
US08989196B2 Method and apparatus for providing host node awareness for multiple NAT64 environments
A method is implemented in a host node for communicating with a corresponding node. The host node has connections to a plurality of networks, where each of the plurality of networks includes a network address translation 64 (NAT64) node, each NAT64 node utilizes a distinct prefix to generate virtual Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses, each of the plurality of networks is an IPv6 network, but the corresponding node is an Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) node. The host node implementing this method is able to maintain connectivity with the corresponding node despite having connections to the plurality of networks that each have NAT64 nodes that utilize distinct prefixes for virtual IPv6 addresses.
US08989193B2 Facilitating insertion of device MAC addresses into a forwarding database
Techniques are disclosed for hash-based routing table management in a distributed network switch having multiple switch modules. Upon determining that an attempt to insert a first routing entry into a first hash table of the routing table has failed, a second routing entry, which exists in the first hash table, is attempted to be moved to a second hash table of the routing table. If the move attempt is successful, then the first routing entry is added to the location previously occupied by the second routing entry. If the move attempt is unsuccessful, then a third routing entry, which exists in the first hash table, is attempted to be moved.
US08989191B1 Systems and methods for hard zoning in networks
Method and system for a network device configured to control access to other devices in a network is provided. The network device includes a port configured to receive a frame. The port includes a plurality of sub-ports configured to operate as independent ports for sending and receiving frames using one of a plurality of network links at a plurality of rates and complying with a plurality of protocols. The network device also includes a source address look up table (ALUT) and a destination address look up table (LLUT), wherein when the frame is received the network device is configured to compare a source identifier of the frame and a destination identifier of the frame to the ALUT and the LLUT. When one ALUT table entry matches the source identifier of the frame, the network device outputs a bit map of zones based on the source identifier of the frame, compares the output bit map of zones with a zone bit map of the LLUT, and when there are any matching bits between the two maps, transmits the frame.
US08989187B2 Method and system of scaling a cloud computing network
Disclosed are a system, method, and article of manufacture of scaling a cloud computing network are disclosed. A virtual switch receives a data packet from a virtual machine. The virtual machine and the virtual switch can be implemented on the same host device. The virtual switch can remove the virtual MAC address from the data packet. The virtual switch can then include a physical MAC address or a synthetic MAC address of a target host. A synthetic MAC address can be utilized for multicast traffic where want to associate a separate MAC with each tenant of the host. The data packet can be sent to a target host.
US08989179B2 System and method for originating a call via a circuit-switched network from a user equipment device
In one aspect, an application server (AS) node comprises a processor configured to receive a first SIP Invite request from the UE device, the first SIP Invite request having call information which includes a URI of a called party and data indicating that the first SIP Invite request is for a bearer over a circuit-switched (CS) network. An E.164 number is associated with the call information in the first SIP Invite request and a SIP response including the E.164 number is sent to the UE device in response to receiving the first SIP Invite request. When a call setup message including the E.164 number received from the CS network, the received E.164 number is verified if it is valid and if so, the call information is identified based on the E.164 number and is sent to the called party via a second SIP Invite request.
US08989176B2 Method and device for triggering nested service
The present invention discloses a method for triggering a nested service, which relates to the technique of broadband service triggering and service nesting. The present invention is proposed for solving the problem that the existing nested service occupies more system bandwidths, wherein the method includes: when receiving a call request of a nested service in a normal service flow, determining a service key of the nested service according to a called number of the nested service, taking the service key as a call access object, converting the call request of the nested service into a call access message in a service platform where a normal service is located, and triggering the nested service in the service platform. The present invention further discloses an apparatus for implementing the previously mentioned method. The present invention reduced the bandwidth resources consumed by the nested service, and the scheme is simple and practical.
US08989175B2 Access node comprising VoIP cards with common IP/MAC addresses
Disclosed are methods and arrangements in a VoIP access node for handling downstream and upstream RTP packets associated with an ongoing VoIP call. One common IP address can be assigned to the all of the RTP traffic of an access node instead of assigning one IP address per VoIP card. This may be done by identifying the destination VoIP card based on the destination UDP port number in a received RTP packet. The number of public IP addresses needed for VoIP service may be reduced without increasing the cost of the access node.
US08989164B2 Method and arrangement for processing mobile station history information in a wireless communication system
Methods and apparatus for processing mobile station transaction information at a serving control node in a wireless communication system are disclosed. The serving control node may be a base station, such as an eNodeB in an LTE/SAE wireless communication system. The transaction information, which may include, for example, mobility-related transaction information and traffic-related transaction information for a given mobile station, may be passed between controlling control nodes as the corresponding mobile station is handed over, so that a controlling control node has access to information characterizing the past activities of the mobile station. This information may be used in some embodiments for selecting a target control node for handover or for allocating link resources.
US08989161B2 Methods for transmitting a frame in a multi-user based wireless communication system
The present invention relates to methods for transmitting a frame by grouping a plurality of wireless terminals in a multiuser based wireless communication system. The present invention includes a method for transmitting a frame by including information about multiple receiver terminals in a MAC frame, another method for transmitting a frame by allocating group addresses and then using a corresponding group address for frame transmission, and yet another method for transmitting a frame by using a unique group sequence number that is allocated to each group and group control information that contains bitmap information. The group control information is included in a destination address field of a MAC layer, or in a signal field of a physical layer, or in both the MAC layer and the physical layer.
US08989157B2 Radio communication system, base station, and interference management scheme
In an environment in which a macro base station and a low transmission power base station exist, the ratio of the interference reduction time period of the macro base station is optimized, and the throughput of the low transmission power base station is improved, while minimizing a reduction in throughput. The macro base station causes a high interference to other base stations and one or a plurality of low power nodes (LPN) subjected to interference from the macro base station. The macro base station sets first and second data transmission time periods and then determines the ratio of the second time period and the pattern of the first time period and the second time period based on communication quality in the first time period and communication quality in the second time period of the macro base station and the LPN.
US08989156B2 Selecting a codeword and determining a symbol length for uplink control information
A wireless communication device configured for selecting a codeword and determining a symbol length for uplink control information is described. The wireless communication device includes a processor and instructions stored in memory. The wireless communication device establishes communication with a base station, receives downlink control information from the base station and receives base station information. The wireless communication device generates uplink control information based on the base station information. The wireless communication device also determines a number of symbols for the uplink control information for a plurality of layers and sends the uplink control information.
US08989153B2 Mobile communication system, base station device, mobile station device, and mobile communication method
A mobile communication system includes a mobile station device and a base station device. The base station device includes a cell identification information transmission unit which transmits cell identification information of base station devices transmitting radio signals of the same synchronization channel, to the mobile station device when there are at least two base station devices transmitting radio signals of the same synchronization channel within a predetermined communication area. The mobile station device includes a measurement result transmission unit which performs a measurement process based on the cell identification information of the base station devices and transmits the measurement result acquired by the measurement process to the base station device.
US08989149B2 Apparatus and method for removing path management
An apparatus includes least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program, the at least one memory and the computer program operable to, with the at least one processor, direct the apparatus at least to: identify a mobile station (MS) as a tunneling protocol endpoint; and configure an access bearer for the MS to prevent activation of a path management procedure for an entire data session; wherein the path management procedure comprises at least one of echo request messages, echo response messages, and version not supported messages.
US08989145B2 Methods and systems for a generic multi-radio access technology
Systems and method provide for cell reconfirmation methods for a multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) capable User Equipment (UE). A method for performing a cell reconfirmation method by a multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) capable User Equipment (UE), the method includes: performing, by the UE, cell reconfirmation using information derived from a Normal Burst (NB) of a transmitted Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) radio signal, wherein the cell reconfirmation verifies an identity of a GSM cell associated with the transmitted GSM radio signal. The method can further include: operating the multi-RAT capable UE in a serving cell of a first RAT; and selecting the cell reconfirmation method to reconfirm a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication neighbor cell located in a second RAT which is a GSM RAT, wherein a first cell reconfirmation method uses a received Normal Burst (NB) and a second cell reconfirmation method uses a received Synchronization Burst (SB).
US08989136B2 Connection dormancy method and wireless communication device and computer readable recording medium
A connection dormancy method for a wireless communication device, the wireless communication device and computer readable recording medium using the same are provided. The method includes recording connection information between the wireless communication device and at least one target device, and generating at least one connection establishing time according to the connection information. The method also includes determining using either a first dormancy waiting time or a second dormancy waiting time as a default dormancy waiting time according to the at least one connection establishing time, and disconnecting a connection between the wireless communication device and the at least one target device after the connection is idled for the default dormancy waiting time.
US08989135B2 Spectral arrangement for radio resources
A spectral arrangement for radio resources is usable for transmitting radio data within a telecommunication network. The spectral arrangement includes (a) a first radio resource usable for transmitting radio data in a first data flow direction, wherein the first data flow direction is either an uplink direction or a downlink direction, (b) a second radio resource usable for transmitting radio data in a second data flow direction, wherein the second data flow direction is opposite to the first data flow direction, (c) a third radio resource usable for transmitting radio data in the second data flow direction and (d) a guard band, which on the frequency scale is located between the first radio resource and the second radio resource such that the first radio resource is separated from the second radio resource Between the second radio resource and the third radio resource there is provided no guard band.
US08989131B2 Method and apparatus for scheduling and MU-MIMO transmission based on outdated channel state information at the transmitter
A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for scheduling and MU-MIMO transmission based on outdated channel state information. In one embodiment, the multi-user (MU)-MIMO wireless communication system has a multi-antenna transmitter and L user terminals, and the method comprises scheduling a pair of user packets for a round-2 transmission to form one MAT session using outdated channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT), including a first packet destined for a first user terminal and a second packet destined for a second user terminal, based on knowledge of user channels from transmissions to some or all L user terminals into and based on a utility function, combining eavesdropped observations from two of the plurality of round-1 transmissions, the eavesdropped observations including information indicative of round-1 eavesdropped channels feedback from the first and second user terminals, and transmitting the combined observations of the pair of user packets as part of the round-2 transmission.
US08989130B2 Channel configuration in a wireless network
A base station transmits a message comprising configuration parameters of first radio resources of a control channel. The first radio resources comprise one or more sets of resource blocks in a subset of subframes in a plurality of subframes. The base station transmits scheduling information on the control channel for a packet transmitted on an uplink data channel. The base station transmits a positive or negative acknowledgement on second radio resources of a feedback channel for the received packet. The second radio resources start from the first OFDM symbol of a second subframe.
US08989128B2 Cell timing in a wireless device and base station
A wireless device receives a control message configuring cell groups comprising a primary cell group and a secondary cell group. The wireless device receives a timing advance command comprising a time adjustment value and an index identifying the secondary cell group. The wireless device applies the time adjustment value to uplink transmission timing of the secondary cell group. The wireless device triggers an action in response to detecting a difference between primary cell group timing and secondary cell group timing, the difference being greater than a threshold.
US08989120B2 Systems and methods for file sharing through mobile devices
Systems and methods are disclosed which relate to the sending and receiving of multimedia files between two devices while connected through a voice call. These devices are free to send any type of file through a direct connection without the need to hang up and call back just to see if the file was sent successfully. These methods work for a plurality of cellular and computer devices connected through a cellular network or other Internet Service Provider.
US08989118B2 Uplink control channel resource mapping for an enhanced PDCCH in LTE systems
An enhanced physical down link control channel (ePDCCH) for Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems is described that is constructed using enhanced control channel elements (eCCEs). Techniques are also described by which user equipment (UE) may be implicitly allocated uplink resources for transmitting acknowledgements to data received via downlink resources allocated by an ePDCCH.
US08989117B2 Enhanced dedicated-channel signaling in a CELL—FACH state
A new set of random-access preamble signatures are introduced to differentiate new-release UEs from UEs compliant only with earlier releases. Additional new features of a random-access procedure are also disclosed, including an ability to deploy multiple transmission-time-intervals TTIs) in a given area. An example mobile terminal, according to some embodiments of the present invention, selects a TTI from two or more possible TTIs. The mobile terminal then selects a preamble signature from a group of one or more preamble signatures associated with enhanced-uplink resources and associated with the selected TTI, and transmits a random-access channel (RACH) preamble, using the selected preamble signature. In some embodiments, the mobile terminal selects between a 2-millisecond TTI and a 10-millisecond TTI.
US08989116B2 Method and system for setting up a bearer
Method and system for setting up a bearer are disclosed. The bearer setup method includes these steps: a packet data network gateway (PGW) obtains first quality of service (QoS) information and a first bearer identifier (ID), and sets up a bearer between the PGW and a radio access network (RAN) according to the first QoS information, where the bearer is associated with the first bearer ID; the RAN sets up a radio bearer (RB) with a user equipment (UE) according to second QoS information associated with the first QoS information, where the RB is associated with a second bearer ID associated with the first bearer ID.
US08989109B2 Pre-coding method and apparatus based on mixed multiplexing demodulation reference signals
Disclosed in the present invention is a pre-coding method for hybrid multiplexing demodulation reference symbol (DMRS). The method includes: determining a multiplexing relationship between DMRS ports; making layers of data transport correspond to DMRS ports with the multiplexing relationship determined; and pre-coding pilot sequences corresponding to various DMRS ports according to the relationship between the layers of data transport and the DMRS ports. Also disclosed in the present invention is a method for mapping from a layer to a multiplexing demodulation reference symbol (DMRS) and an apparatus for achieving pre-coding based on a hybrid multiplexing demodulation reference symbol (DMRS). By way of the technical solution of the present invention, interference between the layers corresponding to different codeword streams can be avoided, and the accuracy of channel estimation can be improved.
US08989108B2 Wireless packet communication method and wireless packet communication apparatus
In retransmission processing due to a failure of transmission of data packets, a plurality of data packets are simultaneously transmitted between two STAs by utilizing multiple wireless channels and MIMO, and the number of idle channels and the number of retransmission packets are compared. Then, when both of the numbers are different or only when the number of idle channels is larger than the number of retransmission packets, the retransmission packets are reconstructed according to the number of idle channels, and the reconstructed retransmission packets are simultaneously transmitted by using the idle channels.
US08989107B2 Activation deactivation of secondary UL carrier in DC HSUPA
The present patent application discloses a method and apparatus for activating or de-activating a secondary carrier, comprising informing a serving radio network controller when a secondary carrier was activated or de-activated, receiving a confirmation from the serving radio network controller that non-serving NodeB cells have achieved synchronization, and scheduling a UE upon receiving confirmation. In another example, the present patent application discloses a method and apparatus for de-activating a secondary carrier, comprising controlling de-activation of the secondary carrier using high-speed shared control channel orders, receiving acknowledgement of said high-speed shared control channel orders, and informing a serving radio network controller when the secondary carrier was de-activated.
US08989105B2 Method of establishing multiple links with multiple component carriers and related communication device
A method of establishing multiple links with multiple component carriers for a mobile device of a wireless communication system, the method includes establishing a first link corresponding to a first component carrier by a first radio resource control procedure, and establishing at least a link corresponding to at least a component carrier by a second RRC procedure according to a first RRC message received in the first link.
US08989100B2 Wireless communication device and semiconductor device
A transmission power controller turns on a power supply to a transmitter at a given time taking a power rise time into account before a start time of transmission processing in the transmitter, and turns off the power supply to the transmitter when the transmission processing is finished. A reception power controller turns on a power supply to a receiver at a given time taking a power rise time into account before a time at which an ACK is assumed to be arrival from a wireless communication device on a receiver side responsive to data transmitted from the transmitter, and turns off the power supply to the receiver when the reception processing of the ACK in the receiver is finished.
US08989088B2 OFDM signal processing in a base transceiver system
A method and apparatus provides OFDM signal compression for transfer over serial data links in a base transceiver system (BTS) of a wireless communication network. For the uplink, an RF unit of the BTS applies OFDM cyclic prefix removal and OFDM frequency transformation of the baseband signal samples followed by frequency domain compression of the baseband signal samples, resulting from analog to digital conversion of received analog signals followed by digital downconversion, forming compressed coefficients. After transfer over the serial data link, the baseband processor applies frequency domain decompression to the compressed coefficients prior to further signal processing. For the downlink, the RF unit performs frequency domain decompression of the compressed coefficients and applies OFDM inverse frequency transformation of the decompressed coefficients and OFDM cyclic prefix insertion prior to digital upconversion and digital to analog conversion, generating the analog signal for transmission over the antenna.
US08989087B2 Methods and devices for managing radio access in a communication system
A method for managing radio access comprises sending of a radio access technology (RAT) resource aggregation request from a first radio access network (RAN) to a second RAN concerning communication with a user equipment connected to a source RAN, and returning a response to the first RAN. The source RAN is the first or second RAN. The first and second RANs use different radio access technologies. Radio resources of a base station in a target RAN, the RAN to which the user equipment is not connected, are reserved. A report of the reserved radio resources is sent to the source RAN. A RAT resource aggregation command is transmitted to the user equipment. The RAT resource aggregation command comprises that a RAT resource aggregation shall be used and the reserved radio resources. The base stations have at least partly overlapping coverage areas.
US08989082B2 Apparatus, methods, computer program products and systems providing RACH parameters in a broadcast channel for a random access procedure
In one non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, a method includes: receiving at least one parameter from a broadcast channel (51); determining, using the received at least one parameter, information including at least one of an initial bit rate to use when transmitting on a random access channel (RACH) and an automatic repeat request (ARQ) profile to use when transmitting on the RACH (52); and transmitting a message on the RACH in accordance with the determined information (53).
US08989080B2 Method and apparatus for cooperation in cognitive radio networks
A method and apparatus are described including competing by a secondary transmitter with a plurality of secondary nodes in a cognitive radio network to become a relay node for a primary transmitter, the secondary nodes being secondary transmitters and secondary receivers, receiving data transmitted by the primary transmitter in a first time slot if the secondary transmitter was successful in the competition, relaying the received data transmitted by the primary transmitter to a primary receiver in a second time slot, transmitting secondary data to a corresponding secondary receiver in a subslot of the second time slot and transmitting the secondary data to the corresponding secondary receiver in a subslot of the first time slot if the secondary transmitter was not successful in the competition and if the corresponding secondary receiver was successful in the competition.
US08989079B2 Apparatus for transmitting and receiving uplink backhaul signal in wireless communication system and method thereof
Disclosed are an apparatus for transmitting and receiving an uplink backhaul signal in a wireless communication system and a method thereof. The method for receiving the uplink backhaul signal from a relay station in a base station, comprises the step of receiving a signal transmitted through an uplink backhaul sub-frame of an index N in the relay station using an uplink sub-frame of an index N or an index N+1 in the base station. The base station receives the signal transmitted from the relay station in the uplink sub-frame of the index N or the index N+1 of the base station at the delayed timing corresponding to a propagation delay value of the signal according to the distance between the relay station and the base station from a transmitting time point.
US08989078B2 Method and apparatus for setting up a relay link in a wireless communication system
A method and apparatus for setting up a relay link to transfer a data frame using a relay in a wireless communication system are provided. The relay link setup method of a source STA in a wireless communication system may include receiving capability information of at least one relay supporting station included in the wireless communication system from an access point (AP) or a personal basic service set (PBSS) central point (PCP), selecting one of the at least one relay supporting station as a relay station, using beam forming information among the source station, a destination station, and the at least one relay supporting station and the capability information, transferring a relay link setup request frame to the destination station, and receiving a relay link setup response frame that includes information on a relay link setup result from the destination station. The relay link setup request frame and the relay link setup response frame may pass through the relay station.
US08989076B2 Mobile communication system and mobile communication method
A mobile communication system includes a mobile station connected with a base station by radio when being in a cell formed by the base station, and configured to communicate with a counter side unit through the base station; and a relay station configured to form a limitation area. The relay station receives a downlink signal from the base station and transmits a limitation downlink signal obtained by adding information showing that it is in the limitation area to the downlink signal to the limitation area. When receiving the limitation downlink signal, the mobile station transmits an uplink signal showing a function limited state to the base station in synchronization with a downlink channel received from the base station.
US08989074B2 Communication apparatus, communication method, and communication system
A communication apparatus that receives, from a plurality of other communication apparatuses, information indicating communication quality of a multicast transmission transmitted from the communication apparatus to each of the plurality of other communication apparatuses, and controls a multicast transmission rate based on the information received from the plurality of other communication apparatuses.
US08989072B2 Radio base station and mobile communication method for determining a communication parameter
A radio base station according to the present invention includes a common control information acquisition unit 11 to acquire common control information broadcast by a first neighboring radio base station; a neighboring radio base station information acquisition unit 12 to acquire radio base station information held by a second neighboring radio base station via a wired network; and a communication parameter determination unit 13 to determine a communication parameter to be used based on a first communication parameter, a second communication parameter, and a third communication parameter, the first communication parameter included in the acquired common control information and used by the first neighboring radio base station, the second communication parameter included in the acquired common control information and used by a radio base station neighboring the first neighboring radio base station, the third communication parameter included in the acquired radio base station information and used by the second neighboring radio base station.
US08989071B2 Inter-chip data communications with power-state transition management
A method includes inter-chip data communications between a power-managed integrated circuit (IC) and a peer IC. The peer IC generates a data frame and prepends a discardable preamble of a predefined size to a payload of the data frame. The predefined size is a size not less than a size of data discarded by the power-managed IC upon the power-managed IC receiving a data frame while in a low-power state. The peer IC transmits the data frame to the power-managed IC. The power-managed IC, while in a low-power state, may receive the data frame from the peer IC and in response to receiving the data frame, begin exiting the low-power state. The power-managed IC, while exiting the low-power state, may discard a portion of the data frame such as for example, some or all of the discardable preamble, without discarding payload.
US08989069B2 Method and apparatus for channel quality indicator (CQI) enhancements
Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for reporting of channel quality indication in Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) wireless systems.
US08989068B1 Bandwidth selection method and apparatus
Selection between first and second communication channels of differing bandwidths for communication between communication devices may be chosen by a method, an apparatus, or a computer-readable medium wherein the first channel is employed as a communication channel, a determination is made whether a criterion associated with the communication channel is met, and, if the criterion associated with the communication channel is met, an evaluation of the second channel is performed and one of the first and second channels is chosen to subsequently employ as the communication channel based on the evaluation of the second channel.
US08989066B2 Protection mechanisms for multi-user MIMO transmissions
Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for medium reservation in the case of multi-user (MU) communications. Multiple mechanisms are supported for protecting MU transmissions, wherein appropriate control messages can be exchanged between an access point and served user stations before transmitting downlink data packets.
US08989065B2 Relaying data in a communication system
The disclosure relates to communication of data in a wireless communication system that enables relaying of data between an originating node (3) and a destined node (1). In the arrangement information of a radio resource allocated to the destined node is provided where after communications on the allocated resource are monitored. Relaying of data between the originating node (3) and the destined node (1) is controlled based on the monitoring.
US08989063B2 Time division multiple access far end crosstalk channel estimation
A method of far-end crosstalk (FEXT) channel estimation in a digital subscriber line (DSL) system, wherein the DSL system comprises a first subscriber line and a second subscriber line, the method comprising allocating a plurality of time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots comprises a first period and a second period, wherein the first period precedes the second period, and wherein each of the first and second periods comprises at least one time slot, transmitting at least one training symbol in the first period onto the second subscriber line in a downstream direction while no transmission is made on the first subscriber line, receiving at least one feedback symbol in the second period from the first subscriber line in an upstream direction, and estimating a level of downstream FEXT from the second subscriber line into the first subscriber line based on the at least one feedback symbol.
US08989060B2 Mobile wireless communications device including a power divider connecting an LNA to multiple receive signal chains
A mobile wireless communications device may include an antenna, a wireless radio frequency (RF) receiver, a wireless RF transmitter, and a duplexer connecting the wireless RF receiver and the wireless RF transmitter to the antenna. More particularly, the wireless RF receiver may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) connected to the duplexer, a first receive signal chain for wireless communications signals having a first signal type downstream from the LNA, a second receive signal chain for wireless communications signals having a second signal type different than the first frequency band downstream from the LNA, and a power divider connecting the LNA to the first and second receive signal chains.
US08989054B2 IP device exchange apparatus and call connection changing method
An IP device exchange apparatus includes: a connector that is connected to a first IP phone, a second IP phone, and a third IP phone; a memory for storing a coding scheme obtained by call setting which is negotiated between the first and second IP phones; and a controller that, when receiving a call instruction for call connection to the second IP phone from the third IP phone during communication between the first and second IP phones, employs the coding scheme stored in the memory to perform, between the third IP phone and the IP device exchange apparatus, call setting between the second and third IP phones, while maintaining call connection between the first and second IP phones, thereby changing the call connection between the first and second IP phones to call connection between the second and third IP phones.
US08989050B2 Graph-based distributed coordination methods for wireless communication networks
Systems and methods are disclosed for graph-based distributed parameter coordination in a communication network. In general, discrete local parameters to be coordinated among communication nodes in the communication network and their respective performance metrics, or costs, are modeled using a factor graph. Based on the factor graph, a variant of the sum-product algorithm, namely the min-sum algorithm, is applied in order for the communication nodes, through iterative message passing with their neighboring communication nodes, to decide upon optimal values for the local parameters for the communication nodes that collectively optimize a global performance metric across the communication network. In one embodiment, the communication network is a wireless communication network. In one specific embodiment, the wireless communication network is a cellular communication network.
US08989045B2 Methods, devices and systems with improved zone merge operation by initiator selection
Methods, devices and systems for improved zone merge operations are disclosed. Two connected switches are arbitrated as an initiator and a receiver. The merge operation is initiated only by the initiator on an initiator/receiver inter-switch link. The initiator may initiate a merge request and the receiver may perform the computation of the difference between the old and the new zone. Either the whole configuration or only the differences are communicated between the switches. The merges may be done on a connected switch basis, not on a connected port basis. Only the principle ports in the principle inter-switch-link perform the merge operation. All the remaining ports, i.e. the non-principle ports, adopt the merge result of the principle ports. The zone information may also be cached on each switch such that merge calculations need not be performed again when a merge operation with the same configuration occurs in the future.
US08989044B2 Signalling mechanism for multi-tiered intra-band carrier aggregation
Methods of performing intra-band carrier aggregation in a multi-tiered wireless network include determining a capability of a user equipment unit located within an overlapping coverage area of first and second radio network nodes to simultaneously receive data on a first component carrier and on a second component carrier from the first and second network nodes, and simultaneously transmitting data to the user equipment unit using the first and second component carriers from different radio network nodes in response to determining that the user equipment unit is capable of simultaneously receiving data on the first component carrier and on the second component carrier from different radio network nodes.
US08989041B2 Apparatus and method for controlling an access probe transmit power according to a reverse link underload condition
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for adapting the power of an access probe transmission, in accordance with a reverse link underload indicator provided by the base station. In one example, the base station can transmit a one-bit reverse link underload indicator as an information element broadcasted within a general page message (GPM). Here, the reverse link underload indicator can indicate whether a measured rise-over-thermal (RoT) at the base station is less than a given threshold. The access terminal may accordingly reduce the initial transmit power of an access probe transmission in the case of a reverse link underload condition, as this condition would indicate that the base station could accommodate reduced power access probe transmissions without substantially decreasing the probability of a quick detection of the access attempt. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.
US08989034B2 Method and apparatus for locally managed allocation of bandwidth in a wireless network
A method for allocating bandwidth in a wireless network includes communicating wirelessly with at least one end-point using a first frequency bandwidth. The method may also include receiving a measurement of a signal quality from the at least one endpoint. The method may further include determining a second frequency bandwidth based on the signal quality and a cost per unit of frequency bandwidth, wherein the second frequency bandwidth indicates an amount of frequency bandwidth to use in communicating wirelessly with the at least one endpoint. The method may additionally include communicating wirelessly with the at least one endpoint using the second frequency bandwidth.
US08989032B2 Systems and methods for measuring frame loss in multipoint networks
Systems and methods for measuring frame loss in multipoint networks are provided. In one embodiment, a method for calculating frame loss in a multipoint network is provided. The method comprises: synchronizing local PM frame count bin boundaries across a multipoint network; collecting a first sample of frame count data at a network manager from a first local PM frame count bin for each VLAN Endpoint on the multipoint network; and calculating a frame loss for the multipoint network by accounting for frame ingress and frame egress from the multipoint network based on the first sample of frame count data; wherein the first sample of frame count data is associated with a first period of time defined by the local PM frame count bin boundaries.
US08989027B2 Device and method for controlling drive test in wireless communication system
An apparatus and method for matching the radio channel measurement timing of Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) cycle with timings of the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle are provided. The radio channel measurement method of a terminal according to the present invention includes configuring a DRX cycle, receiving a Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) cycle, comparing the DRX cycle and the MDT cycle, measuring, when the MDT cycle is an integer multiple of the DRX cycle, the radio channel at DRX timings matching with MDT timings, and storing a result of the measurement.
US08989025B2 UE timing adjustment in a multi-RAT, carrier aggregation community system
A common uplink timing adjustment parameter value is estimated for UE transmissions in the multi-RAT communications network and provided for transmission to one or more UEs. That signaling parameter value is common to both the first and second RATs and useable by the one or more UEs to adjust transmit timing of uplink carriers belonging to the different RATs. The common timing adjustment parameter value may be provided, for example, in order to coordinate UE transmit timing of a first uplink carrier associated with the first RAT and of a second uplink carrier associated with the second RAT. A multi-RAT UE concurrently receives a first downlink carrier associated with the first RAT and a second different downlink carrier associated with the second RAT. The UE receives the common timing adjustment parameter value on one of those downlink carriers and adjusts a transmit timing of a first uplink carrier associated with the first RAT and of a second uplink carrier associated with the second RAT.
US08989024B2 Long term evolution network dynamic overload management
A downstream device in a network may monitor and collect data on its condition, including detecting overload conditions, and transmit such data to an upstream network device. The upstream network device may select a best downstream device for a particular traffic flow based on condition data received from downstream devices and transmit the traffic flow to the selected downstream device. A network management server may be configured to perform similar functions, instructing network devices on how to transport data through a network based on condition data received from such devices.
US08989021B2 Universal broadband broadcasting
A universal broadband broadcasting service is provided. A spectrum-sharing database stores attributes associated with a shared spectrum, a policy controller controls access to the shared spectrum by broadcast service entities, and a gateway receives IP multicast traffic from the broadcast service entities and communicates the IP multicast traffic to a broadcast single frequency network.
US08989020B2 Bidirectional forwarding detection (BFD) protocol extension for detecting random traffic dropping
A network device receives, via a forwarding path, a sequence of packets, where each of the packets includes a sequence number. The network device extracts the sequence numbers from the sequence of packets, records the extracted sequence numbers, and determines a first number of packets of the sequence of packets that have been dropped on the forwarding path based on the extracted sequence numbers. The network device determines a traffic dropping ratio for the forwarding path based on the first number of the packets of the sequence of packets that have been dropped on the forwarding path.
US08989018B2 Method and apparatus for providing a route recommendation
A method and apparatus for providing a route recommendation are disclosed. For example, the method obtains network topology information, wherein the network topology information comprises a plurality of underlying subnetwork types for a network. The method creates a cost model for the network, and receives a request from a user for a connection to be supported by the network. The method provides the route recommendation for supporting the connection by applying the cost model.
US08989010B2 Delayed based traffic rate control in networks with central controllers
A process is performed by a controller in a split-architecture network. The controller monitors congestion of traffic groups across the split-architecture network and executes the process to provide delay based data rate control to alleviate congestion of the traffic groups. The process includes configuring an ingress switch and egress switch for each traffic group to collect delay measurement data for data packets of each traffic group as they arrive at the ingress switch and egress switch. The delay measurement data is received from the ingress switch and egress switch of each traffic group. A check is made whether a minimum data packet delay for any traffic group exceeds a defined threshold value. A throttling rate is calculated for each traffic group in the split-architecture network, in response to the defined threshold value being exceeded.
US08989009B2 Port and priority based flow control mechanism for lossless ethernet
An apparatus comprising an aggregation/core switch configure to couple to an edge switch and receive information about a plurality of end system facing ports of the edge switch, wherein the information about the end system facing ports is used to associate the end system facing ports with a plurality of corresponding queues at the aggregation/core switch. Also disclosed is a network component comprising a receiver configured to receive information about a plurality of end system facing ports of an edge switch, a processor configured to establish and associate the end system facing ports with a plurality of corresponding queues, and a transmitter configured to return information about the associated end system facing ports.
US08989004B2 System and method for multi-point HSDPA communication utilizing a multi-link PDCP sublayer
A method and apparatus for wireless communication may provide a multi-link PDCP sublayer in a radio network controller capable of allocating PDCP PDUs among a plurality of RLC entities for use in a multi-point HSDPA network. Some aspects of the disclosure address issues relating to out-of-order delivery of the PDCP PDUs to a UE, such as unnecessary retransmissions. That is, the disclosed multi-link PDCP may be capable of distinguishing between sequence number gaps that are caused by physical layer transmission failures and those caused merely by skew.
US08989002B2 System and method for controlling threshold testing within a network
A request to perform a throughput test from one or more testing clients is received. A state of a network is determined utilizing indicators received from portions of the network. The throughput test is authorized in response to the state of the network being acceptable for performing the throughput test. The throughput test is paused in response to a change in the state of the network indicative of a network state that is unacceptable for performing the throughput test.
US08989001B2 Quality of service application controller and user equipment application profiler
Various topologies of a quality of service application controller and related techniques to optimize the communications performance an application executing on a device participating in a communications environment are disclosed. The communications environment may include a cellular network, an unlicensed spectrum network, or a combination of the two. The quality of service application controller observes one or more key performance indicators of the communications network, and retrieves a policy from a policy store specific to the application. The quality of service application controller then modifies the execution of the application and/or the configurable aspects of the communications environment to optimize the communications performance of the application. For example, the application's data throughput may be increased, the power draw of the application may be minimized, data requested by the application may be minimized, or the apparent response time of the application's response to a web service may be minimized.
US08988999B2 Method, system and apparatus of wireless local area network (WLAN) communication in conjunction with cellular communication
Some demonstrative embodiments include devices, systems and/or methods of Wireless-Local-Area-Network (WLAN) communication in conjunction with cellular communication. For example, an apparatus may include a wireless communication unit to receive WLAN load information indicating a load of at least one WLAN controlled by at least one access point (AP), and, based on the WLAN load information, to select between connecting to the AP and connecting to a cellular node.
US08988991B2 Enabling load balancing for MPLS-TP
A method of and a device for enabling load balancing for Multiprotocol Label Switching Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) are provided. The method is applied to a process of transmitting data between two Provider Edge (PE) devices that adopt a protection mechanism of primary and backup tunnels. The method comprises allocating, by a source PE device located at a head node of a tunnel, traffic to each of the primary and backup tunnels in a current transmission period based on transmission performance information about each of the primary and backup tunnels in a previous transmission period fed back by a destination PE device located at a tail node of the tunnel, when a set transmission period comes; and obtaining, by said source PE device, the traffic allocated to each of the tunnels and transmitting data to the destination PE device via the corresponding tunnels.
US08988986B2 Method and system for controlling a back-up multiplexer in a local collection facility from a remote facility
A system and method suitable for processing television signals includes a remote facility and a local collection facility in communication with the remote facility. The local facility has a plurality of receivers receiving a plurality of channel signals and a plurality of encoders generating a plurality of encoded signals from the plurality of channel signals. The local collection facility includes a primary multiplexer multiplexing the plurality of encoded signals to form a first multiplexed signal and communicates the first multiplexed signal to the remote facility. A monitoring system at a remote facility commanding switching to a back-up multiplexer at the local collection facility. The back-up multiplexer multiplexing the plurality of encoded signals to form a second multiplexed signal and communicating the second multiplexed signal to the remote facility. The remote facility generating an output signal in response to the second multiplexed signal.
US08988985B2 Internetworking and IP address management in unified MPLS and IP networks
IP addresses are efficiently assigned and advertised across the boundary of two network domains. The two network domains include an access network that implements MPLS-TP and a core network that implements IP, MPLS, or a combination of both. A primary BN at the domain boundary receives an assignment of an IP prefix for a VPN that connects a set of CEs to one or more SNs. The IP prefix represents a pool of IP addresses. The primary BN assigns only one IP address to both itself and a standby BN for the VPN to minimize the use of assigned IP addresses. The primary BN assigns the other IP addresses to the CEs in the VPN. The primary BN then advertises the IP prefix into the core network to enable routing of network data traffic across the network domain boundary.
US08988975B1 Thermally assisted magnetic head, method of manufacturing the same, head gimbal assembly, and hard disk drive
A thermally assisted magnetic head includes a main magnetic pole layer, a near-field light generating layer having a generating end part generating near-field light arranged within a medium-opposing surface, and an optical waveguide guiding light to the near-field light generating layer. The near-field light generating layer has a laminated structure in which a first thin-film metal layer formed in a thin film form along a direction intersecting the medium-opposing surface and a second thin-film metal layer formed in a thin film form and formed using a second metal larger in hardness than a first metal forming the first thin-film metal layer are alternately laminated. Further, in the second thin-film metal layer, a defect part is formed, the defect part is a part smaller in thickness than another part or is a hole part, and a flat layer part other than the defect part surrounds the defect part.
US08988974B2 Display apparatus and electronic timepiece
A display apparatus characterized by having a scale mark display section which is provided in a predetermined display area; a pointer which moves on the scale mark display section and indicates a scale mark in the scale mark display section; a stepping motor which drives the pointer; a stopper section which is positioned in an end section of the scale mark display section and which restricts movement range of the pointer; and a movable supporting section which movably supports the stopper section.
US08988971B2 Ultrasonic transducer for use in a fluid medium
An ultrasonic transducer for use in a fluid medium includes at least one housing having at least one inner space, at least one transducer core accommodated in the inner space, having at least one electroacoustic transducer element. The housing has at least one opening facing the fluid medium. The opening is covered at least partially by at least one sealing foil. An edge of the sealing foil is sealed by at least one sealing material.
US08988970B2 Method and system for dereverberation of signals propagating in reverberative environments
The dereverberation of signals in reverberating environments is carried out via acquiring the representation (image) of spatial distribution of the signals in space of interest and automatic identification of reflections of the source signal in the reverberative space. The technique relies on identification of prominent features at the image, as well as corresponding directions of propagation of signals manifested by the prominent features at the image, and computation of similarity metric between signals corresponding to the prominent features in the image. The time delays between the correlated signals (i.e., source signal and related reflections) are found and the signals are added coherently. Multiple beamformers operate on the source signal and corresponding reflections, enabling one to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in multi-path environments.
US08988968B2 Seismic cable structure
There is described an optical seismic cable (2) comprising a number of sensor units (5) spaced along the length of the cable and a number of connection units (4) spaced along the length of the cable, the cable further comprising a number of first optical fibers extending substantially continuously along the cable from one connection unit to the next, and a number of second optical fibers which each extend part-way along the cable between adjacent connection units, and wherein at each connection unit at least one first optical fiber is joined to a second optical fiber, and wherein at the sensor units sensors are joined to said second optical fibers. A second aspect of the invention provides an optical seismic cable module (3) comprising a number of first optical fibers extending substantially continuously from one end of the cable module to the other, and a number of second optical fibers which each extend part-way along the cable module, the seismic cable module further comprising at one end a connection unit at which at least one first optical fiber is joined to a second optical fiber, and a number of sensor units at which sensors are joined to second optical fibers.
US08988962B2 Refresh circuit of a semiconductor memory device and refresh control method of the semiconductor memory device
A refresh circuit and a semiconductor memory device including the refresh circuit are disclosed. The refresh circuit includes a mode register, a refresh controller and a multiplexer circuit. The mode register generates a mode register signal having information relating to a memory bank on which a refresh operation is to be performed. The refresh controller generates a self-refresh active command and a self-refresh address based on a self-refresh command and an oscillation signal. The multiplexer circuit may include a plurality of multiplexers. Each of the multiplexers selects one of an active command and the self-refresh active command in response to bits of the mode register signal. Each of the multiplexers generates a row active signal based on the selected command, and selects one of an external address and the self-refresh address to generate a row address.
US08988958B2 Sense amplifier circuit and semiconductor device
A single-ended sense amplifier circuit of the invention comprises first and second MOS transistors and first and second precharge circuits. The first MOS transistor drives the bit line to a predetermined voltage and switches connection between the bit line and a sense node and the second MOS transistor whose gate is connected to the sense node amplifies the signal via the first MOS transistor. The first precharge circuit precharges the bit line to a first potential and the second precharge circuit precharges the sense node to a second potential. Before sensing operation, the bit line is driven to the predetermined voltage when the above gate voltage is controlled to decrease. The predetermined voltage is appropriately set so that a required voltage difference at the sense node between high and low levels can be obtained near a changing point between charge transfer/distributing modes.
US08988954B2 Memory device and method of performing a read operation within such a memory device
A memory device is provided comprising an array of memory cells. During a read operation, voltage on a read bit line will transition towards a second voltage level if a data value stored in that activated memory cell has a first value, and sense amplifier circuitry will then detect this situation. If that situation is not detected, the sense amplifier circuitry determines that the activated memory cell stores a second value. Bit line keeper circuitry is coupled to each read bit line and is responsive to an asserted keeper pulse signal to pull the voltage on each read bit line towards the first voltage level. Keeper pulse signal generation circuitry asserts the keeper pulse signal at a selected time. The selected time is such that the voltage on the associated read bit line will have transitioned to the trip voltage level before the keeper pulse signal is asserted.
US08988953B2 Memories and methods for sharing a signal node for the receipt and provision of non-data signals
Memories and methods for providing and receiving non-data signals at a signal node are disclosed. One such memory includes first and second signal nodes, and first and second signal buffer. The first signal buffer is configured to be operative responsive to a first data strobe signal and further configured to be operative responsive to a non-data signal. The second signal buffer is configured to be operative responsive to a second data strobe signal. An example first data strobe signal is a read data strobe signal provided by the memory. In another example, the first data strobe signal is a write data strobe signal received by the memory. Examples of non-data signals include a data mask signal, data valid signal, error correction signal, as well as other signals.
US08988949B2 Header circuit for controlling supply voltage of a cell
One or more techniques or systems for controlling a supply voltage of a cell are provided herein. Additionally, one or more techniques or systems for mitigating leakage of the cell are provided. In some embodiments, a header circuit is provided, including a first pull-up p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) transistor including a first gate, a first source, and a first drain. Additionally, the header circuit includes a second pull-down PMOS transistor including a second gate, a second source, and a second drain. In some embodiments, the first drain of the first pull-up PMOS transistor is connected to the second source of the second pull-down PMOS transistor and a supply voltage line for one or more cells. In this manner, a pull-down PMOS is configured to control the supply voltage of the cell, thus facilitating voltage control for a write assist, for example.
US08988948B2 Memory macro with a voltage keeper
A memory macro comprises a data line, a first interface circuit comprising a first node coupled to the data line, and a voltage keeper configured to control a voltage level at the first node, and a second interface circuit comprising a second node coupled with the data line, wherein the voltage keeper is configured to control a voltage level at the second node via the data line.
US08988946B1 Selective sense amplifier enablement
A method includes, in a data storage device, receiving a read command to read a portion of a wordline of a memory. The method also includes determining a first and a last storage element of the wordline to identify a set of storage elements. The method includes determining a first set and a second set of sense amplifiers of multiple sense amplifiers coupled to the wordline. The first set of sense amplifiers is coupled to the set of storage elements and the second set of sense amplifiers is coupled to one or more storage elements of the wordline other than the first set of storage elements. The method includes reading data by applying a read voltage to the wordline and providing a sense enable signal to each sense amplifier of the first set of sense amplifiers while each sense amplifier of the second set of sense amplifiers is disabled.
US08988934B2 Multibit cell of magnetic random access memory with perpendicular magnetization
A multi-bit cell of magnetic random access memory comprises a magnetoresistive element including first and second free layers, each free layer comprising a reversible magnetization direction directed substantially perpendicular to a layer plane in its equilibrium state and a switching current, first and second tunnel barrier layers, and a pinned layer comprising a fixed magnetization direction directed substantially perpendicular to the layer plane, the pinned layer is disposed between the first and second free layers and is separated from the free layers by one of the tunnel barrier layers; a selection transistor electrically connected to a word line, and a bit line intersecting the word line; the magnetoresistive element is disposed between the bit line and the selection transistor and is electrically connected to the bit line and the selection transistor, wherein the first and second free layers have substantially different switching currents.
US08988928B2 Operating method of a nonvolatile memory device
An operating method of a multi-bit-per-cell nonvolatile memory device, e.g., first and second variable resistance memory cells connected to one of word lines. The operating method may include receiving first to fourth data sequentially, providing a first program current to the first variable resistance memory cell to program the first and second data to the first variable resistance memory cell, and providing a second program current to the second variable resistance memory cell to program the third and fourth data to the second variable resistance memory cell after verifying whether an actual resistance of the programmed first variable resistance memory cell is within an intended resistance distribution.
US08988924B2 Method, system, and device for heating a phase change memory (PCM)cell
Embodiments disclosed herein may relate to heating a phase change memory (PCM) cell.
US08988922B1 Radiation-hardened storage unit
A radiation-hardened storage unit, including a basic storage unit, a redundant storage unit, and a two-way feedback unit. The basic storage unit includes a first PMOS transistor, a second PMOS transistor, a third PMOS transistor, and a fourth PMOS transistor. The first PMOS transistor and the second PMOS transistor are read-out access transistors. The third PMOS transistor and the fourth PMOS transistor are write-in access transistors. The redundant storage unit includes a fifth PMOS transistor, a sixth PMOS transistor, a seventh PMOS transistor, and an eighth PMOS transistor. The fifth PMOS transistor and the sixth PMOS transistor are read-out access transistors. The seventh PMOS transistor and the eighth PMOS transistor are write-in access transistors. The two-way feedback unit is configured to form a feedback path between the storage node and the redundant storage node.
US08988914B2 Variable input control for improving switched power supplies
A power converter and a method of operation thereof is disclosed including an input, an output, a sensor unit, a switched power converter, and a processor module. The power converter may convert an input power into an output power. The power converter may sense real-time measurements of the input power and the output power to determine a real-time calculated efficiency. The power converter may chop the input power into sized and positioned portions of the input power based on a plurality of determined operating parameters. The power converter may determine the operating parameters based on the real-time calculated efficiency and on a plurality of other operating factors/conditions.
US08988913B2 Selective control for improving switched power supplies
A power converter and a method of operation thereof is disclosed including an input, an output, a sensor unit, a switched power converter, and a processor module. The power converter may convert an input power into an output power. The power converter may sense real-time measurements of the input power and the output power to determine a real-time calculated efficiency. The power converter may chop the input power into sized and positioned portions of the input power based on a plurality of determined operating parameters. The power converter may determine the operating parameters based on the real-time calculated efficiency and on a plurality of other operating factors/conditions.
US08988904B2 Power supply with integrator for controlling current
The present invention relates to a power supply for controlling current that uses a flyback converter for electrical insulation between a load line unit and the power supply for controlling current. In a transformer (a flyback converter) having a flyback structure in the present invention, disclosed is a device which expects a current of the second coil by sensing a current of the first coil of the transformer, and controls the current flowing through the load line unit. A level detector is included, which updates a duty time or an on-time of the switch by transferring a reset signal to an integrator and a second sampler in accordance with a cycle of an input power. As a result, it is possible to reduce power loss by increasing a power factor through the adjustment of the phase of the current of the load line unit and an input voltage.
US08988900B2 DC capacitor-less power converters
Three resonance-based universal power converter topologies are disclosed. One includes a partially resonant parallel L-C link and incorporates intermediate cross-over switching circuits between the link stage and each of the input and output stages (which are constructed using unidirectional switches), thereby permitting the partially resonant circuit to be operated bi-directionally. A second includes a partially resonant series LC link in parallel with the input and output networks. A third includes a partially resonant series LC link in series between the input and output networks. The input and output networks can be formed from either bidirectional switches or a combination of unidirectional switches and intermediate cross-over switching circuits, permitting the partially resonant circuit to be operated bi-directionally. All embodiments permit the use of smaller reactive components in the link stage and the use of AC rather than DC capacitors, which reduces size and costs of the device while increasing the reliability.
US08988898B2 Power cable having security feature
Apparatus that may help identify unauthorized removal of goods while maintaining a pleasing physical appearance, avoiding theft misidentifications, and allowing a high degree of customer interaction. One example may provide a signal path for conveying a signal that is active when a good or device is removed from a retail or other environment in an authorized manner. The signal path may be wired or wireless. In another example, a signal path for a sensor may be inconspicuously combined with a power cable. In another example, theft misidentifications may be prevented by not relying on connections that a customer is likely to interact with to detect a theft. Another example may provide a security device that may allow a high degree of customer interaction by unobtrusively attaching a sensor to the back of a good to be protected.
US08988893B2 Method for electrical connection between elements of a three-dimensional integrated structure and corresponding device
A link device for three-dimensional integrated structure may include a module having a first end face designed to be in front of a first element of the structure, and a second end face designed to be placed in front of a second element of the structure. The two end faces may be substantially parallel, and the module including a substrate having a face substantially perpendicular to the two end faces and carrying an electrically conducting pattern formed in a metallization level on top of the face and enclosed in an insulating region. The electrically conducting pattern may include a first end part emerging onto the first end face and a second end part emerging onto the second end face and connected to the first end part.
US08988892B2 Substrate and electronic device including the substrate
A substrate and an electronic device including the substrate are described. The substrate includes a first surface configured such that a semiconductor package or a semiconductor die is installable thereon, and a second surface facing the first surface, wherein, with respect to a central plane disposed between the first surface and the second surface at equal distances therefrom, a coefficient of thermal expansion in a first portion between the first surface and the central plane is configured to be higher than a coefficient of thermal expansion in a second portion between the second surface and the central plane configured to be. By using the substrate, undesirable overall shape deformation during semiconductor installation may be reduced or relieved.
US08988890B2 Component mounting structures with breakaway support tabs
Components may be mounted to printed circuit substrates using solder. A breakaway support tab may be detachably connected to a component and may help prevent the component from shifting or toppling over during reflow operations. The component and breakaway support tab may be formed from sheet metal. The interface that links the component to the breakaway support tab may be perforated or half sheared to allow the breakaway support tab to be easily separated from the component following reflow operations. The breakaway support tab may be fixed in place during reflow operations by mechanically coupling the breakaway support tab to a fixture or by mounting the breakaway support tab to an unused portion of a panel of printed circuit substrates. A breakaway support tab may be mechanically coupled between two components on a printed circuit substrate and may be used to maintain a distance between the components during reflow operations.
US08988889B2 Connection wire structure of direct light bar and connection method thereof
The present invention relates to a connection wire structure of a direct light bar and a connection method thereof. The connection wire structure of the direct light bar includes a plurality of light bars and connection wires, and a circuit board. Each light bar includes a wiring board that includes a first exposed copper zone that includes a hole to serve as a circuit connection contact. The circuit board includes a second exposed copper zone that includes a hole to serve as a circuit connection contact. Each of the connection wires has two ends to each of which a copper ring is connected. The two copper rings of each of the connection wires are respectively connected to the first exposed copper zones or the second exposed copper zones corresponding thereto by coupling pieces so as to establish electrical connection. A connection method of the direct light bar is also provided.
US08988886B1 Electronic apparatus
An electronic apparatus includes a cover panel and a case, and at least a board disposed therebetween. A plurality of components are disposed on a board and have heights different from one another. A gap reduction member is disposed so as to face the plurality of components. Steps are formed on the gap reduction member in accordance with the heights of the plurality of components which faces the plurality of components to reduce breakage of a cover panel of the electronic apparatus.
US08988881B2 Heat exchanger device and method for heat removal or transfer
Systems and methods for a forced-convection heat exchanger are provided. In one embodiment, heat is transferred to or from a thermal load in thermal contact with a heat conducting structure, across a narrow air gap, to a rotating heat transfer structure immersed in a surrounding medium such as air.
US08988878B2 Electronic device and housing thereof
An electronic device and housing thereof are provided. The electronic device includes housing, a partition, multiple electronic elements, and a fan. The housing has a side edge, where the side edge is provided with a slit. The partition is disposed in the case, is separated by a distance with the slit, and divides the interior of the case into a first and a second space. The partition has a through hole, the second space is in communication with the first space through the through hole, and the first space is in communication with the outside of the case through the slit. The electronic elements and the fan are disposed in the second space, and an air outlet of the fan is adjacent to the through hole, so that air in the second space can be driven to flow from the first space to the outside through the slit.
US08988877B2 Automatic coupling of independent cooling regions during fan maintenance
In a computer system, airflow through first and second cooling regions are normally separated by a chassis wall, and are independently controlled by respective first and second fan modules. The internal chassis wall includes a bypass opening that is normally blocked by the second fan module. In response to removal of the second fan module, the bypass opening is unblocked, to fluidly couple the two cooling regions. A redundant fan module is optionally included in fluid communication with the first cooling region, to either generate airflow through the first cooling region in response to failure or removal of the first fan module, or to supplement the airflow capacity of the first fan module in response to removal of the second fan module.
US08988875B2 Display device
A display device comprises a rear cover, a display panel, a drive device, a first adhesive member, a second adhesive member, an upper end guide frame, and a lower end guide frame, the rear cover includes a bottom wall, an upper end sidewall, an upper end coupling portion, an upper end support portion, a lower end sidewall, a lower end coupling portion, and a lower end support portion; the drive device is coupled at its upper end to the upper end support portion, and at its lower end to the lower end support portion; the first adhesive member bonds the upper end of the display panel to the upper end coupling portion, and the upper end guide frame is arranged between the display panel and the upper end of the drive device; the second adhesive member bonds the lower end of the display panel to the lower end guide frame.
US08988873B2 Electronic device with air guiding plates
An electronic device includes a main body, two air guiding plates, and a cover. The main body includes a bottom plate and two side plates extending up from opposite sides of the bottom plate. A number of mounting tabs extend from an inner side of each side plate, arranged in a row. A circuit board is supported on the bottom plate, and includes a number of electronic components located between the two rows of mounting tabs. A cutout is defined in a top of each mounting tab. A number of hooking slots are defined in a bottom of each air guiding plate. Top walls of the hooking slots of each air guiding plate are respectively supported by bottom walls of the cutouts of the corresponding row of mounting tabs. The cover is covered on a top of the main body and abuts tops of the air guiding plates.
US08988870B2 Data storage device enclosure and module
There is disclosed an electronics module (101) for a data storage device enclosure (100) and data storage device enclosures (100). The module comprises an enclosure connector (104) for connecting to the enclosure, at least one bay constructed and arranged to receive a data storage device (200), and a controller (102) arranged to selectively provide access to storage devices to which it is connected. The module (101) has a communications path (107) between the controller and the enclosure connector (104) by which the controller can communicate with storage devices in the enclosure. The module (101) also has a first communications path to the data storage device (200) when received in the bay by which the controller can communicate with that data storage device. The module (101) also has a second communications path to the data storage device (200) when received in the bay by which that data storage device can be accessed from outside the module.
US08988869B2 Portable device
A portable device includes a first unit including a guide member with a groove, the guide member extending in a sliding direction, and a second unit including a sliding member that slides in the groove of the guide member, in which the groove of the guide member includes a curved section that makes the first unit incline at a predetermined angle with respect to the second unit in an extended state, and the sliding member includes an engaging section that engages with the groove of the guide member, the engaging section being configured to support one surface of the groove of the guide member at at least two points and support another surface of the groove by a surface.
US08988866B2 Display device
The present invention relates to a display device, comprising a rear cover, a display panel, a drive device and a first adhesive member, the drive device being arranged in the rear cover and electrically connected to the display panel to drive the display panel; the rear cover includes a bottom wall, an upper end sidewall arranged at an upper side of the bottom wall, an upper end coupling portion extending downward from the upper end sidewall, and an upper end support portion and a guide portion for supporting the upper end coupling portion, the guide portion and the bottom wall defining a receiving space for receiving the upper end of the drive device; the first adhesive member bonds the upper end of the display panel to the upper end coupling portion/guide portion, and the display panel is bonded at its lower end to the lower end of the rear cover.
US08988862B2 Performance display device
A performance display device comprising a base receptacle and a display unit; wherein the display unit comprises a display screen and a processor, and is operable by a mode switch; the mode switch is operated by relative pivotal motion between the display unit and the base receptacle; characterized in that the display unit and the base receptacle are complementarily shaped to cooperatively form a hinge axis about which the mode changing pivotal motion takes place. A performance display device having a hinge axis formed by the complementarily shaped display unit and base receptacle provides a simple, robust, and reliable device.
US08988860B2 Power supplies having power electronic modules and replacement methods thereof
A power supply having one or more power electronic modules that may be replaced without shutting down the power supply. Each power electronic module may be enclosed in a separate compartment of the power supply. Each compartment may have stationary electrical connectors configured to electrically connect to the power electronic module. A racking mechanism connected to a handle outside the compartment may move a power electronic module out of electrical contact with the stationary electrical connectors and/or into electrical contact with the stationary electrical connectors. Movement of a power electronic module within the compartment may occur without shutting down the power supply. Methods of replacing power electronic modules without shutting down the power supply are also provided, as are other aspects.
US08988859B2 Sintered capacitor electrode including a folded connection
This document discusses capacitive elements including a first, second and third electrode arranged in a stack. The third electrode is positioned between the first and second electrode. An interconnect includes a unitary substrate shared with the first and second electrodes. The interconnect is adapted to deform to accommodate the stacked nature of the first and second electrodes. The unitary substrate includes a sintered material disposed thereon.
US08988855B2 Method of manufacturing ceramic electronic component including heating an electrode layer to form a conductive layer including an alloy particle
A ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body and an outer electrode. The outer electrode is disposed on the ceramic body. The outer electrode includes a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer includes a resin, a first metal component, and a second metal component having a higher melting point than the first metal component. The second conductive layer is disposed on the first conductive layer. The second conductive layer is includes a plating film. An alloy particle containing the first metal component and the second metal component protrudes to the second conductive layer side from a surface of the first conductive layer.
US08988853B2 Multilayer ceramic capacitor
There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including: a ceramic body; first and second internal electrodes including respective lead-out portions having an overlapping area, the overlapping area being exposed to one surface of the ceramic body; first and second external electrodes extended from the one surface of the ceramic body to side surfaces thereof in a y-direction, in which the first and second internal electrodes are laminated, and connected to the respective lead-out portions; and an insulation layer formed on the one surface of the ceramic body.
US08988852B2 Ground shield capacitor
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a first reference voltage coupled to a first metal layer and a second reference voltage coupled to a second metal layer. A first finger type in the plurality of fingers is coupled to the first metal layer at a first area and coupled to the first metal layer and the second metal layer at a second area. A second finger type in the plurality of fingers is coupled to the second metal layer at the first area and coupled to the first metal layer and the second metal layer at the second area. Also, the first finger type and the second finger type alternately positioned next to each other.
US08988850B1 Ceramic electronic component
A ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body and first and second outer electrodes. The first and second outer electrodes are located on the ceramic body. The first outer electrode includes a first resin electrode layer, and the second outer electrode includes a second resin electrode layer. Each of the resin electrode layers includes a conductive material and a resin. The moisture content of the resin electrode layers is about 0.005 mass % or less.
US08988849B2 Varactor and method for producing a varactor
A varactor includes a first PTC region, which comprises a ceramic material with a positive temperature coefficient with respect to the resistance. The varactor also includes a capacitor region that includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a first dielectric layer arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode. The first PTC region and the capacitor region are connected thermally conductively to one another. The capacitance of the capacitor region can be changed by applying a bias to the first PTC region, the capacitor region or to the first PTC region and the capacitor region.
US08988844B2 Drive circuit for an electromagnetic relay
A drive circuit for an electromagnetic relay having a relay coil and switch contacts, includes a first switching device between a first coil terminal and a first voltage source, a second switching device between a second coil terminal and a zero potential, and a control device producing a current through the coil closing both switching devices. To provide the shortest possible response time and simple and cost-effective construction, a second voltage source is connected through a third switching device to the first coil terminal. The third switching device is connected in parallel with the first switching device, the second voltage source has a higher voltage level than the first voltage source and the control device produces a current through the coil, initially closing all three switching devices and following expiration of a predefined period, opening the third switching device again and keep the first and second switching devices closed.
US08988842B2 Terminal block having integral disconnect
A terminal block is disclosed that includes a terminal body housing, a plurality of conductive elements arranged within the terminal body to create a continuous electrical path therethrough, and a disconnect switch integral the terminal body, the switch arranged to open the continuous electrical path and expose a terminal.
US08988839B2 Block power switch with embedded electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection and adaptive body biasing
A block power switch may be embedded with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuitry. A transistor portion of the block power switch may be allocated to act as part of ESD protection circuitry and may be combined with an RC clamp to provide ESD protection. Adaptive body biasing (ABB) may be applied to the block power switch to reduce on-chip area and decrease leakage current of the block power switch.
US08988832B2 Magnetoresistive sensor shield
Implementations disclosed herein allow a signal detected by a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor to be improved by providing for a region of reduced anisotropy within a synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) shield. The SAF shield includes first and second layers of ferromagnetic material separated by a coupling spacer layer. A distance between the first and second layers of ferromagnetic material is greater in a region proximal to the sensor stack than in a region away from the sensor stack.
US08988826B2 MAMR head with a multi-layered side gap for stable oscillation of the STO
A microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) head according to one embodiment includes a main pole; a trailing shield positioned downstream from the main pole; an oscillation device adapted to generate a high-frequency magnetic field, the oscillation device being positioned between the main pole and the trailing shield; a circuit adapted to flow an electric current therethrough to the main pole, the oscillation device, and the trailing shield; an electrically conductive non-magnetic body positioned on one or more sides of the main pole in a cross-track direction and/or a leading direction; and an insulating non-magnetic body positioned on one or more sides of the electrically conductive non-magnetic body in the cross-track direction and/or the leading direction, wherein one or more edge portions of one side of the oscillation device and one or more edge portions of one side of the main pole are in direct contact with the electrically conductive non-magnetic body.
US08988825B1 Method for fabricating a magnetic writer having half-side shields
A method and system provide a magnetic transducer having an air-bearing surface (ABS) location. An intermediate is provided. The intermediate layer includes a first sublayer and a second sublayer in at least a side shield region. The first sublayer has a first sublayer top. The second sublayer is on the first sublayer top in the shield region. A trench is formed in the intermediate layer using at least one etch. A main pole is provided in the trench. The main pole has a bottom and a top wider than the bottom. The first sublayer top is between the top and the bottom of the main pole. At least a portion of the second sublayer is removed in the shield region. At least one half side shield is provided. A bottom of the at least one half side shield being between the top and the bottom of the main pole.
US08988824B1 Method for manufacturing a magnetic write pole with a consistent bevel angle
A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head that has improved write poled uniformity and bevel angle control. The method uses a damascene process to form the write pole, wherein a trench is formed in a RIEable fill layer, and an adhesion layer is located only in areas outside of the trench. A seed layer is deposited into the trench, followed by a non-magnetic gap layer followed by electroplating of a magnetic material. A chemical mechanical polishing process is then performed, thereby forming a magnetic write pole within the trench. The adhesion layer located outside of the trench prevents de-lamination during the chemical mechanical polishing. However, not having any adhesion layer in the trench prevent oxidation related waviness or other deformation of the sides of the write pole.
US08988815B2 Dynamically controlling magnetoresitive bias
Magnetoresistive (MR) bias is dynamically controlled in a tape drive using a processor device. Median tape head amplitude is monitored during a calibration operation, as measured across all tracks of the tape head, against predetermined thresholds of the tape drive for determining if the median tape head amplitude is below the threshold value. Upon determining the median tape head amplitude is below the threshold value during the calibration operation, a reference MR bias and a MR bias range is dynamically adjusted, during the calibration operation, for increasing the median tape head amplitude.
US08988814B1 Storage device, controller, and recording and reproducing method
According to one embodiment, a storage device includes a data conversion unit that coverts user data of n bits, into m three-ary symbols, a recording medium that records the symbols as a signal of any one of three levels corresponding to values of the symbols, and a Viterbi equalizer that performs equalization of the m symbols simultaneously based on a signal read from the recording medium while setting the number of states as a power of 3 and using a trellis diagram having 2n branches, and calculates 2n likelihoods.
US08988807B1 Disk drive with different data sector integrated preambles in adjacent data tracks
A hard disk drive has disks with data sector preambles that allow for inter-track interference. The same data sector preamble is used for all data sectors in a track but the preamble in each track is different from the preamble in radially adjacent tracks. In a first embodiment each preamble includes a synchronization field (SF) and synchronization mark (SM) that are the same in each track but different from the SF and SM in radially adjacent tracks. Only two unique SFs and two unique SMs are required, with the two SFs and two SMs alternating in radially adjacent tracks. In a second embodiment the preambles are “integrated”, meaning that the preamble is a sequence of bits that does not include separate dedicated fields, like SF and SM. The preamble bit sequences are decoded using matched filters to provide bit synchronization and start-of-data information.
US08988799B1 Magnetic disk device and control method of magnetic disk
According to one embodiment, any of a first process to perform a write retry to a write target track, a second process to perform the write retry and perform reading for data verification to an adjacent track, and a third process to perform the write retry and write data of the adjacent track to another track is executed based on a result of comparison between an offtrack amount and a plurality of different slice values.
US08988795B2 Imaging lens
An imaging lens includes plastic-made first, second, third, and fourth lens elements arranged in the given order from an object side to an imaging side. The first lens element has a positive focusing power and is biconvex. The second lens element has a negative focusing power, is biconcave, and has an abbe number not greater than 30. The third lens element has a positive focusing power and has a convex imaging-side surface facing toward the imaging side. The fourth lens element has an imaging-side surface formed with a concave area in a vicinity of an optical axis of the fourth lens element. The imaging lens further includes an aperture stop disposed between the first and second lens elements.
US08988791B2 Light collector and light collecting device
A light collector includes a light guide having a refractive index larger than a refractive index of air and a reflecting surface configured to reflect light output from a conic surface of the light guide back to the light guide. The light guide is made of transparent material through which light passes. The light guide has an entering portion from which light enters and an exiting portion from which the light exits. The light guide has a circular cone shape and has a cross-sectional area that decreases in a direction from the entering portion to the exiting portion.
US08988789B2 Optical image system
An optical image system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element and a fifth lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The second lens element has negative refractive power. The third lens element has refractive power, wherein two surfaces of the third lens element are aspheric. The fourth lens element with refractive power has a convex image-side surface, wherein two surfaces of the fourth lens element are aspheric. The fifth lens element with refractive power has a concave image-side surface, wherein two surfaces of the fifth lens element are aspheric, and the fifth lens element has an inflection point on the image-side surface thereof.
US08988787B2 System and method to deploy active dampening for lens ringing and vibration
Described herein are methods, apparatus, and computer readable medium to autofocus a lens of an imaging device. Parameters are received indicating a lens position. Lens actuator characteristics are determined. Lens damping parameters may be determined based, at least in part, on the input parameters and the lens actuator characteristics. In some aspects, lens damping parameters include a lens movement step size and a time delay between each step. In some aspects, the lens damping parameters include damping parameters for a plurality of regions of lens movement. Lens movement parameters are determined based, at least in part, on the input parameters and the lens damping parameters. The lens is then autofocused by moving it according to the lens movement parameters.
US08988783B2 Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus equipped with same
A zoom lens comprising, in order from the object side to the image side a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, a fourth lens unit having a negative refractive power, and a fifth lens unit having a positive refractive power, wherein the first lens unit is located closest to the object side, the fifth lens unit is located closest to the image side, during zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, the first lens unit, the second lens unit, the third lens unit, and the fourth lens unit move, the fifth lens unit is stationary, and the distances between the lens units vary, the third lens includes a positive lens, and the zoom lens satisfies the following condition (1): 72<ν3p<110  (1).
US08988781B2 Focus-adjustable device and system thereof
The present invention relates to a focus-adjustable device and a system thereof, wherein the focus-adjustable device is fabricated by forming a single closed flow channel in the internal of a transparent substrate, so as to make the substrate and the single closed flow channel together form a specific lens structure similar to the Fresnel lens. In the present invention, when a light illuminates on one side of the substrate, the light would be concentrated at a specific focus point distancing from the other side of the substrate after being deflected by the specific lens structure. Moreover, a fluid having a specific refractive index can be filled into the single closed flow channel by a flow channel opening, so as to carry out the purpose of adjusting the focus of the specific lens structure; or to make the light parallelly pass through the specific lens structure without any deflection.
US08988775B2 Polarizing element and process for producing polarizing element
A polarizing element comprising an alignment layer and a polarizing layer formed by aligning a dichroic coloring agent by deposition which are successively disposed on a substrate, wherein the alignment layer is a sol-gel film formed by using a material comprising at least (A) a sol of an inorganic oxide and (B) an alkoxysilane and/or a hexaalkoxydisiloxane, and the ratio of amounts by mole of Component (B) to solid components in Component (A) [(B)/(A)(solid components)] is 99.9/0.1 to 40/60; and a process for producing the polarizing element. The polarizing element can be produced in simple steps, the treatment of abrasion of the surface necessary for alignment of a dichroic coloring agent by deposition is facilitated, and haze due to formation of cracks is absent.
US08988770B2 Hybrid optical source with semiconductor reflector
A hybrid optical source that provides an optical signal having a wavelength is described. This hybrid optical source includes an edge-coupled optical amplifier (such as a III-V semiconductor optical amplifier) aligned to a semiconductor reflector (such as an etched silicon mirror). The semiconductor reflector efficiently couples (i.e., with low optical loss) light out of the optical amplifier in a direction approximately perpendicular to a plane of the optical amplifier. A corresponding optical coupler (such as a diffraction grating or a mirror) fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator chip efficiently couples the light into a sub-micron silicon-on-insulator optical waveguide. The silicon-on-insulator optical waveguide couples the light to additional photonic elements (including a reflector) to complete the hybrid optical source.
US08988769B2 Optical spectral filtering and dispersion compensation using semiconductor optical amplifiers
The embodiments herein provide a device and a method for extending the bandwidth of short wavelength and long wavelength fiber optic lengths. The embodiments herein provide for an optical transmitter package device comprising: a laser diode; and a semiconductor optical amplifier connected directly after and in close proximity to the laser diode, wherein the semiconductor optical amplifier is adapted to operate in a frequency domain such that the semiconductor optical amplifier filters and reshapes optical wavelengths from the laser diode, and wherein the semiconductor optical amplifier is biased below an amplification threshold for the semiconductor optical amplifier. The device may also comprises a feedback circuit which comprises an optical splitter, wherein the feedback circuit samples reshaped optical output from the semiconductor optical amplifier and dynamically adjusts one or both of the semiconductor optical amplifier and the laser diode.
US08988767B2 Method and system for non-mechanical rapid tuning of an optical parametric oscillator
An OPO is disclosed capable of rapid frequency tuning by non-mechanical means. The OPO includes a resonant cavity including one or more non-linear crystals in an optical path thereof. A pump laser pulse is transmitted into the resonant cavity simultaneously with a seed beam having a desired wavelength. The output beam from the resonant cavity has the same center wavelength as the seed beam. The wavelength of the seed beam may be modulated at a frequency larger than the pulse rate of the pump laser or larger than the inverse of the pulse duration. The OPO disclosed may be used to perform DIAL analysis wherein intra-pulse modulation of an output beam is used to obtain measurements of absorption at multiple frequencies for each pulse of a pump beam.
US08988766B2 Optical resonator with direct geometric access to the optical axis
The present invention relates to a stable optical cavity, in which an obstacle is formed or arranged on the optical axis in the form of a through-opening in one of the mirrors or of an input- or output-coupling element, in order to enable a direct geometric access to the optical axis. The mirrors of the cavity are arranged such that a degeneracy of a plurality of transverse eigenmodes of the cavity occurs without an obstacle, by the combination of which an intensity minimum is obtained in the cavity with an obstacle at the position of the through-opening or of the input- or output-coupling element. With this configuration an optical cavity of high finesse which has a position of maximum intensity on the optical axis can be realized.
US08988765B2 Laser projection system with improved bit depth
An apparatus and method for despeckling that includes a green laser diode assembly, a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of less than 100 kHz, and stimulated Raman scattering light formed in an optical fiber. The laser diode light and stimulated Raman scattering light are combined to form a projected digital image. The green laser diode assembly or the pulsed laser is switched to improve the bit depth of the projected digital image.
US08988760B2 Encapsulated electromechanical devices
Encapsulation is provided to electromechanical devices to protect the devices from such environmental hazards as moisture and mechanical shock. In addition to the encapsulation layer providing protection from environmental hazards, the encapsulation layer is additionally planarized so as to function as a substrate for additional circuit elements formed above the encapsulation layer.
US08988759B2 Metamaterial surfaces
An apparatus to modify an incident free space electromagnetic wave includes a block of an artificially structured material having an adjustable spatial distribution of electromagnetic parameters (e.g., ∈, μ, η, σ, and n). A controller applies control signals to dynamically adjust the spatial distribution of electromagnetic parameters in the material to introduce a time-varying path delay d(t) in the modified electromagnetic wave relative to the incident electromagnetic wave.
US08988758B2 Thermochromic window doped with dopant and method of manufacturing the same
A thermochromic window doped with a dopant and a method of manufacturing the same. The thermochromic window includes a substrate and a thermochromic thin film formed on the substrate. The thermochromic thin film has a thermochromic material doped with a dopant, the concentration of the dopant gradually decreasing in a depth direction from one surface of the upper surface and the undersurface of the thermochromic thin film. The thermochromic window has a high level of visible light transmittance and high phase change efficiency while having a low phase transition temperature.
US08988754B2 Optical phased arrays with evanescently-coupled antennas
An optical phased array formed of a large number of nanophotonic antenna elements can be used to project complex images into the far field. These nanophotonic phased arrays, including the nanophotonic antenna elements and waveguides, can be formed on a single chip of silicon using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Directional couplers evanescently couple light from the waveguides to the nanophotonic antenna elements, which emit the light as beams with phases and amplitudes selected so that the emitted beams interfere in the far field to produce the desired pattern. In some cases, each antenna in the phased array may be optically coupled to a corresponding variable delay line, such as a thermo-optically tuned waveguide or a liquid-filled cell, which can be used to vary the phase of the antenna's output (and the resulting far-field interference pattern).
US08988753B2 Optical filter device, in particular for microscopes
An optical filter device having a polarizing beamsplitter, an achromatic polarization manipulator, and at least one dichroic mirror. The polarization manipulator is arranged optically between a first input/output of the polarizing beamsplitter and the dichroic mirror. The polarization manipulator is also constructed in such a way that it effects a 90-degree rotation of a polarization direction of light which a) exits the polarizing beamsplitter at the first input/output, b) traverses the polarization manipulator, c) is reflected by the dichroic mirror, and d) again traverses the polarization manipulator. The optical filter device can also be used as beamsplitter.
US08988752B2 Beam control apparatus for an illumination beam and metrology system comprising an optical system containing such a beam control apparatus
A beam control apparatus for an illumination beam includes an imaging illumination optical unit assembly for imaging an intermediate focus of the illumination beam onto an object field to be illuminated. A control component that influences a beam path of the illumination beam is displaceable in at least one degree of freedom by at least one displacement actuator. A position sensor device of the beam control apparatus detects a position of the intermediate focus. A control device of the beam control apparatus is signal-connected to the position sensor device and the displacement actuator. From an intermediate focus position signal received from the position sensor device, the control device calculates control signals for the displacement actuator and forwards the latter to the displacement actuator for controlling the position of the intermediate focus. This results in a beam control apparatus which makes well-controllable illumination possible together with a simple construction.
US08988749B2 Scanning technology
Scanning technology related to editing a scan image. A request to edit a scan image that was acquired through an input apparatus is received and an editing user interface area that includes an editing version of the scan image and at least one functional icon is displayed. After selection of the editing version of the scan image, user input is received moving the editing version of the scan image to a predetermined area of the editing user interface area that corresponds to a functional icon. The editing version of the scan image is converted into text data, a function associated with the functional icon is determined, and the converted text data is used in the determined function associated with the functional icon.
US08988748B2 Output profile for colour reproduction system
A method for characterizing a colour rendering reprographic apparatus for making an output colour profile comprises the steps of measuring a set of colour values, indicative of output of the colour rendering reprographic apparatus on a predetermined medium and processing these measurement data to profile data that are applicable for creating an output colour profile according to the standards of the International Colour Consortium. The processing step comprises a correction of a measured colour value with a medium compensation value that depends on the medium gray colour value at the same lightness as the measured colour value. The medium gray colour value is a value that results from the application of black colorant on the predetermined medium. The medium compensation value reduces to zero at the lightness of the predetermined medium. The effect of this processing step is that a profile is generated that gives prints that are both free of background colorant and have natural colour rendering.
US08988745B2 Image processing apparatus for processing photographed images
An image processing apparatus of the present invention acquires a photographed image of an object on which indicators have been arranged, detects the indicators from the photographed image with use of a comparison reference image for pattern matching prepared in advance, and instructs to perform predetermined processing based on the detected indicators. The indicators each have a pattern where influence of geometrical image distortion generated corresponding to a photographing distance or a photographing angle with respect to the object is restrained by a central portion of the photographed image, and the comparison reference image is a partial image corresponding to a central portion of the indicator. The indicators are detected from the photographed image by comparing the comparison reference image with the acquired photographed image.
US08988738B2 Cutting apparatus with image reading unit and reading-use holding unit having reference portion for use in shading correction
A reading-use holding member which is configured for use with an image reading apparatus including an image reading unit and which holds a sheet of workpiece while image reading is performed by the image reading unit, the reading-use holding member including a base being generally planar; an indicator provided at the base and configured to identify a type of holding member when read by the image reading unit; a holding portion provided at the base and configured to hold the workpiece; and a reference portion provided at the base and configured to provide a reference image data for use in a shading correction of an image read by the image reading unit.
US08988733B2 To generate an image
A method to generate an image in which a plurality of offset vectors for portions of a first image are determined by comparing the similarity of the portions to portion of a second image.
US08988731B2 Wide-format color printer
A wide-format color printer includes a carriage, an ink carrier (2) disposed on the carriage, a motor (3) for driving the carriage and a guide-rail frame (4). The motor is mounted on the carriage and a motor wheel (3-1) of the motor is fitted to a guide rail (4-1) of the guide-rail frame. An anti-friction strip (6) is disposed on the bottom of the guide rail. The carriage includes a carriage frame (1-1) and a motor holder (1-2). The ink carrier is buckled to a front end face of the carriage frame. The motor is fixed to the motor holder. The motor holder is connected to the carriage frame through an elastic member (5) on the top of the motor holder. The motor of the printer drives directly the carriage frame to move on the guide rail of the guide-rail frame reciprocally. A transmission without a belt or a wire rope is achieved and a stable sliding of the ink carrier during the transmission is ensured, so fitting problems previously caused by belt transmission or wire rope transmission are solved, and thus printing accuracy, printing speed and printing stability are improved.
US08988729B2 System and method for printing a pharmaceutical label
A method and system of printing a pharmaceutical label is disclosed. The method and system includes a mechanism for receiving patient prescription information, with is entered into a prescription entry system. The vial size may be calculated based on the patient prescription information. Spacing for printing dosing indicia on a pharmaceutical label is calculated and printed on the pharmaceutical label. The pharmaceutical label may then be applied to a vial, which may include an indexing mechanism to aid tracking of doses.
US08988725B2 Image processing apparatus that acquires image data from removable driver and image processing method
In an image processing apparatus, a data handling unit (a) estimates a size of the intermediate data on the basis of the image data, and (b) selects one of a first rendering mode and a second rendering mode on the basis of a size of the image data and the estimated size of the intermediate data. In the first rendering mode, the data handling unit makes a copy of the image data and stores the copy in the storage device and causes a rendering unit to generate bitmap image data from the image data stored in the storage device. In the second rendering mode, the data handling unit causes the rendering unit to generate the bitmap image data from the image data stored in the removable drive.
US08988719B2 Printing apparatus and log recording method
A printing apparatus including: a storage unit configured to store print data a printing unit configured to print the print data; and a control device configured to: erase the print data from the storage unit, when a cancel instruction to cancel printing of the print data stored in the storage unit is detected; generate a log before erasing the print data, the generated log including a first log related to erasing target data which is a portion of the print data to be erased; and store the generated log in a storage device.
US08988715B2 Information processing apparatus, control method, and storage medium
In a touch panel environment, it is difficult to notice when a printer driver displays a user interface and whether processing is waiting for an input from a user at the time of printing. When print setting information requiring that a printer driver displays a message dialogue for prompting a user's input at the time of printing is set, an information processing apparatus activates software operated in a desktop environment in a process different from print processing.
US08988710B2 Printing apparatus
This invention is directed to a printing apparatus, in which an extension board for PDL processing is added, capable of reducing a waiting time when returning from the power-saving mode upon reception of PDL data. To realize this, upon receiving PDL data before the extension board is ready for use, the apparatus processes the data by using the PDL processing module on the main board. After initializing the extension board, the apparatus uses the added PDL processing module together with that on the main board. Processing the data in this manner makes it possible to start printing the PDL data without consuming a long wait time.
US08988708B2 Host device to monitor status of image forming apparatus and control method thereof
A host device is configured to upload a message informing of a status of the image forming apparatus to a network service which allows users to share messages on a website. This allows an administrator of the image forming apparatus device to manage the image forming apparatus, irrespective of time and place, by simply accessing the website of a service server providing the network service, which enables more efficient management of the image forming apparatus.
US08988707B2 Method of managing plural print jobs by using a print job group list
A method of managing a plurality of print jobs, which includes the steps of: receiving a plurality of print jobs from one or more client devices, each of the plurality of print jobs having one or more print job attributes; creating a print job group list of the plurality of print jobs before the plurality of print jobs is processed by a printer controller; processing the plurality of print jobs on the printer controller for printing by an image forming apparatus; and printing one or more of the plurality of print jobs based on a printing sequence generated from the print job group list.
US08988705B2 Image processing apparatus capable of controlling the execution of an image processing command transmitted from a client terminal
An image processing apparatus for executing image processing on the basis of a command transmitted from a communication terminal is provided. The image processing apparatus includes: a communication unit that performs communication with the communication terminal; an execution unit that executes the image processing on the basis of the command transmitted from the communication terminal; a determination unit that determines whether or not to permit the execution unit to execute the image processing based on the command without passing through a communication terminal serving as a management terminal; and a control unit that prohibits the image processing based on the command without passing through the management terminal when the determination unit determines that the execution of the image processing is not permitted.
US08988704B2 Image forming apparatus and input method thereof
An image forming apparatus and an input method thereof are provided. The input method of an image forming apparatus which includes at least one hard key and a touch screen, including displaying a screen with at least one input selection option on the touch screen, receiving a selection of the at least one hard key and a touch selection of at least one of the input selection options of the displayed screen, and performing an operation corresponding to the received hard key selection and the received touch selection. Thus, a shortcut key using a hard key and a touch screen together may be provided, thereby reducing inconvenience for a user to navigate to a menu and to input data.
US08988702B2 Printing apparatus and printing method
A printer and printing control method to enable print data received from a host computer to be selectively deleted without modifying the host computer or application. A data receiving unit 100 receives print data from a host computer 40. A deletion line parameter unit 81 sets the number of deletion lines that are to be deleted from the received print data. A print data deletion unit 87 deletes the print data corresponding to the deletion lines set by the deletion line parameter unit 81. A printing unit 120 then prints a receipt using the actual (i.e., corrected) print data, which is the received print data remaining after deletion of the selected deletion lines by the print data deletion unit 87.
US08988701B2 Power supply system and image forming apparatus
A power supply system includes a switching power supply configured to rectify and smooth an AC voltage of an AC power to generate a DC voltage, a controller configured to control the switching power supply to start or stop operating, and a low-capacity power supply comprising a power supply capacity smaller than that of the switching power supply. The low-capacity power supply is configured to supply power to the controller. The power supply system can further include a detecting circuit configured to detect an output voltage of the low-capacity power supply, and a permission circuit configured to permit a startup of the switching power supply when the output voltage detected by the detecting circuit is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
US08988698B2 Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and storage medium
An image forming apparatus includes an authenticating unit that compares input identification information of a user with user information containing identification information of users and authenticates a user corresponding to the input identification information of the user; a detecting unit that detects that the authenticated user leaves the image forming apparatus; and a clearing unit that clears the authenticated state of the authenticated user if the detecting unit detects that the authenticated user leaves the image forming apparatus.
US08988696B2 Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes a top panel member that is arranged on an operator stand side of a main body of the image forming apparatus, that includes a recess having a bottom surface located below a level of a top surface of the top panel member, and that allows an authentication device configured to read information stored in an information recording medium to be mounted on the bottom surface of the recess; and a detachable cover that includes a protruding part, the protruding part protruding upward and defining, together with the recess, a space for housing the authentication device.
US08988694B2 Image forming apparatus, application executing method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with application executing program
An image forming apparatus includes an operating portion to control hardware resources, an internal control portion to perform a process predetermined for an internal command, an application executing portion to execute an application program and output a simplified command or application command, and an application control portion to convert the simplified command or application command output by the application executing portion into an internal command and output the internal command to the internal control portion. The application control portion includes a simplified command converting portion to convert the simplified command output by the application executing portion into one or more application commands, and output the application command(s) in the order defined for the simplified command, and an application command converting portion to convert the application command output by the application executing portion, or each of the application command(s) sequentially output from the simplified command converting portion, into an internal command.
US08988692B2 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium
A print control program has a target printer designating step of designating a target printer for printing, a target printer determining step of determining capabilities of the target printer, and a language converting step of converting the page description language into another page description language depending on capabilities of the target printer. A rule creation unit creates a repetition rule corresponding to a repetition element and a rule application unit creates a repetition structure for configuration information using the repetition rule.
US08988691B2 Position-measuring device
A position-measuring device is used to detect the relative position of two machine components that are disposed in a manner allowing movement relative to each other at least along a first and a second main direction of motion in a displacement plane. The device includes at least one measuring standard, which is mounted on a first machine component. At least six scanning units are mounted on a second machine component, and are used for the optical scanning of the measuring standard in at least two measuring directions in the displacement plane. At least two scanning units are assigned to each measuring direction. The scanning units of each respective measuring direction in the displacement plane are disposed non-centrosymmetrically in relation to a center of the second machine component.
US08988690B2 Interferometric encoder systems
A method for determining information about changes along a degree of freedom of an encoder scale includes directing a first beam and a second beam along different paths and combining the first and second beams to form an output beam, where the first and second beams are derived from a common source, the first and second beams have different frequencies, where the first beam contacts the encoder scale at a non-Littrow angle and the first beam diffracts from the encoder scale at least once; detecting an interference signal based on the output beam, the interference signal including a heterodyne phase related to an optical path difference between the first beam and the second beam; and determining information about a degree of freedom of the encoder scale based on the heterodyne phase.
US08988689B2 Spectroscopic measurement device and spectroscopic measurement method
Multiple rays such as scattered lights and fluorescent lights emitted radially in a variety of directions from each bright point in a measurement area enter an objective lens, where the multiple rays are converted into a parallel beam. The parallel beam is reflected by both a reference mirror unit and an oblique mirror unit, and the reflected beams pass through an imaging lens to form an interference image on a light-receiving surface of a detection unit. The detection of the light intensity of the interference image on the light-receiving surface enables an acquisition of the interferogram (the waveform of the change of imaging intensity) in which the light intensity continuously changes. By Fourier-converting the interferogram, spectral characteristics can be obtained which show the relative intensities for each wavelength of the lights emitted from one bright point of an object to be measured.
US08988686B2 Systems, devices, and methods for providing products and consultations
Included are embodiments for a color calibration device formed from a flexible, elongate strip of material that is formable into a headband. The color calibration device includes a first color correction region comprising a plurality of color chips and a second color correction region comprising a plurality of color chips, wherein the first color correction region and the second color correction region are positioned on opposite sides of a mid-point of the flexible, elongate strip of material.
US08988674B2 Systems and methods for measuring high-intensity light beams
Systems and methods for measuring an intensity characteristic of a light beam are disclosed. The methods include directing the light beam into a prism assembly that includes a thin prism sandwiched by two transparent plates, and reflecting a portion of the light beam by total-internal-reflection surface to an integrating sphere while transmitting the remaining portion of the light beam through the two transparent plates to a beam dump. The method also includes detecting light captured by the integrating sphere and determining the intensity characteristic from the detected light.
US08988669B2 Power monitor for optical fiber using background scattering
An optical power monitoring device includes a photodetector disposed in close proximity to the cladding of an optical fiber for measuring Rayleigh scattered light from the core of the optical fiber. To ensure only Rayleigh scattered light is measured, a cladding stripper is provided to remove any cladding light prior taking a reading with the photodetector.
US08988668B2 Film thickness measurement apparatus and film thickness measurement method
A film thickness measurement apparatus includes: an ECT sensor for measuring a film thickness of a thermal barrier coating formed on a turbine blade; a storage unit for storing a measurement point on the turbine blade which is a point where the film thickness of the thermal barrier coating is measured; a laser displacement meter for measuring a shape of the turbine blade; a measurement position calculation unit for calculating an actual measurement point suitable for actual film thickness measurement using the ECT sensor, based on the shape of the turbine blade measured by the laser displacement meter and the measurement point on the turbine blade stored in the storage unit; and an arm drive unit for driving the ECT sensor to adjust a measurement position of the ECT sensor based on the actual measurement point calculated by the measurement position calculation unit.
US08988666B2 Method, apparatus, and article to facilitate evaluation of objects using electromagnetic energy
Spectral information may be employed in process control and/or quality control of goods and articles. Spectral information may be employed in process control and/or quality control of media, for example financial instruments, identity documents, legal documents, medical documents, financial transaction cards, and/or other media, fluids for example lubricants, fuels, coolants, or other materials that flow, and in machinery, for example vehicles, motors, generators, compressors, presses, drills and/or supply systems. Spectral information may be employed in identifying biological tissue and/or facilitating diagnosis based on biological tissue.
US08988663B2 Laser range finding
Using a hand-held range finding device to range an object in a field of view is difficult due to user-induced jitter. In particular, user-induced jitter introduces uncertainty as to which object in a field of view is actually ranged. Current approaches attempt to mitigate user-induced jitter by requiring a user to mount the hand-held range finding device onto a stabilizing device (e.g., a tripod). However, such approaches require the user to carry additional equipment. Embodiments of the present disclosure enable the user to visually confirm which object in a field of view is actually ranged during a range finding event by generating a composite image that includes a visual representation of a laser pulse emitted by the range finding device reflecting off an object in the field of view. Advantageously, disclosed embodiments provide true hand-held range finding capabilities without requiring the use of stabilization assistance techniques.
US08988661B2 Method and system to maximize space-time resolution in a time-of-flight (TOF) system
Phase-based TOF systems operate with reduced depth error due to motion blur, and/or spatial blur, and/or pixel offset by intelligently determining how best to combine pixel values, and how best to compensate for individual pixel offsets. Such determination(s) may be carried out on a per pixel basis, dynamically, in real-time during TOF operation, or on archived TOF data. Offsets for individual pixels may be dynamically calculated and subtracted from the values acquired by those pixels Individual pixel offsets may be calculated for example by combining data acquired by the same pixel at two acquisitions, 180° out of phase with respect to each other. Calculated offsets may be averaged, or on a per pixel basis, and if target object motion is detected, one or more offset calculations can be discarded rather than averaged to reduce motion blur. Offsets acquired a priori during a TOF system calibration procedure may be used.
US08988655B2 Exposure apparatus, movable body apparatus, flat-panel display manufacturing method, and device manufacturing method
In a substrate stage, when a Y coarse movement stage moves in the Y-axis direction, an X coarse movement stage, a weight cancellation device, and an X guide move integrally in the Y-axis direction with the Y coarse movement stage, and when the X coarse movement stage moves in the X-axis direction on the Y coarse movement stage, the weight cancellation device moves on the X guide in the X-axis direction integrally with the X coarse movement stage. Because the X guide is provided extending in the X-axis direction while covering the movement range of the weight cancellation device in the X-axis direction, the weight cancellation device is constantly supported by the X guide, regardless of its position. Accordingly, a substrate can be guided along the XY plane with good accuracy, even if a member (for example, a surface plate and the like) that has a guide surface large enough to cover the total movement range of the weight cancellation device is not provided.
US08988649B2 Image display device using a diffractive lens wherein the diffractive lens comprises a first electrode array and a second electrode array and operates as a fresnel zone plate
The present invention relates to an image display device using a diffractive lens. An image display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a display panel displaying an image, and a diffractive lens for the image of the display panel to be recognized as a two-dimensional (2D) image or a three-dimensional (3D) image, wherein the diffractive lens modifies a path of light by using an optical principle of a Fresnel zone plate.
US08988643B2 Peep-proof display apparatus and driving method thereof
A peep-proof display apparatus includes a plurality of sub-pixels disposed between a first substrate and a second substrate. Each sub-pixel includes a first conductive layer, a color filter layer, an isolation film, a light modulator layer, a second conductive layer, an insulation film and a third conductive layer. The color filter layer is disposed between the first conductive layer and the isolation film. The light modulator layer is disposed between the isolation film and the second conductive layer. The insulation film is disposed between the second and third conductive layers. In a first display mode, the light modulator layer is applied with an electric field parallel thereto. In a second display mode, the light modulator layer is applied with an electric field parallel thereto and an electric field perpendicular thereto.
US08988642B2 Liquid crystal display devices and methods of manufacturing liquid crystal display devices
A liquid crystal display device includes: a first substrate; a first electrode on a first face of the first substrate; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate; a second electrode on a first face of the second substrate, the second electrode corresponding to the first electrode; and a liquid crystal structure between the first substrate and the second substrate, the liquid crystal structure including liquid crystal capsules.
US08988640B2 Display device and fabrication method of the same
The embodiment relates to a display device having an improved aperture ratio and capacitance, and a fabrication method of the display device, in which the display device may include a thin film transistor, which includes: an active layer, a gate electrode, a source electrode electrically connected to the active layer, a drain electrode electrically connected to the active layer, and a gate insulating material formed between the active layer and the gate electrode, where the gate insulating material includes a first layer, a second layer and a third layer, where the second layer has a thickness between about 0.1 to about 1.5 times a thickness of the first layer, and where the third layer has a thickness between about 2 to about 12 times the thickness of the second layer.
US08988633B2 Liquid crystal module with edge-lit backlight and liquid crystal display device
The present invention provides a liquid crystal module with edge-lit backlight, which includes aluminum extrusion, edge-lit backlight source, light guiding plate (LGP), optical film set, mold frame, and at least a magnetic device, disposed with at least an attaching surface, for attaching to backlight source substrate, and an outer surface protruding beyond the light-emitting surface of LEDs; the outer surface of magnetic device near or pressing against LGP and having a difference in height levels from light-emitting surface of LEDs. The present invention also discloses a liquid crystal display device adopting the above liquid crystal module with edge-lit backlight. As such, the present invention can prevent the coupling optical distance from being too small, improve the endurance of the impact on the backlight and improve the backlight life span.
US08988631B2 Frame and liquid crystal display device
The present invention discloses a frame for pressing an optical film of a LCD device. The frame includes a supporting component and a loading component bending along from the edge of the supporting component. A first rib and a second rib are arranged on the side of the loading component adjacent to the supporting component for pressing the optical film along with the edge of the loading component, and the thickness of the first ribs is greater than that of the second ribs. The present invention further discloses a LCD device. According to the ways mentioned above, the first ribs and the second ribs with different thicknesses on the loading component of the frame fits for the optical films with two thicknesses to save cost and to conduce mass production.
US08988627B2 Thin-film transistor substrate and method for manufacturing the same
A thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate includes a base substrate, a test pad and a test pad line. The base substrate includes a display area including a data line and a TFT, a peripheral area including a common voltage line, and a test area disposed outside of the peripheral area. The test pad is disposed in the test area and electrically connected to the data line. The test pad line connects the data line with the test pad and crosses the common voltage line.
US08988623B2 Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same
When a pixel portion and a driver circuit are formed over one substrate and a counter electrode is formed over an entire surface of a counter substrate, the driver circuit may be adversely affected by an optimized voltage of the counter electrode. A semiconductor device according to the present invention has a structure in which: a liquid crystal layer is provided between a pair of substrates; one of the substrates is provided with a pixel electrode and a driver circuit; the other of the substrates is a counter substrate which is provided with two counter electrode layers in different potentials; and one of the counter electrode layers overlaps with the pixel electrode with the liquid crystal layer therebetween and the other of the counter electrode layers overlaps with the driver circuit with the liquid crystal layer therebetween. An oxide semiconductor layer is used for the driver circuit.
US08988621B2 Array substrate and display panel having the same
An array substrate includes a gate line, a data line, a thin film transistor (TFT), a pixel electrode and a storage line. The pixel electrode includes a main pixel electrode and a sub pixel electrode partly surrounding at least a portion of the main pixel electrode. The storage line includes a main storage line that extends substantially parallel to the gate line and across the pixel electrode, a sub storage line that extends from the main storage line and substantially parallel to the data line to overlap the sub pixel electrode, and a protruding storage line that extends from the sub storage line and substantially parallel to the gate line to overlap the main pixel electrode.
US08988617B2 Stereoscopic image display device and method for driving the same
A stereoscopic image display device comprises a liquid crystal panel alternately displaying a first image and a second image, the first and second images being changed at first transition durations every frame, a polarization control panel disposed on the liquid crystal panel and changing polarization states at second transition durations, polarization glasses enabling the displayed first and second images to be viewed via the polarization control panel, and a backlight unit providing light to the liquid crystal panel and having black durations where the light is not provided to the liquid crystal panel.
US08988613B2 Image transmission device, image transmission method, and computer-readable device
When the wireless communication connection with the display device is established and the ROM stores the display device identifier for uniquely identifying the display device and the setting information so as to be associated with each other, a control unit causes the format of the image to change by the video signal processing unit based on the setting information stored in the ROM and causes the image whose format is changed to be wirelessly transmitted to the wireless communication circuit unit, without performing request for transmission of the setting information to the display device.
US08988610B2 Electronic equipment, control information transmission and reception methods having bidirectional communication using predetermined lines
Electronic equipment and methods for permitting quick control of the operating state of a source equipment side from sink equipment. A television receiver (sink equipment) 100 and an amplifier (repeater equipment) 200 are interconnected over an HDMI cable 610, and the amplifier 200 and a DVD recorder (source equipment) 300 are interconnected over an HDMI cable 620. Each of the pieces of equipment includes, in addition to an HDMI receiving unit and an HDMI transmitting unit, a high-speed data line I/F included in a bidirectional communication unit that uses predetermined lines of the HDMI cable. The bidirectional communication unit is used to transmit channel selection information, a remote control code instructing recording, “theater mode” designating information, a remote control code, or the like from the television receiver 100 to the audio amplifier 200 or DVD recorder 300.
US08988604B2 Handheld device and method for displaying synchronously with TV set
The present invention discloses a handheld device and a method for a handheld device to display synchronously with a TV set. The handheld device includes a display management module for converting output display data into data corresponding to a TV set screen resolution and displaying same on the TV set screen, and an output management module for converting the output display data into data corresponding to a handheld device resolution and displaying same on a handheld device screen synchronously with the TV set screen, the handheld device being connected to the TV set via an HDMI cable. A bidirectional synchronous display function is achieved in the present invention.
US08988601B2 Imaging system warp correction with phantom assembly
A device for imaging system warp correction includes an object including an imaging phantom, the object being configured for placement of the imaging phantom adjacent a scanning interface of a detector, and a mounting cap coupled to the object and configured to be secured to the detector to establish the placement of the imaging phantom adjacent the scanning interface of the detector. The mounting cap includes a plurality of alignment features configured to align the object and the mounting cap.
US08988599B2 Illumination sphere with intelligent LED lighting units in scalable daisy chain with interchangeable filters
A controllable lighting system may include a plurality of light source groups, a group controller for each light source group, a master controller, and a network communication system. Each group controller may be configured to control the light sources in its light source group based on a group control command. The master controller may be configured to receive a master control command relating to the light sources and to issue a group control command to each of the group controllers that collectively effectuate compliance with the master control command. The network communication system may be configured to communicate the group control commands from the master controller to the group controllers.
US08988597B2 Imaging control device and program for controlling facial image taking apparatus which radiates infrared light toward the face
An imaging control device for controlling a facial image taking apparatus which radiates light from a light source to a face and takes an image of the face is disclosed. The imaging control device determines an intensity of environmental light and a degree of reflection by a pair of eyeglasses. When it is determined that the intensity of the environmental light is greater than or equal to a predetermined determination value and the degree of the reflection by the eyeglasses is greater than or equal to a predetermined determination value, the imaging control device sets an intensity of the light radiated from the light source to a predetermined intensity that makes states of eyes in the facial image recognizable.
US08988593B2 Image sensor and image capturing apparatus with focus detection pixels
An image sensor comprises a plurality of pixels covered by color filters and arranged two-dimensionally in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a read out means capable of reading by switching between a first read out method for reading a signal from each of the plurality of pixels and a second read out method for reading by adding signals in the first direction within each pixel group including a predetermined number of pixels covered by a color filter of a same color. The plurality of pixels include a plurality of pixel groups of first focus detection pixels and a plurality of pixel groups of second focus detection pixels, arranged discretely, and the first and second focus detection pixels are partially shielded from light on different sides in the second direction so as to receive light transmitted through different exit pupil regions.
US08988592B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, image processing program, and image pickup apparatus acquiring a focusing distance from a plurality of images
An image processing apparatus that acquires a focusing distance from a plurality of images each having different degrees of blur, includes: a misalignment detection unit that detects misalignment among the plurality of images; a distance information acquisition unit that acquires, based on the plurality of images, distance information, which is information to indicate a focusing distance in an area of the images; and a reliability information acquisition unit that creates, based on the detected misalignment, reliability information, which is information to indicate reliability of the focusing distance acquired for each area, wherein the distance information acquisition unit changes the acquired distance information based on the reliability information.
US08988591B2 Solid-state imaging device, camera module, and focus adjustment method of camera module
According to one embodiment, a solid-state imaging device includes an imaging processing circuit and a focus drive control section. The imaging processing circuit includes a luminance information generating section and a disparity amount calculating section. The luminance information generating section generates first luminance information from a first image signal. The disparity amount calculating section calculates a disparity amount based on the first luminance information and second luminance information. The second luminance information is contained in a second image signal. The focus drive control section controls the focus drive in accordance with a subject distance obtained using the disparity amount.
US08988590B2 Two-dimensional imager with solid-state auto-focus
An imaging system having a solid-state auto focusing system advantageously images broadband light reflected from an object to be imaged using a lens objective having chromatic aberration, which focuses different colors of light at different focal planes. Using the color information in the focal planes in conjunction with an object distance determined by a range finder, a luminance plane is constructed that has a focused image of the object. The system provides the focused image of the object without the use of any moving parts.
US08988589B2 Image pickup apparatus and display control method
An image pickup apparatus uses an image pickup device. A manual focus adjusting unit is configured to control a focus lens in response to a user's input operation. An edge detecting unit is configured to detect edge components from an image signal obtained by the image pickup device and to output detection levels of the detected edge components. A color signal replacement unit is configured to replace a signal of a pixel corresponding to the detection level with a predetermined color signal when the detection level satisfies a predetermined condition. A display unit is configured to display an image based on an output image signal from the color signal replacement unit.
US08988586B2 Auto-focus camera module with MEMS closed loop compensator
A MEMS actuator for a compact camera couples with an alignment compensation component for generating alignment compensation signals to position and align one or more movable lenses to account for a specific focus distance and for a camera module orientation and nonlinear displacement property of the one or more movable lenses.
US08988578B2 Mobile computing device with improved image preview functionality
A mobile computing device can comprise a microprocessor, a display, at least one motion sensor, and an imaging device including a two-dimensional image sensor and an imaging lens configured to focus an image of a target object on the image sensor. The mobile computing device can be configured to periodically display a preview image frame of the target object. The mobile computing device can be further configured to compensate for a movement of the imaging device relatively to the target object during a time period elapsed between taking and displaying the preview image frame, by transforming the preview image frame based on the device movement detected by the motion sensor.
US08988575B2 Semiconductor module, MOS type solid-state image pickup device, camera and manufacturing method of camera
A back-illuminated type MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) solid-state image pickup device 32 in which micro pads 34, 37 are formed on the wiring layer side and a signal processing chip 33 having micro pads 35, 38 formed on the wiring layer at the positions corresponding to the micro pads 34, 37 of the MOS solid-state image pickup device 32 are connected by micro bumps 36, 39. In a semiconductor module including the MOS type solid-state image pickup device, at the same time an image processing speed can be increased, simultaneity within the picture can be realized and image quality can be improved, a manufacturing process can be facilitated, and a yield can be improved. Also, it becomes possible to decrease a power consumption required when all pixels or a large number of pixels is driven at the same time.
US08988572B2 Radiation imaging apparatus including radiation detection unit having a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and control method therefor
A radiation imaging apparatus includes: a radiation detection unit in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion units to convert radiation signals into charge signals and store the charge signals is located; a storage control unit configured to control the storage of the charge signals executed by the plurality of photoelectric conversion units; a reading control unit configured to control reading of the charge signals stored by the plurality of photoelectric conversion units; and a control unit configured to fix an indefinite potential generated at the radiation detection unit while at least one of the storage control of the charge signals by the storage control unit and the reading control of the charge signals by the reading control unit is not carried out.
US08988570B2 Method of capturing an image with an image sensor
A method may include a cycle of reading a current pixel including connecting the capacitive node of the pixel to a capacitive node of a previous pixel already read, connecting the capacitive node of the current pixel and the capacitive node of a previous pixel to an output line, reading a first voltage of the capacitive node of the pixel through the output line, transferring charges from the accumulation node to the capacitive node of the pixel, reading a second voltage of the capacitive node of the pixel through the output line, and disconnecting the capacitive node from the capacitive node of a previous pixel, and a cycle of reading a next pixel. This cycle may include accumulating charges in the accumulation node of the next pixel while the capacitive node of the current pixel is connected to a capacitive node of a previous pixel.
US08988560B2 Solid-state image pickup element and camera system having mechanism for canceling potential drop on signal line
A pixel driving portion 102 can carry out first read drive with which a transfer element is turned OFF in accordance with a drive signal TG to output a signal at an output node, and second read drive with which the transfer element is turned ON in accordance with the drive signal TG to transfer signal charges to the output node, thereby outputting a signal at the output node. A pixel signal reading portion 103, 104 outputs a signal corresponding to a difference between the signal read out in accordance with the second read drive and the signal read out in accordance with the first read drive.
US08988556B1 Orientation-assisted object recognition
A user attempting to obtain information about an object can capture image information including a view of that object, and the image information can be used with a matching or identification process to provide information about that type of object to the user. Information about the orientation of the camera and/or device used to capture the image can be provided in order to limit an initial search space for the matching or identification process. In some embodiments, images can be selected for matching based at least in part upon having a view matching the orientation of the camera or device. In other embodiments, images of objects corresponding to the orientation can be selected. Such a process can increase the average speed and efficiency in locating matching images. If a match cannot be found in the initial space, images of other views and categories can be analyzed as well.
US08988554B2 Apparatus and method for video recording
A video recording apparatus is provided that can provide the user with information as to whether or not scheduled image captures will fit into a recording medium or information as to how many retakes are possible. The apparatus obtains, for each scene to be captured, the duration of a cut to be captured from scenario information in which the duration of each of the cuts constituting the scene is specified. The recordable duration is calculated from the remaining capacity of the recording medium in which video data is to be recorded and a recording bit rate of the video data, and the number of image captures that can be taken for the cut to be captured is calculated from the calculated recordable duration and the obtained duration. The calculated recordable duration and the calculated number of image captures that can be taken are displayed on a display unit.
US08988547B2 Image signal correcting device, imaging device, image signal correcting method, and program
An image signal correcting device (15) has at least a color mixing corrector (151) that receives an image signal arising from photoelectric conversion by a color imaging element (12), and corrects a color mixing component included in this image signal, and a storage unit (153) that stores a color mixing correction coefficient set in advance for each of a plurality of areas segmented in matching with the imaging plane of the imaging element (12). The color mixing corrector (151) approximates the color mixing correction coefficient read out from the storage unit (153) by interpolation to acquire a color mixing rate at the necessary pixel position in color mixing correction, and corrects the color mixing component by using the acquired color mixing rate.
US08988545B2 Digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same
A digital photographing apparatus and a method of controlling the same are provided. The digital photographing apparatus obtains a first image from an input image according to a first shutter input signal, obtains a second image from the input image according to a second shutter input signal, and corrects the second image based on the first image.
US08988544B2 High dynamic range imaging device and image synthesis program
An imaging device includes an imaging element, a RAM, an adding synthesizing unit, and a high dynamic range synthesizing means. The imaging element captures an image of a subject and generates image data. The RAM temporarily stores plural pieces of image data that have been consecutively captured by the imaging element. The adding synthesizing means adds and synthesizes the plural pieces of image data stored in the RAM to generate synthesized image data. The high dynamic range synthesizing means synthesizes one of the plural pieces of image data with the synthesized image data to generate high dynamic range image data and outputs the generated high dynamic range image data.
US08988543B2 Camera based method for text input and keyword detection
The present invention relates to a camera based method for text input and detection of a keyword or of a text-part within page or a screen comprising the steps of: directing a camera module on the printed page and capturing an image thereof; digital image filtering of the captured image; detection of word blocks contained in the image, each word block containing most likely a recognizable word; performing OCR within each word block; determination of A-blocks among the word blocks according to a keyword probability determination rule, wherein each of the A-blocks contains most likely the keyword; assignment of an attribute to each A-block; indication of the A-blocks in the display by a frame or the like for a further selection of the keyword; further selection of the A-block containing the keyword based on the displayed attribute of the keyword; forwarding the text content as text input to an application.
US08988540B2 Photographing apparatus where an image is obtained by an intermittent photographing operation
A photographing apparatus comprises an imaging sensor, a power supply control unit, and a moving-picture generating unit. The imaging sensor continuously performs imaging operations in a predetermined interval. The power supply control unit controls a power-supply operation to the imaging sensor during a waiting period that is defined as a period from the end of one imaging operation of the imaging operations to the beginning of the next imaging operation of the imaging operations. The moving-picture generating unit generates a moving-picture file based on still pictures obtained by the imaging operations.
US08988539B1 Single image acquisition high dynamic range camera by distorted image restoration
A method and camera for generating a high dynamic range (HDR) image comprising the following steps: receiving a first optical signal from a lens and generating a first output signal at a first image acquisition chip, wherein the first image acquisition chip is coated with a first partial reflection coating; reflecting the first optical signal off the first partial reflection coating to create a second optical signal such that the second optical signal has a lower intensity than the first optical signal; receiving the second optical signal and generating a second output signal at a second image acquisition chip; and combining the first and second output signals to create the HDR image.
US08988537B2 Shared image devices
A device comprising a first shared image device that captures at least one image representation. The first shared image device receives a request to share the at least one image representation to an at least one other shared image device. The first shared image device and the at least one other shared image device are each capable of capturing image representations. The first shared image device transmits the at least one image representation.
US08988536B2 Image processing circuit, method of operation thereof, and digital camera including same
A method of operating a video processor is provided. The method includes receiving a first image data representing a first frame of a scene, dividing at least a central portion of the first frame into a plurality of tiles, identifying feature point candidates in the first image data, selecting a set of feature points within each specific tile based on the luminance variance σ2 of the specific tile, receiving a second image data representing a second frame of the scene, deriving feature point motion vectors between the first and second frames corresponding to the identified feature, grouping the motion vectors into motion vector groups based on vector magnitude ratios and angular differences, and calculating the affine transform of each group of motion vectors.
US08988534B2 Characterizing point checking region setting apparatus and method, and image stabilizing apparatus including the same
Provided is an image stabilizing apparatus and method for correcting an image that is shaken due to a movement of a camera. The image stabilizing apparatus includes a characterizing point checking region setting unit including: a sample frame extract unit which extracts a plurality of image frames obtained for a certain period of time in image data obtained by photographing an object; and a frame analyzing unit which detects a plurality of characterizing points in the extracted plurality of image frames, and sets a characterizing point checking region which is used to check characterizing points in a currently input image frame.
US08988531B2 Method and apparatus for sub-picture based raster scanning coding order
A method and apparatus for sub-picture based raster scanning coding order. The method includes dividing an image into even sub-pictures, and encoding parallel sub-pictures on multi-cores in raster scanning order within sub-pictures, wherein from core to core, coding of the sub-picture is independent around sub-picture boundaries, and wherein within a core, coding of a sub-picture is at least one of dependent or independent around sub-picture boundaries.
US08988528B2 Video processing device, video processing method, and program
A video processing device includes a video obtaining unit configured to obtain video data by capturing video of a specific area, a video accumulating unit configured to accumulate the video data obtained by the video obtaining unit, a data input unit configured to input event occurrence data indicating an event that has occurred in a video image corresponding to the video data obtained by the video obtaining unit and object specifying data for specifying an object relating to the event, and an addition processing unit configured to add the event occurrence data and object specifying data input by the data input unit to the video data accumulated in the video accumulating unit using a predetermined format through provision of link data for linking the video data to the event occurrence data and the object specifying data.
US08988524B2 Apparatus and method for estimating and using a predicted vehicle speed in an indirect vision driving task
A method and apparatus for predicting vehicle speed during an indirect vision driving task. A further method and apparatus for optimizing the display of a camera return during an indirect vision driving task based on operator perceived vehicle speed as set by the display characteristics and the field-of-view of the camera. A further method and apparatus for using the perceived speed as a driving task aid, in particular, as an electronic aider for optimizing the driving scene display characteristics of scene compression and camera field-of view. In this manner, the invention adjusts the perceived speed in order to match the operator's cognitive flow to the control dynamics needed from the operator for the task. The invention has application to autonomous driving where manual intervention is incorporated during critical events for particular tasks; and with limited display space within the vehicle, the display format is adjusted by the invention according to the operator's task needs.
US08988522B2 Visual inspection device
A visual inspection device includes a body having a support portion and a grip portion extending from the support portion. The device also includes a flexible cable having a first end portion coupled to the body and a second end portion, and a camera assembly coupled to the second end portion of the flexible cable. The camera assembly includes an image sensor operable to transmit image data through the flexible cable. The device further includes a display supported by the support portion of the body. The display is electrically connected to the flexible cable to display image date from the image sensor. The device is powered by a rechargeable battery pack removably coupled to the body.
US08988521B2 Method of measuring critical dimension of pattern and apparatus for performing the same
In a method of measuring a critical dimension of a pattern, a pattern image is obtained from an object pattern. A design pattern of the object pattern and the pattern image are matched to determine a detection region on the pattern image. An optimum turning point of the pattern contour is determined in the detection region and a ROI (region of interest) is set within a predetermined range from the optimum turning point. A critical dimension of the pattern is measured in the ROI.
US08988518B2 Medical imaging system
A medical imaging system includes a first lens set, a light source and an image forming module. The medical imaging system of the present invention configures the light source according to the object-image relationship of lens, so that illuminating light may sufficiently enter a cavity, significantly increasing the luminous efficiency. Also, the image forming and illuminating components are integrated into one system, thereby achieving advantages of reduced volume and cost saving.
US08988515B2 Endoscope system
An endoscope system has an image pickup section and a processor. The image pickup section has a control register section which controls a sensor section, a nonvolatile memory which stores first setup data, a control signal interface section which sets the first setup data in the control register section, and an initialization check register which senses an abnormality in the control register section. When an abnormality is sensed, the control signal interface section reads out the setup data from the nonvolatile memory and performs control so as to reset the setup data in the control register section. The control signal interface section further has a memory which stores reset occurrence information upon occurrence of reset. The processor includes a control section which reads out the reset occurrence information from the memory, and, when reset is detected, transmits second setup information held by the processor to the image pickup section.
US08988513B2 Method and system for time-multiplexed shared display
A method is provided for sharing a display. The method includes displaying periodically a first image sequence on the display in synchronicity with a first signal, and displaying periodically a second image sequence on the display in synchronicity with a second signal. The method also includes selecting by a user the first image sequence for viewing, and shuttering periodically a set of goggles for the user in synchronicity with the first signal. A method is provided for sharing a display. The method includes displaying periodically a private image sequence on the display in synchronicity with a first signal, and displaying periodically a non-private image sequence on the display. In the method, the private image sequence and the non-private image sequence combine to form a public image sequence on the display. A system is provided for sharing a display.
US08988509B1 Auto-alignment of image sensors in a multi-camera system
A pair of cameras having an overlapping field of view is aligned based on images captured by image sensors of the pair of cameras. A pixel shift is identified between the images. Based on the identified pixel shift, a calibration is applied to one or both of the pair of cameras. To determine the pixel shift, the camera applies correlation methods including edge matching. Calibrating the pair of cameras may include adjusting a read window on an image sensor. The pixel shift can also be used to determine a time lag, which can be used to synchronize subsequent image captures.
US08988503B2 Sensing apparatus and method for detecting a three-dimensional physical shape of a body
A sensing device having a sensing arrangement with a sensing end (32) for coming into contact with a surface to be scanned of a body (26), a camera (30), and a connecting device (34) for rigidly connecting the camera with the sensing end, the camera being arranged such that it can detect a surface (12) which is provided with marks suitable to be automatically photogrammetrically evaluated and on which the body to be scanned has been placed, when the sensing end comes into contact with different points of the surface to be scanned of the body. The sensing device further has a photogrammetric evaluation program for a computing unit (18), the computing unit being configured such that image signals generated by the camera can be routed to the computing unit and the evaluation program can calculate the 3D coordinates of the surface to be scanned from the sequence of recorded and transmitted image sections using the marks (22) suitable to be automatically photogrammetrically evaluated. A method of detecting a three-dimensional spatial shape of a body, in particular the spatial shape of an interior of a hollow body, the method including the following steps: fastening the body to be digitized on a surface (12) which, at known positions, is provided with marks (22) suitable to be automatically photogrammetrically evaluated, and providing the sensing device. Further steps are the scanning of a point on the spatial shape to be detected by means of the sensing end (32) of the sensing arrangement (28), recording at least one section of the photogrammetrically marked surface by the camera (30) while the sensing end scans the point, a plurality of marks suitable to be photogrammetrically evaluated being detected, and repeating the steps of scanning and recording for a multitude of different points of the spatial shape to be detected. The recorded images are evaluated by an evaluation program.
US08988501B2 Moving image distribution server, moving image playback apparatus, control method, and recording medium
A moving image distribution server sets a evaluation pixel for each of blocks that it divided a first screen into, and specifies a screen coordinate and a depth value, in a second screen acquired before the first screen, for a rendering object rendered on the evaluation pixel. It compares a depth value of the screen coordinate and a depth value of the rendering object rendered on the evaluation pixel, and determines that inter-frame coding will be performed with the second screen for a block for which the 2 depth values are considered to be the same. It transmits, to a external device, coding details information including the viewpoint information of the first screen, a depth buffer of the first screen, and information indicating whether or not blocks of the first screen are to be inter-frame coded.
US08988499B2 Information processing apparatus, stereoscopic display method, and program
An apparatus and method provide logic for processing information. In one implementation, an apparatus may include a determination unit configured to determine a first spatial position of a portion of an operating tool disposed within a threshold distance of a surface of the determination unit. The first spatial position may be determined relative to the determination unit surface in a depth direction. The apparatus may also include a control unit configured to generate a first signal to display a stereoscopic image to a user at a first display position. The first display position may be disposed within a predetermined distance of the first spatial position.
US08988497B2 Transmitter, display, shutter eyeglass device, transmission/reception system, display system and transmission/reception method
There are provided a transmitter, a display, a shutter eyeglass device, a transmission/reception system, a display system and a transmission/reception method allowed to achieve highly reliable communication between a transmission side and a reception side. The transmitter includes: a transmission section holding plural kinds of commands each represented by a plurality of bits and repeatedly transmitting a command set, the command set being configured of one or more kinds of commands which are selected from the plural kinds of commands and combined in predetermined order, in which a bit pattern representing a whole of the command set is the same as a bit pattern held in a receiver.
US08988493B2 Rear-view multi-functional camera system with driving corridor monitoring features
A rear-viewing camera system for a vehicle is described that includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to identify a driving corridor in image data received from at least one camera. The driving corridor corresponds to a predicted path of motion of the vehicle travelling in reverse. When a moving object is detected in the image data, the electronic control unit predicts, based on the image data, whether the moving object will enter the driving corridor. If the moving object is predicted to enter the driving corridor, the electronic control unit calculates an estimated time when the object is predicted to enter the driving corridor.
US08988492B2 Method and apparatus for correction of an image from a fisheye lens in a camera
A method of operating a video system includes receiving an image captured by use of a fisheye lens. The image is divided into a plurality of horizontal image lines. A respective fraction of each of the horizontal image lines is sampled with a different respective sampling frequency. Each sampling frequency is inversely related to a size of the sampled fraction. The size of the sampled fraction increases with each horizontal image line in a progression from a top of the image to a bottom of the image.
US08988474B2 Wide field-of-view virtual image projector
This document describes techniques and apparatuses for implementing a wide field-of-view virtual image projector. A wide field-of-view virtual image projector may include a spatial light modulator configured to inject light rays into an input wedge. The input wedge acts to output the light rays with an increased fan-out angle into an output light guide positioned proximate the input wedge. The spatial light modulator is controlled to inject light rays into the input wedge effective to diffract the light rays out of the output light guide to generate a virtual image.
US08988473B2 Driving method of liquid crystal display device
Under a normal environment, when red, green and blue displays are to be performed, the displays are performed singly by a red pixel, a green pixel and a blue pixel respectively, and under a high-illuminance environment, when the red display is to be performed, the display is performed by also shining the pixels other than the red pixel simultaneously, when the green display is to be performed, the display is performed by also shining the pixels other than the green pixel simultaneously, and when the blue display is to be performed, the display is performed by also shining the pixels other than the blue pixel simultaneously, thereby increasing the luminance of a screen. In this case, although the chromaticity of each color is lowered, since the luminance works more predominantly on the image quality under the high-illuminance environment than the chromaticity, image quality degradation does not occur.
US08988470B2 Luminance correction system for organic light emitting display devices
A luminance correction system for organic light emitting display devices is disclosed. In one aspect, an image displayed in a pixel unit of each of the display devices is analyzed and the luminance and color coordinate for main gray-level data is measured. A main-gamma offset value corresponding to the result of image analysis may be generated. A change in voltage of a driving power signal input from an external source of each of the display devices may be sensed. A sub-gamma offset value is generated by applying the change in voltage of the sensed driving power signal. A main-gamma voltage for the main gray level corresponding to the set main-gamma offset value and the set sub-gamma offset value is adjusted and output as an adjusted main-gamma voltage. The adjusted main-gamma voltage may be applied to a data driver of each of the display devices.
US08988468B2 Interactive flyer system
An interactive flyer system is disclosed. The system includes a flyer image tiler for creating a flyer image tile set, the set including multiple copies of a flyer image segmented into a plurality of flyer image tiles with each copy representing the flyer image at one of a plurality of zoom levels, wherein a copy of the multiple copies is configured to fit within a viewport having a resolution, and a flyer image tile store for storing the flyer image tile set. There is also disclosed a method for displaying the interactive digital flyer.
US08988467B2 Touchscreen selection visual feedback
Various embodiments are described for systems and methods for providing visual feedback indicating a touch selection of an element on a touch-sensitive display. In one example, the method may include displaying the element in a first orientation on the display. A rotation scaling factor may be established that is based on a distance between an element, point of reference and a display point of reference. Based on the rotation scaling factor, a rotation amount of the element is determined. When a touch selection of the element is received, the method includes rotating the element by the rotation amount to a second orientation, and displaying the element in the second orientation on the display.
US08988465B2 Physical-virtual hybrid representation
A virtual environment, including at least one virtual element representing a component of an item is generated. The virtual environment is mapped to a physical environment that includes a physical mockup of at least a subset of the item. The virtual environment is provided to a display. The at least one virtual element is displayed in relation to the physical element according to the mapping.
US08988463B2 Sympathetic optic adaptation for see-through display
A method for overlaying first and second images in a common focal plane of a viewer comprises forming the first image and guiding the first and second images along an axis to a pupil of the viewer. The method further comprises adjustably diverging the first and second images at an adaptive diverging optic to bring the first image into focus at the common focal plane, and, adjustably converging the second image at an adaptive converging optic to bring the second image into focus at the common focal plane.
US08988458B2 System and method for generating media thumbscapes
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for generating a visualization of video content. The method includes receiving video content, receiving user input associated with the received video content, extracting each frame in the video content, processing the extracted frames based on the received user input, and outputting a still image including each of the processed extracted frames positioned sequentially. The still image can include a histogram of sound data associated with the processed extracted frames. The user input can indicate an image adjustment to be applied when processing the extracted frames, a number of frames of video content per column, a paper size, and/or a frame size. The frames can be positioned sequentially in columns and/or rows. The image can be output as an image file or on a printable medium. The image can contain more than one video clip, such as films in a trilogy.
US08988453B2 Stereoscopic image display device and driving method thereof
A stereoscopic image display device includes an image divider unit for dividing a stereoscopic image into a left-eye image and a right-eye image, an image correction unit for correcting color temperature for the left-eye and right-eye images and correcting the brightness for the color-temperature-corrected left-eye and right-eye images, an image synthesis unit for synthesizing the left-eye and right-eye images, and an image display panel for displaying the stereoscopic image on the basis of the stereoscopic image outputted through the image synthesis unit.
US08988450B1 Color palette maps for color-aware search
Effective color-aware search of a collection of content associated with one or more images is enabled. Content and/or its associated images may be automatically associated with representative palette colors in a suite of color palettes. Color palettes may be of a variety of types and have a hierarchical structure in which lower levels enable increasingly subtle distinctions between shades of color. Color palette hierarchies may be effectively presented, and appropriate portions emphasized based on associated search result sets. Search result sets may be refined and/or reordered in accordance with color palette selections and/or representative confidences of color palette selections for items at least referenced therein.
US08988448B2 Image generation method for performing color conversion on an image
A plurality of samples having different pairs of a background color and a text color, and entry fields provided in correspondence with the individual samples and configured to be filled in by a user are printed on a sheet. After the user has filled in the sheet, the sheet is read and analyzed, and color conversion based on the analysis result is performed. The user can view the samples printed on the sheet and can select one of the samples. Thus, even if default colors used for displaying or printing are colors that are difficult to distinguish for the user, the default colors can be reliably changed into desired colors to perform displaying or printing.
US08988445B2 Systems and methods for capturing and recreating the feel of surfaces
Systems and methods for capturing and recreating the feel of a surface are disclosed. A method for capturing a feel of a surface comprises contacting the surface with a handheld tool, recording data measured by the tool, and generating a texture model of the surface based on the recorded data. A method for recreating a feel of a surface comprises contacting a virtual surface with a handheld tool, determining an estimated contact force based on the data measured by the tool, generating a vibration waveform from a texture model based on the data measured by the tool; and actuating at least one actuator of the tool according to the vibration waveform. A system for capturing and recreating a feel of a surface comprises a handheld tool, a storage device, and a processor.
US08988443B2 Methods of and apparatus for controlling the reading of arrays of data from memory
A display controller reads blocks of data from a frame buffer and stores them in a local memory buffer of the display controller before outputting the blocks of data to a display. The display controller uses similarity meta-data associated with the output frame in the frame buffer to determine whether a new block of data to be processed for display is similar to a block of data already stored in the local memory of the display controller or not. If it is determined that the data block to be processed is similar to a data block already stored in the local buffer of the display controller, the display controller does not read a new data block from the frame buffer but instead provides the existing data block in its buffer to the display.
US08988439B1 Motion-based display effects in a handheld device
A method or apparatus to provide motion-based display effects in a mobile device is described. The method comprises determining a motion of the mobile device using an accelerometer. The method further comprises utilizing the motion of the mobile device to overlay a motion-based display effect on the display of the mobile device, in one embodiment to enhance the three-dimensional affect of the image.
US08988437B2 Chaining animations
In applications that display a representation of a user, it may be reasonable to insert a pre-canned animation rather than animating a user's captured motion. For example, in a tennis swing, the ball toss and take back in a serve could be a pre-canned animation, whereas the actual forward swing may be mapped from the user's gestures. An animation of a user's gestures can be chained together into sequences with pre-canned animations, where animation blending techniques can provide for a smoother transition between the animation types. Techniques for blending animations, that may comprise determining boundaries and transition points between pre-canned animations and animations based on captured motion, may improve animation efficiency. Gesture history, including joint position, velocity, and acceleration, can be used to determine user intent, seed parameters for subsequent animations and game control, and determine the subsequent gestures to initiate.
US08988434B1 Text rendering for browsers and mobile based applications
A system and method for rendering text data in web applications is provided that eliminates redundant processing. Constant resources are pre-computed and work is offloaded from the central processing unit to the graphics processing unit. This is generally accomplished by pre-computing before any rendering. A generic index vertex buffer object is created, and for each font, a glyph texture object and glyph position texture object are created. A frame including text is then rendered in which a glyph string texture object is created. For each character, a glyph index-to-texture and glyph offset to-texture is appended. A glyph texture, glyph position texture and glyph string texture are then bound, and the generic index vertex buffer object using a custom vertex shader is rendered.
US08988432B2 Systems and methods for processing an image for target tracking
An image such as a depth image of a scene may be received, observed, or captured by a device. The image may then be processed. For example, the image may be downsampled, a shadow, noise, and/or a missing potion in the image may be determined, pixels in the image that may be outside a range defined by a capture device associated with the image may be determined, a portion of the image associated with a floor may be detected. Additionally, a target in the image may be determined and scanned. A refined image may then be rendered based on the processed image. The refined image may then be processed to, for example, track a user.
US08988427B2 Management of a history of a meeting
Provenance techniques are disclosed for managing a history of a meeting. For example, a method for managing a history associated with a meeting comprises the following steps. Data associated with the meeting is collected. Provenance data is generated based on at least a portion of the collected data, wherein the provenance data is indicative of a lineage of one or more data items. A provenance graph is generated that defines a visual representation of the generated provenance data, wherein graph elements comprise one or more nodes and one or more edges between nodes, wherein nodes of the graph represent records associated with the collected data and edges of the graph represent relations between the records. One or more applications are associated with at least one graph element and are selectable to invoke functionality. The generated provenance graph is stored in a repository for use in analyzing the meeting.
US08988426B2 Methods and apparatus for rendering labels based on occlusion testing for label visibility
Methods and apparatus for a map tool displaying a three-dimensional view of a map region, where the map tool determines whether or not partially occluded labels within the map region are to be drawn or are to not be drawn. The map tool determines whether or not to draw a label in a map view dependent upon mapping information and upon construction of a three-dimensional model based on one or more two- or three-dimensional data sets. The map tool further determines whether or not to draw a label in the map view dependent upon a measure of occlusion of a label in the map view. In order to determine a measure of occlusion, the map tool may calculate whether a line of sight projection from virtual camera viewpoint for the mobile device intersects, once or more than once, with any objects or landmarks within the three-dimensional model.
US08988424B2 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program for generating multi-viewpoint images
There is provided an image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus generates a plurality of viewpoint images from an input image signal formed by a two-dimensional image signal such that a signal difference between viewpoints is a predetermined value, and both of two viewpoint images where the signal difference between viewpoints is equal to twice the predetermined value form a left eye image and a right eye image for realizing three-dimensional stereoscopic vision.
US08988420B2 Visual file representation
A system, method, and computer program for producing a visualization format from CAD data comprising producing a BREP model for visualization, wherein said BREP model has a topology component and a geometry component; removing a plurality of redundant control points from said geometry component; normalizing a plurality of knot vectors and a plurality of weight components from said geometry component; recognizing an analytic geometry from said geometry component; recognizing a plurality of equivalents from said geometry component; and converting said analytic geometry to said light model representation, and appropriate means and computer-readable instructions.
US08988407B2 Gate driving circuit and display apparatus having the same
A display apparatus including a gate driving circuit configured to include a plurality of stages connected to each other one after another. An i-th stage of the stages includes an output transistor and a control part. At least one control transistor included in the control part includes a first control electrode to which a switching control signal is applied, and a second control electrode disposed on a layer different from a layer on which the first control electrode is disposed, and to which a reference voltage is applied.
US08988405B2 Display device and semiconductor device
An object is to detect reflected light from an object accurately and to improve accuracy of capturing an image in a photosensor included in a display panel. In the display panel including a photosensor, when an image of an object is captured, light is emitted from a light source to the object and reflected light enters the photosensor. In the case where the incident light is too strong with respect to sensitivity of the photosensor, luminance of the light source is lowered. In the case where the incident light is too weak with respect to sensitivity of the photosensor, the luminance of the light source is increased.
US08988400B2 Display device and driving method thereof
To provide a display device and a driving method thereof, where variations in the threshold voltage of transistors can be compensated and thus variations in luminance of light-emitting elements can be suppressed. In a first period, initialization is performed; in a second period, a voltage based on the threshold voltage of a first transistor is held in first and second storage capacitors; in a third period, a voltage based on a video signal voltage and the threshold voltage of the first transistor is held in the first and second storage capacitors; and in a fourth period, voltages held in the first and second storage capacitors are applied to a gate terminal of the first transistor to supply a current to a light-emitting element, so that the light-emitting element emits light. Through the operation process, a current obtained by compensating variations in the threshold voltage of the first transistor can be supplied to the light-emitting element, thereby variations in luminance can be suppressed.
US08988395B2 Tracking approaching or hovering objects for user-interfaces
An architecture is described that can utilize photo-sensors embedded in a substantially transparent layer of a UI display for tracking objects that approach or hover over the UI display. The photo-sensors can be configured to detect light of certain wavelengths (e.g., visible light, infrared light) that are propagated toward the UI display, while ignoring light emanating from the UI display when displaying content. Accordingly, by examining various characteristics of the incoming light such as intensity, the architecture can identify a location of a shadow incident upon the display caused by an approaching or hovering selector object blocking portions of incoming light. Additionally or alternatively, the architecture can identify a location of higher intensity for light emanating from the selector object.
US08988394B2 Electronic devices with camera-based user interfaces
Electronic devices may include touch-free user input components that include camera modules having overlapping fields-of-view. The overlapping fields-of-view may form a gesture tracking volume in which multi-dimensional user gestures can be tracked using images captured with the camera modules. A camera module may include an image sensor having an array of image pixels and a diffractive element that redirects light onto the array of image pixels. The diffractive element may re-orient the field-of-view of each camera module so that an outer edge of the field-of-view runs along an outer surface of a display for the device. The device may include processing circuitry that operates the device using user input data based on the user gestures in the gesture tracking volume. The processing circuitry may operate the display based on the user gestures by displaying regional markers having a size and a location that depend on the user gestures.
US08988393B2 Optical touch system using overlapping object and reflection images and calculation method thereof
A method of calculating the coordinate data of an object includes the steps of: providing a mirror surface for generating a reflection of an object; providing an image sensor for capturing an image of the object and an image of the reflection; obtaining an individual image of the object when the image of the object and the image of the reflection overlap to form an overlapped image; and calculating the coordinate data of the object based on the overlapped image and the individual image.
US08988389B2 Touch panel and manufacturing method thereof
The present invention relates to a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof. The method comprises steps of providing a base having a substrate, a buffering layer and a transparent conductive layer, forming multiple first pad strings, multiple second pads and an isolated pad by etching the transparent conductive layer, forming a shading layer on the isolated pad and then sequentially forming insulating layers, wire bridges, signal wires and cover pieces to complete the touch panel. The method of the invention is simplified, such that the production capacity is increased. The step of forming the shading layer is after the step of forming the first pad strings and the second pads, such that the shading layer would not be charred in the step of forming first pad strings and the second pads.
US08988386B2 Sensor managed apparatus, method and computer program product
An apparatus, method and computer program product provide a simplified method for unlocking an electronic device that uses soft keys, such as capacitive touch keys, or proximity detection areas and patterns. The keys may be implemented in the form of areas of a sensor, and a processing circuit observes a touch pattern (or proximity pattern, or characteristic pattern such as a capacitance pattern of a user's finger) and compares the same with the registered pattern to determine if there is a likeness. In doing so, the electronic device is operated at a low power state, and in that low power state observes whether a predetermined pattern is observed and when it is, unlocks the electronic device for interaction with a user at a fully operational state.
US08988383B2 Electrostatic capacitive type touch screen panel
A touch screen panel according to an embodiment includes a substrate; a plurality of first electrode serials arranged in a first direction on the substrate, each of the first electrode serials including a plurality of first electrode patterns; a plurality of second electrode serials arranged in a second direction on the substrate and crossing over the plurality of first electrode serials; a plurality of insulation patterns formed between the first electrode serials and the second electrode serials at regions in which the first electrode serials crosses over the second electrode serials so that the first electrode serials are insulated from the second electrode serials; and a plurality of first connection patterns formed on the substrate to connect neighboring first electrode patterns to each other.
US08988380B2 Display apparatus, display method, and display program
A display apparatus includes a display unit configured to display a target item, a sensor unit configured to detect a commanding medium which is placed close to the display unit, and a proximity manipulation determination unit configured to judge a target item that corresponds to a closed figure formed by a movement locus of the commanding medium detected by the sensor unit, and determines whether a prescribed manipulation is performed for the target item.
US08988378B2 Touch device and driving method thereof
A touch device and a driving method thereof are provided. A scanning line driving frequency of the touch device is switched according to a plurality of preset driving frequency setting data groups, so as to prevent misjudgment of a touched position caused by electromagnetic noise.
US08988377B2 Searching at a user device
Method, computer program product and user device for searching implemented at the user device, wherein an input is received from a user via a touch screen of the user device. Without user initiation of a temporary character recognition mode specifically to receive the input, the input is analyzed using character recognition. Responsive to the character recognition recognizing at least one character in said received input, a search mode is invoked in which one or more search results which at least partially match the at least one recognized character are displayed. The user may select one of the displayed search results.
US08988371B2 Touchscreen and touch panel display and producing method thereof
Embodiments of this invention provide touch panel display, touchscreen and their producing method. In an embodiment, the touch panel display comprises a display and a touchscreen, which comprises two substrates, whose surface respectively comprise sensing patterns. In addition, conductive circuits are arranged at one of the two substrates, to connect the sensing patterns by direct or indirect manner.
US08988367B2 Systems and methods for providing enhanced touch sensing
Provided are systems and methods for providing enhanced touch sensing. One system providing enhanced touch sensing includes a multi-mode touch screen and a processor configured to apply at least one test signal to a sense element of the multi-mode touch screen, detect at least one return signal from the sense element, and then determine a relative position of an object corresponding to the at least one return signal, the multi-mode touch screen being capable of sensing the first object using first and second detection modes. One multi-mode touch screen comprises a multi-mode multi-touch touch screen. One processor is configured to apply an adaptive test signal to a sense element of a touch screen.
US08988361B2 Writing apparatus
A writing apparatus includes: a voltage application unit that applies a voltage to a display medium whose display changes according to an irradiation of light and an applied voltage; an optical output unit that irradiates light toward the display medium; and a controller that (i) receives a position signal that has been output from an apparatus upon contact with an input device, the position signal indicating a position of the contact with the input device, (ii) specifies, based on the received position signal, a position on the display medium at which a display is to be changed, and (iii) controls the optical output unit so that light is irradiated toward the specified position on the display medium for a predetermined time period.
US08988360B2 Method and apparatus for detecting a touch position, and touchscreen display apparatus having the same
A method for detecting a touch position includes integrating a readout current detected at a sensing part to generate an integrated readout voltage, converting the integrated readout voltage into a digital converted readout voltage data and compensating a variation of the digital converted readout voltage data to determine whether the sensing part is touched.
US08988359B2 Moving buttons
A device is provided with a housing that has a substantial portion covered by a touch sensitive surface. The touch sensitive service is capable of detecting multiple simultaneous points of touch. The handheld device determines to which finger or fingertip of the user the points of touch correspond and the handheld device associates an input or control function with of the fingers of the user.
US08988357B2 Stylus activated display/key-lock
A device may include an instrument-enabled user interface. The device may also include a switch to at least partially enable operations associated with user input via the user interface. Triggering of the switch may be based on a relative positioning of the instrument.
US08988356B2 Touch sensor and touchscreen user input combination
In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A swiping action between a touch sensor and a touchscreen of a computing device is identified. The identification includes determining, while the computing device is in a state that provides a first graphical display, that the touch sensor has been physically contacted by a user. The identification includes determining that the physical contact with the touch sensor has ended. The identification includes determining, within a predetermined time period of the end of the physical contact, that a dragging motion across the touchscreen has originated at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen. In response to the identifying, a predetermined computerized routine is invoked that replaces the first graphical display with a second graphical display, wherein user interaction with the touch sensor or touchscreen individually do not invoke the predetermined computerized routine.
US08988354B2 Input device for a display
Embodiments of the invention are directed to an input device comprising a processor configured to operate the input device in one of a plurality of modes of operation, a plurality of buttons, and a housing configured to receive and secure a display device. The housing is configurable in a plurality of positions relative to the plurality of buttons, where at least a portion of the plurality of buttons operates in one of the plurality of modes of operation based, at least in part, on a position of the plurality of positions of the housing relative to the plurality of buttons.
US08988352B2 Mouse having pop-up mechanism
An exemplary embodiment of a mouse includes a main body, a pop-up mechanism received in the main body, and a cap. The shell defines a first through hole. The cap is fixed to the pop-up mechanism and received in the first through hole. The cap can be lifted up to protrude or be retracted in the body of the mouse via an external force, the lifting up and the retraction of the cap cause the shape of the hand gripping the mouse to change, preventing fatigue in the hand.
US08988349B2 Methods and apparatuses for operating a display in an electronic device
An electronic device can include detectors for altering the presentation of data on one or more displays. In a wearable electronic device, a flexible housing can be configured to enfold about an appendage of a user, such as a user's wrist. A display can disposed along a major face of the flexible housing. A control circuit can be operable with the display. A gaze detector can be included to detect a gaze direction, and optionally a gaze cone. An orientation detector can be configured to detect an orientation of the electronic device relative to the user. The control circuit can alter a presentation of data on the display in response to a detected gaze direction, in response to detected orientation of the wearable electronic device relative to the user, in response to touch or gesture input, or combinations thereof. Secondary displays can be hingedly coupled to the electronic device.
US08988348B2 Information processing device, information processing system and information processing method
An information processing device includes an acquisition unit which acquires information of acceleration, angular velocity, and magnetic intensity of an operation device, a coordinate conversion unit which converts the angular velocity acquired by the acquisition unit into global angular velocity in a global coordinate system using information of posture angles of the operation device, an initial posture angle calculation unit which calculates a posture angle of the operation device in the initial stage in the global coordinate system based on the information of the acceleration and the magnetic intensity, an updating unit which updates the posture angle of the operation device in the global coordinate system based on information of the global angular velocity, and a control unit which causes the coordinate conversion unit to convert the first angular velocity into the global angular velocity and to convert a second angular velocity into the global angular velocity.
US08988346B2 Electronic chalkboard system, control method thereof, and pointing device
An electronic chalkboard system, a control method thereof, and a pointing device are provided. The electronic chalkboard system includes a plurality of display panels; a pointing device which calculates coordinate information about a touched position based on a reference signal generated on the display panels when touching a first panel among the display panels; and an image processor which generates a signal differently set with respect to each of the display panels on the display panels to determine the first panel among the display panels and displays an image corresponding to the coordinate information calculated by the pointing device on the first panel.
US08988343B2 Method of automatically forming one three-dimensional space with multiple screens
Multiple electronic displays are arranged to define an ensemble of the user's choosing. The processor generates and displays a uniquely encoded emblem encoding a unique identifier for that display. A camera captures at least one image of the ensemble so that the encoded emblem for each display is captured. The captured images are then processed to extract the following attributes: a) unique identifier of the display; b) position of the encoded emblem relative to the reference coordinate system; and c) pointing direction of the encoded emblem relative to the reference coordinate system. The processor collectively processes the attributes for each of the emblem images to compute for each display a transformation matrix that selects a portion of the image data for display on that monitor and performs pointing direction correction so that the information presented on that display appears spatially consistent with the information presented on the other displays.
US08988335B2 Display device and driving method thereof
A display device includes a display panel including a plurality of pixels, a data driver which transmits data voltages to the plurality of pixels, and a signal controller which receives an input image signal and an input control signal to control the data driver, where the signal controller calculates a ratio of a first type of pattern in a image based on the input image signal, generates a polarity signal based on the ratio of the first type of pattern, and transmits the polarity signal to the data driver.
US08988334B2 Column inversion techniques for improved transmittance
Present techniques involve methods and systems of inversion patterns for pixels in a display. Inversion techniques involve driving image signals having a first polarity to data lines of a pixel matrix during a first time period and driving image signals having an opposite polarity to the data lines during a second time period. In some embodiments, the pixels may be configured to have electrodes having only two finger electrodes, thus widening the distance between electrodes and decreasing the susceptibility for crosstalk between pixels. In some embodiments, horizontal cross-talk of electromagnetic fields between pixels may be further reduced by configuring the data line driving scheme such that voltage polarity is flipped for the pixels along every two, three, or more data line columns. Furthermore, a Z inversion pattern may be employed to reduce the occurrence of undesirable display artifacts.
US08988332B2 Pixel structure and corresponding liquid crystal display device
Disclosed are a pixel structure and a corresponding liquid crystal display device. The pixel structure comprises a plurality of pixel electrodes, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of scan lines, and a plurality of common electrodes. The common electrodes are disposed in a plurality of first metal trunk areas corresponding to a plurality of pixel electrode vertical trunk areas of trunk electrodes and/or gap areas between two adjacent pixel areas of a first metal layer. The pixel structure and the corresponding liquid crystal display device of the present invention are capable of increasing an aperture ratio of the pixel structure.
US08988330B2 Display device, method for driving the same, and electronic apparatus
A display device including a pixel array unit having a matrix of pixels each configured such that an anode electrode of an organic electroluminescent element is connected to a source electrode of a drive transistor, a gate electrode of the drive transistor is connected to a source or drain electrode of a writing transistor, and a storage capacitor is connected between the gate and source electrodes of the drive transistor, scanning lines and power supply lines for individual pixel rows, and signal lines for individual pixel columns. A video signal reference potential is supplied to the signal lines for a period during which a scanning signal is supplied to the scanning lines during driving of pixels in a preceding row. During threshold correction for the drive transistor in a current pixel, the video signal reference potential and a potential of the cathode electrode of the organic electroluminescent element are equal.
US08988329B2 Organic light emitting diode display device and method for sensing characteristic parameters of pixel driving circuits
Disclosed are an OLED display device and method for sensing characteristic parameters of pixel driving circuits. The display device includes a display panel including pixels each having a light emitting element and a pixel driving circuit for independently driving the light emitting element, and a characteristic parameter detecting unit for driving the pixel driving circuit of one of the plural pixels, which is a sensing pixel, sensing a voltage discharged in accordance with characteristics of a driving TFT in the pixel driving circuit of the sensing pixel, on a data line connected to the pixel driving circuit of the sensing pixel, among data lines connected to respective pixel driving circuits of the pixels, and detecting a threshold voltage (Vth) of the driving TFT and a deviation of a process characteristic parameter (k-parameter) of the driving TFT, using the measured voltage.
US08988326B2 Pixel circuit, display device, and method of driving pixel circuit
A pixel circuit, display device, and method of driving a pixel circuit enabling source-follower output with no deterioration of luminance even with a change of the current-voltage characteristic of the light emitting element along with elapse, enabling a source-follower circuit of n-channel transistors, and able to use an n-channel transistor as an EL drive transistor while using current anode-cathode electrodes, wherein a source of a TFT 111 as a drive transistor is connected to an anode of a light emitting element 114, a drain is connected to a power source potential VCC, a capacitor C111 is connected between a gate and source of the TFT 111, and a source potential of the TFT 111 is connected to a fixed potential through a TFT 113 as a switching transistor.
US08988324B2 Light emitting device and method of driving the light emitting device
A light emitting device that achieves long life, and which is capable of performing high duty drive, by suppressing initial light emitting element deterioration is provided. Reverse bias application to an EL element (109) is performed one row at a time by forming a reverse bias electric power source line (112) and a reverse bias TFT (108). Reverse bias application can therefore be performed in synchronous with operations for write-in of an image signal, light emission, erasure, and the like. Reverse bias application therefore becomes possible while maintaining a duty equivalent to that of a conventional driving method.
US08988323B2 Organic light emitting display and control signal generating circuit of organic light emitting display
A signal generating circuit generating an output signal corresponding to a controlling input, the signal generating circuit including a rising path increasing the output signal during a rising period in synchronization with a time that the controlling input is increased, and a falling path decreasing the output signal during a falling period in synchronization with a time that the controlling input is decreased, wherein the rising period and the falling period are different from each other.
US08988319B2 Display device for a vehicle and method for displaying data
A display device includes at least one processing device and at least one display element for representing at least two image planes that are able to be combined with each other, and a method is for representing a plurality of combinable image planes for displaying data.
US08988318B2 LCD bit display and communication system
A communication system and method are described for transmitting data from a display in a bit transmission data format to a machine vision system. The described system and method allows for the process and further application of a larger amount of data faster and more reliably than by use of the human readable data from the display. A standard LCD screen displays bit transmission data corresponding to human readable data, and transmits the bit transmission data to a machine vision system, such as by use of the camera on a smart phone. The captured bit transmission data is converted into a bit data stream for further processing, such as by use of an application in the smart phone, and can be stored in memory and/or transmitted to another system to provide useful human readable information. Faster transmission of a greater amount of data is realized including, in one aspect of the bit generation, data error and correction codes. In one embodiment the method and system is applied in a body composition scale application using a four digit, 7-segment LCD.
US08988315B2 Head mounted display
There is provided a head mounted display including a glasses-type frame to be worn on a head of an observer; two optical modules including two image creation devices, and two light guides having two light guide plates coupled one-to-one with the two image creation devices and placed closer to a center of a face of the observer than the image creation devices are as a whole, that guide light beams output from the image creation devices and output the light beams toward pupils of the observer; and an optical plate supporting the two light guides, wherein the optical plate is attached to a center part of the frame.
US08988314B2 Multi-display system
A multi-display system provided with display devices arranged to form a rectangular video display screen as a whole includes: distributors to which video signals are input; CPUs for detecting the number of input video signals; arrangement determining units for determining a display layout on the video display screen by looking-up a pre-set look-up table using the number of input video signals detected by the CPUs; and display units for displaying an input video image or images on the video display screen, in accordance with the determined display layout and the arrangement of display devices. Thus, the display layout of the multi-display system can automatically be changed in accordance with external environment.
US08988306B2 Multi-feed antenna
A multi-feed antenna is disclosed. The multi-feed antenna includes a first feed terminal, a second feed terminal, a first ground terminal, a second ground terminal, a radiator and a control circuit. The radiator is coupled to the first feed terminal, the second feed terminal, the first ground terminal and the second ground terminal. The control circuit is coupled to the first feed terminal and the second feed terminal and used for switching a radio frequency (RF) signal between the first feed terminal to the first ground terminal and the second feed terminal to the second ground terminal.
US08988305B1 Portable wireless phone device
The invention concerns a portable wireless phone device, having a first antenna for phone communication, an upper display attached to an external housing assembly, an inner metallic board situated between the upper display module and the external housing assembly, a second NFC antenna and an electrical circuit for controlling the upper display module, the first antenna and the second NFC antenna. The second NFC antenna comprises a NFC loop antenna having at least one turn.
US08988302B2 Antenna arrangements
The present invention relates to an antenna arrangement (100) comprising an antenna part comprising at least two antenna means, each with a number of first antenna elements having a first polarization and a number of second antenna elements having a second polarization different from said first polarization, said antenna part further comprising antenna part ports. There are two antenna part ports for each antenna means, one antenna part port for each polarization, and the antenna arrangement (100) further comprises polarization controlling means (30), comprising a distribution network, to which the antenna part ports are connected, and which includes at least a main forming network with external interface antenna ports (301,302,303,304). The polarization controlling means (30) is configured to connect antenna part ports and external interface antenna ports (301, 302, 303, 304).
US08988300B2 Dual-circular polarized antenna system
In an example embodiment, an azimuth combiner comprises: a septum layer comprising a plurality of septum dividers; first and second housing layers attached to first and second sides of the septum layer; a linear array of ports on a first end of the combiner; wherein the first and second housing layers each comprise waveguide H-plane T-junctions; wherein the waveguide T-junctions can be configured to perform power dividing/combining; and wherein the septum layer evenly bisects each port of the linear array of ports. A stack of such azimuth combiners can form a two dimensional planar array of ports to which can be added a horn aperture layer, and a grid layer, to form a dual-polarized, dual-BFN, dual-band antenna array.
US08988298B1 Collocated omnidirectional dual-polarized antenna
An antenna structure is disclosed that includes a first antenna extending from a substrate, a second antenna formed on the substrate, and first and second parasitic elements formed on the substrate. The first antenna provides an omni-directional radiation pattern in the azimuth plane for vertically polarized signals, and the second antenna provides an omni-directional radiation pattern in the azimuth plane for horizontally polarized signals. The parasitic elements absorb and re-radiate electromagnetic waves radiated from the second antenna.
US08988296B2 Compact polarized antenna and methods
A right-hand circular polarized antenna and associated methods. In one embodiment, a quarter-wave antenna configuration is used within a small form factor portable device (e.g. wristwatch). The antenna comprises a radiator element which operates in as a linear polarized antenna while the device is operating in free space. However, when the device is attached to a user (e.g. at a user's wrist), the antenna utilizes the loading of the user's body tissue in order to suppress unwanted signals (e.g. left hand polarized signals) to permit operation in circular polarized mode (e.g. right hand polarized mode), thereby allowing for increased sensitivity to received circularly polarized signals such as those emanated from global positioning satellites.
US08988295B2 Multiband antenna assemblies with matching networks
An exemplary embodiment of a base assembly includes a printed circuit board and a balun coupled to the printed circuit. The printed circuit board and balun are configured to be operable for providing impedance matching via a matching network that includes a first inductor, a second inductor, and a concentric capacitance. The base assembly is operable for providing a multiband antenna assembly with impedance matching simultaneously with more than one frequency band.
US08988294B2 Antenna with integrated condensation control system
In an example embodiment, an airborne radio frequency (RF) antenna device can comprise: a radiating portion; a waveguide portion connected to the radiating portion; a desiccant airflow channel; and an internal air volume located within the RF antenna device and associated with the desiccant airflow channel. The desiccant airflow channel can be integral with the RF antenna device. The internal air volume can be vented to the environment outside of the RF antenna device through the desiccant airflow channel.
US08988293B2 Multiband antenna assemblies including helical and linear radiating elements
Disclosed are exemplary embodiments of multiband antenna assemblies, which generally include helical and linear radiating elements. In an exemplary embodiment, a multiband antenna assembly may generally include at least one helical radiator having a longitudinal axis. At least one linear radiator is aligned with and/or disposed at least partially along the longitudinal axis of the at least one helical radiator. The antenna assembly is resonant in at least three frequency bands.
US08988288B2 Tri-band antenna for noncellular wireless applications
A tri-band antenna for noncellular wireless applications is provided. The antenna comprises: a first radiating arm for generating a first resonance in a first frequency band, the first radiating arm further enabled for connection to an antenna tuning circuit; the first radiating arm comprising a capacitive coupling structure; a coupling arm separated by a gap from the first radiating arm; a second radiating arm for generating a second resonance in a second frequency band lower than the first frequency band, the second radiating arm connected to the coupling arm such that the second radiating arm is capacitively coupled to the first radiating arm; and a third radiating arm for generating a third resonance in a third frequency band lower than the second frequency band, the third radiating arm connected to the coupling arm such that the third radiating arm is capacitively coupled to the first radiating arm.
US08988285B2 Method and system for locating and navigating a target
Techniques and methodologies are disclosed for minimizing inaccuracies in distance measurements and location determinations for autonomous vehicles or targets ranging to subsets of beacons. Such techniques and methodologies can be used to better control (e.g., navigate) an autonomous vehicle in an area and/or along a pathway, or trajectory.
US08988283B2 Direction finding system device and method
The present invention relates to a method for determining the direction to a target by a direction finder, which comprises: predefining a direction axis as a 0° direction; first and second pair of antennas arranged such that a first line connecting between the first pair of antennae defines a 0°-180° axis parallel to said direction axis, and a second line connecting said second pair of antennas defines a 90°-270° axis perpendicular to said direction axis; generating a 0° antenna pattern and establishing a wireless communication between the direction finder and said target; attenuating the wireless communication signal until lost and recording the attenuation value; generating a 180° antenna pattern using said first pair of antennas, and establishing a wireless communication between the direction finder and said target; attenuating the wireless communication signal until lost, and recording the attenuation value and concluding a true direction to the target.
US08988282B2 Satellite-based position determination
Method and apparatuses involving satellite position signals are disclosed. Based on data indicating a usage environment, parameters, for example acquisition parameters or calculation parameters, are adapted.
US08988272B2 Digital receiver techniques in radar detectors
A method and apparatus are provided for detecting a RADAR signal. RADAR channel data in a frequency range is received, where the frequency range is divided into a plurality of equally wide channels. The received RADAR channel data is digitally processed and analyzed to identify a signal in the RADAR channel data in the frequency range. The frequency range is advanced to a next channel of the plurality of channels, where the frequency range of the next channel of the plurality of channels is nonsequential with the frequency range of the first channel. The steps of receiving, processing, and analyzing are repeated for the next channel of the plurality of channels.
US08988271B2 Electronic apparatus, control method thereof, remote control apparatus, and control method thereof
An electronic apparatus, control method thereof, remote control apparatus that controls the electronic apparatus, and control method thereof. The remote control apparatus includes a communication unit which communicates with the electronic apparatus; a user input unit which receives a user button selection indicating an input button; a sensing unit which senses movement of the remote control apparatus; and a control unit which controls the communication unit to transmit information about the user button selection to perform a function corresponding to the input button if the remote control apparatus is in a button input mode, and to transmit information about the movement of the remote control apparatus to the electronic apparatus to control the electronic apparatus by the movement if the remote control apparatus is in a motion recognition mode. Accordingly, controlling a game or a multimedia content is easier, and the user is provided with a new and interesting experience.
US08988270B2 System and method for authenticating components in wireless home entertainment system
Configuration information is exchanged between a home entertainment system server and various wireless components by pushing a button on the server and a random button on a remote control device as it is pointed at the devices sought to be authenticated.
US08988260B2 Method and circuit for continuous-time delta-sigma DAC with reduced noise
A continuous-time delta-sigma digital-to-analog converter (DAC) includes a first delta-sigma modulator configured to quantize a most significant bit or bits of a digital input signal and produce a first quantization error signal, and a second multi-stage delta-sigma modulator configured to quantize less significant bits of the digital input signal. A first DAC is coupled to an output of the first delta-sigma modulator, and a second DAC is coupled to an output of the second noise-shaping filter. The second DAC has a greater resolution than the first DAC. A low pass output filter is coupled to a sum of an output of the first DAC and an output of the second DAC.
US08988258B2 Hardware compression using common portions of data
Methods and devices are provided for data compression. Data compression can include receiving a plurality of data chunks, sampling at least some of the plurality of data chunks extracting a common portion from a number of the plurality of data chunks based on the sampling, and storing a remainder of the plurality of data chunks in memory.
US08988249B2 System, method and integrated circuit chip for wireless multi-network meter reading
A wireless monitoring system comprises a remote asset about which data is to be collected and a wireless data-transfer device connected to the remote asset. The wireless device includes a radiofrequency transceiver and a chip having a memory for storing a plurality of subscriber identifiers corresponding to different wireless networks and for further storing logic that constitutes network selection rules for selecting one of the wireless networks to use for transmission of the data. In a GSM/UMTS implementation of this technology, the subscriber identifier is the IMSI and the chip is a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) chip or card. By using multiple IMSI's, the wireless data-transfer device connected to the remote asset may switch seamlessly between wireless networks. A new IMSI (for a new network) may be provisioned over the air to enable the device to communicate over a new network for which it did not previously have an IMSI.
US08988248B2 Data transmission method and device for A/C systems
A method for modulating the effective power in one or several power consuming devices disposed in an A/C system in order to transmit data on a power supply line thereof by specifically varying the effective power in the connected device. In order to transmit the data, the momentary value of the effective power is randomly varied (increased or decreased), and the data is impressed into the A/C supply line by a unit (transmitter or modulator) and is evaluated by another unit (receiver or demodulator).
US08988245B2 Cable management display
For cable management, a bi-stable liquid crystal display is positioned on an exterior segment of a communications cable. A display module that connects to the bi-stable liquid crystal display, connects to the communications cable with one or more pins, and receives the signal associated with one or more messages about the communications cable. The display module further causes the one or more messages to be shown on the bi-stable liquid crystal display in response to the display module receiving the signal.
US08988240B2 Performance metrics
A method and system relates to locating or otherwise generating positional information for an object, such as but not limited generating positional coordinates for an object attached to an athlete engaging in an athletic event. The positional coordinates may be processed with other telemetry and biometrical information to provide real-time performance metrics while the athlete engages in the athletic event.
US08988237B2 System and method for failure prediction for artificial lift systems
A computer-implemented reservoir prediction system, method, and software are provided for failure prediction for artificial lift systems, such as sucker rod pump systems. The method includes a production well associated with an artificial lift system and data indicative of an operational status of the artificial lift system. One or more features are extracted from the artificial lift system data. Data mining is applied to the one or more features to determine whether the artificial lift system is predicted to fail within a given time period. An alert is output indicative of impending artificial lift system failures.
US08988236B2 System and method for failure prediction for rod pump artificial lift systems
A computer-implemented reservoir prediction system, method, and software are provided for failure prediction for artificial lift well systems, such as sucker rod pump systems. The method includes providing well data from a production well. Attributes are extracted from the well data. Data mining is applied to the attributes to determine whether the production well is predicted to fail within a given time period. An alert is output indicative of impending production well failures.
US08988232B1 Smart-home hazard detector providing useful follow up communications to detection events
Ambient amount of a hazardous condition may be monitored. A mode may be set to a state indicative of the hazardous condition being present in the ambient environment. It may then be determined that the amount of the hazard in the ambient environment has dropped below a threshold hazardous condition level. A time period may then be tracked during which the amount of the hazardous condition present in the ambient environment of the hazard detector has remained below the threshold hazardous condition level. It may be determined that the time period has reached at least a threshold duration, during such time period the amount of the hazardous condition present in the ambient environment of the hazard detector having remained below the threshold hazardous condition level. An indication of the hazardous condition easing may be output in response to the time period being at least the threshold duration.
US08988231B2 Wetness notification system
A wetness notification system includes a detection unit, a clip unit and a receiver unit. The detection unit includes a sleeve body, a moisture detector, a casing, a processor, a wireless transmitter, and a battery. The processor configures the wireless transmitter to transmit a moisture signal outputted by the moisture detector when the moisture signal corresponds to a moist condition. The clip unit clips the detection unit onto the clothing article. The receiver unit includes a wireless receiver, a controller, and a notification module. When the controller receives the moisture signal via the wireless receiver, the controller drives the notification module to output a wetness notification signal.
US08988229B2 Systems and methods for spraying an aerosol including a communication link
A system for spraying, according to various aspects of the present invention, includes a power switch, an arm switch, a trigger switch, and a communication switch. The system establishes a communication link in response to power being applied through the power switch. Before operation of the arm switch, the system establishes a communication link. After operation of the arm switch, the trigger switch activates release of spray. In further response to the trigger switch, the system transmits a notice via the communication link. Such a system when equipped with pepper spray aerosol is advantageous for self-defense.
US08988228B2 Electronic module for tracking hand hygiene
In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic module may comprise a sensor configured to detect a dispensing action, a processor configured to record a dispense indicator when the sensor detects a dispensing action and read a user identifier from a user identifier memory configured to interchangeably operate in conjunction with a plurality of sanitizer dispensers, and a transceiver configured to transmit the user identifier to a network and transmit the dispense indicator to the network.
US08988226B2 High efficacy signal format and thin-profile ankle-mounting for electronic shark deterrent
A device operable as an electronic shark deterrent has a high-voltage pulse signal waveform generator for pulses to be applied to electrodes immersed in water to deter sharks and other aquatic creatures. A preferred output waveform has a train of pulse bursts of alternating-polarity pulses in a series. Preferably, the timing intervals between pulses are of irregular duration, the amplitudes of pulses are varied to be irregular, and the interval between pulse bursts is kept to less than about 5 seconds, in order to be more effective as a shark deterrent signal. The device has the signal waveform generator enclosed in a thin, planar case mounted to a belt connector and a fastener strap for attachment to a part of a user's body. It can include a water-detection probe for automatic activation when immersed in water, a status LED indicator, and electrodes embedded in a layer at opposite ends of the fastener strap with an insulative screen layer for reducing electrostatic effects on the user.
US08988224B2 Enhancing the efficiency of energy transfer to/from passive ID circuits using ferrite cores
In one embodiment the present invention includes an RFID gaming token with a ferrite core. When the RFID gaming tokens are stacked, the ferrite cores steer the flux field from the excitation antenna through the center of the annular antennas in each token. The resulting flux field increases the efficiency of the energy transfer from the excitation antenna to the passive tags. This increased efficiency also improves the data transfer to and from the passive tags. This increased efficiency allows for reading RFID gaming tokens at a higher stack height (or at a better error rate for a given stack height) as compared to existing air core gaming tokens.
US08988222B2 Stolen bicycle (missing chattel) identification, tracking and location; a system and method
A system and method for identifying, tracking and locating stolen bicycles (missing chattels) in an urban area from a plurality of stations. A passive RFID memory based transponder is manufactured into the hollow metal frame of a bicycle (missing chattel) during manufacture. The passive memory based transponder is engaged and powered up by a tag initiation process which emanates from a cellular telephone tower using microwave frequencies. This process is initiated upon a report of the bicycle (missing chattel) being stolen. It is then powered from an internal generator driven by the rotation of the axle of the bicycle, or similar conveyance, with chargeable battery assist. Missing chattel is defined herein as a bicycle, motorcycle, car, truck, bus, tractor trailer or other similar conveyance.
US08988220B2 Apparatus and method for detecting an intruder inside a vehicle
A method and apparatus are provided for detecting an intruder inside a vehicle. The apparatus comprises a load sensor coupled to the vehicle, and a processor. The processor is coupled to the load sensor and is configured to monitor the load in the vehicle after the vehicle is vacated and locked and to determine if the load in the vehicle changes by more than a predetermined threshold.
US08988219B2 Alert system based on camera identification
Some embodiments of the application provides methods and systems for receiving image frames from a plurality of repositories, extracting a camera fingerprint for each of the image frames, storing the camera fingerprints in a directory, receiving a new image frame from one of the plurality of repositories and extracting a new camera fingerprint corresponding to the new image frame, comparing the new camera fingerprint to each of the stored camera fingerprint, and generating an alert if a match is determined between the new camera fingerprint and at least one of the stored camera fingerprints in the directory.
US08988218B2 Self-detection of lost device status using device-to-device communications with one or more expected neighboring devices
Methods and apparatus are provided for self-detection of lost device status using device-to-device communications with one or more expected neighboring devices. A device can detect when the device itself is lost, by determining one or more expected neighboring devices for one or more time periods; monitoring a local environment for one or more of the expected neighboring devices using device-to-device communication; detecting when the device is lost based on device-to-device communication and whether a threshold criteria of the expected neighboring devices in proximity to the device for a given interval of time; and sending at least one relay message to notify an owner of the lost device. The threshold criteria comprises, e.g., whether a minimum number of expected neighboring devices are nearby or whether at least one fixed neighboring device is nearby. The device-to-device communications employ one or more of short range relay communications and low-power mesh communications.
US08988216B2 Audio positioning system
In a method for directing a user of a mobile computing device to an object, a mobile computing device determines an area in which a user of the mobile computing device is located. The mobile computing device determines a location of an object within the area, in relation to the user. The mobile computing device provides at least one audio tone to indicate at least the location of the object in relation to the user.
US08988215B1 Monitoring system which tracks and analyzes characteristics of a mobile device that monitors a property with a monitoring application
Techniques are described for providing control of a monitoring system (e.g., a home alarm or security system) using one or more mobile devices. In some implementations, a native mobile device application enables use of a mobile device as a security/automation system keypad and controller for a home security system. In these implementations, the mobile device, using the native mobile device application, checks real time status of system and sensors, arms/disarms system, turns lights on/off, looks in on live video of security cameras, reviews history of system events, reviews saved video clips, monitors/changes thermostat settings, and performs other features of a traditional security keypad in a home security system.
US08988214B2 System, method, apparatus, or computer program product for exercise and personal security
A method and system for tracking exercise and personal security includes providing hardware for a portable computing device that allows the device to be worn on a person. The method includes receiving a selection of an exercise option with the portable computing device and receiving a selection of an automated alert option for personal security with the portable computing device while a person trains or competes. The portable computing device that is worn may display one or more biological outputs on a display and it may provide a user interface which has one or more selectable instant alert options. The user interface may also support two-way audio communications.
US08988212B2 Electric vehicle pedestrian warning system
An electric vehicle pedestrian warning system includes an encapsulating container disposed in a location of an electric vehicle (EV) that is exterior to a cabin of the EV. The warning system also includes a speaker affixed to an interior portion of the container, an amplifier coupled to the speaker, a computer processor communicatively coupled to the amplifier, and logic executable by the computer processor. The logic is configured to transmit a sound file to the speaker through the amplifier over a vehicle network upon activation of the EV. The sound file includes a pedestrian warning sound. A first portion of the pedestrian warning sound is output by the speaker and amplified using acoustical properties of the encapsulating container. The first portion of the pedestrian warning sound is amplified in a low frequency range capable of being cancelled by an active noise cancellation system that is located in the interior cabin.
US08988207B2 Information acquiring device
Electronic components, conductors, and the like that the form a detecting-and-transceiving circuit are positioned in a space inside a casing other than a space E that is enclosed by an imaginary surface that forms a predetermined angle θ with respect to a coil axis x toward the outside from a position on the edge of an aperture surface of the end part of a coil-shaped antenna 450 in the direction of the coil axis x. The angle θ is, e.g., 5° or more and is preferably 90°. Minute electronic components and conductors may be positioned within the space E if doing so does not dramatically change the magnetic current of the antenna 450.
US08988206B2 In-vehicle informing device and informing method
The present disclosure provides an in-vehicle informing device equipped in a vehicle including an idle stop system so that a driver is prevented from mistaking an engine stop state by the idle stop system for the engine stop state by an OFF position of an ignition switch. The device first determines whether an engine is automatically stopped by the idle stop system. The device determines whether a stop state of the vehicle corresponds to specific drive suspending condition when the engine is automatically stopping by the idle stop system. The device informs the driver that the engine is automatically stopped by the idle reduction function, utilizing an information giving portion equipped in the vehicle when the driver is judged as in the drive suspending state.
US08988204B2 Vehicle capable of indicating a position of an electrical power-receiving unit
A communication unit periodically transmits a request signal toward a prescribed range. When a transmitter exists in the range where the request signal can be received, it sends identification information in a responsive manner. A comparison ECU compares the identification information provided from the communication unit with a predetermined value, and if both of them match with each other, notifies a matching notification to a power source management ECU. On receipt of the matching notification from the comparison ECU, the power source management ECU notifies a lighting-up request for providing an instruction for lighting-up of a light-emitting unit to a body ECU. Upon receipt of the lighting-up request, the body ECU activates a lighting-up command LON. As a result, the light-emitting unit is lit up and notifies a user of the position of a charging port.
US08988201B2 Parameter setting method of tire monitor
A parameter setting method of a tire monitor is applied in a setter for setting a parameter of the tire monitor via a cable or wireless transmission, and the method includes the steps of using a setter to transmit a change signal for changing a condition value of at least one parameter in the monitor; using the monitor to receive the change signal; updating the condition value of the corresponding parameter according to the change signal; and using the monitor to transmit a monitor signal according to an updated parameter format, so as to update the parameters of the tire monitor quickly.
US08988197B2 RFID repeater for range extension in modulated backscatter systems
A backscatter tag system including a tag having tag circuitry and a reader for transmitting a command signal to the tag includes an energizer node for transmitting an energy signal to the tag to energize the tag and provide energy for operating the tag circuitry and for emitting a backscatter signal by the tag. The energizer node includes an energizer receiver for receiving the command signal from the reader to provide a received command signal and an energizer transmitter for transmitting the received command signal from the reader to the tag. The energizer node transmits both the energy signal and the received command signal to the tag. The energizer transmitter can transmit a sinusoidal signal, a frequency hopping signal, a spread spectrum signal, or a frequency shifted signal to the tag. The backscatter tag circuitry can include a processor.
US08988196B2 Power recovery by an electromagnetic transponder
A method of power recovery by an electromagnetic transponder in the field of a terminal, wherein: a ratio of the current coupling factor of the transponder with the terminal to an optimum coupling position with a resistive load value is evaluated; and a detuning of the oscillating circuit is caused if the ratio is greater than a first threshold greater than or equal to one.
US08988190B2 Gesture based electronic latch for laptop computers
A portable information handling system includes a top cover, a base, and an electronic latch. The top cover is connected to the base. The top cover has a gesture sensitive surface configured to receive a trace. The electronic latch is in communication with the gesture sensitive surface, and is configured to latch the top cover and the base together. The electronic latch is further configured to unlatch the top cover from the base in response to receiving a signal representing that the trace received on the gesture sensitive surface is proper.
US08988183B2 Fusible switching disconnect modules and devices
A monitoring module for a fusible switch disconnect device includes an open fuse detecting element and wire leads for completing an electrical connection with a fuse.
US08988182B2 Transformers and methods for constructing transformers
Transformers and methods of constructing transformers are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of constructing a transformer includes wrapping a first primary winding around a core, wrapping a secondary winding around the core, and wrapping a second primary winding around the core. The first primary winding traverses substantially an entire circumference of the core in a first circumferential direction. The secondary winding includes a first half and a second half. The first half traverses substantially the entire circumference of the core in the first circumferential direction, and the second half traverses substantially the entire circumference of the core in a second circumferential direction opposite the first circumferential direction. The second primary winding traverses substantially the entire circumference of the core in the second circumferential direction.
US08988178B2 Downhole inductive coupler assemblies
An inductive coupler assembly for use in a downhole environment and related methods are described. An example indicative coupler assembly includes a first inductive coupler having first and second magnetically coupled coils and a second inductive coupler having third and fourth magnetically coupled coils. The first and third coils are coupled to a first pair of signal lines and the second and fourth coils are coupled to a second pair of signal lines. The first inductive coupler is to magnetically convey a differential communications signal between the first and second pairs of signal lines, and the second inductive coupler is to magnetically convey a common mode power signal between the first and second pairs of signal lines.
US08988175B2 Override device for a circuit breaker and methods of operating circuit breaker
An override device is described for use with a coupler of a circuit breaker. The override device comprising a cam member coupled to the coupler. The cam member comprising a slot. The override device also including an actuator coupled to the cam member and configured to move the cam member between an over-current protection position and an over-current relay override position and a push member coupled to the coupler. The slot configured to guide the push member to a first position when the actuator moves the cam member to the over-current protection position. The slot further configured to guide the push member to a second position when the actuator moves the cam member to the over-current relay override position to permit current flow through the circuit breaker.
US08988173B2 Differential negative impedance converters and inverters with variable or tunable conversion ratios
A differential circuit topology that produces a tunable floating negative inductance, negative capacitance, negative resistance/conductance, or a combination of the three. These circuits are commonly referred to as “non-Foster circuits.” The disclosed embodiments of the circuits comprises two differential pairs of transistors that are cross-coupled, a load immittance, multiple current sources, two Common-Mode FeedBack (CMFB) networks, at least one tunable (variable) resistance, and two terminals across which the desired immittance is present. The disclosed embodiments of the circuits may be configured as either a Negative Impedance Inverter (NII) or a Negative Impedance Converter (NIC) and as either Open-Circuit-Stable (OCS) and Short-Circuit-Stable (SCS).
US08988172B1 Integrated electronic structure
A multifunction electronics member combining structural and electronics functions includes in one embodiment an elongate longitudinally-extending structural body configured to support a structural load and including a first support base, a stiffening projection, and a first electrical circuit supported by the first support base. The circuit preferably is embedded between the first circuit base and a cover to form an electrically-active, or in some embodiments passive, structural member.
US08988171B2 Multi-resonator waveguide bandpass filter
A bandpass filter of the present invention includes: rectangular waveguides which are divided into two in a center of a broad plane; and a metal plate which has a substantially ladder shape, is disposed between the rectangular waveguides in parallel with a narrow plane of the rectangular waveguides, and has a pair of beams and plurality of fins that connect the pair of beams. At least one other waveguide is formed by dividing a waveguide path within the rectangular waveguides vertically with respect to a direction which is parallel with the broad plane. At least three resonators are formed within the rectangular waveguides by the metal plate, and each of the other waveguides couples resonators together which crosses at least one of the plurality of resonators so as to form a pole outside a pass band.
US08988164B2 Waveguide busbar
A waveguide busbar for converting a plurality of high-frequency input signals into high-frequency output signals, includes a waveguide, a plurality of input ports, which are arranged along the waveguide, such that each input port is intended to receive a high-frequency input signal, an output port on the waveguide for delivering the high-frequency output signal and at least one parallel resonator, which is connected to the waveguide busbar between two input ports. The parallel resonator has a mechanically adjustable volume with which a phase relation of the waveguide is adjustable between the two input ports.
US08988159B2 Oscillator and IC chip
There is provided an oscillator capable of lowering the power supply voltage without degrading the phase noise, while employing the conventional circuit configuration. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an oscillator comprising: an oscillation circuit; a bias generation circuit for generating a bias signal to drive the oscillation circuit; and a booster circuit for boosting a power supply voltage to generate a boosted voltage for driving the bias generation circuit. In addition, the oscillation circuit, the bias generation circuit, and the booster circuit are provided in a single IC chip, and the booster circuit may receive the power supply voltage VDD from the power supply arranged at the exterior of the IC chip.
US08988158B2 Hybrid voltage controlled oscillator
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product are provided. The apparatus provides a VCO signal. The apparatus is a VCO. The apparatus includes a first transconductance circuit. The apparatus further includes a second transconductance circuit coupled with the first transconductance circuit. The second transconductance circuit has a first configuration/mode (e.g., CMOS configuration/mode) and a second configuration/mode (e.g., NMOS configuration/mode or PMOS configuration/mode). The second transconductance circuit is configured to couple an input of the second transconductance circuit to the first transconductance circuit in the first configuration/mode. The second transconductance circuit is configured to isolate the input of the second transconductance circuit from the first transconductance circuit in the second configuration/mode. The second transconductance circuit may include a first transistor and a second transistor, and the input may be a gate of each of the first transistor and the second transistor.
US08988153B1 Ring oscillator with NMOS or PMOS variation insensitivity
A low voltage ring oscillator circuit can have a frequency variation that depends on process variations of insulated gate field effect transistors (IGFETs) of a first conductivity type without substantially being affected by process variations to IGFETs of a second conductivity type. A ring oscillator stage may include an inverter including only IGFETs of the first conductivity type. The inverter may be coupled to a boot circuit that boosts the gate potential of a first IGFET of the first conductivity type with a timing such that IGFETs of the second conductivity type in the boot circuit do not affect the frequency variations of the ring oscillator circuit.
US08988152B2 Semiconductor device
To provide a semiconductor device including an inverter circuit whose driving frequency is increased by control of the threshold voltage of a transistor or a semiconductor device including an inveter circuit with low power consumption. An inverter circuit includes a first transistor and a second transistor each including a semiconductor film in which a channel is formed, a pair of gate electrodes between which the semiconductor film is placed, and source and drain electrodes in contact with the semiconductor film. Controlling potentials applied to the pair of gate electrodes makes the first transistor have normally-on characteristics and the second transistor have normally-off characteristics. Thus, the driving frequency of the inverter circuit is increased.
US08988150B2 Amplifier and amplification method
An amplifier includes a transformer including a primary coil whose one end is connected to an input port and whose other end is connected to reference potential and a secondary coil magnetically-coupled with the primary coil, and a transistor including a source connected to one end of the secondary coil and a gate connected to other end of the secondary coil and a drain connected to an output port side.
US08988142B2 Integrated high voltage isolation using low value capacitors
High voltage rated isolation capacitors are formed on a face of a primary integrated circuit die. The isolation capacitors AC couple the primary integrated circuit in a first voltage domain to a second integrated circuit in a second voltage domain. The isolation capacitors DC isolate the primary integrated circuit from the second integrated circuit die. Isolated power transfer from the first voltage domain to the second voltage domain is provided through the high voltage rated isolation capacitors with an AC oscillator or PWM generator. The AC oscillator voltage amplitude may be increased for an increase in power through the high voltage rated isolation capacitors, and a larger value capacitor in the second voltage domain may provide for peak current demand from circuits in the second voltage domain.
US08988139B2 Self-selected variable power integrated circuit
A self-selected variable power integrated circuit (IC) which maximizes manufacturing yield and reduces system design cost and related methods are disclosed. The method includes determining characteristics of an integrated circuit (IC). The method includes determining a module specific voltage of the IC to meet a designed target frequency and power characteristics, based on the determined IC characteristics. The method includes setting the module specific voltage by using a combination of fuses within the IC.
US08988138B1 Semiconductor device
A semiconductor device includes an input-part receiving a first voltage and an output-part outputing a second voltage. A current mirror part receives the first voltage. A reference voltage is supplied to a gate of a reference transistor. The reference transistor is electrically connected between the current-mirror part and a ground voltage. A monitor transistor includes a gate electrically connected to the second power-supply voltage, and is electrically connected between the current-mirror part and the ground voltage. A voltage-generation transistor includes a gate electrically connected to both the current-mirror part and the reference transistor. The voltage-generation transistor is electrically connected between the input-part and the output-part. A first capacitor including one end electrically connected to the output-part, and the other end electrically connected to both the current-mirror part and the reference transistor.
US08988137B2 Reference voltage generating circuit
A reference voltage generating circuit with extremely low temperature dependence is provided. The reference voltage generating circuit includes a BGR circuit which generates a bandgap reference voltage; a bandgap current generating circuit which generates a bandgap current according to the bandgap reference voltage; a PTAT current generating circuit which generates a current proportional to the absolute temperature; and a linear approximate correction current generating circuit which compares the current generated by the PTAT current generating circuit and the bandgap current to generate a correction current, and the BGR circuit adds, to the bandgap reference voltage, a correction voltage generated based on the correction current.
US08988132B2 Semiconductor device
Provided is a semiconductor device which avoids an adverse effect of high temperatures due to a switching element and in which a circuit to prevent false firing is arranged on the same substrate as the switching element. An N-channel type MOSFET 10 and a JFET 30 of an N-channel type containing a semiconductor material of silicon carbide are individually arranged in proximity on conductive patterns 51, 52 on a substrate 5, and a gate electrode 13 of the MOSFET 10 and a drain electrode 31 of the JFET 30 are connected by a lead 61. When an external drive signal for on/off control of MOSFET 10 propagates between source electrode 32 and drain electrode 31 of JFET 30, the channel resistance of JFET 30 is changed to a large/small value according to a low/high level of gate voltage between source electrode 32 and gate electrode 33, whereby a leading edge of a switching waveform between drain electrode 11 and source electrode 12 of MOSFET 10 comes to have a gentler slope than a trailing edge thereof.
US08988131B2 Transistor switch including independent control of turn-on and slew rate
The disclosed transistor switching methodology enables independent control of transistor turn-on delay and slew rate, including charging, during a pre-charge period, a transistor control input to a threshold voltage VT with a predetermined turn-on delay; and then charging, during a switch-on period, the transistor control input from VT to an operating point with a predetermined slew rate. This methodology is adaptable to load switching applications, for example, to control a high side/low side load switch such that, during the switch on period, the output voltage supplied to the load rises from zero volts to an operating load voltage with the predetermined slew rate. In one embodiment, I_delay and I_slew_rate currents are used to charge the transistor control input respectively during the pre-charge and switch-on periods. In another embodiment, the I-delay and I-slew rate currents are controlled by a replica switch with a control input coupled to the control input of a main switch, with the replica switch characterized by a threshold voltage substantially identical to the main switch threshold voltage VT.
US08988130B2 Method and apparatus for providing through silicon via (TSV) redundancy
An apparatus includes a first die having a first bus, a second die having a second bus stacked on the first die, a plurality of through silicon vias connecting the first bus to the second bus, and first control logic for sending data to identified ones of the plurality of through silicon vias. Also, optionally, second control logic for determining a first set of the plurality of through silicon vias that are nonfunctional, wherein the second control logic is configured to send information to the first control logic identifying the first set of the plurality of through silicon vias or identifying a second set of through silicon vias that are functional. Also a method of sending signals through a plurality of through silicon vias.
US08988129B2 Level shifter with static precharge circuit
A level shifter includes a static precharge circuit. During a precharge phase, two nodes of the level shifter are precharged to a voltage at or near a reference voltage. During an evaluate phase, the level shifter maintains one of the nodes at the precharge voltage, while the other node is pulled to a different voltage level, such as at or near a ground voltage level, wherein the node that is maintained is selected based on the state of data input signals of the level shifter. The voltage at the nodes determines the state of the level shifter output signals, such that the output signals represent the input signals at a shifted voltage level. The level shifter can include a capacitor to feed forward a signal that causes the precharging to terminate more quickly.
US08988127B2 Temperature compensation attenuator
In one embodiment, a temperature compensating attenuator is disclosed having an attenuation circuit and a control circuit. The temperature compensating attenuator circuit may include a first series connected attenuation circuit segment and a shunt connected attenuation circuit segment, as well as additional attenuation circuit segments. Each attenuation circuit segment includes a stack of transistors that are coupled to provide the attenuation circuit segment with an impedance attenuation level having a continuous impedance range. The control circuit may be operably associated with the stack of transistors in each attenuation circuit segment to control the attenuation level of the attenuation circuit. The temperature compensating attenuator includes a temperature compensating circuit that compensates for variations in operation of the attenuation circuit due to a temperature change.
US08988124B2 Semiconductor integrated circuit
An input buffer chooses, in accordance with first control clocks, to output an input data signal or output a high-impedance signal. A master flip-flop chooses, in accordance with second control clocks, to output a data signal received from the input buffer or retain a currently output data signal. A master-slave switch chooses, in accordance with the second control clocks, to output a high-impedance signal or output a data signal received from the master flip-flop. A slave flip-flop chooses, in accordance with the second control clocks, to retain a currently output data signal or output a data signal received from the master-slave switch. A clock buffer inputs the second control clocks, and generates and outputs the first control clocks.
US08988117B2 Gate-stress test circuit without test pad
A high side driver circuit includes a driver stage having an input, an output, a first power terminal and a second power terminal, a transistor having a first power terminal, a second power terminal, and a control terminal coupled to the output of the driver stage, and a switch coupled between the second power terminal of the driver stage and the second power terminal of the transistor.
US08988113B2 Comparator circuit having a calibration circuit
A comparator has a first terminal, a second terminal, and an output terminal. A selection circuit is coupled to the first terminal. A calibration circuit is coupled to the output terminal and the second terminal. The comparator is configured to operate in a first mode when the selection circuit provides a first input signal to the first terminal and the calibration circuit provides a second input signal to the second terminal. The comparator is configured to operate in a second mode when the selection circuit provides a first calibration signal to the first terminal and the calibration circuit provides a second calibration signal to the second terminal based on an output signal at the output terminal. The comparator generates the output signal based on the first calibration signal and the second calibration signal.
US08988112B2 Low-voltage differential signal activity detector
An activity detector for a differential signal formed by two components may include a current source connected to a power supply line, and a first transistor has a drain being powered by the current source, and has a source that forms a first input terminal receiving a first component of the differential signal. A second transistor has a drain being powered by the current source, and has a source forms a second input terminal receiving the second component of the differential signal. A bias circuit applies a potential to the gates of the first and second transistors, establishing a balance condition where all the current from the current source is distributed between the two transistors when the first and second input terminal potential is equal to a threshold value. An activity indication terminal is taken from the drains of the first and second transistors.
US08988106B2 Voltage mode driver with current booster (VMDCB)
A voltage mode driver circuit able to achieve a larger voltage output swing than its supply voltage. The voltage mode driver circuit is supplemented by a current source or “current booster.” The circuit includes a first inverter, a second inverter, and a current source. The first inverter receives a first input and outputs a signal at a node. The second inverter receives a second input signal and outputs an inverted second input signal at the same node. The current source provides current to the node via a first switch, the first switch receiving an input at a first input where the voltage output swing at the node is larger than a power supply voltage applied to the current source. The voltage mode driver circuit uses a stable power supply voltage using a power amplifier with feedback.
US08988104B2 Multiple-time configurable non-volatile look-up-table
Innovative Non-Volatile Look-Up-Table (NV-LUT) has been constructed by Single Gate Logic Non-Volatile Memory (SGLNVM) devices processed with the standard CMOS logic process. One of a pair of complementary SGLNVM devices is always programmed to the high threshold voltage state and the other remains in the low threshold voltage state. By applying digital voltage rail (VDD and VSS) to the input nodes of the pair of complementary SGLNVM devices, the output node of the pair of complementary SGLNVM devices outputs digital signals according to its configuration. The NV-LUT outputs digital signals from a plurality of pairs of complementary SGLNVM devices through a digital switching multiplexer. The NV-LUT is a good substitution for SRAM based LUT commonly used in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
US08988097B2 Method for on-wafer high voltage testing of semiconductor devices
A method for wafer high voltage testing of semiconductor devices is disclosed. The method involves adding a patterning layer onto a passivation layer of the semiconductor devices and then etching vias through the passivation layer to expose conductive test points. Testing of the semiconductor devices begins with engaging the conductive test points with high voltage test probes of a testing apparatus and then applying a high voltage test sequence to the conductive test points via the high voltage test probes. The testing of the semiconductor devices concludes by disengaging the high voltage test probes from a last one of the semiconductor devices and then removing the patterning layer from the passivation layer of the semiconductor devices.
US08988091B2 Multiple contact probes
The present invention is a probe array for testing an electrical device under test comprising one or more ground/power probes and one or more signal probes and optionally a gas flow apparatus.
US08988089B2 Pin card
A first switch is arranged such that a first terminal thereof is connected to an AC test unit and a second terminal thereof is connected to an I/O terminal and a DC test unit. A first switch is configured so as to be capable of switching states between a connection state in which the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to each other, and a disconnection state in which they are disconnected from each other. A bypass capacitor is arranged between the first terminal and the second terminal, and is configured to bypass the frequency component which is cut off by the first switch.
US08988079B2 Carbon-based electrodes with graphene modification
Certain embodiments of the present application describe a carbon-based electrode with graphene platelets. The addition of graphene platelets is intended to improve properties of the electrode. These properties include, but are not limited to, physical, electrical, and biochemical properties of the electrode. Enhanced reproducibility of these properties can also result from the addition of the graphene platelets.
US08988077B2 Battery condition detection sensor
A battery condition detection sensor (1) for measuring characteristics of a battery (101) includes an electrically conductive battery post terminal (12) and a shunt resistor (13). The battery post terminal (12) is mounted to a battery post (102) provided in the battery (101). The shunt resistor (13) is electrically connected to the battery post terminal (12). The shunt resistor (13) is configured such that a connection terminal (52) of a wire harness (51) can be fixed thereto. The shunt resistor (13) has a rotation-blocking portion (inner walls of the insertion holes (15a, 15b)) for blocking rotation of the connection terminal (52).
US08988074B2 Method for generating MR images and correspondingly embodied magnetic resonance scanner
An embodiment of the invention relates to the generation of MR images of a volume section within an examination object by way of a magnetic resonance scanner. In at least one embodiment, the following steps are performed: generating at least one of the MR images; automatically performing a number of quality inspections on the at least one MR image; and, should one of these quality inspections fail, an action is automatically performed in order to improve a quality when generating more of the MR images.
US08988071B2 Nondestructive inspection of a structure in an aircraft
The invention relates to a non-destructive inspection method using eddy currents for detecting flaws in a metal structure (3) by means of an array (5) of coils attached to a surface (31) of said structure (3) comprising activation of the coils, measurement of the electrical signals representative of the eddy currents, and evaluation over time of a variation in the electrical signal of each of the coils (511-536) by taking as a reference an edge effect corresponding to a specific electrical signal emanating from at least one coil installed at the edge of the surface, the level of said variation being indicative of the presence of the flaws in the structure.
US08988068B2 Sensor arrangement
A sensor arrangement (2) for determining a rotational angle of a shaft (4) which has at least one locking ring (12) arranged on the shaft (4), wherein a radius of an outer face (40) of the at least one locking ring (12) changes with a period of nφ/360°, and wherein the sensor arrangement (2) has at least one first fixedly installed magnetic sensor (32) which is assigned to the at least one locking ring (12) and, during a rotation of the shaft (4), senses a magnetic field which is influenced by the at least one locking ring (12), wherein n is an integer.
US08988066B2 Steering position and torque sensor
A sensor circuit for use with a shaft assembly rotatably mounted in a housing and having an input shaft, an output shaft and a torsion bar which connects the input and output shafts together. A CR coil mounted to the housing around the shaft assembly is energized and generates an electromagnetic field. An RX coil is mounted to and rotates with the shaft assembly and has an output connected to a power circuit to generate electrical energy when excited by the electromagnetic field from the first coil. The power circuit powers an angle sensor which transmits a signal back to the first coil representative of the angle between the input and output shafts.
US08988065B2 Microprobe and microprobe manufacturing method
According to an embodiment, a microprobe includes a base and a lever. The base includes a first electrode provided on a surface thereof. The lever is supported by the base and includes a second electrode and a third electrode. The second electrode is connected between the first electrode and the third electrode. The third electrode is formed to project from the second electrode in a first direction in a main surface of the lever. A width of the third electrode in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction in the main surface defines a width of an electrical contact area when a scanning operation is performed by use of the third electrode in a third direction perpendicular to the main surface.
US08988061B2 Nanomechanical electric and electromagnetic field sensor
The present invention provides a system for detecting and analyzing at least one of an electric field and an electromagnetic field. The system includes a micro/nanomechanical oscillator which oscillates in the presence of at least one of the electric field and the electromagnetic field. The micro/nanomechanical oscillator includes a dense array of cantilevers mounted to a substrate. A charge localized on a tip of each cantilever interacts with and oscillates in the presence of the electric and/or electromagnetic field. The system further includes a subsystem for recording the movement of the cantilever to extract information from the electric and/or electromagnetic field. The system further includes a means of adjusting a stiffness of the cantilever to heterodyne tune an operating frequency of the system over a frequency range.
US08988058B2 Load control device for high-efficiency loads
A two-wire load control device (such as, a dimmer switch) for controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load (such as, a high-efficiency lighting load) includes a thyristor coupled between the source and the load, a gate coupling circuit coupled between a first main load terminal and the gate of the thyristor, and a control circuit coupled to a control input of the gate coupling circuit. The control circuit generates a drive voltage for causing the gate coupling circuit to conduct a gate current to thus render the thyristor conductive at a firing time during a half cycle of the AC power source, and to allow the gate coupling circuit to conduct the gate current at any time from the firing time through approximately the remainder of the half cycle, where the gate coupling circuit conducts approximately no net average current to render and maintain the thyristor conductive.
US08988055B2 Digital windowing current-mode controller for a DC-DC converter
A current-mode controlled power converter (1) comprises a controllable switch (S3) which is coupled to an inductor (L1) to obtain a periodical current (I1) through the inductor (L1). A current feedback loop (2, 3, 4, 5) generates a current-error signal (CE) which is a difference between a set current level (SC) and a level of a sensed current (SE) in the power converter (1). A driver (9) for switches off the controllable switch (S3) when the current error signal (CE) indicates that the level of the sensed current (SE) has reached the set current level (SC). A voltage feedback loop (10, 3, 7, 8, 5) influences the set current level (SC) in response to a level of an output voltage (Vout) of the power converter (1). The voltage feedback loop (10, 3, 7, 8, 5) comprises: a window circuit (10) to detect whether the output voltage (Vout) is (i) within a first window (WS) around a nominal value (Vr), (ii) outside the first window (WS) but within a second window (WL), larger than the first window (WS), (iii) outside the second window (WL). A controller (3) is coupled to the window circuit (10) to determine an adaptation of the set current level (SC), wherein the adaptation is larger when the output voltage (Vout) detected is outside the second window (WL) than when the output voltage (Vout) detected is within the second window (WL) but outside the first window (WS).
US08988048B2 Circuit for generating a clock signal for interleaved PFC stages and method thereof
A method and circuit for generating a clock signal. A power factor correction circuit has n channels operating out of phase and independently. The circuit is able to generate a clock signal for each channel according to the current cycle duration of each channel.
US08988047B2 Method of charging an electrochemical cell
A method of pulse charging a secondary electrochemical storage cell is provided. The secondary cell includes a negative electrode comprising an alkaline metal; a positive electrode comprising at least one transition metal halide; a molten salt electrolyte comprising alkaline metal haloaluminate; and a solid electrolyte partitioning the positive electrode from the negative electrode, such that a first surface of the solid electrolyte is in contact with the positive electrode, and a second surface of the solid electrolyte is in contact with the negative electrode. The method of charging includes polarizing the cell by applying a polarizing voltage greater than about 0.1 V above the cell's rest potential for a first predetermined period of time; depolarizing the cell for a second predetermined period of time; and repeating the polarizing and depolarizing steps until a charging end-point is reached.
US08988046B2 Electronic device using rechargeable batteries and battery status control method applicable thereto
An electronic device includes: a plurality of parallel-connection battery groups; and a plurality of battery balance circuits, respectively coupled to the parallel-connection battery groups, when the parallel-connection battery group has a temperature over a predetermined temperature range, the battery balance circuit performs a thermal balance operation on the parallel-connection battery group so that the temperature of the parallel-connection battery group returns into the predetermined temperature range.
US08988042B2 Vehicle, charging system and control method for vehicle
In a vehicle (100), a power storage device (110) mounted thereon can be charged with electric power transmitted from an external power supply device (500, 500A) via a power cable (400, 400A). The vehicle (100) includes a PLC communication unit (230) for establishing PLC communication with the external power supply device (500, 500A) via the power cable (400). An ECU (300) starts transmission of a signal from the PLC communication unit (230) to the external power supply device (500, 500A) in response to connection of the power cable (400) to an inlet (220). When a response from the external power supply device (500, 500A) to the signal is not received, the ECU (300) switches a CCID (430, 540) provided in the power cable (400) or the external power supply device (500A) to a state in which supply of the electric power is possible, and thereafter, retransmits the signal from the PLC communication unit (230) to the external power supply device (500, 500A).
US08988041B2 Handheld electronic device with positioning function
Disclosed is a handheld electronic device with positioning function that includes a device body that contains a transceiver circuit module, a positioning element, and a counterpart positioning element that corresponds to the positioning element in order to effect mutual positioning with respect to each other. The positioning element and the counterpart positioning element are both mounted to one side of the device body. Through rotating or putting up-side down one of two handheld electronic devices, the two handheld electronic devices can be positioned with respect to each other through the positioning elements and the counterpart positioning elements so as to have the transceiver circuit modules of the two handheld electronic devices precisely aligning with each other.
US08988040B2 Compact car charger
A car charger plug is slidably mounted within a body of the compact car charger. The car charger plug is lockable in a fully retracted position and lockable in a fully extended position, so as to maintain its compact size when not in use, and provide a secure connection with a car charge port when desired.
US08988034B2 Drive system and method for operating such a drive system
A drive system for an electric motor includes a connection for a battery, and an inverter having an input side connected to an intermediate circuit and an output side having a connection for an electric motor. The intermediate circuit includes a first thyristor connected in parallel with an intermediate circuit capacitance. The drive system may also include a rectifier having an input side connected at the output side of the inverter in parallel with the electric motor, and a second thyristor connected an output side of the rectifier. The first/second thyristor are configured to be activated by a monitor incorporated in or assigned to the drive system. In the event of a malfunction, the input and/or output side of the inverter can be electrically isolated to allow a multiply redundant armature short circuit.
US08988033B2 Machine tool
A machine tool includes a main axis 30 to which a touch probe 17 is attached, a motor 15 that rotationally drives the main axis 30, a rotation angle position detector 16 that detects a rotation angle position of the motor 15, and a control device 20. The control device, when a measurement mode command for performing measurement of a workpiece by the touch probe 17 is input, multiplies a d-axis current command value Idc by a d-axis current correction coefficient K that is less than 1 to reduce the d-axis current command value Idc to a d-axis current command correction value Idc′, using a d-axis current command correction section 4. Thus, in the machine tool, small rotation vibrations of the main axis, generated when rotating the main axis to which the probe is attached and performing measurements of a workpiece, can be suppressed to thereby increase the measurement accuracy.
US08988032B2 Numerical controller having display function for trajectory of tool
A numerical controller capable of visually and accurately analyzing a change of the tool trajectory before and after changing a processing condition, whereby a parameter of a drive axis can be properly adjusted. The numerical controller comprises a numeric controlling part which controls each drive axis based on a predetermined position command; a position data obtaining part which obtains position data of each drive axis controlled by the numerical controlling part; a tool coordinate calculating part which calculates a coordinate of a tool center point based on position feedback or obtained position data of each drive axis and information of a mechanical structure of a machine tool; a tool trajectory storing part which stores the calculated coordinate of the tool center point as a feedback trajectory; and a displaying part which displays the stored feedback trajectory on a display.